Follmer Family Visit

The Follmer's came to visit family in the DC area last week and I was able to spend the morning with them. I love these kiddos! We had a great visit, shared stories, laughs, and canteloupe. Yum!

Little Michael likes to be called Macca. And his favorite animal is a glow in the dark duckie. He sleeps with it. Well, lights in little duckies fade and his parents have been trading out one old duck for a new one--but they're down to their last duck. Last night while wandering around Alexandria I came across a glow in the dark duckie! I'm happy to be a source of joy to this little child. Also, I like that I'm postponing his first experience with loss.

A Capitol 4th!

This is the baby who sat next to us as we gathered to watch Aretha Franklin, Big Bird and the gang from Sesame Street, Barry Manilow, and Natasha Bettingfield sing at the Capitol 4th concert at the . . . . wait for it . . . . wait for it . . . .

The Capitol!

These are the fireworks. I love this picture because it shows the picture of the fireworks on the screen--(I believe they were being televised) and you can see the actual fireworks too!

Crazy!

We were there. But, really, we just listened to the concert and danced around in the grass. This is Barry Manilow through the trees.

These are the people watching the concert. The happy girl in the corner is Darla. Darla is a crack up.

As night descended on the crowds, I made my way up to get a better view of the fireworks and to take pictures of all the people gathered on the steps of the capitol.

More fireworks. Blurry Picture.

This is me behind people watching the fireworks.

If you look closely you can see all the little people gathered to watch the concert.

I hope you had a Happy Independence Day!

Observations on Eating Nothing

This week I've been working hard preparing for my new quarter that starts in 4 weeks. (It's a ways away, but I'm trying to get ahead.)

Today was supposed to be my day to get things done, and I got stuff done. But I was so tired from eating nothing on my new 3 day diet. Seriously, I felt nauseous with hunger for a good part of the afternoon.

I LOATHE beets, but I happily ate them at 4pm because I thought I was going to die of hunger. For breakfast, I had 5 saltine crackers and a piece of cheese. And an apple. After that feast, I went into Falls Church and took care of some business at the head Stratford offices. I came home and (surprise surprise!) was very hungry and looking forward to a nice healthy lunch of . . .

a hardboiled egg and toast.

(sooooo hungry . . . . .)

I continued through my vast list of things to do, making phone calls, finding things to do next week when mom is here, figured out new books for classes, graded papers, etc.

And tried not to vomit with hunger. Seriously, my stomach was clenching and I could barely see straight my sugar was so low.

I literally devoured the beets at 4pm. Then I ate a cup of cauliflower and mixed it with some tuna. I don't know if anything has ever tasted so good. It's crazy how good things taste when you're hungry.

Then I chopped up a cup of canteloupe.

By that time, it was too late. I needed to function. In the diet, I get to have a half a cup of ice cream. I ate more ice cream than I should have. A lot more.

And then I had 2 hotdogs. (without buns though!)

And now I am happy. And not hungry anymore.

I went 3 days eating perfectly, but I fell down on the home stretch. Seriously, eating nothing is a lot harder than it looks on paper!

Thank you Kris!

I just about died watching this. Watch it and laugh. :)

Weekend Consumerism

I spent two lovely days with Lesley this week. We did some shopping, watched The Proposal, read some Poe, ate lovely meals and laughed. I love this girl! She is so funny and fun. I bought a sheepskin rug for my bedroom. I call it my prayer rug. And new golden sheets for when my mom comes to visit. Yellow is her favorite color. And a lovely yellow rug for the kitchen. And some kitchen towels.

We enjoyed a beautiful breakfast Saturday morning with Mikey and some tasty pancakes and strawberries. We didn't eat Mikey, but we laughed!

That afternoon, the three of us headed over to 5 Guys for French Fries and Hamburgers. Then we loaded up on food that Lesley could take with her to Waynesboro at Trader Joe's. I bought dinner for a family in my new ward that just had a baby. It's my first time bringing food over for a new baby. I grilled them a roast beef and cooked up some veggies/potatoes. And to top off the scrumptious meal, I made chocolate chip cookies from scratch!

I think we categorize this weekend as funny, friendly, tasty, and consumery!

Leaky Ceiling

There's something leaking from the ceiling. It's been dripping all night long.

I called the landlord and he told me to turn off the main valve to the water and wait for the plumber to come. I can flush each toilet 1x. That's 4 flushes. Thank heaven we have a lot of toilets!

I have about a gallon of water in the house system before it runs dry.

So much for running the dishwasher. . .

My landlord asked me to poke a hole in the ceiling so that the weakened ceiling didn't fall through. I was hoping that the water would come dribbling through the perfect little hole that I made with the screwdriver, but it continues to drip slowly from the smoke detector. No water is coming from the hole. It took every ounce of effort not to start poking random holes in the ceiling. It was kind of fun jabbing a screwdriver into the ceiling.

In other news, I am selling furniture online and so far I have my first sale! Here's hoping I can get rid of some stuff!

Vacation Fantasies

I just got my passport! I really want to go on a cruise. I've never been. I want to go to the beach.

I found a cruise to the Bahamas for $119 for 3 nights.

I want to sit out and stare at the ocean and eat ice cream sundaes in my bathing suit. I want to eat shrimp cocktails and visit beaches.

And so I will.

But in the meantime, I'm excited for upcoming family time. My mom is coming to visit in July for a week. We're going to hit all the sights in VA and surrounding areas! It's going to be great fun! I just need to figure out the very best way to have all the fun possible within 9 days.

On July 23rd I'm flying up to the Upper Peninsula in Michigan to visit my two aunts and my grandparents for a weekend trip on the Great Lakes. I'm very excited! It is just beautiful in Sault Ste Marie during the summer. And, I haven't seen my Aunt Mary Lou for a few years.

Despite my fantasies, the cruise will have to wait until August or September. When is hurricane season again? Must not go during hurricane season . . .