Monday, June 26, 2006


Tom visited the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. He enjoys taking black and white photos. He's good at it - this looks like a postcard!
I cannot believe it is June 26 already. Time is FLYING, and I wish it would slow down just a little! Tom came back from North Carolina Saturday night. He had a great time. Sam has only had one day home, and now she and her mother are going to Mexico for a week. The trip was a gift from relatives in California for Sam's graduation. She isn't very excited about going, but I hope she has a great time once she is there.

We haven't been doing much around here. The canvas covering on my lawn swing (which I dearly love but have had for nearly four years now) finally became dry-rotted and tore. Jerry wanted to throw it away but I thought we could try to save it. Andy drilled lots of little holes in the metal tubing of the frame and we webbed it like a lawn chair. It turned out great, and with the cushion on it, you can't even see what's underneath. My swing is saved! Andy was very proud of himself for drilling all those holes. He pretty much fixed the whole thing himself. I'm pretty proud of him too.

Not very newsworthy, but we installed a new toilet yesterday. Weren't you just dying to know that?! The neighbors must have thought we lost our minds yesterday. (Well, we have, but that's a story for another day!). We were really trying to avoid the expense of buying a new toilet so we had been trying to fix the old one. It just wouldn't flush correctly, resulting in having to flush it 2-3 times (or more). We just fixed our septic system last summer, and didn't want to fill it needlessly now. We tried everything. We plunged like crazy - didn't help. Jerry went up on the roof with the hose and blasted out the vent up there - didn't help. I took a little sharp stick and checked EVERY LITTLE HOLE around the inside of the rim to make sure water could flow into the bowl freely - didn't help. I used a snake (toilet auger, if you will) and fed that just as far as I could - didn't help. Yes, I actually did these things myself. Finally Jerry took the toilet up and carried it outside. He put it up on cinder blocks and filled the tank and flushed it several times. My sides are still hurting from laughing. There is something so very wrong with hearing the sounds of a flushing toilet out in your yard (or worse, seeing one!). Anyway, we couldn't find anything wrong. We finally decided it was time to retire the old porcelain and go to Lowe's for a new one. Boy - they sure have changed in 20-some years! The toilet we replaced was the original one that came with the house, and the house was built in 1981. Anyway, now everyone's happy! Maybe the old one could be a planter............

I am anxiously awaiting word from Mike and Linda. I will be an aunt again sometime today or tomorrow when Aaron William will make his debut into the world.

We are planning Andy's birthday party for July 3rd. He wants to go bowling like we did last year. We are looking forward to it, as we always enjoy bowling - only this time we get cake and ice cream afterwards too!

Fireworks in North Carolina.

Sam's graduation picture.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Look Out, North Carolina!

Andy and I just waved goodbye to Tom. He is going to North Carolina with Sam's family for a week's vacation. We didn't realize that his school does have a break between sessions. It really worked out well that the spring session is finished and he is off school now until July 10th when the summer session starts. Now he won't be missing any classes for this. He is going to call when they arrive so I can figure out if there are any webcams nearby. When Sam went with her family to Ocean City, we didn't realize she had been on the boardwalk right where there was a webcam located and she could have waved to us! I'm almost afraid of what Tom might do in front of a camera when he knows we're looking at it!. This is the child who has no qualms about mooning people. A couple of years ago the boys and I were out in the driveway splitting and stacking firewood. Tom bent over and, well, let's just say that the moon came out in the daytime. In a fierce whisper I told him that half of his posterior was showing to the neighborhood, and to fix it. Very loudly he said, "Only half? Well, that's no good", whereupon he "fixed it" so that the whole moon was out. Sheesh. I wonder if North Carolina knows what they're in for this week?!

I am looking forward to a cookout that I am planning for the people on our street. I had the idea rolling around in my head (there's a lot of space in there, you know!) for a while now. Maggie's death last year and the way things have changed, and the fact that we will be living here for at least another year or two now because of the changes made me start thinking about how life changes and really is very short. I started thinking that I was tired of living in a place where people act like strangers. I figured that the neighbors already thought I was a card short of a deck because of how I like to welcome new neighbors with a cake and a card, so they wouldn't be so surprised that I wanted to do something where everyone could meet! I wrote a letter and sent it to everyone on the street letting them know what I was trying to do. I needed to choose a date for it when everyone would be available, and I knew that would be hard to do with summer vacations and plans, so I asked them to write or call me with what dates they had available this summer. I got an email back already from neighbors who say they are looking forward to attending and meeting everyone. I hope everyone else feels the same! Of course, Hilda not only likes the idea, but as usual, is offering to pitch in and help. I really want to be like her when I'm 87!

Saturday, June 10, 2006

I was looking at the Discovery Channel website to find something "Mythbusters" for Andy's birthday and I saw these Life Lessons figurines. They are too funny!

Here's a good way to lose friends!

This one is hilarious - and so true!

.....and my personal favorite!!!

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Not a lot going on around here lately. Andy and I are getting stuff together for the second board of education review next Tuesday and wrapping up his school work for this year. We mutually decided to take a summer break and start back again with homeschooling on August 15. I think the break will be good for both of us, and it will give me a chance to make some changes I want to make to his curriculum and get his new materials together. Andy's just glad to have a break! We were originally going to have school through the summer but we changed our minds. August 15 will be here soon enough!

Andy and I just got back from the beach. It's just down the road about a mile or so. There were only two other people there. Even in the summer it's not very crowded. We looked for shark teeth but didn't find any on this trip. Well, now we'd better get to work. We have decided to finish school on Friday and Andy has his last few Spanish lessons and science assignments to do and a blog entry to write. Time to shake the sand from our flip-flops and get busy!

Andy was skipping stones and flat shells. He's gotten pretty good at it. All of my attempts just sink!

The beach was beautiful (and empty!)

Look closely - there really is a rainbow in between the trees!

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