Dog Park

That's Canon- Human sized dog in my back seat-- sitting like a man!

Back to Appomattox

We headed up to Appomattox again this weekend to see Ron and Gloria.

Started out the weekend with a trip to the Appomattox Museum of the Confederacy

Then a trip to the Confederate Cemetery just outside Appomattox

Then out to Farmville, VA for lunch at Charley's Waterfront Wine Bar and Grille

Then out to the High Bridge Trail between Farmville and Rice...

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Hanging out with My Uncle

My Uncle came to Virginia Beach for work, so we got to hang out for two nights! He finally get to meet my husband! (It's been 16 1/2 years.. I'd say it was about time!)

We took him up to Mount Trashmore..

Puppy Time

Twenty

I remember exactly where I was twenty years today. It wasn’t a happy memory however it is one that has bled into my life over the years and has formed a lot of who I’ve become.

I remember the phone ringing and the voice on the other end of the line telling me that it was over. He had lost the battle and it was done. I wrote a post last year about losing my high school boyfriend to a drunk driver. 

What hurts the most is time. For all the years that have passed, I remember that phone call and can still hear each syllable that she said to me. Each word as it passed her lips is set in stone. What is slipping away are the memories of him. I think I remember what his voice sounded like, and how his smile could brighten my world, but most of my memories are best guesses. It’s almost like his memories are fading into the dark and what I have left are the near transparent vintage films being shown on a brick wall in the dark. Fading more and more each year.

It’s easier to let it slip away as time continues to pass, but it’s still difficult to reason that these old memories are being replaced with good ones.  I think he’d be happy to see where my life ended up and I think he’d like T, my husband of 15 ½ years. So, it's not the life I could see for myself twenty years ago, however, the fact that I am happy counts for more than anything.

Kahlil Gibran famously said, “When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.”  I agree. As sad as I want to be today, I am happy for having the time to know him. We had a lot of good memories in our time together.

So, if you take anything from this post, take this…

Cherish the ones you have in your life. They leave special fingerprints on your heart that last forever.

The below video is a song from Avril Lavigne that always makes me think of D.

"Slipped Away"

A Day in Our Life

Ahh, Saturday in Virginia Beach..

Today we went to Mount Trashmore and walked around...

Then home to play with the Boomer

(He loves his Mommy!)

Birthday Trip to DC

We drove up to DC and arrived at the Washington Plaza Hotel in the early afternoon and headed to the front desk. The really nice attendant at the front desk was giving us ideas for places to eat since he was a local and we mentioned that it was my birthday! He said that it was his partner's birthday as well and he was able to give us an upgraded room.  It was pretty nice on a higher floor with a balcony and a sweet view. The room was pretty modern and had a very dark curtain that made the room pitch black! This was great for me since I wake up really easy with light changes in the room!

We walked down 14th street and headed towards the White House. {We wanted to go on a tour, but those take several months in advance to schedule, so we just settled for standing safely in the distance to take a few photos with the Japanese tourists.}

We walked around the Elipse and headed down Constitution Ave towards the Constitution Gardens Pond for a quick look at the ducks and a view of the Washington Monument. We paused a moment to look at the Vietnam Women's Memorial that was sculpted by Glenna Goodacre. {Kinda makes you proud of the women that were there in Vietnam. Must have been tough!}

From there, we walked over the Vietnam Memorial Wall and stood quietly as the people walked past the names. It was eerily quiet as we walked closer looking at the lists of names seeming to never end. There were notes and flowers set beside a few of the panels. Makes you feel very small to stand there in the middle of all those names.

We continued past the reflecting Pool, which was empty as they are doing repairs and extending some of the monuments right now. The Lincoln Memorial was the next stop. There were't too many people so it made it kind of nice to be able to stand and really take the whole thing in.

We headed back up Constitution Ave and headed to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. They'd made some changes since the last time we were there and I didn't much like the new layout. It was hard to follow, but we did see a lot of cool stuff! The dinosaurs are always cool and T always makes silly noises when we hit the monkey exhibit. They did have a few new things in the mummy area, but what was there was sparse. We did enjoy the gems and seeing the Hope Diamond was pretty cool.  We completed the Smithsonian and decided it was time to make a stop at the hotel for an hour rest before we headed out for dinner.

T took a quick nap while I loaded a ton of pictures onto the internet. It was a much needed break.  We headed down M street towards Georgetown and stopped for dinner at the Daily Grill on 18th and M for a burger. Pretty Good, expensive, but good.

We walked through Georgetown and made it to 29th and M where we finally made it to the stairs made famous by the last scene in the Exorcist. {75 steps up was how many we counted as we tried to make it up without dying midway!} T did better than I did, but I finished! We got to the top and decided NOT to go back down.

We headed down Prospect and turned down onto 34th where we stopped and purchased a half dozen cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcakes, or DC Cupcakes as they are known for their TLC Show. It was a little difficult to decide which flavors to get, but we ended up on 2 chocolate, 2 vanilla, and 2 red velvet. They were placed in a  sweet little pink box and bag and we headed back up M street to out hotel.

FITBIT STATS FOR DAY 1:    29,136 Steps    12.5 Miles     23 floors climbed!

Day two started out early with a trip back to the Washington Monument.  Since the earthquake last year, we couldn't actually go up or really even get too close.

We decided to walk over to the newly modified World War II memorial. It was actually very pretty and once they finish the water features, it will be awesome. I took a few photos of the state memorials for North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

We walked down Independence Ave and finally made it to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. It kind of sprung from the ground in three columns of white marble. It was pretty amazing.

We headed from there down Independence Ave towards 18th street. We spent an hour and a half in the Holocaust Museum. No photography was allowed.

By the time we got out, we were hungry and decided to try to find a little lunch. That proved most the most difficult as we were looking for a Cosi and couldn't find one.  We were told that the Old Post Office Tower had a food court and a nice view of the city. With a  little Chinese food in our tummies we headed up the elevator to the top and it was a good view. Cold, but nice.

We then headed over to the the Smithsonian American History Museum. By this time, we'd walked so much already that we were just looking for somewhere to sit and watch something. We were able to take a much needed break and look at some cool stuff. The Jefferson Bible, Dorothy's Red Slippers, and a few more pretty neat things. The Star Spangled Banner exhibit was pretty neat, no photos though! {Why is everything here no pictures allowed!?!?}

Our Smithsonian trip was not yet complete, we then headed over to the Air and Space museum and it was beginning to look a little grey and getting a wee bit colder. This was where I dropped my phone and was pretty sure that it was broken.  {When we got back to the hotel, T was able to get it working!}

We headed back to the hotel via a cab since it was raining pretty hard when we got done.  After a few hours we started walking back to Georgetown for dinner. It was a four mile walk in total.  We found a little Italian restaurant and had a nice birthday dinner. The waiter brought me a tiramisu as a treat on the house. All in all, it was a good trip. Guess we didn't need to buy any more cupcakes!

FITBIT STATS FOR DAY 2:     31,003 Steps     13.35 Miles     15 floors climbed!

Since Day three was our final afternoon and the checkout time was noon, we decided to go and check out the Capitol Building and Fords Theater before we left. It was a bit cold and we headed back a little early and headed back home.  By the time we got home, we were both sooo tired!

FITBIT STATS FOR DAY 3:      16,902 Steps     7.28 Miles      33 floors climbed!

Best Pre-Birthday Present Ever!

My FitBit--

(FitBit FAQ--A Fitbit Tracker is a small clip-on device that shows your real-time activity stats so you know how close you are to your goals. It’s discreet enough to be worn 24/7 without being noticeable, and shows every step you take throughout the day, the distance you’re walking, calories burned, floors climbed, and it even tracks you while you’re sleeping. A display on the Tracker can show you your stats on-the-go, or you can sync it up to a free account online at Fitbit.com to track your historic information and more.) WWW.FITBIT.COM

My Book is Here!

Well, it's taken me over a year to complete, but I finished it in December and after some editing and cover design.. it's done!

It should be obvious that I'm writing under a family name of my mother and not my real name. That wasn't meant to slight any other family members, but I just wanted to use a pen name and this one always made me happy! (I love my grandparents!)

I took a different approach this time due to the last publishing debaucle cost me a few thousand dollars and did a horrible job. I took the publishing into my own hands and voila!

I put it on two separate locations for both digital and print.

PRINTED COPY
It's hosted byLulu.com

It can be found--> CLICK HERE!
Yes, it costs a little more but they are using a "Print on Demand" option for me that works great! So, all you have to do is go to the site and download the copy and it ships in 3-5 days.


DIGITAL COPY
It's hosted by Amazon.com
It can be found--> CLICK HERE!
It can be downloaded by any digital platform via the website!

I was lucky enough to capture the very FIRST order being made today by a friend at work! Thanks John for being the first and hopefully not the last!

My Baby Boomer

{AKA- The Baby, Killer Bee,  Big Cat, Boomertron, Tron, 
Baby Bee, Monkey, Mr. Big Teeth, Simple Jack}

Boomer was born 5 May 2007 in Virginia Beach, VA. His owners decided they didn't want to raise him so they posted an ad on Craig's List. On 5 July 2007, Terry and I decided to check out the ads to see if there was a sweet little kitten who needed a home and there he was. His name was Garfield, but we thought Boomer was better.

We brought him to the house and introduced him to Ted and Spot. It took several months for them to understand that he was not the devil. His first night was filled with playing and fun. He found the most expensive blanket in the house.. (a white Nap Luxe blanket from Brookstone} where he began to make his own. We call it the "Mama Blanket" since he nurses on the edges.

By 31 July he was playing fetch with his green feather stick and anything else that was thrown at him. {As long as it was green}

He lost his bottom two teeth on 7 August 2007 and looked like a little kitty Vampire. That was also the day that he fell off the couch and got stuck between the couch and the bookcase. He loves to cuddle and sleep anywhere his Daddy is laying.

He's lazy and super pliable. He'll be sleeping on the couch and you can pick him up and take him upstairs and he will not wake up. When this one is asleep, he's down for the count.

He loves to sit and watch the backyard or any outside location.

He loves to eat. Mostly sugar. He will run so fast when he hears a snack pack pudding open and beg for a spoon if it's chocolate. He loves food in general though and I've never seen a kitten who will eat as fast as he does. So fat, that he finishes first and tries to get to his brothers food before they can finish.

He's often the lookout for Ted and Spot but he's not too good as his job. His current favorite place to sleep is the dresser drawer next to the bed on top of my shorts. He's a big kitty weighing in at a hefty 15-1/2 pounds but it's pretty proportionate for his body according to the vet. He's just a big boy. We love the little guy! :)