Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Long Weekend Get Away

So, we decided to head to Orlando for the long weekend and act like ten year olds at the Universal Studios theme parks. It was a wonderful get away...here are some photos.

As if we were mice in Fievel's Playground.


We found the perfect husband quote in Toon Landing.

I was a little scared walking through this entrance...


...running from a T-Rex
The Caro-Seuss-el was one of my favorite parts of the weekend.



You're a mean one Mr. Grinch...




I love my mischievous friends!

For some reason, husband and I could not take a good picture together. But, here are a couple not so good ones.
Nope, I'm not pregnant, it's just the way the wind was blowing.
Maybe we should have taken a photo before the end of the day.

I always wanted to ride a vespa! And, they were all over the hotel piazza; I couldn't help myself!

Saturday, May 19, 2007

It all starts with a burnt PopTart

The only significance of the title to this entry is to give you a bit of non-humorous humor. You see, I rarely buy PopTarts because in my mind they are junk food. If I eat them for breakfast, I am hungry again within the hour. Nevertheless, I had a weak moment when I ran into Wal-Mart last week to pick up a few necessities. I saw the box of cherry filled goodness and thought to myself, "Self, those PopTarts sure would be a good stand-in for pie as a dessert choice." Now, I am eating a PopTart for Saturday morning breakfast. And, yes I really did burn it to a nice-n-crispy espresso brown on the edges. (I am also too lazy to make another one, so yummy burntness it is!)

So, with burnt PopTart in front of me I continue my latest post. Time is simply flying by these days and I am not doing such a good job at keeping up. My house is dusty and my office at work is a disaster area. The plethora of ceremonies, events, and weekend work excursions is keeping me busier than I would have ever imagined and has also provided me with a large new wardrobe consisting of t-shirts and more t-shirts.
Two weekends ago I was at Rockingham Motor Speedway for Girl Scout Jamboree. Basically a huge camp out on the in-field with inflatables, rock-climbing walls, music video making, stargazing, and so much more. My part of the job was the lovely task of making sure that girls were behaving as they should and keeping their shoes on as well as loading and unloading coolers and equipment for the troops. Here I am at the event with my co-worker Paige.

Last weekend I headed off to Savannah. I was a bus captain and guide for a mother/daughter weekend trip to visit the birthplace of Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts. Here's a photo of me with Robin, our Director of Younger Girl Programs as well as the other bus captain, in uniform outside of Daisy's childhood home.

On Saturday I was in charge of the adults and getting them from point A to point B and back again...twice. For any of you who are mothers out there, y'all are worse than the children when it comes to following rules, whining, and complaining. If you ever take trips with your children, please keep this in mind and make adjustments. Anyhow, the adults got the grown-up version of the relationship between Daisy and her "player" husband. We also learned quite a bit about the phenomenal and rather eccentric founder of our organization. Over the years Girl Scouts has evolved, in some ways for the worse, due to changing times and political correctness, so it was nice to hear stories of how this strong-willed woman bucked the system in order to give girls more opportunities to do things that originally only boys could do. Here's a photo with my co-worker Jennifer, in front of the First National Headquarters where the first troops met.

It was a wonderful trip with beautiful weather. My friend Rochelle lived in the Savannah area for years and would reminisce about how great it was. Now I totally understand. Even with the chattering and squealing of 100 females, there was definitely something peaceful about the town. The historic district is laid out in a pattern with 21 squares so, noise is cut dramatically and there is an abundance of foliage. The Spanish moss hanging from the trees gave everything a hint of romanticism. I really want to go back and spend more time exploring with Husband.

Before embarking on the trip, Aunt Mickey had given me her copy of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil to read because it is set in Savannah. In the weeks prior to the trip, it gave me glimpse into life in Savannah but the story took on a whole new form in my mind after seeing the town. I was very excited to have enough time to walk to the square on which the Mercer House sits . This house plays a vital role in the book.

In other news, Husband will begin transitioning out of the Army at the beginning of June. I have seen the paperwork and his official last day of work will be in late November unless his potentially new employing agency calls him with a class date before that time. His last two months will basically be vacation time and in a discussion last night he will be more than happy to play the role of House Husband. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for him to become bored out of his mind. Anyone want to place bets?

The PopTart is now long gone and I must be off to work. I have the fun Saturday afternoon job of painting and decorating thirty picture frames for a recognitions dinner on Monday night. After an action-packed week next week, Husband and I will be boarding a plane to Orlando for a long weekend of quality time together. Stay tuned for photos once we return.