OMG when did I get this old?

Well, Hunter turned 14 on Monday. Yes. FOURTEEN. Mmmhmm. He's been on this Earth fourteen years. I have been an Aunt for fourteen years. GEEZUS.

He's as tall as I am now. His fingers are longer, which means he's still got lots of growing to do. AND his voice is dropping - *clutches heart* - I'm just not ready. LOL

(Side note to my mother - glad you could make it this long - I know you never thought you'd see him go to kindergarten . . .*rolls eyes*)

So here we are - albeit sideways - singing to him at his party Mary had on Sunday at her house.

When I said I wanted to see the water for the weekend . . .

Well, for our anniversary, I had this whole trip planned for last weekend to go to Ocracoke and stay a night and then to Hatteras for Saturday and drive up to Manteo and then back in or spend the night in Nags Head.



Well . . .



Not so much. The rain fell . . . and fell . . . and fell . . .



And the water rose . . . and rose . . .



You get the drift.



Well here is a short video of what we figured out was water in the AC vents under our house. Sounds like lapping waves, so I guess we sorta got to hear the ocean.





The insurance man (thank GOD I have flood insurance) isn't sure if it is covered or not - the whole - replacing of the AC vents, etc. So we're in limbo waiting for an answer - meanwhile on my to do list - call and lower our deductibles on home insurance.

OMG and THIS is funny too . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WD_QMWba-A

FYI - I am becoming a YouTube Junkie!

(getting ready to go sleep in the woods tonight - say a prayer folks!)

Why I find these things funny, I do not know.

LOVE IT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ArIj236UHs

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

Well tomorrow I have my annual Dr. Kronke visit. Good old Dr. K gets to check my girlie parts out to be sure that what is there is SUPPOSED to be there. Always an interesting visit, but we're gonna hope nothing comes of it.

Can't leave his office without worrying til I get the card - but anywho - Brent and I will be off to Rocky Mount in the afternoon and then heading to the movies after to hopefully see "The Expendables" in GVegas.

Will let you know how it all comes out . . .

And the old man adds another candle to the cake . . .

A lovely party was held last Wednesday at the Big House for Daddy (remember - pronounced Dead-eeeee). Gary turned 69, which is the same number as the year I was born, just a neat side note for me.

Griswold family photo time . . .
The guests included my sister and nephews and her new "friend" who seems to be alright - I mean, anyone that can keep up with all of us and not run screaming from the house has to be alright - right? Brent says that he can't wait to actually get to talk to him - apparently there wasn't much of a chance for them to chat with Daddy around.

So here are a few pics of the event. And if I can get blogger to work - some fabulous video footage - lol - -

and now for some HORRIBLE singing - (don't say I didn't warn you)

[What I would like for you to REALLY notice is that my FOURTEEN YEAR OLD nephew is as tall as his grandpaw in this video. GEEZUS]

Football Season Begins

Today, yes Sunday, is the first ECU game. Getting ready to go. Gonna sit in the new purple seats that aren't wide enough for my behind - but we'll see how it goes.

They play Tulsa at 2 pm, and it's being televised on ESPN2.

Go PIRATES!

Southern customs and funerals . . .

Well, I guess something big has happened. My Aunt Jo Ann, my mother's sister, who turned 71 in July, died on Saturday the 14th. I hadn't seen her in a couple of years, not since the last funeral, and it was not an expected death, so the family is taking it hard as can be expected.

They had only a graveside service, and it was short and nice, which is good as it was at 11 on a 90 degree day. They did not have a visitation, and that leads me to what I really wanted to talk about.

When did people stop doing "what's right"? I suppose they didn't have a visitation because of the cost, or they didn't think anyone would show up, I don't know. But it's like a southern tradition that when someone dies, you give em an hour or two the night before the funeral to celebrate them. Give everyone that wants to a chance to come in, hug the family, tell em how sorry you are for their loss, and then talk with friends and family about the person who has died and his or her life. My aunt lived a long life, retired from one job and then worked another. She had friends, heck she had a rather large extended family. And people can come to a 6 o'clock visitation that can't come to an 11 am funeral.

I'm not saying draw something out or anything, but a little respect for a long life, please. *shrugs* I don't know. Something. I don't know. Just reminds me that I belong to a different time. Should've been born in the 40's I think.

And a month later . . .

Sorry - nothing really big to report - went to the beach - spent money right and left on things - lots of stuff to report - more to come soon -

Good Wednesday Morning from [DOOK]

Sorry - actually was too busy yesterday to post. ALICE is very interesting, and the assignment we had yesterday took most of my free time.


This campus is really covered with beautiful stone work - buildings, retaining walls, steps, etc. It's like twenty million different levels. I'm taking lots of pictures for no reason at all with my phone, just to get ideas of architectural elements. May be doing some building in Second Life similar to these structures.


Now for the people in my class. They all seem very dedicated to education. There are about eighteen of us in here, and miraculously there appears to only be like five younger than I am. That has to be like the biggest surprise of all. I really expected to walk in here and find a room full of young teachers excited about learning this new program to share with their students. (Which makes me wonder what all those young'uns are doing.)

AND two people drove in from NEW YORK. NEW YORK (just felt like it was worthy of being repeated, let alone in all capitals). AND two people flew in from St. Louis. ST. LOUIS. And finally - one professor from NCCU. So it's really fascinating to listen to them talk about stuff. Different aspects, different ways schools are managed.

Of course I am the only librarian in the bunch, excuse me, media coordinator. Everyone else teaches computers. Or science.

And there are several student helpers here too. Some college, some high school. The thing about this is that it's very well planned out. The instructors (some of the helpers are teaching as well) all are very good at what they do, and should someone have a question, the person with the question raises their hand or calls out and one of the other helpers comes over to help instead of the instructor stopping. Wouldn't it be nice if this was how we could run stuff in real schools. Have a helper in each class to step in when the teacher was instructing to have continuous instruction and have students get help at the same time.

My biggest fear for this class was that I would be the slowest one - but not a problem. I'm middle of the pack I think.

Okay, so that's enough for now. More tomorrow.

Duke Bathrooms

Dear God - what a move for the University to make - FABULOUS -

Coated to protect against germs!

And so enters JULY

July began with a very nice Sunday spent on Baker Hill in Franklinton. Brent and I had "procured" fireworks, and he and Charlie put on an excellent show for us that night. We ate shrimp, steaks, salads, ice cream, brownies, ooo my belly hurts thinking about all the food we ate. LOL

Then I went to the beach for a day - finally - got a little burnt in spots the sunscreen didn't apparently REACH - but all in all a good day. I had forgotten how much I love swimming in the ocean. Which reminds me - if you ever go to Ft. Macon at Atlantic Beach - DO take advantage of the shower house - it's free - and you can go in, change, take a cold shower, and use the bathrooms. It makes the ride home so much more pleasant - REALLY.

That brings us up to my birthday. \o/ YAY - Who isn't excited to have survived 41 years on this planet? Very quiet birthday - lots of friends wished me a happy one, went to the big house so that my nephews, sister, parents, and old Brent could eat ice cream with me. (will post pictures of this tomorrow) Then Brent and I went out to eat and came home and that was about that - lol.

And so now I am here - at Duke University - taking a week long course in a program called Alice - and THAT is going to hopefully give me lots of fuel for posts - I already have a lovely picture (well two) to share next - and of course more info on what this whole ALICE thing is - :)

Looking sooooooooo forward to sharing.

Where did June go?

Well, sadly, I have no idea where June went. There was the end of school which took until the freaking 16th - YES - the 16th -

And then there was Mary and Neil for a little bit to distract me - call me for details . . .

Then Brent and I went to Myrtle Beach at the end of June for two days so that Brent could help Sally find a car. Toyota Camry - excellent deal - and we got to stay for free thanks to Jim and Caroline, so WOOT! (Although, and Brent will whole heartedly support me on this, we have not lost a THING in MB. Too much traffic, too much noise, too many people. We are old grumps, aren't we?)

We did stop on the way back from MB to see Todd. Brent got to see the house, and I got to see the improvements Todd has done so far - and my bathroom so far looks FABULOUS. Todd is an excellent interior decorator and contractor. LOL

So that brought us to the end of June. Sounds really easy and simple, and guess what, it was - woot.

Updates are COMING!

Well, I will have time this week to do some updates for those of you that keep checking and are tired of the calla lilies.

Tired of calla lilies? OMG! No way!?!? Who could ever get tired of GORGEOUS callas?

Okay Okay -

So expect some updates this week . . .

Calla Time

"The calla lilies are in bloom again. Such a strange flower, suitable to any occasion."

Saddness for you all that do not recognize that line. Katherine Hepburn in "Stage Door" says this line. It is an excellent old black and white movie. So many stars in it - Katherine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball, to name a few.

But here is a picture of a couple of ladies that were just recently starring in my front yard.

Enjoy.

The Roof - the complete story

So, roofer dudes show up Thursday morning - it's slighty drizzly, but that's good cause they have to rip stuff off - and it's going to clear by the afternoon - they worked and worked and made the mess you see in the last post.

Friday, they roll felt paper. And need more of that. Wife number one shows up. They nail shingles until everytime they step on one, it leaves a swirl on it - they leave.

Saturday, they nail shingles all day - like 6:30 am until mid afternoon - go home - take naps - come back and nail shingles until dark. By this time the dogs believe there is a constant thunderstorm occuring over our house and are about over it all. Wife number two with child shows up.

OH BUT WAIT - Saturday morning - Brent comes into my office and sits and says "I am about to throw up." Apparently, we will be needing $1000 more in shingles.

$1000 more

Okay. So for those of you that do not know, I HATE dealing with money - loans, large amounts, whatever - just hate it - and voila - i am sitting there going - well Brent - give me a minute, and I will go crap a couple of gold bars.

Needless to say we found the money and got the shingles. which going on with the story brings us to SUNDAY.

Sunday - nailing shingles at 6:30 in the morning - yes our neighbors were probably pissed, but at this point, a two day job has become a four day job. A 43 bundle of shingle job has become a 95 bundle of shingle job - a 3400 square feet of shingle job. . .

Wife number one from the time she arrived has been helping the guys - cleaning up stuff - sweeping, orgazinig - she's got OCD or something - but hey - she didn't mind it -

Wife number two brings the baby and sits out in front of the house. They are super nice and all, and eventually everyone leaves. Two o'clock Sunday. Quiet - naptime.

So that night we celebrate - the main guy didn't take as much as we thought he would cause he was so upset about underestimating the number of shingles, so we celebrated with Chinese for dinner. Of course we didn't eat until like eight. And while I was out picking it up, the rain started. Just in time to test out our new roof.

MMMHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

So I am eating my delicious General Tso's chicken with my chopsticks of course, and we're watching something on TV, and I hear it. PLOP PLOP PLOP. That's right. Water dripping into the attic. So I freak and jump up and then it comes down right next to my chair - so i put a bowl under it. By this time we are both up on our feet trying to decide what to do and are scrambling.

I have to climb up in the attic - THE ATTIC - I don't climb that ladder - it has a weight limit - plus - I don't climb that ladder - but anyway - water is coming in by the chimney and running down a rafter to where it is dripping. So we have to cover the chimney.

So I go out and the neighbor is not home - he has ladders - of course he's not home. Then I call Dad. WELLLL, that brought on him fussing and of course i wasn't to go on the roof in the rain and what was I going to do and let's think about this - and this conversation ended abruptly when I said "I'm coming to get the ladder." CLICK

So we got the ladder, I got up on the roof and covered the chimney with a tarp tied on with a rope. By the time I get back down, we find out that Mike has called and is actually on his way (a two hour drive) to find out what the problem is.

He gets here at ten. Goes up top. Finds out that his brother and helper did not caulk the FOURTH SIDE OF THE CHIMNEY. So he does - covers it back up to let the caulk cure, and goes home.

Last night I climbed back up on the roof. I took the tarp off. It has rained off and on since - no leaks - fingers crossed.

And that - she says with a sigh - is the story of Lisa and Brent's roof . . .

Late, but as promised, pictures of the destruction . . .

Here are lovely pictures of flowers covered with shingles . . .

Brent - Bird Lover Extraordinaire

Okay - Brent loves birds, but it's not an obsession - LOL - BUTT - he has given home to a mama and four (maybe five) babies -

It's very hard to tell but in the straw there are little baby birds - the light color on the black lumps is their beaks. When I moved in to take their pictures, they froze, but Brent says they are all fine.

Apparently if you leave something sitting for FOREVER - like a boat motor - well - birds will build nests - Needless to say Mama Bird is not happy that Brent is working under the carport on the ugly A green boat from the previous entry - - - -

Updates on the new babies as they come in . . .

The sound of mighty hammers . . .

Well the massive destruction begins tomorrow. Two friends of Brent's will be here at the crack of dawn to start tearing the roof off of the house. Big kids gotta take care of their house. What a pain in the butt.

So today Brent went to Lowe's and ordered everything and then at 5, we went out to pick it up. Lord God, thank you for Brent's truck, but poor thing almost broke under the weight of just the shingles. Needless to say the Honda was used to pick up the rest of the order. Here's hoping his truck can recover tomorrow once it is unloaded.

(SEPTEMBER - Much love girl - that little trailer is stillllll rolling!)

So what I thought I would post here with the picture of Brent's sagging truck are pictures of my flowers, because no matter how carefully these guys are going to work I just know my beautiful flower beds are going to not be so beautiful tomorrow.

So enjoy - and Todd - I hope you are happy - - -

Oh and THIS is what makes Brent and my Daddy alike - Brent is "fixing" the motor on this boat as part of the payment to the guys for doing the roof - mmhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm . . .

Property Taxes

For years I have lived in Washington and listened to people fuss about property taxes, re-evaluations, and such. When I bought my house, I didn't think much of it, because the tax value really didn't seem odd to me - it came in under where the estimate did when I bought the house.

Background for those of you that don't know - I live in a block house (like a school) built in the early 50's, with old raggedy windows that needs a new roof (yeah for tax returns).

So this year is a re-evaluation year.

And shock of shocks - my house is now worth $30K more than it was last year - NO JOKE.

So needless to say - thank GOD for spring break - so I can go down to the tax office to find out what I have to do to have this REDONE.

People - if I could get $100,000 for my house - I'd sell today - NO JOKE AGAIN.

More info as it becomes available.

Hoppy Easter

Whew - well that brings us up to this past weekend. Another event at the big house (as Todd calls it) in Washington for Easter. Ham, potato salad, all the fixings and eggs hidden in the back yard. At least now Daddy can mow. lol

It was a gorgeous day - a little warmer than I thought it would be in fact. The boys all looked for eggs, and the dogs got some before the boys got outside.

March was also Pinewood Derby Month

Well, for those of you that don't know, Riley and Hunter are both in Boy Scouts. And the Boy Scouts do this whole Pinewood Derby thing where you build cars out of these kits and then race them against other Boy Scouts.

So, one beautiful day in March, Brent and I drove down to the county to watch Riley and Hunter race their cars. (A couple of weeks earlier Neil and the boys had come up to the house so Brent could help Neil shape up the cars. Ended up with Neil and Brent out on the back porch working on cars and Hunter and Riley inside watching TV. MMHMMM)

We got there a little early, and it took the guys in charge a little while to get the software working - but finally things got going. Neither Riley nor Hunter did very well in the races. Won't say they finished last, but they didn't finish in the top three in their divisions, but they both seemed to be sorta happy with just being there, so that was nice. Of course Neil, Brent and Daddy all were discussing what you have to do to make the cars work right and this needs to be different, blah blah blah. LOL I think they are all three going to get kits for Christmas so they can build their cars way ahead of time. And I mean Brent, Neil, and Daddy, not Hunter and Riley. LOLOL

Anywho - here are a few shots from that even - very interesting way to spend a morning . . .

March is a month of birthdays - did you know?

Well, first of all, I totally effed up Todd's birthday. I got the card in the mail late, and haven't gotten to see him yet, but on March 6th, he got a lovely call from me, my mother, my sister, and my husband. LOL! I thought it would be funny to have Mama wish him a happy birthday as they both have the same birthday, and while she was on the phone with him, she said something about some place in Wilmington you can eat, so that set everyone off wanting to tell him something odd about a place in Wilmington. So the phone got passed around. I just hope he thought it was as funny as those in the room did.

So that was Todd - Happy 41st Birthday!

Also in March, is of course, Mama. This year marked her turning 69. OMG right - 69 - SIXTY-NINE. So we all rolled up into her house with a cake, ice cream, and lots of little boys, and partied! Here's a couple pic's from that awesome event.

The hats really made the event, dontcha think?

Then came Riley's 8th Birthday - March 20, the first day of Spring! (And he KNOWS that his birthday is the first day of spring - this I totally love about my middle nephew.)

Riley's party featured little kids running around and a cake decorated with Mario -of all things - so here are a few shots from that event.

And that was about it for birthdays in March! Happy Birthday to everyone! (What I also love is that Mama the other day just out of the blue goes - YOUR birthday is next - and I'm like yeah - in July - lolololol.)

Catch up time . . .

No excuses, I hate excuses. Lots of birthdays and things to get through, so expect several posts from me over the next few days with links to pictures.

I'm off this week - THANK GOD - and will MAKE myself sit down and share all the gorey details with you all.

Yummy, I know, so let's go-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o . . .

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just so you know - Sassy is a kisser -

And the inside of the card says . . .

We LOVE Bandits strike when we're least expected . . .

SNOW . . .

It's snowing - started a little earlier - you won't believe this, but Pete heard it and barked so I got up and looked and ta freaking da - snow falling - that dog has finally shown he is good for SOMETHING.

Of course we have already planned to go out tomorrow to take pictures - so I will promise to upload this weekend.

SNOW I say SNOW!

At long last . . . Christmas

Okay, so a quick peek at fotos from Christmas.

The beginning ones are of Todd and me making sugar cookies in my tiny kitchen. Thanks to Brent who took these while watching the action.

Then we move to Mama and Daddy's where three nephews did very well this year opening one gift at a time.

Next the day after Christmas when Brent's parents came down for the day to open presents, eat ham, and visit.

And finally, some pics of the decorations we had out this year. for those of you that don't know - years ago, September gave me the Bumble from "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" and Todd said you should put him at the top of the tree. Well, I don't know how many years ago that was - probably over ten, but the Bumble sits on top of the tree at our house, alone, or with a star, and should the branch he sits on give way, and he fall - it's okay - and you know why?

Because Bumbles Bounce!

LOL

http://picasaweb.google.com/leaseuhd/Christmas2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCLHNxtHEydqNSg&feat=directlink