January 14th

Hi, it’s Christina –

Good morning! Yesterday I got several things done for my trip. I unearthed the air beds, made sure they were still in working order (Sharon’s using one), then got them and the pump ready to go. I made banana nut, banana chocolate chip and apple pie muffins to take with us, and I got some laundry done. (I also did a whole bunch of non-SC related things, so that wasn’t the sum of everything I accomplished yesterday.)

I was all prepared to pack some lighter things, but then I saw the weather report, and it’s going to be sunny but cold on Thursday and then it’s going to be cold and rainy on Friday. Dang! You would think driving a dozen plus hours to the south, I would be getting nicer weather than at home. I’m kinda bummed about it, but whatchya gunna do?

I am bringing my computer with me, but honestly I have no idea if I’ll even be able to get on it (I don’t know the graduation schedule or if we even have internet at the house), so you may not get a writing again challenge or another post until Sunday when I’m home again. That’s why I’m giving you extra time on yesterday’s challenge. I thought it was a pretty good one because you can take it so many ways – it could be a poem, a romantic story, a horror story, a … , you get what I mean. I’m looking forward to seeing what y’all come up with!

Today I need to stop at the grocery store, get gas, clean out the car, pack, load the car, straighten up the house, plus I’m sure a dozen other things which are escaping my brain at the moment. So since I still have lots to do, I shall say farewell.

I wish you all a wonderful day & happy writing!

August 22nd

Hi, It’s Christina –

D-Day has arrived. I know I said I probably would not have had time to Blog today, but I’m up, hours before we have to leave, so…

The party last night was good until the end. That’s when all the tears started. Another close friend of the family was here and she leaves for her senior year of college on Friday, and she started to cry when she found out my daughter made her a cake in her school colors to go along with the cake she made for herself. (My daughter is the one in the back with the green cake, and yes, the friend is crying while she is cutting hers.)

Not long after this, others started leaving and my daughter had to say goodbye. She had a really hard time when her aunt and cousins left. Some people ask why I did this party, and I’ll admit it, one of the reasons was purely selfish. I knew if I didn’t exhaust myself both mentally and physically yesterday I would have had too much time to sit there and dwell on the fact my baby was leaving and I knew I would fall apart. Having a house full of people, I knew I would be too busy to let it hit me.

With all the hubbub yesterday, I never had time to pack my husband’s and my stuff for the weekend, so I have that yet to do today as well as loading our car up with my daughter’s stuff. We sent some things last night in my mother’s car as well as my in-law’s car, but the rest is coming with us. It should be interesting trying to fit the refrigerator, six bins, however many miscellaneous bags as well as our weekend bags, and four people in the car.

Between the side view mirrors and the rear back-up camera, I should be able to manage, since I know the rear-view mirror will be useless. My daughter is a little embarrassed her things are taking up three cars, but if we sneak some stuff in tonight, then we can consolidate the remaining things into our car for tomorrow, and she will be ok.

I hope they allow us to help her unpack and set up her room. The way they made it sound was we drove up in front of the dorm, the upper classmen descended on the car and remove all the stuff and we drove away. Hopefully they meant drove away to a parking spot not in front of the dorm. I can’t imagine just dumping my child and her stuff on the curb and driving away. It would be cruel and unusual punishment for all of us. No use getting worked up over it now, it will be what it will be, and we’ll find out when we get there.

Ok, the sun is finally up enough that I should be able to go in my room and pack without turning on any lights and waking my hubby. Chances are I will be awake tomorrow hours before I need to be, so I will probably do a Blog entry. So until then… have a great day and happy writing!

August 21st

Hi, It’s Christina –

Early this morning I went outside to do the yard work before it got too hot. My plan was to start by mowing the backyard. I had mowed the front yard last night before it got dark. Even though it was getting too dark to mow, I thought I could do a few swipes over the backyard because the flood lights were on. Well, I guess that was a mistake. I ran over a root so I decided to stop at that point and parked the tractor. This morning, I go out and start it up, put it in gear, and it refuses to move. It won’t go forward, it won’t go backward. I killed the John Deere. Needless to say, the backyard will not be clipped for the picnic.

My hubby comes outside and I tell him the wonderful news. Yeah, he’s not too happy with me, even though I told him I found what I had run over and even if it was light out, I wouldn’t have thought twice about running it over because it wasn’t very big. I guess I just hit it wrong. Anyway, I had him start the weed whacker for me and I weed whacked until I ran out of string, and I weeded the front garden and the front yard. When all was said and done, I spent a little over three hours on the yard. By the time I came back in, I was covered in green, completely dehydrated and my arms were shaking from the vibrations of the weed whacker. They were shaking so bad I couldn’t even pour myself a drink. I took a cold shower and laid down for fifteen minutes and started to feel normal again. Then the house cleaning started.

The girls really busted their butts helping me today, so we were able to get everything finished. Now my oldest daughter is making the cakes for tonight and my youngest one is cleaning out the car. I have to go and make the one salad I’m providing (everyone else is bringing the side dishes), and then we all have to set up the tables and chairs outside. We still haven’t packed for the weekend, nor is the car loaded with my daughter’s college things yet, and guests will be arriving in a little over an hour. I’m not even sure my husband will be home from work by then.

As you see, I have too much to do to be blogging, and there definitely isn’t time to do a writing challenge, so unit Friday…have a great day and happy writing!

August 17th

Hi, it’s Christina –

Well at least today is as yucky as yesterday was or I’d really be bummed. The rest of the family put the kibosh on my staying at the house and cleaning up while they went to the movies, so we all went to see Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters. It was ok, in my opinion not as good as the first, but still enjoyable. The movie starts off really well, but then it just starts to fizzle and in the end, the monster does die just a little too easily – No, that was not a spoiler. Obviously Percy perseveres; there are several books in the series. They do get bonus points for the tie-in to the next movie, it was well done, and I want a Hippocampus! Not that I would have anywhere to keep him mind you, but I still want one.

Since I know better than to attempt pizza down here, our usual Friday fare, we gambled and went to a Chinese buffet. Nothing extraordinary, but what do you expect for $8.95? They did have one thing (other than the fried dough rolled in sugar that I’m a sucker for) which was very tasty. It was a fried ravioli, for lack of a better description, stuffed with a crabmeat and cream cheese mixture. I had three! I even asked the owner what they were and she told me how to make them. Next church progressive dinner where I have the appetizer course, guess what’s going to be on the menu…

I get a text from my sister-in-law last night asking me which sister-in-law’s house I was having dinner at Sunday night, because she wasn’t going to be back from Dorney Park until around midnight. If you don’t know me personally, you probably did not find the last statement amusing in the least. However, for those of you who do know me and my family, you are probably chuckling because you know I only have one sister-in-law. This is what I get when I just listen to what my kids tell me and I don’t verify the information with an adult. I was wondering why my sister-in-law would come home from Dorney early so we could have dinner. Needless to say there was a bit of giggling last night while we exchanged texts. Well, at least I found out she actually reads my blog. J

The house next door to us is occupied by actual owners of the home, and this rental property shares a fence with them. Along the fence is one of the most unusual flowers I have ever seen and I asked the owner if I could take a clipping and see if I can get it to grow up by me. She told me to dig up one of the shoots instead; I would probably have better luck. So I did. I hope it will take at home. Here’s what the flowers look like. Isn’t it amazing?

 

Too bad the picture doesn’t do it justice, and since it was early in the morning, the flower wasn’t opened all the way. When it is bright and sunny, all those squiggly things make it look like the flower has a lace collar. It really is lovely.

OK, coffee’s finished and it is almost time to roust the troops, so I’d better wrap up. I’m going to have them load up the car while I sweep and vacuum, then we are out of here. This time it will be a final goodbye to the Outer Banks. Sorry, I know there are a ton of OBX fans out there, I’m just not one of them. Until tomorrow…

Hope you have a Great Day and Happy Writing!