Quick trip to Charlottesville

Following Trevor's recent MRI, we drove up to Charlottesville to review the results with Trev's doctor. UVA is huge, a mind-boggling sea of people, buildings, and endless construction.

However, we are in a side building, and I landed a front row parking spot.

The appointment went well and included a lot of words like lobulated, hemangioma and partial-lymphangioma. Because the majority of growth is on top of the lip muscle, the doctor won't be able to get to it from Trevor's mouth. Instead, he will cut along Trev's lip line, which will minimize scarring. We have a tentative surgery date at the end of October. Now we can navigate/negotiate and everything else with the insurance company, which I don't even want to think about.

Charlottesville is a beautiful town, and I would love to take the time to spend a day enjoying it. The history of this entire area (oh, just the entire east!) continues to amaze me. Home to Jefferson's Monticello and James Monroe's Ash Lawn-Highland, in 2004, Sperling's named Charlottesville the Best Place to Live in the U.S.

I happily took the opportunity to play tourist!

We have three regular stops whenever we go out of town: Kohl's, Q-Doba, and McDonald's (either for the bathroom or iced coffee). Do you want to guess which two we made on this trip?

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Q-Doba!

Now that VA has closed a few rest stops along I-81,
this place is even more appealing...

Back one week to Trev's birthday

There was Lego. And then there was more Lego.

Trevor works best with the noise of the tv. Go figure!

For the second year in a row, Trevor requested Husband Delight for dinner. I'm wondering if we should rename it "Son Delight" just for him. I was very pleased with the way his camouflage birthday cake turned out.


Marble cake mix, with part of the white cake dyed green. Next time I'll use the dye paste for more vibrant color in the frosting.


And there was a little more Lego.


It was a really sweet day. I can't believe my baby is 11.

(That would be Trevor, not Robert!)

Back two weeks to my birthday

(I can always wait when it comes to my birthday!)

We celebrated a little early by taking in the baseball game, as I had to work on my birthday. We also got my birthday present a little early, knowing I'd get money to put towards my gift: a new laptop! Yay!!!!!



It's about 5000 times faster than the old computer, I'm not exaggerating. Robert and the kids bought me a wireless mouse, but I forgot that I was supposed to be taking a photo of it here too. The mouse has been very helpful in gaining me higher Bejeweled scores, and I'm not exaggerating about that either!

Although I had to work, my wonderful boss gave me this lovely Willow Tree piece. She did not know that I have a small collection. It was such a nice surprise. If I had to work on my birthday, at least I work at a great place with sweet people.



My family came to work and brought me McDonald's for dinner and a giant tiramisu for dessert. No candles, but we didn't need to keep the fire dept. on call.

Robert and the kids also gave me a license plate frame for my car.



Oh yeah, and I guess my car was sort of my present. LOL.

It was a very good birthday. One nice thing about getting older is that I kind of forget how old I really am. And that's very good too.

The good, the bad, and the bloggy

With Debbie's family's visit yesterday, I realized a few more aspects of blogging. It can be good, and it can be, well, a little embarrassing.

I felt like I already knew Deb's family. I know stories about them, know their ages, know their smiles. (And let me say that the joy on their faces that Debbie captures in her photos is just as they are in real life!)

Trevor spent some time yesterday morning scrolling through Debbie's lovely blog, looking specifically for pictures of Gabe, happy to see for himself that they shared much more in common than the obvious Legos!

On the negative side, however, I was ever so slightly (as in majorly) mortified when Debbie reminded her kids to close the lid on the toilet. Remembering my post from over two years ago, she knows that I have a thing about toilet lids. This is NOT the way I want to be remembered! How can I work on that? haha

Oh, there's probably more I could say, but I'm sure I've already conveniently forgotten. :D

The one where we meet Debbie's family!

I have met several of my loopy friends, and I was especially excited to meet Debbie and her family. Debbie and I first met eight years ago online. Debbie's two oldest kids are close in age with my two. We've also been part of a smaller list together, and we're part of a small Bible study group. They were camping several hours away but were eager to make the drive to our house!

Holly and Bess hung out and did some girlie things.


Trevor and Gabe disappeared into Trevor's room to talk, and play with Legos and DS, coming out only to feed a little. Okay, a lot.


Dan, Hannah and Rachel ran between the other kids and the grown ups.


Robert swapped stories with Brian . . .


. . . and squashed little kids.


Even Grace and Lucky played together.


And Debbie and I just enjoyed each other and enjoyed watching our families make their own friendships!


It was a SUPER fun afternoon. It's always wonderful to meet other loopies, but it's even more special to visit with a long time cherished friend who has been a blessing in my life, whose entire family seemed like a natural fit around my own.


Debbie, Brian, Bess, Gabe, Rachel, Hannah, Dan....thank you for sharing a part of your vacation with us, and for sharing your family with ours!!

I love my loopy list, I love my loopy friends. :)

Weekly menu

Husband Delight
turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, ?
?
cheeseburgers, onion rings, salad
nacho dogs
breakfast (scrambled eggs, fried potatoes, sausage, fruit)
breakfast burritos
church bbq
Ree's Lemon Pasta
something Mexican with avocados....

Cake of the Week: Trevor's Camo Birthday Cake

On the back burner:Easy Peanut Butter Fudge, thanks again to Heather
chicken fajitas
Marlboro Man Sandwiches, creamy orange jello
frito pie
beef shoulder filets (whatever that is!)
grilled flank steak (with flat iron steak)
chicken sausage
Rachael Ray's chicken sausage, cheesy cauliflower, beans
Bobby Flay's fish tacos, and sweet and spicy kettle corn

A busy week

• We celebrated my birthday!
• Public schools started the new year. In a backwards way, I was totally blessed by this. I am SO glad that my kids are home. We have never regretted this continued decision to school our kids ourselves, and I am grateful that this has been God's path for our family. (So far, haha.)
• Trevor spent a day with a friend. They went putt-putt golfing and bumper boating. They went swimming at a private swim club. (I have to say that in this town, it's a pool surrounded by cement, surrounded by a chain link fence, but it is "private," and it has a diving board!) They ended the afternoon visiting the friend's grandfather. His backyard includes an iron furnace dating from 1770. According to papers filed with the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, it is "one of the oldest and best preserved iron furnaces in the Commonwealth," and the original owner, John Donelson, was the father of Andrew Jackson's wife Rachel. The boys dug up slag, which Trevor proudly brought home. It was all very exciting for Trev!
• On Thursday, another family called, saying they had a birthday present for Trevor, and asked if they could come by. The three boys had fun all afternoon, mostly playing Legos, and playing outside, while I enjoyed chatting with their mom.
  
• Holly was invited by a friend to the Jonas Brothers concert in Charlotte, NC. It was her first concert, and the girls had a blast not only at the concert but also by spending the night in a hotel and shopping in the city (all with the friend's mom).
• Trevor had a good friend over to celebrate Trevor's birthday. Robert and Trevor toured a local air traffic control tower when picking up the friend at his dad's work. Tall buildings, airplanes, radar screens....all great fun. They enjoyed the movie G-Force, came home to play Legos and video games, and had a sleepover.
• Meanwhile, when I haven't been at work, I've been baking: chocolate chip bar cookies, blueberry muffins, and a birthday cake for Trevor. This is big for me, because while I enjoy cooking, I'm not a big baker. Pictures of the cake will be posted soon!
  

Ball game!

We finally made it to a Salem Red Sox game last weekend! Appropriately named, this is a farm team of the Boston Red Sox.


Trevor's most favorite part of the entire night was the small animal exhibit on display from the local zoo. I can't remember what else they brought, as we were fascinated by this 18 year old screech owl.


We've been to both Colorado Rockies and Sky Sox games. While the major league games are exciting, I much prefer the atmosphere of the minors.


It's not even so much the game that's the fun part--it's nice just to hang out together, enjoy the weather, eat junk food, and have something to watch if necessary.



It's not that pricey either, which is a good thing. The team's not very good, but we didn't care. It was a great night out.

Holly wins a poetry contest!

After much persuasion, and at the last minute, Holly entered a poetry contest for teens. She won first prize, a $50 gift card to Barnes & Noble! The funny thing is that while she loves to write, she doesn't write poetry.

She stands in the park
never moving
never breathing
Children laugh
and run around her
Birds flutter by
to rest on her arms
Her eyes are dull and lifeless
Her skin a pale gray
cold, carved from stone
She stands in the park
never moving
never breathing
Forever there
never leaving
A statue

Blog tour and book review - The Friends We Keep by Sarah Zacharias

Ah, this book is one of many in my "To Read" stack. I haven't read it yet, but I requested my courtesy copy from WaterBrook Press because it looked like a great read. For the past many years, friendships have been a tougher path to navigate. I want them, but I don't have a lot of time to devote. I'm sure that's why so many of us loopies drew together through our big hs list, one more big common factor. I still treasure these ladies with whom I've built lifelong friendships, mostly via the internet, and I am grateful for the times we've been able to meet up in person. But back to the book--it's definitely of interest to me.

Publisher's Summary:

During a particularly painful time in her life, Sarah Zacharias Davis learned how delightful–and wounding–women can be in friendship. She saw how some friendships end badly, others die slow deaths, and how a chance acquaintance can become that enduring friend you need.

The Friends We Keep is Sarah’s thoughtful account of her own story and the stories of other women about navigating friendship. Her revealing discoveries tackle the questions every woman asks:

• Why do we long so for women friends?
• Do we need friends like we need air or food or water?
• What causes cattiness, competition, and co-dependency in too many friendships?
• Why do some friendships last forever and others only a season?
• How do I foster friendship?
• When is it time to let a friend go, and how do I do so?

With heartfelt, intelligent writing, Sarah explores these questions and more with personal stories, cultural references and history, faith, and grace. In the process, she delivers wisdom for navigating the challenges, mysteries, and delights of friendship: why we need friendships with other women, what it means to be safe in relationship, and how to embrace what a friend has to offer, whether meager or generous.

Author Bio:

Sarah Zacharias Davis is a senior advancement officer at Pepperdine University, having joined the university after working as vice president of marketing and development for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and in strategic marketing for CNN. The daughter of best-selling writer Ravi Zacharias, Davis is the author of the critically-acclaimed Confessions from an Honest Wife and Transparent: Getting Honest About Who We are and Who We Want to Be. She graduated from Covenant College with a degree in education and lives in Los Angeles, California.

For more information on this book, visit Random House.

More book reviews/notes

I'm not even considering these "reviews," I think I'm leaning more toward "notes" at this point!

Fatally Flaky by Diane Mott Davidson

I've faithfully read every book in the Goldy Schulz Culinary Mysteries since the beginning. The series has had its ups and downs, and this 15th installment is definitely a down, one of my least two favorite books in the series.

Diane Mott Davidson has killed off enough of the citizens of Aspen Meadow and is now inventing characters from Goldy's past. One of the murder victims is Goldy's dearly beloved godfather, who has been glaringly absent from any previous book.

My biggest complaint with this book is the number of swear words. I don't always read G rated books, but I've always appreciated how squeaky clean Goldy is, confident that I could hand these books over to anyone without warning. Not so here. I'm wondering what Davidson had in mind, as this is such a deviation from her earlier writing. Perhaps it's time to move on from Goldy and create a new character and storyline.

It's enough to make me not look forward to book 16.


Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman

I grabbed this book at the library because of the "Book Club" sticker, indicating this is an area book club selection.

Fadiman's casual references to Pliny, Petrarch, and Epictetus, along with her use of poetic words such as hegemony, epigrammatic, and elegiac left me both exhilarated and wanting a good dictionary. I wish I had time to read through this lovely collection of essays more slowly, to truly enjoy the author's engaging humor.

An editorial review calls this book an extended love letter to language. I agree wholeheartedly.


Heaven Is Real: Lessons on Earthly Joy--from the Man Who Spent 90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper

This book is a sequel to Piper's 90 Minutes in Heaven, which I enjoyed. This is also an interesting read, following up on how his life has changed since he was hit by a truck and died in 1989. If you liked the first book, you'll appreciate this one.

Look what I won!

Thanks to Camille, who was hosting this giveaway.



We can't wait to give it a try in the next few days! YUM!

Monday

...as we waited for Mackenzie's plane to take her home.

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"Happiness is time spent with a friend
and looking forward to sharing time
with them again."
L. Wilkinson

Earlier this week...

The moon was setting through the trees when I woke up.



Moonset.



Sunrise.

Oatmeal Cookies

The Best Oatmeal Cookies

3 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 c. raisins
1 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
2-1/2 c. flour
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
2 t. baking soda
2 c. oatmeal
3/4 c. chopped walnuts

Beat eggs well in small bowl; stir in vanilla and raisins. Cover and let soak for one hour. **This is the secret to these cookies!**

Cream butter and sugars together. Add flour, cinnamon, salt, and soda, and mix well. Add oatmeal, egg mixture, and nuts; dough will be stiff, but this will blend together.

Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 12 mins. until lightly browned. Let cookies cool 1-2 mins. on cookie sheet before moving to cooling rack.

Makes 6 dozen.

Trevor made ice cream sandwiches!

Roanoke City Market

We headed up to City Market today. Started in 1882, it's the oldest continuously operating open air market in Virginia. It was a nice little walk past the various vendors, mostly fruits, vegetables, and crafts. It'd be a great place to go for Christmas shopping.

Wachovia Tower is the largest building in western Virginia.

We had plans for an Indian buffet lunch. I've wanted to go for a few years, and I'm glad we went, although it wasn't as good as our favorite places in Colorado Springs.

We took our plates through, with small samples to see what we liked. I asked Holly what was on her plate. "Chicken," she replied. "It's gross, too much bone."

Yeah, well, it looked suspiciously like the GOAT dish, but I didn't tell her that. Yet.

Oops! She was reading the BACK sign, but she was eating the FRONT dish. LOL, a funny first, and I'm guessing a last also!


We wandered through another store or two and headed for home.


It was a nice couple of hours, and fun to check out new places.

Fun Thursday

After mulling over several choices of places to go today, the girls decided that we would visit a paint-your-own-pottery store.


Holly and Mackenzie opted for identically patterned tiles, knowing that their different color choices would make the tiles unique.


Although the tiles weren't large, there was quite a bit of intricate and careful painting.


Trevor spent his time painting a much larger shark.


We were there for a couple of hours, and the kids all had a good time. Before we'd even walked out the door, Trevor was asking when we could come back.

We took advantage of Mill Mountain for a photo op, even though the humidity blurred the view.



We saw a sign on the star, advising of a webcam, so we called Mackenzie's mom to watch us waving to her on the internet. (That was FUN!)


We hopped on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a shortcut towards home, stopping at Dairy Queen on the way.


And one last stop at the library to pick up a couple of movies, and then home for dinner (as if anyone had room for dinner, lol). It was a Very Good Day.

On my nightstand....

Yikes. This is what I'm waiting to read, and it doesn't even include what I'm already reading!

Rite of passage

I go through life pretty oblivious, so I was thrown completely off guard a few days ago when Holly asked if she and her friend could shop at the mall alone. Alone? Alone? Honestly, it never crossed my mind. I guess I thought Holly would want to shop with me forever.

So the girls took off.


And I hid in a corner, complete with caffeine and entertainment....



A fun way to spend a little time, and I did just fine too.


(But they look a little sad and lonely, don't you think?)

Trip to Raleigh

Rob, Trevor and I headed to Raleigh yesterday to pick up Holly and Mackenzie. Because of space issues, we'd been planning to take the van. At the last minute, we changed our minds and took the fun car. Yay!



It's a three hour drive, and we made a couple of stops on the way. It's part of the fun of the trip, since we don't have these places in Roanoke.



We planned it perfectly for dinner too!



We settled in at our hotel.



It was in the 90s and muggy. We had a good thunderstorm, and praise the Lord for stopping the rain before I had to leave to meet their 11:00 flight. I don't know the area well at all.



The terminal had shut down for the night, and I was unable to meet the girls at the gate (the airline will give a security pass to meet minors traveling alone, even if they have an adult ticket). It's such a wonderfully small airport, so that wasn't a big deal.



Armed with my GPS AND a detailed map, we headed for the 24 hour Walmart to grab some food for the girls and candy for all of us.



We made it back to the hotel after midnight. The kids and I ate and chatted while Robert tried to sleep (I guess somewhat successfully?).



We were up at 7 a.m. Hilarious, since Holly on a good day will wake up at 9, and she was still on Denver time. We ate breakfast downstairs, and since no one wanted to swim, we got an early start back home...after stopping at a few more stores.



And no, Trevor did not get to adopt a kitty!



It was a bit of a squeeze in the car, particularly the back seat. It is GOOD to be home!