Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Not too much going on

Just chilling out and getting to know our exchange student better. She is such a delight. We got so lucky picking her. She fits into our family so nicely. Ken wants her to come back for the school year to stay longer. I wish she could as well, but I'm sure her parents are anxious to get her back. She wanted to go to an American beach so we are taking off for Topsail for a week for some fun in the sun. We weren't planning on taking any more vacation this year, but we couldn't tell her no and we love Topsail. It's so relaxing. My two sisters and their children are coming with us as well as my mom. We got a big house to fit everyone. I am so excited about going and getting away from work even though I just did a few weeks ago, but who's counting??? LOL!

I still have some pics to post from our winert trip, but they are on the computer in the bedroom Eva is staying in so I will post them after she goes home. I don't feel right about going in there now that she is staying in there with all of her stuff. I want to give her privacy.

I bought some cd's to teach us French while we are driving in the car. I must look a sight "talking" to myself as I'm driving. Oh well. Whatever works. I want to get fluent in it again before we go to Europe in 2009.

Eva and her family are moving from France back to Guadeloupe next August. She has invited us to come and stay with them. I hope we get to do that sometime. It is a beautiful island in the Carribean.

Oh well, I guess I will get back to work. Bummer! I will just keep daydreaming about sipping margaritas on the beach :)

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Our exchange student has arrived!

Eva is here and I have discovered that my French is appalling!! I haven't had to use it in years. Hubby and I used to talk to each other all the time in French and we have even played scrabble using only French before. We should have kept it up. Now I am resorting to using a French-English dictionary. Her English is pretty good though. She only gets hung up on a few words. She is a sweet girl. I won't be posting any pics of her as I don't know exactly how to ask permission from her to do that and I haven't spoken to her parents either, so I don't feel comfortable doing it. She went to an amusement park with my girls today so they could get to know each other better.

My squirrel problem is getting worse. They have figured out how to get into the rabbit cage to eat her food and they are chasing her. While Kim is away today, hubby and I are going to take care of them once and for all. It's getting ridiculous.

Well I am going to leave everyone with something a friend of mine in Australia sent to me. I thought it was nice.

Natural Highs
Think about them one at a time before going on to the next one. It Does Make You Feel Good, especially the thought at the end of #44.

1. Falling in love.
2. Laughing so hard your face hurts.
3. A hot shower.
4. No lines at the supermarket.
5. A special glance.
6. Getting mail.
7. Taking a drive on a pretty road.
8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio.
9. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.
10. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer.
11. Chocolate milkshake (vanilla or strawberry ).
12. A bubble bath.
13. Giggling.
14. A good conversation.
15. The beach.
16. Finding a 20 dollar bill in your coat from last winter.
17. Laughing at yourself.
18. Looking into their eyes and knowing they Love you
19. Midnight phone calls that last for hours.
20. Running through sprinklers.
21. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.
22. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.
23. Laughing at an inside joke with FRIENDS
24. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.
25. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to
sleep.
26. Your first kiss (the very first).
27. Making new friends or spending time with old ones.
28. Playing with a new puppy.
29. Having someone play with your hair.
30. Sweet dreams.
31. Hot chocolate.
32. Road trips with friends.
33. Swinging on swings.
34. Making eye contact with a cute stranger.
35. Making chocolate chip cookies.
36. Having your friends send you homemade cookies.
37. Holding hands with someone you care about.
38. Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good
or bad) never change.
39. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much
desired present from you.
40. Watching the sunrise.
41. Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another
beautiful day.
42. Knowing that somebody misses you.
43. Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.
44. Knowing you've done the right thing, no matter what other
people think.

Have a great week everyone!!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Some pics

I am going to break this up into more than one posting. I will start with some winery shots.

This first set is at Round Peak Winery. We loved all their wines.






These are the Merlot grapes:



These are Cabernet Franc:





Each of these barrels actually produce 300 bottles of wine, believe it or not



It was so pretty up there. It's hard to imagine that this is only a little over an hour away from me.

I will post some from another winery in my next post.

Until then.....

We are getting our foreign exchange student

She arrives this Saturday from France. We are very excited about it. She will be staying with us for a month. She is 16 and her name is Eva. Ken and Kim will be picking her up at the Charlotte airport because Stephanie and I already reservations at a spa for massages. I am really looking forward to that. I haven't had a massage in ages.

I have some pics to share from my romantic weekend getaway to the B&B and wineries. We had a very relaxing time and it was neat to visit Mt Airy, home of Andy Griffith so I guess I should call it Mayberry, lol!

I will share the photos as soon as I download them from my camera. You know it takes me a while sometimes. :)

Hope everyone is enjoying their week and that my Canadian friend Jude is feeling much better.

Talk with you soon.

Monday, July 09, 2007

A few pics from my trip to the burgh

My sister in law works for US Steel so she got us up to the 61st floor for a view from way up high.

PNC Park where the Pittsburgh Pirates play:



Heinz Field (Home of the Steelers!!)



If you look really close you can see some big white boats. They are part of a clipper fleet that you can get on to tour the rivers.



Of course, no Pittsburgh trip would be complete without a little shopping, right ladies? My girls went right to the Prada purses that cost a couple of thousand dollars. Stephanie took her picture with one. I told the sales lady that was the closest she was getting to one, lol!



We went to the quaint town of Harmony for dinner one evening and had dinner at The Harmony Inn, which was built in 1856. The original owners sold it and it was turned into a saloon/hotel for a while. Eventually it became a restaurant. There are stories that it is haunted.




This was an example of one of the many original, small homes that are still there.



We had a great trip. I love visiting my hometown, but I love getting back to NC where we belong.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Off to Pittsburgh

tomorrow for a week to visit family. I was supposed to see DL this Saturday, but my niece couldn't get tickets, so I am bummed. It would have been nice to meet Connie since she is going to that show. Oh well, maybe another time. There are still tickets left, but I can't justify spending the money right now.

My backyard is being taken over by squirrels. We have managed to coexist pretty nicely since we moved in 9 years ago, but they are becoming a pain in the ass. They are eating the dog food, trying to chew their way into our shed, and they are terrorizing my dachshund and rabbit. Hubby was going to take some out with the .22 rifle, but my youngest went berserk and insisted he couldn't kill any of them. We settled on using the BB gun for now to see if they can be frightened off. I swear these squirrels are on steroids. They are the biggest damn things I have ever seen. I guess we will work on it more when we get back.

Well, I am off to get some work done. I hope everyone has a fun filled safe 4th and Connie, get some good pics for us to drool over, lol!