Hiking Kicks My Butt

I went camping with Duncan's cub scout pack this weekend -- we actually went early Friday night with two other families, and then the rest of the pack showed up Saturday morning. We went to Stone Mountain State Park, which is about an hour north of us, almost to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Saturday afternoon we went and hiked to a historic homestead in the park, and then on to the Stone Mountain Falls. For all of you in Idaho, who posted falls pictures last week, here's mine!

It was an almost 2 mile hike in to the falls from the parking lot (a moderate trail), so we did close to a four mile round trip. I am SOOO sore this afternoon. Duncan went with Comfort and his dad and did the strenuous loop that goes OVER the mountain top, so they did probably five miles. The kids slept GREAT that night -- I don't think Duncan's head made it to the pillow before he fell asleep. Here are some of the local wildlife we saw on our way from the camping area to the falls. They were just RIGHT beside the road! And they'd look at you as if to say "Yes?!"








Duncan listed his top five moments from the trip for me on the way home.

1. Walking to the Falls
2. The Creek
3. 'Smores
4. Ghost Stories by the Campfire
5. Going to the top of the mountain

I think we had a pretty good trip!

Thursday Thirteen for 4/27

Thirteen Things I'm Looking Forward to in Gatlinburg 1. Finally Meeting my FTS buddies in person. 2. Going out for a nice dinner with "the girls" (& the two hubbies coming along) 3. A few days of NO KIDS 4. Visting OberGatlinburg to see the view from up high (if the group doesn't go, I will!) 5. Working on our circle journals while we are there 6. Not cooking 7. Visting the ENORMOUS Scrapbook store nearby 8. A mini-vacation 9. The mountains 10. Swimming in the largest indoor pool in the smokies 11. Putt Putt 12. Several hours each way of only MY music on the radio 13. Memories Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Tuesday Titterings

Is titterings a word? I'm really liking the blog makeover! For those of you who have asked, I got the blogroll thingy from Courtney, and you can find it at www.blogrolling.com.

It's been an unusual week so far -- I had to go to Charlotte for work Monday so I only have four days at my office this week. I just picked up a new project that is going to slam me for a while. Today was our annual "cleanup" day -- they provide cleaning supplies, and extra trash bins for us to "clean". Tomorrow is my tenth wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe we've been married for that long -- I've been with Charles 1/4 of my life! We'll celebrate in the romantic manner of attending church fellowship dinner; both kids have choir practice tomorrow and sing in two more weeks, so we really can't skip.

Friday after work I leave to take Duncan on the Cub Scout Pack camping trip. We are going about 90 minutes away to a state park, and we'll camp for two nights. The pack doesn't show up til Saturday, but there are 3 or 4 families headed up Friday.

That's all the "titterings" I can think of for today. Catch y'all later in the week!

For My Friends That Scrap

I've been a member of a scrapbooking list since before Connor was born. We are getting together this year in Gatlinburg, TN. Here's the ticker for our trip!





I can hardly wait!!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Favorite Survivors (In No Particular Order)! 1. Rupert 2. Brian 3. Elisabeth 4. Rob C. 5. Cirie 6. Kathy 7. Stephanie 8. Lea (Sarge) 9. Alicia 10. Teresa 11. Rodger 12. Rudy 13. Twila Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Coming Soon....

to this blog is a new look! I just now have to get my customization in so it works. Right now it says "Your Blog Title" no matter what I do... so gotta figure that out. But soon!

Edited: I figured out the above problem -- it's a GIF I have to modify. But the new template is up with a few tweaks still to go! If you want to see where I got it, look at the left side for the "girliebits" link!

Temporary Makeover

OK, this is just temporary... I've found a free template I like and am waiting to see if the lady will let me have the code, but I couldn't stand the lighthouse another day.

It's back to status quo with both kids home -- fights about who sits where, which plate they get to eat off, etc.

Quickie

Duncan is home from spring break at Dot Dot's. It got warm enough here to turn on the air conditioning, and I have to go back to work tomorrow. I'm ready for another vacation week! Stay tuned for a better entry and a makeover of the blog, as soon as I figure out what I want. I did add a better link (using blogroll) so look for that to expand!

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things about my Camping Trip this week! 1. The kids had a marvelous time! 2. The new tent is great. 3. Jodi makes an awesome pork shoulder on the grill. 4. All five kids loved the jumping pillow at the playground. 5. I'll never EVER camp again without my air mattress. 6. You need to dress kids warmly to sleep even if they have good sleeping bags as they wiggle out during the night. 7. Don't presume that a campground that sells firewood will actually have any. 8. Fishing rocks, even if you haven't been for 25 years. 9. Fishing rocks even if you don't catch any. 10. I need to bring breakfast stuff for my kids -- they had a hard time waiting until the cooked breakfast was done. 11. There are bugs in April. 12. Being outdoors makes for great scrapbooking pictures. 13. I'm ready to go again. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Quirky?

I have Courtney beat, but can't hold a candle to Melissa!

Your Quirk Factor: 55%

You're a pretty quirky person, but you're just normal enough to hide it. Congratulations - you've fooled other people into thinking you're just like them!

How Quirky Are You?

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things about my training class (4 Roles of Leadership) this week 1. Steven Covey is a very wise man. 2. Training always rejuvenates me about work, and helps bring back my focus. 3. People that you have "awe" about at work make some of the same mistakes you do when in training -- makes me feel NORMAL. 4. I really do have some great leadership qualities 5. Shaving one hour off my day by starting at 9am instead of 8am makes the day SOOO much shorter. 6. I have a great team -- when I'm away from the office I'm allowed to be "away" and not bugged. 7. I am capable of being a high performer, in the right job. 8. I'm not positive the new stuff I'm working on is the right job. 9. I REALLY need to talk to my boss about this when we get back to the office. 10. The cafeteria at the center building is better and cheaper than ours. 11. It's great to work for a company that is committed to growing my skills. 12. For the first time in a while, I'm looking forward to going to work on Friday. 13. Classes are always better when you get out a little early on the last day! Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Melissa 2. Courtney

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

The Nana

Please stop by The Nana's blog and wish her a speedy recovery; she had emergency surgery recently and is on the mend.

Home Page?

Suddenly I'm shopping for a new home page for when I launch my browser. I've used "My Lycos" for years -- I could add a list of links rather than storing them in my favorites... it showed news, movie listings etc. They suddenly discontinued the service yesterday. I'm SO annoyed. Anyone have any suggestions on another service that does that?

I had a killer grocery shopping day today. Food Lion had a sale on frozen pizzas... Tombstone Pizza was 5 for $10 -- thats a great deal when you have a pizza fiend in the house. Edy's Ice Cream, Klondike bars and something else were also on that sale. I got $214 worth of groceries for $154. I thought I did good!

Our weekend plans have shifted unexpectedly -- Charles was supposed to visit Lisa/Bob this afternoon and their son Connor has strep, so that fell through. Our friend Mike had his two year old in the emergency room for dehydration so he won't be in church tomorrow. It's such a lovely day though -- I had gotten up really early when Connor woke us up and then Charles snored and I couldn't get back to sleep so I took a lovely nap this afternoon with the windows open and the ceiling fan going.

Tonite I hope to match some Scrap Addict kits up with pictures -- I'm going to a big crop on 4/14 and I have nothing prepared.

And on a more somber, but uplifting note... ever since friend Shawn lost Reese to complications from a bone marrow transplant, I've followed several kids through the Caring Bridge network of sites about children in treatment. This is a sad one, but Cam's parents are so grounded, and so uplifting as they hold Cam close while he loses his battle with neuroblastoma... go read if you can handle it. These parents have taught me alot about what is important, and about enjoying what God gives you while you have it.