photos

The other night we had the most unique experience- We were driving in the sunshine while the rain poured down on the car. It was difficult to see since it was close to sunset, but the glare was amazing. The result was this rainbow. I can not tell you what this plant is, but it has some of the most unique flowers that I have ever seen. It looks to me somewhat like a parrot.

So, I said a while ago I would post some photos...this is what we do- we garden, clean, work, and exercise...so there are not always the most exciting photos, but we do take pride in our hard work. I purchased two urns this past spring to fill with flowers and place outside the front door.

These are the fruits of our labor : ) Blackberries! And we have many of them right now.

Our lovely home office....

Quick question: Do I bring back the short do? I will get a photo of the current cut up, but have been contemplating reverting back to the shorter hair style. Thoughts? I am not sure this is the cut / photo to best represent the shorter hair, but am curious for those of you who know me with such long hair what your thoughts are.

Not a pity party

The previous post was not intended for anyone to say how great my blog is- that would be a lie- just me voicing my frustrations with the lack of interesting posts!

I do have photos and when I get to TN that will be one of my first orders of business - post photos!

I am getting excited to get away. No house cleaning, no errands to run, still a bit of work, but peace and quiet! Thank God for the Mountains - and the Mountain House! I am looking forward to visiting my piano- Did I ever share that story?

My great grandmother bought a 1936 Baby Grand Piano back around 1936 and it was then given to my grandparents- and on to my dad. A few years ago in casual conversation my dad told me he was having trouble "getting rid of it." To my complete shock he had already offered it to local churches etc., but due to the size and need for tuning etc. nobody wanted it. EXCEPT ME! Who he never really asked- I announced I would take it. Except I lived in a tiny condo in Jersey???? So, I shipped the piano to J's house in TN- and there it rests until our children (yet to be conceived) are old enough to take lessons on it. At that point I will ship it to our house and have it tuned and refinished- I truly LOVE this piano and can't believe my dad was going to just rid of it without telling me or my sister! Crazy.....so when I go to TN I usually polish it- and it drinks the polish in and then I go on my merry way- I have no idea how to play the piano, but it is a beautiful piece. I will add a photo of that to my list to post.

Traveling in less than 3 hours!

What to do.

I have considered posting multiple times over the past few weeks and decided not to since I did not have any photos to post. I did take some shots of "what we have been up to," but to be perfectly honest it is somewhat boring.
Most of my fellow bloggers have children to update photos of and their happenings- but truly how many photos can you take of me, MW and the dogs? It is pretty lame. So, I ask you, what do I post photos of? Do I continue to blog, or abandon it all together? I would hate to let the blog go, but I sometimes feel like I am just boring the population. With that said, I will post my not so exciting pictures later and let you re-evaluate. I do find this a great means for staying connected with others, but am curious if this blog is a boring as I fear it is.

In the mean time we have been getting fit- running, swimming, enjoying the community pool- A little bit of golf here and there, some yard work, and regular work. That is what our days consist of. MW got a new road bike over the weekend, so he is enjoying that- looks like he will be riding in a few upcoming races.

We are heading to TN tomorrow for a getaway. I can hardly wait.

Latta Triatholon

The first event: THE SWIM It is difficult to see the course, but it was out to the last barrel- which I don't think I can even see knowing where it was. AKA 750 meters. This photo was taken around 6am. This is the bike setup- I have a few other shots of this, but loved the way the bikes looked all lined up. It was an art how people set up there things for the transitions.

Here is MW and George getting ready to swim. The water was reportedly too warm to be refreshing. MW completed the swim in about 17 minutes. When he came out of the water we had a plan that I would try and take a photo and Julie would hand him his glasses. Of course, after swimming that far he was disoriented to the plan and looked at me with this sense of desperation for his glasses- this is the shot.-

I missed the photo of him coming in off the bike - but here he is getting started on his run. I guess the run was rocky and windy- so not too easy. Especially after a 750 meter swim and an 18 mile bike ride...

Here is the place everyone is trying to get too!

And here he is reaching the finish line- 1 hour and 41 minutes later. His goal was 1 hour 45 minutes, so he made it!

Here are the proud wives with the sweaty husbands!!!!I was careful to not touch MW (so mean I know).

I am so proud of M. I may have to try one of these sometime....

Be nice

I almost post something yesterday. There was a woman who I ran into in the office multiple times who was wearing the most ridiculous outfit- and it made me giggle a little. I was going to blog about it and then decided not to.
She obviously got up and ready for work and felt she looked nice- and presentable to go to work. WHO AM I to make fun of that? It is not my place to laugh or joke at someone else's expense. So, I refrain.

The bike didn't sell. We have some great leads, but we came up $300 short of our reserve on E-bay. We will see what happens with the leads and if those don't pan out probably post it again.

MW's triathlon is Sunday. I am not sure I will be able to go, but we will see. If I do I will take a photo to post.

Last chance

Hopefully, next week at this time our bike will be sold! Last night I spent an hour and a half posting this bike to Ebay because somebody else in the house (who will go unnamed) has been putting it off for over a year now!

I took it upon myself to post not realizing how much time it would take. The good news is 12 hours later there is a bid- it did not reach the minimum bid yet, but it at least means people are looking at it. So, I will take that as positive news.

Monday night I sold a volvo accessory on Craigslist which motivated me to get the bike sold. If you have never used Craigslist I recommend you check it out.

Notice our nice green grass! Note I will not show you the drought stricken front yard. For whatever reason the back and side yard came back beautifully while the front yard looks like junk.

Keep your fingers crossed that this baby goes!

Happy Monday

Summer hit over the weekend and I was blown away by the blast of hot air! I finally broke down after a long experiment and turned on the AC. I was trying to see how long I could go without AC or heat and how low I could get the energy bills. I ended up not using AC or Heat for a long time. Exact timing I am not sure, but I think the heat has been off for two months now and the AC did not come on until unofficially May 24th and officially May 31st. I turned the AC on when my sister was here since she was unable to open the windows at night while sleeping since there are no screens on the front of the house. It was not until Saturday that I declared the weather too darn hot to be comfortable indoors. The dogs looked at me like I was a freak on Saturday as they were panting in the house. I felt similar to them and broke down. The house is now officially closed up to keep it cool.

We had a yard sale on Saturday- got rid of a bunch of junk- unfortunately, we were not as lucky as our yard sale back in Oklahoma. We did not sell the Harley. Some of you may remember that we sold our Truck at a yard sale in Oklahoma. I guess that is another item to add to the "only in Oklahma" list.

We are pretty boring otherwise- I have committed to something very freightening though- A 1/2 marathon - but it is not for a LONG time. December. K Toth if you are interested- I know you will crush me, but I would love for you to come over with the Kevin and the kids for the race if you are interested. We are only about a 6 hour drive from you.

MW is competing in his first triathlon in about two weeks. Yikes. It is a sprint triathlon, but they are still no joke. I have been swimming with him to help him get ready - 750 meters a pop. He is quick- and competitive. He drives me nuts. He races me - and I get so angry. He swims slightly faster, but if I speed up so he doesn't lap me he speeds up and before we know if we are all out racing. So annoying : )

No new photos. maybe soon...