Going on a Journey... I'm Not Scared

Well everyone, I am going away for a few days. This morning I shall embark on a journey to see a good friend of mine. Stephanie lives in Binghamton and is eagerly awaiting my arrival sometime this afternoon. I haven't seen Steph in a couple years and we always seem to have trouble getting together. So, naturally, her place is one of my first stops on my two week vacation. We have to get together when we can you know. I shall not be back in the area again till Wednesday, but don't miss me too much. I'll probably see you during my vacation too. I'll try to remember my camera this time. Especially since last time I went away with Adam, we forgot the camera. (Arg!!) Well, see you all soon... have a good coupla days till I return. Lots of love to all!

No Time for Play

Hello there! After a long week of not blogging (I had better things to do like, um, work...), I have finally come to it. I had a VERY busy week... It started last Saturday by going to the Public Market and buying good fruits and veggies. Lettuce, potatos, onions, cherries, etc... Oh and a bargain of organic broccoli for $1.00... Very good buy. It was because of the rainy weather... that the man sold it to us for so cheap. After the Market excursion, Adam and I decided to drop everything and become world travelers for the weekend. We drove down to Corning and took a tour of the glass museum. Very cool and old stuff there. They have quite a vast collection of glass artifacts dating back before the time of Christ. We spent the night down there at a hotel and then on Sunday we drove up to Watkins Glen and walked up the gorge. I highly recommend this state park to all... except if you don't like walking. The last set of stairs really wore me out! I almost didn't make it... But after a bottle of water and a giant icey at the top, I was ready to walk all the way back down. Good excercise. Yup.

Then we come to my long week of waitressing. You see one of the girls who waitresses during the day went to Europe with her family this week and that left the other two of us to fill in for her. So Tricia and I worked together everyday this week. And it was a very busy week too. I believe it was so busy because for the next two weeks the restaurant will be closed as our boss, Mary, was leaving for Greece this week in addition to the other waitress being gone. It was just best for us to close for a couple weeks than to have Tricia and I dying of exhaustion working nonstop for three weeks till Peg got back from Eurpoe. (Is everyone following this okay?) So needless to say, I have had to time to blog, visit with friends or family (except Hannah, when she went with me to get my oil changed on Wednesday after work), go swimming, clean the house, walk the cat or anything like that. Speaking of which I should go back to cleaning my house. And next week (my first week of vacation) I am going to visit my friend Stephanie in Binghamton for a few days. All by myself. That should be fun...

By the way, the picture at the top of the page was merely for your entertainment and because I have had no time to visit friends this week. That's what the next two weeks are for. And for visiting my Mom and Grandparents and such... You never know, I may come to visit you next!

Yuck

Today I don't feel good, but I have to go to work :(

Butterflies and other Bugs

Today I went to teach my dear young friends. Here, in the picture, you can see Katherine (in the back), Rebekah and Josiah working very hard on their schoolwork. We are trying to finish our workbooks before the next school year begins. They will have to do many pages but I think we can do it. Today we did something different in the afternoon. I had gone to the library yesterday and borrowed several books about butterflies. I had been inspired last week by all the butterflies flying around at the kids home. Josiah and Katherine seemed especially interested in them, so I thought maybe we could learn about them a little. All the kids (even the older ones) sat around the table reading or at least looking at the books. I told Katherine and Rebekah (and whoever else happened to be listening) about metamorphosis. How the caterpillar changes into a chrysalis and then into a butterfly. They thought that was pretty cool. Joe spent most of the time looking at the Insects and Spiders book. Everyone wanted to see that one. Joe asked me if next time I could bring a book about frogs and fish. They are currently his biggest passion. We didn't study a lot, but I think the kids all took away little nuggets about butterflies or some other kind of insects. They asked me if I could bring the Insects and Spiders book back next time. When I got home tonight, I looked it up on Amazon.com and found for sale for as little as 50 cents. Looked like a good gift to me... Can't wait to get it in the mail so I can bring it over for them!

Pulling Weeds 'n stuff

Yesterday, after a long day with the kids I teach (we had a vacation day and played outside in the little pool and with the hose), I went over to my parents house for supper. Adam had to work overtime again and I didn't feel like being home by myself. They were glad to share some supper with me and I was glad to have thier company. I helped Mom in the garden a little after dinner... There are Japanese Beetles eating the beans in her vegetable garden. They are bad news. Mom took a little can with bleach in it to put the beetles in as she picked them off the plants. Bleach is bad for bugs. We picked some blueberries (first of the season). They were sooo good. Soon I shall have to bring some home to share with Adam. He loves blueberries. I also weeded around the beets a bit and in the flower garden. Weeding always makes my hands dirty. But it does help make the garden pretty, so I guess I don't mind too much. Anyway, I'm always glad for the chance to help out in Mom's garden because I don't have one of own and I don't really have enough time at the moment to take care of a garden all by myself even if I did have one. Was that a run on sentence? Oh well... So if you live not too far from my parents, stop by and get some blueberries... cause them are good... and say hello to everyone for me...

Eliza Jane

Yesterday Elisabeth came over. She is my good friend. This blog is dedicated to her... Now I shall name thirteen things about her because it is Thursday.

1) I met Elisabeth at the homeschool gym night when I was 10 and she was nine.

2) The first thing I said to her was "Um, your fly's undone..."

3) She invited me to her 10th birthday party.

4) One of our favorite games used to be "push each other in the snowbank" or "push each other off the picnic bench."

5) We always used to get together for birthdays.

6) Once, Liz got me a beanie-baby snake for my birthday.

7) I used to call her "Eliza Jane."

8) We liked to bake and decorate cakes together when we were younger.

9) We drifted when we got older, but then started hanging out more often again later.

10) Liz always liked cats. But the neighborhood dogs were a pain.

11) She was one of my best bridesmaids.

12) And is one of my best friends.

13) There is no one quite like Liz. She's a special! And she's good at playing Snood too.

Ellie Mae Clampett Rides Again

Well folkes, now here's a good story...

It happened on Monday that a few farmer men came to a restaurant. (Now I'm about to tell you why Ellie Mae Clampett doesn't make a good waitress, so be prepared.) And this was a quaint little restaurant, so these farmer men caused quite a stir. Because, you see, they happened to be driving Jed Clampett's very own vehicular automobile- complete with three old, dirty white vinal seats with the stuffing coming through the worn out sides, a turn crank to start the engine, kerosine headlamps, no roof or sides so Granny and Jethro could fit all their favorite redneckish items in when they go camping and, best of all, an old horn that went "ah-ooo-ga!" Now I'm not sure how they acquired this old beast, but it sure beat all! Maybe Jed sold it to 'em after he moved out West, when he heerd these farmers needed some help haulin in them ripe cherries. Or maybe he used it to cross the Genesee and couldn't get it back to California 'cause it wouldn't pass inspection. I don't know, but any how it was a beaut. So these old farmer men drove up to this little restaurant for lunch... as they usually do, and parked thier little car right in front of the diner. All who went in and out of the place for lunch that day would stop and stare and gawk. Now, Ellie Mae was workin' that day, as a little waitress. There she was rushin' around gettin people there food as quick as she could, trying to keep up with the lunch crowd as it was quite busy. She was getting rather curious why there was a crowd of people gathring round the windows and peered out for herself and took a look. By golly, there was the most perty little car ever! Fit all up with white fluffy seats. Some were saying the seats needed replacing, but Ellie Mae thought they looked just fine. Ooo, her heart started beating, and she just wanted to take that little car for a spin. It was quite a distraction to her while trying to serve food to the hungry townsfolke. But she consentrated the best as she could, and soon the tables began to empty and the restaurant cleared out a bit. The farmers were still there finishing thier noon-time meal, and Ellie Mae's boss comented how she woulda liked to have taken a ride in Jed Clampett's own car. "Oh," whispered Ellie. "So woulda I." Soon the farmers were leaving to go back to work. The boss walked over and asked 'em about taking a ride sometime. Oh sure, they didn't mind. They'd give her a ride right now if she liked. Ellie Mae spoke up and requested that they come back when she was ready to leave, so she could go for a ride as well. Her boss said, "Oh, come on! It'll only be 10 minutes. Everything will be fine. The other waitress'll take care of eveything!" Ellie Mae was so excited! She dropped everything just at the thought of riding in such a perty car. Her heart pounded with joy as she and her boss climbed up and plopped themselves in the middle bench seat. They had to hold on tight, cause there weren't any doors to hold them in if they were to fall. "AH-ooo-ga!" went the horn. And off they went. Ellie Mae quickly forgot any of her waitressing duties as they drove off. Around the corner they went and then onto the highway. "Oh," thought Ellie Mae. "If only my friends, or at least someone I knew, could see me now! What fun I coulda have!" It was a short ride, but long enough for thoroughly enjoying. Soon they were back at the restaurant. Ellie Mae cheerfully walked in ready to go back to work. She peered around the corner. There was a lady sitting at a table. Quickly Ellie went through her memory. That lady was there before... I took her order... she wanted coffee, a salad and a pocket special. She now has coffee and a salad. I got her neither. Oh my goodness. I musta completely forgot 'bout her. The other waitress must've gotten the salad and coffee. She walked quickly up to the lady whe was sipping her coffee. "I see the other waitress got your salad for you?" "Yes," the lady quickly replied. "And she got me my salad, took my order and she'll get the tip too." "Oh, I'm terribly sorry..." Ellie wasn't quite sure what to say. How had she managed to drop the ball and drop it so badly? She mumbled a few words and a dozen apologies, but how could she make up for lack of professionalism? Of consideration? Of anything???

The excitement of her joy ride quickly faded into the past...

Genesee County Airshow

The airshow is always fun to go to and it has really cool planes!

Birthday Night Out

Boy, now that my novel is over, I don't know where to start.... This picture was taken Thursday night over the Genesee River. We all had gotten together and went out for Elisabeth's "birthday". Birthday is in quotes because she actually had her birthday two weeks prior. Oh well, better late than never. From the left to the right: Carissa, Emily, myself, Roxanne and Elisabeth. We had gone to Dinasoar BBQ for dinner. Pretty good food... and good times too. It was very nice to enjoy their company. After dinner we drove to a fancy ice cream parlor where they mix your ice cream right before your eyes. It was really cool and quite expensive. But it was Liz's birthday... so it was ok to splurge, right? I had Cocao Cabana Banana. Banana ice cream with bananas, fudge, yellow cake and whipped cream. Mmm, mmm good. On our way home we stopped at Kohls and looked through the 70% off rack for cool clothes. Sometimes it's nicer to go shopping with friends... usually I go by myself. The only thing is that sometimes you can be encouraged to buy more useless things. Like me... I ended up returning almost all of what I had bought. But it was fun none-the-less. I'm just glad I don't live too far from Kohls... and so is my husband.

The Fifth and Final Chapter of my Novel

Well, by now the fifth day of my five day weekend has past. I'm back to work, but I thoroughly enjoyed my weekend. My last day of freedom consisted of waking up at a decent time because my Dad called to wake me up. Okay, so he didn't call to wake me up, he called to see what my plans were for the day. Dad was going to be working around the corner from me, and he wondered if I would like to do lunch. That sounded nice... especially since it's been a long time since we've done that. So between then and lunch, I made plans to meet my Mom after lunch, I finally vacuumed my dining room rug (looks much better now), hung clothes on the line and washed dishes. I always like to accomplish some sort of house cleaning when I get the chance. I left home around 11:30 and went and picked up a sub from Dibella's (very good sub place... highly recommended) along with some cookies and chips. Then I headed over to Pastor Roger's house where Dad was doing drywall. We sat on the back porch and ate our subs while enjoying the lawn mower noises from next door. It didn't turn out to be as peaceful as ever. Figures... Dad said it's usually real serene, but of course not when he asks his daughter to lunch! I didn't let it bother me, but it was kinda humorous! After a nice lunch with Dad, I went out to visit Mom. She had to go pick up my sister Hannah at my Aunt's house, which is about 45 minutes away. So I tagged along for the ride. The warm sun and the long drive made me kinda drousy, but it was a good time to chat with Mom. When we got to Aunt Priscilla's, we all tumbled out of the car (Ben, my brother, my cousin Allen and two little girls Mom babysits). The younger kids rode bikes and played for a bit while we visited. Actually Mom and I tried out Aunt Priscilla's new "old" bike. I haven't ridden a bike in a long time... so that was kinda dangerous. We couldn't stay long- Mom had to get the girls back home so their Mom could pick them up. So we went on our way. Sometime I'm going to take a ride out to Aunt Priscilla's town and go shopping. They have lots of cool little shops on Main Street. Iron Mikes MX, a costume shop, antiques stores... real cool stuff. Maybe next week... Anyway, back at home. I helped Mom make dinner (a little) and thinned out the carrots in the garden. Hot dogs, mac salad and banana bread was on the menu. I was staying for dinner and my poor hubby had to fend for himself. That was okay, becasue he was coming home late anyway. And there was leftover pizza in the fridge. After dinner we went to church. Midweek service. Then I got to go home to Adam. After talking to a few of my engaged friends. My one friend, Rachel, is getting married on Saturday. It brings back all kinds of pre-wedding memories! It's so exciting. I can hardly wait and I'm not the one getting married!!! Ah, that was my five day weekend. Now it's back to work.


THE END

Chapter Four- Almost an End

Hey there... Ah, July Fourth. The favored holiday for firework experts and novices alike. So here is where we find ourselves at day four of the five day weekend.

The morning started like a usual weekend would. Sleep in. Wake up. Go to our favorite diner for breakfast. I would've gladly made Adam breakfast, but he just loves his breakfast from Billy's! This independence Day was different from previous ones because this time I did not spend it with my family. Instead, we spent it with friends. After a late breakfast, we headed home for a few hours. I cleaned a little and Adam ran to the store. At about 2:45, we headed over to my friend Carissa's sisters' apartment. We were meeting a bunch of my friends there before going to play a couple games of laser tag. I had never been to play laser tag before, so I was excited. We had a whole group of us going- eleven total. When we got there, Dave (Carissa's brother-in-law) began dancing around like a little kid, all excited about Laser Quest. I kinda wondered what Adam was thinking, as it was the first time he had ever hung out with my friends. It didn't seem to faze him really. Good thing. We played two good rounds of tag and I did horrible in both. But I had a great time and felt like a kid again. It was probably the most active thing I've done in a long time. After laser tag, I bid my friend fare-well as they went off to their own picnic and Adam and I went to ours. We had been invited to Adam's friend Greggs' house on Lake Ontario. It was mostly Gregg's family at the picnic, but I still managed to enjoy myself. Gregg has a jet ski which Adam and I got to enjoy for a bit. We hadn't brought our bathing suits, so I just rolled up my pant legs and tried not to get too wet. No use really. I gave up trying before getting too far. Adam drove really fast and I hung on tight. Good thing I had a dry sweatshirt in the car. Eventually we had to go to Gregg's real house (this house was one he had just flipped and was selling) because Adam had brought fireworks and we couldn't set them off down by the lake because the other houses were too close. So we packed up and drove off. The guys had a great time blowing stuff up for the first hour while waiting for it to get dark. Milk jugs, water bottles... "What else can we blow up?" This picture is of Adam getting ready to blow up a milk jug. It actually was pretty cool. They were such Piroes. (How do you spell that?) Anyways, the fireworks were big and beautiful and fun to watch. We got home late and exhausted. I still had one more day off, but Adam had to go back to work the next day. Sleep was good after a long, exciting Independence Day. Happiness to all!

Day Three of my Novel

Hey there all you faithful blog readers... We have now come to day three of my five day weekend. Monday was rather bland compared to Saturday and Sunday. I slept in for the first time since Saturday... and then I started cleaning my house. After blogging of course. I washed clothes and hung them out to dry, cleaned my bathroom (including the bathtub), washed stacks of dishes and made the bed. Not much cleaning, I guess. I didn't even get the floor vacuumed, which I am planning to do either today or tomorrow. It was a nice relaxing morning. I had a leftover hamburger for lunch and some old scalloped potatoes that I had made last week. They sat heavy in my stomach for at least an hour. While washing dishes, I noticed many ants crawling over my counter tops. Yuck. I smushed them. Early in the afternoon, I took myself over to the bank, the post office, the local Verizon Wireless store (to no avail), and to Target. At Target I bought shaving cream (I had run out that morning and had to use Adam's on the other leg... smelled kinda like a man for a few hours), a polka-dotted scarf (once in a while I splurge and buy me something pretty), some note cards (to make a graduation card out of) and some ant traps for those little ants who think they own the counter top. It was a very random trip to Target... meaning I seemed to buy very random things, but all of which are very useful. Except the scarf. That is merely pretty and fun to wear.
After my Target shopping, I went to Katie's graduation party down at the park. It was rather boring. I suppose graduation parties usually are boring. Good thing Jim was there. I like having him around... then I can be his shadow. I only shadowed him a little. Mostly I sat and listened to Stanley's conversations with those around him. He does make interesting conversations. Also, I played with Josh and Abbey. They are 4 and 2 years old and also make for interesting conversation. I shared my dinner with Josh. He ate half my pasta. I didn't mind sharing... as I did tell him he could share my plate. Neither of us were very hungry when we went through the dinner line. So we only took little bits. After eating, Josh wanted to go down to the creek. So Abbey, Josh and I walked all the way down to the creek and Josh had a great time throwing rocks in. I told him about crayfish and he told me how he saw some at Wegmans. Abbey kept saying, "Pick me up." By then she had dirty feet and I didn't want to pick her up too close. So we walked back up to the party and then I went home. I did bring Adam a piece of cake. He couldn't come to the party because he had to work and when he got home he didn't even know where the party was. So he stayed home and ordered pizza. And that is the end of day three. Now I'm on day four... but it's not over yet so you'll have to wait. Oh, and Happy Independence Day!

My Novel Continued- Day Two

On the second day of my five day weekend (which was Sunday), Hubby and I went to early service at church and then went to our favorite restaurant for breakfast. Upon getting to the diner, we saw one of Adam's old friends there. Josh was waiting to meet some other church friends there for breakfast, but they never showed. So he got to eat breakfast with us. What a lucky guy! He and Adam debated whether or not the space program was beneficial for the human race or not. What are everyone's thoughts on this subject? Pros? Cons? Is it good for the US? Should we be spending our money on other more worth while things?...
After breakfast, we went and watched Superman Returns at the movie theater. It was a pretty good movie. And, of course, Superman saved the day. I think the climax left something to be desired... Seemed to me that something was lacking. But I did enjoy the show... Definently didn't seem to be as long as it was.
The afternoon was so beautiful that, after the movie, it seemed a shame to spend it inside. so we went home and picked up Louis and took him out for ice cream. He doesn't really like ice cream, which is odd because all of Mom and Dad's cats like ice cream. He wandered around in the bushes at Bruesters while Adam and I ate ours. Then we took him for a walk in the park. He was rather enjoying that. We lay in the grass and had a little nap (even though I didn't sleep) while Louis wandered around on his leash. I took this picture while lying in the grass. After my "nap", I took Louis down to look at the pond and he puffed up his tail when he saw the fish in the water. Adam was going to set him on a rock in the pond, but Louis scratched him and Adam dropped him in and his tail and leg got wet. Louis didn't like that much at all. At about that time, we took him back home and went to church for evening service.
After church we had some friends over for burgers and milkshakes. We played speed solitare and Matt won. Yeah for Matt!
And that is the end of the second day of my five day vacation.

My Five Day Weekend- A Novel

This past Saturday, I drove myself out to see some friends and spend some time at the shore. I went to Carissa's house and then we met Liz at the sea shore. We packed a healthy lunch, took some photos, walked the pier and took some more photos. It was quite hot on Saturday and seeing as we didn't jump in the water (it really looked quite gross- rather green and thick) we decided to leave the beach and head for some good ol' cherry picking at my old place of employment. There weren't many cherries left, but enough for three girls to munch on. And besides that, I did get to see my dear friend Jean. She was glad to see me, and we made plans to make plans in the very near future. I also treated Carissa and Elisabeth to ice cream. It was tasty as ice cream usually is. Shortly after, we made the rounds and visited a few friends like Rox and Liz's Mom. Liz's Mom was busy working up a sweat mowing the lawn. Boy, did she wear herself out! We had to leave Liz at her house before going back to Rissa's. She had to work that evening at the "local" K-Mart. If you happen to be in the area sometime, stop in and see her... Anyway... to finish off the day, Carissa and I washed the siding on the porch with the hose and dish soap. It turned out to be a good game because one person scrubbed and the other sprayed and whoever held the hose was, obviously, in the best position... Then we got carried away and washed a couple cars. Not very well, because we didn't use soap... but we did get the dirt off. All in all, it was a good visit. I hadn't had a chance to see my friend Carissa in a long time because she was in school and I've been working alot. But it was a good start to my five-day weekend.