week 22

Week 1

Last year I participated in a 52 week challenge where you take one photo a week for the whole year.  I didn't share the photos here.  :(

I've decided to participate again this year and plan to share the photos here!

For Christmas I got a deck of cards that gives you ideas of what to photograph for the week.  I asked my friend's son to draw a card for me for this week and it just so happened to be the "self-portrait" card.

So, for week 1, I present to you "self-portrait" (which also happens to be my first attempt at flash photography).

guzzy roadtrip south - day 2 & 3

Today's trip went from Pennsylvania to North Carolina.

This was probably the heaviest traffic we've ever encountered in all the years we've been making the drive.  It could be that we were driving through the outskirts of DC.  We even drove right past the PwC office in Tyson's Corner where Sean and I used to go to on work trips back when we were only work spouses.  No, this is not a picture of said building.

Sean's brother lives in Raleigh, as for the random direction we headed to get back to Texas.  It's always good to get to see him and his family.  Since we arrived on a Sunday (and Sean and I were still really tired) we just hung out for the night watching the Patriots and the Cowboys and grilled up some steaks.

Monday started with Sean and his brother making a trip to the local walk-in care.  Sean was convinced he had strep (man flu anyone???) and had also noticed a little friend had hitched a ride with us from Maine - a tick - that had latched onto Sean!  Sean can't stop laughing at the doctor's surprise that "it's still alive!".

The rest of the day we just enjoyed hanging out with everyone and running a few errands.

In case you're wondering where Guzzy was, we actually were able to park it at Sean's brother's work. We're now back on the road and headed northwest - any guesses where we'll stop tonight?

birthday month fun - part 3

can you guess what other fun was had for the birthday month...

well, let me just tell you
we loaded up guzzy with a bunch of friends
(luckily we met most of the people in a parking lot across the street from where we were headed)

and headed out to the drive-in

with everyone else and their red balloons
(this is the line down the driveway and along the highway waiting to get in)

to see IT

and the beauty of taking guzzy
is that it's perfect to put the littles in that would be too scared
iPad with downloaded, kid friendly, netflix movies and noise canceling headphones
did the trick!
plus there's a bed - which is perfect for tired tweens  :)

and who doesn't love dq ice cream cake?!?!
we had TWO - and frito lays for days!!!

birthday month fun - part 2

part 2 of the birthday month fun involved...
you guessed it...
pats season opener!!!

and you know what happens at a season opener
when you're the reigning super bowl champs???
you get a flo rida concert

and you get celebrity sightings like
this wrestling guy (i think)

and mark wahlberg

and they unveil the new banner

and rub it in everyone's face

and way overdo the fireworks

and hand out a lot of gifts

and a crap ton of people show up

besides attending the game
we also took guzzy with us and camped at a nearby campground
and did some pregame tailgating

as well as postgame tailgating

i definitely enjoy attending the pats games
but my heart still belongs to my cowboys
and hopefully we'll make it to a game this year
but not for this birthday month
and btw...the pats cheerleaders
aren't even close in comparison to the dallas cowboy cheerleaders!  :)

this was a mixture of cell phone pics and "real camera" pics
yes, i braved the crowd and took my "real" camera into the game
it was fun for once but don't think i'll do it again  lol

birthday month fun - part 1

it's that time of the year again!
i know it's my favorite time!

BIRTHDAY MONTH!!!

this year i'm going to provide you with a few highlights
of some of the really fun stuff we're doing this year for birthday month

so let's get on with part 1
_________________

labor day weekend we headed up north
to a friends camp
on the penobscot river

where we enjoyed hanging with friends
making halloween plans by the fire
staying up way too late
trying to get the dvd player to work
without a remote
so we could watch a scary movie
pregaming for birthday month fun part 3
and enjoying the great outdoors

what was quite surprising was finding some leaves that are already changing
which i hope slows down since we have a lot of guests
coming in october for leaf peeping

birthday month - recap

day 1 - worked all day and spent all night (literally) helping my sister set up the reception area for my niece's wedding

day 2 - worked all day and spent the evening at a kansas winery for the rehearsal dinner - we actually found a couple wines we liked even!  this was also my sister's birthday and i got to spend it with her for once!

day 3 - spent the day celebrating young love - my niece and newest nephew got married!

day 4 - got to spend a little more quality time with my brother and his family and then spent the entire day flying back to maine

day 5 - started out as a relaxing day on the dock then we proceeded to take the sailboat and bass boat out of the water for the season (boo!).  ended the day with pat's pizza and the grocery store

day 6 - caught up on ray donovan and of course worked all day

day 7 - attended a paints and pints class with amy where we got to learn to watercolor while drinking beer - how can you go wrong?  oh, and of course there was the work thing all day

day 8 - went to a wine and cheese tasting with sean and amber and the work thing

day 9 - check out my surprise birthday getaway post

day 10 - check out my surprise birthday getaway post

day 11 - check out my surprise birthday getaway post

day 12 - attended our town selectman's meeting, finished watching the series boardwalk empire and did the work thing

day 13 - started cutting back the flower gardens and went on a final wine cruise on the pontoon boat (and the work thing) - the moon was so bright and the stars were beautiful!

day 14 - went to dinner with my honey and got caught up on ray donovan, oh and that work thing

day 15 - ran a bunch of errands with duke and went to bed early (oh that work thing)

day 16 - worked all day and then loaded up guzzy and headed near the new hampshire boarder to visit some friends

day 17 - spent the day helping friends finish getting ready for the party, lounging by the pool, visiting with old and new friends, playing corn hole, having too many beverages and staying up way too late

day 18 - spent the day recovering from the day before, lounging around watching football (yea cowboys won, although we watched the pats) and heading back home with guzzy (and the rest of the family)

day 19 - worked all day then went to check on my garden and picked the ripe tomatoes and then spent the rest of the night working on cpe - that's rude that they make your cpa license due the month of your birth and require so much cpe at the same time!

day 20 - all weekend duke was screeching whenever you would touch him.  we finally were able to get him into the vet.  still don't have any answers other than he has hurt his back.  spent the rest of the day cuddling him and having a meltdown regarding the fact that he's getting older....i'm sure i also worked and did cpe but it's all a blur...

day 21 - worked and did cpe, took the last boat out of the water and started the process of taking all the lake toys to the barn for the winter

day 22 - worked and did cpe, made dinner, went for ice cream and watched the pats (we were supposed to be at the game but with duke not feeling well and not knowing the issue we decided to stay home)

day 23 - was pretty lazy - did the work thing and some cpe, watched the season finale of ray donovan and then went to bed early to prep for the next day

day 24 - spent the entire day closing up camp - from sinking the dock to moving all the outdoor furniture to the garage.  ended the day with pizza and beers with great friends.

day 25 - did the grocery store thing, watched a niece play soccer (brrrrr!), continued camp close up and watched the cowboys!  and of course cuz it was national lobster day we ended the day with some lobster on the marina! YUM!

day 26 - cpe, cpe, cpe

day 27 - cpe, cpe, cpe

day 28 - took duke to see the doggie neurologist and more cpe...

day 29 - finally finished all my cpe!

day 30 - went apple picking!

birthday weekend celebration

my actual birthday fell on a friday this year
so sean planned a weekend getaway for us
so we hopped into the jeep

and headed for the balanced rock inn in bar harbor, maine

where there was a surprise awaiting me to start the weekend off right

and there was even a little something for duke

my birthday dinner was at the jordan pond house

who is famous for popovers

which duke loved!

i had the scallops

while sean opted for lobster (of course)

after dinner we went for a quick walk to the pond

on saturday we finally got a chance to go to bar island

bar island is an island that is accessible via a sand bar during low tide

it's a great little hike with resting spots

with great views of bar harbor

someone used to actually live on the island
which the remnants of the buildings still remain

we also did a lot of walking around going to the little shops
having beverages
eating ice cream
and catching up with a friend we hadn't seen yet since we had been back
it was really fun not having to make the drive back home
and just hanging out and enjoying this fabulous tourist town!
sean didn't do too bad!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++
in case you are ever planning to enjoy bar harbor with your 4 legged friend
we highly recommend the balance rock inn
extremely pet friendly
and a fabulous inn