Keswick ..........

When we awoke the next morning, the wind was blowing rain in wild torrid sheets across the fells. The wind was in seemingly never ending huge gusts and it brought the rain against you like a wall. If you intend to travel in England, you have to be prepared for the weather. ANd we were.

We had a quick breakfast and coffee and headed into the small town of Keswick just 2 miles down the road. We went through many shops and loads of outdoor stores. There were dogs out with their owners everywhere and of course Jack would ask each person if it was ok if he pet their dog. These folks love their dogs and it shows in the animals. (I do believe one of the favorites was a British bulldog named "Clive". Jack just couldn't get enough of him!)The dogs are all well-behaved, on leashes and travel in and out of the stores and the tea rooms and pubs with their owners. We ate lunch at the "Strawberry tearoom". It is a lovely little shop that over looks the town center of Keswick.

On Saturdays there is a wonderful open-air market, so we went around to the white tents and stocked up on all fresh local groceries. Cheeses, fish,meats, poultry, eggs, a wide selection of fesh fruits, jams, and loads of baked goods. We made sure to include a dozen scones, fresh jam and a tub of clotted cream. Everything was out in the open and there wasn't a bit of shrinkwrap anywhere in the town! By the time we were finished in town we had also acquired a bottle of wine, fresh baked bread, Yorkshire tea. By this time the rain had stopped and the wind was dying down a bit, so we headed home to try and get in some hiking before dark.

We went out the back door and hiked Brackenrigg Fells. It was a lovely hike and it really excited us for the next days adventure. The sheep roam all over these fells. You can see them way up on stony craggs as well as dotting the landscape in all directions. Jack found a sheep carcass, so of course it had to examined thoroughly. It was mostly bones at this point, but interesting to a 10 yr old boy nonetheless.

When we got back down off the fells, it was dark. I whipped up some dinner for us with fresh beef,sauteed onions, English peas and corn,and freshly baked bread. It was quick and still tasty!

The end of the night found us all in a high stakes poker game. High stakes if you count using matches as chips!! I was out in like.......3 hands. And after way too many hands to count Austin ended up winning. ANd still LATER a Jiu Jitsu match ensued between Race and Austin.......and Austin won that too.

It was a great day and a great evening. We all went to be to the muffled sounds of the wind and rain howling once again. Those stone walls are amazing for a good night's sleep!



Below is Race's NEW favorite outdoor store. (And I actually love it too, because there's a tea room upstairs. Brilliant!)

Day 3 The Lake District

After leaving York, we drove several hours as the sun began to set. We arrived at our final destination in the Lake District, long after dark. We turned off the small road that was lined on both sides with field stone walls and onto the ravel driveway. The drive was dark and lined with high fieldstone walls on both sides. The picture below shows the big stone barn that has been turned into the self catering rental. You can see some of the fells in the background.We pulled up to our self catering apartment. This is what it looks like in the daytime and up close.

This was our view from the large front window the next morning.

And here is a snap shot of part of the inside. The large door/window was one of the original barn door openings. The large map on the wall is a topo map of the surronding fells which we referred to quite often, because in England none of the trails and paths are marked, which we found quite refreshing, as it never spoiled the suroundings!

After dropping off our bags ...and the kids...in the barn, Race and I hurried 2 miles down the road to the town of Keswick to try to rustle some cow for our hungry travelers. Fortunately we found a fish and chips place open till late, so we bought up what they had left and headed back home. The lady behind the counter wrapped everything in plain paper and then closed up after we left! Below is the town of Keswick.We took everything back to the barn and ate. After the kids went to bed Race and I had a bottle of wine while watching the moon rise and listening to the wind sweep across the fells. We all slept so soundly that night within those stone walls and could hardly wait to hike the fells first thing in the morning!

Cheers!

Melissa

I must mention that by this time in our trip.....Jackson had managed to scavange 4 pounds 50 pence. For the record thats $9. He looks for dropped change everywhere. He was the only person in our family who actually MADE money on the trip.

Day 2 York

Bloggers picture upload feature isn't working for me right now, so I'll just post the pictures tomorrow, while I tell a little bit about our day/night in York. We arrived at the little B&B right on time and were met at the door by our hostess. She quickly handed us a parking pass so that we could leave our car parked on the street. Parking is a BIG,BIG issue in these small towns. In fact, I'm not sure where, in England it is NOT an issue.Our rooms were large, comfortable and ready for our arrival. The kids room was like a little suite, so Savannah essentially had her own room. After throwing our bags down and getting settled in we scoured the maps and information on York that was in our room. We had to narrow down what we most wanted to do and set a plan for the morning. After that, we bundled up and headed out. The wind was wicked whipping through the streets of York as we headed for a good pub for dinner. The pub was actually located inside the old Roman walls of York and was aptly named "Hole in the Wall". You could actually see parts of the wall on the INSIDE of the pub. Pretty cool. Race went up to the bar and ordered for us. Another awesome meal was waiting for us. We ate big......AGAIN. We walked around the town of York for awhile, but it was SOOoooo COLD and WINDY! We arrived at York Minster just in time for Evensong. So we sat for the service. If you ever have the opportunity to sit for an evensong in this or Westminster Abbey, I highly suggest it. It is really an incredible experience. We ducked into a cafe before long and got hot chocolates and coffees all the way around. We went by Betty's tea room, and I was reminded of my LAST time in York, England with Janelle
Thomasina and we a little "incident" in the upscale tearoom at Betty's. But that's another story. (ahem..) York is charming town with beautiful old buildings and streets , so it is hard to believe some of it's brutal, bloody history. History .....bloodshed that took place in these same streets.....in these same buildings. After we were frozen to the core we began the walk back to the B&B. We crashed for the night and slept like logs.
The next morning we were up bright and early. We headed downstairs for breakfast. there were 3 tables. We took 2 of them, and another couple was at the third. Another big full english breakfast and we were off. We had decided to visit "Viking York". They have actually excavated the Viking town of York found beneath the current city streets. We had to find our way around and find a public parking place. And then you have to pay....a lot if you convert back to $$. But the excavation was INCREDIBLE! We loved it. They have actually excavated a very well-preserved Viking city. They really showed the very brutal lifestyle that WAS the Viking town. We LOVED this exhibit. Then we took the kids to the "DIG". This is where they actually teach the kids (and adults) a lot more about archaeology and let them take part in digging some artifacts. We spent most of the day doing these things, stopping only long enough for a tea & scone break. When we were finished up at the excavation we stopped in a pub for a lunch/dinner. We ducked into a good looking pub, settled into the back, took off all our coats, etc. Race went up to the bar to place our order, and we found out that they had stopped serving food till dinner time. GAH! So we bundled back up and hit the streets. We went into another place, ate, drank, and discussed the day. When we got up to leave, I discovered that I had left my bag in the last pub!!!! O.k, I HATE that feeling. Thankfully, we booked it back to the first pub, and it was right there. WHEW! This why Race carries all the important stuff!!! LOL! After walking around the top of the walls a bit, we loaded up in the car and made the drive to our final destination in the Lake District.

Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to post our York pictures, but you got the story!
Cheers!
Melissa

Scratch that--The pictures are below this post.

York Pictures

Blogger is giving me fits tonight! But here are the pictures.....somewhat randomly.

Jack in one of the turrets in the old wall around York. The towers of York Minster as seen from the wall.

Yep. That's what it says. Keeps you "healthy,bright-eyed and slim". BWAHAHAHA! This is in old ad and I think that York is almost as famous for this ad as it is for the Minster!! LOL!
Jack at the Viking DIG i n York. They were uncovering previously excavated objects.
Savannah and Jack digging for Viking booty.
Race and Jack on the cold and windy streets of York.

Day 1- Windsor

I wanted to try and journal about our time in England. This was such a special trip for us as a family. It was a breath of fresh air. We needed this time away together more than any of us realized. It was really a time for us to reconnect to one another.
I don't ever want to forget it.
I find it hard to journal like this in an interesting way. I think I sort of lose alot of the little things that make a trip fun to hear about, but I really hope that it will be somewhat interesting to read!!

We all sailed through the airports on both sides of the pond. No hitches. Lines moving fast. Luggage in tact and accounted for. In fact, we got through so quickly at Heathrowe that we were ready to pick up our rental car 2 hours before we thought that we would! Below, you see two sleepy-eyed kids waiting outside Heathrowe airport for the car rental shuttle to take us to pick up our car.

Thankfully, they had the car ready to go and we were on the road to Windsor. We rented a Vauxhall like the one below only it was black. A far cry from the suburban, but we all fit, and so did our luggage. When we arrived in Windsor, we went to straight to our hotel. It was really a cross between a bed and breakfast and a hotel. But they were so nice, and let us check right in. We were so thankful, because we all crashing from jet lag right about then. We crawled to our rooms and slept for about 4 hours. We stopped off at a tea room for a quick lunch of toastys (toasted sandwiches) and creamed tea. (woo-hoo!)Then it was off for some sight seeing. There is far more to do in Windsor than just visit the castle, but we were basicly using this as an overnight stop on the way to the North. Here you see Queen Victoria's stern face looking down on you from the street in front of the castle.

Savannah, myself, and Queen Victoria.

I took alot of random photos in and around Windsor, but most of them have Race in them.(And you know the rules!) Below is The Long Walk, just outside the castle. We ate dinner that night at the Horse and Groom. An awesome pub right outside the castle. The kids all had fish and chips and Race and I had steak and mushroom pies along with all the Strongbow we could handle from the tap.

Inside the Horse and Groom. (Jackson actually took this picture!) It was here that we found out that our youngest is really like a kid on crack while struggling with jet lag. He was making all sorts of random senseless comments, and just generally being extremely excitable and loud. But what REALLY made the night was that after finishing off his HUGE plate of fish and chips that he let out a giant, rip roaring belch that shook the foundations of the old Horse and Groom. OH.MY.GOSH. We were in the land of good manners, people. We tried to reprimand, but we all just ended up losing it and laughing our heads off.

After more walking and fresh air all around the town, we headed back to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

This is the lovely little dining room where we ate breakfast the next morning. (We sat on the far right next to the window, looking out onto a really charming patio outside. Breakfast was delicious with cereal, fresh fruit, and then a hot plate of sunny side up eggs, baked beans, sausage and toast. I ate every bite, and washed it down with hot coffee and juice.This is a picture of part of the little patio outside. Really pretty.

After breakfast we loaded up in our car and headed north for our next stop on the way to our final destination: The Lake District.

I'll tell you all about our time in York, next.

Cheers!

Melissa

We're Home!

My poor camera battery is charging, and I am trying to soak in all that happened on our trip, to be able to put words to the pictures.

IT WAS AMAZING!!! It was actually frightening to think that we might have lived the rest of our lives without experiencing that breathtaking scenery that only God could create. The Lake District in England is a place that we could easily call home. Although we are glad to be back in our own beds again, we weren't ready to leave at all.

It was also a trip that enabled us to breathe deeply as a family and really reconnect and become close to one another again. We enjoyed one anothers company so much and began to remember what a blessing family is. You know that we all love the outdoors and the Lake District is just a mecca for the outdoor enthusiast.

I'll be back later with pictures and some journalling of the trip. We have arrived home feeling very blessed.

Cheers!
Melissa

The Queen is at home!

We just got back from a lovely dinner at the pub "The Horse and Groom". It is directly in front of the Queens castle in Windsor. And she's at home! We had an awesome dinner and Race and I have begun loading up on the Strongbow hard cider. We are all a bit jet lagged, but we are having an absolutely WONDERFUL time. We are looking forward to what the rest of our trip will bring.

Fashion report: Tons of tall boots and lots of BEAUTIFUL short, wool swing coats with awesome pleats, buttons, etc. I LOVE it!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Cheers!!!!

Traveling with Race.......and Tom

Fixed "Baltimore" link....I think. GAH!

Traveling with Race is always great. One of the perks of his employment is that travel becomes second nature. He is completely undaunted by the things that would typically strike terror into my heart if left on my own. He is at ease, no matter where he goes. There isn’t anywhere on the planet that he could not adapt to. It doesn’t matter if he speaks the language or not, it doesn’t matter if he’s walking, driving, bicycling…..it just doesn’t matter. He is completely calm and at ease. He can always figure out where he is and where he’s going. He reads maps and GPS coordinates like he was reading the morning paper. I cannot tell you how wonderful this for me.
As most of you may remember, I am geographically retarded. Remember my trip to.Baltimore with the kids?? I’m serious people. I have a lot of strengths, but navigating while driving is NOT one of them. I get lost a LOT. This confounds Race completely. He cannot understand how I can’t get my bearings and figure out my general direction. I think it secretly terrifies him.

So, he got me a Tom Tom.




I LOVE my Tom Tom. He is wonderful. Tom Tom has saved me so many times. I do..I love him. His smooth face and rugged good looks are so confident. He always knows where we’re going, and he tells me when to turn and how far to go. And he does it all in his most relaxing British accent. He’s never terse or tense in his direction, just friendly and calm. And I love it when he says "take the motorway"....you know.....instead of highway?? I just love that. He’s changed my life. It’s almost as great as having Race driving me around everywhere. In some ways its better, because Tom Tom doesn’t sing loudly and he doesn’t give the peace sign as we drive by people we don’t know. Tom Tom can always find just the right place to eat nearby and he tells me where the next gas station is as soon as the fuel light comes on. It's really a beautiful relationship.

SO. While we will be tooling around the English countryside with Race behind the wheel, I will feel secure in the knowledge that I too could drive in the UK……….as long as I’ve got my Tom Tom by my side.

Oh Peace and Security………….thy name is Tom Tom.

Bloody Brilliant!!!!

O.K. Enough with the LOVE stuff. NO MORE. Nada. Stop talking about it people. It's OVER. I'm not going to post about it anymore. Stop asking me. We're moving on.....

Y'all remember that a few years ago, we all went to London right? Well......we're headed back across the pond. But not to the big city this time. THIS TIME we are headed to the English countryside!

WOOP! WOOP!

We are packing a bit heavier than we did the last time around because we will be spending the majority of our time hiking in the English fells. We have to pack all of our waterproof gear, our down, our hikers.....everything. (This reminds me that I TOTALLY intend to shoot some video showing our whole cold weather system. It is the bomb! If it can keep ME warm and dry, then it's good for ANYBODY!

We will be driving, so we intend to pop into Scotland as well. Wait a minute.......WE?.. Race seems to think that I will be driving as well. Not bloody likely. But Austin will of course HAVE to drive. Even if it's just for a short distance. Because how cool would it be to be able to say that you had driven overseas at 16 years old?? Seriously....HOW COOL???

So, there is so much that we have to look forward to. I am looking forward to tea and scones. To Windsor Castle and seeing if the Queen is "at home". To driving through the Dales.(And PLEASE let there be cream teas...PLEASE) To late nights at some out-of-the-way- pub with Race. To hiking in some of the most beautiful countryside that exists in the world. I look forward to trying to use the phrase "arse over elbow"while I'm there. And I can go ahead and look forward to my youngest singing Queen's "We are the Champions" at the top of some Fell in the expansive English countryside...........................because he will. It's his thing right now.

Oh- and someone PLEASE remind me not to use the word "fanny" while I'm there. This is VERY important for the American traveler. It means a lady's ......ya know.........her front bits.

Yeah. I know.

I suppose that's why the whole "fanny pack" never really caught on over there.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

But seriously. Remind me.

We have a bit before we're off, so I'll be back.

Cheerio mates!

Happy V Day!

Added later today:
When I got this this morning, I thought that it was really good, and appropriate for Valentines Day. But later when I came back to read it again, I realized that some people might have taken this as a real downer. I think it actually could be read that way. Ya know, dry and unfeeling. Did you think it was deflating??? Or maybe too dry?? What were your thoughts? Did you roll your eyes? It's funny because my second reading just didn't hit me like the first one did.No one commented, so I am really curious. Did I post a stinker??? Let me know!
The Real Test of Love

By Elisabeth Elliot

It is not difficult to imagine, in certain moods and settings, that we love people. We may feel expansive and good-natured for a variety of reasons--our own good health or digestion, for example, or beautiful weather, comfortable circumstances, nice folks doing nice things for us. The Bible is a sword that cuts through mere sentiment. It tells us that the accurate test of our love for God's children is obedience to God. "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments" (1 Jn 5:2 RSV). It is an objective test, not a subjective one. Love as the Bible defines it is perceptible through action rather than through mere feeling. It is not, as Eric Alexander of Scotland put it, a "glandular condition."
Much of the talk nowadays about loving one another is soupy and silly. It will not stand the biblical test. Love for people goes hand-in-hand with love for God--if you don't love the brother you see, how can you love the God you don't see? Loving God requires submission to his discipline--He rebukes, chastens, refines with fire, purifies by trial. Do we love Him enough to say yes to all that? Do we love others enough to encourage endurance in them?

Jesus, Thou art all compassion,Pure, unbounded Love Thou art;
Visit us with Thy salvation,
Enter every trembling heart.(Charles Wesley)

SLAM DUNK LANEY!!

You were "Hungry Like A Wolf" girl!

And you are the winner!!!!

I am SO impressed!

Email me w/ your address so I can send the Bliss to your door.

I gotta tell ya, I thought that this would be a hard one.Y'all are better than I thought. But this was really so much fun for me.....I think that we MUST have more contests!!!! My brain is working feverishly on a plan.

In the meantime, I MUST get Janelle to guest blog about her night w/ Simon LeBon. Come to think of it, we MUST getThom to blog about it as well. She was the photographer/driver for this amazing night. And hey, just goes to show you. Don't give up on your dreams, man. I mean after all these years of faithful devotion........Wow. She's GOT to tell you the story.

Congrats Laney! Enjoy your silky smooth hands!

Cheers!
Melissa

*We are back home w/ our power back on(lap of luxury), but our phones are out.*(weak smile)

The Bliss Contest!

Complete Delight. Happiness. Absolute Pleasure. Ultimate, child-like Joy. That is the emotion represented in this picture.

But.....WHY??

The girl in this picture is a dear friend of mine, and I think it's probably the best photo that I've ever seen of her. But..........

WHO IS THIS GUY???

I mean this girl is about to come undone, here! Who could be so special?? Study her face. Her expression.She's wearing the perfect black coat.......hair EXTRA-glossy...... and she is positively BEAMING. Nothing ordinary here, folks.




WHO IS THIS GUY??
That's what you have to figure out.

The first person to comment with the correct name of the dashing man in this photo will win THIS:


I LOVE the "Bliss" line, and I love this cream.It's an awesome hand cream that can smooth even the roughest hands and make them soft, smooth, and youthful. Nice enough to shake hands with someone famous!

So C'mon all you 80's gals.....You can get this!

If you have already heard this story and know the answer, then of course don't answer, but you can still comment....... Just don't give it away!!

I can't wait to see if someone gets this right away or if it's gonna be tough.
I'm so excited!!!

Put on those 80's thinking caps and give it a whirl!

POWER OUTAGE!!!!

Blogging from I-TOUCH in hotel!!! Not easy. Power still out.

*Soon!*

Catchin' up!

Well, my sister has started blogging again. As you may have guessed, her attentions have been elsewhere. As in....she has ....a guy. So, hopefully she's back. She's a much better writer than I am. Hey maybe her boyfriend can do a guest blog!!! Hey "G" if you're readin' this, you can always be a guest blogger here, man!

To myother sister Em: Hell yes, I'm up to the challenge!!! I will find you THE BEST haircut/color combo EVER. WOO-HOO!! Now, you just relax, and wipe away all those years of curling iron burns and winged hair that I gave you when we were growing up. I TOTALLY know what I'm doing. It's alllllll....Gooooodddd.

To Melora and Dy:
About the Chicken mummy. Yes, Yes, do the cornish hen. That's what we did the first time around, thanks to TWTM boards. It was MUCH easier and I think a bit faster. If you follow the directions in the book, it will work out beautifully and your kidlits will be happily wrapping their preserved,mummified chicken for elaborate burial in no time. It's beautiful. (O.K., not really. It's not beautiful at all, but the kids LOVE this and it really DOES cement ancient Egypt deeply into thier minds forever).
I really will post pictures.

O.K., CONTEST on Monday people. Get out your thinking caps cause I've got a mystery photo for you. You're gonna love this. I think it'll be hard, but I maybe wrong y'all might get it right off. I'm so curious! (excited squeal!!!) I can't wait!!!!Monday!

G'night!
Melissa

Night Out and the Chicken Mummy and bad hair

Race and Savannah just left for dinner out tonight. Her dad takes her out every year to celebrate her birthday. It has become something that they both really look forward to. I am really glad that he is the kind of guy who really "gets it" that his little girl is growing up. He really enjoys spending that time just with her and realizes how important it all is. I know that doesn't come naturally to many men and I just love that about him.(gush)

Jackson decided that he simply could not feel complete as a human being if he did not get to follow in the footsteps of his older siblings and create the dreaded..................CHICKEN MUMMY. For those who homeschool classically using The Story of The World for history, you know that the chicken mummy involves actually taking a real chicken carcass and preserving it for all eternity using the Egyptian methods of embalming. For those of you who DON'T homeschool......well.....this could be one more reason why you don't.
The last Chicken Mummy that we did, when the other 2 were about 10 and 8 was wildly successful, and I must admit that seeing the old, dry, shriveled up carcass left us all in awe of the Egyptians once again. I mean...........it REALLY works, man. It was simultaneously cool and gross all at the same time. And I swore I'd never do it again. It takes 4+weeks. BUT......here we are......2 weeks in, with a raw chicken being embalmed in laundry area. That should score us alot of freak points, huh? Oh, c'mon you KNOW you're curious................I'll get pics up soon.

I've got lots more to share. We have some exciting plans coming up that I can't wait to tell you about, and there's that contest thing I'm working on. I don't really know how to do this, but it'll be fun and the prize will be something girly from http://www.sephora.com/ , one of my all time favorite places to shop!!

Cheers!
Melissa
P.S. It was a good thing that I took that pic of my hair LAST night, after Jennifer The Hair Wizard had styled it, because after MY styling job today, I look more like a 10 yr old boy from a Charles Dickenson era novel. Only with boobs. Not attractive, my friends. Not attractive. I've gotta work w/ this one a little.

We....Just...Couldn't ...Do..It.......

We just couldn't get in the car and go running around to all the usual activities. The errands, the various MMA classes......we....just...couldn't. It was too nice outside. It was GORGEOUS out today! It made me want to run around and examine all the bulbs beginning to poke out of the ground and look for little patches of green everywhere.

We DID have a really good day today.


The kids trudged through school today and managed to finish up the last page of Chemistry by 2:00 pm. Then it was ALL OUTSIDE ALL THE TIME. It was nature walking and photographing, it was baseball playing and basketball playing. It was fort building (the never-ending fort) and fetch-playing, it was creek wading and crawdad catching.It was tree climbing and nerf gun fighting. All snacks and drinks were served up outside. And looking back at this list, my kids sure can pack a lot into one afternoon!! But it was just a wonderful day.

Today was also Hair Day for me. As long as I have blonde hair, I am an "every-four-week-girl" at the salon. I crept in today with a wide headband covering my dark roots. I smuggled in my printed off copy of K#tie H0lmes.
Now, this next picture reveals several things. First of all it is an impossible task for one to take a serious picture os ones self in the ten minute window that the author of this blog is given whilst fixing up dinner for the carnivorous horde that I like to call my family. Secondly, it shows...um.....I dunno....what's the right word?......"confidence"? No that's not right.....But well it shows somethin' for ANYONE to post their own photo alongside of K#tie H0lmes' for comparison. Doesn't she look stunning? But it also shows a pretty darn good hair cut. Probably not my favorite, but definitely what I asked for.

So all in all..............it was a GREAT DAY!!

Stay tuned this week, because I've got an idea for a contest.........With a PRIZE! It'll be fun! Be there or be square, man.

Cheers!

Melissa

Gratuitous Kid Pictures!

My family is growing up so fast!

All photos are, of course, done by my sister Thomasina.

Just Joy. Just blissful joy.Big smiles,.. lots of em'.(Huge, deep sigh)

I think that we might be getting better at this.;-)

Having Race at home has been so incredibly relaxing. For BOTH of us. I think that as a family, we are definitely learning how to live this life better. And that's pretty big stuff, because for the record, I don't know ANY other family who is living this way.I am sure that they are out there somewhere, but I doubt that we'll ever meet. So we are pretty much wingin' it here. And I'm feeling pretty darn great about it!

This is for Dy:
When we brought Race home,the first thing that happened was the kids ran around in breathless circles trying to grab dad's arm and pull him to their room first. They were so excited to show him their gifts, rewards, and acheivements. It was great. And even though Race was fighting unbelievable jet lag, he was patient and enthusiastic with each of the kids. Right after that we had our second Christmas. The tree was still up, we put on a little Harry Connick Jr (my choice, of course) and all gathered around and handed Race the gifts that each of us had chosen for him. It was really sweet to watch the pure joy on the face of each kid as dad opened their gift. He was moved by the generosity and thoughtfulness of his kids.

After he had been home about a week, he and I took off for our little getaway. This was PERFECT timing. Jet lag was still very much an issue, so to get away and relax, eat, and hike in the outdoors was the perfect remedy.


We could walk to dinner each night, which probably increased the general wine consumption. ANd the meals were 5 star-incredible! Each meal was beautifully presented with so many flavors in each entree that it just made your mouth happy. And all this in a resturant that had 12 tables....................and you could wear jeans. Heaven.

When we went to hike, we had a bit of trouble finding the trail head.(O.K.-scratch that- *I* had trouble. ONE of us could actually READ a topo-map) When we got to the trail head..........it was a solid sheet of ICE. The whole mountain was covered in about 3 inches of snow that had been iced over. The temp at the trail head was 34 degrees. She wasn't going to get warmer as we went up!

*As an aside, I must say that once again, RACE KNOWS GEAR. My stuff held up so well that I couldn't believe it. I wasn't ever cold. Not even once. Even my feet were warm and dry. Remind me to tell you the whole set up that I have. It REALLY makes the difference in being able to ENJOY the great outdoors.*

We decided to give it a try and just go as far as we could. Without cramp-ons and actual picks there was NO WAY that we would be able to do the scrambling, but we figured we'd go as far as we could.


We started off:

I didn't fall until I had gone at least 3 feet. Yeah. That ice? That's hard to walk on. We decided to walk to the side of the trail. Each and every step had to be planned out because you couldn't tell what was hard,crumbly snow, and what was hard as glass ICE. Up we went.

The further we went, the smaller the icy trail became, and the overlooks were becoming treacherous. We never saw another soul, and the woods were snow covered and beautiful.....and totallyserene and quiet. After going up over 2000 feet we decided to head back down. It was taking us so long to climb, that we had to start back down. We didn't want to be stuck on that icy mountain in the dark .
I was a little dissapointed that we couldn't go to the top, but I was also relieved when Race thought we'd better head back down. We had both slipped several times, and the overhangs were starting to look pretty scary.

We got back down using switch-backs, which were much softer and less treacherous. When we got to the bottom, we pulled out the sandwiches that we had gotten at the local bakery. We sat and ate and enjoyed the surroundings. We also shared our lunch with the local "trail dog" who hangs out there looking for hikers just like us. It was really just such a wonderful time. I didn't get many pictures............mostly because I was concentrating on not splatting myself face-down on the ice. But the few that I did get help to show the icy trail.

Thanks for checking back in on us. Race has Austin at Scouts tonight, so I am enjoying a little computer time!

Cheers!

Melissa

Happy 14th Birthday Savannah!!

Happy Birthday Savannah. We had a great day yesterday celebrating Savannah's birthday. We made homemade pizzas and Aunt Thomasina came over for dinner and the present opening. She got alot of art stuff. A table top easle, paints, new brushes, new canvases, etc. But her big gift was a Canon EUS D-60. This was ULTRA SPECIAL because it not only gives her the ability to take artistic photos and then enhance them further on Photo Shop, but this camera was also Aunt Thomasina's first professional digital camera. She was THRILLED. After pizza, cake and present opening, we were treated to a concert featuring the kids bringing out the kareoke machine and keeping us entertained with all the latest Blake Lewis songs. It was a great day! And I can't believe that my little girl is 14. I have a feeling that Herriott (Savanna's cat) will be the most photographed cat in the world for awhile.

O.k, O.k, REALLY Quick.............

I just GOTTA tell you.......this. is. GREAT!!
We drove up into the mountains this afternoon for a little getaway. A little time to unwind and relax. I wanted to help Race get back in the right time zone and get used to the slower pace that coming home brings.This is really perfect.

I just dropped him off up the road about a mile for a deep tissue massage.

So here I sit. In THIS lovely living room. There is a fire in the stove. There was already a cd in the player, so I hit the play button and the most wonderful soft jazz music started playing throughout the house. Ahhhhhhhh.............So, here I am. In this living room....

In THIS house.

In THIS little town. We have dinner reservations at this little restaurant tonight. It's right across the street.

And TOMORROW. We climb THIS.

It is all absolutely perfect!! (excited squeal!!!!!) I just had to tell you.

Oooops, times up! Gotta go pick up a more relaxed Race!!

I'll pop back with hiking pictures in a few days.

Cheers!

Melissa

WOO-HOO!!!! Race is Home!

He is home safe and sound and we are so very thankful.
First it's like this joyous reunion with sqeals and yells and hugs and kisses and lots more hugs. And then we all just kind of sit around and smile really big and stare at him for awhile. (Probably a tad creepy for the recipient, but he doesn't seem to mind, cause he's smiling really big right back at us.) After all the initial marti-grah-like hooplah and then all the smiling and staring are over, we all just sort of fall back in step. It is such a wonderful feeling. We are all so much more relaxed. We all have so much to share about with each other. So much wonderful catching up. And my work-out partner is back! Oh- and we had a second Christmas, too!! It's just all so great!

I'll be back every week to post an update, or some pictures, but for the most part we are going to just wallow around in all this family time.So, I won't be posting as much as usual.
We are excitedly making some big plans together so I'll keep you posted as they develop.
Thanks so much to everyone who keeps us in your thoughts and prayers. We really do feel your prayers for us.
O.K., I'm going to go soak up some Race-time.
Cheers!
Melissa

Good day.......but with squirrel guts

A good day for us right now, is one in which we are able to be productive and not give in to the temptation to just sit down and not move until Race walks through that door. We are still waiting.

Today was a good day.

We got lessons done and some general cleaning. I made a huge grocery haul and got things put away and half-way straight in the pantry and fridge. I had a KILLER work-out today, which is always a big tension reliever for me.

Jack had a cool thing happen. Y'all know that we live in the sticks, right?
Jack was headed down to work on his fort in the woods behind our house. He and Scout (one of our chocolate labs) were running fast down the hill. Scout takes off in another direction and within seconds has a freshly killed squirrel in his mouth. Now, Jack knew that there was NO WAY he had killed the squirrel. Our dogs are labs, and don't kill and eat stuff. All of a sudden he heard something directly above him, and there, above his head and just a few yards from the ground, was a HUGE hawk. Apparently they had interrupted the hawk just as he had killed the squirrel and was about to have lunch. He was hanging out to see if they were going to leave. But within seconds, he knew he had been robbed, and spread his giant wings and flew off. Pretty cool.
Scout spent the remainder of the day tossing the squirrel up into the air with a toss of his head and then going after it, as if it were trying to get away.Over and over. You can imagine that this became difficult to watch by late in the afternoon. At that point he picked up on a new game. He would try to get the KIDS to play with the dead squirrel.Yes, Yes...that would be fun. So, he would chase the kids about, happily trying to share his newfound toy, all while they went screaming in all directions afraid that squirrel guts would land on them. Ahhhhhh.........good stuff.

We had martial arts this evening and when we got home, I made a big pot of Cream of Potato and Sausage soup with multi-grain rolls. It totally hit the spot. (I used turkey sausage to cut the fat.)

Tonight we tried to watch American Idol, but we really weren't thrilled. And seriously, after American Gladiator Monday it was bound to be a let-down.

Have a good night!
Melissa

Love

I found this picture.



This picture has a story to tell. Actually, it has many stories to tell. ANd the stories aren't what you might think. "How to Look Like a Snob"? No, that's not it. "How to walk while holding onto a lamp post?" No, no. These stories are all about LOVE.

You see, this was who I was when I first started dating Race. This was me. Oh, yes this picture screams LOVE in so many ways.

First of all: those Ray Ban's. I bought those with my very first paycheck that DIDN'T come from my dad. My WHOLE paycheck. This was the only love affair I ever had with a pair of sunglasses. And it lasted 5 years, until they finally commit ed suicide by just up and snapping into 2 pieces. I was devastated.


Secondly, I LOVED that outfit. It was pale pink and was a medium knit. It cost another couple of paychecks. But the absolute defining piece of the whole thing was that attached belt trim on the bottom. It was made of black, soft, Italian leather. I would always wear the sheerest, soft black hose and a pair of black leather pumps with kitten heels. I.LOVED. THAT. OUTFIT. Now of course this was the 80's and the giant shoulder pad was very in. So, I had obviously hopped on that ship. But seriously, take out the pads and you could wear that outfit, today man. Classic.

Now this picture also reminds me of another love that I had when this picture was taken. Ahhh..yes....his name was Mr. American Express. My dad had introduced us, not knowing the hold that Mr. AmEx would immediately take on my heart. With HIM, I could do ANYTHING. Mr. AmEx never said no. No, he didn't. He and I ate lunch out with friends, we skipped class to shop for clothes, and we ordered take out from the dorm instead of eating in the nasty cafeteria. Oh.....we were so in love. So right for each other. But eventually my dad ended it between us. He forbid me to EVER see Mr. AmEx again. It changed my life.
And in my defense, both of my sisters dated him, too and I'm pretty sure that at least one of them went farther with him than I did. I mean, I'm just sayin'.

So, as I said, this is WHO I WAS when Race and I began dating. We began seriously dating in September and we were engaged by that Christmas. Now, here's where the other story comes in. I had been living a somewhat privileged lifestyle, as I've mentioned. College paid for, car paid for,overseas travel, spending money taken care of...(though I DID have to get a job after Mr. AmEx and I were torn apart). ANd now, here I was with the absolute love of my life, planning my WEDDING!!!

Oh ..life was so deliciously good!!!!!!



Now my dad, being the business man that he is, was seeing some big problems. Here was his first born, clickety-clicking about, having her hair and nails done, wearing beautiful designer clothes,and shoes with matching handbags. Always a constant bubbling fountain overflowing with snippets about invitations, hairstyles,bridesmaid gowns, etc. Delightfully planning her oh-so-southern wedding, all the while absolutely clueless as to what her new financial status would mean after she was married.

He was gravely concerned.

SO.

He called a meeting.

With myself and Race. He sat us down. And at the table was a yellow legal pad.
He began to calmly show us (ME actually) what was troubling him. He began to speak of the thing that he wanted to be SURE I understood before I decided to rush into anything. He flipped through some of the pages on the legal pad and he began to explain the amount of $$ that I spent on a daily, weekly, monthly, and finally a YEARLY basis. And then he showed us another amount. This was the amount that we would be MAKING with our combined income.I remember it so well. My dad with his southern drawl, saying "Now THIS is the what you cost me each year...this is how much money it takes to keep you livin' the life to which you have become accustomed...and that's fine..that's fine....but THIS...now THIS number here, is what the two of you will be MAKING this year." He paused here for effect and looked at me. My friends, those numbers didn't match. Not even close. Not even in the same ballpark. Not even on the same continent! Well, hell this was just the worst damned business deal EVER.

But wait. this is a story about love, remember?



That's right, it is. And I don't know what Race thought of that talk, or if it changed the way he did things, but I remember the way I felt. I remember what *I* heard.

I heard,"Blah,blah,money,blah,blah,blah married, blah,blah........" ANd that was pretty much it. I just sat there with my arm linked in Race's with this gigantic smile on my face thinking of all the rosy pink bows that we had to do for the church. Just happy. So very, very happy. Who needs money??? We were in love....


Love really is blind.

Of course, his conversation became clearer to me within the next few years. Yes, yes, eventually I DID see. But we were in love.

Thanks dad. I will never forget that talk.

So this picture is full of love. A girl who loved her comforts and privileges. A naive young woman who was hopelessly in love with the man she was about to marry. A father who loved his daughter.

I haven't even told you about HOW this picture came to be. It is the story of another love.........

A Sense of humor........or something

I crack myself up.

Seriously, all the time. I find things that happen to me SO funny. I always feel that I am trapped inside of a Seinfeld episode. I will laugh at myself for days sometimes. It's something Race will never understand. Who can blame him? How many times has the man been awakened in the middle of the night to the bed vibrating, only to find out it's his lunatic wife laughing silently to herself. I am trying so hard not to make any sound, so I have my hand over my mouth.But I am still laughing uncontrolably so my whole body is shaking. And then as soon as Race incoherantly mumbles something, I just let loose, "BWAHAHAHA!!!!I was just thinking about_______blah-blah-blah-blah!!!! ."

And of course it never translates in the middle of the night. (Somebody remind me about all that stuff I said in my last post when he doesnt get my humor in the middle of the night, o.k?)


The other day I was writing an email to him. I was typing out "Hey honey! How's it going?" Well, later I went back to check it, to see if he had actually gotten the email and realized that what I had actually typed out, "Hey, Homey! How's it going?" BWAHAHAHA!! The thought of Race reading that, out in the middle of nowhere just cracked me up for days. So of course, I say it all the time now. "Hey homey! How's it going?"

He loves that.;-)

Do you ever do that thing where you switch the first letters of words around? It's fun. It's like Sudoku.......only...it's....... fun, and you need very little intelligence to play.(ahem) I do it all the time when I have to wait in line somewhere.
Well, just the other day I was at the deli. The lady behind the counter was your typical deli gal. Rather husky, wearing a plastic cap over her hair(that, frankly could have done with a little moisture under it). She was none too pleased that I was taking her away from frying up potato wedges to so demandingly ask her to slice 2 lbs of turkey. I figure, it's probably a pretty thankless job, back there working with all that deli meat. I smiled and started looking around and sort of slipped into a familiar half comatose state. I start the word game. I go through a few...Premium Deli- Dremium Peli......Carolina's Best-Barolina's Cest.........and then.....wait-. No. It can't be. The mother of all word turn a rounds! Boars Head.....is........HOARS BED!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA! I just started laughing out loud. Right there. In the deli.I tried to explain it to Deli Lady, but again....didn't translate. Hell, it STILL makes me laugh. Hoars Bed!!

Yeah.............I know.........

Come back tomorrow for "More Word Games With Melissa"