Biltmore

Last Saturday my friend, R, and I went to the Biltmore. This was the first time for the both of us. I'm happy we got to go (and for free!!!!!), as I've lived in NC this long and haven't gone yet because I just putting it off.
It was a beautiful day! Our tickets to get into the house wasn't until the afternoon, so we went to visit the barn first.
They had a place to pet the animals in the brown barn in the pic above, but neither R nor I were too excited about it, so we skipped that part. In another building close to the barn, they had a real woodworker and blacksmith talking about their trades, and a short historical self-guided tour about the farm, and I really enjoyed that part. This pic is mostly for my nephews: Next, we went to the winery.We thought it was going to be educational, showing how they make the wine from the vine to the bottle, but it was basically just a taste-testing site, so we we in and out of there in much less time than we thought we would be.

We went to explore the grounds next to the house next. While there were many beautiful plants and flowers in the greenhouses......there wasn't much in the gardens. We visited too early in the season.

You're not allowed to take pics in the house, but the grounds by the house were beautiful, too. And I think it was mostly the mountains and maybe the green grass that made my breath catch, not so much the house.The house does have an outside balcony, and I was able to snap a pic from there. Yeah, I wouldn't mind waking up to this every morning:
Since our tickets to the house were so late in the day, we were getting tired. We went though the 7 parts of the house in 45 minutes! (Sorry, Mom...) Thankfully R and I were on the same page! :) We did manage to find enough energy to stop by the shops afterward...
...though neither one of us bought anything.

It was a long, good day!

My Commute

There are 23 red lights on my way to and from work everyday...that's 46 red lights. Now, there's not much to do while you're waiting on these ill-timed lights...turn up/down the radio, eat your breakfast, try not to spill your double mocha soy latte. During my time at red lights (which probably adds up to about a year, but that's for another post), I've seen a lot of things. I'm a looker. When I'm stopped at the light, I look at the cars passing, the people in them, figure out the sequence of the light, and just look around in general at the trees/clouds/many gigantic potholes in the road. Well, this morning, during my lazy meanderings, a guy pulled up next to me who was brushing his teeth. He was brushing his teeth. Now I've seen a lot of things, but I've never seen this. So this is where my mind went:

Should I roll down my window and offer him my bottle of water so he can rinse?

Does he have a spit cup...you know, like tobacco dip users?

Does he even have any toothpaste in his mouth?? He's not foaming at the mouth so that means he's either (or both) non-rabies infected or he isn't using toothpaste. Ewwww. That's gross.

Lipstick, okay. Breakfast, coffee, and even cereal, okay. But brushing your teeth? Yeah, just get up 5 minutes earlier.

So while all the above thoughts are going through my mind, I finally notice the girl in the SUV in the lane on the other side of the car in question. She was staring at him with a very confused, slightly amused expression on her face, her jaw a little open in wonder. Somehow, I knew exactly how she felt.

Why I Love Where I Work, Part 4

This is what I did at work this morning. It was pretty awesome. Who said working at a church is boring?


So, so many jokes could be inserted here....what's that? You want to hear a few? Okay!

We told them not to cut our dental insurance! This'll show 'em!!

This is an advertisement for our new exercise incentive program. The tagline: Beat down Satan (and fat!) with a sledgehammer!

This is our version of going all "Office Space".

Tagline for the upcoming church conference: Breaking down the wall between you and Jesus.

Interested in going on a mission trip? Grab a sledgehammer. Welcome to training.

Tagline for the church: Don't mess with Jesus. He made the sledgehammer.

Welcome to anger management counseling...

My job is so cool.

Huffing

So I was on my way to work the other day and was listening to the radio. Focus on the Family came on...

Does your child have a problem with huffing?

Huh, I thought. I huffed a lot growing up. Sure, it's just an exhale of breath, but it can speak volumes. I still huff about things today. So surely, my future punks will more than likely have that problem too, so I should listen to this...

The results could be deadly...

A little over dramatic, sure, but yes, those spankings sure did hurt.

Stay tuned, and we'll talk about ways to handle your child's huffing.

Huh, I thought (again). This is great! I'm going to be so ahead of the game! I can get a head start on dealing with my unborn punks' huffing. This could really come in useful someday. It'll be ammunition for later! Or would it be considered sanity for later?

Thanks for staying tuned. Huffing is becoming more and more of a problem.

Has it really gone up in popularity that much? Seems like everyone does it and has done it for a long time...

So how do you handle the situation?

Yes, that's what I'd like to know, too. So get to it!

Huffing is becoming a more and more common occurrence in households. Huffing is...

Oh good grief! How long are they going to drag this out?

...the sniffing of everyday, household products to get high. It's a deadly game that could result in death.

Ummm...what????? Yeah, totally not what I was thinking at all!! So then I busted out laughing because I was so caught off guard by it all. I was still giggling about it 10 minutes later...

S.A.D.

So I think I'm going to declare it official - I was suffering from S.A.D. without even realizing it! S.A.D. stands for Seasonal Anxiety Disorder (and may affect over 10 million Americans), which is not to be confused with S.A.D.D. (Students Against Drunk Driving, which I totally would be if I was an S, but I'm currently not, so...wait, where was I going with that?) So here's three separate episodes (did my life suddenly become a soap opera?) to prove my point:

1.
Brent and I were laughing and poking at one another while leaving the apt for something. Out of the blue he says, "Yup, we're both definitely more happy when it's warmer out!"

2.
I've recently started running with a new running partner. I've only ran with her once before a few weeks ago, and the second time was earlier this week after the long cold spell. Here's how it went down:
J: So how's it going?
Me: Good!! Last weekend I got a little bit of cleaning done and am getting things done at work and my, isn't it a beautiful evening??
Slight awkward pause.
J: You seem very happy today...
Me: I just love being outside! It's so nice!
J: Yeah...either you really don't like the winter or it's all the endorphins your body's releasing right now...

3.
I was telling one of my friends the stories above and she was like, "Now that you mention it, you do seem happier..."

So apparently I was super depressed all winter long. Huh. I never noticed...




P.S. I've updated the blog so you can post anonymously (sorry, didn't realize that wasn't an option), but be sure to sign your name with your post!

Brent's Birthday

Yesterday was Brent's birthday. I'll save him (or should I say you?) his age, but suffice it to say some of his friends call him "Old Man". :)

Birthdays are special to me - there's just something about celebrating the person who was born and the impact they've had on my life. Now, if only I could remember everyone's birthday I want to...

As Brent's birthday fell on a Monday, we celebrated on Saturday. I took Brent out to dinner at Saratoga Grill in historic downtown Hillsborough. The restaurant is located on the second story of an old building and overlooks the main street.

Afterward we went ice skating at an indoor rink. I mean, what could be more fun than two Southerners going ice skating for the first time in their lives? Yeah, it was quite an experience! And even though the rink turned into Teenie-Bopper Town after 8pm and we totally got skooled (does anyone use that word anymore?) by some pre-teens showing off their skills, we had an absolute blast! The rink wasn't conducive for picture-taking, so, sorry - no pictures from the rink. And we actually just forgot to take pictures at the restaurant. But don't worry - I brought home a souvenir from the evening for each of us:Can you see them on my knees? Yup, I fell - twice. They don't kid when they say that ice is hard. I just didn't realize how hard. But on the bright side, my bruised knees make me feel like I'm six again. :) And how many times did the birthday boy fall? Zero! But I let him get away with it - we were there for his birthday, after all.

On Sunday I made homemade chewy granola bars. Not really for Brent's birthday (as I ate about 3/4 of them myself and just ate the last piece this afternoon), but we can credit it to that if you'd like. :)I can't not do something a little special the actual day of the birthday, even though we actually celebrated before. So, I got up extra early on Monday and made homemade Apple Cinnamon Whole Wheat Muffins.Yum! Look at all that cinnamon! These were definitely my kind of muffins! I love cinnamon!

(And on a side note, I love this bowl (and just bowls in general - you can never have too many...actually, I feel that way about most kitchen stuff, like wooden spoons. And measuring cups. And baking pans. And fun cake pans. Oh, and serving trays for when you have guests, and covered casserole dishes to take to a friend's house or a dinner, and...) Where was I? Oh, the bowl! I think my aunt gave it to me. It's much bigger than it looks as it kinda bevels out a little like a goldfish bowl and it has a fun red and green swirl. Okay sorry, enough about the bowl.)

Brent thought they were really good and very moist. Of course, he didn't spend 30 minutes chopping apples... :)but I guess that's the price I pay for the Birthday Boy's breakfast! (Don't worry - he definitely doesn't get this treatment very often. In fact, I'm thinking of canceling it for his future birthdays. You know, just so it doesn't go to his head. On the other hand, the cold cereal he eats every other day of the year might remind him of that anyway.) They were so good, it was well worth the time. Except I'm not much of a morning person, and almost slit my finger off about three hundred times trying to chop the apples. In retrospect, I really should have just used the food processor. Huh. Note for next time...

Okay, so don't tell Brent I told you, but I got him a type of Snuggie for his birthday gift. Hey, don't look at me like that! He basically screamed that he wanted one! (Oh wait, that was Sunday night - "It's so stinkin' cold outside! Where's our Snuggies???" I call it his Man Snuggie. It has a foot pocket, a pocket in front of your stomach for your hand and even a small pocket for your cell phone or the remote. I had to try it out...you know, just to make sure it kept a person warm okay:
Guess I'd better start getting used to seeing this sight:Already it's being used and I can tell it will be well-loved. I love that in my Birthday Boy! And doesn't Brent look good in green? :)