Spring Break Road Trip 2012, Part 3: Visiting Old Friends, Meeting New Friends!!!

22. March 2012 · Comments Off on Spring Break Road Trip 2012, Part 3: Visiting Old Friends, Meeting New Friends!!! · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , , ,

One of the things I’m guilty of is trying to balance visiting friends with every trip we take back to the Northeast.  You know who you are!  There are many of you I haven’t been able to see in YEARS because we’re trying to see other friends.

Now that I’m a GeekMom, there are a dozen+ ladies I want to meet on my travels.  I can’t wait to meet more of you!  I’ll be in the D.C. area (again) and Long Island by the end of the year….

On this trip, we got to meet up with old friends from Nebraska, North Carolina, and we got to meet up with new GeekMom/GeekDad friends.

While we were in WV, we drove out to Centreville, VA and met some friends for dinner.

Poor Timmy was sick so he stayed at my parents while the rest of us met the Folzes near Washington,  D.C.  We were neighbors in Nebraska and you might remember these boys from Cub Scout pictures and from our trip to the Ashfall Fossil Beds in summer 2010.  The kids picked up right where they left off — and we grown-ups had a great time catching up.  Dave had so many questions for Nick about his Pentagon commute.

We met up with Don, Maryann, Joey and Johnny at a BBQ restaurant in Durham.  We are so grateful that they made the drive — on a school night! — out to see us!

Maryann looked FANTASTIC!!!  I felt so underdressed next to her 🙂
Maryann took this nice picture of all four boys actually sitting still!

The following day, I headed over to Southpoint Mall in Durham to pick up a long-awaited iPhone 4S (whoo hoo!) and we had a chance to meet up with our friends the Warlicks for lunch in the food court.

Strike a pose!

I had taken about 50 pictures of the boys playing at this fountain with my new phone. But then I had some syncing problems when I first plugged it in…I lost those pictures.  But Wendy sent me everything she had on her camera, thanks!

I was so excited to finally get to meet a fellow GeekMom author in person! We had an invitation to visit one of the GeekMom editors, Natania Barron and her husband, GeekDad writer Michael Harrison. For Natania, Michael and me, it was like old friends seeing each other after a long while, since we talk so much via Facebook, Twitter and our GeekMom discussion boards. But for Dave, he was getting to meet them and talk to them for the first time. We had a fun time enjoying Greek food for dinner — Natania made it all! — and the kids enjoyed a game of Zombie Dice with Michael.

Spring Break Road Trip 2012, Part 2: North Carolina

22. March 2012 · Comments Off on Spring Break Road Trip 2012, Part 2: North Carolina · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , ,

This picture was taken minutes before we headed to our truck and started our drive home.

After hooking up the lawn mower to our truck in WV, we headed back down I-81 and U.S. 29 towards my sister’s house in central North Carolina.  I blew through her place — stopping overnight in each direction — driving to and from NY last summer, but this time we get to spend a few days in the area…and this was Dave’s first trip back since we moved away in July 2008.

My sister and I always have great times when we get together.  We often stay up late and talk talk talk until we’re falling asleep on each other!  We discuss books, movies and music and catch up on gossip.  I didn’t take any pictures, we sat at her kitchen table and folded origami cranes while we talked.

The kids take off like a pack of wolves and only need grownups’ attention when they’re hungry or hurt.  It’s actually rather relaxing, believe it or not.

My dear sister made us a cake!

We enjoyed a picnic lunch at a new park in Hillsborough.  Several of us took runs around the 2/3-mile-long track that circles the park.

The little ones played on the playground.

Swinging!

Running, complete with iPod!

Dave liked this park: check out the view he had of this NC Amtrak train!  He on the small hill on the right side of this picture, also photographing it.

Wouldn’t you know it — we had scooters and helmets in the truck!  The kids took turns riding around.

Time for an iPod break.

Soccer!

My sister’s boys have a trampoline on their property. My boys couldn’t get enough of it!

My sister kept the boys while Dave and I had a morning to ourselves to browse Trader Joe’s and Southern Season in Chapel Hill.  Money was spent.

Southern Season: These are just jams and jellies!

Dave was enjoying the fun wine section.

Cake decorating supplies!!!!  I bought some non-pareil cows.  I don’t have immediate plans to make a cow-themed cake, but you never know….
I’ve taken enough pictures of Trader Joe’s — I feel like a dork when I do it.  But I did photograph this beer that we used to get.  We elected not to attempt taking alcohol across NC/SC/GA/AL/FL.

Before we hit the road on Saturday for a partial drive home, we enjoyed watching my oldest nephew’s soccer game in Mebane.

One more post is forthcoming about last week — all the other friends we had a chance to see on this trip!  Stay tuned!

Spring Break Road Trip 2012, Part 1: West Virginia and a Circus

22. March 2012 · Comments Off on Spring Break Road Trip 2012, Part 1: West Virginia and a Circus · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

Last week was the kids’ Spring Break.  The family headed up to West Virginia to visit my parents, thanks to their offer for us to take their riding lawn mower.  My Dad bought it 1-2 years ago, but they don’t use it much.  I guess they felt sorry for us with our larger-than-necessary lawn…which I discussed last year when I measured how many miles I had walked to cut my lawn with our 22″ wide mower.

We drove a VERY long day on Saturday.  Thanks to some Choice Hotel loyalty points, we got a free hotel room in Roanoke and were at my parents by Sunday at lunchtime.

My parents had arranged a nice surprise for the boys: a trip to the circus!

This is a circus that set up in a gymnasium.  Small, but for the kids, it was a lot of fun!

The Walker Brothers Circus travels around the eastern United States.  It’s a very small operation, with the ringmaster taking our tickets at the front door, and the acrobats selling concessions when they aren’t actively performing.  The entire event is very small, unlike the larger Ringling Brothers circuses, so there were several chances to personally interact with the performers.

Ever see those free tickets at local grocery stores?  That’s the type of circus we went to.

The boys enjoyed the bouncy house before the circus, and the assorted acts.  My parents got them cotton candy and toy light sabers.

Waiting for the show to start.
He loves cotton candy!

The ringleader blew fireballs!

This is Gianni — balancing on tubes. 

A hula hoop act.

I was having a hard time with the camera from the distance we were sitting, so I stopped after this point.

The rest of our visit, we relaxed and hung out.  Dave and Timmy went to the Baltimore area to visit one of Dave’s friends’ train stores, and he met a friend for lunch.  Jacob and I spent a day shopping with my Mom, which was fun.  Jacob desperately needed some new running shoes, so he was stuck with us girls for the day.

We also drove out to the Washington, D.C. suburbs to visit some friends for dinner, but that’s for another post.

Timmy and my parents all got sick during our visit.  That was pretty icky, unfortunately.

Mid-week, we loaded my parents’ lawn mower on a U-Haul trailer and made the drive down to North Carolina, where we visited with my sister.

Parked at a Cracker Barrel on the way down to central NC.

Totally Rad 80s Party!

09. March 2012 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Last weekend Dave and I were invited to a birthday party!  It was an 80s themed birthday party and Stephanie (the same girl I went to Disneyworld with a couple weekends ago) knows how to throw a great theme party!

She decorated her house with vinyl records, cassette “mix” tapes and posters of 80s movies.  Her Pandora radio was set to the 80s channel, and even her birthday cake was a Ms. Pac Man!

Hostess cakes and Ms. Pac Man!

Stephanie had been accumulating vinyl 33s and 45s at thrift shops for $0.50 each!

Since I was will in a costuming mood from my Disneyworld trip, I had a good time coming up with an outfit that brought back memories of circa-1983 Madonna, Cyndi Lauper and Ferris Bueller all at once!

I don’t think my legs show up in any of the pictures, but I’m wearing black fishnet stockings with lacey ankle socks and stiletto heels. I have a huge fluffy black tutu ($8), part of the pink tulle skirt that I didn’t use with the Mulan costume from two weeks ago, a blank t-shirt with which I used iron on letters to say “Save Ferris” ($4) and Mardi Gras beads from last month. Dave’s shirt was a homemade iron-on of a Van Halen album cover from 1979. We bought his mullet wig, fishnet stockings and the black lace gloves and socks from Amazon for cheap.

The hair?  A scrunchie made from the bottom of my t-shirt, and LOTS of Aqua Net hairspray.

I couldn’t have planned this better myself!

The birthday girl and me!  Steph found this fantastic Dynasty-ish pink dress and she reminded me of Joan Collins!

Compare the gal on the left with this picture 🙂

iPhone Photo Phun: The Boys at Baseball Practice

09. March 2012 · Comments Off on iPhone Photo Phun: The Boys at Baseball Practice · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , ,

Just a quickie this evening.

Thursdays this month (and much of last month) have been very busy, between the boys each having baseball practice one after another. First Timmy has practice from 5:30-7:30pm, then Jacob’s is one field over from 7:30-8:30pm.

It’s become a tradition — about 8-10 “little siblings” get together to play catch, tag, hide and seek, or some other classic game while the older brothers are practicing.  It’s really cute.

After about a half hour of hide and seek, I looked over and saw a scene that seemed fitting for my Hipstamatic iPhone app…

The Hipstamatic app is like Instagram — it filters your digital pictures to look old-school 🙂  It seemed to work out in this scene, so long as you don’t know what the kids are doing.

So…what are they doing????

The boys are watching the 2nd kid from the left play an iPhone app.  Three of the four of them (including Timmy) are on the same baseball team and they were all hanging out while their big brothers had baseball practice.  I believe Timmy told me he was playing a game called Where’s My Water.

I tried to cram my iPhone lens through a fence link to get pictures of Jacob at bat, but it didn’t work so well.

Another Shameless Pitch: Secret Clinical Strength Deodorant

08. March 2012 · Comments Off on Another Shameless Pitch: Secret Clinical Strength Deodorant · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

I can’t believe I’m pitching deodorant!  But I am.

I happened across this product about a month ago at my local Walmart.  It sits high up on the top shelf of the women’s deodorant section.  There’s a nice, neat row of white boxes, all titled “Secret: Clinical Strength“.  Lots of scents, and at least two sizes for each scent.

I decided to choose the “Marathon Fresh” scent.  After all, I was training for a half marathon and it seemed appropriate.  See the running girl on the box?

I was sold!

At more than $7 for a container HALF the size of their standard container of Secret deodorant, I figured this had to be good.

It IS good!  I am one of those types who sweats profusely.  I’ve been hesitant to wear tank tops and sundresses for this reason.

But this product put a stop to it.  Even after my runs in the Florida sunshine, I continued to smell “Marathon Fresh!”

Wow!

Also, I noticed that a little goes a long way.  With regular deodorant, I have to reapply every 3-4 hours. Seriously, I do.  In the case of the clinical strength, I can apply once and be good to go for 24 hours!  So you could argue that this deodorant may not really cost twice as much, since I only have to apply now 1/3 as often.

This is amazing!!!!

If you also have been recently converted, make sure to save those UPC codes from your boxes, because with every 4 containers, you can send in the UPC codes and get a coupon for a free 1.7 oz. product!  Learn more about the “Clinical Strength Loyalty Program” here.

Okay, done pitching — back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Runner Girl Plays Dress Up — Part 2

08. March 2012 · Comments Off on Runner Girl Plays Dress Up — Part 2 · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , ,

As you read in Part 1, Steph and I had to try to sleep the night before the big race, except we were too excited to sleep and we each probably got 3-4 hours of sleep total.

We got up at 2am — YAWN! — and was ready to meet the first bus from our hotel to the race venue.

Yawn!

Once we were dropped off, we had a long walk to the bag check.  A girl who was sitting near us on the bus was chatting with us.  And wouldn’t you know it?  Her brother is a weatherman in the Air Force!  And was traveling down to Dave’s squadron for some training!

Where’s Kevin Bacon???

I won’t bore you with the details of waiting to wait for the start of the race.
But here are some cute costumes to put smiles on your faces:

The start of the race is impressive.  Fairy Godmother comes out and says “Bibbity Bobbity Boo!” and fireworks are shot off!

I was in Corral A — so I had a great view of the start of the race!

During the race there are many opportunities to take pictures with the Disney characters.  I didn’t start doing this till the castle at about mile 5, when it was clear that most of the girls in my corral didn’t care about the pictures and there were no waits for most of the pictures.

So even though I didn’t plan to, I bought the digital copies of the race pictures.  There were so many, it was worth it!

Enjoy some of the professional pictures taken during the race:

That Prince Charming was — WOW!

The girl in the Snow White costume is Lisa from Houston.  She paced with me for miles 2-10! 
I wish the castle wasn’t so dark behind me.  We were there right at sunrise….
Flynn Rider — it’s remarkable how Disney finds such likenesses!

Mulan was the LAST Princess on the race route, at mile 12.  It was TOUGH getting back on the route after visiting with her.

At EPCOT.

The girl on my left is Stephanie (a different Stephanie than the one I traveled with).  She and I work together in the AF Reserves.  We paced each other to the finish!

Best. Finish Line. Picture. Ever.  Usually I look like death.

The medals are very substantial.  Downright heavy around my neck.

It was Stephanie’s birthday.

Stephanie and I had quite the adventure after our race trying to get lunch and then take the monorail and buses back to our room.  Our legs are like jello!

After we got back to the hotel, Stephanie D. and I took it easy for the rest of the day.  We enjoyed the hotel’s hot tub (along with about 10 other racers) and then enjoyed some Cajun food for dinner at the hotel’s food court.  We enjoyed the Oscars and fell asleep nice and early.

We drove home on Monday and that was that!

I’m trying to convince Dave to run the race with me next year.  I’d like to dress like Mr. and Mrs. Incredible!

But we’ll need some help w/ the kids to do that…we’ll see.

Runner Girl Plays Dress Up, Part 1

08. March 2012 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

I’m so excited to finally have time to sit down and share my experience with my first runDisney race a couple weeks ago!

Last fall I signed up to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon, whose route covers Magic Kingdom and EPCOT.  The race was on February 26th.  A neighborhood friend, Stephanie, and I made the trip together over a long weekend.  We had a wonderful trip and it was fun to be part of such a magical weekend.  There were nearly 20,000 runners.  While men are allowed to take part, they cannot win race awards.  There were about 1000 male runners.

Can you see me?  I am towards the right, just past the finish line.  Do you see the man in the light blue tutu to my right?

The training for this race was very similar to the program I did for the Gulf Coast Half Marathon last spring.  Like last year I was able to take advantage of the Pensacola Double Bridge Run as a good mid-point for training — and it was smart to incorporate the hills because the Disney course isn’t flat at all!

It’s tradition to dress in a costume for this race.  Needless to say, most of the women racing dressed as their favorite princesses.  Many of the men dressed up, also.  I chose to run as Mulan, due to her military and Asian backgrounds.

After ditching the tulle tutu option after a test run (I don’t know HOW all those other women did it), I opted to just stick to modern running clothing with a couple of additions.  I bought a pink running skirt, and I had several lighter pink running shirts to choose from already.

I had this old Susie Wong-style dress that I had bought in China years ago.  I outgrew the dress and the silk was looking worn out in spots.  I cut off the top and bottom to make a corset-style belt.

This could fit over my head and then zip into place w/ the original dress zipper.

This was the flower for my hair.

I after hot glue not holding the flower onto this comb during a run, I used floral tape to really bind it on.  It held up for all 13.1 miles!
A friend gave me this pretty lace scarf that served well as a gold sash and bow in the back.

Now that I had a costume ready to go, let’s talk about the race experience itself!

Stephanie and I arrived at Walt Disney World around 5pm Friday.  We headed straight over to the “Fit for a Princess” Expo, which featured numerous fitness vendors selling all the typical goodies.  We enjoyed samples of Clif Gel, Luna bars and got to test iPod armbands, headbands and other gadgets and gizmos.

I had wanted to look at the Dooney & Bourke commemorative handbags Disney had commissioned for the race.  They were sold out.  An employee said they had all sold out in two hours.  Gee, I wonder why they sold so quickly?  I wasn’t necessarily planning to buy one — I’m not a super Princess-ey kind of girl — but I still wanted to see them in person.

Forget the Princess race bag, this is the one I want!

We stayed at the Port Orleans French Quarter hotel on the Walt Disney World property.  This helped getting to/from the race venues more easily.

The landscaping and ambiance of this hotel is so beautiful!

We enjoyed a fun evening at the Boardwalk Resort.  We visited a piano bar called Jellyrolls and met up Debbie, with an Air Force friend who lives in Tampa now, as well as fellow blogger Rosalind of Girls Are Geeks.

Rosalind and me.

On Saturday, many runners who had their families at the resort with them took part in the Tangled Family 5K race.  I didn’t go to see the race, but I could see that being a nice warmup for the biggie the following day.

Steph, Debbie and I enjoyed a leisurely day at Magic Kingdom.  For the first time, I could spend the day at Magic Kingdom doing GIRLIE things!**

We browsed all the stores we wanted…slowly!  The lines weren’t bad at all, and we could manage our Fast Passes well enough to go on any rides we wanted to.  For the most part, we stuck to leisurely rides, but we didn’t let a trip on Splash Mountain escape us!

**On my 30th birthday my Mom and I spent the day at EPCOT…similarly doing girlie things and it was great!

Because we were wearing our race t-shirts, many cast members wished us “Good Luck tomorrow”.

This was about 30′ from the big drop at the end of the Splash Mountain ride.  The ride STOPPED for about 2 minutes.  Which is why I got this picture.

Enjoying some shopping!

We had dinner at Downtown Disney Saturday night, said goodbye to Debbie, and then Steph and I attempted to go to bed early — we had a 2am alarm set for Sunday morning!  But I was too excited — I hadn’t been this excited in YEARS about anything.  I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve!  I probably got about 3 hours of sleep before the race.

Stay tuned for Part 2…the race itself!

A Brief Family Update

06. March 2012 · Comments Off on A Brief Family Update · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,

Hello friends!  I have a lot to talk about — but I need time to sit down and just do it.  Things have gotten pretty busy here…between my involvement in the base Spouses’ Club and Cub Scouts, I’ve been spending more time with community work than ever before!

The boys started baseball a couple weeks ago (both boys), so that’s been keeping us busy too.  Their season will start after spring break.  No pictures yet, but I’ll get some soon, I promise!

Both boys earned their Cub Scout badges in February.  We are so proud!

Timmy’s face is painted as part of the ceremony for earning the badge.  The orange square badge is pinned on upside-down until he does a good deed.

Jacob’s face is painted too, but you aren’t really see it.  Jacob’s light-green badge is upside-down until he did a good deed.

I added one more layer to my already-crazy life, which I’ll write more about later.  Here’s a teaser for you:

Dave’s back surgery recovery has been continuing.  He was cleared at the beginning of February to resume exercise and he’s been slowly working back up to his Air Force fitness running requirements. I think he and Jacob could run a 5K together by May!  I’m hoping they can do the Sunset Stampede!  The boys and I did the run last year and it was a great time!

If you are either Dave’s or my Facebook friends, you will already know about our latest diversion — a new car for Dave!  For those who might not have realized, not long after we moved to Florida, Dave began looking at a “fun” car to enjoy on his 15-mile U.S. Highway 98 commutes between Navarre and Hurlburt Field.  I had convinced him that our household budget would appreciate his waiting about a year, which he patiently did.

Now that his back is feeling better, Dave is back to wanting to go out and explore the Florida panhandle.  I’m so excited to have my Dave back (no pun intended!)

So we spent much of February shopping for a convertible.  Between a nearly $10,000 trade for the Prius, and Dave keeping his search to a used model, this turned out pretty reasonable.

We looked at used BMWs, used Ford Mustangs and new Mini Coopers.  I want to thank my sons publicly for their tolerance of road tripping all over Pensacola, Crestview and Fort Walton Beach, test driving and sitting patiently while the grownups talked to the car dealers.

And here’s the new car:

Dave was particularly interested in a 2011-or-newer Mustang V6 for its exceptional mileage.

The very next day, Dave let me drive the new car with my friend Stephanie to Walt Disney World to run a half marathon (for another post), and after that weekend, the weather was absolutely LOUSY.  San Francisco-type fog rolling in waves from off the Gulf of Mexico for FIVE DAYS!  Starting this past Sunday, it’s been BEAUTIFUL and worth while to have a convertible.  We can’t wait till this spring!

So there’s a brief update on our lives — keeping up with our jobs, the kids and our community.

TTFN!

Alabama Discoveries 2: Mobile Mardi Gras 2012

21. February 2012 · 1 comment · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , , ,
Happy Mardi Gras, friends!

I haven’t written much lately — it’s been crazy busy around here and things are getting busier as the boys’ baseball practices start up this week.  They’re both playing this year.  Part of why we’re busier is that Dave’s now more active and we can again do family activities.  The cruise really cinched things for us — Dave’s back surgery from October was a resounding success.

For the past week or so I’d been suggesting we take the family to see a Mardi Gras parade in the area.

I guess, in typical Major Mom fashion, I should give you some background to what Mardi Gras is, huh?  Here you go.
While the phrase “Mardi Gras” does literally translate into the words “Fat Tuesday”, which is the day before Ash Wednesday, Mardi Gras along the Gulf Coast is actually more of a “season” — between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday.  This is the time to be festive, eat richer foods, imbibe on beverages and just plain party before the more serious penitential Lenten season.

Many Americans are familiar with Carnival season in many parts of the world, such as the largest Carnival there is: Rio de Janiero, Brazil!

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