Sweet Luc

We had the privilege of having Matt and Claire's little boy, Luc, stay with us for a few days. What a sweetie! We had a blast celebrating Uncle Chris's birthday yesterday and Luc kept us in stitches with his squinty eye smile and his toe fetish. I think the only thing that Greg and I regretted was that we didn't have enough energy to keep up with him. He sure kept us going, but we loved every minute of it. We hate that we live so far from Luc and his big brother, Theo. Maybe we can convince Matt and Claire to move a little closer to Virginia! ;)

So Ash, what is your opinion of Gainesville's new Chick fil A?

The Beatles at Rehoboth!!!

From a distance...there they were! John, Paul, George and Ringo! I could hardly believe my eyes. Playing at Rehoboth Beach, no less! Okay, I knew that a "Beatles" band was playing covers at Rehoboth, so I wanted to get a peek. And, from a distance, they looked pretty doggone cool. They had the suits, the hair, and almost had the sound. But as I got closer to the stage for a photo op, what I saw were four aged men, three of whom had wigs on! It really made me laugh, they tried so hard. But no one could resist dancing to their tunes, even if it was raining. A good time, indeed!

Sheryl Crow

web photo

As you may know, I was able to score a front row seat to Sheryl Crow's concert at Wolf Trap last night. It was really great, okay, incredible! She is one amazing singer and guitar player. Her singing is effortless. Her band members were really, really good! She sang a variety of songs from her Detours CD and oldies, too. When she and her band came out for an encore, the intro to the very last song confused me...didn't sound like any Sheryl Crow song I had heard before. In fact, it sounded like Led Zeppelin! Sure enough, she closed her set with Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll!" They did an amazing job with it and of course everyone was out of their seats rocking along. Did I mention that my ears are still ringing?

One thing I didn't realize about Sheryl (we are on a first name basis, now), is how petite she is. I mean really tiny! When she came over to where I was sitting, I noticed that she was wearing under her jeans, shoes that had about 2 inch platform and spiked heels. Totally cute. Very petite.

While I was thrilled to have a ticket in the front, it wasn't nearly as fun as I thought it would be because I didn't have my sweetie there to share it with me (only one front row ticket was available). Note: concerts are not as fun when you go alone!

Anyway- the other bummer was, before I left for Wolf Trap, I checked the website to see if cameras were allowed. "All cameras are prohibited." Okay, so why chance taking the extra luggage? When I was seated, the usher said, "Be sure not to use your flash, if you take pics!!" What do you mean IF I take pics????? He said that it's up to the artist and tonight cameras were allowed without flash! Grrrrrrrr. It was killing me throughout the show that all I had was my camera phone. The images look like some sort of singer, but pretty sure you wouldn't be able to tell that it was a female, let alone Sheryl Crow! She actually came to stage left a couple of times where my seat was and I could have shaken her hand, she was that close! Let it go, Jean. Let it go.

It was a great experience and I am even more in awe of her talent. Made me want to pull out the 12 string...

In My Back Yard...

I think have known Mary since she was about 12 years old.  We've grown up with her family in the Manassas Second Ward.  Mary is the same age as Lindsay and perhaps that is why I have always held a special place in my heart for her.  

I was honored when she asked if I would take her wedding photos on hers and Tim's special day.  

Mary has said to me on several occasions what a wonderful guy Tim is and what a great husband he is, her eyes getting misty just thinking about him.  I have no doubts that Tim is a catch- you can see it in his eyes.  But it is Tim who is getting one of the sweetest, humblest, loveliest women on this earth.  In other words, I believe that they were made for each other.

Baby Dove

For quite a while now, I have shared a friendship with whom I call, "Mama Dove."  I visited her every day in her home, located right in the middle of our butterfly bush.  Okay, maybe it was a one-sided friendship, but she did tolerate me somewhat.

Today was the first day that I noticed her little family- two baby doves!  Mama took a few minutes long sabbatical and that is when I pulled my camera out to see these cuties.  Two of them, nestled inside their little home, not even chirping yet, but sweet enough to "smile" for the camera!

It's Only Been Four Months!!!

Any guesses as to who this sweet, smiling dog is?



So, yes, it has been 4 months exactly since I have posted. It's been a crazy spring. I have kept myself busy with gardening, more painting, and photography...trying to keep my mind off of my job for next year or lack thereof. But, I think the stress has been alleviated as I found out that I will have a job in the fall, although it won't be what I am currently doing :( It's always hard to change from some thing you love doing to a different type of work. But I am sure that I will love this job as much. I won't be traveling all over Fairfax County as I have been. I have been assigned to work with students with disabilities (yeah) at Annandale High School! I will be working with a colleague that I like and I am sure we will make a good team.

So maybe, since I am feeling better about the future, I will be posting more! Check back and see!

Inauguration Day Memories With Pics!

Greg just came back from being in Utah for a week. As he plans for his trips, I usually have a few lightbulb moments when I'm thinking, "What can I do to the house while he is away?" This time was no different. I schemed for a few weeks about painting the kitchen..what color, can I do it alone or should I recruit some help? So, many days in advance, I picked out the desired color from Lowe's multitude of color swatches. Greg left last Sunday, and on Monday morning, I purchased my paint. I thought I'd try solo at first. I did one section at a time and kept admiring the new look. That inspired me to continue on to the next section.

Now painting the walls above the larger cabinets was next to impossible. My arms, even with paint brush in tow, simply didn't reach the back edge. I didn't let that stop me, oh no! Brilliant of all brilliant ideas...I would tape my paintbrush to a long piece of narrow wood. Voila! It really worked! And it looks pretty darn good! By Tuesday evening, I was completely done. So, when people ask me where I was on Inauguration Day, 2009, I will have fond memories of painting my kitchen a bright sunny yellow while watching the inaugural proceedings taking place on TV.

You are wondering what Greg's reaction to this was when he returned? He said simply, "I'm glad I didn't have to paint it!" Indeed.