FINALLY! - Updated

I got my car back today!!

After a week of thinking they'd be finished with it, they finally called me today to let me know it was finished. There were problems last week with computers and wrong parts and things of that nature. I was ecstatic when the girl called me this afternoon to let me know it was ready! There was only one problem. The hubby was in Raleigh today so couldn't get home to take me to bring it home. When I mentioned that to her, telling her I'd have to see about finding someone else to take me over, she asked for directions to our house and said they could bring it to me. WOOO HOOO! The frustrations of the previous week were almost forgotten...ALMOST!

She called after they got into the subdivision to clarify the last part of the directions I'd given her, so I walked outside about the time they pulled up. It was all I could do to keep from jumping up and down and squealing in excitement! Or maybe I did just that...who knows?

Anyway, after a little more than seven weeks, I finally have it back. Good as new!

Update

We went out to get some dinner tonight after the hubby got home. On the way there, a pickup truck in the oncoming lane kicked up a rock into my windshield and cracked it. Damn, I just can't get a break! Called the insurance company when we got home and there will be someone here Wednesday afternoon to replace it. It wouldn't be such a big deal except for the fact that it has already expanded quite a bit since it first happened. At the rate it's already expanded, it would expand across the entire windshield in no time. At least I won't have to be without the car for another seven weeks for that!

First Time for Everything

The hubby and I had a busy day today. The kids are spending the weekend with my in-laws, so we decided we'd try to get some things accomplished around the house.

We've been wanting to get a privacy fence put up out back. Since the kids weren't home this weekend, we decided to try to get started on that today. So we planned to go over to Home Depot to price the things we would need. I have been pretty adamant about having a shadowbox fence ever since I first started researching different styles. The hubby wanted to use pre-made panels, because they're so much easier to work with. But whenever we would look at fencing supplies, there were no pre-made panels in the shadowbox style. Well, today at Home Depot, we were comparing prices, and come to find out, they now have the pre-made shadowbox panels! Yay! I get my pretty shadowbox fence, and the hubby gets the convenience of the pre-made panels. Can't get much better than that! Only downside is that those particular panels are special order items, so it's going to take a week or two for them to come in, then our local store will deliver them for us. Although we weren't able to start putting the fence up today as originally planned, we're both very happy with what we were able to get.

Another thing I've really wanted since we bought this house is a nice flag pole for the front yard. We have always had the type that mounts to the house or porch, but now that we own our home, I wanted a nice pole out front. We found a kit at Home Depot while we were there today that was much less expensive than the ones that we had looked at before, and it was steel instead of aluminum. Cool! So we bought that today too. So I now have one in my front yard. We also bought a set of solar spot lights so it will be lit at night without us having to remember to turn on the lights. I'm terrible about that. We'll just have to make sure they work properly and are bright enough. Only one of them is lit tonight (we didn't run the flag up yet...waiting for the concrete to set), but I'm hoping that's just because it was late afternoon before we got them put out so they're not fully charged yet. We'll see.

After the hubby finished working outside, we decided to take a ride to get some dinner without the kiddos. Here's where the first time for everything comes in. While he was out working, I kept thinking we were going to get a storm. There were some dark clouds overhead, and I kept hearing thunder. It mostly missed us though. The thunderstorm warning for our county was expiring at 6:30 this evening, and it would be after that by the time we left the house, so we figured we'd take the chance and ride. On our way to Fayetteville, we felt some drizzle. No big deal, nothing to warrant turning around and heading back home. Once we got farther into Fayetteville, though, we could tell they had gotten a good rain. The roads were wet. So we just slowed down and made sure we kept our distance all around us. So although we didn't really have that much rain, we got pretty wet from the water being splashed up by our tires and the mist from the cars in front of us. It was a good experience, though. It had been so hot today that it actually felt pretty good to get a little wet while riding. It definitely cooled us off. I also figure that if we're going to continue to take trips on the bikes, we're eventually going to have no choice but to ride in the rain - can't avoid it forever. I'd much rather be in familiar territory for a first time experience like that. Yeah, Fayetteville is crazy, but I know the roads around here.

On the way home, I had an experience that reminded me that I always have to watch out for others when I'm riding...even more so than when I'm in the car. I was in the center lane of three lanes going in the same direction. That makes me nervous anyway, but I hadn't had an opportunity to move over into the right lane yet. I was watching the vehicles on either side of me to make sure I'd be prepared if anybody decided to do anything stupid. Sure enough, the car on my right came over into my lane practically right on top of me. Fortunately, I was watching him so had plenty of room to slow down without having to lock up my brakes. My biggest concern was that there was also a car on my left and I wasn't sure what that one was going to do. I just didn't want to get boxed in there. But when that car cut in front of me, it gave me room to get into the far right lane, where I wanted to be anyway. The funny thing was that when I got into the right lane, the hubby blew past me on his bike. I think he was more pissed than I was about the car that cut me off. He got over in the right lane a car or two in front of me, and I caught up with him a few minutes later. I figure there was no need to get pissed, because I sort of expect people to do that when I'm on my bike...after all, that's what I was taught to watch for. The ironic thing was that the car had a bumper sticker on it that said "Got Jesus?" I was thinking to myself that it's a good thing I do since you tried to take me out!

Then when we got into our neighborhood, there were some kids that really frustrated me. There were two teenage boys and one little boy probably my daughter's age or younger. The littlest one was standing right in the middle of the road that the hubby and I were turning left onto. Smack in the middle! I had my signal on and he wouldn't move, nor did the two older boys tell him to move. He just stood there, with his little hands posed like he was holding handlebars. Bless his heart, I know he just wanted to watch, but the older boys never should have let him be in the middle of the road like that. It's dangerous for him, and it was dangerous for us on the bikes. What if he had unexpectedly moved into our path? He could have been hurt badly, as could one or both of us. I thought about having a few choice words with the older boys, but decided against it.

So that's our day in a nutshell. Although we didn't get as much accomplished as we'd have liked, we did get quite a bit done. We'll be glad when the stuff gets here from Home Depot so we can get even more done!

OK I'm Pissed

My husband has been trying for nearly a month to schedule an appointment for a consult. Last time he went out to Womack he was seen in the Pain Clinic. They entered consults for him to have an MRI on his back (long-term problems there) and another exam that he never had after coming back from Iraq. He was able to get the appointment for his MRI scheduled without many problems. However, the other consult has been a different story.

He's been trying since July 5th to get his consult appointment scheduled. He called the front desk of the clinic he has to go through, and they told him there's a specific line he has to call for it. So he's been calling it, getting only an answering machine. He's left numerous messages and nobody has ever called him back. His goal was to be able to get that consult done the same time he had his MRI, which was yesterday, the 25th. When he wasn't able to get anybody on the phone, I advised him to actually walk into the clinic where he has to have the consult done to see if he can schedule the appointment by talking to somebody face to face. It's kind of hard for them to ignore somebody that way. Well, by the time he was finished with the MRI, he was hurting pretty badly (had to lie on his back perfectly still on a board for about 45 minutes), so didn't go by the other clinic. I can't say that I really blame him.

So today he decided to try to get in touch with the other clinic again. He called, got the answering machine, hung up, and tried again. I guess he did this for about a half hour. FINALLY, an actual person answered. The hubby let him know exactly what he thought about the fact that he'd been trying for three weeks to make this appointment, and that he would not be hanging up the phone until he got his appointment.

He got his appointment. The date? September 5th.

That's just bullshit. If somebody had answered the freakin' phone when he tried to call three weeks ago, he'd have probably been able to get an appointment much sooner. I'm beyond pissed!

I'm sorry, but it just pisses me off that this is the kind of "care" that our servicemembers receive here. I can honestly say that this is the worst care my husband has had since he's been on active duty. Maybe it's because he's in Recruiting and they don't have their own unit PA. I know that's what he's used to. And the even scarier thing is that once they're no longer active duty, it only gets better (much sarcasm here).

I'm so frustrated for him...although I know my frustration doesn't come anywhere near matching his. Not knowing what exactly the future is going to hold for us (depending on the medical stuff) is pretty scary. I'm trying not to worry, because I believe that things will work out the way they're supposed to, but the insecurity where that's concerned is disturbing.

Lots Going On

We've had a lot going on here. We're settling in to the kids' new school routine. Well, the kids and I are anyway...it doesn't really affect the hubby much. I can see right now that this is going to be a challenging year for the boy. Our PA warned me about that, but you can't really be prepared until it starts. The homework is completely different this year and he's been struggling. I'm having to remind him that I'm not going to just give him the answers to his homework. He asked me yesterday what the capital of North Carolina is, and I told him that if that was one of his homework questions he needed to learn how to find it himself. This should be an interesting year.

Sunday we had the baby girl's birthday party. She wanted to go to Chuck E Cheese's again. I swear that place seemed even louder this year than it was last year. I had a headache by the time we left. But the kids had a good time, and that's what matters. My sister's baby even got to get in on the fun. They put her on all the little kids' rides, and she seemed to enjoy it. Whenever one of them would stop, she'd start kicking her legs, wanting it to go again. She's so darn cute!

I'm working on finishing up my degree. I'm about halfway through my current course and have two more to go. I'm scheduled to finish in October. I can't wait!

The hubby's job is keeping him busy and frustrated as usual. We're counting down the months to the end of this assignment. I don't know what will be next, but it's gotta be better than this.

I finally started going to the gym again. I've been meaning to for a while. I knew that once I started going I'd feel better and keep going. I just started this week, and wasn't able to go this morning (I leave straight from the kids' bus stop after dropping them off) because the hubby needed the truck (and I STILL don't have my car back...hoping for this week). My biggest thing, though, is getting the motivation to START going. Once I make myself go the first time, I'm usually good. I've started being more careful about what I eat, too, as well as making myself eat something for breakfast. So hopefully I'll start losing the weight I want to lose and get in better shape.

So that's what's been going on around here. Never a dull moment in our house.

Yummy

Last night I asked the hubby if he felt like going to Carrabba's for dinner. I had heard a commercial on the radio a couple of times about their Cozze in Bianco (Mussels in White Wine) and had started having a craving. Yeah, I tease my kids about being commercial junkies, and I guess in this instance, I fall into this category. But I just love mussels in white wine sauce, and haven't had them since leaving Europe. Well, Friday night, the hubby didn't feel like going out. For that matter, I was moody and picking arguments, so it was probably not a good time to go anyway.

Today we worked on straightening up the house. The hubby went through a box of military books that has been in my kitchen for more weeks than I can remember. I got some cleaning done, to include the kitchen floor which I have been needing to do for a while. I pretty much have the downstairs done to the point where I just have to maintain. I have a bit of work to do upstairs, but it will be nice once I get that done.

This afternoon I asked the hubby about going to Carrabba's for dinner tonight. He said he was open to it if that was what I wanted. Considering the fact that I really wanted it last night, I told him that yes, I did really want to go tonight. So we made plans to go. Woo Hoo!

The battery had gone out in my watch a little more than a week before, so I needed to take it out to have it fixed. Also, the hubby brought me a Breitling watch from Iraq that I had never work because it was too big (imagine that!). So we decided to take both watches with us tonight and go by the mall to take care of both problems this evening. Well, on the watch that needed a new battery, I paid $21.95 (or something like that...need to look at the receipt) for a lifetime maintenance deal where they'll replace the battery for me anytime in my lifetime without charging me again. I can deal with that. It was Reed's Jewelers, in case you're interested. They also removed a couple of links from my Breitling watch for me. Charged about $10 for that. Fits just about perfectly, with a little room in it. I'll need to have it adjusted again when I lose weight, but I won't worry about that until I lose the weight I want to lose.

We had a wonderful dinner at Carrabba's, of course. J had spaghetti with meatballs, and A had cheese pizza. I had their Lobster Ravioli which was one of their daily specials, and the hubby had one of their salmon daily specials. We weren't disappointed. For dessert, the kids had the Bambini Sundae each, and P and I split the Creme Brulee. Yummmmmmy!!

We spent too much money, but we rarely get to go to Carrabba's. For authentic Italian food, it's the best in the area, hands-down!! Christy, I thought of you as I was eating my Lobster Ravioli, since I was with you the first time I ever tried it. We really need to get together soon...definitely before you and the hubby leave the area!

First Week of School

Well, first half-week anyway.

My kids started back to school on Wednesday. They're in year-round school here.

My son is going to have quite an adjustment to make this year. He started Fourth Grade. Our PA told me Monday that it's been his experience, from his patients, that fourth grade is the hardest year for kids. Said he has a lot of kids in the office staying home with complaints of bellyaches, etc. Here we are two days into the new school year, and I believe it already.

We got home from school this afternoon, and J was supposed to be doing his homework. I heard him upstairs playing and reminded him more than once that he was supposed to be doing his homework. Finally he complained, "It's too hard!" Maybe the difference is that this year they have actual textbooks. He had science homework tonight and he was supposed to read a chapter on minerals and then answer questions on a worksheet. He really struggled with that. I know it's a different style for him, and I tried to help him understand what he needed to do, but we were both getting frustrated. He was working on his homework until nearly 7 tonight, and he still had to read for a half hour. Their bedtime is 8 on school nights.

I had to get out of the house for a bit this evening after making sure he finished his Science homework. We're having the baby girl's birthday party Sunday evening, so I needed to go get gifts for that. I ordered her cake too. So we should be ready for her party now. Going to Chuck E Cheese. I know they'll have a good time, although it's crazy for the grownups.

Sunday should be fun!

Porch Swing Blogging

Well, glider-rocker anyway.

We're experiencing a very rare cool, breezy July afternoon here in NC today. So I'm taking advantage of it by sitting on my porch watching my husband cut the grass and working on my school work. I'm just taking a quick break before I really get started. Haha

Today has been a busy day. I rode the hubby's new bike up to Smithfield for its first service since he had to work. Don't you know that was such a chore for me! The ride was great, but the waiting around for almost three hours wasn't. Oh well, it got done, and I enjoyed the opportunity to take a ride.

Today is my baby girl's birthday. She's 7 today. She and her brother are spending the weekend with their Nana and Papa at the beach. It's Nana's birthday, too, and this is the third year in a row they have gotten to spend it together. Last year they visited my brother-in-law and his wife and had a great time on the water there, and the year before the in-laws came to visit us and we were in Paris for their birthday. Their birthday also happens to be Bastille Day, so there was a big celebration, to include fireworks. I haven't gotten to talk to her yet today...got no answer when I tried my mother-in-law's cell phone. If I don't hear from them I'll try back this evening.

The hubby and I are really counting down the months to the end of his current assignment. We don't know what will be in store next, but it'll have to be better than this. He's just so stressed lately, and it's really wearing on him. His BN Commander actually tried to enlist my support last month to try to convince the hubby to extend for a year. I know he figures that I'd rather have him extend in his current job than deploy. He's sorely mistaken, and I told him so in no uncertain terms that day. I had rather my husband go back to doing the job that he loves, even if it means a deployment, than see him miserable for another year. The LTC acted shocked. Guess he doesn't know me as well as he thinks he does. And things have only gotten worse, so woe be upon him if he tries barking up that tree again next time I see him. He may get more than he bargained for there. I would REALLY have to speak my mind then.

Oh, and on the car front...looks like I might get it back around the 27th of this month, if all goes well. They called me the Friday before the 4th of July to tell me that once they had started on my car they'd had to order more parts. They had told me that was a possibility. She also told me that they were going to be off for three days the week of the 4th, so that would delay it even more. I called earlier this week just to touch base, and she told me they were having to replace the entire dash. Wow! Doesn't really surprise me, especially because of the airbags, but I guess I wasn't really expecting it. This week was when she gave me the ballpark date, although she did tell me they hoped to have it done sooner. Not as much as I hope they're able to! Will be interesting to see what the final cost of repairs is when all is said and done.

So that's about all that's new here. Lot of the same old stuff going on.

Gone Again

Yay! I can add titles again! I'm really happy about that...Blogger was really messing with my OCD there for a few days.

The kids are gone again. The hubby's mom called me this afternoon to tell me that she had a doctor's appointment in Fayetteville today, and that my father-in-law had to visit a lady in the hospital. They wanted to stop by for a visit while they were down this way. She then asked if I needed some fresh veggies...they plant a garden every year. I told her that I certainly wouldn't turn down fresh veggies. Love, love, love veggies from the garden. Maybe next year we'll have the time to plan a garden here.

So they came by and brought me two bags of veggies, and took the kids with them when they left. This will be their last long vacation with Nana and Papa before they start school. They have to go back to school a week from today, on the 18th. I only feel a little bit guilty because I'm not going to be with my baby girl on her birthday. This is the second year in a row that she has spend her birthday with my hubby's parents, but I'm glad she can do that, because she shares a birthday with her Nana. So it's pretty special for them to be able to spend their birthdays together while we're here. They're going to the beach this weekend. The in-laws are going to be there for a week, but I'll of course have to go get the kids earlier so they can be back in time for school to start.

So the hubby and I have been enjoying some peace and quiet tonight. We went out and had a nice dinner, just the two of us, and were able to hold a conversation without constant interruptions. That's always nice. We were going to go to the beach for a couple of days with them, but turns out the hubby has to work this weekend. So we're going to have to try to figure out a time to go down and pick the kids up.

So we're going to enjoy our alone time while we have it. After all, we don't know how much longer we have to be here close to family. I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts!

Better Day

After my complaining post last night, I thought it only fair to brag tonight.

I kept a friend's little boy today (actually a coworker of my sister). He had been sick and had to be out of daycare a couple of days, but neither Mom nor Dad could miss anymore work. I understand what it's like to be in a bind like that, since I've been a working parent, so I was happy to help.

I have to admit that my kids did more babysitting than I did. From the time the little guy got here this morning until the time he left (with the exception of lunch and nap for him), my kids had him upstairs playing. He had a great time, and didn't want to leave when Mommy came to get him this afternoon. J came down at one point and said the little guy was hiding in the closet. Awwwww!! I went upstairs and carried him down, and he and mom headed home. He's a good little boy, and had lots of fun. My kids had a great time playing with him, too. They both love little kids.

My mom and her boyfriend came over to visit for a bit tonight. The kids were down here visiting with them at one point, and I can't remember what J said, but I was fussing at him about not listening. He said something that cracked us all up:

"What's wrong with my earsight?"

I lost it! Kids come out with the funniest things sometimes!

But, after I complained last night, I just wanted to share today how great my kids are. And, yes, I did praise them and thank them for how good they were today. Positive reinforcement!!

One of Those Days

It's been one of those days.

You know the ones. The days when your kids just refuse to listen and do everything EXCEPT what you've told them to do. That was the kind of day I had today, and I'm exhausted. I've had a tension headache most of the day, and while I was attempting to close my eyes and have a bit of quiet to get rid of it, they decided to make as much noise as possible.

:::Sigh:::

They've just pushed every button they could think of to push today. I hate to yell, but I'll admit that I did today. But at least that's the worst I did. I've been working on my patience...but they tried it beyond its limits today.

I love my kids with all my heart, more than anything. But they were driving me nuts today.

Oh well...tomorrow's a new day.

Oh, and blogger is jacked up and I can't add titles to my posts.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is up with that??

Procrastination

I'm usually the world's worst procrastinator! I was doing really well keeping up with my school assignments and such for the first year and a half or so, but after we moved to the States I had a really hard time readjusting. I told myself that with this class I just started Tuesday I wasn't going to do that. In a five week course, with the workload, it's really easy to fall way behind.

I know I'm less than a week into the course, but I'm starting off a lot better. I got my discussion questions (I'm in online courses) turned in on time, even a day early with one of them. I'm trying to keep up my participation, which is a challenge for me. I usually have to force myself to come up with a response if I don't necessarily feel I have anything to contribute. I had an individual assignment due tonight by midnight, and I actually got it turned in with three and a half hours to spare. Usually I'm still writing come midnight of the due date, and squeaking it in just under the wire.

Not procrastinating feels good. Maybe I'll make a new habit!

Role Reversal

There's been somewhat of a role reversal in my house this evening.

I'm quite hot-natured. I'm usually comfortable (or sometimes hot) when the rest of my family is complaining about being cold. I joke about having hot flashes, although people usually reassure me that I'm much too young for that.

This evening the hubby got up to adjust the thermostat. I asked him if he was cold. He said that he was actually hot. I'm sitting here thinking the temperature is just about right, and my kids are under a blanket. A few minutes later, I see him pulling on the front of his shirt. I guess I must have given him a look, because he looked at me and said, "I'm sweating!"

It really is a rare occasion in this house that he's hot and I'm not.

So what does he say next? "Maybe I'm going through menopause."

Oh hahaha! He's such a comedian!

I must admit, though, I haven't laughed that hard in a while.

Fireworks

I'll never look at them the same again.

The hubby and I used to love watching fireworks. I can remember our New Year's in Heidelberg. We walked out on the balcony and watched the fireworks from our apartment, and loved it.

Things have certainly changed. His first 4th of July home from Iraq, we went on post in Vilseck and watched fireworks with the kids. I didn't really notice anything different. Then his parents came to visit us. We were in Paris for my daughter's and mother-in-law's birthday, which also happens to be Bastille Day, France's Independence Day. There was a parade, the museums were free, and there were fireworks that night. The hubby was on edge all evening. I didn't really put two and two together then either.

Last year we went to watch fireworks with my mom and her boyfriend in the town we live in. P was, again, on edge from the time it got dark, knowing the fireworks would be starting soon. I finally got it.

So this year, I just told him I'd take the kids to see fireworks and he could stay at home. The problem? Fireworks are legal in for individuals NC now. That's not a problem, except for the fact that for the last two days we've been hearing them here in the neighborhood. When I got home tonight with the kids after seeing the fireworks, he had the TV quite loud, trying to drown out the sound of the fireworks here in the neighborhood.

Just a reminder of one way our lives will never be the same.

Independence Day

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Today is the day we Americans celebrate our independence.

I took the kids to watch a parade today. My hometown has an annual 4th of July celebration, even as small as the town is. The celebration isn't nearly as big as it was when I was a kid, but I still kind of enjoy going. It gives me the opportunity to see people that I haven't seen in years, or that I may not get to see any other time. They used to have fun activities for kids of all ages, but it seems nowadays the only thing they have is a dunkin' booth. It wasn't run very well this year, either. Oh well, J enjoyed the chance to dunk the guy in the booth. He came pretty close, too, but wasn't able to hit the target just right. They let him go up and push it after his five tries, though, so he got to dunk him anyway.

I walked around for a bit and said hello to people I have known since I was a kid. Folks that watched me grow up and can't believe "you girls" (my sister and me) are all grown up already. Most recognized me right away, but some take a minute. I was told that I sound just like my mom today. That's not the first time I've been told that, although it is the first time in person...usually people hear me on the phone and think I sound like her.

After a while the kids and I came home to see how the hubby was doing on getting the pool put up. We got a pool in Germany and had let his parents take it home last year since we didn't have a good place to put it at the rental. Well, we have a nice sized yard here, with a great place to put the pool, so we picked it up from his parents' house when we picked the kids up Tuesday. So he put it up today. When we got home they had to wait a bit for it to finish filling up before they could get in it. Soon as they could, though, they were in that pool!

I ran to the grocery store to get a few things for the burgers the hubby planned to put on the grill this afternoon. The kids were in the pool when I got home. I called my mom to see if she and her boyfriend wanted to join us for burgers, but she didn't answer so I left her a message. I figured they were on their motorcycles since I had seen them at the 4th of July celebration earlier. Not even five minutes after I left her a message, I heard them pull up on their bikes...talk about great timing!

We visitied for a while, and a good friend of ours came over for a bit too. He took a look at their bikes while he was here and is going to help get them running the way they should. We all ate and visited for a bit, and our friend left since he was on his way out of town this afternoon. Mom and V visited for a while longer but had to leave because he's going out of town tomorrow, and Mom leaves in the opposite direction on Friday.

I finally made the kids get out of the pool (with much protesting) and they came in to get dressed. I figure they were probably in there a good four hours this afternoon. I took them to see fireworks tonight, without the hubby. He stayed at home...fireworks make him nervous, as they do probably most war veterans. The kids and I enjoyed the fireworks show in our town here, and we came home and they went to bed.

I hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July. I just want to take a minute to say thank you to our military and their families, past and present, who serve to protect the freedoms we enjoy, and often take for granted.

THANK YOU!!

We're Back!

We had a GREAT weekend! We don't get to spend nearly enough time with my brother-in-law and his wife, so we really appreciated the opportunity this weekend.

We got to my brother-in-law's house about 8:00 or so Friday night. My mother-in-law was giving the kids a bath before bed, and they watched a movie after their baths. The movie of the evening was "Flushed Away." I didn't watch much of it, just the last few minutes, because I was spending some time with my brother-in-law and his wife while the grandparents watched the movie with the babies. After the kids and the grandparents went to bed, we stayed up a while longer and watched a surfing movie. I don't even remember what it was called. Maybe P and his brother needed to watch it to prepare for the next day. I can't remember when the last time was that the hubby was able to go surfing, and that was definitely in the plans for the next day. After the movie was over, we all went to bed since we needed to get up fairly early the next morning to head to the Outer Banks.

We got up later than planned Saturday morning. I did wake up just after 6:30, as usual, but actually managed to roll over and doze back off for a bit. Next thing I knew, the hubby was waking me up, telling me it was a quarter till 8. My brother-in-law really wanted to be on the road by 8:00. So I got up and jumped in the shower real quick before getting ready to head to the beach. I really did hurry, because I was showered, dressed, and ready to go before 8:15. We ended up waiting for a while anyway, though.

We finally got on the road headed toward the Outer Banks, Cape Hatteras to be specific. We wanted to take the kids to see the lighthouse. The drive was longer than I expected. It took a bit over 3 hours to get there, by the time we stopped to grab a quick bite for breakfast and had to wait for traffic due to an accident. We got to the lighthouse, and went up to the top. The view up there was beautiful. It's amazing that with all the years we've lived in NC, it was my first time climbing it. Lots of steps! My legs are still sore! I told my sister-in-law that if I went to do that every day I could definitely lose some weight and tone my legs and butt!

After we visited the lighthouse, we drove on down the road a bit to the beach access. One thing I love about the Outer Banks, which I noticed when we were there in April for Bike Week, is that you can still drive your car out onto the beach and camp. The hubby and I were riding with his brother, and the kids were riding with his parents. Both vehicles are four-wheel-drive, and my brother-in-law had let some air out of the tires so we would be able to drive in the sand. So we hit the beach access and took off across the beach in search of a place to park. There were a lot more people out there than I think any of us expected. We finally found a spot, though, parked the trucks, and settled in to enjoy the sun and the ocean. The kids played in the ocean with their boogie boards. Well, the Princess played with her boogie board part of the time. The other part of the time, she was just playing in the waves with Nana or Papa, or searching for shells. I don't think the boy ever took a break from boogie-boarding. He had a blast! My sister-in-law and I soaked up the sun and enjoyed watching the boys surfing and the kids playing. I got too much sun because I missed a few spots with the sunscreen, but it will only bother me for a couple of days. After not quite three hours, we noticed a storm starting to roll in and we started to pack up. We left the beach and went across the street from the access to grab something to eat at a barbecue spot after filling all the tires back up with air. As we were eating, it started raining.

The trip back was an adventure. We took a different route because my father-in-law likes to explore alternate roads, especially the more scenic ones. This one turned out to be a bit disconcerting, especially in the weather. It was out in the middle of nowhere, and the road was rough. Lots of time between any civilization. Oh well, lesson learned. We'll not take that route again. Plus, we got caught in a torrential downpour. At one point, lightning seemed to strike quite close in front of us. We were SOOO thankful to get back to my brother-in-law's house.

Once we got there, we gave the kids a quick shower and P's parents took one, too, before heading back to their house. They had to head home because they had church Sunday morning, and the kids went with them. P and I decided to stay in Washington and spend some time with his brother and sister-in-law. We ate a little something and then settled in to play some cards. My brother-in-law had gotten a nice poker set for Christmas and had never even opened it yet. We were more than happy to help him christen the set, and we had a great time. We stayed up and played poker until after midnight and finally went to bed.

Sunday morning P and I got up a bit before 9:00 and had some coffee and watched a bit of TV until his brother and sister-in-law got up. After they got a bit to eat and we all got dressed (and P and I packed our things), we headed off to the beach again so the boys could get in some more surfing time. This time we went to Topsail Beach, close to Jacksonville, since that's where the surf seemed to be better. So it was another 2 hours or better to drive there. We got there and Jen (my sister-in-law) and I sat on the beach and watched the boys while enjoying the sun. I was quite covered up this time, though, since I got too much sun on Saturday. After staying there for about 3 hours or so, we headed home. We were about the same distance from home as they were from their house, so we went our different ways from Topsail.

There's something I absolutely LOVE about hanging out with Jen. She's a quiet person, and I have a tendency to be quiet myself (although some of you who know me may find that hard to believe). She and I can sit together and not feel the need to talk just for the sake of talking. We can sit quietly without talking, and it's not an uncomfortable silence. It's nice.

But that's pretty much how our weekend went. I took lots of pictures. I just need to connect my card to my computer to see how many of them came out. I'll put some up after I do that.

Hopefully I'll start to get back into my blogging groove here pretty soon. I'm really starting to miss it.