Last Friday after work Josh and I drove to Richmond to celebrate Grandma's birthday with my family.
Saturday we met up with Josh's step dad and step brother at the beach in Delaware. We ate fried chicken, lay in the sun (shade actually, thanks to an umbrella and clouds), swam, and even did a little boogie boarding. Then Josh and I went to his grandparents house near Bethany Beach for a big surprise party for his grandma's birthday (big weekend for grandmas...). All four of her children showed up from distant states, and she had no clue! After hanging with his family and eating Chinese takeout, Josh and I went over to the boardwalk Saturday evening to visit a couple touristy shops and to make our annual trip to the arcade, where we earned lots of tickets and spent them all on temporary tattoos.
Sunday morning was a big family breakfast and then lots and lots of swimming at the pool with Josh's half sisters. There was also lots of jumping into the pool, which I haven't really done in a long time. It was lots of fun. Sunday afternoon was the official birthday party, so we endured the 97 degree weather to enjoy food and cake and Josh's grandpa's homemade summer tea. After a little more hanging out inside with air conditioning, Josh and I finally had to hit the road and drive back to Charlottesville, with a stop in northern Virginia for dinner.
Fun times.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
crazy weather
Summertime around here often involves short thunderstorms in the afternoon. It clouds up, rain beats down for about ten or twenty minutes, and then the rain goes away and sometimes the sky goes on and clears up. So when a storm hit yesterday at 5pm it didn't seem out of the ordinary (except that usually the storms happen a little earlier and it's dry by the time I head to my car after work). It clouded up, rain beat down, and the power even flickered. Then the rain stopped.
But as I started to drive away from work the storm's effects quickly became clear. Debris covered the road. Trees were broken all over the place. Traffic backed up.
I was trying to get across town to pick Josh up from work and take him to get his car at the auto shop. The ride should have taken about 25 minutes in rush hour traffic. It took an hour and twenty minutes.
I have never seen anything like what this storm did to Charlottesville. I've never experienced a tornado or hurricane or anything like that, but this storm gave me a little idea of what those must be like. Most of the city lost power. Traffic lights went out right at rush hour. Emergency vehicles kept trying to weave through traffic. I saw a giant tree that had fallen over, its muddy roots vertical in the air and its leafy top resting on a house. At one point they directed my line of traffic through a parking lot because a tree was still on the power lines over the street and broken lines lay in the road.
Up where Josh was things weren't as bad. I was unwilling to hop back in the car and head into town after nearly an hour and a half, so we stopped in a shopping center to eat and get him a new phone at the Verizon store. I didn't get home until 10pm, and power was still out when I went to bed.
The whole thing was crazy.
But as I started to drive away from work the storm's effects quickly became clear. Debris covered the road. Trees were broken all over the place. Traffic backed up.
I was trying to get across town to pick Josh up from work and take him to get his car at the auto shop. The ride should have taken about 25 minutes in rush hour traffic. It took an hour and twenty minutes.
I have never seen anything like what this storm did to Charlottesville. I've never experienced a tornado or hurricane or anything like that, but this storm gave me a little idea of what those must be like. Most of the city lost power. Traffic lights went out right at rush hour. Emergency vehicles kept trying to weave through traffic. I saw a giant tree that had fallen over, its muddy roots vertical in the air and its leafy top resting on a house. At one point they directed my line of traffic through a parking lot because a tree was still on the power lines over the street and broken lines lay in the road.
Up where Josh was things weren't as bad. I was unwilling to hop back in the car and head into town after nearly an hour and a half, so we stopped in a shopping center to eat and get him a new phone at the Verizon store. I didn't get home until 10pm, and power was still out when I went to bed.
The whole thing was crazy.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Monster, I say
This morning I opened my door to head off to work and a monster bug greated me. It was the biggest dragon fly I've ever seen in my whole life. Right there at my doorstep. Obviously I immediately shut the door. I had to shoo it with a broom because I wasn't willing to open the door wide enough for me to step out, but slipping the broom through the crack in the door was okay. I mean, I couldn't have that thing getting inside. Look how giant it was (and keep in mind that this photo was taken with a phone, through a crack in the door, and from high above because I wasn't going to get down close to it).
Monday, June 21, 2010
summertiiiiiimmmmmeeee
It's summer y'all. And warm. And I'm lovin' it. Slowly but surely I think I am acclimating to the humid south (er, east/southish?). The key is not to move too much. If I move a lot I'm still a giant sweat ball. Anyway...
Friday night Josh and I went for another bike ride. We rode the trail by the river a little bit, then headed toward the downtown mall. We parked our bikes and walked around a lot, and on our walk we came upon a man giving a concert from a garage on the street. It was awesome. Then we ate Chinese food and had the nice little outdoor patio to ourselves. I was a little creeped out by the ride home in the dark, but Josh was prepared and got us both headlamps and flashing red lights to wear on the back of our shorts. We looked like total nerds, but "safety first!"
Yesterday everyone met at my grandparents' house in Richmond for Father's Day lunch. After that we played in the sprinkler with little Bobby, and later that afternoon at my aunt's house we played with him again in a wading pool. I also played lots of Pictionary.
This evening after work I came back to my grandparents' house and sat out on the front porch to work a crossword puzzle, eat dinner, and read a book.
Ahh, summertime.
Friday night Josh and I went for another bike ride. We rode the trail by the river a little bit, then headed toward the downtown mall. We parked our bikes and walked around a lot, and on our walk we came upon a man giving a concert from a garage on the street. It was awesome. Then we ate Chinese food and had the nice little outdoor patio to ourselves. I was a little creeped out by the ride home in the dark, but Josh was prepared and got us both headlamps and flashing red lights to wear on the back of our shorts. We looked like total nerds, but "safety first!"
Yesterday everyone met at my grandparents' house in Richmond for Father's Day lunch. After that we played in the sprinkler with little Bobby, and later that afternoon at my aunt's house we played with him again in a wading pool. I also played lots of Pictionary.
This evening after work I came back to my grandparents' house and sat out on the front porch to work a crossword puzzle, eat dinner, and read a book.
Ahh, summertime.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Mason & Josh
Last night I picked Josh up after work and we hurried over to Richmond to hear Mason Jennings and Josh Ritter play a concert at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. As you probably know, Josh Ritter is my favorite, and this was the fourth time I've seen him. I also enjoy Mason Jennings, and I saw him play once in college.
Josh Ritter. Oh how I love him.
Josh (not Ritter) came with me to the same show last year, and while he's an excellent sport he's decided Josh Ritter isn't really his thing. He agreed to come again this year, for my sake, and while he still wasn't thrilled with the music, I will go ahead and declare that we both had a good time. The weather was beautiful, the crowd was friendly, and the music made me smile.
Josh may not like the music, but he sure looked the part...
Josh Ritter. Oh how I love him.
Josh (not Ritter) came with me to the same show last year, and while he's an excellent sport he's decided Josh Ritter isn't really his thing. He agreed to come again this year, for my sake, and while he still wasn't thrilled with the music, I will go ahead and declare that we both had a good time. The weather was beautiful, the crowd was friendly, and the music made me smile.
Josh may not like the music, but he sure looked the part...
Saturday, June 05, 2010
bicylcle riding redemption
Yesterday evening Josh and I went for another bike ride, but this time I planned it to avoid all traffic. Turns out there is this really great trail that goes along the Rivanna River here in town, so we rode to a park and picked that up. The trail is only about 3 miles long, so we also rode around some residential areas with cute old houses. It was a really fun bike ride. There was lots of debris from a major rain storm the day before, and at one point we even had to stop and pass our bikes to each other under a downed tree, but that just made the ride seem more adventurous.
We ended the ride with a dip in the pool at my apartment. I look forward to more rides and swimming this summer.
We ended the ride with a dip in the pool at my apartment. I look forward to more rides and swimming this summer.
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
Memorial Day Weekend
This past weekend was excellent.
Friday after work Josh and I headed east to his grandparents' house. They live there all the time but it felt like a vacation home to me. I stayed in a cute little room that reminded me of a B&B, and they have a big screened in porch with an assortment of rocking chairs, swings, and couches to sit on. The porch also overlooks a pond. So Saturday I woke up early (without an alarm) and sat on the porch to read. Then I helped run a couple of errands before we had blueberry pancakes for breakfast. After than Josh and I loaded up the kayak and headed down the road to the Piankatank River. I ended up with blisters on my thumbs, but it was still a good time. When we got back to the house we ate lunch and took naps. After my nap I read on the porch while Josh went fishing at the pond. For dinner we sat on the porch and had barbecued chicken and corn, and that night we all played Quiddler.
Sunday Josh's grandpa gave the sermon at church for their special Memorial Day service. He wore his Navy uniform (he was a rear admiral and chaplain) and other men in the church wore their uniforms, and the service ended with a bugler and bagpipes. After church there was a cookout back at the house, and once all the food was consumed and everyone left I took a requisite nap. Then I went with Josh to the pond to sit in the boat while he fished. We rounded out the night eating leftovers and watching TV.
Monday we had a big homemade breakfast, then Josh's aunt and her boyfriend came over to go kayaking with us again. The sun was shining, the water was refreshing, and my blisters didn't bother me too much. (Also, I'll be honest, Josh and I were in the same kayak so if my hands hurt he took up the slack and paddled me around.) We found a teeny-tiny piece of beach and got out of the boats to swim and dig our toes in the sand. Overall I'm told we kayaked 5.25 miles that day. When we got back to the house we ate a late lunch, and then Josh and I took naps before packing up and heading back to Charlottesville.
The weekend was a really great mini-vacation.
Friday after work Josh and I headed east to his grandparents' house. They live there all the time but it felt like a vacation home to me. I stayed in a cute little room that reminded me of a B&B, and they have a big screened in porch with an assortment of rocking chairs, swings, and couches to sit on. The porch also overlooks a pond. So Saturday I woke up early (without an alarm) and sat on the porch to read. Then I helped run a couple of errands before we had blueberry pancakes for breakfast. After than Josh and I loaded up the kayak and headed down the road to the Piankatank River. I ended up with blisters on my thumbs, but it was still a good time. When we got back to the house we ate lunch and took naps. After my nap I read on the porch while Josh went fishing at the pond. For dinner we sat on the porch and had barbecued chicken and corn, and that night we all played Quiddler.
Sunday Josh's grandpa gave the sermon at church for their special Memorial Day service. He wore his Navy uniform (he was a rear admiral and chaplain) and other men in the church wore their uniforms, and the service ended with a bugler and bagpipes. After church there was a cookout back at the house, and once all the food was consumed and everyone left I took a requisite nap. Then I went with Josh to the pond to sit in the boat while he fished. We rounded out the night eating leftovers and watching TV.
Monday we had a big homemade breakfast, then Josh's aunt and her boyfriend came over to go kayaking with us again. The sun was shining, the water was refreshing, and my blisters didn't bother me too much. (Also, I'll be honest, Josh and I were in the same kayak so if my hands hurt he took up the slack and paddled me around.) We found a teeny-tiny piece of beach and got out of the boats to swim and dig our toes in the sand. Overall I'm told we kayaked 5.25 miles that day. When we got back to the house we ate a late lunch, and then Josh and I took naps before packing up and heading back to Charlottesville.
The weekend was a really great mini-vacation.
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