Day 212 - July 31

Tonight, we went to the wedding of one of my college friends. On the first day of college, I obviously did not know anyone...so I walked around and found some other freshmen who appeared to know nobody and suggested we all eat lunch together.  It worked out well, because many of them lived in the same dorm and we all became good friends.  Throughout the years we added more people to the cluster and moved around campus but stayed good friends.  It was nice because there was always someone around to hang out or eat with.  Even though we're a mix of boys & girls, since so many of us were dating someone else when we met, it took that part of it out of the conversation which let us all be good friends.  Tonight was the 3rd wedding in the group and there's another one coming up in just a couple months.  We're spread all over the east coast so we don't see each other as much anymore, but we always have fun when we do.  (Even if the boys stood on one side of the sidewalk to smoke their cigars and the girls stood on the other to avoid the smoke!) :)

Day 211 - July 30

While I enjoy making cards, I sadly had to make 2 sympathy cards today.  Until recently, I didn't own stamps of that type - however, when it came down to it, I was beginning to need those and "get well soon" cards much more often than cards that just say "have a nice day" or whatever. 

Day 210 - July 29

Even though Little House on the Prairie was in it's later years by the time I was watching TV, I have watched the shows in syndication for as long as I can remember.  Melissa Gilbert's twitter account alerted me to the fact that Alison Arngrim (who played Nellie) wrote a book.  I read it tonight after dinner - it was great!  The Little House stories were the lighthearted parts, but she did also spend a lot of time talking about the incest she suffered as a kid and the family difficulties she experienced.  I don't know that people would enjoy it if they hadn't watched Little House, but it was a great read for me.

Day 209 - July 28

I have gotten so used to eating with my husband at a normal dinner time over the past couple weeks that it's been hard to readjust to his getting home late this week.  And tonight I am going to try out a local book club (Hopefully they're nice - I liked the book!) so I'll be gone before he gets back.

We haven't had real Mac & Cheese in a long time because it isn't really a hot weather food, but it was something I could make that we could both eat whenever we had a chance so that's what we decided on.  I've been dreading the cooking all day because the last 2 times I made it, I caused a huge kitchen mess.  Here's where my brain block is.  99% of the time, I use the biggest of my 3 pots (on the left in the picture) to do the pasta in.  Therefore, when I'm starting the water for the pasta for Mac & cheese, I grab it by habit. But that is not good!  When making mac & cheese, the biggest pot needs to be the cheese and milk and butter.  Why?  Because then you add the pasta to that pot later, and you only need to de-cheese one pot during clean up time.  Also because the milk will quickly boil over the smaller pot.  I know this now.

And today I did it right.  Finally.  I'm not an idiot, I have no idea why my brain was refusing to play along on those two previous occasions, but I'm glad it worked today!

Day 208 - July 27

This week's "Lots of people like it so I guess I should watch it" DVD is Mad Men Season 1.  I'm enjoying it so far.  It isn't Dexter good, but it's enjoyable.

Day 207 - July 26

Today's Target trip ... $10.52, saved $24.87.  Target puts their own coupons on their website, which can be combined with the manufacturer's coupons (and sale prices) for some awesome deals!  I don't go to Target as much anymore because there aren't any around the corner like there used to be.  But with today's errand running I was in the neighborhood and was able to take advantage of the sales.

Day 206 - July 25

This dark grey storm came swirling in about an hour ago and blew away the pretty white clouds and blue sky.  But now it's almost 60 minutes later and there is still no rain!

Day 205 - July 24

Today I helped host a bridal shower for a friend that is getting married in the fall.  My work schedule isn't working with the timing of their destination wedding, so I was glad I was able to help celebrate now!  We had a good time ... but we forgot to hand out favors until most of the people were gone.  (Doesn't that always happen!?)  We gave the bride a pile to bring to her bachelorette weekend, but I have almost half of them left. :)

Day 204 - July 23

Tonight we went to the Ironbirds game (our local minor leage team, owned by Cal Ripken.)  The third baseman turned out to be Joe Flacco's brother.  I remembered that the Orioles drafted him, but in baseball there is often a long time between the draft and when you actually see see someone play in Baltimore - and that assumes they don't get traded first.  It's not like football where drafting is like picking a team on the recess field... "I want you.  Go put on a uniform and play." :)

Day 203 - July 22

We did this way back on June 21 as my anniversary gift, but I took the waterproof camera on vacation to finish it off and just got it developed today.  I was anticipating it being pictures from kayaking and canoeing in the past but it was actually river tubing pictures from 5 years ago!  Crazy.  The age of the camera is to blame for the retro styling of the photo and the appearance that we're both completly bald.  I assure you that at least one of us has hair. :)

Day 202 - July 21

Today was a long day of travel.  At least we only had to stop at one additional airport on the way home!  Vegas was beautiful and sunny today and we had great views of the strip both landing and taking off.  (My only sadness with San Diego's comfortable weather was that we didn't see much sunshine due to the low clouds that were keeping the heat out.)

This is my one gift to myself (other than the standard ornaments) from the trip.  Last week when I saw the All Star Game, I saw people wearing baseball Mickey Ears and decided that's what I would hunt for.  I was so excited to see 2 pairs left on the (really picked over) All Star Display at the big store in Downtown Disney.  But then I realized they were 20 bucks which is just plain silly for a hat that will get worn once.

But THEN ... I saw Orioles Mickey.  I'm guessing they at one point had these for every team (and I did see a Padres one at the Padres ballpark later in the vacation) but there were only 3 left and each one was Orioles.  Even if the Orioles stink right now, and even if I enjoy following the Yankees and watching real baseball ... I was still an O's fan first! 

They did have me-sized versions of these around, as well.  I saw 2 (Saint Louis and something else?) in Downtown Disney so I imagine they were all over Anaheim or LA like the cows/fish/etc that so many cities have done over the last decade.

Day 201 - July 20

La Jolla is full of cool caves.  It also has a place where you can see where 2 tectonic plates meet (and cause earthquakes.)  It ALSO is the home of the La Jolla Playhouse, which is the place where Jersey Boys and other famous musicals started out.  So La Jolla (La-Hoya) is a nice place.

This is the only place we had timed reservations for our whole trip.  First, we made lunch reservations at Ocean Terrace which is part of George's at the Cove.  It was voted best (lots of things) in San Diego and it lived up to the hype.  We decided to do lunch instead of dinner, but Mike was able to have a dinner dish which he really enjoyed.  The view was great - from a rooftop overlooking the cove and beaches and caves.

After meandering around the two different parts of La Jolla (the ritzy part and the neighborhood part) we headed out to sea with La Jolla Bike & Kayak.  It was much harder than last year in Hawaii because of the way the waves hit the cove.  Plus, we had to kayak out past the surf (which was super fun, but a tiring way to begin a journey!). At the end we got to surf our kayaks back to shore.  Awesome.  I was really worried about being freezing because it was barely 70 degrees when we started out, and the water temps were almost 10 degrees below that.  But the work of paddling kept me warm.  Mike says I'm a better kayaker now than I was a year ago, but he's probably lying. :) 

Day 200 - July 19

After visiting the Wild Animal Park on Saturday, today we hit up the famous Zoo.  It was a perfectly lovely zoo, if you like zoos, but it was nowhere near as awesome as the Wild Animal Park.  I liked the giant herds meandering around at the Park instead of caged, pacing animals at the zoo like all other zoos.  Since the pandas are so famous here, I anticipated them having a great exhibit and enclosure.  I think the DC zoo pandas have a better place though!  I did like the polar bear's home.  Most of the animals were lazy again today because, well, many wild animals hunt at night or at dawn.  Some zoo out there should jump on that fact and have nocturnal hours!

After the zoo, we visited the USS Midway which is the aircraft carrier museum docked in the bay.  Many parts of the museum were similar or identical to places on the battleship we visited in Hawaii last year.  But the flight deck was pretty cool with all the fold-up-wing airplanes!

To end our evening, we headed out to Coronado island.  I think it was my favorite town that we visited.  I found my dream house (the pictures don't do it justice because the house was still under construction at that point.  Too bad I don't have 10 million bucks laying around. :)  We parked by the ocean, walked near the hotel and then across the island to another brewpub - Coronado Brewery.  Mike was in heaven because we got there at the of happy hour so he was able to try a beer and several different kinds of seafood items for half price.  The walk back took awhile but the communities were so cute it didn't matter.

Day 199 - July 18

We had great seats at the Padres game today!  Right down the 1st base line on the HR side.  A kid a few rows in front of us caught a HR in the first inning.  Lucky kid. :)  These were the "All you can eat" seats which were TONS cheaper than those seats in Baltimore.  There are fewer food options, but really, it's a baseball game.  The food and drinks are just a bonus.  The people in front of us did not agree.  They were complaining loudly about the food and lack of alcohol.  I don't know why they were so confused - the All You Can Eat menu was clearly explained to us both in signage and verbally by the ticket guy.  But both the mom and the dad were mad that there were onions in the tray with the hot dogs.  I don't like onions on my hot dog either, but I just grabbed one that wasn't slathered in them.  When their kid tried to explain that concept to them, they told the kid he was an idiot (and used much more colorful language than that as well.)  They didn't like that the only drink options were coke, diet, sprite, and water either.  They spent a lot of money on beer and then complained about that.  THey also bought their kid every junk food that walked by that wasn't included (which he ate 3 bites of and then threw on the ground.  I wanted that churro, snow cone, and cotton candy if he didn't!!) :) 

It did not surprise me in the 5th inning when the kid said he had a headache and they went home. 

But other than the crazies, the game was great.  They did a lot more to get people involved - more like the minor league parks do with games and contests.  Everyone in the whole park won 2 free tacos from a local fast food place because one person was able to play the "which hat is the ball under" game.  Not too shabby!

After the game, we meandered around the gaslight district.  We headed to a seafood place for dinner, where Mike started drooling at the thought of a big Tuna steak.  He was sad when dinner arrived and it was more like pan fried fish.  At first, he just assumed he read the description incorrectly and so he ate the dinner and just wasn't thrilled with it.  However, when the bill came, the price was not what he was anticipating either.  It was much, much cheaper.  So he figures the waitress put it in completely wrong, but at that point we had already eaten and it was too late.  At least we didn't pay big bucks for dinner he didn't like!

We rode their Trolley (lite-rail) into and out of the city which was easy to do, but we didn't realize how small the city was.  By the time we had meandered to dinner, we had cut out about half of our trolley ride back to the car.   Seeing all the ComicCon posters up around the city is making me wish we could stay! :)

Day 198 - July 17

We benefitted from some good karma today!  Last night when we played mini golf, our golf playing came with a bunch of arcade tokens.  We used them up and won a bunch of tickets and then gave them to a little kid who had fun spending them. 

Today, when we arrived at the Wild Animal Park, a couple came up to us and offered us their free one day guest passes that they got for being zoo members because they were going to expire in a few days and they didn't know anyone who wanted them!  Score!  Since we saved the admission price, we spent that money on the golf cart tour.  If you pay for a regular 1 day admission, you get to ride on the tram that circles the park and learn about the animals on the main loop.  BUT, the free tickets didn't come with that.  No big deal.  Our golf cart tour went to all kinds of neat places that the regular tram can't go.  We had a great guide and just 8 people on our cart.  It was really fun. 

Most of the animals were being lazy due to the heat, but many of them are adapated to the African heat lifestyle anyway.  There are a ton of baby elephants this year, which is what the picture shows. 

After we finished with the Animal Park, we headed to San Diego.  Finally!!!  Luckily, it's the best hotel we've been in thus far since we're going to be here for 4 nights. 

We drove a few minutes into Old Town and did an olive oil tasting.  (Bizarre and could have used some bread, but fun.) We controlled ourselves and only bought 2 bottles.  One has citrus infused in it and one is more common olive oil type herbs.  I liked the lime better than the general citrus but it was pretty strong.  The one we got is more of a "hint" of citrus.  If you're ever in San Diego, check it out.  Of course we had mexican food for dinner (yum).  We're finally adjusted to the time zone, so darkness actually happened before sleep today.

Day 197 - July 16

This is the back of Sleeping Beauty Castle, as seen from Fantasyland.

We conquered Disneyland!!!  We didn't go on every ride, but we went on all the ones we wanted to hit except for 2 and waited in line for less than an hour total between all the rides we went on.  Excellent!

Tomorrowland:
Space Mountain (about a 5 minute wait)
Race Cars (which are wayyyyyy better than the ones in WDW. Walked right on after waiting 5 minutes for them to open it.)
Buzz (It's a video game in a ride and I won. Again. Oh, and we walked right on. This has always been a long wait at WDW when I tried to ride)

Fantasyland:
Snow White (walked right on)
Pinocchio (walked right on - they don't have this one in WDW)
Mr. Toad (walked right on - they got rid of this one in WDW awhile back)
Small World (It goes outside here! Walked right on.)
Storybook Canal Boats (waited 5 minutes)
The Castle (Walked right through - there's a Sleeping Beauty story told in pictures & holograms inside)
(Sadly, Alice in Wonderland and the Matterhorn were closed.)


Frontierland:
Thunder Mountain (waited about 10 minutes but it was worth it because it's my favorite)

Adventureland:
Jungle Cruise (waited about 5 minutes.)
Indiana Jones (waited 10 minutes with a FastPass. Very similar to the Dinosaur ride in Animal Kingdom)

New Orleans Square:
Pirates (waited about 5 minutes. It's longer and better than WDW's version)
Haunted Mansion (walked right on. It's shorter than WDW's version)

Critter Country:
Winnie The Pooh (Walked right on)
Splash Mountain (5 minute wait in the 'single rider' line instead of 65 minute wait in regular line.)

Since we both get motion sick on some things, we don't do the spinning rides like Teacups and Dumbo or the enclosed ones like Star Tours.  We weren't really interested in Captain EO or meeting the princesses. :)

After we conquered the park, we drove to Escondido.  We chilled out and cooled off and had a quick cheap dinner and played mini golf.  One more day of hot weather, and then it may be time to break out the jeans and jacket!

Day 196 - July 15

Today was awesome.  I am excited to do some of the things later in our vacation that are a little more lax, but I could totally spend a day at each movie studio taking the tour and seeing behind the scenes of TV and movies.  But mostly TV. :)  We are a good mix because he likes the movie trivia and I have always preferred TV series to stand alone movies.

We started off at Warner Brothers Studios.  The tour wasn't terribly expensive (although now I want to go back and take the super fancy tour!) and was really, really, worth the cost if you like behind the scenes stuff.  It's amazing how many different things have been made with just a few streets of backlot sets!  We saw two tiny pieces of lawn and bushes that have been Central Park and whole forests on TV.  Chuck was prepping to film, so we didn't get to go in their soundstage (Bummer!) but we did get to visit the Two and a Half Men set as well as the set of a new show that will be on this fall, Mike & Molly.  We also visited "Stars Hollow" where they filmed Gilmore Girls and now they film Pretty Little Liars.  The NYC street has been in Friends, Annie, Rent, Spiderman (that famous upside-down kiss), and a bunch of other things.  We saw Muphy Brown's house (did you know she lived next door to Josh Lyman from West Wing and he lived next to Dr. Ross on ER?) and the ambulance bay and El tracks from ER.  Oh, and the spot where the Daily Planet was on Lois & Clark. :) 

One of the buildings we went to was full of vehicles like the Mystery Machine, most recent Batmobile and BatTank thing (that the motorcycle came out of), and the flying car from Harry Potter.

After lunch and cooling off inside for awhile, we headed over to NBC studios to watch a Leno taping.  Boy was it HOT.  Jay said it hit 105 today.  Ellen Page was the main guest, and then the guys from Pawn Star came on for awhile.  It was fun to watch and see behind the scenes as it was taped but the episode itself was a dud.  They couldn't show the audience on TV during the interviews I'm sure, because we were all looking at each other thinking, "Is she really talking about composting with pee on late night TV?" 

Our original plans for the post-Leno time were to head to Long Beach to see if it really looks like Miami in person, because they do a good job with it on CSI Miami and Dexter.  However, we were so hot and gross that logic won out and we headed across town to Anaheim so we'd be ready to get up early for Disneyland tomorrow.  (And spotted General Hospital on the way!) We ate at a really good restaurant in Downtown Disney and pre-bought our tickets for tomorrow.

Oh, and our hotel.  Wow.  We wanted to be super close to Disney, but we didn't want to spend a lot of cash because we knew we'd be in the room for less than 12 hours.  We also did not want to pay for hotel parking and most of the hotels in Anaheim charge for parking or charge a "resort fee" even if it's something as low key as a Best Western or whatever.  We used Hotwire for many of our hotels on this trip due to some really good coupons in the Entertainment Book and it's been ok overall.  (I was able to narrow most of them down due to BetterBidding.com)  This hotel, the Eden Roc Inn & Suites is definitely a level below what we're used to.  About a week ago, I got an email from Hotwire saying it'd been downgraded to a 1 star instead of a 2 star.  I'd agree wholeheartedly.  It's not dirty really, it's just OLD.  And the towels aren't much better than hand towels.  BUT ... they are letting us leave our car here tomorrow because they're not 100% booked tomorrow and have the space.  That's saving us a lot of money rather than paying Disney to park!  AND, it's right across the street - less than 10 minutes to the main gate.  WOOHOO!

Day 195 - July 14

This sign brought to you courtesy of "Prop 65."  I get the general idea, kind of like the standard warnings on cigarettes and alcohol.  But this phrase is EVERYWHERE.  Pretty much everywhere we've been so far today has had a sign similar to this one.  It was even referring to the windows on an office building in one instance!  I have to wonder if anyone pays attention to it, seeing as how prevalent it is.  I know that I'm not concerned, and I've only been bombarded with it for about 4 hours now.

Vacation Report:
Today we flew from Baltimore to Birmingham to Phoenix to Burbank.  We landed at Bob Hope International Airport which was slightly bigger than Kona's airport.  We got to use stairs to get off the plane and baggage claim was outside (but electric and covered, so it's slightly fancier than Hawaii.)

For dinner we went to BJ's Brewhouse and Mike enjoyed their beer sampler.  There were about 9 different kinds.  I am assuming another California law or prop is responsible for the fact that in addition to the menu and beer/wine list, we also received a "Nutritional Guide" to each menu item. 

Free parking seems to be non-existant around here.  Even for a brewpub, it was valet only.

Day 194 - July 13

Snapshots of the newest 8x10's in our collection.  Clockwise from top left: Amalfi Coast in Italy, The pyramids in Egypt, Sunset from the 2nd place we stayed in Hawaii and Mykonos, Greece (With a lovely reflection of the kitchen lights).  Ritz had a "try our new online program free" sale, so we both took advantage of it. :)  Then I took advantage of JoAnn's 60% off frames sale.  We still don't have any doubles of frames.  There are a LOT of 8x10 black picture frames out there!

Day 193 - July 12

Ok, so this is a terrible picture.  But he was driving and it was raining and so I took a picture through the windshield. :) 

We're getting a Famous Dave's BBQ in place of the old Pizzeria Uno.  I do not like Famous Dave's.  I know people who have had good meals, but I've been to 2 different branches a total of 3 times and had 3 different meals and never have I had something good.  And I'm a person who likes meat slathered in BBQ sauce!  I was really disappointed that this is the restaurant that won, because of all the chains out there, there are many that I'd prefer come to town.  The hubby was hoping for a Carabbas to go with the Outback & Bonefish that are already at that intersection ... I wanted them to raze the building and put in a Sonic. ;)

Day 192 - July 11

Today, we hit up 7-11 for a free slurpee.  They were tiny, but they were tasty.  And we were lucky enough to both get our favorite flavors!  (Cherry for me and Mtn Dew for him)

Day 191 - July 10

Today, I turned 31.  It has been a LONG 365 days since I last had a birthday.  Between the housing situation, my health scare, my husband's injuries that kept him from running which is his favorite thing to do, and a general feeling of loneliness for a long stretch, I would not put this past year on my "I'll relive THAT one!" list.  I am anxious for this coming year to be better! 

For my birthday present, we're taking the VIP Warner Brothers Studio Tour and going to Disneyland for a day.  (WHEE!!!)  However, my husband wanted something that he could wrap.  He was in Hallmark last night and realized the Christmas Ornament Unveiling Party was in the morning.  (Seriously? On July 10?) So he went back today and picked me up a "New Home" ornament.  It was pretty much the best thing that happened in the last 12 months, so it is fitting. :)

To round out my day, we headed to the Melting Pot for dinner.  I always enjoy it, but the men in my life have tended to roll their eyes in the restaurant's general direction.  (Father, Brother, now Husband) :)  But he said he was on board so off we went!  They do have a fun, different summer menu with a lot of "island flair."  He had these crazy lettuce wraps instead of a salad and we had a Caribbean flavor broth for cooking instead of the regular stuff.  For dessert, we picked Smores because we hadn't had that before.  YUMMY.  I picked up a library movie called "Post Grad" with the girl who played Rory in Gilmore Girls and the boy who is Matt in FNL.  It was not that good, but it probably wasn't the worst movie I've ever seen.  It made me laugh in parts.  Carol Burnett was the grandma and Jane Lynch was the mom, so that made it worth it.  It was probably a fun movie to make. :)

Day 190 - July 9

Our saviors!  These guys have been the bright, shining spot in the midst of this AC insanity.

Wed morning, we called HMS Home Warranty to report our AC broken.  They gave us a claim number & service provider and offered to set up the fixing appointment.  She put me on hold, and came back to tell me that she had left a detailed message for them and if I hadn't heard anything in 2 hours I should call HMS back and they'd contact a second provider.  I was told that broken AC was considered "high priority" when it was going to be over 100 degrees.  (Thank you Baltimore for your broken records?)

2 hours later, Mike called them back because we hadn't heard anything.  He was told that we had to wait *4* hours before they would call a 2nd provider.  Fine, ok.


He called back at the 4 hour mark because we had yet to hear anything from the original place.  I wasn't expecting to be fixed in 4 hours, but I thought they could have at least called back.  HMS put Mike on hold, came back and said they left messages on 5 providers machines and had an appt for us for Friday. They gave Mike the contact info and said the company would call to set up a time shortly.

Meanwhile, since I didn't know Mike had called HMS back, I called the original provider they told us about.  I thought maybe they hadn't checked their voicemail or our paper had gotten lost or whatever.  The lady was not happy with me.  Well, really, she wasn't happy with HMS but it was me who got the brunt of it.  Apparently HMS called them to cancel a Monday appointment, but as the lady said, "I never MADE an appt for you for Monday!" 

Ok fine, so we had an appt set for Friday and we were ok with that.

By Thursday at lunch, Mike still hadn't heard from the Friday appt people with a time.  We were trying to figure out if we were going to stay at our house or go to his parents and weren't going to bother leaving if they were coming early Friday.  I was not exactly surprised when Mike called them and they said the same thing as the first company - We never HAD an appointment.

Mike went nuts (in general, not at the company, since it wasn't their fault) and called HMS back.  The man he talked to explained that HMS is supposed to call and speak to people at 3 companies and that messages don't count.  He didn't know how this got so messy and gave us permission to call anyone who was licensed who would accept 3rd party billing.

Enter these guys - Maryland Climate Control.  They said if we didn't mind waiting til 8pm, they could come that night.  Spectacular!  So they came last night, dx the problem, gave us a cost, and said they'd be back in the morning to fix it.  And they did.  So we are now laying next to AC ducts, cooling our core temps back into the normal zone. :)

I've been without AC in the summer plenty of times, since the beach house didn't have it.  However, the beach house was made for a cross breeze and this house wasn't. That made it harder even with all the windows open.  The main problem I had with this situation was the apparent non-rule following of the HMS employees.  I'm thinking not enough people complain about it because 2 different employees did this message thing and "thought" they made appointments.  Bizarre.

Day 189 - July 8

This is what our living room looks like today.  As you can see, it's a little discombobulated.  Last night, it got up to the mid 90's in our bedroom, so we migrated downstairs because this room has a sliding door with a screen facing the breeze.  Our room windows were open and we had some fans, but it wasn't working.  This room was actually ok.  And now you can see the remnants of a slumber party!  (Not shown: 10 popsicle wrappers, a few empty gatorade bottles,  and a lot of melted ice. We know how to live it up!) :)

Oh, and the printer box and crate are full of pirate legos.  His parents have been threatening to give them to us for awhile, and they finally appeared. :)

Day 188 - July 7

Our AC broke last night.  This is what our indoor / outdoor thermometer said when I got home mid afternoon from dropping my brother at the airport.  It's hot in here and getting hotter!!!

Day 187 - July 6

My brother is here for the night, so of course we took him where we take everyone ... the ice cream place!  I finally got a close up look at the new license plate on a car in the lot.  I will admit, it isn't as ugly in person as the picture I saw when they were first released.  I'm surprised how many I've seen in just a couple weeks.  I'm wondering if they are all numbers with the MD like this one???

Day 186 - July 5

I couldn't get this person's attention - trust me, I tried.  Sadly, we were in traffic and couldn't get close enough to the window to make her realize it was her we wanted.  Her purse handle was in the way when she tried to close the trunk, and the trunk hadn't latched.  When she went over bumps, the trunk would open slightly.  I hope she didn't lose her purse ...

Don't worry, this picture was taken from the passenger seat. :)

Day 185 - July 4

Watching the fireworks from Kevin's deck over the tree line made it too hard to get a good picture or even something qualifying as a picture of fireworks at all.

But what's more American than processed sugar?!?  Many moons ago, we saw popsicles at the grocery store that were A&W Root Beer, 7UP, Orange Crush, and Dr. Pepper.  After some research I found out that they were all Jenny friendly in the caffeine department.

I was happy and excited to see a whole box of Dr. Pepper ones this morning at Rite Aid when doing my weekly shopping!  (I forgot to take a picture before I put everything away, but it was $32 worth of stuff for 24 cents. Best trip to date!)  They really taste like Dr. Pepper and I don't have to drive to Virginia to buy them.  Perfect! :)

Day 184 - July 3

A local realtor adorned our neighborhood with flags this morning.  (Or perhaps really late last night.)  They were there when I got up to go out early this morning.  Someone at the beach used to do this every year too, but I hadn't experienced it in my townhouse neighborhood.  It's nice that they did it today so we have more days to enjoy them!

Day 183 - July 2

Back in high school and early college, I watched General Hospital religiously.  It was the era of Robin & Stone, Brenda & Sonny (& Jax), and Luke & Laura were actually both on then as well.  I don't watch it very often anymore, but every few months I see Vanessa Marcil on the front of a soap opera magazine that is claiming she may or may not return.  I'm pretty sure these magazines have sold tons of copies for the last 10 years purely by pretending to speculate about it.  I don't buy them, but I will admit to sometimes getting in an extra long checkout line to read one. :) 

This issue claims the deal is done and actually has quotes from showrunners talking about how it's a long term return.  Perhaps I'll have to re-start DVRing the show...

Day 182 - July 1

Imagine my surprise when I got to the car place today to get my brakes done, and there was my old car!  You may be thinking that I'm crazy for thinking that, but I know my car.  It had the telltale very specific bumper scratches from the summer I worked at JoAnns.  Plus, my car place bought my car from me and then sold it.

I didn't ask the people there who bought it, because I assumed a mechanic or the secretary bought it. But when I showed the picture to my husband, he said they talked about it on Monday when he was there to get my oil change.  Apparently, it's there because something broke.  Luckily it isn't anything I did - it's a problem that lots of that model are having with the head gasket.

So I'm glad that we sold it when we did. :)  And I'm glad it's not our fault that one is broken. :)