You, Me and Irene….

Well, power was restored to our house last night thanks to the hard-working men and women of Dominion Power.  WHOOO!! 

Ironic that You, Me and Irene was the movie playing on FX all Saturday while Hurricane Irene blew through.   Not that we watched it, but so I heard from the people who never.lost.power. during the storm. 

Anyway, we made it through Irene with no real damage to the house, or the pool (very important you know).  We thought we just had a lot of limbs down in the back of the house, but after pulling those out yesterday afternoon, turns out that we lost two tops off of trees that we are going to have to chainsaw out of there as soon as we get our hands on a chainsaw. 

I have some videos of the storm coming through…which I cannot figure out how to upload (help! savvy blogger friends!), but here are some pictures of the storm and the mess it left. 

Sky Friday evening

Our backyard after:

 

Shaner working on cleanup

And Trevor had branches of his own to help with! 

Yes, I am fully aware that my son is running around outside in his skivvies….it is close to 90 degrees, we have no power, and we are potty training.  He was as happy as he could be given the conditions…I own the underwear wearing action. 

Our debris pile, is taller than I am….and there is more to come. 

Earth, Wind and Fire…

Well, it looks like Mother Nature will be completing the trifecta with Irene’s arrival tomorrow. 

For the past month we have had a wildfire burning in the Great Dismal Swamp, delivering a lovely campfire scent to the air on most days.  Personally, I enjoy smelling my freshly spritzed Burberry Brit perfume as I walk out the door to work, but um, I guess the “smoky” smell is in this season. 

Tuesday afternoon, as Trevor napped in his room, we experienced the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that was centered in Mineral, Va.  No damage to report from our area—many people didn’t even feel it—but the earth definitely shook beneath our feet.  Not something I’d like to experience anytime soon though.

For the balance of the week, we have been glued to the news, watching the tracking of Hurricane Irene.  As of now, it looks like we are going to get hit with a nasty Category 2 storm.  Thanks to everyone who has contacted us to see what our plans are and to ‘wish us well’ as we head into this thing.  For those we haven’t spoken to, our plan is to ride this baby out.  We are “battening down the hatches” and are praying for the best.  We have supplies to last us for a few days, the van is full of gas and because we live on the side of the water that we do, we can access two emergency routes that will eventually get us out to I-95 and to the safety of my parents’ house in NoVa, which is only supposed to sustain a tropical storm. 

We will keep everyone posted as to how we come out on the other side.  Until then—Irene, Let’s dance. 

Clearly, I need an intervention…

I think someone needs to come to my house, figure out the parental controls on my television, and block HGTV.  I think I have crossed the line.  

So, to explain….

To fill my new office, I acquired a pair of sitting chairs for my office.  They were in good condition, but were a little dated.  SO, enter my wealth of knowledge learned from HGTV…….

and voila!  beautiful new office chairs!

the one on the right is the original chair.  the left is the first chair that we did.  both have been reupholstered in the same fabric. 

I took these beauties into work this morning and WOW, they look fantastic in my office. 

Kansas Trip

Thursday evening we returned from our road trip to Kansas.  I had originally intended to do a series of posts about the trip, but I know that if I stuck to that plan I would never get it done.  So, here is one, enormous photo-dump of a post that encapsulates the highlights of our trip. 

The first morning we were there, we took Trevor to see the catfish in the neighbor’s pond.  They were huge! 

That afternoon, we headed out to do some fishing.

And that night we went out to dinner at this place that had a slide inside.  Trevor wasn’t too sure of the slide and wouldn’t go down from the top, but he would climb a few feet up and slide from there. 

Sunday morning the three of us went to church and then picked up my brother and headed to Joplin.  We drove through the area hit by the tornado in May and were amazed at how it still looks like a warzone over there.  We did take pictures, but I don’t feel right posting any on here…too many lives were lost and torn apart in the damage in the pictures that it doesn’t seem respectful. 

Sunday evening there was a get together at one of the community centers in Pittsburg for the entire family, so that took up most of the time there.  Trevor had a blast playing with the other kids and was exhausted by the time we got home. 

Monday everyone got up early and headed out to go shooting at the range while Trevor and I stayed home and enjoyed some sleep. 

And on Monday afternoon, we headed up to Kansas City to see my best friend Liz, who lives in Iowa.  We took Trevor to the Wonderscope Children’s Museum and everyone (adults included) had a great time. 

Playing with Uncle Brian and Zack Monday night.  Who knew Legos was a contact sport? 

Tuesday morning we headed back out to do some more fishing.  Trevor had a great time riding in the boat and even caught his first bass!

Tuesday afternoon we hung out at Aunt Tiff’s aunt’s house swimming for the afternoon.

We stopped by to see the pig on the way home and Trevor got to feed Petunia some apples.  After she ate them, she retreated right back into her house, of course, Trevor tried to coax her back out to play.  Needless to say, she declined his invitation. 

Exhausted from a busy vacation!

Funny pictures from the ride home.  Trevor did great entertaining himself in the backseat….the portable DVD player helped too.

So now we are home and adjusting back into our routine.  Trevor starts school in a couple weeks, so we are trying to soak up the last bit of summer freedom that we have. 

Road Tripping…

This year we traded in our sandy toes and beach towels for a trip out to Kansas to see Shane’s family.  My brother came along for the ride and this past Thursday we headed out west. 

 

West Virginia.  wild and wonderful

trying to be just like Uncle Christopher

Charleston, WV

When we got to Louisville, we stopped and toured the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory. 

 

I missed the sign for Missouri, so the Gateway Arch will have to do. 

Sunset as we crossed the state line into Kansas. 

This is supposed to be the Kansas sign.  My brother took the picture and would like me to add that “everyone should get the general idea” even if they cannot read the sign itself. 

 

We’ve been busy since we got here.  Many more updates to come.  I am still quite thrown by the time change, so for now, it’s lights out.