A new post on two consecutive days!

I know, right? You can thank the wildlife, because it's the only exciting thing that happens here.

Yesterday just before we were leaving for the evening service at church, Elijah looked out the back window and saw a hawk swoop down and land in the brush at the edge of the woods.

It was hard to tell what kind of hawk it was since most of it was hidden by the brush.

We figured it was after a mouse or rabbit or something.

Then we got to see a little more of it and decided it was either a Cooper's Hawk or a Sharp-shinned Hawk. Based on the rounded tail you can see below, we think it's a Cooper's Hawk, which is more rare.

But then in this next photo, the tail looks more square, which would mean it's a Sharp-shinned Hawk. But it was much bigger than the 10-14 inches the book says those are, so we're back to thinking it's a Cooper's and I'm just a lousy photographer.

In the end it looks like it was a she, and she was gathering sticks for a nest. Did you learn something today? I did.

Be thankful ~

Last week's update.

Last week Mike and his GF Bekah came to visit. We had a "meet the family" day with grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins plus a boyfriend and a few other friends, because we like to overwhelm our guests as soon as they walk in the door. Then Mike and Bekah spent a few days visiting old friends and touring DC. And not being overwhelmed.

Thursday we went to Virginia Beach along with 500,000 other people from Northern Virginia, and that was apparent when we hit the first traffic jam still 100 miles from the beach. Coming home that night wasn't any better, but at least we had that salty-crinkly-sunscreeny feeling that I love and memories of a great day in the ocean. I can't wait to go back.

Friday we headed up to the George Washington National Forest for a hike we had never done before. It wasn't as hot as Thursday, for which we were very thankful. As soon as we started up the trail, we knew it was a little-used one, because the grass even in the middle was almost knee-high in places. About 100 yards into the 2-hour climb, it was apparent that this was The Year of the Tick, and there was a bumper crop. We were brushing them off constantly and praying for no Lyme carriers. I guess time will tell.

We also found this well-camouflaged caterpillar. I felt like such a homeschooler taking this picture.

But in spite of the ticks, it was a good hike. About halfway up, we started to notice a few wild blueberry bushes, and the higher we got, the thicker they were. In one spot, we could have stood still and picked gallons from the bushes right around us. We did stop and pick some to eat, and they were sugar-sweet. I was wishing I had buckets. We may or may not have pulled up two small bushes and stuffed their roots down into my half-full water bottle, to bring home and plant in the garden. I hope they survive. If we, you know, actually DID that.

Anyway, we got the obligatory sweaty-hike photo of Mike and Bekah (apparently that's the only kind of picture they ever have taken), and Mike climbed out on the edge of a rock and took a few photos for me.

Overlooking the Shenandoah Valley.

Now M&B have gone back to Florida and we're back to real life, which includes Ben being scheduled for surgery to re-attach his right biceps tendon, as well as throwing his back out in the garden Saturday morning. Abbey is home from shooting her third wedding, Leah is singing and playing her violin in church tonight, and Mansquared is sleeping off his late night at Bonefish Grill.

And I'm feeling the urge to do some rearranging here, so don't be surprised if things look just a little different someday soon. Sort of like a virtual moving the furniture thing.

Be thankful ~

A grammar/usage scare.

Earlier today, I posted this on facebook:

Just read this part of a Yahoo News article:

"Both tests showed that bacteria levels in hotel rooms were between 2 to 10 times higher than the levels accepted in hospitals.

The presence of bacteria’s doesn’t guarantee that people will get sick, but it makes it more likely."

Between 2 to 10? Presence of bacteria's?

I'm hyperventilating.

 You can read the whole article here.

 Everyone who read my facebook post thought I was hyperventilating because of the nastiness of all those germs. But while the thought of sharing the world's bacteria on the TV remote gives me the heeby-jeebies, that's not what had me gasping for breath.

 In the first sentence, the writer says "between 2 to 10" and I know you know that's not the correct way to state a range, because we've covered that subject right here on the blog. It's either "between 2 and 10" or "from 2 to 10."

 Then in the second sentence, all semblance of proper usage goes right down the proverbial toilet when the writer says "The presence of bacteria's doesn't guarantee etc." Bacterias as a plural of bacterium is bad enough, but throwing that unnecessary apostrophe in there just adds fuel to the grammatical fire. The word is bacterium (sing.)/bacteria (pl.).

Go forth and please don't ever write like this.

 Be thankful ~ 

Ten days.

That's how long it's been since I posted anything here. It's not because I don't think about it; I do. It's not because I don't do anything; I'm busy all the time. Mostly it's because I don't think you want to hear about my lack of ability to sleep or the fact that I went to the commissary and my bill was (miraculously) under $300.

All that said, we've been having fabulous weather here in Virginia. The last few days have been dry and very cool at night, so we've been able to sleep with the windows open, the term sleep being used loosely. But at least while I'm tossing and turning, I can listen to the owls hooting and the mice rustling around in the woods.

With all the nice weather, I've had the opportunity to sit on the deck with my camera and zoom lens, waiting for birds to show up. The cardinals won't come near the deck, but they like the tomato cages.

Ben hung the hummingbird feeder and it only took two days for the little guys to find it.

It's really hard to get an in-focus photo of perpetual motion.

They make little squeaky noises while they sip.

Be thankful ~

The wireless saga continues.

Today's story actually starts last night.

Yesterday evening, we discovered that we had no wireless signal again. The main computer (the one hard-wired to the modem and router) was getting the Internet, but none of the laptops in the house could pick up the wi-fi. (Leah calls this a first-world problem.) We've had our share of Internet issues lately, so we figured it was connected to those, and I made plans to go back to Best Buy and pick up the router that I returned just four days ago.

This morning I got up at 5:15 to send my two still-at-home daughters off on their road trip to Florida, because 22- and 24-year-old women still need their mommy to remind them to drive carefully and ask if they've remembered their phone chargers. After they left, I debated going back to bed, but decided the birds were unusually loud and I wouldn't be able to sleep, so I finished off the pot of coffee I made for them and sat down with my computer. I pulled out the long ethernet cable that Ben uses when he's home, plugged the ole Mac up, and enjoyed an hour of surfing, reading, and answering email. Then on a whim, I unplugged it to see what would happen.

It now has a wireless signal. I know it's ours, because I checked and because it's faster than when we pirate the neighbor's, which we did last time this happened. So I called on my vast body of IT knowledge to came to this conclusion: my router is possessed.

At this moment it is showing its Dr. Jekyll side. Later we may see Mr. Hyde, but we'll cross that technological bridge when we come to it. In the meantime, we're enjoying life.

Now it's clean-up-the-kitchen-go-to-the-gym-and-run-errands time. Enjoy your Thursday!

Be thankful ~

Nothing much Wednesday.

It's National Running Day, so I did my duty and ran a mile on the dreadmill before Strive. I remember when running a mile without stopping was not something I could even imagine myself doing. I also remember when, not too long ago, a mile sounded like a little warm-up. These days, I'm happy for every mile I can run without pain or passing out. Since my half marathon just three weeks ago, I took a full week off, ran two painful miles on two separate days the second week, and started this week with two yesterday (about half walking) and just one this morning. You might say I'm having a little trouble bouncing back. I still have the sore Achilles tendon and just can't seem to get in my groove. It's a lost-my-mojo emergency.

So my plan is to keep doing short runs, do them slowly, and pick back up where I left off with weight lifting and Pilates and Pitaiyo. I'm sure you'll sleep better tonight knowing all this.

In other news, I have finally hung the hardware for the curtains I'm going to put over the French doors in my bedroom. The sun comes in around 9 am, making it hard to see my computer screen. And it also makes it hot. I knew what I wanted to do as far as window treatments a year ago, so yes, I am a procrastinator. Anyway, the hardware is there, and now I have to pick fabric. Come back in 2015 and I might have them up.

And finally, I'm looking for a calendar/remind app for my phone. I have a calendar one, but it doesn't send reminders. I've found a reminder one, but it doesn't include a viewable calendar. If you know of one (for android) you love, would you share it?

Be thankful ~

Tuesday update.

This morning my 19-year-old son fussed at me for not blogging. I told him it's because nothing exciting has happened, and he should do something blogworthy so I'd have something to write about. Leah quickly interjected, "Don't break your leg!" If you have a teenage boy, you know why she felt the need to tell him that.

So here's the latest:

Abbey was away all last week for her internship. She and her "boss" came through here Saturday afternoon to swap the boss's car for Abbey truck, and drove to New Jersey for another wedding. In the process of the swap, Abbey dumped all her dirty clothes on her floor, grabbed a few clean ones, and off they went. So by the time she got home Monday afternoon, she had nothing clean left. She plopped down on my bed last night feeling very stressed, part of which was caused by the fact that she had no clean underwear.

This is where the plot thickens. (We have to make drama out of something.)

My dryer has been making an awful squealing noise, which we rightly assumed was the pulley, otherwise know as the doo-dad that keeps tension on the belt. I figured it would be an easy fix since Mike and I changed one of those in another dryer about 12 years ago and it was no problem. So Monday I went to Sandy's (the appliance parts store) and got a new pulley. Came home and unplugged the dryer first (for my husband's sake), then pulled it out and walked around it four times trying to figure out how to take it apart.

I started by removing the door. And two little screws on the opposite side from the door hinges. I don't remember how I got part of the front panel off, but somehow I was able to look inside and see that the pulley in question was way back behind the motor. At that point I did what any intelligent, self-sufficient woman would do. I texted Ben to hurry home.

The short story is that two days and three trips to the appliance store later, we have a noise-free dryer and Abbey has clean underwear so it's all good.

Also, I went out to the farm today for milk and eggs and freshly harvested raw honey, and if you think honey is honey, then honey, you'd better think again. This is the best I've ever tasted, including the 25 quarts of sourwood honey Ben brought into our marriage that took me eight years to use up. This stuff is amazing. It's caused me to utter words I never thought I would hear come out of my mouth: "Girls, you may not use this to wash your faces."

Yes, they wash their faces with cornmeal and raw honey. One of them washes her hair with baking soda and rinses it with vinegar. It's a wonder there's not a school-project-grade volcano in the shower every morning.

Anyway, we're stocked up for the week on milk, eggs, and honey.

And if there were anything else I could wring a story out of, I would. But that's really the extent of my life. Dryers and trips to the farm. I really am going to try to write a little every day. Hold me to it, okay?

Be thankful ~