augustgirl: May 2006

Everyone else did it...

A is for Age – I’m older than most of you. I'll just leave it at that. :-)
B is for Booze – I rarely drink, but when I do it’s usually vodka or beer.
C is for Career – Human Resources Specialist for the Dept of the Army
D is for Dad’s name - Virgil
E is for Essential Item to bring to a Party – A good attitude
F is for Favorite Songs at the Moment – Feel the Silence by the Goo Goo Dolls, and Not Ready To Make Nice by the Dixie Chicks
G is for Goof off thing to do - Naps
H is for Hometown – Aberdeen, Maryland
I is for Instrument you play – Took flute lessons in elementary school.
J is for Jam or Jelly you like - Raspberry
K is for Kids – Sam and Harry, my two spoiled cats
L is for Living arrangement – Taking care of Dad and the cats
M is for Mom’s name - Vera
N is for Names of best friends - Excluding my sistahs, Lydia and Jon
O is for overnight hospital stays - 0
P is for Phobias – snakes, deep water
Q is for Quote you like – I have two:
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Lao-tzu
Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.
Lois McMaster Bujold
R is for Relationship that lasted longest – 3 years
S is for Siblings – one older brother, lots of beloved sistahs
T is for Texas, Ever been? - Yes
U is for Unique trait – I can’t for the life of me think of one. I’m pretty bland.
V if for Vegetable you love – All veggies except for squash and butter beans.
W is for Worst traits – Procrastination and laziness
X - is for XRays you’ve had – teeth, hip, ankle, chest
Y is for Yummy food you make – cheesecake, kahlua pork
Z is for Zodiac sign - Leo

Road trip!

Just came back from a very quick road trip. My nephew graduated from high school this past Saturday so we drove to Georgia for the big day. For the most part I like road trips. A few thoughts...

--This is just about the best time of year to do a road trip. It was absolutely gorgeous the whole way from Maryland to Georgia. Gorgeous. Everything was green and in bloom. The summer heat hasn't kicked in yet and made everything brown, dry, and funky. Yay for spring!

--Kudos to the states of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina for their wildflower programs. They have planted tons of wildflowers along the interstates, mainly in the medians, and it was just fantastic. There was one particular field of red poppies in North Carolina that took my breath away.

--Thankfully most of the rest stops along I-95 and I-85 (my travels this weekend) are fairly clean and well kept, inside and out.

--I love to check out license plates when I travel. We used to do this when I was little and we traveled as a family. My parents were big travelers and we were always getting in the car and going somewhere. Augie to self: Ooooo! Montana! Wonder why they were in Gaffney, SC?

--Speaking of Gaffney, South Carolina...they have the coolest water tower. It's shaped like a peach. A giant peach. It even has a leaf coming off the stem. Love it.

--Snacks are vital for a good road trip. Vital! In my opinion, Goldfish are the perfect road trip snack. The bags don't take up much room, the crackers don't leave gunk on your fingers (like Cheetos, Doritos, or even greasy potato chips), and they are small enough to shove a whole bunch in your mouth without spillage. Avoiding spillage is important when chowing down in a car. Pringles are another good road trip snack, but this time it was Goldfish. We had peanut M&M's too. Also perfect.

--There is NO GOOD TIME to travel from DC to Richmond, or from Richmond to DC. That drive along I-95 is the suckiest suck drive in the history of all suckdom, any time of the day or night. I.Hate.That.Drive. 90 miles of sheer torture.

--The ONLY GOOD TIME to drive through Atlanta is at 5:30am on a Sunday. The ABSOLUTE WORST TIME to drive through Atlanta? 5:30pm on a Friday. ACK!

--iPODS are perfect for road trips. 900+ of my favorite songs...put it on shuffle and every song brought a smile to my face. I love my iPOD so very much. And it's pink. So cool, I'm telling you (the iPOD, not me. I am so not cool.)

--Slower Traffic Keep Right This sign was along the highway in every state we were in. Why don't people pay attention to it? Why does some Barney need to drive less than the speed limit whilst hogging the left lane and impeding the flow of traffic--especially my flow of traffic? Why? WHY?

--Road trips are fun, but boy is it always good to get back home.

Mother's Day

This rhododendron always blooms around Mother's Day. I got this one for my mom years ago. It was probably in a 5 gallon planter, and it's now almost 8 feet tall. We placed it so it can be seen from the dining room.

It just started blooming last weekend, and should be in full bloom by next weekend. The picture is a little dark, but the weather is not cooperating. It's cloudy and rainy, however we need the rain so I'm not going to complain (if you click on the picture it will enlarge it a bit so you can see the details a little better).

Happy Mother's day to all.