TIme is marching by and it is fall again! Life here has changed little since the last time I wrote. Mimi spends every free moment getting ready for the upcoming craft show. You can tell the pressure is on as it gets closer to October 6th.
Yesterday, we took a proactive step of putting up the new E-ZUp tent we purchased last May to make sure everything was OK. It was an extremly frustrating experience, but I am glad we did, since we found out it was defective. After trying to get it up for almost 45 minutes, we gave up and took it back to Sam's Club and got a replaement. Going to Sam's Club is always an experience! It is about 45 minutes south of here on the dreaded I-95. On the weekends, it can be a 40 minute drive or a 2 hour drive! We lucked out and made it down there in about 50 minutes. The Customer Service Representative at Sam's was fantastic. Not only did she go out of her way to help us, she knew we had a bad morning and went out of her way to cheer us up. We left Sam's in a much better mood than when we arrived. It just shows what a symathetic ear and a smile can do to improve your day!
The rest of the day was much better. We got the new tent home and put it up in about 10 minutes - amazing! Later that day we went to dinner in Old Town and went to see a movie with friends. The movie, Stardust, was very entertaining. It came out a few weeks ago and did not get a lot of press (at least I did not see much), but I would rate it as one of the best movies we saw this summer.
I am preparing for my trip to the Badlands - will have more on that later.
Stay safe and be happy!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
I Love September!
I love cool weather! We had what I consider perfect weather today. High in the 70's, sunny and a light breeze. How can it get any better than that? We enjoyed an afternoon drive in the convertible today, opened all the windows in the house, and just enjoyed the day.
Not as much fun last night. We went to the Old Town Theater and saw the new Jodie Foster movie, The Brave One. The Old Town Theater (circa 1914) is not the best venue, but we like to give it our business when we can and help keep the old theater alive. As for the movie, we did not feel cheated, but would not consider it a great movie. We both thought the character development was weak, and except for a couple of surprises, the plot was pretty predictable. After the movie, we went to the Austin Grill. Usually, this is a great place to eat, but Mimi's meal, the "Fajita Burrito", was really the "Gristle Burrito". I will say that our waiter, Orlando, and the Austin Grill management were great when we brought it to their attention. Worst part of the evening actually came the next morning when Mimi realized she lost her wallet. Spent Saturday morning cancelling credit cards and retracing our steps. No luck finding her wallet. Of course, as luck would have it, she just hit the ATM Friday afternoon. Oh well, a lot worse things can happen to you! My main regret is she had the winning lottery ticket in her wallet {grin}.
Did I say the weather was beautiful today......
Not as much fun last night. We went to the Old Town Theater and saw the new Jodie Foster movie, The Brave One. The Old Town Theater (circa 1914) is not the best venue, but we like to give it our business when we can and help keep the old theater alive. As for the movie, we did not feel cheated, but would not consider it a great movie. We both thought the character development was weak, and except for a couple of surprises, the plot was pretty predictable. After the movie, we went to the Austin Grill. Usually, this is a great place to eat, but Mimi's meal, the "Fajita Burrito", was really the "Gristle Burrito". I will say that our waiter, Orlando, and the Austin Grill management were great when we brought it to their attention. Worst part of the evening actually came the next morning when Mimi realized she lost her wallet. Spent Saturday morning cancelling credit cards and retracing our steps. No luck finding her wallet. Of course, as luck would have it, she just hit the ATM Friday afternoon. Oh well, a lot worse things can happen to you! My main regret is she had the winning lottery ticket in her wallet {grin}.
Did I say the weather was beautiful today......
Monday, September 10, 2007
Late Summer Activities
It has been a few days since I have written anything, so thought I would add a few lines. I have not decided if my lack of anything to write is due to
1.) My life is boring?
2.) I am too busy to do this,
3.) or I am just lazy and let it go for a few days.
No matter - I plan on keeping this blog up, at least as long as it is fun and I have some interest in doing it!
We went up to the Alexandria Festival of the Arts on Sunday. It was a nice day and not oppressive like it can be this time of year. It looked like there were about 200 vendors, mostly selling framed art and sculptures. The city closed off several blocks on King Street, so we enjoyed strolling down the street and admiring the work of numerous artists. The prices were well out of our range or at least more than we were willing to spend, but we still had a good time.
There was one very enterprising artist that we planned to buy something from, but she was so busy, we did not get the opportunity to buy anything. There was a 7 year old girl that was drawing "refrigerator" pictures for $1. It was too cute! Her Dad was selling sculptures (at MUCH higher prices) and she was spending the day with him. She was doing a booming business! She had her little table set up and would draw her custom art work (dogs, horses, etc.) on the spot. I would say she easily had the largest crowds of any vendor there!
Later in the day, we went and saw the new western, 3:10 to Yuma. We thoroughly enjoyed the movie, although it was very violent. There was enough plot twists to keep it interesting - overall, a good movie.
Mimi continues to work every night making plates and jewelry for the Wine Festival. I have included the web site for the Fredericksburg Area Wine Festival if you are interested.
1.) My life is boring?
2.) I am too busy to do this,
3.) or I am just lazy and let it go for a few days.
No matter - I plan on keeping this blog up, at least as long as it is fun and I have some interest in doing it!
We went up to the Alexandria Festival of the Arts on Sunday. It was a nice day and not oppressive like it can be this time of year. It looked like there were about 200 vendors, mostly selling framed art and sculptures. The city closed off several blocks on King Street, so we enjoyed strolling down the street and admiring the work of numerous artists. The prices were well out of our range or at least more than we were willing to spend, but we still had a good time.
There was one very enterprising artist that we planned to buy something from, but she was so busy, we did not get the opportunity to buy anything. There was a 7 year old girl that was drawing "refrigerator" pictures for $1. It was too cute! Her Dad was selling sculptures (at MUCH higher prices) and she was spending the day with him. She was doing a booming business! She had her little table set up and would draw her custom art work (dogs, horses, etc.) on the spot. I would say she easily had the largest crowds of any vendor there!
Later in the day, we went and saw the new western, 3:10 to Yuma. We thoroughly enjoyed the movie, although it was very violent. There was enough plot twists to keep it interesting - overall, a good movie.
Mimi continues to work every night making plates and jewelry for the Wine Festival. I have included the web site for the Fredericksburg Area Wine Festival if you are interested.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Autumn Fired Designs
My wife, the artist! A few years ago, Mimi started messing around with stained glass. She made a few things - a lamp, a kitchen cabinet, wall hangings, etc. Recently, she has become interested in glass fusing - bowls, jewelry, etc. To help pay for her hobby, she has started selling her work. She was in two craft shows last year and has a couple planned for this fall. Her next show is at the Fredricksburg Wine Festival the weekend of October 5th. If you are in the area, look her up. She has made some amazing things!
Anyway, Mimi plans to make glass fusing her full time job when I retire (and she quits the corporate world). We plan to be on the craft show circuit in Colorado and hopefully do some consignments in the resort areas around New Mexico and Colorado.
I added a picture of Mimi's workshop (OK, it is the garage) on this blog. The web camera uploads a picture every five minutes during the times Mimi is most likely to be making something. If the picture is black, it just means the lights are out in the shop! You never know when she will show up there!
Anyway, Mimi plans to make glass fusing her full time job when I retire (and she quits the corporate world). We plan to be on the craft show circuit in Colorado and hopefully do some consignments in the resort areas around New Mexico and Colorado.
I added a picture of Mimi's workshop (OK, it is the garage) on this blog. The web camera uploads a picture every five minutes during the times Mimi is most likely to be making something. If the picture is black, it just means the lights are out in the shop! You never know when she will show up there!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Labor Day
We spent the holiday weekend in Alabama. This was the "informal" family gathering for the Mimi's parents 50th wedding anniversary. The weather was overcast, but not real hot - a pleasant surprise in Alabama this time of year.
All of Mimi's family made it to the lake. We went fishing, took a ride on the pontoon boat, and spent some time catching up with everyone. On Sunday, night I went fishing with Mimi's Dad. The lake was perfectly still and the stars were out. I gave out on the fishing after about an hour, but had a great time just sitting back in the boat enjoying the stars and cool night breezes.
No flight delays getting home (darn), so back to work and life in DC! At least it is a short week.......
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