javajanie

A little behind...

nobody@vox.com(java janie) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:57:16 -0400

So, yeah, here are the pictures I promised the other day. They are all on Steve's computer, so I had to wait til he was home and not using it. Since Steve gave a pretty good run down of our trip, I'm just going to post some of my favorite pictures that he didn't use.

First up, the BK by our hotel had this breakfast special I'd never seen up here in the North.

Only in the south

They don't have monster sized cans of Boiled Peanuts up here either.

Mmmm Boiled Peanuts

We had to ride on 2 ferries on our trip up the North Carolina coast. The first one was a little long, 2 1/2 hours, but we managed to entertain ourselves.

Tori and Josiah on the ferry

Steve up close

Steve feeding the gull

Almost to the island

We stayed overnight on Ocracoke Island. It is this little bitty island that you can only get to by ferry. We stayed at a quaint old motel, Blackbeard's Lodge. Sadly, this is the only picture I have of the place since Steve took all the other ones for his blog.

Blackbeard's lobby

I had one of the best dinners of my life at a local cafe.

Pesto scallops with bacon

We also discovered the island was home to an abundance of feral cats. They were very friendly, much to the delight of Sophia. (I love saying "feral cat".)

Soph and the feral cat

There were also feral ducks. They are a little vicious, but were nice if you offered bread.

Jane and the feral duck

The kids braving the wind for a picture in front of the Ocracoke Lighthouse.

Kids and the lighthouse

We had to take another shorter ferry ride off the island over to Cape Hatteras.

Ferry Ride from Ocracoke Island to Cape Hatteras, 3/08

After leaving the island, we continued up the East Coast, visiting several other lighthouses. Josiah really liked the stuffed osprey and wanted a picture of it.

Josiah and the dead osprey

We continued north and ended up at a mall near Virginia Beach. We promised the kids Build A Bears since our trip home took longer than we expected causing the kids to miss a "Build a Bear" birthday party.

About to build us some bears

Josiah and the dinosaur he didn't get

Victoria stuffing her bear

Lastly, and the best part of the weekend, we met Jamie and DeWitte. I know, I know, I've already mentioned it. Jamie posted a more entertaining rundown of our meeting. Once again, I just want to say they are so nice. Seriously, it was like meeting a couple of celebrities! I consider them Vox Celebrities anyway. And they are just so cute and even cuter together all in love and stuff. I saw them holding hands in the mall. They are just a really neat couple.

Meeting Jamie and DeWitte

So there you have it. Spring break is over and school is back in session. Back to the same old same old. I'm just glad I have times like these to look back on when the days seem long and start running into each other!

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We're Back

nobody@vox.com(java janie) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 12:58:48 -0400

I would update, but I've got kids with Build a Bears to register on their online site (seriously, every stuffed animal seems to come with a virtual world nowadays!).

I do want to tell you that we got to meet Jamie, DeWitte and Nathan. They were among the first neighbors I added here at Vox. They are just as cool as they are on their blogs. So be jealous. Pictures to come later after all virtual bears are taken care of.

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Fun at the Motel

nobody@vox.com(java janie) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:17:11 -0400

While Steve is off doing stuff to make sure our government can get on the internet in times of war or power outages (at least I think that's what he does, I'm not really sure), Victoria, Sophia, Josiah and I are hanging out in the hotel rooms. We have internet access, so that's good. Naps are fun too. We took a walk yesterday, but came back after finding a makeshift memorial in a ditch near a little shopping center. I can only assume someone died there.

After Steve got home, we picked a restaurant with ease. (Ok, not really it was a debacle that took over 2 hours, but all was forgotten once we had warm bread and olive oil to dip it in.) We ended up in Fayetteville at Carrabbas. I had this ridiculously good chicken, one stuffed with proscuitto and fontana cheese topped with mushrooms and a lemon butter sauce, the other piece grilled and stuffed with fennel sausage and ricotta cheese with a wine sauce. We decided to work off the calories by perusing the local SuperWalmart. Boy do we know how to live it up when we are out of town! Not that there is much to do in Fayetteville, well, unless you like girly bars. There are TONS of girly bars. I suppose that has something to do with being near a military base.

So today, we have games we picked up at Wal-Mart to keep us busy. We'll just chill here until Steve gets done. I'm thinking a nap and some fatback sounds just about right.

DSC_7653

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Georgia On My Mind

nobody@vox.com(java janie) — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 23:13:57 -0400

So we are near Savannah, just off I-95 for the night. We didn't get too far today. Steve had a migraine this morning, so we got a late start. Then he wanted to stop at the outlets in Orlando. Yes, I am a lucky gal, my man likes to shop. I scored a pair of sunglasses. Steve and Victoria both ended up with a pair of plaid shorts. Alex got a funky green polo shirt. Not so bad for a couple of hours of wondering around I suppose. As you can see from my mobloggin', Steve also made sure to stop and get me some boiled peanuts and pecans. The peanuts were really good. We couldn't figure out what they reminded us of, til Alex suggested potatoes. They did have a kind of potato taste to them. The pecans were ok. Not sure what possessed me to buy 10 lbs of pecans.

Steve insisted on driving today, so I was off the hook. I would've driven if he really wanted me too. I kept bugging him, asking whether he was feeling ok, did he want me to drive. He says the pain isn't as bad, so he's stopped taking the pain meds the dentist prescribed. Just going with good ol' ibuprofen now. He's much more himself than he has been since Wednesday afternoon.

I'm still a bit nervous about driving up the coast with this bad weather on the way. Looks like we'll just have to drive right through it.

I'm going to try and get some sleep now. I'm itchy. I have this thing about bed bugs when I stay in hotels. I get all itchy just thinking about them. So then I'm not sure if there are really bed bugs, or if I'm just being paranoid. Guess I can't complain. The hotel may not be all that fancy, but at least we have free internet!

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Why am I still in Florida?

nobody@vox.com(java janie) — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 09:04:19 -0400

My poor husband has a migraine. We are waiting for it to pass. Even though he isn't the one driving, he still couldn't even be in the car with this thing. Seriously, the guy is falling apart!

So anyway, pray and send me all your safe driving vibes. First off, I lost my license somewhere between the bank and Target a week before we came down here. No worries! Steve is driving, or so I thought at the time. So in the event I'm pulled over for some reason (highly unlikely since I drive like a grandma anyway), I have no license. This freaks me out. Add to that the horrendous drivers in the states between Florida and Maryland. These people were brake happy fools on the drive down. Last minute, brake hard, type of drivers. We had to go into the grass median twice to avoid accidents. Needless to say, I might not be showing it, because I'm an adult and I am too old to lay on the floor and cry and kick my feet, but I'm scared about driving. Luckily Steve is too sick to read this, so that's why I'm posting it.

Ok, I better get off of here and get the stuff into the van. If Steve gets to feeling better, I'll have him moblog a bit on the way back up. I promised Melissa that I would get her a picture of Sadler's Truck Stop.

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I don't want to pack!!!!!

nobody@vox.com(java janie) — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 19:59:18 -0400

I am so tired. Last night, Steve was tossing and turning in his sleep. I was in and out of nightmares during the brief period that I did sleep. Steve is still in pain, not as much as before, but it's still pretty bad. He's drugged up on some narcotic/tylenol combo.

I was fine most of the day. Mrs P, Grandma (Mrs P's mom), and I took the kids over to Grandma's sister's house. She has a pool. Well, that just made their day. Steve was able to stay behind and get some sleep. He also finished his parent's taxes for them. After we got back, he decided we needed to go see the swamp and hopefully a gator or two. Obviously, I moblogged that. Steve and I took pictures with the good camera too. I'll let him post those pictures. Especially since he was the photographer for the gators.

Now we are back at the house. My tummy is full of Taco Bell and I really need to pack us up. I want to get as much driving in as we can tomorrow. There is a nor'easter coming on Sunday, and I'd rather not drive too much in the rain. I'm not sure if Steve will be up to any driving. So right now, I'm just planning on it being all me. I wish we had an extra day or two for the antibiotics to kick in, but we don't.

I guess I ought to get off here and do something, but I am the self proclaimed Queen of Procrastination. So I think I'll wrap this up and read some more blogs.

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Disney World Hangover

nobody@vox.com(java janie) — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 17:00:02 -0400

Boy, I am still exhausted from walking around Epcot all day yesterday. It was a fun but exhausting day. Now we have done 3 out of the four parks. We did the Magic Kingdom and MGM two summers ago when Steve was on a business trip to Georgia. We figured we were half way there already, might as well drive down to Orlando and take a couple of days in Disney. Between Marriott points and the gas from Maryland to Georgia being a business expense, it made the trip quite doable. Now we just have Animal Kingdom to see. Maybe if we come down in the fall we can get that in.

We really enjoyed Epcot. Much different from the time we went with my grandparents when I was a kid. It had just opened and well, it was lame. I would have to say, that my favorite rides were Mission:Space and Soarin'. Although I must admit that I almost had a major panic attack before Mission:Space. They started showing the video instructions and it was a capsule that seated 4 people with a screen and fake control panel. After they shut you in, the control panel comes toward you, about 12-18 inches from your face. It was all too reminiscent of my MRI. I totally freaked out. I decided, 'Ok, I am an adult, I can do this'. We had already convinced Ashley it was a safe fun ride. If I opted out because I was scared to death, um, yeah, we lose all credibility for the rest of the day. Despite feeling like my heart was going to beat out of my chest, I hopped in and had alot of fun.

We had lunch at the Biergarten German Buffet complete with schnitzel, spaetzle, sauerkraut, and apple struedel. Needless to say, I stuffed myself. Luckily we saw a show after that. If we had done a ride, I'm sure I would have spread a little german cheer all over the place.

Poor Steve, his tooth started bugging him and he went off in search of some medicine and a bench to chill out on. The kids and I hung out in Innovations. It reminded me of a Science Center type place. We played the Great Pizza Game and won. It was one of the high points of the day. It was a fake game show and we got to be contestants. Totally smeared some middle aged couple. We rock!

Now Steve is in bed waiting for the pain meds and amoxicillan to kick in. The dentist seemed to think that Steve may have bitten down on something hard, shoved the post from his crown down into the root, causing an absess, or something like that. So far, the pain meds aren't doing a thing.

I think I might just venture to Wal-Mart with the kids. Steve told Alex he would take him to find a remote control sailboat. I don't think that they would have a sailboat, maybe a speedboat. Either way, it would get us out of the house for a bit.

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If you feel so inclined

nobody@vox.com(java janie) — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 10:49:03 -0400

say a prayer for Steve. He has a horrendous toothache. So I made a dentist appointment for him. He goes at 12:30 this afternoon. Pray that they can make him all better. He is in a world of pain!

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Cabin Fever

nobody@vox.com(java janie) — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 18:57:32 -0400

I know, I know, how can I have cabin fever after being stuck inside for one day. Seriously, Florida should know that I am here on vacation and the rain could've waited a week. Steve and his mom have been busy doing an 1000 piece puzzle with about 10 distinct pieces. The rest you just turn and twist and put them to the side. Steve has been working on it since he got up this morning. It is now 6:54pm. I just don't have that kind of patience, but I certainly admire his. It's the same patience that allows him to take a road trip with 5 kids and a whiny wife in a mini van. He's a good man.

So no trip to the park to see alligators or anywhere else. Victoria and I did go to pick up pizza from Pizza Hut. I also picked up ice cream and all the toppings for sundaes. I'm going to surprise the rest of the kids later.

Well, the low battery thingie just popped up, guess I better go find the plug.

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Enjoy the Silence

nobody@vox.com(java janie) — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 07:55:28 -0400

I'm trying to buy myself some quiet time by getting up before the kids and sitting in the sunroom while everyone is still asleep. Hopefully the clickety clack of my fingers on the keys of the laptop doesn't disturb the children.

So far I'm enjoying myself down here. I enjoy the slower pace of life. I enjoy taking walks after dinner through the retirement village waving to all the grey haired neighbors. I think it's about time I retire to Florida. I do have to say that I stress about the kids driving my in laws crazy (especially my father in law, he enjoys his quiet time). We plan on staying til Saturday, but we don't want to over stay our welcome. Wouldn't want them saying, "Boy are we glad they are gone!" I'd rather leave them missing us than bidding us good riddance. Heh. Hopefully I can keep their bickering to a minimum and make sure they get out all of their energy outside and not running through the house!

I think today, as long as the weather holds up, we are planning to head to a state park down the road. It has nature trails and stuff. Victoria has been bugging us to see a live alligator while we are here. I thought I saw one in the overflow pond by the mall, but I didn't care to stop and go find out. I prefer some space between myself and the reptilian creatures.

We went to the mall yesterday. I wish I had thought to take a picture with my phone of the music store. There was a salesman playing an organ. I glanced inside the store, looking to see the pianos. I do love the piano, but strangely, they only sold organs. When was the last time those of you living outside of Florida saw an all organ store? I didn't realize there was such a demand for an organ store. Guess there is down here in the land of retirees. There was also a store where all the windows had mannequins sporting clothes that looked like they could've come straight out of my Mom-Mom's old closet. There were no teeny bopper stores in this mall. The rest were all geared toward the area's demographic.

I'm going to take advantage of this quiet time and surf the net, catch up with everyone. Once Steve and the kids get up, there isn't much computer time left over for me. You know what they say, "The early bird gets the Dell!"

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