In about two hours Andy, Liddy, Wally, and I will be on the road headed to Lake Anna for the week. We've spent the morning doing our grocery shopping, laundry, and packing. If you looked at our garage (aka staging area) you'd think we were a family of ten headed off for a three week cross country adventure. Somehow we just keep thinking of "one more thing" to add to our list and we are about five "more things" away from having to take two cars. I suppose when my dad taught me that it is "better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it" he didn't exactly mean that we should bring four books each, enough outfits to change three times a day, and enough toys for Liddy to lose one each day and still be able to lose five more.
Needless to say, we've got everything we need, and more and are so excited for our week on the water!
I won't have internet access while we are there (YAY!) so will have to fill you all in on our adventures when we return on Friday.
For now, I hope you all enjoy a happy Labor Day, and enjoy the rush hour traffic when school starts back up on Tuesday...we'll be sitting out in the sun drinking boat drinks thinking about you all! ;)
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Saturday, August 30, 2008
What day is it??
It's Game Day!!! That's right, college football season is finally here and in just four and half short (or perhaps long) hours, my VT Hokies will be kicking off against East Carolina.
The game will be played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC, a neutral territory as this is the playing field of the Carolina Panthers. I'm sure there will be lots of Virginia Tech fans onsite to cheer on the Hokies. As for us, we're staying at home and watching the game with Greg & Erica, something we've waited four long years to do.
Time to put on my orange and maroon and get ready to cheer on my favorite sports team! Go HOKIES!!!!
The game will be played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC, a neutral territory as this is the playing field of the Carolina Panthers. I'm sure there will be lots of Virginia Tech fans onsite to cheer on the Hokies. As for us, we're staying at home and watching the game with Greg & Erica, something we've waited four long years to do.
Time to put on my orange and maroon and get ready to cheer on my favorite sports team! Go HOKIES!!!!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Summer Vacation...at last!
Yesterday kicked off our first official vacation of the summer (nothing like leaving it until the last minute huh?!) Andy and I are so excited that we don't have to go back to work until September 8, and are hoping to make the most of our days off.
The rain put a bit of a damper on things yesterday as we had an 8:14 tee time that we had to cancel. But we still ended up getting a lot of things done. Liddy got groomed, we had pho for lunch, made a trip to Costco where they already had Christmas wrapping paper out-yikes, took Liddy to PetSmart to pick out a new toy for the water, and we saw "The Dark Knight."
Today we are hoping to take a trip downtown to see the Spy Museum. We figure over this past year we've done a lot of sightseeing in other cities, countries, and continents for that matter, so why not do some touring around our own backyard.
For now, I'm told I've got coffee and waffles waiting for me downstairs...gotta love vacation!! :)
The rain put a bit of a damper on things yesterday as we had an 8:14 tee time that we had to cancel. But we still ended up getting a lot of things done. Liddy got groomed, we had pho for lunch, made a trip to Costco where they already had Christmas wrapping paper out-yikes, took Liddy to PetSmart to pick out a new toy for the water, and we saw "The Dark Knight."
Today we are hoping to take a trip downtown to see the Spy Museum. We figure over this past year we've done a lot of sightseeing in other cities, countries, and continents for that matter, so why not do some touring around our own backyard.
For now, I'm told I've got coffee and waffles waiting for me downstairs...gotta love vacation!! :)
Monday, August 25, 2008
Sunny San Diego
I have to believe that the nicest place in all of the US is San Diego. I was lucky enough to go out there last week for a conference, and had a great time. Sadly, Andy did not tag along, but he had fun hanging out with Liddy and Wally-they got a lot of great swimming time in.
I had a great room at the Manchester Grand Hyatt overlooking the bay, as well as the awesome pool. It was fun watching all the boats on the water and was also neat being able to see the USS Midway from my room, a retired air craft carrier that has been turned into a museum. It was also the location of one of the events I attended as part of the conference.
The conference was ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership's annual meeting. Most of you know that I used to work for ASAE, and let me tell you, it is far more fun being an attendee than an emloyee at this meeting!
I had a great room at the Manchester Grand Hyatt overlooking the bay, as well as the awesome pool. It was fun watching all the boats on the water and was also neat being able to see the USS Midway from my room, a retired air craft carrier that has been turned into a museum. It was also the location of one of the events I attended as part of the conference.
The conference was ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership's annual meeting. Most of you know that I used to work for ASAE, and let me tell you, it is far more fun being an attendee than an emloyee at this meeting!
The meeting was really great and I got to catch up with some old colleagues as well as a lot of friends in the industry. The city of San Diego was a great host, and they pulled out all the stops for the various events, including a sky writer, animals from the zoo and Sea World, dancers, lots of local cuisine and great bands.
However with all of that, I think my favorite thing about San Diego was Pinkberry. Some of you have probably seen stories about this frozen yogurt phenomenon taking place in NY and California. They are going to be opening locations in more places by the end of the year, I'm just crossing my fingers that DC is one of them...or better yet Kingstowne!! YUM-O! :)
Monday, August 11, 2008
I *heart* NY
Last week Andy accompanied me on a business trip to the Big Apple. I had been looking forward to the trip ever since it was scheduled back in the winter. I was running a meeting at none other than the grand Waldorf-Astoria (a most wonderful upgrade from the usual Doubletrees and Holiday Inns where my meetings typically take place).
We drove up on Sunday and had a great time playing the license plate game and adding up how much we spent in tolls (not a cheap drive, but cheaper than the train.) We arrived at the hotel around 11:30 and had to wait a bit for our room to be ready so we took a stroll and had a great lunch near Central Park and the Plaza. Once our room was ready we had to quickly get changed for the theater. Andy bought me (unbeknownst to him) orchestra seats to see Wicked (yes, I know, I've seen it before, but never on Broadway!) The show was fabulous and I think even Andy enjoyed finally seeing the show, considering I've been making him listen to the music for over a year now.
New York really is a great city, but it was definitely nice to come home. A special thanks to Andy's parents for watching Liddy while we were away--boy was she tuckered out from her vacation at Piedmont!
We drove up on Sunday and had a great time playing the license plate game and adding up how much we spent in tolls (not a cheap drive, but cheaper than the train.) We arrived at the hotel around 11:30 and had to wait a bit for our room to be ready so we took a stroll and had a great lunch near Central Park and the Plaza. Once our room was ready we had to quickly get changed for the theater. Andy bought me (unbeknownst to him) orchestra seats to see Wicked (yes, I know, I've seen it before, but never on Broadway!) The show was fabulous and I think even Andy enjoyed finally seeing the show, considering I've been making him listen to the music for over a year now.
Even more fabulous was our amazing room. They put us up in one of the corner rooms, which meant we had tons of windows, extra space, and fantastic views of Park Avenue. I couldn't believe the marble in the bathroom, super fancy!
The work part of the trip was pretty painless. We had a great wine tasting reception, where we had Mario Andretti as a special guest, and just one day of sessions that I had to work, but was finished by 5:00 in time to enjoy a great night on the town with Andy.
Aside from enjoying amazing meals and wine, we also got a lot of great walking and site seeing in. Our hotel was centrally located, with 5th Avenue just two blocks up and Central Park just a quick 9 or so blocks away. Rockefeller Center was close by as well, though it was sad to see it without the Christmas Tree (note the picture of my looking sad...you know me a my Christmas tree!) ;)
New York really is a great city, but it was definitely nice to come home. A special thanks to Andy's parents for watching Liddy while we were away--boy was she tuckered out from her vacation at Piedmont!
Friday, August 8, 2008
I'll take Boardwalk please!
A few nights ago we headed over to Dave and Alysia's for dinner and game night. The game on tap, Monopoly. I don't even remember the last time I played Monopoly, but I've always enjoyed it. I think the most entertaining part of the evening was when Andy started making up his own rules. Leave it to Andy to come up with the concept of "exemptions." For instance, when selling one of his properties to someone he would make part of the bargain that should he land on that spot, he'd be exempt from having to pay rent. Such a smooth talker that Andy!
I wish I could report who the winner was, but as you know, Monopoly is the game that goes on and on. All of our money and properties have been stored in our own ziplock bags until we can get together again. I will note that I am the proud owner of both Park Place and Boardwalk...oh and Andy is not exempt from those properties! ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
