Getting down to Derby time

Moon and Josh are getting ready for the Demo Derby in Lebanon, and it's time to paint the cars. They didn't want anything extravagent, so I just painted their sponsors names and a few mementos. Here they are! (Moon - green/white, Josh - pink)

Cutting the Grass, the Joy of Summer

Well, I was at it again this afternoon. Being the good wife I am, I was cutting the grass so Moon didn't have to when he got home. (By the way, Moon has only cut the pasture once or twice this year and he has only cut the back half of the yard - under the trees and behind the garage - once this year. I have cut it ALL the other times...) Anyhow, Moon did get home as I was cutting the grass so he got in the pool to clean it. Now I'm on the side of the house closest to the road, so Moon can see me from the pool. Since Moon does not allow me to weedeat because I use too much string, he has to do the weedeating, but that takes any act of Congress! Trying to make the yard look as good as I possibly can, I go into the low area of the ditch to cut the grass there and I get as close to the edge as possible where the ditch is a little steeper. Today I had a difficult time trying to get the mower to back up once I got close to the edge. Because I was thinking, I turned the mower off and looked toward the pool to get Moon to maybe push me backwards. I could not find him and he did not answer to me calling him. My next plan was to enable the parking break, which I did. At that point, I got off the mower, got around to the side, released the parking break, and pushed with all my might. No such luck! Now I knew I was stuck, so I either had to let the mower go or stand there hoping Moon would soon appear again. I let the mower go and it went nose first into the ditch. (The mower was unharmed and works as good as it did before.) So, I walked up to the pool and asked Moon if he would help me push the mower out of the ditch. Now for some trivia.

When I asked Moon if he would help me push the mower out of the ditch, what was his FIRST response?

A. Did I hear you correctly?
B. Do what?!
C. Are you ok?
D. What happened?
E. Wait 'til Josh hears 'bout this!

Sadly if you picked E, you are correct! : ) Anyhow... Moon came down to the road, laughing, and pushed while I pulled and we got the mower out. I got back on and finished while Moon continued to laugh as he walked back to the pool.

Underwear for Aunt Tish

Aunt Tish works with this guy at the post office and he's the only male that works the window, if I'm correct. Anyhow, they have a joke about government issued underwear or something, so I was asked to make her some underwear for Dave. Here is what I came up with. 4 hours of work and I couldn't think of anything else! Oh, well.

Happy Birthday!

As everyone knows, yesterday was my birthday and I got everything I wanted. It's kind of funny though that the theme of all my gifts was exercise! I guess that is a sign... I'm going to start playing tennis again so Em got me a new pink tennis racket and some tennis balls. Mom and Dad gave me an ETSU shirt and something for me to get myself what I want. Moon got me the Wii Active so I can start a workout routine at home. And Julie and Josh gifted me a tattoo which I got last night. I love it! It is to remind me to slow down and take things one step at a time. It's also symbolic of the DCS process Moon and I will be going through.

I debated between a frog and a turtle, but I decided on the turtle. I thought that once Moon and I have children, I will add a baby turtle behind the one I already have for each child. When I was thinking this through, I didn't think baby frogs (tadpoles) would be appropriate!

Anyhow, thank you to everyone for the cards, gifts, and well wishes. I had a great day.

Oh, how time flies and skin fries

So I decided to take advantage of the nice summer day and hang out by the pool. I could relax and then maybe get some studying in, which I did. I just didn't notice that 3 hours had come and gone, and it took my pale skin with it. In its place was lobster skin that was still cooling from the steam pot! Suntan lotion will be my new best friend.... I hope!

Move Over, Em! It's My Turn!

Since Emily likes to hog the blogs, I decided to jump right in and make way! : ) Actually, the truth is that I do not have interesting things to write about, so that is why Emily writes.

So, the snakes are out and about like never before. Moon was so proud of himself because he killed one with the weedeater, but just to be 110% sure it was dead, he chopped its head off with an axe. It was a little thing, but it had to go nonetheless. After he threw the snake (or what was left) in the creek, he headed off to go help a friend and I got to finish weedeating. I saw a much bigger snake, but I did not kill it. I was actually caught off guard and it might have hurt the weedeater instead!

I don't know if I've ever publicly announced that I am nervous when I ride in the car with Moon. He tends to go over the white line on the side of the road a lot and it is 30 times worse when he is pulling a trailer! Anyhow, I have warned him about his swerving and lack of keeping the truck between the lines, but it never seemed to bother him. Jump ahead to May 2009... Moon was coming back from a friend's house in Portland, just minding his own business. He was surprised when blue lights appeared in his rearview mirror, but pulled over. The officer asked him if he had been drinking then proceeded to tell him that he had swerved off the road a few times and told him how dangerous that can be on the ridge. Just to make the officer feel better, and to give us all a laugh, Moon had to take a soberity test! He had to walk the white line which he had crossed over sereral times, and he had to follow the officer's pen. The officer concluded Moon had not had even the slightest drop and let him go. Maybe now Moon will understand why I am so nervous!

Anyhow. It is offically summer break and NOTHING interesting has happened! I have a lot of PDs to attend, especially in June. I am planning on going to visit Emily at the end of June so I can have a mini-break and hopefully it will give Em something to do. Moon and I have a great vacation planned to Gatlinburg for October during my fall break. We are excited about that!

Ok, that is enough rambling. I'll write again in another few months! : )

Road Trip!

So the first semester of grad school is finished. Ready, set, BREAK! One of the few breaks I'll be getting for the next three years so I am told. With only a week and a half to get into mischief, I called Aunt Tish and asked if she was ready for a vacation.

Decisions, decisions. Do we go to Disney World and Universal Studios or the bottom SW corner of South Dakota to see four giant stone heads? The stone heads, of course! And to make it even better, we decided to drive! Don't get me wrong, it was a fun trip. Extremely fun, we just expected to see a little more than 400 miles straight of flat farm land. It was pretty to be sure, and I truly believe the end result was worth the total 3015 miles driven! :)

So we decided to drive straight to Mt Rushmore (with a small stop at Blue Earth, MN for some warmer clothes- and the very neat Jolly Green Giant) and do some road tripping on the way back if time permitted. Very cool! Four 60 foot heads staring out into the gorgeous Black Hills of SD was an awesome sight. George, Tom, Teddy, and Abe don't have a whole lot to say, but their images do mean a lot. The Birth of, Expansion of and Integration of the US, and the role of the Common Man are all symbolized in granite. It is a pretty spectacular picture, and I would suggest all Americans go see it at some point in their lifetime. Preferably- fly into SD, have a 5-6 hour lay-over, and fly back home. 400 miles seems to take forever when you can't really tell one field from the next. :)

11 miles away from Mt Rushmore is an even bigger head that is still in the process of being carved. Rushmore was impressive, but looking at the Crazy Horse Memorial can take your breath away. Especially when you see the proportions. The face of Crazy Horse is complete and part of the rock for his arm is beginning to take shape, but it will be an estimated 30 more years before it is complete. From what we were told, Mt Rushmore (all 4 faces) will be able to fit within the flowing HAIR of Crazy Horse when the monument is complete. And unlike Rushmore, Crazy Horse will be completely 3D. A poem written by the original sculptor will also be written into the rock with 3 foot high letters. This monument is not funded by the federal government and is carried on by the original artist's family (first name Korczak, last name.... I don't remember how to spell it). Most of the "sculpting" is done with dynamite!

Another must see in SD is the "world" famous Wall Drug in Wall, SD. Definitely a tourist trap, but they have lots of cool things to buy. And they had a small wooden duck on a stick that when he "walked" his feet slapped and sounded like a real duck when it walks on hard surfaces. So of course, Aunt Tish had to buy one. His name is Hubert. Be careful, he's vicious!

We started our trip back to OH and stopped at the Badlands of SD, World's Only Corn Palace, Mall of America, Frederick Meijer's Flower and Sculpture Gardens, and Frankenmuth, Michigan (home of the replica of the Silent Night Chapel in Austria and also home of Zehnder's famous fried chicken dinners). And now... back to the books... ugh!