Lucy's Birthday Loot

Hi - it's me, Lucy. Mommy let me write on the blog today to tell you all about my BIG 2nd birthday. I got lots of toys and treats which made me very happy. I love toys ~ especially the ones that make that squeaky noise. I also really love treats. My favorite are the chicken sticks, but I will eat pretty much anything you give me.

My day was pretty normal - except for Mommy was not home. She was in New York for work, but she called when I woke up and sang the Happy Birthday song to me. When Daddy came home from work we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for dinner. Grandma made steak in that big black box on the deck and Daddy slipped me some since it was my birthday. I got yummy treats in a cute doggy bag. THANK YOU GRANDMA AND GRANDPA.

After we picked Mommy up from the train place, we went home and had the REAL party. I got all kinds of great stuff including my own birthday cake which was very yummy. I hope that there is more so I can have some today!


Then Daddy gave me my very own Sniffany Blue Box! And Mommy gave me a doggy balloon animal and fun new tug toy.


It was so much fun to run and play. I love my birthday. I wish my birthday was every day! Happy Birthday to me!!!

Happy Birthday Lucy!

Yes...our little puppy girl turns 2 today! It is so hard to believe how big she is getting ~ I can remember the day we brought her home. We went out to get cat food and instead, got Lucy! She was about 8 weeks old and was trouble the moment she got into the house. :)


For the first month, I hated her. Seriously. All she did was bark non-stop (hated her crate), pee all over the house (until we discovered the joy of wee wee pads) and chase the cats (literally had to set up a cat sanctuary in the 2nd bedroom and block her out of it). Joey didn't trust her from the start and E wanted nothing to do with her. But after time, we all came around and grew to love the little knucklehead!

So in honor of her 2nd birthday, I put a little video together of some of our favorite Lucy pics. Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!

We Like to (PS3) Move It, Move It

As you may recall, my Edward had a heck of a birthday. From a weekend away in the mountains to a bounty of gifts, he was one happy camper. In addition to the trip, I gifted him with the new PlayStation Move system which is just like a Nintendo Wii or the XBOX Kinect , except for PlayStation 3.


We were introduced to it a while back by a very eager sales guy at the Sony store in Rehobeth. Ed had the chance to demo it and had a blast so it was one of those no-brainer gifts. I bought the starter bundle which included the optical eye camera, a controller and a sports game. Adriana and John rounded out the gift with another game called The Fight: Lights Out.

Since our weekend was very low key (and very much needed!), we decided to try it out. All I have to say is OUCH! Both of us are sore from playing the games which means A. We are both SO totally out of shape and B. These get off your butt video games actually work!

The Sports Champion game offers a variety of options including archery, bocce, table tennis, beach volleyball, frisbee golf and some crazy beat each other up game. Ed kicked my butt with that, but I held my own with the archery and the frisbee golf. Skills I tell you!

After I started getting tennis elbow from the archery game, I took a break and Ed had the chance to kick some butt in the Gladiator Duel using both controllers. It looked a little something like this:


What's cool is that the little bubble on the end of each controller lights up a different color. It's like a mini light saber! Lucy wasn't a fan of the lights ~ but I think it was more about not getting the chance to play. I have a feeling that Ed will be sneaking in many a practice round on the new PlayStation Move while I'm in NY for a few days. Take THAT gym membership!

Happy Father's Day!

We just wanted to give a shout out to all the amazing Fathers out there.

Happy Daddy's Day!!

You Should Know My Husband...

...and I will tell you why.

In a minute.

First some background. Ed is one of the most meticulous men you can meet when it comes to his stuff. While not the neatest person in the world (have you seen his closet??), he is crazy OCD when it comes to scratches on his things. Sorry honey...but you are! :)

Examples:

1. His 2006 Scion TC with 94,000 miles did not have a singe scratch on it when he sold it a few weeks back.
2. He saves the boxes of every electronic that he purchases. His reasoning is that when he sells it he can get more money, but I secretly think it is so he can transport his stuff in a safe, secure environment.
3. With the purchase of his new MacBook Pro, he bought a new case that is fully-lined with faux-fur as to not scratch the aluminum. (I'm actually on board with him on this one!)

So you can imagine how he is with all the new furnishings we have in our house. When the deliveries are made, it is Ed's job to scour over them and look for any sort of imperfection. The delivery guys don't know what hit them when he starts pointing out the flaws - and out come the furniture markers! We actually were able to get the Bassett delivery guys to give us the markers they use.

So...now to the reason why you should know my husband. Because of his nutty/brilliant need for things to be perfect, we are the recipients of not only a replacement leather couch...


...but now, a replacement bedroom dresser.


Let me explain.

We purchased our new big girl/boy furniture from companies that "stand behind their product." The couch hailed from Belfort Furniture and when it arrived it had some scratches on the hide of one of the cushions. Now, the naked eye would have a hard time seeing these so-called scratches. But the Ed eye honed in on them right away. :) After a call to the store and a visit by the leather technician, it was determined that the scratch was not fixable so they needed to replace the cushion. After a few weeks of not hearing anything, Ed called Belfort ready to whop some butt. But before he had the chance to, they informed him that because they are unable to match the color of the leather hide on the new cushion to the existing couch, they were going to just replace the entire couch.

WHAT?!! Within a few weeks, it was out with the old and in with the new. And wouldn't you know, the Ed eye saw some imperfections on the new couch!! Luckily, the 2nd technician was able to fix things this time. :)

Why am I sharing this old story with you? Well, it has happened AGAIN! Not the couch this time, but instead, the new dresser in our bedroom. This time, the furniture is from Bassett Furniture. And after realizing that the center leg was missing from the long dresser and that it looked as though it was caving in a bit, Ed gave our lovely sales gal, Susan, a call. She ordered the part and sent technician Junior to install it for us. By the time he left, this is what the underside of the dresser looked like:


Now, you might say "It is the underside of the dresser where NO ONE will see so does it really matter that it is messed up?" The answer to that seemingly innocent question is "YES IT MATTERS!!!!!!!" So, another whop-ass phone call was made followed by an email with the photo attached. And amazingly enough, the furniture Gods shined down on us again and are SENDING A REPLACEMENT DRESSER! It is totally nuts, but hey, we'll take it!

So, why should you know my husband? Other than the fact that he is a sweet, caring, sensitive funny guy, he can get you new stuff to replace your not-so-perfect new stuff! He's also really good at getting Comcast to give you 2 years of premium service at a cheaper price than what you are paying now. Skills...the man has skills!!!

Ed's Birthday Surprise Day 3

Day 3 of Ed's Surprise Weekend offered us another gorgeous day in the mountains. Sadly, it was our last day so we enjoyed as much of the morning in the cabin as we could. After cleaning things up and packing our bags, we took our final drive on the crazy mountain road and headed South on I-81. Where were we going you ask? JMU of course!!


I have not been back to visit my Alma mater since graduation day, so this visit was WAY overdue. And since we were so close, I thought it would be a great time to give Ed the grand tour of the campus. It's amazing how much things have changed in 11 years (OMG ~ how has it already been 11 years!!!) - but in a way, it was exactly the same.

As we pulled into campus, the feeling of nostalgia was overwhelming. From Zane Showker Hall Business building where I spent much of my time, to Mr. Chips, the small convenience store near the railroad tracks (yes...there were tracks that went right through the center of campus), to D-Hall, our main dining facility where many a brunch was had, I was transported back to my days as a student.

Our first stop was the brand new bookstore which is now located in a lovely building in the Godwin parking lot. After grabbing some new JMU gear for the arsenal, we started the tour. We headed first to Warren Hall which was essentially the student union back in the day (and home of the old bookstore). This is where the Post Office resided (and still does) along with the famous "Ride Board" - a huge bulletin board connecting people like me who did not have a car and needed a ride home to people that did have a car and were offering rides.


We then made our way through the area known as "The Commons" - a place where many an event took place since it was right in front of the main entrance to D-Hall (a popular hang out place, especially during chow time). After a quick pose with good old James Madison himself, it was off to the Quad.


Now, I'm not one to brag, but I have to say that JMU is one of the most picturesque universities out there. Gorgeous Bluestone buildings flank the Quad and are so impressive it's hard not to get chills. Okay...I'm being over dramatic, but it's a damn fine looking campus! One of my fondest memories of this place are the thousands of tulips that are planted in the spring ~ so gorgeous.

This part of campus is the oldest and most original and houses classrooms, administrative offices and dorms. The Quad is usually packed with students who are "studying" ie. sun bathing, playing frisbee, taking naps, etc. :)


We made our way over to the "Kissing Rock" a famous spot on campus that dates back to the days when the Quad was built. The legend goes that the person you kiss at the Kissing Rock is the person you are going to marry. Not so much in my case, but it was fun to kiss Ed on the rock anyways! A lovely couple visiting the campus snapped this photo of us ~ love it!


After a quick walk past the under construction stadium, we got in the car and headed over to the other side of campus to check out the rest of the place. JMU is split in half by I-81 ~ old campus that I am familiar with is on the West and new campus is on the East. When I was in school, the only buildings on the East side were UREC (student gym), the Convocation Center (site of Duke baseketball games, concerts and large meetings) and 1 new building that house the ISAT Department. And the only real way to get there was through the tunnel under I-81.


Now, this side has completely EXPLODED with dorms, a library, a dining hall and many academic buildings. There was also a new Alumni Center that we of course stopped in and got a shot of the Duke Dog statue!


It was awesome to see it all again and it has inspired both of us to visit more often. After our 3-hour tour (well, more like an hour and a half), we took a quick swing by the old Delta Sig Frat house and then headed to downtown Harrisonburg to grab lunch at an old favorite ~ Dave's Taverna. Many a happy hour was spent at this place and in my opinion, they have THE best Steak and Cheese sandwich around. The restaurant has expanded since I graduated, but the food was still the same. YUM!


After lunch, we treated ourselves to some Kline's Dairy Bar and then were on our way back home. It truly was an amazing weekend not just for Ed, but for both of us. I love that we live so close to both the hustle and bustle of DC, but also to the quiet countryside of the Shenandoah Valley. I have a feeling we will be back again for another visit.

Ed's Birthday Surprise Day 2

Happy Birthday Ed!!!! After a restful night's sleep in the cabin, we awoke on Sunday morning to sunshine and birthday gifts!! Ed was a good boy this year and managed to NOT open gifts that arrived in the mail from friends and family until his actual birthday. He dove right in and got himself some awesome loot that included many a Best Buy gift card (courtesy of Joe and Sue), the PlayStation 3 Move console (from yours truly), a game for this new game console (thank you John and Adriana) and a book that he asked for. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, he actually asked for a book. :) It helped that along with this book, there was some cash to put towards his MacBook Pro (thanks Mom M.)!

In addition to his birthday gifts were 2 more clues meant to reveal the day's activity. Sorry there are no pics - was too excited to unveil the surprise that I simply forgot! The clues were this...


...and this.After much speculating about going to a water park, I came clean and revealed that we were going tubing down the Shenandoah River!!! This made him very happy ~ I think he immediately put his water shoes on at that moment!

Before hitting the river we needed some grub so we headed back to Uncle Buck's for a country breakfast. Well...not so much country, but it was mighty fine eats! It was then off to the home of the Down River Canoe Company to pick up our tubes and floating cooler for our lazy river ride. More amazing views ensued on the drive there!

All I have to say was that the day was AWESOME!!! The sun was shining and the river water was nice and cool - it was the perfect afternoon. :) I'd show you the photos of our experience, but they are being held hostage by the Walgreen's Photo Technician until next week so you will have to wait. For the moment...pretend this is us:


The only real difference was that our tubes were yellow, we did not have a child with us and that we lugged a big red floating cooler for all the snacks and beverages I packed. The whole experience took about 3 hours ~ and I can tell you we enjoyed every minute of it. Well, except for the last 30 minutes where we were being attacked by swarms of gnats...but other than that it was great. I will have more details about our river trip once the photos are in my hand.

After cleaning up and changing out of our wet bathing suits we headed into town for some lunch at Artisan's Grill and then back to the cabin to rest and relaxation before heading out to dinner later that night. Remember when I said that we technically had birthday dinner the night before at the Local Chop & Grill House since they were closed on Sunday? Well, a lot of things are closed on Sunday when you are in the country. And if they are not closed, then they are quite dead around 8 pm which was about the time we landed at Sonny's Place Restaurant & Pub for dinner. This is what it looked like when we arrived:


This places was listed 3rd best restaurant in the area on Urban Spoon (Uncle Buck's is #1, Artisan's Grill is #2) so I figured we would give it a try. They are known for their BBQ and I have to say, Sonny's DELIVERED! I ordered the baby back ribs and Ed had the Brisket sandwich and both were REALLY good. I wanted to take a bath in the BBQ sauce that drenched the ribs! You can tell that everything was home made from the mac and cheese to the brownie in the birthday sundae we had after dinner. All in all, dinner was a success.


After dinner we headed back to the cabin, caught the latest episode of "The Killing" on AMC (great show BTW!) and hit the sack. Another good day was had by all in the Shenandoah Valley!