Beachy

Day 1: Spent the (birthday) day in the car driving to the Outer Banks. Weather was beautiful... not to hot, a little breeze. Had homemade pizza for dinner prepared by MB's bro, Jim.

Day 2: Great weather! Glad my bro Jim, SIL Ann, Jules, Geneva, Stella and Miles were able to come down and spend an extra day at the beach. Might have been their only sunny day before joining the rest of their group. Burnt the back of my neck.

MB, her bro Jim, William, Freddy, John and I rode bikes to the lighthouse to catch the sunset. There was a sunset wedding at the pavilion -- best wishes to the newlyweds who married where John and I got engaged!

Day 3: WASHOUT! It poured in the early morning and was cloudy/drizzly throughout the day. Had lunch at Dirty Dicks (ayce crab legs and shrimp!) and then a little shopping at the outlets.

Had dinner at Route 12 in TimBuckII but was too full from lunch. Carolina Crab Bisque was not as good as Catherine Rooney's Cream of Crab Soup (really... is any crab soup better than Catherine Rooney's???).

Day 4: A cloudy day at the beach trumps a sunny day at my desk at work.
.

OBX May 2009

Enjoying another long weekend at the Outer Banks -- weather is partly sunny or partly cloudy, however you prefer the partials.

Johnny, who is often vampire-like when it comes to being in bright sunlight, enjoyed a little bit of time reading on the beach.



And of course, we have the usual volleyball pics...




Hope you're enjoying your Memorial Day Weekend!

BD at the CP

Come out to the Corner Pub tonight and help me celebrate my birthday! If you can't make it, maybe you'll enjoy these pictures from the beach.

And yes, we are a bunch of idiots.

An OBX B-Day

Greetings from the OBX! It was not a bad drive yesterday; no 3 hour back-ups or anything like in May. Of course, most of the gang had arrived much earlier and were well ensconced in their rooms and outside hanging by the pool.

The afternoon was sunny, but the clouds and thunder rolled in and we did our usual Saturday night meal -- pizza! Then there was lots of hanging about, chatting, drinking, playing foosball.

Freddy & Michelle:

Joey, me, William & Freddy:

Joey & William take on Valerie2 and Shad:

Joey & William hit the beer bong as the losing foosball team:

Can you guess who was MVD (Most Valuable Drunk)? And no, it wasn't me...

Today is Sean's birthday (not pictured... he's stealthy like that).

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SEAN!

.

Sandman - OBX May 2008

It was another awesome trip to the Outer Banks where we had glorious weather through the long weekend. Lucky for us, the rain came the morning we left. For those who stayed through the week, this was a great excuse to go to the aquarium or just chill out at the house and read.

This year's house was "Enter Sandman", as seen streetside (on the rainy morning we left):


Here it is the day before, from the dunes:


One of the things we noticed this year was all the manicured lawns, including our house. Freddy wishes his John Deere could magically mow his lawn to look like this:


There's nothing better than a warm fire on a breezy cool night on the beach.


This house came equipped with only 2 tv's. Evan and Brady passed out playing video games:


Here's our group, minus Eric, who was taking pictures with everyone's camera:

Can't wait to return to the OBX in September!
.

Overdue

It's not that I haven't been writing posts, I just haven't been posting posts. Linda e-mailed me today to say she was sick of seeing her mug on my blog, so here's something different:

OBX Spring 2007
Another awesome Memorial Day weekend down at the Outer Banks! The weather couldn’t have been more delightful. Sadly, Sean packed his volleyball net in the back of the attic and couldn’t get to it since the attic is storing stuff from the rest of the first level while renovations are taking place on S&V’s house. It was weird not seeing the net go up. Not that I play. Bum knee, you know. Just a break from tradition.

One of the traditions we upheld was the cooking of fabulous meals. I made breakfast on Sunday morning (scrambled eggs, sausage gravy & biscuits, fruit).

For lunch, there were sandwiches, but we also dug into some steamed shrimp and a gigantic bowl of MB’s freshly made guacamole.


Matt, Alison, Mr. Gardner and Ali's friend, Kate came up to the house for a visit. We relaxed by the pool and John showed Freddy how to do "The Shocker":


Dinner on Sunday night was fish curry, baked chicken, salad, steamed asparagus and rice. MB made a FABULOUS Key Lime Pie for dessert. Never mind it didn’t actually use “Key Limes”. It was tangy and luscious. Such an easy recipe using only 3 ingredients!


Monday night, William and Freddy grilled steaks and Alaskan King Crab Legs. We also had corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and salad. William didn’t think we’d be able to eat all the crab legs. I don’t know how many pounds there were, but MB and Stacey took up William’s challenge. Apparently, there would be “bed and breakfast” (that’s “breakfast in bed” to the rest of us) if the girls were able to eat all the crab legs. And they did, but I don’t think they woke up to breakfast in bed the next morning.


We didn’t just sit around eating all day long. There was a lot of sitting around drinking all day long too. We hung out at the beach and by the pool. In the evenings, there was basketball to be watched. And even a game of Trivial Pursuit - 80’s Edition.


John and I were the first of the group to head home on Tuesday afternoon. It was nice to get away, but also nice to get home with a full day to recover before heading back to work. Can’t wait till Labor Day weekend to head back down to the OBX!


Look What I Did!
It was well over a year ago when I started two small knitting projects and finally... they’re completed!


What held these projects back from completion? This knitted thing called “I-cord”. It’s a knitted tube you make for the purse handles. Last year, I made one long I-cord for one of the purses, but needed to make 4 shorter cords for the other purse. So, this weekend, having no desire to leave the house, I finished knitting the I-cords, sewed them on and then felted the pieces in the washer. Three days of dry time later, some creative sewing, a little help from Johnny with the grommets and voila!

Someday, I’ll also line the original black/blue felted purse I finished in March 2006. It desperately needs pockets and something on the bottom to provide stability to its floppiness.

Seeing these two purses completed makes me want to make some more! Maybe I ought to finish the two sweaters, three socks and four scarves I have in my UFO (unfinished objects) corner first!!!