Train Ride

Each Thursday during the summer our family has a Family Fun Day.  Brian takes the day off work and we doing something together.  Last week we went to Chattanooga, Tennessee.  We go up there nearly every year.  There is so much to do in Chattanooga and this year we decided to do at least one thing we hadn't done before.  We went to Rock City (which we did a couple years ago) and our new thing was riding a train at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.  I made this video from the pictures and video I took of our visit.  I decided just to "feature" Landon in this one.

You Capture - Warmth

Aaaahhh...Warmth!  Time to thaw.  

For all my friends north of the Mason-Dixon Line,

consider this an informal but official invitation to pack your things and migrate south.

Warm sunshine through the kitchen window

Cozy quilt

Landon is 4 now!

Warm enough to play outside!

Warm enough to play outside WITHOUT jackets on!

 

Laundry still warm from the clothes dryer

Maybe I Should Break Out My Skates

Here's what it's been like down south, y'all.  Sunday night we had a neighbor go downhill skiing in front of our house and yesterday this was recorded in Midtown Atlanta.

Peachtree St. Ice Rink in Midtown from A.Nendel on Vimeo.

Ten on Ten - 01/11

Ugh.  I had such a horrible time getting my exposure right today.  I kept fogging up the viewfinder and couldn't see what I was doing!  Oh well.  Here's what I got when my hands weren't frozen.

7:30

We woke up to this:  6 inches of snow in the ATL.

More than I've seen here since 1993.

8:30

Breakfast included hot chocolate

9:30

Out to play just as soon as we could get bundled up

10:30

Boys from neighborhood climbing the hill in front of our house

It makes for an excellent ski slope ... if only you have the right equipment.

We only have pool toys and laundry baskets and they don't work so well.

11:30

I stepped out on the porch for a brief moment for this one

12:30

After my 2.27 mile run in my new sneaks (on the treadmill... inside... where it's warm and dry)

1:30

What can I say?

She always makes it in here somewhere; she's an easy subject.

2:30

Brrrr!

Only out for about 6 minutes but came back in frozen and having flashbacks from my childhood in Detroit.
This wasn't typical soft snow.  I had to punch my feet through the layer of ice on top with each step.
*Pop! Crunch!  Pop!  Crunch!*

3:30

Four-wheel drives don't work on ice, dude.
This looks like slush but it's frozen solid and jagged; if you had run your hand along it you might have cut yourself.

He didn't make it any further than 1/2 way up the hill before he put it in reverse and tried another way - 

an even more steep hill.  Wonder if he ever made it out of the neighborhood?

4:30

Daddy's home, too.

Time for video games

  

5:30

Lasagna!

Macaroons and Iced Milk

Blog Land was an unusually sad place yesterday.   I read several posts that brought me to tears.  Most of them about children.  Children growing up.  Adult children moving away.  Children starting school and the death of summer.  And one grieving mama visiting her baby's grave for the first time.

And my day ended on a personally sad note because my mom told me that my great-aunt WillaNell died today.  Today my mom, my aunt and I will go up to Cleveland, Tennessee for the funeral.  I wish instead that we were going up to eat Aunt WillaNell's coconut macaroons and to wash them down with iced milk (Coca Cola for her - I don't think she ever drank anything but Coke and coffee) and to sit with her and look through her old photo albums and to hear her tell funny stories about her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.    

She was Southern Hospitality personified. She had a way of making you feel like you saw each other every week even though it had been years in between visits.  It didn't matter if you had seconds at the dinner table; to her you hadn't eaten enough.  "Here!  Take some home with you!"  Then she'd wrap up something in  aluminum foil and, as you were leaving, she'd tell you to be careful making that left turn out of the parking lot of her apartment.

Thinking about what she was like and knowing I'll see her again makes me happy and hopeful.

And that's how I want to feel today. 

"Dynamite comes in small packages!"

Last Saturday we celebrated my father-in-law's 70th birthday.  

Seventy.  

On some people 70 both looks and feels, ... well..., old.   But on Jim, 70 takes on a whole new meaning.  On him, seventy means character, integrity, love expressed, love received, gritty-dirt-under-your-fingernails-hard-work.  Seventy years of being dependable, courageous, generous, silly.   On Jim, 70 equals a life well-lived, an example to be followed and more good times ahead.   There aren't many men like him.  Not nearly enough, in fact.  I'm proud to be his even if it's just by marriage.  Because with my father-in-law, there is no "mine" and "yours".  It has always been "ours". 

 In front of the old Sears building downtown where Jim worked for several decades.

 At The Varsity.  #46 waited on he and Dixie often.

 In front of Turner Field, standing not far from where several of Hank's homeruns would have landed.

In front of the hospital where Brian was born.

Happy Birthday, Doddy!  I love you so so much.

FORTY - Part 2

Do you ever get bored with your own pictures?  I think I'm bored.  It seems like they all start to look the same after awhile; except the part where the people in the pictures look older.  Especially beach pictures tend to look like the same thing over and over again.   To me.   I suppose this just means that we need to go to different vacation destinations each time.  ; D   That would work to get me out of a creative slump, right?  

 

Anyhow, hope these won't bore you ...  unless you've already seen them on facebook.  And, in that case,... well, I can't help you there.

 

 

 

 

As much as I love those beautiful faces up there, this might be my favorite from the weekend.  

We certainly weren't bored making these pictures.  Creating these memories.  Celebrating a certain wonderful someone's big 4-0!  Enjoying each other's company.  Eating shrimp and crab and scallops.   Chasing sea birds and catching frisbees.  Resting, relaxing and getting away from our usual scenery and usual routines. 

FORTY! - Part 1

My sweetheart is now 40 years young!   He is even more amazing now than when we met 14 years ago!  

When I asked him if he would rather have a party or go out of town to celebrate, he didn't hesitate to say he'd rather go out of town.  The plan was for just the two of us to go to Tybee Island for a few days but about a week ago he decided to surprise the kids and take them with us.  We had such a good time!  I'm so glad he changed our plans because we won't get a big family vacation in the fall since I will be on the equator that week and Mom will be taking Anna to Disney World.

This is how our weekend started:  The usual traffic jam at the 75 South/675 merge.  Warning to anyone coming through Atlanta:  you will most assuredly sit in traffic on this 2 mile stretch of highway.  It does not matter what day or what time.  If there is an accident that is actually blocking one or more lanes you can increase your trip time by at least 45 minutes.  If there is no accident, no stall or nothing whatsoever to explain why traffic might be slowed you just need to add an extra 10 or 15 minutes to your ETA.  I found it highly entertaining and ironic that the car in front of us had the word "Remember" on the back window.  I do not miss this aspect of living in Henry County AT  ALL.

The Shell House is a mandatory stop.  Unless you're allergic to fish.  Then, by all means, keep driving.  Otherwise, don't eat before you go and plan on smelling of crab legs for the next 24 hours!  Mmmmm...

 

 We got to Tybee late Friday evening but we had to get in some quick beach time before bed.