Renaissance Festival

This weekend we took the kids to the annual North Carolina renaissance Festival. It comes to Charlotte every fall for about 6 weeks, but we've never been able to make it before.

Anyhow, it was so awesome! It is an entire little town, exactly ( well almost ) the way things were during that time period. We saw a jousting match, toured a dungeon, watched some shows, enjoyed some music, and in general got a really big kick out of all the people. What we didn't know was that a lot of adults that come to the festival dress in period clothing.

We enjoyed it so much that we've decided over the next year we are going to buy renaissance clothing for us and wear it next year. Not costumes, mind you, but real hand made grabs. My husband has always thought those dresses and bustiers were incredibly sexy. I think it will be a blast.

This year I bought one of those floral halo head pieces with the little ribbons cascading down the back. Just wearing that made me feel so feminine and pretty. I can't wait to try wearing the entire ensemble. We aren't sure what to get hubby yet...probably a knight outfit.

Who knows.....we may have found a new hobby. I looked online and saw they have these festivals year round, all along the east coast. It may be fun to visit different ones as little weekend excursions.

Well, just wanted to share a little of what we've been up to. I've been really stressed lately and haven't taken much time to post. However....this Friday hubby and I are leaving for a weekend trip to Wilmington...just the two of us. On Saturday night we are going to take a haunted pub tour on the river front. It sounds like it is going to be a hoot!

Have a great week, all!

Earthquakes!!!

I realize in some parts of the country earthquakes are practically a daily occurance. Here in North Carolina, they are mainly just something we read about happening in other places in the world.

Our very dark and rainy Tuesday proved to be a unique experience for residents in my local area. Thousands of people were awakened Tuesday morning to a loud boom followed by shaking of their homes. To me, it felt like a car had hit our house. A lot of residents felt the same way or reported they thought a plane had crashed.

Imagine my surprise when I later learned that morning we had experienced an earthquake. Very little damage was done, mainly just items knocked off shelves in the stores. A few people reported cracks in the foundation or walls of their homes. Throughout the day, smaller booms and tremors were felt, despite the fact that the U.S. Geological Survey said there would be no aftershocks.

At 7:55 last night, my husband and I were sitting here at the computer and felt another, smaller quake. Being fully awake and aware, this one was much more disconcerting. It was a very wild and uneasy, yet exciting feeling.

A little over an hour later, at 9:20, a much larger sonic boom was followed by a brief, but VERY noticable shake of our home. It made the hair stand up on the back of our necks. My husband, who was in Desert Storm, said it sounded exactly like artillary fire. His first instinct was to reach for his gas mask, which of course was not attached to his side. Old habits die hard, I suppose.

All in all, it was a very intresting day in the city of Winston-Salem and the surrounding areas. I can't help but wonder....it is over? And if we can experience these smaller quakes, does this mean we could be subject to the larger, more voilent ones?

Quiet Weekend on the Horizon

Once every 6 weeks I have to work a 4 day weekend...which happens to be this week. So, my husband and the kids are going to Georgia to visit his family for the weekend. I figured there was no reason for them to try to be quiet half the weekend while I am sleeping during the day.

It will be weird waking up with noone here...and knowing noone is on their way home. But, I think it will be nice too. I'm hoping I will sleep a little longer than normal. When the family is here, after about 4 1/2 hours I wake up to spend some time with them before I go to work.

As winter approaches, the sun has gradually moved across the side of our house. The past week or so, about 9:00 it starts beaming thru one of the blinds in our bedroom. It honestly looks like a spotlight shining thru the window. I have no problem sleeping during the day, but EXTREME SUNLIGHT is a little too much. I woke up every 30 minutes today. So, hubby put a quilt over that window as a temporary measure. I'm going to buy some thicker curtains to help block out the light when we redecorate our bedroom after Christmas.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Enjoy this beautiful Autumn weather!!!

Rainy, dreary birthday

But I had fun anyhow. The weather has turned very cool, and it has been cloudy and raining since Friday. It's been very good snuggle weather, which is Tim's & my favorite.

All of our plans seemed to have been dampened by the rain. Last night we drove up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. It poured...I mean torrential rains, and it was very foggy. Surprisingly, we still saw about 20 deer. I know we are unusual, because most people go to the mountains in October to see the leaves. We go at night year round to see all the animals that come out after dusk. There is quite a history with us and the Parkway, but I will share that another time.

Today we headed to Charlotte (about an hour away ) to Concord Mills Mall. There is a place there called Dave and Busters. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, it like an arcade/sports bar for adults. They have all kinds of arcade games, bowling, billiards, bars, restaurants, and sports for adults. Anyhow.....I've been planning this for months. We are both big NASCAR fans, so what we'd wanted to do was drive down to Dave and Busters, enjoy a nice lunch while watching the race, then play some games.

Well....thanks to it being a cold and dreary day, the place was PACKED. It was hard to find a parking place anywhere in the mall. We walked around for a while, then went into Dave and Busters. Well, because the Carolina Panthers were on TV, all 35 tvs in the joint were on football. Despite the fact that Charlotte is the heart of NASCAR country, they weren't showing the race. IT was very hot and very crowded.

So, we ended up driving to Charlotte, pretty much to turn around and come back home. Despite that, we had a really good time. Tim and I spent all last night and today being very lovey dovey and remembering all the reasons we fell in love in the first place. When we got home, we had dinner at Texas Roadhouse, which was awesome. It is one of our favorite places.

Then, thanks to the weather, I got a migraine. I seem to get them whenever we have a major front move through and the weather changes drastically. Gee, great.

Well, we decided to come on home, but have had a nice evening all the same. I don't feel great, but I've had a wonderful past 2 days with my husband. I tend to not like it when things don't go as planned, but the older I get, the more flexible I become . What really matters is that we were together...and we had fun no matter what the circumstances.

And that was the best birthday present I could have asked for.

My furry babies enjoying an autumn afternoon

This is Oscar the cat, Bailey the Shih Tzu, and Dakota the Chikingese. My babies. :-)

This decision STINKS

Several months ago, my stepson's 2 pets died. They were degus, which is a little rodent similar to a rabbit/guinea pig cross. Anyhow, he was really sad. We waited a few months and finally last week he decided to get a ferret.

All the kids quickly became attached to the little ferret. She is a lot of fun. Anyhow, part of the purchase price included the initial vet check to make sure everything was fine and dandy.

Well, she is not. Basically, she has a grape sized cyst in her neck. The vet withdrew some of the fluid and he has never seen anything like it---and he is a ferret expert. The cyst is full of skin cells, which makes no sense. We have several different options, none of which are cheap to do. And it may turn out that she has cancer and won't live long.

So, I called the pet store & they have offered to exchange her for another ferret. They would then send her back to the company they purchased her from. We feel quite certain that they will put her to sleep. They will not help with any vet costs if we decide to pursue surgury, etc.

What would you do?

We could exchange her, but all the kids AND MY HUSBAND are so attached to her. And not knowing what becomes of her will be difficult. Then again, if we invest the money for surgery, she may end up dying anyhow. And that would break everyone's heart. But, then again, they may remove the cyst and then everything would be fine. We would just be out a few hundred bucks that we really can't afford.

We are going to talk to Cody tonight and let him help with the decision. After all it is his ferret. And then we will take it from there. Either way, something has to be decided tomorrow. Either she goes back to the store or we schedule surgery to have the cyst removed and biopsied.

Trying to hurt myself?

Does anyone else get really clumsy when they have PMS? I always do, but this month has been an extreme.

Sunday morning when I got home from work I was putting everything in the crock pot to make a pot roast. Cutting the potatoes, I sliced a good chunk out of my thumb. It bled a lot and scared me pretty good. It is still VERY sore. I didn't realize how much you depend on your thumbs until I only had one good one to use.

At work Sunday night I crushed my hand between 2 steel reels. Let me tell you, that hurt!!! For about 5 minutes I was sure I had broken it, but in the end it is just a funny color of blue and tender.

Then, Monday afternoon when I got up, I fell in the shower. You know how it is, ladies. I was trying to shave, one leg propped up on the edge of the tube and the other foot slipped out from under me. OUCH! And I hit my thumb on the way down which made it start bleeding again.

Hopefully lastly, I reached up in the cabinet to get my favorite Hard Rock Cafe glass last night, and dropped it. Shattered all over the place. I really wish the tall people in our house wouldn't put stuff on the top shelves because I have a hard time reaching them. (sigh)

Anyhow....I told my husband I should just hunker down in the bedroom and not leave the house today. I might stay safe that way.

Well, I am getting ready to take Cody's new ferret to the vet for a check up. What an interesting little critter she is!! My husband ( who constantly complains about the dogs & cats ) just thinks she is the greatest thing ever.