Easter Weekend Trip to Delaware

A few weeks ago, I decided it was time for a weekend adventure--a nice change of scenery, as well as something to reset the brain. Work has been good but challenging, and my sister and I have been planning our father's graveside service and interment of ashes. All important stuff, but I needed a break. I thought about it, and made a hotel reservation in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Why Rehoboth Beach? First of all, a beach location sounded great! Next, I've never been to Delaware. And it was driveable. Another big lure for me--finding a geocache in a "new" state!

Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

My boyfriend had planned to join me, but wasn't feeling well late last week. So, with his blessing, I got up early on Saturday morning and headed north toward Delaware! Between home and Reboboth Beach was a big bridge-tunnel that I was a little nervous about, but looked to save me some travel time. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is 17.6 miles long. I thought I'd be nervous about it, but once I got started, it was really nice! Each side of the bridge (north and south-bound) was two-lane, with plenty of room. The two tunnels were one-lane each way, and little more nerve-wracking for me at first. By the time I came through south-bound, though, the tunnels were a breeze! Whew! The views of the Chesapeake Bay from the bridge were lovely, to boot.

Old Northampton, VA, Courthouse, Eastville

On the way up, I found a geocache in the pretty little town of Eastville, Virginia. The cache was located in the area of the old Northampton County, Virginia, courthouse.

Once in Rehoboth Beach,  I checked into my hotel, found my first Delaware geocache (yay!), then went to dinner at the Pickled Pig Pub (cute name award!). Back at the hotel, I hit the sack early.

Sunday (Easter) morning, I got up early, and decided I couldn't leave without seeing the Atlantic Ocean and the famous Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk. I drove there after checking out of the hotel, and arrived about 7:30 in the

Korean Noodle Stirfry at the Pickled Pig

morning. It was so pretty and peaceful, it was a perfect thing to do! I'm so glad I made the effort.

Afterward, I found another geocache nearby, and then headed toward home.Along the way, I found two geocaches in Maryland and another in Virginia.

This trip was just what I needed, some much needed time away, with the challenge of geocaching. That being said, I was very

glad to get home, which was a good sign!

Christmas Vacation Recap



Jacob, George, and Henry

 I'm nearing the end of my 2-week hiatus from work over the Christmas/New Year holiday break, so it's time to tell the story!

George and Henry's cousin, Jacob, came to visit from Boston, so we had an impromptu games night at our apartment on Christmas Eve. (George, ever the comedian, still makes the bunny ears behind family members in pictures! That aside, this is the best picture I got of the three of them.)

Moravian Lovefeast at Watts St. Baptist

Before the guys came over, George and I went to a Moravian Lovefeast at Watts St. Baptist Church in Durham. I hadn't been to a Moravian Lovefeast since college, so it was a delight to attend one this Christmas Eve! (It was my first time in Watts St. Baptist, and it's a lovely sanctuary.) We sang lots of familiar Christmas hymns, had coffee and buns as a congregation, then everyone lit their beeswax candles and the sanctuary lights were dimmed for the final hymn or two. It was a really nice experience, and I would recommend it to others next year.





Christmas Dinner at Il Palio, Chapel Hill

On Christmas Day, we gathered at Il Palio, a nice restaurant in the Siena Hotel in Chapel Hill, for lunch. It was great to have family together, and it was the first time in several years I've been with my parents for Christmas. Uncle Marion came over from Goldsboro, too! The food was fabulous, and the service was top notch, too! If you're looking for special occasion dining, Il Palio should be on your list!

Christmas 26 Snow Behind Apartment

It started snowing on Christmas night, and by the next morning, this was the view outside our apartment! I think this was the first time I've ever seen "live" snow for Christmas! It was beautiful. We still have some on the ground, but it's melting away and the roads around here are much better.

In other news, I signed up for the Tobacco Road Half Marathon (March 20) a couple of days ago, and it's been nice to spend some extra time at the gym, as a result. :)

Happy President's Day

Although not an official holiday at Duke, I decided to take it as a vacation day. George was off, so I decided it would be a good day to take off as well. We've spent some time together, but we've also had some alone time; both have been refreshing.

I've gotten some reading and genealogy done since this morning's gym workout. I'm also trying to get my main Yahoo inbox down to zero, one of the Lifehacker tips I've been hearing about and finally decided to work on. My main Yahoo inbox currently has over 5000 emails in it, but I've moved or deleted about 200 emails already, and have worked my way back to November.. It's going to take me a while, I know, but I'm not giving up yet.

Home From Vacation

George and I are back from several days in the Boone area, where we had a great time! I plan to blog about it and post more pictures soon, but here's a sneak peak from our first full day there.








It snowed the night we arrived, and we awoke to a pretty dusting the next morning!






It cleared up nicely that afternoon, and we had nice weather for the rest of our stay!

Goals for This Week (and How I Fared Last Week)

This Week's Goals:
1) Cook one new recipe this week.

2) Start my Control Journal notebook (see FlyLady.net)

3) Continue with reading, weight loss, genealogy, and getting-to-bed goals, as a habit takes about a month to take hold, I've heard.


Last Week's Goals:
1) Check out FlyLady.net and see if I can buy into.
I decided to work on some of the things FlyLady incorporates, but not go "whole hog" yet. I plan to start with the "Control Journal" first, which consolidates a number of things into one notebook, like schedules, routines, emergency numbers, and an address book.

2) Get in bed by 11:00 every night
Accomplished this goal Sunday through Friday nights, though it was right on the dot one night, and I felt it the next day.

3) Finish at least one book.
I finished two books again this week, a book of poetry called Sea Level, by Angela Leighton, and a current events book, The Return of History and the End of Dreams, by Robert Kagan.

4) Plan mountain vacation with George.
We've decided where we're staying and some of the things we'll do. Can't wait!

5) Lose 1.3 lb. this week.
Lost 3.8 lbs this past week-wohoo! I'm not surprised, really, as I had some interesting dieting revelations and activities last week, which I blogged about on my running blog here.

6) Add at least 5 names to my genealogy database.
Input about 15 names this week.

Busy Month

Why does October always seem so busy?! It's one of my favorite months of the year, and it seems like it's been a really busy month for me the past few years.

This past week, for example, I had commitments Monday through Wednesday nights, plus I helped with two training sessions at work. Friday night, George had another overnight test at a sleep clinic. Yesterday I worked my shift at the Junior League's Bargain Sale, then tried to get a long run in, but didn't make it very far. This morning, I attempted another long run before I had to go to church, where I'd signed up to be an evaluator for the second service.

This coming week, I have commitments Monday through Thursday nights, plus I'm signed up for a 5K road race on Saturday morning.

George and I are taking vacation the last week of October, so we need to finish planning that soon! Boy, am I looking forward to the vacation!

Back from Vacation

George and I had a really nice weekend in the Winston-Salem area! I enjoyed seeing several former co-workers at the Professional Center Library at Wake Forest (plus lunch with several of them at Coppola's), lots of hiking at Pilot Mountain State Park, an interesting tour of Old Salem, and lunch with cousin Lisa in Greensboro on the way home. George and I took lots of pictures, and I look forward to posting some of them, along with some commentary soon.

We did all of that on less than a tank of gas, and I lost three pounds, to boot! :)

Vacation's Over

Well, it's back to work this morning. I'm curious about what's going on at work and am looking forward to gettng things done there. I've got a busy week ahead, with three nightly meetings, but it'll be fine.

Highlights of this time off have been:

*Time with George
*Time with George's family, both local and from New Zealand, Boston, and Atlanta
*Having George's brothers and cousins over to play Apples to Apples and Zombie Fluxx
*Visits to Raleigh and Clinton to do genealogy
*Running outside in the Brier Creek area with my new Garmin Forerunner , and learning how to plug the Forerunner into my computer to download my workout info
*Working on genealogy at home on Rootsweb.com
*Christmas Eve service at ERUUF

Winding Down

My two-week vacation is winding down, and while I've thoroughly enjoyed it, I'm looking forward to getting back into the routine of work and normal things. I didn't do any excursions this week, as I'd hoped. Today and yesterday were too chilly to enjoy getting out and taking pictures in the places I would've visited, and I didn't really want to go just drive around, with gas prices going up again. Good thing I'm not on a deadline, huh?

I have enjoyed working a lot on my family tree while I've been on vacation, though. Between trips to the State Library and the Clinton, NC, library last week, and a wealth of good fortune on Rootsweb this week, I've made a lot of progress, especially on my McLamb and Tart lines. One thing I've been reminded of is how important documenting sources is. Thoroughness has helped me out in other ways too. When inputting spouses of related people, I've been including parents, grandparents, etc., of spouses when provided. It's been fun to discover connections to some of those families from other sources. It's reminded me of the phrase, "What goes around, comes around." Never underestimate the power (and fun) of a sliver of information!

Still on Vacation

I'm still on vacation, and it feels guiltfully luxurious. This afternoon I did get some errands done, including getting an oil change and a new battery for my car. I'm thinking about going on one of my "field trips," but haven't decided which direction to go in. I'm thinking of heading west from Durham, but how far I get depends on how early I get started.

For newbies to my blog, I have a goal of visiting all 100 counties in North Carolina and documenting my travels with pictures and posts on this blog. Although I've been across the state before, I decided to start fresh with this pet project. I've dubbed it the North Carolina Odyssey Project, and I've got 5 counties under my belt.

I just had a thought--maybe down the line I'll include some videos too. I don't have a video camera, but I think the digital camera I'm using (George's) has a video feature! Hmmmm.

End of Vacation

Tomorrow I'm returning to work after a week off! I've enjoyed the time off, by and large. It's been nice having a week off that's outside the realm of Christmas break. There are plenty of things I wish I'd done that I've run out of time for, but I did accomplish quite a few things.

I am looking forward to going back to work; I feel rejuvenated for the change of scenery. Of course, I need to get to bed soon to keep that feeling going! I have two ERUUF-related meetings this week, one tomorrow night and one on Wednesday. I have a big paper due for CIS110 on Wednesday, as well.

George and I have started talking about our finances as a couple, and we're discovering that we have different thoughts and financial personalities, as it were. We'll have more discussions, I'm sure, as we make our way through this new territory. Part of it is surely the fact that I'm ten years older and have thought more about retirement. In the mean time, this discussion has motivation me to order a book from Amazon called Financial Bliss: A Couples Guide to Merging Money Styles and Building a Rich Life Together. I figure it can't hurt to read it and start getting some ideas.

Pictures from the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia

More Pictures from Endless Caverns in Virginia

Pictures from Endless Caverns in New Market, Virginia

Vacation in Virginia

George and I had an interesting time in Virginia for our vacation. As it turned out, we learned at least as much about each other and our traveling selves as we did about the area. We realized we didn't plan enough for this trip, for starters. Our "trip luck" works best when we do plan. We did plan well with our hotel, trying out the Country Inns and Suites for the first time. We enjoyed this Roanoke hotel, which was clean, convenient, and had nice amenities, including an indoor pool and hot tub. It also had a lending library of classics with fresh covers, which I thought was quaint! I would've taken advantage of a couple of books, but I was already looking forward to finishing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and The Kite Runner, which I'd brought with me.

Even without our usual planning, we had a good time, including visits to Endless Caverns and Grand Caverns in Virginia, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and a great stop in Floyd, VA, which turned out to be a charming little town, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. We had a healthy lunch and decaf coffee at a quaint little place called Cafe del Sol, and stopped by the Floyd Country Store as well.

We're already looking forward to our next vacation together, and of course we've already started planning! :)

Explorations Over Vacation

I enjoyed having some time to explore my new apartment surroundings while on vacation last week. There are some convenient things nearby, but some of my "comfort zone" places are still a hike, which is something I'm still getting used to.

Although not exactly nearby, I drove to Cary to scope out the new Trader Joe's there. Although it's not where I'd be able to take care of all my shopping needs, it's got some unique goodies. I bought a couple of tubes of honey mango shaving cream that smells yummy!

I've rediscovered books on tape (ok, CD) with my added commute, and now I look forward to getting into the car. What a great invention!

End of Vacation

I'm nearing the end of my vacation week, returning to work on Monday. I've savored the R & R, while maintaining a normal Rice Diet meal schedule (though I took some of my meals to go) as well as my usual exercise routine (though I really didn't get any extra exercise in as I'd hoped). I spent a fair amount of time learning my way around our new area a little better, and took care of some of the more responsible stuff, like getting a fresh driver's license with the new address, stuff like that. I also took my share of naps (a luxury) and actually finished reading a couple of books (a treat). :-D

I also decided to sign up to take some computer classes through Wake Tech Community College. I have to get my transcipts over there, but once that's all done, I hope to be able to sign up for an online class or two for the fall semester.

Bar Mitzvah Trip

George and I had a good trip to Atlanta this weekend for Jake's Bar Mitzvah. It was a jam-packed weekend of time with his family, all a good time. The food was good, but I was careful and actually lost a tenth of a pound. It felt great to get away for a change of scenery and routine, but it wasn't the relaxing weekend that George and I are used to when we get away. The intovert in me missed the time to recharge at some point over the course of the weekend, so I was relieved on some level to get home.

The hotel we stayed in was very nice, and had the best gym set-up I've ever seen. The cardio equipment had screens big enough to show live feeds of various TV channels, and head sets were provided. The equipment was clean, to boot. They provided both regular towels and face towels on ice, which felt heavenly on my face in the steam room. The locker rooms had neat amenities as well, all sorts of lotions, soap gels, shampoo & conditioner, deodorant, Q-tips, mouthwash, hair dryer, both sauna and steam room. It felt like a luxurious treat!

George's mom paid for our rooms so that we could stay in the same (nice!) hotel with most of the festivities, and that helped a lot. It was really nice of her.

I would love to return to Atlanta and see the Georgia Aquarium sometime.

Ahhh, Vacation

It's a great feeling to be on Day #2 of vacation at home. I'm still getting things done around the apartment, but am enjoying a different schedule. My car is fixed now (big relief), and I've done some cleaning. Tomorow I may do some shopping. Taking it easy, though. Will continue to get my exercise in, hopefully a little extra. It's such a relief to be able to take it easy for a bit.

The only downside is that George is sick. :-(

Vacation Day

I'm off work today, but was up at my usual time to get ready to take my car to the dealership for repair. It turned out to be a faulty tumbler in the ignition. (My key was stuck in the ignition, couldn't get it out.) I was out around 10 AM, $160 poorer. Could've been worse, but could've been better.

George is also off today, but he's sick. :-( Hope he's all better soon!

It's going to be a cool and cloudy few days ahead, but I do have several books I've been wanting to finish. Looking forward to lots of R & R this week.