Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Party

Yesterday was a family birthday party for both of the kids at Mary's folk's house in Greensboro--- their birthdays were in August while they were still in Korea.  The theme was based on the book The Hungry Caterpillar by Erik Carle (I think that's how his name is spelled).   It was a lot of fun and there were a lot of people there!

outside decoration

the birthday kids-- and Mav's "smash cake" (have to go to the other computer to get more pictures of this)

Mav's shirt

Mdx would not let me take a picture of her dress-- this was the closest I could get!

the cake

Tomorrow

This time tomorrow, we will have 2 jet-lagged kiddos and their parents here!! Yep, Marshall and Mary and the kids are on their way to NC for 5 weeks before they leave for Marshall's next assignment-- Ramstein AFB.  Looking forward to seeing them and hoping the jet lag will be short lived (haha).

Mason will also be coming in to visit with his brother and meet his nephew for the first time!

Not much else to say right now.....

Play Day!!!!!

So, Saturday morning I headed to High Point with two of my "miniature" friends.  (No, they are not little people, they like to play with dollhouse miniatures like I do). 

We had rain along the way, but the closer we got to High Point, the clearer(ish) the skies got.  We found the hotel where the miniature show was being held (without too much drama), we didn't even have to walk out of the parking garage to get in to the hotel lobby.  We shopped and visited with friends-- and believe it or not, all three of us won a door prize!! I got a jointed teddy bear!  I got a granny doll to go in my club project box from a year or so ago.  She will go in the box with the little girl doll that was made by my Mother and dressed by another club member. I also got a set of Bespaq china-- something I've lusted after for a long time, a couple of cakes from the English Kitchen-- Leslie is one talented lady!  I brought home a few other things, too.

After lunch at Char-grill -- gotta love those milkshakes, we went to the High Point History Museum.  Recently, a woman donated her miniature collection to the museum-- it was really a nice display.  There was more to see in each room than it was possible to take in in one trip-- we will definitely have to go back again! On the way back to Raleigh, we made the obligatory stop at Hobby Lobby-- picked up a couple of things.  My favorite purchase was a toy for Mav to play with on the trip to Germany.

Speaking of Mav and Germany, the Korean McIntyre's are packed up and have moved into TLF until next week.  Can't wait to see them all and hug and kiss the grands! 

It has been raining all evening-- some pretty impressive lightening earlier, too.  So, now in the last week we've had an earthquake, a hurricane, and a severe thunderstorm-- HMMM wonder what might be next?

That's it for now....

Good Night Irene

 

To everyone on the S Carolina, N Carolina and Virginia coasts---- be safe!!!! 

We are so thankful Marshall and Mary are "safe" in Korea and not still living in that little house in Hampton, VA. Here is a picture of the flooding they had just a few days after Marshall's return from Iraq-- and there was no hurricane at that time. The word from Myrtle Beach is that they have had some wind and rain, but Irene should make landfall further north.  Hopefully, they will be spared too much wind damage and flooding.

We are expecting rain and wind tomorrow, but the weather will be much worse to the east of I-95.  However, no stinkin' hurricane is gonna stop us from going to a miniature show tomorrow!!! That's right-- I'm getting in the car with a couple of my friends and we are heading to High Point for a miniature show, then to the High Point Museum to see an exhibit recently donated to the museum-- a collection of around 30-35 miniature room boxes.  On the way home we'll HAVE to stop at Hobby Lobby since we don't have one locally.  So, Irene, continue moving to the east and just leave us alone.

This has been quite a week--- there was an earthquake on Tuesday and now a hurricane on Saturday.  The earthquake was quite an experience.  I was sitting in my recliner (messing around on the computer, of course) and I thought one of the dogs was behind me scratching and bumping the chair.  Then I realized the floor was shaking too-- after a few seconds, everything in the kitchen cabinets started rattling and then the windows were rattling-- I thought, wow, the washer must really be off balance.  Then I remembered, the washer wasn't running and I thought, could that have been an earthquake?  So, I turned on the local news and sure enough, it had been.  So, now I can say I've experienced a tornado, a hurricane, a blizzard and an earthquake here in N Carolina--- AHHH, life in the south. 

More later, stay dry..... 

Nuthin' Special Goin' On

Not much going on around here-- working and sleeping, working and sleeping. 

Tomorrow is my favorite day of the year--- I get to go have a mammogram-- yeah me!!! (hope you are reading all the sarcasm I tried to include in that statement).

I think I'll go look for a picture or two to share---- see you in a bit.......

I'm back-- found a couple of snapshots from one of our Skype calls with Korea.....
   
                               
Yes, that is my beautiful granddaughter-- do I even want to know where she learned this????

Mav is pretty brave to mess with his sister's stuff!



Well, it's been a long week so far and there is more to come----got a play date tomorrow afternoon.  The UPS group meets on Saturday (wonder what kind of great tasting food we'll have?).  Then I'll be going in to work early Sunday morning (0300) for a system downtime and upgrade--- more later....

On the List and Other Stuff

Today, Mike took some additional paperwork to the complex his Mom would like to move in to .  The manager told him everything looked good and she is number 4 on the waiting list.  Now, we just have to wait for some openings and then we can get her moved down here and settled in.

Marc and Kris came this past weekend-- it was their last opportunity to come to Raleigh before the craziness that is their life starts again.  They are both working at the university (Coastal Carolina) and Marc will be starting a Master's program through Winthrop University.  The next two years will certainly be an adventure for them.

We are anxiously awaiting the "Korean McIntyres'" return to the states before they are off to their next adventure where they will be known as the "German McIntyres".

I'm sure Mason and Jennie are up to adventures of their own, but I think they both spend a lot of time working. Since they work opposite schedules, they don't get to see too much of one another.

We are doing our best to stay cool, hope you are too! More later......

Mom's Apartment

Mike's Mom will be moving to Raleigh in the near future.  We have been looking for places and narrowed the search to 5.  Saturday we took her out to see the apartments that "made the cut".  Sunday we went back to the final 2 and yesterday she made her choice---- take a look!

Looking from the living room to the front door

the living room from the master bedroom

living room from the front door

dining room from the living room

kitchen from the foyer

kitchen from the dining room

pantry in the kitchen (duh- where else would the pantry be?)

 

master bedroom from the living room  (yes it is blurry)

master dressing area

master bath

guest bedroom from the bathroom door

guest bathroom

half bath in foyer

patio

storage room

ththththaaatttt's all folks!!

The 5/9 Market

On days that end with a "5" or a "9", there is a big street market just over the rail road tracks.  So, on March 29th we headed that way-- what an experience!  More kimchi, dried fish, tomatoes, garlic and other various food and household items lining both sides of the street!

 

the tunnel under the tracks from the "market side"

this stand had real "American" style doughnuts- no bean paste and sugar covered! The pastries in the shops are really pretty and yummy looking, but are most often filled with bean paste and are more savory than sweet-- it can be quite a shock to bite into something you think is going to be sweet and it is not! 

This truck was making puffed treats- kind of like puffed rice-- there really was a bit of an explosion going on-- the ajuma (literally "old lady) came running out from behind the street telling us to cover Mav's ears before the blast!

yep--a live baby octopus 

a view of the street

peeled garlic and I think Asian pears

Really, California oranges in Korea??? Do you think they may have "fallen" off the commissary truck?

tomatoes

this lady had her wares spread out on the sidewalk. Many of the ajumas have these converted baby strollers they use to transport their stuff. And yes, she is sitting crouched down on her heels and resting her chin on her knees--- no wonder the ajuma are all bow-legged.

There was a lot more to see at the market, but I have to work on my pictures some more-- I took a lot of "portrait" pictures (turning my camera sideways)-- my new camera doesn't automatically turn the pictures like my Kodak does (of course it probably CAN do it and I just don't have the settings right-but that's another issue!) and I personally find it hard to stand sideways to look at pictures!

More later......

Silly Me!!

So I didn't look closely at my last post before I published it and repeated one of the pictures-- it's not like I don't have plenty of pictures to share!  Enjoy a few more!!  These are some pictures from our trip to the Korean Folk Village....

the main entrance

 a gift shop just inside the gate-- I got some rice wine here!

Mdx reading the map to find where the horses were

Mdx with chopsticks

Marshall learning to weave a rice mat

Mdx did NOT want her picture taken with the "movie star"

Singing a song-- in Korean

Climbing the steps to the Buddist Temple

the "necessary room"