5Q Friday: It's been awhile

Linking up for this week's 5Q Friday. It's been awhile since I joined in, but here's my post for today!
1. Do you prefer to drive to your vacation spot or fly?
It depends......if traveling with Peter, we most definitely drive. He hates flying, but {loves} {loves} driving, hence our long drives to WDW. I don't mind road trips, if we have plenty of time to enjoy the drive and stop along the way. We use a GPS, but I like to keep a paper map handy to mark off the miles as we drive...it really passes the time!
I don't mind flying though either, I mean getting from VA to FL in less than 2 hours, that's just a no brainer!!! I've only flown once, but plan to fly again in December when we go to WDW for Nathan's senior trip.

2. If you could live any where in the world, where would you go and why? Probably somewhere farther south....NC, or SC, or GA.....FL would be awesome....warm weather & Disney! :O)
3. Should grown women wear leggings? Certainly, if worn appropriately!

4. If you could change your name to any other name, would you? And what would it be? No, I'll stick with Susan. FYI: my Hebrew name means: Graceful lily.....:O)how fitting...LOL!
5. What magazines do you have subscriptions to? Traditional Home, Family Circle, & Martha Stewart Living for me and Time & SI for the guys.

fall mantel

I'll add some Halloween decorations next month, then switch out to the Thanksgiving stuff in November.

09/22/12

Nathan all decked out for the Fireman's Dinner tonight. :O) So handsome!

remembering someone very special

20 years ago, Sept 20th 1992, Peter was at a Nascar race in Dover, DE with some friends, and Logan and I were in church. What started as a normal day, would turn into a tragic one before it ended. As I was coming out of church that morning, I heard the shocking news that Peter's Dad had died suddenly out on his boat. There were no cell phones, so I knew I couldn't get in touch with Peter right away. It would be a few hours before a friend of ours finally got in touch with her husband who was at the race with Peter. Peter's day turned from a day of fun with friends to an unbelievable change of events of the worse kind. I can't even imagine the long drive home, what I do remember was seeing the most helpless feeling on his face when he walked in the house that night. Logan had just turned four a few week's before his Pop-Pop's death, but they had developed a very strong bond in just four short years, they were buddies. Logan talks often about not getting to know him, he would have loved to have had more time with him, listening to his stories and learning more about him. Nathan never knew him, and that is sad. It's always sad when you don't get a chance to know someone who should have been a very important person in your life. I often think about my Mom, who was only 13 when she lost her Dad, it just isn't fair to be so young, and lose someone in your life that you love so much who should always be there. Logan came home yesterday for a few hours, just to visit his Pop-Pop's grave and put some flowers in the urns. It meant alot to his Mom-Mom and made a hard day a little easier. We also got to finally give him his birthday gift, and hang out and just talk, something we rarely get the chance to do anymore. I called for Nathan to come home from school a little early so he could spend some time with his Bub. Their Pop-Pop would be so proud of them!

 

52 weeks/52 photos: week #30- faces

my two boys........:O) :O)

Blooming Morning Glories

During the summer months, I am so preoccupied with getting the job done, that sometimes I fail to take a little time out of my day to enjoy the little things. Over the past few weeks, as I've been walking to work each morning {one of the "little things" in my day that I love}, I've noticed a vine growing on my neighbors fence. One morning, as I passed by, I saw that it was blooming, with beautiful blue morning glories. When I came back home later that day, I passed right by the vine without paying much attention. The next morning, as I went to work again, the bright blue blooms were there once again. I made sure to pay special attention to the vine as I returned later in the day. The blooms were gone again, there were only shriveled up petals. Each morning, the blooms become more abundant and the petals keep getting brighter and bluer. I find this flower to be so fascinating!! Once again, it's the little things in my day, like blooming morning glories, that bring me much happiness! :O)

 

 

 

 

Destination Disney: Quote #1

 I'm joining Heidi for a new round of Destination Disney. Over the next few weeks, we will be asked to  post our interpretation of the quote of the week. Let's start with this quote for week #1.

 Here are my thoughts on this week's quote in pictures:"Here you leave today and enter the world of......

  yesterday...

 tomorrow..... 

 and fantasy." 

Where is the one place that you can experience yesterday {lunch at SciFi drive-in @ DHS}, tomorrow {take a journey into the future on Spaceship Earth @ Epcot}, and spend hours in fantasy-land {meeting the characters we love} all in one day????...... why DISNEY of course!!! :O)

an amazing journey.....

As I was leaving work today, one of my guests {an avid bird watcher} asked me to come back for a minute so that he could show me something. He pointed at the trees in the lot next door. At first glance, I really didn't see anything other than what looked like leaves, until a few moments later when hundreds of monarch butterflies came to life!! It was one of the most amazing sights I've ever seen. I ran home to get my camera and tried to get some pictures. I had to zoom, and these were the best shots I could get.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The picture below is a bit fuzzy, but it will give you an idea of how many butterflies were clustered on one branch.....they were like this on several branches of the trees. It looked to be hundreds of them.

 

 

I did some research online and found a site where you can report sightings of the butterflies as they make their journey south to Mexico. I am going to do this! :O)

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/

 

I'm so glad that my guest spotted the butterflies while bird watching today, otherwise, I would have just walked right on by, missing a truly amazing sight!! :O)

 

 

 

The Simple Woman's Day Book - September Edtion

Outside my window...it has been another gorgeous, fall-like day! The temps are finally in the 70's, this is my kind of weather!!!!

I am thinking...about putting some auctions on ebay. I haven't listed anything in ages, but I have one last container in the attic with some things I think might sell. I should do this soon! :O)

I am thankful...for so many things....big & small.

In the kitchen...I just put away the left-overs from the delish meal MOM made for us today! {Thanks Mom!!!} I had a SUPER busy day at work, so not having to worry about cooking today was very much appreciated! :O)

I am wearing...jean capris & my Reese's Road t-shirt. If you need encouragement today, just read her story- a truly amazing young lady!

I am creating...or should I say, I'm working on, decorating for FALL! :O) Love this time of year!! I hung my wreath on the front door, put out my fall flag, changed my chalkboard in the kitchen, and started on the mantel...it's a work in progress.

I am going...to officially book the resort/tickets/dinner adrs for the senior trip tomorrow!!! :O)

I am hoping...to go kayaking again....soon!

I am looking forward to...our little mini-vacation after the b&b closes! Peter and I have decided to go to Annapolis for a few nights and possibly driving to D.C. for a day trip while we are there. We hope to take a detour to Baltimore on the way back home to see his aunt & uncle. We haven't seen them in awhile and his aunt has been in the hospital over the summer and recently fell and broke her hip. We really want to see them. I haven't made any reservations yet, but I've been doing some research on things to do, places to eat, and possibilities for where to stay. There are some really beautiful inns to choose from. Can't wait to go!

Around the house...the dust bunnies are trying their hardest to stay hidden for a little longer. I finish up at the b&b in about 3 weeks, then I am going to give our house a thorough cleaning! I'm keeping up with the day to day stuff, but I'm so ready to do some deep cleaning and get organized!

A favorite quote for today...


One of my favorite things...watching football, particularly, the Chicago Bears. Last night's game against the Packers was pretty tough to watch though, to say the least! Their standings, after losing 23-10, the Bears are 1-1 {tied with the Packers}. This picture of QB Cutler pretty much summed up my feelings last night as well.......

A few plans for the rest of the week: work, work, work..............

A peek into my day...
I haven't taken any pictures the past few days. I've been very busy at the b&b. Today, we had a full house check out and fill back up with new guests. We've had some really nice guests this year, and this week especially, which makes my job even better. Last night, we had 4 couples who were repeat guests {always love when guests come back!!}, and today when I checked in one couple, I commented on her Disney tote. She told me she was a travel agent-Disney trips are her specialty! :O) We chatted a little about that {I've mentioned before that my dream job is to be a travel agent}. :O) My day was full of phone calls/housekeeping/laundry/picking up & dropping off guests......just another day in the life of ME!

boat docking contest

Logan ran mate with friend Kevin, captain of the "Fabricator", in the 2012 Brew River Boat Docking Contest. They came in 2nd place with a time of 28.5 seconds!! :O) Now that's hustling!! He said it was an awesome experience that he hopes to get the chance to do again someday.

photo copied from web

fun in the sun.....post 4

After we saw all the animals at the zoo, we headed back to the park.

 

 

 

  I had one more thing in mind before we had to head home........

paddle boats!!!

 

 

 

 

They loved this!!! Nathan was probably around age 5 the last time he rode in the paddle boats {when his feet didn't even hit the pedals!} :O) Kayla wasn't sure when or if she had ever done this before. They both had a blast- our park/zoo day was a great way to end our short getaway!! :O)

 

 

9/11

misc monday-sept 10

• it's hard to believe that a third of September has passed already! Nathan seems to be settling in quickly with school this year {I guess knowing it's his last year just might be the reason!}. Today finally felt like FALL!!! I've had the windows open all day and it feels great! I had planned on getting some of my fall decorations from the attic, but ended up being busier today than I thought. I did manage to take down all the summer things from the mantel. Maybe tomorrow!?
• yesterday, other than work for me, our day consisted of football, football, and oh yeah...football! The Bears played an awesome game against the Colts, winning the game 41-21!! :O) Hope they look that good all year....they play the Packers on Thursday......
• our bucket list challenge is complete.....we finally managed to check the last two items off of our Summer Bucket List - go to a ballgame and movie night. I had no idea when I put the list up that we would end up doing all of it. I asked Nathan the other day what he remembered us doing together last summer, and his list was short {and vague}. Sad but true! Having this list seemed to make us more aware of how fast the summer passes, and how little we seem to do together, even if it is something as simple as making rootbeer floats {which, btw, was a favorite from the list!}. I really didn't expect them to go along with this, but I know they have enjoyed it as much as I have!!! We knew going to a ballgame was going to be one of the last items to be done, since their tickets were for Sept 8. We had pretty much done everything else, except for having a movie night. I had intended it to be a "family" movie night, but we couldn't seem to pick a movie, or a night that worked for the three of us, so Saturday night, while they were away, I ordered a movie and had solo movie night, which I enjoyed. Then, I realized last night that we had the movie for another night, so I asked Peter to watch it with me, and he did! He liked it too. :O)
• mom dropped off my shoebox today for Operation Christmas Child, we plan to fill one again this year. Even though I'm aware of the hardships others have, that shoebox is such a touching reminder to me of how real those hardships really are. I'll start picking up things for our box, we have until the middle of November to fill it.
• this week doesn't look too busy, nothing really out of the ordinary on the schedule. My days at work are winding down, but we still have lots of guests on the books. I like being staying busy, it makes winding the season down much more interesting!

Ball Game & Movie Review

Peter and Nathan went to Baltimore this weekend for their annual trip to see an Orioles/Yankees game with friends, Wayne and Jonathon {the Yankee fans of the group}. They look forward to this trip, but it looked as though it might be a wash out! Fortunately, after some very stormy weather, the rain let up and the game was on!!! The Orioles {who normally don't do so well} have had an amazing season, and after last night's game, they are tie with the Yankees for first place in the AL East. The O's beat the Yankees 5-4 {the first game Nathan & Peter have been to that they have won!} I talked with Peter after the game and he said he thought he was going to have a heart attack before the game was over!!! Nathan was pumped as well!!! I took a few pictures before they left.....

Nathan took this one at the game......

 

 

With the men away for the night, I took full advantage of the quiet time alone. I'd been wanting to see "The Lucky One" on PPV, and this was a great time for a solo movie night! :O) I loved it! I should have known that I would, Nicholas Sparks hasn't disappointed me yet!

If you haven't seen, I recommend you put it on your list.

"Based on Nicholas Sparks' bestseller The Lucky One, Zac Efron ("17 Again," "Charlie St. Cloud") stars alongside Taylor Schilling (TV's "Mercy") and Blythe Danner ("Meet the Parents" franchise) in this romantic drama directed by Academy Award®-nominated writer/director Scott Hicks ("Shine," "No Reservations").

U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault (Efron) returns from his third tour of duty in Iraq, with the one thing he credits with keeping him alive—a photograph he found of a woman he doesn't even know. Learning her name is Beth (Schilling) and where she lives, he shows up at her door, and ends up taking a job at her family-run local kennel. Despite her initial mistrust and the complications in her life, a romance develops between them, giving Logan hope that Beth could be much more than his good luck charm." - link here