An Adventurous Weekend

Tomorrow I'll be knocking out something on my 101 list... and a few things on my summer bucket list.

Summer Bucket List:

Do the adult ropes challenge course at Tuckahoe

Go kayaking

And this is on my 101 List:

Climb a rock wall

This is what I'll be doing tomorrow:

An Adults Only Adventure will be held at Tuckahoe State Park on Saturday, July 27 at 6 p.m. at Tuckahoe State Park. Don’t miss this chance for adults to enjoy Tuckahoe’s Challenge Course! Join park staff for an evening of fun on the course’s high elements: a 40-foot rock wall, 50-foot giant swing, 25-foot pamper pole and the zip line. 

Also possibly on the agenda for the weekend:

From the 101 list:

• Send Aunt Nancy thank you gift 
• Send Chris and Sally thank you gift
• Eat a rooster that wakes me up too early

From my seasonal bucket list:

Find frames for koala and lorikeet photos – then hang them

Clean up front garden and plant perennials

Make marshmallows from scratch

On the garden clean-up... I kind of cheated. It was such a nice and unseasonably cool day yesterday that Jay did a bunch of weeding while I was at work. So really all I need to do now is track down some perennials and plant them. 

In other news, we are beside ourselves about our puppy - we want it now now NOW!! 

We won't know for another month or two when we can expect to take our new friend home. Once Bilana or Leila have been bred, it will take a little over a month to confirm if there are puppies. 

Despite our impatience, Jay and I have come to the realization that we need to be fully prepared for this dog. We want to make sure that we have a solid plan for socialization and obedience training, as well as the shutzhund training that we're planning. I'm hoping to meet up with Bart and his owner in the next few months to see if he has any pointers. Apparently Bart gives hugs. That's the kind of dog I want. The kind that gives hugs on command and will also attack a threat on command. Maybe a dog who is a little too smart for his own good. Maybe we can even teach him to fetch a beer from the fridge. 

So we'll be keeping ourselves busy over the next few months puppy-proofing the house, fencing in the yard, and buying necessities. We're also going to have to take our cats in to get vaccinated. I'm hesitant to do it because they're indoor cats and they haven't been to the vet in years. The last time I took them to the vet was when I lived in Odenton. It required several return trips because they kept getting sick. They've been completely healthy for over 5 years now and I haven't had any problems. But since our dog might bring in some beasties from outside, we're going to have to start having them vaccinated each year. 

Oh, and Ideal Event Management was doing a special sale yesterday for their 2014 VIP passes. 2 for 1 plus a private investigation with Dustin Pari AND a private tour and lecture with John Zaffis at his Museum of the Paranormal? That's a no-brainer.

Jay doesn't want to do the Fort Mifflin event again next year, but I would love to meet Josh Gates and Erin Ryder. 

I hope to get out the camera this weekend and take some pictures. Since I've been back from vacation, I've been kind of slacking with the photography. I need to get back into it.

That's all for today. Hoping to get some things done this weekend!

25 Things - The 2012 Year in Review Edition

It's true that 2012 is ending on a somber note for most of this country. The tragedy in Newtown, CT and the senseless shooting of two firefighters in Webster, NY didn't put most of us in the holiday spirit.

Because of all the dreary news, it's easy for me to overlook all of the good things and fun times I've had this year.  I've compiled some of my favorite trips/home project accomplishments/happy days from the past year (in no particular order):

1. I celebrated two years of marriage to my darling husband. 
2. I got a new job about 20 miles from home, which saved me at least 370 hours (that's 15 DAYS of my LIFE) and 26,270 miles of commuting this year (based on working 37 weeks, since I started working in March).
3. I started this blog. :)
4. Built a chicken coop and raised 10 chickens from peep-hood for fresh eggs.
5. Had a fantastic time on a cruise to the Bahamas - had the best snorkeling experience ever at Paradise Cove in Freeport.
6. My sister-in-law Colleen visited for two weeks over the summer and we had fun drinking too much wine, making zombie detours, parties, chickens and all sorts of stuff. 
7. Had an awesome day in Caroline County with some fabulous ladies (including Colleen) - alpacas, outhouses and tattoos, oh my!
8. Traveled to Rhode Island for a paranormal investigation of Rose Island Lighthouse... complete with a rather creepy and foggy ferry ride across Narragansett Bay to Rose Island. During this trip, I also experienced Connecticut style lobster rolls at Abbott's Lobster in Noank, CT, visited my cousin Heather (& family) in Boston and Jay's cousins in Naugatuck, CT.
9. Built a raised garden bed and started a compost pile. Sadly, the chickens destroyed most of our plants, but we got a lot of jalapenos and green peppers.
10. I purchased a canning kit, made and canned apple butter for the first time.
11. We finished our upstairs bathroom - drywall, tile, trim, and paint. 
12. Close to finished on our fourth bedroom - drywall, laminate flooring, and paint. Trim has been cut, it just needs to be nailed to the wall.
13. Finished the upstairs and downstairs foyer/hallways - drywall, laminate flooring (or refinishing hardwood) and paint. 
14. Finished the reading nook - drywall, laminate flooring, paint, installed banister & railing, AND scored 2 fantastic chairs at a great deal.
15. Finished the kitchen - ripped out and replaced previous tiling job, installed cabinets, sink, dishwasher (although it's still not hooked to power), installed laminate counters.
16. Installed exterior siding with R-5 insulation value.
17. Got a subpanel installed for Jay's to-be-built shop/shed/man-cave.
18. Had a great time at the Southern Summer Cocktail Party. :)
19. Had many fun nights with my book club ladies.
20. Making an effort to buy local, organic, and/or natural foods when possible- I'm now a regular at Nice Farms Creamery and Cedar Run Cattle.
21. Hosted a crazy fun party and featured aforementioned local food.
22. Participated in many happy hours at Harry's on the Green with some of my favorite ladies. Some of these happy hours turned into late night shenanigans. One such night ended with a potted petunia in the bottom of a friend's hot tub. Oops!
23. I survived the release of my first holiday schedule and planned the holiday party at work. The schedule was awful, but the party turned out great. I'm still getting compliments on it... mad props to Lorraine at The Milestone and Jimmy at It's Your Day DJ. They did an awesome job.
24. I began putting myself first again and started enforcing boundaries with people.
25. Celebrated Christmas quietly with Jay - we opened presents, feasted like Kings and watched TV all day.

Soon I'll be posting 25 goals or plans for 2013. It's not going to be a resolution list (although I imagine a few things are resolution-esque), but more of what I'm looking forward to in the next year.

I've also seen an idea that I really like on Pinterest... it's cheesy in some ways, but I think it's a great idea. Each time something good or fun happens in 2013, write it down on a scrap of paper and put it in a mason jar. At the end of the year, for Christmas or at NYE, open the jar and read all of the scraps. I think it's a lovely idea... even when you're feeling a bit blue, you can open the jar and smile at the great memories you've made. 

I plan on 2013 knocking the socks off of 2012!

Fall Fun

The last few weeks have been incredibly busy, and it's only going to get worse. Fortunately the end is in sight - I have nothing planned for the first weekend of November, and it is going to stay that way!

My girlfriend visited with her kids and hubby last weekend. We had a fun-filled weekend of pumpkin picking, alpacas, the Renaissance Festival and of course the Things game... or as my girlfriends and I call it, "Things in a box." Because, you know, it comes in a box. Duh.

Jen pulling Annabelle in the wagon while carrying Caroline... supermom!

Annabelle being silly

Oh hai! Wanna go on a picnic? Alpaca lunch!! (okay, I saw it on a meme)

Muffin has ears

This baby loves Phil... he's the alpaca whisperer (and also the owner of the alpaca farm)

Our game of things in a box and Jay carrying in the milk from Nice Farms Creamery.

 The products from Nice Farms are sooo freaking delicious. I've been buying their milk and yogurt for a few weeks (since the party). They recently announced that they are now making butter as well... I can't wait to smear some on fresh-baked bread. I've taken a bit of a break from baking over the summer. Now that the weather is cooler, I'm finding myself yearning for hot french bread out of the oven.

The reason I took the photo of Jay carrying the milk is because our chickens follow us everywhere... they think that they're dogs. They kind of are, I suppose. They come running when you call them and even come running when they see my car pull up. We give them treats and they're constantly underfoot and trying to sneak into the house. Naughty chickpoos.

Tim taking Annabelle down the slide at Ren Fest

Jay and Tim throwing pointy things... what goes better together than beer and sharp objects?

Nom nom nom oyster shooters! This is one of my favorite parts of Ren Fest

Late afternoon Mouse

One of my coworkers/old neighbors stuck this in interoffice to me. It totally made my day. This is me and my neighbor Neil in 1985. My dad made me my costume (looks like my antenna broke!). I love the duct tape on my wings... thanks, Dad! :)

This is one of my favorite fall activities...reading in front of the fireplace. :)

Hot mulled cider with rum enjoyed with good friends at Harry's on the Green 

Even my straw is happy, look at his smiling face!

There's a lot going on at work, home and pretty much in every aspect of my life right now. To be quite honest, it sucks. Work is busy and I've had some problems with the physicians' holiday schedules. Like getting emails so nasty that they make you cry kind of problems. It hasn't been fun. My volunteer position with the group in NYC hasn't kept me as busy lately, I think others have stepped up in my place because I'm not getting nearly as many emails or as much harassment. It's been nice. I'm supposed to go to the board meeting in NYC next weekend, but I really don't want to go. Since I'm stepping down, I don't feel like I have much to contribute, and I'm just tired of dealing with anything involving the group.

This weekend, Jay and I will be going to New Castle, PA to investigate Hill View Manor  with some of the celebrity ghost hunters. This is our fifth event and we're getting antsy to form our own group and go out on our own. We've grown more skeptical in our investigative tactics, so I hope that we get some crazy evidence this time. We used to be huge believers in the "flashlight test", but then realized that it's often just a malfunctioning flashlight. We did use the flashlight test in our own home and came up with some pretty wild results, but I think it requires more testing. I think it could possibly be used as an effective technique IF controls were put in place - using 3 flashlights, asking to light up certain flashlights, asking control questions and the like. 

I wish I had more time for things like ghost hunting!

That's all for now... maybe next week I'll have some scary ghost pictures to post. ;-)

Fort Mifflin

Tomorrow I'll be heading to Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia to partake in one of my guilty pleasures... ghost hunting.

This will be my third outing with the Ideal Event Management people. Each time I learn a little bit more and become more comfortable with what I'm doing. Each time we go, we also seem to purchase a new piece of equipment. So far, we have a digital voice recorder, K-II and Mel-meter. I just had my laser grid order arrive, but it doesn't seem to be working very well. I don't know if I got a dud or if my batteries are weak.

It's funny... at our first investigation last year (at Fort Mifflin), I was just excited to meet the people from TAPS/Ghost Hunters/Syfy channel. Now I'm more interested in investigating the sites and just see the people there as helpful sounding boards. It's been fun to meet all of the paranormal "celebrities." Turns out they're just people - who knew? One of them was cordial enough, but incredibly arrogant in a Ron Burgundy kind of way. A few turned out to be a lot more likable and funny than they appear on television. Many of them I'd love to sit and have a beer with. Reality TV is like that... you only see a few minutes of each person despite hundreds of hours of footage taken during any episode.

Hopefully we'll get some good evidence tomorrow. I think that we're getting better at asking questions, and I'm doing more research before we go to the places. It helps if you have a clue what went on during the location's history and who might have been present.

More updates and photos to come... I want to post some of our house rehab pictures, so anyone who reads can have a better appreciation for the work that we've put into it.