Monday, July 20, 2009

A visit from an old friend






The day we drove back from CT, my girlfriend Pam flew in to spend the week with us. Her ex husband used to work with David, when David was stationed here at Bragg. I haven't seen her since before we left for Italy but kept in touch with her regularly while we were in Italy. She was one of a few people that would actually call us! We didn't have any big, exciting plans. We just planned on hanging out and catching up. We ended up doing just that. We played trivial pursuit, scene it, uno and scattergories. I lost my very first game of scene it but I'm blaming it on the amaretto and pineapple juice I'd been drinking all day. We drove down to Myrtle Beach one day, where I proceeded to get the worst sunburn of my life, due to some medication I've been on. We also went and got her first tattoo, and another one for David and I, while she was here. Hannah had a blast with Aunt Pam and we (David and I) took a back seat again. Now it's just me in the back seat, she's all about her daddy. We had a couple bbq's, Pam got to meet some of our friends here in NC. We also put her to work ; ). She made salsa and her 7 layer dip. I think we had the 7 layer dip for dinner 3 times, maybe it was 4. David put a small patio area in the backyard and enlisted the help of both of us. It was a great visit, we had so much fun and didn't want her to leave. However, it was nice to be alone for the first time in 4 weeks this past weekend.

Home alone












Well it's certainly been awhile. The last month has been pleasantly hectic. We moved into our house on June 1st, as everyone knows. Two weeks later, Amy and Tom drove in to visit and help with some stuff around the house. They also came down for David's graduation on July 2nd. While they were here, David and Tom replaced all the locks in the house, put in a new kitchen sink, built me a shoe rack, and put up crown molding. Amy and I drank lots of wine, and played with Hannah. =) The day David graduated, we both pulled out, Amy and Tom to Savannah and David and I to Connecticut. We stopped in DC on the way up there to walk around the memorials at night, and let Hannah stretch her legs. We pulled in to Bob's house at 5 am. Hannah woke up and in regular fashion, was ready to go. 50 cups of coffee later, she went back down for a nap. While we were up there we went to Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. It's a re-creation of a village from the 1830's. The employees play the part of the people just as they would've been in that time period. They make all their own food, build all the things in village and run all the equipment. They also give different classes, from candle making to straw broom making to demonstrations on how different things run/work. Hannah's favorite part of that day was the water pump. We went to Lake Compounce, a theme and water park. She wasn't crazy about the water park area, I think because there were so many people. However, they had an entire ride section designed for small kids and Hannah had a blast on the motorcycles, the hot air balloons and the train. She probably rode all three of those at least 5 times. We also went to Dinosaur National Park, which oddly enough had no dinosaurs but lots of real dinosaur tracks that were found in CT. Hannah saw her first steam engine, and even got to go up in the locomotive. David and I took our own little road trip one day, and Hannah hung out with Grandpa all day. They went to the local children's museum and took a lot of walks up and down the road. We had fabulous salmon steaks, that had to be over an inch think. We also discovered lobster rolls, which are not what you're imagining right now but are one of the best foods in America. It's right up there with sushi, and for those of you that know David and I, you know how much we love our raw food! Also, for those of you that have never experienced New England, it is breathtaking. I've never been to another place that looks like it looks there. Bob describes the terrain this way "I have yet to find a road that is both straight and level" and he's right. David and I drove into Rhode Island on our day trip, which was beautiful as well. Although, they're really bad drivers in CT! Oh yeah, and I understand zero humidity now. Being from NC, I understood the definition but did not believe it actually existed. Until I sat on the back porch, when it was 76 degrees and I was actually chilled enough to get a jacket.