Couch, My Butt Wants A Divorce.

Good Morning All!

It's an absolutely beautiful day here in Cary, North Carolina and as I write, I sit here with a smile on my face because I, along with British people everywhere, love me some rainy, cloudy weather. Not every day, mind you, but especially when the sun has been beating down all friggin' summer and it's been hotter than two thousand monkey's bums out there. After a while, you don't even want to stick your head out the door. Yes, clouds and water pelting from the sky are a much welcome change in my book. In fact, let me just say that even though i know there are a bajillion of you out there who lu-u-uuv summer, I can't wait for Fall to get here. I've been ready for fall since the end of June. Fall is my favorite season and if it were up to me, we'd skip summer and go straight from spring to fall. let me list here a few of the things I love best about Fall. No, sit down. You have to read them. Ahem.
1. Cool weather! I love the way the air feels and smells outside in the fall. you know what i'm talking about. Leaves burning: the only second-hand smoke I can tolerate with a smile on my face.
2. The changing leaves that fall and cover everything in a blanket that you then have the joy of raking up for the sole purpose of jumping around in. If you haven't raked leaves in a gigantic pile and then subsequently jumped said pile all to crap since you were about nine, do it this year. It's still that much fun. If you no longer live at home, make sure to do this at your parents' house. It'll still tick them off but then you get to get in your car and leave.
3. The North Carolina State Fair!! Yep, quite possibly my FAVORITE thing about fall is going to the fair. I usually go at least twice: once with my dad and my brother (dad has to go with me at least once or it's just not the same) and optionally with my sister and Craig and then again with Jeffrey. He has taught me the joy of the pig races and gem-mining (well....they didn't have the gem mine last year but hopefully they will this year). I've never been so tempted to elbow-drop an eleven-year-old like the time this kid found a huuuuuge sapphire. I just know it's current residence is probably the glove compartment of his dad's truck. Also, I love to watch the old people make handicrafts (i'm especially happy i got to use the word 'handicrafts' here. I don't think i've ever used it before) in funny period costumes at the Village of Yesteryear. If you've never seen this, you're missing out. go buy a troll...that's all i've got to say. and last, but not least, besides a visit to the eerily gigantic robotic Smokey the Bear on the other side of the pond (he talks to you and then you get a sticker), I LOVE fair food. Caramel apples, frozen chocolate-dipped bananas on a stick, philly cheesesteaks, and maple cotton candy just to name a few. mmm......I was doing something. Oh yeah, on with the list. WAKE UP!!!
4. The whole decorating/pumpkin hunting and carving that comes along with preparation for Halloween. Something about picking out a pumpkin and putting up little paper ghosts and jack-o-lanterns takes me back to second grade and makes me happy.
5. Halloween: Craig has an annual halloween party which i usually skip out on after the food because they watch horror movies and i hate horror movies, but the best part of this is handing out candy to trick-or-treaters earlier in the evening. I love this. Plus, Craig goes all out and dresses up and usually pulls some kind of stunt that frightens the kiddies into peeing their Bob the Builder costumes. It's great.
6. Candles that smell like apples and pumkin spice. Mmmm. Bath and Body Works, I've recently discovered, carries new candles for fall. Get the Caramel one and the Apple one and put them together.....mmmm...you get the idea. Don't eat the wax though you'll be tempted.
7. Fall clothes. Boots, coats, jeans, sweaters, scarves....it's the "girly" coming out in me.
8. Church fund-raiser dinners: There's a local church near my home that we go to every year without fail because they have a little arts/crafts/baked goods/fruit preserves fair early in the day, followed by a chicken pastry dinner at night that would knock your socks off. Pastry, yams, collards, green beans, hush puppies, home-made pickles and desserts....it just doesn't get any better.
9. Another really real favorite: Charlie Brown Halloween and Thanksgiving specials on ABC. I watch them religiously. They make me just as happy every year. P.S...whatever happened to the Garfield Halloween special with the creepy pirate ghosts?? That rocked so hard so of course, they had to get rid of it.
10. Yes, i'm sad to say it. don't hold it against me. I can admit...I've developed an appreciation for....gulp....college football. I can't help it! It's the excitement in the atmosphere: everybody cheering and yelling and wearing the same color, singing the fight song, yelling "FIRST DOWN!!" I love it. Go Pack! Go Pirates! That's all I've got to say.

I'm sure there are more reasons but these are the main ones and i'm tired of thinking of others. Besides, ten is a nice round number. Oh yeah....WAKE UP!!!
Just know this: I love Fall.

The Ye Olde Haunts of the Pirates Tour which took place last weekend, and which i know you've been waiting for, short of breath with anticipation, was awesome. I saw the point where Blackbeard's house once stood, visited the oldest church in North Carolina (complete with old people buried in the floor/walls), and bought my very first Blackbeard Action Figure. I'm very proud of this and thrilled because i didn't even know they made these things! He's currently holding residence on my bookshelf here in my office, which houses nothing but pirate paraphenalia. I think my coworkers are a little worried about me but no worries. they can all fear me once I buy a ship and become a pirate after retirement. I found no doubloons once coming ashore in Bath, but I know they're there, despite what Craig says. I'm coming back with Ye Olde Metal Detector. I got lots of awesome pictures: the old cemetary at the church (you probably don't know this but i have a great appreciation for old cemetaries. It's not a morbid thing, it's a history thing.), the weird bug-eyed 16th century bust of a guy outside the church doors (i'll have to post this one for you...you've got to see it), the beautiful old houses, and pictures of craig, elizabeth, me, jeffrey, chris, and sarah horsing around down at Bath creek. we all went swimming on Sunday afternoon at which time I judged a "diving" competition (i use the term "dive" very loosely here) for the guys and I learned to crab. That's right, ladies and gentlemen. I crab. I caught a big one too. I learned that all there is to crabbing is tossing a fish head on a string (stinky) into the water, waiting for a crab to grab it, pulling him up slowly, and grabbing him with a net. So much fun. I also learned how to eat crab. Never done this before. Lots of work for not a lot of food...but it was good. thank goodness for corn bread and watermelon. In other words, mine and Jeffrey's Pirate-y weekend in Bath was so much fun. I'd go back again in a heartbeat. I don't think people realize how cool Bath is. you guys should go check it out. Go Bath! Wooo.

Well...as this has gotten tediously long, I'm going to peace-out. Have a lovely morning/day/evening and enjoy the rain. Summer's almost over and as I experienced some serious heat exhaustion after three whole hours on the beach last saturday, I have this to say: IT'S ABOUT FRAPPIN' TIME!!!

Go and be well.

With Full Intention of Joining the General Mills "Fitness Squad"...

Okay, can I just say it? I miss Caswell! I miss it so much it makes me quite sad to think about it. I made it through an entire summer of being at home (my first summer in four years) without much trauma but then Nathan comes home from Caswell on Sunday and Jeffrey leaves for a week at Caswell volunteering on Monday and its hit me like a ton of bricks: Caswell withdrawal. That acutally sounds a little more flippant than what I'm experiencing now which is more of a melancholy homesickness, but thats what I always call it in conversation with Yam. Yam, if you're reading this, I miss you and please get to work this year coming up with a reason to get me back down there next summer! I've already planned to make one of my two weeks of vacation a "Volunteer at Caswell" week next summer so there you have it. You all are my witnesses: I shalt not spend another summer without so much as a visit to Caswell (parent's weekend doesn't count because i'm not there to work and it feels like more of an "outsider" experience). I'll even do inventory in the PX for an entire week if i have to. If I can have as many oreo cookie ice cream cakes I want. Okay, okay,fine. Even without the Oreo cookie ice cream cakes. Though that would be nice.
I suppose sitting here at my desk at work listening to our version of K-LOVE (His Radio 91.1) doesn't help. I find myself getting all weepy over Steven Curtis Chapman and Mark Schultz songs. And Mary Mary songs ("Take the shackles off my feet so i can dance..."). Just the thought of Grits' beloved "Ooh-wah" brings a tear to my eye. I think i could pull linens and scrub toilets with a smile on my face, Jenny! Yes, maybe even singing some Grits as I work ("My life be like oooh-wah, oooooooh! My life be like....") Sigh. Visting my brother's blog and seeing all his Caswell pictures has made it worse (i've currently set one of his Caswell sunset pictures with the lighthouse as my desktop wallpaper). I don't even know most of the people in the pictures but give me a glimpse of vespers or a sunset or even Pa in a trucker hat on a bunk bed looking alarmingly like the DJ mannequin at the Pizza Inn here at home (right you are, Nathan) and I just have to take a deep breath and change the subject by playing computer solitaire or something. Maybe even *gasp!* working. Speaking of which, I should get back to it, but for all of my Caswell family out there, I miss you terribly and I so look forward to seeing you all again, whether that's at a retreat or at Summer Staff Reunion when Nathan discovers upon arrival that that thudding noise in the back of the explorer whenever he slammed on brakes was my head hitting the back of his seat. Seriously, I love you all and all the "hey!'s" delivered to me from you via Nathan or Jeffrey have done so much to make me smile and lift my spirits. You're all such a huge blessing and I'll always be thankful that God saw fit to give me three summers with you (and one in Virgina with Shay!). Keep in touch! (and i'll try to use the phone every now and then myself).
Delaying work even further, I have to let you guys know what my weekend is shaping up to entail though the whole kit and caboodle you won't receive until monday, i'm sorry to say. you must wait with baited breath until then. In the meantime: Chew some gum. Give your dog a bath. Listen to some Grits. I will be setting out tomorrow evening after work with Jeffrey (yaaay he'll be back from Caswell!), Craig, and my sister Elizabeth for the beautiful city (actually more of a "hamlet") of Bath, NC, of which Craig is a native son and where they're currently celebrating their tri-centennial. I'm hoping to conduct and/or participate in what I'm currently calling a "Ye Olde Haunts of the Pirates" tour in which we will retrace (with optimistic and over-active imaginations) the footsteps of Blackbeard and his scurvy crew. Being a landlubber myself, at least until I become a pirate after retirement (if you want to hear my plans about this future venture, leave me a comment and i'll fill you in in a later post), this prospect is thrilling to me beyond civil comprehension. I'm basically bouncing in my Adidas over this. We're going to ride the ferry and attend the "Blackbeard: Knight of the Black Flag" outdoor drama, at which I fully intend to wet my seat with excitement. I'm planning to take tons of pictures, find some sharks teeth, and hopefully head home with some cheesy pirate paraphenalia. And possibly some doubloons. Aaarrrgghh.
Okay, okay, fine!!! the voice of Responsibility in the back of my mind is nagging the crud out of me and reminding me that I need to get back to work being a useful and upright citizen in society. I'm hoping to have some action-packed pictures for you on monday and a sea-shanty or two to regale you with, much to your great joy and enthrallment, I'm sure. If not, learn how to act enthralled between now and then and me and me mates won't come after you once I retire.

Current count on books I own about U2: 3.