(White) Christmas at the Beach

Once again, Barry and I met Mom, Dal, and Adam at The Winds in Ocean Isle Beach to celebrate Christmas.  As is customary, silliness and general frivolity ensued, tempered only a little by Barry's bad cold.  He still managed to join in on the festivities, and I am sure being around my zany family helped him feel a little better than he would have otherwise.  Mom thinks it was the negative ions from the ocean; but whatever it was, it worked!

Here are some photos of our little holiday vacation & celebration.  Adam took a lot more, so I may be able to add a few more when he sends them to me, if only to prove that I was actually there!  I couldn't let Barry touch our camera - germs.  :)

Adam

Seagulls

Sunset

The bounty before the "opes"

Adam & Mom engaging in some silly behavior (nothing new there!)

Barry with the new digital camera I got him -- hey, the box matches his outfit! 

Very tame birds outside the rooms, waiting for another cheese doodle handout

Christmas dinner - the table was not very elegant but the food was tasty: turkey, dressing, green beans, sweet potatoes

Deserted beach

A lone seabird

Almost impossible to see, but it's snowing!  First time I've ever seen snow at the beach.

Can see it a bit better here.  Yep, that's snow!

Snowing on our cars

Adam's car the next morning, along with a little missive Barry left him as we departed

After turning inland a bit on our trip home, there was a lot more snow at this rest stop.

Barry at the rest stop

Paisley likes "Puppy", her gift from my mom.  She's already figured out that it's all hers, so hands' off!

Happy Birthday Vicki!

Emily & Vicki at her birthday bash - a great time was had by all!

Return to The Pit

Today on our Monday errand run during lunchtime (I work at home on Mondays), we had the opportunity to walk right through UNC's campus, and some things truly never do change.  Here I am (in bright jacket) in "The Pit", which hasn't changed a bit since I left Chapel Hill in 1984.  Well, maybe the trees in the center have grown a bit!  (Actually I don't remember trees there at all; perhaps those were planted after I left.  Could they grow that fast?)

What a blast from the past it was to walk through campus and see all the buildings and walkways I remember from days gone by!  The only difference was that the students have gotten a lot younger since I was last there.  Sigh....

December Sunrise

From our apartment window this week.  Very attractive, I thought....

First Snow of Winter 2010

A pretty, wet snow fell on North Carolina today.  Yes, it's not even officially winter yet, but close enough.

Scene from our apartment building breezeway

Apartment Clubhouse (Paisley and Barry are on the stoop, though very hard to see)

Barry's Birthday!

We had a fun night out for Barry's birthday.  He'd been wanting to try Carrburrito's restaurant in (where else) Carrboro, so we took the bus into town and had HUGE burritos (him = grilled veggies/beans/rice, me=grilled fish/beans/rice), chips and homemade salsa, and margaritas there.  It was full of students and very good, though very casual.  After taking the bus back to our 'hood, we stopped in at the upscale bar at ONE restaurant and had a couple of nightcaps.  Expensive nightcaps!  But after our very affordable dinner, it was a good splurge, and the bartenders were very friendly.  Too bad we didn't mention it was Barry's birthday until we were leaving, as we might have gotten him a free drink out of it! 

When we got back to the apartment, it was finally time for cake, ice cream, and presents.  Poor Barry had to make his own cake (chocolate mint - yum!) since I had to work. Needless to say, we went to bed with very full bellies and didn't sleep well.  But what are birthdays for if not for a bit of indulgence!?

Thanksgiving at Paige's

We had a such a nice Thanksgiving day at Paige's cute, recently renovated home in Southern Pines.  She's a terrific cook, so we were all treated to a delicious traditional meal with all the trimmings.  It was great seeing Everet and Walker, Adam, Norma, and meeting Paige's friend BK and his mother.  We all ate way too much, of course.  Guess it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a bit of pain!

Thanks to Adam for many of the photos - he's a better photographer than me, that's for sure.

Waiting to dig in!

Paige & BK

Adam & Norma

The whole crew

Walker

Norma & Everet

 

 

Mr. Turkey

BK carving the turkey

 

 

Paige & BK

Mmmm, good!

BK and his mother before we all dived into the "dessert buffet"

Fun Times at Camp Folly

Paisley always loves her trip to Mom and Dal's mountain home in Ashe County (The Folly), which we renamed "Camp Folly" during Paisley's first visit, because of the many activities she enjoyed there.  It completely wears her out, but she is in doggie heaven running around, hunting for chipmunks, digging, rooting around, and going on long walks.  A bit too chilly for a dip in the river this time, though!

Camp rule: Speak Softly and Carry Big Stick

Paisley-Go-Round

Camp Nap Time

Visit from Adam

My brother Adam came for a visit today on his way home to Wilmington from visiting our mom and step-dad in Hickory.  I work from home on Mondays, so the timing worked out well for him to stop by for a late lunch.  He got to see our apartment at Meadowmont and meet Paisley for the first time (she was wild, of course).  

It started to rain -- no, pour -- right as we headed over to Firehouse Subs to grab lunch, so we literally ran over, getting soaked in the process, but it was kind of fun (at least it was a warm rain!)  We had a great conversation, and I learned that Adam actually speaks Spanish, from his many surfing trips to El Salvador.  The things you don't know about people in your family!  Maybe one day Barry and I will be able to converse with him as we hope to learn a little of the language ourselves, though it's not nearly as necessary in Belize, where English is the official language.  Still, we'd like to learn it as a challenge and to be able to converse with some locals who are more comfortable speaking Spanish.

Te quiero, Adam!

(Ok, so I had to look that up...but maybe someday I won't...)

Meet Flor!

Here is the new beach cruiser bike I just scored from craigslist (I love craigslist!)  She's a 2007 Marin Heart's Desire, barely ridden, and I've named her Flor, which is Spanish for "flower", for obvious reasons.

I just love this sweet ride.  She takes me back to the simplicity of childhood, with her coaster brakes and single speed.  She will be perfect for Belize!

Farmer's Market Pizza

Barry made this wonderful pizza tonight with homemade whole-wheat crust and a plethora of veggies from the farmer's market.  Here's a photo before cheese and baking:

And here's the after-baking shot:

Q

Yes, it tasted just as good as it looks!

Post Office Ride

Today was an absolutely gorgeous early fall day, with temperatures in the 70s and plenty of sunshine.  Since I worked from home and had a few ebay packages needing to go to the post office, Barry suggested that we ride over at lunch time.  It's a short ride to the Chapel Hill post office (only about 3 miles each way), but we tacked on a few extra miles to make it 10.  It was a patchwork of roads, bike lanes, bike path, and even sidewalks in the very busiest area, but we made it without incident.

One package in each front pannier, one on the rear rack

 Made it!

 Ah, the life of an ebay seller!

Just another perfect car-free day...