Head on over to our Belize blog...

We're in Belize now!  For the time being, I will probably be posting only on that blog, so please head on over there for future updates.  Thanks!

http://bebelize.weebly.com

Paisley returns to "Camp Folly"

Paisley enjoyed another delightful few days at "Camp Folly", my Mom and step-dad's wonderful place up in the NC mountains.  I'm so glad we got to visit again before heading to Belize!

Camp Folly claims another camper

Moving out of Chapel Hill

We said goodbye to Meadowmont Apartments on Saturday.  Barry's brother Randy and wife Lillie came up from Columbia to take home a bunch of furniture and household goods for their daughter Kirsten, who is starting college at USC this fall.  The rest we loaded into this Penske truck and got on the road to spend a week with my Mom and step-dad Dal before heading to Belize.

Closing the door on #1209 for the last time

Our apartment was the third floor unit visible here

Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures of Rand and Lillie as everyone was working hard and sweating bunches.  We did, however, get some nice photos with our dear new friend Eileen.  Our moving day just happened to be her birthday, and we said our goodbyes while she entertained her family in her apartment.  We will miss her tremendously as she added such joy to our lives while we lived in Chapel Hill.

Happy Birthday Eileen!

We took our mattress set to my mother, who got into the spirit of things as she checked it out:

Mom, Dal, and Penske

Going Away Cake

My co-workers surprised me with this cake on my last day at Genband.  I was very touched!

The photos are from the 1985/86 Northern Telecom yearbook.  Unfortunately, Barry was running around dealing with paperwork from selling our car so was not able to attend, but I took the picture portion of the cake home to him.  Once again, thanks to Bill for being instrumental in procuring the cake!  

Going Away Party

A great group of Barry's and my current and past co-workers gathered last week at Mez to say goodbye.  It was wonderful to get to share our plans with so many of our Nortel friends.  We really appreciated Bill arranging this nice party!  It worked out well for us because Mez is right on the bus line, so we were able to take the bus back to Chapel Hill afterwards.

Elizabeth

Chris and Barry

Delle and Chuck

Alice and David

Trish and Kathy

Vicki, Emily, and Elizabeth

Delle, Emily, and Chuck

Back from Belize

Just rolled in from two weeks in Belize last night.  Check out the link over to the right side for our Belize blog detailing our trip.

To Market I Go

This morning I had to do our usual market ride solo as Barry's back is ailing him.  Here's a photo he took before I left, showing the snazzy red bar tape he put on my bike recently.  The panniers were bulging when I returned; I couldn't have carried another thing!  

Little Dog, Big Smile

Paisley

A nice little trip to Ohio

Barry's mom Sylvia, dad Dean, and Barry

We just returned from a few days visiting Barry's folks in Ohio.  We had a good time and wonderful weather (unusual for Ohio!)  When we arrived late Tuesday afternoon, we were shocked to hear that Barry's dad, Dean, was in the hospital.  He had developed cellulitis (a bacterial infection) in one of his fingers, and it was terribly red and swollen, with the swelling extending into his hand.  I'd never seen anything like it; the closest I've come was a wasp sting on my pinky during college, but that didn't turn shiny and red, just fat and itchy.  So, our first evening in Ohio was spent visiting with him in the hospital, along with Barry's mom Sylvia.

Fortunately, Dean broke out of the hospital the morning after we arrived, and massive doses of antibiotics seem to be doing the trick.  He had another doctor's appointment yesterday and was not re-admitted, so we are hopeful that a full recovery is just around the corner.

One of our goals for this trip was to get a wi-fi network set up in their house and get them set up to use Skype.  For the most part, we were successful, but things were a little more complicated than we realized.  We purchased and installed a wireless router and got Dean's new laptop on the internet.  The trouble started when I attempted to upgrade his desktop system to Windows 7 from Vista.  He had purchased the upgrade software but had not yet installed it.  He gave me the go-ahead, and away I went, though I told him I'd never actually upgraded an O/S before and that I could make no guarantees as to the success of this attempt.

Oopsie!  I didn't even think about the fact that after doing its upgrade magic for hours, Microsoft was going to demand a product key for Windows 7, which was most likely in an email Dean received when he purchased the upgrade.  Whether or not he had printed said email, it couldn't be found nor accessed as we looked helplessly at the "Please enter your Product Key" screen, unable to proceed without it.  I must say, as much experience as Microsoft has with this, they really should warn you at the very beginning of the upgrade process to have your product key handy, because otherwise you are stuck in a no-man's land -- too late to go back to the previous O/S, but no way to move forward.

After googling from my own laptop, I determined that we were definitely not the first hapless would-be geeks to fall into Microsoft's web with this very problem, but the only "fix" was to call Microsoft to retrieve the key.  I suspect that could take an hour or more in their support queue, but hopefully will be doable without a re-purchase.  I left that in my father-in-law's hands and hope that success is right around the corner.

On a happier note and on a completely different subject, their yard was absolutely gorgeous; full of flowers and birds.  Here are a couple of photos I snapped:

This next one was taken on a walk nearby, simply growing along the road.  I thought these were delphinium or penstemon, but upon googling, determined that they were lupine, which you rarely see down south.  So pretty!

We took our Bike Fridays up with us as we'd had a couple of wonderful rides when visiting in the past, and this year was no exception.  We had a gorgeous day for a ride with temperatures only in the mid-70s and abundant sunshine.  We did a 26 mile loop from their house north and quickly into the country.  The route varied from nearly mountainous climbs and screaming descents early on to the flat Ohio & Erie Canal towpath.  It's always fun to ride in new places, and this was no exception.  

Unfortunately we didn't get any photos of the killer hills (which are never very impressive in photos anyway) as we were too busy trying to keep our momentum to stop, but this one was taken right after the really tough part of our ride; it was (nearly) all downhill (or flat) from here!

No worse for the wear!

The following photos are all taken on the towpath, or thereabouts:

A lovely garden where the canal used to be

Pedestrian/Horse/Bike Bridge over I-77...awesome!

Looking down at the interstate and glad we're not on it. 

We came upon Fort Laurens at the end of the towpath and briefly visited the museum.

All too soon it was time to leave on our return trip to North Carolina.  After arriving home Friday night, we tried our first "official" Skype call  between Barry and Dean's laptops, and it worked great!  This is going to be a nice improvement on cell phones with their choppy voice quality, at least as long as our internet connections are solid!  

Odds and Ends

A few recent photos from our trip to visit my Mom and step-dad for my birthday, my new bike basket from Barry for my Belize beach cruiser, and a few cute Paisley shots.  Enjoy!

New bike basket!

Paisley in a basket

Our little sun worshipper

Amazing how she always finds the sunny spot

Paisley waiting for me to get home from work - Barry wanted me to see this!  So sweet.

Opening nice gifts at my mom's.  She always finds the cutest things for me!

A "back up" Puppy for Paisley when the Christmas one finally falls apart.  :)

Birthday girl!

Never too old for a little pampering...