Gingerbread time...

Ty's was hard at work this morning making his gingerbread house. Very impressed with his candy trayscaping skills. :)

Cook, cooking, and the Revolution...

...and in that order.

So, Friday night was the Dane Cook gig. It was funny, as expected. That Dane Cook, he is one silly...boy. Headed up to MD to say hello and wish my dad and Denise an early happy birthday (btw, everyone say happy birthday to my dad....Happy Birthday, Dad!!).

Saturday night was the much anticipated Iron Chef America BBQ Smackdown Royale!! I was one of the 3 panel judges. The results were unanimous...Scotty Boy Manson stole the show with his pork chops and veggie boat. (Victory speech??) Wang came in strong at second place with his chicken, potatoes, and judge fav - Lay's Kettle Cooked BBQ chips. Chairman Frost finished last with his smorgasbord of food smothered in green stuff. Pics coming soon!!

The band got a last minute booking for Sunday evening. I don't watch soccer, but apparently the 'super bowl' of soccer happened that day and we were playing the post party for the New England Revolution, one of the teams playing. Unfortunately, they lost so believe it or not, they weren't in a dancing kinda mood. Well, at least I can check "Singing for a professional soccer team" off my life's to-do list...

Scotty Boy Manson - Tragically Misunderstood, Beautifully Wounded

I think... caption contest! So far we've got:

"A Passage to Bangkok - How a Belly Dancer Broke my Four Hearts"

"Hi, this is my boyfriend, Scott"

"I'm getting sleepy, very sleepy."

"I am a cyclop mutant, son of Uranus and Gaia from the dark pit of Tartarus."

Enjoy.

Scenes from da farm...

Took the Grant Man and Ty's to Cox Farms over the weekend. They had a blast! By far, Grant has been the best of the Stables when taken out for a fun day with Aunt Mandy. :) It was the perfect day to go, and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't too crowded. I believe the trick is to go while the Redskins are playing.

An interesting approach and a standard wedding...

Yet another wedding this past weekend (yes, it's officially Friday and I'm just now updating the blog now...good lawrd, it's past my bedtime!). It went off without a hitch, except me missing my cue on 'Everlasting Love'... I had the Howard Jones version stuck in my head which was the wrong one. No harm done, it was their first dance, no one noticed.

So, off to go climb on Sunday... Always good times, but way too short. Not that I didn't have enough time but after the first two climbs, my arms decided to quit. And part of my proof of this is the 'interesting approach' shown below. We needed to basically traverse across the bottom of the cliff to get to our rope. The good news is that the water was real shallow and my buddy traversed on the rock just fine. The bad news...my arms were spaghetti and just as I'm ready to come off the cliff, my buddy tried to help and in the process got a nice foot bath. And yes, I stayed dry by a nice shoulder ride to the other side. :-D

The weekend: I survived but $10 short....

Finally....back to FNP this weekend. Nothing in terms of progress to report. As far as regressing goes, definitely. Lost $10. Now I could've stopped at my standard -$5 donation, but figured I'd lose money to make up for the missed weeks.

We had a gig Saturday night which went well. As for the folks who haven't seen the new (ahem, controversial) Swiftkick line-up, here goes...

Drop everything you are doing....

Which way is this chic spinning for you, clockwise or counter-clockwise?

I've almost perfected the art of making her spin both ways on command, another 20 minutes (added on to the 10 minutes I've already spent) and I'll have it down pat. I will not be beaten by this...

The mumbo-jumbo behind this...

NC weekend wrap up....

So, the band had a wedding gig in Durham, NC over the weekend. My attempted to make a weekend of it was thwarted by the 4pm start time. Bums.... What fun is an afternoon reception?! As expected, crowd was dead until it got to be night time. After that, twas fun. Check out the sweet wedding favors.... GENIUS :-D

Brandi belts it, foul-mouthed brides, and Ty's first baseball game....

This must be the catchiest song I've heard in a while. Love it. Enjoy! Anyhow, went to see Brandi again last Friday night with the Fat Kid. Although I preferred the Birchmere performance, I was not disappointed. Great show, awesome new songs. And I must mention the heist that occured beforehand. Just to give you an idea, there was running in the middle of a DC street involved. There supposedly will be a follow up in regards to that....

So, Saturday night was a gig up in Maryland. Now, our wedding gigs have become routine enough to the point where I don't usually mention them...but this absolutely deserves a paragraph on the bloggings. So, the bride is about to toss her bouquet and she notices that a friend is not participating. She stomps up to the mic and says "Katie, get you p*ssy out here!". Yes, folks...in front of friends and family. She tried to play it off by quickly saying "pushy, pushy". But we all knew...


Took the lil one to his first baseball game on Sunday. The O's, um...yea, didn't do too well. Ty's was having loyalty issues during the game. He started off routing for his Yankee's but he came around later and proudly wore the O's hat. He enjoyed the game although he was a bit antsy. Couldn't have been that bucket of coke I got him... ;-)

Welcome to the world, Skyler!!!!....

I'm now the proud aunt of lil' Skyler Dawn Stables. 8.2 lb, 20.5 in. Hope she enjoys the quiet of the hospital now before getting home to her 3 bro's! That will be interesting... :-D Congrats and GOOD LUCK Meagan and Scott!

In other good news happening tonight...I'm happy to announce that Tulip got her job in AZ!! While I'm sad to be losing a neighbor, buddy for Tyler, and climbing partner; very happy that now I have an excuse to go and climb in AZ. jk :-) Congrats Tulip!

Let's see how country I can get...

Just learned it last night so be gentle. I'm still trying to find a good upbeat acoustic song for me to play. Till then, depressing songs it is!

Welcome to McCullough-hood....

Good luck with Dad!! hahahaha ;-D

Loved the cake toppers, loved the cake, loved the tropical theme (executed quite well), but the toast needed work. Very nice wedding. Congrats, dad and Denise!

Getting back to norm, well sorta...

My faithful readers, again, please excuse the lack of posts. The Rainier trip, band shtuff, baby showers, bachlorette parties, weddings, Ty's starting school, the drama that ensued from Ty's starting school, Ty's little league, freelancing, and oh yea... regular work; the past few weeks have been a bit busy.

And now that things have died down a bit...let's add swimming lessons. Hey, why not? He was so excited about starting. So much so that he couldn't float on his back because he kept laughing. Nonetheless, the boy is definitely a born athlete.

Lil' bug update...

Tyler's first day of school was yesterday and so far, so good! His teacher is "a boy"....which leads me to believe he'll do well in school this year. And he loves being able walk with Parker (and the rest of the Stables crew) to school.



And this season (his first season of coach pitch) will be with the Yankees. He did really well at practice yesterday. And one of his team mates is in his class, so that'll be cool. They can come up with plays during recess....

He got to play catcher yesterday, he was funny about it though. I think he thought his purpose was to stand there and let the ball hit him.

The Rainier Expedition...

Well, the much anticipated Mt. Rainier is over. And although I didn't bag the summit, it was quite the adventure.

There were 8 clients (including me) in my group and 4 guides. The group dynamic was pretty good. Two of the guys were buddies from Seattle and in their mid 30's, another two were in their late 40's and were doctors, there was a guy probably around my age from Louisiana, and the babies of the group were Alaina and Kevin who were in their early 20's (they both worked for the guide service and got a free trip due to cancellations).

Day One

We drove up to an area on Rainier called "Paradise" (5,000 ft) and started our hike there. The start of the hike was actually pretty tough. It had me really wishing I would've spent more quality time on the Stairmaster. Our destination was Camp Muir which was at 10,000 ft. I did okay for the first 4,000 ft., but that last 1,000 ft was me basically running on fumes.

Below was a gorgeous spot on the hike to Camp Muir, that's Mt. Adams on the left and Mt. St. Helens on the right (in the way back). You could actually just barely see Mt. Hood from there as well but, unfortunately, didn't come thru in the pic.



We rested up for a while once we got to Camp Muir, had dinner, then slept in one of the huts.

Scenes from Camp Muir...





Day Two

Started off with a nice blueberry pancake breakfast (which would've been great had I been hungry...appetite and altitude don't play well together). Then we put on our crampons (spikes you attach to the bottom of the boots) and learned all about self rescue. I have to admit, the best part...sliding down the mountain head first trying to catch myself with my ice axe. I'll take that over sipping daiquiries on the beach any day. :-D

At around 2pm, we started off our relatively short (1,000 ft) hike to high camp. And here's where I thought I was going to lose it...



That rocky terrain you see there on the right? Yea, that wasn't so fun. We got to that point and not only was it steep and extremely windy, but in some parts it felt like walking in quicksand and it didn't get any easier as we went up and around that area to find more rocky terrain that I found nearly impossible to navigate through with crampons and a heavy pack.

But alas, High Camp...





We rested up for a bit and had dinner. The head guide then informed us that we would be making our summit attempt that night at 10:30pm. So, it was off to sleep right after dinner...not that anyone really slept...

10:30pm rolls around and we get all geared up, have 'breakfast', and clip into the ropes. We hike through a steep downhill and uphill portion then continue to hike a steep uphill portion for what seemed like forever. We finally get to a stopping point and the guide who was on my rope asked me how I was doing. I told her I was tired but doing alright. She then comments on how tired I look and that I wasn't moving too quickly. I then realize that she wants me to turn around. The disappointment hit me pretty hard since I felt I had worked my tail off to get to that point. So, I told them my preference was to keep going but that I'd go back to camp if they felt that was the best for me and the group. They appreciated my good attitude, which was little consolation for me, and had me head back down.

I have mixed feelings on that decision. On the one hand, I think I would've had an easier time if one of the guides would have stayed with me and climbed more at a pace that was manageable for me (instead of having to keep up with the guys). Had all 8 clients gone for the summit, I wouldn't have expected them to do this but the guy from Louisiana bailed and Alaina got altitude sickness. So, there were 4 guides and 6 clients. But to be fair, they are the ones who climb mountains for a living. Not much I can argue with there...

Day 3

I got back to High Camp around 1:30am and slept like a log until the others got back. Four clients wound up reaching the summit. We packed up and started descending at around 11am. The descent was a bigger pain than I had expected. At that point, my boots were killing me, I was still a bit peeved about not reaching the summit, and my guides were bolting down the snow slopes while I struggling just to keep on my feet. But all that went away when we got to the point where we passed the snow fields and I was able to finally put my sneakers on again...it was a beautiful moment. ;)

And that's my Rainier adventure... I do want to go back and climb it, especially now that I know better what to expect. Maybe in a few years. My co-worker was telling me today about some cool mountain climbs in Canada....hmmm.....

Stay tuned....

Don't believe the rumours... I do not have bloggers block. The psychic did not recommend that I was never again to post on my blog. And I did not lose all my money at poker to which I was too depressed to write.

Just insanely busy at work...will post all sorts of good stuff about Parker's newfound popularity, Ty's favorite new channels, and the quickly approaching Rainier trip soon!

Why I love "A List Apart"...

If a website could stalk a person, I think this one has my number.

So, just last week I scolded a now ex-client for not writing good content for his website. And as I'm perusing my bookmark list, I see that A List Apart decided that this issue, dedicated to web writing, was solely dedicated to lil ol' me...how nice of them!

Now, as I dabble with freelancing, I realize I'm not making high-traffic websites whose owners have deep pockets to pay for copywriters, design, and maintenance. And, in this specific case of my aforementioned ex-client, I didn't expect content that would knock my socks off. But with the little content I received, there was no mention of what areas the business serviced and a requested site navigation of seven pages/sections all with little to no content. It was plainly obvious that the 'content' was pretty much fluff that he felt he needed to have to get a website up. Not content that was written with the end user in mind.

What I do expect and have grown to require out of clients is more effort and research on their part. My frustration stems out of clients that want a website just to have a website and want me to conjure something outta thin air. I'm a big fan of the internet and of the potential it could bring a start-up business, charity, etc. And while I can provide design and development, I'm not a writer. And the problem is, I think writing/content, in many cases, is the most important part of the website.

Just to give you an example, the Philippine Children's Foundation. Much to my mother's chagrin, I did this website for free. Why did I do this free and not her charity website? Because the owner did his homework. He gave me content for every page on day one. He supplied me with good photos I could work with. Now, he was pain with settling on a logo...but he was generally enthusiastic about the project, and that made all the difference in the world.

But, to be fair, maybe I'm just a grouchy web dummie who has nothing better to do with my time than rant on clients and dream up terms like 'web sins'...

Have you the wing?...

So, let me just get this straight. Derek has his degree and is now married? I'm still trying to comprehend this chain of events and I'm still confoozed! Next thing you know, my dad will get married...oh wait... ;-O

It was a really fun wedding. The boys did a superb job with their ringbearer duties, although Parker just about passed out on my lap from the heat. They were so adorable in their tuxes!! The preacher, with his stuck-in-adolescence voice, was kinda funny. I don't know how Meagan kept a straight face. In fact, I would've paid good money to hear him to start off with 'Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday....' Plus, it would've been all too fitting with the heat.

Best wishes to those two little love birds (along with their new supah cool wine bucket)!

'And wuv, tru wuv, will fowow you foweva...'

Awww, my first EB web baby...

My first web launch with the new company. Look at that code, isn't it gorgeous?

"To the beach, to the beach, to the beach beach beach beach"....

Is it just our family, or does everyone have their own little beach march?

So, the boys enjoyed a day of beaching and fishing (well, fishing was mostly Tyler) on Saturday. It was the perfect beach day, although it was a bit rough. Grant-man enjoyed making belly molds in the sand and occasionally giving it a little taste. Colin-bear spent most the time watching the water...his highlight, I'm sure, was wrecking his Aunt Mandy's sand castle! Parker was just Parker and enjoyed bossing around the big giant waves. And Tyler, well...there's the beach and his cousins, he was a happy camper.

My bug, Grant-Man, Colin-Bear, and Parker PiBS...


Uncle Scott, Ty's, and his big giant fish...

Seneca, Yokum blowkums, and Sunday laziness....

So, it was a good trip to Seneca. We climbed some single pitch stuff on Saturday. I didn't get to lead anything. :-( But maybe next time, it was good practice anyhow. I did get to use my gear a bit for some practice pitches on top rope. Of course, I managed to bang the hell out of knee on the first climb...so, that made for a grumpy me the rest of the day. errrrr

The plan was to camp out Friday night and stay at the motel on Saturday night just because I'm a girl, and I'm girly like that. So, we pack up camp and head to the Yokum's (the motel) and low and behold...they overbooked. My reservation had apparently been unreserved. They tried to stick us in their 'other' hotel, the same hotel that boasts the infamous "Room #9" (5 points to the faithful blog reader who knows what this means...). So, yea....our options were to set up camp again or head back. Being bitter about my pseudo-reservation, coupled with my knee, I decided to head home.

I'll spare you all the details of my lazy Sunday. Unless you all are just dying to hear about my bathroom and kitchen floor cleaning adventures... Oh, did watch the new Potter movie. Much like the book, it wasn't bad but it wasn't all that good either.

Scenes from the weekend...

My little good luck charm! The Grant-man going to town on a snack pak, who knew that this is just what I need before FNP. Yup, people...I won $11! Another night like that and I'm outta the negative.


We went to Alexandria on Saturday to enjoy the fireworks (that didn't happen). But it was fun, got to walk around Old Towne Alexandria...which I haven't done in a while. They were selling lots of neon glowy things, some of which resembled a light saber. So, guess who wanted one? And guess who stood their ground and didn't give in to the constant, persistent, maddening pleas? Tyler with his parrot buddies...




I'd post pics from the bridal shower that took place on Sunday, but it's way too raunchy for my G-rated blog! Sheesh, Meagan.... ;-)

Say hello to my new car....

You guys like it?! Somewhere underneath, there is a blue 2007 Camry with supah cool KNEE AIRBAGS. The knee airbags are not available for passengers, not available for Tyler (until he starts driving), and not available in the backseat. But, you know, I just really appreciate all of the concern! Such caring people you are. I was not able negotiate ice cream and donuts to the terms of the purchase, but with the extra money I'm saving by not buying a Lexus...I'm going to hire a cabana boy to feed me ice cream and donuts after all my service appointments. :-D

The Camry...no, the CR-V, how 'bout a Lexus...or there's the Subaru...

Okay, tomorrow's the big car sales day. It's final decision time. And, of course, now I'm starting to question whether or not I should just fork up the dough to fix the squeakiness and just cross my fingers that nothing else goes wrong with the Jimster (right...).

So, for a while the Camry was the forerunner. Knee airbags (go ahead Tuna, you know you wanna say something), side impact airbags, and fuel efficient. It's the most practical car of my list...

But then I got to thinking about all the road trips and all the times having an SUV came in handy. So, back to the SUV's I went. I refuse to pay for another gas guzzler so the mid-size SUV's will have to do. Here goes...

Highlander - Dig that it's the biggest of my options (tho, not by much) and it's not too bad price-wise. It's also ok on gas. Test drove it a couple of weeks ago, I actually don't like that it's such a smooth and quiet ride...where's the sport in that?! So, it's not really an SUV...but a UV. By the way, this and the Camry were both approved by the little one.

RAV4 - I'm liking the gas efficiency on this one. It's a bit cheaper than the CR-V, which always helps. But it is smallest of the lot.

Other considerations that didn't quite make the top 3 includes:

Forester/Outback - Forester was surprisingly small and Outback was a bit pricey and no knee airbags!

Passat - Really liked the safety features and interior. But Camry got the edge thru resale value and I hear VW's are a pain when it comes to repairs/maintenance.

Used nice cars - Don't wanna pay high interest rate and from what I've seen, the new ones aren't all that much more in price.

So, there you have it. Any suggestions, comments, or random thought is welcome...

Old Rag Epic, Part II

The trip started out okay. We got up to the summit. And yea...that was merely the approach. We downclimbed a bit from there and climbed a couple of routes. Then the epic ensued...

So, after we left the area, called the 'Summit' area, we went to get to the 'Sunset' area. This was the same place we tried to get to the last time we went to Old Rag (please refer to prior post). Well, the bushwhacking didn't get any better this time. Here I am, trying to follow the fella's and being that I believe I was the only one that was carrying both rope and gear...I think it's safe to say, I had the heaviest of loads. And we're full on bushwhacking and not only did I have the bonus of the heavy pack, but I also had the luxury of being the fly magnet. So, again I decided to head back to the main trail. But then they found the area up ahead, so I decided to stick it out. But after another 10 minutes of bushwhacking and hearing that these would be short climbs, I decided that it just wasn't worth it, so I told the guys I'd meet them at the car.

Now, I was fully aware that I didn't know the exact way back to the trail. But my directional instincts are usually not that bad. But not in this case, I got soooooo lost!! And I was fine, up until the point where I realized I couldn't hear the guys anymore and there were no hikers within earshot. Matter of fact, the only thing I heard was the buzz of the extremely annoying flies that never left my side. And I'm not talking a stroll through the woods here, I was scrambling over boulders and having fights with thorny branches. Anyhow, so back to being lost.... I've reached a section where the rock looked really familiar...so I felt hope. Only to climb over and see that there is nothing but thick crap all around me. I had busted my a$$ getting over that boulder only to find myself even more lost. And it was at this point, I went into full panic mode and starting cursing myself for not going to Sportrock instead. So, I drop my pack and scramble back up the boulder and decided to utilize my vocal chords and started yelling for the guys. 10 minutes goes by....nothing. I scramble up further, try again...finally, someone responds. Long story, semi-short...I get rescued and my rescuer's only advice to me was that if I wanted to meet people, next time use match.com. Nice. If I hadn't been so insanely grateful for being back on the path, I would've felt pretty silly. :-/ No more bushwhacking at Old Rag for me.....EVER.

The future of the NHL...

The Tyler/Parker line take to the ice...


Ty's trying to impress his tall, blonde teacher...


Parker after being, um, tripped...

"I wish I had a little bit of hotness everyday"...

Random Tyler quote there for your enjoyment... You may take a stab at what he was referring to, but please, keep it PG.

So, FNP. Do I really need to say it?

Saturday was a late Mother's Day day. We had brunch at the always-so-good Rosemary's Thyme, highly recommend it if ever mozying around in the Centreville area. Then we were off to the Kennedy Center for The Phantom of the Opera. Phantom and Christine were quite impressive. One thing though, and maybe you all can help me out on this. Does the Phantom usually wear the cape and hood completely covering his head during "Point of No Return"? Because I was really looking forward to that song but all I kept focusing on was how silly it looked that the hood was completely covering his face! I mean, c'mon...who does that?? And I get it, yes...he was in disguise. But I just don't recall that that was how it was done in the past.

And in conclusion, I never got into RTM at all the past weekend. Not even to the gym! Poor lil' bug was sick all weekend, so there was no talking him into a Great Falls trip. But this coming weekend...I've got my eye on a hike that has RTM written all over it, it's going to make me suffer and cry. Fun stuff. :-D

Fugly FNP, rocks, hike, gig, sugar daddy's, and dad's day (phew!).....

Poker was FUGLY. That is yet another Amanda word, use your imagination to decipher my code. I must say, I really deserve the last place on the Google spreadsheet award after that performance. Just give me the title now. You'd think I'd notice when the higher poker beings finally bless me with a good hand....but no, I just completely disregard the Ace that's sitting there right smack dab in front of me and fold. Maybe I need to find people that play on a two-minute delay...that is apparently the time span I need to assess what I have. I don't get it.

I spent Saturday climbing, hiking, and gigging. I was a bit busy. And I'm still sore....not so much from the climb/hike, but from the gig. So, I was a bit tired at my gig, but helping the feller's load up afterwards pretty much did me in. Not to mention that my eye's are still recouping from seeing all the 60+ men with their 20 year old play things at this gig. Ewwwwww... After that, I'm not sure if I can even joke about having a sugar daddy anymore.

And Happy Dad's Day!!! Hope you all wished you wished your dad (or mother, for those of you who haven't talked to your dad in 7 years) a happy day!!

Due props and request...

So, as many of you know I've been on an acoustic kick. Much of that I'm blaming on the Fat Kid for providing the crack, in form of music that is called, Brandi Carlile. Although my dishes are stacked to the hilt and Ty's is watching a lot more TV lately...I must give props. I don't watch enough Grey's Anatomy to have ever discovered her on my own.

Now, by request, Cowboy Junkies... Oh, and the iChat effect at the end is my own personal signature on the song. Thank you, I put that in there just for you guys.

Happy Birthday Flipper!!...

...and you almost thought I wouldn't mention your 21st birthday. Yes, the day delay was totally on purpose. ;-)

Summersville camping report...

Wow...what a weekend. We got back at 2am last night and after 3 hours of not good sleep, I must say, I'm a little tired right now.

So, we left at 10:30am on Saturday (had a bit of a delay due to my car needing a new belt...does it ever end??) and got there in time to set up the tents, have a peek at the lake, and most importantly... roast marshmellows. And no, I couldn't watch. I was quite content with my graham crackers and chocolate, thank you.


Sunday was a good workout, for us and the kids... We packed up our lunch, climbing gear, and swim stuff and headed for the lake. Took us about a half hour to get to where the climbs are only to find out that it was packed with climbers. Luckily, our official guide (or shall I say, person who owned the guide book) found a 5.8 that we thought would be do-able. And I know I haven't been at the gym as much as I used to, but it was no 5.8! I just barely managed my way up. At any rate, it was neat...we happened to run into some other 'regulars' from the gym. Small climbing world. We then finally let the kids have their way and went to the 'Pirate Cove' to play in the lake and watch all the crazy cliff jumpers.

Monday was the icing on the cake. We rented a pontoon boat and since we met up with another family there and split the cost, it worked out quite nicely. We just went down the lake and stopped at certain neat spots and got in. So much fun, it was one of those rare occurences where I couldn't tell if the adults or kids were having more fun. We managed to climb a little bit on the cliffs which was great, although my aching feet would beg to differ. And after that, we were all ready for a nap but unfortunately a 5 hour drive awaited me. But well worth it...

How do you define 'spring'?....

Well, I was going to wait until I got pics to post from the hiking trip to the Shenandoah's last weekend... but I know you all are just chomping at the bit to read my latest weekend 'goings on' so here goes! ;-)

FNP was ok, I've managed to spend the last two weeks in positive territory. But as for the all-telling Google spreadsheet... I am the big ol, flagged and flaring red colored negative leader. Before my own mother starts berating my poker skills... there is still months to go! I'm not preparing my last place acceptance speech just yet.

And onto Saturday... went hiking out in the Shenandoah's. It was a good time, it was gorgeous weather which kinda made it difficult to not hop onto some rocks, but hiking is a good thing as I'm in 'Rainier training mode' (now, I know that the governing rule is '2 times to be acronymized'...but for brevity sake, from now on it's RTM). And just outta curiousity, how would you all define the word 'spring'? In terms of a park, water...not season, hopping, etc.

And Sunday...not much to report except band practice. Once again, gorgeous out...rocks were a-callin' but so are wedding songs that need to be learned. No rocks this weekend. Sorry folks. :-(

Mommy's Day and open enrollment at Duck U...

First of all... Happy Mother's Day to all the mommy's that I didn't get a chance to wish a happy day to yesterday! :-D

Well, the weekend was good and went by way too fast. Seriously, society needs to consider adopting a 3 day weekend standard. Really...why not?? So, I managed to not do too terribly bad at SNP. Would've done a lot better had I not kept getting pocket Queen's....what an evil hand. But speaking of evil, how bad is it that the biggest hand I won was with triple 6's on the flop?? Mwah hahaaa... (my e-evil laugh)

Yesterday the boy and I went to visit with Daffy and Daisy (did I get the names right?). The kids got such a big kick out of the ducks. I must say, though, that Grant takes the 'moment of the day' award for totally faking out the ducks and having some yummy duck grub for himself. That was a classic move perfected by a 1 year old. I'm having a proud Aunt moment.

Ty's conversing with the ducks...

A nice little diddy...

So, here's a cute little song that I don't do justice...enjoy! :-)

Frats, rocks, and job update...

I give JMU credit. Those guys do not let rain foil their drunken festivities! Yea, so frat party this weekend. Like last year, crazy!! So, in generally, the gig was really fun but I've assessed that there is a certain inebriation level to which it's just not a fun crowd anymore. Example, the level at which they are all happy and bouncin' around to whatever we play...good. The level at which they want to hear "Shout" 5x in row...bad.

Climbing on Sunday...superb. The weather, that is. My climbing performance? Eh, left much to be desired (finger strength!). But it was great to just enjoy the day by the water. I don't think this place will ever get old to me...



Now, onto the new job... I don't like it. I love it. And I'd better considering I got another job offer for a lot more and I'm not going to take it (not going to do it...not going to do it...did I mention a LOT more $$?). Anyhow!! The people are great, I've got my own cubicle again (made me realize how much I hated working at an open desk...), and yummy restaurants at Reston Town Center right across the street. :-D Things are good.

Swiftkick: Behind the Music...

The McGinty's Episode:

What are the chances that a sub drummer remembers to bring all his equipment EXCEPT for the kick drum pedal...and a person who just happens to be crossing the state line to see the show manages to be able to bring one?!? I think it's safe to say that the rock gods were definitely looking out for us on Saturday night... the acoustic gods almost got their way.

Minus the pedal drama, the gig was fun!! And I got a "Kill Amanda" drawing memento, niiiice...

There is some good country...

Okay, so I do not like country. But as I'm sitting at the Birchmere last night watching in awe as this girl belts it out...I'm thinking, this girl's aight. The first few songs I heard from her, I was pretty much in denial that she was country. But she busted out some yodeling last night, which pretty much sealed the deal. But I don't care, I loved it...I actually thought it was one of the best concerts I've ever been to (yea, she's right up there with The Wiggles).


I highly recommend:

What Can I Say
Fall Apart Again

My little giant...

My favorite part of the game today was when the team was in outfield and the coach kept repeating to everyone to keep their eye on the ball...and one little kid yells back "we are keeping an eye on the ball". Ah, had to be there....

Another job move...

After much internal debating...I've decided to take a position at another company.

Overall, I'm really happy and excited about the move. It's a good chance to hone my front end skills. I'll also be doing web development at this new place. It's a marketing agency so it's exciting to go to a company that specializes in branding and design (going back to my roots!). The down side to this whole deal is leaving my current company. Giving my notice was tough. I guess since we've dwindled down to a seven person company, I feel bad leaving those guys. But, hopefully, they understand...

Well, stay tuned...first day is April 30th!

SNP and the near Old Rag epic...

How about I begin at SNP? I snatched up an extra $5. :-) I'm now 3rd to last on the Google spreadsheet. I can't really say it's a satisfying win as I basically took the money from a not-so-sober person. Not that she probably will remember any of it...

So, today me and a buddy went to Old Rag Mountain. Good times, good times... The intention was to go scout the place out for climbing and possibly climb something while doing so. Well, buddy had his eye on a certain rock wall...a certain wall that was only accessible following a "faint path". Finding a faint path in normal weather, fairly easy. Finding said path in snow, good luck. So, we're bushwhacking along in what we think may be the path and we come to a point where I've about lost hope. So, I bid my friend luck on his quest in finding his holy wall and head back to the main trail. After battling the branches and thorny bushes...I finally get back to the trail (pretty much completely snow covered and branches sticking outta my hair...I looked hot). ;-) So, anyways...all went well up to the summit (see below...quite lovely) and met up with buddy on the way back down. He never did find his wall.

My weekend pics:

He loves his Aunt Mandy...


Old Rag...




And my personal favorite:

OC recap...

Took the little guy to the beach this weekend. We're headed back tomorrow... :-( Not quite beach weather, but nonetheless, Tyler still got in the water and half froze himself! Yea, people were walking by in their sweaters amazed at this little guy frolicking in the water like it was 100 degrees out. :-O Got a little fishing in yesterday (nothin' biting) and had a little crab feast afterwards. Oh, and how could I forget...had the best doughnut EVER!! Fractured Prune...if you're ever in Ocean City, you must have a doughnut here. (Just maybe set aside 5 hours later to exercise it off...)

Good sunset today...

A bar, a club, and climbing...

Did everyone have a lovely weekend?? Mine was pretty good. Took the ol' bro-in-law out on the town Friday night. Okay, well...went across the street to a bar to see a band. Interesting crowd, I felt like I was back with Loose Change in a Dundalk bar... Good times. :-D

I spent most of Saturday spending quality time with my washer and dryer. But hey, it wasn't pretty out...so it didn't cause me much grief. Did get out for a little girls night out at Ned's, knew it was time to go when one of the girls started literally ripping her clothes off. :-O I'm only slightly kidding...

Yesterday was gorgeous so, of course, had to go climbing... More good times. We went to a little spot in Front Royal called Talking Headwall. I actually lead a route that I didn't climb beforehand....a first for me, thank you! So much fun, and afterwards ate at a Mexican restaurant...wow, after a day of climbing fueled by 2 granola bars and a cup of Starbucks...authentic Mexican really hits the spot.

Hard to see, but there are two ropes in this pic, the route I led is the one on the left...

FNP, SMC, and WV...

FNP... After my brief vacation in positive-land, I'm back on the negative side in the spreadsheet and as we all well know, "the Google spreadsheet does not lie"! I need to start being aggressive...be aggressive...B-E-aggressive (yes, that's me cheering myself on)

SMC... Check it out, here's Mya climbing...she's five. Yea, what were you doing when you were five?!? She climbs, she's cute, she flirts...Tulip, good luck!!


Anyhow, it turned out to be a gorgeous day for climbing. It was a lot of fun and now I'm really starting to get excited about climbing season. :-D But who knows, maybe they'll make a Wii game of rock climbing...then we won't have to go outside anymore! ;-P

WV... Well, band practice got cancelled so I went out to WV to practice doing some acoustic stuff. Maybe we'll get an acoustic gig or two while Swiftkick is on hiatus. Y'all ready to drive out to WV?? While we're on the music subject...I discovered Garageband, it's way cool. All you poor PC'ers are missing out!

My latests and greatests...

My latest web addiction: imeem.com. Make a playlist, it's fun!!

My latest dealing with a magazine sales rep: Okay, so if you're selling ad space in a magazine, do you really care what the ad looks like? Well, if it's offensive...yes, but not in this case. Yea, the guy I dealt with had recommendations down to the friggin font!! God forbid I use a font that isn't used in every single ad in that magazine...we wouldn't anyone to notice the ad or anything... :-P

My latest food addiction: Thin Mints...you can't just have half the box!

My latest activity of choice: Playing the guitar, and determined to do so until my fingers stop hurting or until I get good (haha...aren't I funny?).

My latest book: The White Spider. It's pretty good but I've already finished the part where they reached the summit of Eiger and I'm not halfway done. One thing about climbing books is that the author always feels they must spend 100+ on why they climb. "Because it is there" is answer enough for me.

Happy birthday Ty and Ty's aunt!!...

As many of you know, it was Tyler and Aunt Meagan's birthday yesterday. We had a lot of fun. I went to Ty's school and brought cupcakes and read a story to his class. They were all so cute, I love how they were so excited to have a 'guest' read them a book. It's always the simple things...

Here's Tyler and his friend, Kyree (whom is such a sweetheart!!)...


We celebrated everyone's birthday at a Japanese steakhouse. The boys were soooo adorable. Colin and Parker were working very diligently with their chopsticks, they did a good job!