Weather ...

We have had some crazy weather in Virginia over the past few years

we have been experiencing tropical storms....

and Hurricane Isabel

lots and lots of flooding

last year a 5.8 earthquake just a few miles from where I work

and lately, tornado's!!

On Monday severe thunderstorms were in our forecast

this is nothing out of the ordinary

we always have some big thunderstorms when the temps

get up high and we have high humidity

At work we saw the clouds rolling in around 2:30

the wind kicked up

dust from the construction site on campus kicked up so

much we could no longer see the big cranes

and then the rain hit....coming in sideways!!

could not believe how powerful the winds were..

it really looked like when we had the hurricane

Our power went off and then we all started getting emergency

emails on our work laptops to take cover....and to go to the

interior safe rooms of our floor as there was a tornado warning

in effect. But we were fascinated by the storm outside

and stayed by the windows. In hindsight, we realize that was

a pretty dumb thing to do.

Today is was confirmed by the National Weather Service that we had a F0 tornado that was just

around the corner from our office building. We weren't in the path but as everyone knows, it could have taken a turn.

this pic was taken by Rick Kidd of Rick Kidd Photography from the office building next to mine.....you can see how close it came!!

I think next time they give us a warning, I'll listen. These

things are just getting a little too close for comfort!

later.....



Blogging....

Sometimes coming up with blog topics is hard

Often I find myself trying to figure out what to blog about

and other times I can make a long list with all kinds of topics

this is my 6th year of blogging......

I looked at my stats and below are my number

of post for each year. Apparently in 2009 I had

a lot to say!!

2007 first year of blogging 80 post..but I didn't start the blog until June

2008 - 168 post

2009 - 192 post

2010 - 160 post

2011 - 181 post

2012 - so far 62 post....

as always, I have to keep in mind that this blog is for

my family. Its a family journal that one day my grandkids or

great grandkids will enjoy reading.

So I hope I can continue to come up with some interesting

stuff for them!

later....

Jazzercise ...

I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm addicted to Jazzercise!

So we all know we have to exercise

especially after age 50

that is if you want to feel good, have energy and stay healthy

But I just hated it

I tired the gym, that was boring to me

I tried my treadmill at home....boring

Wii fit....fun for awhile, then boring

walk to run program....wasn't disciplined enough

then my daughter suggested Jazzercise

I took some classes back in the early 80's but that was so long

ago, I couldn't remember much about it

So why not...I'll try it!

And I loved it from the first class.....even though I know I probably

looked ridiculous. I didn't know the routines, couldn't keep up

but yet, it was FUN!!

there are no mirrors in there so you can't really see how crazy you look

no one judges....everyone is just having fun

it is all age groups from 20 years old to 82 years old

so we signed up!

and then started going to the 5:45 class every evening after work

and wow wee......I hurt so bad!! I thought good grief, maybe I can't do this

but it was fun so I kept with it

and I worked through the pain

Now I can't stand it if I have to miss a class

and I make myself not go 1 day a week to rest my body

yes, I said "make myself NOT go".....haha

so people are right, it's just a matter of finding which exercise

program is right for you

and I think I finally found that

I haven't lost much weight but all of my clothes are getting loose

and the most important part...I feel great!!

later....



Happy Birthday ...

Happy Birthday to my hubby Johnny!!

it was on Friday, the 22nd

and this year he will be enjoying his last year in his 50's!

I rarely can get him to smile for the camera so below is

his "sarcastic" smile to me.....haha

we went to a place in downtown Richmond called Station 2

it's a rennovated fire station and they have

gourmet burgers ... yum!!

then we headed uptown a little to Carytown and stopped

in at Sweet Frogs for some frozen yogurt

not sure how far Sweet Frogs has expanded but if you

haven't been, you need to....soooo good!!

later...

Baby birds ...

We also came back from Atlanta and the baby birds had

already flown away!

At least I hope they flew away and nothing happened to them

And speaking of birds......here in Richmond we have been watching the

Richmond eagles on the James River.

The pair, James and Virginia, have been together for at least 10 years

They have already had 18 babies

Then they laid 2 more eggs

The Center for Conservation Biology is a reserach group with the College of

William & Mary and the Virginia Commonwealth University. They had a camera installed above the nest in order to conduct research.

It was very interesting watching the mother eagle lay the eggs and then to witness the hatching. People here in Richmond embraced the babies, named R1 and R2. At times, it was brutal watching nature. R1 was the bigger baby, a female. R2 was a male and much smaller. As in "only the strongest survive"...R1 was horrible to R2. Often pecking him so bad that he would miss an entire feeding.

Sometimes I had to close my internet, I just couldn't watch. But as the commentators always reminded us, this is nature.

Then one day the mother and father quit bringing food to the nest. The experts didn't know what the problem was, didn't feel it was the camera but decided the best thing to do was to take the camera down. The parents stayed at the tree on branches close to the nest but they did not bring food nor go into the nest.

So the experts decided they need to intervene. They climbed to the nest (90 ft up) and they brought the babies down. They gave them fluids and fed them fish. After putting them back in the nest, they left fresh fish for them in the hopes that the parents would return and feed them.....but they didn't.

So the next day, they did it again.

They decided they would wait one more day and if the parents didn't return they would place the babies in other eagle nest along the river. Eagles will foster other babies. But after just one day, the parents returned and they resumed feeding and caring for their babies. We witnessed owls trying to take over the nest, feedings, wingercising and finally fledging. R1 and R2 both survived and now fly from the nest all day long. The parents are both teaching them how to fish from the James River. Our local newspaper has been keeping everyone up to date since the nest camera has been removed.

It's been fascinating watching all of this and I hope next year we will get to witness this again. You can check out pictures and videos of the parents and babies on their Facebook page. Just look up CCB Richmond Eagle Nest Camera.

They have lots of videos and pics up......

later.....

Gardenias ...

I have gardenia bushes planted on each side of my front porch

They bloomed the first couple of years and then nothing

I can't remember exactly but I think the past 2 years nothing

We came home from Atlanta and both bushes had bloomed

One was covered pretty good, the other just a few flowers

And they sure smell sweet as you walk up on the front porch

later....

Home Sweet Home ...

As much as I love going on vacation

I equally love coming home

It's awesome but even more awesome when you

have 3 little doggies greeting you like

you are the best thing on earth!!!

(this is an older pic....I wanted to put up a video I took of the dogs when we got home but I don't know how to move video from my phone to my computer to my blog........ughhhh

later.........

Atlanta Braves ...

While in Atlanta we went to an Atlanta Braves game

it was an extra special game because John Smoltz, #29, was

being retired and he was inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame

And it was a Friday night game so that meant

FIREWORKS!!!

We were in what they call the dugout seats...so we had a hostess who took our food and drink orders....yay!
below is our hostess ... she was funny and cute.

Here's John Smoltz with coaches, trainers and his wife and kids

and of course throwing out the first pitch

it was such a fun night and we were so glad we were able to attend

one of the games.

later.......



Atlanta ...

We went to Atlanta for a week to visit with Johnny's family

I wanted to fly but Johnny wanted to drive!

and because I couldn't have him driving by himself, I rode with him

And believe me, I don't like it!

9 hours is just way too long to be in a car!!

And really, the interstate highways are just boring

about the only thing I can say about the ride from Richmond

to Atlanta is......

North Carolina hasn't the cleanest and prettiest interstates

It also takes FOREVER to get through NC

South Carolina is only 116 miles from state line to state line

The roads get very, very rough while in Virginia and the sides of

the roads are not mowed enough!

But Virginia does have the nicest rest stops! haha....

We had a lot of fun in Atlanta....below are some pics

below is our niece and nephew, Terri and Scott

here's Scott and his sweet wife Emily

Johnny and his sisters Dee and Shay

do you see Johnny and I  ....... haha

Pendleton is my maiden name......

here we are walking somewhere....it's one thing I love about being down there. You can walk to restaurants, the train station, the market....fun!!

We went to a party at one of Dee's friends house...fun!

This is one of Dee's doggies......Bren. I would have brought
her home with me if Dee had let me!! But she's a mommas
girl for sure.....

While we were there, Jacquelyn and Bucky celebrated their one year anniversary. Can you believe it was just a year ago that I was overloading the blog with all things "wedding".....haha!! We all went to dinner that night and felt very honored that they wanted to spend their one year anniversary with all of us! We even brought with us the top to their wedding cake.......and it was
still delicious!!

ok, that was picure overload for sure!

later......

Flowers ...

I love flowers....

all flowers, just love them!

And I always take pics of my flowers each year

Didn't get pics of my peonies because they did awful this year.

Very few buds and some of them that did open were only half full

But here's some from the back yard....
below are my hydrangeas. The PH levels in your soil determines the color so I must have to pretty mixed up soil because this one bush is 3 different colors!

notice how this one below is half pink and half blue.....crazy but beautiful

and this one is half blue and half purple!

hope you enjoyed my flowers!

later.....