A memorable Memorial Day weekend

This weekend needed to be a long weekend. Both myself and Laura have been very busy so we made it a four day weekend. We did not travel but it was a great relaxing weekend.



Friday we had a great lunch at Tuskies Cafe, Laura did some shopping and
a nice relaxing dinner. Saturday was a few chores but nice and easy. When Laura came back from the gym she caught sight of two skinks around the air conditioner that I had just leveled off in the morning. We made some great steaks for dinner and enjoyed some nice wine.

Sunday was a great day with the girls - lunch at Tuskies again - and then some shopping for Kris and Sam.

Yesterday another relaxing day - some time at the local coffee shop and we made Chicago Style Hot Dogs for supper - which was great and brought us back to last Memorial Day in Chicago.

It was a great weekend and a great start to the summer.


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Weirdness .....

While we were out today we swung by the VABC with the initial intent to pick up some Scotch so I could enjoy it with a good cigar. Well when we got there I perused the Whiskey aisle and saw a locally made Rye - Catoctin Creek which was made less than 30 miles from the house so decided I had to get that to try.

As we started to get supper ready we cracked the bottle and I poured a dram for Laura (well I poured more like 4 dram but she tasted 1) and a nice pour for myself. We were pleasantly surprised. Mild, a bit of butterscotch and nothing too strong after.

Well since I was cooking and not enjoying this on it's own I decided to be Canadian and have a rye and ginger. Well it appears that not all ryes sit well with ginger. I am not sure what happened but this rye does not pair well with ginger ale. So go enjoy Catoctin Creek on it's own but keep it away from ginger ale.


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Seen on Saturday

We saw this  snapping turtle on our way out Saturday.

He seemed lost.

Location : 22780 Portico Pl, Ashburn, VA 20148,
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Scattered showers?

I ended up having to do a conference call from the home office rather than going to DC for the meeting. After the call I decided it would be a good time to run and get a couple of things at the grocery store across the street. I threw on my sandals and started to walk over. About half way there it started to rain - just a little bit. Just before I walked in the door the sky opened up. In the few minutes from when I left the house until I was starting to head back it went from sunny to light rain to torrential rain to hail and now is back to sunny. In a minute or so we ended up with what you see in the pictures.

Isn't spring weather interesting.


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Tika's Birthday Cake

Martika loves pandas so the choice of her cake was pretty easy. I made this one yesterday for her. A homemade vegan chocolate cake is underneath the panda look.


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Another end of a semester .....

Yesterday I drove down to Richmond to pick up Martika. She finished up her second semester at VCU and even though she will only be home a week and a half before she starts the summer semester she had to move out of her dorm room and that meant packing up. She will be moving in with friends when she heads back for next year and in the meantime is subletting from one of her sorority sisters. Anyway we had to pack all her stuff.

Since she will be back we did manage to get to leave her small fridge and microwave at the place where she will stay for June and July. Which was a good thing since the rest of her stuff FILLED my car - as you can see.


Thankfully I am an efficient packer and we fit it all in - but if she keep having stuff multiply from semester to semester we will need a large truck when she graduates.


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Happy Mothers Day!

So today is a first in many ways .... It is the first Mothers Day where myself and Laura have new Mother-in-laws - so before anything else myself and Laura wanted to wish Audrey and Kaye a VERY Happy Mothers Day.

As parents you both have been very supportive to us - always concerned but always making sure that we had our room to make our decisions whether they be right or wrong. I think that is the best definition of a parent and it is what we try to do with the girls - give them all the support they need, provide advise based on our experience but let them decide on their lives .... and if necessary to catch them if they fall.

We are very proud to have you as our Mothers and we love you both very much.

Now for the other first .... today is Laura's first Mothers Day as a Mom. I


wanted to make sure I wish her a Happy Mothers Day as well.

Yesterday myself Kris and Sam celebrated what we will now call Stepmom Saturday. I know Tika would have liked to join us but she is finishing up her semester and will not be home until Wednesday. So myself, Laura and the girls headed down to Georgetown. We lunched at Martins Tavern and then we took a canal ride on the C&O canal. This was something that Laura said she had wanted to do for a long time. I did not even know they did this but


we had a great time. After which we headed up to a Georgetown Cupcake for a cupcake but headed to Ben & Jerrys instead when we saw a lineup of almost a hundred people at GC.

We had a great afternoon with lots of laughing.

Happy Mothers Day to all


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Happy Birthday Tika!

Ok - this gets harder and harder to do every year - not because it is not a day to celebrate but because my little girl who would fit in the front of my overalls is now turned 19!

She has grown up a lot but I still remember her in tow while we visited


antique car shows - she came to love roller coasters and hockey and is quite an artist - as you all know from my blog.

She also has taken on a lot of "looks" over the years going from sweet little lady through her goth phase and once again becoming the lady she is today - with her own little style of course.


Now she is in college and looking to get a place with friends. How can I not be proud of who she has become.

We love you Tika - and we hope it has been a great birthday weekend.


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