Girl Scouts TAPS

Well, it's been a year and a half and my time is done with Girl Scouts -- I'm headed back to Fool on the Hill and the girls! I had a fabulous time, met some amazing people but the tiny amazing people at home gets first dibs. I'm wrapping up my career as Field Director with a whizbang day camp this week -- Mystery at the Manor. Awesome, eh? =)

Now where did I hide all those GS cookies?

Finding Papa

It's been a crazy few months - okay year - but we finally broke free from work and school to head out to So. Cali to visit my pop and some old friends!

Flippin' finally - BLACKBIRD

After much too long, I've finished my novella BLACKBIRD. It has nothing to do with birds, what can I say?

It's a ghost story, naturally, with a hot love story thrown in for kicks. And you know me, there's a good dose of tips on ghost hunting throughout it. Problem is, I can't decide on a name for my heroine. At the moment, she's Clementine Moon and I'm not feelin' it. Ideas?

Gobble gobble

If April showers bring May flowers what do May flowers bring?

PILGRIMS!

Ba dum dum. You can thank my pop for that one. ;)

So starts the season of bad jokes and infantile pranks involving fruitcake across the world. To kick it off festively, Lily was the first little Pilgrim in her 1st grade play. Brilliant, if I do say so myself and those tights were kickin'. Shown here on the left with her best friend, Julia and future husband, Jacob. :)

A view from the...back deck

Who the heck is going to rake these leaves?

It's officially the best time of the year.

Okay, I may be a little biased because I get to break out my Halloween decorations at the stroke of midnight on September 30th but it's only because I've been waiting for 11 months to have pumpkins and ghosties around my house and not have people look at me oddly.

Today we took Vyolette to her first pumpkin patch complete with apple-picking and hayrides. We passed up the mega-pumpkin-superville places for an actual farm (and no pumpkin-eating dinosaur) to chat with a fella on horseback about the difference in apples grown in the lovely Shenandoah Valley.

The mighty puffball

l
My good friend, Glenn, from AW wrote a fascinating article on giant mushrooms a bit back and since then we've been on the hunt for the elusive puffball. Little did I know that the buggers were growing in my backyard (okay, I don't get out much)! After extensive research to make sure we were not sauteing something evil, we're still going to make sure these are what we think they are before we add them to the sauce.

But they're cute, ain't they?

New Jork, New Jork

I ate too much, I drank too much and didn't dance nearly enough while my buddy, Aly, was here last week. I ran that girl all over the eastern seaboard, hitting PA, NY, DC, VA, MD, DE and NJ in four days. Damn I'm good.

After a crazy trip to New York City to see Young Frankenstein and Spamalot, we hit the tourist spots and haggled for purses on Canal Street. Visited Gettysburg and DC and managed to find a cupcake shop in Leesburg with awesome cream cheese/coconut frosting. :)

Come back soon, Aly!!

Okay... it's been a little while

I know, I know. My bad. It's been a long summer full of birthdays (mine), lawsuits (Bryan's) and camp (the girls) with the odd milkshake thrown in and a nasty rash on the baby.

Recap:

• I turned forty (is that screaming in my head really me?)
  
• The girls have covered the house in gimp and I have at least seven hundred keychains
• Bryan finally cut his hair
• Vyolette has learned to say "what's up with that?"
• I started a new novella
• Vyolette can turn a somersault
  
• I found my new favorite site tonight - Wisecrack Zodiac

What'chall been up to?

Ahhh spring

Just a few quick pics from the Grahams

Showoffs

The girls' new gym was completed last week so when reporters came to check it out, Syenna had to show off. I have NO idea where she gets that from...



shud up.

To see the entire story, click here.

Wee Ghosties

It was a busy weekend for the Graham Crackers. Syenna had her 11th birthday party, insisting that she didn't need me and I'd just get in the way. Good thing too, since I had scheduled a ghost hunt at the West Virginia Penitentiary months before for that weekend. Syen had a great time with her friends, only calling me twice about where I hid the sugar (HA! Like I'd tell HER!) and for something about Vyolette running naked. Again.

Meanwhile, friends and I tripped the ghosties fantastic in West Virginia. Read about it here!

A meeting of the mods

Wheee! I spent a great lunch hour chatting with friends from Absolute Write, Kelly and Melissa. Our schedules finally worked out so we could gossip off the board and force Kelly eat Indian food for the first time. Can't wait until we meet up again!

The beach, the birds and the burnt buns

After a crazy trip down to Florida for spring break last week, I'm still recovering from too much cervesa and not enough sunscreen. Who would've thought that beer would break down the 50 spf lotion I sprayed all over? We took Vyolette et al to Busch Gardens for her second birthday where she attempted to hug a crane during a show. They now have her picture at the gate and we've been cautioned about bringing her again - they have rules about these things apparently.

Bryan's 40th birthday was the next day; he chickened out of parasailing so we took a lovely cruise around the harbor and watched out for the pirate ship we had been on last year with the girls.

Returning home on Thursday so I could be at work Friday night, my college friend, Christy, and her family popped in for Easter. More margaritas and I seem to remember wine...

Happy Belated Easter!

And we're back to work...

You know me, I don't do anything halfway. I decided that if one job was good, two would be awesome and three would absolutely rock outloud. So, in addition to blogging at Hippie Sounds, I work PT at our local library working at the children's reference desk and babysitting teens at their after-hours teen center plus FT as a new Field Director for Girl Scouts.

I need a nap.

The girls are having a great time eating leftover pizza (I have night meetings so don't cook anymore for the two hours I'm home) and recovering from the flu.

Puppy photo demands

I will NOT give in to your bossy demands, Meg! I will NOT! I will NOT!

oh. ok...

Two new babies!

What can I say? I'm a sucker for sisters-

xmas in DC

One of the prettiest buildings in DC is the Old Executive Building - you may have seen it on fire last week. I won't bore you with the historical treaties and other fun stuff history buffs dally over when visiting but suffice to say it certainly has its own character in this stuffy town. A definite nod to the French, this gray and white building looks like a wedding cake among the staid and boring concrete buildings that surround it. It sits adjacent to the White House, itself rather smelly while on tour and don't get me started about the interior decorating, and does not deserve to be overshadowed by its political cousin.

As per our tradition, we bundle up and head for the National Tree around Christmas time. We were too late to visit the giant candlestick (menorah) that stands close by though it's a favorite of the girls. Remind me to tell you our other less-favorite tradition of losing a kid while there - every.damn.year. WYYYYYNNNNTTTEERRR!

Happy New Year!

A very happy new year to you and yours from the Grahams!