My sweet, sweet granddaughter, Kylee, turned three months old. She was bundled up to go out in the snow that day with her rosy cheeks.

My sweet, sweet youngest baby, Adam, at his 25th birthday party. Twenty-five, people!! I was 25 years old when I had HIM! And it wasn’t THAT long ago either!!!! I still remember a neighbor when we lived in San Diego who had two teenagers say to me when my babies were just about two and three years old, “Treasure this age now because it’ll be gone in a flash.” My neighbor KNEW of which she spoke, let me tell you. But at the time, I was so busy chasing them through the yard trying to wrangle them into the house, sort of like herding cats, that I brushed her comment off like she was just talking to make conversation. Then I blinked a couple of times and my babies were grown. How did she DO that?

We held Adam’s birthday party at his dad’s house where Kylee was subsequently kidnapped by her grandpa. I think he’d honestly keep her forever if Adam wouldn’t fight him for her. He wasn’t even THAT smitten with his own babies when they were babies. It must be a girl thing. And Kylee doesn’t even know it yet, the power she has with her grandpa, because this little girl has him completely wrapped around her finger.

This past weekend (still January), the sun actually came out. It was so shocking and so joyous that even though it was still only 40 degrees, Chris and I went outside to enjoy the rays. We did what we do. . . take pictures. (Only he’s really good at it. I’m just the sidekick trying to learn from the master.)

We went down to the beach where we successfully froze our buns OFF. Chris was multi-tasking and geocaching at the same time. There was one hidden in Mr. Neptune there.

So we had to brave the bitter wind to go find it. I think Mr. Neptune needs a shirt on. It was brutal cold.

Then we drove over to First Landing State Park. There were more geocaches there. I tagged along taking pictures of where I want to build my house. I want to clear out that spot behind that tree and plop me a little bungalow right on the water. It was so beautiful in that spot. I’m going to go back when it’s not freezing ass cold so I can REALLY enjoy the view.

Parallel to the beach was this trail. I love trails. I have to add that to my list. I have a thing about trees. I already knew that, but dang if I don’t love trails too. This one was covered with hanging moss. It was very cool.

Then it was over to Fort Story to see the lighthouses. We had our little jaunt with lighthouses over this past summer traveling to North Carolina and up to the Eastern Shore, but kept bypassing these two little gems right in our backyard.

This is the new one that was built to replace the old one above it. Now the old one is open to tourists. Chris climbed it to take pictures from the top. We only had enough cash on us for one of us go up, so I gladly stayed behind in the gift shop chatting with the old guy that runs the place. We’d already walked about 4 trillion miles that day. . . I didn’t want to push my luck with TOOOO much exercise. My body would go into shock and shut down.

When Chris came down, he said, “Owh, my legs hurt! You’d have died, mom. You’d have never made it!” I told him that HIS grandmother, MY mother, climbed it just a couple of years ago when her brother came for a visit. He refused to believe me (but she did) because in his eyes. . . she’s OLD!!!!! (she’s 69 – not 109, for goodness sake!)

Anyway, there it is. January. It WAS here, but I swear it was like the wind. Swoosh and gone! I guess I’m going to have to keep taking pictures. That seems to be the proof I need that someone’s not playing tricks with the calendar. Let’s see if February slows down a little bit so I can wrap my brain around it. Geez.

2010 was a pretty big year. I can’t complain.

I became a grandma for the first time with my granddaughter Kylee joining our family. After having had two boys, I look forward to a little “girl time”.

I met my blog friend, Momma (my Southern Soul Sista), for the first time as all of her biggest supporters congregated in Florida to watch her graduate from Nursing school. So proud!

I won the SuperBowl of Fantasy Football!! Whoohoooo! “Miss, I don’t know nothin’ about football”, as my brother-in-law (Gridiron Animals) snarkily lovingly calls me, turned out to be a quick study after losing my first game. I HAD to figure out how this Fantasy Football stuff worked. One thing I’ve learned from my ex-husband’s family is competitiveness. If you don’t fight to win, they will take you down and then bury you. (It’s a well documented family fact) Gosh, it was fun! Now that it’s over, watching football just isn’t the same.

I experienced my first Spa Day EVER in my life. Let’s just say that that’s a whole different blog post in and of itself. More later.

I had my first White-Day-After-Christmas in my whole life. It was really something. I’ve never seen so much snow being the Mississippi girl. A dusting would thrill us, but this stuff just about buried us. My poor Jeep had a chat with me letting me know that he disapproved.

My Jeep let me know in no uncertain terms that it was a SUMMER vehicle meant strictly to be driven with the top down on sandy beaches, not this white stuff. It did really well in the snow despite all of its disdain.

My sister was here visiting for Christmas and got to enjoy (not her first) White-Day-After-Christmas. I think she was having fun until they canceled her flight home stranding her here for four more days.

So she made a friend. She called him Vince. I can’t say as I’ve ever had a snowman in my front yard.

AND I hit 50 years old! A half a century! THAT sure happened fast!! It’s only been a hot minute since my 30th birthday which I remember vividly. I still FEEL like I’m thirty. I just don’t look at what Mother Nature has done to me. I bounce right through life with my happy little blinders on and live life from the inside out, not the outside in. That’s what I tell myself as I avert my eyes from every mirror in the house.

So all in all, I can declare that after 2010, I am now a 50 year old SuperBowl winning, first-time Grandma who enjoyed a white day after Christmas and her first spa day ever. I can’t wait to see what happens in 2011. Bring it!

It was a very nice trail that wound around a lake. I’d driven past this lake for the past 15 years and never once had I figured out how to get to it. Chris had been taking photos at this lake as long as he’s owned a camera. It’s one of his favorite places to go. I just had no idea that it was so close to my house. Note to self: Get out more!

If you’ve ever read anything I’ve written, you already know my love for the sun and the water.

But I also have another fetish. . .trees. . . don’t ask because I have no idea. But I found that I was in paradise here.

I truly have this thing about trees. Love them!! A single tree in a pasture, a row of trees on a walkway, a cluster of trees bursting with color. . . L.O.V.E. them!!

Now that I’ve acquainted myself with this park, I’d like to come back and take the same photos from the same spots in each season. Must mark that on my To-Do List.

Do these colors not just scream Thanksgiving? I hope you all have a very lovely day tomorrow full of love, family and thanks.

It’s a 24 mile long monstrosity; a bridge, then a tunnel, then a bridge, then a tunnel, then a bridge. . . you get my drift. And just on the other side is the Cape Charles Lighthouse.

We could see it from the bridge as we approached. This was taken from the car as we were nearing the end of the bridge, so close already. Following directions from online, we headed down these narrow little roads that got even narrower as we went. Then they turned to dirt roads. The dirt road had a road sign, so it was technically still a road to me. Plus, it’s the road the online directions told us to take. . . although it DID look like someone’s driveway. As such it turned out to be. A man came out hollering at us asking us what we thought we were doing. We told him that we were trying to get to the lighthouse and he bellowed that we were on private property. Nice. The website needs to be updated a bit, I think.

So we turned around and stopped at a place down the road that looked sort of official, like maybe they’d know how we could get to this elusive lighthouse. It was the Virginia Wildlife Refuge; a small building with an observatory room and a few displays. And there we saw a display of this lighthouse. It said that if you hike out to the Marsh Overlook, you’ll be able to see the lighthouse. Well, I didn’t really bring my hiking shoes, but I was game. We took a map and started out. The path we started on was called Butterfly Trail. It sounded so pretty, so we were hopeful for some pretty photo opportunities along the way. And we weren’t disappointed.

Butterflies were flittering and fluttering around everywhere, but trying to find one that would light somewhere was another story.

Then trying to get my camera to focus quickly enough before they fluttered away was another trick in and of itself. They sure didn’t stay still very long. . . well, not long enough for me to fumble around anyway.

Dragonflies were everywhere as well. They were slightly more cooperative for the feeble photographer.

Mostly, I just took pictures of a lot of totally random stuff. And I LIKE this picture. Don’t know why really. It’s so simple, yet I love it for some reason.

We hiked through the Butterfly Trail and followed our little map.

Then we came across this ancient cemetary.

These headstones are seriously old.

Not too far past the cemetary, we finally came to the Marsh Overlook where we’d get to see the lighthouse.

And THIS is as close as we could get. WTH! This is even with a telephoto lens.

On the way back, we went down a different path that took us to this. Using YJB logic, I thought that MAYBE, just maybe, we could get a better view of the lighthouse from higher up. I didn’t know how much closer we were at this point, but I was thinking that higher meant better. Wouldn’t you think so?

Nope. This is all we could see from up there. Not a bad view, but not a lighthouse in sight. I told Chris that I should have sent him up those 100+ stairs first to let me know if it was worth my effort. It was hot and that was a lot of stairs. But I made it just fine. Chris has very little faith in his old mom. I’m not dead yet.

But I DO have to say, it was a lot more enjoyable going DOWN the stairs.

Oh well, it was still a good little day trip. But the hike had taken us a lot longer than planned, so we opted to go to the next two lighthouses another day. We were hungry!

I’ll write about our stop for dinner tomorrow. I’ve got to get Chris to send me the pictures he took of our plates. You WON’T believe it. Good stuff!

It’s my Funny Friday Fhoto.

Now onto something completely different and very funny. My boss, DeWitte, has become a Craigslist addict. (He’ll admit it, so I’m not talking smack about him) And I don’t even think it’s really for the money he makes off of selling his stuff more than I think it’s the ads that he finds so entertaining. This one has quite the sales pitch and is hysterical!

Listing found on Craigslist for a Nissan Xterra:

OK, let me start off by saying this Xterra is only available for purchase by the manliest of men (or women). My friend, if it was possible for a vehicle to sprout chest hair and a five o’clock shadow, this Nissan would look like Tom Selleck. It is just that manly.

It was never intended to drive to northstar mall so you can pick up that adorable shirt at Abercrombie & Fitch that you had your eye on. It wasn’t meant to transport you to yoga class or Bath & Body Works. No, that’s what your Prius is for. If that’s the kind of car you’re looking for, then just do us all a favor and stop reading right now. I mean it. Just stop.

This car was engineered by 3rd degree ninja super-warriors in the highest mountains of Japan to serve the needs of the man that cheats death on a daily basis. They didn’t even consider superfluous nancy boy amenities like navigation systems (real men don’t get lost), heated leather seats (a real man doesn’t let anything warm his butt), or On Star (real men don’t even know what the hell On Star is).

No, this brute comes with the things us testosterone-fueled super action junkies need. It has a 265 HP engine to outrun the cops. It’s got special blood/gore resistant upholstery. It even has a first-aid kit in the back. You know what the first aid kit has in it? A pint of whiskey, a stitch-your-own-wound kit and a hunk of leather to bite down on when you’re operating on yourself. The Xterra also has an automatic transmission so if you’re being chased by Libyan terrorists, you’ll still be able to shoot your machine gun out the window and drive at the same time. It’s saved my bacon more than once.

It has room for you and the four hotties you picked up on the way to the gym to blast your pecs and hammer your glutes. There’s a tow hitch to pull your 50 caliber anti-Taliban, self cooling machine gun. I also just put in a new windshield to replace the one that got shot out by The Man.
My price on this bad boy is an incredibly low $10,900, but I’ll entertain reasonable offers. And by reasonable, I mean don’t walk up and tell me you’ll give me $5,000 for it. That’s liable to earn you a Burmese-roundhouse-sphincter-kick with a follow up three fingered eye-jab. Would it hurt? Hell yeah. Let’s just say you won’t be the prettiest guy at the Coldplay concert anymore.

There’s only 69,000 miles on this four-wheeled hellcat from Planet Kickass. Trust me, it will outlive you and the offspring that will carry your name. It will live on as a monument to your machismo.

Now, go look in the mirror and tell me what you see. If it’s a rugged, no holds barred, super brute he-man macho Chuck Norris stunt double, then contact me. I might be out hang-gliding or BASE jumping or just chilling with my ladies, but I’ll get back to you. And when I do, we’ll talk about a price over a nice glass of Schmidt while we listen to Johnny Cash.

To sweeten the deal a little, I’m throwing in this pair of MC Hammer pants for the man with rippling quads that can’t fit into regular pants. Yeah, you heard me. FREE MC Hammer pants.

Rock on.

————————————————-

Heck, I wanted to buy the vehicle and I’m not even a dude! What a sales pitch!!!

Here is Kyle explaining the basics of skimboarding; the running, the dropping of the board, the jumping on the board and the skimming of the water. Chris thinks he’s got it, so off he goes.

NOT BAD, Dude! **see, I’m getting the surfer lingo down** First time out, I thought he did pretty well. But Kyle still saw room for improvement, so he demonstrated for him.

WOW! Dude caught some air on that one!! **That’s right! More surfer lingo** Awesome!!

So Chris tries again.

Wipeout!!! His mommy cringed a little on that one. It looked like he broke his back to me. But I was trying to be “cool surfer mom” so I didn’t go running down there to kiss his boo boos. I waited patiently until he bounced upright. My boy sure is tough. If that had happened to me. . . I’d be in traction somewhere with white walls and Jello.

I’ll stick to taking pictures. . . . and soaking up the sun!

I took Thursday off for a reason, a very special reason.  Oldest child, Chris, bought himself a surfboard and with his crazy two-job schedule and my ample unused vacation days, we decided to go out to the beach on Thursday.  We were also considering the holiday beach rush on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  We locals tend to avoid the beach during such chaos and mayhem as the major tourist holidays and stick to our local pools. 

So Thursday morning, we were up and out the door early.  He and a couple of his friends (who didn’t mind “MOM” hanging out with them cuz they’re cool like that) hit the beach. 

I LOVE the beach!  Have I ever mentioned that?  This is just one of the many houses I’d like to live in one day.

And wake up to this every morning.

But I haven’t won the lottery yet, so until then. . . I’ll just drool. 

Anyway, back to the weekend.  His friend, Kyle, is a surfer dude, very cute, very chill, and very Mormon (I know. I don’t get the combination either, but he’s a good kid) and he was there to teach Chris how to surf.  I was just there to soak up the sun (my favorite pastime) and take pictures.  And relish the idea that I now FINALLY had a beach buddy.  He’s always hated the sun and grew to hate being dragged to the beach, but realizing how much fun Kyle was having (while Chris was photographing him), he caught the surfing bug. . . even though there is sun involved.  I think the addition of hot chicks at the beach was a definite Pro in this decision of his too.  I’m just thinkin’.

Chris has always been my stocky child, and with this comes a child young man with tremendous upper body strength – tremendous.  And even though he had little confidence that he’d actually get up on the board the first day out, I had no doubt that could and would.  He’s a determined sort and extremely strong.  He could have made millions in football, but we’ve been all through that already.

Here’s his first attempt at surfing . . .

He did this over and over. 

And there was a lot of this too.  Sitting around waiting for a wave.

I have many more pictures that I’ll bore you with share later.

I was QUITE proud of him!  It was a lot of exercise!  And a lot of sun!

And more importantly, HE had A LOT OF FUN!  A LOT!!!!

When he was done surfing for the day, he sat with me and his friend, Ashley (Kyle had to leave early to go to work) and we were just chatting and laughing and joking around when I realized that I had NO idea what time it was.  I looked at my phone, then it hit me. . . I would be sitting in the office right at that very moment had I not taken that fabulous vacation day to go to the beach. . . Eeewwwww!  I wanted to stay at the beach forever!  I want to retire and do this every single day.  Until I realized yet again, that I haven’t won the lottery yet.

We had the best time!!!!  This is why I can’t imagine NOT living so close to the beach.  Instant vacation on a whim without all those stinking reservations.  HOW FUN!

My drug dealers/car thief neighbors are gone. FINALLY! They have been a source of unease and entertainment (sort of like watching a horror movie) and drama for the last two years. I’ve complained and complained to our Home Owner’s Association, but they never did anything about it because I didn’t have any PROOF. What? Did they want me to wind up dead to PROVE it to them? Well, nonetheless, they’re gone. What in the world WILL I do now without constantly peeping out my windows at the drug deals and cop drama?

Things at work continue to slowly plummet into a suckhole of bull$hit. I hate this economy and what it does to the managers and the “number-crunchers”. I SO hate it when they say, “You’re going to have to take a 10% paycut and you’re going to be happy about it cuz at least you have a job!” HATE THAT! (That didn’t happen to me personally, but I know a lot of people that it DID happen to) I have the mindset that NO ONE is going to hold me hostage in a job. I work too hard and care too much about my job to even BE around people that think like that.

My ex’s birthday was the day after my last post and I intended on giving him a hard time about turning 50! But something’s lost in translation when you’re a week late.

I’ve been suffering from Spring Cleaning Fever and I’m slightly annoyed. . . because it ISN’T SPRING! I don’t know what constitutes my sudden urge to clean out my closets and redecorate my house. I want to be outside!! Not in a dark, cluttered closet. I have conflicting personalities apparently. Just call me Sybill, okay?
So I’ve come up with a compromise and that’s when it’s dark and the pool is closed and when I’m usually posting something on my site, I clean closets. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I HAVE discovered some fun stuff (pictures and stuff) that I can share later.

Okay. Then there was everybody dropping dead last week! What in the world was up with that? Shocking and surprising deaths almost everyday! Major celebrities dropping dead left and right! And the causes are all so drastically different.

Ed McMahon – he was just old.

Farrah Fawcett – poor thing suffered from that nasty cancer for long enough.

Billy Mays – don’t know. A bump on the head or something. Just woke up dead.

Michael Jackson – well, when you take 8 jillion drugs and eat like a bird, something’s got to give. I’m just sayin’. And there’s a lot more I could say, but there are a billion people who would probably linch me in my sleep. So I’ll just leave it to Chris Rock! He puts it like only Chris Rock can put it. He cracked me UP!

So even though last week was a little busy and hectic, you can still bet that I made time for the sun. My boys came over again over the weekend and swam in the pool. Two weeks in a row!!!! I say that surprised-like because I don’t think that Chris got in the pool once last year. It’s so fun when they’re in there together.

And cannonballs are ALWAYS in order.

Then, of course, Chris can’t let his little brother even THINK that he can make the biggest splash.

But it’s not always about the splash. Sometimes, it’s about the height.

What do you think? I think Adam’s got the height.

What a fabulous weekend!

First, I finally got some sleep. Folks, I had been running on virtually ZERO sleep for the last two to three weeks, making for a Donna that didn’t feel very well. It was rough. I do not know WHY I couldn’t sleep (because my body was absolutely SCREAMING for some shuteye). All I know is that I felt like a drugged up zombie (minus the drugs) with the reflexes of a tree stump, barely functioning. I couldn’t even think. UNTIL . . . I was talking to a neighbor at my pool. She’s an older lady that I absolutely adore and she had the cure – Tylenol PM. I had been taking Benedryl, but it wasn’t working one little bit. So I tried her Tylenol PM and SHAZAM. . . I slept. It was wonderful, blissful sleep. It took a couple of days to get back to my regular perky and peppy self, but the difference in how I felt was staggering.

Second, despite the weathermen’s predictable “cover their behinds” forecast for the area of scattered thunderstorms, we only experienced a very slight sprinkle that lasted less than five minutes the entire weekend. The clouds looked ominous when the slight sprinkle began and it sent all the lightweights pool-goers running for home. But not this chick. Nope, I walked up under the overhang very calmly and very patiently, stood there for about a minute and a half and then marched my behind right back out to my chair. The skies behind the ominous ones were bright blue and the sun returned.

My two boys came over for dinner. I made roast beef with gravy, smashed potatoes, roasted squash and zucchini, and brownies and it was all very tasty. Then after cleaning that up, we went out to the pool. My boys did not inherit my love of the sun. Actually, they despise the sun, so with the sunlight fading behind the condos, they felt it was safe enough to play in the pool.

And play, they did! I got these action shots.

This is Chris (aka Shark) sneaking up on his brother

who is innocently trying to show me how to sit on the bottom of the pool. (I simply can NOT do it! I FLOAT right to the top. I think it’s because of the two bouys attached to my chest.)

When suddenly he’s attacked!

“What the world!”

Chris is a brute! I often wondered why he never played football and made me millions cuz he’s so strong that I’m sure he could take those bigass dudes down at the knees.

Adam is resisting this attack the best he can. Bless his heart!

But Chris gets bored and tosses him aside like yesterday’s newspaper.

“BAM! Take that little brother!”

(Chris has done this to Adam his entire life)

Now he drags him around

to press the point that HE IS THE KING OF THE POOL!

He’s victorious!

But Adam doesn’t mind at all. You know why? Cuz he’s got other things to think about. . .

HE’S got the girl! (She’s the new girlfriend and is extremely camera shy so this was the best I could get) (Oh, and I like her too)

Like I said. . . a super FUN weekend! I have many more fun AND funny pictures, but until my hard drive starts playing nice with my memory card, I have to stop for today. It’s killing me!

Oddly, I think Donna is finding her way back. Wheee! The fact that it rained NON-STOP ALL WEEKEND didn’t phase me in the least. I was just happy. Normally, rain alone would have put me in a tailspin. But rather than letting it depress me, I cleaned my house without an ounce of resentment for all the cat hair. I rearranged furniture and created a more open and inviting space in my office downstairs. (I was a lot of HGTV) I sorted out piles of crap all over my desks and organized it (somewhat). (I ordered two more filing cabinets to organize the rest) I cooked and thoroughly enjoyed myself. The mounds of dishes (I’m the messiest cook on the planet) didn’t bother me at all either. I also played with Photoshop and didn’t scream in a fit of frustration like I usually do. (Yes, you DO have to be a rocket scientist to figure Photoshop out!) I just played freely. I played with my little garden boy here. Doesn’t he look so peaceful?

I have SO much to learn about my camera and Photoshop! I am a complete work-in-progress. An all-out newbie. I’m not real sure WHEN a photo looks good. When to tweek. When I’ve tweeked too much. I usually like the photo right out of the camera, like this one.

A

But then I start dorking around in Photoshop and I try a different effect to see what happens.

B

Then I try other effects.

C

D

E

And I don’t know which one I like better, or which one anyone else would like better? They each have a slightly different effect or combination of effects. And I’ve decided to reach out and get an unbiased opinion instead of freaking out and getting frustrated with myself for being such a moron that I wouldn’t know a good photo if it jumped out and bit me in the butt. Which one looks better to you?

Okay, so maybe this had a little something to do with my zen-ness this weekend.

This picture has two different effects on it too.

A

B

Which one looks better to you?

They both tasted equally as good. So in all reality, that’s all the REALLY matters.

Here’s to the fabulous weekend!! Cheers! Only four more days till the next one!!