the past month in photos

i have been a lazy blogger. i just haven't wanted to get the photos from my memory card and do all that it takes to get them up on my blog. so i haven't. until today (your lucky day). this is pretty much what the last month of my life has looked liked.

this is at the "free for all" where audrey, dianna, holly, and i saw hamlet.
it was SPECTACULAR!

dianna has made bread almost every sunday that we have both been in town
this was probably the best of all the loaves ever!
can you see how big those holes are?
this was the most perfect bread you have ever eaten.
i really hope she remembers how to do it this good!

introducing mike yea.
he is lindsay's beau.
he was a real gem a few saturdays ago and helped me get rid of all the trash piled up on my deck

some of the trash

more of the trash.
i think there were 3 layers of trash here.
it was overflowing the deck.

hauling trash
as you can see lindsay helped too
it was a SUPER hot day.

this is after making a ton of progress
we had most of the u-haul as full as we could get it
so we decided to take a trip to the dump
i got us super duper lost, but then we finally found it
thanks to mike and lindsay using their noggins

the dump

here is mike yea and neighbor mike helping to empty the u-haul
you will be happy to know that it took 2 trips with that truck to get rid of it all

mike yea and neighbor mike

so it turns out that lindsay LOVES going to the dump.
when she was a little girl and her dad would have to go,
she would always position herself so she would be one to go.
here is lindsay in one of the happiest places on earth
(for lindsay)


the next weekend i took an emergency get-away to norfolk
i was under too much stress and just needed a break
i was much like these trees
there was a hurricane the day before i arrived in norfolk
for the first couple of days i was there we had no electricity and no running water
hoods to woods at its finest

a broken power pole

this is vint's brother's house with a tree toppled on it.

the tree

the best of norfolk in a lingi

the next weekend i was supposed to go to botswana, but y'all know that story
so the saturday that i didn't got to botswana, but spent 5 hours at the airport, dianna and i decided to fill her raised beds with soil
it turned out to be a bad idea

we had to rent a truck but the service at u-haul was ATROCIOUS!
they took SO long to do anything
then after an hour in the line this dude,
who worked at a slow snail's pace,
told dianna she had to call her insurance provider to understand what would be covered if she were to get in an accident with the u-haul.
it was CRAZY!

dianna talking to geico.
dude doing what he does best, veggin out

dianna on the verge of loosing her cool
but keeping it by biting her lip

more ridiculousness

because i missed the botswana adventure, i got to attend my office's culminating conference
that was nice because i had put together a panel and i was very interested to hear what the panelists had to say
i think it went super well

my panel
from the left to right:
burt waller, deborah parham-hopkins, fred smith, don weaver
it was a super interesting panel

then we had a luncheon with this guy as the keynote

with all of the crazy stuff going on,
i decided that it was high time to have some fun
so i planned a bike ride on the eastern shore and dianna joined me
it was wonderful!

but not without its problems.
each time we have gone for a ride the past month+, one of us have gotten a flat tire
this was no exception.
but i turned the tide on the tires
i purchased some tubes and the little things you need to change a bike tire
and had a refresher in changing tires
so when dianna's tub broke
i let out a swear (i am not going to lie)
but then i was able to fix it!

fixing the tire

please note my awesome form!

that hair is a dianna special
she likes to see if it will stand straight up
since i was about to put a helmet on i thought who cares
but she won the battle of the falling hair
and i lost the beauty contest.

take that, tire!
VICTORY!!


it all made me a bit dirty tho

then we were off
it was about 96 degrees when we took off
and we are both not in the shape we were once in
but we made it
and we had a great time!

we rode the "oxford loop"
from easton, md to st. michaels and back
on the eastern shore of maryland
t'was super beautiful and fun!
tho, i am a bit saddle sore

lots of farms and big cottages
and empty country roads
pretty much paradise

we stopped in oxford for lunch at the "oxford market"
we were starving
and for some reason both chose egg salad sandwiches
and then we had potato chips and potato salad
it was a LOT of mayo
but we ate it all

yummm! eggsalad!!

potato salad


below is a quick study on how happy i make dianna

without me

with me!


one of my favorite things about this ride is you get to take a ferry
it was really good timing too, because i was WAY too full to start riding in earnest again

bikes ride for free

hey wind!

ta da!

we didn't take many more photos of the ride, because we both got super tired.

when we got back to our car we drove over to the elk's lodge pool and took a shower and jumped in to cool off. it is always awesome to sneak in and make friends with all the ladies!

then we ate at restaurant local in easton, which was FABULOUS! we had a DELISH cheese plate. and a awesome risotto. we made the mistake of ordering things that we know how to make. thou shalt not do that. no one can make the food you have perfected better than you. so for me i must steer clear of seared tuna and salads at restaurants (at least salads are a no in the summer).

it was a fantastic day on the eastern shore, and i want to do it again!