Charleston, Day 2

On our second day in Charleston, Harry and I decided to take in the sights at the wharf. We started the day with a boat trip out to Fort Sumter.




Harry and I headed out to the fort.


Fort Sumter was held by the North at the beginning of the Civil war. However, they did not have enough supplies to hold the fort for very long. The south started to fire on the fort in an attempt to claim the fort for the south. The Yankees were finally driven out of the fort after the Confederates set fire to the officers quarters (putting the gun powder stores under the officers quarters in jeopardy). Without a single casualty the Yanks surrendered the fort.


This is the bent wall. Above this wall were the officers quarters. The wall is "bent" because of the continued cannon fire it took from Charleston.




This is one reason Harry is not in the military... I don't think he could pass a gun safety course.

During the Yankees surrender ceremony, on of the cannons misfired and killed a soldier. This soldier became the first casualty of the civil war.


Here you see the fort in the foreground, and Charleston in the background.

After we went to the fort, Harry and I went to the Charleston aquarium.


One of the many gators living in the Charleston Aquarium.


One of Charleston's major environmental focuses is saving sea turtles. The beaches are on black-out from May till October as to not confuse sea turtle babies trying to make their way to the ocean. There were also 32 sea turtle sculptures all around Charleston that will be auctioned this fall to raise money for sea turtle rescue.


A panoramic of the wharf.

After we finished at the aquarium we left the wharf and went down to the battery and Rainbow Row.


Here you can see the sculpture dedicated to Fort Sumter at battery park.


The trees in battery park are very old and beautiful.

Here are some of our favorite houses from Rainbow Row.










Harry and I at Battery Park.

Charleston, Day 1

Last Wednesday Harry and I loaded up took a road trip to Charleston, SC. We stayed in Charleston until Sunday. On Sunday we traveled to hell on Earth (also known as Myrtle Beach) for a White Stripes concert at the House of Blues; then it was north to Wilmington to stay with the rents.


On the way Harry and I passed this semi. Harry immediately looked at me with fear and questioned... vampires? Despite the 100's of vampire killing stakes headed for Charleston, we ventured on.


YEA!! Crossing the bridge... we are almost there!


Here you see our hotel, The Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina. It was right on the harbor and it shared docks with the naval museum.

After checking in we went downtown and walked around Market Street. We also had a delicious crab dinner at the Charleston Crab House.

Stay tuned for more details about our trip.

Body Worlds

So, it may have been a little gruesome, but yesterday for my birthday Harry and I went to the Body Worlds exhibit at Discovery Place (Charlotte's science museum). Many of you may not know what Body Worlds is... and some of you might have caught a glimpse of it in the newest James Bond movie, Casino Royal, and not even known it.

Body Worlds is the display of real humans who have been preserved through the technique of plastination. In simple terms, water from the human body is removed and replaced with a polymer that stops the decaying process. This allows tissues, organs, and even fats to be viewed in a display.

It was very interesting; and for people who know me, you know I have a weak stomach. I didn't feel queasy even once. The whole visit was very educational. Here are some of the exhibits we saw.


This display was designed to compare the human anatomy and the horse anatomy. The rider is holding the horse brain in one hand, and the much larger human brain in the other.


This display was titled the dancing jumper. It was showing the flexibility of the muscles.


This display, the basketball player, was supposedly the most muscled human to have donated their body thus far. It was incredible to see what weight lifting can do to the muscles.

There were many other displays, and some of them I didn't feel needed be posted on the blog. All in all Harry and I spent a little over 2 hours going through the exhibit. There was a lot of emphasis on how life choices, such as smoking and drinking, effect your body. There was also a very interesting display of embryos and fetuses at each week of development.

Like I said, a little gruesome for a birthday, but extremely interesting.

Body Worlds website

The Return of an Old Friend

A year ago, before we started our blog, Harry and I had a visitor. There were a select few (mostly my family) that got emailed pictures and updates about this visitor; however, many of you (both our readers) did not get to see our visitor. To my delight, the visitor is back.


This little bunny, who I will name Hoppy, has come back to visit our peach tree yet again. The reason Hoppy makes me so happy (what a pun) is because I love bunnies (as any of my relatives, close friends, or students can tell you). Last year Hoppy visited every night and even got so bold as to stand up on his hind legs to pick peaches off the tree. To Hoppy's dismay, the tree is bigger this year and he cannot reach the peaches. This means tomorrow I will be picking a peach or two off the tree to put at the base for Hoppy to eat.


Joey and Phoebe also love Hoppy's visits, as is evidenced by this picture. If you will notice, you cannot even see Joey's tail because he is so happy to see Hoppy.


Hoppy last year (June 2006). Notice the ties on the smaller peach tree.

Alive After Five

Last night Harry and I met a couple of friends downtown for Charlotte's Center City Alive After Five, an event held in downtown Charlotte every Thursday evening with live bands. Last night Alive After Five featured Who's Bad?... a Michael Jackson tribute band. The band was good, and we got to hear some classic Michael including Thriller, Billie Jean, and Smooth Criminal. We even got to see a heavily intoxicated man get dragged off the stage.


Here you see Harry and I enjoying the concert. Please forgive the picture quality, it was taken on my phone.

Happy Father's Day

Yesterday was Father's Day and we spent the day celebrating with the Thompson's. The whole fam drove up here for a large dinner. We even managed to get a good picture of everybody together. (It was tough getting Laura to leave the house in the SCORCHING heat; and look, she didn't melt!)



We did not get to spend Father's Day with my dad because he and my mom are on their way to Maine... lucky ducks! Happy Father's Day to all dads!

A Night with the Knights

Tonight, Harry and I traveled south to Knights Castle... a.k.a Charlotte's minor league baseball team. They were playing the damn Yankees, not the band, but the minor league team from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Unfortunately, the Knights lost 2-3. Harry and I still ended up having a great time.


Here we are before leaving for the game. You can't tell by the picture but Harry was freaking out because we only allowed 1 hour to get to the game and buy tickets. (By the way... we had plenty of time to get to the game and get to our seats.)


We saw this AWESOME lady in line while waiting to get tickets. We are pretty sure that she is wearing jammies, with a nautical flag theme. It was awesome. Also, notice the shout out to Clemson on the guy's shirt next to her!


This is one of the Knights mascots... a girl dragon. She also has a beau, a male dragon named Homer.


Here you see the Knights up to bat.


Harry and I enjoying the game.


Now, although Task Force Scrunchie has seemed to have disbanded, I am still rooting out those who still abuse the 80's fashion trend. This scrucnchie, on the woman sitting directly in front of me, is special. It is made of PEARLS and has a black ribbon tied around it. What are, not just consumers, but manufacturers thinking?!?!?!


Our evening ended with fireworks. I can't wait till the 4th of July!!!

Summer Is Here!

Today is my first official day of summer vacation! Yea!! I woke up late (8:45), went for a run, lunch with friends, and a little shopping. I LOVE summer time! In addition to having free time to do whatever I want, our gardens are in full bloom and looking beautiful. Check out our day lilies in the back yard.



In an unrelated, yet funny, note... My friends from work and I went out to get some drinks after work at a place I will not name (they do have dollar beers on Wednesday). I got carded, which rarely ever happens anymore, but I am under 30 so that's ok. Now, the waitresses at this establishment are not known for being the brightest crayons in the box, but they can usually handle bringing you a beer. When I got carded, the Einstein that was waiting on us took at least a minute looking at my ID, even checking to see if it had a hologram. Then, in a very nasty tone, told me my ID looked nothing like me and wanted to know if I knew my drivers license number. I told her no, and asked who on Earth memorized the DL number. She then told me that she would NOT serve me without another form of ID. I was outraged! I was the oldest person at the table and this server just called me a liar to my face! So, I asked her, in a not so nice tone, if she was joking and I started to empty my wallet. I started with my credit cards and then even produced my marriage certificate! Finally, after me blowing my stack, she handed me my ID back, told me it still didn't look anything like me, and asked me what I wanted to drink. Needless to say, she transferred us to another server after the entire table of about 12 friends proceeded to ask in disbelief if that just happened.



You decide... am I the 26 year old pictured in the drivers license, or am I a 20 year old trying to drink illegally?

Welcome Home Clay!

We know nothing can make up for our lack of posting lately, but we thought Clay's return from Afghanistan was a good reason to jump back on the wagon (or is it off?...whichever one means blogging again). To celebrate Clay's arrival back in the states, we each created a picture. Meredith went the more traditional route with a hand-crafted sign and photo-luminescent Army shirt:

Alternatively, I chose the road less traveled and opted to use my graphic communications background to create an arguably more heartwarming photo. Nothing says "welcome home" like red gingham and Elmo!


Either way, we're glad you're home Clay. Hope to see you soon!

Finally Finished!

After a week and a half of not having a working kitchen, we are finally finished installing our new granite tile counter tops. We ended up buying a new sink as well. Check out how we did...




Our new, slightly smaller, but GREATLY improved island.


Our new sink... Harry even did all new plumbing underneath the sink!


Our coffee/phone center.


AHHH! How pretty!

We are exhausted so I think I'm going to call it a night (Harry is already dead asleep on the couch).

Happy Mother's Day!!

New Counters Parts 1-4

Harry, his dad, and I began our new counter project on Thursday. Harry took Thursday and Friday off work to get started and his dad was gracious enough to come and help. Here is our progress...


For those of you who don't remember, here is what our kitchen looked like before.


Here is what our kitchen looked like when I came home from school on Thursday. The old counters had been removed, and the new plywood counters had started being cut.


Here is the island from the top. Phoebe didn't like this stage. She tried to jump on the counter top and ended up falling straight through and getting trapped in the cabinet.


On Friday, the new plywood counters were all cut and ready to be attached.


Harry drilled the pilot holes for the plywood...


While I screwed them down.

We were up till 2:30am on Friday attaching the plywood counters and getting the concrete board attached. On Saturday we woke up early to go and get the rented tile saw.


Here you see Harry using the tile saw to cut our granite tiles for around the sink.


After he got all the tiles cut, I smoothed the thin set onto the counter tops.


Here is our kitchen today. We couldn't do much work because the thin set had to dry. You can see that all the counter tile and the counter fronts have been attached.


Here is a close-up of the island counter top.




Here you see our counters set up with the back splash.

Tomorrow we will grout the counters and front facing. Tuesday we will attach the back splash, and Wednesday we will grout the back splash. By Thursday we hope to be done! Check back soon for more pictures of our progress.

Anticipation

I know that the frequent readers of 17th Most Popular (both of them) have been disappointed with our infrequent postings. What can I say, our lives are pretty boring.

I have missed a few opportunities to create posts, last Thursday Harry and I did go see a play in Charlotte with some friends. Two of our friends, Mark and Magen, performed in the play "Carrie Anne" which pokes fun at Mary Kay cosmetics (or at least that's what I got from it). I also went out with the girls on Saturday to celebrate the 26th birthday of my friend Megan (a different Megan). What can I say... we are slackers.

One thing that both Harry and I could admit, is that much of our life is anticipating what will come next. We are both excited about a household project that we are hoping to complete when we get a free weekend so I thought I would give you all a preview.

For those of you who don't already know, we are going to put in new counter tops (we as in Harry and I will be doing the work). We are going to rip out the old counter tops, put down 3/4in and 1/2in plywood, 1/2in backer board, thin set, granite tiles, and of course grout. We are also going to put natural stone tiles on the back splash and the front face of the counter.


Now can you see why we are excited? Look how pretty!

Another thing we (mostly I) am anticipating is SUMMER! 6 and 1/2 weeks of school left (that's 32 days, not that I am counting). This summer I am not going to teach summer school, in fact I don't really have any work planned, other than more house painting. Another fun part of summer is watching our peach tree grow fruit.


This picture reminds me that summer is still a ways off. The peaches are small, but as they grow my school year dwindles down. I can't wait till the peaches are HUGE!

I promise to do a better job posting. I'm sorry loyal 17th Most Popular readers, we have let you down.

And you thought your day sucked...

Yeah, I think that is all that needs to be said. At least this didn't happen to you.



Happy Friday everybody!

There once was a couple named Thompson...

Our blog has been lately neglected,
Though this was most likely expected.
We may be a bore,
But it's happened before,
So please do not feel disrespected.

I like limericks. Today I found several interesting limerick-related blogs. A Limerick A Day brings us the joy of silly poetry every day (as the name would suggest). This one is my current favorite, just because I hate Wal-Mart and the thought of them sprinkling spices on the shoppers makes me laugh.

Another noteworthy example, Newsmericks, presents the events of the world without the annoyance of all that pesky journalism. In my opinion, much more entertaining than endless hours of Anna Nicole's baby daddy, Don Imus, or Duke lacrosse players.

That's all for now. Cheers!

Meet Luke!

Our nephew, Luke Christopher Jones, was born on Saturday, April 7, 2007 at 5:24 AM. He weighed 8 pounds 5.4 ounces and was 21 inches long. Check out some pictures of this beautiful baby!




Here you see Luke with my sister, Martha, brother-in-law Edward, and niece Madison.


Luke with Harry.


Luke with me.

So far Luke seems to be a very good baby. He is very quiet, he sleeps very well, and he is so snuggly!