Let it Snow, Then Rain, Then Freeze!

Last night we got snow!!!! Yea! Wonderful, beautiful snow. It was not a lot of snow, only about 2 inches, but that was enough to cancel school. (Yes northern readers, school was canceled for 2 inches of snow.)

I got some pictures of the snow before I left for school (teacher work-day). Enjoy!

The view from our kitchen. Our little peach tree is in the foreground and the street beside our house is in the background.


The view from our front porch. (Notice our Clemson Flag proudly displayed.)

Once I got home from school I took some more pictures. Much of the snow has melted because it is now raining. The weather forecasters are predicting ice tonight.

This picture was taken from the sidewalk next to our house. This road leads back to the community pool.


Our next door neighbors created a snowman. Very cute!


The front of our house.


Finally, this picture could only be taken in the south. Our front garden is planted with pansies each winter. They will actually live all winter long, and get quite large. I love pictures of them covered in snow because this would never happen in Ohio. The pansies would have died long ago.

O-H-I-O

Today must be Ohio day. I got 2 Ohio emails today. Now, I have gotten both of these before, but many of you not from Ohio may never see them; so I decided to post them for all to enjoy! Thanks Barb and Joanne for sending them.

THE CREATION OF OHIO

Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Heaven, God was missing for six days.

Eventually, Michael the archangel found him, resting on the seventh day. He inquired of God, "Where have you been?"

God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look Michael, look what I've made."

Archangel Michael looked puzzled and said, "What is it?"

"It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put Life on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a great place of balance."

"Balance?" inquired Michael, still confused.

God explained, pointing to different parts of earth, "For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth while southern Europe is going to be poor; the Middle East over there will be a hot spot. Over here I've placed a continent of white people and over there is a continent of black people," God continued, pointing to different countries. "This one will be extremely hot and arid while this one will be very cold and covered in ice.

The Archangel, impressed by God's work, then pointed to a large land mass and said, " What's that one?"

"Ah," said God. "That's Ohio , the most glorious place on earth. There are beautiful lakes, rivers, sunsets and rolling hills. The people from Ohio are going to be modest, intelligent and humorous and they are going to be found traveling the world. They will be extremely sociable, hard working and high achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats and carriers of peace."

Michael gasped in wonder and admiration but then proclaimed, "What about balance, God?" "You said there would be balance!"

God replied wisely, "Wait until you see the idiots I'm putting around them in West Virginia, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Kentucky!

Jeff Foxworthy on Ohio

You might be from Ohio (pronounced O-hi-uh), if:

• You think all Pro football teams are supposed to wear orange!
• You know all the 4 seasons: winter, still winter, almost winter and construction.
• You live less than 30 miles from some college or university.
• You know what a buckeye really is, and have a recipe for candied ones.
• 'Toward the lake' means 'north' and 'toward the river' means 'south.'
• You know if other Ohioans are from southern or northern Ohio as soon as they open their mouths.
• You can spell words like Cuyahoga, Olentangy, Bellefontaine, Tuscarawas, Wapakoneta and you know which letter is doubled in Cincinnati .
• 'Vacation! ' means spending a day at Cedar Point in the summer and deer hunting in the fall.
• You measure distance in minutes.
• Your school classes were canceled because of cold.
• Your school classes were canceled because of heat.
• You've had to switch from 'heat' to 'A/C' in the same day. (Or, if you have no A/C! - added by Meredith)
  
• You know what should be knee-high by the Fourth of July.
• You end your sentences with an unnecessary preposition. For example: 'Where's my coat at?'
• You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
• You think of the major four food groups as corn, pork, beer, and Jell-O salad with marshmallows.
• You carry jumper cables in your car.
• You know what 'pop' is.
• You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
• Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow. (Amen!)
• You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and a flannel nightgown.
• The local paper covers national and international headlines on one page but requires six pages for sports.

Yes, We are Boring

You may have noticed that there have not been any posts in awhile. It appears that we missed the entire Christmas season. Actually, we did not. We did, however, spend the holiday with my (Meredith's) family. That is going to be my excuse for not posting... we weren't home. After we returned to Charlotte we went to movies, shopped, and spent time with Harry's family. Yes, we are boring.



So, what are we up to? Nothing! Harry works, I work, and on weekends we play. This past weekend we went to our friend Kevin's birthday party at the Forum. It was a blast. Kevin had rented out the VIP lounge. We really enjoyed helping Kevin celebrate his 35th birthday.

Now, I am trying out some new recipes from some of my Christmas cookbooks. Tonight, home-made tomato soup. Yummy.


The tomatoes stewing


The completed soup

See, I told you we were boring. If you want to check out another couple that thinks they are boring you can see Clay and Karen's blog. In their Monday, January 14th post they declared that they had "become that boring couple we feared". To them I say, join the club! :-) We love our boring life, even if it isn't that exciting for others to read about or for us to write about.

Crowders Mountain Trip

Today, Harry and I awoke out of our turkey coma and decided to take a hiking trip to Crowders Mountain State Park. We hiked a little more than 5 miles up to the top of Crowders Mountain and back. We had a fabulous time and got some great pictures, even though many of the leaves had already dropped on the mountain due to the drought.


Us on the way up.



Getting close to the summit.








Views from the summit.



We had a great time on our hike. We even managed to get a Christmas card picture; however, we did not post it... stay tuned to your mailbox for the chosen picture!

Turkey Day

It truly was a "turkey day" for Harry and I this Thanksgiving. We not only hosted Thanksgiving dinner again this year but ran in the 2nd annual Huntersville Turkey Trot. Our day began at 7:30 when Harry and left for the Turkey Trot. The event hosted a half marathon, 10K, and a 5K. As you can imagine, Harry and I ran the 5K. We did pretty well, Harry ran the 5K in 28:12. I finished the 5K in 28:23. We felt really good during the run, and felt even better when we returned home and could eat guilt free for the rest of the day.



After our early morning run Harry and I began to prepare Thanksgiving dinner. Mom and Dad came in for the event on Tuesday so they were also here to help dinner preparations. Martha, Ed, Madison, and Luke also were here Thanksgiving morning, as part of a pit stop on their way to visit Ed's parents in Knoxville. Harry's Mom, Dad, and sister Laura came up in the evening for our 6:00 dinner. We had a great time, but didn't manage to get any pictures (a first for us). We hope your Thanksgiving was as fun and filling as ours!

Happy Halloween!!

This year Harry and I decided to carve a Clemson pumpkin. I even took it to school to be judged in the pumpkin carving contest (I'll find out if it won anything tomorrow). I hope all you Clemson fans enjoy the pumpkin!



Go Tigers!!!

More Thompson Reunion Pictures

John Donald (Harry's cousin-in-law) took a lot of pictures this weekend at the reunion and has shared them online. Click here to see them!

Clemson vs. Central Michigan

Last weekend Harry, Joanne, Ashley, and I made the trip from Charlotte to Clemson for homecoming. We got up at 4:45am and left just after 5:30 so we could get there in enough time to tailgate and go downtown. We had a great time and the best thing of all was Clemson won 70-14. Go Tigers!


Our view of the game.



Harry, Ashley, and Joanne



Harry and I

Thompson Family Reunion 2007

This past weekend Harry and I attended the annual Thompson Family Reunion held in south Charlotte. We had a blast... literally.

When we first arrived on Friday night we were greeted with a "bang". We thought some of the Thompson's, in their zealous to reunite, had run into another Thompson. As it turns out a passerby hit a deer. It was then decided that Harry would be the perfect candidate to put the deer out of its misery; we don't know who made this decision or how it was made, but Harry did the deed. It was very sad and he felt really bad shooting an injured doe, but we both know it was the right thing to do. After that incident, the whole evening seemed a little down.

We continued the fun the next day with breakfast and the pig roast. The men chopped the pigs around 4:00 while the ladies enjoyed a good old fashion English Tea Party; although none of us were really dressed for it. Last night we finished the reunion up with a delicious BBQ dinner and a Clemson victory!!! What a great weekend!

Where are they?

It is not our first post like this... and I'm sure it won't be our last. Harry and I have not done a good job updating our blog lately. I have plenty of excuses... school starting back up, nothing too exciting happening, Harry has been on a whirlwind concert tour, and just plain laziness! How's that?

Ok, here's what we have been up to. I have started a new school year teaching 5th grade literacy (reading and writing) and social studies. I am teaming up with another Clemson alumni, Heather, and together we have 50 TD (talent development, aka gifted) students.

Harry took almost a week off work traveling around the south to see the Dave Matthews Band in concert. It all began in August when Harry, Kevin, Katie, and I traveled to Manassas, VA (just outside of DC) to see DMB. Then, about 2 weeks ago, Harry, Kevin, and Katie flew to West Palm Beach to see a 2 night concert on Friday and Saturday. Harry returned on Sunday and he and Brendt went to Raleigh, NC on Tuesday to see yet another concert (the best of all of them from what I gather). Finally, on Wednesday of that week Harry, a ton of our friends, and I saw the band perform in Charlotte.

Today, we plan on watching Clemson kick some Georgia Tech butt, and then we are heading to uptown Charlotte to watch OSU play Minnesota, Go Bucks! Finally, we will be celebrating our friend, Emma's, birthday at Cans.

Ok, so now everybody is updated as to our going-ons. Sorry we have been so slack about updating. We will try to do better.

New Truck!

Hi, I'm Harry's new truck.

Today we bought a new truck to replace the Passat. It's a 2007 Ford F-150 SuperCrew. We are very much looking forward to being able to use it for all of our weekend projects, and I especially enjoy feeling like I'm not riding 6 inches above the pavement. Here are some more pictures of the new truck safe at home. Hopefully we'll be able to take everyone for a ride soon!

Hilarious Blog!!

Harry stumbled across a blog where people send in funny cat pictures with funny captions. Here are some examples.


Harry's favorite.



Um, Oregon Trail... best game ever!!



This would be Joey. He doesn't know he's so big.



This would be Phoebe. She loves destroying toilet paper rolls and paper towel rolls.



This would be both Joey and Phoebe; they hate car trips because the only ones they go on are to the vet.

Check out I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER? to see other funny pictures. We both suggest it.

I HATE yellow jackets!

Today, while Harry and I were working outside in our burn pit... oh, excuse me, our "yard" (yeah, I'm calling it a burn pit because we have had 3 weeks 95-105 degree weather and NO rain, not a drop) I was stung multiple times by multiple yellow jackets. I was cleaning the dead stuff out of our front garden and fluffing up the mulch when BAM! I was hit hard on the leg. I didn't really know what was happening until I felt awful pain on my leg and back and looked down to see 2 yellow jackets on my pants. Harry ushered me in the garage and I had to take my pants off to get them to stop stinging. I can see 3 separate stinging spots on my leg and Harry believes 1 sting on my back. It hurts. I do not see the purpose of yellow jackets in this world, so I am starting a campaign to rid the world of them... or at least our yard. Harry said that yellow jackets are good for pollinating but I told him butterflies can pollinate too and they don't sting. Yellow jackets suck, who agrees?


This looks like the jerks that stung me.

Trying to Keep Our Cool

This is an actual picture of our wireless thermometer reading today. Yes, if you look carefully, you will notice the temperature reading is 109.2 degrees!

Record High in the Q-City

Today Mom and Dad were here to visit and they brought with them extremely hot temperatures. Actually, it has been scorching hot all week; however, Charlotte tied its ALL-TIME high of 104 degrees! This is actual temperature, not the heat index. Needless to say we did not do a lot of outdoor activities today... Harry worked and we went shopping. Hopefully the weekend will bring cooler temperatures (it will surely bring good entertainment as Harry and I will be in Virgina for the Dave Matthews Band Concert!!!) More about that later.


Here you see the traffic on I-77 today into Charlotte... a pain like always.

Wounded Warriors Mud Run

Yesterday, Harry, his cousin Emily and her husband Matt, and I participated in the Wounded Warriors Mud Run, held at Belmont Abbey College, to support wounded marines and sailors at the Wounded Warrior Barracks at Camp LeJune. The event was a 3.8 mile run with different obstacles... the most anticipated was the giant mud pit of which the event was named. The obstacles were as follows:

1. on road 1 mile run
2. 50 yard duck walk
3. off road run going under and over ropes tied between trees
4. off road run to tire obstacles
6. off road run to five foot wall
7. off road run to seven foot wall
8. off road run to 25 push ups station
9. off road run to 25 jumping jacks
10. off road run to 50 yard 30 pound sand bag carry
11. off road run to the 3 feet deep mud pit
12. 25 jumping jacks in the 3 feet deep mud pit
13. low crawl over a mud hill, into another 1 foot deep mud pit
14. 25 push ups in the 1 foot deep mud pit
15. off road run to 50 yard 30 pound sand bag carry
16. off road run
17. on road uphill run
18. low crawl through the grass
19. on road run to the finish line




The race itself was difficult. The duck walk, while innocent sounding, was the hardest exercise I have ever done. To "duck walk" you crouch down so your butt is almost on the ground, put your hands behind your head, and walk without raising up your hiney. This was the first major obstacle after the 1 mile run, which meant that we had another 3 miles to run and do all the others. Needless to say our legs were shaking and wanting to give out after just 1 mile!

Our team, Log Gringos Locos, finished in 53:25 and 39th out of 63 teams. Harry and I are very sore today, but very proud that we finished the event; and we didn't come in last!!!! You can see pictures of the event by clicking here... and you can search for our team by entering Bib # 79 and clicking search. If you want to find out more about the event visit the Inaugural Mud Run at Belmont Abbey College website. To find out more about the cause you can visit the link from the Mud Run website or you can visit Wounded Warrior Barracks at Camp LeJune site.

The White Stripes

No, I am not naming this post "Myrtle Beach" even though the rest of the posts were named after the city... Why? you may ask... because A) The White Stripes are awesome, and B) We hate Myrtle Beach. Especially in July. Way to much traffic and the class of the average patron would be, how do you say it nicely, low? Anyway, on Sunday Harry and left beautiful Charleston for Myrtle Beach to see the White Stripes play at the House of Blues.

We got to Myrtle Beach early to go to the Saucony outlet to get new shoes; only to find that it was now out of business. It was still a successful trip, we both got new running shoes AND we got to see some really awesome people. We heard one family discussing where to get lunch. The father suggested Wendy's because "they got that new baconator". We also got to see a budding beauty with a sweet T-shirt that said "I'm even sexier from the front". (See what we mean by the class of the average visitor).


Tired of outlet malls Harry and I decided to go mini-golfing at Mutiny Bay Golf course. This course was complete with a floating pirate ship that shot cannon balls every 30 minutes.


Harry and I enjoy the South Carolina heat next to a cool water fall at Mutiny Bay.


Here, peering though the jungle, you can see the pirate ship firing a cannon ball.

Finally, the whole reason we came to Myrtle Beach... The White Stripes! Harry and I got to the House of Blues early to eat (when you eat at the HOB you get to go into the concert hall before everybody else).


The concert was fantastic. The White Stripes played almost all our favorites.

After the concert Harry and I drove the 45 minutes north to Wilmington to see mom and dad. It was a LONG, HOT day... I don't think I've ever been as happy to see their house.

Charleston, Day 4

Our fourth day in Charleston turned out to be a bit of a wash... literally. We awoke to gray skies but decided to travel the 30-45 minute drive out to a local winery. On the way we were bombarded by a fierce thunder storm. We were a little worried about the flooding in the low lying areas around Charleston, and figured that the winery tour wouldn't be all that fun in the pouring rain, so we decided to return to Charleston sans local wine.

Our outing wasn't a complete failure... we were able to find the Charleston Crab House that was flipped on "Flip This House" on TLC (now "The Real Estate Pros" on A&E).


Here you see the now famous building complete with upside down sign to signify the flip.

We then ventured downtown to a little place called "Cupcake"... and purchased the BEST tasting cupcakes EVER!! We tried to purchase the giant bowl of frosting, but it wasn't for sale. That was probably for the best, though.

As we made our way through flooded Charleston (some of the streets had 1-2 feet of water covering them) we located another famous sight... the downtown storefront of Trademark Properties! (For those of you who don't watch "Flip This House" or "The Real Estate Pros" Trademark Properties is the company featured on the show.)


We kept an open eye, but we didn't spot Richard, Ginger, or the rest of the gang, but we still had a great day.

Charleston, Day 3

Harry and I started our third day of vacation at Isle of the Palms beach. It was a beautiful day... but very hot! We got to the beach at about 10:45 so we were pretty fried by 1:00. After that it was back to the hotel to clean up.



Once we had cooled off and cleaned up Harry and I decided to walk the 1/4 mile on the dock to see the naval ships docked in Cooper River.


First, we toured the Destroyer.


Here you can see Harry in the wheel house.(Reminds me a bit of the Deadliest Catch.)


The gun mount on the bow deck of the Destroyer.


On the right you see the bullets that are loaded into the gun mount. On the left you see the mounting cylinder.


After the Destroyer, we toured the Coast Guard cutter. We don't have any pictures of us on this boat because it was SOOOOO hot! We were too miserable to stop and take any pictures. Thankfully the aircraft carrier was a little cooler.


Here you see the stern of the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier.






I thought that it was so cool that the wings of the aircraft folded up to save space.


Last, but certainly not least, we visited the submarine. In the background of this picture you can see our hotel again... further proof of its great location!

Again, it was too hot to stop for pictures on the submarine. I do wish that I had gotten a picture of Harry trying to crawl through some of the doorways... I described it to him as watching a giant crawl into a doll house.

After another shower (oh that Charleston heat!)we saw the band "Wrong Way" on the hotel beach.