Thompson Family Reunion

This weekend Harry and I attended the annual Thompson Family Reunion. The reunion began on Friday. Many family members took the day off work and met for lunch. Harry and I were unable to take the time off work so we joined everybody else Friday evening. It was a cool, rainy evening but that didn't stop us from having fun!


Once we arrived we sat down to have some "Travelers Stew". Pictured above (from left to right) are Mama, Dale and Edwina Grant, Mom, Laura, and Harry.

The "Travelers Stew" has always been difficult for this yankee to describe to others.



Here is a picture of the stew. Dad cooks the stew each year outside in a big black pot and stirs it with a stick. It is delicious!

On Saturday the Thompson men arrived at the reunion site early to start a fire and begin cooking the pigs.





Here, the cooked pigs are being cleaned and chopped. On the left Sam, Dave, and Andy are cleaning the meat off the bone (Russ, in the green shirt, is doing nothing to help.) On the right Bob and Harry are chopping the meat.


Here is a better picture of Bob, Russ (who finally jumped in to help), and Harry chopping the pork.


While the meat was being chopped, Dad, Janice, and Betsy prepare cabbage for the homemade slaw.


During the food prep Mom got the van stuck in the mud so Harry and Russ left to help push her out. At this point Janice and Elaine jumped in to help out.

Harry and I both enjoyed the BBQ, slaw, and desserts Saturday night, despite the fact that we both got chemical burns in our mouth from the BBQ sauce (made by Uncle John)!

Clay Returns to Afghanistan

Clay left on Saturday to complete his deployment in Afghanistan. We will miss him, but he should be back by February (yea!). Please keep Clay and Karen in your prayers as they complete their deployment.


Clay at the airport getting ready to board his plane to Atlanta.

Clay's R&R

Clay has been home from Afghanistan for the past 2 weeks (yeah!) and this past weekend he and Karen flew down to Wilmington. Martha and Ed also met us there and we had the best time.


As you can see, Clay and Karen had a hard time adjusting to being together again.

We all arrived at mom and dad's house on Friday. On Saturday Karen's mom, dad, brother Scott, and sister Julie came over as well. Dad built a large fire and we spent the day outside.


Harry and I enjoying the fire pit.

On Sunday we woke up before the sunrise to go to church. It was a rainy day, but we still enjoyed ourselves. We even got a pretty good family picture.


Here's the whole family together in our Sunday Best.



Martha, Ed, and Madison even got some playing in!

Finally, on Monday, we went to lunch and the beach. Martha stayed in the car because Madison was sleeping, but Mom, Dad, Clay, Karen, Harry, and I went to the beach.


Here you can see all the tall people coming down to my level for a picture. It was a great weekend. We hate that Clay has to go back to Afghanistan on Saturday, but he only has 3 months left!

The Mile High Swinging Bridge

Last weekend, as you have read, Harry and I visited Grandfather Mountain. I promised you details of our visit and I am just now getting around to it.


Here we began our climb up to the top of Grandfather Mounatin.



We stopped during our climb for a couple of pictures.


Finally we reached the top of Grandfather Mountain and the Mile High Swinging Bridge.


It was a beautiful view from the top, but it was VERY windy! One of the rangers at the top of the mountain told us that the wind speed at that time were about 30-40 mph with gusts of around 50-60 mph. Even more intersting was, that morning, wind speeds were 140 mph, that's as strong as a category 4 hurricane! Despite the winds, Harry and I crossed the mile high SWINGING bridge. It was pretty scary.


Here we are on the other side of the bridge. I know it's not a great picture of either of us, but it's the only one we got on the other side.
After we crossed back over the bridge we climbed back down to the car and began our trip back home.

Once we got to Hickory we were going to stop for a drink but we decided this exit wasn't the best place.


The fact that there was a warning about dinosaurs out on the highway was pretty scary. It's hard to imagine that dinosaurs have survived this long in Hickory, NC and that they are still very dangerous.

The Animals of Grandfather Mountain

There are a lot of wild animals at Grandfather Mountain. The park at Grandfather Mountain even had a small zoo featuring these animals. Harry and I really enjoyed looking at all of them.

There were a couple of black bears; and you know when there are a COUPLE of black bears there will also be some cubs. Harry and I got to see the cubs from a distance, but not close enough to get any good pictures.


Grandfather Mountain also has an injured Bald Eagle rescue area. This Bald Eagle had been shot and was now unable to fly. I thought the lady that was next to us while looking at the eagle had an interesting idea to keep the eagle in the cage... chain it down! What a great way to treat an endangered species! (Some people are just idiots but I'm so glad that the idiots are loud so we can make fun of them.)


Grandfather Mountain also has a cougar rescue (and yes, cougars do live wild on the mountain).


Harry and I loved this sign. We were wondering... who yells at cougars; and, what do you yell at a cougar? For the rest of the day Harry and I kept yelling at the wild cougars, since there were no signs telling us not to. "HEY COUGAR, YOU KNOW WHO SUCKS? YOU DO!"

Check back tomorrow to see the death defying photos of Harry and I on the mile high swinging bridge (ok, there are no pictures of us ON the bridge because the wind was too strong, but you'll get the idea).

A Trip to Grandfather Mountain

On Saturday Harry and I took a trip to Grandfather Mountain, near Boone, NC, to check out the fall foliage. We had a great time and got some good pictures. Check out what we did and what we saw...

First off, we almost got distracted buying some "Bonita Furniture" or for the non-Spanish speaker "Pretty Furniture".


AHHHH! Finally, we arrived!


Of course, we had to stop at each scenic overlook and take some pictures... it was a BEAUTIFUL day!


What a great view!


There were a lot of cool rock formations, too!


There was a TON of traffic, but after about 3 and a half hours we were within 200 yards!

A Friend of the Army

My friend Barb sent me this email today. I hope you all find it as inspiring as I did.

Denzel Washington and his family recently visited the troops at Brook Army Medical Center, in San Antonio, Texas (BAMC) about three months ago. This is where soldiers who have been transferred from Germany come to be hospitalized in the United States, especially burn victims. Near the hospital, on base, are buildings called Fisher Houses. The Fisher House is a home away from home where soldiers' families can stay, for little or no charge, while their family member is in the hospital. BAMC has quite a few of these houses on base, but as you can imagine, they are almost full most of the time.

While Denzel Washington was visiting BAMC, he was given a tour of one of the Fisher Houses. He asked how much it would cost to build another Fisher House and when he was told, he took his checkbook out and wrote a check for the full amount right there on the spot. He is a true friend to the men and women in uniform.

New Haircut

Today after a long day at school, I got my hair cut. The woman who cut my hair took off a little more than I wanted, but after I got home I realized how much more I looked like my Martha! Take a look at my sister and me with my new do.


Here's Martha


Here's me

How to Make a Mojito

Inspired by an episode of "The Family Guy" Harry and I decided to try mojitos (not that we have ever had to be pressured to try new drinks). We thought they sounded nasty at first, but after having tried them have found them quite enjoyable! Here's how to make one...


Ingredients:
½ fresh lime
10-12 fresh mint leaves
3 teaspoons brown sugar
50ml golden rum
soda water
mint sprig garnish

Step 1
Chop the lime into wedges and drop them into a tall glass.
Add the sugar and mint and muddle using the base of the barspoon.

Step 2
Add the rum, then fill the glass with crushed ice.

Step 3
Stir well using the base of the barspoon and top the drink with more crushed ice.

Step 4
Fill up with soda water and garnish with a healthy sprig of mint.

********************OR********************

Step 1
Buy 1 can of Bacardi Mojito Mix.

Step 2
Pour can of Bacardi Mojito Mix into a pitcher.

Step 3
Pour 1 can full of rum (Cruzan is suggested) into the pitcher.

Step 4
Pour 1 can full of soda into the pitcher.

Step 5
Drink.

Guess which method we used!

The Pergola is Complete!

This weekend Harry and I finished the pergola! It was a lot of hard work but we think it looks great! Take a look at what we've done!

Yesterday Harry attached the corner supports. I did very little to help.


Today Harry and I added the slats to the top of the pergola.


Here is our completed pergola. Doesn't it look great! It was a lot of hard work but we think it was worth it.

We are going to be an Aunt and an Uncle again!!

My sister hasn't posted this yet on her blog, but I will! Martha and Ed are expecting again, sometime around April 27th! Harry and I are so excited!


Here is a picture of the expecting family. Edward, Madison, and Martha. Little did Harry and I know when we took this picture, but little LC was also here. (LC is what we are calling the baby. Luke if it is a boy and Lauren if it is a girl.)

WE CAN'T WAIT!!!

PS... Karen is awesome too (I didn't want her to forget that while reading about my other sister!) :-)

Pergola Project, Part II

Today we continued the great build behind our house as we put up the cross beams on our pergola project. It was quite a hard day of work. We had already prepared the 2x6 beams by cutting the decorative edges and staining the boards; however, today we had to notch the boards. There were 12 boards to notch with 4 notches in each board. My job was to cut the notches, while Harry and his dad hung them. Take a look at our progress.


Here I am cutting the notches in the 2x6's.


This was our pergola with half the cross beams hung.


Harry and his dad enjoy sitting under the not completed, but looking good, pergola.


Here is our pergola as it stands tonight. It is not done, but it's looking a whole lot better. Tomorrow we hope to work on the slats that will go on top; however rain is predicted. The slats are 2x4's that will form a grid on top of the cross beams. After we get the slats up, all we need to do is add some corner braces and we are done. We'll keep you all posted on our progress.

Pergola Project, Part I

Yesterday Harry and I began working on our pergola project. Harry took a half day off of work and cut all of the decorative ends and I stained the lumber when I got home from school. Today, Harry took a whole day off work, part mental health day, part work on the pergola day. Here is our (mostly Harry and his dad's) progress.


Here is our boring patio this morning. Harry had attached the post bases to the concrete at this point. (It was a very difficult task.)


After the posts had been attached to the bases.


Harry and Dad working on attaching the main supports to the bases.


Harry posing with our pergola (as it stands tonight). We can't wait to continue working on it again tomorrow!! Check back soon for more updates...

No, really?!?!?!

Web MD posted the top 9 jobs where bacteria thrive. Of course teacher is number one. To this I ask, really? Gee, I'm suffering from my second cold in 3 weeks; I guess it's not a coincidence! Here are the other 8...
1. Teacher
2. Accountant
3. Banker
4. Radio DJ
5. Doctor
6. Television producer
7. Consultant
8. Publicist
9. Lawyer
Here's something scary: janitor and garbage collector are NOT on the list. So, I guess that means that my 20 second graders have MORE bacteria than a city's garbage OR a building full of people. Excellent!
Another scary point: Teachers are number 1, but the worst paid. Well, as people always say, we aren't in it for the money. What I say, no we aren't, but it sure as hell would be nice to be paid for our hard (and bacteria ridden) work.

Finally, a website featuring cute animal pictures!

Today I came across a GREAT website! It spotlights pictures of cute animals, mostly baby animals. If you want to check it out you can visit Squiddo. Enjoy!

Carnivale! (ok, only the county fair...just go with it)

On friday night, we were in search of an exciting cultural activity. Mer suggested the Belmont drive-in theater, but considering that I could look forward to watching real athletes play football on Saturday and Sunday, I wasn't dying to see Mark Wahlberg in the "jockumentary" Invincible. I suggested the Cabarrus County Fair, because 1)My parents had never taken me to the fair; 2)I had heard several people at work talking about it; and 3)Corn dogs, funnel cakes, and cotton candy.

We arrived at the fair around dusk, and parked a good distance from the arena/fairgrounds. As we neared the entrance, we could smell the carnival food (not to mention the carnies...small hands, smell like cabbage, you know).


In addition to the food, the fair had many things to offer. We enjoyed several of the carnival rides, starting with the swings, which you'd think would be pretty calm and enjoyable, but the teenage girl next to us found absolutely terrifying.

Having enjoyed the mechanical amusements for the moment, we switched our focus to another attraction - pig racing. Pig racing? Yes. Apparently instead of chasing a rabbit around the track as dogs would do, or having a jockey (not that I wouldn't pay to see that), the pigs race for the Oreo cookie waiting for them at the finish line. Here they are going down the backstretch:


Behind the pig track was the livestock arena, where the area FFA kids could show off their prize animals. There were cows, mules, bunnies, and various fowl, including this chicken,

who won 1st place in what I would consider a rather unusual category:


After enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of the livestock arena, we headed back outside for a few more rides. We enjoyed a somewhat nauseating ride on the Ring of Fire:


And then a more peaceful journey on the ferris wheel, where we got some nice aerial views of the experience.



I would consider my first trip to the fair a success, in fact, I even made a new friend in this nice little farm girl.