Pictures!

We came back last night and had the BEST time despite the 2 hours of Thunderstorm that snuck upon us Saturday afternoon. The pictures tell the whole story ;)

5/26/2007

Took a rest stop on our way to Ocean City. They had this cute little play area next to the Dunkin Donuts. Mehul just wanted to stay here and actually cried when we had to leave. He had enough of the car ride already! We stopped here again on our way back.




Mehul was seeing the ocean for the first time ever. We hadn't taken him to the beach yet. He loved it.


Another family had gone with us. Their son, R, is 3.5 years old. They became best buddies.



We had fun as well :)


Can you believe there was a huge thunderstorm around 2 hours after this was taken? They emptied the beach, we walked around the boardwalk a little and entered a restaurant for an early dinner when it started to rain. And stayed there for about 2 hours. The rain stopped but it was too cold to go back on the beach so we explored the area a bit and then went back to where our friends were staying and chatted until midnight.

Looking at cars outside the window at night..


5/27/2007

The cottage we stayed at had a huge backyard with trees and flower & vegetable patches. Mehul loved the swings.


We went to Rahoboth Beach today. It falls in Delaware (which is a state without tax, btw, so I thought it made perfect sense to do some shopping. Didn't get time for that though). This beach is less commercialized than Ocean City and I definitely recommend going here.

More playing at the beach


And a lot of cheese puffs


The water was COLD!


We decided to look for food after this and kept the camera and all the stuff in the car. 10 minutes later I was wishing I had it with me as we found FunLand on the boardwalk. We bought $6 worth of tickets (20). Mehul took most of the kiddie rides twice and we still had tickets left over. So I went on a ride and finished them off. Gosh, they were really very cheap. Boardwalk fries were more expensive than ALL the rides we took. LOL!

While returning back, another thunderstorm caught us (don't know if it was the same one. Couldn't be) at the worst possible place. Over the Bay Bridge. That was really scary. I don't wanna think about it now that I've seen this picture.

Picture from roadstothefuture.com

I'm sad that I'm not on the beach as I write this, and already planning our next trip . Next time though, we'll just drive early morning and come back same day. It's only 3 hours away.

Ocean City!

We're going to Ocean City for the weekend. I just reserved a B&B - The Garden Cottage. It's a charming little private cottage, 12 miles from the boardwalk, but it's PERFECT. I just needed something different from a regular hotel and this looks great. I am so excited! Both of us have been quite burned out by work recently and this is just the right time for it. We're about 4 hours away but we've never been to Ocean City. I will be sure to take a lot of pictures, ofcourse.

I got new sun glasses, sandals, 2 sun dresses and a small handbag for me. Mehul got flip flops (see below), couple of swim shirts, swim shorts, and a new cap from Old Navy. DH even got some things.
Mehul hates wearing the flip flops because he's not used to them, but I think they'll be useful on the beach, specially when the shoes get wet. He does NOT walk bare foot. At all. He hates it. We're taking them.


We had planned on watching Shrek 3 on Friday night, but I still have to do packing. Even if we'll be away just one night, there's a lot to pack with a toddler. I wish he was completely potty trained by now but he's not. I'm tempted to take work from home day tomorrow so I can straighten up the house a bit and pack. I'll see after the daily 9AM meeting (which I plan on doing from home, it's just a conference call).

Survived the weekend

but I'm not so sure about today. Mehul started having fever last night. I had to take 'Work from home' day and this is NOT a good day for that. There are issues at work that I need to deal with. I returned from the doctor's office about 1 hour ago. He had 101 temperature when the nurse checked him. It keeps going up and down and he's very cranky. She said it's just a virus and will run it's course. I'm just glad it didn't happen over the weekend with everything else.

Back to work..

*Updated in the evening* - Well, I had to call DH from work. When M woke up from his afternoon nap, his temperature was around 102, and he was acting like he was going to throw up. I had to call a (work) client in 30 minutes, so I felt like I had no choice. This work was something very important and HAD to be done today.
Poor guy was so miserable. I put him *in* his toy wagon and took him out for a walk, until DH came. He was cheered up by that. Then we had tea and bagels and he ate some as well. He's doing better now and actually played some even. Taking another nap now..

I'm in big trouble

I need a clone of myself for this weekend. Remember my post outlining the things we had to do for the Family Room? Well, things are not going as planned. At work, we started seeing issues in our Production system that we hadn't seen in Test. We had just updated the system in Production on Monday. For those who don't speak Software, Production is basically a live system that actual users use for conducting Business. It is absolutely critical (for most systems) to be up and running or they lose money/customers. Our client is a Hospital in Florida, and this system is supposed to be a pilot for the rest of the hospital. Basically, after we do this successfully, my company will get a lot more work from them.
So after we start seeing issues, I had to work on Wednesday night to resolve them. DH had Production work of his own to do. So no painting happened that day. I could care less about that. He did one coat on Thursday. That same night, his aunt (massi) who lives in New York called to say they'll be in the area this weekend. So it was obligatory to have them over. They're coming for Sunday lunch. Friday night he had Production issues again and I was too tired to paint the second coat by myself. Obviously, this needs to be done today or else we'll have no place to seat them! Crap!

I still have something to do for a couple of hours in the Test system, but thankfully the that system is DOWN! Yay! Normally, I would not be happy about this, but if I have to do that too, I need that clone. Second coat is almost done at this time, just some touch ups left. Once it dries, we need to attach the sheer rods, and then hang the sheers and main curtains. Curtain rods are already attached so no worries there.

This is way too much stress for one weekend alone. Not to forget, I have to scrub the bathrooms and kitchen, prepare a good lunch and come up with some snacks by tomorrow. You know how it is when in-laws are visiting. Wish me luck!

More Photography

Belated Happy Mothers Day, and here is what I received from Mehul. He brought this card and flower home from the daycare. The card had a really lovely message and his handprints inside!



DH took this one of the mini Taj Mahal.


I am in an ATC card exchange (well, I was until April). This is all the cards I've sent or received! Pretty pretty.



My first closeup with Manual Focus.


Now he knows to smile for the camera


We have prepped the Family room for painting so we'll be painting the first coat tonight. Here is the plan-

Wed: First Coat. 1st Fan to be assembled.
Thur: Second Coat. 2nd Fan to be assembled.
Fri: FR Fan to be hung, paintings/photos hung on the walls, etc.
Sat: Rods for sheers attached, sheers and curtains hung.

Dang, we were planning to go to the zoo this weekend. Doesn't seem likely. I want to practice my photography and Mehul wants to see the birds. I might have to move the Saturday work to next week.

Fans

I was going to respond in the comments, but then I remembered a little story so I decided to put it here. We have fan outlets, not just light ones, but fan ;) They were a touch costlier (remember, we got the house built so we got to chose what we wanted where). The house is central A/C ofcourse (I don't think there is any new construction in our area that isn't!) but sometimes, you just need the fan. Specially when I run, the AC or the little fan on the treadmill do nothing for me.

On to the story, friends of ours got their house built an year before us. They bought it right when the seller's Market was starting to come down and interest rates were going up. Their builder (different builder than ours) charged them extensively for every little thing they wanted. Their lot backs to 2 rows of trees and they were charged $50K for lot premium where as regular lots are more like $5-10K. It was extortion but they really wanted the privacy. Not much thereof because when we visited them for the first time in winter, the houses behind them were clearly visible. Anyhow, the fan outlets - they were a tad more ($275 for them, $175 for us) than regular light outlet ($225) but P was so frustrated by every little thing costing extra, he got the regular one to save where he could. We could just read the frustration on his face when he was telling us this. They ended up with the correct outlets regardless because when the house was being built, the contractor saw this and thought this was a mistake and put the correct ones. BTW, my knowledge of fan vs. electric outlets is very limited but as I understand it, they put a 2x4" rod in the fan outlet to hang the fan from. That's the only difference and since we're not handy, we just let them do it. Just goes to show how the builders extort money when the market is at its peek. Now the same builders are giving free upgrades and what not. So not fair.

Can I be any more absent minded?

I forgot to bring my work laptop with me. To work. This is right up there with the time when I showed up for work on a holiday.
DH went right back home and brought it for me (we were carpooling and he had the car) but this was pretty stupid. I generally don't take the laptop home with me so in order to not forget to bring it, I keep it with my purse near the kitchen desk or on the stairs where i sit to put my shoes on. Yesterday, we were getting ready to paint the Family room so I removed everything from there and all the Family room stuff is *everywhere*. But it is no excuse.

Anyhow, we bought 2 fans yesterday as well as the paint for Family Room. Name of the shade of paint is 'Ornate gold' or something like that. It's a really pretty shade of mustardy gold. We got these fans - for family room and Master BR.
Hunter 52" Yorkshire at Lowes. The center part has English Bronze finish and the blades are Dark Walnut.

Hunter 52" Georgetown at Lowes. This has one Umber finish with fontanta accents (no idea what that is) and the blades are reversible, Antique Cherry/Bretton Forest. I love this one more.

I know they're very similar in color and style. I can't decide which one goes where. Probably doesn't matter that much. Decisions Decisions.

We have never installed a ceiling fan before, it ought to be an interesting job. I'll post pictures when it's all done and the room is ready.

New Layouts

Hopefully I'll have more time to blog and scrap from Monday. I've been busy at work. Our project is being launched on monday. I started working at 6 this morning and am still fixing up some things. I am relatively new to this project and filling someone else's shoes while he's on vacation. Not fun to say the least. Hopefully things will be better from monday. I have to work a couple of hours tomorrow as well.

On to the good stuff, here are a few LOs I managed to create-

A two pager! Can you imagine how it will look in a photobook!


Credits:

Credits:
Following is by Lori Wiley of Diamante Designs. Available at Scraptastics and SBB.
Background from Essential Classics Vol 2 Set 5
Swish Brushes
Wrap Brushes

Frames by Welli Designs (In memory of Miles kit)
Flower made of flowers by Tiff Brady (In memory of Miles kit)


Credits:
Credits:
Everything except the frames is by Lori Wiley of Diamante Designs. Available at SBB and Scraptastics.

Rainbow of Color kit
Swish Brushes
Schones Blumen III
Tye Dye Knots
Jornaling paper from Grandmas Attic kit

and Quad Frames freebie by Misty Cato.


Credits:
Following is from Lori Wiley at Scraptastics.
Beautiful Day Kit
Swish Brushes
Delicate Brushes

From Lisa Whitney at Scrapartist
White Stitching

Well, have a great weekend!

Amateur Photography

Taken with my brand spankin new Canon Rebel XT. Here are some photos taken very early in the learning process. Long ways to go ...



Mommy, let's go outside..


Some bloomage.


My sister gave me this pretty jewelery box when I got married


A milk moustache. Charming.


My companion when I run..


I gave this doggie to DH when he was coming to the US after we were engaged. Yes, we still have it in a (relatively) good condition. Mehul plays with it.


And a WIP Update.

Second Year Book

Busy at work. No time to play. Hrmphhh.

I got my book from Shutterfly. It looks AWESOME except one glitch. Where the spine meets the front and back covers, there is a 1/4 cm thick white line that shouldn't be there. I think I did my spine correctly, so I'm going to call the today and ask for a reprint.

And I ordered the second book from Shutterfly. They gave me 20 pages free (was a promotion with the first book) This book has a total of 38 pages plus covers. Looks AWESOME! I liked the idea of adding full size pictures besides the LOs. So I added them every other page, in B&W so they go with the LOs nicely. DH likes this one better :) Nothing matches in this book, it's all random LOs from his second year!

Here are the front and back covers -


Click to view the entire book. *link fixed*

Took me around 3 hours last night to arrange/upload everything. Needless to say, I barely watched the 2 hour Grey's Anatomy last night. I don't like the 'Addison goes off to open a practice' idea. I loved the interaction between McDreamy, Meredith and her, and also her encounters with The Nazzi, Izzy, and Alex. Sigh. I hope the pilot fails and she comes back. How horrible of me. *snicker* Hey, this is about the ONLY show I watch these days with any interest.

April Review

1. Run the 5K Race Done! Run time was 39:12 (not 39:20 as incorrectly noted before)
2. Increase run to 6 Miles within 80 minutes. Didn't even run 6 miles this month. Got seriously side tracked.
3. Complete and send March and April ATCs (March is way overdue!) Damn! Still have to send March and April.
4. Sow the remaining seeds. Done
5. On the Angel of Love, complete beading on Page 3. No real progress on this one.
6. *Try* to complete stitching on Page 3. Nope
7. Take Mehul to the Train park.Done

Well, I didn't do very well on the goals. I am on a reading kick right now so everything else has fallen off track. I managed to read 6 books this month(!) and re-read 1. I'm sure it is a phase but I'm really enjoying it so I don't plan on restricting myself. I also managed to send Mehul's birthday scrapbook for printing, plant the seedlings in the backyard, and .I'll try not to make too many goals this time :)

May Goals

1. Increase run to 5 Miles within 80 minutes (more reasonable goal).
2. Run atleast 30 miles in May.
3. Complete and send ATCs.
4. Water the herb garden as needed. (not much of a garden, it's just a long, narrow row of herbs in the backyard.)