Last night's bookclub was wonderful!

Our book for the month of September was The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I must admit I had my ups and downs with the book. It had a very slow and winding start and then by the last quarter of the book I had trouble putting it down. The "leader" of our bookclub is Alison Woo from Charlotte Weekly, which is a Charlotte newspaper. She is great-she asks us great questions, makes you think about what you've read and just handles everything so beautifully! We had a wonderful surprise! A professor at UNC was a guest last night of our bookclub and had some wonderful things to tell us about the book. She is of spanish origin, so she was able to talk to us about Barcelona, the translation, she wrote a beautiful beautiful poem about the book and was just a lovely person! This was definitely a vanilla/chocolate book! Some people absolutely hated it and some loved it and will be reading it again!

Our reading selection for next month is The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.

**NOTE: I won't be posting after today until Monday when I get back from my NJ trip! Everyone have a great week and weekend!!

Packing, packing and more packing!

I feel like I just packed a suitcase for our weekend in Virginia (which I did) and now I'm packing a suitcase for my NJ trip on Thursday morning! After this trip I won't be going anywhere for some time. I have so many things I need to take wih me to NJ-laptop, camera, cooler, books, ipod, 2 birthday gifts, 1 baby shower gift, pie plate my Mom forgot here, clothing, toiletries, copper sheet for my dad to cut into circles for more earrings, etc., etc. It's like moving all over again! I haven't been back home in over a year. I have quite a few people to see while I'm there too. My Mom has some places she wants me to go with her, my nephew wants me to go to his soccer game and I want to visit with my 2 sisters too! WHEW!! I really don't think I'll be able to do all I want to do, but I'm going to try. I'll need a vacation from my vacation! It will be good to see the Fall leaves in NJ though when I'm home! My parents live about 15 mins. from PA and NY state, so they already have had some cold weather. The sugar maples should be really pretty! I'll be taking tons of pictures while I'm there too! Jenny and Megan are excited too! Megan's friend is getting married on Saturday-they have known each other since grammar school. We will also see another one of Megan's friends and my friends daughter who is pregnant. That will be a fun time! I hope I can visit with my friend, Jean too I haven't seen her in such a long time! Jean put the kettle on for our teafest! She lives by a lake, which should be really beautiful this time of year! Well I better get a move on and make some more lists so I don't forget anything!

The weekend in Virginia was wonderful!

John and I had a really great time in Virginia! It was fun, relaxing, entertaining and just what we needed! We arrived on Friday around 4:30 and went over to Tommy Brown's Rodeo place. He has rodeos there but he also has an old saloon he created and a barn filled with carriages. Didn't get pictures of those because I thought we would go back over there but never did. The weekend just flew by! We did however, get to a cidery and sampled 4 different kinds of hard cider and 1 brandy cider. We also sampled 5 different cheeses! I bought 2 bottles of the cider to bring home. I'll break them out during the holidays! Teddy had a wonderful time swimming in the creek (looked like a small river to us). He is sleeping right now he is so tired out! It rained all day yesterday but that didn't stop us. We took a hike up the side of the hill, which ended up being about 3 miles. The tree canopy kept us pretty dry but we were a little soggy when we got back to the house. It was wonderful anyway. Then Penny, my co-workers wife and I went to the cidery and did our cider/cheese tour. Yummy! Then we headed back to the house to feed the boys the ziti I had brought. Then Penny, Gaius and their two boys headed back to Charlotte. They had a Zak Brown concert to go to for Gaius' birthday. So John and I read, napped and then had dinner together. We woke up this morning so well rested and relaxed and the sun was shining brightly! We took Teddy over to the creek/river for a swim, which he loved! Had breakfast and then read our books out on the front porch. The rocking chairs, view, company and everything was just wonderful! We headed back to Charlotte at 2:00, stopped at Cracker Barrel for a late lunch, stopped at PetSmart for a new collar for Teddy (he lost his in the river). We are caught up with the laundry and ready to chill for the night! What a fabulous weekend! Here are the pictures of the weekend-enjoy!


This is the bridge to the house we stayed in this weekend.


Here is where we stayed!


This view is from the side driveway.


The owner built a bellfry on the house, it really works too!



We were sitting on the rocking chairs on the front porch and this was our view to the horse barn.

NOW TO THE INSIDE OF THE HOUSE:


This was our Master Bedroom! We took this from the huge Master Bathroom. It was wonderful!


There was a little sitting area off the Master Bedroom.


The Master Bath jacuzzi tub and bathroom itself was huge (as you can see).



This is the woodstove that was in one of the many sitting areas downstairs.


This is the fireplace and a huge antique safe built in the stone in the Great Room.


There was a bar area in the great room.

BACK OUTSIDE TO THE RIVER AND TEDDY!


See how much Teddy loved the river. He was going after a stick John had thrown to him.


This is definitely an action shot. Teddy just got out of the river and was shaking himself off-yuck!


This was inside the horse barn. What beautiful stalls these horses had. The owner doesn't keep horses there anymore, which is a shame because the barn and stalls were gorgeous!


The Creek/River in front of the house.

A much needed getaway!

Today John and I will be heading up to the mountains of Virginia! It should be a really great time and a much needed one! We have been through so much the last year with all the house things and we are exhausted and are glad to be getting away from everything for the weekend. I made a pan of ziti for tomorrow's lunch, an apple crisp for dessert tonight and potato salad for dinner tonight. The other family we are going with is a guy I work with, his wife and 2 boys. They have to leave Sat. at 2 to go home to a concert but John and I are staying until Sunday. My co-workers birthday is today, hence the apple crisp. His wife is making BBQ, corn on the cob and tomato mozarella salad. That was a request of his. I have pack 3 books, playing cards, games and my ipod. I think that should keep me busy when I'm not outside playing with Teddy and hiking with John. It is forcasted to rain the whole weekend, but that it ok just as long as we are away, together and reading, playing games or watching a movie! I won't be blogging for the next few days. Everyone have a lovely weekend!

Today is the big day!

Well today is the big day we sell our house! This has been a long time coming and we are so glad it is finally going to end this chapter in our life. I was tempted to go over to the house last night and say goodbye, but I chose not too. It is a little sad selling this house since Jenny, our youngest daughter got married there and Megan, our oldest daughter had her rehearsal dinner there for her wedding. But sometimes things change and you need to just move on. This was our first house in the South. We moved here in June 2004, so we had 5 years and 3 months there. We are very happy renting the townhouse we are in now though. Alot less work taking care of a 2,000 sf townhome than a 4,000 sf house! I hope the new owners are happy there and take care of it. Bye old house!

We are getting some rain today!

Today is has been raining off and on. We needed some more, my plants are happy! I'm glad we haven't gotten as much rain as Georgia though! I feel sorry for the people of Georgia. Not much going on with me today, just work, making some jewelry after work and chillin' out with John when he comes home!

New Oval Copper Earrings!

I just finished these textured oval copper earrings! I call them firelight. I put them on my etsy.com site. You got to etsy.com, click on the drop down box and click on Seller. In the box to the right of Seller put in cherylmcdermitt1. When my page comes up you click on cherylmcdermitt1 again and my entire page comes up. I had alot of fun creating these earrings, so I made 2 prs.!

Shopping with Megan yesterday!

Megan came over yesterday and we went to lunch at Brixx Pizza, shopping at Home Goods/Marshalls, Target and Harris Teeter. We needed to buy a baby shower gift for Megan's friend, Sarah. The baby shower will be October 10th in NJ. We will be in NJ the weekend before that for another friends wedding, so we'll bring the gift for the shower then. We had so much fun looking at all the little baby clothes and accessories. What cute little baby things we saw! This is what I bought for Sarah and Warren's baby!


This little hooded bath towel was so cute! I couldn't resist!


Sarah and Warren don't want to know the sex of the baby, so we had to keep it neutral. This little outfit was just so cute! On the bottom of the little feet it says quack to go with the little duck on the front of the outfit!


This is the closeup of the little feet bottoms.



I found a really pretty gift bag to put everything in too! You can't see in the picture but Rock a bye Baby is in glitter. There are such cute things for babies today. The card I bought is a little baby in a pea pod and it says sweet pea on the front. I can't wait until I will be buying little things for my grandchild when they come!!

Feeling Much better today!

I woke up at my usual work time today and felt so much better. I guess mostly sleep for a day and a half really works. The TheraFlu also helped. I am just going to take it easy and relax for the weekend too. No sense pushing it. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

I took today off from work.

I really couldn't go to work today with this fever. However, after sleeping in this morning and resting all day and night yesterday the fever broke. I wasn't going to push it so I stayed home. I have been sleeping, reading, resting and relaxing. I feel much better, not 100% but that will come soon enough. I plan on just staying in bed the rest of the day and night and getting well. Tomorrow I will probably go to work unless the fever comes back. Everyone have a great day!

Under the weather today :(

I really wish I was in bed today. I am at work with a huge headache, sore throat, runny nose and just plain feeling under the weather. This all started last yesterday afternoon. Our temperature keeps changing here in Charlotte and I'm sure that has something to do with it. Megan and Ken have it too! I am drinking tons of fluids and last night and tonight I will be in bed after I get home from work.

Splashed!

I've been "splashed" by Mary at BookfanMary! Thanks Mary!! This is what you need to do: "Nominate 9 blogs that allure, amuse, bewitch, impress or inspire you, link to your nominees within your post, let your nominees know they have been splashed by commenting on their blogs, and link to the person who nominated you."

I am not going to nominate 9 people, but if you would love to do this please do! Enjoy!

Lunch at Pike's!

Today I had lunch with my friend, Marianne. She belongs to CREW and that is how I met her. We went to an old-fashioned soda shop today for lunch called Pike's. It is in the Southend section of Charlotte and the food is awesome! The pot roast plate was the special today and it was so good! Everything there is homemade and it really tasted like something I would make in my own kitchen. We had a wonderful time talking about business, CREW, our lives and books! What could be better than that! She is in the same business as my husband, so her company is feeling the effects of the economy also. We both have been in these businesses long enough to know what goes up must come down. Hopefully we are on the upward swing now! It was great to get out of the office and converse with another woman!

Something's A Flutter!

I just found out the Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden in Belmont, NC is having Something's a Flutter. This is taking place from now until October 11th. You can experience the lifecycle of the butterfly as multiple species of butterflies go on exhibit at The Orchid Conservatory. The will have multiple butterfly chrysalis on display, which will be releasing butterflies and allowing them to fly free in the conservatory. Megan and Ken have wanted to go with us to the DSBG ever since I took my mother, sister and nephew. This would be the perfect time. I will have to see if they would like to go this Sunday. It should be a wonderful experience and a great place for me to take more photos!

Saturday Drive and Sunday Stroll

John and I decided to go to the library on Saturday. When we were done, we headed out for a drive. We love to look at the architecture of homes and buildings. We drove to 3 neighborhoods, which have beautiful homes in them. The first one was Giverny. I wasn't able to take pictures of the homes since there was alot of traffic and no where to pull over. We then headed to Dillworth. I love this area because there are so many homes in the Craftsman Style! Absolutely gorgeous. Then on to Myers Park area. These homes are so beautiful and very expensive. I really like Dillworth area the best. I love a more cottage feel, but it is nice to see the "big houses" too! We drove past Freedom Park after that. We stopped at a pizza place and had 2 slices. What a really lovely day! Today John and I took a walk around our neighborhood and then down the street to the next one. You'll see all the pics from that walk too! Hope you enjoy our Saturday Drive and our Sunday stroll!


The Dillworth section of Charlotte has alot of craftsman style homes. This was my favorite when we drove through here on Saturday.


Myers Park is an older section of Charlotte, with multi-million dollar homes. Here is one of them!


This is Freedom Park in Charlotte. They are getting ready for the Art Festival, which starts 9/24.


Queens Road West has some very old and very beautiful homes on it. Queens College is right off this road, which is of course on Queens Road.


There is a section of Charlotte called Giverny. The streets are tree-lined (as you can see). It is very beautiful through here.


There are 2 camellia bushes right outside our front door. They are loaded with buds. I can't wait until late November or the beginning of December for them to bloom.


The decorative grasses are blooming around our neighborhood now. Here is a low growing one. It actually is in a group of 5 but I liked this one the best!


These beautiful little begonias are growing across the way in the center courtyard here where we live. They had just been watered by the irrigation system and looked sparkly!


On our walk there were alot of decorative grasses blooming. I really love these.


These Paperbark River Birch Trees are growing around the perimeter of the courtyard in our neighborhood. The just reach towards the sky-how beautiful!



Look at the wonderful bark on this beautiful tree!


I don't know what shrub this is but the red leaves are gorgeous this time of year!

This rock wall is in the next neighborhood over. John and I really love the curve of it!


Here is a closeup of the rock wall. We love all the many different colors in the rocks.

Just Chilling Out Today :)!

John and I were suppose to go up to Salisbury, NC today. We were going to meet up with one of my co-workers who lives in Salisbury. There is a Civil War Prison and Memorial there. John is a Civil War buff. This is the co-worker whose wife has Stage 4 Lung Cancer. She is in the hospital right now having some experimental treatment. We were going to help my co-worker with his 3 kids and make some dinner for them. My co-worker called a few minutes ago and said his wife has taken a turn for the worse and we wouldn't be able to come up today. I really feel for this family. Please keep them in your prayers! John and I are giving them one of our computers we are not using, so today we are taking everything off the computer that is ours and putting in one of our active computers. That is no small fete, I'll tell you!

John and I will probably just read, watch a little TV, do a little transplanting work in the courtyard and take a nice long walk with Teddy. A lovely weekend! Everyone have a grand weekend!

Today is the 8th anniversary of 9/11

Today is the 8th anniverary of 9/11. Please take some time today to remember those that lost their lives and for those that have had their lives touched by this horrific tragedy our country has suffered. My husband was suppose to be in that building that morning but his train was stopped in Hoboken. They were told something happened and they would not be able to take the Ferry over to NYC. I thank God everyday that he was stopped in Hoboken!

God Bless America!

My Son- in - Law is amazing!

Ken, is Megan's husband. He came over tonight and was just going to boot up our company website and then one thing lead to another and he ended taking care of all the things on my computer that was giving me trouble! What a guy! He cleaned things up that didn't need to be on there, he moved all my itunes music and audiobooks over to the D Drive because it was using up all my C drive, he took some pop up things off that I never put on there but games I download brought them with them and clogged up my computer, I could just go on and on. But now all I have to do is defrag the computer tonight when I am done working on here! AMAZING!! It is like getting a new computer all over again! Not only did he take care of the computer, he told me some secrets I can use on my digital camera too! I can now take pictures of my jewelry upclose and it will be crystal clear! John had showed me some secrets too, but Ken really showed me some photographer secrets. The one picture I took came out absolutely wonderful! John and I are truly indebted to Ken, we are so glad he is our son-in-law! THANK YOU KEN!! Megan is one lucky girl that is for sure and not just because he fixed my computer and showed me how to use the camera correctly-LOL!

Rainy day here in Charlotte

Good Morning Everyone! It is rainy and gray here in Charlotte and it is definitely affecting my sinus'. I am feeling a little down and punky today. I think it is just the weather and my sinus'. Hopefully that will go away soon. Tonight my son-in-law is coming to connect something on the computer so our business website works. John will be working at Best Buy. I will probably just read if my sinus headache allows. I am really enjoying The Shadow of the Wind now, it has gotten more interesting. Everyone have a great day!

Odds and Ends

I don't have anything much to report today. Yesterday we had a very nice Labor Day picnic with the girls and their men. Everyone brought something and of course, we had too much food. Leftovers are always wonderful! I was super busy at work today and I had by CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) luncheon meeting today. The guest speaker was really good. His name was Brian Parsley, a motivational speaker of sorts. The topic was I love my job....again! This speech was geared towards reinventing your enthusiasm for your job, make it new and fresh. He also talked alot about branding yourself and your company. We all have to be careful in this world of making your life so public (blogs, facebook, twitter, etc.) and that we may be branding ourselves without giving what we post much thought. He made some really good points and also had many jokes to tell. Very interesting topics. Tonight DH is working so I'm going over to the jewelry table in a little bit. I made some gingerbread for the guys at work. They all told me none of their wives bake!! I love to bake! Everyone have a great evening!

HAPPY LABOR DAY EVERYONE!

Happy Labor Day everyone! I hope y'all are going to have a picnic, gathering or just plain relaxing today! I did a little research on Labor Day and here is what I found (in a nutshell). Labor Day was first started in Canada, but it began in America on September 5, 1882. Labor Day was dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. So everyone enjoy your day off from work, relax and enjoy the day!

Happy 70th Gone With the Wind

I have watched GWTW so many times but it is still one of my favorites and always will be! I went on-line and looked at all the GWTW black and white photos and then decided to pick the gown I'm going to wear for the Ball! Nikki from The Scarlett Rose Garden was gracious enough to be our Hostess-thank you Nikki!


I have chosen the BBQ Gown. How beautiful! There were so many beautiful gowns in that movie. It was hard not to chose the Blue Portrait Gown but it is too hot to wear that gown right now. Y'all know it is a little hot this time of year.


Here's Mammy now to help me into my BBQ gown. Even though she can be bossy at times, I just love her to death!


Oh and here is the handsome Rhett Butler! I know we had that little embarrasing moment in the library at the BBQ but I forgive him and isn't he just so handsome. I wouldn't tell him that though he just might get a swelled head or something! I just do adore Mr. Rhett Butler!


I saw this sketch on-line, I love this artwork!

What a wonderful movie, which I'm sure will entertain every one for many, many years to come! Happy Birthday Gone With the Wind!!

Grey Gardens, the movie

Last night John and I watched a very interesting movie called Grey Gardens. It was based on a true story. Here is a synopsis of the movie:

Based on the life stories of the eccentric aunt and first cousin of Jackie Onassis (both named Edith Bouvier Beale aka "Big and Little Edie") raised as Park Avenue débutantes but who withdrew from New York society, taking shelter at their Long Island summer home, "Grey Gardens." As their wealth and contact with the outside world dwindled, so did their grasp on reality. They were reintroduced to the world when international tabloids learned of a health department raid on their home, and Jackie swooped in to save her relatives.

Jessica Lange played the role of the mother (Big Edie) and Drew Barrymore (Little Edie) played the role of the daughter. Both women played there roles very well. Sela Ward played the role of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. She had a very minor role in the movie though. I was very surprised to see how these 2 women lived their lives. It is a very interesting movie.