formerly Diane's Addled Ramblings... the ramblings are still addled, just like before, and the URL is still the same...
it's just the title at the top of the page that's new

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Back... Gone... Back... Gone...

Hi, my bloggy peeps! Sorry I've been AWOL this past week. 'Real life' has gotten the better of me and with work, a wonky internet connection for a while, house-sitting, school registration, school shopping, miles and miles (and miles... and miles) of training walks, book/hiking/social club activities, etc, etc, by the time I sit down to look at my blog (or any others), I fall asleep. Plus, it's hotter than Hades right now and that's just beyond draining, you know?

Anyway, thanks to everyone who has checked in to make sure I'm alive... I am! But this week is busy, too... work, school stuff, swim team picnic, painting/redecorating Ryan's room (her birthday present), a DC trip (the zoo), slogging through my man-book-club book, and more and more (and more... and more) training miles.

I'm pooped.

I did want to tell you about our vacation, though. We had a really great time! Smith Mountain Lake State Park is beautiful, as is the lake (though we only saw a little bit of it). The weather overall was good, though it rained for most of Ryan's birthday. Rather than sitting in the tent all day, though, we went into town for the day and had breakfast out, saw Harry Potter (again... I didn't doze off this time), did a little shopping, and had dinner out, too. It stopped raining by nightfall, so we got to have our fire and toast marshmallows. All in all, a good birthday!

Other than that, we hiked a lot. One hike turned into more than we expected, though, as the trails weren't marked especially well. What looked on the map like a relatively easy 4-mile meander around part of the lake turned into 7 miles of up and down and up and down (and up and down). It took 3 hours, though we only had water for 2, and we were beyond exhausted. When we got back to the beach, I really thought I was going to pass out from dehydration. It was a little scary, as I've never felt that way before. But all was well after 2 giant Diet Pepsis and a dip in the lake.

We didn't do much more than hike and swim for the rest of the week, really. Oh, we did rent a paddleboat and lazed around on the water for a couple of hours (and by 'lazed around', I mean 'sweated out every ounce of bodily fluid'). And as I mentioned, Ryan met her friend Amy and I hung out with her parents, Sharon and Colin, who were really lovely. The only day I went over my Weight Watchers points on vacation, in fact, was the night we sat around and drank beer. Me... beer... English people... go figure!

I'm going to try to catch up on blog reading tonight (I promise!) but I won't be around much 'til next week. Hope you're all well!!! Oh, and here are a few pictures from our holiday!

Ryan with her mouth full of s'mores...

I do build a great fire...

The beach... where we spent a lot of time...



We met this little guy on our hike from Hell...



Ryan and Amy... upside down...

And again... rightside up!

Looks like fun, eh? Hope your summer holiday was as nice!! XO

14 comments:

Sherri Murphy said...

Is it too much to ask that when you're away you send each of us a personal handwritten note in the mail? Well, okay, just ME then!

I have missed you- but it's okay if you're out making memories.

Loved the photos.

My newly remodeled guest room is near completion-- ready and waiting for you, my dear!

Pauline said...

life is in the parentheses ;)

glad you had such a good time. glad, too, to see you back blogging. I've missed my daily chuckle.

Heather said...

Looks like y'all had a fantastic time! And now you have me craving smores... yum!

Zuzana said...

Ah, seems like you have been busy with life; that is a good kind of busy!;)) I am so happy to hear that everything you did was enjoyable.;)
The pictures are great; my belated best wishes to Ryan on her birthday, it is good to be a summer child.;))
xo

Melanie Gillispie said...

Hey, we were in a cove just to the left of the beach when we were there in June! I was surprised at how pretty it was. I hadn't been in 20 years or so and when Charles took us out on the boat for a ride around, we got to see quite a lot of the lake. It was really beautiful!

Btw-I know I'm the worst godmother in the world! But, I didn't know if you were getting any reception up there in the woods, so I didn't call for her birthday and I've been completely mired in STUFF the last couple of weeks. Her birthday present is sitting in my car and if I can ever make it to the post office, she'll get it. Please tell her I'm sorry!

Anonymous said...

Nice to have you back Diane. Lovely pictures and good to hear that you had a great time. Like you, I to find 'real life' to be a real intrusion sometimes!!!

blognut said...

Great pictures - looks like a fun time.

How many s'mores can I have if that's all I eat all day long? I have no idea how many points those are worth in the WW world?

Never mind. I don't want to know. You probably only get one lick and then you're done for the week, right?

Liz Wilkey (a.k.a. A Mom on Spin) said...

Looks like lots of fun. . . and - don't worry - you didn't miss much in bloggy-land while you were away.

We all need a break sometimes.

Debbie said...

its looked like so much fun!! Glad Ryan had a good birthday and you had some time away!!

A Woman Of No Importance said...

Diane, lovely to have you back! Seems like it was a fab, if very hot, time - We're just heading off on our summer hols - to Holland - Nothing of much note on my blog in the meantime, other than pics and a few snippets of factoids about the country! See you later, take care, rest up! Tot ziens! Fhi x

Sometimes Sophia said...

Looks lovely... Sitting around a campfire in the evening is such great fun. And I love the DC zoo... Sounds like you're very busy. Be safe.... enjoy...

Maithri said...

How awesome... except for the hike from hell part...

Missing you my love,

M

Anonymous said...

Yay, you're back! Sorta. :)

I like the pictures. It looks like you had a fantastic time. Nice fire!

mo.stoneskin said...

Phew,

Just stopped by out of curiosity and you're ok, though a wonky internet connection sounds terrifying.