It's Here! It's Here!

I think Fall is finally here!! I just opened the front door to say goodbye to V and it's cold outside! (6:45 a.m.) Looked it up and the temperature is 50 degrees. Quite a change from waking up to temps in the high 70's low 80's. Sure it'll warm up later, to 80 something....wonderful!

Just in case you're shaking your head, thinking that 50 degrees isn't cold, remember I'm from Southern California, now living in Florida...anything under 70 is cold for me. LOL!

Now I get to go pick out a sweater to wear to work! Yippee!!

St. Simons Island

The kids on the beach at St. Simons Island, Georgia. The water was so warm!!


Mike and Justine standing in the surf. When we first got to the beach the tide was very high. The steps leading down to the beach lead right into the water. Then after lunch it looked like this in the photo. How cool is that?!
On the top of the lighthouse at St. Simons Island. We LOVE lighthouses! This one was only about 127 steps to the top. The view was lovely. You can kinda see the water park below...beautiful pools, mini golf, play grounds and picnic areas. Looks brand new, too. We didn't have time to spend there yesterday, but we'll keep it in mind for the future.
Mike and the kids by the lighthouse.

We woke up Sunday morning....everyone was kinda grumpy about having to do chores. I mean everyone, even Mike and me (laundry, cleaning and mowing the grass). So in the spur of the moment, we packed up the car with food, etc. and left our obligations behind and drove to St. Simons Island in Georgia. It was a great day to get away, see something new and spend some time together.

Don't Try This at Home

Went for a bike ride today.

Fell...again.

At the busiest intersection in town. In the street. In front of God and everyone...possibly my neighbors, friends, people from work/church and maybe Joey's school bus. Ugh.

Didn't get hurt. Well, my ego did.

Godzilla strikes again.

Cooter Tri

I have two friends (BFFs) that did something extraordinary for me yesterday that I have to tell you about. I'm still reeling from their generosity and thoughtfulness.

Since Jen and I participated in a relay team at the Danskin Sprint Tri in May, we've been training do to a Sprint Triathlon as an individual participant. We were both planning on doing the third in the JaxTri Series in August, but I had some dehydration difficulties and couldn't participate. Jen did, and kicked butt. So the next tri we have for our goal is the Cooter Tri in Inverness, Florida. I hit another glitch, this one financial. September/October are heavy months financially speaking for anyone with kids, especially kids in band and 8th graders who want to go to DC in the spring. Between those expenses, the new car, etc. I just couldn't justify spending money on just me. If your a mom, you get this. These kind of sacrifices just come with the territory.

It broke my heart to tell Jen I would have to pass up on the Tri and shoot for the Spring. Tri Season starts in the Spring and ends early Fall (this Cooter Tri is one of the last ones).

BUT little did I know that my too friends were scheming this wonderful surprise for me, you probably guessed already...they picked up the tab for the entire Tri (entry fees, goodies...even a cool outfit to race in!). I start to cry every time I think about it. I hope they realize how grateful I am for this gift and their friendship. I don't know what I did to deserve such good friends. I'm so extremely motivated to work hard, finish my training and do my absolute best at the race.

So get out your pom-poms and start cheering...I'M GOING TO THE COOTER TRI!!

Need a laugh?

Every Fall my BFF, Becky, and I discuss the new shows, what we'll be watching and what we should avoid. We both love Survivor, House, Amazing Race and Lost. I love Fringe, Bones and Wherehouse 13. She loves Dancing With The Stars. I haven't seen it since that guy from Seinfeld was on, but when I heard that this year Donny Osmond was gonna be on, I got curious. So Becky, being the wonderful friend she is, sent me a rundown of all the participants this year. PLEASE NOTE: This list is for fun and not intended to be taken seriously, if you are offended by any comments...maybe you should get a life.


This year's DWTS line-up:

Aaron Carter (singer, quick! name one song he did!)
Ashley Hamilton (like father like son, only paler)
Chuck Liddell (UFC fighter...now we'll see if he's really as tough as he thinks he is!)
Debi Mazar (actress, quick! name one thing she was in)
Donny Osmond (....sigh.....)
Joanna Krupa (model slash actress, aren't they all?)
Kathy Ireland (see above, but at least Kathy built a retail empire!)
Kelly Osborne (yes,Ozzy's daughter, but she looks fabulous)
Louie Vito (professional snowboarder, maybe you caught him in the X-games? Me neither)
Macy Gray (singer, probably should stick to what she does best)
Mark Dacascos (host of Iron Chef America, he may be out of his element here)
Melissa Hart (Sabrina's back, trying to escape from the ABC Family channel!)
Michael Irvin (another football player, come on! Emmitt did it best, now leave it alone!)
Mya (singer, hey if Lil' Kim can do it, so can she. Yeah, we'll see)
Natalie Coughlin (another Olympic athlete, oooh bring back Apollo! Pleez!)
Tom Delay (Politician, O..M..G...kiss of death for Cheryl is all I can say)

Around the House

Right at our house: All three kids are making a concoction out of corn starch and water (and food coloring). It's solid while you're working it with your hands, but the second you stop, it starts to turn into a liquid. Very cool. The kitchen is a wreck, but the kids are happy.

JAKE UPDATE:
Jake is a lot bigger than the last time I blogged about him. He's so cute...when he comes in the house (always a very short visit) he turns over on his back so we can scratch his tummy. Gracie just loves him, she's always trying to play with him. They are both pretty gentle with each other. It's sweet.

Remember doing this?

IMG_3743
Originally uploaded by brenda.pirie

I bet most of you did this at one time during your childhood. I remember doing this and also growing the tops of carrots in a jar lid. It was fun watching them grow...remember?

Justine...my "green" girl.

Band Fans, this is for you!

Fleming Island High School Band
Veronica in her uniform...the show name Elton John Side Two!

Thought all you band fans would like to see V in action. She absolutely LOVES the uniforms and the music. Mike saw the show at the football game last week and I got next week to check it out. He said it was great...I can't wait to see it!

Alice is in the House

Oh Happy Day!!! I got my Starmore book today! Finally.

And yes, I knit the vest in the back ground. Several years ago it was the class project in our Knitting Workshop class. I had never knit with such tiny yarn before and had to learn to knit Continental in order to get the job done. My mom made an entire sweater for her project, sleeves and all! I thought she was so amazing to take on a whole sweater.

Enough blogging...I gotta go read my new knitting book!!

Bad Brenda

I went on a great bike ride this morning. First I went to Black Creek then through Eagle Harbor to Doctor's Lake. The lake was so pretty. I was hoping to see a manatee, but only jumping fish were entertaining me. I made my way home and as I turned into my neighborhood, things went bad.

We have a neighbor who's dogs are ALWAYS off leash and wandering about, well, today the little one was out. It's small, probably a shitz shu. It took off after me, barking and growling. The owner was out front and didn't even call it back! So after a few seconds, I unhooked a foot and gave it a swift kick in the face! It stopped chasing me after that.

If their other dog gets out and chases me, I'm up the proverbial creek...it's a St. Bernard.

36.53

Justine's socks!
Turtle Trotters!

Today was the Turtle Trot in Fernandina Beach! I ran the 5K and finished in 36 min. 53 sec. Mike, Justine, Jen, Christine and her family were all there...it was a great time! The weather was very nice, not too hot and some cloud cover. The hardest part was waking up at 5am so we could take the hour drive to Fernandina, getting there about 6:15am. Ugh.

I also finished Justine's socks today. Yeah!

Never Say Never

I did something I said I would never do here in Florida. I went to Walmart. I needed a black ink cartridge for my printer ASAP, and Target was out, and Radio Shack didn't open until 10:00 a.m. Ok, from now on....I'm not ever going to shop at Walmart. Call it a 'do over'.

Please. I really hate Walmart.

A Perfect Day

Yesterday Mike took the day off and after sending the kids off to school, we drove to St. Augustine to play! Having recently purchased the Entertainment Book from Justine's school, and armed with coupons galore, we thought we'd go visit the Lightner Museum. Well, we got distracted and short on time and never made it to the museum BUT....here's what we did instead:

Mike thought it would be a good idea to check in at the Visitor's Center to see what they suggest and possibly get a map. He LOVES maps. We ended up buying the St. Augustine's Historic Points of Interest Walking Tour map. Best $3.13 we ever spent. It contains 5 short and easy walking tours all around the Historic area of St. Augustine. Now, you should know we've been to St. Augustine many, many times. But, we usually do about the same thing (with friends & family from San Diego) and lots of times things are closed or we have the kids with us. Today was all ours to do something new and learn more about this city we've fallen in love with.

We did the Flagler Buildings Tour #3. The most exciting things we saw were the Alcazar Hotel Swimming Pool and the Memorial Presbyterian Church. The pool was the largest indoor swimming pool in the world at the time, but is now an antique mall and restaurant. Click on the link for the pool so you can see it...it filled the entire bottom of the room and measured 50' x 120' with a private area for the ladies at one end. It was so cool to walk down the stairs into the actual pool area and imagine it filled with water and everyone cooling off in the spring water. Spring water is typically 72 degrees. The restaurant down there looked adorable and the prices were very reasonable. We didn't eat there because it was mid-morning and we weren't hungry yet. We were the ONLY people walking around inside there, too. In the photo, you can see a man on the steps...we walked up those steps to the next level and walked around, too. Many of the rooms on that floor are now for conferences, meetings, etc. The architecture of the building inside and out is fantastic!

We walked around some more...a bunch of college students (Flagler College) wandering around, sitting in the heat at bus stops, or waiting in line at various buildings could be seen. I don't know if school had started yet for them. The day was beautiful, but it was getting very warm for walking around. I told Mike that I'd always wanted to see inside this church by the college. I'd seen it many times on the trolley tours and heard about the beautiful marble, stained glass and best of all...the Flagler mausoleum. We walked over to the Memorial Presbyterian Church and went INSIDE! We took ourselves on the self guided tour and learned alot about this beautiful building. Flagler built the church in 1889 as a memorial to his only daughter who died at sea en route to St. Augustine. It was modeled after St. Mark's in Venice, Italy. The stained glass, carved mahogany, mosaics and marble inside are breathtaking. Go see it if you're in town...they only ask for a $1 donation. A very unique, budget friendly way to spend your time.

After walking some more, we just were too darn hot and sweaty to continue. We stopped at Harry's Bar & Grille for lunch. They have a beautiful patio (fully shaded) for eating outside, and it wouldn't have been too hot to eat outside...but we'd been walking in the heat and needed to get out of it for a bit. After lunch, we drove across the temporary bridge to check on the progress of the Lion's Bridge that's being renovated. Everything is coming along beautifully...MaryLou and Al, you're gonna be amazed at how different it looks. Then we went to pick up the kids at school.

Um, after getting the kids, we took them to Dairy Queen for an ice cream.

You didn't think we could have a perfect day without ice cream did you?