New River Trail

Today I joined Nane and friends on the New River Trail. It is a great trail. Very beautiful. Well maintained. No big hills but the return trip is a slight though steady uphill grade.

Here's the group getting ready to hit the trail.



Some of us stopped at Fries Junction, had a little picnic and headed back...a 23.5 mile ride. (Enough for me and my poor hiney, thank you) The rest kept going to Fries, had lunch and came back - a 35 mile ride (yikes).



On the way back we stopped a couple of times to give our hineys a rest and take in the scenery.

The trestle over the New River...


The Chestnut River



This tunnel is spooky. You ride through the pitch dark just a little way before getting to the light on the other side. You just have faith there's nothing in your way.

It was a great day.

Tomorrow...my hiney may want to stay in bed.

TGIF

Hallelujah! It's Friday!

Breathe in... breathe out...

Here's a few images from the week:

The company truck after my husband took it for a spin (or swim) in Juniper Swamp.


A cool quilt at the Cabarrus County Fair. I am loving the rick rack vine in the border.


A gorgeous round robin quilt at the Avery County Fair. (yeah, I know it's sideways)


Beautiful dahlias at the Avery County Fair. Now this would be a tough judging gig.


A most unusual little pumpkin at the Avery County Fair. It was all I could do not to pick him up and take him home.


My rotten dog begging for watermelon and my mother caving in.



My dad rottening his grandsons at Toy-R-Us in Wilmington. That little guy in the camo t-shirt turned 6 today. For their birthdays, in lieu of a party, my dad takes them to Toys-R-Us and they get to fill up a cart. I don't know who has more fun, the boys or my dad.


One of the two quilt tops I finished last week at the beach with the family. It's the Quilt for Miss Melly that Nancy Near Philadelphia organized as a swap. I received my blocks last week and couldn't wait to put it together.


(By the way...that place right there...the house by the beach...that's why I'm rotten...also my dad's handy work.)

It's been a wild and woolly week including the Labor Day weekend at the beach with the whole family but it's been fun. Looking back at these photos, I am grateful.

Rotten like my nephews and my dog...but grateful.

I'm a Busy Little Bee

Do you ever get the feeling you're going to meet yourself coming down the hall one day?

That's me this week.

I'm not complaining. It's actually a lot of fun...but yikes.

Here's what I've got this week:

1. Write and submit bid packages for 10 federally funded projects – half way there, can I do 5 more in a half day tomorrow...uhhh

2. Hold a pre-bid meeting for one federally funded project – done – one guy showed up from Georgia, we had a nice visit.

3. Bully 15 engineers from around the state to submit their white papers to me for the American Water Works Association annual conference or else I’ll knock them off the agenda (which means I’d have to find more engineers to write papers) – so far I have one paper...I'm hoping they'll all come screeching on the deadline...that's what's I'd do if I had to write a paper right now.

4. Go to Newland, NC with Laura and judge the Avery County Fair quilts – done, judged the quilts, needlework and a few other things. Met some wonderful people, overate at the Dan'l Boone Inn in Boone (of course) and spent a lovely evening at the Holiday Inn Express.

5. Go to Concord with Laura and judge the Cabarrus County Fair quilts – did that this morning and had a blast – met more wonderful people including some very well organized fair volunteers, had fantastic BBQ for lunch and we got paid – SWEET!

6. Find out if the Guilford County Fire Marshall likes my fire protection plan for the CHB campus – we’ve played phone tag all week, right now, I’m it.

7. Go to Greensboro with Laura and judge the Central Carolina Fair quilts – tomorrow morning and if the last two fairs are any indication, we’ll have a blast and meet wonderful people.

Whew!

Are you tired? I am. I must be. I just discovered that when I sealed the last four bid packages, I dated them 9/3/05.

2005?

Well, at least I spelled my name right.

I think.

Better go check.

Yikes.

An Eventful Morning

Yesterday I was running late for work (like most days). I jumped in my car and took off down the road.

What the heck is wrong with my car?

It was fine last night!

So, I pull into the little shopping area across from the elementary school and check it out.

Ahhhh, a flat. Right rear...no wonder I didn't notice it...not that I would have as I ran from the house to the car trying to get to work before an 8:30 meeting.

First thing...call the big boss man...so he's not waiting to meet with me. (Thank goodness he's running later than I am so no trouble there.)

Second thing...call the boss man...who laughs and dispatches a field crew to come to my rescue.

Yes, I am a lucky girl to have all these resources. I mean...I could change the tire myself but I'm in a skirt plus I know that my spare has a bent rim and won't hold air so travel is involved to fix this situation.

So, I'm standing in the parking lot, enjoying the cool, crisp air and watching the parents take their children to school.

Then...a horrific scream...

I'm talking a scream like I've never heard IN MY LIFE.

I look over and this poor woman who was trying to get something out of the back of her van is pinned between her van and a car...a car that had been parked across the parking lot. (The woman driving the car left it in gear and it rolled.)

(I'll tell you now that everyone walked away relatively unscathed so you don't have to wonder as I babble along.)

I ran to her (huh? I can still run if I need to? wow...) and a guy got there just before I did and moved the car off the woman. I leaned on the car to keep it from rolling back again and called 911.

(If you want quick action from the authorities say "a woman was just hit by a car in the parking lot across from the elementary school" especially at 8:15 in the morning when they know the children are streaming in from everywhere...oh and have the woman wailing in the background.)

About 30 seconds later we could hear sirens from EVERYWHERE.

About 2 minutes later there were 4 police cars, a motorcycle cop, an ambulance and a fire truck...not to mention the small crowd of concerns parents and shop owners. The Subway owner brought her a cup of water. The hair salon owner brought her a chair so she could sit but not have to try to walk. The first man on the scene held her hand and patted her back. She had stopped wailing and was calm. Her knee hurt.

Eventually my rescuers showed up and I quietly walked off to my car to deal with my own morning "crisis". If they needed anything from me, the 911 operator had my cell phone number.

They wouldn't need me. Before long, the EMS folks had her up and walking around, though limping a bit. I imagine she will be awfully sore. Thank God that's all.

So, after that, my flat tire was no big deal. I enjoyed the cool, crisp tease of fall weather, enjoyed spending time with the guys from work and learned where all the parts to my tire jack are stored.

I'm a lucky girl.