Pamunkey Post from Mom...

Okay, most of the time I think our life is sooooo boring that none of you would find it the least bit interesting...but of course, minor things go on and I think that 'oh yeah, I can include that in a post'..and then the rest of the week is 'dry'. not yesterday...I was doing my house chores, checking ebay (it's been very slow lately and gasp, might need to look for a 'real'job), and found a geo metro...for reasonable..and in NC..forwarded the info the Craig and he gave me a bid range..and I won it in between doing hill climbers on the treadmill...I have been putting away a small sum every month for car improvements & replacements...so it will be a cash deal..read another old beater..that just happens to get 50 mpg... rest of the day was working and planning pickup arrangements to Asheville, NC..home of the Biltmore Estate....sounded like fun..going to get an early start today...hah! Cait called at 11:00..and was stuck in an upside down car..she had rolled it 3 miles from the house..it was dark, wet and she had no idea how to start to get out...didn't call 911..but thought Dad was the best bet...apparently she swerved around a big puddle, then had a big branch in the road..swerved again...and rolled into the ditch...I haven't seen it yet..PT was asleep so I stayed here and talked to her while she was crouched sitting on the roof..a little disoriented but perfectly fine. Of course, wearing a seatbelt..and to her amazement..they really work..totally held her in place and she arrived sitting upside down hooked to the now ceiling...thank goodness she is the wildiest roller coaster rider in the house so she thought it was an adventure. Craig drove her into the emergency room just in case, and an hour later I had pounding on my door...Local sheriff quizzing about whether I was the owner, where is the driver, why we didn't call it in, etc...they followed cait to the hosp to assure themselves she was fine, probably make sure she wasn't drinking, etc..they already had the car towed to the wrecking yard...that was Craig's grumble as we have AAA and it would of been free..now, it's several hundred dollars...and of course, it only had liability on it...and I just spent the car allowance money that morning....AAAAh life! But Cait is dandy..she got up on 4 hours of sleep and drove in wait tables this morning at Cracker Barrel...I told her to call & see if she could get the day off..but in her mind she should not let them down...nicely enough they had an extra worker and sent her home..and the rest of the family is at the wrecking yard trying to figure out the next move..how bad it is (especially since it would get damaged again turning right side up), how much they want to pay for salvage..vs whether my dear husband thinks he can resurrect or part it out on ebay....so in one day we've done a car rotation..and I'll still be stuck occasionally taking the suburban into town...at today's prices it's $10 just to get a $5 gallon of milk..go figure! on to more pleasant stuff...we surprised Pierce for his birthday (monday Aug. 25th) with a trip to Disney world....we had planned it months ahead of time when there was a cheap hotel/free food promo...and had it half paid for...then Craig's work was going down hill and we didn't know whether to cancel or go...since the part we paid wasn't refundable..we decided in for a nickel in for a dime...we planned, packed and woke him up at 4 a.m. on Sunday, had Cait drive us to the airport (he still had no idea where we were going that day)...and ended up in Fl for a week...oh what fun! and oh how tired! I did a TON of research before we went...went to ride sites that have figured out to the minute on every day of the year what rides are busiest and how long the wait time would be...you stick in the activities you want to do and it spits out a plan...and of course, we had free food so we rode and ate our way through all their parks...PT came home with a cold and gave it to me a couple of days later..so we each had a cold a week or 2 after the fact...and my new favorite ride is the rockin' roller coaster in Hollywood studions..an in the dark coaster with enough lights and road signs you have a vague idea where you're headed...and all the while playing aerosmith songs...the car takes off from zero to 60 in seconds and IMMMEDIATELY sends you into an inverted loop...OMG! I could of spent the day on that one...so there was our fun!!!! Pierce loved it... onto the weird coincidences of life....like everywhere Qimonda is struggling..they were spun off from Infineon..and chip prices have been down..and orders lower because of the economy...talk is they are going to get bought out...and guess who the top takeover person is? Micron...Micron is in Manassas 2 hours north...so no one knows whether they just want the equipment, close up shop to remove a competitor, or who might have a job..or for how long...so we've been living fairly cautiously but like everyone..things have gotten more expensive and we have been tightening the belts...But truly the whole idea that we moved 2500 miles and could end up under the Micron umbrella is a little odd.... Weather here has been nice...it's cooled off from the summer heat and humidity...fall has cooled off the evenings (finally)..I had been reading the Boise night temps and ours..we were 20 degrees or so warmer at night and similar temps in the day...I've talked Craig into paddling on the river several times...it's been gorgeous...leaves just barely starting to turn, eagles, osprey, insect hatches, monarchs eating up the plants and creating chrysalis...I see we are right in the middle of the pathway from Canada to Mexico for them....and we have had the swarms of red wing blackbirds come through..and when I saw swarm..I mean thousands upon thousands...darkening the sky and creating a huge noise... Craig's shoulder is holding it's own..still pinching nerves daily...feeling week..but he has been pushing it to get a few pushups in (it looks weird to see the bone configuration so I can't stand to look), he's chopped some of the neighbor's hardwood...he now knows why they call it hardwood..even with a maul it takes 12-15 direct hits to get it to split on an existing crack....he found that having a thick pillow between his arms allows him to sleep on his left side for a while...it had been immediately causing a pinched nerve severe pain and he wouldn't stay that way for more than a minute..so it was on his back or nothing... Garden is pretty much finished...since I hadn't written a pamunkey in forever..you wouldn't know..but I got a wild hair and started rototilling the side yard (sand in the shade), adding manure, leaves, compost and planting rows...as I filled up the rows I rototilled more..and kept going....after I planted everything I could think of I rototilled in front of our shed, Craig & Pierce dug a curving path from the driveway to the shed and filled with excess pea gravel...then I planted either side with periennials, roses, grapes, herbs, a few yard decorations as time and money allows...thankfully, our local trash station has free mulch..so each week..trash in, mulch out..and so we've covered most of the permanent garden with bark...thought I was done with the progress for this year..then...on Craig's birthday I saw a freecycle ad for some shrubs if we dig...so we took the truck and went to dig..the lady totally underestimated the amount..we ended up with dozens of big plants: daisies, monkey grass, holly, roses, barberries, azaleas, lilies, vines, butterfly bushes and a whole bunch I have no idea what it is...can't say I spent a lot of time deciding the perfect arrangement as it was over 100 that weekend and I just wanted to get in the ground...so the boys dugs up at her end..and I dug and planted at my end..2 days of solid digging..'happy birthday' I said....Craig said he couldn't wait to see what fun I had planned for next year....so it was the hustle to keep everything watered, alive and established...Strangest thing in my garden was a nesting turtle...right in my potato patch...so we marked off where she was and left that area alone..but I've never seen any holes of baby digging back through..so I don't know if snake, gopher, vole or something got them...while planting the free monkey grass Pierce discovered another nest of eggs..that nest has had holes show up so I'm assuming some of those hatched and headed to the water... okay...I think that is all the highs and lows...Cait is perfectly safe..THANK GOD! and send up lots of thank yous...and as I hear from all of you I hear all your highs and lows...Blessings: martine found a great job and is getting settled in St. Louis..that will be a good excuse for a road trip sometime...Cait's friends are settling in for their college experiences...Prayer requests...for Gerhard and his family...I hear his dad is ill with cancer...and Heidi looks like her job may be out the door...and Marilyn lost her twin sister recently...so as we all share our ups & downs know that at this end..I'm daily sending you all hugs, praying for all you too... love & hugs..jo