~ Ch Ch Ch Chia

I was listening to an internet radio station this morning and heard about this new product . . .

a Chia Obama.

Nothing says “proud to be an American” like a clay pot with greenery growing to look like Obama is growing a green fro?

I thought chia pets went out in the 80’s or 90’s

I wonder if Obama got a complimentary one that is growing at the White Hour -haha

~ NC State Fair October 15th-25th 2009

Whee!

The NC State Fair 2009 starts today!  Pre-sale tickets for $5 ends today (15th) or they are $7 at the door.

If we’ve been to the fair with you before in the past, and you want to go again, message me, and we can see what we can work out!

Details on their website:  http://www.ncstatefair.org/2009/

~ Last Weekend In Wilmington

Last weekend, Gary and I went to Wilmington with my parents.  It had been a long time since they had visiting Wilmington – usually Atlantic beach is the destination.

Last time Gary and I went, we ate at the Oceanic and Elija’s which is becoming our Wilmington Staples, as well as Kilwin’s Ice Cream and Fudge Shop   We went to both for lunches, and our hotel had a microwave and refridge, so we had dinners at the hotel (including s’mores!)

One of the days we wandered about the streets looking at shops and popping in antique shops.  At one of them, we were caught in the rain for about 10 minutes which worked out well since we perused a little longer and found something for Gary’s office.

We learned a bit about the history in the two tours we took.  The 45 minute boat ride – though to be honest, I didn’t learn much from because I slept through 90%  of it on Sunday –haha . . . what!?  I was tired

The other tour was the horse drawn carriage tour.  Before deciding upon the tour, I was happy to hear that they were rescued from going to glue factory or some other life-ending . . .  They work one week out of the month, and have two homes.  One in town, and one in the country where they run around.  They also have shifts, and pull much less than they are capable of.  The actual tour (#2 of 7) was about 30 minutes long and we learned a little of the restaurants, shops, and the sites.

We toured one house – The Latimer House.  We were lucky to have the director give the tour since one of the volunteers couldn’t make it that day – I’m sure we learned more from her than the usual tour.

We also visited a Serpentarium, which I will post separately about which was more interesting than any of us thought it would be.

We visited Wrightsville beach a couple times, swam in the pool, and relaxed in the hot tub.

Overall it was a nice trip with great weather.

coast guard ship view on on our boat tour

~ My New Friend

When did the cold whoosh in?  I think it was Monday . . . yes, Monday . . . and Tuesday, and then Wednesday.  I even had to break out a jacket this morning.  Maybe it’s just a temporary thing.  No, I remember last year when the fair was here it was cold *pfft*

October seems to be when the cold arrives here in my part of North Carolina.  Love/hate relationship where it would be great if we could have story book days of roasting marshmallows by the fire, drinking hot cocoa, snuggling by a fire, and reading to ones hearts content (or in our case, playing Aion).  I do like the cold sometimes.  I like playing tennis in the cold . . . I can play as long as I like without feeling like I can’t breathe in the humidity.  I like wearing my sweaters for a few days.  Um, I’m sure there are a few other things I like about the cold that I just can’t think of at the moment . . .

I do though have a new “friend” . . . my car’s seat warmers!  Gary has had them in his car, and they are new to me this season.

First get in the car and sit down . . . brrrr

turn the seat warmer on HI . . .

after afew minutes pass and aaaaaaah warmth without the dryness of hot air . . .

a few more minutes pass, my lower back is warmed and comforted . . .

yet a few more minutes pass . . .

it’s getting pretty warm with the help of the car heater . . . set it now to LOW

Oh person who invented the car seat warmers (or as Gary calls them a$$ warmers my butt and I thank you.

woo.

~ Who’s Bad?

Gary and I met up with our friends Mike and Daniel for Sushi at Shaba Shabu, a Sushi and Thai restaurant which was pretty good.  First time we had been there, so we got the sushi.

Daniel had to be somewhere after dinner, and Gary had been working all day and had to get to bed, so after they left, Mike and I went to the Lincoln Theatre to see a Michael Jackson tribute band ‘Who’s Bad‘ and they did a really good job.  I checked out some youtube videos and they did so much better last night.  They performed a lot of the popular songs, a song from the Jackson Five time, popular faves, and they were definitely high energy with the singing and dancing.  Even the sax and trumpet players were high energy backup dancing.  The lighting was great for a small venue, including the back-lit songs, and there was even moon walking

~ Oktoberfest Recap

Did you see my post about Oktober First?  We did indeed celebrate.  Tonight I went over to my parents house (Gary had to work this weekend -bummer) to have our own private mini Oktoberfest celebration.  We had sauerkraut, German potato salad my dad made, pumpernickel bread, and lots of other yummies.  I brought over some nummies that I picked up from Aldi after Hannah gave me the spätzle for my dad.  It’s a supermarket that had a nice selection of German snacks and foods.  They don’t have a lot of those all year round, so if you want to stock up, do it now . . . but note, they only take cash or debit and don’t have disposable grocery bags, so bring your reusable grocery bags!

I quickly took these snapshots right before running out the door . . . I think I got everything.  We had the white asparagus and the marble marzipan cake for dinner and dessert, and some of the peanut puffs while we watched a movie.

My mom sent me this quiz, ‘Are You Über-smart About Oktoberfest?‘
I’m an “Honorary German Citizen”, 8 out of 10 correct.  -woo

~ October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  I’ve seen a few ads, if you purchase pink products, a part of the proceeds will be donated towards breast cancer, which is good, but if you want to be more pro-active for this cause, check out  http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ped/ped_20_BCA.asp

Today, evidently was the ‘Making Strides Against Breast Cancer’ 5k/3.1 walk at 9am which I totally missed – either because I didn’t realize it was so early in October, or it wasn’t publicized enough.  But either way, they have another one by the American Cancer Society called the Walk-n-Wag on October 31st 2009 where you can walk with your dog check out the details if you’re interested: www.wakewalknwag.com

~ All Their Ducks, I Mean Geese In a Row

I saw this parade of geese walking down the road in the rain a few months back and got a quick snapshot.  I missed it, but they were ALL in a row following each other one by one which was so friggen adorable.

~ Happy Oktober First!

The weather is starting to get crisp (though that could change any day), and when I was at the store, I saw pumpkins!  That made me smile

Fall officially started a week or so ago . . . the NC State Fair is right around the corner as well as Trick-or-treat-ers, and since my dad is German, I’m thinking of having our own private Oktoberfest, complete with sauerkraut and streusel.  I got the idea from an e-mail ad I got from World Market.  Actually, I hadn’t realized it was October til I got the e-mail -haha

~ Awwwwwww!

A friend forwarded this e-mail to me, and it was just too adorable not to post.  Its something I would think to see on Cute Overload.

The Fire in Santa Barbara , CA last week caused these two to take shelter together. The fawn is 3 days old and the bobcat about 3 weeks. The fawn came from somewhere in the fire and the bobcat from Carpentaria. They immediately bonded and snuggled together under a desk in the Santa Barbara County Dispatch Office for several hours.

Animal Planet is reporting the bobcat kitten was rescued near Arnold Schwarzeneggers ranch, where it was dehydrated and near death.

They rescued the fawn during last weeks wildfire. Although wild animals, especially of separate species, are never placed together due to regulations, in this emergency situation, they had no choice. During the mayhem of the fire, they were forced to put animals anywhere they could, since they had run out of crates large enough for the fawn. The kitten ran to the fawn, and it was instant bonding..