Zipping Through the Air!

So, would you ride a zip line? Way up in the air, suspended from a wire? Just a harness between you and certain death?

Um, not me! But that's what popped into my mind when thinking of a Z letter! Hard to believe we're at the alphabet's end and will start a new round of AlphabeThursday next week!

I knew my son had ziplined (zip lined? zipped? Not sure what's the correct terminology in the world of flying through the air...) so I went thumbing through his FB pics and found a couple and lifted them! (He won't care!)

Back in 2007, Adam went on his first out-of-the-country trip which was also his first by-himself-on-his-own vacation. And what a trip it was! A trek starting and ending in Cancun, Mexico and visiting various places in Central America -- camping, hiking, horseback riding, snorkeling, visiting Mayan ruins, meeting other trekkers from around the world, seeing places he might never have, eating exotic food -- what a great trip for a young man! He was in his late 20's and I was so excited for him to be a part of this trek! 

looks like a trekker....

So, out of his zillion and one photos, I found the zip line ones...

Yikes!

note that blue sign with the Mayan temple!

over the tops of trees

after the zip

Adam's in the center back

 Where they were...

Tikal, in Northern Guatemala

Adam said these was one of his favorite Mayan cities with its "beautiful sunsets and sunrises, Howler monkeys and.... terrible food" 

The Grand Plaza

Temple of the Great Jaguar

more temples

This is just a tiny part of his trip -- he was gone for a couple of weeks or so and visited Mexico and the Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras and Belize.


However, this post is supposed to be about zip lining, soooo.....

Wired Zip Line Course

Have fun on the longest zip line in Texas!! (about an hour from Dallas) 

Hmmm, I'm thinking I won't be doing this anytime soon!

How about you?

~ sharing for AlphabeThursday where we are studying the zippy zip-lining letter Z
~ sharing those blue skies (and the blue Mayan Temple road sign) for Blue Monday


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Eli Young Band

I just found out something pretty exciting... in the How Cool is This category....

My son, Adam, was Production Manager on a music video for the Eli Young Band -- and it's been nominated for the CMT Music Awards in the Group Video of the Year category!! (In case you don't know, CMT = Country Music Television.)

Of course, Adam downplays everything but I know he's pretty stoked to have been involved in this project! He has produced a number of Indie films and also has been production manager on various others -- this in addition to traveling the globe in pursuit of music festivals (actually promoting films) -- it's a hard job but someone has to do it :D

Anyway, it's a cool video for a very cool song -- "Drunk Last Night" -- and no, it's not a crazy drinking song, but a very thoughtful and low key one. I like it!

The video was shot in several locations, all in Oak Cliff, Texas which is a historic neighborhood south of downtown Dallas. Adam is heavily involved in the arts scene there, including being a partner in the Texas Theatre. (Get out your history books, it's where Lee Harvey Oswald was captured!) Adam and his partners have restored it and it's now become a local hangout for classic and indi films, as well as a neighborhood tavern and art gallery. 

And if you'd like to vote for this video, go right here! The show airs on June 4th!

~ sharing on AlphabeThursday where we are studying the letter Y, and on GRAND Social


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Winking Car

There I was, innocently walking through the parking lot when I spy this bad boy....

Winking at me!

Reminds me of when I was a teenager and the rule was whenever you spotted a *one-eye* car with one headlight out, you got to smooch! Oh, fun times!


~ sharing over at Miss Jenny's for AlphabeThursday where we are studying the letter W



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USPS ~ Service with a Smile?

Bam, bang goes the mail slot.

Mail's here!!

And this was in the mix

. 

The torn envelope.

The sincere apology.

I got a big kick out of this notice. They are just so humble, so sincere, so willing to go the extra mile. Ha!

And yet, when I have packages propped directly in front of the mail slot, it is not unusual for said packages to be shuffled off to the side and not picked up! I have to watch them like a hawk and sometimes race out the door to deliver my packages to the postman. 

Oh how I long for my favorite postman who always picked up every package and looked to see if I had anything to mail, even if there was nothing for me. But he got another neighborhood (lucky them) and I now have a series of different letter carriers, some who are conscientious, and some that I have to go racing across the yard to catch. And then, of course, I give them a polite lesson on picking up my packages. (Yes, I am polite and do not accuse them. You get more flies with honey...)

But, "Oh, I didn't look at the address. I thought it was for you" doesn't float.

I am appreciative of the torn envelope being put inside the bag. And I think that overall the USPS does a fine job -- but I'd sure like to stop having to chase after my letter carriers!

So, what do you think...

Do they CARE?!!!

~ sharing over at Miss Jenny's for AlphabeThursday where we are studying the letter U


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Trail ~ A Fetching Neighbor...

Trail is our next door neighbor dog -- she's a sweet dog who only barks when the postman passes by and when kids walk by on the backside of her fence. So not a lot (unlike our other next door neighbor dog who
barks at anything that moves...)

Whenever Dennis goes outside, Trail expects.... nay, demands, that he throw her ball or a stick to her. She is definitely a lover of the game of Fetch!

And so he dutifully plays Fetch (I think he secretly likes playing with Trail since our outside kitties don't do much playing) The ball used to have a rope on it which Trail has chewed off, so it has a hole in it where the rope used to be. Dennis uses a stick to scoop up the ball and then lob it over to Trail.

Pretty yucky ball! 

He's not touching it, no way!!

So back and forth goes the ball with Trail running, fetching and then throwing it back over the fence to Dennis! She stands up with her paws on the top of the fence, ball in mouth, and throws it over!

On and on they go until Dennis announces that the game is over for now. Trail always looks so sad when the game ends, but I think she knows there will be another time!

Oh and Trail, true to her name, has made trails all over her yard -- all around the perimeter and a kind of Y shape one in the middle, leading to her ball throwing place at the fence and to the mailman watching area. She is a lady of habit.


~ sharing Trail over at Miss Jenny's for AlphabeThursday where we are studying the letter T


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Softball Noli

Noli has elected to play softball this year (yay! I was growing tired of soccer :p ) Her team is named the Ponytail Express (cute, huh?!!) and purple is their color! Her dad is the team dad and one of the coaches so I know that makes her little softball heart sing!

This past Saturday was her first game so, of course, her proud parents and grandparents were there to clap and yell encouragement.... and take pictures.....

Up at bat

She's got a pretty good swing

Look closely and you can see that one of our dad coaches has just the word Express on his shirt. 

No Ponytail in sight. You'll see the reason for pointing this out in a minute.... :p

Tebowing?

Maybe, but probably just checking out the dirt

In the dugout, waiting for her turn at bat

and being a goofball LOL!

Get that elbow up!

Pretty good swing....

But didn't connect with the ball

Love these bronze statues!

Similar ones are all around at libraries, town centers and such.

We're the Visitors....

Look closely and you'll see that this coach dad is on the other team (the Kittens). The coaches' shirts had a pink paw print with "Kittens" written below it. Oh my, on that burly guy :)

(I think our dads were pretty smart to just have "Express" on their shirts!)

Hey, hey, we're one up!

But note the two outs.....

And the final score!

The Ponytail Express WINS!!

It was a good game and all played well!

But, of course, the best part is the snack!

She always knows when somebody's taking a pic

and she was up against me and her other grandfather

This is how she poses a lot....

little smarty pants

Caught her giggling anyway!

Now we're off to grab a little lunch before taking our sweetie back to mommy. All in all, a pretty terrific day!

~ sharing Softball Noli over at Miss Jenny's for AlphabeThursday where we are studying the letter S
~ and sharing all the pink uniforms, helmets and shoes over at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday
~ and sharing over at Grandma's Briefs for GRAND Social


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A Special Quilt

I have several quilts made by two aunts -- one my mother's sister and the other my father's sister. Aunt Annie (my father's sister) made this one.... and her sister (my Aunt Florence) left it to me in her will.

The pattern is called Sunbonnet Sue

The cute girls remind me of Holly Hobby!

I love this quilt with its hand embroidery on each Sunbonnet Sue and the different dresses which I know were from fabric left from sewing.

It's all hand quilted -- not a machine stitch on it.

It's really big -- here, it's on a king-size bed and has an overlap on the sides of one full row of Sunbonnet Sue's. When my daughter graduated to a twin bed, I used the quilt even though it was pretty big!

Now I have given it to that daughter (who is now 30) and she has put it on my granddaughter's bed. It's a double size bed so the quilt fits much better and makes a wonderful bedspread. Noli knows that she must keep it nice -- no food allowed!

Before I gave it to my daughter, I took pictures of each of the squares. I just couldn't let go of that quilt, or at least the memory of it!

It's a four generation quilt! Five if you count Oliver... 

Even though I miss looking at it, I'm thrilled that Noli loves it and that it's getting some good use. I have told her about my Aunt Annie and what a sweetheart she was. How she told me stories and showed me how to catch frogs in the backyard pond.... and then we had frog legs for dinner! Yes, it tasted like chicken!

I loved to visit my Aunt Annie and Aunt Florence (sisters, sharing a home). Aunt Annie always had a lap to sit in and stories to tell. Aunt Florence was a teacher and I remember going with her to school. They could both cook up a storm and it was fun eating different food.

There were two different times that we were visiting and I had come down with mumps one time and pink eye the other. I got to stay with Aunt Annie and Aunt Florence while my parents continued their vacation -- oh the fun! Sick or not, I had a great time! I remember the little girl from across the street looking in the screen door at me.... but I couldn't play with her because she had not had the mumps. But the next door neighbor boy had had them so I could play with him. But all he wanted to play was trucks. I wished I could have played with the little girl instead!


~ sharing the Sunbonnet Sue quilt over at Miss Jenny's for Alphabe-Thursday where we are studying the letter Q.
~ sharing at Grandma's Briefs for Grand Social


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