Explaining My Absence and Some Updates

Okay, I know I have been oddly uncommunicative lately.

Some of the reasons:

• Chad and I spent much of this summer apart - I in Washington state with my parents for the first half of the summer, and he in Arizona and Alabama for work. We are both back home again. He will be on the road again this fall.
• I am returning to homeschooling, and have been planning. And planning. And planning. Part of the problem was I could NOT find a homeschool planner for Mac. I found a web-based solution two weeks ago, and I love it: Scholaric. It is simple, robust and intuitive. Give it a try!
• I've started CrossFit. See previous post. I'm in pain.
• I've been a little obsessed with Doctor Who and have been on another board a bit too often... I'm a geek. What can I say?

I am hoping to keep this blog a little more up to date than I have been.

Updates:

• If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm homeschooling Ingrid for second grade, and from here on out, unless something radical changes. We'll start Monday.
• Ilsa starts kindergarten on Monday at a local church-run school. There are only nine children in her class, and it is half-day. We just do not see the need for full day kindergarten for her.
• We're trying to eat more "Paleo." Chad has tried to convince me it is the way to go, and I'm not 100% convinced. I know people really get great results with it, but I am BikeBookBREAD after all! And it isn't like I am making my bread with shortening and chemicals... I grind wheat, etc. We bought a juicer to help support the Paleo way of eating. That has been a lot of fun... and DELICIOUS!
• We survived Irene. Of course, I'm blogging this, aren't I?
• The rain here in Virginia has been UNREAL -- much worse than anything Irene spat at us.

Well I guess that's all for now.

Bunnies Broke Up

Chad secretly recorded Ilsa singing this extemporaneous song about bunnies breaking up. It is a bit long, but watch until the end. We can't stop laughing.

You may think me insane, but actually, I have come to my senses

I have joined CrossFit Old Town. Yep. Me + CrossFit. Don't know what CrossFit is? Watch:



Yep. I'm doing this. Well, not THIS much weight.

I'll keep you updated... after I can walk again. My quads are jelly, and my back is stiff as a board.

The Apple Store of Pizza-Dom

Found this pizza place in Pentagon Row mall. Naked pizza storefront is clean and inviting. The ingredients are all natural. The crust is 10 grain including prebiotic agave fibre and probiotics. We are sitting here waiting for our order and I am salivating!







Posted from Steph's iPad

SciFi awesomeness

Found at William Sonoma:




Posted from Steph's iPad

Riot Wheel (Re-Invention Of The) wheel.©

This is so Mad Max!

I wonder how it would hold in a hurricane. Looks stout.

Hurricane Irene...

We are now officially under a Tropical storm warning. Ugh.

We won't be hit with hurricane force winds, but our power will most likely go down tomorrow. Dominion Power Has told us to be prepared to be without power for days, not hours. We will be spending today prepping. Chad is off to find dry ice and prepare our Craig's List generator. I am off to buy supplies.

God protect us all.

Posted from Steph's iPad

Virginia - Disaster Central!

So we were sitting in a restaurant on the ground floor of a 200 or so year old building in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. The room began to shake, dust was coming from the walls, and Chad shouted, "Earthquake! Earthquake! Earthquake! Everybody out!"

Only ourselves and the staff left the restaurant. The rest started laughing and looking up at the ceiling. Didn't anyone notice that we were in the bottom floor? Of an old rickety buiding? With 2 ton beams overhead and walls made of brick and plaster? Wo knows how serious it is going to be... And what about aftershocks and gas leaks? Sure it ended up not being as bad as it could have been. But come on people! Use your brains!

When we left the building, smart people were out in the street rather than on the sidewalks, a smart idea given the fact that the walls of the buildings are lined with bricks. Old bricks. Old loose bricks.

We paid for our food and took it to-go. When we got home, being the good homeschooling mama that I am, I got on the web and showed the girls the science of earthquakes on the computer. (Our phone lines our spotty, but web connection remains good. Cellular coverage is very iffy as well.)

Ilsa drew this picture from what she learned:






Next excitement may be arriving on Sunday: the remnants of Hurricane Irene, but I am not going to borrow worry from tomorrow.

Posted from Steph's iPad

newest offering from apple?

Untitled, a photo by BikeBookBread on Flickr.

Nice people

We are in Charlottesville at the moment. Chad was sent here to take a class at the Army JAG school at the University of Virginia. Every morning on the way to class, we have stopped to buy a cup of coffee and a morning pastry at a lovely shop called Hot Cakes. This morning, Ingrid went in with him and was admiring a little cow creamer. A man asked Chad if he could buy it for her. He proceeded to pick up Chad's entire order -- coffee, pastries, etc. Chad was in uniform... Now I don't know if this was one of the reasons he did it, but it was such a kind gesture. It turns out he was a friend of the owners of the shop.

We went back this afternoon and bought some beautiful desserts for this evening. So if you are ever in Charlottesville, check out HotCakes.




Ingrid excited about the goodies.



Ilsa "kissing" the ladybug cupcakes.




Posted from Steph's iPad