What I Did on My Summer Vacation, Part One

I know it's been forever since I posted and I know that you're all dying to hear what I've been up to. This summer has been really busy and I'd love to give you all the details, but there are too may. Instead, I'm just going to tell you what's going on now.

I decided to take a week off after the project at work finally finished and this is the week. This past weekend, my first phase of summer vacation was a weekend trip to Charlotte, NC. I went to visit Ann & Eddie to cheer them on while they biked in 24 Hours of Booty (that's them in the red jerseys). This is a cool event where they block off a popular 3-mile biking loop in the city for 24 hours. Cyclists can ride as much as they would like. It was to benefit cancer (I think?). Anyway, I decided to take Air Tran for the first time because it was a lot cheaper than the other options. I got to Hobby in plenty of time (a little over an hour ahead of time) and got in line to check bags (I always check bags...I'm a high maintenance packer!). There was only one person checking people in and she was NOT fast and kept answering the phone. By the time I got checked in and through security, I had to RUN through the airport to get on the plane...run! Can you believe it? Craziness, that's what it is to me! Anyway, I made the plane and the connection in Atlanta and got to Charlotte without much more fanfare.

The weekend was very relaxed. Once I got there, I met up with Ann & Eddie and cheered them on at the starting line. Matt drove up from Clemson to hang out, so we watched them go by on their loop a few times (3 miles go by quickly on a bike) and tried to take some pictures, but they were mostly very blurry! After a great dinner and staying up late to watch a movie (Good Will Hunting has lots of bad language in it!), I was tired and ended up sleeping in late, so we got a late start to the day. That afternoon we went to the Billy Graham Library. I don't know what you would personally expect there, but I was very impressed. It is such a wonderful tribute to Dr. Graham's ministry, including his wife who passed away last year. I highly recommend it if you're in Charlotte. Back at the house, among other things, we were entertained by Shadow, Ann & Eddie's dog. Shadow is a 2-year old lab/boxer mix and is very hyper. She jumps ALL the time. Matt was able to actually hold her, which even Ann & Eddie were amazed by. I was very fortunate and only had to watch her through the windows while everyone else managed her. I'm terrified of dogs, you know. There wasn't much else exciting...we ate some great pizza and ice cream and played Mexican train dominoes late into the night. Dominoes was a little loosey-goosey...we kind of made up some extra rules as the game went on. I won even though it was the first time I'd ever played. Sunday morning, we ran...in North Carolina...yay!! The weather was awesome. We had a good 3-mile run. As we were leaving, a man was getting ready to run on the trail and said, "How'd you like that sauna?" Sauna?? Really? It was like 75 degrees and <75%>

So, now I'm back in Houston for Part Two of my summer vacation...more on that later this week!