That's the title of the episode of Friends where Pheobe's fire alarm goes off and she can't get it to stop.  She disconnects it from the wall, takes the battery out, beats it with her shoe and finally throws it down the trash chute.  Unfortunately, she wraps it in a blanket that says "Property of Pheobe Buffay not Monica" and a fireman brings it back to her while it is still alarming.  He tells her that there is a little yellow reset button that she can press and it will stop.  However, when she beat it with her shoe...the yellow reset button fell onto the floor. 

Well, this is the story of life at our house this week.  Monday night we were rudely awakened to the sound of ear piercing chirping coming from our fire alarm a/k/a smoke detector.  Apparently, (I had never noticed) we have quite a few fire alarms around our house.  Scott got up and tried to figure out which alarm was the culprit.  This went on for what felt like an hour.  He figured out which detector was chirping and replaced the battery with a new one.  Back to bed he came and we settled back down to go to sleep.  Then again the alarm started chriping.  So after trying to figure out the real problem he disconnected it from the ceiling.  Even though it was disconnected and the battery was taken out...it kept chirping for a short while.  ???  I may have lost 2 hours of sleep but at least that was over. 

Tuesday night I went to bed thankful that I would be getting a good night's rest.  Then...around 4 am...CHIRP.  I asked, "How is that possible?"  Scott then informed me that there were more detectors.  So he got up and after a short while disconnected the alarm and came back to bed.  Finally, we could go to sleep.  So after a very brief nap, CHIRP!  You have got to be kidding me!!!!  Another detector started chirping.  It was maddening.  So...he got up and disconnected that one. 

Here's a picture of the 3 amigos now...

They are presently in the closet - silent.  I am so hoping that I will be able to sleep through the night tonight.  Scott has warned me that there is another one right above the bed; not to mention that there are several more in the basement and they are all connected. 

I'll let you know how it goes.  If they wake me up again tonight, I just might have to break out the shotgun.  Although...I don't believe even a shotgun could stop the chirping. 

Deanna Banana

Today, my friend Deanna invited me to go on a drive to NoDa with her & her daughter, Jenna.  After driving around town trying to figure out where to eat, we decided on Mama Ricotta's.  Mama Ricotta's is one of the most loved restaurants in town and it didn't disappoint today.  For those of you who do not know me and are confused, this picture is of Deanna & Jenna.  (Deanna and I are mistaken for sisters every once in a while.) 

After enjoying a scrumptious meal, we headed to NoDa for a mini art gallery crawl.  We had a lot of fun taking in the unique creations of local artists.  As usual, the heat was opressive so we decided to cool things off with a little ice cream. 

If you look at the front left corner of the above picture, you'll see my chocolate malt.  Mmmmm...chocolate malt.  Jenna loved her ice cream so much that she decided to wear it; after her mom took her to the restroom for a mini bath, she asked if she could make a wish at the fountain.

I'm not sure what Jenna wished for but I can tell you that she put a lot of thought into it.  Oh and that isn't a soft focus effect you are seeing in the picture....apparently, I had a fingerprint on the camera lens.  Probably chocolate.  And...if either one of you that read my blog are wondering...I took these pictures with the point & shoot.  I am a little too self concious to take my DSLR into a restaurant. 

Speaking of the DSLR, I thought I would try my skills with the tripod and take a profile picture with the self-timer.  First of all, take note that I am dressed for cold weather.  That is because I look better in winter clothes.  I was SWEATING in this outfit.  Also note that I totally misjudged where I would be sitting in these two pictures.  I finally got it right but the lighting was too dark and those pictures were out of focus.  Sadly, these were the best 2 out of 15.  Hold your laughter until the end....

First of all, what am I looking at?  Second of all, I'm barely in the picture.  In the next picture, I'm closer to the center but I missed the top of my head.   

I think I'll just wait for cooler weather and then see if Scott will take a profile picture for me. 

My Brand New Used Desk

I have to admit that I am already tired of renovating.  I just want my house back!  Even though we are only making 2 small changes...Scott says that the workers won't be finished until at least next week SO, I guess I will have to endure another weekend of dust, drop cloths and not being able to get to my basement from the inside of the house.  I should never complain about something like that....   

I promised my friends (they are also my coworkers) in Vermont that I would post some pictures of my new desk!  It's actually a hand-me-down from another business in the Park.  That company decided to go with a brand new "modern" look.  So...I got some brand new used furniture.  Here I am sitting at my desk:

It's hard to believe that I have spent 40 hours a week for the past 9 1/2 years in this very spot!  

Here's another view:   

And here's a bonus picture of yours truly...

OK...I really need to go do some laundry now.  I'll try not to get distracted by the TV along the way....

"but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint."

Isaiah 40:31

Father's Day

After hearing a great sermon on fathers at church this morning,  we went over the river and through the woods to Dad's house for lunch.  Actually....no river, just woods. 

No surprise here, I found Sleeping Beauty in his usual position.  If you clicked on this picture, you would see that he is sleeping with a toothpick in his mouth.  I can't tell you how many times over the years Dad has fallen asleep with a toothpick in his mouth.  When I was a little girl, we used to play a silly game where Dad would push the toothpick out of his mouth and I would try to guess where it was coming from and push it back in.  Kind of like "Whack-A-Mole"; only much more dangerous! 

It's Sunday so Mom is busy cooking roast beef, mashed potatoes & gravy, beans, macaroni, biscuits etc. 

Here's a picture of some of the food....

Sophie waits patiently outside the door for her plate.  Well, sort of patiently. 

Check out her plate.  She gets Sunday Dinner too!  Sophie loves Sundays.

After lunch, we all gave Dad his Father's Day gifts.  Kevin got a big surprise...  Rana had secretly given Mom presents for Kevin before she left for Syria.  He was very surprised.  After Dad and Kevin opened their presents, Kevin called Rana and we were all able to talk to her & Laura.  She is 7 hours ahead of us! 

Finally, here's a picture of Dad with his kids. 

I've always been a Daddy's girl and can honestly say that I thank God every day for blessing me with such a wonderful Dad (and Mom too). 

Fun With Mom

This morning I picked up Mom and we went shopping at Crate & Barrel.  Oh to have a gift certificate to Crate & Barrel.  I will have dreams about some of the items that I saw today but, they will have to wait until another day...

Afterwards, Mom and I ate at The Counter.

 We decided to "build" our own burgers and share a giant bowl of french fries & fried onion strings.  The food was really good.  I have to admit that it wasn't the cheapest burger that I have ever had but it was definitely one of the biggest.  The service was really good (today) and we thoroughly enjoyed our meal.    Thankfully, we were about 15 minutes ahead of the crowd and had no trouble being seated.

Here's a picture of my fave lunch date....

If only we had room for a chocolate malt...

Stretch Armstrong

Renovating. Already?

Yes...you heard me right.  We are already renovating & we aren't even finished with the house!  Ever since we moved in, our biggest complaint has been that we don't get enough natural light in the front door/den area.  Well, here's what it looks like from the inside right now:

The plastic is there because there is a giant hole in my ceiling that goes into the (very hot) attic.  We are hoping to take advantage of one of our dormers to let in a little extra natural light.

Check out my front porch...

If you look in the lower left corner, you will notice that there is a refrigerator on my porch!!!  What a great idea!  (hehehe)  Did you ever see the episode of King of Queens when Doug decided to put a refrigerator in their bedroom and use it as an end table?  At first, it seemed like a great idea to him because he could lay in bed and get something to drink without getting up.  Later, when he turned the light out to go to sleep...the fridge kicked on and it was loud.  Carrie was not happy.  I could so see that happening!  By the way, why does the word refrigerator have no "d" in it when the word "fridge" does?  I have always been confused by this.

OK...something is very wrong with this picture...

My TV is missing!  Scott decided that he doesn't like hanging the tv on the wall so they are going to cut a hole in  the wall for the tv to sit in. 

I have no idea how long this renovation will take but I already have a headache.  :-)  I'll be glad when things get back to "normal".  I only wish my friend Melanie (yes YOU Melanie) would decorate my house for me.  I'm not very creative myself.  If I had a lot of money I'm sure that my house would look like Pottery Barn threw up in it.

Sophie's Pool

Anytime the weather forecaster uses the word "oppressive" to describe the forecast - well, it isn't a good thing.  After hearing just how hot and sticky it was going to be this weekend, I decided to go buy the infamous Sophie (my brother's dog) a pool.  Let's just say that she wasn't as excited as I thought she would be.  Here's the pool...

And here's Sophie.  She seems to think that it's just a giant water bowl for her to drink from.  I had to take the picture really fast because she took a quick drink and walked away.  It wasn't the reaction I had hoped for.  I wanted her to plop down and splash around.  Oh well, maybe she'll figure it out someday.  Oh, and I'd like to send a shout out to my Dad for driving me in his truck to pick up the pool.  Boy, these things are a lot smaller than I remembered.  I could have picked the thing up in a Mini Cooper if I had wanted to. 

Update on an earlier post....Rana, Laura & Daniel have arrived safely in Damascus.  Here's a picture that Rana took on the plane: 

We miss you.  Mom and Dad are bored.  :-)  Kevin is actually downstairs watching a movie with Scott as I type this. 

I'm doing a 7 week online Bible study with Beth Moore.  Time to go watch Beth...  Hopefully, I'll have pictures of Sophie IN the pool tomorrow. 

Wordless Wednesday

Kevin (my brother) took these pictures outside his office:

Sunday Soup

Scott found a recipe, for pulled pork bbq, in this month's Better Homes and Gardens magazine that he wanted to try out -so- we invited my family, Scott's family, and his friend Eric over for dinner Saturday night.  Here's our grill master:

I took this picture of the pork while he was "pulling" it: 

He also made some (rather hot) sauce.  It was really good.  Here's a picture of some of our guests:

Laura really enjoyed getting to know Scott's uncle, Ken, while Daniel informed us when the lights were turned off or on.  ("Light" is his favorite word.)  All of the other pictures I took seemed to show people with food in their mouths; maybe I won't post any of those.  Changing the subject:  Here's a picture of Scott eating Cocoa Puffs:

Here he is on a different day: 

Did you notice that Greta has her paw on Scott's shoulder?  How about a totally different day.  Are you noticing a pattern here?

I'm pretty sure that if I walked into my den right now, I would see pretty much the same scenario. Greta has to be with one of us at all times.  :-)  Tomorrow, my sister-in-law, Rana, is taking Daniel and Laura to Damascus for 7 weeks.  Allow me to indulge myself for the rest of the post.  I took a bunch of pictures of them today.  I'm going to miss the three of them very much!

 Have a great trip Rana/Laura/Daniel.  I love you.  See you in 7 weeks!

Photography 101

Tonight I took my very first photography class.  The class lasted almost 3 hours so I am still trying to process everything that I learned.  Looking around the classroom of about 20 students, I observed that almost everyone there owned a Nikon camera.  It was quite humorous how some of the students with the biggest lenses knew the least about how to use their camera.  Here are a few of my pictures from tonight.  We'll start out with our main teacher, Brian.  This isn't a great shot of Brian - I'm not sure what I was practicing here - but nevertheless, here he is.  I enjoyed his teaching.  He kept everything very simple (which is what I needed) but also made it very interesting.   

Don't adjust your tv screen....I took this picture with a very low ISO.  

See, I'm just proving to you that I learned my vocabulary.  In this picture I blurred the background:

I know.  It isn't very exciting looking at pictures taken in a dark classroom.  Here's a picture I took with a fast shutter speed.  See how I was able to stop the tennis ball...

Now see how I am able to show movement...

I know...it needs some work.  I really enjoyed taking this basic class and I look forward to the next one.  I think I'm going to wait until Fall to sign up for Intermediate though because I learned so much and have much to practice.  This school offers a lot of different classes and also offers many "field trips" with the teachers to include waterfall expeditions and trips to Oregon.  I look forward to practicing my new hobby.  I will end this post with a picture of a strawberry cake that Scott made this weekend.  It sort of fell, but it sure was AWESOME!  Hungry?