cleanin' house

I had to clean up some of my entries because I've given out my blog to a couple of people at work (Hi, P!) and if the company continues to want to move toward blogging to drive traffic to our site, I didn't want to risk getting busted for some of my earlier comments....

That said, enjoy the new and improved, Covering-my-ass site!

We had a fabulous weekend, despite my stressful mother-in-law's visit. Poor G. My dad said that he could see G just start to slump as Saturday wore on.... he's still on the verge of recovery from his Bell's, and the last thing any of us need is a relapse. We went to the Road Race that is held in our town, and P got to play some silly games and win some direct-from-China prizes. Her favorite game was to scoop little plastic duckies from a wading pool. Once she got the hang of it, that's all she wanted to do.

We also went apple picking Saturday afternoon. It was unseasonably warm - in the high 70s, with a brisk wind and lots of sun. It was gorgeous. The orchard's trees were practically bending over to touch the ground, they had so much fruit on them. As the migrant pickers passed us in the loader truck, on their way up into the depths of the orchard to harvest, I'm sure they were thinking how crazy we people are, coming out to pick apples on the weekend. I had, bar-none, one of the BEST cider doughnuts I've ever had, in my life, period. It was hot, with a crispy outside and a beautiful crumb, with a soft, flavorful interior. The orchard overlooks Lake Champlain, and it's up on a hill, so there are views from every direction.

Sunday, everyone left, and G, P and I took the dogs on another hike - this is a habit I'd like to get into on a regular basis... it's good for all of us. This hike took us to Hogback trail, near a wild low-bush blueberry preserve at the near-top of a mountain near the Long Trail. The trails through the blueberry bushes are wide and mowed, and lead into the woods which was a well-tended trail. It was phenomenal. I like to get out and exercise, and I prefer not killing myself on the trails. This is my new favorite place to go. P was not as willing this time around, she wanted to play with sticks and got mad when the dogs stole the sticks from her. But we bribed her with some TV when she was done exercising, and she set a quick pace once we headed back. We got some pizza for lunch, then watched a movie and had a late-afternoon nap. It was a pretty great weekend, all things considered.

What about you all? What did you do?