<p>sending pvc’s for power restoration and cool air!!!</p>
<p>I just got back from Hilton Head and wanted to check in with everyone who was in the path of the big storm. </p>
<p>12rmh - Glad to see you posting. I hope you get power back soon. You’ll be happy to know that there were a whole lot of power trucks heading north on 95 this morning, so help is on the way.</p>
<p>footballmom - Glad you are okay and hope you H is feeling better.</p>
<p>alice - I promised you an update on the Biltmore. H and I had a blast. It is beautiful place. We hiked, visited the house, tasted wine, and H went fly fishing. We had lunch the first day in Downtown Asheville at Tupelo Honey. They have southern food with a modern twist. It was good. Downtown Asheville is a fun place to wander around.</p>
<p>12rmh18 - sorry to hear that you are among those without power - hoping you have it restored pronto and don’t melt in the meantime.</p>
<p>footballmom - glad your H is feeling better!</p>
<p>BUandBC - thanks for the Biltmore report. Glad to hear that you had a good time. I think I’ll put it on my list.</p>
<p>P56: Happy Canada Day! :D</p>
<p>Footballmom: Glad to hear that H is back home and feeling better. Good luck tomorrow!:)</p>
<p>12rmh18: Yikes on the storms and no power! So happy that your H made it home safe and sound. Crossing my fingers that you get your power back soon. </p>
<p>BUandBC: Sounds like you had a great Anniversary trip! </p>
<p>I must be getting old because the heat never used to bother me, but all of the 90+ degrees have done me in. I NEVER used to sweat, glow yes, even glisten, but the past 2 days as soon as I go out for my walk I get to the end of the block and I start to sweat. It’s not a pretty sight. :eek: I’m a shore person but this heat has me thinking that the mountains might not be such a bad place after all. </p>
<p>Stay 
everyone!</p>
<p>Hooray! Power is back. Unfortunately it is still out for a lot of people, so send some positive thoughts their way. MD still has water restrictions too. Sending thoughts their way.</p>
<p>The weather service is describing Friday’s storm as a [url=<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derecho]“derecho,”[/url">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derecho]"derecho,”[/url</a>] a fast-moving band of storms that can produce hurricane-force winds. It struck with very little warning. A neighbor 3 doors down saw alerts on television but before she could react, the winds tore off the tops of several trees & uprooted two 100-ft trees in her backyard, narrowly missing her house & the sun room where her daughters were watching a movie by a few feet. The winds roared up the street like a freight train, snapping trees like matchsticks. Lightening was flashing like a strobe light. Everyone on my street said that they spent the night in their basements.</p>
<p>When life hands you a derecho, the best thing to do is have a party. 
We had a “Use it or Lose it” party for people to grill stuff in the freezer that is usually reserved for special occasions. We used a long sheet of construction plastic as a slip-n-slide and had a water balloon toss. Everyone got soaked, which was a good thing in the 100-degree heat. The downside of the water balloons: picking up balloon fragments in the yard today.</p>
<p>Happy Canada Day to P56! (Btw, I had to make coffee this morning on my camp stove.)</p>
<p>BU&BC: Thanks for sending the power truck cavalry north. 
I loved the Biltmore Report - it sounds lovely & makes me want to visit it more than ever. What a wonderful place to celebrate an anniversary!</p>
<p>footballmom: I’m glad your DH is on the mend.</p>
<p>RobD: YIKES to 109 degrees on Friday. That makes our temps sound like a cold snap. 
Stay </p>
<p>G#: I hope your family is OK. Last night I got several messages from W&M about tornado sightings in the Williamsburg area.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for all the good wishes. As is turns out, tomorrow is not my first day of work after all. Due to the state of emergency, only essential staff are to report to the Capitol Complex tomorrow … I guess this means I’m not essential, then.
Hugs to everyone who is still waiting for power</p>
<p>Sent from my SCH-I405 using CC</p>
<p>Happy Canada Day!</p>
<p>Hope everyone stayed as 
as possible!</p>
<p>Ill pass on coffee, unless its iced.</p>
<p>P56 As 12rmh18 can attest, this was not a fun weekend to live in VA (or W. VA). We had bad storms Friday (wind and lightening, no rain) and Saturday (torrential downpour and lightening) nights. We went to the center of the house to be safe during the storms visions of sitting in that same spot with D2 during last years hurricane. Spent much of the day Saturday cleaning up the yard, inc. several large limbs that was not in the plan, some minor car damage, but no damage to the house that we were able to find and all are safe. D1 called to check on us around 1:00PM on Saturday her power had just come back on (since Friday night) in Arlington. Our little Podunk part of VA only lost power for about 5 minutes during the storms and ½ hour tonight for no real reason other than to keep me from posting. I saw many utility crews on the roads all weekend.</p>
<p>Footballmom Glad to hear that you have power and your H is feeling better! I dont care what they say, you are essential to this thread, so you should show up for work!</p>
<p>
I hope this is well regimented and structured fun. None of that spur-of-the-moment truly enjoying yourself kind of fun. ;)</p>
<p>
I think that our kids had the same Packing 101 class and failed to show up on a regular basis. ;)</p>
<p>Showmom I thought about you this week when someone with whom I work (a horse person) was talking about cross-country horse racing / jumping. What would possess one to get involved in that? The fatality rate among riders and horses is through the roof. :eek:</p>
<p>ProudNJMom I feel sorry for S2 if he is having to do much outside work in this heat!</p>
<p>YDS The job in which D2 is really interested was with the DOJs Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section. She went with a group from school and met a senior person there (an alumnus) that had been involved in investigating / prosecuting US citizens involved in international human rights crimes, inc. the Holocaust and Rwanda. She sent follow up email to the official who is a PhD (not JD, much to D2s excitement) and he has invited her to come back and meet with him and learn more about what the department does.</p>
<p>This brings up a question for those with kids in DC for internships. Does your kids school have structured events for the interns from their school? I have been very impressed with the level of support that D2s school has provided. The school essentially didnt have to do anything, but they have a person in DC (also an intern) dedicated just to the DC interns and planning events, both fun (e.g. baseball games) and educational (e.g. learning about careers or attending lectures). They have events almost every night covering a wide range of topics (medicine, arts, finance, sciences, NGOs, law, etc.) with a wide range of perspectives (D2 has met both George Will and Ralph Nader :eek:). And most importantly, they often involve food. 
The hosts for these activities are alumni who have given their time to help the interns. I was just wondering if this was common practice (especially among East Coast schools with a strong DC presence) as it seems to be a best practice. It is a huge benefit that we did not really consider and cant cost the school much.</p>
<p>In college related news, I think that we finally have D2s meal plan(s) straightened out and she is no longer on the 6 meals per day plan. Somehow, she managed to get signed up for two plans.</p>
<p>Bottom of the page</p>
<p>good morning all…coffee is ready and a pepsi for checkers</p>
<p>hope all with no power are doing well!!! stay safe</p>
<p>loving the idea of only working 2 days this week!!! (but will pay for it next week )</p>
<p>G# - I don’t know what the individual schools do here for interns, but interns in the Governor’s Summer Intership Program have events put on by state government, such as lunch lectures and receptions with state leaders. It’s a great program - I wish my S1 could be involved but somehow I don’t think they need sports broadcast majors. He might be able to do it through his history major, though. </p>
<p>We were among the blessed few not to lose power here in WV. We went out to brunch with friends yesterday and a lot of people had their cell phones and chargers hoping to plug in at the restaurant. S1’s Kroger store was one of only three in the greater Charleston area open and it was a total madhouse. He was off yesterday but will work 3:30 - midnight today. S2 is at Boy Scout camp - hopefully they’re practicing their Scout skills in getting through this hot weather. </p>
<p>Wishing all a great day and thanks for the coffee!</p>
<p>Just a quick one to say I’m back from visiting my folks in Virginia this past weekend. Survived power outages and tornado warnings / high winds, but fortunately, no significant damage, and no delay in my travel back home yesterday. Whew!</p>
<p>DS is campaigning to move into an apartment for the fall. Dude, why are you doing this in July, when you know that we put a (non-refundable) deposit down back in April for a dorm room for next year? We told him he needed to be proactive in looking for a place to live. Now that he’s staying in NYC this summer, he sees advantages to be living off campus. I don’t disagree with him, but his timing is terrible. I’m not naive to think if we secured a dorm room for DS, he may choose not to physically live there. However, I’ll be darned if we’ll double pay for an apartment and a dorm. We’ll see now this plays out.</p>
<p>We were in Evanston during the Sunday storm…it passed just south of us but we were prepared to go to the basement of Barnes & Noble if necessary! Then I came home and found tree limbs all over the yard, but nothing damaged and the power still on. Some people in the Cinti. area are still without power, however. The clouds were scary to look at–you could see a definite line between the gray-black oncoming storm and the blue sky!</p>
<p>Came home to distressing news–a friend’s son passed away, don’t know how or why yet. He is the same age as my college S and they were in elementary school together.</p>
<p>So sorry mom music ! {hugs}</p>
<p>P56: Thanks for the Pepsi ! I have a streusel coffee cake, just out of the oven. Too late for breakfast but just in time for tea. :)</p>
<p>Well I did it. I took off Fridays, but just for the month of July. ridiculous how excited I am.</p>
<p>I see Fall charges for tuition, rec center, health, etc are starting to post to S account. <em>Sigh</em>. I really like having him HERE. The GF is now going to a community college in the same town, so wonder how often he’ll come home.</p>
<p>Anyone familiar with Montessori preschool ? I am considering taking the preschool teacher course. I already teach private preschool, but think it might give me an edge - something no one else in town has or does. I’m ready for some kind of change.</p>
<p>Glad to hear everyone in the storm path is safe. the wind is so scary. A couple springs ago we had a crazy wind come out of nowhere. It totally wiped out our backyard…willow tree, ripped apart the playhouse and strung debris all across 3 lots. It took our trampoline out of a fenced area and lifted it up & over the other willow tree and dropped it in the street. ALL our neighbor’s yards were untouched. In fact one neighbor started to drive by and backed up to look at their yard when they saw our mess. We’re still unsure what happened.</p>
<p>(((mommusic))) It’s always so distressing when something like that happens.</p>
<p>Checkers - I’d be excited too. In fact, I’m kind of excited today because I didn’t have to work due to the state of emergency here - kind of like a snow day in July!</p>
<p>Thinking of everyone who is experiencing bad weather…please stay safe!!</p>
<p>mommusic - so sorry to hear the terrible news about your friends son.</p>
<p>Glad to hear that you all made it through the crazy weather and power outages safely. I was looking at my company’s website today and there were several locations in NOVA and MD that had problems so employees could not come to work.</p>
<p>G# - no cross country riding for D and her horse. It is definitely a dangerous sport! The US Olympic showjumping team has a rider that is D’s age (just turning 18). She came through the trials and beat out many veteran riders to secure her spot. The oldest guy on the showjumping team is 52. It is a sport that you can do for many years. The alternate for the team use to own and ride D’s horse. Actually his family owned D’s horse before we bought him and this guy showed him several times.</p>
<p>mommusic - Oh, how tragic! Sorry to hear the sad news.</p>
<p>Good morning all. We’re about to fall off page one.</p>
<p>It is so hot here all week–I have to cut the grass but I think I’ll do it first thing this morning before it gets TOO hot. Blech. Then I have to go to a funeral for a 20-year-old.</p>
<p>And all of you should have a better day than I am going to have. </p>
<p>S can’t go to the funeral b/c he has one of his 4 hour summer classes right in the middle of the day, but I will pick him up tonight so he can be home for the 4th and we will visit the family.</p>
<p>Good morning to all!</p>
<p>(((mommusic))). </p>
<p>I get to start my job today! Yay! I’m off to get in the shower now!</p>
<p>Morning all! Trying to catch up. I was thinking of G# and others in the VA area when I heard about the storms. We were all over the northeast this weekend but somehow managed to miss any rain or storms. Sheer dumb luck, I suppose.</p>
<p>The “mandatory fun trip” turned out ok. Saturday we took a bus trip with 34 relatives on H’s side to Amish country. 3 hours each way. First we stopped for 45 minutes at a little shopping area, then we saw a play about Jonah (yes, the guy with the whale). The sets and technical aspects were impressive, but the story was p-a-i-n-f-u-l-l-y slow and heavy-handed. After that it was an early family-style Pennsylvania Dutch dinner, then another 3 hours on the bus. The younger grandkids (ages 5 - 12) had a great time. The older ones, including my 23 year old S, put up with it with good grace. And the older generation was just happy to have us all together for a day. </p>
<p>Sunday we moved S into his new apartment. The previous tenant was a male grad student, so the apartment - while not filthy - was “lived in.” H and I spent several hours scrubbing it while S assembled his Ikea furniture. He’s so happy to finally be out on his own, and this apartment is in a great location for him commuting-wise. It’s in what appears to be a safe, up-and-coming area. It’s very diverse, both culturally and economically - his building’s parking lot has several old junky cars (like his) as well as new BMWs and Lexuses. For a studio, it has a lot of storage space. He’s on the 21st floor with a view of the lower Manhattan skyline. I keep wondering what would happen if the power went out, though…</p>
<p>D managed to skip out on this adventurous weekend by going to her sorority’s national convention. I think it was a really good experience for her and got her thinking “bigger picture.” Apparently she and the other 2 delegates from her chapter bonded with the delegates from a chapter at a nearby university and they might try to plan some events together. She also got to know their regional rep pretty well. Her chapter won a couple of awards, including one of the higher-level awards. </p>
<p>A few random observations from the move-in process with S:
- Strangers’ dirt is much grosser than my own dirt.
- I need to give my cleaning lady a raise.
- I’m so glad I gave S my old dishes and cooking pots. He’s on his own for the first time, in a new and very different place, and the dishes are like a little touch of home.</p>