A midsummer night's dream

Last night, Rachel, Janice and I went on our annual excursion to Wolf Trap, an outdoor concert arena in Virginia. (I say annual but we realized it's been three years since we'd been--how time flies...)

We went to see Riverdance, an Irish dance troupe that is just incredible. It was supposed to rain, but instead it was just a cool, breezy summer night. The show started at sunset and finished when the moon was high.

We bought lawn seats and brought our dinner ahead of time, set up shop on a blanket and noshed (my word of the night, apparently) on cheese, crackers, tarts, bread, pineapple, and a fabulous rosé Chad and I bought two years ago in Napa.

Here are a few moments from our pre-show picnic:

Sur-reality

A few months ago, I blogged about the merger that our association was going through with another group. It would likely have resulted in substantial job loss and restructuring. That, on top of the incessant uncertainty, was enough to make me crazy. It's been a painstaking two months trying to figure out logistics and everything else that goes along with a decision like this.

Yesterday, at 3:30, we were informed that it's not going to happen. You would have thought the entire office had just been told they won the lottery. People exploded with applause, jumped up and down, hugged each other, cried...It was actually pretty incredible. (I did none of those things, I just sat there, stunned.)

And the jubilation continued after work at our watering hole across the street and then dinner with some friends and co-workers. It was one of the most surreal days of my life (right up there with April 20, when this merger was announced in the first place). It's so incredible to work at a place where your co-workers feel like family.

When my alarm went off this morning, I woke up with another familiar pit at the bottom of my stomach. Then I realized, "Hey, self! Get to work! You've got a lot to do today!" And I'm excited about that.

Puppy pops, Part II

So you don't have to endure more of Chad's Cubs videos, I will update quickly before heading off to Nashville for another business trip (thank you, Rachel, for sending me on this one).

On Saturday, President Obama took his daughters to one of our favorite ice cream places, the Dairy Godmother. I'm drooling just thinking about the vanilla custard with hot fudge and almonds... The Prez and I have our differences, but it seems we can agree on ice cream!

And he brought Bo home some of their puppy pops, which I blogged about last year. Lucy is undoubtedly jealous!

A week?

Chad here again - Ellen's gone a week with out posting. You know what that means. More Cubs videos!!

Where I live

If you want to know where we live (ok, one town over), watch this hilarious video. I've now been sent it by four people this afternoon and I am still laughing.

Another celebration

We celebrated my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary last Friday night. It was so fun to catch up with some family I don't get to see often enough and honor a milestone of another set of grandparents who have reached 60 years! (Chad's grandparents hit the mark on June 1 and my mom's parents celebrated last July.)

Here's a recap of our little party:

Janice and Rachel (coincidentally, the same spot where we
took most of our first-day-of-school pictures)

Grandpa playing bocce with the Tolley boys before dinner

Nick and Dad firing up the grill

My family with grandma and grandpa (we didn't think to
take a photo until everyone else had left!)

Dear diary...

A friend sent this to me this afternoon and I had to share. The laugh was needed!

Excerpts from a Dog's Daily Diary...

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk Bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Excerpts from a Cat's Daily Diary...

Day 983 of my captivity...
My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape.

In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a 'good little hunter' I am.

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of 'allergies.' I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage. Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow -- but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released -- and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously an idiot. The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now.

On the Farm, Part II

I'm back in DC and already nostalgic about my week back home. The weather was perfect (almost all of the time) and it was great to spend days with family.

Here's one more video I took right before leaving, since I got a special request for a video of Dan. He's in the tractor and you can't see him well, but the idea is there.

A jackpot in Winner

I've blogged before about how the idea of winning the lottery is exhilarating and terrifying, but my heart was warmed today when I read an article about a 23-year-old farmer from Winner, South Dakota, who bought $15 in lottery tickets and won the $232 million Powerball.

I hope he knows what he's in for when trying to figure out how to spend all of that money. It sure doesn't buy happiness--not in the least bit--but he seems to be a nice guy who has his heart in the right place. Being able to buy some land of his own and not having to worry about how to pay the bills will likely be a very different experience for him. Here's to the cowboy from Winner.

Oops

So I promised to blog every day this week, but I got preoccupied today with wedding reception scouting visits with Janice and treats to my mom's classroom and then dinner and then Crappy's.

Please forgive me. It's actually been a very fun, I-feel-like-I'm-on-vacation kind of day. More tomorrow...

All-Around-The-Farm tour

It was such a nice night tonight I wanted to share it with all of you. (Can you tell I'm looking for things to do on vacation?)

Here's a tour of the Tolley Farms homestead, complete with an appearance by the loveable (and stupid) family dog, Otis.

Down the road

As I rode a bike down the two-mile stretch of country road to Grandma Cathy's this afternoon on a perfectly wonderful spring day in Illinois, I got to thinking about the particularly memorable times I've made that trip:

• The years when I was old enough to ride a bike by myself but not old enough to drive. Many summer days involved back-and-forths to Grandma's and Grandpa's for milkshakes, lemonade, ice cream, or just conversation.
  
• Whenever I got sick and mom was working I'd head down the road. This included a two-day stretch in college after a brief hospital stint and when I came down with the flu my junior year in high school, stopping at home just long enough to pick up my pillow before showing up so pathetically on her doorstep.
  
• After arguing with my mom at the age of 9 or 10 (I was a strong-willed child), I decided to run away from home. I packed my little suitcase and Mom found me walking down the road halfway between our house and theirs. I'm pretty sure if I had made it all the way there that I would have just been taken home, but they may have fed me first.
• With our entire bridal party on our wedding day (four years ago tomorrow) when we played croquet and took pictures by an old barn and enjoyed a low-key celebration in the midst of wedding-day chaos with some of our favorite people in the world.

My day with Miriam

Several weeks ago, I blogged about my aunt-guilt over not sending my niece a birthday present. In addition to something my always-accommodating-and-helpful mother-in-law, Brenda, picked up from us, Miriam's present was going to be a day out with me while I was home.

So, today was the day. I picked Miriam up at 10:00. We went to the park, Discovery Depot, McDonald's, made a quick trip to Walgreen's and then another park for bubbles, a slide, a merry-go-round, swings, and probably something else I'm forgetting. I dropped her off at 3:00. I have a new appreciation for stay-at-home moms, especially because I really thought I was going to fall asleep at the kid center around 11:00 (not that she was boring, I just didn't get much sleep last night).

It was so much fun and Miriam was incredibly well-behaved. It's fascinating to see how kids that age learn and understand things. Still, it was nonstop running (and talking) for five hours. I'll sleep well tonight!

My favorite quotes from the day...and believe me, there are many I've forgotten because Miriam talked the. whole. time.:

"I miss daddy when he goes to work, and so does Dodge [the dog]."

I pick Miriam up and tell her that we can go absolutely anywhere she wants. The response? "Let's go to grandma's!" Shows where I rank, doesn't it?

In the car on the way to Galesburg from her house, Miriam asks if I'll tell her a story. "Sure," I say, "About what?" She says about a yellow truck. I tell her this great story about a yellow truck who was so sad because its owner upgraded to a new blue truck when the yellow truck got old but then the blue truck broke down and the man drove the yellow truck again and the yellow truck was happy. I was quite proud of my story. I finish with a very triumphant "the end," thinking about how the fabulous life lesson I have just made up on the fly, then get this opinion from the back seat:
"Wow, that was a long story. Can you tell me a shorter one now?"

We were at Discovery Depot checking out a long tube where you whisper in one end and can hear the person talking at the other end of the building. Miriam wanted to see how it worked, so I told her to stay at her end of the pipe and I'd whisper to her from the other end. I walked down there and turned around and she was gone. After looking around for a few semi-panicked minutes, and being assured by the woman at the front desk that she had not left the building, I found her:
E: Miriam, where were you supposed to be?
M: You said to stay right by the pipe.
E: But you didn't.
M: WellIKnowIWasGoingToButThenIHeardTheTrainWhistleAndIReally
WantedToGoRideTheTrainBecauseIt'sSoFun
E: But I got scared when I looked back and you weren't there. Are you sad that you made me scared?
M: No
(Bonus points for honesty but we still had quite a discussion about this.)

Cabin fever

Now that I've figured out how to embed movies in my blog from YouTube and have a few days of nothing on my calendar, I'll fill you in our on days at the cabin last weekend. The best part was that the trip was pretty cheap because we just tacked on a few extra days from the free weekend we got after the three hours we spent mopping up water while we were there in January. Manual labor does have its perks!

We spent our days canoeing, building fires, reading books (me), fishing (Chad), exploring (Lucy), sitting in the hot tub, and watching it rain. Rachel and Paul joined us Friday night through Sunday for our canoeing fun. The video below includes footage from before RT took me down the Class-2 rapids using the absolute wrong directions from our trusty river map. I'm lucky my camera made it out of the Shenandoah River, honestly.

I have posted Snapfish pictures as well, but this video pretty much sums it up:

Celebrating...

Happy anniversary to Chad's grandparents, who have been married 60 years today! Here are a few photos from our fun get-together Saturday night.

The whole crew

Our guests of honor

Chad and Grandpa DavisBrenda and AbbyHanging out with my two niecesMiriam waiting patiently for dinner