It's Monday!

I think I finally have some things lined up to get this place updated more often. But, of course, it is Monday and today is the worst Monday ever. Things are back on track now and, if I'm lucky, things will be back to normal this week. Alas, since it is Monday, everything has been going wrong. And it all started out with the light bulb in our upstairs hallway blowing out. Normally, that wouldn't be so bad. However, this is a light that is on the ceiling so it requires standing on a chair or step ladder to reach. That wouldn't be so bad either but we are currently out of light bulbs. I have to remember to stop by the store to pick up some full spectrum light bulbs so we can see upstairs. Yes, this is the main light in the entire upstairs.

Dear Monday, I hate you. Love, Me.

Busy time!

We're heading into my busy season at work. I do have some other things to talk about. I just have to find the time to do it. My goal is to get some things straightened out this weekend and try to work out a good schedule for me. I know I can figure out a way to get everything I want to do done. (Man, that is an awkward sentence.) I vow to not procrastinate and get side-tracked by websites like www.reidsupply.com. I can do this!

Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire

Every Labor Day weekend is Children's Weekend at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire. We try to go every year and this year was no different. The cast members at the PA Ren Faire are awesome. Not only are they super friendly but they seem to genuinely love playing with the children. While my daughter and her friend were in line to get their Pirate Booty prizes from the treasure hunt, the actor playing Richard Burbage (Richard Furin) had a mini-marshmallow fight with some of the children. The kids loved it and he did as well. (Though he did have to run away when the children started to seriously outnumber him.) At the "Cake with the Queen" event, the children not only get cupcakes, they also get a chance to talk with Queen Elizabeth herself! (Well, as played by Jess Eppler, anyway.) She sits under a tree with a few members of her court and gives the children as much individual time as she can. She is a very busy Queen, after all.

But my favorite part of the Faire are the entertainers. Fool Hearty are our favorites. They perform three different shows - Fool School, a magic show, and an untrained dog show. Absolutely all of them are worth watching as often as possible. Giacomo the Jester was also very funny. Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to see his knife show as it was scheduled against the end of the treasure hunt. We also didn't get a chance to see the big joust this year but it is usually very good.

And, if enjoying a Ren Faire isn't good enough for you, there is also a winery and brew pub on-site. They even have a wine tasting weekend, if that is your thing.

I heartily recommend that you check out the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire if you happen to be in the area during the show season. You absolutely will not regret it. As proof, here is a picture of my husband with Fool Hearty during their Fool School show.

There's a card for that!

My 12-year work anniversary is coming up in a few weeks. I came across a website today that sells company anniversary cards, which I found hysterical. Who in the world wants an anniversary card from their company? The first line of text on the website reads: "An employee anniversary card is a wonderful way to thank the people who keep your business running year after year." No, it's not a wonderful way to thank your employees. Thank them with a bonus or a cake or something. A company anniversary card is pointless and lacks any real emotion. This is just a lame way of saying "Hey, we didn't forget we hired you today." Lame.

Sheeder Mill Farm

With summer winding down, my family celebrated with one last trip. My mom, my aunt, my uncle, my cousin, my cousin's boyfriend, my husband, my daughter, and I all took a trail ride on horseback. About half of our group took a 30-minute riding lesson before the trail ride began, which my daughter appreciated. The trail ride itself was awesome. A majority of the ride took place in the woods so we were never in direct sunlight. Even though parts of the trail were really muddy, the beauty of the woods shone through. We all had a really great time and hope do to it again in the near future.

I'd also like to note that Sheeder Mill Farm was the best stable I have been to in a very long time. They were super friendly and the horses were all well behaved. Our group ranged from riders that have never been on a horse before to intermediate riders. None of us had any problems with our horses. (Sometimes horses will fight their riders so they can get back to the stable faster. That didn't happen here.) I highly recommend them for both riding lessons and trail rides.

A bit of a rut

I'm in a bit of a rut with this blog. When I find something wonderfully geeky, I love sharing it with you guys. However, my life nowadays is mostly filled with work, Zumba, and my daughter's activities. There isn't a lot of time for geeking out. Maybe I need to go back to the basics when I wrote about every episode of a show instead of just a season review. It would definitely be more interesting than posts about gantry crane websites. Would that be better for you? Updates would be more frequent but they might be shorter. Opinions?

Schuylkill River Outdoors

I really thought I wrote about this already. Apparently I have lost my marbles.

On Saturday afternoon (after we were sure any impending storms had passed), I went tubing down the Schuylkill River with my family and one of my daughter's friends. For anyone that really knows me, I'm not a fan of water. I can swim - I would rather avoid it though. Luckily, tubing doesn't really require going into the water much.

Basically, tubing (on any river) is where a person sits on an inner tube or raft and lazily floats down the river. Until fairly recently, the only place to do this in my area was on the Delaware River in Point Pleasant. It was a little exciting to know that we didn't have to drive so far anymore. The Schuylkill River isn't usually as deep as the Delaware. However, it is still deep enough for the kids to splash and have fun.

It's also a fairly cheap activity. For a 4-6 hour trip on a one person tube, it only costs $20. If you pay attention to Groupon or Living Social, you can usually pick up a good deal around the beginning of summer. We managed to get a trip for 4 people for less than $30. An awesome deal, if you ask me.

So, if you need something to do on a sunny day and don't feel like getting mobbed at the pool, I'd definitely recommend going tubing. A fun time will be had by all.

The Olympics are over!

It has been a very long two weeks but now the Olympics are officially over. The closing ceremonies were a huge star-fest. My daughter was excited to see One Direction and Jessie J. I just wanted to see the Spice Girls sing. (It must have sucked to ride on top of the taxis. They looked like they were driving fairly fast.) George Michael was a bit of a downer. He looked like he could use a little more rehab. Overall, I enjoyed the closing ceremonies. Now it's just two short years until the Winter Olympics. I hope I don't get sucked into those as well.

Need a new t-shirt?

My closet is woefully bare. I hate trying on clothes so, as a result, I rarely buy new pieces. The worst part of my closet is the "casual tee" section. The newest shirt in there is the cute sakura blossom shirt I bought in Washington DC two years ago. Besides that, the next newest shirt is at least 5 years old. So I started looking around online for some new tees. While the combat infantry badge shirt is kinda cool, a lot of the other shirts seem to promote hatred and violence. I don't feel comfortable buying a shirt from a site like that. Where do you buy your casual shirts?

Who is your Olympic body double?

I have been a little Olympics-crazy this year. Normally, the Games go by and I only notice when they interrupt my TV shows. This year is different. I'm not sure why - it just is. Since we've been talking about it a lot at work, one of my coworkers emailed this to me. Who is your Olympic body double? You put in your height and weight and it tells you what Olympic athlete is approximately the same size as you. I am the same size as Chile's Maria Fernanda Valdes - a weightlifter competing in the women's 75kg. Pretty neat!