Life is Good

While Olivia hiked 13 miles yesterday, Lauchlin stuck to the open road. "Just riding" happens to be a favorite pasttime with friends Karen and Jimmy. Now that they ar without kids for the summer, they invited her along for a ride.
Here are Lauchlin and Karen after the adventure:



Notice the dirt covering the CRV from the several miles of dirt roads Jimmy found and traveled.


-- Post From My iPhone

Whatever Works

Who knew Clementine, the otherwise bad cat, could be won over with ice cream. Here's proof:




P.S. Clemmie, it's only three points!

-- Post From My iPhone

Double Suck

Hell Hole, Grumpy, and Broken Nose are all names of rapids on the Ocoee River. Okay, so river guides might not make the best marketing decisions.

Olivia and Ned are well on their way to a week of fun/trouble with high school kids. They're going to be whitewater rafting, repelling, hiking, playing in waterfalls, and caving. Although Ned has been faithfully leading pioneer camps since Olivia was in high school, Olivia hasn't been on a belay line in ten years! Olivia has held some reservations, especially driving the pioneer equipment van on the Sewanee cliffs and eating tuna sandwiches, but the "This isn't Camp Candy Ass" mantra that started more than 10 years ago still rings in her head.

Lauchlin 2 / Apple 0

So far, Apple has not been able to swindle us for any more money for their faulty products. And, it's all thanks to the handy dandy Apple store.

Here's the update...
The iPhone is back! The people at the Apple store replaced the screen, and it is good as new. Apparently, our friendly tech guy has dropped his phone three times and has never had problems.
Since, Lauchlin "did not" drop her phone, we weren't very consoled by this news. Instead, we learned that having a hard plastic case deters people from thinking an iPhone has, indeed, been dropped. Even though the Apple Care rep on the phone said it would cost a cool $199 to replace the $299 gadget, the new (free) screen and renewed love for Apple was, as they say, priceless.

We were even in and out of there with enough time to visit the lovely Williams Sonoma store to drool over all of the cool kitchen gadgets.

At a time when we both are realizing our complete dependence on technology, Olivia is taking a trek to Sewanee, where she will be a pioneer with neighbor Ned. Even the iPhone won't reach her on top of that mountain!

Lauchlin will head to Oxford this weekend with her mom to see Katherine, the proud owner of a $99 iPhone (and a birthday girl tomorrow). Must be nice to have paid $200 less than what they were TWO months ago. Lauchlin will have plenty of iPhone advice to share, like, be sure to keep the hard case on at all times. And, always take advantage of the niceties offered at the super cool Apple store.

Bad Apple!

R.I.P.
Lauchlin's iPhone
April 6, 2009-June 13, 2009

We are off to the Apple store to see about reincarnating — or, perhaps, replacing — it. This heart-wrenching incident comes just three weeks after the death of the iPod Classic. It was replaced for no charge. We'll see if that luck "rings" true for the iPhone.

A Quiet Evening At Home

Inspired by Ned and Mary Beth's "Eat on the China Night (Wednesdays)," we have declared Thursdays "Eat at the Table Night." This was especially important when "Dancing with the Stars" and "American Idol" were on TV earlier this season.

Of course, the entire family gathered, and Clemmie tested the wine while we were plating the food.

We won't be adding orange marmalade to our rosemary chicken with wild rice next time. (Why include the peel? No one eats an orange without peeling it!)

We did, however, enjoy the Weight Watchers cheesecake recipe that Olivia made without using a springform pan.

Back on the Wagon

We have abandoned the Weight Watchers for too long! It's high time we get back to counting points, flooding ourselves with water and no longer feeling guilty. So Olivia started her first full week of summer gathering the pertinent supplies. We're back in the game!
Here is some proof:



You can never have too much yogurt.




Mmmm....lunch!




What would Weight Watchers be without "high fiber?!"



-- Post From My iPhone