A Walk Around the Fields

We made it through Hurricane Irene. Not much damage to report for our area - just a lot of rain and a few strong wind gusts. Anyone tuned into the television would have thought that the end of the world was near with the amount of coverage that the storm got from the major networks though. Normal broadcasting was halted for over 24 hours while news reporters and meteorologists took over the airways to update viewers every few minutes on rainfall totals and storm trajectories. Needless to say by 10am on Sunday, the sun was out, the weather was dry and clear, and things returned to normal.

Yesterday evening we decided to take the dogs for a walk around the ball fields at the local public rec center. We all piled into Brian's car for a five-minute drive to get to the rec center - me, Brian, Babu, Tahoe, Ashley, and Mei-Mei. I was the lucky one who got to sit in the back of the car with Tahoe, Ashley, and Mei-Mei, each fighting for a window seat. It was a very long five-minute ride.

Walking around the ball fields

Tahoe and Ashley getting hydrated

We had decided to walk around the ball fields because Henry was playing in a softball game on one of the fields. We watched two innings and saw Henry make a hit and catch. Go Henry!

The softball game

Henry on first base

Hurricane Irene

Hurricane Irene is slowly working it's way up the East Coast of the U.S., pounding coastal and low-lying areas with powerful winds and rain. As this slow-moving storm heads towards our area, I wanted to share a little tip to help you keep your dog or pet safe in a rainstorm.

Courtesy of The COMPLETE Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook

That's right... with a plastic shopping bag and some creative cutting, you too can protect your dog from a sudden rainstorm (or hurricane). For larger dogs, such as Tahoe and Ashley, a trash bag can be modified to work as well. Since Tahoe and Ashley are too large for a regular shopping bag, I used Mei-Mei (a poodle that we are dog-sitting) to model the shopping bag. Tahoe was fitted with a trash bag.

Mei-Mei, our guest pooch

Posing in her "raincoat"

Tahoe - ready for the storm

**Disclaimer: In case of a real life-threatening situation (such as a hurricane) please do not attempt to walk your dog outside in a plastic bag. Seek shelter immediately.

Earthquake in VA?

Yesterday at 1:51pm, we experienced an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.8. That's right - an earthquake was felt in Northern Virginia! Apparently, the epicenter was in Mineral, Virginia, a little town 91 miles away from Washington, DC.

I'm happy to report that we're okay. There was no damage to our home and no injuries have been reported. The only casualties in our house were our rice cooker and two glass jars filled with tea bags. I found a mess of rice, glass, and tea on the kitchen floor when I arrived home from work.

Post-earthquake kitchen floor

Here's a little recap of how we experienced the earthquake:

Brian - was working at the swimming pool and in the guardstand (the high chair at the side of the pool) at the time of the earthquake. He reported that the shaking almost caused him to fall out of his chair. He closed the pool for 30 minutes after the quake to make sure that there was no structural damage.

Babu - was driving to Luray, Virginia. He had just stopped at a (cheap) $3.39/gal Sheetz gas station (about 15 miles from Mineral, VA!).  He started pumping gas and felt the concrete pad under his feet start shaking. He thought it was being caused by a big construction truck that was nearby that he couldn't see. Then the pump started shaking and making noise for a few seconds.  Immediately he thought "I hope I'm being charged the right amount." After the shaking stopped and he was done pumping gas he moved on and didn't think much of it. Twenty minutes later, he learned on the radio that it had been an earthquake. 

Me - I was at work. My office is on the 4th (top) floor of an office building.  I was working on the computer when I felt the floor start shaking. Then, the walls started to shake and sway, and the furniture was moving.  It lasted for about 45 seconds.  My boss came out of his office and we just looked at each other. When the shaking was over, we both went back to work. (My boss is from the midwest. He admitted that when most people seek shelter when a tornado approaches, his family runs outside and towards it). A few minutes later I noticed that most of the people on my floor ran out of the building.  Twenty minutes later someone walked by my office and told me to evacuate.  At 3:00pm we were all told to go home.

Tahoe and Ashley - the *stars* of this blog - were in the house cowering under the bed together. (Okay, I took a little creative license here because I'm not really sure what they were up to. I suspect that they were probably just sleeping and when the ground started to shake, Tahoe and Ashley opened their eyes and then promptly went back to sleep.)

To the Bride and Groom

Yesterday at 6:30pm, Henry and Claire tied the knot at Khimaira Farm in Luray, Virginia. Congratulations to the happy couple!

It's official!

The newlyweds

Scuba Diving in Richmond?

With fall just around the corner, Babu and I decided to take one last summer overnight trip to do some Scuba diving. Where did we go? Richmond, Virginia.

What? You didn't know that Richmond was a hotbed for Scuba diving activities?  Well, it's not. But, just outside of Richmond is Lake Rawlings, a spring-fed lake that is stocked with fish, training platforms, and lots of other neat things (boat, bus, car, airplane, etc.) to see and explore underwater. I'll admit, it's certainly no Guam but it is a nice, clear, and calm site to practice diving and test equipment.

Lake Rawlings

Posing with the Great Pumpkin

Babu and I had visited Lake Rawlings twice before. This time though, we decided that we wanted to rent a "cabin" on the premises and do a night dive. We arrived at the lake around noon on Wednesday. We did an afternoon dive, a night dive, and a morning dive the next day. The weather was nice and so was the cabin - it felt like we were on a little mini vacation. The night dive in particular was a highlight of the trip. It was our first night dive and mosquitoes aside, it was awesome - big bright stars in the sky, clear water, and lively fish.

The "cabin" we rented

Ready for our last dive

Babu is ready too... or is he dancing?

Whoopie Pies and Parties

In my last post, I mentioned that I made whoopie pies for an "event" that I was attending this past weekend. This was the first time that I had ever made whoopie pies - personally, I think that they were a success. (Babu must have thought so too... he couldn't stop eating them.)

Yummy... whoopie pie

Ashley couldn't resist

So what were the whoopie pies for, you ask? I made them for Claire's bachelorette party. Yep, that's right... you regular blog readers will remember that Claire is Henry's fiancée.  The two are planning to tie the knot next weekend in Luray, Virginia. To help "send her off in style," Claire's friends and I got together for one last Saturday night of unbridled fun... at a gay karaoke bar, of course!

The girls donning glow necklaces

Someone's ready to party

Rocking on stage

The girls weren't the only one's out celebrating...
Brian and Henry's friends also got together for a bachelor party of sorts for Henry on Saturday - tailgating and watching a DC United soccer game. (DC United defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps, 4 - 0.)

Henry with Bill Hamid (DC United starting goalkeeper)

Time for the Weekend!

Friday was another gorgeous day - sunny, warm, and low humidity. It was so nice in fact, that Brian and I decided to go out to the tennis courts and hit the tennis ball around after work.

Wilson! (forever iconic thanks to the movie Castaway)

Brian returning my serve

Where in the world is the ball? (Look in the cloud to the right)

It was nice to get out and play tennis with Brian. While we didn't officially play a game, we did have fun working on our volley. Too bad Tahoe and Ashley are not allowed on the courts... they LOVE tennis balls!

Last night, I also learned that apparently, Ashley also LOVES whoopie pies! O.K., I've admitted in the past that Ashley has a little bit of an eating problem. She will eat anything, anywhere, at anytime. Last night I was making a batch of chocolate whoopie pies for an "event" (more to come on that later) that I'm attending tonight. I had my last tray of whoopie pie cookie-cakes out on the cooling rack. I had left the kitchen and I was doing some work in the bedroom when I heard a crash. Immediately, I ran down the stairs and found Ashley nose deep in whoopie pie cookie-cakes. I had cleaned some of the mess before these pictures were taken but, you get the idea...

Whoopie pies on the floor

The culprit - Miss Ashley

Feeding the Geese

Today was a beautiful day! Even though I spent most of the day inside an office, I was able to take a break during the middle of the day to walk outside. The sky was bright blue and dotted with big white cottonball-like clouds. It was like the opening scene in the Simpson's tv show, where the white clouds part in the sky - just perfect! This evening was more of the same, although the clouds were pink as the sun began to set.  The temperature was in the 80's and the humidity was low; Tahoe and Ashley are really enjoying this nice respite from the heat.

I took old leftover bread with me during our walk this evening to feed the geese. Earlier in the summer there was a family of 16 geese living at the lake. Recently, we've noticed that their numbers are down... it's a little early for them to start flying south so I'm not sure where they've gone.  This evening there were three (lucky) geese at the lake... each clamoring to get a beak-full of bread that we were throwing in their direction. Tahoe and Ashley watched as the geese swallowed up all of the bread. (Somehow, all four of us also managed to get caught up in fishing line during the feeding the process - that stuff is tricky to remove when it gets wrapped around paws that don't want to stop moving!)

Ashley watching the geese

Tahoe and Ashley with geese in the background

Ashley looking on

Dog Days Triathlon - Recap

Well, today was the "big" day - I participated in the Dog Days Triathlon. The morning started out early... up at 4:00am and in the car by 4:45am to head to the event venue, Southern Walk Pool in Ashburn, VA. My two biggest fans, Brian and Babu accompanied me to cheer me on and take pictures. The weather was slightly overcast, warm and humid.

The triathlon was a sprint-distance event: the swim was 400 meters, the bike was 12 miles, and the run was 3.1 miles. I anticipated a finish time of 1 hour and 30 minutes. So how did I do? Scroll down below to find out...

Racers lining up at the start of the race

In transition from bike to run - I'm in red with the yellow bike

The final leg... the 5k run

Showing off my medal to my niece

My biggest fan

Race results: There were 302 competitors. Out of 148 women, I came in 18th place. In my age group, out of 32 women, I placed 6th. And my time... 1 hour 20 minutes and 16 seconds. Not too shabby!

Friday Evening Walk

A pictorial post...

Tahoe at the lake

Ashley on the run

Walking my fur-buddies

Ashley sending a letter to her paw pal

Tahoe checking out the construction equipment

Ashley walking around the strange machine

Crisscrossed... this is how we walk 68% of the time

Home sweet home

Teaser

So, I know you all must be very curious about the little "teaser" I left in the post script of my last blog posting...

"P.S.: Stay tuned for another "Dog Days" post involving a little swimming and biking and running in the coming week..."

Check out this link to find out what I'm up to.