Metal Meredith

And we are taking full advantage...

This past week and a half has been rather busy! Phil and I had a nice afternoon and evening out thanks to Grandma Sandy. She was nice enough to babysit Vivienne so Mom and Dad could act like grown ups for once. Since it was my birthday dinner, I made Phil go to the Symphony Designer House with me. Haha. It was fun though, he even said (so if he tells you otherwise, he is lying).

Phil spent the past week and a half in meetings with clients and possible clients. The business is really growing...we are both so excited, but tired. I really like having him working from home, much more then he enjoys being here, I am sure.

Vivienne and I went to the Children’s Museum of Richmond with Chris and Sammy last Friday. That was so much fun and Vivienne seemed to really enjoy herself. I liked it so much I got a family membership. There were many places for her to run and practice her stair climbing. She also enjoyed walking back and forth up an incline, her second favorite pastime. I am sure we will be going back there often.

On Sunday, we went to the Ashland Berry Farm to pick pumpkins. We rode the hayride, picked out 3 punpkins, and had a blast stomping through the pumpkin vines. Well, Vivienne did. She has carried her pumpkin around for days now. She is very proud.

More photos are in a new “Fall 2004” album. Please take a look!

Love,
Meredith, Phil and Vivienne

32 Years and Still Going Strong

On September 28th, I celebrated my 32nd birthday to no fanfare and no surprises. My father informed me that this means I am getting old. Nice one Dad. The family has been sick with Strep Throat for the past week, making me thankful that we all felt better on my birthday. That seemed like present enough. Phil was nice enough to play hookie from work and we went out to lunch, bought some stuff with my birthday money, and generally stayed around the house. I got a sassy new haircut (see photo), made potato casserole (my favorite dish) and brownies. All in all, a good day.

Please take a look at all the photos from Papa’s 70th Birthday party. They are in their own photo album. There are a few new Vivienne pics as well, our favorite being her enjoying her chicken costume.

Thanks for visiting!
Meredith

So Busy

I have been so very busy, but it still feels like nothing is going on. How strange.

This past weekend I spent with my Mom and Sister having a much needed “Girls Weekend” in Dallas. We helped Michelle get settled in the new place. I always have fun organizing (as well as spending Mom’s money--hee hee), so it was nothing but a good time for me. I got home utterly exhausted from all the running around. Vivienne was lucky enough to spend a weekend with her Dad who showered her with affection and took her on many trips to Smoothie King and toy stores.

On Tuesday, I got word that Allie Scott, had died. She was a 9 month old baby girl that was diagnosed with Leukemia at 5 months old. I have been following her story for many months, as had thousands of others across the world. Her parents, Jenny and Andrew Scott, have taught me so much in such a short time about love, strength and grace. They have raised over $80,000 in Allie’s name for The Lymphoma and Leukemia Society‘s Light the Night Walks all over the US.

In honor of Allie, Vivienne and I spent Thursday afternoon together at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. We toured the Butterfly exhibit, where butterflies are flying freely around a big atrium filled with flowers and trees. Vivienne seemed to enjoy chasing them, but was much more fascinated with the beads that kept them from escaping. She tried her best to say the words, but all she could come up with was “bubbafluh” which, of course, is the new pronunciation of butterfly in our home.

Vivienne is full of surprises this weekend. On Friday night, while eating chicken strips, she starting saying “bawk bawk bawk”. I know that this sounds like nothing to the average person, but to Phil and I, we were floored. All of the sudden we realized that our kid was making some connections. She knew that a chicken went “bawk”. We took bought her a shirt with a puppy on it, only to have her point at it all day and proclaim “goggie” over and over. Wow, here we are just goofing off and our kid is learning every second. We were so happy, we bought her a chicken costume for Halloween. (That will certainly embarrass the heck out of her at 15- much to the delight of her parents!)

The State Fair is coming around the corner which also brings my Birthday. We will undoubtedly be taking the afternoon and evening of my birthday to see farm animals and eat gross carnival food like fried Snickers and Funnel Cake. There is nothing like a footlong corndog to say “Happy 32nd Birthday!”

Love and Kisses!
Meredith, Phil, and Vivienne

Gee, Thanks Gaston.

R.I.P. Grandpa’s Cadillac

On August 31st, 2004, Gaston came and killed my Caddy.

That morning, I went to Mom’s to see my Grandparents who were visiting from Balitmore. It started raining at 11:30am due to remnants of Hurricane Gaston that was now just a bad rainstorm. I left there aroung 1:30pm and it poured the whole way home. At times it was so bad I was going 30 mph in a 65 zone, not fun.

After I got home, Phil and I played with the baby, ate some lunch and generally thought ‘it sure was raining a lot’. We don’t have local tv channels (a whole other entry is needed to explain my intense hatred for DirecTV), so we thought nothing of how much rain was falling.

Around 5pm, Phil noticed that our front window was leaking. He pulled up the blinds to have a look and let out some not so pleasant words and said, “Meredith, Look outside, NOW”. So I did.

Much to my surprise, our street was a river. Water was halfway up the tires on our truck and Cadillac. There was nothing to be done at that point. Rain was continuing. I turned on the news, hearing reports of higways being shut down, people stuck in buildings in Shockoe Bottom, cars abandoned everywhere.

By 10:30 the rain had stopped. We watched the water rise above the bumpers on both cars. We watched the tires go under. Then, in an hour, all water had receeded. Phil went to check the cars and found water inside, over the seats. My heart filled with dread.

For those of you who don’t know the story:
[I] This car was a gift from my Grandfather. He lost most of his vision to Macular Degeneration several years ago. This was his baby.

In 1991, my Grandfather had an operation to remove a mass on his lung. They were positive it was cancerous, only to find out it was not (or so I recall with my 19 yr old selfish memory). My Grandmother bought this car as a gift. As he was wheeled out of the hospital, the car was driven up to pick him up. Everyone cried. It was the top of the line back then. He has treated it with the best of care since.

When he couldn’t drive anymore, he was crushed. It mainly lived under a tarp in the driveway. He spent $1500 getting it tuned up and ready to go, then gave it to me for Christmas last year. I was floored, I was elated, I was touched. It was so much more of a sentimental gift than a car. It kills me that this happened on my watch.[/I]

I got word on Friday that the car was a total loss. There is no way that I can replace the sentimentality that this car holds. Fortunately, that will always be with me.

On a good note, we are all ok. Our house is still intact and did not flood. Everyone that I know is safe and sound. A car isn’t so bad when you see it from that perspective. Feel free to peruse the photos in their own sepcial secton “Gaston’s Visit”.

Take Care,
Meredith, Phil, and Vivienne
(The photo above is a great way to tell our feelings. Are we laughing or crying? Truthfully, a little of both.)