Hagan Stone Park and Too Much Rain

The kids and I went to Hagan Stone Park last Thursday. It was overcast, but the radar showed that the rain was passing south of us and the local weather said that it would start raining that night. So, we went, hoping that the rain would hold off as predicted. And it did for the most part. Kelly and I felt a few tiny drops while walking the trails and then there was a very brief shower/misting as we were getting ready to go to the car.

Anyway, Sean went fishing from the pier on the lake while Kelly and I walked. We took a few turns we'd never taken before and then wondered how to get back. lol I got my phone out and turned on the GPS. We were practically on the far northern/northeastern reaches of the park and heading further out. lol But we eventually saw a tree we'd seen before (it stands in the middle of the trail) and knew we were finally going the right way.

Kelly and I walked for about 2 hours or so. I love the trails at Hagan Stone. You're basically walking in a forest. Tons of trees. And spiders. Ick. I almost walked into a web at one point. It was then I grabbed a stick to wave in front of me whenever we came to low-hanging branches or narrow areas where a spider could easily make a web across the path.

After about an hour and a half or so, Sean texted me, asking where we were and saying that he was hungry. I told him we were on the trail and trying to get back. When we finally got back to the pier, he was trying to untangle his line and said that he didn't catch anything.

The kids wanted to swing on the swings (which are at the far end of the park, not near the lake), even at their ages (18 and 15), so we went to the swings after we left the pier. We didn't stay at the swings for long. I was hungry and ready to go home.

I didn't bring my camera with me, so the pictures I took aren't the greatest quality. I'll take my camera when the leaves are at their peak.

Sean going fishing. The man on the right caught some catfish.

Kelly.

Saw this deer on the way to the swings.

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It did start raining that night. And it's rained almost constantly since. We got a bit of a break yesterday. We even saw the sun for awhile. But then it started raining again last night. We've gotten about 5 or 6 inches so far I think and we're supposed to get another 5-7 inches by Sunday. Part of that rain will be from Hurricane Joaquin, which is supposed to make landfall on the Outer Banks on Sunday night and then go through Washington, D.C. 

I told my kids that it'd be nice if the hurricane blew away all the bad politicians. D.C. would be empty. Hurricane apocalypse. I was kidding, of course. :-)

Some areas are already flooding from the rain we've had since last week and some people have lost their power. They're calling for more flooding and possibly more power outages (due to trees falling because of the wet ground and the wind that may come) over the next few days. I don't know when the rain will finally stop. Maybe next week sometime.

Ceiling Damage, Refinancing, a Book, and Other Things

Saturday night, June 27th, we came home from a conference we'd attended at our church that evening. After changing clothes, I went to my closet to hang up the outfit I'd worn and couldn't believe what I found. The ceiling coming apart and some of my clothes soaking wet. The floor was also wet. It had rained hard pretty much all day and night. *sigh* I called Charlie, who was still in Georgia, to tell him what had happened. Thankfully, we got very little rain (and no more leaks) before he was able to come home the following Wednesday, July 1st. Charlie fixed the leak, which was coming from a cracked seal around a pipe sticking out of the roof.

The rain had begun flooding our road, and many other roads in our city, hours earlier.

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Charlie had to go back to Atlanta this past Friday, but may be coming back home today. A surprise to us both as he's usually gone at least a week or two when he gets sent out of state. Though there is a chance he may have to go to Louisiana.

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July 4th, Charlie, the kids, and I (and Sean's girlfriend Ashley) went to the home of some church friends to shoot off the fireworks Charlie had bought in Georgia. They were really great and everyone enjoyed them.

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We were contacted by our mortgage company recently about refinancing our home. We received the papers early last week and signed them and had them notarized this past Thursday, July 9th. That will bring our interest rate down a couple percentage points and save us $23,000, according to what we were told.

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Book recommendation: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I really loved it and gave it five stars at GoodReads and added it to my favorites. The best book I've read in months. It was moving, inspiring, heartbreaking, and beautiful.

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I bought a new dress a couple weeks ago at Macy's. It was originally $129, but I got it on sale for $41. Later that week, I bought a light pink shrug at Dillard's to wear with the dress.

I'm short, so this dress is below my knees by several inches. Click for larger view to see details.

Kelly and I went to the mall late Sunday afternoon (after coming home from church and eating) to get a cherry icee for me and a strawberry smoothie for her. We went in through Dillard's and on the way out I wanted to look at purses. I saw three that I really liked. I didn't want to get all three though (too expensive and it may have been a little ridiculous to get all 3) and it took me awhile to decide. They're all the same purse, but different colors. One was pink in the front and back with gray sides and white handles. One was gray in the front and back with white sides and black handles. The third was white in the front and back with black sides and pink handles. I chose the third one.

I think the charms are really cute. Originally $128. Got it on sale for $90. I love Guess purses.

Recent photos:

Milo and Sam sleeping next to me and on my lap. This was taken a few hours before I started this blog entry.

Rainbow on July 5th.

Also on July 5th. Kelly took this with my phone. View large to see rays.

Duck weather, Bike thief, Flat tire

I don't like getting groceries in the rain, so since it was forecasted to rain today and yesterday, but not Wednesday, I got groceries on Wednesday. And wouldn't you know it, it rained. I barely beat the storm. The wind was whipping around, lightning was flashing now and then, and thunder was rolling as I unloaded the car. It began to rain shortly after I got all the groceries into the house. It had rained a little while I was out shopping. The worst of it held off until I got home.

We've gotten so much rain since Wednesday that areas of the city flooded. (Including a park, which looked more like a slow flowing river. The ducks loved it.) Thankfully none where we live. It never floods on this side. Our house is on the top of a small hill, so we feel pretty safe from flooding.

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My brother came over to cut our grass on Wednesday. (Before the rains came.) While he was in the backyard he saw that Sean's bike was gone. The one we got him for Christmas. Someone stole my son's bike. *insert angry smilie here* When Charlie gets back from Texas (maybe Tuesday or Wednesday), we're going to get Sean a new bike and chain up his and Kelly's bikes. Unfortunately, we don't have room for them in the garage or the storage building.

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On the way home from bringing Sean to school this morning (Kelly stayed home because she said she had a sore throat and a headache), I saw a bike in the backyard of a neighbor (who moved out about a month ago) two doors down and wondered if it was Sean's. After getting home, I went to check it out and saw that there are actually two bikes there. Neither of which are Sean's. :-/

While outside, I saw that one of my car's back tires is going flat. I couldn't see anything in the tire, so I rolled it back a little, checked again and saw something metal in it. There were air bubbles (because it's wet out) coming out from where the piece of metal is. *sigh* Great.

I can't change a tire and even if I could, it's raining too much to do that today. A friend picked up Sean from school and my brother is going to try to come by tomorrow to put the spare tire on my car. I reckon Charlie'll get the tire replaced when he gets home. We also need new tires on the front of the car.

It's been a wet and frustrating few days.