Some like it hot...

But not me. It's hot. 94 F plus the humidity. Oh, the humidity. Even the dog wants to stay inside; as I write this, he's napping on the couch. We venture out in the morning and evenings to do yardwork; the mosquitoes here are not worth mentioning when you compare them to the gigantic ones in Minnesota!

It's a good week for local work on the horses. I've already worked on four horses and have three more later this week. I was supposed to go to the Buckskin World Show out in Tulsa this week, but did not have enough clients lined up, so I scratched that one. I do have an appointment on Thursday that I'm excited about -- I'm meeting an Arkansas vet and doing a massage demo. I'm hoping this will help me get more local clients.

I'm on a roll with indoor projects. Doing a major housecleaning, trying to reduce the amount of unnecessary junk that seems to have accumulated. Listing some items on Ebay (gotta finish paying for that car!). And I'm going full speed ahead on projects for the Art Festival, which is only two months away. I have four handmade journals/scrapbooks finished, as well as several other "secret" projects.

More Vacation Photos

Going through the 200 or so vacation photos - it's hard to choose just a few! A couple of my favorites from Maine and Boston:














This one was shot on a beach south of Portland. I'm going to enlarge & frame it!

The Portland Head Lighthouse. Funny: the foghorn was going off right next to us. I didn't hear or feel a thing.

The Portland Head Lighthouse, from another perspective.

I loved the mix of old & new in Boston. The old buildings look right at home -- it's the sparkly new ones that look out of place.

I learned a lot about Boston's history on my trolley tour (I would have done the walking tours but I only had about 6 hours!) For instance, there are cemeteries in the midst of the city that date back to the 1600s and 1700s. Very cool -- and yes, I know, I am morbid.

Trinity Church, dwarfed by the John Hancock Tower. This church was gorgeous! I wish I'd had time to go inside.

That's all folks. I highly recommend going to Boston to do some sightseeing if you ever get the opportunity. I'm glad I did it.

Welcome to the world, baby girl!

Congrats to Brenda & Bobby, who are the super-proud parents of Sophia Ellen Overton. I'm so excited for them & can't wait to meet the new addition.

Yes, I am home from my East Coast trip. I've been slacking off on blogging as I settled back home. I promise to be a more conscientious blogger, as I know some of you check my page often to see what my latest adventure is.

It's been a busy week, getting back into the swing of things. I'm working on some handmade journals for the September Art Festival & I'm excited about how they are turning out. I've also worked on a couple of horses this week and have a contact who is putting in a good word with an equine vet in Arkansas. Hopefully that will create some more local work for me.

Have a great day!

Lakes, Ice cream, fresh produce & lobster...a photo blog

So far, we've seen Lake Erie:

Discovered the true meaning of "Peace, Love and Ice Cream":

Picked out -- and ate -- fresh lobster, courtesy of Joyce's mom:


So far, it's been a delicious vacation! Tomorrow, we may head to the Portland area and take a ferry over to Peak's Island. Can't wait!

Maine!

We made it to our destination late Wednesday pm! After a yummy stop at Ben & Jerry's in Vermont, we booked it for Lewiston. Liam was pretty excited about getting to his Gramma and Grampa's, and it would have broken the kid's heart if we'd stopped!

We spent Thursday enjoying the perfect weather -- spent time in the backyard pool & then had a delicious lobster boil for lunch. I could get used to this. Joyce & her mom have plans to show me the Maine coast, including a day trip to Peak Island. I can't wait -- love the ocean.

I STILL have to upload photos, and I have some cool, geeky ones to show. I got sidetracked, big-time: woke up about 4 a.m. Thursday with the flu. It's now Saturday evening & I am just starting to feel like I belong among the living. Getting sick on vacation sucks.

'Til next time. I'm going to try some Moxie tonight. Goodness knows, I need more of that.

New York, New York....

Greetings from northwestern New York! We put the pedal to the metal today and made it over the Pennsylvania border & into New York. We're "roughing it" tonight in a cabin at a KOA campground that's about 400 yards away from Lake Erie. It's supposed to rain all night, so we decided not to chance getting soaked. With showers, AC and free wireless Internet, it's not really camping, but I am enjoying the fresh air as I type this.

As the trip goes on, I am creating a "Things I Learned" list, much to Joyce's chagrin. Once it reaches 10, I will post the complete list. I'm pretty sure Joyce will find some way to get back at me -- the list so far only has two items and they both relate to her.

Tomorrow's itinerary is to get through New York, Vermont and New Hampshire, and arrive at Joyce's parents' house late in the evening. We do plan a pit stop at the Ben & Jerry's factory. I'm drooling thinking about the ice cream!

That's it for today. I was going to post some photos from Lake Erie, but I'm too tired/lazy to do it today. Plus, I'm STILL waiting to hear from Brenda's hubby about Baby Overton.
Lisa

Maine or Bust!

Greetings from Indiana! I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July. My weekend turned out to be pretty interesting.

I am now on the road to Maine with Joyce and her two kids. We left bright & early this morning and are now in the Eastern Time Zone, still about 1,000 miles from our destination. We had one emergency potty break, and the most excitement we had was seeing Eddie Murphy.

Seriously. There was a van decked out with logos promoting the upcoming "Meet Dave" movie and it had a trailer with a larger-than-life model of Eddie Murphy's head. We waited & watched, but no other body parts came down the freeway. Talk about movie trailers!

Tomorrow, our goal is to make it to the Pennsylvania state line and camp somewhere. Wednesday we will begin acting more like tourists -- we plan to drive through the Adirondack mountain range and then on into Vermont.
I will try to blog (with photos) as the trip evolves.
Til next time! Lisa

2000 miles later...

I can't believe it's been more than two weeks since I last posted a blog! My excuse is that I was on the road & having too much fun to be online very much.

The new car is working out fantastic! Pumping gas is virtually painless now. I'm averaging 32-34 mpg, which is more than DOUBLE what I got when driving the other gas-guzzlers. I love it and definitely don't have any buyer's remorse.

On June 19, I hit the road for Chicago to see my girl Brenda.

She is having a baby -- sooner, rather than later -- so it was great to see her before she adds to her family. She and her hubby Bobby are so cute:

As of today, she's scheduled to give birth on July 8 -- a whopping two weeks earlier than planned! I wish her & Bob the best of luck with the delivery & can't wait to meet the newest Overton.

While Brenda was at work on Monday the 23rd, I went on an adventure to Chicago. Brenda lives in the cool 'burbs of Chicago, a hop & skip from the Metra commuter train. I took that to Union Station downtown, then got on the El and went to explore the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Of course I forgot my camera -- so no pics of the cool architecture. After exploring Lincoln Park, I got back on the El and went back downtown to walk up and down Michigan Avenue. I definitely got my city (and coffee and shopping) fix -- and I'm somewhat proud to report that I didn't get lost once.

After I wore out my welcome (actually, it was Baxter who wore out his welcome!), it was off to Michigan to work at the Tom Powers Futurity. This was a great show for me, business-wise. You would not know that diesel is the price it is if you attended this show -- it was bigger and better than ever. One of my clients was a reserve champion in one of the prestigious 2-year-old futurity classes.

And now I am home, balancing the checkbook, catching up with friends & sleep. And (you knew this was coming, right?) getting read for the next round of travel. Next up is Maine. With two women, two kids and 1600 miles of road, it should be interesting. I promise to be a responsible blogger.