My life in the fast lane

Last week, my husband and I took several small day trips and one of them was to Eastern Neck Wildlife Refuge, on an island off the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. On the map, it's just south of Rock Hall and just northeast of Kent Island.

It's about an hour drive from our home and I shot some photos out the car window during our drive on this gray morning. The photo above was taken while we were driving over the Bohemia River. Hey, I know someone who lives over that way . . .

Further down the road, a deserted old farmhouse intrigues me. I ran TRA's 'Super Old Skool' action on it to make it look even creepier.

We drove through the little town of Rock Hall and continued south. This was shot going over the little bridge that connects Eastern Neck Island to the mainland.

The Chesapeake Bay washes over the bridge during storms and I assume that's what's lying all over the road here.

Just down the road is Tubby Cove. You're familiar with that little pit stop, right? I posted a similar picture of the Boardwalk trail (above) out to the observation deck on my Picture A Day site a few days ago. I am thinking of doing a series entitled "My Husband, From Behind".

Not really. He'd kill me!

Here's another one anyway. This was taken inside that little crop of trees you see in the distance from the Boardwalk Trail which leads to the viewing platform. We didn't see much and the wind was really picking up, so we got back in the car and headed to a more sheltered spot which I'll continue tomorrow.

Hey! You still awake?

I mean, I know this is a thrill a minute, but I warned you not to get too excited, didn't I? I put it right in the blog header!

Until tomorrow, my friends . . .

Pink skies in the morning and an AWARD

Pink skies in the morning.

Pink skies in the evening.

When I opened the door to leave this morning for work, beautiful pink skies greeted me. I had an extra moment, so I ran back inside to get the camera for a picture. And then this evening, I noticed a rosy glow out the window and there it was, pink skies this evening. Click on the pictures for a larger view, if you wish.

I have been getting so many wonderful new visitors to my blog lately and I think it's got something to do with that little black box! I've discovered many new blogs, some that I will keep returning to visit, and lots of lovely comments from bloggers from Great Britain. It's so good to hear from you!

Today, I've also won an award. It was presented to me by a new blogger named Adventure Girl Wanna Be. She's given me the Dog Lover's Award and I do love dogs. Especially my George. So, thank you Adventure Girl!

I'm going to pass this award on to Dlyn, whose Riley does his own posts occasionally. And I'd also like to award Russell at Iowa Grasslands, whose Bailey also does posts from time to time!

Thanks again, Adventure Girl. George sends his thanks, too. Well, not really. He could sort of care less. He's been too busy making sure the cat wipes her paws before she comes in the house these days. He's turned into the paw police here after he got yelled at for making the floor dirty when it was actually the cat who did it!

Until tomorrow, my friends.

I am not stressed out. Really.

This is one of the busiest times of the year at the school where I work, and the students are finished on May 29. Graduation is the first Sunday in June, and the stress levels are at a high, with exams, grades, end-of-the-year activities. I've been so busy printing the hundreds and hundreds of award certificates that the students will receive on two separate prize nights, the first of which is mid-week. I do them in a mail merge, but still, it's very time-consuming. And today, something happened with my report card system that had me in a near-panic. Luckily, we have a good IT guy at school, and disaster was averted. I was so involved in getting everything finished, that when I looked up from my desk, I saw that it was 4:30. And my day ends at 4.

I know I try not to post about my work, but I'm not really revealing too much here.

So I'm driving home, my hands tense on the wheel, and I'm thinking that what I really wanted was a drink. But, you see, I make it a point not to drink during the week. I have all these stupid rules, and this is one of them. And, for me, it seems to work. So unless I'm celebrating something, or at a nice restaurant that warrants a glass of wine, I don't drink to calm myself down. Well, not during the week, ok? Well, it makes sense to me, and that's what matters.

Anyway, I'm thinking I need to calm down, calm down. And I start to think about getting home, and seeing that dog of mine and how happy he will be just to see me come through the door. And then we'd go out for a walk, and suddenly I started feeling quieter. And calmer. And then I looked up and that's when I noticed the clouds. The sky was full of them. Driving over the canal bridge was simply beautiful. It was a crisp afternoon with bright skies and many well-defined clouds.

By the time I drove down the main driveway of the farm, I was even more relaxed, because it's just so darn pretty here.

And then I came in the front door and there was that beautiful dog, who was so happy to see me. I quickly got changed and grabbed the camera and headed out to get pictures of the amazing clouds. The wind has been blowing at a good clip most of the day, and by the time I got outside, the skies were clearing. So I didn't get the cloud-filled skies that I wanted, but I'm ok with these. I sat down by the pond after our walk, and marveled at how much better I felt.

Ok. All is well now. So, until tomorrow, my friends . . .