When pigs fly

The day I went to the zoo, the McHusband brought his aunt, Glenda, to Asheboro to meet up with me and his parents for dinner. Glenda had been in town on business and had plans to visit Kevin and Jenny in SC for a day so we had to get her from Raleigh to Asheboro where she'd join forces with the McInlaws to get to Charlotte.

The McMom read about a restaurant called The Flying Pig in Asheboro so we took advantage of the Great Glenda Swap of 2010 to check it out. Because I was already in town, I got there a little earlier than the rest of the group, but I wasn't early enough to avoid the long wait for a table. I put our name in just after 6:00, and we didn't sit down for an hour.

While I waited for everyone, I took in my surroundings, including those around me in the bathroom. First, though, there was some "art" on the building across the street.


























And this is what I saw in the little girl's room.


How's your Pig Latin?


The main storefront window at the entrance was decorated for Easter. Even the namesake pig was ready for the holiday.




We did have to wait a long time to be seated, and we did have to wait a long time for our food. But I'd definitely give The Flying Pig a second chance so long as I was there before the rush. The food was good and the atmosphere was fun. If only they had my Woodchuck Cider...

Zoo Part II

We saw a lot of birds.

Flamingos. Note the one in action.













A very colorful parrot.













A Scarlet Ibis.













And I don't remember what this guy was. I wanna say he was a member of the peacock family.













The alligators weren't too active, but they were relatively close so that upped their cool factor.


























The sign summed them up.













At one exhibit, Lyla just decided to go sit down on the curb and hang out by herself.


























We saw geysers, too.











Here're Lyla and Owen checking out the snapping turtles.

















Kinda like the directory, this gravel hill was a bright spot in their day.













"Come here, Lyla, I got a big, wet one for you!"













The end!

Zoo Part I

I met my mom, Bri, Lyla, Shannon, and Owen at the Asheboro Zoo this past Friday. It was pretty crowded, which was disappointing and frustrating, but we still had a great time. Mother Nature was very cooperative and so were most of the animals.

Ready to go!













We saw giraffes













and elephants.













Owen asks, "Do you see the size of that dog?"

















Because dogs are dogs, but so are most other four-legged and furry animals.

Like otters.













"Hey, Lyla, say cheese!"













Owen was so cute with his big-boy haircut. I spent a fair amount of time with him hoisted up like this. Good thing I had two days of boot camp under my belt.













Look, more dogs!













Or, as the zoo calls them, bison.













Guess where the kids had the most fun? At the zoo directory. Apparently we could've walked into the zoo, spent five minutes with the directory and left, and Lyla and Owen would've had a blast.


I've got more pictures to share, and I promise not to be such a blog slacker this weekend.

Cary Road Race

Well, I've been quite the blog slacker, haven't I? And it's not for lack of material. I went to the zoo on Friday, at at a new restaurant that night, ran a 5k on Saturday, and tried a new recipe on Sunday. I know, exciting times in the McLife.

Well, I'm gonna go a little out of order and start with the 5k (3.1 miles) just because that'll be quick. I don't have much time, you see. Our DVR is tied up recording two things right now so I have to be ready to turn Glee on in our room at 9:28 so I can watch it live. No, I'm not some weirdo who needs to make sure the channel's set a couple minutes before so I don't miss anything. Fox is the weirdo tonight, with American Idol going to 9:27:59 and Glee starting right afterward.

Anyway, before I rush off to watch TV the old-fashioned way, I wanted to tell you guys about the 5k that Chelle and I, along with two other ladies, ran on Saturday. We did the Cary Road Race, which I'd done one other time with Sara. That was actually my very first 5k.

I had a breakfast of champions: one slice of cold Hawaiian pizza. Yum.





















The weather was perfect. Cool but not frigid and the sun was shining. I ended up taking off my long-sleeved shirt and leaving it in the car and rolling up my t-shirt sleeves so I was essentially sleeveless during the run.

The course starts out with a long fairly steep hill. The good news is that what goes up must come down. It's nice to get that out of the way at the very start. The rest of the course was pretty flat and it was very pretty, winding around a little pond before heading back up into the amphitheater.

I finished the 5k in 28 minutes flat. I was hoping for 27- something, but I'll take 28. Not wanting to get a side cramp and have to walk, I paced myself and maybe I did too good a job at it. I'd like to do the event again next year, but maybe I'll sign up for the 10k. Then I'd have to do that hill twice.

That might require TWO pieces of pizza.

Primetime pedaling

I came across this story on our local news website:

Sheriff Arpaio makes inmates pedal to watch TV

PHOENIX — Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has started a program he calls "Pedal Vision," in which inmates pedal stationary bikes to generate electricity for television sets. The bikes are customized to turn on connected TV sets once inmates at Phoenix's Tent City Jail pedal enough to generate 12 volts of electricity. An hour of pedaling equals an hour of television.

Arpaio said inmates only will be able to watch television if they choose to pedal.
He said he started the program with female inmates because they seemed more receptive.

Arpaio said the only exercise female inmates have been getting is speed-walking around the tent yard.

He said Pedal Vision gives them a reason to get moving and a way to burn calories.

You can read up on Sheriff Joe here. He has some, um, innovative ways of dealing with his prisoners.

Personally, I say, "Go Joe!" But don't come to my house. Then again, I could give up my Y membership if I had to power the TV and as much as I watch, I'd hardly have to worry about calories in vs. calories out - they'd all be going out!

Boot camp starts tonight. We're going to be in the park by our old house so I'll be doing what I did last fall and jogging for 20 to 30 minutes before the one-hour boot camp session on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Hopefully I'll be in Bermuda-short shape by the end of the month.

The long and short of it

I just love long weekends. That extra day off, whether it's a Friday or a Monday, is so wonderful. What I don't like is how the weekends still fly by, even with those extra 24 hours added to them.

On Friday, we had a weenie roast at our house. I made coleslaw and banana pudding (Great recipe - but don't worry about the vanilla and I think 14 bananas is a typo - go with 4.).













Don't you just love how the Nilla Wafers get all soft and smooshy?













While I was busy in the house, the McHusband did the first mow of the season and worked on NOT getting his farmer's tan.













Later, he helped Kevin with his truck.













That night, our guests showed up around 6:30 and we were outside for a bit, but we really didn't take advantage of the gorgeous spring weather like we should have.

Shawn and Vanessa brought a bat and some wiffle balls, and that kept people occupied for, oh, about 10 minutes.


























Kim and Vickie were happy to hang on the deck, and the McHusband fired up the grill for the brats and hot dogs.






























Yum, time to eat!













We didn't do too much on Saturday, which was nice. That night, we went to the new My Way Tavern in town with Shawn, Vanessa, and Jeremy. None of us had been and we all liked our food so it'll get put into the regular dinner rotation. The McHusband and I had movie night when we got home. We watched District 9, which was pretty different from what we expected, but we both enjoyed it.

Today, we had visitors. But first we took care of something that had been bothering us for quite some time. Our floors have some major squeaky spots so the McHusband finally went under the house to do whatever it is that fixes that problem. I stayed above ground and, well, that's about all my job entailed.

I helped located the squeaky spots then put two 45-lb weights on them then stood on the weights.













I like being a helper when I can stay in my pj's.

Back to our visitors. The McMom and McDad came up. We had lunch at the house (the McMom fixed fish tacos and they were delicious!) then we went to the McHusband's office and picked up his truck and gave his parents the grand tour of where he works.

As they were about to head out, the McHusband checked on a code that was making the car's "Check Engine" light come on. It wouldn't be a McVisit without either fixing something or doing something to a car.













Thanks for coming, we'll see you on Friday!













All in all, it was a pretty great weekend. Now if I could just figure out how to slow time so my three-day weekends actually FEEL like three days...

Spring has sprung!

Spring officially started a couple Saturdays ago, but with the winter we had, I needed to see evidence of spring to believe the winter weather really was just a bad memory.

Here's the cherry tree by our driveway. I'd say it's pretty good evidence that Mother Nature's mood has improved.





















The flowers on the tree are so dainty and pretty. Too bad they have to turn into leaves.
















In the middle of the front yard, we tore out the willow tree and planted a Cleveland Pear last May. It seems to have survived both the transplant and the harsh winter without any major complaints.





































A sign of spring that makes me really happy is the sight of green on all the trees in the backyard. I'm so tired of gumballs! And so is Morgan - they get stuck between the pads of her feet. You don't know pitiful until you see Miss Gimpy hopping over on three feet so you can remove the bothersome gumball.





















Yeah, yeah, I see that there are still some gumballs hanging on for dear life, but they'll be down soon enough and the McHusband and his mower will sweep them away to the great backyard in the sky.
















And finally, one last sign of the warm weather yet to come.

Short hair!
















No, that's not my neck. Vickie got the cutest haircut last week. Love the new 'do, Vickie!