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August 19, 2005
Meeting bloggers
::update:: read Liz's recap of yesterdays events
Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Liz and her four beautiful children at Holmdel Park.
Now, I had already met Liz at the NJ Blogmeet waaaaay back in April. Let me tell you that Liz really is as funny and charming as she appears on her blog. I wanted to take all her kids home - they were just that awesome. They all were chatting with me and certainly didn't appear to be shy at all! Her son was just so funny - I just wanted to give him a squeeze and her youngest, I just wanted to grab her right up too. Petite and sweet and certainly not shy with five older kids tromping all around her. Eldest and Liz's second eldest daughter are the same age. Both girls are in Girl Scouts, shared several common interests and they hit it off right away. Liz's eldest daughter - I don't know where to even start. She was fantastic with all the children and had a natural way of taking charge without being bossy. I wished she lived closer so I could hire her as a sitter!
We met at the park around 11am. We wandered around into Longstreet Farm, which is part of the park system. It's a working farm that has educational programs that feature the agricultural customs of the 19th century. Very interesting and fun. For more information about the farm, click here. We got to see these mules being hitched up and used for work on the farm. Eldest wanted to pet them but she wasn't allowed because they were being trained as work mules. Eldest was a bit disappointed but she got over it. We saw some chickens and the mules at work. I fell in love with this tree. I hung back to take the picture just as Liz turned around, wondering where the hell I was. In our wanderings around the farm, we observed a young woman who was pregnant. She had the obviously belly but she didn't appear to be pregnant anywhere else on her body (all you moms know what I mean). Liz and I both looked at her, looked at each other and jealously muttered "bitch" at the exact same time. Of course, we both burst out laughing and I just knew that Liz and I were going to be great friends.
After walking the farm, we stopped at the car to grab our lunches so we could eat at the picnic tables. We made a pit stop at the bathrooms where I discovered that one of my HUGE 20oz water bottles had leaked inside my backpack, resulting in a huge wet spot right on my right ass cheek. ::sigh:: Let me tell you, my ass does not need to have any emphasis on it at all. LOL. Once we got to the table, I emptied out the backpack and dumped out the water. The backpack was waterproof so it had collected the water in it. Luckily, my camera and other stuff were ok. We ate and chatted and the kids all finished in about 4 minutes. They ran around while Liz and I chatted some more. We decided to walk over to the playground section and let the kids run for a while. We were so lucky to have chosen a gorgeous day - sunny and slightly windy. Not once bit of humidity. After the playground, we walked over to the lake and I got some cute pictures of the kids there too.
The kids rolling down the hill
The girls and I were invited back to Liz's house to swim by Liz and her children. Of course I said yes. I had planned for that and packed a bag just for the pool. I made plans to follow Liz back to her house. We got back to the cars, loaded up and rolled on out.
When I was backing the car out of the parking space, it felt weird. As I started to drive, I realized that my tire might be low on air and I called Liz on her cell phone. One of her daughters answered and I asked her to ask Liz if we could stop at a gas station on the way. Sure, no problem. Well, about 20 seconds later, Liz pulls into a school parking lot and said she looked at my front tire in her mirror. There was no way that this tire could have made it to a service station.
My spare is mounted underneath my car. It took me and Liz a few minutes to figure out just how to get it down. I pulled out my jack and the parts and I was ready to unscrew the bolt to release the tire. As you can see, I was able to accomplish that feat. I was even able to jack the car up even though my small jack sucked. Ugh. But, I could not remove those damn lugnuts. COULD NOT. Now, I'm no damn skinny minnie but those damn lugnuts weren't coming off without the use of a drill. Just when I was getting all pissed off and even sweatier, I realized that I had roadside assistance from Hyundai. Booyah! I called and the young lady was very nice. She was asking me all kinds of questions aboutt my location and I had NO clue where I was. All I could tell her was that I was near the Holmdel police station. She called the police station and got the name of the road for me. When she called me back (thank God for cell phones), she said a truck would be out within 20 minutes.
Liz brought all six kids to the field at the school while we were waiting for the truck. I sat in the car, all pissed off and sweaty. But, I must admit, true to their word, the truck did show up in about 20 minutes. This is the guy that changed the tire. Do you think he knew that I took his picture? Another gratuitious tire shot. I was joking with Liz, saying that when people hang out with me, I can always show them a good time. When the guy finsihed up, I tipped him $10 and we were all on our merry way to Liz's house.
We get there, have a drink and the kids have changde into their bathing suits. We were off to the pool. The kids all splashed around while Liz and I sat on the deck and did nothing but talk. We had a blast! We both were jonesing for a double choclate frappacino from Starbucks. We never got one though. Next time - and it's my treat Liz!
The girls and I finally left by 5pm. I realized we were becoming the guests who never leave. We all hugged goodbye and the girls and I hit the road. The parkway was jammed - ugh - damn rush hour. We finally made it home by 630pm.
All in all, besides the tire mishap, it was a fantastic day. I hope we can all meet up again soon. And, if you made it all the way to the end of this entry, congratulations!
Posted by Cate at August 19, 2005 09:57 AM
Comments
It's such a tough thing to meet friends in person whom you've met first on the Internet. I've had nothing but wonderful experiences doing so...but then I have teenaged sons whom I'm constantly telling to NEVER reveal personal information on the Internet, NEVER meet someone in person, etc., etc. I feel like the world's biggest hypocrite. Yet I've made such wonderful new friends!
Posted by: Melanie Lynne Hauser at August 19, 2005 10:58 AM
Thanks for hanging with us, Kate. Olivia and Moira are even more beautiful in person and my girls are already planning a sleepover.
Oh boy!
Great post...although, you made no mention of the knee burns or the fact that you are the first female that I considered ever getting down and dirty with...and I'm linking to it, because I'm still tired for all the damned walking we did ;o)
And as far as the "guests who never leave" thing, I would have invited you to stay for dinner, if there were food in the house ;o)
Posted by: Lizzie at August 19, 2005 12:57 PM
Can I come next time? It sounds like you had waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more fun than I did in the big, bad city!
Posted by: Bridget Unnel at August 19, 2005 02:57 PM
Sounds like so much fun! Loved the pics!
Posted by: Theresa at August 21, 2005 08:18 PM
