USA Women's National Team:Soccer

I am thankful to have watched the last 20 minutes of the Women's World Cup today: USA over Germany 2-0!  Fantastic play by all! I was refereeing a U12 Girls game which started at the exact time as the "big girl" game, but thank goodness for 30 minute halves and no traffic getting home afterwards!

BSoleille! The bright side of an exciting USA finish in the semi final game (plus beating up on the #1 world ranked team)!

Terri

Photo of the full moon tonight...

JMU Bound (Second to Last Trip)

"The Best Daughter" has already graduated in May from the fine institution that is James Madison University. However, she has stayed on to take a CPA Boot Camp course offered through the university that just ended, but she plans on continuing her studies until the bitter end (lease expires on the house). That gives her approximately one more month in Harrisonburg, VA, and the daunting task of the finality of totally moving out!  So a quick mommy visit enabled her to study whilst yours truly cleaned out the kitchen and panty and took a full carload of stuff to Goodwill this afternoon. This is after a hilly 4 mile run through campus (there is no getting around "them there" hills!

BSoleille! The bright side of helping my daughter through a transition coming soon. 

Terri

Photo from our run. 

Shameless Ad (Not Really)

How is everyone doing with spending their gift cards received at Christmas?  I still had one for Eddie Bauer that my son bought for me, but the few times I went after the holidays and late winter, nothing caught my eye to buy. That changed today, however. While doing errands in Annapolis this afternoon, I suggested to my husband I would like to make one stop at the mall to the Eddie Bauer store. While shopping there, I ran into my friend Eileen and her husband Steve, who incidentally, are world travelers. They stopped in to buy a backpack for their trip to China later this summer (Steve already had done research on them and knew the store had them). So once Eileen showed me the "collapsible bag", I knew instantly that I wanted one too, and this was a good "gift" for my gift card expenditure. Is this peer pressure? Nah, just a good travel bag to put in the suitcase and then use at will while traveling. With such luggage restrictions nowadays, this is a great alternative to large heavy totes I normally slug through airports and beyond. I am thankful for the "find"!

The "shameless" ad part is that they apparently only sell them in the summer, and already were out of some colors in the backpack style. I think they would be great gifts for those adventure types on a gift list; birthday or holiday. Price:$30

BSoleille! The bright side of a Christmas present in June!

Terri 

June Wedding

Due to the rising costs of everything, especially weddings, it is certainly an honor and privilege to be invited to one these days. So it is with great pleasure that we attended the nuptials and reception of Kelly Flanagan and Michael Nguyen at the Annapolis Maritime Museum in Eastport, MD. A few raindrops did not damper a thing and it was truly a lovely day. We loved the entire celebration with newly married couple, and Kelly's parents, Richard and Georgia Flanagan and their family. Beautiful!

BSoleille! The bright side of a happy wedding day shared with great friends and neighbors!

Terri 

Summer Garden

Unfortunately, the soil at my house does not lend itself to good growing conditions of a garden (but weeds still proliferate all aspects of my flower beds).  So I certainly appreciate someone else's garden, today being my friend Linda's in Crownsville, MD. Every year it gets bigger in size, and from the looks of my photo today, same with the leaves on her zucchini plants. Wow they are big! I hope the "fruits" of all the labor bestowed on this garden produce lots of big zucchini, tomatoes and eggplants!

BSoleille! The bright side of home grown vegetables. Yummy!

Terri 

Summer Sounds

I had my blogpost figured out and my photo at 7:40am when I heard the loud cacophony of chirping birds and Lucy's ears tuning in to the sounds of summer. The sun was bright, the melodies of the birds harmonizing, and one crow not far in the distance from all the others trying to upset the morning music with its unmistakeable "CAW CAW"!

BSoleille!  The bright side of summer sounds. 

Terri 

One Lonely Dog

It has been over a month that we are a one dog family and Lucy is adjusting, if dogs could "adjust" that is. Of course she loves the extra attention, but she is a very quiet pup and has lower energy than having two hanging around together and running through the house chasing each other. A new normal in dogdom. 

BSoleille!

Terri

Dungeon 2Bee

To beat the heat today I headed to my friend Mary Nielsen's quilt headquarters in Pasadena, Maryland. Her "quilt dungeon" has all the toys to sit and sew the day away with a beautiful set up of two machines, cutting table, pressing station and a design wall, not counting all the beautiful fabric to admire that surrounds the room(s). It is real paradise!

BSoleille!

Terri

Beach Thanks

I am thankful for a weekend at the beach with fellow soccer referees (including my husband, Bill) in the Beach 5 Sand Tournament. Vernal equinox topped out at 90 degrees today and that was fine with me. The gentle breezes off the ocean made the day so pleasant to be out in the sun (with lots of sunscreen and a ball cap). But I think one moment stood out today; the setting sun while traveling over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge! Cool...

BSoleille!

Terri

Sun and Sand

That was the magic combination for the Beach 5 Tournament going on in Ocean City! What a workout for all involved, from the players to spectators to referees, all slogging it out through the sand. Field 18 was my home for 7 games of GU11!  Big sandy fun!☀️

BSoleille!

Terri 

The Calm Before the Storm...

And I mean soccer storm, more specifically, 300 teams strong in Ocean City, Maryland, at the Beach 5 Sand Tournament. We arrived this afternoon to meet up with other referrees and teams checking in at the Jolly Rogers Amusement Park. Then a must walk on the boardwalk soon followed to check out the "playing fields"!  I think it is going to be a fantastic weekend of sun, sand and soccer (and possibly some sore muscles with sand running). 

BSoleille!

Terri

Photo of Boardwalk and HubbyRef Bill. 

On a Dark Stormy...

Afternoon, a huge thunder storm rustled through the area making Big Lucy shaking in her boots. She is not a big fan of the loud bowling ball noises in the skies overhead and rather be cuddled up with us on our laps (all 75lbs of her)! We certainly accommodate her as much as possible as the storms pass through (tough in the middle of the night when she jumps on the bed to get us up!)

BSoleille! The bright side of a summer rain shower (with a mix of clapping thunder and cool lightning)!

Terri

End to School Year 2015

A great day to celebrate 5th grade promotion at Georgetown East Elementary School in Annapolis, Maryland with 48 "graduates" moving on to middle school. The nine weeks I spent working there "flew" by, and I am thankful for summer and all its glory!  One of my favorite students, Roberto, had his mother go around and take photos of him with everyone at the school that mattered to him. So I was delighted when he asked me and Bylle Patterson (school volunteer) to pose with him this morning. 

BSoleille!  The bright side of being proud and thankful of touching minds and hearts! 

Terri

Cheering Section

So many sports on TV to cheer for lately. Of course, there is the Women's World Cup completing their group play this week, and a great win for the USA 1-0 over Nigeria this evening; and the Cleveland Cavaliers trying to hang in there in game 6 of the NBA finals. I am posting before the end of this game because Golden State has such a huge lead. Ugh! 

No doubt it is fun and exciting to watch these great events, but there is nothing better than getting out to do our own thing. I am thankful to have finally gotten on my bike in the early am, and lap swimming late afternoon. 

BSoleille!

Terri

Neck Towel

Do you know what a neck towel is? It's any towel that my husband grabs when the temperatures soar and the AC has not been turned on yet. However, with the HHH weather that has ushered in very quickly in Maryland,  I had "no choice" but to turn it on. Thankfully, no complaints and that makes for a happy (and a little cooler) household!

BSoleille!

Terri

My photo is not a towel but Queens Ann'a Lace that burst on the green and flower scene!

Wedded Bliss #28

In celebration of 28 years of married life, we slept in a wee bit but then promptly went on a bike ride, followed by a stop at Dunkin Donuts for coffee and iced tea, and then finally arrived at our final destination in DC; the NEWSEUM, a place my groom had never been before. We had a great time going through all the exhibits, with plans on returning very soon to see more!  It's a smorgasbord of information coming at you from all angles, and a must do for locals and tourists alike. Our thoughts on spending a few hours there during the year included when weather is cold or rainy or too hot and humid for outdoor activity. Now to execute those thoughts regularly. 

http://www.newseum.org

BSoleille! The bright side of "adventure around every corner in DC" (with hubby)!

Terri

On the rooftop of NEWSEUM 

Big Brother Everywhere?

It looks like everyone nowadays is a reporter or cameraman and it is certainly prolific, take for example all of the police shootings of late and other goings on with police departments across the country. Is it good? Bad? I guess it all depends, right?

So I try to do my best in refereeing soccer, knowing full well lots of games are taped and recorded. Interestingly, yesterday I refereed a game with my pal, Chico, and took a selfie pregame. Tonight Chico sent me the second photo that someone else took of us...hmmm eyes and ears are everywhere!

BSoleille!

Terri

On a Roll

Okay, I had my first cup of coffee last weekend, and now, today, I refereed my very first adult match in soccer. It was actually fun with the men and the few "brave" women, and all levels of "hotshots" to comprise the teams. A 4-4 draw with the temperature hovering around 90 degrees. And the best thing, I officiated with one of my favorites, Chico Brown. 

BSoleille!

Terri

Smorgasbord of Sports

With warm weather and summer fast approaching, the sport arenas are filled with fans and great completion abounds. The FIFA Women's Cup 2015 is under way with the USA women winning their first match 3-1 over Australia yesterday.  The Cleveland Cavaliers are now playing game 3 in the NBA Finals in Cleveland (my home town) and so far winning the game, and Giants RHP Chris Heston throws a no hitter against Mets and wins 5-0. That's amazing. 

Bridget Franek (daughter of my friends Tom and Rosalie) is back competing in the Diamond League Track and Field meets and finished a very respectable fourth place in the 3000 meter Steeplechase in Birmingham, England this past weekend. She is truly amazing!!!

BSoleille!  The bright side of exciting sports now and on the horizon. 

Terri

A Stop and Visit

Luckily, my trip to Ohio also included two nice visits with my Mom who was glad to see me, plus lunch with my Rhodes High Tribe. What a way to recharge the proverbial batteries with timely visits and chats with meaningful people in our lives. Intoxicating combination of food and friendship that the six hour drive back home seemed like a smooth sail (minus the lightening and pouring rain at times). 

BSoleille!

Terri

Wicked Good Weekend

I am so thankful for a great Ohio weekend, mostly at Kelley's Island, but then to my cousin Katie's baby shower and then celebrating a Cavs win over Golden State (NBA Championship tournament) with my sister Kimberly and family. A big shout of thanks to Scot and Jodie Smith for their fantastic hospitality all weekend!

BSoleille,

Terri

Cramming It All In

A slow grey morning gave way to bundles of sunshine and clear blue skies until sunset at 9:30 ish. We packed in a full day of play: running, biking, walking, going to the KI Winery (twice for me), shopping (3 gift shops), hanging at the state campground, and lastly, a bonfire. Good times and fits of laughter with a great bunch of friends and family certainly makes my heart sing and I am thankful for that!

BSoleille!

Terri

Kelley's Island 2015

I am thankful for another trip to Kelley's Island, Ohio; it is simply tradition now for us. We arrived safely and made the 4:30 ferry over to the island and we had a great weather day as well (Lake Erie calm)!  Fun with family and friends started at The Caddyshack and then to Scot and Jodie Smith's house, respectively. Looking for some Island adventure (bike ride and walk/runs) and just chillin'. 

BSoleille! The bright side of loving this place!

Terri

Safari Quilt

A "quick" Safari baby quilt is the gift I made for my cousin's daughter, Katie. They are waiting for the birth for the big reveal, so a gender neutral was something I could do with ease. Thankfully, I had plenty of baby animals and Safari themed fabric to make this quilt. I hope the new arrival will like it?!

BSoleille!

Terri

"A Big Hit Quilt"

A few posts ago I shared a photo of a "shabby chic" quilt I was recently commissioned to make for a local high school graduate, Victoria Bartlett. Her mother, Donna, just texted me a sincere compliment of the quilt that I am tickled to share: "The quilt is a hit. Everyone thinks it's beautiful. They can't believe how beautifully you quilt. Thank you."

How nice is that?  I am thankful Victoria loved it and Congratulations to her and the class of 2015!🎓🎓🎓

BSoleille!  

Terri

A Lioness of South Africa

A sad tragedy today in Johannesburg, South Africa where a young 22 year old American woman was killed by a lioness, the main hunters in a pride.  She was on a self-guided/drive tour of a reserve with many lions in the park, and her companion was also badly injured trying to get the lioness to retreat.  These majestic animals will attack, and are certainly very dangerous, that it is wise to go with a professional guide if at all possible while learning about, taking photos of, or simply viewing and enjoying the wild beasts they are.  I am so sad for her family....

My photo today of this lioness was taken in Madikwe, South Africa, in February 2015, looking very calm and relaxed, and I am thankful she remained laying down for quite some time.