Summer is quickly coming to an end...

This blogging thing is hard to keep up with! But since no one else is reading this yet, I guess it doesn't really matter. :-)
I made it through the family reunion. It was really a lot of fun and we are already planning our next one in Oregon. Peggy and I looked at some places online before she left. We are looking at going to Florence, OR or maybe Coos Bay. Both are near the Oregon Sand Dunes which I think would be a fun place to "play"!

Next - Nigel and I went on our romantic weekend get-a-way to Atlanta. The aquarium was awesome. I got some great photos. He also planned 2 nights of Shakespeare for me. Both were fun. He did a great job of planning everything (of course, this is Nigel we are talking about) and keeping it a secret! I didn't know what we were doing until we started driving each night. We ate at a really great Brew Pub called the 5 Seasons on Staurday night. MMMM!!!! And the hotel we stayed in was fantastic!

So this week I am helping Chelsea and Kirsten get ready to go back to school. Of course Chelsea has to have the right outfit for the first day and Kirsten has to have enough shoes to take to England with her! Are these really my kids???? Ha!

Life goes on at the Pickering house....

This is me and my sisters: Linda, me, Debi, and Peggy.

It is July 4th and we are 1/2 way through our Family Reunion. It's been really awesome to have everyone here at my house! The fireworks last night were great. There are lots of family games going on and a small group of us are actually going to Graceland today. On tonight's menu is hamburgers and hotdogs and of course, homemade ice cream. mmmmm!
Dinner at the Texas Roadhouse on Sunday was a blast. Kirsten was a good waitress and put up with a lot of "stuff" from us! Mark announced to the whole restaurant that Kirsten was serving us and was the best in the place. She was so embarrassed, but kept on smiling. :-) We left her a $125 tip so she was really, really excited about that!
Here is the next part of Kirsten's story: She was SO EXCITED about getting all that money and was feeling really good about the whole night. She decided to go tell her friends at the pool hall after work and was driving a little too fast. The policeman told her she was getting a ticket for "reckless driving" - he should have taken her to jail!!!!! But instead she has to go to court and the VERY NICE policeman has to stand up and tell the judge why he did not take her to jail! So now Kirsten has to pay for the ticket ($50) and the court cost ($150) - SO.... there goes her great tip money from us!!!! :-) It is laughable. Any other night I would have been very mad, but I just laughed when I heard! She had visions of the WHOLE FAMILY coming to the jail the next morning to bail her out - AND of course we would have had the video cameras in tow! :-)
Life goes on at the Pickering house.....

Swim Meet!!!

I can't believe I swam in a meet today! It's been about 30 years since I was a competitive swimmer. And now, today I got back in the pool for 3 races at a local Masters Swim Meet. I worked out all winter at the U of M pool. And thanks to Dick Fadgin, I was in pretty good shape. BUT I have not really worked out since April. One of the parents of a Rhodes swimmer approached me last week about being part of the Rhodes Masters Team and swimming in this meet. So I thought what the heck and signed up. We were hoping to get enough points to win a trophy and we ended up taking 2nd place! YAY! To top it all off I won the 100 free, and placed 2nd in the 50 free and 50 back! That is in my age group (50 - 59). After the meet we had hot dogs, chips and beer. What a great way to end a fun day!
So all you swimmers out there - just remember, you can always compete, somewhere during your lifetime......
Molly

My first blog ever!!!!
Thanks to Bethany - I now can blog. I feel so mainstream and "with it".
I am sitting in my living room and watching the food network. I can watch that and write on this lap top at the same time! WOW! Of course in about 2 weeks I will be giving up this great lap top. I will have to turn it back in to Dr. Wright, since it technically belongs to him. I have been using it all year as his grad assistant. So, I am using it as much as possible while I can.
There is only one more week until all my family descends upon us. It's the Stites Sisters family reunion. We have taken turns planning the reunion since 1996. That first one was planned by sister Debi in Chama, New Mexico. 2 years later I invited the clan to Branson, Missouri; 2000 found us in Baltimore, Maryland for Toby's wedding - that's sister Peggy's son; 2002 Linda planned the party in Sea Ranch, California: that was where we honored our oldest sister Sara who passed away in Dec of 2001; 2004 Peggy had moved to Oregon and we got to camp out at Crater Lake - AND Debi's daughter Becca got married in Denver, Colorado, so we kind of had 2 reunions that year. So now it is my turn again.
Anyway, can't wait to see everyone!