What if

Thursday, September 9th, my life changed forever.  My mom, at the age of 52, had a heart attack.  I was awoken at midnight to my cell phone ringing, it was my brother.  He was crying and begging me to get to Atlanta as fast as I could.  He said mom was in the ER and that he thought she had had a heart attack.  Two hours later, as my mom was entering surgery, my husband and I left our apartment in DC and drove to Atlanta.  I wanted to drive.  I needed to drive.  I needed to stay focused so that I didn't break down and lose it like my brother and sister.  Not that anything is wrong with that, in fact that is exactly what the situation was calling for.  But not me.  I am the oldest and I had to hold it together for them.  At least, that is what I kept (and keep) telling myself.  As I drove through the night I was forced to deal with a lot of what-ifs.  What if my mom dies during the procedure?  What if my mom suffered heart damage?  What if my brother and sister cannot understand the doctor when he is giving them information?  What if I need to stay in Atlanta for a long period of time?  What if...

We stopped in the middle of the night in North Carolina to sleep.  I slept about 1 1/2 hours and then I was wide awake and ready to drive.  We drove and drove and got to Atlanta around 2pm.  We went to my mom's house and then to the hospital.  My mom was in ICU and was the healthiest patient on the floor.  I stayed all afternoon until they kicked us out because visiting hours had ended.  Ben and I drove to the grocery store and got dinner for us and my siblings.  We sat around the table that night, not talking and barely eating.  But we were together and that's what we needed.

Saturday, my grandmother arrived and Ben picked her up.  She came straight to the hospital where I was with mom.  By this point, mom was feeling well enough to watch the Gamecocks stomp on Georgia.  Gramps spent the afternoon with mom and we stayed until the kicked us out.

All weekend we stayed at the hospital in shifts, taking turns sitting with my mom or watching her sleep.  I prayed alot and hoped that she was going to make it out of the hospital and make the lifestyle changes necessary.  My mom had one stint put in on Thursday night/Friday morning and a second stint on Monday, September 13th.  She was released from the hospital on Tuesday, September 14th and Ben and I drove back to DC while my grandmother agreed to stay and care for my mother for two weeks.  My mom is going back to work tomorrow.

Now.  Enough of that.

On our way back from Atlanta, I really needed to stop and see my best friend.  Stacy agreed to meet Ben and I at chick-fil-a and to bring my new favorite person.

Ben and Emmie.

Today we joined some friends to watch the Steelers game.

Laura, Allen, and Sam

Ben and I

NSO on the West Lawn

The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) held a FREE performance on the West Lawn of the Capitol building on Sunday night to celebrate the Labor Day Weekend.  My cousin, Jessica, and I drove to the Capitol and then walked up to the West Lawn with our picnic of snacks and camping chairs. 

View from our seats.

Random fact: the evening was provided by the National Park Service which also provided free water for everyone!

Anywho, Jessica and I sat down with our goldfish and sodas and we were ready to enjoy a wonderful evening of beautiful music.  We both grew up playing musical instruments and have a great appreciation for classical music (yes, we are symphony appreciation dorks). 

The NSO played a variety of arrangements including pieces by Handel and even the score from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.  I think they played 14 pieces throughout the evening.  Towards the end of the evening two Marine Officers joined the NSO on stage and accompanied them with songs from West Side Story.  At the end of the night, the NSO was joined by the Army Men's Chorus and they sang the National Anthem and a few other songs. 

Kinda blurry but that is the Men's Chorus in front of the Symphony.

1 down

191 to go.

I'm tired.

Pool Par-tay!

Last weekend we went to Pennsylvania to our friends' Jared and Kelly's house for their end-of-the-season pool party.  Ben and I have never been to their house and we were excited to get the chance to come party with the best.  Jared and Kelly moved into their house a little over a year ago and it came loaded with a fabulous kitchen, completed basement with full built-in bar, and a backyard with a fenced in pool that comes complete with a diving board and water slide! 

During the day we had a cook-out with hamburgers and hot dogs, veggies, and a bunch of great dips and chips.  We also played corn hole and swam.

At night, Jared started a fire in the fire pit in the back yard and we hung out to stay warm (it got into the 60s).

Here are some pics of our good time. :)

Isn't he soooo cute???? (Me and Tycho)

Twice as cute!

Intense game of corn hole.

Some of the men with one of the cutest boys.

Kelly and Kepler.

Tangy balls

Ben (for the last 3 years) and I (for the last 2 years) have played for the Tangy Balls softball team.  This past summer we were supposed to play every Thursday night.  For the last five weeks, every Thursday night it has rained and our games have been cancelled.  This week was the last week of the regular season and we have now played 5 of our 9 games.  This past week we had two games on Tuesday night to make-up the games from the previous weeks.  Up until this point we were 0-3 (weird since we went undefeated last year).  Tuesday night a new leaf was turned over and we crushed our opponents 12-5 and 17-6!!!!   Not quite sure why it took us all season to win 2 games (maybe because we were so mad for missing so many games) but the season ended on a positive note with back-to-back wins!  Below are some pictures from Tuesday night.

Team Tangy Balls warming up.

Getting the line-up.

Ben at bat.

THE Tangy Balls

The front nine

At dinner on Thursday night; Chris, Ben, Kirk, and I started talking about golf.  Chris and Kirk have been working on their golf game and Ben and I have been playing periodically throughout the summer.  So... the four of us decided to play bright and early Sunday morning.

When I woke up on Sunday I checked outside and it was raining.  I was pretty bummed so I checked the weather report and the rain was supposed to stop by 8:30 and we were scheduled to tee off around 10:15.  I hoped for (and got) sunny, clear skies!  Hooray! 

Ben and I left around 9:45 to head over to East Potomac Golf Course.  We got there and Chris and Kirk were at the driving range warming up.  At 10:15 we were off and running (and sweating).  Below are some pictures of our adventures from the front nine.

Getting ready to tee off.

Look at that great golf form! 

Ben showing us why he is awesome.

Chris is rocking the golf course.

Kirk teeing off on the third hole.

Kirk rocking the most awesome golf bag.

The Potomac Cluster

Saturday, Ben and I decided to go up the Potomac to historic Leesburg to visit a few wineries.  The Potomac Cluster is about an hour north of DC and was an incredibly scenic drive with views of mountains, farms, fields, and of course the Potomac. 

To the wine!

View of some of the grape vines.

Our first stop was Fabbioli Cellars.  We turned down a dirt road and travelled about 3 miles down a peaceful, tree-lines path that took us to our first winery.  Doug Fabbioli opened his own winery in 1997 after spending several years working in Sonoma Valley.  When we stepped out of our car the first thing we saw were 2 enormous cats that must have weighed 20 pounds each.  Once we stepped into the store and wine tasting room we were swept into a rich family history of the Fabbioli family.  The ceiling and walls were decorated with old model train sets that Doug's children used to play with and pictures of family everywhere.  We enjoyed seven wines during our tasting and even purchased a bottle of red for later.

After Fabbioli Cellars we continued down the road to Lost Creek Vineyards and Winery.  Bob and Carol Hauck own the winery that is 52 acres!  They started in 1995 and have been making wine ever since.  We enjoyed nine different wines and some local patrons dropped off some desserts so we got to sample those as well!  At the end of the day we decided that Lost Creek Vineyards was our favorite winery.  They had great wine and a fabulous wine staff (they were very knowledgeable about all of the wines).

Lost Creek Vineyard

After Lost Creek Vineyards we went next door to Hidden Brook.  Eric and Deborah Hauck are the son and daughter-in-law of the owners of Lost Creek Vineyards (that's right, keep it in the family).  Haha.  They opened their doors in 2002 after taking their hobby of wine making to the next level.  Their store and wine tasting room is a rustic cabin full of delicious wine.  We tasted seven wines at this beautiful winery and enjoyed learning about the family history that brought about two wineries side by side. 

 

After Hidden Brook Winery we headed to our last winery, Tarara Winery.  On our way down the road we passed an incredibly random thing - an ostrich farm!

After I was done taking random pictures of even more random ostriches we decided to continue on our journey to Tarara Winery.  The founder of the winery is Whitie Hubert, who planted his first vines in 1985 and opened the winery in 1989.  The location of this winery on the Potomac helps naturally regulate temperature for the vines and the rolling hills (he owns 475 acres) allows them to grow a variety of grapes without any problems.  Whitie passed away in 2008 but the winery is still run the way he ran it and the tasting room provides detailed information about the history of the winery and all of the wines made on the premises. 

Ben and I really enjoyed learning the history behind all the wineries and the reasons all of the owners had for leaving behind their "regular job" to fulfill a passion or hobby and turn it into a living.  As I said earlier, Ben and I agree that Lost Creek Vineyards was our favorite of the four and we look forward to going back in the future.