Adventures in Myrtle Beach

Hi Everyone,

It has been an eventful week so far, and it is only Monday night!

Yesterday my flight from Lexington was delayed almost 2 hrs due to weather. As you may have noticed, it was also rather windy. The plane from Lexington to Atlanta is the smallest of commercial jets (the Embrasier 145). 1 seat on the left – then the aisle – then 2 seats on the right. Quite a small plane. Small jet + high winds = exciting takeoffs and landings! We bucked like a bronco up out of Lexington, then back down again into Atlanta. Fortunately my connecting flight to Myrtle Beach was running a bit late and I was able to make it. We had to walk outside from the plane to the terminal and nearly got blown away. Winds, some rain, and cold!

Hartsfield Terminal D was a madhouse due to all of the cancellations up north. Packed solid with people. Our departure gate was serving 4 outbound flights at the same time, and the PA system didn’t work. The Delta agent stood up in a chair and yelled “DELTA 6161 TO MYRTLE BEACH BOARDING NOW. FORGET ZONES – JUST GET ON THE PLANE!” Down the stairs and back outside onto the tarmac again – get blown away again – and up into the even smaller turboPROP plane. They were in a big hurry – “let’s go, let’s go!” And then we sat there. For about an hour. It was a bit tedious but not a horrible experience. Thank goodness for my video iPod.

We finally get airborne – bucking and bumping again. Note: Noise cancelling headphones work GREAT on a turboprop plane! Smooth flight – until we start descending into Myrtle Beach. The male flight attendant said over the intercom “buckle up – this could be exciting”. Just what you want to hear from the flight crew. The closest comparison to that descent that I can make is Space Mountain at Disney World. The plane rotates through all 3 axis’s at the same time. Some ladies were gripping their husbands arms, other people held the arms of the seats like a vise. Others of us laughed at the drops and twists to let off the tension. I put both hands over my head like a roller coaster and went “weeeeeeeee” and made the old lady next to me crack up. The flight attendant saw it and said over the intercom “Sometimes we are more fun than Disney World” and the plane IMMEDIATELY twisted and gyrated in response.

Bouncy descents are nothing new, but usually when you are with 50 ft of the ground it will smoooooooth out and settle onto the runway.

Not this flight.

We are 10 feet off the deck and it’s still twisting. GULP. The rear wheels touch down and the nose of the plane goes RIIIIIIGHT. The pilot did a great job and got all 3 sets of wheels on the ground and it is STILL trying to twist and sway. Not until we slowed down to something like 40MPH did it finally calm down.

After 2 bouncy take-offs and 2 bouncy landings my head was pretty woozy. But we got there safe and sound, and only an hour and a half late.

My buddy Duane – who logged 200,000 flight miles last year – said “That was the worst landing I can EVER remember!”

We got our rental cars and headed to the hotel. The wind was really trying to blow our cars off the road. I had plans to go for a beach run when I got to the hotel, but that was pointless. Probably would have gotten blown out to sea.

Staggered into the Hilton and checked in. Safe at last. Time to relax and get dinner. Get to bed early for the big day on Monday. Yeah right.

I’m in my room for 5 mins – just enough time to take off my coat and call Erin to say “I’m here”. Hung up the phone and “BEEEP-BEEEP-BEEEEP-ATTENTION-ATTENTION-THIS IS AN EMERGENCY-A FIRE HAS BEEN REPORTED IN THE BUILDING. EVACUATE DOWN THE NEAREST STAIRS IMMEDIATELY. BEEEP-BEEEP-BEEEEP”

Darn. Fire alarm. Grab the coat and computer bag, climb down the 10 flights of stairs and back out into the wind and now, cold. An hour later and the Horry County Fire Department has declared the building safe. The wind set off the fire alarm. Back up to the 10th floor. Finally order dinner. It’s going to be delayed because of the fire drill AND because the delivery boy got stuck in the elevator and is now AFRAID of the elevator, and doesn’t want to make his deliveries (they actually told me this). So much for an early evening.

Interesting note: The wind blew 2 feet of water out of the hotel pool.

Up early for the 30 min drive to the client, and am there at 7:30AM. My 8:15 presentation went great (had an audience of 30) and the afternoon presentation (a different one) did too. Thanks for the many prayers – they really helped!

Got back to the hotel after work and finally went for my beach run. The wind was better but still amazingly strong. Lots of people braved the stinging sand and were out for walks. Some (foolishly in my opinion) had their little kids out there too. I headed down the beach into the wind for 15 mins and wore myself out. Then turned around for the 15 min return expecting a tailwind and – what? How can there be a headwind this way too??? I returned to the hotel exhausted and (literally) windburned but gratified. It looks like I have a slight sunburn but I believe it is due to the wind and sand.

Got some dinner and headed to the local chapter of Bible Study Fellowship (BSF). A new friend named Ken said “I flew out last week and started to come back yesterday, but I was scared of flying in that wind so I waited until this afternoon to return.” Smart man.

Now to shower, iron a shirt, go to bed and do it all over again tomorrow. Thanks again for the prayers. There is less pressure the rest of this week, but still a lot of tough work to do.

Baby, it's cold outside!

I thought I'd let everyone know how highly we think of all of the nice plants Dad and Pat have given us! For three nights, we lovingly put "babas" (blankets) on all of the blooming plants around our house. We've developed quite a collection of azaleas, hydrangeas, ferns, lilacs, hostas, etc., mostly thanks to Dad and Pat's generosity on their visits.

Brooke had a great time taking care of the plants like she does her babies, making sure that each one had a blanket and telling them "shoo shoo shoo" (her words for sleep). Even more fun was yelling "up!" -- telling them to wake up! As with all toddler's timing for pretend sleep, though, she wanted them to wake up right away. I had to convince her to let them sleep through the night and that we'd wake them up in the morning.


The best part for her was the last morning, when it was finally time to take all of the blankets in for good. I laid out a big dropcloth and piled blankets on top so that I could drag them into the garage. At first she had fun helping me pull, but quickly realized that riding with the blankets would be even better! She said "choo choo!" all the way and was sad when we pulled into the station. We're all looking forward to warmer nights ahead! Fortunately, today the weather really seems to have turned a corner and it's sunny and beautiful again.

On a related note, last night during bathtime, Brooke lined up all of her cups and shampoo bottles along the edge of the tub and said "choo choo!" and then moved them from one end to the other and back again. She'd apparently made a train!

Brooke's first camping trip

How do you have a cheap night of family fun? Camping, of course!

Last Friday afternoon, Brad and I were looking for something fun and unusual to do as a family. I suggested camping! Brad was skeptical. Throw together a camping trip in less than an hour? (After we'd hosted an Easter party that morning, too!) Besides, it was darn cold outside. Oh, ye of little faith!



Braving the cold, wind, rain, and wild beasts, we set up camp in the family room! Brad pitched the tent and built a fire in the fireplace. We set up sleeping bags, sang camp songs, roasted marshmallows, and read "Curious George Goes Camping" by flashlight. It was lots of fun. When we first told Brooke that we were going camping, she held her nose -- she was referring to George getting sprayed by a skunk on his camping trip! I had to break the news to her that we wouldn't have skunks on our trip, although I know of three black cats who would have loved the tent!


Getting a two year old to sleep in a tent, however, was not quite so amusing. Brooke liked the idea so much that she didn't want to go to sleep and miss out on the fun. She kept wiggling, kicking us, standing up to play with the tent and pulling on the zippers. Finally I threatened that I would go sleep on the couch if she didn't go to sleep. She kept up her shenanigans and I followed through on the threat, which she did NOT like. When she kept fussing, I told her that she needed to go to sleep right then or I would go put her in her crib. She believed me and finally went to sleep -- perpendicular to Brad, and kicked him all night! She actually slept there all night and woke up at her usual time.



It was the first of what we hope to be many fun nights of family camping. Next step, the backyard!

Happy Easter!

I hope that everyone had a very Happy Easter. We enjoyed it very much. We decided to start the celebration with a party for our friends on Friday morning. We invited friends (Brooke's and ours) over for snacks, coloring, stories, an Easter egg hunt for the kids, and also a devotion on the resurrection for the adults. It was a lot of fun. I've decided to look for ways to emphasize Easter for our family, as it is the most important holiday of our faith. Having a party was one way to show Brooke that Easter is a big deal, which was the main reason I wanted to do it.



On Sunday, Brooke had a great time with her Easter basket that the, er, Easter Bunny brought for her. She loves her new gifts: a new baby complete with a little carrier, a numbers puzzle, yellow Play-Do (Elizabeth isn't the only one who loves yellow!), Thomas the Tank Engine stickers and some Sunkist fruit snacks, her new favorite treat.

After church, we had a great time visiting with Brad's parents and grandparents, David, and his girlfriend Regan.



When we came home, Brooke discovered that plastic grass makes great hair!



And a nice birds' nest, too.



Finally, here are some comparison pictures from the past three Easters:





Hard to believe that next Easter we'll have a three year old and a five month old!

We Belong in the Zoo!

Your suspicions are confirmed. The Hobbses now officially belong in the zoo!

We joined Zoo Atlanta less than two weeks ago and have been three times already! Brooke absolutely loves it. Yeah, those animals are alright, but the REAL attraction is the "Baby Choo Choo," a little train runs through the zoo. Brooke is quite smitten. For those of you who haven't heard, her new love is Thomas the Tank Engine and anything having to do with trains -- especially riding trains -- is pure magic. Now, if I ask her if she'd like a treat, her eyes light up and she says ever so hopefully "Baby Choo Choo?!?" (Mind you, I was about to offer her fruit snacks or something that was much grander before this new possibility entered her mind.) She would go every day if it were up to her and communicates this quite clearly!

Zoo Atlanta really is a very nice zoo and has a fantastic area for preschoolers, which includes the train, a carousel, playground, and petting zoo. Thanks to years of the Counts' membership, this is one attraction that I know better than most native Atlantans! (Including Brad, hahaha...)

Brooke loves taking care of the animals in the petting zoo, armed with a brush on each hand. As everything is all about quantity for Brooke, she feels compelled to brush every goat, sheep and pig (even the ones hiding out under the feeding trough)!



We upgraded our membership to include one free guest and Nancy as our nanny. That means that Nancy can take Brooke without us and that anyone can get in free with one of us. We've already taken Karen and her two kids, Garrett and Zoe. As you can see, Garrett and Brooke had lots of fun riding in Garrett's wagon together.



We also met Scott and Nancy there as a rendezvous point on Tuesday after her weekend with them. We brought Brooke's friend, Grace, who just became a big sister and needed some big girl time out of the house! Grace has been talking about it ever since.



So let us know if you're itching to see some elephants, a baby panda, and ride a little train. I'm sure we'll be headed there often over the next year.

Future Virtuoso?

CompUSA is Closing Stores

CompUSA is closing a bunch of stores, including 6 in Atlanta (none in KY though). Good deals can probably be found! Click here to see the nation-wide list.