Chris & Maria's Blog

We just finished watching the last half of the timeless classic, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”.  Maria had never seen it (GASP! SHOCK! HORROR!).  I’m reciting the lines, probably much to her dismay, and towards the end the question crops up in my mind, “What happened to the gummy bear girl on the bus at the end?”  So I Google around and find out.

Her name is Polly Noonan.  Aside from bit parts in a couple of other films, IMDB didn’t have a whole lot.  A little more searching, and it turns out she’s doing theater now.  I know you lose sleep at night wondering what Polly is up to, so here are a few pictures of her all grown up and on stage….for your enjoyment.

All good things must come to an end, but I think we’ve had an amazing week with Josie and Mike. I’m not sure what is on the agenda for today, but everyone is getting cleaned up and ready….except me, of course. I’m blogging. Such is the problem with having a house with just one bath.

I digress. So far this week, we have gone to Gatlinburg, Cades Cove, Sevierville and Pigeon Forge (shopping), Biltmore Estates (pictured) in North Carolina, a drive in movie in Maryville, The Lost Sea, the Tosca Opera, the Rossini Festival downtown, the Mall, Wal-Mart (nothing screams America more than that hole), and to the World’s Fair site and Sunsphere. Today we may go to Dollywood or possibly for a hike through the mountains. I’m not sure which yet.

There has been loads of Wii play, and Mike has become the Wii Sports Tennis champ in the house. A few more matches and he will be listed as a pro.

The dogs have all but abandoned me and Maria. If I get home from work tomorrow and they have gone, I’ll know they are on their way to England. It sounds as if everyone is about ready, so I had better get it together and wrap this up. This is our last day with Josie, and we want to make the most of it. More later!

I debated between the above title or the famous Paul Revere line, “The British are coming! The British are coming!” If only Josie and Mike had waited until the 18th of April, that would have worked seeing as that is the date Paul Revere shouted those lines on his ride. But I thought a reference to music versus war was more appropriate, as I love my extended family and we get along quite well.

As of this writing, Josie and Mike should be flying over our very heads. We finally managed to get the bedroom pulled together and the house in order. Knoxville just isn’t the ideal vacation spot, though we have been trying to come up with things to see and do while they are here. Alas, I don’t think there is any way to escape Dollywood. Just please note that it is NOT an accurate representation of East Tennessee or even the Smoky Mountains for that matter. We will probably take them to the mountains, and see as many cool places up there as we can.

We still have a few things left to do, so I’ll wrap this up. We’re both very excited and anxious for them to arrive, and I’m such a neat freak and perfectionist when it comes to having people over. I blame you, Mom and Dad. I love you, but it’s your fault I am this way. 😛

Wired Magazine is running a photography contest with the theme being macro photos. I shot one last night, and I’m posting this to generate as many votes as I can. I’m late getting in, so I’ll need LOADS of help. The winner gets their photo published in the magazine.

Mine is the fly, and is called “Fly On”. Just click the green up arrow to vote for me. 😛

http://reddit.wired.com/submissions_macro/

Chris and I helped out at a family wedding this weekend. Chris took some excellent pictures and by elimination I was left with the video camera. I didn’t tell everyone that the only experience I’ve ever had with a video camera is filming some salt mines in Poland on a school trip when I was 18 – it was so bad and out of focus that part didn’t make it into the final film! But luckily we had time to practice and I don’t think it turned out badly in the end.

It did make us realise though, that we still want to have a reception of our own. (And we definitely want the chocolate covered strawberries they had on Saturday). We have no plans, no dates and no real venue ideas (we don’t even know which country it will be in) but we will be having one, so if you’re reading this, you’re invited. 🙂