Back in FL

This is how much time Sharon and I have left until we leave the USA for several years. Depending on which minute I look at the clock I either feel incredibly excited at the opportunity or sad when I think of all the people we will miss.

We're back in Florida until that clock runs out. We're having way too much fun with our friends and family - we'll post pictures soon, but right now we're going to the beach (in case you want to come we will be at the Jetties in Jacksonville from 10:30 until we're entirely too red... bring your floaties).

So Long SpeedyGoat

The day the Rivers family has dreaded since 1996 is upon us. SpeedyGoat "The Teal Wonder" Rivers has grown up and moved on to go live with friends on his own.

Rather than focusing on the deep sorrow, we've decided to cherish the memories. Here are a few select gems so you too may share in the joy that is Speedy. We remember...

The times Anthony, Pete and Speedy would go for a good time of fish-tailin' after visitation at NJBC. Since Speedy's got no junk in his trunk, he'd just slide to his heart's content on the church property grass by the Trout River. These were his rebellious years.

The day he received his name. Cliff was there.

The day his horns started growing in... he head-butted a yield sign (through no fault of Anthony's whatsoever) and received a nasty scar on his left temple. Cliff was there too.

The day Speedy and Sharon first met. He loved going to the beach with us. He likes dolphins.

Speaking of dolphins, we remember how happy he was when we surprised him with a Miami Dolphins license plate. He loves wearing Dan Marino's colors (we had quite the argument when he wanted a big "13" air-brushed on his tailgate).

And all the times we had to turn him off in the McDonalds drive-thru. He talked so loudly that the attendant couldn't hear us over him (he has voice-immodulation problems with his muffler).

We love you SpeedyGoat. Miss ya. Miss you everyday.

The part the Colonel doesn't want you to see...

So, the skills they teach us for living overseas are pretty comprehensive. Today was a live action lesson on how to kill and prepare a chicken. Since Anthony and I don't really need this skill, we only went to take pictures because...well...how often do you see a chicken 'prepared?' We dedicate these pictures to our Kentucky friends.

His only request was that he be a Chik-fil-a Chicken and not a 'Cap'n D's Chicken Plank'...a bird's gotta die with honor.

I'm not sure what is more disturbing...the fact that we're posting this or that the kid's hands in the picture are motioning how to cut it's neck. We must say after witnessing it, and other than seeing grown men get queasy, that it was less exciting than we had hoped. None of the fabled "running around like a chicken with its head cut off" kind of stuff.

Now to more well-adjusted photos...we went to Washington D.C. on the 4th of July. It was fun, but for my (Sharon) first trip is was a bit 'rushed.' We were only there for 7 hours and about 3hours of that was spent on the Metro/Subway getting from one place to another. We went with friends that have two kids and a stroller so we just paced ourselves and enjoyed what we could get to. The bus left at 5pm so no fireworks...although if you click on our April 2006 archive you'll find plenty of fireworks fun. Our pictures are less than marvelous and unless we told you, you wouldn't know they were taken in D.C. Hence...

The entrance to Chinatown (which is only 1 block long and not really worth spending 20 min to get there). But here's a picture...and the "Discover DC" sign proves we were there. We also visited the Sackler Gallery of Asian art which is part of the Smithsonian. It was free and we didn't have to wait in a block-long line to see it.

Grandmother get your gun...

Things have been going great in Virginia, but we figure that pictures of us sitting all day and listening to lectures aren't quite interesting (hence the pictures below that have nothing to do with our time here). This week we went over our MBTI Personality tests. They told me I was Extroverted- like 30 out of 30 extroverted. Anthony took the test in college and was slightly Introverted- his scores this week showed that he is now slightly Extroverted. It seems he's finding his place in the Durrance family.

Today is my sister Heather's Birthday! Happy Birthday Heathas!

But in keeping with our string of highly entertaining posts, we figured we'd share some pics that we hold dear...

This is Grandmother** shooting in her backyard in Florida. Just a couple observations that make this particularly special to us- 1) My cousin Bobby's expression. 2) Grandmother is wearing her pearls. 3) Its my grandmother. Apparently she hit whatever target she was aiming at...atta girl! Props to Bobby for sending this snapshot our way.

This next one is a neat. My Uncle Jeff took this at the Braves vs. Devil Rays game in Tampa last week.

...can you see the family resemblance? (MattE Diaz is #23 holding the bat down on the field. Zach, in the red hat, is his brother. Jeremiah is his nephew).

And like any good Floridians, a couple weeks ago we found the closest thing to a "theme park" and tried it out...There were 2 slides at the place. Here's Anthony on unnamed slide #1, the one we called the "tall tube slide"...

...riveting

And here's me on the other slide which we called "the slide that goes around"

...if you hold your hands up its funner.

**Grandmother insists on being called "Grandmother." Would you expect anything less proper from a woman who wears pearls whilst shooting?