A little bit of England on Long Island...

My friend Paul, from Birmingham, England (whom I met while on the Turkey tour last summer), was on his way to Peru for another adventure and stopped on the way to see friends on Long Island. So since it's cheaper to fly to LI than to either Peru or Birmingham, I thought I would fly up to steal one of his U.S. days. After breakfast, lunch, wine, and ice cream (including a ferry ride), I flew back home. I realized that I'd never actually flown 'sans bag' ever before -- what a freeing experience! The hour flight was less eventful than a commute into DC! A very nice sunny family day with Paul and his friend's family. The only thing better than hanging out with one Brit is hanging out with two!

VA 7.0 Mixed Doubles Districts

Headed down to Midlothian (outside of Richmond) to watch (and be official photographer) for my NOVA 7.0 team. Excellent matches on Saturday to advance to next round on Sunday, but alas no victory this time -- maybe next year. I came home early to play MD 3.5 Women's USTA (another loss...).

New Patio Furniture

The deck and the fence were put in new last year (in response to adoption inspections for house safety -- the deck had a few issues so I decided to just do the whole thing over since the old structures were over 20 years old.) THIS YEAR I want to be able to enjoy them. So, here's some new deck furniture! I also potted some container plants...