The Walker Blog

The New Indiana Jones Movie

Posted by Steve and Cat Walker | | 11:05 PM

Today we went to see the new Indiana Jones movie. Cathy had wanted to see "The Strangers" but after reading poor review after poor review, we decided to go see the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We both really enjoyed it!! It brought back so many good things from the other movies, but was really action-packed and fun.

After going to the movies we went to IHOP for dinner. Cathy had never been to an IHOP so it was a first for her. She wasn't impressed with her dinner (pot-roast, mashed potatoes and veggies) but definitely envied Steve's dinner. He had pancakes and a super cheesy ham and cheese omlette.

Tomorrow, we're going shopping and then Cathy is going to do her newsletter for school. She still has another month of school (yuck). Steve just got home (Thursday) from a trip to Chicago, where he presented sustainability information to the Clorox people (representing Burt's). He had a really nice time and enjoyed the opportunity to network and meet some of the big-wigs of Clorox.

Cathy signed us up for a Triangle Area Couples group through meetup.com. We're excited to get to attend our first event and maybe meet some new friends here in North Carolina!

That's it for now...
:)
The Walkers

Where has the time gone?

Posted by Steve and Cat Walker | Life Update | 6:09 PM

Sorry it's been so long since we last posted something!! Not sure where the time goes, but finally the effort is being made.

Cathy's parents came to visit from May 3rd through the 9th. We had a great visit with them and enjoyed showing them the area. Cathy's dad was here in November, but her mom had not been down yet. It was nice to have them here right before Mother's Day and be able to spend some quality time. They came while Cathy was tracked out, so she got to spend the last week of her track out with them. Steve took a few days off too and it was time well spent.

We went to Wilmington for the day while they were here. We went to lunch and then spent some time at the battleship (USS North Carolina). After the battleship, we drove to Wrightsville Beach and spent some time at the ocean. We had a really nice dinner at a place called The Oceanic. We were able to eat outside (on their pier) and enjoy the surf and sun.

Cathy tracked back into her room on Friday, May 9th... and spent the majority of the night getting her room ready for Monday when her kids came back. She really wasn't excited to go bcak. I guess she was feeling like the year is basically over (in her traditional-calendar mind) but really, she has another month and a half before the year is over. Far from being over. LOL.

Steve is getting ready to go to a conference in Chicago on Tuesday and Wednesday of this next week. He'll be presenting information about Burt's Bees to people of Clorox (to let them know why buying Burt's was such a great investment). :) He's excited. It's been quite some time since he's had to travel for work, so as much as Cathy hates that he's leaving, she's grateful that it's not an all-the-time thing.

This weekeng we're just chillin at home. It's pretty dead around here. Everyone and their brother goes to the beach for the major holidays, which means that the restaurants and shops around here are empty. We went to Carrabbas for dinner last night (a Saturday night) at 6:30 and we were seated immediately. That NEVER happens.

We'll write again soon... hope you and yours are doing well!!

:)
The Walkers

What A Weekend!

Posted by Steve and Cat Walker | Earth Day, meeting up with friends | 11:00 AM

We had a fantastic weekend!

It started with Friday, and Cathy had her last day of school before her track out. She had to move out of her classroom this time, so the room was totally empty. She showed a movie to her kids (Babe) and they loved it! Most of them had never seen the movie (it's older than they are), but they liked it so much that they clapped at the end of the movie (always a great sign of enjoyment). One her her parents brought in movie theater popcorn for everyone and then another parent sent in bottled water and flavored waters for everyone to enjoy.

After her movie, they had their "Fun Run" and the whole school participated. The kids just ran around the track and they set up an off-track course as well. They ran the course twice and then when they crossed the finish line, they had bottled water, fruit and some crackers.

Her class had their lunch and then recess and then they had their "Track Out Ceremony." Each teacher selects some students to get awards. There are awards for math, language arts, technology, best effort, responsibility, music, art, P.E., and Spanish. The parents come to watch their child get their award and then everyone celebrates.

When her class came back to her room, it was time for their guest speaker to arrive. This year, she's tracked out during Earth Day, so she asked Steve to come in and speak to her class as a guest speaker. He did a fantastic job! During his visit he even had the chance to enjoy a fire drill (lol). Cathy's class asked some terrific questions and Steve was able to share his passion for his job and got to tell the kids about the great things happening at Burt's Bees.

Speaking of Burt's Bees, Saturday we spent the afternoon downtown Raleigh volunteering at the first annual Earth Day Raleigh event. It was so much fun! There were vendors from all over the Raleigh area that deal with the Earth in some way. They had people selling Earth-friendly items, and then some various agencies were present to pass our literature and share their information with the public. There were a TON of people that came down and it was a huge success!!

We were about to go through the "Bee-utify your life with Burt's Bees" mobile tour, when the Junk Man (that's what he's called) came over and asked if we'd help with the trash parade. It was the weirdest thing that either of us had ever participated in, but it was fun. We marched in a big group through the mall and around the Capitol building playing trash and making a ton of noise.

There were two big highlights of the day. The first was that we got to see Burt, and even better, have our pictures taken with him. Cathy had told Steve that she wanted a picture taken with Burt and Steve said, "Yeah, so does everyone else."

The other highlight was seeing the Beemones play live! We'd only seen them play on youtube, but they had their "final" concert at the Earth Day Raleigh event. They were awesome!

Our job at the event was called "Roving Ambassadors of Burt's Bees." We didn't really have to do anything but walk around and answer questions if people had them. So basically, we got free shirts and got to enjoy the day. Our shift ended at 4:30, so by 5:00 we were on our way home just as it was starting to rain. Perfect timing!

We came home and quickly showered and changed, and then headed back downtown to a restaurant called The Pit. We met Joe and Monica Lang for dinner. They went to UD with Steve and live in Philly, PA. Joe is one of Steve's fraternity brothers, and Monica and Joe have been together since freshman year of college. Steve has always told Cathy so much about them, so it was awesome for everyone to finally get together! We were out until 11:00 at the restaurant!!

So that leads us to today. We're going to take it slow today and try to get the house picked up a little. We've got to go grocery shopping and then that's about all that we have planned. Cathy's parents are coming down to visit in two weeks (May 3rd-9th) and we're super excited to see them and show them our area!!

We'll write again soon!!

We Sold Our House!!!!

Posted by Steve and Cat Walker | | 9:26 AM

Last Friday we closed on our house in Michigan (finally)!!! YAY!!! The buyers made an offer back in January (before Steve's birthday) but their offer was too low for us to accept. We weren't in the position that we HAD to sell the house, so we were content with waiting for another offer that would be more around our range. The same couple that made the first offer played a little game with us (that we didn't like or appreciate) and tried to really put the pressure on us. Again, since we didn't HAVE to sell, we didn't play and it ended up in our favor.

Basically, they made the offer and then put all these contingencies on it. They HAD to hear back from us by noon the next day or they were moving on... bla bla bla. Steve was having oral surgery the following day, and we just didn't have it as a top priority to "jump" simply because they said so.

We ended up deciding to just wait until the next offer came in. We had several showings and all had positive reviews. We just didn't get any offers. The market in Michigan is awful (it's bad everywhere, but really bad in Michigan). About three weeks later, the same couple makes another offer. Again, they were too low and we couldn't afford their offer. It wasn't that we were not interested, we just couldn't go as low as they were offering.

After a bunch of back and forth negotiations, we were able to reach a compromise and they bought it. Cathy's Dad went and signed for us at the closing (thankfully!! It would have cost $200 to have an outside person do it for us). So... we're enjoying having ONE house now!!

In other news, we got a Wii. It's the most amazing thing ever. If you've never seen one or had the pleasure and delight of playing one, you're missing out! We got Guitar Hero III and Backyard Football. We also have the Sports pack and another series of games called WiiPlay. So far we've only played the sports (tennis, bowling, baseball, golf and boxing) and then Guitar Hero III.

Cathy is a natural on Guitar Hero III. Steve started to play it and wasn't very good, so he passed the guitar to Cathy and she killed it. She has started her own band (C@strophy) and she's played a ton of different gigs. She's even had to battle Tom Morello and Slash and she's won! She was most excited when she got to play "EvenFlow" by Pearl Jam. She was definitely in the zone. Steve has been calling her "Nancy" from Heart because she kicks butt on the guitar!!

What's even cooler about the Wii is that it's a Nintendo system. There are these "points" that you can buy (a penny a point) and with the points you can buy classic Nintendo games. We're not kidding!! We bought Excitebike for Cathy (she LOVED this game as a kid back in '85), as well as Kid Icarus for her. She played it all night and couldn't get past the Grim Reaper guy. LOL. We got Zelda for Steve and then Super Mario Brothers 3 for us both to play. Steve thinks it's brilliant for Nintendo to offer these classic games for like $5.00 a game (500 points). It's a great way to make additional money on really old games. However, for people in our age group, these games bring back wonderful memories and put HUGE smiles on our faces!! (Cathy remembered going to Children's Palace (a toy store that was WAY bigger and better than Toys 'R Us) with her allowance and buying Nintendo games).

This weekend is Easter and we're just hanging out for the holiday. Cathy didn't have school yesterday, so she drove up to Burt's and met Steve for lunch. Today we're going to Wii and then maybe go to the new Chinese World Buffet for dinner (lol). Tomorrow we're going to make a ham and then have baked beans, potato salad, rolls and then something yummy for dessert.

Cathy went to the store and bought a TON of candy for an Easter basket for Steve. She hid it in the house and he had to search for it. He's not allowed to eat anything until Sunday.

Enough from us for now... we are thoroughly enjoying having 74 degrees today while Michigan is getting 5-8 inches of snow. It's not too late for everyone that we love in Michigan to move to North Carolina!!! The weather is a hell of a lot better!!!

:)
The Walkers

Update...

Posted by Steve and Cat Walker | | 2:39 PM

Well... it's been a while since we last posted so we thought it was time to write something!

Last night we went to a Leap Year Pig Pickin. It was at the house of someone that Steve works with and it was interesting. Our experiences with Burt's Bees events has been awkward to say the least. This one wasn't as bad as the Christmas party, but it was a little strange still. We fully expected a pig-roast and instead it was more of a fancy-schmancy dinner party. The only pork that they had was in kabob form and they went with the rest of the Mediterranean-style food. Weird.

Anyway, we did have fun and enjoyed seeing how the rich live. The guy that hosted the party lives in North-Raleigh in a million dollar home.

Last weekend we drove to Wilson, NC to meet Cathy's cousin Corey and his fiance Heather, for lunch. It was a nice afternoon and we enjoyed spending time with them. It's really nice that we've been able to see them twice now since we moved down in June. We're hoping that more family will come down for a visit soon!!

This last weekend after driving back from Wilson, we found a Costco and had a taste of home. We went in and enjoyed all the eye-candy and then of course, had to grab a few gallons of extra-cheap milk. :) In case we haven't said it before, the milk here is SO expensive. It's more expensive to buy a gallon of milk than a gallon of gas. And that's saying a lot because the gas is expensive!!

We've been talking about getting a Nintendo Wii since before Christmas. Well... we finally bought one! Yay! It should be arriving Monday. We also bought Guitar Hero III and are super excited to play!!

That's the latest from here. We're eagerly awaiting the visit of Steve's dad next weekend. Soon after, Cathy's mom and dad are going to be coming down (April/May). Yay!!

:)
The Walkers

Go Tarheels!!

Posted by Steve and Cat Walker | | 4:18 PM

So this weekend we went to the UNC-Clemson game at Chapel Hill. Talk about an amazing experience. We arrived about an hour prior to the game starting and had some food in the courtside club. They had all kinds of free desserts, drinks and appetizers. Steve gorged himself on warm brownie bites and these chocolate mousse thingy-ma-bobbers. :)

The game was way better than the game in Richmond. Don't get us wrong, we love UD but the Tarheels play on an entirely different level. The game in Richmond was disappointing. The Flyers lost to the Spiders (lol) and the stadium was really small. There are probably high schools with bigger arenas! Anyway, the Flyers were down the entire game and the Spiders just kept hitting 3-pointer after 3-pointer. It was fun to spend the night in Richmond though.

We had dinner at a place called the Capitol Ale House and it was okay, but a little pricey. Steve had French onion soup and then this kielbasa and pretzel thing and Cathy had a chicken ceasar salad that tasted like anchovies. (YUCK)

We drove home on Sunday and stopped in Nashville (NC) for our first taste of Bojangles. If you're not familiar with Bojangles... it's an over-priced KFC but instead of being tasty, it's really gross. LOL. They're known for their sweet tea and biscuits. Whatever. Lunch made us both sick and wishing that we stopped somewhere safe, instead of trying something new.

Back to the UNC game... in case you missed it, the heels were down the entire game. The average was nine-points down. At one point they were only six down, but that's as close as they ever got. It was a big deal because Clemson has NEVER won at the Dean Smith Dome. Not in 53 years... every time Clemson plays Carolina... they LOSE. This was a game to go down in history! All the way until the final seconds of the game we were down and then somehow we managed to tie the score and force an overtime. The crowd went absolutely ape-shit and it was as if they had just won the national championship game!

Five additional minutes were added to the clock and it was time for OT to begin. They were down for most of the 1st OT and then they were able to come back and tie it up and force a 2nd OT. Unheard of!! Once they started the 2nd OT they took control of the court and ended up winning 103 to 93. It was amazing! People we losing their minds and going bananas. The people around us were celebrating and grown men were crying like little children.

On the way out we snatched some cups and popcorn buckets (you know the ones that are super expensive and everyone leaves behind) as tokens of the game. We're too cheap to buy them ourselves, but we grabbed like eight cups and two buckets. :) Steve grabbed one for his boss Tom (he went to Clemson).

Cathy goes back to work on Thursday. Just in time for Valentine's Day! Steve is the greatest man alive... he sent Cathy a dozen baby roses today and she got them delievered and was totally surprised! They're in a really nice vase and smell soooo good! We're going to celebrate Valentine's Day either today or tomorrow by going to Outback (yay)!

Until next time... take care and be well!
:)
The Walkers

Update

Posted by Steve and Cat Walker | Life Update | 4:36 PM

Hello! We hope everyone that reads this is doing well. We're okay... hangin' in there. Steve went to the oral surgeon last Thursday and had his tooth extracted. It wasn't as bad as he thought, but it was still pretty painful. He's still recovering and has pain.

We went to the UD vs Richmond game on the 26th. We drove up to Richmond and arrived just in time for the game. We were excited to see Dayton (ranked 14 at the time) beat the Richmond Spiders, however, we were shocked at their performance. Richmond's team was hitting three-pointer after three-pointer and UD did nothing about it. No clue what the score ended up being, but Dayton was crushed.

Anyway... Steve had his birthday last Tuesday. He's 33 now. Cathy made him a birthday cake and made him dinner. She also bought him a UD Basketball t-shirt and a UD business card holder (glass) for him to use at work. His co-workers went all out with gifts. Apparently they call him "Bevis" and decided to take the theme as far as they could go. They bought him lunch and then also gave him a placemat that said Happy Birthday. On the back were numerous pictures of people with mullets (they love his mullet picture that's on his calendar at work). They also gave him the Bevis and Butthead Do America movie and a Bevis bobble-head. All wrapped in mullet-picture wrapping paper.

The calendar that they love so much is one that Cathy made for Steve for Christmas. It has pictures of friends and family thoughout the calendar and because Steve's birthday is in January, he is the spotlight for the month.

Anyway, that's the latest... Cathy enjoyed spending February 5th sitting outside reading a book in 75 degree weather. Does it get any better??

:)
The Walkers