Count Your Blessings 2007

My Mother sent me an email right after Thanksgiving that touched me on a whole new level. I wanted to share a portion of that in this Blog since it is my last one of 2007. There are so many things that I am thankful for… I am so blessed in many, many ways. Yet, this blog probably will not capture even a small portion of these blessings but I will try to anyway:
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First the Thanksgiving email:
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Everyday be thankful for what you have and who you are.
Even though I clutch my blanket and growl when the alarm rings. Thank you, Lord, that I can hear. There are many who are deaf.
Even though I keep my eyes closed against the morning light as long as possible. Thank you, Lord, that I can see. Many are blind.
Even though I huddle in my bed and put off rising. Thank you, Lord, that I have the strength to rise. There are many who are bedridden.
Even though the first hour of my day is hectic, when socks are lost, toast is burned, tempers are short, and my children are so loud.
Thank you, Lord, for my family. There are many who are lonely.
Even though our breakfast table never looks like the picture in magazines and the menu is at times unbalanced.
Thank you, Lord, for the food we have. There are many who are hungry.
Even though the routine of my job often is monotonous. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to work. There are many who have no job.
Even though I grumble and bemoan my fate from day to day and wish my circumstances were not so modest.
Thank you, Lord, for life.
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Man, is that a great read or what? I am so moved by just reading those few thank yous!
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Now my own list of blessings from 2007:
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We are blessed in that we can keep my Grandmother in an assisted living facility where I can sleep soundly at night knowing that she is warm, safe, fed and loved by the wonderful staff that endures her daily. I made it through her first year there and did not physically harm her or myself!
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I have learned that having respect for my elders still gets me so much further in life…
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Thank you for my never-ending patience with my Grandmother and all of her antics, issues, and constant reminders of her ailments. Every day is a new saga or ordeal and some days I feel like my patience box is about to run dry.
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I pray for the day that a cure for Alzheimer’s will be discovered… and what exactly causes it…
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for my wonderful, beautiful, understanding husband of 16 months. We celebrated our first anniversary in September and my love for him grows every day. His ongoing support of ME and my day-today craziness makes our me wonder how I ever lived without him before…
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Little love notes on email from my husband makes me so happy…
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I am so thankful for my ability to do my job and succeed in this male-dominated industry. Some days I question why I even entered the field of construction… but, then I remind myself that I would have never met my husband if I had not…
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Thank you for our health. Yes, Mike turned 40 this year and my turning 34 made me realize that 40 does not seem so OLD any more… We were fortunate enough to find a Family Doctor that really cares about US and wants us to live better, fulfilling longer lives.
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Thank you for our ability to afford what life throws at us… we are so fortunate that we both have good-paying jobs and can save for retirement too!
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We finally found property near Pine Mountain and closed the deal in October. We had been looking for quite a while and are so thankful to have found it in Harris Co. and so close to family!
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Being able to travel… to the beach, to the mountains, wherever life takes us…
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I am also thankful that I am able to recognize when I make a mistake and admit to it…
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Having an open mind when meeting new people or dealing with unforeseen conditions…
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Thank you for advanced technology… without it I would not have my iPod, digital cameras, our computers, my text-friendly cell phone, satellite radio, wireless, cable television, the camcorder, and most of all- the Internet! How lost would I be without all of this? I am thinking back to 1990 right now… that is how it would be…
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Having the strength to endure tragedies when they happen unexpectedly…the fatality of a co-worker on site, Jamie at VT, losing Berkeley to cancer…
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Chocolate… the one thing I will NEVER be able to resist…
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Being able to keep my friendships alive- old friends, new friends, long-lost friends… I lost two great friends in the course of the past 5 or so years and made the effort to reconnect this year- and I did!
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I am most thankful for living in a country that allows me to live my life freely at my own accord knowing that there are others fighting for this freedom overseas. God bless the soldiers!
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Lastly, I am thankful for being blessed much more than I deserve.
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2008- Bring it on!

In Loving Memory of My Berkeley 1998-2007

The pain seemed to worsen each time I saw her since she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (aggressive bone cancer) back in early December. When we went to my homeplace for Christmas, she would slowly get up to greet me… but, getting up and lying down seemed to pain her tremendously each time… whimpering as she did each time. The meds were not working… when we went back to the homeplace this past Thursday, she struggled terribly when attempting to go for a walk… on Friday, my Mother walked her up to the house so we could spend some time together. When I arrived that evening Berkeley did not even try to get up to greet me… she just laid on the blankets and looked up at me all the while wagging her nub of a tail. That is the moment that I knew she couldn’t go on… her ability to stand up or to get excited was gone. She would never run or jump again. Walking was out of the question… She just laid there with her head on the ground- no movement… just laborious breathing- she could not even breathe easily any more. When we took her to the doctor for the last time, they found more large tumors on her rib cage from her battle with cancer… My brother built her a pine box and we buried her under three large cedar trees on our new property in Pine Mountain. Now she endures no more pain and can rest in peace…

In Memory of Lady Berkeley Mitchell
June 4, 1998- December 29, 2007
Beloved Companion

Just a pup when I brought her to her new home in the city...09/1999

This was the cover of my Christmas 2003 CD 12/2/2003

She loved lounging in her pool in the country 07/2005

Always on guard with her Mommy 12/2006

Happy Holidaze

Here we are in my home town for Christmas again… it is so hard to believe that another year has flown by! It was this time last year that we were preparing to move my grandmother into assisted living… And that was a year ago??! Last year I was dealing with my grandmother’s broken rib and this year I am fighting my own demons…
It all started Friday afternoon about 2pm… I was walking across the job site to my truck from the office trailer… intending on a hopefully stress-free drive home since I was leaving in the early afternoon on the last day before the holiday… Then, in an instant a pain shot up from the top of my back up to my neck… It hurt like hell! I started rolling my neck in each direction and the pain kept getting worse. It felt like it was pushing my head downward… I hurriedly got into my truck and cranked up. I knew as I was driving that this was another bout with my neck again… I called the hubby and told him what was happening… he reminded me of his scheduled appointment with our doctor at 4:30… So I drove to the doc’s office and sat in the parking lot until he got there. We go in… the doc takes one look at me in passing and sees my pained face and my tightened physical appearance. He questions me… the next thing I know I am being administered a Demerol shot and hubby is driving me home. I was in bed and out like a light by 6:30pm… Now keep in mind that I was supposed to wrap gifts, bake cookies and go to my Mother-in-laws for Mike’s brother’s birthday supper…. Well let’s just say that NONE of the above happened. I was out for 14 hours! And now almost 3 days later I am still in pain… muscle relaxers and pain killers are keeping me going through the holidays… Yes, I wrapped gifts for over 4 hours on Saturday in a drug-induced haze… I floated through yesterday’s Christmas lunch with my grandmother and my immediate family… And this Christmas Eve morning greeted me with the same amount of pain that I woke up with Saturday… This is the worse neck saga to date… it is the third one this year…I just have to make it through Wednesday afternoon… in the meantime, we are floating…. Merry Christmas every one!

It's Official

Well it's official... I am sick AGAIN. The creepy-crud that I had a month ago is back... and with a VENGEANCE!! It reared its ugly head when we unloaded the plane on Sunday morning at the Atlanta airport from our trip to NC. We were both coughing and sniffling the entire way home. I broke down and went to the Doctor this afternoon... I barely made it by 5pm but, they were nice enough to see me anyway. It is chronic bronchitis and infected sinuses... NICE. No wonder my face hurts all over and my head feels like an over-inflated beach ball. I cannot taste a thing, my throat burns and I cannot breath unless my mouth is gaping open. The rims of my nostrils are so red and raw from multiple nose-blowings that I really cannot do facial expressions without the skin cracking around my nostrils. Yes, I am outta commission. Yet, I still have to go to work tomorrow!! Things have to done that cannot wait on poor, sick Kelly... Oh well, I guess I can recover on my vacation during the Christmas week.
In the meantime, we took Berkeley back to the Vet yesterday. The week of medicine has not helped her leg at all. So we are trying one last option- they gave her a steroid shot. We will see if that helps any between now and Christmas Eve... more on that later...

Another great day together last Christmas Eve 2006...

Christmas Partied Kaput...

We attended Mike's company Christmas party on Friday night up in Raleigh, NC. Yes, they flew us up to Raleigh and put us up in the Marriott hotel where the party was held. Heck, they even rented us a car! Instead of flying right back Saturday morning, we decided to make a weekend of it and stayed until today. Our hotel was conveniently across the street from a huge shopping mall so we spent some time there yesterday... laughing at some of today's popular outfits, watching all the shoppers trying to buy their holiday purchases... We met an ol' friend of mine that I used to work with at my last employer for lunch... it was so nice to see "Mims"... it has been about 4 years since I last saw her!
We flew back late this morning and hit another Christmas get-together over at the inlaws house... DELICIOUS food and fun as always...
And here we are home, both of us seem to be coming down with a cold... and I just keep staring at that mound of shopping bags with our Christmas gifts in them to be wrapped... this week is the deadline for wrapping too! It is hard to believe that Christmas is only 9 days from now!! So much to do, so little time...

A Tribute

Just a little tribute in honor of my companion, Berkeley... I went to visit her yesterday to see how she was getting along. She spent a lot of time laying down next to me. She was brushed and petted and brushed and petted. Then, she was petted some more... We go back to the doctor this coming Monday afternoon. For now, we will just enjoy our time together....

But, She Is Only 9 and 1/2 Years Old...

“But, she is only 9 and ½ years old… how can this happen?” Those were my words this past Saturday in response to the doctor while staring at the X-rays at the Veterinary office. I spent the entire afternoon trying to understand how my beloved dog, Berkeley could get bone cancer… It all started a little over a month ago when Berkeley started limping when she walked and was visibly favoring that right front leg almost every day. My mom told me about it shortly after she started doing it… I made the trip home for a visit and checked it out for myself… I could not see any cuts or bruising, no swelling, and she did not really wince when I touched her joint above her paw. But, she definitely did not want me to squeeze her leg… we decided to wait and see if it got worse and tried to help with aspirin… my mom kept reminding me about it… and then I finally made the appointment for today actually. Well, on Friday night my mom decided to take her to the Vet’s office on Saturday morning bright and early to see if she could them to work her into their busy schedule… eventually they did… they would take her in for X-rays so my mom left her in their hands. I get the call from my mom around 12:30pm… “you need to go to the Vet’s office and talk to the doctor”… “Why? What’s wrong?” I ask… Silence on the other end of line… more silence… and then I hear her loudly inhale and respond in that tearful voice (you know the one that I have always hated to hear from my mother's mouth for years)… “they think she has cancer in her leg”… The tears are now welling in FULL force from my eyes… I am devastated… I meet her there and the doctor shows us the X-rays and explains the situation… NOT good all the way around… It has progressed both directions from that joint… it the fast-spreading type of boney cancer that occurs mostly in large dogs… we take her home with a week’s worth of medicine that might or might not help… We get her home and I watch her walk… she does not move around well AT ALL. I must have cried the entire time I was with her there… she could only walk so many feet and then have to stop and rest… it just broke my heart! I just could not watch her in that condition…
I am heading back down there tomorrow to assess her progress and talk with the doctor about it… so we shall see what happens… tears are forming… gotta go.

Confusion and Dismay

December 6, 2007 is a day that will forever be embedded in my brain… a day that started out business as usual and ended in turmoil. I had gone into the office that morning to finish up some paperwork for 2 of my projects and then left late morning to head out to my project in Conyers for a quick site visit. I returned around 2:00 pm to complete a month-end report that was due today since our company’s annual strategic plan meeting was the next day and our office would be closed for business. Sometime around 3pm I saw the VP of Operations and the head of HR from Denver coming thru the office (I just assumed in preparation for the big company meeting the next day)… I heard them go into my bosses’ office and close the door (not unusual)… well what happened next left me in shock… I finished my report and went to find my boss… he was near the back door… I offered my reports to him… he just looked at me with this priceless crestfallen look upon his face… he muttered to go give them to those guys in there (his office)… I was confused and questioned him… (keep in mind we are just standing there staring at each other in dismay)… and he sadly says “ I have just been terminated… 19 years with nothing to show for it”… in shock I say, “Excuse me?” and he just shrugs and walks to the next office to tell that co-worker it has been nice working with him but he has to leave now and then on the next office and the next… and I am still standing there… in disbelief… confused… in dismay…. He manages to tell a few folks his news before finally leaving… I go back to my office and just sit… and wait….and wait…. Then I hear the VP of O and the head of HR bring in one of the Project Managers and close the door again…. My stomach is in knots… and my head hurts… I run for the restroom… on my way out of the restroom I see that PM is back in his office and head over to him… he looks at me (while slinging stuff onto his desk and says that he has been “chopped”… I go back to my office and sit and wait… and then I starting gathering my laptop and lunchbox and packing up my briefcase… I have to leave to turn in my pay application to the City of Atlanta on my way home… I take my reports to my ex-bosses’ office and they inform me that the company is making some management changes and every thing is just fine. And then they talk about how our office is here to stay and how I shouldn’t worry about my job or not to think about quitting… mumbo jumbo something or another… I really do not remember the exact words or details in that briefing…. And then I leave.
So here I am… no boss, no work on the books, half of our SE office is upset and the others are not really talking about it… Good grief, there is a long road ahead of us… makes getting up tomorrow and going to work sound real appetizing, huh??

Thanks Giant Show and Project 9-6-1

I was truly surprised tonight when I got online and found where "Giant Brian" from the "Giant Show" on radio station Project 9-6-1 had commented on my blog post from last night!! How cool is that? He informed me that their final total amount of money raised for the Empty Stocking Fund was right at $97,000!!! How lucky and blessed are those families going to feel this Christmas now?? After the ROUGH afternoon I experienced at work this afternoon (that is for tomorrow's blog when I am in a better state of mind) it was nice to come home and read Giant Brian's note of thanks. Things that make me smile....;-D

Things That Make You Wanna Go Hmmm

I am a huge fan of music…almost ALL music to be honest… Rock, rap, dance, new age, pop, oldies, funk, reggae, jam, trance, techno, slow, fast, alternative, blues, classical, electronic, metal, hip-hop, bluegrass, country, R&B, soul, disco, folk and the 70’s and 80’s… the list goes on and on. My iPod has exactly 4,345 songs that span the range of almost every genre of music…. Basically, I love music. LOVE IT. Since I have satellite radio in my work truck I do not find myself listening to the “regular” radio too often during my travels (unless I am stuck in a traffic jam and need to know what is up!). However, I do keep the radio in my office on all day in the background and I do listen to the radio in my shower those few minutes I am getting ready for work or whatever. The two stations that I tend to listen to are Dave FM- 92.9 and Project 9-6-1- 96.1 Now both of these stations used to be called Z93 and 96 Rock respectively back in the day (for those who have been any where near or within listening range of Atlanta radio). I listen to them because they play old rock, new rock, some metal, some alternative… and of course, this genre of music tends to be more acceptable to the general public in my world instead of hip-hop or rap… (which I tend to indulge in when alone) There is nothing wrong with a little Eminem, Timbaland, 50 Cent or Ludacris to stay alert in this hellacious Atlanta traffic in my opinion!
Anyhoo, (getting this train BACK on the tracks here…) I was listening to The “Giant Show” on Project 9-6-1 (that is the name of their morning show) yesterday morning while dolling myself up for work (hee hee) and heard them talking about this robbery that occurred last week sometime at the building that occupies the “Empty Stocking Fund” organization. Yes, according to their report somebody broke into the warehouse area of the City of Atlanta Police headquarters building in Atlanta and stole roughly $50,000 worth of toys and gifts from their stock. These were Christmas gifts for needy families and their children that were going to be distributed next week in time for Santa to give these poor folks a Christmas. My question is who would steal $50K in TOYS? And how did they do it under the noses of the Atlanta PD? One article on Google News said that the robbers (I believe 2 total) climbed into a window using a police barricade and used backpacks from the stock pile of goodies to haul out the loot. Oh, and the APD does not have security cameras in this part of the building oddly enough… kinda strange considering they have had a history of break-ins in this same building this same time of year for the past several years…. Things that make you wanna go hhhhmmmmmmm…
In the meantime, I heard the guys from the “Giant Show” claiming they beat their goal of raising $50K to give back to the Empty Stocking Fund and were up to over $80K as of 6:00 am this morning… Now that is awesome!!

Home-ade Holiday Cheer

So today was our day to go get the Christmas tree and decorate for the season. First off, we overslept (yes, I know it is Saturday but it seems like we are on a tight schedule for the entire holiday season for some reason!). We went to one store to pick up a few gifts that we did not get last night (we started our gift shopping last night to beat this weekend's crowds). We picked out our Frasier fir tree and came home. Next, we had to go into the attic (well MIKE had to go up into the attic). Now to some people this would not be a really big deal but, for us it is... it requires getting a 6 ft ladder and heaving oneself up into a 3ft x 3 ft opening in our upper hallway. What makes it even more fun is the boo-koos of insulation puff balls that fall from the opening since we just had new insulation blown into the attic last summer- it is almost like a winter wonderland after he heaves out the 5 huge plastic storage containers of Christmas junk... especially for the person who gets to clean it up afterwards- ME!
Here is my project of opening all of the many, many Christmas trinkets and gadgets and ornaments... I like to call it Kelly's Christmas Chaos...



And then Mike's job this year was to bring in the tree, set it up in the stand and put on the lights....



One of my most favorite things to "set up" every year is the Nativity Scene... it sits in the middle of the sofa table in the Living Room right in front of the big window that overlooks the front yard...



Here is the final product in the dark...



And here is the final product in the light...



And now we can sit back and enjoy the holiday cheer here at home...

Motivate Me, Please

Every day I make my long trip to work weaving my truck through thousands of idiots in more traffic than one would really like to admit... it is funny how my hand automatically starts dialing someone on my cell phone as soon as I put the truck in Drive these days... I was on the phone with someone just yesterday afternoon while cruising I-285 West on the top end when they asked me what I was doing. I replied, "I am sitting in traffic- that is what I do best... I have been doing it for almost 17 years now".. WOW... 17 years?? Yikes! Yes, I arrived in Atlanta on June 20, 1991... has it been THAT long?
So this morning I started skimming through all of digital photo files for a few of my favorites... from the past 17 years... of course, college photos are not an option since I did not even have a digital camera until 1999... you see my husband bought me this electronic photo frame for my birthday and you load pics on it. It sits on my desk and does a nice slide show of my hand-picked digital photos... I worked on this for quite a while this morning by the way... and then I came upon a file that I just had to share with you all...

This BY FAR has to be MY movitational poster for work... I even printed it out in color and hung it on my office wall today. I love it. LOVE IT. Very much....

Being Thankful

Well we made it through the holiday week… the food was great at both our turkey dinners and we got to spend time with Mike’s family and then with my family. I baked cookies and pies all day on Thursday for both family meals. I experimented with making and baking sugar cookies in Christmas shapes complete with multi-colored icing and sprinkles! And I am here to tell you that rolling out cookie dough and using cutout shapes in NOT an easy task! But, I managed to complete two entire batches of cookies and NOT burn or screw up ANY of them! I know they must have been really good because I could not keep my husband out of them! Our trip to the country was eventful to say the least… we worked all day on Friday in the woods cleaning and mulching up old limbs with the chipper that we rented. Saturday we went and picked up my Grandmother and brought her to spend the day with the family- turkey dinner with all the sides (country style of course!) was delicious. We fought the traffic back on Sunday in the rainy weather… I was deeply saddened over the holiday about the tragic news of Bonnie and Brooke’s car wreck the night before Thanksgiving. Rest in peace, Brooke and our prayers are with Bonnie every day as she fights through her injuries and recovers at Atlanta Medical. I was also saddened about the entire situation surrounding our family friend who accidentally shot another hunter in a tragic hunting accident in the Valley on Friday. Sadly, the boy died on Saturday… So many stories happen every day- even during the holidays… every one thinks that the holidays are only for celebrating when in reality there are others who are mourning. My heart goes out to all of these families affected by these tragedies… it truly makes me appreciate my family and friends and how blessed I am in my life! And how you should tell your loved ones that you love them EVERY day… Don’t put off tomorrow what you can do TODAY! Sieze the moment… count your blessings… be thankful.

My Thanksgiving Day

Never Be Forgotten

I received the good news yesterday in an email from our Corporate Safety Dept. that the fatality case that happened on my project in Atlanta back in March of this year was settled and over. Yes, we settled with the victim's mother the day before the trial was to start... I will not reveal the actual amount that we settled for but, in my opinion it was chump change considering the circumstances. Business-wise the settlement is a slam dunk... less money to pay out to the family means less profit loss for the company. Kelly-wise the settlement is a slap in the face and my heart goes out to this mother who lost her son... but, at one point along the way of this lawsuit I was unfortunately exposed to some of their family skeletons and it was not pretty. I feel so sorry for their entire family and for their loss and had hoped that this unexpected death might bring them back together... make right and leave the past as that- the past... let bygones be bygones and move on... I am just so glad that the trial did not happen because I do not know how I would have handled being involved in that. I did not even know the victim personally and yet this whole saga will never be forgotten.... Like I said back around the time of the accident in previous blogs, never in my 12.5 year of construction did I ever think that this sort of accident could happen to one of my employees on my project and result in death. I never thought I would see the day I would be interviewed by an OSHA inspector regarding a fatality on one of my projects... it is a life-changing experience and for me... ? All I do is count my blessings and be thankful for the so, so many in my basket called life...

And On The 8th Day...

And on the 8th day.... I am begging for some healing wonder to come along and help me cure this sickness! Yesterday marked one entire week of my being sick... at least my voice is back... somewhat. We ventured back to Pine Mtn this past weekend... my Grandmother's home had their annual Thanksgiving lunch on Saturday... since she was only allowed 4 family members, my brother and I went along with my Father and his girlfriend... yes, we the children were finally introduced to "the fiance".... seemed like a nice enough lady... the food was good... my nephew was bad... but, Memaw had a wonderful time with all of us. And THAT is the most important thing of ALL. And my sickness still carries on... cough after cough... sneeze after sneeze... how many nose blowings does it take to merit a Kleenex run on a Sunday night???

Well, Well, Well

I have wanted to blog about this topic for several weeks now and just have not taken the time to... since today is Day 3 of the hoarse Kelly saga (my congestion/sinus drainage seems to have stolen my vocals!) I decided to write my thoughts...
A few weeks ago I was cruising through our neighborhood on my way home from work and when I turned the corner onto our Lane my eyes fell upon a site that I never dreamed I would see here....two drilling trucks. Yes, the "older" retired couple on the corner had hired a well company to come out to their lot and drill a well! A well in the metro Atlanta area... east Cobb County... in the CITY.... does any one understand my issue with this? Why in the world would you pay for someone to come out and drill you well when we are all on city water?? Now I know that GA is in a drought.... and it is pretty dry right now... But, please!
Now Mike and I have discussed this topic at length needless to say since the "drill" trucks arrived at the fruit-loops corner lot. In a nutshell our conversation went like this:
Me: "Sweetie, did you see those fruit-loops up on the corner had 2 drill trucks digging for a well?!!"
Him: "Yeah, I guess they will have water when the rest of us run out, huh?"
Me: "What a waste of money! That is ludacris to drill for a well this close to the city! Only folks back home drill for water... they should not be allowed to!"
Him: "Hey I was thinking maybe we should look into getting that done here just in case we do run out of water."
Only my husband would EVEN suggest that we pay thousands of dollars for a well! I mean what is the REAL possibility that we as a state will run ENTIRELY out of water? Is that even a possibility? I find that so hard to believe! So here is the kicker....
Last Saturday, Mike and I ventured into a new house being built a couple of doors down from us (we do this often to check out the progress of the new interiors) and we ran into a man that lives in our neighborhood... and he just happens to be the son of the couple that lives on the corner that drilled for the well!! What a coinicidence!!! He told about how they found this outfit to do the well and how booked up all the well company's are right now because of the drought.... and then he says, "Can you believe they had to drill around 400 feet before they hit water?" I just about fell over! And it gets worse.... I ask him why they had the well installed.... he says, "Oh, they wanted it so they can water their lawn." Now I am livid... and I ask him if they might use it for drinking water.... and he says that they did not buy the additional testing package for the well that would be required to test the water for human consumption... !!!!!!????????!!!!!!!! Are you freaking %@!~*&% kidding me?????? I had to leave the room at that point. The man finally leaves and I ask Mike what idiot in their right mind would pay all THAT money to drill THAT far for water for their stupid grass?????
Will someone please help me to understand this? Or have I lost my mind along with my voice?

Leave Santa Alone

"Now I have seen it all".... that seems to be a familiar quote that I have caught myself saying for years now... usually in response to the some news story or the latest rumors around the coffee pot at work... well today I want to share another one with you.

I came across this article on Yahoo! this morning as I was make the usual clicks to check my two email accounts...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071115/wl_asia_afp/lifestyleaustraliachristmasoffbeat

In a nutshell, some city in Australia has instructed all of the employees playing Santa that this year they must not use the traditional "Ho, Ho, Ho" when talking with the little ones.... They must use "Ha, Ha, Ha" instead... And their reason for the new change to Santa's 2007 vocabulary? They do not want to "offend" women with this "US slang term for prostitute". Considering that this is in Australia... why would it offend Australian women? Unless it is also an Australia slang term too? I do not understand how in 2007 that the term "Ho" as used in Santa's traditional greeting would ever be misconstrued as him calling out to a prostitute... why would Santa be near a prostitute in the first place? Prostitutes don't tend to "work" near any Santa's that I have ever seen. And besides, the term "Ho" has been around for YEARS. I can remember throwing that term around in my middle school years (early-mid 80's)... so why is it just now being changed?
Like the article concluded and I agree.... "Leave Santa alone".

The Heat is ON

I am so happy to report that the HVAC man arrived bright and early this morning at 8:00am. After a fitful night of battling a sore throat and congestion while attempting to sleep, I was glad to get up and at 'em... just very slowly though. Yes, now I am officially sick... boo hoo. I guess the drastic temperature changes from home to work to job site to home have finally gotten to me. And, I guess my snoring must have been pretty bad too... I busted Mike video taping my snoring around 4am this morning! (The snoring only happens when I am sick BTW) Well... guess what was wrong with the HVAC?? A bird was in the exhaust flue!! Can you believe it? A BIRD!! What a crock! Somehow that crazy winged animal got into the flue in the chimney and managed to get all the way up to the exhaust fan and then died. All I can say is: thank you, we have HEAT! So now I can be sick and hot instead of sick and cold. Mike has been in the kitchen all afternoon concocting his famous seafood gumbo and I have been sickly and watching Georgia kick Auburn's butt (sorry Pooloo!).

We Be Chillin'....

Okay, that's it... I can not be quiet about it any more...
This morning started Day 3 of the winter wonderland in the Wilson household. Yes, our heat does not work... I repeat- there is NO heat in our house... whatsoever!! The HVAC man will not be here until tomorrow and I am freezing here! When I arrived home this afternoon, the inside of the house was 56 and the outside was 63. Last night, I was lounging on the sofa fully clothed with a down blanket wrapped around me... I was a Kelly Burrito... I admit I was toasty minus my nose... it just seems to stay cold. I told my husband last night that he was a lucky man to have such a low-maintenance wife... otherwise, we would be staying up at the nearest hotel. I mean how sad is it that when we get home, we have to put on more clothes? I just hope that the man is able to repair the system tomorrow... with my luck he will have to buy a part and it won't arrrive until next week!! Fingers crossed... I would cross my toes but they are well on their way to frost bite...

Sun, Fun, and Hard Labor

On Friday, my company had their annual golf outing. The morning shotgun start began with dreary cold conditions-we were freezing to death in the winds! But, by late morning the sun was out and we were moving on the 18 holes of golf. I did pretty good considering the wind and the fact that I have not been on any golf course since last year's tournament in October 2006... I did get to use my new golf clubs that Mike bought me- Lady Wilsons, of course!
This past Saturday we attended the Steeplechase at Callaway back in my home town of good ol' Pine Mountain. We met up with some old friends from my highschool days and watched the races while enjoying great food and drinks all on some one else's ticket. How nice was that? We were all set to tailgate.... the conventional way... coolers of drinks, lawn chairs and sandwich ingredients. But, John managed to score us tickets in his company's sponsored tent on the "uppidity" side of the horse track and we took full advantage! We had a wonderful time with a great group of folks and my sunburned face was proof that the weather was great too!

Sunday we had our first work day on the new property... land clearing is definitely a slow and difficult process. The family all showed up and pitched in and by 5pm you could actually see a few of the large oak trees and an old antique barn that have been overgrown with large bush-like overbrush for who knows how long. We bush-hogged out the driveway into the property and planned for our next work day in a couple of weeks.
After three days of sun, fun and hard labor, I am BEAT.

Happy Halloween!

Tonight is Halloween and I decided this morning to make myself leave work early this afternoon so I wouldn't get stuck in the traffic... you know when every parent in the Atlanta metro area leaves early to get home before dark... well as it turns out since Daylight Savings has not kicked yet, daylight was upon us up until about 7:30pm instead of like previous years when it was dark by 6:15-ish. Anyway, I managed to escape the office by 4:00 and I am here to tell you the traffic was still bad! I made it home by 5:15 or so and how nice was it to be home so eary!! I set up the candy bowl and we trekked up our long steep driveway with our lounge chairs, the candy and the dog in tow. We sat up there for almost an hour before ONE group of kiddies (7 total) and their adult chaperones (5 total) came by and I loaded them up generously. (Of course, that was after all the candy Mike and I devoured before they even got there... That reminds me... I learned a huge lesson this year... Don't buy your Halloween candy until like 2 or 3 days before the day... we bought 10 bags of candy about 3 weeks before and needless to say, by this past weekend the only ones left were the 2,000+ Tootsie Rolls. BIG Lesson for us! Anyhoo, Halloween is definitely my favorite holiday... the decorations, the costumes, the pumpkins, the eerie stories and music, the horror movies in watchable TV versions.... aaaahhhhh.... I cannot wait for next year already!!

Look- it's Cousin It!

My Favorite Season

I just LOVE this time of the year... Autumn is my all-time favorite season for many reasons: Cooler temps, less humidity, football, leaves changing color, camping, Halloween, and of course... Pumpkins!





We finally went today and picked out our pumpkins... what a beautiful crisp fall day to go pumpkin-picking too! Man, I just love this time of year!!

House Of Pain

I woke up Thursday morning with what I thought was just a "crick" in my neck where I had slept on my pillow wrong or something... it seemed to get worse as the day went by and by bedtime I was really hurting... Bad hurting. I took 3 Tynenol PM and went to bed. I knew when I rolled over for the first time in the bed Friday morning that it just was not getting any better so I went to work and made an appointment to see the doctor mid-afternoon. By the time I saw the doc and left, I had another scheduled appointment in a week and SIX prescriptions in my hand... SIX!!! Then, I go to the grocery store pharmacy that we use and they said it would be about a 30 minute wait... and that stretched into over an hour!
Here is what I do not get- why does it take so long to fill my prescriptions when I am in actual DIRE pain... sitting hurts, standing hurts, just give me my meds!!! I went home and crashed at bedtime. I am still paining today and the pain killer pills make me feel kike I am having hot flashes off and on. And the drowsiness is ongoing. I feel like I am just floating around the house considering all the muscle relaxers and pain reliever I am on...I better sign off before I start hallucinating...

What Is It With YOU People??!

What is it with you people? You know who you are! You are the whacko's that buy a coffee at any fine dining establish that sells coffee and/or breakfast-related items and then you proceed to the "condiment" area only to pour out part of your coffee! Yes, this morning I went by a chicken-focused venue that sells breakfast and when I approached the coffee prep counter to add cream and sweetner to my steaming cup of Jo... some idiot standing next to me is stirring his coffee and then sipping it... stirring and sipping again... and again... and then he reaches over and pours almost 1/3 of the cup out into the garbage can! I have witnessed this act of ignorance SO many times in the past! What is the deal? Is there too much in the cup? Is it too hot? Why did you buy such a large size anyway? And why in the world would you POUR liquid into the TRASH??? If 10 or so people did this over the course of one hour each morning, can you imagine how much liquid is now in the bottom of the trash bag? Think about the poor soul having to retrieve that full bag of trash and then it springs a leak! I think it is absurb no matter WHAT your reasoning is behind it. So PLEASE if you are a "coffee waster", quit buying it and stick with soft drinks!!

Home Sweet Home

We made it through the land closing on Friday afternoon like butter... smooth sailing! Yes, we are now proud land owners in Harris County! Our experience in the lawyer's office was somewhat amusing... while waiting for the closing attorney to show up (30 minutes late!) we sat in their waiting area/lobby together with the Seller (they had 3 family members there)... it was all good until I noticed the three framed Confederate War scenes hanging on the wall and then the dead cockroach caught in the fringe of the throwrug in the middle of the room... Nice touches all the same... the office was in some sort of old house right smack in the middle of town across from the courthouse and it just screamed "cheap renovation and non-maintained". The attorney was a nerd himself... very thorough but still a nerd. All in all, it was over as quick as it started and I am just happy that it is over and done with.
We went to the highschool football game that night and watch Carver kill Harris County... my Mom's class was in attendance for their 41st reunion... it really amuses me to go up to people in her class and introduce myself as her daughter and then they just stare at me... it is almost like they are trying to decide which parent I look more alike? Unfortunately, the weather did not want to cooperate with my hair... I could feel my tresses curling up into a puff of frizz the longer we sat there....
We got up Saturday and took our mountain bikes to the property for some exploration. I almost ran over a turtle and then we saw deer running through the young pines... the wildlife makes me even more glad we bought this... the views are going to rock! And then I discovered the snake... It scared the crapola outta me! I have not really "found" any snakes back home in a LONG time... living in the Atlanta area just means I see them more up here... but, the ones back home are much LARGER and remind me of just how much I hate and fear them! I tried to take a pic but that would have required me to get with 2-3 feet of him and that was NOT happening... and then he slithered off unseen and I rode away QUICKLY!
We came back Saturday night and started our planning for our future home...

I Never Want To Become...

Most of you know how much I loathe Atlanta traffic and it seems to be getting worse each and every day. And this morning was no exception... but, my mind seemed to be elsewhere and not on the traffic... looking back I think I might have just floated through the traffic not even acknowledging the other drivers and their destructive traffic antics. It all started when I stopped by the bagel place on my way to the interstate... I allow myself one morning a week to stop there and indulge in a bagel and shmear with a large coffee. I really am not a fan of their coffee... it is way too dark for my taste but it does have caffeine and I do like caffeine. The parking lot was almost full and the line inside was at least 10 folks deep. I followed a lady and her two children into the place... she was probably in her late 30's to early 40's... very casual outfit... almost gym-like attire, pink UGA cap pulled low above her eyes and over her short blonde hair... daughter was probably 5 or so years old with a school uniform type outfit and just cute as can be!... son was 8-9 years old and very hyper... I heard her irritably tell them to sit at one of the tables while she stood in line to place their order... I am standing behind her in line and all of a sudden her cute little daughter comes by me and up to her and wraps her little arms around her mother's legs in a hug and then the son is now standing there too... and this lady goes crackers on them... the daughter reaches over and grabs a chocolate milk and the lady goes crackers... I am standing there in awe... she keeps ordering them to the table and I try not to watch... At that moment I realize that this woman is exactly the type person that I never want to become... what a sad, bitter woman... it made me sick to my stomach... then as I was heading over to fix my coffee, they were all over the there and her son sort of stepped into her path to grab some napkins and she absolutely tears into him with angry ridicule right in front of me again! I just left to get away from it... I go to my truck and call the one person that will get my mind off of the lady... My Grandmother! Let's just move from one stressful situation to the next... and all before 7:00am! At least it is Friday... of course, the overcast dreary weather doesn't help... but, today we head to my home town to close on our property... Do not get me started on how nerve-wracking and long it took to get the cashier's check cut yesterday at the bank for today's closing... That is for another blog... All I can say is today is going to be a great day no matter how bad it started!!

Doctor, Doctor Give Me The News

I made the drive down to LaGrange yesterday to take my Grandmother to the doctor. His news was not good in regards to her memory... I had pretty much already prepared myself for the worst before I left Atlanta. All of his explanations were a bit much for her (she was in the room) and she broke down in tears... He responded that this is normal and expected of her... he said that she is like a child now... child-like behavior is very common... So what comes around goes around? She paid her dues in the 70's and 80's with me? And now it is my turn!!! Except you cannot beat your 79 1/2 year old grandparent with a nice "Dr. Green" switch freshly pulled from the large bush in the yard... Needless to say, the doctor left the room when she cried and was once again I stayed behind to console and calm her down... what is it with men and not being able to handle a few female tears?? My Dad, the doctor, who is next?? We left the doctor with yet another prescription to add the many, many others... another drug to hopefully help slow the progression of her ever-shrinking brain mass... that is all they have to help... how sad is this illness? They do not know what causes it and they have no cure for it! And yet, every one else around the victim suffers too...
Anyhoo, we left the doctor and went to Wally-World... what better way to cheer up two sad ladies than a trip to my favorite place... Wal-Mart!! I got her a cart, stood her behind it, set her hands on the handle and let her go! She is like a kid in the candy store... It truly warms my heart to see her so happily browsing the shelves... for all we know she cannot even see what she is browsing... the glaucoma being so bad these days... but, we had fun none the less. We made it back to her apartment and I got the joy of tackling her nails... yes, Kelly's Nail Salon was open for business... manicure and pedicure for her since the ability to grip a set of clippers and see her nails to cut them is GONE... Oh well, I look at it like this... she is like my child in a way... and yet I could not convince her to let me dress her up on Halloween, take her trick-or-treating and get me a bunch of free candy... At her size and height it really would work...

Humming All the Way Home

This is what I followed on the way home last night from work. Nice Hummer, all chromed out with Illinois plates...The Pepto-pink color of this over-priced vehicle was so gawdy, it embarrassed me to stare at it. I bet that custom paint job makes that hoochie-mama driver feel even more special! If she was looking for attention, she definitely got it!

By the way, trying to take the picture of it with my camera while driving down the road was one rough task...

A Learning Experience

I traveled home yesterday to spend the day with my Grandmother. I just decided to take my Saturday and spend it with her.. for no particular reason... just because. We went to Pine Mountain and ran a few errands. We visited the cemetary to see my grandfather. We had a nice lunch at her favorite place in town with my Father. We visited her house and picked two grocery bags of pears off the trees in the yard. We visited a friend of hers down the street. We visited with the neighbor. It was a good day for the most part... unless you factor in the crying spells that seem to be happening all too often these days. And the lack of ability to make a simple decision. Or having to eat my lunch and half of hers because she picked out TWO massive fried chicken breasts from the buffet and ate only ONE. This is a bad habit she has of getting too much food and then wanting me to "help" her eat it... this seems to be some sort of bad wiring she has that she is "helping me out" by sharing her plate with me. Who knows... all I do know is that I was so full after that meal that I could hardly walk out of the restaurant much less take a deep breath at the same time. What I do know is that the more I hang out with the "elder" crowd, the more I learn that I do not want to get old... older folks are obsessed with who died and who is sick and whether or not their bowels have moved... what the weather is doing and how I am feeling today... they always assume I am tired all the time... and every one else on the road are a "bunch of crazies out there"... folks shouldn't drive after dark... that is when the "bunch of crazies are out galavanting around"...the list is never ending... We did make it to one dollar store for her to browse in but did not make it to Wal-Mart... that exciting shopping trip will happen after her next appointment with the doctor. I am looking forward to that...seriously.

Rock Of Love Is Finally Over

So my latest reality show of the moment is over now... Rock Of Love officially ended three Sunday nights ago. I pretty much predicted the end of the show as described in my 09/07/07 blog post. After that "meet the parents" episode,I was SO glad to see Bret send the evil-drenched Lacey down the road... Lacey's parents were a total nightmare from the beginning to the end of that episode and Lacey was a total two-faced loon that truly lived a separate life from what her parents knew about her... Anyhoo, the final two ladies came down to Heather and Jess. Heather the stripper chick who is so in love with Bret that she had his name tatooed on the back of her neck and Jess the young, hip bartender chick with hot pink highlights in her blond-ish hair... Jess just seemed to be the better choice throughout the course of the show... The final episode involved Bret taking both ladies to Cabo San Lucas for a couple of days... he takes each lady out for one day of fun and sun, a romantic dinner and who knows what all night... The ladies became instant enemies as soon as they hit the island.... all a part of the hunt of landing their dream man I am sure. In the end, he chooses Jess... I was so excited that my prediction was true! The VH1 Blogs were burning with activity the entire week afterwards... And then they aired the "Reunion"...
Yes, they filmed a reunion of all of the original ladies along with Bret and then with the winner, Jess... it aired this past Sunday night on VH1. What a disappointment... the ladies were just as scary as the original episodes and Lacey tried to down-play all of her evil acts... How confused was I when they brought out Jess and she had changed her mind about being in a relationship with Bret? If she decides not to be his Rock Of Love (girlfriend for the non-hair band types), what was the point of the last 11 weeks of shows then? What a waste of our time watching it!
And we actually cut our grocery trip short to be back at the house so we wouldn't miss the reunion too... How sad it that?

How is THAT Fun?

When does a hobby become an obsession? My husband's "hobby" of mountain biking is quickly getting to be an obsession... For instance, yesterday he went to the local bike to by a new spoke for one of his wheels... a spoke is a $1 item just in case you did not know... and he came back with this...

Yes, that folks is a high-powered head lamp for NIGHT riding... riding at night on a mountain bike in the woods... in the dark... alone... going up hills and down inclines... and he WANTS to do this! For fun! Again, when does a hobby become an obsession? I won't even go into the one high-dollar racing tire he bought to go with his high-dollar light for his helmet...

The Top Layer Takes The Cake

After a week-long silence... I'm Baaaaaackkkkkk....

We finally retrieved our top layer of the wedding cake today from the freezer. Yes, I know, we were suppose to do this on our 1-year anniversary... But, we were not in the same state as the cake so we could not eat the traditional wedding cake on that special day... so we did it today instead! I dug it out of the back... off the top shelf where some gracious soul lovingly stored it that memorable night last September... there must have been 49 layers of tin foil wrapped around that chunk of cake... with 49 toothpicks stuck in it to keep the foil from smashing the white roses.. yes, Publix did a beautiful job on that wonderful cake...

We let it sit on the kitchen counter most of the afternoon defrosting... it was most delicious when we sliced our pieces tonight... Mmmmmmmm Mmmmmmmmm

Happy 1-year and 13 days Anniversary to us!

Day 10- The End (Atlanta Baby!)

Being our last day of vacation and a LONG day of travel for us, we rose early and left the hotel. What a cold miserable rainy day in Seattle... we had a nice breakfast, filled up the rental car and then headed to the airport. We arrived quite early to the airport, but it worked out really well for us considering the security line was 500+ people deep! We stood in that line for well over 30 minutes... we made it to our gate and waited... and waited... and waited. It was all well and good until some lady and her cockatiel showed up at the gate. She kept holding the bird in her hands and kissing it in the face and the bird just kept squealing.. almost screaming in these short yelps... not chirping or any very domestic bird-like behavior... I am here to tell you how ANNOYING it was! This went on for well over an hour while we waited for the plane... we finally left the gate to grab a snack. Fortunately, we were about 15 rows behind the bird lady... and we could not hear them! Unfortunately, there were two babies near us.... so we had to listen to them instead. Oh well, the flight was over 4 hours and at least this time I had a window seat! Our flight arrived around 8:30pm and I am so happy to be at home typing this on my Mac... until the next trip... this is "Scoops" Wilson signing off...

P.S. The "Scoops" nickname was bestowed upon me by my husband during the trip because of all my blogging...

Day 9- Seattle, Washington

Today we woke up again to less than desirable weather conditions here in Seattle. The skies were overcast most of the morning and it rained off and on pretty much all day. I really wanted to get some shots of Mt. Rainier but the clouds just would not cooperate… we were able to see the monster volcano when we first got on the road this morning and there were definitely clouds all around it… but, by noon it disappeared totally in the cloud cover. We drove all over downtown trying to get to the Pike Place Market area of Seattle… this seemed to be THE place to be in this city. There were so many people there that you could hardly maneuver the car through the streets. We parked and then walked the entire market. We saw the first Starbucks… of course, the line into the store was 50+ folks deep… they had an interesting duo out front of the store strumming and singing for the crowds…

We also stood and watched the Fish Market stand where the employees stand out front of the seafood and take your order and then the ones behind the counters THROW the orders out to the front… just like on TV!

We had clam chowder and fish and chips at Jack’s Fish and Chips in the middle of the market… On our way back to our car, we even saw two street-worn gentlemen sharing a nice big marijuana joint... it always warms my heart to see folks sharing in these times- even if it is illegal!
Next, we drove over to Redmond, WA where Mike’s maternal family is from… the traffic was again horrendous today because of the college football games as we drove over the "floating" bridge. But, since the leaves are already changing here for the autumn season, all of our driving around was somewhat enjoyable.

We finally made it back to the hotel and enjoyed a nice latte from the Starbucks in our hotel! Yes, with all of the 100+ Starbucks in this town, the lines are just TOO long for us to wait for coffee… and there seems to be a coffee shop on every corner and in every parking lot here. Here is Mike looking like a typical Northwesterner…

We ended the day with supper at Fatburger… some western burger chain that Mike has been yearning for since we arrived in California 9 days ago…

Day 8- Lincoln Bay, OR to Seattle, WA

Day 8 was pretty uneventful... our day started with make-your-own waffles at the hotel's "free" breakfast... we met a lovely older couple from Liverpool, England who were on the last week of their 5-week vacation- must be nice! We then went to the Grand Opening of the Columbia outlet store in town (this was advertised and talked about all over town so it must have been a really big deal!). We bought us both a rain jacket, Mike a pair of pants and me a sweater and spent less than $80- what a deal! Once we left town the rain started... and it rained and rained and rained the entire way to Seattle. Then, it started hailing once we were on the drawbridge over the Columbia River crossing over into Washingston state.

This is our view of the drawbridge in a hail storm...

We did not even stop in Mike's birhtplace, Portland, Oregon because of the wet weather and the traffic congestion... We pretty much spent our entire trip from Portland to Seattle fighting rain and traffic... we did chase a rainbow along the way near Tacoma...


We ate supper at a nice restaurant along the Puget Sound... hopefully tomorrow will be more eventful.

Day 7- Coos Bay to Lincoln City, Oregon

After our more than excitable night with the racoon robbery behind us, I woke up to again very cold conditions outside the tent... we packed up camp and headed to the showers... very nice shower facilities compared to the others by far. We took off up Hwy 101 stopping every so often for pics... at first the coastal scenes were very "beachy" compared to the usual cliff-like borders...


We had to hike high up the sand dunes to get some of our photo opportunities... these dunes were difficult climbing and I know we gained at least 10 pounds of sands in our shoes along the way...

We eventually made it to the Sea Lion Caves just north of Florence... and were so disappointed when they informed us that the sea lions were out to sea and not in the caves! Mike had been looking forward to this cave adventure since we crossed the Oregon border... at the same time we were leaving the caves area a huge fog settled in on the coast... making for some pretty neat photos of the coastline... almost boggy?


We came across a few more lighthouses...


We finally arrived in Lincoln City and checked into a hotel- Woohoo! No camping tonight!! It was laundry night and sit-down seafood supper at a restaurant for the Wilsons... shopping wasn't that great in town but how nice is a bed vs. the tent going to be tonight???

Late Night Day 6 at Sunset Bay Campground, OR

Violated at Sunset Bay

Just a quick blog regarding our "experience" late night on Day 6... we found this campground just SW of Coos Bay, Oregon... the Sunset Bay Campground... nice place with non-toll shower facilities... we roasted our weenies and our s'mores for supper and then settled in for a nice long winter-like night... about 5 minutes after we were settled we heard something just outside our tent taking the top off our cooler.. almost like another human... we jumped up and started to open all the tent zippers to see who the culprit was... I finally got the flashlight to the screen part of the front tent door... there were two racoon shadows- one on his hind legs and digging in our cooler and the other on the ground under the picnic table must have been the lookout! We made hissing noises at them.. well I did at least... Mike just kept laughing... we finally get the stupid tent open and he goes out to the cooler to discover the masked robbers had stolen our remaining hotdogs! Of course, I was all worked up at this point and sleep was the last thing I could think about... all I know is that they had to be watching us to know a) the hotdogs were in the cooler and b) that we were gone to bed and the coast was clear... yes, we were violated at Sunset Bay by racoons...

Day 6- Redwoods, CA to Coos Bay, Oregon

Llamas, Deer and Steers Oh My!

After our $1.00 per 10 minutes showers last night at the Redwood National Park campground… yes, I required 5 quarters to wash, rinse, and condition and then re-rinse this long hair of mine and bathe myself too! We went to bed in an almost eerily silent forest… strange it seemed for such big trees but there were practically NO usual forest noises… no crickets, no frogs, no birds, nothing…unless you count the large winged animal that cried out around 3am six different times… Mike keeps saying it was an owl… I am saying maybe an owl the size of an airplane… that noise was made by some winged raptor like creature I am sure…
Anyway, again this morning I woke up almost freezing it seemed… at least the tent wasn’t wet this time. We packed up, spotted some nice antlered deer on the way out of the park and then stopped for a short hike through the redwoods for some photos.



Next, we headed north stopping in Crescent City, CA for breakfast at Denny’s (too bad they do not have Waffle House here… a chicken melt would be really good right about now…). We finally crossed the Oregon border around 11:30am and were really surprised that they offer wireless at all of their rest stops! Finally! We scored wireless for next to nothing. (Note: We spent quite a while yesterday in Eureka trying to find wireless to post the Day 4 blog… we finally wound up stealing from the local Super 8 motel remotely from the laundry mat parking lot next door). We signed up to post Day 5 this morning. We left there and started our venture up the PCH through southern coastal Oregon… we stopped many, many times to see the beautiful ocean and rocks…


We seriously could have stopped every ¼ mile it seemed…


We finally made it to Port Orford for some of the best clam chowder I have ever eaten. The fish and chips were great too! When we stopped for gas we were very surprised to be greeted by a full-service only gas station… turns out the state of Oregon law does not allow self-service gas stations! Very odd… I have not seen a full-service gas station since my childhood days in Pine Mountain. As we made our way toward the Coos Bay, Oregon area we saw farms with llamas, cattle, and sheep. It is pretty wild for me to see llamas behind the same fencing as the cattle. Oh, and I finally found my first Baptist church yet on this trip in Harbor, Oregon… I guess CA just doesn’t have any Baptists?
Finally, we made it to the Sunset Bay State Park campground near Coos Bay. We set up camp and then went to Simpson’s Reef to watch the sun set over the sea lions on the reef… We roasted weenies on the camp fire tonight and Mike is now making s’mores for me as I compose this blog… Isn’t life good?