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!