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.