I'd Like One Large Joint Please

Now I have seen it all.... those were some famous words that I can still hear my grandmother saying on occasion... I actually think I blogged about that very subject a while back last year. Well today, I found an article on MSN that just blew my mind! I think the article's title, "Pot Vending Machines Take Root In Los Angeles" says it all... from the get-go... Wow! Imagine that... the freedom to walk up to a machine and get marijuana! Excuse me, medical marijuana.... I wonder how "medical" marijuana is even packaged. Do they issue it in government labeled baggies? Or maybe in a pill bottle with a no-spill spout? Does it come with rolling papers? Or maybe a pharmacy issued pipe? These are all valid questions from someone like me that just cannot comprehend the very idea of smoking weed to relieve ailments or pain caused by those ailments. Smoking weed is for ex-hippies, college students, single 20 and 30-something year olds that just never grow up, rockers, athletes, etc.... but, my grandmother? Or the little ol' ladies or men from the Church? There has to be another way to help the pain...
The article states, "Patients suffering from chronic pain, loss of appetite and other ailments that marijuana is said to alleviate can get their pot with a dose of convenience at the Herbal Nutrition Center, where a large machine will dole out the drug around the clock." It is like an all night hook-up! When in pain, go meet your connection and get the hook-up! How classic is that?
Another problem I see with this vending machine is of course, security precautions... surely this machine is armored and protected with 12" of perimeter steel and concrete so the non-patients craving some hooter won't break their way into the stash? Let's hope this never happens... but, I am sure some drug hungry teenagers craving the big high might show-up with sledge hammers in hand... Of course, there goes my imagination again...
And finally, it only seems fitting for this contraption to show up first in LA of all places... having visited there myself this past September and experiencing that city first hand, I fully understand WHY those folks NEED this around-the-clock pain relieving miracle maker... Go figure.

Some Reunions Just Shouldn't Be Planned

I open up Yahoo! this morning on the web going through my usual cyberspace motions to check my email, check my mySpace, yadda, yadda, yadda... when I happen to see the "big" headline for the Entertainment section on Yahoo! ... New Kids On The Block are reuniting! The article described this reunion like it was the second coming ... The author who wrote the article must be a HUGE fan of this past boy band... but, let's remember that that is exactly what they are... a PAST boy band... from a LONG time ago... and they are no longer boys... they are in their mid-to-late 30's by now... maybe even 40's? And their music was not even that good even back then! Their fan base in the late 80's and early 90's was mostly middle school age girls and those girls are all grown up now in the their mid-to-late 20's and have married and had their own children... Maybe the old fans could push their pre-teen idols onto their children now? "Look honey, Mommy used to be in love with Joey Mc.... isn't he a doll????"
It will be hard to imagine what Donnie Wahlberg and Co. would even look like now dancing around a stage at their age... not pretty I am quite confident. I guess what I am trying to say is that boy bands are for 20-somethings.. not 30 and 40 somethings...

99x Is Gone

What the heck is going on in radio world? I could not believe it when I heard today that 99X is gone! Yes, gone! How can you just delete a radio station? Or should I say what bad mistake was made that caused them to get rid of the radio station? I have heard of shows getting the boot but not the whole darn station!! So I googled 99x earlier today and all of the articles pretty much sum it up that the station was bought out a couple of years ago and things have only gone downhill since. Now I remember when they were Power 99 back in the day when I first arrived in Atlanta in 1991... they played popular Top 40 tunes- pop, hip-hop, fun music. And then they changed to 99X and turned alternative.... back then, I loved them. I had the 99x card, their Live X CD's, went to their Big Day Out concerts, the whole nine yards... I listened to the Morning X radio show religiously back in the late 90's while at work. Barnes, Leslie and Jimmy were too funny and did crazy stuff that I laughed out loud at... but, then one day either I changed or grew out of it... their music seemed just a tad too indie for me... too grunge, too alternative... not enough rock-n-roll... the DJ's got on my nerves... I no longer desired the concert band line-ups any more...I quit listening and started listening more to z93 or 95.5 the beat... rock or rap were my choices... I guess my tastes just changed... of course, they have changed since even then too... I did occasionally stop by their last morning show a few times in the past year or so... just could not get into the show... didn't seem the same without Jimmy... when Barnes left it didn't really bother me, but why Jimmy? Heck, he was the most entertaining person at the station in my opinion. I don't know all the details of what exactly happened with the station... probably never will. I do still have the CD's to remember them by... I just wonder what will happen with Leslie Framm??? She was like the cornerstone for that station! I did hear that Q100 will be moving into the 99.7 slot on the FM dial... I am not a fan of their morning show either... I suppose the only show I can really tolerate is the Giant Show these days... But, to be perfectly honest I just listen to the radio for MUSIC... isn't that what radio started from originally anyway? If all stations would just play music and not talk at all, that would be best in my book. Oh well, that is why I have satellite radio...too bad I have to pay for it!

Kelly's Movie Reviews

The Bucket List

We saw this film on opening night a couple of weeks or so ago… This has to be one of the best movies that I have seen in a long time… I laughed the entire first ¾ of the movie and then cried the last ¼ of the movie… Jack Nicholson is one of my favorite actors of all time and he did not let me down with this performance at all. Morgan Freeman played his character beautifully as he does in all of his works. I still love him best in Shawshank though… This movie is a must see for all adults- young and older. The story is a classic tale from an old idea that we all have thought about in some way or another in our own lives… The one thought I did leave the theater with was wondering exactly how much money did it cost for those two to complete their bucket list???!!
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars*****


I Am Legend

After seeing all of the ads for this so many times before it came out in theaters, we just had to go see what it was… and this movie was NOTHING like what I thought it was going to be about. The plot was sort of a twisted idea of what would happen if the citizens of an entire city were infected with a deadly virus. NYC was the city of choice in this film, which is convenient since it sits on an island, and could be quarantined from the rest of America physically. Will Smith was excellent as the only person who is somehow immune to the virus and decides to stay and search for a cure to this viral plague. The whole concept of what “could” happen if this type of plague occurred on us as a nation. Definitely makes you think about some serious what-ifs… the movie kept me on the edge of my seat… but in the end…. All was well with the world… well, at least in the film…?
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars***


No Country For Old Men

I know one of my dear friends who is a HUGE Cormac McCarthy fan is going to kill me for saying this… but, I did not like this movie… I do think Josh Brolin was wonderful in the role as the main character… I thought Javier Bardem was creepy (as always) with his 70’s child-like bowl hair cut and this role for Tommy Lee Jones should have been a cakewalk for him. By the end of movie, there were still a lot of unanswered questions. All I kept thinking the entire movie was why Brolin’s character did not put the money in a different bag and would someone hurry up and please kill the killer??? And I am still wondering how in world Bardem is nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar?… who did he support? I just wanted to punch him into next week. The movie has 8 (count them, 8) Oscar nominations… Wow.
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars **

Parking Wars

I discovered a new television show this morning that is playing on the A&E channel. It is called “Parking Wars”… after watching 2 or 3 back-to-back episodes this morning (they were playing 6 or 8 shows straight through this morning for whatever reason) I am hooked! This show is about the daily ups and downs in the life of a parking ticket writer, a meter maid, a tow truck driver, the “boot” installer, etc. What a concept for a reality show! Now some of you that have known me for a long time, remember that I used to work the parking patrol beat when I was a student at Georgia Tech… back in the good ol’ days of college… I was young and poor, fiercely loyal to my employer, a huge believer in the greater good and fast on my feet… everything one needed to possess to write parking tickets on a college campus that had 12,000+/- students and faculty and only about 8,000+/- parking spaces. Yes, it was a challenge to play student by morning and then be the parking enforcer by afternoon and night… I could write about so many episodes that I experienced in those 4 years that could fill an entire year of blogs… I was not liked by many, loved by a few, but supported by most… And loved every minute of it! I made about $5 an hour and got called every name in book along the way by quite a few parking law breakers… but it was well worth it. I wore my uniform proudly. I ducked every time a bottle was thrown at me. I ran for the hills successfully every time a football player chased me from his newly ticketed vehicle. I could slim-Jim just about any vehicle driven on campus with my eyes closed. I could install the boot on a car in about 45 seconds flat. And I ALWAYS finished a 5-hour shift with at least 50 tickets issued… Yes, I was KM-231 and every one either respected me or feared me. The campus police loved me and the athletes hated me. That was the best job I have EVER had in my entire adult life…. EVER.
So back to my original thoughts… Parking Wars is about the life of the parking officers and tow truck drivers on the streets of Philadelphia and each incident on that show takes me on another wonderful trip down memory lane…. Thanks, A&E.

Managing From The Bottom Of My Heart

So my company distributed their quarterly inter-company news update/letter this week to all employees with the latest company info/for their reading pleasure. These updates are usually 10 or so pages long and always highlight one or two ongoing projects from each of our divisions. There is usually a write up on some community service project, an up and coming department or policy committee and maybe some kind of safety article. Well this quarter’s update highlighted not only my community service project but both of my ongoing projects too! Yes, my two little rinky-dink projects represented our southeast division in the update, going up against much more vast projects out west in the $50-150 million range… how is that for scary? But, the coolest part was the write-up on my community service project. We scored an entire page! The project consisted of a group of us (7 total from my city of Atlanta project) demolishing and hauling off old, dilapidated playground equipment and other unused hazards from a playground behind a classroom building on a church campus in the midtown Atlanta area. And, we also raised over $8,000 from our project vendors and subcontractors to pay a professional fencing company to come demo the old 4 ft high chain-link fence around the perimeter of the playground and replace with a brand spanking new 8 ft high chain-link fence! The church campus has quite a time keeping the nightlife out of the playground and leaving their “paraphernalia” behind for the children to discover each day. The old fence was bent and broken and just not doing its job… The classroom building houses two different non-profit organizations that help the homeless or children with special needs…. So our team was proud to help them out! The bottom half of the full-page layout on the news update had a nice big picture of all seven of us standing on the playground after our day of work… I look at each face in that picture and it brings sadness in my heart… because all four of the men from our field crew that did the majority of the manual labor on that day have all been laid-off since then… How sad is that? And what makes it even more upsetting is that I KNEW on that day that their days were numbered with our company. I was guilt-ridden the entire time… I thanked them for all of their hard work on the playground and on our project… I gave them gifts with our company logo on them out of my secret stash of gifts I keep in my truck toolbox… I felt so bad that day. It is so hard to do my job and not carry guilt every time I am required to lay someone poor soul off. And during these days and times in our company, it seems to be happening WAY too much! Being a manager just absolutely sucks! I remember when I was a level below manager and did not have the responsibilities that I do now… life was carefree and fun… I had no idea that the golden award of a promotion to project manager was not just the title, the money, the company truck and all the other perks… it also came with a price… a price that I seem to pay dearly almost every day… and it sucks the life out of me…

Life Just Doesn't Get Better Than This

My work life right now is such a rollercoaster these days it seems. Our company has not landed a project here in the southeast division since last February 2007 and it was a small sized one at that. The last one before that was the July 2006 and it too was small sized. Well I happen to be the PM on both of these projects and the one from 2006 is complete and the other one from last February should be over but with all of the delays and issues that have occurred throughout the course of the project, we are FAR from being over! So, that being said, I am “technically” still busy but most of our folks (that are still employed) are not busy. And that makes work not-too-exciting these days for all of us! Those folks that do not have a project to work on gripe and moan day in and day out that they want something to work on… and those of us with a project to work on moan and groan because we are covered-up with work and need some relief… or maybe that is just me doing all the moaning and groaning because most of the others are too afraid to complain for fear of getting let go…? I just don’t think about the big “what if?” any more… I learned a long time ago that worrying all the time about what might happen down the road is just too time and energy consuming… and it is just not healthy for me to keep stressing over what I cannot control! Some days I wish I could cruise into the office, fix myself a cup of coffee, sit down at my desk and wonder what the heck am I going to do with myself today??!! I almost welcome it at this point… some folks would say that I am lucky because my company has kept me busy for the past 5 years of my employment… Lucky? Maybe not lucky but more like fortunate I suppose… yet, I still feel like I am burn out because I have been so stretched and busy for 5 years straight… or maybe that is just the difference between me and the rest of my co-workers… that is what sets us apart… I do not know what the future holds for our division… others like to make unnecessary assumptions and predictions… I look at it like an eventful soap opera… and I have a side line seat watching the drama unfold each day… why would I quit and give up that opportunity? I am getting paid to watch what most folks would KILL to see on television for crying out loud! Life just doesn’t get better than this….

Loving the Winter Season

After two visits from the snow gods in the past two weeks I am really wondering or more like hoping there is more in store for us this winter. I just love the winter season! And being from Georgia and having lived in the South my entire life, I feel like we get cheated out of a lot of winter fun because we do not get snow hardly any more. Ice maybe... but not snow. Yet, for some reason this winter has brought us snow... now granted it really was not enough to do some serious sledding in... but enough to throw snowballs and maybe construct a small snowman.... IF you had the energy to scrape the entire yard up and could stand the cold temps long enough to build it. I can remember the winters as a child in the late 70's and early 80's when Georgia actually scored some serious snow... even it was only once a season! It got us outta school and we freaking sledded! My brother made us a homemade sled out of a piece of sheet metal siding and we had a ball!! Dangerous sport but we still had primo fun... Maybe with the whole global warming deal, we will do a 360 and start seeing more snow??!
Another thing that goes hand-in-hand with rollercoaster weather in the winter season is having colds and sickness randomly during this season. Now for me in the past, I hardy EVER got sick... maybe once a year and even then it was just a head cold... but, the older I get and now that I am married, I seem to be catching colds and sinus infections more and more! Another reason I am constantly sick these days could be because there are certain co-workers in my office that are ALWAYS sick! Yes, these certain folks are fine one week and sick the next.. and every one else always makes excuses for them by saying that they have small children at home and that is why they are always sick... and that's makes it okay.... HUH? Are you kidding me? Half of America has children at home and the parents do not walk around sick 50-75% of the time because their children are sick! This one employee in particular's kids do not even go to daycare or school yet! They are always at home in their own house... not out mingling with others catching their ailments... at home with Mom or Dad... all day and night... so tell me how the children are always sick unless they are not clothing them enough for the temperatures or they are not eating the right nutritious foods for staying healthy? If they don't go around other children and they are kept warm and fed right, then sickness should not be an issue! And then the parent brings that sickness to work and touches the community files and office equipment and gets me sick too!!! It is just not right... But, I cannot say anything about it either to the carrier of the germs... would'nt that be hypocritical of me??

Sunday is a Fun Day (in the Snow)

This picture represents our Sunday, yesterday here at home... this is what made our Sunday a fun day. We tackled the back yard on this day... and watching Sampson eat as much snow as he can successfully get into his mouth and trying to get the football from us is most entertaining. Maybe we will be blessed with more snow this winter...

Fried Chicken Is The Fifth Food Group?

Friday I spent the day with my grandmother… doctor’s appointment first… we were there almost TWO hours! We kept sitting there waiting for them to call her name and she just kept on saying over and over, “how much longer?” and “what is taking so long?” and “I am ready to go eat”…it is like having a 79 year old child with no way to shush her to keep quiet. Finally, after a good report from the doctor, we went to lunch.
My grandmother LOVES this hole-in-the-wall restaurant just up the road from where she lives that serves nothing but good ol’ southern food. One of those “meat and three veggies” places… you know what I am talking about… Well, pretty much ALL of these type places almost ALWAYS has fried chicken on the line as a back-up meat (just in case you don’t prefer meatloaf or Salisbury steak or beef tips-n-gravy- which I think ALL of these are made from some sorta “mystery” meat myself!). Well this particular day they only had fried fish, baked chicken and some kind of beef concoction so we both opted for the fried chicken. Well, she prefers white meat and I like the dark. Of course, for some reason (which I have NEVER understood) all restaurants think that white meat does not qualify for a child’s plate. And my grandmother always wants a child’s plate portion meal but with WHITE meat. I tried to sway her from the subject by over-dramatizing how good the sweet potato soufflé looked today (that is her FAVORITE side of ALL time and thank the Lord it was on the buffet today!)… but, when we got up to the register and they rang up two adult priced plates she started getting antsy and asking me if they charged for a child’s plate… she is hitting my arm while I am trying to get the cash out of my pocket and into the lady’s hand as quickly as possible… and she is just a talking and carrying on behind me about the price… I hated to do it but, I finally turned around and shushed her to get her to stop. It is so hard to juggle a tray with two plates of food, pay for the meal, and listen to her nagging all the while sweating profusely because the heat must be on 80 degrees in this place. I could not get the tray and her to a table fast enough! Now she just sits there quietly and I explain that a chicken breast from some odd reason qualifies as an adult portion and that of course turns into the main subject for the entire meal…. How do I get myself into these situations??
After lunch, we cruise to the beauty shop so she can get her weekly hair curling/setting/whatcha-ma-callit… Nothing like hanging out at the beauty shop with the geriatrics crowd… I tried to pass my time doing Sudoku puzzles but one older gentleman just on kept talking about his wife of 57 years and how his cell phone only gets him in trouble. I finally spoke up after listening to him for 10 minutes and only when my cell phone rang and said, “well my husband of 16 months is calling so I better answer”. His reply was that I had a long ways to catch up with him! And I am thinking to myself, “buddy, there is NO way I will make it to 57 years of marriage at my age and the rate at which I am aging these days…”
We finally make it back to her home and I leave for Marietta just in the nick of time to sit in Friday afternoon traffic… I did find out the results of my MRI on the way home that day. I have a “mild asymmetric thickening of the extradural soft tissues in my right lateral spinal canal at C5-6” which in slang terms means an enlarged disc in my neck. I knew that the nerves in question were my C5-6 because those are the nerves that run from my neck to my index and middle fingers. And those two fingers of mine go numb all of the time! So this week I have to go back to my doctor and set up an appointment with a neurologist… now that sounds about as fun as eating gravel… But, it would be nice to get the feeling back in the tip of my middle finger on my left hand…it seems to have permanently gone numb for the past couple of weeks now… I know…weird, very weird…

Snow Day 2008

Today brought us a nice layer of snow to play in... it started mid-morning and snowed pretty much most of the day. We finally made it outside to play after lunch. Sampson had a ball! He kept jumping and running and trying to EAT the snow!! Yes, if you throw snowballs, he eats them! He just keep biting at the snow the ground- it is really odd in my opinion... I took a LOT of pics- if you interested go to my Picasa photo site under the Snow album. I suppose we will be iced in tomorrow... fun, fun...



Yes, Sampson played with the football too!


Sampson taking a break from eating the snow!

The Credit Card Saga Continues

My post earlier this week in regards to my cutting up my Visa cards seems to have really sparked some interest.... So I want to add a few thoughts tonight. First of all, we do pay off the cards pretty much every month... the Am Ex you have to! But, having 3 or 4 cards is just too much... in today's world of identity theft, forgery, etc. I think that each card is just one more target for the thief to hit. I firmly believe that when a person goes shopping with a credit card in their wallet they tend to spend more money because they can use the card and pay it off later whether it takes a month or many months. But, if you go shopping with cash or your debit card, then you tend to be more frugal with your purchases and not "splurge" every time or make a spur-of-the-moment buy when you really did not need it anyway! I have been terrible in the past about seeing something that caught my eye and at that moment I convinced myself that I had to have that item and just whipped ol' Mr. Visa one more time... After a while, if you keep doing it and you are not paying it off each month then the next thing you know your balance is up to thousands of dollars! There was a time in my life when I almost always relied on my tax refund and/or my yearly bonus to pay off my credit card because all year long before those two funds came in I kept the thought in my head that "I will just pay my card off when tax or bonus time arrives". Isn't that insane in the membrane? What would have happened if a) I lost my job or the company did not give out bonuses for some reason or b) I had to pay taxes instead of getting a refund? Then, what would I have done? I sure as heck could not go ask my family for any money... or the bank... I look at it like this: my grandparents raised me in a household that did not have credit cards or credit accounts. We paid cash for EVERY thing... and somehow they managed to raise my father and then me on MINIMAL income (it is almost unbelievable what few wages a hairdresser and a carpenter make) and we did not starve for food or freeze in the winter. We had shelter over our heads and a freezer full of food that we raised ourselves or came from the neighbor's garden up the road. Yes, I never had name-brand clothes or fancy gadgets like I do now... but, my grandparents raised me in a loving home, clothed me and instilled morals and values in me that will last my lifetime. And one of those is not to be greedy. And my having 3 or 4 credit cards makes me greedy. So, when we cash in those 103,000 skymiles in April for our two free plane tickets to Key West, FL for a small beach vacation, the Am Ex is a goner. In the meantime, we are saving, saving, saving for what? A rainy day? A fancy new car? Expensive jewelry? NO! We are saving for retirement... NOW... so we don't have to WORK for the rest of our energetic years. Oh, and kudos to my loving, wonderful husband for AGAIN putting me on the straight and narrow when planning for our future together....
Oh, and one more thing, to the anonymous person who commented on my blog that carrying cash is for OLD people and how disappointed they are in me for cutting up my Visa, you should be ashamed... the other comment was completely the opposite from yours... makes me wonder who you are....

PS
Happy 100th Blog to me! This is officially my 100th blog on the Blogger... kudos to myself.

Snow!

I drove home last night for almost TWO hours in SNOW!! It was like driving through a blizzard from Norcross to Marietta... the interstates were a parking lot so I had to take the side roads... nothing like sitting in a winter wonderland on the road in stop and go traffic... more stop than go!!!

Parting Ways With An Old Friend

I finally did it. I cut up my credit card. I made the decision to part ways with an old friend of mine... me and Mr. Visa have been friends for quite a long time now... but, not any more! One down, one more to go...
My husband is so proud of me at this moment...
And he says that Dave Ramsey is proud of me too....

Those "just in case" days are over. I always kept the cards just in case I needed them. I felt like I had to have them just in case something came up. Just in case an emergency happened and using that card instead of my own money was the answer...
Living life debt-free is mind over matter. Period.

Getting Back To My Roots

Nowadays it seems that we are in Pine Mountain almost every week and the more we are there the more we long to be there MORE... Mike has the itch bad... the itch to be there and away from the traffic and hustle and bustle that surrounds us daily here in Atlanta... the thought of living in a "slower" lifestyle area coupled with living out of eyesight from the neighbors and being one with nature... yadda yadda yadda... this idea just seems to lure him more and more to the idea that we need to move down there sooner than what we agreed on last fall. And I have to agree that the more I think about living there and envisioning what life will be like, it is a little exciting.
During one of our visits back in November, I took a couple of my grandmother's cast iron skillets and brought them home. I really wanted to start cooking with these- just like she used to. One of my fondest childhood memories is "helping" her cook cornbread. Cornbread was a staple in our home... it was served with every meal. My grandfather LOVED it. In the winter, it was especially great because my grandmother would add "cracklins" to it. This is a very southern tradition for those of you who do not know. So along with trying to remember her recipe for perfect cornbread, I went on a quest for cracklins. Well let's just say that NO where in the metro Atlanta area sells them. And where did my Mother finally find them for me? In Pine Mountain of course! So I bought two bags and put them in the freezer. My first attempt at the cracklin cornbread recipe was a little dry... not enough buttermilk. But, the second was PERFECT! She would be so proud of me! Even my husband (who was raised Yankee-style unfortunately) thought it was pretty darn good. So now I am happy to make cornbread any time we have guests over. Of course, I also want to learn how to can veggies and make jams, jellies, perserves, etc.... But, that will not happen until I live down there and have some instruction from the ladies back home.
Needless to say, I could kick myself now for not paying attention to her then and taking the time to learn how to do these things... especially now that I am planning our pilgrimage back to my hometown in a few short years. It is just seems right to carry on the family tradition after we get there... I better start studying her old cookbooks now...

Frying Up Some Fun

So today we stayed home and worked around the house and yard. I decided to dress Sampson up in his Sunday wear after I found his bandana...
Sampson The Warrior


This evening Mike finally got to try his new deep fryer that he got for Christmas. We fried a chicken and a turkey breast after he injected them with marinade... mmm mmm our lunch sandwiches will be really good this week!





Next up are wings... we plan on making our first attempt at buffalo wings on Wednesday night... until then...

Spoiled Rotten

Can you say Spoiled Rotten?!

Assume the position, puppy. Yes, this is where you can find ol' Sampson about two minutes after he arrives home each day this winter season. Lucky dog.

The Real Meaning of the Word LOUD

As I have blogged in past blogs, I have had some seriously painful bouts with my neck this past year. The very first one was last January and it was by far the worst one of all of them... Well, my last one to date was the week before Christmas. But, there is a twist...(drum roll please?)... THIS time I endured the numb hand syndrome! What is that, you ask? Well... about two years ago... before Mike and I were engaged, I went through a LONG period of time where in the wee hours of the night both of my hands would completely go to "sleep" or become fully numb and then the most excruciating pain I have ever felt in my entire life would wake me up from a DEAD sleep and I would spend FOREVER trying to wake up my hands and fingers to make the pain stop. Sometimes going as far as throwing my arm off the side of the bed to make the blood drain down into my hand or standing up seeking the same result. It was awful! This went on for several months (yes, MONTHS, not weeks) before I finally went to the doctor. You see, back then I did not really have a GP or Family Doctor being single and healthy... I hardly ever went to the doctor. I never got sick too often and the only issue I had then was just allergies. Well I found a doctor in Atlanta (near where I lived then) and made an appointment. He did some in-office tests and basically concluded that I had some issues with the nerves running into my hands from my neck. He did ask me about my daily routine at work... one particular task of interest was the fact that I sat at one of those L-shaped desks then and used my laptop right on bend of the middle and my arms would rest on the desk and not "hang" off the desk like a "normal" square desk. He then prescribed some SERIOUS anti-inflammatory pills and I changed my desk/laptop habits and within a couple of weeks or so the problem went away...
Well now the hand problem is back along with the the whole neck pain and stiffness issue... I have taken an array of mild-to-moderate muscle relaxers, anti-inflammatories and pain killers (prescribed by my current doctor)over the past year and now I am at my wit's end. After having that Demoral shot given to me right before Christmas I decided that enough is enough. I went back to the doctor and complained. So today I had my first MRI...
And what an experience it was... OMG... that was probably the worst hour of my entire life! First, they put you into that tube contraption laying down flat. Let me just say that if I was an inch wider I would not have fit into it and you could not move AT ALL. They give you ear plugs and tell you that they are used because the test is kinda loud. Loud? Did you say LOUD? Because after suffering through that 35-40 minutes of living hell, I do not think that "loud" describes the torture that I endured this afternoon in that freaking tube!!!! I am surprised that I am not permanently deaf on some level after that! The noise radiating from that contraption while I was stuck inside of it was so loud that my skin was actually vibrating! And after the first 20 minutes of vibrating, then the itching started. Well, unfortunately, you cannot scratch any itches while trapped in the dead man position in a tube and remain still so as not to screw up the said "loud" radio-waves reverberating through my neck and head... I could have cried. I could not hardly open my eyes because I would get sea-sick.. It was like my body wanted to go to sleep after laying there so long, but the crashing and banging coming from that machine just wouldn't stop...
I was so happy when the ordeal was finally over and I was quite woozy when I stood up from the bench that I had been lying on for so long. I left as quickly as I could and was thinking to myself as I drove out of the parking lot how much I hope that I never have to go through that again!

Bumper Carts Are For Losers

Would someone please tell me WHY people do not return their shopping carts to the Cart Return or back into the grocery store? Tonight on the way home from work on a somewhat blustery night in the metro Atlanta area (yes, we are under a Tornado Watch believe it or not), I made a quick stop at one of the probably five Publix' along Johnson Ferry Rd. I wanted to get something to cook for supper and I splurged and grabbed a carton of strawberries (woohoo- they were on sale!). When I left the store, it was dark, windy and just kinda balmy outside. I am walking to my truck when I watch a man in his 40's push his cart (which was MAYBE 1/3 full of groceries by the way) next to a lone cart parked in the middle of an empty parking space. Come on people! PUH-LEEZE help me to understand why he could not have pushed his cart the extra 35 ft to the next aisle over and put his cart in the Cart Return thingy? Or maybe even go the extra mile and walk 50 ft to the freakin' store and put the cart back for others to use! Were his legs just too fragile to make the distant journey to one or the other? Being that it was pretty windy out too makes for some serious bumper-carts into other folks' vehicles. And those metal contraptions can do some serious paint damge when flying into a car at 5 5to 15 mph across a parking lot full force with wind power behind it. Do you know what I think? I think he is just plain LAZY. And his 12 year with him is LAZY too. Make the kid take it back... set an EXAMPLE for crying out loud... that is some example your setting as his parent to demonstrate that it is okay to leave the cart in the middle of the parking lot so someone else has to put it up later for you or for someone else to endure the damage of the cart running into their car later. For years, I have watched people doing this in parking lots EVERY where. Of course, it seems to be worse here in the urban part of GA vs. the rural areas where I grew up. Females tend to do it the most in my opinion. Maybe the store should start charging a small fee to use the cart and then you get the fee back when you return it?

Help Is On The Way?

So my wonderful hubby bought me one of those REALLY nice fancy-schmancy digital cameras for Christmas... you know the "big" ones that are not "compact". It is a Canon Rebel XTi. It is really cool because I have owned the film version of the Canon Rebel for about 8 years now and I can use all of my old lenses from the film camera on the new digital one! I have been snapping all of these pics of our new property back home and pics of the holiday memories... yadda yadda yadda. And guess what? The JPEG files of these pics are 5 to 7 MB each! I have not been able to find any instruction in the Owners Manual about how to "shrink" the file sizing and was wondering if any of you, my readers, know of any. I am looking for something easy to download and FREE if at all possible.
Any takers?

Trees Be Gone!

Well we made it through the holidays with no major problems. We celebrated Christmas in Pine Mountain (PM) from Sunday the 23rd until late morning on Christmas Day. Then, we drove back to Marietta for Christmas with my in-laws on Christmas night and the following day. All in all, it was a wonderful time with each of our family members. I really enjoy watching them opening their gifts… my Mom was so surprised when she opened her new digital camera. I had saved the money for it because I knew that I wanted to give her that for a while now. Santa brought my nephew, Austin one of those Wii game systems. This is one of those games that you act out the actions when you play tennis or bowling or baseball. You should have seen us doing the actual movements of bowling in the den without an actual bowling ball in our hand. I thought I was going to throw my shoulder out of socket! Amazingly enough, I am MUCH better at bowling on the Wii than at the lanes… hmmm…. Makes me wonder why… We drove back down to PM to work on the property. We hired a guy to come do some brush and tree clearing for us. We learned that the people who farmed this land back years ago must have raised hogs. How do we know that? Because we spent 2 and ½ days cutting the hog fencing and barbed wire! We also dismantled an entire chicken coop that we found along the way. Even though it was cold outside, we were drenched with sweat trying to work ahead of the machine. Oh, I forgot about the machine- this thing is like a Bobcat with a huge grinder-thingy on the front. This thing can lift the front grinder up to a tree and just break it and then chew it up all the way to the ground…
We watched in awe for three days as this monster just ate through trees and brush. We went back down there again this past Saturday and worked from 7am to 6pm… We just kept finding more and more fencing in the brush that we did not know was there before. I completely wore out my leather work gloves by mid-day Saturday. My fingers are still so sore from gripping the wire cutters and my fingertips are raw from dragging old metal parts and rubbish, fencing, barbed wire, cedar posts, tree limbs, etc. Oh, did I mention that a large part of the hog fencing also had wood pallets entwined in the fencing wire? Not fun to dismantle!
HOG FENCING

We went back Sunday just to walk the areas where the trees and brush are no more. We took lots of photos and came home. And I am still beat even today…

BEFORE


AFTER

The Wooden Bowl

My Mother must be on a role this week... she sent me another great email today that just really tugs at the heart strings. I am seriously sitting at my desk with tears in my eyes over this one! Considering everything that has happened in the last few weeks, I am still pretty sad these days... so I thought I would share my sadness...
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The Wooden Bowl

I guarantee you will remember the tale of the Wooden Bowl tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now.
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A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year - old grandson.
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The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered.
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The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor.
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When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.
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The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess.
"We must do something about father," said the son.
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"I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor."
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So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner.
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There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner.
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Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl.
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When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone.
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Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food.
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The four-year-old watched it all in silence.
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One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor.
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He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?" Just as sweetly, the boy responded,
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"Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up." The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.
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The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless.
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Then tears started to stream down their cheeks.
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Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done.
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That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table.
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For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.
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On a positive note, I've learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.
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I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things: a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.
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I've learned that, regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.
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I've learned that making a "living" is not the same thing as making a "life.."
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I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.
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I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands.
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You need to be able to throw something back.
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I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you

But, if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you.
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I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.
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I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.
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I've learned that every day, you should reach out and touch someone.
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People love that human touch -- holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.
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I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.