Heaven On A Bun

Heaven On A Bun

With not too much going on for us at our work these days, J-San (AKA my hoochie sidekick- as my husband refers to her) and I headed up to Buford yesterday to run a small errand. We discovered a new restaurant while cruising Hwy 20 by the Mall of Georgia and decided to try it out. This blog is our official review of the "Five Guys Burgers & Fries" restaurant chain...

Five Guys Burgers & Fries
Upon entering the front door, I encountered the most delicious, succulent smell I have experienced in quite a LONG time... it took me back to my days growing up in Pine Mtn. when my grandmother cooked us homemade hamburgers and fries. The dining room was bright and airy reminding me of an old diner with its red, white and black color scheme. We walked up to the ordering section of the main counter and I was surprised at just how simple the overhead menu was... Burgers, Hotdogs and Potatoes... and Sodas. How easy to order! And all toppings were free! And their toppings were not just the usual boring suspects either... raw onions, fried onions, sauteed mushrooms were the most exciting on the topping list along with the others: ketchup, mayo, mustard, tomato, lettuce, etc. J-San ordered a cheese burger and a soda and I ordered a cheese burger, an small order of fries and a soda. I will admit that I had a moment of despair when J-San showed up at our table only 5 minutes after we ordered and sat down with her order and her sandwich was wrapped in aluminum foil... (Flashback: In my past experience, any eating establishment that serves food in alum-foil is questionable...almost too scary to open much less eat- way too "homemade" for me!) But, when she unwrapped her cheese burger, all worries vanished...



Then, my order was called... I opened up my foil and met the largest most inviting burger in my 34 years...




The mushrooms and onions were the best toppings dripping on a two-patty beef burger with cheese, lettuce, and tomato. I was in heaven! And the fries were definitely Idaho potato cut fries (just like Memaw's)... The small fries order was TOO much for both of us to split!

Overall rating: 5 out of 5
Pros: THE best burger I have ever eaten away from home (yes, even more than The Vortex!, free toppings are the bomb, real potato fries and free refills on the coke products, oh and they have roasted peanuts in the shell to snack on while you wait for your meal
Cons: A little pricey for lunch ( not a $ 5 or so meal) With fries and soda it was $ 9+, I do not EVEN want to know the caloric intake from this meal...

(For those of you who live in Cobb County or those who do not want to make the trip up to Buford, Mike and I saw one of these off Holcomb Bridge Rd. near Alpharetta Hwy in Alpharetta a couple of weeks ago- go check it out!)

Kelly Bueller's Day Off

So Tuesday we spent the day goofing off in the city in celebration of my birthday... yes, it was a perfect day... just me and my husband playing hooky. We treated ourselves to lox and bagels at Einstein's for breakfast. Then, we ventured down into the city for a nice tour of the Botanical Gardens... considering it was 110 degrees outside, I really liked hanging out in the cool Andes Mountains plants area... it was only 50 degrees or so in there and felt REALLY nice...




Overall the BG reminded me of Callaway Gardens from back home... it was also similar to the BG we visited in St. Lucia on our honeymoon last year. Next, we dined on sushi at a midtown eatery (referred by Carey- thanks!)... and then we made the trip into downtown to tour the Aquarium... we really enjoyed the ocean exhibit... that tank of ocean life is HUGE!!






That was definitely my favorite part of the whole place... Cons: overpriced, way too many people, seemed very mall-like, needs more exhibits and less gift shops...
We then cruised home and then topped the night off with some mountain biking up at Big Creek Park in Alpharetta... what a great 34th birthday...

What’s Wrong with “The Wrong Place at the Wrong Time”?

I wanted to share this article with you all... it was on the front of the church bulletin for the First United Methodist Church in Pine Mountain... the Preacher wrote this for the congregation (as he does an article each week I am sure)... most of you know my history regarding the life of Jamie Bishop, a grade school classmate from my hometown of Pine Mountain. He was a smart, wonderful young man that touched the lives of so many people during his short life on this Earth (including mine)... may God bless his vast circle of friends and family...

.....................................
Those of us in the Pine Mountain First UMC family, along with people around the country, are painfully aware of the tragedy that occurred on the Virginia Tech Campus in April. Last Tuesday, Good Morning America aired a segment that was an interview with Mike and Jeri Bishop, the parents of Jamie who was killed on the Blacksburg campus. The Bishops shared good, heartfelt thoughts. In the course of the interview, President Bush was shown addressing the tragedy saying, “They were in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Mike and Jeri reasserted that the students and faculty who were killed or injured were actually in the right place at the right time. They were where they were supposed to be, doing what they were supposed to be doing. I want to take a moment to look at exactly what’s wrong with the phrase “the wrong place at the wrong time.” Maybe it can help us all to learn and grow and be more understanding.

I offer a disclaimer at the outset that my thoughts that follow are not aimed at discrediting or disrespecting the President of the United States. I am merely citing words, common words, that most of us have used at one time or another, which he used publicly while addressing the nation about this tragedy.

First of all, “the wrong place at the wrong time” is not comforting to someone who is grieving. There is a morbid and foreboding emptiness in the words. They simply offer no level of hope to grab on to. Hope and consolation is what we want when we grieve. When we face loss, there is no greater hope and consolation than to know that God is still God, God is still good, God still loves you, and nothing the world can do to you can ever take away what Jesus Christ has done for you on the Cross of Calvary. This is precisely the spiritual truth the Book of Job teaches. No matter how bad life treats you, God is still God, still there, still loving and guiding, still in charge. There is also, of course, great hope and consolation in believing in the eternity of the soul. The Bible boldly proclaims that the soul lives on after bodily death. That means that the vital essence of the individual person, is, in fact, not dead, but alive forever and the believer is in close proximity with Jesus in Heaven with all the saints who have gone before. Now THAT is comforting! “They were in the wrong place at the wrong time” simply is not.

Secondly, it is a poor choice of words. We all want to offer words of hope and encouragement to someone who has lost a loved one. “They were in the wrong place at the wrong time” is a euphemism and, like all euphemisms, is meant to help downplay or soften the emotional weight of an event or circumstance. But euphemisms also run the risk of being insensitive to people who are hurting.

Lastly, “they were in the wrong place at the wrong time” is wrong because in many cases it is, in fact, not a true statement at all. In this case, as Mike and Jeri told America, the students and faculty were in precisely the right place at precisely the right time doing precisely what they were supposed to be doing. The Bishops took the time and care to encourage young people in this country to continue to go to their classes in school. Don’t let this tragedy deter you in the pursuit of your life’s direction. Euphemisms might be colloquial, convenient, even comfortable to say, but they often ignore or deny the truth of the underlying subject.

I don’t know about you, but for these reasons, (you can likely think of others), I will think again before using this euphemism. I struggle right now to think of a case where “wrong place at the wrong time” would actually be the right thing to say. Thank you Mike and Jeri for your Christ-centered spirit, your strength through this ordeal, and the wisdom you share with us all. Your church family loves you and is always here for you.

Your Pastor and Friend, Mark

Moving South, Summer 2007

Someone sent me this email yesterday and I had to share since it made me laugh out loud! It is a diary of an out-of-state person moving to Atlanta in the summertime- pretty funny- Enjoy! -k


A Diary Review: Moving South, 2007

May 30, 2007 :

Just moved to Atlanta, Georgia from Chicago, Illinois.
Now, this is a city that knows how to live!
Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy evenings.
What a place!
I watched the sunset from a park while lying on a blanket.
It was beautiful.
I've finally found my home.
I love it here.


June 14, 2007 :

Really heating up.
Got to 95 degrees today. Not a problem.
Live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car.
What a pleasure to see the sun everyday like this.
I'm turning into a sun worshipper.

June 30, 2007:

Had the backyard landscaped with western plants today.
Lots of cactus and rocks. The yard is a breeze to maintain!
No more mowing the lawn for me. Another scorcher today, but
I love living in Atlanta.

July 10, 2007 :

The temperature hasn't been below 97 degrees all week.
How do people get used to this kind of heat?
At least it's kind of windy, but getting used to the heat and
humidity is taking longer that I expected.

July 15, 2007:

Fell asleep by the pool.
(Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my body.)
Missed 3 days of work. What a dumb thing to do.
I learned my lesson, though.
Got to respect the ol' sun in a climate like this.

July 20, 2007:

Morgan (our cat) snuck into the car before I left this morning.
By the time I got to the hot car for lunch, Morgan had died and
swollen up to the size of a shopping bag and stank up the $2,000
leather upholstery.
I told the kids that she ran away.
The car now smells like Kibbles and shits.
I learned my lesson, though. No more cats in this heat.

July 25, 2007:

The wind sucks.
It feels like a giant freaking blow dryer!
And it's hot as hell!
The home air-conditioner is on the fritz,
and the AC repairman charged $200 just to drive by and
tell me he needed to order the parts.

July 30, 2007:
Been sleeping outside by the pool naked for 3 nights now.
The monthly house payment is $1,500 and I can't even go inside.
Why did I ever come here?

August 4, 2007:

It's 105 degrees...again! Finally got the air-conditioner fixed today

for a cost of $900.
The temperature gets down to 78 degrees, but this freaking
humidity makes the house feel like it's about 95 degrees.
I hate this stupid city.

August 8, 2007:

If another wise ass person cracks, "Hot enough for
you today?" I'm going to choke him to death. Damn heat; 107 today.
By the time I get to work, the radiator is boiling over, my clothes
are soaking wet, and I smell like baked cat!

August 9, 2007:

Tried to run some errands after work.
Wore shorts and sat on the black leather seats in the ol' car.
I thought my ass was on fire.
I lost two layers of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs and ass.
Now my car smells like burnt hair, fried ass, and baked cat.

August 10, 2007:

The weather report might as well be a damn recording.
Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny.
It's been too hot to do anything for two damn months,
and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week.
Doesn't it ever rain in this damn desert?
Water rationing will be next, so I might as well watch $1,700
worth of cactus just dry up and blow into the damn pool.
Not even cactus can live in this damn heat.

August 14, 2007:

Welcome to HELL!!!
The temperature got to 111 degrees today.
Forgot to crack the window and blew the damn windshield out of the car.
The installer came to fix it and said, "Hot enough for you today?"
My wife had to spend the $1,500 house payment to bail me out of jail.
Freaking South.
What kind of a sick demented idiot would want to live here?

A Quick Trip to Hawaii?

So I made another trip to visit my Grandmother this past Friday afternoon.... I left work early, fought Friday afternoon traffic all the way through downtown, and hurried to pick her up by 4pm. We had a couple of errands to run before 5pm and we had to be back in time for the 5:30pm Hawaiian Luau at the assisted living center. Yes, I attended my first Senior Hawaiian Luau... not quite what I expected... lots of folks sporting Hawaiin shirts, a couple of people wearing straw skirts... but the highlight of the night was the hula-hoop contest- definitely a gut-buster from all of the laughing at the poor souls swindled into participating in that activity. The tropical buffet of food and desserts was delicious and it was over almost as quickly as it started. I had this great idea of taking her shopping at the local mall after the Luau but, she was nodding off by 7:30pm. So we went to bed around 9pm... I brought my sleeping bag and camped out in front of the A/C and attempted to fall alseep. Well let me tell you.. sleep was just not in the stars for me this night... Every 10 minutes or so the A/C would shut off and the room but be burning hot and then when it ran, the room was freezing cold. If I got inside the sleeping bag, I would be blazing hot, but if I slept on top of it, I froze. And then there was the ants! Yes, ants. About every 5-10 minutes something would be crawling on my arm or my foot or my leg or my hand... this went on and on and on until about 1:00am and then I just could not take it any more.... I gave up and went to get in the bed with my grandmother. Now remind you, this is a double bed with two adults- she is wearing full flannel pajamas and covered under 3 blankets and me wearing shorts and tee shirt and sleeping on top of the bed covers. My grandmother is pretty frightening-looking when she is asleep too- she looks almost deathly... I kept wanting to shake her just to make sure she was alive. She woke me up at 3:15am to ask if it was time to get up yet- and then she did finally wake and rise at 6:30am... Oh what a night! Breakfast was amusing considering how much the elderly residents stared at me throughout the entire meal- must be the age difference or else I just looked THAT bad the morning after!? Later that morning we went and did some shopping at a couple of stores and then I left her... I always hate to leave her...

Growing Old Has Never Been So Funny

In light of my Caregiver responsibilities these days and the fact that I can relate to most of these stages in some way or another, I wanted to share with you this email that someone sent me earlier this week. It really made me laugh out loud to say the least...



Wal-Mart

You are in the middle of some kind of project around the house. Mowing the lawn, putting a new fence in, painting the living room, or whatever. You are hot and sweaty. Covered in dirt or paint. You have your old work clothes on. You know the outfit, shorts with the hole in crotch, old t-shirt with a stain from who knows what, and an old pair of tennis shoes.

Right in the middle of this great home improvement project you realize you need to run to Wal-Mart to get something to help complete the job.

Depending on your age you do the following.

In your 20's: Stop what you are doing. Shave, take a shower, blow dry your hair, brush your teeth, floss, and put on clean clothes. Check yourself in the mirror and flex. Add a dab of your favorite cologne because you never know, you just might meet some hot chick while standing in the checkout lane. You went to school with the pretty girl running the register.

In your 30's: Stop what you are doing, put on clean shorts and shirt. Change shoes. You married the hot chick so no need for much else. Wash your hands and comb your hair. Check yourself in the mirror. Still got it. Add a shot of your favorite cologne to cover the smell. The cute girl running the register is the kid sister to someone you went to school with.

In your 40's: Stop what you are doing. Put a sweatshirt that is long enough to cover the hole in the crotch of your shorts. Put on different shoes and a hat. Wash your hands. Your bottle of Brute Cologne is almost empty so you don't want to waste any of it on a trip to Wal-Mart. Check yourself in the mirror and do more sucking in than flexing. The spicy young thing running the register is your daughter's age and you feel weird thinking she is spicy.

In your 50's: Stop what you are doing. Put a hat on, wipe the dirt off your hands onto your shirt. Change shoes because you don't want to get dirt in your new sports car. Check yourself in the mirror and you swear not to wear that shirt anymore because it makes you look fat. The cutie running the register smiles when she sees you coming and you think you still have it. Then you remember the hat you have on is from your buddy's bait shop and it says, "I Got Worms".

In your 60's: Stop what you are doing. No need for a hat anymore. Hose off the dog crap off your shoes. The mirror was shattered when you were in your 50's. You hope you have underwear on so nothing hangs out the hole in your pants. The girl running the register may be cute but you don't have your glasses on so you are not sure.

In your 70's: Stop what you are doing. Wait to go to Wal-Mart until they have your prescriptions ready too. Don't even notice the dog crap on your shoes. The young thing at the register smiles at you because you remind her of her grandfather.

In your 80's: Stop what you are doing. Start again. Then stop again. Now you remember that you needed to go to Wal-Mart. Go to Wal-Mart and wonder around trying to think what it is you are looking for. Fart out loud and you think someone called out your name. The old lady that greeted you at the front door went to school with you.

In your 90's: Stop what you are doing.

Somebody Crashed... Again!

BEWARE:

This blog is NOT for the weak-hearted!!


You have been fore-warned.

Proceed with Caution.



Someone decided to go mountain biking tonight in this 100+ degree heat and managed to crash on his way out of the woods. He came home requesting the services of Nurse Kelly again... I am seriously going to have to stock up the medicine cabinet soon if this behavior continues... What AM I going to do with my crazy husband??



Imagine what this feels like when the shower water hit it!

Senior Weinie Roast Anyone?

So yesterday afternoon I received one of those phones calls that nobody ever wants to receive...my grandmother calls me around 4pm to tell me that the assisted living facility caught on fire. Of course, I am instantly panicked... after she bumbles the story to me for about 10 minutes I finally summarize the event into this: fire alarms goes off, they funnel all of the residents outside until alarm stops thinking it was just a drill... they get every resident back inside and then the alarms sounds again... repeat exercise... except this time they know something is burning... I kept asking her what burned up...she would just say, "oh those people on the "other" side dropped a cigarette or something" ... All of her story was questionable after hearing her tall tale from earlier yesterday morning about "all of these spiders here biting me all over my chest"... Her whacky stories seem to be happening more and more these days for some reason. So I called the Director of the facility this afternoon and she confirmed the fire story except that it was not a cigarette (considering they ARE a smoke-free community) but, instead a "memory" resident on the other side of facility had found some matches and decided to light up an artificial tree in her room. I am thinking to myself, "Did she think it was a big marijuana plant or something??" Maybe she is having flashbacks to the "good ol' " days when her father or grandmother used to grow that stuff on the farm? Anyway, all of the elderly ruckus from yesterday complete with fire trucks roaring in, etc. was the result of a small blazing plastic tree set on fire by a memory-impaired Senior who was just passing her time playing with matches like a child would... You know they say that as you get older, that elderly folks revert back to the childhood behaviors... I believe it is true myself... I see so much of my grandmother's inner child almost every day in our conversations...
Anyhoo, at the end of the day they only set off one sprinkler and managed to put the fire out with a fire extinguisher... man, what a day for the Seniors... they get all the excitement!

Back-to-school blues

Today was Day # 2 of the back-to-school saga here in the Atlanta tri-county area. Again this morning, I made myself get up shortly after 5:00am to get ready for work and on the road by 6:00-6:15am...in order to miss the school traffic. Yes, this is my punishment for living in a "high" social class area of Cobb County where the suburban mothers think they have to get up each morning and drive little "Ashton" and little "Carson" to school because they are too good to ride the school bus. And when all those mothers in their massive Excursions and Suburbans pile up on the road, the ride into work for the rest of us all-year-long-worker-bees is plain chaos. Add to the humongous SUV a few screaming spoiled rotten brats, a mother who either talking on the cell phone and/or reading her text messages and emails and juggling her coffee while yelling at the kids to behave... well then you have a vehicle of pure craziness multiplied by all the other similar-situationed yuppy parents trying to haul their kids in to school too! How do I fit into all of this? Well I don't. I am just trying to program myself to get my unwilling butt out of bed an hour earlier each morning so I can drive to work in peace and flowing traffic (and stopping in for a grande cup of frothy goodness too)... this really does helps seem to keep my stress level down. It is just not healthy to show up for work already raging angry about some lady that cut me off on the ramp to Spaghetti Junction while only moving 45 mph to my 65 mph or the white van of painters with the 29 ladders stacked on top (threatening to fall off the top at any second!) who is blocking the merging lane or the fast lane with no signs of ever moving out of the way. Of course, even though I had no problem with my ride to work this morning, the basketball goal and backboard taking up the entire emergency lane and half the fast lane on I-285 did somewhat rattle my nerves this morning... who hauls and then loses one of those on an interstate for pete's sake?? Yes, all I can do is pray for patience... patience to survive the traffic in this city and not choke someone at the same time... Amen.

"Extreme"-ly relaxed vacation is more like it...

We made it back from our extreme vacation yesterday evening... no broken bones, no crashes, no road rash.... pretty uneventful to be honest. We left early Friday morning and took a long, leisurely trip up to Asheville for lunch and then we hopped on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a couple of hours towards the Boone area... absolutely breathtaking views on BOTH sides of the very winding roadway!




We arrived and checked into our cabin... great view of the mountains from the wrap-around deck but the cabin needed updating and there was NO A/C!!!!

The view from our cabin porch:



On Saturday we made our way to Sugar Mountain for a day of downhill mountain biking... I got a little worried when we arrived because the first group of bikers we encountered was about 4-5 teenagers all decked out in FULL crash pads- I am talking fully enclosed motorcross helmets, chest guards, full arm and full leg guards, the whole nine yards! I thought to myself- "Omigosh- what have we gotten ourselves into???" We bought our lift tickets and they put us and our bikes on the lifts for the slow crawl up the mtn.

See Mike's bike riding up the lift:



The 30-40 minute lift ride got really old after the first time we rode up. But, the views are beautiful... We get to the mountain top and gear up for the ride down. After seeing the "mountain biking trail" winding over the river and thru the woods along the mountain side.. we decided to stick to the ski slopes and not kill ourselves... that trail had vertical drops any where from 8 feet to 20+ ft in some places! I have never seen such huge rocks before and bikers were actually riding up and down them! We heard one of the younger bikers crashed on the trail somewhere and broke his tooth and then we witnessed a lady fly over her handlebars into a full body contact crash sliding down the mountain side on her chest no less! All I could do is grit my teeth and shake my head for that poor girl! Mike kept saying how glad he was that she was not me! We tried to get some pics but they just do not do justice as to how high or steep this ride really is...

Me flying by Mike:



Mike looking studly:



All in all, we had a nice relaxing "extreme" vacation... I am just so happy that I am not nursing wounds today...

Eve of Extreme

It is the Eve of our extreme vacation and I am tired and happy at the same time... it was so nice to make the drive home after a long and HOT day out on the job site in Conyers. Did I mention that it was HOT? It had to be 105 degrees with no breeze around to push the stagnant, foul wastewater vapors that always engulf me when I am standing on site baking in the sun and inhaling the stench of a treatment plant. Yes, but it does smell like my paycheck...
We are off to the NC mountains at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning for a 3-day weekend extreme vacation. Downhill mountain biking on the ski slopes of Sugar Mountain... two nights in a mountain cabin in the 57-60 degree mountain air... relaxing and having fun with my husband...Until then...

SK8 or Die!!

Trying to catch up on topics from last week that never made it online...

Did any one watch the X-Games last week? Thursday night they held the "Big Air" skateboarding competition for the X-Games series and I just happened to be watching... I was sitting in the den half working on a Sudoku puzzle and half watching this contest on the TV. Now keep in mind that I used to skateboard when I was a teenager all those years before GA Law Enforcement allowed me to burn up the roads in my uncool high school car. Yes folks I was a skater and I lived and breathed the idea that I was that good.... Not. I tried to do all the tricks they showed in the skater magazines but, having only a Wal-mart brand board and a lack of cool ramps or rail slides like the professionals sort of held me back. Those were the days of Powell Peralta boards, Vision Street Wear clothes, long skater bangs, double Swatch watches, Tony Hawk and Christian Hosoi were gods, and all I wanted to do was Skate or Die! (SK8 or Die) I religiously purchased Thrasher and Transworld skateboarding magazines and would just drool over all the pics and how much air the pros would catch on those halfpipes and empty concrete pools. Anyway, now the you know my history, back to the X-Games...

First, a little history on the "big air" contest... The contestant basically drops into a halfpipe ramp from 30 or so feet above the bottom and then up the other side and then flys off the ramp 70 feet into the air over onto another halfpipe and then down and up the other side (about 30 ft high of vert ramp) and then that throws him up into the air another some 15 to 20 feet and then drops him back down into the ramp about 40-50 feet of vertical distance... the trick is to land all of the tricks perfectly while still ON the board and not fall off (even after the 70 ft gap jump from ramp to ramp) Yes, it is an absolutely insane contest and these guys are literally acrobats when doing it... You seriously have to watch this contest in order to appreciate the full magnitude of just how dangerous this contest is!

So am watching this contest last Thursday and the first place skater is Jake Brown. Several skaters including him are doing their 4th and 5th attempts at trying to plunge down the huge halfpipe and miraculously land on the board each time they fly down the wooden vertical walls and drop on these monster ramps. Many just keep flying off these boards in mid-air and falling during their run but always a quick crash into the flow of the ramp wood on their knees/knee pads or butts... Well this guy, Jake Brown gets up to do his final run to improve upon his already first place scoring... he takes off and attempts a 720 in the 70 ft gap between ramps and lands it! Now I am out of the chair just watching in amazement! No one has ever pulled that off and on national TV! Now I am all excited and watching this guy... he rides up the next high vertical of the other ramp and somehow seems to lose his balance as soon as he is flying up the high side... his limbs are waving and the board is long gone... and then instead of dropping back down into the flow of the ramp wood his body flies somewhat back into the middle direction of the ramp and he drops flat into the bottom of the ramp from 45+ ft... My mouth is gaping in shock as I watch his lifeless-looking body just laying there in the middle of the ramp bottom. The medics finally run up and the crowd is silent. I am thinking he HAS to be dead... free-fall from 45+ ft above and splat flat on the bottom? There is NO way he will make it... I am now yelling and trying to tell Mike what happened... they go to commercial of course! When they finally come back from commercial, he is still laying there in the same spot... they show the run and fall in slow-motion for the viewers and it is so amazing to see him... for those few seconds that he is free-falling he looks like he is trying to decide what part of this body he wants to sacrifice to that fall... and then when he does... his shoes just blew OFF his feet!! Like 2 rockets for crying out loud! Then, they flash back to his body on the ramp and all of sudden this guy stands up and walks off the ramp with help... Now I am a believer in miracles...

In the end, news reports say that all he hurt in that fall was a bruised lung, a bruised liver and a small fracture to one bone in one of his hands... Wowsers! All I can say is that guy must have a horse shoe embedded in his butt ....

In tribute of this incident and the fact that I watched it when it happened, I am attaching photos of my old board... a Powell Peralta Tony Hawk deck, Gullwing trucks and Vision Shredder wheels... those were the glory days...and never forget that skateboarding is not a crime...





And yes, I still have this board and will never part with it.

Tick Tock

We ventured to my hometown this weekend for a visit... mostly to take my Grandmother to a family reunion today. Needless to say it has been sweltering all darn weekend... the humidity just sucks the life of me. Of course, it could be because I live in the AC at work and home? Anyway, I actually have a funny episode to write about...

Saturday after our BBQ lunch at my favorite BBQ place in town, we went on a nature hike around some property we are interested in just outside of town. We took precaution in our clothing wearing jeans and shoes (instead of sandals/flip flops) since we would be trekking around in the wilderness for who knows how long... camera/bottle of water in hand and we take off. Even in the woods it is blazing hot... we trekked for about an hour or so and once my 20 oz of precious water was long gone I pleaded mercy to leave... so we then went to my grandmother's house to do some overdue cleaning... a couple of hours later with the cleaning done we got into the truck to go visit my Mom. I happened to look in the mirror above the driver's seat and noticed a chunk of dirt caught in my eyelashes... using my index finger and thumb I tried to pull it off my eyelashes and it would not budge (for the ladies- imagine pullling a glob of mascara off your lashes). I am thinking to myself- how odd it was that first of all, it was there and secondly, why it would not pull off! I kept trying and for the life of me it would not budge! Mike is probably wondering what I am doing and why do I keep pulling on my lashes... I finally give up and figure I will just borrow some tweezers when we get to my Mom's.

We arrive at Mom's and few minutes later she has me sitting in front of her make-up mirror, tweezers in hand and me on a mission to remove the dirt... (now keep in mind looking back on this now that I am not really sure what possessed me to keep trying but I am glad I did!) I tugged numerous times and it would seem to move a little but never completely off my eyelid... all of sudden I got a little closer to the mirror and watched this time while pulling the "dirt" and trying not to pull the skin again and the dirt had LEGS!!! Omigosh! It was a tick for crying out loud!! I panicked and started yelling and dancing around her bedroom.. she and Mike thought I had lost my mind! All I had going through my mind was that the tick was going to crawl into my eyeball and latch on and I would have to go to the hospital to have it removed surgically! I was freaking out!! I was scared to death! My Mom is screaming for me to lay on the bed so she can get it...one attempt and I thought she was going to poke my eyeball out! I grabbed the tweezers and got back in the chair... I figured I could inflict a lot more pain upon myself than either of them ever could...After three or so attempts I thought to hell with the lashes I am digging in! I grabbed eyelid, lashes and pulled like never before... it hurt like hell... but I got him! I mean that little sucker was clamped to the rim of my eyelid like no tomorrow! Afterwards, I don't think I have felt relief like that in a LONG time... I was literally crying at all of the bad thoughts going through my head...Needless to say, they were just happy that I stopped yelling and carrying on. What a fiasco to say the least...