Victory is Oh So Sweet!!

THIS ONE SAYS IT ALL!
I actually met this guy at the UGA vs. Alabama tailgate earlier this season... he doesn't look so happy now!











Go Jackets Go!!!

Congrats to Dr. Andrews

Congratulations to Dr. Andrews on her new journey in Columbus! Check out the article "Andrews Selected As Muscogee County Superintendent" from the LE. We are really going to miss her...

My Friend Nick

A little over a week ago I received one of those phone calls that just turns your world upside-down. We had lost another member on my Mother’s side of the family. He was not actually related to us by blood but, he was my cousin, Heather’s fiancé… he was her best friend, her lover, her soul mate, her night and her day. He was only 33 years old and was not ready to go. Nor were we ready for him to leave. I had the pleasure of being around Nick on 4 or 5 occasions throughout the course of their relationship. I remember the first time I met him… I had flown out to Denver, Colorado… Heather picked me up and drove me to their home on the side of one of the peaks in Breckenridge… he came shuffling out of the garage in ratty jeans, house shoes, a Harley Davidson hooded sweatshirt and multiple colors of paint all over him. He was shorter than me, shorter than Heather and the funniest accent for someone living in a Colorado ski town. He welcomed me into his home, shared with me his food, his drink and showed me all of his many, many paintings. Yep, he was an artist and a great artist at that… I saw so much of what he sees on canvas that day. I especially fell in love with one of his paintings of the deepest bluest sea colors and random eyeballs floating in it… sounds strange but so profound in the coloring. Nick was so full of life… just like his paintings…. He lived life to the fullest each and every day…. He was so blessed that he had the means and the drive to do all the crazy things and ideas that he created. He showed me so much handiwork he had completed on their house from the paint on the walls to the hardscapes in the yard. I swear he had hand painted every inch of space in that house whether sponged, rolled or brushed…. And it was absolutely beautiful. During that trip he made sure that I got to see all that Breckenridge had to offer… we went 4x4-ing all over the mountains where the old mining towns and mines are… he took me to shoot his rifles and skeet with his shotguns… he was blown away at how good I was! We toured all of Breck and all of the surrounding towns too… what a great time in Colorado in September…
They came home to GA that Christmas in the same year… Nick was officially introduced to the family…
And then I visited them again a year later only this time with Mike… and again, we were welcomed with open arms. And they took us all over the mountains touring… to Vail… to Keystone… such a great time! Mike and I had a blast…
Before we got to see them again, Mike and I engaged and married and they moved from Breck to Jupiter, Florida… always so far away! But, we did see them last September when they came up to GA for a weeklong visit… we had a blast riding around on the ATV all over the countryside.
And that was the last time I saw him…
And I can absolutely kick myself in the butt for not making an attempt to go see them at their new home in Florida all this time…. There is always an open invite to come down there and we are always just “too busy” to do it… and now it is too late.
We lost Nick Friday, November 14… doing one of the things he loved to do… scuba diving…. Always the extreme sportsman… Always into something… Always living life to the fullest! I grieve for my cousin every time I think of what she felt at that moment when the police came to the door that evening and told her that he was gone… I cannot fathom what that must feel like… it makes me hug my Husband tighter every time he leaves me now to go to work, to the store, to any where. I pray after him on his way to any where his path leads him… because who knows if he makes it back or not. Even the strongest woman who has lived on her own for 33 years can become dependent on their spouse of only 2 years on so many levels. I cannot imagine my life without my Husband even after only 2 years…and to have that all snatched away from someone in a heartbeat is just unimaginable. I understand why my cousin has not talked to me yet… it is just too soon. And I am only a reminder of their past… I really do not know what I am going to say to her when the time comes… I tear up every time I think of what words to tell her… it is going to be hard when I do… but, the most important thing is that she know that we love her and she will never be alone…it will just take time… lots and lots of time…
We miss you Nick! May you Rest In Peace sweet friend.
Nick Felipe
July 25, 1975 - November 14, 2008

Lions, Tigers and Cougars? No more!

A friend of mine posted this link for an article from one of the local newspapers back home- Hunter Bags Cougar at West Point Lake... and I just had to share. Considering the fact that Hubby and I will be spending a LOT of time in the woods next week hunting for deer over the Thanksgiving holidays, I thought that having this animal gone was a great thing... makes me feel better knowing it is not around any more. You see the same friend has been talking about her "mountain lion" sightings for quite a while now within just a few miles of the cat's location... and no one believed her!

Alls Well That Ends Well...

I spent my work day today heading out to Villa Rica in the western part of the state to turn in a bid for an upcoming project there. I had mixed feelings about this project before we bid it and going back out there today just solidified my feelings. You see I worked on a project just across the street from this upcoming project site back in 2002 and have no desire to go back there for work. Well the good news is that we were not low bidder today. The bad news is that we were the highest bidder at the bid opening… last place and our price was more than 30% higher than the lowest bidder! It was so embarrassing to hear our huge bid called out so much higher than the others. But, I was internally breathing a sigh of relief. Alls well the ends well…

A Piece Of History GONE

So after I dropped my Grandmother off back at her apartment on Saturday, I cruised to my hometown to check on the roofer that I hired to install a new roof on her house. As I was driving through the main drag in town I immediately spotted the guy in the trackhoe with a grappling hook on the railroad tracks.... and how surprised was I when I saw that he was using that equipment to pull up all the railroad ties that once held the rail road tracks through town!

The story is that someone bought that skinny strip of land and is now removing all of the railroad tracks along their newly aquired land... more like removing history if you ask me! Pine Mountain formerly known as Chipley, would not even be on the map if it wasn't for those tracks!! Mr. W. P. Chipley who founded Chipley, FL (near the Panama City area) financed the railroad extension from Columbus, GA to Chipley, GA (also named after him too) and that extension along with FDR and Cason Callaway's Gardens helped boost the Town of Pine Mountain to the booming metropolis we all know and love. (Note that the town's name Chipley was changed to Pine Mountain in 1957.) Anyhoo, back on my original gripe, WHO in their right mind would tear out this HUGE piece of our history? I have many, many great childhood memories surrounding those tracks in town and by the time I get home next week for Thanksgiving, the tracks will be completely GONE. What a crock!

What AM I Going To Do?

I made the long trip down to the assisted living center this past Saturday morning to spend the day with my Grandmother. When I got there the staff was setting up for the annual Thanksgiving dinner and I briefly met and spoke with the new Director- seems like a nice enough lady. When I met my Grandmother in the hallway she was carrying a few items in her hands and smelling slightly like poop… I knew instantly that this was going to be a long day. I asked her why she was carrying around in her hands the toothpaste tube, the sink drain plug, a bottle of lotion and her wallet…. She said that she had “found them” and she wanted to “show somebody”. I lead her back to the apartment… only to be greeted by more of the stench… I proceeded to put those few things back in their place and then started to look for the source of the “stench”… I really could not find anything in the bathroom or the bedroom- so it had to be her. I did find a huge wet spot on the carpet in front of her dresser- that turned out to be urine. I do not want to go into the gory details of my ugly day spent cleaning up my Grandmother and her apartment… and a frantic cleaning at that for 2 long hours before the noon Thanksgiving dinner! But, basically what it boils down to is that my Grandmother cannot seem to remember what to do after she uses the bathroom… hence, the stench. I am not sure how to explain the 24” diameter wet spot in the carpet unless she crouched there to pee thinking it was the toilet? Who knows… what I do know is that when I confronted her about the spot she tried to blame on those “other” people who come in here and use the bathroom… or “that man who runs down the hall” and takes her money and a whiz at the same time…? I just smiled and told her how much I loved her. And then I proceeded to ask her the touchy subject of her consistent “mishaps” with peeing or pooping… she just bawled. I explained to her that it was okay to do it… just call for help right when it happens so she won’t forget about it and leave it. Lord only knows if she will remember any thing I told her that day. As much as I scrubbed the carpet, the furniture, the bathroom, and her you would hope she would remember… but, again, probably not! And I even washed a load of dirty clothes too…
The turkey dinner was really good… and she proceeded to eat the entire meal with her fingers… I tried countless times to give her the fork and she would just stare at it as if she had no idea what it was for. But, she did eat the entire plate of food and dessert- with her fingers though…
After dinner, we did a little shopping at wal-mart as quickly as possible… she had a ball being out of the apartment but, she kept asking me about where we were… she could not remember the store or the town we were in…
I got her back to the apartment, put up her purchases, checked her wallet (which did not have all the money stolen as she informed several times earlier in the week), and said my goodbyes…Needless to say, I have a LOT to think about…