Moved (Yet) Again

I’m back at Blogger but you shouldn’t have to change any of your settings.  Sorry for all the moving around. I  really prefer Blogger over WordPress–when Blogger is working, that is. :D

If you need the address, it’s http://rachelpennington.com/blog.

For Pete’s Sake!

I took this photo on Monteagle Mountain the other day. I was laughing pretty hard in the back seat while riding with my Dad and stepmother because what drew my eyes to the sign was a broken down van and a guy about Brooke’s age (21) working on it. I SO wish I could’ve got him and his van in the picture but I’m not sure if he’d have thought it as funny as I did.  We did stop to ask him if he needed help, but someone was on their way to help him.  I pointed out the sign to my Dad, who in turn pointed it out to the guy. He grinned and said, “Yeah, pretty ironic, huh?”  We laughed and laughed.  Well, he didn’t so much…but we did.

The sign is fitting this morning because a) it took me FOREVER to get WordPress to load, and now it looks like the photo may not load at all.  Ugh!

Marshall was in a hurry to leave this morning to go get all things done that we need to get done, and he’s been on the phone ever since I got out of the shower (about an hour ago).  I’m sitting here waiting on him so I thought I’d just go ahead and blog.

I’m feeling not so well today.  My head is in a great mood, my body is not. :( There’s something crazy going on with my legs and I NEED to go to the doctor to see what’s happening. My right leg is HUGE and it hurts so much.  I do need to get something done about it, but I don’t know what they could do.

If Chatty Cathy ever gets off the phone we will be going to pick up parts and deliver parts, then we are going to see Marshall’s parents. We haven’t seen them since we were at the cabin in North Carolina.  I’m looking forward to going.

Oh, he’s finally off the phone and asking ME if I’m finally ready. *grumble*

Later, gators.

No Kids

Honey and I are childless tonight.  Brooke has gone with her boyfriend’s family to a cabin near the Ocoee River, and Cain is with his best friend, Jake, down at their lake home. We’re kind of excited to have the house to ourselves for a change.

Today we were going to go visit my in-laws, but my MIL had left to see another family member. Instead we ripped out some old junk in the camper that Marshall wants to replace, and I caught up the laundry.

Later in the evening we rode around the Kensington area, and through Mtn. Cove Farms and then over Pigeon Mtn. Today was a beautiful day, not too hot, and no humidity (or much anyway).  It was very enjoyable.

Hope your day was a good one, too.

More Butterfly Hunting

This is part of the huge pasture that we’ve been taking all of the butterfly photos in. That little silver thing near the center of the photo is my stepmother’s car, just to give you some perspective.  There are thistle EVERYWHERE but you can’t hardly see them in this little photo.  Anyway, I think the place is beautiful and it’s in a little cove near Stevenson, Alabama.

I forgot to mention that last night before we went home we stopped by Wal-Mart to get my stepmother another memory card for her camera.  Her camera is old by digital camera standards and I told my Dad that I didn’t think they made that particular memory card anymore.  He ended up buying her a new Nikon Coolpix as an early birthday present. She was so excited. :D

She was in the garden center when we picked the camera out so I snuck it out to the car before she found us. When we got in the car I asked her to hold my “coke” while I buckled up and I handed her the camera.  :)  She was SO, SO excited.  She’s like my hubby in that she NEVER would buy anything like that for herself. She’s certainly the giver in the relationship with my Dad, so it was a real treat for her.

Since she got the camera we all decided to go back today so she could try out her camera. It looked like the pics she took with it are great. We were all quite tired today but we had another successful day of butterfly hunting.

Marshall and Cain have been working in South Carolina for the past couple of days and they were home when I got back. I’m so glad they are home. Marshall is so tired and I hope he’s able to relax some during this holiday weekend.

G’night.

Perfect, Perfect Day!

(I was so tired last night that I didn’t get this finished–sorry, I’m sure y’all were dying to hear from me.)

I got up early this morning and met my Daddy and stepmother at their house. We left and headed to South Pittsburg, Tenn.

We went to a creek that Marshall and I found last August that had several butterflies. There weren’t too many there, but we then traveled on to a cemetery just down the road that is cut into a pasture. Along the rock wall of the cemetery is a bunch of thistle. There were various butterflies all over it and I got a lot of a good shots there.

We left the cemetery and had a picnic at a little roadside area that these folks had put on their property. There was a little stream and they had made a picnic table out of an old mill stone. Actually, I took a pic of Daddy beside it. The photo is a little bright, but this is the table:

We had a great lunch and then headed on down the road.

We went to Sherwood, Tennessee, and ended up in Stevenson, Alabama.  We found a pasture that was FULL (and I DO mean full!) of thistle.  We talked to one of the owners, a kindly elderly lady, who said that we could go in there. She was 88, I believe, and we could tell she was lonely. She asked us to please stay and talk to her and we did for a while. She and I exchanged addresses because I told her that I would send her some of the butterfly shots. She was so excited. She said, “Oh, I’d LOVE to have a pen pal!” :D  I thought it was precious and I can’t wait to get letters from her.  She’s sharp as a tack–and a little doll.  Why didn’t I get a photo of her? Because I’m an idiot.

We took pictures for hours. I’m so sore that I can hardly walk. :) We had a wonderful, fantastic, super time. I really enjoyed spending time with Daddy and Becky. I realize how very lucky I am that my Dad calls me and asks me to go on travels with him. I know how much this day will mean to me. Dad is getting on up there and I know how blessed I am that we get to do things like this together. That picture that I took of him getting the shot of the butterfly quickly became one of my favorite photos. I love it. I can’t wait to send him a copy.

Well, it’s almost midnight and I’m just getting home. I’m exhausted and I’m hitting the hay.  G’night.

Not Much

Not much has gone on today.  Brooke and I straightened the house and we’ve mostly just been relaxing.

Tomorrow I’m meeting my Dad and stepmother and we are going on another butterfly excursion.  I’m really looking forward to it, too. :)

That’s really about it. :)  Have a good week!

Fantastic, Beautiful Day!

Honey, Cain, & Jake worked in LaGrange, Ga. today so Brooke and I went exploring. We ended up at the cemetery in Rising Fawn that Kandi and I always go to. The photo above is one reason we LOVE going to the cemetery.  I mean, LOOK at that view!

Before we went to Rising Fawn, we drove on a few old roads in Kensington, and High Point, and then headed over the mountain. We took our time and had a great day.  Marshall called me much earlier than I expected him to, so instead of doing the few other things we were going to do, we headed back home.

We ran to the store and got our supper, and Marshall and the boys got home shortly after we got back. We cooked out chicken, pork chops, and burgers on the grill.  After we ate, everyone but me fell asleep.  The guys got up at 4:30 this a.m. and I think Brooke was just tired from the heat today. ;)

We got quite a wonderful storm this evening around 8 p.m. There was a double-rainbow, AND it was the third time in a week that I’ve got to see rainbows. :)  The sky was the prettiest yellow…just an odd kind of yellow and it was just unbelievable.Here’s the one from today:

The sky was just such an odd color, it was beautiful. There are double rainbows there, but the one on top was very light. Can you see it?

Lately I’ve been wanting to grow my own vegetables and stuff.  I’m inspired by several people on the photo list that I’m on, and by my friend, Chas, (who I love more than Diet Coke). My stepmother also always has huge pots on the deck and she grows tomatoes and cucumbers in those pots. That’s how I want to do it.  I wonder if it’s too late?  My MIL, FIL, and SIL always have a fabulous garden, too. I’d like to start out small and then maybe next spring plant a small “real” garden. It’s something I’ve really never cared much about, but I REALLY want to do it.

I also want more flowers in the yard.  My stepmother and SIL always give me cool things to grow in the yard. Right now I have irises, dwarf irises, daylilies, mums, hollyhocks (that didn’t produce flowers this year, but maybe next year they will), and spider lilies. And I’m not talking about my flowering bushes. I want flowers. I want to attract more butterflies and hummingbirds. Maybe I can accomplish this by next spring. :)

Please excuse our stupid baby talk, but here’s a little video of how Lucy acts when she sees cows. This is a minor reaction, trust me.  She was exhausted, and hot, and didn’t get nearly as excited as she usually does. I have mentioned it before, but we just don’t know why she reacts this way–and to cows only.  :)

Did you hear about the teenager who was decapitated by the Batman roller coaster at Six Flags in Atlanta? His parents were there with him. :( He lost his hat when he rode the coaster, then jumped two fences to get the hat.  Poor kid, what did he think those fences were there for? That’s just so sad!

Speaking of sad, my stepmother had to put their dog down yesterday. She had him for 11 years and he had all sorts of things wrong with him. She is heartbroken and I feel so awful for her.  I wish there was something I could do to make her feel better, but sadly, only time will heal that wound. :(

Well, I’m off to work on pics.  Have a good night. :)

Good Morning

This is the male Diana. Isn’t he just as beautiful as the female Diana that I posted yesterday?  Amazing how their colors are nothing alike, that only their patterns match.  My Dad and I discussed God’s wonderous work yesterday. It truly WAS a terrific day.  Daddy was so excited to have me there with him (he kept telling me so) and we had a blast.

While I was gone yesterday, Cain took all the things we had decided to get rid of to Goodwill. I’m so happy to be getting this stuff out of my house. On the other hand, I feel a mild state of panic, too. :)  I really don’t know WHY. As I’ve mentioned before, I am a packrat, but if you came over as a visitor, you’d never know it. I just want to be clear on the fact that my house isn’t messy–or at least that you’d know about anyway.  LOL. I’ve got to let it go…*breathe*….just….let…it….go!

I’m not sure what the plans are for today. I’d like to see a nap somewhere in the schedule. ;)  Last night I woke up EVERY single hour. It was so weird, I mean I woke up almost to the hour, and man, was it annoying. Anyway, we were going to give the deck another coat of stain but we had a couple of storms (glorious rain–thank you, Jesus!) come through yesterday and you have to wait a while before you can stain after it rains.

Marshall and Jake (Cain’s buddy) both told me last night when I got home that Lucy pretty much stayed by the door the whole time I was gone, as if she were watching for me. :D  When I did get home she ran out to greet me and was SO excited. She stayed right with me the rest of the evening, and is at my feet right now.

YES, I KNOW I TALK ABOUT HER TOO MUCH!  I love her. :) LOVE her.

Have a beautiful weekend, folks!

~~Friday’s Feast~~

Appetizer
What is the weather like today where you live? Well, it’s early yet, but I think the high is supposed to be in the low 90’s, with a 30-percent chance of rain.  This is our typical summer forecast though.

Soup
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how career-minded are you? What’s a career? ;)  I’d LIKE to have a career as a photographer, and I do make money from some of my stuff, but it’s certainly not a career.

Salad
What type of window coverings do you have in your home? Blinds, curtains, shutters, etc.? All of the above, but we’re going to do away with all of the blinds and just have curtains.

Main Course
Name something that instantly cheers you up. Lucy, and Cain doing that stupid, STUPID dance that he does. He mainly does it when I’m mad because he knows that I can’t NOT laugh.

Dessert
How many times do you hit the snooze button on a typical morning? Once or twice.

Big Game Butterfly Hunter

I received a text early this morning from my father, suggesting that I put on some hiking boots, grab my cameras, and go butterfly shooting with him. I decided to take him up on his offer. :)

We stayed on the mountain, in my aunt’s large field, and at my Daddy’s house, where he and my stepmother have a tremendous amount of flowers. I should’ve heeded his warning and worn pants instead of shorts because my legs are ripped all to pieces from the blackberry bushes in my aunt’s field. Ouch!

We had a couple of storms come through so while we were waiting on the weather to clear up we went and visited with my grandpa. He’s 92 now and still drives (he was at Daddy’s house when I got there this morning).  He’s a little more hunched over than the last time I saw him. He towers over me at about 6’something, and today he looked not much taller than me (I’m 5′4″). He says he has a pinched nerve in his back and I sure hate to see that his health is declining.

After our visit we went back to the field and photographed several different kinds of butterflies, including the female Diana, which is what you see in the photo above. I had a great time with my Dad, even if my legs could use a few stitches. ;)

I also made the mistake of not eating lunch when it was offered. I ate my usual bowl of Cheerios before I left this morning, and the only thing I ate up there was a pack of peanut butter crackers. I have the headache from you-know-where from not eating.  I scarfed down something when I got home tonight but by this point I think it’s too late.

It was a great day though. Hope yours was, too. :)

Gym Memberships are FUN!

My “Fit Before 40″ hasn’t been going as well as I hoped.  I haven’t been to the gym in…well, I couldn’t tell you when. I started back tonight, with Brooke, Cain, and Kandi. I only have eight months to lose a gazillion pounds.  I don’t know WHY I can’t commit to doing something and actually DOING it. I’ve GOT to do this.  Please, please (seriously) pray for me.

Tomorrow I’m going to go get some scales. I’m also starting my Alli that I bought about a year ago.  I’ve been super-hesitant (obviously) to start it.  I’m sure you’ve heard about the “treatment effects,” right?  They’re not pretty. I’m going to give it a go anyway.

I was a lazy bum today. You know why…same ol’ same ol.  I’m hoping that by my going back to the gym that I’ll work myself to the point of exhaustion. Maybe then when my head hits the pillow I’ll actually sleep.

Nighty night.

Cleaning Out My Drawers :)

Isn’t that a lovely title for a blog?  I think so, too. :)

Man, I can cook a mean pone of cornbread. See the steam rising off of it?  Mmm mmm, it was delicious.  I cook it in that iron skillet there in the background.  That skillet was my great-grandmother’s, then my grandmother’s, and then mine. :)  It is my FAVORITE kitchen item (besides my Vidalia Onion Chopper). I messed up one time and used Pam in it and it took me forever to get it back to where my food wouldn’t stick. I won’t ever do that again.

I finally made Marshall’s Father’s Day supper tonight.  I made his favorite: meatloaf with all the fixings. It was delicous. I also made a banana pudding (yes D, I’m still making yours!) and it was YUMMY!

Brooke and I went walking and then came home and started on Day 1 of Cleaning Things Out. We went in a clockwise manner and started with the kitchen. We went through every drawer and every cabinet in the kitchen. I threw TONS of stuff away, mostly thanks to Brooke.  I told her just to not show me things or I’d say, “No, I need that because…(insert reason here). We have several bags for Goodwill. We were both very proud of me.

There were just a few things that I would not budge on, and that was some glasses that I’ve collected over the years–and ones that they used as children. And my only other attachment was to their lunch boxes–just three of them. Brooke’s Lamb Chop lunchbox, and Cain’s Lion King and Small Soldiers lunchboxes.  I don’t see myself ever getting rid of those. But, if you knew how I save things, you’d be SO, SO proud of me for getting rid of what I did.

Tomorrow I’ll do the dining room.  There’s actually hardly thing in there. I just need to go through the China cabinet and get rid of some things.

As I was cleaning out today, I saw all of the seasonal things that I use: the deviled egg plate, and the platter I always use to serve the Thanksgiving turkey, It made me start thinking about Thanksgiving Day and how I look forward to cooking this year’s meal.  I always cook and have dinner here at home and it’s Brooke’s favorite day of the year. My turkeys (if I say so myself) are always so juicy and good. I LOVE cooking here at home and I wish that more family would come.

I also decided that this year I’m going to cook a big meal for the “gang.” We’ve never had our friends here at our house because we’ve been working on it and well, it’s usually just more fun at someone else’s house. LOL Anyway, I can’t wait to cook for them and have them all come and just be here with us.

How much longer until November?

Marshall and I watched 10,000 BC tonight. It was ok, nothing to write home about. I generally like movies like that (Jurassic Park, Day After Tomorrow, War of the Worlds, etc) but I thought this would have more of the wildlife from that era. :D

Have a good night. :)

Two Thumbs WAY Up!

See that happy smile?  That same smile was on my face and Brooke’s face this afternoon as we sat in the ER with Dawnia. I don’t know if anyone has ever been so happy to hear that they had a urinary tract infection, but if we could’ve thrown a party in the ER, we sure would’ve. :)

Dawnia called me early this afternoon and said that she was headed to the ER, that she was having some sharp pains and had a little spotting. Since she is only 16-17 weeks pregnant we were scared.  Brooke and I headed straight for the hospital to meet her there.

Hutcheson took FOREVER to get her back–we sat for over two hours in the ER waiting room before they called her back.  I’m not sure how they don’t think a possible miscarriage is not an emergency, but whatever. Even if she had been in there for just a headache, it took an unusually long time to get her back.

Brooke and I were nervous for her, but I think we hid that really well. :)  As a matter of fact, Dawnia informed us that we “make misery fun.”  LOL!  I won’t go into details because I’d never do justice to how hard we laughed and WHY we laughed, but rest assured, at one point I thought we might all be kicked out of the hospital. :D  (Mmmm…Febreeze!)

When the nurse finally came in to listen to the baby’s heartbeat we all calmed down. I will speak for myself and say that when the nurse couldn’t find the heartbeat I thought my heart might break in two right on the spot. She searched and searched, for what seemed like forever.  Dawnia was watching the monitor, and was not facing me and Brooke. I was glad that she could not see the nervous glances that Brooke and I were giving one another.

The nurse finally did find the heartbeat, but lost it almost as soon as she found it.  She searched some more and decided she would call in another nurse. The other nurse came in, mashed around on Dawnia’s tummy and told the PA where to put the gel.  They found the baby’s heartbeat almost immediately and it was loud and strong. We listened to it for well over a minute and yes, a few tears were shed.

Come to find out, D has a bad urinary tract infection. We were so happy. Hee hee! Yay! Urinary issues! I said a prayer and thanked God that the baby was fine.

I don’t think anyone really understands how excited I am about this baby coming. I don’t even want to consider that something could happen.  I think my heart was in my throat for the several hours that we were there.  Everything was fine when we heard that swooshing heartbeat. :)

It meant the world to me that I could be there for Dawnia. I could see the fear in her eyes and I was glad that I could be there. I’m happy that Brooke and I were able to make her laugh and settle her down. I know she would’ve done the exact same thing for me.

Friends. Mine are the best. :)

Sleepy Sunday

Honey and I have done nothing but relax all day here at the house and it feels great. We hung up some solar lights on the deck and that was the extent of our workout. :)

Another restless night of sleep left me sleepy all day and I tried to doze on the couch, except SOMEONE kept waking me up asking questions like “What are you doing?”  What do you want to fix for supper?” (even though it was only around 2 p.m.).  Yep, if you guessed it was Capt. Questions, you’d be right. ;)

This morning I said to hubby, “I can’t believe you didn’t her barking last night.” His answer?  “Who?”  :)  We both had a giggle over that, especially when he realized what he had said. I don’t know WHAT Lucy was barking at but no sooner than I fell asleep she let loose with a series of barks. Then, the chicken that I am, was too afraid to fall back asleep.

We watched the Bucket List. I cried. One part that really made me think was when Morgan Freeman’s character was telling Jack Nicholson’s character that when Egyptians died, they believed that before they could enter the gates of Heaven you were asked two questions.  The first is “Have you found joy in your life?” and the second is, “Has your life brought joy to others?”  I know my answer to the first question is yes, and I’d like to think that I could answer yes to the second question, too.  Anyway, loved the movie. :)

Brooke will be home tomorrow from her weekend trip to Atlanta.  Yay!  I can’t wait to see her. :)

Night.

Collinsville

This morning my honey woke me up at 6:15 to ask me if I still wanted to go to Trade Day in Collinsville, Alabama.  At that moment what I wanted to do was bean him over the head with my pillow.  Instead I got up, showered, woke Cain up (who’s a grouch like me in the mornings), and we hit the road.

For some crazy reason I opted to carry my big camera with me and lug it around (by the way, when I call it my “big” camera, what I mean is, is that it weighs a ton). I toted it and my smallest camera: the Canon S2 IS. I’m glad that I did because I got some neat pictures, but my neck sure is giving me the devil now.

I love going to Trade Day.  What I do NOT love is seeing all of the animals they have there.  I’m not against seeing farm animals there, but there are SO many puppies and rabbits and birds there, and I just don’t think that’s the right place to be selling animals like that. And you know that most of those people have puppy mills going on.  I can understand a person bringing one litter of the same kind of puppy, but mostly what you find is one person set up with four or five different kinds of puppies. Some barely look old enough to be away from their mama.

I’m not sure why these people aren’t checked out. Seems to me that they should at least be made to have permits to have animals there. Wouldn’t that make sense?

We saw a crate of four puppies, not sure what kind they were, but they were about knee high, all in ONE crate–or chicken pen, you know, and they were just crammed in. They had moving room, but barely. I’ve decided that I’m going to call the main trade day folks and see what their policy is on crap like that.  There’s no sense in it.

Then you have folks who have one pet, like the pit bull above, who are just there trying to sell the pet.  I imagine these are the folks that just need money so they bring their dog.  This pit bull was GORGEOUS, and I don’t know if you can see his eyes, but he had one very light blue eye and the other eye was dark blue. I had Lucy so I was afraid to get close to him.  I’m not sure of anyone who would buy a full-grown pit bull, especially from the way these folks looked.  There’s no telling how that dog was raised.  It just makes me SICK.

Then there was some other idiot who had a full-grown Rottweiler, and the Rottweiler was beautiful, but again, it’s full-grown, and the people who had it looked like your typical redneck folks who shouldn’t even own a dog like that in the first place. And I certainly don’t think I’m better than anyone else, but this man had TAPED–yes, TAPED, a piece of paper to the Rottweiler’s back, and the paper stated how much the dog cost.  And that was the only thing the guy was selling. Ugh!

And let me just say that I don’t think that all people who go there to sell their pets are bad people. There were some folks there who had a litter of the CUTEST English bulldog puppies.  You could tell the people were intelligent, knew what they were doing, and the dogs looked clean, healthy, and playful.  They weren’t in kennels, they were romping around in the bed of a huge truck and just having a grand ol’ time. I’d like for one of them to be having a grand ol’ time at my house but know how much they were?!  $1,200!  They were adorable. :)

We were all exhausted when we got home.  I don’t think anyone bought anything but me.  I bought a harness for Lucy, and a bluegrass CD, so I spent a total of $15. I usually only by fruits and red potatoes when we go, but I couldn’t find the little man that I like to buy from. I didn’t search too hard because by the time we were almost done, Marshall’s sprained foot was bothering him quite bad.

We had a heck of a rainstorm. I was SO excited.  There was lightning, thunder, and it actually came a downpour for a good 30/45 minutes.  It may have lasted longer than that but we were leaving so I’m not really sure how long it lasted. I said a quick prayer, thanking God for the rain, because we need it something fierce.

We met Dawnia, Kevin, Tim, Max, & Matt and Sheila at Sugar’s Ribs for supper. We enjoyed seeing everyone (’cept Jen didn’t get to come because she was sick–feel better, Jen!) and once again, our food was delicious. I love that place.

We have just been relaxing since we’ve been home.  Lucy and I have been having lots of fun tonight. :)  Still no fleas!  Isn’t that amazing? If you have a dog you should talk to your vet about Comfortis.  I can’t believe how fantastic it is.

Night!

Friday Fun Day!

Kandi met me at my house at 8 and we hit the road to go to one of our favorite places to shoot: a cemetery in Rising Fawn, Georgia. :) We had a great time and I got a lot of nice shots. Well, somewhat nice. I need lots of practice.

We took our time driving down the side of the mountain. The road that leads you down is an old dirt road that can be seen from the house I grew up in. The place used to be called “Johnson’s Crook.” Someone new has bought all that land and is putting in an upscale community and I freakin’ HATE that.  Nothing against those folks, but I hate that the Crook will not be anymore what it always has been.

Anyway, we took our time driving and took photos of lots of different wildflowers, and a few butterflies. When we got off the mountain we headed just over the road to the cemetery that we always go to. I know that must sound weird but the place is beautiful and we both have family buried there. The view from the cemetery is spectacular.  You can see some shots I took from it back in 2005 by clicking HERE.

We left the cemetery and headed to Chattanooga.  We picked up lunch, took it to Kandi’s studio and cooled off by playing Wii while we ate our lunch.  After we finished lunch we headed to the Chattanooga Nature Center, which is another of our favorite places to shoot.  The thing about the Nature Center though, is that it’s always hit or miss.  There’s either TONS of things to photograph, or really nothing much at all to photograph.  While we did get a few shots, this time was a miss.

Kandi dropped me off at home and Marshall and I just relaxed here at the house.  It was a terrific day and I enjoyed it very much. :)

Hope your day was just as beautiful.

~~Friday’s Feast~~

Appetizer
If you could live on another continent for 1 year, which one would you choose? Africa, of course.

Soup
Which browser do you use to surf the Internet? Firefox 3, baybee.  it ROCKS!

Salad
On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how much do you know about the history of your country? 5ish, I guess.

Main Course
Finish this sentence:  Love is…EVERYTHING.  It’s EVERYTHING.

Dessert
Have you ever been in or near a tornado?  Yes, I have. We lived in Pearl, MS, which is just a suburb of Jackson, and a tornado ripped through. That’s why we moved back to Georgia.  I was talking on the phone to my grandmother and was watching transformers pop in the distance as the tornado went through. My husband was at work in Brandon, MS., and I was TERRIFIED!  It was horrible, and there was lots of damage to Brandon.  Check this: http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jan/events/brandon2002.html.

One Whole Year!

My two favorite gals in the whole wild world. :) I took this today before Brooke left for Atlanta.

My Lucy has been with us for a year today.  I can’t believe we’ve had her for a year, and my how she has grown. This is her with Cain on the day we brought her home:

If you’re a regular here you already know what an absolute source of joy she is in not just my life, but my in the lives of my whole family. We all love her so much. I truthfully want her with me every second of every day. I hate when I have to be away from her.

I had almost NO sleep last night. I’m praying that tonight I can get some rest. Wish me luck. :)

G’night.

180,000 Miles

My husband and I were getting back on the interstate at Fort Payne, Alabama, today, headed towards the Collinsville exit (destination was Guntersville). My 2000 Ford Explorer hit the 180,000-mile mark. I pulled over on the side of the interstate to capture the moment. :)

I sure do love my truck. Well, it’s an SUV, of course, but I’ve always called her my truck, I don’t know why. She actually gets pretty good gas mileage and has never given us any problems. She’s paid for (finally!) and I have no desire to trade her in. I know the time will come, but I don’t want to think about that.

Marshall looked at a job near Guntersville, Ala. today and when we got home we cooked out steaks on the grill. It wasn’t as hot out there as it has been, and there was less humidity. There’s no rain in the forecast, sans your typical, heat-of-the-day, 30-percent chance of scattered thunderstorms every now and then. I REALLY hope we get more rain than we did last year. We need it so much.

Kandi and I are going to go “fun shooting” some time this week, or possibly the first of next week. I am REALLY looking forward to that. I’m finally getting excited about photography again. It’s true that I’m obsessed with it, but there for a month or two it just seemed like nothing interested me. I’ve shot birds and butterflies, flowers and sunsets, and I started feeling like “once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all.” That’s not the least bit true though, so I don’t know why I was feeling that way. Anyway, can’t wait to go fun shooting. Yee haa!

I put some more of my red-headed woodpecker shots on my pbase page. Wanna have a look? Go HERE and then click on the “next” button near the top right-hand side of the page. They aren’t perfect photos, but boy what a pretty bird!

That’s all, folks…

Flipping OUT!

I could not be more excited. :)  The new season of Flipping Out starts in just a few short minutes. I LOVE Flipping Out. Do you watch it?  It’s on Bravo.  It’s such fun. Jeff really knows how to throw a tantrum.

I feel much better after my rant/whining session on my blog yesterday, just so you know.

So this morning I call my vet to see if they have Frontline in stock because they are going on vacation. They tell me they have a new product called Comfortis. It’s a new FDA-approved beef-flavored pill. A pill! Internal medication.  I talked to a friend who’s son works for a vet, and did some research online and decided to get the pill for Lucy.

Brooke went to the vet for me as I was cleaning the house getting ready for the pest control guy to come. She took Lucy with her so they could weigh her (10.5 lbs) because the pill given is based on the weight of the dog.  I gave it to her at 10:20 and within an hour we saw fleas getting the heck outta Dodge. We waited a couple of hours and Brooke bathed her and I’m SO excited because there is not a SINGLE flea on her.

The pill is given once a month, and is supposed to work for the full 30 days. I sure hope that it does. :) The fleas are bad here in Georgia now and for the first time ever we’ve had a real problem with them on our critters. Not anymore though, I hope. :)

Ok, Flipping Out is on.  Nighty night!

Grouchy Tonight

Tonight is one of those nights were everything is either hurting my feelings or making me mad. I’m having my own private pity party here in my room with the door closed. Yes, I know I’m being a titty-baby-wanker, and I don’t care. :)

Seems like when one thing sets me off, ALL the things that bother me that I hold inside all come rushing to my mind, as if just to let me know that it’s all still there. Then my anger or hurt feelings are compounded so much that it feels like I’ll burst. Does that sentence make sense?  I don’t even know…

I have a stress headache and that’s making me mad, too. I’m laughing on the inside at the absurdity of it all, really.

What’s wrong you ask?  Let me share some things with you:

1) Marshall hurt his ankle last week. He hurt it bad. It’s all swollen and several different colors and just looks awful. Today as we were walking through a plant to take photos of a couple of boilers, he tripped over an entanglement of cords and rolled his hurt ankle. He’ll lie and say this is not true, but he had tears in his eyes, Brooke and I both saw them. He almost threw up because it hurt so bad. I MADE him go to the doctor. He doesn’t take care of himself and I made him go. X-rays were taken and the doctor said there are no breaks, that it’s just a really bad sprain. So now *I* wasted money because I made him go when there was nothing wrong. Nevermind that I love him so much that I can’t stand to see him in pain.

2) On the way home from the doctor I made the mistake of asking him for cash. Yes, I did have cash that he had given me earlier but I had no clue how much his meds would be, plus the ankle brace he needed, plus supper (I picked up fast food since we got home late). I was afraid I didn’t have enough money. He always makes me feel bad when I ask him for money and it hurts my feelings so much. I don’t have a “real” job. I DID have a real job that I loved very much. HE is the one that wanted me to quit my job so I could travel with him. He makes me feel like I’m just some stranger asking for a handout. I’m his WIFE. His WIFE. Heck, even when I say, “We need to pay such and such bill this week, he gets upset with me.  I just don’t understand it. It’s like every month when the SAME bills we’ve had for 22 years (more or less) comes in, they are always a surprise to him. “What do you mean we have to pay the insurance?!” “The house payment is due–again?!” Anyway, I hate asking for money. I hate how I’m made to feel.

3) After saying over and over again just TODAY that no one needed to bathe Lucy, honey goes out on the back porch (with his hurt foot) and soaks Lucy to the bone. We gave her her last bath, and I have been waiting for four days since then to put her Frontline on her. Frontline is a once-a-month flea medicine that works with the dog’s natural oil in their skin; you cannot bathe them five days before or five days after (per my vets instructions). The dog has to be “nasty” in order for this medicine to work the best. NOW I have to wait FIVE more days. I know he was trying to be helpful but a) I do NOT want him on that foot, and b) I just told EVERYONE that lives with me JUST TODAY to NOT bathe Lucy.

NO ONE AROUND HERE LISTENS TO ME.

4) Cain.  I’m not even sure what to say about this issue. I was wondering today if what I’m experiencing with him is typical for a mother and a young man his age. He never talks to us, and only goofs off with us every now and then, but usually only if he wants something. I’m just not very happy with the relationship I have with him right now and that breaks my heart.

There’s also this problem that hurts me so bad, bothers me so much, but is a problem I can’t (and won’t) talk about here. This thing is eating at me like some horrible disease and I can’t seem to get past it. I don’t know what to do about it, to make it better, to make myself forget. This is the problem that stays solidly in my head, taunting me, and basically making me nuts. I hope that one day I’m able to move past it, but I don’t know when or how that will happen. It’s the problem that rears its ugly head when I’m feeling down, just to remind me that things aren’t perfect. I want it to go away.

Remember, I told you I was having a pity party for myself. :)  Wow, I already feel SO much better though.

Not all blog posts can be flowers and sunshine, can they? And before any of you think, “Her poor husband, she must be horrible to live with!” just know that his own mother says she doesn’t know how I put up with him. LOL

I do love him so, and I am just fussing tonight. Anyone that knows us knows that we love each other solidly and completely. I’m sure he could sit down and write a HUGE list of things I do that makes him want to strangle me. :)

I’m looking at him now, over there in the bed snoozing away, his foot propped up on pillows, his ipod on the pillow beside him.  He loves that gift.  He gave me a verbal list of songs today that he’d like to have.  I think that’s so cute.  :)  Like Kandi said, who would picture him as an ipod kind of guy?  :D

Yep, all better now.  Thanks for letting me vent!

Honey Is Home! Yay!

Brooke and I had a rather eventful day. When we got up I showered and then ran to Dollar General to get some household goods. It was such a beautiful day that I didn’t want to waste it sitting indoors.

We loaded up the cameras and Lucy and headed to the Pocket. Normally I don’t like going there by myself (or even with just one of my children) because it’s way back up in the woods and if something happened there’s no cell phone service or anything. Plus, I’m a huge, HUGE chicken.

I forgot how dark it gets in the late spring there. The forest is very dense and there are so many trees that hardly any sunlight gets through. It’s beautiful, and very peaceful. Brooke and I started walking along the boardwalk that leads you into the woods and we weren’t too far in when I spotted that snake in the photo above. I was SO excited. It has been a while since I’ve seen a snake.

We stopped and started taking tons of photos as the snake made its way to the top of the tree. While we were standing there, two small children ran past us going back towards the parking lot. That didn’t alarm us because kids usually always run ahead of their parents there.

A few minutes later a man ran past us, towards the parking lot. I said, “Maybe we should’ve asked if there was a bear or something up there. Maybe we need to run for our lives.” Brooke said that surely they would’ve said something to us. LOL. Anyway, we’re still standing there and the man ran back past us. As he was running by I said, “We thought about asking you if there was a bear up there.” He said, “No, one of our kids just fell about 30 feet from the ledge.”

There are waterfalls at the end of the trail. The boardwalk only goes so far in and then you have to hike the rest of the way to the falls. There are rocky cliffs all around the waterfalls. Some how the kid fell, tumbling head over feet, to the bottom. Luckily his grandfather, who had stayed with the boy while the other man ran to his truck–the man who kept running past us–were both paramedics.

Brooke and I helped them carry all of their gear back out so that one of them (the grandpa) could carry the boy. He was a bit bloody and had a “tomato knot” on his head. His head BARELY missed a jagged rock. Had he hit it I’m certain it would’ve killed him. One of the men (the runner) told us that when they got to the kid (who was about 11), he was just lying there gurgling. It would’ve scared the soup out of me. I told Brooke had that been her or Cain, I’d probably have had a heart-attack.

I wish I would’ve thought to get their names so I could call and check on the kid. Bless his heart. He was in a lot of pain. We felt awful for him. After Brooke and I lugged all that stuff out, we were tired and just left, but seeing that snake made my day. :)

We came home and called Kandi. She came over and we all headed up to her studio to play wii. I had never played before and she has been asking me to come up. I’m glad we went. We bowled, which I did great at, and played Mario Kart, which I sucked at. We also played baseball, tennis, and Guitar Hero. It was so much fun. I was horrible at Mario Kart and didn’t even really give Guitar Hero a good chance. I really stink at both of those.

We headed home after about three hours. We were exhausted from all of the exercise we got today. :D My honey got home around 8 p.m. and the kids gave him his ipod and he is on our bed listening to it now. He actually said he loves it. We filled it with his favorite music and I also added some photos of us (and of course Lucy) on there for him. Brooke made him his favorite cookies, and tomorrow I’ll cook him his favorite supper. I’m so, so happy to have him home. He was gone for seven days.

I’m either going to cook a dinner for both of our fathers and have them come down, or we’ll all go out and eat. I’m not sure yet, but we want to show them both how much they mean to BOTH of us, and how lucky we are to have them in our lives. We love them both so much.

Have a good night.

All…Day…Long

Brooke and I got up and was ready early this morning. Kandi picked us up at 8:30 and we headed to Hixson, Tenn., to help her with a beautiful wedding. At the reception (and while we were waiting on the bride and groom) I spotted this GORGEOUS red-headed woodpecker.  Actually there were three of them and I was so excited I almost popped. :)  This was only my second time to see such a beautiful bird.  It makes me want to go back up there and sit all day with my tripod and camera. What a lovely bird!

We thought Marshall would be home but he’s not and won’t be home until tomorrow night. We were going to treat our fathers’ to a Father’s Day dinner. I was actually ok with rescheduling so that I could help Kandi. Hopefully we will be able to do it some time this week.

Brooke was exhausted.  Kandi hired her to be the “pack mule” (that’s what Brooke called herself):

We just got home a little bit ago (it’s almost 11 now) and Brooke kissed me, and her butt hit the bed.  She was asleep within 5 minutes. It was a LONG day, that’s for sure. By the way, she was only holding my camera there for a second while I changed some settings on my other camera.  That camera she’s holding probably weighs more than she does so there was no way I was going to have her sit there and hold it. :)

Well, I’m also exhausted.  Have a good night.

Laminin?

First off, did you know that Tim Russert of NBC has died? I really liked him. I have watched him for several years as part of the Today show. The story says he collapsed but no other information was given. I just really hate to hear about this.

Have you heard about Laminin? If not, go watch this video: It’s amazing. As a Christian, it gave me cold chills and brought tears to my eyes. :) It seems on days that my faith isn’t as strong as it should be that I find little things like this that really drive it home. Sometimes we probably all need a reminder…or I know I do. Things like this just makes me feel so good about everything.

The rain just keeps passing us by, over and over. Brooke went to the post office today, which isn’t far from my home, and said it was pouring down there. Pouring down there and not doing a single thing at my house. I just don’t understand it.

The kids got Marshall an ipod for Father’s Day. I sure hope he likes it. I believe that he will because he is always wanting to borrow mine or Cain’s. They got him one of the newer ones. It’s not the biggest or the best but it will be perfect for Marshall. Don’t say anything to him about it because he isn’t getting it until Monday. :)

Have a good night. :)

~~Friday’s Feast~~

Appetizer
Do you consider yourself to be an optimist or a pessimist? Both.

Soup
What is your favorite color of ink to write with? Black.

Salad
How often do you get a manicure or pedicure? Do you do them yourself or go to a salon and pay for them? I never get manicures because my fingernails won’t grow, but I do get pedicures at the salon. I go about every two months or so. Everyone who knows me will tell you that feet gross me out, so I like mine to at least look pretty. Well, as pretty as ugly feet can get. :)

Main Course
Have you ever won anything online? If so, what was it? No, I haven’t.

Dessert
In which room in your house do you keep your home computer? In my bedroom, but I have an old laptop that I keep in the living room, and I’m on it the most, unless I’m working on my photos.

She Would’ve Been 85

My most beloved grandmother would’ve been 85 today had Alzheimer’s not ravaged her mind and took her away from us. I still miss her so much that sometimes it’s unbearable to think about. Up until my husband and children, she was the most important person in my life. I can’t wait to see her again one day. :)

Brooke and I went swimming with Dawnia, TJMax, & one of D’s friend’s this afternoon. We swam for almost 4 hours and had a great time. We came home to take a shower and planned on going back, but instead we relaxed here at the house. I probably should’ve used sunscreen. :(

Marshall’s leg got hung up somehow as he was getting off a forklift and he fell and sprained his ankle.  I haven’t seen it yet but he said it was horribly swollen.  I swear, I need to wrap that man in bubble wrap. He gets injured more than anyone I’ve ever known. I worry sick about him all the time.

Brooke and I looked through old pictures yesterday and I found this one that Marshall took of me and the kids:

I love this picture.  I know I say it all the time, but where did the time go?

Not much else to say today.  I always have a lot to say but then get too tired to write about it. I think I need to start blogging in the mornings when I first get up.

Night. :)

“It’s Just Ink”

My Dad was going through some of his belongings and found a couple of sketches he had drawn of me back when I was a youngster. This is one of them.

Here are some preliminary sketches (I’ve always wanted to say that) of another one:

It looks like he was making changes to the nose. And here’s me in the final picture:

I remember having to be SO still for this. In the first sketch up there, he used a photograph of me, but in this second shot I remember sitting in our kitchen and wishing he would hurry up. :) I’m sure thankful I have these now.

I fell asleep this morning around 3 and woke up several times after that thinking about Cain’s tattoo. I still can’t believe he did it, and it breaks my heart that he wouldn’t listen to me when I tried to talk him out of it. Somewhere during those early morning hours I came to peace with it. I don’t know how or why, but I did. I wish he hadn’t have done it but, as a wonderful friend told me in a beautiful email she sent me about it, “it’s just ink.”

I woke up with Cain’s face right in mine. He had this big goofy grin and was trying to wake me up (obviously he succeeded). Then Brooke came in my bedroom and they were goofing off with me, making me laugh. Cain informed me that he and Brooke cleaned the house as I slept. I guess that was his way of making up with me. :)

Storms were all around us today, but as per usual they either evaporated when they got to us, or moved around us. I don’t know why that keeps happening here. I’m not kidding, on the radar at one point there was rain ALL around us, except for a small, almost perfect circle of nothing right over us. I showed it to Brooke but I wish I had taken a print-screen so I could show you. It’s insane. WE NEED RAIN!

I’m very sleepy. More later. :)

NOT A Happy Camper. At All.

These are baby “tauby worms” on our catalpa tree.  See how much of the leaf they’ve eaten? They grow quite fat and are lovely colored. And then they get used for fishing bait.  Poor little guys.

We had a little bit of rain today and a LOT of thundering. Brooke and I ran out as the clouds were getting darker and darker and picked up Hopper from the vet. They said she did great through her surgery and talked about how sweet she is.  She really is an angel.

The estimate I received today on a fence for the backyard was nearly $1,500 more dollars than we expected it to be.  I think the guy was full of horse crap. We’re hooking on to our neighbor’s fence and I just can’t IMAGINE why it would cost nearly $3,000. The other guy who was supposed to come never called me but two more people are coming tomorrow.

Lucy got stung on the face by a bumblebee today.  Her face was quite swollen and of course I called the vet. They gave me tips on taking care of her and she was fine, thank goodness.

Well it finally happened. Cain got a tattoo.  I got a horrible headache as I pleaded with him not to do it. He’s “18 now” as he and his father have repeatedly reminded me. At least he respected one of my wishes: he did not get one across his back.  I asked him to please, if he insisted on getting one, to just get a small one on his arm.  He didn’t do that, either.  Instead, he did this:

If it looks like he’s making a tough guy face to go with his new tattoo, he’s not. He’s making an “Oh man, this hurts so bad” face. I know this because a) I know his “faces,” and b) he told us it hurt worse than anything he has ever experienced (good, I say!).

Apparently the new thing for football players is to have their name tattooed on themselves. I guess it helps them remember who they are. UGH!  My heart is just broken. This is one thing my hubby and I did NOT see eye-to-eye on.  Marshall didn’t so much want him to get one either as he just understood that Cain is of age to do what he wants, really.  I, on the other hand, don’t give a rat’s butt if he’s 39, I do NOT want this crap on his body. I, obviously, will be the one that has to get over it. :(

I’m sick to my stomach over it.  Just sick, sick, sick.  I don’t mind tattoos so much, as long as they aren’t on my children. I really am literally sick. Yes, I can hear some of you say “It’s just a tattoo,” and yes, I know there are worse things he could be doing with his money, but I don’t care.  It may JUST be a tattoo, but it’s JUST a tattoo that will forever be on MY child’s body. I hate it, hate it, hate it, and there’s not a single thing I can do about it. I love him so much, and I’m sure that doesn’t even need to be said.  I just wish he hadn’t have done this. :(

:(  :(  :(

Nappy Nap

This little sunflower was a surprise. It sprouted from the black-oil sunflower seeds I give to my birds. It was a nice little spot of sunshine on the side of the yard.

I went to bed at 3 a.m. I got up at 7 a.m. My dog, Hopper, was barking at a turtle and woke me up. I believe this is the same turtle that comes every year to lay her eggs on the bank of our little creek. Hopper barks like mad EVERY single year. This time she barked for a good two hours and probably still would’ve been barking had Cain not taken her to the vet to be spayed.

I crawled in bed at 4 this afternoon so I could prop my right leg up on some pillows. It is swollen and it feels like my skin is going to burst open. It started hurting bad yesterday and I knew it was going to swell. It used to do this a long time ago and I’ve had all kinds of tests ran but they didn’t find out anything. Anyway, it hurts and it’s gross. :(

So anyway, bed at 4. I fell asleep almost immediately and I woke up at 7. A three hour nap does wonders for the body, especially when you only had 4 hours of sleep the night before. :) Now if my leg would stop hurting I’d be great!

This morning at 9ish, it was already 83 degrees.  We’ve gone from weather in the 70’s, straight to the 90’s. It is MISERABLY hot out there. The official start of summer isn’t for two more weeks (or thereabouts) and I want spring back.

I hope we get lots of rain this summer.  Georgia, as you probably know, has been in the worst drought in the state’s history. I hope we don’t have to go through the same thing this year.

We are getting estimates for a fence in the backyard. I have a couple of people coming out tomorrow and a couple more on Wednesday to give us estimates.  Marshall says he figures it will be about $1,500 for a five-foot tall chain-link fence.  I hope he’s right and it’s no more than that. I really want to get it fenced in.

I sent a lot more photos to be printed today and only have a little over 100 photo credits left on Shutterfly.  I have decided that once those credits are up I probably won’t use Shutterfly again.  They send the photos in flimsy packaging and about 75-percent of my photos were bent.

I emailed their customer service and let them know that I hoped they would use a more sturdy package for photo mailings in the future. They emailed me back (the same day even!) and apologized for the bent photos and gave me credit for 75 pictures.  I didn’t expect them to do that. I was pleased that they did, however, after talking to a few people on my photo groups, they said they had also complained to Shutterfly about their packaging and that Shutterfly gave them the same response they gave me: they will check into their packaging. Luckily there are lots of places to choose from when deciding on online printing web sites. :)

I can’t believe that I’m sleepy but I am so I’m going to bed.  Nighty night. :)

Headache Schmeadache

I have had a headache all day long. It’s not a horrible one, but just a dull, constant headache. I’m pretty sure that me usually having my fat behind in the air conditioning all the time sent my body into shock being out in the heat and sun all day yesterday.

Over the past few days I’ve gotten a little over 300 photos edited and sent to Shutterfly. I have 200 more photo credits on Shutterfly from the pre-paid plan I bought last year. Once I use those up I think I’ll move on and see if there might be another online photo website that I might like. I’ve used two or three different ones and I pretty much like all of them. It’s nice to have so many to choose from.

That’s all I have to say. :) Night.

Wonderful Day

Marshall and I got up early and headed to Dawnia’s to meet her and Mtn. Donna. We all went to the Hwy. 41 yard sales. We had a great time but it was miserably hot. I spent all of $4. We were a bit disappointed because there was no good junk, mostly clothes and baby stuff.

Marshall and I headed back to our house and grabbed our bathing suits, stopped by Wal-Mart and got a few groceries and then headed up to D’s for a swim. I can’t stress enough how hot it was and we were so happy to get in the pool.

We had a great time and stayed until 10 tonight. It was a long day, but a wonderful day. We got to see our “old” buddies, Tammy, and Kevin, and I finally got to meet Tam’s hubby, Madison. We also met their friend Mark.

Marshall grilled out for us and everything was yummy. I hated that we were all worn out so early. We must be getting old. :) Marshall is already in bed snoring away. We weren’t home long before he crashed out. I, on the other hand, was craving milk like crazy, and like an idiot, I drank a big glass of it, so now I will need to stay up a while so I won’t get choked in my sleep. I don’t know why, but milk really aggravates my hiatal hernia. It sucks.

What a beautiful day with beautiful friends. We are so blessed. :)

Childless Couple

This is Cain going down the Nantahala River on our vacation last week. This was the last Class Three rapid and you can probably see that he’s breathing a sigh of relief that he made it through. :)

Here’s a little tip from me to you: don’t EVER, EVER use priceline.com to book a room. Marshall booked a two hotel rooms for his business for seven nights for a job they were doing in South Carolina. Because some parts didn’t come in, we weren’t able to finish the job and only stayed at the hotel for three nights. I called Priceline (and was warned by the hotel clerk that we’d have a time getting our money back) the night before Marshall checked out. They assured me that everything would be ok, gave me a confirmation number, and that was that.

Marshall was looking over his bank statement tonight and noticed that we had not received a refund for those unused nights. I called Priceline again and the customer service rep listened to my story and then informed me that it is their “policy” to not refund money on unused nights, which meant we paid for four nights that we could not use. I raised a stink and asked him why they would do that, and he had no other answer besides “that’s our policy.” I asked him who I could speak with about their polices so he transfered me to another CSR.

The CSR was super-friendly and put me on hold a couple of times and then he informed me that we would be getting a refund of almost $400. He said we can expect it within 10-15 days. I hope he wasn’t yanking my chain. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

We met with Tim, Jen, and Max for supper tonight. We ate at Logan’s simply because we were in Cain’s big ol’ honkin’ Bronco with the top off and a) it burns gas like crazy, and b) it’s insanely HOT. Anyway, we had the worst service we’ve ever had. It was quite a disappoinment. AND it’s so loud there that we have to yell to talk to one another. I like their food though. :)

Brooke left this afternoon to go stay with Chad and his family for the weekend and Cain is at Riverbend tonight enjoying the Black Crowes. Honey and I are enjoying a nice, quiet evening at home. Just us and Rambo on the tv. *sigh* There’s nothing more romantic than watching Rambo blow people to smithereens, is there?

I’m feeling MUCH better today than I have felt in a while. I’m getting hormones back into my system so I think that’s the deal. :) Yay for hormones!

Not only did I forget my friend Val’s birthday, I also forgot Jen’s birthday. I didn’t so much forget hers as I thought it was on June 24th. Soooo, Happy Birthday, Jen. I love you more than Cheerios! :)

~~Friday’s Feast~~

Appetizer
When you drink soda/pop/coke, do you prefer to drink it from the bottle, a can, or after pouring it into a cup? I drink Diet Coke, but only in a can. If I have to get a drink from the fountain or in a bottle, I choose regular Coke. (I don’t drink Pepsi unless I absolutely HAVE to–it tastes like flat Coke to me)

Soup
What television show are you willing to stay up late to watch? None of them. I really don’t watch tv. The only two shows I really watch anymore are Man vs. Wild and Deadliest Catch, both of which I love (especially Bear Grylls), and both are on Discovery Channel.

Salad
Name one person, place, or thing you think of as brilliant. Person: My 12-year old cousin Macy is the smartest person I know. I don’t know HOW some people are just crazy-smart like she is. Place: The Great Smoky Mtn. National Park. I haven’t been to too many places so I’m using a place I’m familiar with, and that place would be the Smokeys. Amazing, amazing. Thing: the computer and internet. What great inventions. Thank you, Al Gore, for the latter. ;) Hee hee!

Main Course
Would you be willing to work 4 10-hour days instead of 5 8-hour days in order to save gas? If I had a real job, yes, I would be. I’d be willing to do it just to get three days off. :)

Dessert
If you were a superhero, what would you call yourself? Amazing MOM!

Ok…

Ok, so maybe there IS something wrong with me. I don’t know what it could be though. I just burst into tears earlier today for what seems like no reason. I THINK maybe my hormones (or lack thereof) could be the issue but I wonder if there’s a definite way to find out if yes, they’re screwed up. I sure would like to know because I don’t lik