Family Cookout

I like the order of priorities here. :)

We worked our tails off today for a huge family cookout. We fixed ribs, chicken, hamburgers, hotdogs, & sausages. I believe everything turned out really well.  All of Marshall’s siblings were here, a niece and a nephew, as well his parents, my Dad and stepmom, and three of Marshall’s cousins. Our neighbors from across the street came, too. There were also people here that we didn’t know and didn’t expect, so that was kind of weird, but we all had a really nice time. :) I think everyone really enjoyed the food and boy was there plenty of it.

We watched fireworks from my backyard…well, what we could see of them anyway. We were SO happy to have had everyone over.

Now I’m exhausted and I’m going to bed.

G’night!

 

What?

*I* saved a life today.

What did YOU do?!

:o)

 

From My iPhone

Yay! A WordPress app for my iPhone will make things so much easier. (-: I love this phone.

My hubby, bless his heart, finally connected our icemaker. I’m so very excited about that. I rarely use ice but hubby and the kids will be so happy to have it.

I had my first hummingbird visitors today. I had ruby-throated hummers, both a male and female. I even got a little bit of video of them with my buddy’s flip mino.

Speaking of the flip, my friend sent it home with me to see if I could fix it for her. I did fix it but I think I’m going to tell her that it was hopeless and I threw it in the garbage. (-:

Night night!

 

Still Awake

Hubby and I rode around on the mountain today and drove my beautiful car in places it shouldn’t have been driven. ;) Anyway, this is where we ended up — a piece of Little River Canyon that is just absolutely beautiful. We had a great time.

I want to be asleep right now. I’m not. Last night I fell asleep a little after 2 a.m. and at 2:37 I woke up when hubby jerked my pillow out from under my head SO hard that I’m surprised that my neck didn’t snap. I should’ve pushed him out of bed.

Just a few more days until I’m in Florida. Have I talked about that already? :)

Night!

 

Dot Dot Dot

I TRULY don’t have anything to say today.

I need to have my heart checked again. It has been a while.

We go to Florida in just a few short days. A-woo-hoooooo! We’re going to be near THREE state parks. Can you just imagine the photographic possibilities? Yay! :) I’m so looking forward to going to Florida. We haven’t been in a few years. Well, I’ve been twice in the past year but I haven’t been with my family in a while. We’re staying down a full week, too. I’m VERY excited.

Nighty night.

 

Greenlife

See how cute?! :) Rowan is always smiling. Sure she has rough patches every now and then but I think it’s safe to say that 98-percent of the time she is happy as she can be. We love her bunches.

Today Marshall, Kandi, and I went to the Chattanooga Market. We went and *I* forgot my camera. :( That was my first trip to the market and it was so neat. There are lots of great things to see.

After there we headed to Greenlife Grocery and did a bit of shopping. I love that store. :) We came home and cooked out then worked on our project for a while. We had a great day. :)

 

Swimming

:) :)  How cute is Rowan? We had a great time in the pool today. She looked SO cute in her little Speedo hat. She also rocked some little cherry sunglasses which she actually wore for a really long time. I can’t believe she kept them on.

We enjoyed ourselves in the pool for most of the afternoon. We cooked out and then sat on Dawnia’s screened porch when a rainstorm moved through. It was a great way to spend the day.

I took Axl Rose to the vet this morning. Turns out she did have a bite under the left side of her jaw. The vet gave her a shot and then sent us home with some antibiotics. He said if she’s not better by Monday that I’d need to bring her in to have the wound lanced. You know, she drives me batty because I’m constantly having to run her off from around my birdfeeders. I scream and yell and rant and rave but if anything happened to her it would just devastate me. I hope she’s ok.

 

It’s TOO Hot!

This is a Clouded Sulphur butterfly. It’s one of those little yellow butterflies that you see fluttering in crazy patterns from one place to the next. They rarely, if ever, keep their wings open. I took about 8 gazillion shots of this beauty today in hopes that I’d catch him about to fly from one place to the next–and I did! Yay!

I met my Dad, stepmother, and her uncle over on Pigeon Mountain and we spent nearly all day taking pictures of butterflies.  I’d say we had a very successful trip but it’s SO hot that we had to call it off around 3:30ish. We were miserable.

When I got home hubby and I just relaxed here at the house under the air conditioner (why is it called an air CONDITIONER?). He watched old western movies and I uploaded all my photos from the 5 hours we were out (about 500 pictures).

Axl Rose (my kitty) isn’t feeling well.  I’ll be taking her to the vet tomorrow. :(  I’m not sure what on earth is wrong with her. I brought her in and crated her in hopes that it was just the heat, but she’s still not eating or drinking. I found her this morning under the azalea bush and didn’t really think anything about it. When I got back though, she was still under the azalea bush. I offered her food and water and she just meows. :(  Hope my little buddy is ok.

Good night.

 

Wow

First off, I was absolutely brokenhearted over hearing that Farrah lost her battle with cancer. When I was a little girl, 8 or 9, I suppose, I was a HUGE Charlie’s Angels fan, and of course, Farrah was my favorite. I had the classic Farrah poster hanging on my wall and I wanted to look just like her. :) I had a Charlie’s Angels t-shirt and I had it up until a few years back and it just disappeared. :( I’m heartbroken that she is gone. What a fight she put up; so sad that she lost the battle.

THEN if that’s not bad enough we learn that Michael Jackson died of a heart attack.  This news is still so new that I don’t think my mind has processed it quite yet.  Whatever Michael did or did not do (all those accusations) are between him and God. We are not to judge, right? That being said, I really liked him.  I was a teenager in the 80’s so I was watching tv when Thriller made it’s debut. I was watching tv the night he did the moonwalk across the stage. I was blown away. Anyone can tell you how completely into music I was, and MJ was IT. Of course, my sister and I listened to him back in the 70’s, too.  One of the benefits of having an older sibling is that you’re much cooler than you would be if you were just out there on your own. She is the one that introduced me to Steve Martin & SNL, but this isn’t about her. :)

Entertainment Tonight: I am disgusted that you posted a photo of an already dead Michael Jackson on your website. What a shame that the internet has created a “Who has the story first” quality that, in situations like this, makes me absolutely sick. It’s all about who gets the most “news” out FIRST, no matter who it may hurt.

Other than the news of the loss of these two, I had a great day. I spent the day with my Dad and stepmother. I helped Dad learn a few things on flickr, then we walked around the yard and took pictures.

What a day…

RIP, Farrah.

RIP, MJ.

 

Are You On Facebook?

This is a bad picture of a fox squirrel. We don’t see these around here too often anymore. This guy was NOT cooperative and this was the best shot I got of him.

I got up at 5:30 this morning and got ready and drove to Sand Mtn. to get my mother. I drove her to Cleveland, Tenn. for a doctor’s appointment. We had lunch at Cracker Barrel, then I drove her home. We enjoyed one another’s company so that was very nice.

The project that hubby, Kandi, and I worked on last night was quite successful. We’re very excited. :) I’ll tell you more about it later.

My right leg is swollen so large that it feels like my skin might burst open.  Gross, huh?  It hasn’t done this in a REALLY long time. I’ve had tests ran on it to see what’s going on and the doctors couldn’t find anything. They initially thought that I might have poor circulation but they ran dye through the veins and everything was just fine. It’s a bit painful and I hope that this is a one-time thing.

Are you on Facebook? Me TOO!  I’ve reconnected with so many friends on there, even several friends that I’ve known since grade school.  I love reconnecting with everyone. Anyway, if you’re there, you can add me as a buddy. My link is http://facebook.com/rachelpennington.

Later, gators.

 

Title? I Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Title

Pump class was great. :)

Came home after buying a few things we needed for a new super-secret project we’re doing. Marshall, Kandi, and I worked on the project for the rest of the afternoon.

You’ll know soon enough what’s going on. It’s going to be great!

 

I Think I’m Broken

Seems like on Mondays I’m just never a happy camper. I don’t know why. I don’t have any reason to be grumpy. I like being left alone for the most part on Mondays. I do NOT know why. I’ve always been that way. Why that happens on a Monday, I just don’t know. I really think I’m broken.

Today has been a lazy day around the house. I’m trying to catch up on the wash and that’s about it.

Seems like everyone has planned my week out for me this week. :( Yay.

 

Happy Father’s Day

Today we headed to Marshall’s parents house for a cookout for Father’s Day.  We enjoyed some yummy food that they cooked out and then jumped in the pool for a while to cool off.

After we swam everyone played horseshoes and then a game of croquet. I tell you, the sun really drained me. I guess that’s the first time this summer that I’ve been in the sun for a long period of time and I think I was walking around like a zombie after I got out of the pool.

We had a FABULOUS time and I so enjoy going out there. We always have a good time.  They are all coming here on July 4 for a cookout and to watch the fireworks from my backyard.

Hope you had a lovely weekend. :)

 

Lake Conasauga

This morning honey and I traveled over to the Cohutta mountains and went up to Lake Conasauga. We had been there before, two or three years back, but didn’t really explore around the lake. It is absolutely beautiful there.  This time we hiked the trail around the lake, and Marshall did a little fishing.

We spent all day there in the mountains and had a fantastic time. :)

 

Two Years

This morning I got up early and got ready. Kandi met me at the house at a few minutes before 11 and we hauled butt to the Rave theater to see “The Proposal.” It was fantastically funny. I have loved Ryan Reynolds since Brooke and I watched him on “Two Guys, A Girl, and A Pizza Place.” He’s so gorgeous. The movie was just wonderful. We were there for the first showing along with about 15 other people, and everyone in the theater was cracking up. It’s a great movie. Oh, and you get to see his bare butt, so that’s fun, too. ;)

After the movie we headed to Sam’s and I got a few things I needed from there, then we had lunch at Lupi’s Pizza. It was delicious. I had two slices of cheese pizza, and a little piece of their homemade bread loaves. I instantly felt horribly guilty, even though each bite was like a little bit of heaven. We got home and went straight to the gym. Hopefully I worked off every calorie I consumed.

On June 19, 2007,  we brought Lucy home to live with us. :) She was very tiny and we couldn’t even see her eyes. Cain picked her out. While the other puppies were biting our shoes and growling at us, Lucy just sat there, as cute as a bug, looking at Cain and then looking at me. “I want that one–look how sweet she is,” Cain said. I protested, having fallen in love with another one, but decided to go with Cain’s choice. He was wrong though. Sweet? Ha! Maybe when she’s asleep! :D I took the photo above on the drive home. We were totally smitten with her by the time we got home about an hour later.

She was SO tiny. She’d fit right in the palm of your hand. I took her to the groomer the very next day in hopes that under all that fur, she did indeed have eyeballs.

She’s so funny and has provided us with so many laughs these two years that I couldn’t even begin to count them. Like when she’s biting us:

Or mad because the groomer put a bow in her hair:

And especially when she decides she’s had enough walking and just plops down:

Or when she’s sliding on her face while running back and forth between me and Marshall in hotel lobbies, or running back and forth between us in a field:

And when she has that windblown look while she’s looking out the car window for cows. Boy howdy, does she LOVE barking at cows. Not horses. Not goats. Just the cows, please.

And then the face she gives us, and the threatening barks when she’s ready to play:

And then all the times that she’s my little sweet angel dumplin’:

And now, all grown up at two years old (as of April 26, 2009) and wearing her Dorothy/Wizard of Oz bow:

You may see that I’m absolutely, 100-percent crazy about her. :) I’ve had great dogs throughout my life. Nothing will ever compare to Danda, our Doberman who grew up with the kids and died of cancer at age 12. :( But Lucy…Lucy was a lifesaver for me when the Empty Nest Syndrome came into my life. I love this dog SO much. :) She’s my best buddy, and like an American Express card, I don’t leave home without her. She goes everywhere we go. Anyway, yay! Two years ago today Cain and I went and picked her up. We sure are crazy about her.

 

Dizzy Girl

Pump class just about did me in this morning. I don’t know why but I had a really hard time with the exercises today, and the exercises didn’t vary much from the usual ones we usually do. I was very shaky while doing squats and when we finished I saw those little bursts of stars that you see sometimes when you feel like you might faint. It was not enjoyable. The class was enjoyable, how I felt wasn’t.

I worked on the house today and that’s about it. When I walked outside at 8 a.m. this morning to head to gym class the humidty was so horrible it felt like a hot slap in the face. Needless to say, I didn’t spend much time outside today.

Later.

 

Bunches

Bunches, huh? The little guys are Eastern Tailed-Blues and the yellows are sulphurs but I can’t remember what kind. :)

I got up this morning and took Lucy to the vet to get shaved. Bless her heart, she has so much fur that she can’t enjoy being outside. Oh, and speaking of being outside, what is UP with this 90-degree weather?!  Good gracious.

I drove to Summerville and got some pretty new tires for the Tahoe so we’ll be all prepared for our Florida vacation, which happens to be only 26 days away. Woo hoo!

I came home and changed and met my buddy, Dona, for lunch at Olive Garden. It was yummy delicious. Dona and I have been friends since first grade. I absolutely LOVED spending time with her, but as per usual, it went by too fast. :( I picked up the Goose and went straight to the gym to work off all the fattening things I ate. :)

My house is really, truly a disaster area. Tomorrow after Pump class I’m coming straight home and sending my family outside to work while I work inside. I do better when they are out of my way. I’m too easily distracted. :)

G’night.

 

No Title For This One Because I Get Tired of Coming Up With Titles

I love passion flowers. Isn’t this beautiful? Really I’m not even sure if it’s a flower. I think it’s an alien from another planet. ;)

I got up early this morning and MISSED MY GYM CLASS so that I could head to Ider, Ala. to take care of some business for my mom. Afterwards I headed back home but stopped by my Dad’s house for about an hour and looked around his yard for butterflies.

When I got home Marshall and I got ready and met with my friend Betty B. and her hubby for supper. Betty is from just right outside St. Louis, Mo. and she and her hubby came here to check out the Chickamauga Battlefield. She loves all things Civil War. :)  Marshall and I are planning on taking a trip up there to visit with them in the fall. I can’t wait. :)

It was a great day (sans the drive to Alabama). Hope your day was great, too. :)

 

Stressed

I have so much going on right now that I’m completely stressed.

Tomorrow things should be better.

Yay!

 

Should’ve Stayed In Bed

Today could’ve been better. I should’ve stayed in bed.

We did go to Pigeon for a while and that was fun, otherwise, not the best day.

I’m still thankful to God for my wonderful husband and for my wonderful life.

:)

Good night.

 

I Was Kidnapped (Sort Of)

This is where hubby and Cain fish a lot, and where I take a lot of butterfly photos. :)

You know, I was going to blog about today but I’m so tired that it’ll have to wait for tomorrow.

The short of it is that I went out to my Dad’s house this morning while I waited to hear from my buddy Kandi. I was planning on taking butterfly photos and then heading back off the mountain around 11.  Instead I went to a family reunion. My stepmother’s family all met at Cloudland Canyon. It was great to see folks that I haven’t seen since I was a little girl.

When I got home Marshall and I went back on the mountain to see his parents. We had a nice visit with them until 9:30ish tonight. I love going out there, I really do.  They have lots of blueberries that are about to be ripe and I can’t wait to visit them then either. ;)

Night.

 

Lazy Day

I walked around my yard this morning taking picturese while the lighting was still good. I caught this little gal hanging out on my flower. Cute, I know. :)

We lazed around the house for most of the morning then headed off to Kandi’s late father’s house to do some cleaning. Actually I walked around and took pictures while Cain, Marshall, & Kandi threw wood and pieces of an old, burnt shed into a dumpster. The cleaning ended after about 1.5 hours when Cain was stung three or four times by yellow jackets. He was stung right on the ear, too. Marshall started calling him Dumbo. :) Bless his heart, his ear was huge. We gave him Benadryl and we headed home.

Kandi treated Marshall and I to supper at Logan’s. I haven’t been there in such a long time. My meal was delicious. :)

We came home and watched the Braves. We’re watching the Ox-Bow Incident right now and I’m already getting teary-eyed. I remember the story from school. Ever read it? Ever seen the movie? So sad…

Later, gators.

 

Poor Fishy

This is my very first coneflower blooming. :) Isn’t it such a pretty color? It’s still opening and there are lots more buds under it. The birds and butterflies love them so I’m very excited.

Pump class was great. We did new exercises and new stretches so I’m sure I’ll be sore later.  I added another weight to my bar and my arms were shaking like crazy but I made it through. Yay!

Brooke’s fish, which she named “Vitrolla” for reasons I’m unsure of, died this afternoon. Brooke had her for almost three years, which is about the right lifespan of a betta fish. You may remember that its mate died a few months back. Brooke was at work when Vitrolla passed away, but she called me as she was on her way home and I told her the bad news (we knew she was dying and didn’t expect her to make it through the day). We both fake cried together and then to cheer her up I said, “It was probably because of something you did.” We laughed and laughed.

Yep, I’m a good mom…here for my kids. ;) Our family has a weird sense of humor, what can I say?

Poor Vitrolla. I really, truly am sad about her passing. Betta fish are fun to watch and we had a nice tank for her, not one of those stupid tiny fishbowls. How could a fish enjoy living in something no bigger than a cup? Anyway…

Later. :)

 

Storms and Whatnot

Brooke and I took our bikes to the Chickamauga Battlefield today. We rode about six miles and we had SO much fun. As we were pulling out of the driveway it started raining, and about halfway through town the bottom dropped out. It was raining so hard that we couldn’t even see the road, and then it started hailing. We thought about coming back home but we figured it would be cleared up by the time we got to the park so we went on. I’m so glad we did.

Oh, and yes, we did ride without helmets today but we WILL use helmets. I have one but just forgot it. I’m not sure if Brooke has one or not. Anyway, we had such a great time. We saw butterflies, an Indigo Bunting, a doe with her little fawn, and a black snake. It was a great way to spend the day.

We watched Gran Torino last night and we all really, really liked it. Clint Eastwood’s voice is so gruff that I came to the conclusion that he must’ve been the inspiration for Christian Bale’s insane Batman voice. ;)

Night!

 

Rocks

The plan was to walk through a wide open field to a pond near Pigeon Mountain. BUT hubby said we could park at another location where we’d be closer to the pond and not have to walk through the field.

Hmmph!

See those rocks? Those were the SMALL ones we walked over. I’m holding two cameras and trying to balance myself, and anyone that knows me can tell you I’m one of the clumsiest people you’ll ever meet.

The “pond” ended up being about two feet deep so we walked back over all those rocks and I’m surprised that I survived. Go me!

Pump class at the gym was great this morning. I love that class. I really enjoy going so much, even if it makes me feel like I’m going to die. :)

 

Exploring

This is the scorpion I saw yesterday. This is the same kind of scorpion that we had in our house (an old 1880’s log cabin) when I was a little girl. We’d have to check our sheets each night before we went to bed to make sure none were in there, and occasionally we did find one and would have to scream for our Daddy to come get it out. :) I never did get stung, but my Dad was stung more than once.

This morning I took a nice, long, HOT shower. I had my breakfast on the screened porch and then got ready and went over to a place down the road where I have seen an Indigo Bunting. Try as I might to get a good photo of one, it’s almost impossible.  I’ll keep at it though. I did get photos of an American Snout butterfly and a Giant Swallowtail butterfly so the morning was certainly a good one. :)

I think we’re about to go exploring again. :)

Have a good day.

 

He Loves His Lure

My  hubby REALLY loves his lure. :) This was the second place he fished today and he caught a gigantic bass. The bad thing is, is that it got caught in all of those lilypads. He didn’t want to break his line with the fish on there because he didn’t want it to die just caught up in all those lilypads AND he really loved the lure. LOL  I can’t believe he went out in the water like that. What a goon.

We had a fabulous day together. We got up early and headed straight for the mountain. We stopped at the foot of it and I took several shots of butterflies. When we got to the field where my hubby fished there were butterflies all over the place. I had a super time exploring and took pictures of quite a few butterflies that I didn’t have pictures of before.

He fished in a couple more ponds and I spent my time exploring around them and taking pictures of whatever caught my eye. We didn’t see a single snake, and I was a bit disappointed in that. I did see a scorpion and lots of bees and flowers, so it made for a great day. :)

Hope your day was beautiful, too.

 

Can’t Get Away From Snoring

Today hubby and I got up and went exploring. We had a great time together. We went over to John’s Mountain and explored that area and even went on a little hike. We saw coyote barf. Now how fun is THAT?! *gag*

After we left from over there we went to a little place where Mom’s church was having an outing. We didn’t stay long. She’s SO tiny and it made me physically ill to see her looking like that. She didn’t seem quite right when we were there. She really wanted me to come but yet she barely talked to me when we got there. It was all just very odd and made me very uncomfortable.

Lucy is beside me here on the couch and she’s snoring so loud that I can hardly hear the television. :) She’s just like her human daddy, huh?

Speaking of her human daddy, he, Cain, and Jake have gone to do some late night fishing on the mountain. I kind of wish I’d have gone with them. Brooke is at Riverbend and so I’m here by myself.  :( They should be getting home any minute so I think I’ll make it.

G’night.

 

Blah…

Here’s little bitty teeny tiny Jimmy Dickens. He opened the show when we were at the Grand Ole Opry to see Steve Martin. First, I can’t believe he’s still alive, and second, he really IS very tiny. :)

I felt like poop today. I don’t know what in the world is going on. My eye is giving me lots of trouble and I thought I was getting pink eye, although, I don’t know how I’d get pink eye. Anyway, that’s not what it is. Whatever it is, it’s driving me B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

We cooked out steaks and corn on the cob out on the grill, and added baked potatoes and salad to that. It was SO delicious.

Night!

 

Better

I’m feeling much better today. I’ve mostly stayed inside…well, it’s raining outside anyway, but I ran a few errands and then washed clothes when I got home. That’s about it.

I went to the gym this evening. I did my regular workout and then relaxed in the sauna. Did you see my Before & After pictures the other day? I can’t wait to see how much I’ve changed in three more months. :)

We’re watching “Life In Cold Blood” on the Science channel. Reptiles are absolutely fascinating, aren’t they? I love these shows. First, there are so many animals that I didn’t even know existed, and to learn lots about them is wonderful.

My daughter asked Cain if he wanted to go to Tickle Town, then announced that she is the mayor of Tickle Town, then proceeded to tickle her brother. This child needs help. ;)

Later!

 

Yucky

This is a photo that I took yesterday.

I have a kidney infection and I’m not feeling too well. :( I’ve been moping all day and was in pretty bad pain for most of the night until about 5:30 or so this morning. I have had some pain today but not as bad as last night. I’ll be glad when this goes away. It’s very uncomfortable, especially when combined with going to the restroom about 8 million times. *whine whine*

G’night.