Thanksgiving Part Two

Well, sorry I have been so late in getting this posted, I got sidelined by an ugly bug and have been sick for awhile. But now that I'm back in the land of the living, I'm going to finish up Thanksgiving!

We celebrated our second Thanksgiving over the following weekend, with my side of the family. For the last few years my parents have been renting a cabin in the mountains in either NC or GA, and my sister and her family come up for the holiday. We try to get over there for a few days as well. This year it was just outside of Blue Ridge, GA.



The cabin sat right above a river with stairs heading from the back porch down to the river's edge. And if you were brave enough to go down there, well, you had to be hearty enough to get back up!



Although there were several other cabins in the area, we enjoyed relative peace and quiet for the weekend. On Saturday morning, on our way out to visit the general store at Mercier Orchards, we met Barney the turkey. Barney was either a favorite pet or the farm's guard "dog", because he patrolled his property and was almost aggressive to this lady who was out walking the gravel road in front of "his" house.



This is one of the few times a year I get to see my younger sister Darenda and her family- her husband Doug, her oldest son Tyler, and youngest son Luke. Since they live in Florida, I may only get to see them once or twice a year, so it's nice when we can all spend a few days together hanging out and catching up on life.





As you can see, we did a lot of nothing over the holiday weekend, which was fine by me. We snacked, watched a lot of college football, and did plenty of relaxing and just being a family. We even had a night of making s'mores over the toasty fire in the living room.







On Sunday morning, all the Floridians had to get an early start to head back home, but since James and I were only about two hours from our front door, we decided to take in a few sights. We headed over to Amicalola Falls State Park, where, you guessed it, they have a penny machine! But also a beautiful water fall.





The fall starts out as a simple lazy creek, up at the top of this. But gravity does its trick and turns the quiet still waters into this gusher. It's over 700 feet tall, and worth the drive there and the walk up. Plus, look at the gorgeous views of Chattahoochee National Forest out there, even on a gray day.







We finished off our Thanksgiving weekend with a stop in Atlanta, where we went to the Falcons game. They were playing my poor pathetic Tampa Bay Bucs, who lost a heartbreaker and just made me mad. They stink this year, but I am loyal, every season.

Thanksgiving Part One

We got started on our Thanksgiving trek on Wednesday after work. We weren't able to get a really early start, as we both had to work that day. We were greeted with the same sight that probably most every other traveler was that evening- a long line of red tail lights in front of us on the interstate. It didn't surprise us, I know Thanksgiving is the most heavily traveled holiday. And of course, the major interstate of I-75 goes right through Atlanta. We avoided heading through downtown and took the bypass around the city, but it was still bumper to bumper with folks just as anxious as we were to start the holiday season off!



We made it to just north of Atlanta, and we decided to take a quick dinner break. We called our friend David, who lives in Marietta, and he met us at Big Pie In The Sky, a slightly infamous pizza joint which gained its fame from the show "Man Versus Food" on the Travel Channel. The slices of pizza here are SO big, you don't get plates- you get your own individual pizza pan to eat on! I figured it would be dead, just hours before Thanksgiving morning, but I was very wrong. The place was packed, the line was to the front door, every seat at every table was filled and people were streaming in and out to pick up orders. The "medium" size pizza, which is what we ordered, states it feeds 4-6, and takes over an hour from time of order to table-side delivery. The large pizza is a whopping 30 inches! Not only were they the biggest slices of pizza I've ever seen, it was also quite delicious and worthy of the detour.



We got back on the road later that evening, and some of the traffic had died down, and we finally made our way over the state line. It was late, but a cozy room and bed awaited us at a brand new shiny Fairfield Inn & Suites in Cleveland, Tennessee. I'm glad my husband made reservations in advance, because I heard the clerk at the front desk tell someone over the phone they were booked up. We settled onto the couch in the living room to watch a bit of TV and wind down, but the bed was too tempting and we were in it within the hour. We awoke the next morning to the sounds of the vet techs at the kennels nextdoor, walking the dogs who weren't lucky enough to travel with their families.



The next morning we headed into Knoxville, to the home where James grew up, and where his parents still live. We got there about 10:30, before anyone else, but lots of company started to arrive shortly. My in-laws have gorgeous property and I just love coming there each and every trip, no matter what time of year. Fall just seems to bring out the beauty of the property, with the colors of the leaves and the sweeping open skies overhead.







We met the newest member of the family, Missy, who just joined the Truan household a few weeks ago. Missy was found after what surely was a long and harrowing episode of living on her own outside. Her coat was long and matted, she had sores on her body. But now she has a new home with a loving family, and she is already getting spoiled by my mother-in-law. She still seemed a bit shy and unsure, but she was super friendly and played with her toys and enjoyed the attention. She was happy to see everyone that day, and we were delighted to meet her. But we made sure we also gave out plenty of petting and attention to Joppa, who has been ruling the roost on his own for awhile now.







We had a huge spread, and James' mom Carol worked very hard and was busy getting everything ready while we all visited with family and got caught up on each of our lives. We had turkey, gravy, dressing, roasted veggies, green beans, corn, cranberries, salad, baked mac and cheese, potatoes, and I'm sure other items I'm forgetting to mention. There were so many choices that day, I didn't even get to taste everything, despite eating until I was stuffed. Then of course we had wonderful pies from pecan to pumpkin to Granny's million-dollar pie, and the family favorite chocolate chip pie. We even had turkey shaped cupcakes!







We even celebrated James' dad David's birthday, which was the next day on Friday but we decided to enjoy it while everyone was gathered. There was a wonderful cherry crisp, but we were all too full to do anything but look at it and admire it when he blew out the candles. Seems like everyone had the same gift-giving ideas this year and went to Bass Pro Shops!





Eventually the festivities started to wind down, and unfortunately we had to leave that afternoon because I had to work on Friday. As we got on the road, the dark clouds hovered over us. The local news was calling for possible flurries that evening, but I don't know if they got any or not. I wish we could have stayed to find out, but it was back on the road for home.



Stay tuned for Part Two.....

Coastal Getaway

This will be quick on the writing side, there is a lot of pre-Thanksgiving craziness going on at our house tonight, but I wanted to get this on here.

I just wanted to share the photos from our trip over the weekend, to Biloxi Mississippi. No real occasion, just felt like slipping away for a few days. We left Friday after work and came home Sunday evening. It was a gray weekend, which you can see in all the photos, but we had a wonderful time. The first thing you notice about Biloxi is that there is still a great deal of damage left from Hurricane Katrina. These photos were taken from the hotel room window, of the surrounding area. You can see how close we were to the water. It seems as though they are making great efforts to rebuild still. (The first photo is the foundation of what used to be a hotel.)







Our quest for smashed pennies took us to a few spots over the weekend. Here is the Jefferson Davis home, Beauvoir. It suffered a great deal of damage from Katrina, in fact many of the pieces on display inside had just been returned a few weeks ago, after being refurbished. Jefferson Davis lived here after the Civil War, as he was homeless when all of his property was confiscated. After his death, the home was turned into a home for Confederate veterans. The Sons of Confederate Veterans still own the property today.





Look how huge the windows and doors were. These were in the his and her master bedrooms and lead out onto the porch, where the family slept sometimes in the summer.





Also on the property is a cemetery where hundreds of soldiers are buried. And one favorite work mule, Polly.







Later that Saturday the penny hunt took us to Stennis Space Center where we were able to take a free tour.





We were able to ride a small bus out to the area where they test the engines used on the space shuttles (and before that, Saturn rockets for the Apollo program). These photos don't do the gigantic size of the platforms justice. I wish we could have gotten out to take a closer look, but I understand national security issues.













Later at the museum we were able to see a few engines close up (above). Inside the large (free!) museum there was a lot to see, including this beautiful mosaic. Sorry for the quality of the photo, it was beautiful.



Also this very interesting sewing project, where the members of the American Needlepoint Guild are creating pieces based on all the uniform mission patches from over the years. Since I've been cross-stitching since I was young, I found this collection quite compelling.











James gave a try at the simulator, where he had to land the shuttle on a runway. It was more difficult than it looked.







He also tried "building" with gloved hands inside this container. It was just large Lego-like pieces, but the challenge was still there. I did not do well at all, but James managed to put all the pieces together easily.



Does this outfit make me look fat?



We actually walked right by the elongated penny machine, it was so cleverly disguised. We've never seen one that looked so unique!



We stopped to check out a few lighthouses along the coast, this one was oddly enough right in the middle of a busy highway. The one below, I'm not really sure if it used to be a lighthouse or not, but we couldn't think of any other purpose for it.





Although it was extremely cold and blustery along the beach, and rainy most of the day, it didn't seem to bother the various sea birds we saw that Saturday afternoon.







We ended Saturday night by going over the bridge into Ocean Springs, where we found this cute little Italian restaurant downtown (and lots and lots of shopping, but everything was closed already darn it!). Al Fresco's Bistro had outdoor dining, and despite the cold, we took advantage of it. They had heaters hanging from the ceiling, and we were actually quite warm while we ate by the fountain (notice the red tint to the photo- from the heaters). The only bad part- the portions were huge but because we were at a hotel and leaving the next morning, I couldn't take the rest of the yummy gnocchi home with me!







We ended the weekend on Sunday with a stop at a Bass Pro Shop in Alabama, which had a penny machine (I think they all do) and brought our penny total for the weekend to 13. We enjoyed Biloxi, although we could have enjoyed better weather, but we've put it on our list of areas we would like to go back to one day. Plus, I want to go back to Ocean Springs and check out all that shopping!!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Stupid Pet Tricks

I just had to share this funny video from yesterday. Late in the day and with the way the sun hits the house, whenever I open the door to go out on the back deck it leaves a bright reflection on the wall in the sun room. It never fails that General is there to chase it. So indulge me as I open and close the door about a thousand times. It's my cat, so of course I think it's cute and funny...

A Day At The Salt Mines

So most everyone knows my story. I met James in 2003 at work. Although we'd both been with the company for awhile, he had always worked nights. That fall, he was transferred to the day shift, we met and started dating soon thereafter. The rest is history. Or, at least fodder for my blog. We worked together happily for several years until, as you all know, he was promoted and moved to the Atlanta division of our company. Although I stayed behind for a few months to work and get the house packed up, I moved here to Georgia in January, where I've sat around moping all year long.

Now that I'm back at work, at my former company at the Atlanta division, I am once again working with the hubby. He's in his old department (operations), I'm back in mine (accounting). A different city, and different co-workers (although a few in Atlanta used to be with us back in South Carolina), but it is just like old times again. Before, I worked from 4am until noon, and James worked "regular" hours of 8am until whenever he could get away ten hours later. But now that I'm on a normal person's schedule of 8-5, life has changed drastically for me.

But working with my husband does have its high points. Here we are this morning (below), coming into work. We leave the house at the same time, I am right behind him on the half hour drive, and we park right beside each other. We would carpool, but of course I would have to sit around and wait for him to get off work, which is usually an hour or two after I do. That doesn't really work out for us. But, I have to admit, it is sort of fun to come into work "together". Well, at least into the parking lot at the same time.



Although James doesn't work in the same office as I do, I get to see him once or twice a day if he happens to be strolling by. And as I did at my old office, I have loads of photos of him and the kitties on my wall to keep me company. Also to remind me of "why" I work. This is just one little corner of my happy cubicle. Several people have told James that his wife has a "shrine" dedicated to him at her desk! Little do they know, this is only a fraction of what I used to have at my desk back at the old division. I don't want to scare off my new co-workers in the first month. They need to warm up to me before they get the real me, ha ha!



And when I don't get to actually see James in the office, I can always type him a quick IM and let him know I'm thinking of him...surprisingly, he answers me!!! :)

Signs of Winter?

I guess it's too cold in the house when Spider takes over my heating pad. Yes, it was turned on, and on high. And yes, she is still napping on it as I type this....

Girls Rule- Again!

A huge congrats to Breeders' Cup winner Zenyatta, for once again showing up the big boys and proving that the girls can race too!

Zenyatta got a slow start out of the gate, after all the tense commotion with Quality Road's antics. She was dead last in the field for the first half of the race, but came on strong in the final turn and just blew by all the other horses. After the amazing Preakness run of Rachel Alexandra earlier this year, these two ladies are the reigning queens in the sport of kings!

Comforts of Home

A few of the gorgeous fall colors here in our neck of the woods- believe it or not this stunning tree was at our county garbage dump yesterday when we dropped off our recycling. You never know when or where you will find the beauty of Mother Nature! Our days are still mild, but our nights are down in the 30's lately. We keep the heat on, for the sake of the cats, but as you can see (below), they are good at keeping each other warm too. Romeo and General snuggled in yesterday afternoon on our bed for a super long, kitty-style nap.

Since I left Florida back in 1995 and moved "farther north" where it actually gets cold, I discovered the joy of all things flannel. Flannel PJ's, flannel jackets, flannel throws. And flannel sheets. Yesterday I made a mad dash into Target to pick up the set below, on sale for $15, even for the king size. This will be my fifth flannel sheet set over the years, and today I'm stripping our bed of the cool cotton sheets of summer and switching over to the fuzzy warm flannel sheets for winter. I can hear them tumbling in the dryer right now. It's not quite cold enough yet to throw on the extra "winter" blanket, but I'm sure it's just right around the corner.

James and I were expecting company over the weekend, so we spent Saturday morning in a cleaning frenzy. And I know, if I kept up with the housework it wouldn't be such a massive chore to clean up the house for visitors! We bought enough football-watching snacks to feed twenty people, and mapped out plans to spend Saturday evening in the Little Five Points area of Atlanta (we planned to take our friend to our go to hot spot, The Vortex). But after some airline delays, our company wasn't able to come in as planned on Saturday afternoon. Instead James is currently on his way to the airport to pick up his family friend from Florida. They are headed to the Falcons game this afternoon, and then the friend has a flight back to Florida right after the game. So, our house will be devoid of the extra company, but at least we got it cleaned from top to bottom!! And now I have the afternoon to myself to get caught up on blogging as well as a little shopping later on today.

Since James and I were already dressed up and ready to walk out the front door yesterday when our friend called about the delay, we decided to head on out anyhow. We ran a few errands in town (Newnan that is, not Atlanta) and had dinner at our local Taco Mac. No, not a Mexican restaurant despite the name- it's actually a wing joint which would explain the winged buffalo in their logo. James had a basket of Habanero BBQ wings, and I had a Buffalo & Blue Cheese burger. We sat out in the back sun room (below), and watched the first half of the Alabama-LSU game, along with many many other Alabama fans (we are only one county away from the Alabama state line). Alabama won, which means my Gators will soon be playing the Tide in a few weeks for the SEC Championship- which is held here in Atlanta every year. I doubt we will be able to get tickets, but my parents come up for the game when UF is playing, so we will probably get to visit with them very soon!

Horsing Around

All week long, James told me not to make any plans for Halloween night, he had a huge night planned for the two of us in celebration of me getting the new job. He wouldn't tell me what we were doing, he just told me I needed to dress up and we needed to leave the house by 5:00pm. We had dinner reservations at 6:30 and he hinted that there was something else to come...

We made our way up into downtown Atlanta on a cold, windy, rainy night, going to Atlantic Station. We had dinner at Strip, a funky two-story restaurant specializing in both sushi and steak. We both opted for steak, and I have to say this was probably one of the very best filets I have ever had, cooked and seasoned perfectly- it just melted in my mouth. I highly recommend this restaurant! We loved it, and the staff were all dressed up in their Halloween costumes for a party later on that night. Our waitress was dressed like a hooded ninja with swords crossed on her back, but with her ultra-short blond and pink hair, she looked more like a pixie. On to the big surprise....

Next to Atlantic Station was this huge white tent, set up right in the shadows of the downtown skyline. Inside...CAVALIA!!

James bought the Horse Lovers' package, which gave us great up front seats for the show, and a backstage pass after the show to tour the stables and meet the four-legged stars. Cavalia is a magical show created by one of the founders of Cirque du Soleil. This show is filled with tremendous live music, beautiful sets, gorgeous men and women in costume, acrobats, dancing, singing, people flying from the ceiling, and almost 60 magically talented horses representing twelve different breeds. James knows how much I love horses, and I was SO excited to go to this, I can't tell you in words here. Not only that, but my husband secretly planned all of this for me, for us. It was a wonderful evening.

Many of the horses performed without riders or ropes of any kind, they responded to verbal cues from the actors, and of course used their superior equine intelligence to run and prance through their routines. There was no photography allowed during the show, but I managed to snap this shot afterwards, while there were still a few horses on stage.

And here are a just a few of the many photos I took of the horses during the special tour of the stables. We weren't allowed to use the flash, which makes sense because the horses had all just finished performing in this two hour show, and they were resting and eating. But I took as many photos as I could. Some of the horses were camera shy, but many were very friendly, and unfortunately for me we were not allowed to touch any of them, even though many stuck their noses through the bars on the stalls to sniff at me. The photo of the young horse is a small colt the show just rescued and adopted here in Atlanta, and they will train him to one day be part of the group. He and another colt came out on stage at the very beginning, but they were just out there to look oh so cute.

I'm not sure if this show will be coming to a city near you, but if you love horses as much as I do, then I urge you to go and see this spectacular production. Gorgeous, is all I can say. And thank you to my wonderful amazing husband for giving me this incredible evening!! And thank you for the cute little stuffed horse you gave me after the show!

Fall Finale

Well today was my last lazy weekday afternoon to spend on the back deck and enjoy my view (all photos). It was sort of crummy and gray out today, but I could still enjoy the fall colors in the back yard. Off to work tomorrow morning, but I will blog later in the week to let everyone know how the new job is going! Take care.