Black Hairy Spider Art Studio

Somebody Likes Me!

2012-01-29T16:57:00.003-05:00

I just wanted to share the award I was presented on Friday night, at a large company dinner. Our sales force voted crazy little ol' me, their sales support excellence winner for the whole of 2011. I was tickled and thrilled, to say the least. I did not suspect a thing, considering James and I have been to the ceremony in the past- he as Director of Operations, me as "...and spouse". The best part is, I realize all the long hours and hard work, are recognized and appreciated. The worst past, getting up on stage in front of about 300+ people to accept! Thank goodness I did not have to give a speech, just shake hands and pose for a photo! Tomorrow, it's back to the grind, to see if I can earn it for 2012.

It's Not HGTV...

2012-01-25T18:56:00.010-05:00

So I posted these funny pics on Facebook with the "You Might Be A Redneck If" tagline, just to get a few laughs. And I did! But, I also wanted to share the rest of the story as well. Yes, that is James on the lawn mower, with our couch in the trailer on the back, and his friend David walking along. That is actually my old furniture, that I had in my house before James and I got married. And it's been the furniture we've used ever since. I've been wanting to get a new living room set, and finally this was the year it happened.

There's nothing wrong with the furniture, it's just a little worn and looking a little rough. Still comfortable though. So, we really didn't want to just toss it out. Along with new furniture, we are getting a new TV- because finally finally after all this time- we will have an entertainment center. Which our old TV- James' gigantic monster from his bachelor days- will not fit in. Definitely James did not want to get rid of the TV, it's his pride and joy. We talked it over and decided that, even though our basement is completely unfinished, why not set it all up down there?

Since our house is situated on a hill, and our backyard sweeps down below (our basement is actually built into the side of the hill), the hurdle became- how to get everything down there? One weekend James and his buddy David had a nice guys-only getaway weekend, and on their return that Sunday- I made a big lunch of hamburgers, onion rings, sweet potato fries, and all the fixins'. The guys took everything out of the living room and down to the basement. James' idea of putting it all on the back of the lawn mower and driving each piece down the hill, was actually pretty inspired, and worked like a charm. They did have to carry everything out the front door and get it to the tractor to begin with, but it sure beat carrying everything either down the stairs, or down the hill. (Romeo inspecting their work safe from his window perch.)

So everything is now down in the basement, and we've been spending our evenings down here for almost two weeks now. We spent all day Sunday watching football, and other than it being cold, it's actually been pretty fun. We do have the small space heater and blankets, but since I like the cold, it's not bothering me. We moved some of the cats' hideaways down there as well- when we go downstairs, they do too, they can't seem to stay away from the action. I imagine, even when we get the new living room fixed up, I can see myself still coming down here and spending a weekend afternoon, hanging out.

Now the living room is empty, and we are waiting on the new set. The sofa was on back order, so we still have about two weeks before it gets delivered. We had Stanley Steemer come the other day, and clean all the carpets in the entire house. I was a little disappointed that they couldn't get all the "cat stains" out of the carpet (gotta love being a pet owner), but the house was long overdue for a cleaning. I will post again once the furniture gets here!

Socks

2012-01-02T13:27:00.005-05:00

I had to share a photo I took this morning of "new" kitty Socks, relaxing by the fire. Socks came home with us on Thanksgiving weekend. She belongs to James' grandmother, who recently had to go live at a nursing home. My mother-in-law says Socks' vet records states she's 13, but Granny insisted to me that Socks is 16. We just know that Miss Socks is a senior kitty, no matter her age.

She prefers to sleep upstairs in my "studio", but she has been coming downstairs to visit. She loves to roam down in the basement, apparently at night, because that's where she is every morning when we get up. So far no big spats with any of the other Truan felines. Maarten hisses at her, but he's a big sissy anyhow. I can assume that since no one is fighting with her, that they've all already accepted her into our family.

We look at ourselves as foster parents, because we promised Granny that if she ever goes to live somewhere that allows her to keep a pet, we will gladly bring Socks right back to her. For now, and for however long she needs a home, Socks is our kitty and we love her very much already. She has particularly stolen James' affections, he is quite taken with her. But, he's a big softy when it comes to the cats, so it was no surprise!

Let's Get It Going Again!

2012-01-02T13:01:00.003-05:00

I was reminded today by a friend on my Facebook page, that I hadn't blogged in a very very long time. Family members have told me they've missed my blog as well, as it was the one way they could keep up with everything that James and I have been up to. It's true- I've become lazy and have been 100% dependent on Facebook because it's SO easy to just load all my photos in an album and upload. Blogging does take up a lot more time, and I can only put a few photos on each post. But, I get to write a lot more. I promised myself I'd get the blog going again in 2012.

I found about 4 posts that I started in 2011 and never finished, so first order of business will be to get back to those. Then to start catching up- James and I have, as usual, been busy busy busy on the weekends and taking lots of trips.

Work has been staggeringly overwhelming, in terms of stress and hours on the job. 2011 was probably the roughest year of my entire life, as far as work goes. I've been doing accounting and working in an office since I was out of high school at age 17, and I just turned 45 this weekend. And for me to say that 2011 was the toughest ever, and I really really mean it!!- then I want you to all know I am hoping for better times ahead.

Not only did we have the computer conversion which was grueling and took months, then we had lay-offs that decimated a third of our staff in finance yet did not alleviate any of the work load. The last few weeks I've been surviving on four hours of sleep, Cheetos, and ice cream. It's not much of a life right now, but I wholeheartedly appreciate my job and my paycheck. Just trying desperately to find a balance between the hours at work, and the little bit of free time I have at home.

I promise I'll be back on here regularly again, and looking for new blogs to follow. Thanks and Happy 2012!

(Romeo in his Christmas outfit)

Bargain Art

2011-08-14T14:42:00.007-04:00

I confess, I love auctions. I'd never been to one before 2004, when I attended my first one with my seasoned veteran date, James. He had been going to them for quite some time. At my first auction with James, I picked up a few small Belleek china items for a great price, and I was hooked. My two auction passions are pottery and artwork. I don't normally luck out on pottery or vases, because fantastic pieces like Roseville and Fenton usually don't go for cheap- everyone recognizes those names and knows their worth.

This year, we've been to a few auction houses as well as estate auctions. Not only do we always have a lot of fun, we always come home with a neat find. In fact, I don't know that we've ever been to an auction or estate sale and NOT bought anything!

Although my sewing abilities are relegated to only cross-stitch, I do appreciate the hard work that goes into any kind of stitching project. At the last auction we went to, I got the pair of needlepoint horses below for next to nothing. They were obviously old pieces, but they were horses after all, and I can't pass up anything with a horse on it.

The piece below is a bit quirky- it's someone's original hand drawn architectural plan. It's actually quite large, and it was professionally framed, and I can see the talent and time that went into this. Plus, no one else bid against me so I got it for two bucks! Hey, $2 for an original work of art is a bargain, no matter what the subject is. I have it hanging upstairs over my work table, where I have great intentions of one day creating my own art again.

This painting below is an oil, and from the looks of the frame, it's fairly old. I told James I was interested in it, and while I was busy playing on my phone, he'd bid on it and won it before I even knew it had come up for auction. I think we picked this one up for a fairly great price too, less than $20.

The original water color below we got at an estate sale, and the departed was definitely an art collector, he had every space in his home covered with an original painting. Many were from the artist that painted the piece below, entitled "Seaside Cottage", which was painted in 1977 by Franklin Jones. I have never heard of him, but have since found articles about him online. He wrote several books about how to paint with water colors, and these were at the estate sale as well, along with I think a few dozen of his paintings. We paid a little more for this piece, but I love it. It was crooked inside the frame, so I took it out to straighten and reframe it, and found another original water color on the other side, by the same artist! It was not complete, but I thought it was a pretty cool discovery.

And the best of the best is below, a huge piece we got a few weeks ago. It came from a farm house in Pennsylvania somewhere, and I knew I had to have it. I wish I could show you how big it is, it's about four feet high and five feet wide. It's an original oil. And of course, I had someone bidding against me (a phone bid), but my dear husband knew how much I loved it and he outlasted the other bidder. It's not the most expensive piece of art I have, but it's the most I've ever paid at an auction. It has a place of honor right in our living room- in fact, I took down a big horse painting that was already there and put this up instead. I love it, it's original, and even though I don't know who painted it or even when, it was a fantastic find and I love it!

Kitties Still Spoiled Here

2011-08-13T12:25:00.005-04:00

I don't want you to think that just James and I have been upgrading our digs. The cats, of course, are always first in our thoughts. Check out their new kitty condo. We got this a few months ago, at a huge antique/furniture show. We went with the intentions of finding an old desk for James' office- and we did, bu well beyond our budget. Instead, we came home with this fabulous piece.

We walked outside and I had literally just said "they don't have anything here for cat lovers" and we stumbled across this! Several of them, but this is the one we loved and brought home. The guy who makes these is local, and not only does he make gigantic ones for shelters, but he also custom makes pieces for homes all over the country (he had a photo album to share). We've talked about going back to get another one, the cats love this thing. Here is his website, Furwood Forest, and you can see he has quite a talent and imagination.

I think this is an awesome cat condo, and I don't mind saying this piece was less expensive than the cat condos at PetSmart or in catalogs I've looked at. If you are a kitty lover, check out the website, he ships!

Hello Again!!

2011-08-13T10:53:00.003-04:00

Well what better way to get back on the blog, than to update with the new computer. After all, without it, I wouldn't be here again. It took awhile but everything is pretty much back in place. Above is the new computer, and James' new desk. He moved everything so that he can look out the window now. There is a second smaller desk to the right, not in the photo, but it's still a mess and he's getting it all fixed up to his liking.

Everything is new- new computer, new keyboard/mouse, new printer, and two new monitors- one of which also is an HDTV. With a flick of a button, it becomes a second PC monitor. I am happy James went for this set up, he's never had a TV in the office, so now he can work and watch the Braves play at the same time. I'll be blogging from here, since this is where we download the photos.

Below, we moved the old desk upstairs to the bonus room, which is sort of my office. My laptop is up there now, and I put it under the window that looks down on the back yard. Sweet. I got a great new camera for Christmas, so I've been taking lots of fantastic photos that I'll get posted on here as fast as I can! Plan to do some catching up this weekend, so I'll have a few posts. Thanks for hanging in there, glad to FINALLY be back, for real!

One Day Closer

2011-08-07T12:16:00.002-04:00

Yes, one day closer to getting back on the blog permanently! Our new computer is still at Best Buy today, but they promised they would be finished transferring all our data from the old computer in a few hours. The new office is set up, we have new desks, 2 new monitors, even a new printer. And upstairs in my studio, I inherited the old desk where I can keep my laptop and have a place of my own.

I'll still use the new computer for blogging, because we'll keep all our photos on it. I can't wait to be back on, I have missed posting and reading and discovering new blogs to follow.

Look for me this week, back on here boring you with vacation photos, tales of the kitties, and the goings on at our house.

Thanks for hanging in!

In Limbo

2011-07-19T08:26:00.003-04:00

I hope that very soon, I'll be back on here. No, we still don't have a new computer yet, so no internet access at home. It's high on our list of priorities, we just haven't been home the last few weekends. James is changing out his whole office- we recently bought him a new desk and his old desk will go upstairs to my "art studio" that I never have time to use. A new computer and printer are in the works shortly- I am hoping for sometime this month!

In the meantime, we've stayed busy around the house and around town. We've spent a lot of time working in the yard (some of my flowers above) and still have a few projects we want to tend to this year. We've had two great vacations already this year, with more travel planned for the fall. And we always have our little weekend jaunts here and there. Around town we stay busy too. We've been to a few great auctions and picked up some nice artwork and antique pieces.

I've got tons of photos to get posted on here, so once we get back up and running I hope to get caught up. Work still dominates our lives, my days are still 10 hours and James even more. But I miss blogging- both my own and reading everyone else- and I miss sharing the photos and stories with my friends and family who normally wouldn't get to see all the pictures.

Can't wait to be back in the blog world for good!

Okay, Really Still Here!

2011-05-05T12:18:00.002-04:00

I am really really still here. Our modem at home has died, and I've been without Internet for awhile. I am posting quickly at work, before I get caught. I've shut down my weight loss blog, for lack of progress. But I've got so many great stories and photos to get caught up on here. Now that I have recovered from surgery, my right arm can take the extra abuse of the computer at home.

As soon as we get back online at home, I'll start posting photos from the last vacation, etc.

Thanks!!

I Am Still Here!

2011-03-12T09:33:00.003-05:00

For the few of you who still read my blog- I am still around. I have been avoiding the computer at home, with good reason. I've had incredible pain in my right shoulder since the first of the year, and on March 1st I finally had surgery (below). The orthopaedic team at Emory removed a bone tumor. I am still in some pain, so I try not to use the computer at home. It has been a long 2011 for me so far, and hopefully this surgery will be the cure! It is a possibility- dim- that I may need a second surgery if the pain continues. I have a large calcium deposit on a tendon in the same general area, and that may be the cause of my pain- but removing the tumor took precedence over the calcium deposit. Still waiting on the biopsy, but the doctor said it did not look like anything to worry about.

I have SO much to catch up on with the blog, so many photos to post and trips to blog about. So very soon I will be back on here regularly. James got me one of those mini laptops for Christmas, so I can relax anywhere in the house and post, and not be tied down to the home office.

Please hang on, and I'll be back on here really really soon! Thanks.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2010-12-25T20:26:00.003-05:00

We are having a White Christmas here today! But it's snuggly and warm inside. Hope you are all having a magical, beautiful, wonderful Holiday!

Love- from The Truan Family

Back To Harrah's

2010-12-15T18:45:00.005-05:00

Hello all! Trying to play catch up again, I am so far behind on blogging it's ridiculous. James had to work tonight so I decided to post really quickly.

We went back to Harrah's at the first of the month, and the hotel was decorated beautifully for Christmas. We also caught a great concert there, Blake Shelton, who just won the Country Music Academy's 2010 male vocalist of the year. Harrah's has a wonderful theater there, it's brand new. And it was a great concert by a very handsome and talented young man (I say young because he's a whole decade younger than me). And he sang my mom's favorite song, "Some Beach".

We also got a good bit of snow during our visit- photo taken from our hotel room window. In the photo is the new tower of the hotel- it's not finished yet, but this will be the third tower now. Harrah's is expanding by leaps and bounds right now, I barely recognize it. I remember when there was NO Harrah's at all in Cherokee! This will be our last trip for at least a few months. We are like everyone else, super busy with the holiday rush, and of course at work we are both still drowning. Nice to have a lifeline to grab onto on the weekends!

First Snow Of The Year...Sorta

2010-11-07T18:19:00.005-05:00

It's been really cold here lately, with hard frosts down in the 20's and 30's that have killed a lot of my plants already. So what better way to enjoy the cold than go even farther north. Saturday morning we got up and got on the road, first making a pit stop at one of our shuttle sites so James could do a surprise inspection of the tractors and trailers. It was in the 30's so I stayed in the truck this time and just watched. We headed to the North Carolina mountains, where it had snowed Friday night. We got to see some of the snow still left on the ground. So, technically, we did get to see snow!!

We had tickets to a show at Harrah's on Saturday night, and no this isn't a country music singer, it's Larry the Cable Guy! He just ended his show with a very brief guitar-picking session. He was extremely funny, more funny than I expected, and we had really great seats right down front. Harrah's has recently undergone a massive expansion, which is still in progress. They built a new theater (the old theater is now part of the casino), and now that they serve alcohol, they are bringing in big names. Mostly country singers, but current hot singers, not just old has-beens!!

Sunday morning it was up early and back on the road south, to get to the Falcons/Buccaneers game. This is the one game of the year where I don't cheer for Atlanta, but instead throw on my Tampa Bay gear and scream for my homeboys. You can take me out of Florida, but you can't take the Florida out of me. It makes it hard, with both Atlanta and TB being in the same division, but I am okay being a Falcons fan for the rest of the season. Unfortunately, my Bucs lost 27-21, after blowing a chance on the 1 yard line to score on a 4th down with just a few minutes left in the game. They should have won 28-27!!

James and I ended the afternoon with coffee and people-watching at the CNN center, which I still find very cool no matter how many times we go there. As the football game was letting out, the Hawks (basketball team) were getting ready to play an hour later so fans were showing up for that game. We waited awhile before heading down to the train, to let the crowds die down. Thank goodness for the Starbucks kiosk!!

How We Spend Halloween In The South

2010-11-03T18:05:00.007-04:00

I promised myself I was going to start back on the blog regularly, so what better way than to talk about the weekend. James and I always buck the norm and do our own thing, and Halloween was no different. Instead of hanging ghosts in the trees and setting up fake headstones in the front yard, we hopped in the car Sunday morning and headed across the state line to Talladega Superspeedway for the NASCAR race! I didn't realize we lived so close by, but it was only 90 miles away.

We love NASCAR, but usually don't get to the races very often. Our main man is Tony Stewart! I am not sure why James pulls for him, but I do because he's so sexy. We had to stop by the trailer and load up on Tony Stewart gear.

James scored free tickets for us, down on the 5th or 6th row. While that might be the best seats at a Justin Bieber concert, at a NASCAR race you really want to sit up high so you can see the whole track. We could only see the cars heading out of the last turn and coming down the straightaway right in front of us- and then they were a complete blur. And we were sitting right in front of Tony's pit stall! But, it was actually pretty awesome to sit down there, and when the cars would go by at almost 200 miles an hour, the "breeze" was so strong it was knocking baseball caps off everyone. Not to mention we ended up covered in black tire dust. I opted not to wear earplugs, and if you have never heard one of these vehicles up close and personal, it is louder than a jet engine!

Unfortunately for Tony, he had a tire go down in the very early moments of the race, and stayed 1 to 2 laps behind for almost the entire race. It made it a bit less exciting for us, since he was never able to catch up. James, who rented headsets and a scanner (below), was able to listen to the pit crews and drivers talking to each other, as well as the PRN broadcast. Tony finally got back on the lead lap at the end of the race, only to get caught up in a big wreck on the last lap.

And of course, we can never go anywhere without being reminded of work! We had a number of trailers dropped at Talladega, with food for the race track. No complaints, as "work" is the only reason we can enjoy the lifestyle that we do!

I will blog more very soon!

Still Alive!!

2010-10-18T09:54:00.003-04:00

Oh my gosh, yes I'm still alive! Just SUPER busy working 12+ hours a day, and it is going to continue on into next year while we go through our system conversion at work. I hope to get back to blogging as soon as I can, I miss it a great deal, and I have lots of vacation photos to share because I am SO behind. Catch up with you SOON!

(Photo from Cozumel on our cruise two weeks ago.)

Happy Birthday Granny!

2010-09-06T09:49:00.007-04:00

Well it is Labor Day, and I am off from work today, so I am going to make a great effort to get caught up on the blog for the 3-4 of you who actually still read it (I think just family members at this point). I am going to work my way backwards on all our trips, starting with this weekend. We were in Knoxville Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday we met James' sisters and their families, where we visited one of our customers' newest locations, in Knoxville (Newk's). We all had a nice dinner of pizzas, salads, and sandwiches, and then all bowled for a few hours. Everyone had a lot of fun hopefully.

James and I were staying out in West Knoxville, and our hotel was surprisingly quiet that Saturday evening. That's because everyone staying there was at the University of Tennessee's home opener. UT won 50-0 against UT-Martin. Smooth sailing for the first game of the year for the Vols. Sadly it was not on TV, so we weren't able to watch any of it. The next morning we ate at the cute little place below, Mimi's Cafe, which was decorated inside as though it were an establishment in New Orleans. Very cute. The food was good as well, and we brought home a free package of their gigantic homemade muffins, because James did a phone survey while we were still sitting in the restaurant.

But Sunday afternoon was the real purpose of the visit with the family, to celebrate the 93rd birthday of James' grandmother Juanita. I put James to work right away once we got to his parents' house, digging up bulbs which his mom said I could have. I brought home iris, daffodils, peonies, and day lilies, as well as tomatoes and green peppers from their garden. We brought home a few antiques from their shed as well, which we plan to clean up and display in our own home. Then it was time to eat!! James' mom Carol fixed a wonderful dinner for all 12 of us, which included chicken casserole, baked pasta, okra, beans, and lots of great food which we all enjoyed.

Granny received a lot of nice gifts, including gift cards, candles, CD's, and a spinner for her garden. We all indulged in coconut cream pie, red velvet cake, and ice cream while we sang Happy Birthday and of course, MANY MORE for Granny! After that, everyone went outside to pick pears from the trees in the yard (I plan to make pear sauce with mine like I did the last time I brought home my bounty.) The weather was gorgeous, in fact they had a record low in Knoxville that morning, 52. Fall is definitely coming soon. And the Truan house is a perfect place to enjoy it with everyone.

Comments

2010-08-12T06:52:00.003-04:00

I'm at work right now, so this is a quick note. I have put the comments back on my blog, I got reports from others that when I locked it down, they could not leave comments at all. So I will just accept the fact that I am going to get spam comments, and I will just delete them, for the waste of space that they are!!

Working about 15 hours of OT this week, hope to blog "for real" over the weekend!! Take care all!

Where Did July Go??

2010-07-29T18:14:00.002-04:00

Oh my goodness, time is just zipping by, and I haven't blogged "for real" in it seems like a million years. I have trips from May and June I haven't even posted about, and now July is about gone! I continue to work at the office about 10-15 extra hours every week, and I promise I only sit down at the home computer for about five minutes a week, enough to delete all the 300 junk emails from my inbox. I continue to neglect the homefront in all areas- my vegetable plants have withered away, and I am looking out the window now to see a sadly disappointed hummingbird hovering around the empty feeder. I'm surprised we have any clean underwear, I stay so far behind on the housework.

But I do not complain about work, I simply apologize for both of my blogs drying up like my flowers out front are doing. I love my job, and I work at it with much enthusiasm and pride, and in the back of my mind I am just happy to know that with every hour of overtime worked, my 401K grows by that much more. James and I are devoted to our company, as you can see from the photo above- an afternoon on the Florida trip briefly interrupted by very important business. At least it was a scenic background.

Perhaps I will find a quiet few hours on Sunday to catch up, because in no time at all, we will be heading off to the Caribbean for our (mostly) yearly cruise, and I will have tons of photos from that I'm sure.

And I am going to have to lock down my comments to only those who are members of the blog, I am tired of coming on here and erasing dozens of spam comments. So sorry for the inconvenience, for the 3 or 4 of you who still read the blog.

Cheers, and I will catch up on here as soon as I can!!!!!!!!!

Stop It!!

2010-07-21T19:20:00.003-04:00

Oh my crap, does anyone know how to stop these crazy spam comments on the blog? These people are making me nuts, I am spending more time deleting their stupid wasteful comments than I am reading actual ones from friends and family. I do not want to put restrictions on here, but come on people, stop leaving comments that are junk!!

In other more pleasant news, please see the photo below from our trip to Florida last month. Here is proof that yes, there is still beautiful crystal clear water and beaches on the Gulf! Please visit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What the Who?

2010-07-13T20:23:00.003-04:00

No, I haven't blogged yet about our trip to Florida, but here is just one photo I wanted to share today, because it makes me laugh. From our family outing to Tarpon Springs on our last day there. James pointed it out, we are always on the look out for crazy signs.

I've never met a public sponge. Or have I? Hhhmmm.

Go here to learn about Tarpon Springs.

Jessica and Justin

2010-07-08T18:18:00.007-04:00

We had a lot of fun on Monday, our day off from work for the holiday. James' niece Jessica, and her fiance Justin came to visit us for the day. Although they both live in Knoxville, with a menagerie almost as large as ours, Justin is currently in Atlanta. He's interning with a large accounting firm in downtown, and staying at the dorms at Emory University. Jessica is on break from her massage therapy school right now, and was down to visit with him.

They made the hour trek south to Newnan to see us, and we had a great day with them. We gave them a "quick" tour of downtown Newnan. Quick because downtown is a one-block square wrapped around the old courthouse. We had lunch at our favorite destination where we take all of our guests- The Redneck Gourmet.

Then we all went bowling, where we managed to squeeze in four games in two hours. Jessica and Justin both bowled their personal high scores, while James put us all to shame, and then showed off his famous between-the-legs shots. James and I used to bowl a lot when we were dating, and in fact James bowled in a league when we were first married. Now we bowl here and there, but not regularly. But we had so much fun with Jessica and Justin on Monday, James and I went bowling again last night! And this morning I bought my own pair of bowling shoes online! After all, my hubby the semi-pro has his own shoes and ball, I'm going to have to start keeping up with him if we go more often.

We hope that Jessica and Justin will come visit us again. They are getting married next summer, and they have been together for a few years now. We enjoyed being with them and they were great to hang out with! We just hope they enjoyed hanging out with old farts like us!

(Apologies for my bare feet, I didn't realize they would show when I took this photo!!!)

Happy 4th!

2010-07-04T19:44:00.002-04:00

Just a quick Happy 4th of July to everyone! We are enjoying our three day weekend at home. James has been busy both yesterday and today, painting the garage with his famous black and white racing flag design. I have had a completely lazy weekend of shopping, working on my tan, and coloring my hair almost black- my natural color that I haven't seen in decades! Not sure it's very flattering, but eh, I wanted to do something different.

Tomorrow James' niece Jessica and her husband-to-be Justin will be here for the day to visit. Justin is interning this summer with a company in Atlanta, and Jessica is down for the week to spend time with him. We will probably drive them around Newnan, take them by the place of business, and settle in for lunch or dinner at a local restaurant. We should have fun and anticipate seeing them and spending the day with them.

No fireworks in the plans for us tonight, except what we can see off our back deck that our neighbors are shooting off. In Atlanta they have the biggest fireworks show in the Southeast, but also the biggest crowds as well. Not for us.

Hope everyone enjoys the holiday and has a great time tonight!

Back In Business!

2010-06-27T18:32:00.002-04:00

Hi all! I'm back on the blog after some technical difficulties. I am way behind on posts, but hope to catch up this week. I was in the middle of posting from Memorial Weekend when I got sidetracked, that's how badly I'm behind!

I was having issues on the blog, you may or may not have noticed. My fun pictures and links on my sidebar had all disappeared. I finally have figured out the problem and fixed it, so everything is back in place again. Apparently over on my Google account, in my photo albums, several weeks ago I "locked" my albums to make them private and require permission to view them. I guess that is where Blogger is pulling the photos from, because when I locked the albums, Blogger didn't have access to the photos and removed them all from my blog. Who knew! But, I figured it out tonight and unlocked everything.

James and I just got back from a week in Florida (above) and a nice visit with my folks, so I will post photos from there shortly, as soon as I finish up my backlog of other posts.

Chat with you all soon!

Priorities

2010-05-23T17:53:00.004-04:00

So here is how our Sunday went. First we stopped at the farm and feed store, where we got five bags of deer corn, five bags of bird seed, and a new cat toy. Then next it was the pet store, where we bought two bags of cat food, and a new bird feeder. Then, finally, we got to Publix to buy our groceries for the week.....

Tuscany In Atlanta

2010-05-16T21:01:00.015-04:00

Today we were back up in Atlanta, in the Dunwoody and Sandy Springs area, where we had to pick up our wedding rings from a jeweler (more later). It was lunch time when we got up there, so we stopped at Brio. Yes, Brio is a chain restaurant, but for Italian food just a step above the very average Olive Garden or Carrabba's, give this "Tuscan grille" a try.

This particular location, in the Perimeter area, features outdoor seating looking out over a small pond. Lots of Canada geese with their young ones all gliding across the water, and a huge heron flew overhead at one point. But the highlight for me was the family of ducks- mom, dad, and these oh-so-cute fuzzy babies (not my cutely manicured feet), who were all waddling up and down the patio, hoping for crumbs. I'm not sure James, who is always thinking about food safety, really enjoyed having the wildlife so close to his brunch. But I loved them.

We had a wonderful meal, with the beautiful scenery and perfect weather to enjoy. The restaurant even had several bocce ball courts outside. I confess, I'm Italian, but I don't know how to play. I'm sure my grandfather, who came over here through Ellis Island, probably played.

And so, here is proof of how the other half lives, and how I knew we were in the hoity-toity section of ATL. Below, I thought this was perhaps an enormous financial institution like a swanky bank or insurance company, or at least some very fancy offices. No, it's self storage. If you don't believe me, see the photo below this. I have never seen a "self storage" center that looked like this! We have the long row of concrete barracks with pull down garage doors in our neck of the woods.

And we came home to find our first lily of the season has bloomed. If you read my blog last year, you know I planted A LOT of bulbs, and I had a dozen variety and different colors of lilies in our front yard. I can't wait to have more blooming soon.

And so to the reason for our trip way up to that part of the city. Yesterday we had to take my engagement ring to get it repaired, as the part of the ring that holds the diamond to the band had broken in three different places a few weeks ago. Well, as the commercial goes, "He went to Jared". When James got my engagement ring, and we got our wedding rings, we got them at Jared. I just want to brag on the company, because not only did they fix my engagement ring in just a few hours for free, they also fixed a break in James' wedding band, and they kept my wedding ring as well- and they put a new coat of rhodium on all three- all of this for free. All three rings look as shiny and brand new as the day we got them back in 2005.

I wanted to share this top quality service we received, and to show how Jared stands by their product and their customers. I can't ever see us going to a "mall" jewelry store. This is just one story I have to praise Jared; I could tell you the one about how hard they worked to call every store across the country just to get this particular wedding band for me- and how they let me "borrow" another ring until mine came in. Customer service, A++ from me!

Take Me Out...

2010-05-16T20:00:00.010-04:00

To the ballgame of course! Saturday we went to our first Braves game for 2010. We took the train up into the city and our friend David picked us up, where we headed to Midtown to our favorite hamburger joint the Vortex. Then David did some superb driving on some back roads to get us over to Turner Field, where James had already scored us a discounted parking pass.

The guys were hoping to catch some foul balls, but nothing ever came our way. The Braves were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks all weekend. At the entrance to the ballpark, there were about 100 people there protesting with signs and handouts. They were protesting the new immigration policies in Arizona. I was actually sort of surprised. I didn't know if they were local people in support of the protest, or people who had travelled from Arizona in order to stand out there all weekend while the Dbacks were in town.

The Braves did well last year, almost making it into the post season. This year they've started off horribly, and Saturday night they got stomped 11-1. We stayed until the end though. David is a huge Braves fan, and I don't think we could have pried him out of his seat, even though the outcome was hopelessly not in the Braves' favor.

It was a long night, and I got tired. David dropped us off at a train station, then by the time we got to the truck and got home, it was after midnight. I was whooped. But we had a great time. The baseball season is long, and I'm sure we'll go to another game later this year. We had good seats and it was a good time to share with a friend. Come on Braves, get your act together and let's have a winning send off for longtime coach Bobby Cox's last season! Okay, yeah sorry, baseball they call the "coach" a manager. Why is that? Why can't he be a coach just like in all other sports.....??

My New Trick

2010-05-14T19:34:00.003-04:00

So I just have to say, you are never too old to learn! And here is my proof (above). My mom told me that if I cut off the ends of green onions, I can grow new ones! Sure enough, the last batch of green onions I bought at the grocery store, I cut off the white ends, dried them out, and planted them in a container on our back patio. And within just a few weeks (I'm talking 3-4), ta-dah!- and look what I picked last night! Fresh green onions! Wow, I wonder if I just keep cutting off the ends every time and keep planting them, will I have an endless supply of green onions? Would that be sort of creepy-weird to keep "eating" the same onion over and over again.....? Sadly I don't use them that often in recipes, this was more of an experiment than anything. But I thought it was pretty cool. Thanks Mom!!!!!

Mother's Day 2010

2010-05-10T20:56:00.007-04:00

Mother's Day this year saw us in Knoxville once again, to spend the weekend with the women of the Truan clan. Three generations of moms under one roof. James and I snuck over to his parents house and set up a dessert buffet for Saturday night, when everyone came over to exchange gifts and cards and enjoy being together. We were so busy getting it all ready, neither of us thought to take a single photo at the party!

We got to see a little bit of downtown Knoxville, and drove through the UT campus, but unfortunately it was on the way to visit James' niece Sarah on Saturday and Sunday. She is at the children's hospital with a painful, but as of yet undiagnosed, mystery illness. We are still hoping that she and her parents get an answer soon, and most of all we wish her a speedy recovery and a trip back home as quickly as possible.

And as always, we did spend some time with James' Granny. While we were over there on Saturday evening, "her" raccoons came over for a visit as well. James snuck up on them to take this photo with his phone, but as he was creeping closer he stepped on a twig and "snap!", and then the critters scattered. But, they are not afraid of Granny, and when she goes out there to feed them, they cluster around her like little puppies waiting for a treat. And if she doesn't get out there quickly enough for them, they come and stare inside the windows of her house. I can honestly say I've been there when this has actually happened. It was a bit disconcerting to sit in the living room for a visit, and look up to see two raccoons peeking inside at us. Not only is Granny feeding the local raccoons, but she also has a sweet black and white kitty who comes around for food and milk. Granny has a cat, but she stays inside most of the time, although Granny did say that her Socks chased off the new kitty recently.

On Mother's Day, we went out with James' parents and drove over to Sevierville, where we had a big country lunch at the Applewood Farmhouse, one of our favorite places to eat. We relaxed on the porch after shopping over in their massive gift store- and sneaking a fried apple pie at the bakery. It was chilly that day, but signs of Spring were everywhere, including several nests of baby birds (sparrows) up under the porch rafters. (See above, you can barely make out the two little heads, but boy were they squawking away for their mama.) As always, we had a wonderful but quick visit with the family. But, we will be back again in just a few weeks, so it's easy to go back home when you know you'll be seeing everyone again in a matter of days.

Playing Catch Up Again

2010-05-07T18:06:00.007-04:00

Sorry I have been away for awhile, just a quick post to catch up on life at the Truan home. I haven't had the time, and mainly the energy, for blogging lately. I am recovering from "walking" pneumonia. After a week of fever, sometimes 104 degrees, I finally broke down and went to the doctor, where they quickly put me on a strong antibiotic. I thought it was just a sinus infection. For about two weeks, I did little but go to work then come home to fall into the bed. Good thing my husband knows how to cook, because I did little in the way of taking care of him for many many days.

This is the end of week three of it for me, and I am feeling good again finally- still a bit of congestion and still don't feel like I can get a d-e-e-p breath. But I can't slack off, as I mentioned before I got Employee of the Month, so no calling out sick, ha ha. My sweet hubby decorated my cubicle for the occasion. I don't know what crazy people at work voted for me, but I appreciate them all.

Last weekend we made our monthly rounds to check on the shuttle sites for work. It was for "April", but since I'd been sick we postponed it into May. We made a stop at a brand new Bass Pro Shop in Macon, where we picked up four new pennies for the collection. We also stopped at a state farmers' market where we loaded up on local tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and zucchini. My dear husband knows that I never ever miss a Kentucky Derby, so that first Saturday in May we got up at 4am in order to go check all the trucks, and be back home in time to watch the Run For The Roses. And wow, Calvin Borel did it again!! He is unstoppable.

We've both had unbelievably busy weeks at work lately. I even worked about six hours of overtime last week while I was sick, without complaint of course because I love my job and I'm so grateful to have it. And six hours is nothing- knowing, of course, that James works well over 40 hours a week- probably around 50-60 on a "normal" week, and no overtime pay for him!! I already know in advance that next week I will have a big big week with folks in my department on vacation, and several large projects that must be done. My boss today already told me, I will be working a lot of extra hours next week. I don't know how my husband does it day after day, year after year, because he works WAY more hours than anyone I know, and he has WAY more responsibility than I ever will. I would nominate him Employee of the Decade, if they would let me.

Yesterday James had a long long day, after working his normal "day", he had to return in the evening to have dinner with his night shift. Which he always does happily, because it's a reward for his hard working (and safety-minded!!) crew, and I'm always full of pride that he is so dedicated to the company and particularly the group of people he works with. So yesterday evening, he slipped away for just about two hours, and took in a little golf before heading back into work for the night. I went with him- I don't golf but it was fun just to hang out with him and walk the course- I make a terrible caddy by the way. He made it through ten holes before it was time to get back to the office. But it was a beautiful day, and I appreciate that he finds ways for us to spend time together. I got distracted quite a bit with all the ducks, geese, fish, and turtles all around the lake. Oh yes, and he parred four holes in a row!

He should be home any minute now, and we are headed off for a Friday night dinner out and a few errands. Then on towards Knoxville early Saturday morning, to spend the Mother's Day weekend with all the lovely Truan women. Now that I am feeling almost back to normal again, I will try to blog a little more frequently!

Happy Mother's Day to you all- especially my mom Pat and James' mom Carol!

Role Reversal

2010-04-28T19:18:00.002-04:00

So what the heck is going on at work today?

Me....

James......

The Hawks Get Into the Playoffs

2010-04-18T12:46:00.006-04:00

Last night James and I went to Game 1 of the first round of NBA playoff games. As always, my super special husband surprised me with tickets to the game and as always, we had a great time out together. Although it wasn't planned, our seats happened to be in a section where it was just two seats on the row (above) so it worked out wonderfully. We also bought the all-you-can-eat package where we had unlimited access to food, snacks, and drinks at the concession stand.

James also busied himself before the game on his Blackberry by texting messages to the scoreboard. Most of them were messages to me (below), although we did squeeze in one from us to show our support of the Hawks.

The Hawks are playing the Milwaukee Bucks for the first round, and they started off at home with a big win, scoring over 100 points. I was especially excited to get to see former University of Florida superstar Al Horford (#15 below) play. Although it was a blow out in the first half, the Bucks started to make a comeback in the second half, making the game a little more exciting. But they never did take the lead away from the Hawks.

It was a crowded house at Philips Arena, and everyone was in good spirits for the team. I'm glad we live in such a sports-oriented area, with pro football, basketball, baseball, and hockey teams all here in Atlanta. I haven't made it to a Thrashers game yet (hockey), but their season is over now and I'll have to wait until next year. In the meantime, the Braves are just now starting their year, and we renewed our season tickets to the Falcons. So we have plenty of great Atlanta sports ahead of us to look forward to in 2010.

Go Hawks, hope they have a great playoff run!

Fun In The Sun

2010-04-12T17:57:00.017-04:00

This weekend it was gorgeous here south of ATL. James and I spent all day Saturday catching up on yard work that last weekend's shared stomach virus kept us from. It was almost a perfect day, except that I ran out of steam before all my work was done. Everything is blooming beautifully here in our yard.

It was a fine day to be out on the back deck. And to make sun tea.

I finally got around to planting rosemary. On a recent visit to Knoxville, my sister-in-law shared snips from her massive plants in her yard. I dried everything and enjoyed using it so much, I decided to get my own plant started. Just a wee little thing right now as you can see.

I bought a few plants to go in big containers at the front door. And got all my veggies potted up on the back patio. We enjoyed having the fresh tomatoes and peppers so much last summer, I decided to get an earlier start on them this year.

While I had mostly fun chores, James did all the hard sweaty work, getting new pine straw down in all the flower beds in the front and side yards.

Romeo hangs off the back deck watching while his daddy mows the lawn for the first time this year.

Time also to change out the flag, to show everyone this is a household where we love our kitties.

The birds were happy to have us fill up our many feeders. All of the feeders are in the backyard. For some reason I have had zero luck with visitors at any front yard feeders. The squirrels also enjoy the leftover corn from the deer feeder- while the deer are only out in the evenings and mornings, the squirrels and birds get to enjoy the buffet all day long.

Some of the kitties were content to spend the whole day outside on the deck, crawling under chairs or tables to find the shade when they needed to. Other kitties were just as happy to enjoy the lovely day lounging around the sunroom.

Spring Has Sprung

2010-04-07T17:58:00.003-04:00

Spring started off with a bang this year, and that is not necessarily a good thing so far. Yes, all of the flowering trees and shrubs are blooming gloriously (above) and the tulips and daffodils are exploding everywhere. But all of that is causing super high pollen counts right now, and even if you don't have allergies like I do, I can take delight in knowing that everyone else's car is also covered in a fine mist of yellow like mine (below). Coming up the walkway to the front door today, I can see the weeds are already sprouting and the hedges already need to be trimmed! We are in week number two of temperatures up into the mid and sometimes high 80's. This, after a winter where I saw more snow in one season than I have in a lifetime.

Not that I am sad to see Old Man Winter go this year, he had more than worn out his welcome. I look forward to working in the yard, planting the veggies again this year, and watching my new bulbs bloom. In fact, I had "buy tomato plants" on my to-do list for last weekend. But alas, James and I were both violently sick with a stomach virus over the weekend- James from Friday through Sunday, me from Sunday through Tuesday. We are both getting back to good slowly. And while I was sick, sprawled out in the bed for two days while it was 85+ degrees outside, we discovered that the AC isn't working! At least the one for the master bedroom, and yours truly, the Queen, can't sleep in temps over 70 degrees. I have been miserable, and opening the windows at night and putting the fan on high has only mildly helped. I am sure it just needs a tune up and freon, since it's a new unit. At least the other unit, the one that controls the rest of the house, is working fine. I may be relegated to the guest room tonight.

But with spring, comes the rain, and we are expecting some later this week. To cool it off back down into the 70's, and hopefully wash away some of this pollen. The change of seasons has taken me by surprise this year for some reason. It seems like it was winter one day, and on the brink of summer the next (at least it feels like summer when it's 88 out).

Happy Spring!

Kickin' It Back Home- Part 4 of 4

2010-04-03T14:00:00.000-04:00

For the drive home from Nashville, we had no concrete plans. It was Saturday and we had a list of penny machines to locate. Only problem was, they all went off in different directions. So we plotted a course that would take us south. Our first stop was up the road in Franklin, where we were looking for the Carter House. That's really all it said on our penny sheet, so smarty pants me assumed it was some family home of the famous musical Carter family, since I had just seen their photos and guitars at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Turns out it's a Civil Way historical site and museum, but there was our penny! We were greeted by resident kitty Mrs. Grant, who is quite the senior citizen well into her teens. Apparently she showed up one day eons ago, with one little male kitten in tow, and never left. She is so old, she has already outlived her "son". We enjoyed meeting her, and she was super friendly and sweet. We toured the small museum, and the grounds where the Battle of Franklin took place.

On a day in November of 1864, on this very small farm, almost 61,000 soldiers met and over a five hour period, fought. There were almost 10,000 casualties- most wounded, many dead. So hard to believe! We see the news every evening about what's going on in other countries, and we forget how bloody our own backyards were 150 years ago. Our enemies were our fellow countrymen!

After Franklin, we headed to Lynchburg, where there were three penny machines in the downtown square. A cute little town, bustling with a lot of tourists on this gorgeous sunny afternoon. We did a bit of shopping and walked around for awhile, stopping in this particular store (The Barrel Shop- guess what they sold there!) to see all the really cool stuff that James went crazy for- already decorating in his head the as yet unrealized rec room in our basement.

Yes, I too prefer Coke...

And of course, what is a visit to Lynchburg without a trip to the Jack Daniel Distillery? They give free tours of the place, but no free samples! In fact, Lynchburg is in a dry county! It was only recently that the distillery was finally even allowed to sell their own product there at the gift shop. We signed up for the tour and relaxed on the front porch, waiting for our tour group to be called.

Up on the hill (below) you can see one of the barrel houses, where they age the whiskey. The length depends on what label it is, but it's about 4-7 years. Our guide explained how cheap it actually is to make whiskey- corn and water- but it's so expensive because of extreme government taxes. They handcraft their own barrels, and only use them once. They sell many of the empties to other whiskey distilleries in the UK, and of course others go to The Barrel Shop. I think every two feet in town we saw either a garbage can, bench, or flower pot made from an old JD barrel!

We learned how each brand is "created". James prefers Gentleman Jack (the good stuff), but while we were there he bought a bottle of their Single Barrel. Apparently they make the other whiskey with a little bit from several barrels, blending the flavors. But the Single Barrel is just that, whiskey completely from one barrel. Each time you buy a bottle, the taste can be completely different. You can, of course, purchase your very own full barrel- complete with a private tasting and lots of fanfare- all for the price of $9,000 to $12,000. Of course, you do get to keep the barrel- and 240 bottles of whiskey that come out of it!

Above is the small river that runs throughout the property. There is a cave with spring water, and once Mr. Jack discovered it, he bought the land and put the distillery there. To this day, this is the water they use to make the whiskey. It flows at 800 gallons per minute- quite impressive! We were able to go into the distillery itself- no photos allowed because, our guide told us, any electronics could set off a spark and with all the fumes, well.... I think they just don't want anyone to steal their secrets!! The process was actually quite fascinating to see in these giant stills. I never would have guessed that the whiskey is filtered through charcoal made from sugar maple (filtered twice for the finer Gentleman Jack label).

Our tour guide Jon (below, in front of our group) was a true delight and boy was he ever from Tennessee!! But he gave us the history, told stories, and was a pleasure to listen to (thick drawl included). He even opened up the vats to allow us to get a big whiff! Yuck. James, of course, could have stayed there all day! But it was late and we had to head on home.

On the way home, it was growing dark and we were still north of Atlanta. We called our friend David who lives in Marietta, and asked him if he wanted to meet us at Big Pie for dinner. I've blogged about this place already, so you know how popular it is. Do not go there expecting a quick pizza dinner. It is OVER an hour wait on a whole pizza, just slightly less for pizza by the slice. So we all waited 1 1/2 hours for our pizza, which we devoured in about 15-20 minutes. It was a late late night when we finally got home, and our kitties had not seen us for 8 days. But they were up and greeted us at the front door. Needless to say, we left everything out in the truck, fell into bed, and slept until noon on Sunday!

Music City USA- Part 3 of 4

2010-04-02T20:16:00.035-04:00

Our next destination was Nashville, and we were both excited about it. We had both been as kids, but never as adults, so we were looking forward to our few days there. Because we left Knoxville so early, and because we gained an hour with the time zone change, our first stop was at the Bass Pro Shop and Opry Mills Mall- which was just opening up as we arrived. And where we scooped up pennies from four machines! (Yes, that's 16 pennies in all.) Also on the penny list was the Willie Nelson museum, and yes the penny had Willie's face on it! I was surprised at how extensive the museum was, and we spent at least an hour there! Next we went to a kids' museum, to duck in and just get pennies, but I was able to get this photo of downtown from their front door.

And of course, when you are in Nashville, the home of country music, you have to have cowboy boots! James found a deal on two pair, while I picked up a pair of what he called "biker" boots (no pointy toes for me). After the clerk rang them up, I put them right on and wore them the rest of the day, they were SO comfortable! Most of Nashville's pennies were right there in downtown, and we spent the afternoon gathering them up. There was even one at the arena where the NHL team, the Nashville Predators play. Lucky for us, they had a game that night, and the pro shop was open so we were able to get in and out with our prize.

We had some time to waste before check in time at the hotel, and we found this cute little place, where the rescue kitties were running around the store like crazy. I picked up a few cute black cat knickknacks- what I really wanted to do was take home some of the black cats themselves! We made it to our hotel later that afternoon, and it was as cool in person as the photos online. We stayed at the Hotel Indigo, near Music Row and close to Vanderbilt University (we drove through campus while out and about). This funky hotel was decorated from top to bottom with guitars. Here is the lobby.

Here is our really awesome spectacular cool room! The framed photos were all guitars, and even the mural on the bedroom wall was a guitar. And yes those are hardwood floors, fantastic hotel! Not for the budget-minded, but hey, we were on vacation after all. We confess, we have never heard of this chain before. Turns out there are many of them, and even two in Atlanta! We found this one by accident. We spent an evening online looking at hotels in Nashville, and we couldn't find one we really liked from our preferred chain of Marriott. So I was looking for a Staybridge, our other favorite, when I came across their sister chain, Hotel Indigo. I told James I am 100% absolutely hooked, if we ever travel again and there is a Hotel Indigo, that is our hotel!

One thing we found online that we liked, was this fantastic patio with a view of downtown. This was a public patio open to all guests. The unexpected surprise was that when we checked into our room, we found that WE had our own private entrance to the patio, the only room to have this! (See our door, second photo.) At first I was like, great, we will have people partying outside our room all night. But, other than a smoker or two, no one ever used this amazing deck up on the 8th floor. Well, we sure did! It almost felt like our private "balcony" because no one else ever came out there.

High on our list of priorities was visiting the Country Music Hall of Fame, where we went on our second day in town. No, not because they have a penny machine. This one was strictly for us! I wish I had more photos, but I admit I was so taken with reading every word of every exhibit, I only got photos of Webb Pierce's custom car- with a saddle in the front seat! And a photo of the beautiful lobby. This three-story museum was a highlight of the trip. Although I am pretty much a rocker, I grew up on country music as a kid, and James has always loved country music (he went to high school with hotty Kenny Chesney!!), and I recognized a lot of the names and songs here. For each artist, they had their home state listed, and of course about 99% of them were from the south. But only one from my home state of Florida! Can anyone guess? (I'll bet my dad will know the answer to this.)

We spent a little over two hours here, and I was intrigued by every corner of this place- I would have stayed longer if we didn't have more places to go. It was extremely educational as well, starting with country music's roots as mountain music all the way until now- we learned what the very famous and popular Nudie suit is! (Not what you think!!) From the guitar collection, to the video montage of the growth of country music, to the Brenda Lee room, and the 5,000 square foot tribute to the Williams family. I left the gift shop with a Hank Williams (Sr!!!) CD that reminded me of one childhood summer in Louisiana, cruising around the countryside with my granny. I loved this museum, and I would go back without hesitation if I'm ever in Nashville again.

After the Hall of Fame, we headed over to the metropolis known as the Opryland Hotel (photos from inside the hotel). This hotel is SO huge, it actually has "You Are Here" signs and maps posted everywhere. I haven't been everywhere across the land, but in my travels this has got to be the largest hotel in the world!!! It has over 600,000 square feet in just meeting rooms! We wandered around so long, and got so lost, we ended up finding an Irish pub along one of the hotel wings and crashed for awhile. We must have looked bedraggled, because the waitress was nice enough to sneak James a second little pint of Guinness for free.

After our lunch, we went next door to the Grand Ole Opry. You know, in all these years, it took until this visit for me to realize that Opry was just the hillbilly pronunciation of opera. Seriously, I am that dense, I never knew what the heck "Opry" meant! We took a behind the scenes tour of the Opry, and they were getting ready to have a show in just a few hours. But we got to see some of the dressing rooms before any performers arrived.

We also got to walk out on the stage itself and look out over the seats that would soon fill with folks. Below is part of the floor from the original Ryman Auditorium. We didn't have time to stay for the show, because it was our last night in town, and we wanted to check out downtown a little more. I think we both enjoyed Nashville enough that we will go back again, and we will plan to check out a performance at the Opry.

Nashville was certainly full of amazing surprises for us, and another one awaiting us at our hotel was the live music in the bar. And I'm not talking some dive with a bunch of has-beens. This was a hip gathering place with up-and-coming local talent. All of the music was accompanied by acoustic guitar, and all of the singers played. In all, we saw six different acts, including a young lady who not only looked just like Jewel, but whose style and uncanny voice sounded so much like Jewel I would dare anyone to tell them apart. We also saw two young sisters, new to Nashville by way of Wisconsin- they just cut their first CD and I predict they will make it big. I can't wait to find the CD when it comes out.

But James and I were most taken with this young man below, John Pringle. I'm not one for folksy, bluesy type music, but he was so talented and so good, we were blown away. Come to find out, he has a few CD's out already, and I am awaiting my order from Amazon as I write this! I've included him as my feature playlist right now, and I confess I got this from his MySpace page. It's a bit messed up, as it cuts off the end of every song, but you can at least get a feel for his talent. James will tell you I think his main talent is looking like my favorite hunk Russell Crowe, but honestly, I love this guy's voice! (Photo of John, NOT Russell.)

I got some really awesome shots of downtown from the hotel patio on our last night, before we headed out for an evening on the streets. Downtown Nashville is surprisingly small- not like Atlanta- but I'm sure the parts we saw were just the tourist areas. Mainly on Broadway, and 2nd Avenue. During the day it was bustling with folks, but at night it was really crowded with throngs of people waiting under the neon lights to get in to see live music at a multitude of venues. (I don't have many photos, but you can go here to see great shots of this famous street.) Because we had already enjoyed music at our hotel, we mainly walked along the sidewalks just to take it all in. We found dinner here at the fabulous Demo's (long wait but worth it), and a great lunch at the Wild Horse Saloon (and their penny machine!). We even enjoyed a wonderful meal at a fantastic Japanese restaurant, Goten, at the Hotel Indigo, where James got a lovely Bento Box and I got the Nabeyake-Udon. Say that three times fast! We definitely did not starve on this trip!

We loved Nashville so much, that I really can't wait to go back! But, we still had the drive home the next day, so we didn't stay out too late....

Comfortable Surroundings- Part 2 of 4

2010-04-02T19:08:00.030-04:00

We took the long road to Knoxville, through the mountains and over to Townsend, all for one solitary penny machine at a gas station. We walked away empty-handed when the attendant told us the coin slot had jammed on the machine just the day before! It had been removed for repairs. Ugh. But I did get this photo of these beautiful trail horses, waiting to be saddled up and taken out for a guided tour. Yes I absolutely LOVE horses, but no we didn't stop for a ride.

You probably know from this blog that Knoxville is James' hometown, and all of his family lives there. So we make it over several times a year, as it's just a few hours away. I don't have as many photos here of Knoxville, I guess because it is like a second home to me now, and I don't think to take pictures to share with everyone. Next trip I'll do better! But it's a lovely city, especially downtown.

As big as Knoxville is, it surprisingly only has ONE location for pennies. And that's the Knoxville Zoo. I know it may come as a shock, but in all our visits, we hadn't gotten over to the zoo yet.

We made a new friend right away as you can see. The zoo has two penny machines, and one of them happens to be right across from the chimpanzees. I admit I am not much for monkeys, but this fellow came right over to the window and wanted a little company. We sat with him for a long while, and he never left our side the whole time we were there. He seemed very lonely indeed, although I'm sure the staff give him plenty of attention. We got there right when the zoo opened, we were probably the first visitors he had seen that day.

We found plenty of the big furry variety of critters. The pile of sleeping lions reminded us of our kitties at nap time when they cuddle. And the bears, who were swatting at each other with their giant paws, looked just like the cats when they start their roughhouse playing. It is always amazing to me when the "big" guys exhibit traits that we see in our little pint-sized fuzzies.

Zebras have always been a longtime favorite for me, I guess because they are horses in disguise. Did you know that zebras are NOT white with black stripes? No, they are black with white stripes! Yes, it's true.

Look at the whiskers on this fellow...

The red panda was my favorite (below). It was an odd encounter- although they had their own enclosure, there was no glass or cage between us and the pandas. I don't know why. Perhaps they are just gentle, people-friendly critters. On the website, it said that the Knoxville Zoo is second in the world for breeding red pandas. I was so taken with them, I left the gift shop later on with a soft plush version. I would have taken the real deal home, but I don't think the zoo would appreciate that. And, I don't know how he would get along with the cats, although with an average weight of 11 pounds, they are smaller than most of our kids.

And look at this precious little fox! He was cuddled up with a giant teddy bear, taking a nap. He was TOO cute! What a sweet face! I know, it's a wild animal, but it's hard to look at a tiger or wolf, and not see the same lovable features as our domesticated cats and dogs.

And city girl that I am, I couldn't pass up the petting zoo, and I had to brush the goats. I am sure James was laughing at me, because he was raised on a real farm and had animals around him all the time. For him, chickens and cows meant work! Me, I get overjoyed when I see a goat, and I just have to pet them! The zoo had quite a number of animals, too many to post all the photos here. We had a wonderful time, and it was a beautiful day out for it.

The next day, we headed downtown to check out Market Square. My mother-in-law came with us, and we had lunch and did a bit of shopping on another gorgeous day. Downtown Knoxville is quite impressive, and I would like to spend more time down there in the future. They even have a Mast General Store (I have been to all but one location now), where I added to my collection of Life Is Good shirts. I love this store, it is unique to the Carolinas, with the one location here in Tennessee. You can seriously lose track of time (and $$) in there...

On Tuesday night we did follow through with our plans to eat at Ye Olde Steakhouse with James' parents (I did not take photos?!), and we stopped in Three Rivers Market, a small local store near downtown. This is just a little organic grocery shop, but I love it, and I bug my in-laws to take us there almost every visit. But, they have been longtime customers, so hopefully it's not too much of an inconvenience when I ask to go! I wish we had such a place in Newnan, but alas, we don't seem to be as progressive here yet.

Our last evening in town, the whole family gathered at the Truan home for a big birthday dinner for my brother-in-law Richard (below, standing). As always, my mother-in-law Carol cooked a wonderful dinner and dessert for all 14 of us- how does she do it!! I've never cooked for more than 4 before! It was a nice visit with everyone, because sometimes when we come to town, timing doesn't always allow all of us to get together. James' two sisters are busy working women with families, and they live farther away in town. Although his Granny lives right next door, and we had two fun and challenging afternoons of playing cards with her. She is tough to play against!

We will be back to visit twice in May, both for Memorial Weekend (family reunion) and Mother's Day, when hopefully we can treat Mrs. Truan to a good meal that she doesn't have to cook! We left on Thursday morning before the sun came up, to head over to Music City, our next stop on the 2010 Tennessee Tour.

The First Leg- Part 1 of 4

2010-04-02T17:54:00.029-04:00

Well I am finally going to get our big Tennessee vacation photos on here. Lots to share, so I'll do it in several posts. We spent a whole week in Tennessee, and it was one big treasure hunt for elongated pennies. So read and see all the fun places our penny hunt took us!

We left after work on Friday March 19th, and headed over to Cherokee, NC for the first evening, enjoying a stay at our favorite plush casino, Harrah's. No, I don't care to visit the actual gaming floor, but I sure do love their luxurious (free!!) suites. As much as we travel, I still have never stayed in a hotel room that I like more than the ones at Harrah's. I spent the evening relaxing in the massive spa tub, while James had fun at the tables- okay, so the room isn't really "free". The next morning we started off at Peter's Pancakes and Waffles, a wonderful diner that we never miss out on while in Cherokee. We have most of the pennies in Cherokee already. There is one location we haven't been, but we didn't have time this trip.

We drove across the mountains on a stunning Saturday, headed to Gatlinburg. Beautiful skies and the views are magnificent on US 441 through the Smoky Mountains National Park. And a fun treat to find snow on the ground everywhere. It was actually quite warm and sunny out, so it was a surprise. Some areas had giant icicles still hanging from rocks, and small waterfalls frozen solid.

We got to our hotel in Gatlinburg, a very nice Fairfield Inn on the outskirts of town. Because we got there early, we left the truck and hopped onto the Gatlinburg Trolley. We were incredibly lucky because there was a trolley stop right there at the door of the hotel. The 50 cent ride took us right to downtown Gatlinburg. For those of you who have never been (and why haven't you!!!), Gatlinburg is only a few blocks long, but on a gorgeous Saturday like that day was, it was bumper to bumper to bumper cars, with hundreds of people walking along the sidewalks. The trolley was THE way to ride.

And since this vacation was all about the pennies for us, we had lists of all the machines in each of the towns, thanks to our favorite penny website and especially the hard work of James, who planned everything well in advance and had everything organized perfectly. Gatlinburg has several machine locations, and while many were just in shops, there were several at area attractions. So we charted out all the machines and started on our scavenger hunt. One machine took us to the Space Needle, and we were able to get a great photo of downtown from above. Busy little main street!

We also got a great view of Mount LeCounte (in the background), where many hikers- including my sister and her husband (and, I believe, James' sister Stephanie)- have taken the grueling trek up to the top and to the lodge. I would love to complete such a feat one day, but well, if you read my other blog you know I am in no physical shape to do it.

We spent a fun few hours walking through the Ripley's museum. Sadly their penny machine was out of order. I don't know why, but Ripley's has a number of attractions in this area. We only had time to take in one on this trip, and although we've been to Gatlinburg before, somehow we've not made it to their aquarium yet. Next time.

Although there was a bit of troublesome weather on Sunday, we took the chance and headed up the Sky Lift. Because, of course, there is a penny machine up at the top. James and I rode this back in 2004, and as you go up, they take your photo in the chair (the one below was self-inflicted). We have the photos from both trips, and it was fun to compare them. We haven't changed too much over the years...

We also spent time in neighboring Pigeon Forge, where we took in a show at the Comedy Barn. And yes, they had a penny machine in the lobby, so we naturally were drawn there. I'm glad we went, it was two hours of cute fun- from acrobatic dogs, to singing and good music, to puppets and comedic magic, even a ventriloquist. I told someone the other day it was "Hillybilly hokey", but it sure was a good evening. We did a lot of laughing.

We also ate dinner both Saturday and Sunday nights in Pigeon Forge, at The Old Mill. The first night we ate at the smaller Pottery House Cafe across the street. Then the main restaurant (below) the next night. Country cooking at its finest, and I sure did enjoy the enormous pottery shop, although the pieces I really loved were way out of our price range. We found this restaurant because it has a penny machine in the general store attached to it. Of course!

There were plenty of pennies to collect in Pigeon Forge. One was at WonderWorks (above). We only had time to run in and get the pennies, but it is on our list for next time. They told us it would take about two hours to go through the place, and we just didn't have the time that weekend, but we were so intrigued we know we will go there again. And we didn't have time, because "someone" had to go to her all-time favorite Christmas store to do some shopping (below). Yes we collect the smashed pennies, but my souvenir of our travels always includes an ornament for our tree. Of course, the store had a penny machine, so it was on our list already. I would have stopped anyhow, because I don't go to Pigeon Forge without going here!

We had a little extra time in the late evening to find an arcade (and penny machine), and if you read me regularly, you know we are both addicted to the games there. Skee ball in particular. But James gave his hand at basketball and football, and I might add, won enough tickets to get me a stuffed animal. (A gator, of course!) And as we were out driving, my husband's eagle eye spotted a penny machine outside this store, one that wasn't on the website! What an extra bonus! (We only got the penny, sadly no funnel cake as we had just eaten dinner.)

That Monday morning it was time to leave, and we woke up to snow falling. So of course, like any normal people, we went and played miniature golf! Another one of our addictions, like skee ball. The snow had just started when we got on the course. But by the time we finished it was coming down quite hard and starting to pile up. Odd, we were the only ones out there playing... We got all the pennies in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge- all except for the million they have at Dollywood, which was not open yet for the season.

Time to get on up the road and head to our next penny stops. We hit several machines in Sevierville, but just at quick in-and-out stores. No time to take in any attractions that day. On to K-Town!

In Limbo

2010-03-17T18:04:00.005-04:00

I realized I haven't blogged from over the weekend yet, so it's time to catch up with a quick post. I am actually smack in the middle of getting ready for this upcoming weekend, but can't leave friends and family hanging about our last weekend. I think our parents rely on this blog to keep up with our life!!

Friday we leave for a long overdue vacation, and I will have plenty to blog about when we get back. But this last weekend, we had a fairly quiet two days, at least for us. Saturday morning we spent running errands around Newnan- and a cat to the vet- then a late breakfast at our favorite new Saturday morning place, The Dwarf House (Chick-Fil-A's full service restaurants). James then had to go up to Atlanta for a fun evening of NBA basketball with his fellow employees at a company sponsored event.

I did a few chores around the house, which included planting new trees. See them below? Yes, this is what you get for donating $10 to the Arbor Day Foundation- 11 tiny little baby trees. I know they look like sticks, but trust me, they are all already blooming with buds. I donated to the ADF many years ago and got the same gift of trees, and I managed to keep them alive for a long time, but eventually things happened in my life back then that caused me to neglect the poor saplings. I won't fail them this time! They are snug in big pots right outside the back door and under the deck, so hopefully the deer will leave them alone.

Sunday was our day to go check on the company trucks at the shuttle sites, since we won't be in town the next two weekends of March. On this trip, the penny machine hunt led us to the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Macon. That was, after a comedic half hour of driving up and down a highway, trying to rescue a big turtle as he crossed the road. I wish I had photos, but I was driving- which makes the story even funnier if you know how badly I drive.

MAS, as it's called, is a small museum, and we think probably geared more for children or families, but we enjoyed an hour or so there. They have a small area with animals (the tamarins were just too cute!), a planetarium, several educational areas, and an art gallery. When we were there, the entire gallery was dedicated to local Macon artist William Segal. It was the last day of the exhibit. Very unique work, and pieces spanning from the 1940's to the 1980's. He had an oddly strange but serene style, and I fell in love with several of his landscapes.

And also at the museum- for those of you who own cats and ever wonder if those silly little furballs actually have a brain in their head- well yes, yes they do......

The Latest In Kitty Toys

2010-03-09T18:57:00.003-05:00

We put a small humidifier in the bedroom a few days ago, and the cats have been fascinated with it ever since! When it's on, they stick their little faces over the vent where the air is blowing out. And when it's off, Spider gets frustrated with it and keeps knocking it over just as quickly as I can set it back up. I hope the newness wears off soon, as we would like to actually be able to USE this! Right now it is just a giant cat toy!

My Special Surprise Saturday

2010-03-06T21:10:00.034-05:00

So all week long my husband kept telling me he had a super secret treat for me this weekend, but he wouldn't tell me what it was. Wouldn't even give me a clue. Just kept taunting me with it. And of course, I can't just leave things alone, so I tried to figure it out. I had a hundred ideas of what it could be, but I never came up with what it actually turned out to be.

Saturday was a gorgeous brilliant, clear day, and got up into the 50's. We took the train into Atlanta, where we stopped at the CNN center for coffee. While there, we got a bonus as the connecting Philips Arena was opened up for an Atlanta Thrashers game (hockey)- so we were able to sneak over to get the elusive pennies in the machine there. With Starbucks in hand, we headed over to Centennial Park.

Centennial Park is of course the past host of the 1996 Olympics. As you can see, it was such a beautiful day, there were plenty of people strolling, playing, and relaxing at this 21 acre park right in the middle of downtown. The last time I was here, it was at Christmas a few years ago, and during the evening the entire park is decorated with lights and Christmas trees. I don't know which sight is more lovely, nighttime holiday lights or a bright sunny afternoon.

The park also happens to be centrally located around several tourist hot spots, including the World of Coca Cola, and the Georgia Aquarium. We've been to both, but it's been several years, long before we actually moved here. So, that was my exciting surprise. James had two tickets in hand for the aquarium. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know how much I love aquariums and post lots of pictures, and I have plenty of photos for this visit too. But, for those of you who don't know, the Georgia Aquarium happens to be THE WORLD'S LARGEST!!!

It was extremely crowded. It could just be the locals enjoying such a perfect day out and about downtown. Or it could be that the NASCAR race is here this weekend (go Tony!), and these were visitors. But, it is still wonderful for the local economy to see SO many people out discovering the joys of the aquarium. Not to mention for us, the three penny machines scattered throughout the building. We were able to see the latest additions to the aquarium, the lionfish (top), the amazing and enormous whale sharks (above), and of course the return of the aquarium's beloved beluga whales (below). The whales temporarily went to an aquarium in San Antonio, then Maris (in photo) was brought back just last week along with a new whale named Beethoven.

Of course there are plenty of non-fish cuties to look at, including the penguins, gators, snakes, turtles, poison dart frogs, and otters. A dolphin exhibit is currently under construction at the aquarium and will be open later this year. Sadly the sea lions are no longer there, and I remember them from our last visit, but their old home is being renovated for the dolphins. We caught the otters at nap time apparently. They reminded us of the fuzzy piles of sleeping kitties we have at our house.

Although many of the fish are in smaller exhibits so you can get right up close to them, there are several enormous displays as well. The one below looks like a gigantic movie screen, but it's not, it's a six million gallon saltwater tank.

There were also plenty of overhead tanks as well. Pretty cool as you don't always get to see this "side" of the fish.

The Georgia Aquarium has every aspect of marine life, from local and global rivers to the tropics to the deep cold oceans.

I wasn't able to get as many sharp images with my camera as I normally do at aquariums. The glass here was quite a bit thicker than what I've ever seen before. Plus, with it being so crowded, sometimes it took a patient wait of several minutes before I could get up to any of the displays. And then of course I had a line of eager visitors waiting for me to move out of the way.

After the aquarium, James and I walked around downtown for awhile. It was actually very quiet out on the streets as we made our way up to a different train station. But so pretty out that we weren't ready to go home yet. We stopped and had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe (bottom), one of our customers. Although we don't actually "live" in Atlanta (we are the next county down), when we were asked where we were from, I said "here" because I know we looked like tourists with our souvenir bag from the aquarium, and my camera out taking pictures of buildings!

When we got home later in the afternoon, it was still so warm out, I let the kitties have some time out on the back deck. Spider stayed out until the sun started going down. They love it out there, and the birds where busy at all the feeders and the sun was shining on the cats. After all, even the kitties deserve a special treat every now and then!

3 Days, 3 States, and 3 Sites

2010-03-01T17:51:00.011-05:00

This past weekend was a long one, especially for driving. We left work on Friday and headed towards our old stomping grounds in the Carolinas. We stayed in SC that evening then got to Charlotte, NC in the late morning on Saturday. We were there for the wedding of James' best friend of twenty years, Ron, and his beautiful new bride Zoila. There was a small ceremony at the home they will be sharing together now, and afterwards we all went out to eat at a very authentic Latin American restaurant in honor of Zoila's heritage. They served more food than I could have eaten in a whole week...... Best Wishes to our dearest friend Ron and the lovely Zoila, we hope you have many happy and wonderful years together! And we can't wait for them to visit us soon.

Instead of heading back home, we left Charlotte later that afternoon and drove once again through SC and back into GA, where our GPS found a nice little hotel for us on Lake Oconee in Eatonton. Off the beaten path, and we never would have stumbled on it without the help of the GPS. Our room overlooked the lake (view from our window below), and the hotel was right next to a wonderful seafood restaurant that we just walked over to. Sadly, we were both still so full from the wedding luncheon, we barely touched our dinners, as yummy as the food was. The lake was gorgeous, and the area had a small resort feel to it, and since it isn't that far from home I have put it on the list of places we should go back to one weekend.

On Sunday we headed to south GA to check the tractors and trailers at three different shuttle sites for work, which you may remember I blogged about a few weeks ago as being part of our monthly routine from now on.

In our last city on the tour, we stopped at the National Civil War Naval Museum because, of course, they have a penny machine. We spent almost two hours there, enjoying both replicas such as the USS Water Witch (the ship outside), and the real deal. We could have spent all day at the museum, there were so many articles and documents there to read. Even a short movie which we enjoyed.

The ship above is so large, this is only half of it, I couldn't fit it all in one photo. This ship, the CSS Jackson, was burned during the War, but almost a century later the remains were brought up from the water. This part of the museum was actually constructed around the ship, because of the ship's size. Also in the museum were hundreds of pieces from all sorts of Civil War vessels- authentic weapons and ammunition, photos, letters from soldiers, even the flags that were flown on the ships during the War. A very interesting place, and another stop that we would never have made without the lure of the pennies to add to our collection!

Love Love Love

2010-02-22T19:53:00.003-05:00

You will not normally see me blog about a movie review, and rarely about a romantic comedy because I just don't normally like them. But this weekend James and I needed a nice light movie to kill some time on Saturday afternoon, and we went to see "Valentine's Day" with Ashton and Julia and Jennifer and so so many others. I have to say, we both laughed a LOT, and cried just a little. This movie was so sweet and so funny and clever, and so well done. The list of stars was a mile long, but somehow everything just meshed together perfectly and all the pieces came together by the end. I normally like movies where things blow up and people get shot, but this little gem was just what we needed at the moment and I just had to share it with everyone else. If you love Love, go see this movie!

Our Play Date

2010-02-14T10:00:00.020-05:00

The last of the snow photos I promise. Saturday afternoon we were finally able to get outside and play for awhile. It was sunny and in the 40's. The snow was already starting to melt when we got out there. We acted like a couple of 12-year-olds- or Southerners who don't get to see snow very often. We made snow angels, built a snowman, and threw snowballs. Although our kitties stayed inside where it was warm, neighbor kitty (and notorious rabbit-killer) Olivia came and played with us. Although we're supposed to get snow Monday morning during rush hour, it is supposed to be a nasty icy mix instead of the pretty fluffy stuff. If we had to be stuck at home on a beautiful winter day, at least we were able to make the best of it and have a lot of fun!

The Morning After

2010-02-13T09:08:00.021-05:00

Pictures from the morning after our big snow. I took these all from the safety of the house (good thing my windows are relatively clean). No getting out on the roads today, not even our papers were delivered this morning. We are enjoying our coffee and fuzzy slippers, but soon we're going to bundle up and head out there. James is threatening to teach me how to build a snowman. If we do, I'll take more photos.

These are for my dad to enjoy, as my parents and their friends are leaving the sunny shores of Florida tomorrow and heading this direction for a week of relaxing. He said he is hoping for snow. I'm not sure where they're going, but if it's anywhere up this way, I think they will get it. We are supposed to get more starting on Sunday afternoon and lasting until Monday morning. That will suck, for those of us heading off to work, and for our company trucks out trying to make deliveries (to customers who will ultimately be closed once they arrive).

I know the folks up North are used to this, but for down here in the South, it's a once a year occurrence and it just mucks everything up. But.......it sure is pretty twinkling in the sunlight.

Winter In The South

2010-02-12T17:17:00.027-05:00

I WON'T TRY TO PUT CAPTIONS FOR EACH OF THESE PHOTOS, I'M SURE YOU CAN GET THE POINT. THIS IS WHAT I DROVE HOME IN TODAY, WHAT A WAY TO END THE WORK WEEK. I KNOW THE FOLKS UP NORTH WILL LAUGH AT US DOWN HERE, BUT THIS IS A LOT OF SNOW FOR SOUTH OF ATLANTA. AND WE HAVE MORE ON THE WAY SUNDAY AND MONDAY. IT'S ABOUT 30 NOW, BUT WILL BE DOWN TO 20 TONIGHT.

WE WENT FROM NOTHING TO THIS IN ABOUT FOUR HOURS. UNFORTUNATELY MY HUBBY STILL ISN'T HOME YET, HE WILL BE AT WORK FOR QUITE SOME TIME THIS EVENING, UNTIL ALL HIS DRIVERS ARE BACK SAFE AND SOUND AT THE WAREHOUSE. I LET THE CATS OUT AND THEY DIDN'T QUITE KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF IT. THEY ACTUALLY STAYED OUT FOR LONGER THAN I EXPECTED, AND I HAD TO LURE THEM BACK INSIDE BY SHAKING THE TREAT CAN.

I TOOK THESE PHOTOS ABOUT AN HOUR AGO, AND IT IS STILL SNOWING HARD OUT THERE. THESE PHOTOS DON'T DO IT JUSTICE AT ALL. I WISH I COULD SAY I WAS GOING TO HUNKER DOWN AND STAY WARM INSIDE FOR THE WEEKEND, BUT ALAS I HAVE AN APPOINTMENT TOMORROW MORNING THAT WILL SEE ME BACK OUT ON THESE ROADS. YUCK. I AM NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT AT ALL!

ENJOY THE PHOTOS!

Happy Birthday!!

2010-02-09T07:00:00.004-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY VERY HANDSOME, SEXY, LOVABLE, WONDERFUL, PERFECT, AMAZING, CARING, THOUGHTFUL, DEDICATED, KIND, YOUNGER HUSBAND! I LOVE YOU! HOPE THIS YEAR IS A GREAT ONE FOR YOU!

Happy Anniversary!

2010-02-07T17:27:00.032-05:00

James and I took Friday off from work, to have a nice long weekend for celebrating our anniversary. As soon as five o'clock hit on Thursday, we were out the door and on the road, where we relaxed for an evening at our favorite hotel in Chattanooga (above). It was a cold rainy night, and the fireplace was very inviting for two weary travelers. The rain continued into the next morning as we made our way to the small town of Dayton, to finally- successfully!!!- get the pennies from the general store. Across the street from the store is the county courthouse (below), the location of the famous "Scopes Monkey" trial in the 1920's.

We headed through the nasty weather to our destination for the weekend- a cabin on the lake at Fall Creek Falls state park. Our fun little cabin (below) was right on the shores of the lake. As you can see from the photos, the back end of the cabin is built up over the actual lake itself, so that the deck hangs right over the water. Had it been more convenient weather, we may have brought along our fishing gear. Still, we were able to enjoy the unimpeded views across the water. And it made it easy to feed bread to all the ducks and geese who just swam right up to our back porch.

The cabin was cozy and quaint, and luckily there was a large and readily available supply of firewood to help keep us warm over the weekend. We knew we were in for a cold few days, which we were okay with. We brought plenty of snacks and drinks, reading material, and even Boggle and Scrabble. I know it was rough on James because his Blackberry did not get service, and his laptop's air card did not either, which meant no internet (and no work!). The worst part of the weekend was no working remote control for the TV! Although James and I are old enough to remember life before cable and remotes, it's been a long time since we've had to change the channel manually, but James took the task seriously. After all, Saturday night was the first NASCAR race of the season!

We woke up to light snow and temps in the 20's on Saturday, and I'm not sure if it even got up beyond 29 for the day. While deciding what to pack earlier in the week, I actually watched the weather channel for forecasts and expected 40's. Thankfully we brought plenty of warm clothes, because we had no intentions of staying cooped up in the cabin, especially when the whole park lost power for several hours that afternoon. It snowed all day on Saturday, but it was only faint flurries- exciting for us in the South, but probably not even noteworthy for all those folks getting bombarded with snowstorms along the northeastern coast right now. I do admit as much as I love the flurries, I do not enjoy the iced up sidewalks and roads. Even the running boards on the truck were covered in inch-thick ice, and James had to help boost me up into the truck every time.

Originally we were going to spend the whole anniversary weekend in Chattanooga itself, playing tourist at all the attractions. But we decided we wanted a quiet few days together, and what better way to be alone with each other, than to get outside in the freezing cold and take in some of Mother Nature's beauty. We were actually surprised to see how many people were at the park for the weekend, although I suspect most of them stayed snuggled up inside because we saw very few people while we were traipsing outdoors.

The park is an astounding 20,000 acres of forest, gorges, waterfalls, rivers, and stunning rock formations. A smaller, greener version of the grander canyons out West. Although there was the occasional sightseer out and about, we felt as though we had the place all to ourselves. Us and the three or four dozen deer we saw meandering throughout the park. There were several suspended bridges right out over the water, and very little of the park was off limits, so we felt as though we were able to get right up close to everything.

The formation below was called the George Hole, although I'm not sure why. Most of the signs posted at all the scenic spots were actually frozen over with snow and ice. It was beautiful, that's all I can say. You can see how enormous the rocks are, and how tiny James looks beside them. The day was so gloomy, I had my flash on the whole time, and most of my photos are "dotted" with snowflakes falling just as I would snap the picture.

The highlights of the park are the many waterfalls (Fall Creek Falls, Piney Falls, Cane Creek Cascades and Falls), all of which were thunderous with all the extra rain the South has been receiving lately. They were all quite spectacular, and thankfully they were all easy to get to. I'm not up to much hiking these days.

We had a wonderful weekend getaway, but as all good things must, this also had to come to an end. The park has a super early check-out time (1oam!!), so no sleeping in for us on Sunday morning. We got up fairly early to beat the crowd, as all the cabins at the park were rented out and plenty of folks were staying up at the inn as well. We left in the early morning and had the roads to ourselves. The only eyes that watched us leaving the park were the deer on the golf course.

We left our weekend winter wonderland and headed back to our real lives, where my husband didn't even get to come home with me. He had to go directly to work, to oversee a Superbowl party for the Sunday night crew working in the warehouse. But, I am sure he went in very rested and relaxed, and hopefully very happy.

Fish For Sunday

2010-02-01T19:27:00.019-05:00

Sunday we made our first of what will become monthly visits to one of the shuttle sites for our company's transportation department. Although our warehouse is located right outside of Atlanta, we deliver to not only the entire state of Georgia, but to the surrounding states as well. To cut down on driving time, we have multiple shuttle sites all over the state. The shuttle site James will be checking every month is about 160 miles south of Newnan. When we were in SC, James was over the warehouse, but since moving to ATL, he is in addition over the transportation department as well.

He will have to go to this site at least once a month and check the trailers and tractors, recording anything he sees out of place. (Below, he is checking the temperature of the unit on this trailer, since it has groceries on it.) And since it's such a long drive, I will be going with him, and we will try to make a day of it every trip. We mapped out all the locations in southern Georgia where we know there are penny machines, and we will pick one machine for each month.

For our first trip down that way, we went over to Albany, where we visited the Flint RiverQuarium and got their pennies. It's a small aquarium right on the river and also right in downtown. I told James I will be glad when winter is over because I am tired of always putting gloomy photos on the blog! We haven't seen the sun in a long time it seems. It was cold and blustery that afternoon as well.

For a small facility, they had plenty to see and do there. These were some of the biggest fish I've ever seen, including lots of catfish and a few gigantic sturgeon.

We were able to get up close and personal with a wide variety of critters. I know James will probably say, if you've seen one aquarium you've seen them all, but I happen to love them and I can spend 10-15 minutes in front of just one tank. And yes, I talk to the animals and the fish, and no I'm not expecting them to answer. Although one little baby gator tried desperately to snap at my camera as it was up against the glass. I don't think my husband is quite as enthralled with wildlife as I am, but he is very indulgent and never lets on if he is bored.

They even had a bird sanctuary outdoors. Most of the birds seemed to be those of the water loving species, because the aquarium is supposed to mimic life on the river. But there were a few song birds in there as well. I'm not sure if they were supposed to be there or just snuck in through the netting to feast on the free buffet. There was a sign at the entrance saying that most of the birds were people friendly and to not be alarmed if they landed on you. But, it was so cold out everyone was just fluffed up and huddling to stay warm. I was sort of disappointed no one paid us any attention, because I was hoping to make a new feathered friend.

Across the way, we checked out the second building which features rotating displays. For now, it's alligators. And here is James, right where any good UT Vol belongs- getting chomped and eaten alive by a Gator!

This little guy was giving me the evil eye, but he was just so darn cute for such a scary little fellow.

We finished up the visit by walking down to the river, where it was swelled with the recent rains. I don't know if you can make it out in this photo or not, but if you can see the tall street lamps down near the trees- well, that's where the sidewalk was. The water was muddy and rushing quite strongly.

We ended the day with a great lunch at Fuddrucker's (oh-so-yummy burgers) and will find another hidden gem and penny machine to visit on our trip next month. It was a long day, we left the house at 8am and got home after 6pm. But it was fun, and if my husband has to make this long drive for work anyhow, we might as well spend those days together and do something fun along the way.

The Red Carpet

2010-01-31T06:24:00.006-05:00

James and I both had long weeks at work. His started on Tuesday afternoon around 4:30, when apparently a nearby phone company crew cut our fiber optic cables and shut down our entire system- phones, computers. My dedicated husband, after having already worked a full day, stayed until somewhere around 2:00AM with his night shift folks, working through the crisis, then was back at work again the next morning- well, later the same morning. And with it being the end of the month, I had two somewhat later than usual evenings while I stayed to renew vendor contracts expiring on the 31st. (Sadly I'm the only one who benefits from overtime pay!) So, you would think that we would want to relax and get away from work for the weekend. Not so.

James and I had to get all dolled up to attend an awards banquet for the company sales team. Luckily it was only a 25-minute drive away in a neighboring city. And it only lasted four hours, but it was simply an obligation, not something we were truly looking forward to. It was interesting for me because these are the folks I "work" with- through email and phone. I was able to put a face to a lot of the names. Some of the sales people fit my image of them, many made me say "whoa!" when I saw them. I didn't really go around and introduce myself to them, although we had an hour of mingling at the open bar before the dinner. Since I've only been working there for three months now, I didn't feel like many of them would really be very excited to meet me (there's always next year), James and I just tried to muddle through the evening and I think he would agree we mostly kept to ourselves.

And guess what? Later today we have yet another work "function" to attend to, but this one will be decidedly more fun for us and I'll blog about that as soon as I can. All in all, it was fun to play dress up (except it was 30 degrees and I wore open-toed shoes, what was I thinking??) and I did enjoy wearing my new formal evening attire- including fake nails which I haven't wore since high school! And my husband looked gorgeous and sexy in his suit. As gorgeous as he did the day he wore it when we got married almost four years ago (our anniversary is in a few days). I guess I would suffer through another boring awards ceremony just to see him in it again....

Follow The Detours

2010-01-26T19:01:00.009-05:00

Well anyone who knows us, knows that we are not afraid to travel off the beaten path just for the heck of it. This past weekend we had a few days of self-imposed detours on our road trip to Knoxville. Friday night we left work to head towards Tennessee, to finally- belatedly- celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday. Whenever we head north on a Friday after work, it's always a traffic jam on the interstates of Atlanta. This trip, while cruising along, my husband's quick eye saw all the lanes ahead of us at a dead stop. Just in time for him to zip off the nearest exit and wind our way through Marietta until we could find a clear patch to get back on I-75. Above is local legend, "The Big Chicken", where I was hanging out the truck window in order to get this photo. His eyes and beak move, and he's pretty cool.

We spent the night in Chattanooga, a good "halfway" point for us because it would be late into the night if we drove all the way into Knoxville. Saturday morning we stayed off the interstate and headed to a little town (above), Dayton, in order to get a few coveted pennies for our collection, at their general store. Which was closed "for the birth of a child" (said the sign on the door), but we stuck around and did a little shopping in the antique stores along the main street. We found a shop selling art by local artists, including one lady who has painted every state capitol and was currently set up in the store painting a huge watercolor of the White House. James was even able to find a large, gorgeous framed photo of the UT Vols' football locker room- a very unique piece.

Then we drove along winding country roads to get to Fall Creek Falls State Park, because of course they have a penny machine as well. Once again, our devotion to collecting elongated pennies took us to an exciting destination we otherwise never would have found. We didn't have much time to spend in the park, which is 20,000 acres and includes campgrounds, waterfalls, stores, a golf course, an inn, the lake, hiking trails, and a restaurant- where we did slow down long enough to enjoy the country buffet for lunch. And, below, you can see they also have cabins on the lake. Or should I say "in" the lake, as the cabins are built right out over the water. We were so enticed by these, we decided to make reservations for our upcoming anniversary to spend a long weekend in one of them. (Photos from their website.)

Although our travels often take us out of our normal comfort zone, there are some things in life that never change no matter where you are. For example, here is a photo of James before we left, trying to work at his desk in the home office, around a lapful of Romeo and Hairy begging for his attention.

And here is James over the weekend at his parents' house, with pups Joppa and Missy clambering all over him for a little affection. The dogs are actually smaller than our cats, but they are decidedly way more excited to see us whenever we visit.....

For Pet Lovers Only

2010-01-21T17:52:00.005-05:00

This is one I've seen before, but it was emailed to me again so I thought I would share it. I'm sure some of you have read it already, but it's worth repeating!

The following was posted very low on a refrigerator door:

Dear Dogs and Cats: The dishes with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes are mine and contain my food. Placing a paw print in the middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.

The stairway was not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Racing me to the bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help because I fall faster than you can run.

I cannot buy anything bigger than a king sized bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will continue sleeping on the couch to ensure your comfort, however. Dogs and cats can actually curl up in a ball when they sleep. It is not necessary to sleep perpendicular to each other, stretched out to the fullest extent possible. I also know that sticking tails straight out and having tongues hanging out on the other end to maximize space is nothing but sarcasm.

For the last time, there is no secret exit from the bathroom! If, by some miracle, I beat you there and manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow, try to turn the knob or get your paw under the edge in an attempt to open the door. I must exit through the same door I entered. Also, I have been using the bathroom for years - canine/feline attendance is not required.

The proper order for kissing is: Kiss me first, then go smell the other dog or cat's butt. I cannot stress this enough.

Finally, in fairness, dear pets, I have posted the following message on the front door:

TO ALL NON-PET OWNERS WHO VISIT AND LIKE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT OUR PETS:
(1) They live here. You don't.
(2) If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture. That's why they call it 'fur'-niture.
(3) I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
(4) To you, they are animals. To me, they are adopted sons/daughters who are short, hairy, walk on all fours and don't speak clearly.

Remember, dogs and cats are better than kids because they:
(1) eat less,
(2) don't ask for money all the time,
(3) are easier to train,
(4) normally come when called,
(5) never ask to drive the car,
(6) don't smoke or drink,
(7) don't want to wear your clothes,
(8) don't have to buy the latest fashions,
(9) don't need a gazillion dollars for college and ...
(10) if they get pregnant, you can sell their children.

The Football Version of New Years

2010-01-13T18:34:00.018-05:00

Well here I am once again super duper behind on the blog. I'm finishing off the last of the New Years photos. Just football on this post, for anyone OTHER than my Dad who might be interested in it. I had so many many photos I took at the games- some didn't come out so great- so I've just picked a few of the highlights.

We started the holiday in a familiar place- the Georgia Dome in Atlanta where we go see the Falcons play. On New Year's Eve night (my bday), we went to the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, where James' University of Tennessee Volunteers were playing Virginia Tech. In fact our seats were very near our regular season ticket seats, so we had a great view.

The first half of the game was pretty close, and so it was exciting. I don't have any good photos of the actual game, because once the game starts I pretty much just watch football, jump up and down, and scream a lot. Difficult to take aim with the camera. But here's the team before the game. Little did we know this would be Lame, I mean Lane Kiffin's last game in an orange shirt.

And what is a UT game without hearing the band play Rocky Top! I admit it, I sing along and go "Whoo!" in all the right places, I can't help myself. Unfortunately the second half of the game wasn't so kind to the Vols, and they didn't win. We stayed to watch the entire game though, we're not "fair weather" fans. We rode the train into the city, and by the time we finally got back home, it was super late. And we had to get up SUPER early the next morning, January 1st, 2010. Luckily we had packed the night before.

As you know we spent the New Year weekend in New Orleans. That's because on New Year's Day we had yet another football game to go to, at the Superdome. Yes, we did two bowl games in two nights in two different states. Not many folks can say that.

My Florida Gators were playing in the Sugar Bowl this year. A let down after winning the National Championship last year, but hey, it was still a BCS bowl and those are of course reserved for an elite group of teams.

It was freezing cold that evening, but when we walked over from our hotel to the game, the doors weren't opened yet. We hung out with the rest of the growing crowd at the "Fan Jam" they had- live music, food, games. James tried his hand at being an armchair quarterback, where he won a prize.

We also got to meet former Gator star Chris Doering, who signed an autographed photo to my Dad (I'll get it to you soon Dad!). Chris played many years in the NFL, and now hosts a radio show on ESPN.

Yes folks, I even had on Gator socks! (I don't own Gator underwear but if I did, I would have worn those as well!)

It was our first time to go to the Superdome, and James walked around the entire place before finally settling in. The Superdome is definitely bigger than the Georgia Dome. I know it suffered a lot of damage during Katrina, but it looked shiny and sparkling clean when we were there.

Although James stayed loyal to his UT Vols by wearing their shirt, he did wear a Gator hat so he could try and blend in with the crowd a little better... I told him this was a great black mail photo, but he said we're married so I'm not allowed to black mail him!

We had amazing seats, on the 50 yard line right down front, thanks to a dear family friend of my parents. Here Tim Tebow is so close during warmups, I could reach out and pinch him! We could see the game perfectly, I don't think I looked up at the monitor once during the actual game, we got all the action right before our eyes!

Best of all, here is the final score. The Cincinnati Bearcats were overwhelmed by the Gators. Their fans were excited in the beginning, shouting out loud in unison. But pretty soon the chants of "SEC! SEC!" quited them down. Soon the entire Gator Nation was hollering "Tebow! Tebow!" and "Urban! Urban!" The Cincinnati fans stayed for the whole game, but they were fairly silent for the second half.

And the final result is.....this! I wish it read National Champs, but my sister's Crimson Tide got that honor this year, and she and her husband were lucky enough to go to California for a few days to see their bowl game. Oh well, the one thing about football is, there will always be a next season to look forward to!

Dad- For You!

2010-01-10T19:40:00.002-05:00

Dad- I tried to email this to you, but the file was too big, and I gave up trying after a few failed attempts. Not that other people won't want to see this, but it is especially for you. You may have to turn up the volume a bit...

A Log Blog

2010-01-10T08:14:00.009-05:00

I thought I had already blogged about our fireplace, but I guess I haven't. Our house was brand new when we bought it, and as you can see below, logs in the gas fireplace were apparently not a standard option! If you can tell from the photo, our fireplace is double-sided, and open to two rooms- the living room on this side, and the sun room on the other.

So of course we just couldn't run down to Lowe's and pick up a box of logs off the shelf. We had to have everything measured and custom made. We ended up going to a fireplace dealer way over in Stockbridge, who ordered the logs and then sent someone to install them. They actually don't look too bad.

In the evening, with the lights low, it actually looks like a real wood fire, with glowing embers underneath. And oddly enough, they actually make a popping and crackling sound that is realistic too. Because it's open on both sides, it doesn't give off a tremendous amount of heat, but it still gives me that warm and cozy feeling a fireplace is supposed to.

I do miss the smell of burning wood though, although my asthma doesn't miss the smoke. In my parents home, and in my very first home in Rock Hill, we had wood-burning fireplaces. James always had a wood fireplace as well in his homes (Hairy below, in his old apartment when we were dating). It's just hard to keep up with a woodpile, splitting it, bringing it inside on a cold morning.

When we bought our last house in Rock Hill, it had two fireplaces. One gas, one wood. I have to admit that, even though we had a big stack of wood ready to go outside, I think we only used the wood fireplace twice. We quickly found we enjoyed the convenience of pushing a button for the gas fireplace instead. As you can see below, the cats didn't seem to mind it wasn't a "real" fire.

Now that the new logs are in at the new house, it didn't take long for the cats to rediscover the joys of sleeping by the hearth. And with it being double-sided, there's more fire for the cats to enjoy. Last night three were sleeping on one side in the living room, while the other two were huddled next to it in the sun room. Here's Romeo just last night, relaxing. And I think from this photo, you can't tell those are fake logs at all. And I don't think the cats seem to mind one bit!

Keep Her In Your Thoughts

2010-01-09T19:12:00.004-05:00

Please keep my very lovely, sweet, kind, beautiful sister-in-law Cindy Williams in your thoughts right now. She is in the hospital with a very very serious case of pneumonia. Cindy is James' younger sister, and mom to two great kids, and we are all pulling for her speedy recovery!

Staying In

2010-01-09T18:33:00.011-05:00

While it was 13 outside this morning when I ran out for an errand, this was the temperature in the basement this afternoon. During the week James made a few trips to Home Depot to buy insulation for the basement (below). We need a lot, obviously.

While the snow and ice outside decided to not melt today (our high was maybe 29), James stayed busy down in the basement most of the day putting up the scratchy pink stuff. The basement walls were built with 2 x 6's, so the insulation we're using is thicker than normal, but we hope that it will keep some of the cold and especially the dampness out until we finish it one day.

James bundled up in warm clothing and plugged in a few space heaters. I was down there briefly, trying to clean up one of the junk boxes, but it was too cold for me, even though I was in sweats and a fleece jacket. We were supposed to go to Knoxville this weekend, to celebrate Mrs. Truan's birthday tomorrow, but they had weather worse than ours. It was colder and very icy, so we've postponed the trip. It's the second time in the last few weeks that the winter weather has forced us to cancel a Tennessee visit with the family.

The cats were busy with various activities today. Some of them stayed down in the basement with dad, and General even helped out with the clean up. At least, this is his version of helping out.

Once Maarten found a nice warm place in the sun room, he decided to stay there for the afternoon and take a big kitty nap. Dad's fuzzy orange UT pillows must have been comfortable.

Once the sun warmed up in the late day, the cats were restless to go out on the back deck. I let them out there, thinking I would teach them a lesson about the arctic cold, and expected them to all run back inside. But they showed mom, and enjoyed the fresh air for awhile, avoiding the little patch of snow still melting.

(All five cats are in this photo- can you spot them?)

Winter Wonderland

2010-01-08T18:30:00.003-05:00

Whoo-hoo! Here was our big snow in Atlanta! You folks up north don't hurt yourself laughing too hard.....

New Year 2010, The Non-Football Version

2010-01-07T18:16:00.025-05:00

Well tonight is a good night for me to get caught up on the blog. I have a load of laundry in the washer, a load in the dryer, a pan of turkey meatballs in the oven, and the husband won't be home until super late tonight due to a work function. It's snowing quite steadily outside, and the BIG football game is not on for about an hour yet. So here I am finally. I have so many photos to share about our New Year's trip, I am going to do it in two posts. This one is void of any sports related photos, while the second post will be all football.

James and I were fortunate enough to spend the start of the new year in New Orleans. We took the long way around into the city, so we could drive across Lake Pontchartrain over the Causeway, one of the longest bridges in the world at almost 24 miles over open water. As you can see from the sun shining down on the water, it was a gorgeous day out. Even the haze can't spoil the view of the looming city in the distance.

We got a hotel right on Canal Street (two photos below from website- we were in the taller tower), and once we handed the keys over to the valet on Friday afternoon, we never saw the car again until we left on Sunday. We walked everywhere that weekend, including all the way over to the Superdome (see my next post for those details). The hotel was bustling with people in town for the big game, they even had a security guard working the seven elevators just for our tower, directing the flow of people on and off. Of course, we later found out that the opposing team was staying at that same hotel, so we were a very small spot of orange and blue amid a vast sea of red and black.

But we had a nice view out our window of the sights down Canal Street (top photo) and even of the French Quarter, or Vieux Carre for those of you who speak French (second photo). I don't have as many photos of the city as I should, I was not a great photographer this weekend. It was cold and blustery, and I kept my head down and my hands in my coat pocket for the most part.

There are certainly plenty of things to do and see in New Orleans, although we had a very short visit- this time (can't wait to go back). I felt as though we barely scratched the surface. Although I've been to New Orleans more than once, it has been many years since my last trip there. If someone had been living under a rock and never heard of Hurricane Katrina, you could never tell by looking around the city. At least in the downtown area, I saw no signs of the devastation, although I'm sure the locals can point everything out. I was glad to see the city full to the brim with tourists shelling out lots of money. I think most of our money was spent eating!!! You can't go to New Orleans without indulging in seafood! And there were gators (and Gators) everywhere you looked that weekend!

The city was still decorated for the holidays, and as freezing cold as it was, it definitely looked and felt like winter. No, it's not warm in the south these days, as I'm sure anyone watching the news already knows (I did mention that it's SNOWING right now here south of Atlanta). I know Mardi Gras is next month, so I'm sure these Christmas lights and all the greenery will be coming down very very soon for more festive decor.

Although football-related activities took up all of Friday, and we left on Sunday morning, we had all of Saturday to play tourist and walk around the city. Which we did, all day long, miles and miles of it. Boy, my feet were screaming mad at me that evening! But as we do no matter where we go, we made sure we mapped out all the penny machines in the city. There are so many of them, we only had time to make it to half of the locations, but we still picked up 40 pennies for the collection.

And try as we might, we never ever seem to go on vacation and completely get away from work....

But we did manage to relax a little bit. No, James doesn't carry a purse...

New Orleans is a beautiful city. It's beauty is everywhere you look, whether it's staring up along the balconies on Decatur Street...

...Or even gazing down at the sidewalk as you shuffle along on Bourbon Street. Although I imagine most people dragging along Bourbon Street may not have clear enough vision to notice these, although they are all over the city (some stores even sell replicas of them).

There is even fresh life in this old city, at one of their newer attractions- the Audubon Insectarium, where we made a new friend.

And of course saw one of our oldest and dearest friends.

And you can't talk about New Orleans without talking about the Mighty Mississippi as well. The heart and lifeblood of this country. Without it I don't think America would have become what it is today.

Of course everyone loves the food and music (and drinks) in New Orleans, but it is awash with art as well. We never made it to any of the galleries, but I plan to visit a few on our next trip. I had to settle for this Wyland Wall, "The Blues Whales". I should keep track of how many of these I've seen over my lifetime, it's quite a few.

Eventually we had to come back home, carrying a little bit of New Orleans with us. Strong chicory coffee, glassware, gifts for family, and even one piece of art. I couldn't pass it up, it looks just like General. This is "Cat du Monde", sitting at the famous cafe in New Orleans, from a series called Creole Cat by this artist.

Although I'm not sure if General truly appreciates this framed portrait of his long-lost cousin. When we came home that Sunday, we unpacked our clothes right away and General showed his disapproval at our being gone by jumping in the pile and peeing all over James' jacket and a few other items. Trust me, General, if I could take all five of you cats with us every time we traveled, I would!!! (Your daddy wouldn't, though.)

I will finish up with a second post about the weekend, but it will be all football, and it is mostly for my dad.....!

A Happy Holiday For All

2009-12-27T17:12:00.008-05:00

I'm sorry to be away from the blog for so long, but alas, I am still sick. As soon as I "recovered" from the strep throat I caught at Thanksgiving, only days later I came down with pink eye (I got the strep bacteria in my eyes- not fun). I've had it for over a week now and I'm still plagued with a bit of vision issues, so I'll make this post short.

With me being sick for almost a month now, I was never able to get around enough to decorate for Christmas. James offered to take care of everything for me, but since I was always sick and tired, I decided to skip it this year. I know, it's a lame excuse, but after working all day long, hanging Christmas lights in the front yard was the last thing on my list. So I was very much a Scrooge this year- no tree, no decorations, no baking, no cards. Very unlike me, a person who picked out their house just because the ceilings were tall enough to fit the Christmas tree- which makes it even more ironic that I didn't put the tree up this holiday, the first in our new home.

But my parents did come up here for a few days to visit with us and celebrate Christmas, and that lifted my spirits a great deal. Mom was here to cook a wonderful meal, and I don't care how old you are, you always love to eat Mom's home cooking especially at the holidays!

Although the cats got plenty of gifts of their own, they made sure they were always up in the middle of everyone else's goodies.

Grandma Pat got everyone new outfits for Christmas, but no one seemed eager to try anything on. Romeo did stop long enough for me to take a photo. Doesn't he look too cute in his Christmas cape??

Although it was cold, it was beautiful weather for the weekend. My dad and I both couldn't stop taking pictures of the sunset from my back deck. He said it rivaled the sunsets in Florida, although I may have to disagree with him there.

We finished off the holidays by winding down and just relaxing, and General found his new favorite spot in the living room. Any closer and he will burn off his white whiskers!

My parents made it back safely to Florida this afternoon, and tomorrow we are back to work for a four-day week. It will be busy for me, but I am ready to get it going and get it over with. Although we rested and had a quiet Christmas, James and I have quite a big New Year's planned so hopefully I will have more fun stuff to blog about soon.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and holiday season!

Our Busy Weekend

2009-12-13T19:50:00.011-05:00

This weekend started out early for us on Saturday morning, when our friend David and James and I drove down to West Point, Georgia to take a tour of the new Kia manufacturing plant. It just started mass production a month ago, and right now they only have one shift. They are producing the 2011 Sorento, and can make about 500 a day. They plan to add a second shift soon. I think they said there are 1200 employees currently. Eventually they will be able to make over 1000 vehicles a day. Interestingly, the tour guide said 80% of the employees went over to Korea to train. What a huge opportunity and once in a lifetime moment, I'm sure, for a lot of the local folks.

We started off by signing up for a chance to test drive the new cars. David already drives a Kia, and James and I weren't interested, so we only took the tour of the plant, which lasted about an hour. Because it was Saturday, they were not actually making the cars that day. But the cars were right on the assembly lines where they left them on Friday at closing time, in all phases of production. It was actually quite interesting to be able to walk around and get a close up inspection of everything. I wish I could show here the massive size of the plant, it would have taken at least 4-5 panoramic shots to get it all in here. It's enormous. Unfortunately there were no photos allowed inside the plant, I guess in case I was a corporate spy from Toyota.

After the tour we three headed north of Atlanta to Marietta, to pick up our new "Christmas present" to each other. We are finally replacing the old red Ranger we gave away earlier this year. James did a lot of research online before picking out the 2010 F150. He did, however, let me pick out the color! I'm not sure if he wanted a black one or not, but I was afraid if he got the red one he was looking at, people around here would assume we were Georgia Bulldog fans!! And as a diehard Gator, I take offense at that...

We barely had time to get the truck parked in our driveway when we had to get ready for a Christmas party Saturday evening. It was at the house of James' boss, so I tried to be ready on time so we wouldn't be late. But I spent forever in front of the mirror fussing with my hair. I don't know why, because it was raining and, although the temperature was around freezing, it was very damp outside and my hair just fell flat. We had a great time, and before we knew it, five hours flew by and we finally had to excuse ourselves to head home.

Sunday morning I had a super early appointment with the massage therapist, to make up for an appointment I missed while in bed with strep throat. My therapist recently started carrying items from local artists who she's friends with. She has stunning quilts, hand-stitched purses, and artwork. I picked up this original piece from local Newnan artist Georgie Dunn, painted on what looks like handmade paper. She had several beautiful pieces there, and when I go back to my next appointment I may get a mate for this one. This photo doesn't do it justice, it's beautiful.

We ended Sunday with a Falcons game, the last one for me this year. They only have one home game left, and it's Christmas weekend so I'm letting my dad go with James to that one. I think the guys will have fun. We just renewed our season tickets this week, so I'm looking forward to the Falcons having a hopefully better season next year. Today they had a big chance to hand undefeated New Orleans their first loss of the season, but a really stupid play call on a big fourth down ended what could have been an exciting finish!

Thanksgiving Part Two

2009-12-01T21:27:00.018-05:00

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.