My New Trick

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

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

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

So what the heck is going on at work today?

Me....



James......

The Hawks Get Into the Playoffs

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

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

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

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!