Bill Gates owes me a blog! >=(

Ok..so I'd written this huge long blog on my weekend at Astronomy Days and my dinner at Tir Na Nog and our walk around the capitol in Raleigh..and wrote a little bit about some other mundane details of the past month or so.....and windows experienced an "error" and needed to close. WTF? It does this every night. So...I copied what I'd written so I could repaste it after I reopened it. Nope...completely gone. Not a trace. So..I spent an hour writing this LONG blog..and it's all gone. You know what I say? EFF it. I'm not writing all that again. It's a shame too b/c it was very well thought out and rather eloquent..and now no one will ever get to read it. Here's the summary: I got my picture taken with an astronaut ( Dr. Robert Crouch), had incredible scotch eggs at Tir Na Nog Irish Pub, got pics of the capitol building and went home.

I also mentioned in the other blog that Jeff bought a telescope, I have to put a fence up b/c my dogs were aggressive towards my neighbors and I still haven't heard about my well pump from insurance. Oh..and I have to pay out another $250 to have my septic tank maintained. Jeff's teaching a class at the community college, speaking at a conference next month and having some of his photos published in a magazine. That's the top points of my blog...but the details were what made the story..maybe I'll write them some other time when I'm not in such a pissy mood. I was in a great mood until I lost everything I wrote..all b/c Bill Gates can't build a reliable product. Sigh..such is life. Nothing's meant to go my way apparently. As Jeff says, why does everything have to suck?

Miss Patches Prissy Paws

I just love my dogs..let me tell you why. Yesterday as I was eating a bowl of cereal before coming to work, Jeff was in the floor playing with Patches..our border collie. He put his hand up to her face and says, "I'm going to get your nose!"...and she ducks her head and hides it under his leg. ?? Hmm..ok..probably just coincidental...so he says it again, and she hides her nose in his arm pit. Um...ok..maybe she was just smelling Jazz who was behind him. One more time.."I'm going to get your nose!"...and she covers her nose with her paw. Ho-ly crap. We have no idea where she learned that b/c Jeff doesn't say that as a habit. He's said it to her a few times in the past, but not enough for her to pick up on it...or so we thought.

He stands up and she comes to check out my empty cereal bowl and he says it to her again...and she runs behind my chair to hide. The next time he said it..she hid behind me and gave me this look like.."Please..don't let him get my nose!! I'm too cute!"...so we rewarded her with a cookie so she knows that we're not really going to get her nose..but I was just completely amazed.
She's done a couple of other things in the past that were quite amazing too. She figured out how to operate the ice maker on the front of our freezer. I'd come home to puddles of water in the floor and couldn't figure out where they came from...until I was in the office and all was quiet and I heard small thuds in the kitchen. I snuck around the corner and see Miss Patches Prissy Paws (her full name) pushing the ice release button with her paw. Ah ha...mystery solved. This continued until I accidently left the fridge on the 'water' setting and it sprayed her in the face. Oops.

The other time I was completely amazed was when my parents came down to visit. We were watching Mighty Joe Young on tv...the gorilla movie for those who don't know and Patches came in to check out the action...wait.. I should probably tell you about their toy bin first though. We have a huge basket that's about the size of a half barrel filled with all their toys. They'll go visit it and pull out what they want whenever they want. If I could train them to put them back..I'd really be on to something.

Anyhow, Patches glances at the tv, cocks her head to one side then trots over to her toy bin. She starts rooting around in the piles of bodies, tossing them over the sides haphazardly until she gets to the bottom and pulls out what she's seeking. She starts shaking it back and forth and then drops it in my mom's lap. I glance at it and it's nothing other than...wait for it...wait for it...still waiting..wait for it..... a stuffed shrieking gorilla. I'll be damned. Just seeing the one on tv reminded her that she had one too.

That gorilla had been buried in the bottom of the bin for MONTHS..mostly because it does shriek and hearing it at 3am sucks. Plus..she tore it's butt out and left the fuzzy white innards laying all over the living room. Unfortunately this was not enough to kill it's shrieker...it just busted it so that it shrieked in a continuous loop until you stomped the crap out of it....or it would start shrieking on it's own with no one around it. I know..my fault for buying the damned thing..but it was cute.

She's also waited for us to vacate the dinner table and instead of being like a regular dog who would just put their paws on the table to steal scraps off the plate, she jumped up in the chair and was sitting there perfectly poised licking the plate clean...like she belonged there. When she got caught she gave us this look like.."What? You didn't put it on the floor, how else was I going to get it?"

Patches is probably too smart for us. Her and the cats work together to steal food off the counters. I'm sure she's the brains behind the whole operation. Anyhow..I was just proud of my girly for basically teaching herself a trick. She provides hours of endless entertainment and love and I just wanted to share my amazing dog story with everyone!

Is it really a New Year??

I can't believe it's already 2008. I wasn't so much celebrating the beginning of 2008, but the end of 2007. Thank goodness it's over! Horrible year! But..is it really a new year? Time is a continuum..it never really ends. Each day is just a continuation of the next and just because we're asleep, doesn't mean that time stops or that when the sun comes back up that it'll be better. So why do we procrastinate and keep putting things off for another day? It's not going to stop needing to be done just because you ignore it, you know? I still need to lose weight. I still need to pay off my credit cards. I still need to save money..but I keep putting it off. Why? I have no motivation. Why? If I could answer that question, I think I'd have achieved a pretty significant goal.

This year, there are a lot of things I'd like to accomplish. I'd like to lose about 50 lbs. I'd like to have about $2000 in my savings account. I'd like to learn how to speak spanish. I'd like to pay off one of my credit cards. I'd like to get pregnant and have a healthy baby. I'd like to fix all the stuff wrong with the house. I'd love to get a new job working day shift hours and have every weekend and holiday off. I'd love to finally get our fence up in the backyard. I'd love to get a tax return. I'd love to develop some kind of self discipline so I can build my savings and pay off bills. And..I'd love to see more of my friends and family. Where do I start?? How do I start? It all seems so overwhelming.

So far..I have done nothing to achieve any of those goals. I know it's only the 2nd day, but I can't get motivated. If anyone can tell me how..please..let me know! I had all these big plans for the weekend like taking a car load of stuff to the thrift shop and cleaning my carpets. I've been meaning to do that since September but haven't done it. I wanted to get my kitchen cleaned and my sheets washed. Nope. None of it happened. Jeff and I went shopping instead. Instead of saving money, we went and spent it. Granted..I took back stuff I bought on impulse and then bought stuff I really needed..like groceries, but still..we spent money. The only thing I was proud of is that we didn't eat out all weekend. I cooked every night..and that's rare!

Friday was chicken pie night with corn and green beans. Saturday was flank steak in a maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic and vinegar marinade with mashed potatoes. Sunday was fondue night..cheese and bread followed by bananas, strawberries and raspberries in chocolate fondue. I even made a gigantic breakfast Sunday too. Monday..New Year's Eve..was enchiladas and refried beans. All we did that day was go see I Am Legend and then come home and cook dinner...then waited for the new year to roll around....then off to bed around 1am. Nothing grand. Though, Jeff did fix my computer that afternoon.

If you get a chance to see I Am Legend..you should go..it was incredible. There were a few times that I jumped and was on the edge of my seat...and there was no gore..which is a huge plus in my book...but it was also a very sad movie. I'd like to go see it again actually..but I'll wait and buy it on dvd. If you don't want a huge spoiler...do NOT go to Wikipedia...it tells the entire plot right through to the end.

My movie recap.....

In the year 2009, a doctor develops a genetically engineered strain of the measles virus which cured cancer. By the end of the year, the virus had killed 90% of the world's population. Another 9% were infected but still alive and 1% was completely immune. Will Smith's character, Robert Neville was one of the immune. The 9% of infected survivors degenerated into a primal state of aggression and reacted painfully to UV light..basically becoming vampires....and they hunted the 1% of completely immune people. By 2012, Robert Neville is in New York and believes he's the only remaining survivor. He is a military scientist who is doing his best to find a cure in order to save the human race. By day, he hunts and gathers food and supplies for him and his dog. By night, he seals up his apartment and tries to survive the night.

The link above takes you to the movie trailer. It averages a B- from critics..but I thought it was great. If for no other reason..it shows Will Smith shirtless doing pullups and running. Yowza! Oh..and a warning...I don't want to spoil the movie..but things happen to dogs in this movie that are very uncool and sad. That was the worst part for me. Anyway, It's based off the 1954 book I Am Legend by Richard Matheson which was based in LA instead of NY...and the end is totally different, but I still want to read it.

Alright..enough movie reviews....I just felt that it was worth one. I know where I'll be May 22nd and November 21st of this year though. Seeing Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Harry Potter: Half-blood Prince. Woo hoo! Can't wait! So..I guess those are 2 more goals I know I can accomplish this year. Another bright spot is knowing that my car will be paid of this year! Woo! That's a huge relief. I just want this year to be filled with happy things. For all the bad things that happened last year, I deserve to have a year where things go my way, you know? I'm still waiting to hear back from the insurance company in reference to our well pump and to hear from the people here at work about the stupid IA against me for venting in a blog. I hate it hanging over my head! I'll let you guys know when it's over. For now..I have to get back to work...

Christmas Love

You know..I wasn't expected much for Christmas this year..mostly because I hate it when people spend a ton of money on me when I can't spend any on them. It just bothers me. We'd had a bad year in general..but the last couple of months were the hardest. I felt bitter and sad and was dreading the holidays because I knew we couldn't spend money on anyone. Therefore, I wasn't expecting much from anyone else.

Some friends of ours..Justin & Sarah and Kyle & Andrea..each sent us gift cards in outrageous amounts!! I wasn't expecting anything close to what they got us. On top of that, Jeff's parents spent a ton of money on each of us..separately and as a couple. We got loads of gifts plus a lot of cash. My parents gave us money as well as gifts and Mom also got me the black pea coat I've been wanting forever. I just feel overwhelmed with all the generosity I received this year. It was one of the best Christmas' I remember having...not because of the gifts or the amount they spent..but because they cared enough about us to get us all that stuff. It was a great ending to a really crappy year.

I am truly thankful for such a wonderful family and amazing friends. No matter how rough my life gets, I know they're there and I feel so lucky that they are. So..to everyone, I just wanted to say thank you for being so generous and for bringing happiness and light into my darkest days. You guys are what get me through the day to day muck that is life. I'm so lucky to have all of you that no amount of words could express it. Thank you guys again and I hope you had an awesome New Year!

A Blue Christmas

Well..not so much. I feel bad that I can't be at home during actual Christmas with Jeff and that I couldn't afford to buy anyone gifts, but my time at home was nevertheless wonderful. And..since Jesus's birthday wasn't on Dec. 25th anyway..I'm ok w/ not opening gifts that day. I can celebrate his birth whenever I please. I had a full 2 weeks vacation from work which I very much needed..but I still feel like I need rest. I had 5 days off at home before I left for Virginia which let me sleep and get some of the house stuff done. Plus, it let me spend some time with Jeff. We rocked out on Guitar Hero 3, watched some movies, and went to his aunt's Christmas dinner up in Galax.

After getting to Roanoke, Mom and I designed and built a gingerbread house!! It turned out so cute!! I'll post pictures once Jeff fixes my computer at home. The power supply got fried..but that's another story for another time. Anyhow, we went to The Roanoker for breakfast as is Christmas Eve tradition and then went downtown on the Market to walk around. We visited a few shops and then came home to work on the gingerbread house some more. Friday, we went to dinner at El Torreo and then drove around looking at Christmas lights. Over off of Starmount Ln...or Rd?? anyway.., there's a house that has it's roof completely covered in lights. We parked in front and saw a sign telling us to turn to a radio station for the complete show. The lights match the music...it was awesome! They were playing some great songs and I wanted to listen to it, but you can't pick up the station anywhere except in front of their house. If you get a chance and you live in Roanoke, you should go see it. Go past the Hollins fire station 5 and take a left onto Starmount..the house is further down on the right.

Right after that, Mom got a call to go to Pulaski to do an x-ray on this elderly woman, so I went with her so she didn't have to make the trip by herself. It's a little over an hour away. For those of you who don't know, she works for a mobile x-ray company that travels around x-raying people who are bedridden or are injured to badly to move. Mostly, they go to nursing homes. Anyhow, I got to see how she does her job and it was really neat. She unloads an x-ray machine on wheels and rolls it into the room. This time, it was just an ankle, but it it had been a rib, she'd have had to move this 275 lb. woman around to get the slide under her. Yikes. After the x-rays are done, she takes them back to van to develop them. Then, she scans them into the computer and sends them digitally to their on call radiologist out in CA. That person then faxes the results back to the nursing home. So, from the time Mom got the call to the time we pulled into the driveway was 3.5 hours...and she does this all the time. Technically, they could call her at 2 am and tell her she needs to go to Wytheville to do an x-ray. Luckily, that hasn't happened yet.

The next day, Mom and I went back downtown to the market to go to a gourmet candy store to get stuff for the house. We got some hot cider while visiting the little stores and market ware tables..stuff like homebaked breads and jams, homemade soaps and wreaths..even mistletoe! Then we had lunch at Ernie's..a little dive with hot dogs and pinto beans & cornbread...and the best home fries I've ever had..outside of Mom's of course. Then..it was home to warm up and start planning our gingerbread decorations!

Kelly came over later that night and we had our Christmas together. I felt bad since I hadn't bought anyone gifts. It was just me opening presents while they all watched. Kelly got me a bag full of Bath & Body Works stuff...she knows just what I like..lol! Mom and Dad got me some clothes and had made me a Christmas decoration. Mom buys those glass blocks that you'd use for a window and drills a hole in the side of it. Then she stuffs a string of lights inside it and wraps the outside with a ribbon to look like a Christmas gift that you plug in. They're so pretty! They also gave me money which Jeff and I desperately needed.

Sunday was pretty lazy..just hanging out with Mom & Dad talking and catching up on stuff. That afternoon around 3, I left for Blacksburg to stay the night with Kelly. She took me to dinner at Cabo Fish Taco..which I recommend to everybody!! Quite yummy!! I'm a little upset I left my leftovers at her house..but I'm sure she enjoyed it!! We then got some Wassail fixin's and went back to her house to make some and to play Guitar Hero 3. Kelly was so funny. Here she is playing a song by Poison, but swaying and moving around like she's a member of the Partridge family...hahaha!!! She caught on really quick, so it was a lot of fun. I didn't get any sleep that night though. I don't know if it was b/c of the sound of the wind blowing against the house or if it was b/c I was in a different bed.

Monday morning, I got up and headed back to Roanoke to meet Jeff's mom and dad for lunch at noon. They took me to Annie Moore's pub for a yummy meal of fish & chips. After that..it was off to shop. Jane decided that since I didn't give them a Christmas list, they'd just give me a dollar amount and let me get what I wanted. After a 7 hour shopping trip..I ended up with a memory foam pillow, 4 sweaters and some leather cashmere lined gloves...and I still have about $125 left to spend. I have to take the pillow back though...it's too stiff. I was trying to get stuff that I knew I wouldn't buy for myself. A jewelry box, a new air purifier, the pillow, curtains, and a mattress pad for the bed. I couldn't find what I wanted or it was too expensive. I wish I had more to show for that 7 hours, but I think she's going to give me the remainder of the money in cash. Anyhow, after shopping, we had dinner at Golden Corral then I headed home.

Tuesday, Mom and I decorated the gingerbread house. It had a little front porch with columns made of chocolate covered shortbread sticks. The windows were melted butterscotch candies and the shutters were cinnamon life cereal. we made a chimney with shortbread cookies and then covered it in square cinnamon candies so it looked like brick and we did that up the whole side of the house. It turned out awesome!! We didn't get to finish before I had to leave for home though. I didn't want to be going through Greensboro at rush hour, so I wanted to leave Roanoke no later than 2 and I was pushing it. The only thing left to be done to the house was put up the white picket fence make of white chocolate covered pretzels, build the walkway, finish the roof decorations and do the landscaping. I'm hoping Kelly will be able to help her finish it since she hadn't had a part in it thus far. I can't wait to see a finished picture!!

Before I left, I followed Mom over to Grandpa's to say hello to him. He made me eat lunch before I left, so I happily consumed my bologna and cheese sandwich. He seemed to be doing well. He has a hard time getting around, but mentally, he's still quick and high spirited. At 84, he's still a handful! If he'd keep up his physical therapy, he'd still be able to move around and would probably live another 15 years. He refuses to use a wheelchair. I told him if it'd help, I'd get him a leather jacket and paint flames down the side of the chair. Maybe get Grandma a side car. She'd still tell him how to drive. "Now Jack, don't go too fast around this turn..." hehe..it makes me laugh to picture it.

Since coming home, I've moved the turtles to a bigger tank and just hung out around the house. Jeff and I went to Carolina Brewery Wednesday night and then had our Christmas. I bought him the dual pack of Guitar Hero 1 and 2 plus 10 lottery tickets...we didn't win but $4. =( He got me The Goonies and Harry Potter: Order of the Phoenix on DVD..both of which thrilled me! Last night, Jeff cooked and we watched the Goonies.

All in all..it was a great holiday. The only thing I didn't get to do was see Hannah..our schedules weren't compatible..and go see Ronnie, Misty and the kids. I also wish I could've seen Grandma, but it's kind of depressing. I also wish I could've spent more time with Kelly, but what time I did have with her was great. I also wish I didn't have my work drama hanging over my head. I still don't know what the outcome will be..and that worried me a bit while I was off. I thought there'd be a letter or something in my mailbox when I got back to work tonight, but there was nothing there. I guess it's kind of fitting that I came back to work on the darkest day of the year.

There weren't many gifts to open...but it's quality, not quantity that matters. I got to spend time with my family and that was what I needed most. They really lifted my spirits when I desperately needed it..and that's what Christmas is about. I felt more loved and cared about in that 5 days that I was up there than I have in a long time. I'd been feeling alone and helpless. I know Jeff loves me..but since he's going through most of the same stuff with me, it's hard to offer support and encouragement when he's feeling the same way I am. I just feel very lucky to have the friends and family that I have. They've always been there for me and always bring smiles and laughter in the darkest of times. I can never say thank you enough.

So..here I sit on my first 12 hour night of 7..wishing I were back home curled in bed with Jeff...who's not there because now he's in Roanoke with his family for Christmas. A lot of times, I do feel like this place just sucks the happiness right out of me, but I'm doing my best to remember all the good times over the past 2 weeks to get me through the next few nights. Wish me luck....

Holiday blahs

UPDATE; The well guys came back and we have water now!! Although..he said that the water bladder in the tank under the house didn't sound right, so he wants to come back Thursday and check it again. He told us that today, we need to run the water for 15 minutes..off for 15, on for 15, off again, on again and that should help mix the chlorine and get it out of the water faster. This morning, Jeff said he had awesome water pressure but when I turned the faucet on later on...the pressure dwindled. I'm not sure if the tank is empty or if there's something wrong with the tank under the house where it's not giving constant pressure. We won't know until tomorrow..but I hope it's nothing serious b/c I don't know if homeowners will cover that or not. Ugh!
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For those of you wondering how I'm doing...I'm still sick. I went back to the Dr. yesterday and am on my 3rd..yes THIRD..round of antibiotics. Plus a different type of inhaler which is just steroids and not the albuterol like the Advair is. The Advair was just sticking to my tongue and not being breathed in. So, now I have the antibiotics, nasal steroids, inhaler steroids and a pretty heavy cough suppressant. I'm still hacking up goo..but that's on a good day. Mostly, it's dry coughs from the drainage. My nose is still stopped up most of the time and if I breathe out too hard, I start coughing again. My chest aches from all the hacking and I still get headaches from it. How long can this go on??? Six weeks people. My first trip to the Dr. was Oct. 30th and at that point, I'd already been sick a few weeks. I can't call into work forever, but I feel like I'm pushing myself too hard with housework, work and traveling that I'm just wearing myself down. I started taking vitamin C to give my immune system a boost, but so far it hasn't helped much.

On top of that, we have some major home drama that developed yesterday. Yesterday, our power went off for about an hour. When it came back on, I just got back to my Tivo and didn't think anything else of it. Then I went to flush...no water. Hmm. So, I flipped the well breaker off and back on. Still no water. Damn. I called Jeff to get his thoughts and a few hours later he was home to check it out. We stood outside under a very dark, cloudy and oppressive sky and tested the power line to it. While he did that, I flipped out over an enormous black widow spider who's web we'd just destroyed while exposing the well. Yikes. She's dead now though...shew. Anyway..we had power running to the well..but not in the right voltage...yep...that's right, the power outage fried our well pump. Lovely. So..today, Jeff stayed home and called Trinity Plumbing and Well Pump Co. to come out and look at it. We wanted to make sure it was the pump gone bad and not an electrical problem.

These awesome guys showed up and had one hell of a time getting the cap off. The idiots who put it in, screwed the cap down when it's just supposed to pop off. Then we discovered that instead of using one solid pipe, they pieced together stiff PVC pipe..so we now have 300 ft. of PVC lying in the yard. He had to go back to get some stuff off his other truck and will be back later. He said we'd have water by tonight even if he was here after dark and being that it's 5:30...I hope he gets here soon. He's replacing the pump, piping and insulation..oh...and wiring. I knew it would be expensive..but no idea how much. Wanna take a guess?? It's $750 just for the pump..but it's bigger, better quality and will give us more water pressure. Then..it's about $750 for the installation of all this stuff....at least. Our homeowners covers power surges, lightening strikes, etc...but it's a matter of proving this was caused by that power outage.

We have a lot of power issues. In the 5 years we've been here, we've replaced the furnace fan 4 times b/c of power surges. We're at the end of the power grid, so we're the last to get power back when it goes out, it flickers constantly. The guy looked at our well pump and said you could see the power damage on the pump from surges and the high voltage. Woo. Progress Energy still swears there's no problem even though we call them repeatedly about the flickers, outages, etc.

Sigh..this year has been hell. Our water heater, our septic line, the fridge water hose, the furnace fan again, my car, now the well...what the hell is up with all this??? Jeff and I have both been sick..it's always something. Anyhow...even if our homeowners covers this, our deductible is $500. There goes Christmas. Now, on top of not being able to spend the holidays with family and friends, I can't afford to get them gifts either. If homeowners doesn't cover it..where am I going to get $1500???? Dad just gave me a savings bond that matured this month..so that's $515..but I was really hoping to save it and get something meaningful and important. I guess indoor plumbing is important..but you know what I mean. This also makes me wonder how they did it hundreds of years ago without indoor plumbing. They had to go pump their own water or get it from a stream. They spent their whole day harvesting crops if they were lucky enough to afford to grow them. Had to make candles to see by, make their own clothes, keep the farm animals inside the house so they wouldn't' freeze. They spent every day just trying to stay alive..wondering if there was enough food to eat. They worked their fingers to the bone just to survive meal to meal. Now..our meals can be ready in 5 minutes, our water comes right to our house, and we have light just at the touch of a finger. We have it sooo easy compared to our ancestors yet still have no time for anything.

I just feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders even though my problems are small in comparison to many. I can never get a break. I feel guilty for being out of work even though I'm sick. I don't want to get anyone else sick either..or catch yet another bug from someone there. I've been sanitizing my house like a madwoman. Well..not really..just spraying Lysol on every surface we touch constantly. Without water..we've been using hand sanitizer constantly and I'm really in need of a shower. It hasn't quite been 2 days..but that's long enough. Our dishes are filthy, the laundry's piled up...sigh. I know people at work will say.."You've been off work for a week!! You should be rested!" No..not really. Being sick takes a lot out of you. Life at home doesn't stop when you're sick. The dogs and cats still have to be fed, the laundry needs to be done, dishes washed, floor vacuumed, furniture dusted, bills paid..etc. I either can't sleep from coughing..or I sleep like the dead and wake up more tired for some reason. I tried to occupy some of my time by playing Guitar Hero III, but I coughed too much and had to stop.

Normally, the holidays make me happy. Turkey, presents, cranberry salad, deviled eggs, caroling, decorating the tree, laughing with family..but this year, I'm just depressed. Too much going on. I love buying stuff for people and seeing their faces when they open their gift from me. It makes me happy..so not being able to do that this year upsets me. I try to look on the bright side..like..if our well hadn't broken..we never would've discovered that black widow spider. If I hadn't gotten sick, I wouldn't appreciate having my health quite as much...but I'm at the point where the positive is a tiny light at the end of a tunnel and I don't care to even try to reach it anymore. I've paid my dues this year..I'm hoping next year will be fantastic...but I won't hold my breath.

Finally...some progress

As many of you know..I've been sick for about the past 5 weeks. It started as a head cold which was treated as a sinus infection: antibiotics, nasal steroids and an OTC decongestant. Two weeks later..it had moved into my chest and was treated w/ stronger antibiotics, a prescription expectorant/decongestant and an inhaler. That was last Wednesday. Today, I am finally coughing up some of this crap!! It hasn't been pleasant. I still sound like a frog, My body is trying to rid me of my lungs apparently as I can barely stop coughing. An unholy headache has set in due to all the coughing and my body aches from how hard I have to cough to see any results. But still..it's results.

Yesterday I tried keeping my head over a bowl of hot water w/ a towel over my head....closely resembling a terrorist trying to breath in the soul of an infidel. No matter, it still helped to some degree. This morning, I woke up with a fit of coughs and tried hot sauce, thinking surely that'll make me cough up some stuff. Eh. I've apparently developed some sort of immunity to the hotness. On to the whiskey. A shot later, I was hacking..but no major reason to celebrate. As I bent down to pet my Farley cat, he let out a SBD fart that made me gag. That did the trick. It might have been a combination of all 3, but I hacked up some nasty stuff...all thanks to my cat's ass. As I watched the green blob slide down the drain, I couldn't help but think of the Mucinex commercials and in a triumphant voice proclaimed.."Die you slimey bastard..DIE!! Now if I can just get the rest of his grotesque family out of my lungs, I'll be jubilent.

I was supposed to leave for Roanoke yesterday, but didn't much feel like it. I hadn't gotten much sleep, I was still hacking terribly and hadn't packed. I'd try..but I just wasn't with it..I kept forgetting stuff. So..by 3pm, I decided to wait until this morning. That gave me another day to get all my stuff together, take care of a few housekeeping necessities and rest. I hadn't intended on waking up at 5:30, so I'm not sure how this'll change my plan...we'll see. If I'm still sick next week, I don't know what the next step is. I don't think more antibiotics will help me. Maybe this is just something I have to wait out. Or..maybe I just keep reinfecting myself. Jeff has a lesser version of the same crap...and the Dr. told him everyone she'd seen last weekend had the same stuff. Great. An epidemic. I Lysoled the crap out of my house...and work for that matter. I hope it helps. My biggest fear is that I'll get my grandparents sick this week while I'm in VA. I'd feel bad if I got any of my other family sick too, but their immune systems are far better than my grandparents' are. I hope they don't banish me to the kids table or make me wear a mask. I can't imagine how hard it would be to shove mashed potatoes through one of those little filters, but dammit, it wouldn't stop me from trying.

Anyhow..I'm off to bed again. I hope the rest of you have safe travels, a joyous Thanksgiving and are fortunate enough to snag the last deviled egg. ;)

Life Update.

Ah..the past week has been awesome. Other than a bad trip to the vet with Jazz, it's been great. A few months back Jeff had made plans to take me to the mountains for my birthday...so..paying out a huge vet bill wasn't what I wanted right before we left, but it had to be done to board Jazz. Faith was overdue too so I went ahead and took her too. Jazz freaked out when they took her away from me to the back room so they made me muzzle her. As it turns out..Jazz has heartworms and hookworms. Faith's test was negative..which relieves me..but I'll still have to pay for Jazz's treatment and that'll run about $700. That seems a bit high to me..but my other option is just giving her Heartgard for 2 years for the worms to die and I'd rather not wait that long for more damage to be done. The vet trip was $400 I really didn't want to spend right before our trip..but it had to be done..sigh.

Anyhow, Friday morning, we dropped the dogs off and got the Miata on the road. We took a very relaxed drive to Fontana Dam, NC. We weren't in any real hurry and got there in about 6 hours. We took tons of pictures of the Dam and drove around seeing the foliage. It was peak color weekend too! Absolutely gorgeous!! We drove the Hellbender to Robbinsville and had dinner at Sweetwater BBQ..excellent if you ever get a chance!! Then, we had a few drinks at the bar and watched the night sky.

Saturday morning, we got up early since we'd planned to go to Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg to do some shopping. We drove the Tail of the Dragon to get there and woo! what a ride!! It has 318 curves in 11 miles..nothing but switchbacks and S curves. If you get car sick, don't ride it! They even have the Tree of Shame where people who've gotten stupid and wrecked their cars, hang parts up on the tree. We stopped along the way to take pictures and eat and then stopped in Pigeon Forge to get Jeff some shoes from the Rockport outlet and then get coffee from Harry & David. We also went to Smoky Mountain Knife Works in Sevierville and got some more Henkel knives for our kitchen.

Way too much money later, we left to meet Hannah, Chris and the girls for dinner. Thank God for GPS otherwise we'd never found our way around all the traffic! After meeting them at their cabin and figuring out where to go, we went back to Pigeon Forge to eat at Best Italian Cafe & Pizzeria..where we waited an hour or more to eat...so..by the time we ate, it was around 10:30. The girls were exhausted and the food wasn't as good as I remembered it. Still, I got to hang out with Hannah who I hadn't seen in months. We left and took a road through the Nat'l Park and got to see a black bear in the wild. That was one of my highlights! We didn't get back to Fontana Village until 2am and then slept until around 11 the next day.

Sunday, we explored an old abandoned church and house and drove the Dragon again. We walked around and saw an old cemetery and then decided to go back to Robbinsville for dinner. We took back roads and explored some of the little towns around there. We also took night pictures of the Dam where some sort of badger thing ran at me..LOL. Anyway, it was just a very laid back relaxing weekend...something I didn't realize I needed quite so badly. I decided that day that this was something I'd like to do every year and that's when Jeff gave me my gift. He bought me a timeshare at Fontana Village so we can go as much as we want!! Woo hoo! We can bank our points and go to other places too if we're tired of Fontana. That was the last thing I expected!! He's just awesome!

Monday, we checked out, had a really great breakfast and took the Blue Ridge Parkway to Asheville before hopping on I40. We had to take another detour around some traffic and by the time we stopped and had dinner in Lexington and got home..we'd been on the road for about 10 hours. I was so tired but I was more content and relaxed than I'd been in a long time. And..after all that, I still had 3 days off work ahead of me. I didn't do crap. Some laundry, some dishes, some grocery shopping..oh..and another trip to the doctor..but other than that..I watched movies and took naps..lol. My cold moved from my head to my chest but I didn't have any problems up in the mountains. Once I got back..bam..Congestion City.

Anyhow..I know this blog is probably pretty boring..but I just wanted to let everyone know how my birthday went and what's been up with me. Thanksgiving is next week and while I was denied next weekend off..I'm still going to make the most of it. I also have to work Christmas..again..for the 4th year in a row..so I have to make plans to have Christmas early with family. I'm not sure if I can get in the Christmas spirit since I don't have the money for gifts and can't actually be home during Christmas..but I'm going to make the best of it too and do my best to get another job so I don't have to work any more Christmas's..woo!

I'm now cultured.

This past weekend, Jeff and I made plans to go to the International Festival in Raleigh. It lasts 2 days and we were made aware of it by Anwar, one of Jeff's coworkers. Saturday..we were sick, so we slept in until 1:30. We decided we needed to get some type of inhaler or something since we have chest colds, so I mentioned going to Walmart and grabbing lunch. Jeff decided that if we're going to lunch...the best place to go would be Maggiano's..mmm. I love the way Jeff's mind works!! So, we had an early dinner at Maggiano's then wandered around a bit before going to Target to buy a humidifier and cold stuff..then went to Best Buy and World Market before hitting Starbucks on our way home.

Once home, Jeff and I cleaned up the office some, tinkered on the computers..and crashed early. Sunday, we got up, got dressed and headed to Raleigh..only to realize we were there early because of the time change. D'oh! That actually worked out great because I was starving. We got burgers & fries and sat down to eat when Jeff ran into someone he knew from Redhat. Sam..a cute bubbly blonde who happened to be running a jewelry booth at the flea market.

After our burgers were gone, we made our way to Sam & Tish's jewelry booth, titled..Broads and Beads. They handmake all their jewelry and it was all just beautiful. If they don't have what you want, they'll make it for you. We hadn't seen Tish in years, so there were hugs all around. Tish is the kind of person you can't help but love. She's loud, somewhat crude and always happy..and a biker bitch. Piercings and tats galore..she has a smile and laugh that can get you out of your worst mood. I really liked the earrings she was wearing, so she found some similar..but I didn't like the stones, so she let me pick stones I liked and made it right in front of me..and gave me a discount!! Woo hoo! They rock!! We chatted with them for about 2 and a half hours and during this time..noticed a large crowd gathering not far from us. We went over to see why..a big HUGE pig..named Smithfield..I'm assuming after the bbq...was painting. Yes, the pig was painting. He'd pick the brush up in his mouth and then smear it across the canvas..drop it and pick up another brush. His owner would put the brushes back in the paint and he'd keep going through them until he felt like the painting was done...then she'd announce it was for sale for $25. Interesting..and she even said she'd mark it w/ a hoof print. Wow. What else can you say? After that..we headed off to the international festival.

Once inside..the smell of sooo many yummy foods smacked you right in the face. Each country had their information booth..and then a food booth. Represented were Bangladesh..where I had lunch..yummy...France, China, Japan, Armenia, Hungary, Scandinavia, Philippines, Greece, Poland, Egypt, Ireland, Scotland, Brazil, India, Russia, Italy, Iran, Israel, Korea, Turkey, Kenya, Ethiopia, Finland, Nepal, Tibet, Portugal..uh..I know I'm forgetting quite a few..but you get the idea.

Each country also had dancers to perform traditional dances from their country. We only caught Korea, Ireland, Brazil, Israel, Turkey and the Finnish/Swedish dancers. One of the Brazilian chicks wore thongs under her skirt, so every time she twirled, all you saw was butt cheeks..Jeff's jaw dropped. The Turkish dancers did nothing but shake their boobs. My favorites were the Irish step dancers. They rocked that stage so much..I thought it was going to fall down. I think there were about 30-35 of them up there. It was so exciting!

We also got dessert at the Scandinavia booth and it was so incredibly yummy..I ran over some poor kid and didn't even know it because I was so glazed over with yummy induced bliss. It was some sort of chocolate torte...there are no words to describe it's decadence. Wow and yummy don't come close to describing it..or the cookies Jeff got from there. We wandered from booth to booth looking at each country's wares and information. Bangladesh was the neatest one I thought. They had a display of how they live self-sufficiently. They have poultry and livestock, a garden and a water pump. They have a gas chamber where they shovel all the manure and a pipe leads from that chamber to the house where they use the methane gas to heat the house and the stove. It was a really neat display and It made me wonder why no one here would be willing to do it. If one person stayed home to farm and the other worked...you could save so much money by using your own resources for food and heat, you could easily make it on one income.

Anyhow, after gaining some culture and having my name written in Farsi by a cute little Iranian woman, we headed back out into the flea market to say goodbye to Tish and Sam. We chatted with them for another 30-45 minutes and Tish told me that if I wanted to make dog treats, she'd sell them at her stand to see how they did and if it worked out well, I could get my own tent. She said there's only one other person there who sells dog treats, so I wouldn't have a lot of competition. Now that I know they're out there every weekend, Jeff and I are going to have to go out there more often and hang out with them. They're so much fun to be around. Tish is 40..but acts like she's 20 and she has a style all her own...she just is what she is and says what's on her mind and you have to admire that.

After hugs and goodbyes, we made our way back home..and accidentally ran into Brooke in Pittsboro, so I followed her home and we hung out there for an hour or so. I sat down and bam..had 3 weiner dogs jump in my lap at one time..that's lots of sharp little teeth and tongues all at once. They're so cute, but they never sit still long enough to really get a good look at their faces. We discussed our jobs, her family drama, my upcoming weekend getaway to the Smokies with Jeff for my birthday, my hair..you name it..we pretty much covered it in that hour. Once we got home..it was about 8:30..so we unwound by watching some tv, looking at our pictures from the day and playing with the dogs. Then it was bedtime..and I crashed pretty hard..slept all night last night and most of the day today before I trudged into work. I'm so ready for a week off..I can't wait until this Friday!! I'll be in the Smokies where I can breathe easy and curl up next to my husband without any interruptions for the whole weekend....and enjoy the last days of my 30th year..for on Monday, I'll be 31. I hate the sound of that..but maybe once I get into a happy job where I thrive instead of dying a little more inside, I'll be more comfortable with my age and purpose in life. Only time will tell...for now, I just have to be happy in knowing I get to go home to Jeff every morning and have family and friends who are always there to cheer me up and help me out...cause that's really all that matters anyway.

Bible Stories by Kids

My mom sent me this and I couldn't help but laugh!! I really needed it after the past week or so. If you haven't seen this already..enjoy! If you have seen it..enjoy it again!!

Bible Stories by Kids

We all need a good laugh and these are enjoyable. A book titled Little Wonders, by Mary Hollingsworth, has stories concerning children.

This one was contributed by Todd and Jedd Hafer.

One of our favorite jobs has been leading junior church. We try to do more than baby-sit our church's beloved little ankle-biters during their time in our special junior church facility. We aim to give them a solid background in biblical history.

At the end of each year, we give them pencils and paper and ask them to chronicle what they have learned. This assignment never fails to elicit some intriguing responses. In case you're a little foggy on your biblical history, let our junior church students help you with this complete overview of the Bible, compiled from their essays:

In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, "The Lord thy God is one," but I think He must be a lot older than that. Anyway, God said, "Give me a light!" and someone did. Then God made the world.

He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden. Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars.

Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.

Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something.

One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.

After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.

Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs , mice, lice, bowels, and no cable God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then He gave them His top ten Commandments. These include don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's bottom (the Bible uses a bad word for bottom that I'm not supposed to say. But my Dad uses it sometimes when he talks about the President). Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more: Humor they father and they mother.

One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town.

After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me. After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these was Jon ah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore. There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them.

After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of the New Testament. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn, too, because my mom is always saying to me, "Close the door! Were you born in a barn" It would be nice to say, "As a matter of fact, I was.").

During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Republicans. Jesus also had twelve opossums.The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him.

Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount. But the Republicans and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.

Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.

HAHA! I need to go back and read these parts to see where they got this translation from. Judas Asparagus?! HAHAHA!