Life on the farm

I'm moving!

2007-01-28T17:01:00.000-06:00

My blog that is...come check it out here. I think I'm going to like this much better. Thanks for the recommendation Tracy!

2007-01-28T14:02:00.000-06:00

I am in love with this song. I know it's kind of dark, but I could listen to it over and over again. I'm not so in love with video, it just doesn't do it justice to me. Just thought I'd share.

COLD!!!!

2007-01-28T09:39:00.000-06:00

It's even cold in the house this morning. When the wind chill outside is in the teens, this old house just can't seem to keep the cold out. The heat pump is doing it's best, but it's still pretty chilly in here. I have to run a couple errands later, mmmm I just can't wait to get outside in this cold. Woohoo, my favorite...and yes, that is sarcasm.

Yesterday morning I went to Dresden to judge (and I didn't know it was called this until I got there) Weakley County Idol. Lovely. There were only 9 contestants total, separated into 2 age groups. It was mostly not that bad. There was only one performance that threatened to make my ears bleed. They worst part was they tried to drag the whole thing out. It could've been done in 30 minutes, instead it lasted about 2 hours. So there was a lot of sitting around with the other 2 judges trying to think of something to talk about with these 2 people I didn't know. One was a former beauty pageant contestant from Milan (that's My-lun, not mih-lahn or me-lahn) and the other was a girl who had just finished her teaching degree and is teaching math. She also has a music degree and can't decide which she would rather teach (seems like an easy choice to me!). So, needless to say, we didn't have a ton in common. That was really the worst part. They put us in this room and we just sat there for-evvvveeeerr. It seemed like the kids had fun though, so I guess that's the important part. The judging part wasn't so bad.

After that we all went back to Tracy's house where they treated me to some Dresden sushi, which, I have to say was pretty good. Mark met us at Tracy's. Her brother-in-law makes his own beer and Mark has taken an interest in that. So, they talked beer and he let Mark borrow a book about it. They went out and looked at the beer-making equipment, etc. and Tracy, Steph and I drank mimosas. It was a good time. We went home around dinner time and I slept most of the evening. Ah....sleep.

I managed to make it through almost the entire night without feeling like I was sleeping on a bed of hot coals. That was nice. Maybe that's because it's soooooo cold outside. Today I don't have all that much to do. We cleaned the house on Friday night, so there are just a few things to finish up. We've got to go get some chicken feed at some point and I've got a few things to pick up at Wal-Mart. It looks really windy and cold outside, so I'm not particularly looking forward to doing that. After I do all that I think I'm going to curl up with a book and vegetate for the rest of the day. This weekend has flown by...I hate that. Vacation seems so far off right now, as does spring. I can't wait for some warmer weather and some time off. Winter makes me mentally exhausted.

This crap only happens in TN...

2007-01-26T20:37:00.001-06:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16826147/?GT1=8921

Yes...I should be working

2007-01-26T16:08:00.000-06:00

...but I'm not. I've worked my butt off this week, so I am taking a few liberties today...such as blogging at work. I did solve 2 problems, 1 of which was major this afternoon, so I haven't been completely useless. So there.

I thought I would be stuck in the house all weekend, but I got a call from Tracy's sister who needed a judge for the Dresden Middle School talent show at the last minute. So, yes...I'm judging a middle school talent show tomorrow. Me and my expert opinion. Maybe I can put that music education to good use for a change. Or not, whatever. It should be fun. Tracy's brother-in-law makes his own beer which fascinates Mark, so Mark may come by and talk beer with him after the talent show thing. I don't think I stand a chance of dragging Mark to tryouts for a middle school talent show. So, I'm saving my breath on that. Who knows, maybe he'll decide to go anyway. I won't hold my breath.

So, that's my weekend update, I'll fill you all in on the results of my judgement sometime this weekend.

Whew!

2007-01-26T08:46:00.000-06:00

I see that I made everyone too afraid to comment on my last entry. I guess talking about hormones and fertility drugs does that. Thanks Laura for being brave and commenting (edit: and Daddy who must have posted while I was typing this post)! LOL. I'm feeling much better now. I still haven't had a good night's sleep, but I'm sure I'll crash tonight and sleep in tomorrow. The hot flashes are still with me. I think they're getting worse, at least at night.

Except for a little anger management issue I had this morning while I was trying to get ready for work, my moods seem to have stabilized somewhat. Somewhere Mark is breathing a sigh of relief.

Yesterday was our friend Stephanie's birthday. She and Tracy invited us out for a beer at the Opera House. Ah...they now have Newcastle on tap. Nice. So, we sat down there with them until 8:30 or so. We had a great time. We really don't get to hang out with them as much as we would like. They are busy people and sometimes so are we. So, we really enjoyed getting to spend some time chatting with the 2 of them. Steph - I hope you had a great birthday!
In other news...I have no real news. Except - Hambone was doing so well for about a week and now we're back to the old Hambone issues. I was trying to wean him off his prescription tummy medicine, but apparently, he really needs it. Thankfully he's a good cat and takes it with very little problem, but I hate to think I'm going to have to medicate this cat everyday for the rest of his life. I am certainly prepared to do that. The medicine is thankfully not expensive. It just means that I'm going to have to make another trip to the vet next week to see what else we can do or if they want to just leave him on the medicine he's on. Thanks Hambone! It's a good thing he's such a sweet cat.

You know, I wonder if I'll have more to blog about when Spring gets here. Probably. It's hard to give a farm report when I haven't been outside except to and from the car in a while. I am about done with the cold weather. I need some sun and I need it to be warm! I bet you are falling all over yourselves with the anticipation of reading about what vegetables we plant in the garden this year. Riveting.

Maybe I'll do something interesting this weekend so I'll have some good blog material, but don't hold your breath. I'm thinking Mark is going to want to stay in and lounge all weekend. Woohoo!

2007-01-24T16:58:00.000-06:00

I'm so tired I don't even have a title for you today. Work has been insane, we're even more short-handed than we were since our Front Desk girl is gone now. Everyone's stretched pretty thin and it's not good for anyone's mental health. Least of all mine right now.

I didn't plan on mentioning this on the blog, but since it seems to be consuming my life right now, what the heck. My doctor put me on Clomid, it's a fertility drug, I won't go into all the whys. A very common one and usually the first one doctor's will have you try. This is my first round. You take 5 pills each month. My doctor told me that very few people had side effects. I believed her, she was wrong! I should've known (because it's always like this) that if she said very few people would have side effects that I would be one of those very few. I suppose you could think this is sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy type thing. However, I don't read the side effects section unless I just need to, so it's not like I'm having these issues because I have it in my head that I'll have these issues. Anyway, there are side effects. My mood swings are driving me out of my mind! I wake up in the middle of the night in a pool of sweat (yuck!), so I'm not sleeping well. Since I'm not sleeping well, I'm tired which makes it even more difficult to control my moods. All in all, it's a good time. Really, it is. So everyone say a little prayer that this works out for us the first time because I'm not sure I can do this 2 months in a row. Seriously, Mark might kick me out of the house. I'm not fun.

So, that's where I've been and what I've been doing. Not alot really, just trying to stay sane and not bite someone's head off which seems to be becoming increasingly difficult...Tonight I'm just going to go home (still at work at almost 5:30), put on my sweats and watch some mindless TV. If I don't talk to anyone much, then I can't bite their heads off, right? I'm going with that theory.

Sunday evening...

2007-01-21T16:59:00.000-06:00

I am SO dreading this coming week. We are again without a receptionist at work, so I'm going to have to fill-in some and teach the technicians how to fill-in up there too. We're all already busy, so this is just going to add to the craziness. Great.

I have had an ok weekend. Yesterday we didn't do much. I slept until noon. I don't know why I slept that late and I really shouldn't have. It screws me up for days when I do that. We didn't really DO anything. We went out for a little while last night, hung out with Beth at the Pub. Honestly, though, I just wasn't feeling it. I wanted to come home, so after an hour or so, we came back home. I haven't really gotten anything done as far as housework. I just feel so blah. I have no motivation.

I asked Mark to wake me up no later than 10 today. So, he let me sleep until 10 and got me up. I got my shower and we drove to Jackson to go to the bookstore. I was out of reading material and when it's cold and rainy like this, I need my books. I bought 4, so maybe that'll keep me busy for awhile. Then we went and saw Beth's new apartment. It's a cute place. An older house that's been converted into a duplex. I know she's happy to get out of the tiny place she has been living in. Now Mark is parked on the couch watching the Bears game. I'm not sure what that's about. He's not usually one to watch football, but he's watched the Bears play the past 2 weeks. I guess since it's a Chicago team and the Superbowl is coming up, he feels compelled to watch.

It bores the hell out of me. It's not that I can't follow it because I can. The most annoying thing to me about watching any sport on TV is the freaking announcer guys. They never stop talking. I mean, can I just watch the game please? If I need your commentary I'll ask for it, 'k? I mean when something happens that requires an explanation, that's fine, but all.the.time? I mean, come on! I can't stand it. Does that bother anyone else, or is it just me?

I've spent most of the past hour or so colorizing a B&W version of our wedding picture. Yes, I have color versions, but I wanted to try coloring another B&W picture like I did for Anne's calendar. The one I've been working on looks ok, but I'm not all that thrilled with it...It just doesn't lend itself to this technique as much as the older pictures do...For one there's just too much stuff in it. That and Mark's in it. Which he should be because it's our wedding picture, but trying to color a man's face is harder than coloring a woman's face or a girl's face. I had to keep redoing his lips because it looked like he was wearing lipstick. I didn't think he'd like that much.

I've just been informed that I need to make invitations for a Super Bowl party. Mark requested that they say something about the Bears vs. who cares. LOL. Who knew he was such a fan? I didn't know. I guess I better get started on that...he sounds serious ;)

Here's the pic I've been working on. See, just not that great, is it? I've got to find a better candidate for this technique. Those ferns in my bouquet were a pain!

What a day!!

2007-01-17T22:40:00.000-06:00

I have had the day from Hell!! It's almost 11pm and I'm just now feeling like I am caught up! I had to take Hambone to the vet (yet again) first thing this morning. They don't know exactly what is wrong with him, but gave me some antibiotics and some tummy medicine to give him to see if that helps. He also got 3 shots. So needless to say, Hambone did not have a good morning. Neither did I because I was at the vet's office until after 9am. They took forever! Thankfully, Hambone has only had one "accident" today, so I'm hoping this medicine is helping.

After all that, I didn't get to work until around 10. This afternoon I drove a hour and a half to the lovely town of Halls to fix a problem that apparently didn't exist. Everything was working when I got there, so I helped her with a software installation she was having problems with and turned around and came back. I got back to Martin just in time to backup the server and lock up. Then I made a trip to Wal-Mart. I had a pretty short list. I didn't stick to it. I bought some containers. Yes, I'm a closet organizationalist (is that even a word?). Not a organizer of closets, but a secret organization freak. The house has been a disaster area for awhile now. So I got home and did all the dishes, started the laundry (last load is in the dryer). Then I changed all 3 litter boxes and took all the trash out and rolled both big trash cans to the road. Those suckers are heavy!! And it's dark out there!! While I was doing all that I started the robot vacuum. Then I organized the bathroom cabinets and cleaned the bathroom. My other organizational venture was my clothes. Closet space and drawer space are in short supply in this house. I had my sweaters kind of stacked in the chiffarobe, but that was a mess. So, I bought an underbed box with rollers on it. I put them all in there and got a bunch of clothes together to take to We Care (our Goodwill). Whew! I've gotten alot done for a Wednesday night. Mark really likes to have tea made when he gets home from a trip (he's been gone to Atlanta), so I made him a pitcher and made myself a pitcher of green tea. Now I'm just waiting for the last load of laundry to dry so I can put towels back in the cat's bed. Then I've got to go let Woofer in because it's freezing tonight. I just gave Hambone his nighttime dose of his 2 medications, and I just took my nighttime vitamins and medication, so I'm about ready to get some sleep. I'm already up later than I need to be.

Sorry this isn't a more interesting post, but I think it just makes me feel good to type out all the stuff I got done. The house hasn't been deep cleaned, but it's very well straightened up now, so I can do the serious cleaning this weekend without having to go through and straighten things up first. You know, it just occured to me that I forgot to eat dinner. Oops. I guess I wasn't hungry. Well, I better get the laundry out of the dryer and get to bed so I can get up in time to feed all God's creatures before work. Man, I'm glad Mark will be home tomorrow! Feeding chickens in freezing weather is not my idea of fun. Have a great rest of the week everyone!

COLD!

2007-01-15T19:06:00.000-06:00

Wow, it's gotten cold!! It wasn't too bad when I left for work this morning, but the temperature has steadily dropped and now the wind has picked up too! Nice.

I had a pretty good weekend. I finally got my sushi! Mark and I went to Paducah Saturday. We had a couple of other errands to run. We went to a store that we'd never been to before. It was kind of liquor store, but they also had all kinds of glassware and gourmet food. They had a great selection of international beer, so we bought a couple things there. Then we went to World Market and looked around. We ended up buying some glasses there and a few more international beers (they sell them individually so you can try them). Then we went to PetSmart to get food for all the animals. Hambone is still not well. He's better, but there are still some "issues" we've got to get checked out...again. We bought some food for sensitive stomachs, so I started them (all) on that this morning. So far it's not helping. After all our shopping was done we found a sushi place. I'd never even seen this place before, but it turned out to be quite good. I'm sure we'll go back. So now we have a sushi place in Jackson and Paducah! Woohoo! I was very pleased that Mark took me. I think he enjoyed it too.

Today was crazy. I made myself a to-do list first thing this morning when I got to work and somehow only managed to cross about 3 out of 10 things off. And I was busy. All. Day. Ah, there's always tomorrow. At least the rain stopped by this afternoon. I'm bracing myself for a very cold few days. This is when having 4 cats comes in handy. They'll all pile in the bed tonight and they make excellent space heaters. If they'll just be still!

I hope everyone had a good weekend. I'm still waiting on a couple of 100 things lists...come on with that...I need something to read!

I'm back!

2007-01-09T21:34:00.001-06:00

I had to take a little trip to Tunica for a seminar for work. I left Monday night and I got back about 5:30 this afternoon. It was a quick trip, but MAN am I tired!! I'm not much of a gambler, so Tunica wasn't exactly my dream location, but it was seminar. It was also not my dream to attend this seminar. I did have fun though. I went with Jimmie, our sales rep. It was her birthday and she won $400 playing quarter slots, so I was glad she had fun! I, on the other hand, lost the $40 that I brought to play with and then stopped playing. This is why I don't gamble...I don't like to part with my money unless I'm getting something for it. To me, an hour or 2 sitting at a slot machine or playing video poker is NOT getting something for my money! We did get to hang out with one of our favorite guys from Sharp and that was fun. This guy has always been exceptionally nice and helpful to me, so I enjoyed getting to chat with him (and Jimmie) in a more informal environment. I think we all had a good time. I didn't even stay up that late or drink that much. I just didn't sleep all that well. I hate hotel beds...especially hotel pillows.

I won't dwell on the seminar because I know how that bores everyone. I rather enjoyed it. It was geared more towards people in my position, so while Jimmie's eyes were glazing over, I was rather interested. I learned some stuff and that was good. Work discussion over.

What was weird to me is (and this is going to be slightly sappy...those with a weak stomach, scroll down, LOL) I started missing Mark before I even left. He went off on service calls at work and I went off to do some customer training before we left, so I saw him last around lunch yesterday. It's weird when he's not around. Since we work together and are married, we see eachother so much that it honestly feels like something is missing when he's not there. Not that I was crying about it or anything. It's just rare that we're apart even for just one night, so it just seemed odd. Ok...that's weird isn't it? Moving on...

My kitty, Hambone seems to be somewhat better. Not quite 100%. He's starting to play with the other cats now and play with the cat toys, so I think he's at least feeling more settled. I'm going to give him a few more days off of all medication before I see if we need to go back to the vet. I've got to take him to get his second round of shots next week anyway. So, I'm going to try to get by without taking him until then. I think being in the car just upsets him and I don't think that's helping anything.

Mark once again made steak on the George Foreman grill tonight. It wasn't quite as good as the last couple times, but I'm a steak girl, so I liked it. I made mashed potatos. I'm going to put all modesty aside here and just say that my mashed potatos are the greatest!! It's not like that's a hard dish to make or anything, but I've had bad ones before. I make mine like my mother made them and they are delicious! Ask anyone who has had them...they'll tell you. Although I'm probably my own biggest fan as far as that goes. Anyway...I love me some good mashed potatos!

Still no sushi...for those of you concerned. I'm going to work on that...maybe I can get Mark to take me this weekend. If not to Jackson, then to Dresden. I've gotten a few comments on this...and while, yes many of the Chinese restaurants around here do have sushi...it is most definitely not sushi that I'm willing to eat. Of course, you have to understand where we live. Everything around here is a small town. We have PLENTY of Chinese (and Mexican-for those keeping track) restaurants. They like to put their sushi on the buffet. I am not eating sushi that's on a buffet. It may be good, but I don't know how long it's been sitting there. Of course, those who know me best know that I'm doing good to eat anything off a buffet. It just doesn't seem sanitary to me. Ick. I'm pretty picky about sushi anyway, so buffet sushi is not the sushi for me. The place in Jackson I'm familiar with and so far it's always been good...and fresh. Fresh being VERY important in the world of sushi. Ok...enough of my sushi rant. I will get some sushi if I have to drive down there and get it by myself. If that happens, I'll pissed, but I'll do it!

Let's see...I've covered work, gambling, cats (or rather just one cat) and sushi. What else. I haven't given a farm report in a while. Not much to tell since it's winter and I don't get out there much. The chickens are still there, Mark still gathers the eggs. Someone asked in a comment what it was like living on a farm with chickens. First, we don't have that many chickens...we have about 20. In the winter they stay in their coop more, so I hardly know we have them. The rest of the year they crow ALL the time. I think out of the 20 almost half are roosters, so when you get all of the roosters crowing at once it can seriously get on your nerves. In the summer they start crowing as early as 3 in the morning. Since I was not raised in this type of environment, when I first moved to the farm I woke up as soon as they started crowing. Now, I just don't hear it...it's background noise. They are fun to watch sometimes...they really are strange little creatures. We have at least one hen that will eat out of Mark's hand, but most of them really don't like people that much. They just move out of your way if you walk towards them. We don't kill our chickens for meat. We do collect eggs for us and to give to family and friends. We don't make much, if any, money from the chickens. They are almost more like pets. I think it's just a project that Mark thought would be fun...and we never have to buy eggs!
That's all I really have to say about that...other than my friend Beth likes to tell the story about me walking out to the chicken coop in my heels after work one day and collecting the eggs using the hem of my shirt as a basket. I'm sure that was quite a site. Very city girl goes to the country. Very Green Acres! Other than that...there's nothing much to report on the farm...still have 4 cats, still have 1 dog. Apparently this morning we had a skunk visitor, but I (luckily) was not around for that.

Ok...that's it for now! I hope everyone is having a great week!

100 things about me...

2007-01-07T19:32:00.002-06:00

I just ran across this on a couple of other blogs, so I decided to do one myself...here it is:

http://mascosonthefarm100things.blogspot.com/

3 posts, one day...

2007-01-07T16:45:00.000-06:00

Well 2 1/2...this is a testment to exactly how bored I am. I can't seem to coax Mark off the couch no matter what I do. If any of you locals would like to go get some sushi in Jackson in the near future...that would make my life better. I keep telling Mark the one thing in life I want right now is some sushi. From our favorite place in Jackson. Unfortunately, I can't even talk him into going to Union City (which is 15-20 minutes away) much less Jackson (1 hour away). Of course, I am going on a little trip for work tomorrow, but I'm going with Jimmie who will not go within a 10 foot radius of any seafood, so I know I'm not going to talk her into sushi for dinner tomorrow night. Not that I know of a good sushi restaurant in Tunica...if they even have a sushi place in Tunica (I kinda doubt it).
So I'm sulking a little. I really just want the man to take me out to eat. Is that so bad? In case you are wondering...I even gave up on my little trip to Jackson/Paducah. I'm just not feeling driving all that way to shop by myself. Lots of times I don't mind doing that, lots of times I like doing that, but not today. So, I guess I should just resign myself to a quick trip to Wal-Mart for paper towels and dinner at home...which I'm insisting Mark cook. I guess I've got stuff to do to get ready for my week anyway. I've still got to pack a bag, etc.
The good news is...Mark and I will have some time apart over the next few weeks. Hopefully this will inspire him to want to spend a little time with me (ie-take me out to eat!). I hate being bored. I just can't think of anything that sounds fun to do. I'm sure as hell not feeling creative.

2007-01-07T16:29:00.000-06:00

This is a sine wave...

Life is like a sine wave...

2007-01-07T12:22:00.000-06:00

Just so you know... I did in fact see this coming. Last weekend was so wonderful...I had a few "I'm so high on life" posts. This weekend...not so much. I'm not unhappy. I'm just BORED!! The joys of living in a small town. Mark and I had a very long week, which is strange because in actuality, it was a short week. Mark's department at work has a bit of a surplus of people, so he's getting to relax a little more. My department is slammed. In a sense, I am my own department. In reality, Nan says I fall under sales. I don't, however, sell anything or get paid commission for selling anything. So...whatever. Anyway, I'm busy. Very, very. Which you would think would make me want to sleep all weekend. I have slept late both days. Until noon yesterday, which I haven't done in a long time. I didn't even sleep until noon on New Years Day. Somehow I did yesterday though, which should be a testament to how worn out I am. BUT...I can't sleep all day. This is something I've learned in my old age. If I sleep all day today, I'll want to sleep all day tomorrow and they next day, and the next day...you get the idea. So, while I do want to relax on the weekends, I don't want to stop moving completely. It's the whole physics thing. An object in motion tends to stay in motion, an object at rest tends to stay at rest. Maybe it's my depressive tendencies or maybe that's just life, but if I'm at rest for too long...it will take me days if not weeks to get myself really back in motion again. Not something I'm willing to risk. It's too much of a pain the ass. So, I want to go do stuff. Mark has just gone back to bed (and it's 12:30). It makes me want to rip my hair out sometimes. Not that I'm afraid to go do stuff alone. It's just not as much fun. Especially in Martin. I mean, really, I went to Wal-Mart last night. I feel no need to go back (although I'm out of paper towels now and I'm going to need some more since Hambone is not over his poopiness). So, ok I can go do that, but that will take all of 30 minutes total. I'm thinking I may drive to Paducah or Jackson. Victoria's Secret is having their semi-annual sale. I need some new underwear. I also need a new purse. What I hate about all this is that it costs money. We're not poor, but we also don't have it coming out our ears. January and February are a little tight due to higher electric bills, insurance payments and car tags having to be renewed. We've got money to get what I want to get, but I'm afraid if I suggest this, Mark will jump on me about finances. Finances being the one thing he ever jumps on me about. Now, I have been quite financially irresponsible in the past, but there were reasons for that. Not saying that they were good ones, but there were reasons. This is nothing that Mark has ever had to encounter with me. I took care of all the finances when I was with Lee. We did ok. I'm even better at it now. I'd like to point out, although it may be ill-advised, that he is the one that spends money when we don't have it to spend. That won't get me anywhere though. *Sigh* I guess I'll just go hop in the shower and get ready to go. When he asks me where I'm going I'll tell him. If he protests, we'll discuss it and I'll probably get to go anyway. Maybe he'll come along to police my spending. Then I win both ways! Hehe.

Hmm...don't know where all that came from! I really just wish he wanted to go do things too. Sometimes he does, but I think the cool, rainy weather isn't helping. I keep thinking that soon it will be Spring. Mark is all about Spring! We'll have to visit all the nurseries and start planting stuff. Get the garden started, etc, etc. He loves that stuff. I enjoy that we get to do it together. Although, some of it he could just have. I don't want it! I look forward to that time of year. In the winter we're kind of stuck in this house together all the time. In the spring he'll go off and work on the tractor and I'll work around the house and in the yard and then in the evenings we grab a beer and sit out in the pergola. That's the part of farm living that I love! Sitting outside in the evenings listening to the frogs sing and talking to Mark. Most of y'all know, Mark's not a big talker, but on some nights, when we're sitting out in the pergola he gets on a roll. That's when I learn things about him and hear his memories about the farm. That's pretty precious stuff to me. We also talk about the farm now, the things we've done to the house and the land, the things we want to do. It seems like it's always when we're sitting out there that we hammer out a plan. Although, since we've finished the library, we've spent a couple evenings sitting in there with a beer making plans. We've got 3 1/2 rooms left. The 1/2 room being the foyer, which only will really need new wallpaper. The laundry room is next. It's going to be good. If you've ever seen it though, you know it can only get better because it's puh-retty sad! Then the living room, which also only really needs wallpaper. Although with any luck there will be a new couch and chair too. Then the bedroom. That room is huge. It really only needs new wallpaper and some drapes (Laura, you ready for that one?). We're not far off from being finished, but I think once we finish I'll want to redo something else...probably the kitchen. I can see this being an endless cycle.

Wow, this has been a rather aimless post! Let's see what I have in the pictures archives to spice it up! Here you go: First is Tracy and Talley, next is the "other" Stephanie and last is Lauren. All taken at last week's party. Oh, and...life is like a sine wave. The upside to that being this...while I may be on the down side of the cycle now, things are bound to be on the upswing...it's just a matter of time. Again, it's all about physics. Happy Sunday to you all and Happy Birthday to my sweet nephew Caleb who is 2 today!

2007-01-06T19:40:00.000-06:00

I'm sure this picture is not doctored in any way...Really, he always looks like this...

For those of you who don't know...this is my dad. He posted this picture on his blog much to my amusement. People hate sitting behind him in the theater because the halo really blocks their view. It's hard being so angelic I'm sure. The best part of this picture is how bored he looks...Alas, this would all have been way more believable if their was a hint of glare from the halo on his bald head.

Onto other stuff. I have't blogged in a few days because there's nothing to blog about. Next week is going to kick my butt. Last week pretty much did too. I got in a little overtime, that was good I guess. Well, I wasn't pleased about it the day I was at the office until 7:30, but I'll get some extra time off out of the deal. Monday I've got 3 customers to see all before early afternoon when Jimmie and I leave for a 1 day seminar in Tunica. Woohoo! I love a field trip! Good times.

Mark has spent the day in true Steve fashion (that's my dad) working on his couch potato skills. He's quite adept already, so I can only imagine how good he'll become with years more practice! I, of course, wanted to do something today, but nooooo, he wanted to be lazy. Of course, we have a rather sick cat and we were pretty much out of food, so someone had to go to the store. That would be me. So, off I went to Wal-Mart at 6pm on a Saturday night. It wasn't as bad as usual. I got some Immodium for the kitty and some food for us and for a package I'm still trying to fill up to send to Wayne (I think I'm done now). I had to go to 2 stores. This is one thing I don't enjoy about Martin. I miss Kroger. Alot. I enjoy the variety that our new Super Wal-Mart offers, but the meat is terrible. There's been a time or 2 we actually had to just give it to the dog it was so bad. It's not us, people, we can both cook very well. A bad cut of meat is a bad cut of meat, not much you can do to fix it. So I got the basics at Wal-Mart (because they have variety) and then I went to EW James for some meat. Well steak really.

Mark's on a steak kick since he started using the very nice, very large George Foreman grill he got from my parents for Christmas. We've only used it 3 times so far. Once for tuna steaks and twice for beef steaks. I think he really enjoys this because he gets to use 2 things he got for Christmas: the aforementioned grill and the digital meat thermometer I got him (with a remote that beeps when your meat has reached the correct internal temperature!). All 3 times the food has turned out SO good! Side note here...Can I just say how happy I am that I can now get some excellent flash-frozen tuna steaks here. When I first moved to West TN, I looked everywhere for tuna steaks. All I could find was catfish (ick...is this really seafood?) and the occasional salmon in the seafood sections. Now EW James is carrying some excellent tuna steaks. The first time they were Indonesian (they write it on the packaging) and the last couple of times they have been from the Phillipines. I don't know why you needed to know that, but now you know. Good stuff.

Anyway, earlier in the week Mark went to Damron's (that's where the fabulous barbecue came from on Memorial Day) to get a couple of steaks and he also picked up some fresh shrimp. The steaks were super-thick and turned out really well. Tonight, he made his own version of shrimp scampi. While it wasn't as good as the really fresh shrimp you can get on the coast, it was pretty good for Martin. He was doing that when I got back from the store.

Lastly...my poor, poor Hambone kitty has had a very rough week. He spent almost 2 days at the vet. We had him neutered and declawed. The latter being something I really didn't want to do, but it was looking like he was going to be rather destructive if we didn't. So, we did and he seems to fine. Unfortunately, since the surgeries his stomach has been a mess. We took him to the vet a couple weeks ago before we brought him home for the first time and he had roundworms, so they treated him for that. This time I asked them to check again and they found tapeworms and lungworms. So they started him on medication for that. They sent him home on Thursday with 3 days worth, so we've been giving him that. I don't think that's helping his poor kitty stomach. So, I got him a little medicine to hopefully help clear that up. I swear, if we ever get this cat healthy, he's going to be a great kitty. He's so loving and lovable. I just hate it that he feels so bad. Maybe he'll feel better in a couple days when all he's finished all his medication. Let's just hope there isn't anything else wrong!

Ok...it turns out there were things to blog about, just nothing terribly interesting! I really just wanted to get a post in before this coming week because I'm not sure if I'll be home much to blog at all. This one might just have to hold all of my devoted blog-fans until next weekend. I'll try to get another one in though. Have a great weekend!

Monday (aka Tuesday)

2007-01-02T16:43:00.000-06:00

I don't know what happened, but all of the sudden I'm swamped. I barely had time to think today at work. I know how some of you feel about me blogging about work, so I'll spare you the details. It's not a bad thing, I'm just really busy and suddenly in very high demand. I'm booked for the next week. I haven't had a week like that in quite awhile. In more fun (sort of) work news...Jimmie and I are going to a one day conference in Tunica next week. I'm not really the gambling type (althought I like me some slot machines), but I think I just enjoy the prospect of a "field trip". It will be fun to travel with Jimmie, so I'm looking forward to it.
I'm not feeling so fabulous today. I think I'm trying hard to get a little cold (again). I think I'll start popping antibiotics again tonight. Maybe that will help ward off any unwelcome bugs.
Ok...wow...I'm boring this afternoon. I can't think of anything at all clever to say.
I would like to wish my niece Madeline a very Happy Birthday! I wish I was going to be able to come to her party, but I don't think we'll be able to get there. I hope she and Caleb (who will be 2 in a few days) have a great time!! Happy Birthday to them both!

Don't you just LOVE New Years?

2007-01-01T13:50:00.000-06:00

I love New Years. It's just a nice time to kind of look back at the previous year and think about the one ahead. This time around that's a pretty happy thing. 2006 was a pretty good year. For the sake of reflection...here are my thoughts on 2006. Looking back now, I think my main priority for the year was to find a balance in my life. The first half of the year was a little rough. I wasn't happy at work, Mark and I were still adjusting to married life together and I was still trying to come to grips with NEVER leaving Martin. I'm not entirely sure how I got from there to here, but I did. Martin has really grown on me. I've found some really good friends. I think I found my niche, so staying in Martin doesn't sound like a bad thing to me anymore. I've always like our farm, it's hard not to really. It's just so peaceful and pretty. The house took some getting used to. Primarily the lack of central heat and air. That made for a REALLY cold start to 2006! I think it bothered me when I moved in that there was nothing of me in this house. Everything is old and everything belonged to Mark's family. The house needed work inside & out. We started the year by putting up new drapes in the living room (courtesy of Laura's excellent sewing skills), replacing the roof, then we redid the porch (sunroom) and the guest room. Soon after that we had central heat & air installed (woohoo!!), then just a couple months ago we redid the library, and just a couple days ago we hung new drapes (again...Laura) in the dining room. Working on this house myself changed everything for me. I picked the colors and hung the pictures on the walls (MY pictures mixed in with Mark's). So now there is something of me here and even more than that, these are things that Mark and I did together. So it's really ours. I love that. Several people mentioned last night how nice the house looks since we got married, and that was really great to hear. If you know me, you know that those rooms really have my stamp on them and that makes me immensely happy. I'm so proud of all the work that we've done.
Ok...enough house talk, on to work. At the beginning of the year I really hated my job. I'm pretty sure everyone knew it too. I've since told Nan this. I won't say that the job I had (kind of a receptionist, administrative thing) didn't require a brain, because it did. There was a ton of stuff to keep track of. It just wasn't really my cup of tea. I wanted to do something that required me to be more creative and use the different parts of my brain all together. I don't think I had ever before really thought of myself as a creative person, but I'm pretty comfortable now in saying that I am. Not in the artsy sort of way really, but creative nonetheless. I didn't realize how much I needed to be able to use that. I had never really been recognized for my creativity, but lately I have been and it's nice. Anyway...back to the reflection. I had been promoted in late 2005 to my current position, but it was kind of a part time thing. I was a receptionist unless they needed me to do software training or something. In the summer, we had some...hmm...personnel changes and suddenly my responsibilities grew. I had to be responsible for the network and the computers at the office, the website and any network and software training for customers. My workload quadrupled. In August, they hired my replacement for the front desk and I've been Software Solutions Specialist fulltime since. I love it. I love the freedom I have to leave the office to see customers. I love the time it gives me in the car, alone. I love that it was my suggestion to replace me at the front desk and I was listened to and trusted. Most of all I love that I'm making it work. I've always got things to do if I want things to do. I finally feel like I'm actually contributing. Not to say my old job was not a contribution, but I feel like I'm part of something now. What I do brings money in for the company and has helped it to grow. My opinion counts for something. I'm trusted to be knowledgeable and, as crazy as it seems to me (for whatever reason), I am. I would never have said this is my dream job. It's not my dream job, but I finally enjoy what I do.
So that, in a nutshell, was 2006. I have a good feeling about 2007. I'm sure there will be bad with the good, but I'm just in a different place in my life now. I know I can handle it, whatever it is. Oh my God, I think I'm a grownup. LOL

OK...the party. The turnout was not as good as we thought it would be, but we had a fabulous time. There were probably 10 of us in all. I made sangria (alot of it) and guacamole. Mark made cheese dip, deviled eggs (hey, when you raise chickens, you've got to get rid of those suckers somehow!) and a cheese plate. I made a 6 hour long playlist on Itunes which turned out to be alot of fun for everybody. We pretty much hung out in the library all night, which is crazy since we never used to use this room AT ALL! Tracy read tarot cards for us (that was quite interesting and surprisingly accurate) and we just all sat around and talked and had good time...until about 5am. Let me just say, I'm getting WAY too old for this! Quite frankly, I wasn't sure I'd make it until midnight, much less 5am! I was having a great time though. I'm quite worn out today, but it was worth it. It was a great way to end a pretty good year and to start a new one.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Years and I hope you all have a happy, healthy 2007!

Real quick

2006-12-31T12:28:00.000-06:00

I finally got my new drapes ironed and hung last night. We were waiting to find time to get some new curtain rods. I was originally going to make cornices to go with them, but I don't think I'm going to. I've got a project I can use the extra material for I think. We bought new decorative rods and matching metal tiebacks. Here's a picture. I think they turned out great. We love them! Thanks Laura! Here's a picture of one window:

Hambone

2006-12-30T22:56:00.000-06:00

Here's the new kitty...The other cats have accepted him pretty well...in one of these pictures he's lying right next to Furball. They're almost touching (gasp!). I think he's going to be a good addition. He's about a year old, so we're taking him to be fixed on Wednesday. He is pretty underweight, but I'm sure we'll fix that! His fur looked pretty stringy and rough the first couple of days, but he's looking better everyday. And he seems very happy to have a good home. He's very affectionate. I'm glad to have him...The first picture is from the first day we had him, the second is from just a few minutes ago. Here he is:

Happy New Year!

2006-12-29T22:27:00.000-06:00

Well...in a couple of days anyway. I know it'll be a busy few days for us, so I thought I'd get a post in now. I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas. We were a bit worn out, but really enjoyed getting to see everyone. I just hated that we had to leave so soon. I really miss getting to hang out with my whole family at the same time.
We have a new addition to our little family...a feline one. So, now we're back up to 4...bordering again on "crazy cat people" status LOL. I'll post a picture as soon as I download one from the camera. Kind of a long story about how we ended up with this one, but he's really a sweetheart. He loves me...even more than Mark. Which is significant only because the others all prefer Mark to me. He's a bit malnourished looking, but I'm sure we'll fatten him up in no time if our other cats are any indication. Oh, and we've named him Hambone (yes, Laura, I got that from you...hope you don't mind).
We're having a New Year's party at our house. We did last year too, but we didn't have much of a turnout. This year is looking like we'll have a rather large turnout. Which is fine with us! We'll just have to line people up on the floor in sleeping bags because I don't think anyone will be leaving. We've got a lot to do before Sunday afternoon, but we're looking forward to it. We love having parties.
And here I'm going to get little thoughtful...Laura, you may want to avert your eyes LOL!
I was thinking last week while I was driving all over creation for work...I don't think I've ever been happier in my life. I would never have thought I'd have ended up where I am...geographically, professionally or emotionally, but I'm very, very happy. I love Martin, I love our house, I enjoy my job, and my marriage is great.
I think I had a very false idea of what marriage would be and I've really let go of that idea. It's nothing like I thought it would be, it's much more mundane I guess, but that's not a bad thing. It's just much less dramatic and much more secure and comfortable. And while I see Mark ALL the time since we work together, we've adjusted to that and I understand now when he needs some space. So I give him a little space and I find that I need a little space too. So it works out. And while sometimes we get on eachother's nerves, I don't get so wound up about it anymore. It's just nice. I'm very comfortable and very happy.
But it's not just my marriage, it's me. I just feel comfortable with me. I just am who I am I guess. I've changed alot and I realize that, I'd say it's all been for the better. But I don't feel alot of need to change now. I'm sure I still will, that's kind of inevitable, but I'm comfortable being me now. I have a confidence in myself that I never had before and it comes in handy at work and in my social life. I think I have more friends now than I've ever had, and I really enjoy the circle of friends that Mark and I have. I think that's a lot of the reason why I like Martin so much. It's just all so nice.
I'd say there are still things missing in my life, but I struggle alot less with that. I just feel much more peace than I ever have before. Every now and then I'll catch myself thinking about all this and it almost catches me off guard...this is what happy feels like. I know it all sounds very cheesy, but I've struggled alot with depression and I honestly thought I might never really be happy, that I'd never know what it meant to be happy. So, it makes me stop and think and it makes me extremely thankful. I had moments of happiness or contentment before, but now I have moments of not being happy or content. Because by far these days I am content way more often than I'm not. Life is good and that's such a great way to start the New Year. I wish you all the same! Happy New Year!

Home again.

2006-12-19T14:19:00.000-06:00

Because I'm sick again. I went to work because I felt better this morning, but now I feel like I'm about to suffocate. So, I'm trying to concentrate on something besides the fact that I can't breathe. So, you get a blog entry out of the deal.

Last night I finished another scrap page. This one's for May. This is the only page I've done that Mark said something about (positive or negative). He likes this one I'm pretty sure. He came up behind me last night while I was working on it and told me I was doing a good job (awwww). It's a good thing he said that because I was getting a little discouraged. You just never know how Anne will take something. I'm sure she'll appreciate the effort I've put into this at the very least. Anyway...May is the mothers page. I spent a good hour searching for a picture of Anne and her mother. Mark got home when I was about 3/4 through. I finally had to ask him if they didn't get along or something because I found ONE picture of the 2 of them together and that's it!! There were a few that they were both in, but there were always other people. I didn't have this problem finding ones with she and her father. Not that there were a ton, but there were at least a few to choose from. So, when you see this layout keep in mind the pickins were slim.

I got the pictures scanned in for the June page. That would be the fathers page. I had a different problem with this one. I found several pictures of Anne and her father, but all but one of them were from when she was a teenager or older. This being a problem because I wanted the ages of the children in the pictures to be in the same ballpark at least. And Mark's dad died when he was 10, so all the pictures of the 2 of them are when Mark was pretty young. Even at that there aren't that many. I'm sure there are more, but I think Anne has them. So, I'm using a Halloween picture which seems a little odd for June, but it's kind of a sweet picture and it's the one Mark wanted me to use...I think it's one of his favorites. So I'll post that too. I'm rambling, so I'll get on to the pictures now!

2006-12-17T20:30:00.000-06:00

I got 3 months worth of calendar pictures finished today! Woohoo! I didn't get any done yesterday, so I had to make up for it. They probably aren't my favorite scrap pages ever, but I guess they can't all be masterpieces, right? LOL

I'm really not feeling very well, but doing my best not to let a little chest cold get me down. I've got too much to do for that. I had all the usual weekend stuff to do, plus some extra things. Yesterday I got my hair cut then I had to make a trip to Wal-Mart. I dread Wal-Mart on a normal day, but there were 5 times the number of people there yesterday. It was really kind of ridiculous. I got through it though. Then came home and took a good nap. I wasn't feeling well at all. Then we went to a party at Tracy & Stephanie's house. We didn't stay all that long, mostly because I wasn't feeling 100%, but we had a really good time. We're usually the ones having the party it seems like, so it was nice to go to a party! We met lots of people and got to hang out with our friends. Tracy, if you're reading this, we had a GREAT time! Thanks for inviting us!

Today I decided I had to get some work done. So I started the laundry, which unfortunately is still going. Mark and I went out to lunch then I did some scrap pages and wrapped the rest of the presents. With the exception of one gift I'm still waiting to get (UPS) Christmas is ready to go! Oh, but I do have to re-stitch Mark's stocking before I can actually put anything in it.

I guess that's enough rambling...I'll leave you with the 3 scrap pages I finished today. If you have any input on these (and Laura, I'm sure you will ;)) let me know!

March:

July:

August:

Quick note...

2006-12-15T08:04:00.000-06:00

Ok people...I'm blogging my butt off here and I've got NO comments. Ok...I got one comment a few days ago. If this is how it's going to be, I'm going back to once a week. Got it? LOL

Edit: I didn't mean to be pissy about it, I was just wondering where everyone was. I'm not sure what the problem was with posting comments to my blog. I did add a security feature, but that's been several weeks ago...it's just the squiggly word thing. I'm going to assume it's working now, but if it's not, someone please let me know. Thanks!

April layout

2006-12-14T22:31:00.000-06:00

I swear, I should've just sent the pictures to Laura and let her do my layouts...We've been working on them using Hello to communicate. Here's April:

That's all for tonight...Happy Friday!

Fun little project

2006-12-13T22:47:00.000-06:00

This is my accomplishment for the evening...I saw this picture of Anne (Mark's mother) as a little girl and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. This is going on my Easter (April) calendar page. I haven't done the page yet...but I'll post the before & afters of the picture. The color may still need to be toned down a bit...y'all tell me what you think. I really enjoyed doing this...I may have to do another one! LOL Doesn't this picture remind you ever so slightly of Jennifer?

Here's the before:

And the after:

Let me know what you think! Have a Happy Thursday!

Laura's Tag

2006-12-13T14:18:00.000-06:00

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree? Wrapped (unwrapped?? How boring!)
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? I like both, but my tree has white lights b/c Mark likes them better.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? Yes, we have some that grows in a tree in our front yard, Mark shot some down last weekend. We also have a MistleToad that Mark hangs in one of the doorways...but that's totally different.
5. When do you put your decorations up? The weekend after Thanksgiving
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Sweet potato casserole
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child- Getting up early, early and everyone opening gifts all at once.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? 4th or 5th grade I think.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Just the ones from Mark (we open gifts the night before any occasion, I don't know why. It started with our wedding gifts to eachother and we've just continued it for some reason...like we just can't wait any longer to give eachother our gifts:))
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? White lights, old ornaments from Mark's family, some really old colored beads (also from Mark's family), beaded snowflake ornaments I've made, ornaments we made in school, ornaments Mommy gave me through the years, and a couple ornaments Mark and I have gotten on our vacations together.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love to look it, hate to drive in it. Not because I can't drive in it, I'm not bad at it...other drivers just scare me.
12. Can you ice skate? Yes, but I don't particularly like to.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I've had many favorites...too many to list.
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Family. The holidays have always been about family to me. Mark hasn't ever been a big fan of the holidays for understandable reasons I won't go into here. So, last year and this year, it's been very important to me to share my idea of Christmas and family with him and to build our own traditions together (thus the opening presents under the tree on Christmas Eve).
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Pecan pie
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Probably breakfast at my grandmother's house. I've never missed it and I'd never want to miss it.
17. What tops your tree? An angel holding 2 candles (lit up) that my mom gave me.
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Definitely giving, I just love the look on a person's face when they open a present from me that they love.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O Holy Night
20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum? They're ok...I don't go out and buy them by the boxful. Give me chocolate instead please.

Progress

2006-12-12T22:41:00.000-06:00

I finished wrapping all the gifts I had tonight! Woohoo!!! AND...I got 2 calendar pages done. Well, I did one, Laura did the other. So, I'll post them below. One is December (this should look familiar from Laura's blog...it's almost identical except the picture, the words and I think she moved one element. The other is February...I used Mark's grandparents' wedding picture as well as his parents' and ours...tell me what you think...

Have a great Wednesday!!

December

February

Quick post

2006-12-11T22:49:00.000-06:00

I'll make this quick because I really need to get to bed. It's nearly 11...so if I wait to much longer I'll be worthless tomorrow at work.

Unfortunately, I haven't made good on getting my calendar picture scrap pages started. I did get all the pictures scanned in last night, which took a good amount of time. Tonight I didn't feel like doing much. Mark only worked about 1/2 a day since he wasn't feeling well. I think he's like I am on sick days. He didn't feel good, but I think he got a little bored. So, he had a roast in the oven when I got home. That was nice! I spent most of my evening on the couch, but I did get some more gifts wrapped. I've got to get a couple more boxes and then I can finish up. I'm *almost* done. I did decide I didn't like what I'd gotten Mammaw D., so I found another one online and ordered it tonight, now I just have to remember to take the first one with me to work so I can send it back. I also finished shopping for Mark today (online), so as soon as those things get here I think I'm officially done...Haven't I already said that like 4 times?? I really mean it this time, unless I find something else Mark has to have. ;)

I don't have much else to post, but I did scan a couple cute pictures of Mark in last night, so I'll share those...these were both taken on our farm. One at the pond (which looked better then than it does now...and I think then it actually had fish in it), the other right by the driveway at the corner of the house...enjoy Mark in all his cuteness...

Anne, Mark and Mark's Grandfather Templeton

Mark fishing at the pond.

Weekend report

2006-12-10T17:58:00.000-06:00

The weekends just don't ever last long enough, do they? I didn't do much of anything Saturday...laid on the couch and read most of the day. I had a really bad day actually. I won't go into it...poor Mark did his best to cheer me up. We did get out of the house for a little while. We went to Union City to get one last gift (for the guy Mark drew at work), then we went and bought me a new pair of running shoes (finally), we made a stop in Fulton for some beer (good beer, otherwise we could've bought it in Martin) and then we stopped by Anne's (Mark's mother) house to fix her phone for her. I'm not sure what the problem was, but I think Mark got it fixed. We stayed and chatted with her for a little while...she was in rare form. It was very entertaining! I love it when she's like that...she's got such a dry sense of humor (drier than Mark's) and she cracks me up sometimes.
Today Mark hasn't felt well at all, so he's spent most of his time in the recliner or in bed. I didn't feel all the great, but decided I had LOTS to do, so I got to work. I did ALL the laundry (last of it's in the dryer now) and all the dishes. Took out the trash, etc, etc. Then I got to work on the calendar I'm making for Anne for Christmas. I got the calendar pages done, now I just have to do the corresponding picture pages. I started looking through the photos I had already scanned in and decided that they would look boring just stuck on a page, so I'm going to do digital scrap pages for each one. I already had a couple done that I could use, so I altered them to fit the page correctly. So I think that leaves me 8 or 9 left to do. I downloaded some digiscrap freebies from Shabby Princess and scanned another picture in, but I haven't actually started creating the rest of the pages yet. I'm going to have to start one tonight so I can keep up my momentum or otherwise I'll procrastinate until the week before Christmas, which isn't that far off. I'll try to post them as I get them done. The ones I've already done, you've already seen on my blog, so that won't be new and interesting to anyone. I think if I can get one a night done, I should be fine. Then I'll just have to get them printed and take them to be bound down the street from work. Better get started now...I've still got gifts I want to get wrapped tonight! Have a great week everyone!

2006-12-03T20:29:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a good weekend. I was very productive yesterday. Today, not so much. Yesterday Mark and I drove to Paducah and finished up our Christmas shopping (except for our gifts for eachother). We got to Paducah right when the mall opened,which made the experience ALOT better. There were plenty of people, but not the usual mobs you see this time of year. We had one store to go to there, so we did that and looked around at a couple other places. Then we went to World Market. I don't know if any of you have one of these, but we LOVE that place. Especially the food section. After that we went to PetSmart because we're dorks and we buy Christmas gifts for the cats and the dog. Yes, they have their own stockings...They should be very pleased with their gifts this year. Last we went to Books-a-Million and stocked up on books because we were both out of reading material. In between all that I managed to get lunch at Olive Garden, which was enjoyable. When we got home I went to Wal-Mart and then wrapped a few Christmas presents. Then we changed the sheets on the bed, did some laundry, ate some dinner.
Today, I've done nothing really. I spent alot of the day on the couch watching the America's Next Top Model Season 7 marathon. Mark read...he wasn't so into the show :)
I did a little more laundry, but not much. I think I needed a day to just vegetate.
This week is Mark's birthday (Wednesday). He doesn't want a cake, he says. He just wants brownies, so I'll make those Wednesday evening...they're best warm. I think I'm also supposed to take him out to dinner, which I CERTAINLY don't mind. And that's about it...I have NOTHING to blog about, so that's all you get. Have a great week everyone!

I'm done!!!

2006-11-30T20:07:00.000-06:00

Well...mostly. With my Christmas shopping that is. We've got a couple of little things to buy for Anne, and I'm making her a calendar and I've still got a few things to get for Mark, but other than that - done, done, done! Ahhh, it's nice. Now I just have to start wrapping. I've been putting that off.

I also finished addressing my Christmas cards, except for a few. I must have miscounted because I'm short a few so I'll have to get some more. I imagine I can do that tomorrow afternoon. I hope to get those ready to go next week. I'm not sure I'll get them sent by then, but I'll get them ready at least.

I don't have much new other than that. I also finished the Christmas cards at work (which I designed and printed myself). There may be a few stragglers I'll need to finish, but pretty much done. We'll have the annual seal and stamp party tomorrow afternoon so we can get all 300+ of those off.

Laura, glad to hear you *might* have opened the pattern today ;) I didn't even think to send thread with all that. Sorry.

Man, I'm boring tonight, but I hadn't posted in awhile, so I thought I'd give y'all something! Have a great weekend!

Back to work!

2006-11-26T21:31:00.000-06:00

I have had such a nice, relaxing weekend! I hate that we weren't able to be there for Thanksgiving on Saturday, especially since the phone didn't even ring the whole 1/2 day we worked on Friday. What a waste of time! I was, however, able to get a little Christmas shopping done. Now I'm down to 3 people to buy for...well 4 including Mark. I have several ideas of what I'm going to get him, I just have to decide which big gift it's going to be and then get that and a few small things for his stocking.

Our Thanksgiving went well with Anne on Saturday. Mark roasted a huge chicken (no...not one of ours!) and we also had mashed potatos, peas, corn, turnips (ick!). Fruit salad for dessert (Anne's diabetic and refuses to eat anything sweet, even if it's just Splenda). Mark did all the cooking except for making the mashed potatos. While he was finishing up, Anne looked around the house. I think this is her thing when she is invited over. She wants to look at everything! Which is fine, I guess...the house is still technically hers. So, she wandered around and looked at all the pictures and stuff. Then she asked me if I had any family pictures on the computer. She is very intrigued by the computer...so I pulled up Daddy's website and showed her a few. Daddy, I need some of the really old ones, like in the Garrity family album...the Cavanaugh's, etc. Then she asked me if I could find this out of print book for her...which I did. It's a 2 volume reference book on exotic plants...she's likes that sort of thing. She was pleased I could find it, and I'm pleased she asked...that makes buying her Christmas present alot easier! It's a little on the expensive side, but I'm just happy we can get her something we know she specifically wants!

The rest of the weekend we spent cleaning up the yard and lounging, nothing interesting, but much needed relaxation. Unfortunately, it's back to work tomorrow...blah.

I'll leave you with a scrap page I did of our house. This picture, according to Anne, was taken some time in the 1850's. It's so neat to see how the house has changed over the years. Thanks to Laura, as usual, for your input on this page. I hope everyone has a great week!

All elements and paper: Iron Orchid

Almost Thanskgiving

2006-11-21T16:32:00.000-06:00

We had the BEST Thanksgiving lunch at work today. I made 2 pies...chess and chocolate chess, neither of which I'd ever made before and they were GOOD...the chocolate probably could have cooked a tad longer, but it tasted very good, it was just a little gooey.

Laura, the fabric has been purchased!! So RELAX!! Mommy found some at Joann's...I haven't seen it, but she had a swatch of the fabric for my chairs with her and said it matched perfectly. So, I told her to get it. And she got the lining too. For a really good price I might add. I still need to get some contrasting green fabric, but I haven't exactly decided how to do that yet. I think it's just going to go on the valance/cornices, so I'll be doing that part anyway. So, as long as I remember to bring the pattern with me Thursday, you're all set. I'll try to remember to go ahead and put it in the car so I can't forget it.

In other, WONDERFUL news...Nan gave Mark an extra day off so he can take off the day after Christmas. That way we won't be so rushed. So we don't have to go back to work until Wednesday after Christmas. I need to know everyone's plans for that. Are we going to do what we did last year and go to Mommy & Daddy's after Mammaw's? Did we do dinner there? I know Jennifer and Laura have other places to be, so let me know so we can plan accordingly...Oh, and Mommy and Daddy might want to know to be prepared too ;) I'm hoping everyone can be around on Christmas Day, because that's really the only time we'll have to spend with everyone. So, let me know!

The weekend already?

2006-11-17T10:21:00.000-06:00

This has been a bit of a weird week. I went home sick (stomach bug...woohoo!) on Tuesday afternoon and didn't go into work at all on Wednesday. I don't know how I ever stayed home before...I was bored out of my mind! So I worked on painting the trim in the hallway. We have now pretty much finished that project except for the ceiling and trim. That might get done tonight, but I kind of doubt it. I also got a lot of my Christmas shopping done online thanks to an IM session with Laura. I think, except for Brent, all of the kids' gifts are done. Of course, those are the easiest ones really. I have a pretty good idea of what the rest of the gifts are going to be, it's just a matter of getting around to shopping for them...online or otherwise. Mark is a bit difficult to buy for and I've got to come up with 2 for him...birthday and Christmas. I have ideas, but I'm not sure which way I'll go with it yet. I better get on it though, his birthday isn't that far off!

Mommy and Daddy are coming to visit tomorrow and miraculously the house has stayed pretty well clean and straightened up all week. Mark's just been in cleaning mode. So, I've got to do a few things tonight to de-cat everything for Mommy's sake. Not that it'll help much, but it will help and it needs to be done anyway. I dread doing it because it makes my allergies nuts, but it helps in the long run. So, I will vacuum and Febreze Allergen Reducer everything within an inch of its life. I was noticing that the drapes needs lint rollered, so I'll do that too.

My friend Tonia is supposed to get back to me today about fabric stores. Her father does upholstering (sp?), so she was going to ask him if he knows of any fabric stores nearby. If he does, hopefully Mommy and I can check those out while they're here. I'm sure Daddy and Mark can find something else to do that will be more entertaining for them. I'm down to the wire on getting fabric for Laura to make my drapes. My deadline is Thanksgiving. I can't for the life of me figure out why it's so hard to find solid color fabrics, but I will find it...I just hope I can get it done in time. I do have a Plan B...different curtains for a different room. Hmm...Laura, I didn't tell you about that, did I? LOL Probably easier to make than the drapes, which is why I was saving that project for myself.

And, in work drama, our new sales rep quit yesterday...I think he found a better offer, which is unfortunate because we all liked him alot. So, the search is once again on for another one or two sales reps. We just can't seem to find anyone that will stick. Ugh!

Ok...I've seriously been slacking on my posts. I'll try to do better next week. Have a good weekend everyone!

Shopping, shopping and more shopping...

2006-11-11T20:10:00.000-06:00

Whew! Today wore me out! I can't remember the last time I spent the whole day shopping. I spent my birthday money plus a little more, but I think I did well. I'm not even going to try to find picture of everything. I got 1 pair of pants, 1 suit (pants & jacket), 2 shells to go underneath my suits, 2 skirts and 2 sweaters. I'm rather pleased with myself ;)
While I was at the mall I went to Gymboree and got Madeline & Caleb's birthday presents....Toys for Christmas, clothes for the birthday...Here's what I got for them.
I was able to get 2 pairs of pajamas for Caleb because they were having a good sale on those:

And then I got an outfit for Madeline...I just can just see her in it...so cute:

Before all the clothes shopping, I went fabric shopping for the drapes Laura's making for me...not fun and I didn't have much luck either. Very frustrating!

After all the clothes shopping I had to go to WalMart...so let's just say I've had enough shopping to last me for quite awhile. AND every place I went today was SO crowded. It was like shopping in December. It took me 30 minutes to get a parking spot at the mall!

2006-11-10T11:58:00.000-06:00

I don't know where the week went. This is a good thing, though. It didn't seem to be going all that during the week, but now it seems like it flew by. Nothing terribly eventful happened at work and at home Mark and I continued to work on the house some. Mostly cleaning things up and getting things back in order. Last night we took some extra furniture up to the attic and Mark swept floors and dusted a little. He was certainly in a cleaning mood! Not that I was sharing that feeling...I wasn't. He moved the trim and closet doors from the library out to the shop last night so he could trim the doors down some and then we can paint them. While he worked on that, I cooked. I believe it's the first time this week that I've cooked! We had beef stroganoff, which turned out really well. After dinner Mark was buzzing all over the house straightening things up and cleaning. I sat down at the computer to scan a drapery pattern in for Laura so she can see what she will be getting me for Christmas ;) Then I talked to Mommy and Daddy until we were all 3 about to fall asleep.
So that's about it for last night.

This certainly hasn't been the best week. My birthday, overall, was pretty crappy. It was a nice day outside and everyone at work remembered my birthday and spent a large part of the day teasing me about being 30...which they can do because all but 2 of them are OVER 30. Anne (Mark's mom) stopped by the office that morning and gave me my presents and chatted with us for a minute or 2. Then Mark and I went to the Pub after work for a few minutes. We hadn't been in quite a while and we thought maybe we'd get to see some friends, but there wasn't really anyone there, which was disappointing. So we went home. Mark made me a pizza on a flour tortilla (one of his specialties) and then fixed me a huge piece of birthday cake. About 8:30, I decided I'd just had enough of the day, so I went to bed. Birthdays just aren't that much fun anymore. Not that Mark didn't try, he did. He took me out on Sunday and baked my cake and gave me a present on Tuesday night. Maybe that was the problem...my birthday was just anticlimatic. It was depressing...and it wasn't that I was turning 30. It would've been depressing if I had been turning any age. Anyway...it's over. So, tomorrow I'm off to Paducah to spend my birthday money on myself! And hopefully find some fabric for the dining room drapes...which I think is going to be a challenge. Maybe some retail therapy will be good for me.

Still going...

2006-11-06T16:53:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Mark took me to Jackson for my birthday dinner. We had Japanese...and oh my gosh it was good! Not Kobe's good, but really good. Before that we did a little shopping. I can't believe the money we spent this weekend, but 90% of it was for the room (library). We bought a roman shade for the exterior window. It's red to tie in with my Van Gogh (Field of Poppies) and add a little color to the room. It looks very nice. Also, since that room has no overhead light, we bought a floor lamp. So, except for painting the closet doors and getting them rehung, the room is complete. Furniture and all AND we got it all cleaned up and the books neatly arranged on the shelves. That gave Mark a chance to exercise his OCD tendencies. He put all his paperbacks in alphabetical order and the non-fiction books in order by subject. This was kind of a long, drawn-out process, but it's done. Mark really was in rare form this weekend. He usually gets up pretty early, even on the weekends. Usually he spends that time before I get up lounging, reading, watching TV, or on the computer. This weekend he did laundry, arranged the books, cleaned up the dining room (where all the books and knick-knacks had been sitting while we were working on the room), cleaned the kitchen, polished some furniture, etc. He even arranged some bittersweet in a vase for our fall table centerpiece. He did a good job with that too. I was quite impressed. He got a ton of stuff done. I did far less, but still had a productive weekend. I'll post some more pictures when I get a chance to take them.

We're done!

2006-11-04T19:44:00.000-06:00

Well...pretty much. With the library that is. I've still got to scrape a little paint off the windows and then wash the windows and we have a couple small pieces of trim to paint, but other than that it's finished! It looks really good too. We do good work-if I do say so myself. We drove to McKenzie today and bought a new computer desk and a lighted curio cabinet. We had been using Mark's old drafting tables for a computer desk, but that wasn't really working out so well. The curio we bought because we're dorks. We like rocks. We had a lot of geodes and fossils that were just collecting dust on the bookshelves and were all lined up in front of the books. So we cleaned them all up today and put them in the new curio. We also have a shelf full of shells and stuff. It looks really good. We both love it. AND I found a new home for my Van Gogh painting. It looks much better in here than it did in the living room. Here are some pictures...

The view towards the porch...no books on the shelf yet.

The view towards the dining room with the new curio and a very busy Mark.

And the new desk, disregard the can of Pledge to the left...still a work in progress.

And you'll notice there are no pictures of the middle of the room...there's a good reason for that! Still a bit of a mess, but Mark's working on that as I'm typing this. I guess he might want some help, so I'm off to help. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Friday! Woohoo!

2006-11-03T15:40:00.000-06:00

It seems we've all slowed down on our blogging, haven't we? Is that an indication that everyone is very, very busy?

I'm doing my very best not to get sick, but I'm starting to feel like I'm losing the battle. Just a little cold I'm sure, but I hate not feeling good! Work has been a little less busy for me this week, but promises to make up for it next week. We hired a new tech a few weeks ago (I think I already mentioned that) and this week our new sales rep started. Both seem to be fitting in quite well, which is no small feat in this office. We are a very tight knit group, so it's like voting someone into the family when they are hired. These 2 seem to be successful additions.

Outside of work we haven't done much except for work on the library. Thankfully we're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel on that project. I really like it. The color actually looks more like a Frappucino than really khaki, but I think we both like it. It looks very nice with the new white trim. We were afraid it was going to be too dark, but since we've gotten a couple coats on now, it doesn't look too dark at all, it looks nice. I can't wait to get the furniture back in there and get it out of the rest of my house! We've been talking about rearranging the furniture in there too and I think that will make as big a difference as the wall color. I'm going to split up the 3 bookshelves instead of having one full wall of them. Or at least I think I'm going to do that, we'll see how it looks. I think it'll look better with them split up, and it will also allow us to move the computer desk to a more practical place in the room.

Hmm...I can't think of anything else to say other than I'm dreading Wednesday a little. How is it possible that I am going to be 30? I sure don't feel 30. Or maybe I do...it's not like I know what 30 is supposed to feel like. It just seems like a bit of an adjustment or something. 30 sounds so adult. Then I think about it, and I guess that would be what I am, right? I go to work everyday, I pay bills, I get the oil changed in the car, etc, etc. Oh my Lord, have I become responsible? Is is possible? I guess 30 isn't so bad. It's really just another day, right, I'm basically already 30, so what's the big deal. I guess I always imagined myself to be in a different place in life at 30 and I'm not at that place. It would really be worse if I didn't like where I'm at. I've most definitely been at worse places in my life. So, this is pretty good. I should have a really big party to celebrate that I made it 30, shouldn't I? I'm supposed to have a girls night out the day after my birthday, so maybe that will be my celebration. Or maybe I'll just hang out at home with Mark because either one sounds about as appealing really. I mean that in a good way. Ok then...I'm wrapping this up now. At the rate I've been going I won't blog again until after my birthday, so goodbye 20's...you were fun, well sometimes anyway. Hello 30's! Everyone have a good weekend and have a good my birthday next week!

2006-10-30T20:12:00.000-06:00

It was such a nice day today here. I think the temperature was in the 70's and it was so clear and sunny! Which was good since I spent alot of time on the road today. It most definitely looks like fall now, the trees were beautiful all the way to Camden. I don't have a whole lot to blog about, but since I haven't blogged in awhile, I figured I'd at least try.

We had a pretty busy weekend. Redoing the library is proving to be more difficult than I thought. Mark had a wallpaper border up in there and since we were going to take that down and paint, we had to remove all the glue residue. That was a messy and tedious job, but we got it done. Mark replaced the baseboard and I got 2 coats of paint on all the trim except for the windows. There are 2 windows in the room...one to the outside and one that is between the library and the enclosed back porch (the yellow room). Mark got one coat of paint on the sun room window, but the outside window has to be scraped and then sanded. I got to do lots of that when we redid the sun room. I don't like it. So I'm procrastinating. Mark also got a couple of coats of paint on the ceiling. All the trim and the ceiling is bright white (like the trim in the guest room and the sunroom). It's amazing how much brighter the room already looks with just the trim and ceiling repainted. And with the border down. In a house that is as dark as this one, that dark border just made the room seem smaller and darker. Not what we're going for. Mark painted a little on the wall color on last night so we could see what it looks like with the trim. I think it's actually a little darker than what is currently on the wall, but it has a much cooler tone to it, so I think it will still brighten the room up and make it look much cleaner. It's sort of a crisp khaki color. It's not exactly what I remember picking out, but I think I like it better. It should look really good.

It would appear we're taking the night off from painting, though. Mark seems really tired. I think the time change is not agreeing with him. I'm not a big fan either. I hate it being dark when we leave work. It doesn't exactly motivate me to want to work on anything when I get home. Although, other than the library project, there isn't much I want to work on, there isn't much point. We have all the furniture out of the library, so it's cluttering up every other available space in the house. So I don't see any point in cleaning any other rooms since they all seem filled with miscellaneous clutter and furniture from the library. It's driving me nuts! Hmm...maybe I should find something to paint so I can get this project over with. It may even be motivation enough to sand something.

One of my friends at work is redoing her kitchen. She was asking my opinion on it last week and they started on it this past weekend. She is repainting her cabinets, and after that whole LONG project with Mommy's kitchen I felt I had a little experience to speak from. She is doing a similar thing with her kitchen. Kind of an Italian/Mediterranean feel. The walls will be a sagey green and the cabinets are going to have a crackle finish...I wish we had thought of that when we did Mommy's...what Jimmie's doing sounds pretty cool, AND it was my suggestion, which makes it that much cooler, right? Her base color will be the same as the walls, then you paint on a crackle glaze. Then you paint on the second color (cream in this case), then you seal the whole thing. So it'll be cream with little veins of green...I think it'll look pretty neat. Four coats don't sound like fun, but I think it'll look good. She seems excited about it.

That's about all I can come up with for now. You people need to blog, so get on it! I have nothing to read! Except for you Daddy, I read yours.

2006-10-27T08:16:00.000-05:00

Another yucky, rainy day. Blah. Yesterday I was out in it all day long...driving. My morning started off with a drug test, always my favorite way to start the morning. The company has decided (after I've been here 2 years) that everyone that drives a company vehicle ever has to have one. I've been doing quite a bit of driving for work lately, so I qualified, lucky me. So me and the new tech drove to Union City first thing yesterday morning for that. Both of us passed (for all you interested parties). Then I took him with me to hook up a color machine at a church. This guy used to work for Geek Squad, so hooking up a networked printer is no big deal to him. This is a great help to me. Before Mark and I were the only ones who could do it, so when we went on vacation...bad things happened. Now we have back up, I LOVE IT!! I won't bore you with anymore work details. Most of the rest of my day was spent driving to Reelfoot (about an hour) spending 3 hours at the customers' office there and driving an hour back. All in the rain. The best part of my day was still ahead...little did I know. So, I get back to the office and Nan asked me to go with her to deliver a typewriter across town. So, I get in the van and we drive across town. We have to make a left turn. It was all nasty and rainy. Next thing I know....WHAM...someone hit us from behind really, really hard. So, we get out, I run across the street to call Mark and the police. Then we stand in the drizzle for another 45 minutes filling out paperwork, etc. Everyone is alright, Nan and I both have sore necks, but neither of us thought it warranted going to the hospital. The van's bumper was mangled and some of the metal of the van itself is a little crumpled, but not too bad. Mark got there about the same time the police did and stayed with us. I've never seen him walk so fast! He had to park about a 1/4 mile away, but he got to us pretty quickly. Poor thing, he looked SO worried.
After all that, it was time to go home, so we did. Mark helped me make dinner...we had Italian sausage tortellini, peas and cheesy garlic bread. Everything we cooked took about 10 minutes tops. I was SO glad I thought to buy something quick, but good at the store last weekend. We ate, I had a glass of wine and spent the rest of the night laying on Mark. He was a good sport. I swear I'm such a baby when I don't feel good.
So, I haven't gotten hardly anything done on the library this week. We got all the books off the shelves (which was the hard part), so now I'm hoping this weekend we can replace the baseboard that needs replaced and start painting. Woohoo! I'm also hoping to make a trip to Paducah to look for fabric for the curtains Laura is making for me for Christmas. I've got to find some tennis shoes too.
That's about all I've got for now...hope everyone has a good weekend!

What universe do I live in?

2006-10-21T22:36:00.000-05:00

What a strange day. I actually got some things done, which is nice. Mostly laundry & dishes...that seems to be my life, doesn't it? But those are the 2 things that constantly need done. I had to go to Union City to try to find some new tennis shoes (unsuccessful) and get some groceries. I don't go to Union City all that often...I'm really not a big fan, but...there's a shoe store there and a Goody's, so I thought I could check both places, which I did...unsuccessfully. Just before I left, however, Daddy called. Which really is ironic...I'll get to that in a minute.
It turns out that Lee and Mykaela are moving to Union City (or already have?). I didn't really catch the whole story about why because I was rather shocked. And admittedly, I freaked out probably a little more than necessary. Ugh...it's just that now we could run into them at any time and I'm afraid it will be all kinds of uncomfortable. I'll get over it, I'm mostly over it now. The ironic part is this...When I have to go to Union City for something, I try to stop by the house just to check on it, make sure the grass is getting cut, etc. and I was planning to do that today before Daddy called. So, in light of the news, I thought I'd go by and leave my key and garage door opener. It didn't occur to me until later that I couldn't leave both because I'd have no way to lock the house if I did. Anywho...I went by there. I didn't go in...mainly because it appeared that someone might be there. There were new mums planted in the flower bed that weren't there before and there was a lamp on inside...so apparently their stuff has already been moved. So, wow, that would've been bad if I'd just opened up the garage door! Lee was in Kansas City, because he had talked to Daddy about meeting for dinner or something. So, I'm assuming Mykaela's there. Me being me, I contemplated knocking on the door, introducing myself and giving her the keys and stuff. Then I thought better of it. I don't have anything against her but you never can tell how someone will respond to something like that. I really want everything to be friendly, I really, really do. I'd love for them to be able to come over for parties, that would be perfectly fine with us, really. Not so much for them I think. That's just how I operate. I see no reason why we can't all be friends. I know there are several of you rolling your eyes about now...but that's just how I feel about it. I really wished Lee would have let me know himself, but after our last conversation, I'm not surprised.
Moving on! I went to TWO places to look for shoes and neither had anything in my size! I was pretty unhappy about that! I looked around at Goody's for work clothes, but overall the quality kind of sucks, so I didn't get anything. I found a cute suit that had a jacket, pants and a skirt, but when I went to try it on it was all so ill-fitting I just gave up. It was cut so weird!
After that I went to Wal-Mart and spent about 30 minutes shopping and about 45 minutes in line. It's Saturday people, schedule some more cashiers, for the love of God! I think they had 4 lanes open...I mean really, what were they thinking? I finally got home and got all the groceries unloaded. This was a particularly large shopping trip because it seemed like we were one ingredient short for everything. I had to restock alot of staples. While I was gone, Mark finished up some laundry and cleaned up the kitchen. When I got back I was not in the best of moods, so he made me some tomato soup and a grilled cheese. I think that may be one of my favorite comfort meals. Then we watched the first game of the World Series. Do I care about it? No. Does Mark care about it? Not really. It was an ok game...more background noise than anything. I was reading a Glamour I bought. I quickly remembered why I quit buying magazines like that. I think it was 3/4 ads and the other 1/4 was nothing special. I was highly disappointed. The interview with Faith Hill was not even particulary impressive. So, that brings us up to now. The cats are all napping and Mark poured me a glass of wine, so I'm going to wind down a bit and then get some good weekend rest! I'm hoping to tackle the library tomorrow.

Has it already been a week?

2006-10-18T16:51:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I last blogged! Sorry about that, I know y'all were missing me! LOL I've been fairly busy with work and all that. I won't bore you with the details, except to tell you that today we hired a new technician...which is GREAT for Mark.

This past weekend I was busy working around the house. Mark and I just now got around to taking out our window air conditioners (since we got central h&a). After we got those out we put up new storm windows. Woohoo! Then we cleared a few trees out of what will be our cow pasture (don't ask!) and chopped them up to use in the chimnea(sp?). It felt good to get so much done. Next we're going to start on the library. We're painting all the trim white and the walls a soft tan color. At some point I'm either going to make or buy some curtains, probably dark red or burgundy. The biggest problem with getting started is going to be taking all the books off the shelves...that's going to be a big dusty mess! Then we've got to replace a baseboard that is basically disintegrating. That'll be fun too. Oh, and Laura asked...the library is the room between the kitchen and the bathroom. You know, where all the bookshelves are?

That's all I've got for now. I'll try to be a little better about blogging regularly.

2006-10-12T19:48:00.000-05:00

I had a pretty uneventful day. A little tense at work, but not bad. I've managed to catch up on some little projects that I've been putting off because I haven't been out at customers' offices too much this week.

It was pretty cool outside today! We knew it was coming, though. As soon as we got home we brought in all our water plants from the pergola pond as well as the banana plants. Mark seems to think the ferns will ok as long as it doesn't stay cold. I hope he's right!

Mark's second cousin (same age as his mother) owns the land across the road from us. I don't know if anyone remembers seeing it, but there was an old dilapidated house over there. They started tearing it down this past weekend. Mark saw Gerald (the cousin) over there and went over to talk to him. The house was sitting on brick pillars (instead of a foundation) and had a brick chimney. Mark asked if we could have the bricks and Gerald said sure. Our pergola floor is brick that Mark got from the old Martin Manufacturing plant that used to stand in downtown Martin. So these bricks are probably pretty close to the age of the pergola bricks. We plan to redo the pergola pond in the spring. So we'll rebrick where part of the current pond is to give us more seating area in the pergola. So these bricks will be used for that and to build walkways around the new pond, which is going to be much larger. We went over this afternoon after work (and after moving the plants) and picked up about 300 bricks. Some of them are the larger, heavier fire bricks. There are still lots over there, but they were buried under the roof of the old house, so we're going to have to wait until we can get to them.

I updated my Amazon list today. It is listed under the email address srgarrity@yahoo.com. Most of the new stuff I put on there are sweaters, etc. Nothing terribly fun, but things that I need and that I like. I'm trying to pin Mark down to write a list for him, but I haven't been terribly successful yet. I know he can always use shirts for work. He likes solid colors the best, he's not much on plaid or other patterns. I'll have to find the size later. He prefers to buy pants himself, but he isn't really short on pants now anyway. Sweaters would also be good. Lowes or Books-a-Million gift certificates are good. That's about all I have for him at the moment.

Jennifer asked about the shelf I requested. After I listed that, I thought better of it. I think that may be something I'll have to get myself after we get the library redone. Because I'm not even sure what color I'll want to go with the new paint color. So, mark that off my list. Concentrate on sheets and clothing! I'll keep adding to my list to give you more to choose from!

I need lists on everyone too!

2006-10-11T16:48:00.000-05:00

I don't have much to blog about, but it's been a few days since I blogged, so I'm blogging just to say I did.

My house is a disaster area. It was all neat and clean before we left, but since we got back we haven't really done much in the way of housework except for laundry and dishes. The pest control guy came this afternoon and I was ashamed to let him see it like that! He called me at work to say he'd be there in 30 minutes, so I rushed home to get the dirty clothes off the bedroom floor (Mark!) and get some dishes washed, make the bed. It's amazing how much you can get done in 20 minutes when you need to. I picked up and straightened up and then started a load of laundry. Discovered there were still clothes sitting in the dryer (whoops!) so I turned them back on for a couple minutes to knock the wrinkles out. Filled up the kitchen sink and started washing dishes. Got all the dishes done. Wiped down the stove and counters. Started Elwood (Mark named our Roomba...robot vacuum) in the living room. Fed the chickens some leftover rice. Folded the clothes I had in the dryer. Got another load started in the washer by the time the pest control guy left. Woohoo...I was on a roll. Unfortunately I had to come back to work for a little while, so my momentum is now broken. But I did get alot done. Or at least I felt like I did. The floors all need swept really badly.

I the first of the 3 Tumble Towers I ordered. It is in as good of shape as the one at Mammaw's, so I was pleased. I have all that stuff sent to work because it's just easier since I'm there during the day. No one at work was nearly as excited about it as I was. They don't know what they're missing! No one has kids that were born in the early 70's nor were any of them kids themselves in the early 70's (except Mark), so none of them even remember such a toy. Maybe I'm just easily amused, but I really like it! I've played a couple times today already! And I must say, I'm pretty good at it. Of course, I guess I should be since it's designed for toddlers!! LOL!

Well, that's about all I've got for now. I am working on Christmas/Birthday lists for Mark and myself. Well, more for myself ;-)

I'll list a couple of things here while I'm thinking about it...Flannel sheets (all of our beds are full size), pajama pants (mine are beyond ragged), a shelf for above the computer (for CD's and office supplies)...Can't think of anything else at the moment, but I'll try to get a formal list together. Hope everyone is having a fabulous week. Happy Birthday to my younger sister Katie who is 24 today!! Hope you're having a great Birthday Katie, hopefully you'll get your gift by tomorrow if you didn't get it today.

Back to reality...

2006-10-08T18:58:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how fast our vacation flew by! I'm almost ready to get back into the swing of things though. I haven't felt all that great today, so I hope I'm feeling better by tomorrow morning. Just sinusy I think. It's just that time of year. The weather has been beautiful for the past week, everywhere we went it was nice. And it's been nice here, mid-70s during the day and just cool enough at night to warrant turning on the heat just a little. Our heater works great too! Ah...I love central heat and air!

I've gotten a few things accomplished since we got back on Thursday morning. I've done lots of laundry, bought groceries, etc. Today we went to Union City to eat lunch and go to Lowe's. I bought lots of bulbs...I love bulbs, so low maintenance! I got lots of crocus and tulips, Mark bought some Muscari and I got a few very pale purplish/blue iris. Nothing out of the ordinary really, we just wanted more of what we already have. I'm going to do a tulip border on either side of our front walk. You know, the sidewalk that goes nowhere? That never did make sense to me why you would have a sidewalk that just goes out a little ways and then ends in the middle of the yard. Anyway, back to the bulbs...I'm hoping to get those in the ground before too much longer. We have stuff we have to dig up for the winter too, but I'm really hoping Mark will handle that part.

After Lowe's we went to Tractor Supply to get birdseed, not for the chickens, that would be chicken feed. This is for the wild birds. The cashier even commented that it looked like we were feeding everything. We had 3 different kinds of birdseed. Mark mixes 2 kinds together for the big feeders and we bought thistle for the finch feeder. Then we had huge bags of cat and dog food. Thankfully the chickens were already well-stocked!

I am now the proud owner of 2 Fisher-Price Tumble Towers (ca. 1971). One goes to Mommy. For those of you who don't know what this is:

I love it!

That's about all I've got for now. I am WORN OUT!!! And I haven't gotten ANY scrapping done at all. :(

I've got to work on that! Have a good week everyone! And for those who haven't blogged in forever (and you know who you are!)...you need to get on that!

Home again

2006-10-05T14:49:00.000-05:00

We got back home about 9:30 this morning. What a long trip back! We stopped in to see Jennifer and family yesterday afternoon. We'd already been on the road about 6 hours at that point. Then we ran into some traffic issues on the way to Jennifer's. So I think we spent more time in traffic on the way than on our actual visit! Mark was very anxious to get home, which is generally the case once we start heading that way. So we didn't get to stay very long at Jennifer's and Dan had gone to the office, so we didn't get to see him at all. Sorry we missed you Dan! We had a nice visit, though, even if it was short. I hadn't been to Jennifer's in a LONG time and Mark's never been, so we got the tour (lead by Madeline and Caleb). They done a lot to the house since I was there last. Jennifer, I meant to tell you, I LOVE the roman shades in the living room/kitchen! Those are roman shades, right? I think that might be the way to go for our bedroom windows (Laura, are you interested in making them...'cause I'm not! LOL). Anyway, like I said, Mark was anxious to get home. He wanted to drive the rest of the way last night...and we didn't leave Jennifer's until 5ish. I didn't think we'd even make it to Nashville. We ended up stopping in Dickson. So it was only 2 1/2 hours away from home. That made for a pretty easy drive after the drive yesterday. Ok...enough of that! Here's some pictures. I'm going to try to scrap this weekend, so I'll post the pages when I'm done.

This first one I like. This is one I took with the tripod at Greenbrier on "our" rock. The second isn't a terribly good picture, but it's the only one I have of both of us at Folly Beach. That's all for now, I'll post more later. Happy Thursday!

Soooo relaxed!

2006-10-03T20:40:00.000-05:00

Well, our trip started off a bit rushed. We had several things we wanted to do in Gatlinburg (mostly in the National Park), but we only had one full day there...which was our anniversary. We got to our hotel on Friday at about 4pm, thanks to a pretty early start. From there we went directly to our favorite pottery store in the Arts & Crafts community. It's a pottery store, but he also has lots of fossils and things. Mark likes his fossils, so that was our first stop. Mark had seen one there last year he really liked and he couldn't wait to get back there to get one. So, we did that and picked up a couple other things. Then we walked downtown (from the hotel) to eat. When we got back to the hotel, we went ahead and gave eachother our anniversary presents. We couldn't wait until Saturday...and as I remember we did the same thing last year. Mark got me a ruby necklace. Very pretty and dainty. I got him some stone bookends. Yeah, I know that doesn't sound exciting, but as I said, the man likes his rocks. He was a geology major. And, well, I like rocks too...so we're dorks and we like it that way. Saturday we got up and had the obligatory Gatlinburg pancake breakfast then drove over to Greenbrier. That's the area of the National Park where we got married. I wanted to take a few pictures (which I would share, but someone left the cable for the camera at home). When we got there, there were people on our rock getting married. I mean, can you believe the nerve!! LOL So we explored a little bit further down the river and then came back when they were gone to take some pictures. Let me tell you, it's way easier to climb around on those rocks when you don't have heels on! We took lots of pictures there and had a good time climbing around on the rocks. Then we drove over to the Arts & Crafts Community again and went through several of the stores. We bought a couple more things, but I can't remember exactly what off the top of my head. I know we got a vase for the dining room table. I'm going to put some bittersweet in it (from our yard) and use it as the centerpiece when we have Thanksgiving dinner at our house with Mark's mother. After lunch we hiked up to Grotto Falls. I was very proud of myself. I wasn't nearly as whiny about hiking 2.6 miles as I was last year. In fact, I really didn't whine at all. After the first 1/4 mile it wasn't bad at all. It was a really pretty waterfall and the trail actually went behind it, which was cool. We got lots of pictures of that too. After that Mark kicked my butt at skeeball. I was not pleased. We had dinner at Cherokee Grill, which had excellent food, but really crappy atmosphere. They had people crammed in there like sardines. It was bad I tell you. Right after our food came they seated a group of 6 or so people next to us. This would've been fine, BUT...they had a very sleepy baby with them. Which was also fine. They weren't just letting the child scream or anything. BUT when the hostess set these people down, she moved their table even closer to ours, so close, that we really couldn't get out without making some move. AND they had the high chair at the end closest to us, which was fine, but the baby was really more at our table than at theirs. We certainly weren't upset with the people, but the restaurant was really trying to cram too many people in, so while the food was good...we paid way too much for it considering the atmosphere. It was so loud our server couldn't even hear us when we were ordering. Ok...rant over. Sunday we slept in a little, then got up, checked out and got the heck out of the tourist hell they call Gatlinburg.
We got to Folly Beach around 5pm or so and went pretty much STRAIGHT to the beach. After we had walked up and down the beach for awhile we got some dinner at the hotel (we were TIRED) and then I hung out in the room while Mark explored some more. I was soooo completely exhausted when we got here. Yesterday we spent the whole day here. I slept alot and we went to the beach a couple times...got in the water and played in the waves a little. I managed to get sunburned in record time. Not too bad though. Then we walked a block or so to a great tapas restaurant. I was introduced to this kind of restaurant in Columbia and I really, really like it. Tapas means "small plates" I think. It's a cool concept. You order small portions of as many different menu items as you want. The presentations were really nice and the food was great. Mark really liked it too. I had sesame crusted seared tuna and asian pork ravioli, Mark had quail wrapped in Italian bacon and scallops wrapped in bacon with truffle oil (that's lots of bacon!). So I got to try all 4 dishes and so did Mark. Even the quail was good and I didn't think I would like that.
Today we went to the SC Aquarium, then did some shopping in downtown Charleston at an open-air market. Had lunch downtown too. I got some moonstone earrings and we bought a few gifts for Beth and Talley (who are taking care of the house and animals while we're away)...Thanks guys!!! Mark bought a shirt that would make Daddy proud (his words)...it's very LOUD and flowery!!! He's really getting into the Hawaiian shirt thing. I'll post pictures later, you know, when I have a cable! When we finished shopping, we went to the beach again...with some sunscreen this time...and got in the water some more. Mark's really loving the beach. He's not been to the beach nearly as much as I have, and he's really enjoying it alot. Today when we were swimming there were dolphins not 10 yards away! It was SO cool! They were almost scary close! Mark had never seen dolphins and we've seen them several times a day since we've been here. It's really been nice. We've slept with our balcony door open so we can hear the ocean and feel the breeze. I really don't want to leave, but we're leaving tomorrow. I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and I'm missing all my critters, so it's time to go I guess. We plan to stop in and see Jennifer on our way back. Hopefully Mark isn't going to want to drive all 12 hours tomorrow. I had thought we might stay in Atlanta, but Mark wants to make it farther than that tomorrow, so I imagine we'll make it to Chattanooga or so, MAYBE Nashville, but I doubt it. This has gotten rather long, hasn't it? I'll wrap it up now and post again when we get back and I can post some pictures.

30 minutes to go!

2006-09-28T16:38:00.000-05:00

I've got 30 more minutes until my vacation begins! I'm a little antsy. Today went surprisingly fast. I had lots to do, lots of loose ends to tie up before we leave. I got those things taken care of, so I'm ready to go!
We got back around 2pm from Hopkinsville yesterday. All of us were dead tired. Our presentation went really well. Nan was very proud. I'm glad she was so pleased. We put in a lot of hours on that presentation...I'm glad it was a success. Enough about work, though!
We're leaving early tomorrow morning, so I've got to finish packing tonight. Go get a few things at the store, etc, etc. I have managed to pay all the bills and the ones that needed mailed in the mail. Mark got all the extra crap out of the car. The house is relatively clean...or at least neat. Mark mopped and shined the floors last weekend, but they need swept thoroughly again. I don't know if that'll happen. We've got the guest room sheets and comforter cleaned and back on the bed for Beth who will be housesitting. I took Ramona to the house at lunch today...she will also be stopping by to check on things, so I showed her where everything is. I've been steadily checking things off my to-do list all day. I actually got up early to get the guest room together. I must be excited about this trip if I got up early. After my trip to the store after work, I'll finish up packing everything, then we'll be ready to go. Woohoo! I can't wait.
I should wrap this post up, though. I'm going to take my work laptop with me I think, so I should be getting it packed up before 5:00. Lord knows I don't want to stay over today!

Have a great rest of the week! And Happy Anniversary to Mark and me! It sure doesn't seem like it's already been a year, but it has definitely been one of my happiest years.

Real quick

2006-09-25T21:24:00.000-05:00

To answer a couple of Jennifer's questions before I go to bed...which will be very soon.
Our frozen meals...
I always get a bag of Bocelli's (I think that's right). That's a fully prepared pasta dish in a bag...frozen of course. It takes about 15 minutes to make because you just heat it up in a skillet. Most of them have been pretty good.
Tonight we had frozen lasagna, and I'm sure Mark will probably be eating that again tomorrow night.
Then we got a frozen pizza, which we had last night. As I mentioned in my last post, I still have a dish of chicken enchiladas in the freezer, so that should cover us for the week since we're leaving early Friday morning.

I just finished reading a Jennifer Weiner book...I don't remember the title off the top of my head. It's not terribly thought prevoking material...very much chick-lit, but entertaining. I've read several of hers. It really depends on what your group is wanting to read. There are several authors similar to her that I've read quite a bit of...Jane Green being one...she actually has a book called The Reading Group. Some of these have discussion questions in the back of the book specifically for the purpose of reading groups. Jennifer, you may also enjoy Mary Kay Andrews...all her books are set in Georgia. If you want any of these books, let me know and I'll bring them to you when we swing through Atlanta on the way back from Charleston. I need to get rid of some books anyway. Most of these have a bit of a mystery to them, which I like, but they aren't so complex that they make my head hurt. Since, if I'm reading, I'm probably doing it to relax.

My list making is in full swing. I think I'm going to busy up until the minute we leave, so I'm trying to be as organized as possible. I always make a pretty comprehensive list for trips like these, so packing is never that difficult. So...before I go to sleep I'm going to add a few more things. I've got finish packing for my work trip before I go to bed too. I guess I'd better get to it!

Not such a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

2006-09-23T17:42:00.000-05:00

Saturday...
It has rained so much in the past 2 days!! Luckily none of the really bad weather got us, but we do have flash flood warnings out. Thankfully we live on a hill.

I got up this morning, drove to Union City and got my hair cut and my eyebrows done. Much better! I got out of there right before the deluge started and made my trip to Wal-Mart. You could hear the rain on the roof and it was very loud. Luckily it wasn't raining when I got out of there...instead it waited until I pulled in the driveway and then it started pouring. Wonderful.

Sunday...
Mark got all the laundry done, the floors swept and mopped and did some mowing on the tractor (all between Friday and today). I'm impressed! I did little but work on my laptop and read my book (which I finished this morning). I've still got a long way to go on my work presentation, but I won't bore anyone with that.

I ordered my fall/winter Yankee Candle tarts this afternoon...after consulting Laura for scent recommendations...here's what I got: Madarin Cranberry, Pumpkin Pie, Autumn Leaves, Autumn Wreath, Biscotti, Cranberry Chutney, Gingerbread Maple, Harvest, Holiday Bayberry, Holiday Sage, Balsam & Cedar and Christmas Wreath. That should hold me for awhile. I may get some more apple scents though, I always like those. Today I burned my Home Sweet Home candle in the bedroom, a Macintosh tart on the porch (sunroom-where I was working) and some light blue one in the living room (don't remember the scent, but it's a little too floral for me). And that was your tart update.

I'm not even going to post this week's menu because I fear the backlash. It's ALL frozen. We were trying not to buy alot of extra stuff since we leave Friday for our trip and I won't be here to eat on Tuesday night. The good news is one of the frozen entrees is one a made last week. When I made chicked enchiladas I had enough for 2 meals, so I froze one. I think it'll reheat ok.

Have a great week everyone! Sorry I'm slacking on my posts, but I've been super-busy. Hopefully I'll get back on track after our trip.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

2006-09-20T14:55:00.000-05:00

I love this being out the office thing. Especially on days like today. It's so nice outside! Of course all the driving I do around here is on state highways, we aren't near any interstates really. So that makes for some really pretty driving. I've spent the last few days in Paris and I really enjoy the drive between here and Martin. It's a nice winding road, and the trees are just barely starting to change here. I can't wait until they really change. It's going to make for some spectacular drives. I love fall!! From the sound of everyone's blogs, we're all ready for it to get here.

Other than being really in love with the weather, there isn't much going on with me. Just work, and I know how everyone loves to here about that.

2 days later...Friday

I can't believe I'm just now getting around to finishing this post! What a busy week!! Next week promises to be even busier. I have a presentation in Hopkinsville on Wednesday morning, so I will be staying in Hopkinsville Tuesday night (with Nan and Jimmie). That'll kill at least one of my vacation preparation evenings. Of course, I'll probably be working on this presentation all weekend and all Monday night, so it's going to kill MOST of my vacation preparation time. My mind is already buzzing with ideas on how I'm going to manage all of this. Of course, there's plenty of time to work while loads of clothes are in the dryer. That's my main plan. Other than that I'll just have to squeeze other things in on my breaks. I'll got to go to Wal-Mart so we can eat next week and have some snacks to take on our trip. So that'll probably have to be done before I even get started working. Enough rattling...it's 5:00 and I'm going HOME!!! Have a great weekend everyone!!

2 more weeks...

2006-09-17T15:18:00.000-05:00

Until our vacation, that is. I can not wait! We figured out everything we want to do in Gatlinburg (which has as little to do with actual Gatlinburg as possible). We're going to do one hike when we get there to Grotto Falls. One that we had thought about doing last year, but didn't have the time (or energy after Laurel Falls and Clingman's Dome). It's like 2.6 miles round trip, so it could be worse. I'm sure it will be pretty, but I'm also sure it'll kick my butt. So hopefully we can do that first. On our actual anniversary (which is on Saturday, the 30th) we're going to take it a little easier. We'll go back to Greenbrier I'm sure, which is the area of the National Park where we got married. Then we're going to spend the majority of the day going through all the stores in the Arts & Crafts community. In our opinions, this is the best part of Gatlinburg. I'm sure we'll have to venture into tourist hell to eat, but other than that, we're going to try to avoid it. It should be fun. Then Sunday, we're off to Charleston, SC. We haven't planned that portion of the trip so much. That's ok though. We like to wing it.

This weekend was rather uneventful. We went to Jackson yesterday to get Mark some new hiking/walking shoes. I got some fall/winter shoes for work out of the deal. Then we went to a nature park there in Jackson. It was pretty cool. It was all boardwalk, so it was pretty easy walking (we're trying to warm up for our trip, I think). They had a birds of prey thing. Very large cages with various types of eagles and hawks. They had one owl, which was my personal favorite. The trail went out across part of a small lake. It was neat.
After the hike, we went to Petco and Target. No significant buys at either place. Sorry.

Today we spent forever in Wal-Mart. We decided to go ahead and get the tires rotated and the oil changed in the car before our trip and we also had to get groceries. Well, we were hungry when we left, but there's a Subway in the new Wal-Mart, so that ended up being ok. However, the tires and oil change took FOREVER!!! They had a hard time getting the lug nuts off one of the wheels apparently. Whatever. Now the car doesn't drive straight, AT ALL. It wasn't doing that before, so I don't know what they did, but I'm going to do my best not to go there again. I'll drive to Union City before I let the morons in Martin work on my car again. No telling what they screwed up with the oil change. Time will tell I suppose. We might have gone back, but the girl (that had been working on the tires) told me she couldn't get the key out of the ignition (???). Not a good sign. It came right out when Mark tried it. So, I'm not risking any further damage there. We'll have someone we know check it out this week. At least it's still driveable right now.

And, that is it! That's all we've done. I have absolutely nothing else to post right now, so I'll just have to come up with something bloggable in the next day or so. I'll do my best. Have a great week everyone!

On a lighter note...

2006-09-12T19:03:00.000-05:00

I feel like I should redeem myself after yesterday's post. I know not everyone agrees with me on all that, and I'm not sure I expressed what I was trying to say very well. So, I really hope I didn't offend anyone. I am most definitely a patriot and I most definitely want to be supportive. I just have my views. Really, really, I wanted to keep this light and so I will!

Jennifer, I love the menu you posted in the comment section. I've already started the grocery list for next week. It'll be nice to have something different for a change.
Tonight we had black bean soup...a variation of Mommy's. Mark just can't have a meatless meal, so I put a little beef in it, but it's basically the same other than that. It was pretty good. More of a cold weather meal. Perhaps I wanted to make it because I'm anxious for fall. The weather had been so much cooler before the end of last week and then we had some hot days thrown in. I suppose I should enjoy those while they last because I'll be ready for warm weather again by the first of the year. I always am.

Later tonight I think I'll make a milkshake. Mark doesn't really care for them (what the heck is wrong with him, right?) so he'll probably just have his ice cream in a bowl sans milk. I have yet to try the Nutella. I did have a conversation with Tracy about it last night. I think I'm a little scared of it, but I'll be brave, I promise.

I had a pretty uneventful day again today. Just working on some online training at work. Woohoo! The more I do, though, the more prepared I feel. To do the more complicated aspects of my job, that is.

Zoe just jumped in my lap, such a sweet kitty sometimes! I just threw that in there to be random. And maybe as filler because I don't have much more to say. So, I'll wrap this up and try to post my latest scrap page, which may or may not be finished. I haven't decided yet. Maybe everyone can vote...let me know.

September 11th

2006-09-11T20:53:00.000-05:00

I had a pretty uneventful day. Not a good day, but not an awful one. Then I got home.

I knew what would be all over the television tonight. I didn't plan to watch. I haven't watched it for the past 4 years, and I didn't plan to do it tonight. But we started watching the National Geographic Channel and I got wrapped up. I can believe how it made me feel. I remember Sept. 11, 2001 very clearly. I remember the night before. I stayed with my friend Chelsea in downtown Nashville. Anyone who knows me well knows what stage of my life I was in at that point in time. Enough said there. I drove back to Hendersonville the next morning about 8am. I heard on the radio when the first plane hit the first tower. They didn't know that it wasn't an accident. By the time I got back home and turned on the TV, the second was about to hit. I saw it. I went and woke up Katie and Daddy. All I remember was sitting there in the den watching it all unfold. We had no concept of what was going on, or at least it seems like we didn't looking back. I don't remember feeling much emotion watching it. It was scary I suppose, but at the time, it was unclear what it all meant. The shock prevented me from feeling much emotion.

I drove to work later that day. They had practically shut down everything in downtown Nashville. All the govt. builidings were closed and much of the rest of downtown as I remember. I worked at the Doubletree and we had TV's set up in common areas of the hotel and there were stranded travelers everywhere...stunned...sobbing. It was crazy and sad and at the same time absolutely numbing.

A few days later when they allowed air traffic to resume I remember sitting on I-65 in rush hour traffic that first morning. There was a plane, we all saw it. The strangest single experience I'd ever had sitting in traffic. Everyone was frozen, watching that plane. Like it was a bomb, not a plane. I'll never forget it.

Tonight when Mark and I sat watching the footage, 5 years later. I found myself shaking. Shivering like it was freezing cold in the house, but it wasn't. I suppose now it's more evident the impact that day had than it was on the actual day. It's clearer now how absolutely awful that day was. It freaked me out a little...how I responded to it tonight. I don't typically agree with the media replaying that stuff. I don't know that I agree with it still, but it was powerful stuff to watch it again. Here I am, way down here in Tennessee, but that really affected me. It still does, apparently. It did change my life in ways I could never have known at the time. I saw a husband off to war. I saw him come back not nearly the same as he was when he left. My sister has a husband over there now. I have a lot more I could say about that, but it would just come out angry, so I'll leave it at this. I don't agree with this war. I can not make myself agree. I tried really hard when Lee was there fighting, but it was half-hearted. I don't agree. It keeps me awake that my brother-in-law is there. I hate it for Laura and the kids. I hate it for all involved. And I'm involved. War is just an ugly thing. I'm not a terribly political person, but I just can't stand it sometimes. It just seems wrong. Sorry for the heaviness of this post. I've always had an opinion on this. Watching that tonight just set me off. September 11 was a terrible, terrible thing. I'm just not sure the war in Iraq is helping at all. In fact, it may be hurting more than it helps.

Why do I always need a title?

2006-09-09T22:32:00.000-05:00

I've had a lazy day. And I liked my lazy day. I have accomplished nearly nothing. I'm ok with that. Unfortunately, I'll have to make up for it tomorrow. Can I just say that I love blogs?! I've spent the evening (before and after talking to my mother) reading blogs. Each of my sisters and both of my parents have blogs. I don't know anyone else who can say that (of course, I do live in Martin which isn't necessarily the home of the technologically aware). After reading the family blogs, I read my friend Tracey's blog(s) and my friend Beth's blog (who really needs to update, but since I'd never seen her blog, that was ok...this time). It's neat reading everyone's blogs, you kind of get a perspective on the person that you wouldn't necessarily get otherwise. It's also neat (as I was telling Mommy earlier...and Tracey if you're reading this, yes I do call my mother Mommy, don't point and laugh at me later) to read my sisters' blogs and see how they go about their day to day lives. It's weird to think that we all came from the same family sometimes. We have our similarities and our differences. Their lives are so different from mine, and yet their are commonalities. I swear I was going somewhere with that line of thinking. At any rate, I like reading their blogs. All of them.

So today I slept in as long as I could (until 9:30 or so), got up, ate breakfast, put a load of laundry in, took a shower and then a nap. It was a good nap. Mark took me to Union City to eat. Then I decided if I wanted to eat at all tomorrow I would have to drag myself to the grocery. So I headed to the new Super Wal-Mart. Thankfully, the Soybean Festival is still going on and Diamond Rio was playing tonight, so their were mercifully few people at Wal-Mart. This was a first! I'll spare you all a list of what I bought. At Katie's recommendation, I bought some Nutella, although I'm not entirely sure what to do with it (someone please tell what to do with it!). I noticed later on Tracey's blog that she mentioned Nutella on her top 100. So apparently this is more popular than I would have thought.

I had a good conversation with Mommy when I got back. We talked for an hour or so. Mark has been engrossed in a book all night, so he's been in the recliner being really quiet. I almost forgot he was here. That man can really go through a book once he gets started. I think he just started it this morning and he's almost finished now. AND he mowed the cemetary this morning. I was going to have to help him, but unfortunately (thankfully) "my" mower wouldn't start. I do not enjoy working in the cemetary. The last time I kept apologizing the people buried there in my head. I just felt like I was disturbing them or something. I know that we have to do some work up there in order to keep it up. I am sure they would appreciate us keeping the cemetary looking nice and that's how I console myself when I do have to go up there and do things that involve walking over the graves. I hate that!!! If I'm just up there walking, I do NOT walk on the graves, I walk around, it just feels more respectful. Particularly after hearing that Tracey and Stephanie's house has had some recent "events" of a ghostly sort. I'm weird enough about that stuff without freaking myself out by walking over the graves of Mark's ancestors that lived in this very house. Ok, I'm weird. Sorry.

I'm rattling on now, so I'll wrap this up and post more later. I'm hoping to work on a new digiscrap page tomorrow, so maybe I'll get to post that. Other than that...my to-do list for tomorrow: laundry, dishes, change the sheets on the guest bed and wash the comforter, sweep the floors, paint my nails...I'm sure there's more, but I can't remember it at this point. Hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend!

All hail the mighty soybean...

2006-09-06T20:02:00.000-05:00

The Soybean Festival is underway! Woohoo! Today I got to sit through the Soybean Festival kickoff luncheon. Not because I wanted to, but because I got roped into it. So I had a so-so barbecue sandwich, some chips and baked beans. The lemonade was excellent at least. The parade was last night, which we didn't go to. Tomorrow the Spin Doctors are playing, then 38 Special on Friday and Diamond Rio on Saturday. And it's all free, so any of you who have nothing better to do, come on over. There will be funnel cakes. That's the big draw for me.

Moving on...tomorrow we are having company pictures taken. That'll take up part of my morning and then we get the pictures back (usually a couple hours later since it's all digital) I'll have to begin the process of updating our company brochure, ordering some new business cards and updating the website (which Daddy may need to help me with). Work has been slower this week, which is great because I just can't my brain back into work after that long weekend.

OK...girls weekend...if we are all reading eachother's comments on eachother's blogs we would be up to speed on this, but let me outline it. Brent has football until early November, so we can't do it until after then. I think most of us are interested in the Meal making thing like Jennifer did over the weekend. All in favor? I'm sure there's at least one of those places in Nashville. Other than that, I vote for a girls' outing to The Melting Pot. I know Laura's with me on that one. If we all split the cost it shouldn't be too bad. And I need to eat there...it's been a whole year almost!!

We also need to go ahead and draw names for the sisters drawing. Who would like to nominate themselves to do that? Or we can do a big Yahoo IMing conference and do it then. Katie, we just need a Yahoo name for you. I'd like to get started with my Christmas shopping soon and Mark and I found a cool place to shop for the kids while we were in Paducah last week. So, let the lists start coming in! I need Katie's, Laura's, and Mommy's list anyway since birthday season is upon us. Make an Amazon list at least please. Thanks! Ok...very sleepy, must get ready for bed (even though it's only 8:15). I have to be up early to make myself pretty for pictures. Happy Thursday!

Back to work tomorrow...

2006-09-04T19:39:00.000-05:00

Well, the beer tasting went well. There were only 3 other people besides Mark and myself. It was a nice, small gathering like we wanted. We each had just a little of each beer and then rated them. The best being O'Hara's (an Irish beer sort of like Guiness but better), Samuel Smith India Ale and Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale. The last 2 were British beers. We also liked the one from the Czech Republic and the one from Slovenia as well as one French Amber called Fischer's. The ones from Brazil and Belize ranked the lowest. Laura, I don't remember off hand which Belgian beers we had, but I have them written down so I'll try to remember to look.

No pictures to share. There were no "moments" to capture this time. Everyone was pretty subdued and it was a relaxing evening. I do have some pictures that Mark and I took before everyone arrived. Since we were dressed like we were and it was such a pretty day I decided to take a few with the timer and tripod.

That's really all I've got for now. It's been a very quiet day of laundry and napping. I've got to go finish the laundry up so I can get to bed at a decent hour.

Labor Day Weekend...Woohoo!

2006-09-03T11:55:00.000-05:00

I'm sooooo glad to have a long weekend. On top of which, now that it's September, I can look forward to my vacation at the end of the month. Again...woohoo!

We've had a pretty quiet weekend so far. We drove to Paducah yesterday to go to World Market. This may be the coolest store ever. They have things from everywhere! Our favorite part, though, is the food section. They have food from around the world. Candy, spices, sauces, wines, beers, cookies, olives, etc, etc. We bought a few different things. I got some polenta mix. There's a specific recipe that I bought this for. You can buy it at Wal-Mart in a tube, but that wasn't very good, so I bought the mix. Mark got his usual ginger something. This time it was Ginger Altoids. I didn't know they even made those. He likes them alot. Then Mark bought some jerk seasoning...I'm not sure what we'll use that for yet, but it'll probably involve pork, knowing him. Then we bought beer. We're having a few people over tonight. Not really a party, just a small gathering. So we decided we'd make it a beer tasting. They had a Beer Around the World sampler pack, so we got that and then they have individual bottles so you can put together your own sampler. So we made up a 6-pack of our own. It should be neat. I'll list some of the countries these beers are from: Czech Republic, France, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, England, Scotland, Ireland, China, Jamaica, Belize, and Brazil. I think that's it. They had Murphy's Red which I remember from Seanache (or however you spell that Irish restaurant that used to be in dowtown Nashville). Anyway...should be fun. Maybe I'll get some pictures to post. Right now, I need to go finish getting ready.

But before I go...I went grocery shopping yesterday too, and since we enjoy sharing receipts and food. This is the perfect combination of both. I try to plan out a menu before I shop, but this hasn't been happening lately. I did manage to do it this time though, so here's what we're having in no particular date order. Salmon patties (not salmon from a can (yuck!), but salmon from a pouch (without all the bones and yuckiness)) with a spinach salad, pork tenderloin (again) which Mark plans to cut into medallions and bake with rice, pork chops (I'm not sure how were cooking those yet), and Chicken Enchilada Casserole (recipe from my Southern Living Cooking Light book). The casserole is a little time consuming to make, but it reheats well, so we usually get a few days out of it. Of course I bought vegetables to go with each meal, I usually pick the vegetables when I start cooking. We had burritos last night, which I thought turned out pretty well. And that...is my menu for the week. I'm not sure what we're having tonight, but we're supposed to eat before everyone gets here, so I'd better be figuring it out. Must go make myself presentable....

Could this day be any longer????

2006-08-29T18:18:00.000-05:00

Yes, it probably could, so I should quit whining. I'm still at work and it's 6:15. I'm only here because I'm waiting for Mark to get back. I have actually been working up to this point. Mark had to go to the doctor on his way back from his last service call. Sunday we put a new pump in the pond because the old one had stopped working for whatever reason. Well, this new pump was in that plastic packaging that is so freaking hard to open...you know the stuff I mean, right? You have to cut into it and pry it apart and the edges get all jagged and sharp. Well, he's opening this pump package and a piece of the plastic flew off and hit him in the eye. He can still see out of it, but it's very irritated, so he finally went to the doctor to get something to make it feel better and heal a little faster. Poor Mark. It really has been making him miserable. Hopefully the medicine will make him all better.

Since food perks up a blog, let me tell you about last night's dinner. We had chicken quesadillas. I love quesadillas. However, this was a frozen package deal. I keep some quick meals like this in the freezer for nights when we're too tired to cook, which last night turned out to be...alas, no turnip greens and blackeye peas for me. Maybe tonight. Anyway, this was one of those deals and it was awful...absolutely terrible. So, even if you're in a hurry, don't buy that. Yuck! You know, why is that even a convenience meal...it's not like quesadillas are terribly labor intensive as it is. What was I thinking?

Ok...I had to delay posting for a day...so the above was from Tuesday. It is now Wednesday night. To fill you "need to know" void about what I ate for dinner. Last night we had Barbecue pork chops (thankfully Mark has been giving me break from the fried pork chops), blackeyed peas and lima beans. Starchy, yes, but it was really good. Or I was really hungry. I suspect both. Tonight we had yet another pork product (what can I say, the man likes pork). He roasted a pork tenderloin with pepper and some lemons. Mmmmm...it was good! We also had french style green beans and yellow and white corn. Again, I was really hungry. I've been tryint to be better about what I choose to eat for lunch. Yesterday I had an Asian Chicken salad from McDonalds. I wasn't impressed. There were beans in it. I am slightly ashamed to say this, but I didn't know what kind of beans they were. This is sad because I later discovered they were soybeans!! I only have a few acres of them planted in my backyard and live in the town that this coming weekend will be kicking off the Soybean Festival. You'd think I'd know what one of these things look like, but nooooo. I didn't. Moving on...today I had a turkey sub from Subway. On wheat with spicy mustard, lettuce, tomato and black olives. It was ok, but not all that exciting. Although I did discover some granola bars this evening that I really like. I was sure they would be disgusting, but they were actually quite good. Jennifer would not like them, they have a bit of a coconuty flavor to them.
Wow, I'm rambling on. For my mother...food and receipts are excellent blog material. Everyone likes to know what you had for lunch/dinner and what you bought on your last Target (or whatever) spree. Ok...maybe not everyone. But your daughters sure like it!

Monday, Monday...

2006-08-28T18:32:00.000-05:00

To quote Laura's title from today. It seemed appropriate. I've decided, since reading both Laura's and Jennifer's blogs today, that my life is sad and boring. So, Jennifer suggested I share minute details...you asked for it...here it goes.

I woke up this morning at 6:45 (thankfully we live pretty close to work so I can do this), took my temperature...for those of you not in the know...I've been doing this for the past week. Not in an attempt to get pregnant, but at the request of my OBGYN. Again, you asked for detail...you got it. So, I did that, took a shower, got dressed, put my makeup on in the car as Mark drove us to work. I really like being able to do that. It gives me 5-10 extra minutes of sleep and I really like sleep. I spent about 5 minutes at the office and then left to go to my dentist appointment. I went to a different dentist this time, and I really liked it. I think they did a much better job...and they're on my insurance. Fun.

Then I drove back to Martin to pick-up some paperwork from the office before heading to Trenton (45 minute drive) to install a couple machines at Quebecor. I met Jimmie (a co-worker) for lunch, finished up at Quebecor and headed for Dresden (another hour in the car). I spoke to Lee briefly on the way. To find out he's going to Nebraska before he moves to Wyoming and that he doesn't start until next week. He had gotten mail for me (my tag renewal for my car) that he needs to mail to me. This is slightly interesting. We bought my car in Georgia and it was originally registered in GA, then we moved back to TN, but we didn't re-register the cars until we moved to Union City, which is Obion county. Then last year I registered the car in Weakley County (Martin). This tag renewal was sent to Lee's parents' house in Gallatin and said to go to the Sumner County Court Clerk. Huh? The car has never been registered in Sumner County. The last known address the State should have had for me is here, in Martin. On top of that, Mommy said she had gotten my driver's license renewal in the mail (it had also been sent to Lee's parents'). The last address on my driver's license was in Union City. What is going on? I have no idea. My tag's have to be renewed by the end of September, so I guess I'll be finding out in the near future. It's very strange though.
Anyway, good conversation, although relatively brief, with Lee. He's very excited about his railroad job, and you just can't help but be excited for him. He's always wanted to work for the railroad. He loves trains. So, I'm very happy that he's getting to do that.

Back in Dresden, I visited a customer who is hopefully buying a new color copier from us. That went fine, took about 15 minutes. Back to the office in Martin. I worked on a couple of projects I have going on there...When we got off work, Mark and I went to the Pub for about 20 minutes and decided we just "weren't feeling it" and came home. I think we are just too tired to socialize. And that brings us to here. Mark is on the couch and I am blogging.

Jennifer, I don't know that this made things more interesting, but I tried. I didn't leave anything out. My life is just kind of dull. Wake up, go to work, come home, sleep, wake up...you get the picture. I did have a nice steak quesadilla for lunch at the Mexican restaurant in Trenton. I believe tonight we are having pork chops...Mark's favorite, we have them at least once a week. I think I'm going to throw in some turnip greens and blackeye peas just to be really Southern. Should be pretty good...or at least as good as usual. Ok then, I'm going to go pour myself a glass of cranberry juice and get started on dinner, unless Mark feels like cooking. I thought I'd be a little more zapped after today than I am. I'm tired, but I've still got enough energy at this point to at least get dinner ready and do some dishes. Ok, washing dishes may be pushing it. I hope everyone is having a good week so far!

Where has the weekend gone?

2006-08-27T17:32:00.000-05:00

It's already Sunday night. I don't wanna go to work tomorrow!! (said in my whiniest possible voice). I'm dreading this next week so much. I know I'm going to be swamped. Usually I don't know, it just happens, but this week I know. So I get to anticipate all the fun I'm going to have. Great.

In other news...Hmm, it seems I don't really have any other "news". Mark did take me out on a nice little date last night. We got dressed up and everything. It was kind of an impromptu thing. He took me to the Opera House, which is our one and only "nice" restaurant. And it actually is very nice. Not even just nice "for Martin", it's really nice (how many times can I say nice) It was fun, we don't do that very often. So, that was my big outing for the weekend. Oh, and earlier yesterday I went to our new Super Wal-mart for the first time. I hate Wal-Mart, I really do, but it's kind of nice to have it nearby when I need it I guess. And, as Wal-Marts go, this one was pretty good.

Today all I've done is wash dishes and laundry. I want to have everything in order for next week so I don't have to worry about it until next weekend. Except for the dishes, I guess I'll probably have to wash some of those during the week. Otherwise that could just get gross. I want ALL of the laundry done though. Since we had the party last weekend I didn't get it ALL done on the weekend. I hate that.

Alright then. I have just succeeded in posting about absolutely nothing. I'll try to do better next time, but when I leave work out, there's just not alot left. Sad, isn't it?

The aftermath of shrimp night

2006-08-20T17:11:00.000-05:00

The party went well last night, although the turnout wasn't as great as we expected. I chalk alot of that up to the heat...and it was hot! I have a few pictures to share...first, Mark before the party being rather pensive:

This, to most of you, looks like average Mark, right? Well, just wait, there's a good one of him coming later...keep scrolling. Next, though, the food. We had a TON of food. We did kind of a Lowcountry Boil kind of thing. The Savannah influence! For those of you who have never had lowcountry boil it is shrimp, corn, potatoes and sausage all cooked together. We didn't have the sausage in with the rest of it. Our sausage was in the red beans and rice, so it wasn't exactly a lowcountry boil, but...it was good. Mark also grilled some coconut shrimp and made oysters rockefeller. And Tonia made some slaw that was SO GOOD and went really well with the rest of it. You know, I didn't cook anything...Mark did all of this. With a little help from Mike Talley...

So...here's the food...

And...here's Mark on a roll...this may have been the funniest thing that happened all night. He was "preaching", apparently his audience was really getting into it....

This is the funniest picture I've seen in quite awhile, but maybe you had to be there to really appreciate how funny it is.

And, just to be fair...here's a picture of me taken at about 2am this morning...I was pretty ready to wrap the party up by then....

Alright. I've been trying to get this last picture to post for a week and it won't...so rest assured it was a most AWFUL picture of me...Sorry this took a week. I'll try to blog again soon. I'm really not keeping up with this am I?

Also, my thoughts are with my sister Laura whose husband just left for Iraq. Laura, if you or the kids need anything at all, let us know. We're here for all of you! And if Wayne needs anything, let us know that too...we'll be sending him as many packages as we can, just let us know his address.

Shrimp!!

2006-08-19T16:26:00.000-05:00

Mark is back from Biloxi and we have a cooler full of fresh Gulf shrimp! Oh, and he got some oysters too, but I just don't really care about them very much. So tonight we're having a shrimp party. It's been in the works for a few weeks, so the turnout should be pretty good. Unfortunately, it's HOT!!! AND terribly humid, so I hope it cools off alot once the sun goes down. Otherwise it's going to be miserable. I usually really enjoy our parties, so either way it should be fun...it would just be much more comfortable for everyone if it was a little cooler.

I'll try to get some pictures at the party to post later. For now, all I have are a few from Mark Biloxi trip... That's not rain or fog...that's the humidity fogging on the lens of the camera...Mmmm....muggy! And my personal favorite - Shrimp boats! I used to love to watch the shrimp boats when I lived in Savannah.

Busy, busy, busy...

2006-08-16T20:26:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's been a week since I posted! Sorry to keep you all waiting...disappointing I know.

I'll try to refrain from talking about work, but since that's about all I do, there's not much else to say. I'll just say that it's been busy and I set up Nan's new computer today. That wouldn't be exciting except I did manage to restore all her email messages, addresses and favorites from her old, dead computer. I was rather impressed with myself for figuring it out.

Daddy asked for a poultry report...so, even though he probably wasn't serious, he's going to get one. Our young roosters have started crowing, except they don't really know how, so they sound very sick when they try. So now there are 6 or 7 roosters crowing instead of 3. Woohoo! Nothing like a rooster whose voice is changing...and that's your poultry report.

Mark is leaving for Biloxi very early in the morning. It'll be a very short trip, so I shouldn't have time to get bored. That's good. Since he's going with a couple of the guys, some of the girls are getting together tomorrow. We're going to go out to eat and come back to the house for awhile. Probably drink a little wine and talk about the guys. We don't ever get to do that without them being within earshot. Should be fun. I've been trying to get the house straightened up in preparation since I won't have a chance to do it tomorrow.

I'll leave you with a picture from this weekend. I haven't had time to scrap it or anything, but, hey, it's better than nothing, right?

Oops...it's been awhile since I posted...

2006-08-09T18:10:00.000-05:00

Sorry to neglect the blog. I can imagine how disappointing that is to everyone. ;)

I've been worn out! Work has been very busy and I kept feeling like I was getting sick. I'm sure it just started out as sinuses or allergies, but it felt like it was progressing into one of those awful summer colds. Ick. I've felt a little bit better today even though I still feel pretty zapped.
We had another computer die on us at work, so that's kept me busier than usual. That and training my replacement. She's coming along pretty well, so hopefully by next week she'll be ok on her own. There was an hour or two today that she was there by herself, and I think she did pretty well with it. The computer that died was Nan's (the owner) so she hasn't had a PC to work on, which is frustrating. So, we'll be ordering her new one this week. That'll be nice. I think she's going to get one like we have at home (that's what I've picked out for her) and it'll be a vast improvement over what she has now, so she'll really enjoy it I'm sure. Flat panel monitor and everything! Our little company is moving up in the world!

Not much new other than work. My schedule (at work, of course) is really filling up fast. I've got a really big meeting next week with one of our largest customers. I've worked with their IT guy alot before and we get along pretty well, so I'm looking forward to it. I think once I'm free to do my new job, I'll probably stay pretty busy seeing customers and helping the sales people with deals. I'm excited about it...I can't wait to get started!

I don't have much new to post, like I said. I've been so busy during the day that I haven't scrapped anything this week :( So, I may try to work on something tonight...I'll post it when I'm done. Have a great rest of the week!

2006-08-07T17:47:00.000-05:00

Ha ha! Blogger finally let me post a picture. Amazing! I did this one yesterday...I won't have much to blog until later, but I wanted to get this up...

Paper (recolored) - Gina Cabrera
Ribbon (slightly recolored) - Holly McCaig
Deckle frames - Gina Miller
Tabs - Holly McCaig
Paper pieces (recolored) - Melany Violette
Overlay on paper pieces - Shabby Princess
Brads - Shabby Princess
Butterfly stamp (recolored) - Shabby Princess
Font - Manuscript

What a relaxing weekend!

2006-08-06T21:52:00.000-05:00

It really was a relaxing weekend even though I stayed pretty busy. It was a good kind of busy. I got lots done. Mark was sweet enough to take me out Saturday night to my favorite Japanese place in Jackson. We stuffed ourselves on sushi, Gyoza and softshell crab (that was Mark's, but I had a little bit). It was gooooood. We don't go very often, so it was nice. I didn't even have to beg to get him to take me, I just mentioned that I was craving Japanese and he took me. I'm still trying to figure out what he did that he was trying to make up for! LOL...just kidding Mark (if you actually read this).

I've been super-productive. I got up at 8:00 on Saturday, got myself dressed and went to Wal-Mart to get groceries. While I was gone, Mark fixed the leaky hose on the washer. So, I got the groceries put away and started some laundry which I have now completely finished. I've just got to put it away before I go to bed. I got all the dishes washed (for those of your who are unaware...this is an accomplishment because we don't have a dishwasher). Mark changed the sheets on the bed, I ran the Roomba (aka Elwood...yes we named the vacuum cleaner) in the front of the house, and I burned a couple tarts to freshen things up. For those who are interested I burned Summer fresh in the back of the house and Ocean Breeze in the front. Tarts are great for freshening up the house and a house this old needs that on a regular basis.

In addition to all that (which now that I'm reading it...doesn't sound like much) I downloaded some new digi-scrap stuff and did another page...which I'll share at the end.

The downside is I feel like I'm trying to get sick...and I don't have time for that! Our new employee started on Friday and I'll be training her this week on top of going to see some customers. So I really don't have time to be sick. Hopefully it's just allergies, and I'll get past it. With all the cleaning that I've done I've probably stirred up all the cat fur and that certainly doesn't help things.

Ok, I'm rambling, aren't I? It's about bedtime. I've got a big week ahead of me...so I guess I should go get that laundry put away and get some sleep. I've tried to post the scrap page, but, as usual, Blogger won't let me. I'll do it tomorrow. Have a great week!

2006-08-03T16:53:00.000-05:00

I just have no title for this one. I'm drawing a complete blank. It's been another busy day. The bid I worked so hard on yesterday was due today at noon. They were sealed bids. Jimmie dropped it off at noon and went back for the bid opening at 4:00. They awarded us the bid right then and there, much to the annoyance of the other people that submitted bids. What can I say...my powers of persuasion are highly developed (you can also read that as I am an excellent BSer). Apparently my bid comparison did the Xerox guys in. Poor them. All I have to say is if you're going to write a BS bid (and they most definitely did), it's probably best to know what you're talking about, and that guy most definitely did not. Alright...enough gloating. I'm just glad that paid off for the company because it really may the past couple of days hellish for me.

In other good news. We hired my replacement today. This girl was extremely excited to get the job, so I'm hoping she doesn't call and quit before she starts like the last girl. This one starts tomorrow. Woohoo!! I'll be so glad to not be at the front desk anymore. Let's hope that tomorrow is a rather calm day. I'd hate to scare her off right off the bat.

AND...Blogger finally let me post a frickin' image. Thank God for small miracles. So, what do you think?

Credits:

All from Gina Miller's Hampton Kit
Font SP Inspired

Stupid computers!

2006-08-02T21:24:00.000-05:00

Wow! I've had a terrible day with the computers in my life! I have managed to lose not 1, not 2, but 3 documents today! I have no idea why I lost the first 2, both of those were things at work. The third was a scrap page I was working on when Photoshop decided to lock up. Apparently it doesn't like PNG files. Usually I remember to change things to PSD files, but I guess I forgot, and there it went. So, I don't have to start from scratch, I HAD saved it, but I'm back at the beginning. I didn't really like the direction it was going anyway. So, now I am completely free to go in a different direction...not that I wasn't already free to do that.
The work files I lost were a BIG DEAL. So, I ended up staying until 6:15 recreating them. Somehow I got stuck working on a bid for one of our sales reps. Luckily it's the sales rep I like, otherwise I would've been way more ticked off than I already was. This was thrown in my lap first thing yesterday morning and I've been working on it for 2 days straight...the bid's due tomorrow at noon. That's for the advance notice on that one guys!! It's not like I have a job already or anything. Let me just drop everything to work on this bid that I am NOT going to make commission on. NO PROBLEM!! I'm good with doing this once...or at least I think I am. Nan and Jimmie (the sales rep in question) had to go out of town to visit a prospective account's Middle Tennessee locations. So, I was ok with stepping in, sort of. I really just hate having stuff dumped in my lap at the eleventh hour. I hope I didn't screw anything up...I am not, after all, a sales rep. If this kind of thing continues to be put off on me, you can guarantee the talk of commission will come up!!
Wow, sorry for the rant! Ooooohhh, one more thing. We hired my replacement yesterday and she called first thing this morning and told us that something had come up and she wasn't going to be able to take the job. Well, great!!! Now they're quitting before they even start!! WONDERFUL!!! We've got one more candidate, let's hope she wants the job still!!
Alright! I feel so much better now that I've vented a little!
Since you sat through that rant...here is my latest scrap page for your viewing pleasure...or not...Blogger seems intent on keeping my computer curse going...I'll try to post the scrap page again tomorrow. Aren't you all sad you'll have to wait until then for the unveiling of my latest masterpiece? Ah, the torture!

Treading water

2006-07-31T21:39:00.000-05:00

Do you ever have one of those days when you look up at the clock at work and it's almost 4:00 and you wonder what you've been doing all day because you haven't gotten anything accomplished? Well, that was today. I have NO clue what I did all day. I know I was actually working, so I had to have done something, right? It just seemed like when the day was over my head was just barely above water, you know? I hate that.

So, because of that I don't have much to blog about. I did spend part of my lunch break at Gina Miller's new digi-scrap store that just opened today, which you can find here: http://www.ginamillerdesigns.com/. I'm not entirely sure why I posted that because I don't think anyone that reads this is even mildly interested in it, except for Laura, and I know for a fact, she's already been there. I bought my first few digi-scrapping items, which I haven't used yet because I was finishing up another layout that none of those things really fit with. Here is the latest (page #3). So far the biggest pain in the neck, but I really like the finished product. Thanks Laura for all your help with this one!!

Just so I feel like a real digi-scrapper here are the credits:

Paper, metal heart (recolored) and red bow from Avec Amour by Zazou
Mat and medallion paper: Backnewspaper from Melany Violette
Black twill tape (recolored) from Gina Cabrera's November kit
Swirly photo corner is Michelle Coleman (Antiquated Swirl #3)
Metal swirl clip also Michelle Coleman
Round metal frame from Michelle Coleman's Old Metal Frames
Font is SP Inspired

Hope I didn't miss anything...

I took this picture at Mammaw's on Easter, and I know Mommy doesn't like it, but I really do. So there! I think it's a very sweet picture. I'm looking forward to printing it out and seeing what it looks like on paper. Happy Wednesday!

The answer to the question...

2006-07-31T09:56:00.000-05:00

is no! You will all be the first to know when the answer is yes!

Blech....Heat and Chinese Food.

2006-07-30T17:39:00.000-05:00

And I mean that...Blech!! It's soooo hot. We did pretty much nothing all morning, then my allergies started up, there's nothing like sneezing 15 times back to back. Really, there isn't. So, I decided to go outside and get some things done out there. The grass needed mowed badly, and while that doesn't sound like a smart thing to do when your allergies are acting up, it doesn't usually bother me. So, off I went to mow the yard on my poor little old riding mower. It's a sad little thing, I really should post a picture so you could get the full effect. It's pitiful, and slow. So, after Mark and I finally got the poor mower to start, I mowed and mowed and mowed. I'm getting much better at it too, I was almost impressed with myself! Eventually the mower decided it had had enough and stopped. It does that, when it's done, it just stops. It had gas, it was just done for the day.

By this time I've been pouring sweat for an hour or 2. I didn't really think it was going to be quite that hot today, but apparently there's a heat advisory out...I really should have checked that out ahead of time.

After showers and some more sneezing, Mark and I drove to Lowe's in Union City to get a belt for his mower and some new smoke detectors for the house. As we're walking out of there, I'm still not feeling so well. The heat and the allergies were having quite an effect. But we decided to try the new Chinese restaurant that just opened down the road from Lowe's in U.C. And so we did. I got about 10 bites down and a glass and a half of sweet tea. Then I started feeling extremely green. So, I managed to locate the restroom and let's just say that Chinese food didn't stay down well. Unfortunately, I still wasn't feeling all that well, so we left pretty quickly. And here we are back at the house. I'm basking in the air conditioning. I think I'll stick to popsicles & Gatorade for the rest of the evening. I really don't want a repeat performance.

The upside to this (and yes, there is one) is that I had downloaded some music last night and had a fresh, new CD to listen to in the car. It's mostly Ryan Adams. You may remember the song New York, New York that came out shortly before 9/11 and went on to be played pretty frequently afterwards. If you live around Nashville, you may also have heard some of his stuff on Lightning 100, they used to play alot of it. I'd kind of forgotten about him, but I love the stuff I downloaded and may actually go back and download the rest of his CDs. Man, it's good stuff!! Kind of a mix of rock and country...a little folksy. He actually has a wide range, some of it is very rock, some is very country, some is very Bob Dylan. I think Itunes has it classified as rock, but it's kind of alt-country really. Mark seems to like it too, which is a rarity, so I really should download some more. Which I think I'll do now...

Much better...

2006-07-27T14:22:00.000-05:00

It's Thursday...really feels like it should be Friday, but that's ok. The week has gotten better as it went along. Monday was a pretty bad day. Tuesday wasn't much better. Yesterday the tension in the office started to go away, today things are good. Everybody is themselves again. It's been a rough couple of months, everyone has been stretched to their limit. Apparently that makes people (including me) cranky. We are interviewing people to take over my position at work. That way I can concentrate on what I was promoted to do (almost a year ago). So, I'm preparing to move myself from the front office to the back. Ah...finally!
Unfortunately this rolls over to home too sometimes. Not so much with Mark and me, we just bitch about work alot. We're just so tired when we get home. Nothing gets done. I expect the house to be declared a disaster area any time now. I've got to get it under control!!

Alright then...let's try posting this scrap page again...

I can't believe it finally worked! I've been trying to post it for DAYS!!! Woohoo!! Tell me what you think...Happy Thursday!

Page 2

2006-07-24T20:36:00.000-05:00

Today was such a Monday. Our bathtub decided it didn't want to drain anymore so I got to take a shower while up to my ankles in 4 inches of cold standing water. I don't think I felt much cleaner when I got out than when I got in. Yuck! Mark's been working on it all night and it still hasn't gotten any better. I don't know what kind of clog is in there, but it's not budging. This after plunging, Drano, a little more Drano, some more plunging...I may be taking a shower at Nan's tomorrow.

That's really not the way to start off your week, is it? And that's pretty much how the rest of the day went too. I got nothing done at work because I had to go to Halls (about an hour away) to work on a printing problem that turned out to be not really a printing problem. The problem was that the software they were trying to print from was designed to work with Windows 3.1...Windows 95 at the latest. So it had no idea what to do with a printer driver designed for a Windows XP system. I suggested they upgrade their program and luckily she was fine with that. This, not to mention the recurring HP printer problem at the bank across the road. I got hit with that again first thing this morning. Blah...

***Breaking News***

The clog is fixed!!! Woohoo! I can take a real shower now! Mark's so good...I swear he can fix anything!

I'll leave you with the latest digi-scrap page. Well, the latest being my second ever. I'm not sure I'm done with it, but I'm done enough to post it... here you go. Have a great Tuesday!

Ok...so blogger won't upload it...I'll add it later...stay tuned.

My first digi-scrap page

2006-07-22T12:42:00.000-05:00

I spent an hour or so the other night on the phone with Laura, trying to figure out the basics of this digital scrapbooking thing, and I finally finished my first page. It took hours! I'm sure I'll get a little faster at it. I have been meaning to scrapbook our wedding picures (with paper) for a long time (the whole 9 months we've been married). I managed to get a few pages done this way, but it's such a pain to get all that stuff out and put it all back up. So I thought I'd give it a shot this way. I think this will be my cover page....Here it is...

I think Mark really hates that pictures, but I always liked it. It makes me think of how nervous he was when it was taken. The photographer took a bunch of picture while we were waiting for the minister who was stuck in traffic. I think it's sweet.

Anyway...I've spent all morning on the computer and it's such a pretty day outside, I really should go enjoy the slightly cooler weather. Have a good weekend!

Friday!!! Woohoo!!!

2006-07-21T15:53:00.000-05:00

It's Friday, it's Friday! My brain has already left the office. I really should just leave work at 2:00 on Fridays...I'm useless after then anyway. Thus...I'm adding to my blog.
I've still got some loose ends to tie up though, so I guess I'll get back to work...if I have to.

I just wanted everyone to know...it's Friday. You got it?

It is HOT!!!!

2006-07-20T14:30:00.000-05:00

Who knew my family was so into herbs? I sure didn't. And for the record...Mark makes wonderful Rosemary Chicken. At least I think it's rosemary...yeah, pretty sure.
So, it is HOT!!! The air conditioner in my car can hardly keep up! I know this because, unfortunately, I've spent a good part of my day in the car. And, so far, I don't feel like I've accomplished anything. The customer that I went to see this morning wanted me to do something I couldn't do. They have some proprietary software that small local governments use and she wanted me to add her Sharp copier (which is a network printer) to that program's printer list. Well, first of all, she just called to tell me she wanted it added to another computer. That's a piece of cake, so I did that. Then she said she couldn't see it in this one particular program. So, I looked at it, poked around in it a bit. Maybe I could've done it, but it's not software I know, and it's a bit beyond the scope of what I am supposed to do. So, to be safe, I told her she would have to call her IT people and/or their software people. I'm just not thrilled with the idea of screwing up someone's very specialized software by changing things around when I don't really know what I'm doing. I would've been shooting in the dark. Anyway...
Isn't my job fascinating, in a very dry, boring sort of way? Actually, I like it, but it's not interesting to talk about, especially in a blog. But that's my life, so I'm compelled to do it anyway.
Yeah, so did I say it's hot? Roasting hot? Thank God for central heat and air...which is working very well, even in this heat. It's so steamy outside and the air's so heavy you can hardly breathe out there. It reminds me of Savannah. Ah, Savannah...how I miss it. I think Mark and I may go in the fall. Last year we went in August (not by choice) and it was sweltering. Of course, as I told Mark the other day, I'd rather be sweltering there than here. At least there's a beach nearby. Really, would you rather be hot at home or on vacation. Yep, vacation...that's what I thought. Because, even if it's hot, there's a beach (at least in my vacation scenario).
OK, I'm rambling on and on and I'm at work. Actually at the Paris office right now waiting for our new Paris Sales Rep to get here so we can go install a Canon scanner. Oooooh, aaaah...yes, a scanner. It's so small, it really shouldn't work, but it does. It's tiny...cute though, for a scanner. Well, enough...I should find out where the heck she is because we have to be there in 15 minutes.

Seriously...

2006-07-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

Katie (aka "the cute one" aka "hot stuff") has a good point. I type 3 sentences about frickin' cilantro and I get 5 replies!! Apparently it takes a nice, concise blog about herbs to get you guys interested. Here's your herb of the day...discuss amongst yourselves...

Rosemary

Thought of the day...

2006-07-19T09:11:00.000-05:00

Salsa isn't salsa without a little cilantro.

And I don't like cilantro, neither does Mark, so we left it out. And the salsa is OK, but missing something...something which we finally decided had to be cilantro.

Vegetables, home improvement, pictures and more vegetables...

2006-07-16T20:14:00.000-05:00

Daddy sent me the picture to the right...as you can see, it still didn't work out as well as I would've liked. If you look at it enlarged it looks fine, but that small it looks funny. This pretty much tells you I don't know exactly what I'm doing, right?
My day...ugh. You know how Sundays can kind of just drag on forever? Sometimes I think that's nice, sometimes not so much. Today was one of those not so much Sundays. I got up at 9, which is about perfect. I got to sleep in a little bit, but not so much that I have no day left at all...which, come to think of it, may have solved my day dragging by problem. Anyway. I had some cereal for breakfast, this is notable only because I hardly ever eat breakfast, even on the weekends, unless it is made for me. I'm just not interested enough in food that soon after I wake up to bother making anything myself...generally including cereal. Today I must've been feeling particularly energetic because I actually poured the cereal and the milk myself...Yes...ooooooh...ahhhhhh. It was all downhill from there. Mark was most definitely in a couch potato mood and I was most definitely not. So I decided to go to Jackson. I tried, quite unsucessfully, to get Mark to go with me. It's an hour away and that drive is kind of boring alone, not that Mark is much of a talker in the car anyway. So, I sat down at the computer and downloaded some music to listen to on the way. KT Tunstall, Miranda Lambert and some other stuff. I highly recommend both. Then I drive to Jackson...to the nearest Target. We needed a lamp for the computer table. Got that (can't fidn a picture, sorry). I needed CD labels and a labeler thing. Got that (at the 3rd store). I went to Lowe's and got paint for the library. It's called "Camel" for those interested parties. So you can pretty much deduce the shade. I really like the way soft tans look with clean white trim. So, that's what we're doing. Then I'm going to hang some lighter, floatier curtains. Hopefully this will brighten up the room some. I want to keep it rather masculine still, but the super-masculine border that's currently in here has got to go! Log cabins, ponds, ducks...it's not so much in my vision for the room.
On to the vegetables...the garden produced about 3 squash last year and that's pretty much it. So, this year we fertilized it well and added some top soil to the clay. As a result we've had way more vegetables than we can possilby eat. We probably have 8 squash in the refrigerator right now and that's after getting rid of 15 last weekend! We also have lots and lots of cucumbers and purple-hull peas and tons of tomatoes. So we made a very large batch of salsa today. That got rid of almost all the tomatoes and several green bell, jalapeno and chile peppers (we have tons of peppers too). Now I just have to come up with something to do with all the squash and the remaining 500 peppers. People buy this stuff, right? I need my very own truck garden. Maybe then I could get rid of the 8 dozen eggs too.
So, while it seems like I've had a pretty full day, it's still dragging on. I suppose bedtime isn't far off.

Aaaarrrggh!!

2006-07-14T22:19:00.000-05:00

Why are there no decent pictures of me??? NONE!!! I'm trying to find one to put on the blog...so at least there's something, but I can't find one that's sharp enough or good enough to post. So, if any of you people have a picture of me that won't make me (or anyone else reading this) cringe, please send it my way. It would probably help if I knew what the heck I'm doing when I try to size it down in PS. It's been awhile since I've done much with PS and I'm not having fun with it. I'm pretty good at airbrushing and cropping, etc, but that would require having a pic that's good enough to even be airbrushed! The best ones I can find are 5-10 years old! What does that say about me? That's a rhetorical question!

This is the best I've got...I wish I were kidding, but I'm not...and I had to steal this one from the Garrity website!

2006-07-14T10:42:00.000-05:00

Does it make me a bad person that I'm blogging at work? I just needed a mental break.
I was thinking last night about how cheesy the title of my blog is...but then I thought, well, it's appropriate. I was lying in bed thinking about how different life is where I live now. I suppose the title implies that we're farmers or something, which we're most definitely not. It is a real farm, there are people that farm the land we live on, those people just don't happen to be us. Hmm...I got off track...Right, I was lying in bed last night thinking about the differences between the places I have lived. All pretty much city or at least suburban places. And I've liked the places I've lived, for the most part. I was noticing one night last weekend when I was standing on my parents' patio how much different it sounds than standing in my backyard at night. There were commonalities...tree frogs singing, crickets, etc. What I was noticing though were the things you hear in Hendersonville that you don't hear where we live. Traffic noise, which never bothered me when I lived there (and really still doesn't, I just notice it), airplanes circling...things like that. That all use to be just background noise that I didn't notice. Every place I had ever lived before moving to Martin had that (except for Pembroke, but we had artillery fire to make up for it there). The daytime sounds are different too. I really and truly thought I would never get used to the roosters (who actually crow all day, not just in the morning...who knew?). They used to wake me up every single day...EARLY!!!! Now I don't even hear them, unless I'm outside and they're all crowing in unison. Weird how fast you get used to something, isn't it?

Let's see how this goes!

2006-07-13T22:02:00.000-05:00

Who knew it is so easy to set up a blog? I didn't know! I thought this would be fun, but now that I'm typing it...I have absolutely nothing to say! I'll follow Laura's stream-of-consiousness blogging technique and just type random things that come to mind.
Seriously, I'm going to have to come up with some material...because I have NOTHING!! No amusing Jack anecdotes even. I can, however, talk about the cats. Not that there's much to say there since they are all 3 sleeping in separate chairs right now. About an hour ago it was wild kingdom in here...the floor was shaking as they chased eachother around. Then that turned into hissing and biting and Mark having to separate Zoe and Furball. They were playing...really, they were.
It's amazing how boring my life suddenly seems now that I'm trying to come up with something to say. Seriously...today, I went to Paducah and hooked up a copier as a network printer. Then I trained the customer on how to use it as a printer. I know what you must be thinking..."ooooooohhhhh, interesting! If only my life could be that exciting!" Yup, I'm a lucky girl! Oh, oh...and then after work, Mark and I came home and ate some frozen Taquitos for dinner (this isn't a regular occurance...just no one took the initiative to cook anything better), and then I downloaded some music and went to Wal-Mart. On the edge of your seat yet?
We did just get the computer last weekend (wedding present nine-months removed from Mommy & Daddy), and we had wireless internet installed today. It's pretty fast...just like my cable internet was. I really like it! Despite Mark's assertions that he's anti-computer, I know he's enjoying it too. He refused to go to Wal-Mart with me just so he could spend some time on the computer. Like I'm hogging it or something! Puh-lease! Just because I was in music-downloading withdrawal...
Terribly boring post, I know, I'll have to conjure up some good material so I can blog again this weekend sometime....until then, try not to think my blog is too sad...