Well I'm going to try this again. For the longest time I would write and then it wouldn't publish to the blog - so here goes....
It's May and last night it was 40 degrees - a little chillly but I love the cool weather. I'm back working at Dollywood for another year. My age is really telling on me though.
Right now I'm "down in my foot" I have plantar fascia which means the tendon in the bottom of my foot is inflamed and man does it hurt. I had a cortisone shot yesterday and it actually feels a little better today. Hopefully I will be back to walking normally within the next 2 to 3 weeks.
Ryan is Ryan - he never changes....same ole' Ryan. I love him. He does drive me crazy sometimes but I don't want to imagine life without him. He IS my life.
Animals are all well. I guess since the last time I wrote I have lost two of my birds. First Coconut, my sweet little blue parakeet at the office died. And then about 1 month later I lost Sam, my Amazon parrot. I had to have both of them euthanized, Coconut because of a collapse and Sam because of a stroke. These two losses hit hard. Sam I had for years and he was my baby. Coconut was probably the sweetest bird I have ever had. I miss them both so much.
So, on we go...where we'll land we never know.

Peace

RYAN AND FRIENDS

These are some of Ryan's favorite people at Dollywood. These are part of the cast of Christmas in the Smokies, Dollywood's signature Christmas show. From left to right are: Scott, Arnie, Jill, Ryan, Paige and Morris.

All the cast members of all the shows are so kind and sweet to Ryan. They make him feel so special and he loves them all.

We will especially miss Paige, who accepted a promotion at Dollywood and will be working behind the scenes in entertainment instead of performing on the stage. She is a multi-talented sweet young woman who has been a special friend to Ryan for several years. He doesn't know yet that she won't be performing and I'm not going to tell him until April. He will need from April to May to get adjusted to the fact that he won't be seeing her on stage. Change is hard for him. I'm hoping that she will be on park occasionally so that he can see her and give her a hug. Ryan is big on hugs.

Peace

JANUARY - AND IT'S COLD HERE

I've had a bit of a problem posting here - for some reason I'll type the post and try to publish it and it fails. So here goes again.

We closed Dollywood for the winter on January 3rd. My weekends are mine again until the end of March. I'm tired. My house is a wreck. I'm tired.

I have a flickr site now and have put a lot of pictures there but again, I seem to have problems getting the pictures from the sd card to the site - I'm not giving up.

2009 - WOW - I LIVED ANOTHER YEAR!

Well - hmmmmm - 2009 - hope it's a good year for everyone!

We closed down Dollywood Saturday night - we were, literally, two of the last few people to leave the park. There were only about 15 cars left in the acres of parking spaces when we traveled out on the tram.

Ryan got to say "goodbye" to all his friends in ALL the shows and he got to ride all of his favorite rides "just one more time". It was a deary, cold, misty-rain day so the park was not as crowded as it would have been had the weather been nice.

We always choose a show to see the "last" show of the year because the performers always do little "extra" stuff that they don't do until the last night. This year we chose "Twas the Night Before Christmas" as the last show - and the cast did NOT disappoint us. I laughed until tears ran down my face. It was great!

I have the rest of January, February and most of March off from Dollywood now and I will turn my attention to my house and get it back in shape.

It's Monday - and it's raining - ahhhhh - COME ON SPRING!!!!!! I'm waiting for you!!!!

Peace

HO HO HO

Well - all our presents were delivered yesterday to Ryan's (and my) friends at Dollywood - WHEW. I'm always so glad to get that done. We had planned to take them on Saturday but guess what? It was RAINING! What a shock. But yesterday was partly cloudy - no rain - but man it was COLD! The wind would cut right through you. I was worried (naturally) about two things (I tend to worry about things that I have totally given over to God to help me with but I keep "taking them back" to worry about-shame on me!): the antifreeze in my car and whether or not my furnace would work properly. I stopped in Wears Valley at "our" Exxon station and added antifreeze to my radiator (I keep some in my trunk) and when we got home, the house was nice and warm, and stayed warm all night because my furnace was working properly. All that worry - ahh - if only I could stop taking back things that I leave with God, let Him do His job and me stop worrying.

No rain today but rain is in the forecast for the rest of the week, but somehow it doesn't bother me today. I have to work at Dollywood on the 2th but at least I won't be out in the rain, but I worry about Ryan being in the rain, but we'll work it out.

Peace on earth - good will to all mankind. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season, and that everyone stays healthy.

WELL WELL, IT'S RAINING - AGAIN

All the leaves have gone, and the skies are gray
I've been for a walk, on a winter's day
I'd be safe and warm - if I was at home in my bed, but no - I'm at work on another rainy day.

GEESH - the rain, the gloom, the early darkness - very hard to take.

But hey, I woke up this morning, able to walk on my own, breathe on my own, I have a wonderful son, I have a home, I have clothes, I have food, I have a job, I have a car.....wow.

I'm going to repeat this to myself every day from now until March 1st when hopefully the colors will return. It shall be my "mantra" until spring.

So....come again. There's always room and as always....

Peace

AH THE RAIN....OH THE RAIN....RAIN RAIN RAIN

It is raining....again. Sometimes I think the sun just doesn't want to come out. It wants to stay hidden up there behind the gray, cottony clouds, warming the tops of them, hiding from us. Sigh.

If I could fly, I'd fly straight through those gray clouds - up where the sky is still blue and the sun is bright - brighter than the brightest. But I can't - fly that is. So I shall stay here, down below, below the clouds, in the gray drizzle. Sigh.

We have rain forecast for all of this week with unseasonably high temperatures. At least my heating bill should not be too high. Ryan worries when the heat doesn't kick on - I tell him - the house isn't cold enough for it to kick on. He still worries. He'll ask: Will it come on again? I tell him: When the house is cold enough it will come on. He still worries. Sigh.

Only 74 more days until March 1st, and I don't care if it's snowing on March 1st - March 1st is Spring for me. 74 more days. 1,776 hours. 106,560 minutes. until Spring. until color. until warmth. until the sweet scent of growth. Sigh.

Do come again. Your visits here are magic for me.. And as always

Peace