ANOTHER RAINY MONDAY

Well - we need the rain.

It has been COLD here - that damp, bone-chillin' cold, as my grandmother would say. We were going to go to Dollywood on Saturday, but it was just too cold to be out. I don't want to get sick and I sure don't want Ryan to get sick, so we vegitated at home and went to a movie in the afternoon. We went to see "Bolt". It's a cartoon, but very cute and we both enjoyed it. It was in 3-D - not my favorite kind of movie, but it worked.

Turns out it was a good thing that we didn't go to Dollywood on Saturday. When we got back from the movie, I discovered that the pilot light in our furnace had gone out - again - and our house was decidedly "chilly". Went down to the basement and got the light back on and the house warmed up pretty quick. If it had been off all day, the house would have been VERY cold and harm to get warmed back up - so - there is a reason for everything.

Went to Dollywood yesterday and we had a good time - it was cold - but not near as cold as on Saturday.

So - only three work days this week - then off for Thanksgiving. We are going to Debra's house for Thanksgiving dinner. She and Gary are so sweet to us. Their son, Josh and his bride-to-be, Rozanna, will be there and we will have a very nice time.

So - now back to work. Drop by again - and as always -

Peace

100 THINGS ABOUT ME - TRY IT - IT'S HARDER THAN YOU THINK!

100 THINGS ABOUT ME - TRY THIS ABOUT YOURSELF - IT'S HARD

1. I love being a mother.
2. I detest growing old.
3. I play the lottery
4. I dream of winning the lottery
5. I have never won the lottery
6. I love my dogs and cannot imagine a life without dogs.
7. I absolutely hate to cook
8. I don't cook
9. I was diagnosed with adult onset diabetes in September 2003.
10. Diabetes sucks
11. Diet drinks are really great if that's all you can drink
12. I love horses and am a pretty fair rider.
13. I love to bowl but can't anymore because of carpal tunnel in both wrists
14. I love theatre and am a damn fine actress
15. I love people and make friends easily
16. I keep friends for a long time even if they move away
17. I hate housekeeping
18. My house is a mess
19. I love country music
20. I hate acid rock and rap
21. I remember JFK getting shot
22. I saw Lee Harvey Oswald get shot on television as it happened
23. Our television stayed on 24 hours a day during JFK's assassination and funeral
24. I have personally met Caroline Kennedy and she is a sweetheart
25. I have personally met Richard Nixon's two daughters and they were very nice
26. I have read every single one of Anita Bryant's books
27. I have read every single one of Dale Evans' books
28. When my dogs get old and have to be euthanized, I hold them in my arms so that the last
thing they hear is " what a good dog"
29. I had my two pekingese cremated and have their ashes in my bedroom
30. I am allergic to bee stings - really bad
31. I have been on a Carnival cruise to the Bahamas
32. I have been to Disney World when it was just "The Magic Kingdom"
33. I have been to Disney World, Epcot and MGM three times
34. I have been to Germany
35. My father was German
36. I lived in Hotels for the first 8 years of my life
37. My father was an Executive Chef at those Hotels
38. My father was an alcoholic - but I loved him and he was a great dad
39. My father was a "five pack a day" man and died of lung cancer
40. I have been in Rochester Minnesota in February - it is cold there
41. My mother had surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota
42. I have flown on an air ambulance from Rochester Minnesota to Knoxville Tennessee
43. I have made the decision to remove my mother from life support and let her die
44. Someone I loved very deeply died in Viet Nam
45. I have never married
46. I have a 3 year college education
47. You never know how much you love someone until you can't tell them that anymore
48. I am a single parent through adoption
49. I am a paralegal
50. I also work for Dolly Parton at Dollywood
51. I also work for 3D Mystery Shows
52. I have several gay and lesbian friends
53. I have a friend in Pennsylvania I met on the internet in 2001 whom I have never met in
person but she is a most important part of my life and a wonderful woman
54. I love to play games on the internet at Pogo.com
55. I have a friend whom I have known for 35 years - still friends
56. I have a friend who moved to Georgia - my soul sister - still friends
57. I had the priviledge of having a "second mother" after mine died
58. My son had the priviledge of having a "grandma" even though his Nana died before he was
born
59. My "second mother" has also passed away
60. My father had two children from his first marriage
61. My half sister died from a cerebral hemorrhage
62. My half brother and I have a wonderful relationship - and he is so much more to me than
"half". I love my brother
63. My sister in law is a wonderful, caring woman - I love her
64. On the cruise I had two Bahama Mama's and won the lip synch contest on 50's night
65. I hardly EVER drink
66. I hate to do laundry
67. I love snow - just can't drive in it
68. I love fresh vegetables and salads
69. I am Catholic
70. I teach 2nd grade CCD (Sunday school)
71. I am obese (fat)
72. I hate my gray hairs in my hair
73. When I have extra money I color my hair
74. I miss having a cat
75. I have 8 birds
76. I used to live on a farm
77. Now I live in the city
78. I have three collector's dolls
79. I have over 300 Beanie Babies (I know..I know)
80. I hate to have to "dress up"
81. I can wear jeans to work as a paralegal
82. I wear an 1800's bathing suit as my costume at Dollywood
83. I look like a dork in an 1800's bathing suit
84. I hate to drive
85. I love long bus trips - I don't have to drive
86. I want to retire to an RV and travel
87. I will probably never retire
88. High heeled shoes were made for someone other than me
89. I want a house with walk in closets and lots of storage room
90. I am NOT a chocoholic
91. My favorite drinks right now are Diet Coke with Splenda, Diet Coke with Lime and Diet Pepsi
with Lime
92. I have a friend who works down the hall from me and she lets me "share" her Yorkie
93. I have my own Yorkie, Abby and a terrier mix, Millie. Millie is very smart.
94. I cry during sad movies and sometimes happy ones
95. I cry when I get really mad
96. My theatre group at 3D Mystery shows is like my second family
97. My 24 year old son still loves me - amazing huh?
98. I wear a size 11 shoe (used to be a 10 - but they "spread out")
99. I need knee replacements on both knees
100. I don't have health insurance

HUMP DAY (SOUNDS KIND OF PERVERTED - HUH?)

Ah - Wednesday - middle of the week - after today only two more days until Saturday - wishing my life away again - sorry Mom.

I am a little paranoid. My doctor has given me a new blood pressure medicine. She did not have any samples of my regular medicine so gave me a new one instead. I was taking 20 mg of the other - now I'm taking 150 mg of this new one. I stopped at the WalMart pharmacy and talked to the pharmacist who immediately told me not measure the dosage of any two medications against the other. So, I guess I feel better - I'm just super worried about changing medicines especially with the holidays approaching. I do not want to feel bad during Thanksgiving because I have a show on the 29th, and I certainly don't want to feel physically bad during Christmas - I mean feeling emotionally and mentally horrid is bad enough - but physically sick???? No way.

Got a "news release" from Dollywood telling employees that a "freeze" had be placed on our salaries - so no raise in 2009. My feelings about that are: our salaries weren't cut - and I still have a job there. I can deal with no raise next year. Dollywood got hit by the economy too so I'm not surprised about these cuts that have to be made. Like I said - I'll deal with it.

It is cold here - but we have heat!! The house feels so good to come in and feel that warmth. I've said every day "I'm so glad I had the gas turned back on!".

Come back and visit - you might even find a laugh or two here and as always....

Peace

TUESDAY - SNOW FLURRIES

I got through another Monday - yea me!

We were supposed to get together last night with the old 3D Mystery group, but one by one everyone cancelled for one reason or another so we didn't. I was disappointed. I was looking forward to seeing some people I had not seen in quite a while. Maybe we can reschedule it - I hope so.

Tonight is laundry night - yipee. I am "all aquiver" with anticipation.....NOT! But it must get done.

Millie ate "something chocolate" on my bed - have no idea what it was, only that it was chocolate and not very much. I keep telling Ryan that he HAS to keep anything chocolate where she can't get to it and that means putting it in our old microwave over the stove. So far she hasn't figured out how to open it - give her time - she is soooo smart.

Abby is in desperate need to a trip to the groomers and a toe nail clipping. I cannot clip her toenails. She so desperately tries to get away and I'm afraid that I'll break her leg. Millie is the same way. I've never had a dog that I could clip their nails.

Was walking up to the mailbox yesterday, crunching the leaves under my feet and caught just a whiff of the wood smoke from next door, closed my eyes, and was instantly transported back to the farm, walking in the woods from the house to the hayfield. The smells around me were the same - the wood smoke, the "leafy" smell, and the clean smell of a cold winter day.

I guess I will always be drawn back to the farm, even though the house no longer exists. I wonder how bad I would be if the house WAS still there. Bad I think. It's a blessing to me that it's gone - I guess. If it were still there I think I would HAVE to walk through it - just to cement those memories.

Now I have a bee in my bonnet to go back to Morristown - to the house we had there - just to see how it looks now. I've been on Google maps and was amazed to see how much I remembered of how to get there. I think I could drive right to it and is has been 48 years since I lived there - FORTY EIGHT YEARS????? That is hard to believe.

Thanks for stopping by - come again - and....

Peace

MONDAY

Well - Saturday was a bummer - rained all day - dark, gloomy, cold. We had planned to go to Dollywood but with the weather the way it was we nixed that idea. I don't want either one of us to get sick from walking around in the cold rain. We opted to wait and go on Sunday. So, I slept in and it felt WONDERFUL. It was a pretty relaxed day.

Sunday "dawned" cloudy and cold as heck - but no rain - so off we went. We were driving along thru Townsend, and I really wasn't paying too much attention to anything other than the road and the "crazy" drivers - and there were SEVERAL on the road Sunday. Drove through Wears Valley, just talking and sort of planning what we were going to try and see at Dollywood. Got to Pigeon Forge and turned on the back road that bypasses the main drag and all of a sudden I looked UP and the mountain range right in front of me was a glistening fairy story of SNOW. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Clouds were hanging pretty low but that picture picked my spirits up considerable. It was just gorgeous - God's gift to me on Sunday. Thank You.

We had a nice day, Ryan and I. We saw the shows we wanted to see, and Ryan rode 4 rides. Gosh it got COLDER and COLDER. We were freezing, so after Twas the Night Before Christmas we packed it in and went home.

LORDY I'M SO GLAD I HAD OUR GAS TURNED BACK ON!!!! The house was warm and comfortable and the birds and dogs were happy....hehehe. I had considered trying to get by on the just the space heater this winter, but man - I'm so GLAD I didn't.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week. I'm going to try very hard to make this week good for us. Thanks for stopping by - come again...and

Peace

RAIN, RAIN, RAIN....OH AND LET'S HAVE SOME MORE RAIN

Sigh - it's raining today - probably all day - so it is dark, gloomy - oh and did I mention it's raining?

Ryan chose not to go to the Gate today - he hasn't felt good since Monday night - some kind of stomach thing....and he HATES to have to poop anywhere but home - unless we are staying in a motel....guess he thinks that is "home" as long as we are there.

Millie has an "ear" issue this morning. Shaking her head, one ear cocked sideways. I looked in it and couldn't see a thing. I gently rubbed the inside of her ear and she pushed hard against my finger so it must be really "itchy" way down inside. I'll check it again when I get home tonight.

My yard has a carpet of leaves and I mean wall-to-wall plush. They really fell last night during the rain and my yard is now yellow. Somewhere in my house there is a picture of my sweet little Barney, my biscuit colored Pekingese, laying on that carpet of yellow many years ago, and he blends into the leaves so well that all you notice is his eyes and that little black nose. I still miss him - he was my baby.

Today is a "depressive" day for me - what with the gloom and the rain and the dark. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day - I hope so.

Peace

WE HAVE HEAT!!!! YIPEEEEEEEEE!!!

Today I got our gas turned back on, the pilot light lit and WE HAVE HEAT! I am excited! We have not been cold by any means. The weather here has been mild - highs in the 50's and lows in the upper 30's and 40's. I have the sealed oil heater in the dining room for the birds, and it has done a lovely job of keeping the house quite comfortable. Colder weather will come of course and it is very comforting to know that when it goes down in the 20's, the furnace will kick on and send waves of warm air throughout the house. I usually keep the thermostat between 65 and 68 in the winter. Both Ryan and I enjoy sleeping in a cool room.

I left work and went home to meet the "gas man" and got all the way back to the office when Ryan calls me and tells me the power went off. "All over the house?" I said. "Yes" he said. So I called the electric company and they said they would send a man to the house to check it out so I get BACK in the car and go BACK home and on the way I called Ryan back and asked again if the power was off all over the house and he said "no, it's on in the living room". POOP! I called the electric company back and told them "never mind" and went on home, went into the basement and flipped the breaker back on - VOILA - power. I reminded Ryan again that if he used the microwave to turn the heater off.

So - it is almost 6 p.m. and I'm still at the office - it is dark. It has been cloudy all day. These are days that add to my depression - no sun is forecast until Sunday and that if "iffy". Rain is coming. Gloom, darkness, and rain - wonderful.

To all who stop by - thanks for visiting - come back again and...

Peace

RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS ALWAYS GET ME DOWN

On my street are two beautiful trees that change color in the fall to vivid red and bright golden yellow. On Friday as we left for Pigeon Forge, these two trees were full and vibrant. On Friday night it rained. When we came home on Saturday night it was dark and quiet. Yesterday as we drove up the street to go eat supper, these two trees were naked and stark. All their color was now on the ground and already brown. That quick - wow.

Friday was a good day - we left early- drove up through the park and the colors were breathtaking, especially at the top of the mountain. On the road down the trees formed a golden yellow canopy on either side and was just beautiful. Our motel room in Gatlinburg was ready - we were welcomed as old friends - we checked in - unpacked - rested awhile and then headed to Pigeon Forge for some lunch.

We got to DW about 3:30 and watched the dress rehearsal of Twas the Night Before Christmas first. This year 12 year old MacKenzie is playing the "little girl" in the show and she did an excellent job - very talented and very sweet. At the end of the show "Santa" had a surprise. He called Kellye, one of the girls in the show up, had her sit on his knee and close her eyes and her boyfriend came up on stage, dropped to one knee and proposed!! I think we all cried - and of course she said YES! What a memory!!

Then we went to Christmas in the Smokies and of course that show was excellent as always, no surprises there.

On to Babes in Toyland and again, excellent as always. The two kids in that show were very good. I need to find out what their names are.

Then we went to the "premier" of The Polar Express. This is our motion ride for Christmas and it is in "4-D". The movie was great and you can "smell the hot chocolate" when it is poured, the wind blows in your face during the train ride, and, if you are patient, it will "snow" on you as you wait in line outside. This is a great production but the ride itself is too rough for me - really jerked my neck and back so I will sit in the "non-motion" seats that are available for us "old folks" from now on. Ryan loved it.

Saturday was beautiful, mostly sunny with a breeze and DW was PACKED. This was of course, opening day for Christmas and there were thousands of people there. We had a really nice time, saw all the show again, but the line for Polar Express was 2 hours long, so we by-passed that one - after all, we had seen it on Friday.

Came home, the pups were ecstatic to see us, and Sunday was a day of rest. Here it is Monday but we are closed tomorrow for Veterans Day so this week will be a short work week and that is fine with me.

To all who wander by here - welcome and feel free to visit again.

Peace

TGIF

Another week has gone by - never to be lived again. My mother always said to me - don't wish your life away. Now I know what she meant.

Today we head up to Pigeon Forge for the dress rehearsals of the Christmas shows at Dollywood. Ryan is so excited. The shows start around 3 and we'll probably be there until at least 7. I got a room at a motel in Gatlinburg that we stayed at for my birthday just for tonight. We will be at Dollywood tomorrow for the opening of Christmas and come back home tomorrow night. Sunday - a day of rest and maybe a movie - we'll see.

My office is closed on Tuesday for Veteran's Day so I'm looking forward to that. Ryan has elected to stay home that day from the Gate and spend it with me - sweet.

Oh yes - I re-connected with a dear friend this week who told me that I could come "smell her horses" anytime - love you Susie!!

So - I doubt if I'll journal on Saturday because I have the feeling that we'll be "pooped", so until Sunday (or Monday)....

Peace

THURSDAY

Didn't really have a "title" for this entry - so just used the day of the week.

Was in WalMart last night. They should name an aisle after me as often as we are in there and as much money as we spend there - HA!

Anyway - I was riding around on one of those little electric carts they have - and YES I do use those when I can - save my knees whenever I can - and I found myself in the Christmas department. Yes Christmas. Even though Halloween has just past and we haven't even had Thanksgiving yet, the Christmas stuff is all out and calling "buy me...buy me". Even though I am nowhere NEAR ready for Christmas, I found myself looking at the stuff and felt my spirits rising just a tidgy bit.

Christmas was always my favorite holiday, especially at the farm. When my grandmother and parents were still alive, the farm was the "family gathering place". My father would cook and EVERYBODY came to the house to eat. We had such fun. My dad was a "card shark" and loved to play just about any card game - and he was good. We would have the best games of "set back" - ahhh...the memories.

So anyway, while I was looking through all the "stuff" I found some window "gel clings" that you can stick on your windows and the light shines through them and they sort of look like stained glass. I have some "fallish" stuff, leaves, pumpkins, a scarecrow on my office windows now and I have really enjoyed them.

So anyway, I got some redbirds, pine trees, snow flakes and a nativity scene - all made of this gel stuff - and am really looking forward to putting them on the windows in my office. I also got some to put on the back passenger windows in my car. Now, mind you, the instructions that come with the gel thingys say "do not use on car windows" - BAH HUMBUG! I'm going to use them - they won't impair my vision and I think they will look cool. Not sure how they will "weather the weather" but we'll see. I have about $7 tied up in them so if they freeze and ruin I'm not out very much and even if they just look good for a week - I'll be happy.

Big doings this weekend - but more on that later.

Thanks for visiting - hope you come back.

Peace

THE DAY AFTER

The day after our presidential election. Mind-blowing. I cried when I listened to Obama speak. I have hope. I have faith.

This is my country - Land of my birth - This is my country - Grandest on earth -I pledge thee my allegiance - America the bold - For this is my country - to have and to hold.

So - on we go

Peace

HOPE

I have lived to see the first black president of this country. May God guide him in leading us to a new beginning - a brighter future.

So on we go.

Peace

TIME CHANGE - HOME IN DARKNESS

Well the time has changed - I know they do this mainly for the kids who have to wait for buses standing in the dark - and Lord knows I don't want any child to get hurt - but MAN - this time change is so hard for me. It seems to take me weeks to get acclimated to it.

I wake up and think that I've overslept only to find that I have another hour I can sleep. Then the day seems to go soooo slow - and when 5:00 finally rolls around, it is already almost dark.

This causes another flashback to the farm. I worked in Knoxville then and my farm was in Townsend - about 30 miles one way - and when I would get off at 5:00 it would be after 6:00 p.m. when I would get home and it would be totally dark. I can remember going straight through the house - Mama would be getting supper on the table for us - and going out the back door, putting on my knee high rubber boots and heading for the barn - in the dark. I didn't even take a flashlight with me. The horses would be waiting for me at the gate and I would push through them, rubbing noses and necks and they would follow me into the "drive through" of the barn - in the dark. I would fill the buckets with oats and sweet feed - all in the dark - and as they ate I would run my hands over their bodies checking for any cuts, or swellings - all in the dark. I'd check their shoes to see if they were missing any or if any were loose - all in the dark. I'd climb up into the hay loft, fragrant with sweet odor of that year's hay and cut and divide the bales and throw it down to the horses - all in the dark. If there happened to be a full moon I'd have God's light to do my work by but most of the time it was all in the dark. And then lots of times I'd just sit, close my eyes and just listen - in the dark. The sounds I carry in my heart are of the crunching of the oats and hay, the wind blowing down the mountain, the occasional squeal if Champ got too close to Rocket's feed bucket. And then I would go to each horse, rubbing between their eyes, rubbing their ears, pulling their heads to my chest and we would stand for a moment, connected to each other by love - in the dark. Only another horse lover will understand that one of the sweetest smells in the world is a horse's breath after they have eaten oats and sweet feed - it is a rich, warm, sweet, grainy smell that cannot be matched. All in the dark.

Peace and pray for our country on this - our presidential election day.