Training For Homeland Security

Today was an interesting day. Started at 5:45 with a call from work begging me to go in! Oh I don't think so! I was planning on getting up early, but not THAT early! How rude!
After the sun came up, John & I headed down to Forsyth Park for the Arthritis Walk. We joined some fellow employees, enjoying a beautiful morning walking around the park. The intended walk was 3 miles, 3 laps around the park. But, I admit we did cheat. :-) We walked the first lap, second lap I snuck over to the fountain to get some pictures. Come to find out, after 30+ years, John had never seen the fountain in person.

I snapped some pictures, then joined back with our group on the other side of the park. The group was breaking up, so we never did that third lap. No great loss, we showed up, we gave our $$, collected our t-shirts, walked and went home.

After a lot of decisions on how to spend the day, John decided to take me somewhere I had never been before. We played "Rambo" for an hour! I shot a 22 caliber handgun! And it was FUN! I'm ready to get a job with Homeland Security! Let Al Qaeda mess with Whitfield Avenue! This Chickie poo will be ready to blow their towel heads off! LOL!


The target on the right was mine. The one with the most holes. Out of 200 bullets, I bet I shot 150 of them! Yes sirree, I had me someFUN! I kept imagining the person who called my house at 5:45 waking me from a dead sleep, the fact that I don't qualify for the bonus that every other full time employee got, the morons at Mc Donald's who made us wait almost 10 minutes on our egg mcmuffins. And every other Tom, Dick or David who ever p'd me off, cut me off on the highway, or gave me a hard time! I had a LOT of inspiration! LOL Especially for those shots down around his private parts! ROFLMAO!!!! The "misses" were actually warning shots I was practicing.
I'm still "afraid" of guns, but now I know what to do with one. I wouldn't want to HAVE to use one on a person or animal. But I know I can do it.
Next item to add to my Christmas list might have to be a pink 22. Yes, I said PINK! Pull out a pink gun on a criminal, and they'll be so busy laughing, I'll have a chance to run away!

Something For Me

I have finally gotten around to making something just for me! Last year, when I did the craft show, I was so busy making purses and diaper bags to sell, I never had time to make something just for me! I ended up using one of my display purses, and have been lugging it around for the last year! I figured it was time to retire it, and move on to something new.
It only took me weeks to make. Between coming up with the pattern in my head, planning how it would look, what fabrics I would use. Then, cutting it out, assembling, and sewing together. After multiple pin pricks, blood-stained fabric, and 1 broken sewing machine needle, I finally finished it! Only problem now is, it's fall, and I don't know if I want such bold fabrics for fall! I am NOT, repeat NOT going back to the drawing boards! It will have to do.....for now.
The insides has lots and lots of pockets, and dividers. I have my new camera in there, a full size wallet, odds and ends, and even room for John's reading glasses!
The biggest problem I see, is everyone at work will want one too! Not going down that road this year. I refuse! You hear me, I refuse! Oh Lord give me strength to keep them away! LOL!



The stripe on the back of the bag is actually the top of a pocket. Inside of that pocket is a smaller pocket. I thought it would be a great place to carry my cell phone. Clever idea, huh?

Happy Fall Y'all!

It's official. Today was the first day of fall! Hurray! Summer is technically over!
It's actually starting to cool off down here. Ok, so it's not "cool" to you Yankee's standards. But, for Savannah, 85 degrees is MUCH better than say 105! Nighttime lows in the upper 60's! Woo Hoo! If it keeps this up, we'll have to fire up the furnace! Ok,...that was a joke! :-)
In celebration of fall, I made a banner. How many of you know what "Pieces Of Flair" are? No....? Ok, on Face book, they have this feature called Pieces Of Fair, where you can collect these buttons, and add them to a bulletin board to decorate your face book page. I love the buttons! They are so darn addicting! I collect buttons on things that excite, motivate, or speak of me and my habits. I decided to pick some fall ones to add to my page here. So, here are some scenes of fall.
One more season until our winter vacation. Give John one more weekend, and he'll be dragging snow gear out of the attic! Just kidding.....give him at least another 2-3 weeks. :-)

Backyard Beauty

It's been all summer since I've seen my bluebirds! Today, John stepped outside, and noticed 2, if not 3 pairs of my beauties, hanging out in the trees, and playing in the birdbath.
I was practicing some creative photography, and captured this "unique" event in Savannah, in September!


I told ya we were ready for fall! Just skipping right into winter today!
Just kidding! This is what Photoshop can do for ya! Neat, huh? Sure beats the original.

Hopefully my bluebirds will come back to nest again. I miss stalking them with the camera.

Who Is Ready For Fall?

Raise your hand!
Ok....I see lots of hands up! Mine included!
I think I see John's hand as well. To him, fall means one step closer to snowboarding!
I am tired of this summer. It's September now, let's get on with fall. Tired of the heat. Tired of the humidity. Tired of sweating. Tired of being stuck inside in the A/C. Tired of holding my breath, monitoring hurricanes. Tired of summer.
Bring on Fall!
September is officially half way over. And I for one am ready for some cooler days. I crave some crisp, fall nights. Putting on a bulky sweater with a pair of well worn jeans. Sipping hot cider. Walking thru crunchy fallen leaves. Listening to migrating geese overhead. Smelling a fresh baked pumpkin pie in the oven. Searching the patches for the best pumpkin to carve a Jack-O-Lantern. Riding thru the mountains looking at the beautiful fall colors.
We won't be experiencing any cool days and brisk nights until around the end of October in this part of the world. And, it will be late December before the leaves change and fall from the trees. So, we have a way to go yet.
But, in celebration of what's to come, and to maybe help us cool down a little bit, I thought I'd change my blog header, and post some fall pictures from Banner Elk North Carolina. This is a small town around Boone NC, in the western part of the state. The last time we were up there was Fall of 2005. Beautiful part of the country, and actually on our list of places to consider moving to once we retire.
So, enjoy some scenes of fall.

Testing.......

Today I had a great chance to test out my newest "toy".
I got a new ultra zoom digital camera for when John and I go hiking, snowshoeing, playing at the beach, 4-wheeling, whatever. It has a great zoom, without the bulk of my good camera, and extra lenses.
Anyways, Judy went to get the mail today, and shrieked when she saw what was on her shoe. I ran to see what it was, then ran for the camera! My sister is going to shoot me for posting this. She HATES Praying Mantis with a passion! Sorry Twisted! I just thought he was so cute! At one point, I got the camera too close, and he climbed up onto the lens. ok.....just lost Lee Ann! Sorry girl!


I think it did a pretty good job of up close and personal! I'm LOVIN' his shadow in the second shot! Click on the photos to see them even bigger!

After the little photo safari, it was back into the kitchen. At work, I have hosted a bake sale the last few weeks, making money for the Arthritis Walk on Sept 27th. We do the bake sale every Thursday at the hospital, the last sale will be the Thursday before the walk. This week I did something different. My sister Lee Ann tipped me off to a new jello flavor. Margarita flavored jello! Remember the old poke cakes of the late 70's? You make a cake, let it cool, poke holes in it, pour jello over the cake, frost with cool whip. I did Margarita cupcakes for the bake sale. Non-alcholic. Just margarita flavored. I decided to add sugar to the edges, the way a real glass of margarita has salt on the rim, and added a straw. Cute, huh?



I should have made it interesting, and put some tequila in them! LOL! I don't think the nuns would approve, do you?!
We have had 2 bake sales so far, and raised over $300! Last week we didn't have as much participation with bakers, because of Hurricane Hanna. Nobody knew where she was heading, and didn't bake, thinking we'd have to head to higher ground. We should fare better this week. My personal goal is a $1,000 donation to the Arthritis Foundation when we walk! So, wish me luck!

O My Gawd!

How many children of the 80's here? Remember Valley Girls? Member's Only jackets? Leg warmers? Big hair? Come on.......admit it. Just raise your hand with me, and admit that you miss those great 80's! LOL
If you are like me, you loved the music of the 80's. I have 2 Ipods FULL of 80's music. I listen to the 80's channel on my XM radio in my car! Yes, I am still stuck in the 80's. I cannot get enough of it. I remember sitting in my room, listening to these songs in high school. Memorizing each and every word of each and every song! Then, driving around town with the radio blasting, and singing along to my favorite tunes!
Anyways, someone who loved the 80's as much as me tipped me off to this web site. It has all of your favorite 80's music videos! O My Gawd! I am in heaven! LOL! The first video I HAD to watch was "Take On Me".....remember that on? It was a guy stuck in a comic strip? I loved that video!
80's music videos
So, if you are bored, it's raining outside, and you want to go back to the 80's, check it out! Now I gotta see if I can upload them into my ipod.

We Dodged Another Bullet

It looks like Hanna is going to hit much further up the coast, and again Savannah has dodged the bullet. I feel bad for the people in her path, but greatly releaved that we can sit this one out! Some day, our luck will run out, but I swear to God, I hope and pray that when that day arrives, John & I will no longer be living here!



Which brings me to another subject. John & I are starting to think about our retirement years, and where we are going to go when the time comes.
He desires the snow, you know, that whole snowboard thing.
I want nature. Flora and fauna. Wild animals, things to take pretty pictures of.
We were thinking close enough to the mountains, but not winter 10 months out of the year. I would like somewhere close enough to go to the beach, or the mountains, without driving for 2 days! Maybe the mountains of North Carolina or West Virginia? The rolling hills of Virginia or middle Pennsylvania? Is Maine too cold for my "southern" blood? How about the pure beauty of Wyoming? Montana? Utah? Alaska?
So many decisions! Any advice? Suggestions? We're open to hear it all. :-)

Keeping An Eye On Hanna

This map looks better than the one I saw last night, but I still don't like the looks of it!

Hanna is going to be a huge threat to our area Friday afternoon. Some projected models last night showed Hanna hitting way too close to our area! This morning, they are projecting a more norther-eastern hit. That's fine by me! We'll still see lots of wind and rain, but that's far better than a direct hit!
My issue is I have to be at work Friday, while Hanna makes her presence known.
For those of you who don't know, the hospital that I work at is definately not hurricane proof! Our generators are outside! We loose power with the simplest of thunderstorms! If we receive any significant rainfall, the basement floods, and water pours down the inner stairwells! They moved the generators outside after continually loosing power after basement flooding during rain storms.
Every year we have to sign up for hurricane teams. The A team works during the storm, staying locked up inside of the hospital as long as it takes, until people can return when the evacuation is lifted. Team B (the team I am on), comes in when allowed back home, and works until things get back to normal. Every year I tell my boss I want to be on team C. The C you later, my butt is out of here team! LOL! In my honest opinion, if a storm the magnitude of Katrina hit Savannah, there would be no St. Joseph's hospital to return to!
So, I will be keeping a smart eye on the sky. As it stands, I work Friday. But, if the storm builds, and they call for a mandatory evacuation of Savannah, then I am off the hook, and don't have to work Friday. But, I would go in as soon as they allow us back.
Let's just cross our fingers, say our prayers, and hope it doesn't come to that!