A Good Weekend

Yesterday I went to B'ham to visit with Ashley. We had a really nice day. We ate at a new burger place at the Summit. The wait for indoors looked long, we chose the patio. It was nice but quite breezy! We had good burgers though, so I'd recommend Flip Burgers to anyone who likes a good burger and especially onion rings.....mmmm, they melt in your mouth. Any chance I get, I'm always up for a chance to go to B'ham! I miss city life. Even after nearly 30 years of living in Alabama, I still miss bigger city life. Oh well, there are many other good reasons to live a more country life. I know Carl was amazed when we were in Chicago suburbs that "people lived so close together" he kept saying "there's no way I could live like that". It is all a matter of what you grew up with. Of course, Carl was raised when it was still the farm life, I was raised in a big city with lots of restaurants, places to shop, and things to do.

Today is my take it easy day. I've had the "crud" this week and I'm trying to get of it. I also need a rest day to prepare myself for Monday at work. I do not care what any studies have said.....the full moon makes people crazier! I have more goofy things from my patients, more stressed out people, and more people in tears when the moon gets full. As an ole' ER nurse, I knew when the moon was getting full! No werewolves but I swear the behavior of people change as if they are under some kind of influence! So, the moon is big and full now, that is why Easter is next Sunday. I believe Michael is going to come down for next weekend. I always look forward to his visit. We don't talk a lot considering we are polar opposites on politics, etc. I'm always afraid we'll get in to a BIG argument so we try to leave news topics undiscussed. I tease him about being such a radical republican, I'm not sure where he got that gene. Must have been on his Dad's side!

Anyway, Keith is off today. He was over here weed eating. I'm baking some Peanut Butter Toffee Cheesecake Brownies. Saw the recipe in the sunday paper a couple of weeks ago. It was the finalist recipe in the 44th Pillsbury Bake-off contest. I have to pass on the recipe if they are good. I figure they can't taste bad. Chocolate! Cream cheese! Toffee! and Peanut Butter! and more Chocolate! (which is a food group by itself!). I know I don't need it but chocolate raise serotonin levels and release endorphins...hey, it IS good for you.

Well, enough of my ramblings. Hope everyone has a good week. I'm off good Friday so it'll be a short week. :)

Local News

I'm sure all of you from Alabama have heard of our "little" sinkhole under I65. Last weekend before they officially shut down all of northbound I65, we took the back roads to Hwy 67 to get on I65. I have this little phobia about bridges anyway, now the thought of my car falling into a hole in the ground is enough to cause some serious palpitations! I thought it was funny that The Decatur Daily is having a "name the sinkhole" contest. Carl says there was a spring that ran through there years ago. It was called Cool Spring. It is a possibility that the old natural spring has caused it to erode? I personally think they ought to name it after the current United States Congress..........one big sinkhole causing people nothing but headaches! At least after good ole Parker Griffith! He's one big #^$hole!

Today is the vernal equinox! Hip hip hurray! I love spring and fall. So far today, I got up, vacuumed my window sills to get up the friggin' asian beetles, cooked breakfast, now I'm bloggin' and soon Keith will be here; we have a trip to costco planned. Oh yea, and paid a couple of bills on-line. OK, so is this where I say it's the little things in life that make us happy? Seriously, I know it is dull, routine, and 90% of the time, downright boring, BUT it is our life and it is good. Thank goodness, life is not always exciting. I have enough drama at work!

Speaking of asian beetles, if anyone has any tips on how to control them (other than getting Carl to put in new and better windows) please let me know. They drive me nuts! I did get a Black & Decker Dustbuster for the job and it works great!

Well, hope yall have a glorious weekend! At least it is suppose to be pretty today!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I doubt if I even have 1/8 of Irish lineage but what the hey, today everybody is Irish! It was always a big celebration in the Chicago area. When I was a teen, old Mayor Richard Daley was quite the politician! Every year they actually dye the Chicago river green! The beer is green too! In honor of my upbringing, I am making corned beef and cabbage for supper tonight. Well, enough blarney about that.

I ran across a quote the other day that I really like.

"Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose."

Helen Keller

Sunday musings

It's been a good weekend! I really had a nice day yesterday. Ashley came up to Hartselle and we (Ashley, Memaw, and I) went shopping. We had a really nice day. The only sad thing was Emily had to work and couldn't go. We got her some surprises anyway. Ashley is so cute and funny! She hits those stores and she's like a patriot missile! Memaw says" she hones in" on just what she is looking for. Of course, us two Granny's trail somewhat behind. Ashley does really good though. She does not run off and leave us in her dust! :) I don't what what other "mature" women feel about today's clothes but I'm here to say they are pitiful! And that is putting it politely. I can not remember when I've seen such overwhelming ugly clothes. If you're not in your teens or twenties, it seems they want us to look like our great grandmothers! Oh well....

I am taking today off! I just sent Keith to get milk for us and I'm making pasta for dinner. Even though I had a fun day shopping, I'm pooped today. I've realized the bad thing for me about working 4 days a week again is when do I clean house? I'm going to have to stay home next weekend and do it. Of course, all us women probably feel the same way. The big problem is it doesn't stay clean! A woman's work is never done, amen!

Been kind of dreary this weekend. I hope to see the flowers start to bloom soon. Can't wait to take my camera out when things green up a little more. Well, that's been my weekend. Carl's out and about but I'm sure he'll be home in another hour or two.

I've been watching Star Wars on the Spike TV. It is awful! 5 minutes of show and 10 minutes of commercials! DVD's and my DVR have spoiled me......zip through them commercials on DVR and DVD is the best. Yea, if that's all I've got to complain about, I should keep it shut, huh?

Hope everyone has a good week.

Sleepless nights:(

Well, I went to the sports med M.D. this afternoon and got an injection of steroid in my right knee. It really helps the pain but here I am at the computer at 1:45 a.m. and I have to get up at 6! Oh crap! Looks like tomorrow is going to be a rough one. In case you don't know, steroids can "wire" some people up. Well, I just logged out of a medical website after ordering 8 big laminated charts of different body systems to hang in the exam rooms at the clinic. At least I can take this off my taxes. Usually if I'm really sleepless, I get suckered in by Time Life Music that "I just got to have" or some dumb kitchen product from one of the lame infomercials. Really, I only ordered one time from an infomercial, sold the gadget after using it once at a yard sale. This kind of stuff drives Carl crazy. He doesn't like to throw anything away. Our basement is testimony to that fact!

All in all, it's been an ok week so far. Work is busy, hey job security is good! Wednesday is my usual grocery shopping at Publix. Keith went with me and we got home just in time for me to make lunch and go to my Doctors appointment. Then I swung by Lois' to give her a monthly B12 shot. It is nice for me to do that. What a shame, live right across the road from family and never go visit! I'm glad she has allowed me to do this for her because it gives us a chance to visit a little.

Carl had some bad news this evening. Two of his neighbors were found passed away in their home. Evidently, no one had seen them for a few days so the sheriff ended up breaking in. They found them passed away from apparent natural causes in bed. They had been in very poor health.

Well, 2 more days and then the weekend! Hurray! I hope it quits raining by saturday. Well, I'm going to try the bed thing once again. Hope everyone out there stays healthy, happy, and safe.

The Cruise in

Yesterday was such a beautiful day! My friends and I did go to downtown Athens to see the cars that came for the cruise in. All in all, it was interesting. I can remember my Dad driving home in a new 57 Ford and I saw one there just like it except different colors. I thought it was a really cool car. After that, my family switched to station wagons. On vacation, I felt like I was in the Griswald family truckster! Seriously, it was good for us when we vacationed but it was awful when I first started to drive and my girlfriends and I went out in the ole' country squire station wagon! I just thought I'd share a few pics.

My good friends, Rebecca and Wendell

This was such an unusual interior

Downtown Athens on the square

The plate is cool....Elvis, the King

The week in review

I just caught up reading the blogs I follow. I kind of feel like Ashley. I hope that since this weekend will be pretty (keeping my fingers and toes crossed!) that it will brighten peoples moods. It was a hard week at work. I don't believe most of the people I know and love have any understanding of the culture of poverty that my patients live in. I have spent many hours thinking about this. I wish I could do more for them. I try very hard to just be there for them and listen to them and offer what I can to help them through tough situations. The economic downturn hurts the poor even more. So many are facing eviction because they can't find jobs. I don't mean to be a downer but there are times when I have so many patients come in who lives are in turmoil and they aren't coping well, it breaks my heart. To all of us who are lucky to live in a nice home, drive a nice car, have heat, air, water, I challenge you to think about what you would do without access to all these things. Also, if you have some spare time, be a volunteer somewhere! I love the idea of pay it forward! It is very rewarding to give some of yourself to others. I think we all have special skills and each and every human being is special in their way and we can all have a better purpose in our lives. OK, I'll stop now, I don't mean to get preachy.

Carl finally got our broken Bradford pear trees cut down and the stumps out. Now the yard looks bare. :( We only have 3 of the original 6 trees we planted left and they are all together in the middle of the yard. Haven't decided if we are going to replant any. If Carl wins, the answer will be NO. Will just have to wait and see.

My friends, Becky and Wendell and I are planning on going to Athens this afternoon for the cruise in. Thought I'd take my Nikon and see if I can get some nice shots. I'm trying to come down with a cold and my head feels like it is in a bucket, yuck! But I want to take advantage of the pretty sunny day!

It was fun to have Meagan and Emily come to see me last Sunday. They have so much energy and are beautiful young ladies. I enjoy their company. I got an email about the Eagles in Vegas. Everyone keep your ears open. If they come anywhere near here, I want us all to go! I secretly (or maybe not so secretly) lust after Don Henley! I'm sure Don would be pleased to know this! Anyway, it's been a few years since I've seen them and I'm ready for another rocking night with my favorite group of all time! My ring tone is Hotel California!

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Snow!

Well, it has certainly been an unusual winter for us in Alabama. Thank goodness it has been on the warmer side or this snow would make the roads a mess. I have to get ready for work but thought I'd post a pic I took of Carl and his snow dogs this morning. He worries about the house dogs if the weather is bad because it interrupts their toilet time. Not the greatest pictures, I didn't want to stand outside changing my settings..Brrrrr!