Thanksgiving in So Georgia

Okay, okay, I've been shamed enough to say here I am and Thanksgiving was a wonderful day with family.  Jerry came down to visit, I cooked (don't faint) and then Taylor and Jerry decorated the tree and house.  My goodness it looks festive.

Here we are around the table (my self timer works great!) Taylor, Jerry, Me and Jonathan.  Notice the new color in the kitchen.  Yep, new paint!  Guess who??

Since Jonathan wasn't too mobile (notice the walker) I set him at the table and put him to work making coleslaw.

Jerry was in a festive mood.  He had to decorate the top of his head before he could get in the mood.  I think it looks cute.  It was a great day having other family in the house.

Taylor is hiding out in the tree.  Actually she was behind the tree making sure all the limbs were attached firmly.

Now she is up on the ledge putting up the UT Santas and other decorations.  Mama's ceramic tree works perfectly up there.  They put lights and everything up there. 

Everyone is in the act.  I have been giving Taylor Barbie ornaments since she arrived in this world in 1996.  They make a striking decoration on the tree, however, they are a pain to put up and take down.  They have kept the original boxes.  They make for a beautiful Barbie tree.

The efects of the lights at night.  I'm glad that I got to be around with family at Thanksgiving.  No telling where I'll spend next Thanksgiving.  This one was special.

I've been here abou three weeks.  Jonathan had hip surgery and is doing quite well.  His surgery was to delay him in getting a hip replacement.  He has to be on crutches/walker for another three weeks.  They had to shave the femur so much that if he breaks it, there will be no question as to whether he will have to have a replacement sooner.  He is being really good and doing everything he is supposed to do.  He went back to work this week.  Dr Woo said he had the hip of a 60 yo and won't know for about three months whether it did what the Doc wanted.  Keep your prayers coming.

I've managed to clean the house while I've been here and taken Taylor to swim.  It's been nice doing brix & stix stuff but remind me if I ever get a hankering to clean, paint, wash windows, that I'm CRAZY!  LOL

While I've been here I ran by A Big Wheel Park to check out my site for January.  I walked around and checked the place out.  I'm gonna like where I'll be.  But, I measured Jonathan's driveway and guess what?  Yep Somewhere will fit so...

It's been fun but time for me to move on.  I head to Orlando on Sunday then back to New Johnsonville for a while.  I've got a great project to work on when I get to Theda's house and then head to East TN for Christmas.

Later...

Somewhere get's a bath

With a little coaxing (payolla) my great nephew Josh came over to get the top of Somewhere washed.  See I don't necessarily like getting on top of Somewhere so I asked Josh to help me out.  He did and she looks so much better.  I'm sure you can see the differences on the awning of how much it needed washing.

Of course if you do the top, it runs off down the sides so Ms Somewhere got a complete cleaning and he does great on tires.  Now we are ready to go!  Ha, we have been ready to go.  I'll be going but Somewhere will stay in Etowah until Christmas Day and then we will head south.

I read my friend, Margie's blog, this morning.  She is basking in the sunshine in Orlando soaking up the sun.  Good for you, girl!  I'll be down there soon.  LOL  Not particularily liking these cold morning when the propane kicks on with the thermostat set at 58 degrees.  Of course when I get up I turn on the little electric heater but Sedona and I don't like it really, really cold inside.

Heading to the Biltmore House tomorrow in Ashville NC.  I'm going with my sister's and their church group and it will be interesting to see the route we are going to take since the tunnel is closed on I 40 caused by a rock slide.  I'm sure our driver, Larry, will have a good route planned.

Later...

Buck Bald Mountain

You read that right!  What better to do on a beautiful afternoon and evening but travel up the back roads to the Tellico area.  My nephew, Jerry, Mark and I took off, actually it was a practice "date" with Jerry and I asked Mark to come along. 

We stopped at the Tellico Beach for a big burger, fries and a soft drink.  We took our dinner and stopped along the Tellico river and ate.   You can see the ducks (look closely) marching along side the river and next to the picnic tables looking for someone to give them some snacks.

The river sounded so peaceful.  It reminded me of going out on the pontoon boat on a really stressful day at the office and just sitting there listening to the water take my stress away.  Jerry took my camera down to the shore line and took a movie so I'll always have the sound of the water to take with me.


Sun was getting close to setting so we had to hurry to make our destination so we had to leave the Tellico (Tellliquah) area but I'll definitely be back to renew.  So what was the hurry?  Jerry told me about the top of this mountain where we could get a 360 degree of the countryside, where we could see the sunset and moon rise at the same time.  Now I'm very partial to sunsets so I was ready to go but I didn't see how it could be my memories of Key West's sunsets or the sunsets from the airport mesa in Sedona AZ but I was willing because, did I mention how much I love sunsets?

Here we go about 20 minutes from Tellico, nearer Coker Creek TN, off Hwy 68, up and up we climb.  There is the sign, Buck Bald Mountain in the Cherokee National Forest.  One lane well maintained gravel, rock road.  We headed up about 30 mph, Jerry assured me we could come down much slower, well pass one car on the way up, over to the side so we can both get by, yep wider than it looked.  Whew!

Jerry said, "are you ready?"  We rounded the switchback curve and OMG, there before us was the handiwork of our God!  Laid out before us was sure enough, a 360 degree view of NC, GA and TN.  This site used to be the home of a fire tower (far tar) and it was obvious a perfect spot for that.

I revert back to the first feeling I had when I viewed the Grand Canyon.  AZ doesn't have anything on TN.  My goodness it was beautiful. and it does take your breath away.  I'm devoting large size pictures so you can get a 2 dimensional feeling of the awesomeness.  We discussed our friends Mike & Michelle from Canada and know this will definitely be a place we will visit when they come to town.





I changed the settings on my new camera to sunsets and wow, the color and detail was much better.  There happened to be a forest fireon the mountain across from us and I'm sure that added to the vibrant colors of the sunset.

If you can see  the V cut in the two mountains, that's where the Hiawassee River cuts through the mountains, Etowah is just to the right over that mountain.  Oh my, guess that's the difference in girls and boys, when I was growing up I never knew this place existed, whereas Jerry just ran the roads and didn't think twice about taking off on a forest road.  He has other places to show me so I'm gonna make the most of it.  We also have plans to take Taylor to some of these places when we are back in July.




We decided  to have our own fire and Jerry likes my firestarters made with toilet paper rolls, dryer lint and candle wax.  They work really well.  Jerry had taken some wood and we just sat on top of the world enjoying the stars, views, talking about life & "stuff" and being in the moment.

The heat from the fire is just right as it's a little chilly up so high.  We should have taken marshmallows or hot dogs and cooked out supper up here.

Jerry had it all planned.  Here I am with a glass of wine, quilt wrapped around me to keep me warm and a hoodie.  What more could one ask for?  I'd say if your a practicing dating, this has all the right elements.  I sure would take this over Olive Garden any day of the week!  LOL

Had to try my hand at a little artsy photography!  It looks like this glass is floating on water rather than a picnic table.  I thought it turned out pretty good.  Jerry said I should have tried it in black & white.  I'l try doing that in Picasa one day.  I like all the different colors though.






Wanted to use my self timer but forgot how to set my back fill light setting on my camera.  Then I remembered coming off the mountain that I had to flip my flash up for it to work.  Oh well, still nice shot of Jerry, me and Mark and then one of Jerry and Mark with a wine glass between them.  BTW the wine was from Savannah Shores winery in Etowah, so we were keeping it local!

The stars looked so close where we were, when we got back we tried to find the same ones and they looked so far away.  It was good to be alone on top of the world. 

Then, I heard a car, actually a truck.  I said, "that truck sound awfully close."  Then we realized we were not going to be along any more.  You have never seen three people move so fast.  Jerry took the cooler and poured the ice on the fire coals to put them out, Mark and I picked up the chairs and were off to the truck.  Of course it was pitch black up here by then, my phone was in the car and I couldn't see so Jerry pulled his phone out and gave me the light to see down the steps.  By the time we got to the car the big old "red neck" truck pulled into the parking area.  We were ready to jump in the truck and lock the doors.  The truck had dark tinted windows but I'd say it was a couple coming up to park.  On our way down we passed another "red neck" truck coming up.

So, it was time to go for us and I'll have to say my "date" would be one I would go back on anytime.  Everything was perfect.  Thanks, Jerry.
Later...

New Camera Canon SX120IS

I just couldn't stand being w/out a camera so I bit the bullet and found a good one at a discount price.  It's a Canon 10 MP 10XOptical Zoom.  It's a little heavier than I'm used to so I'll see how I like it.  I love the results.  Here are a few shots.

Here is parrot, no not Buffet.  Parrot records what is being said by people and then it can be played back.  My Mama really loved this and I have kept it.  I can remember the jokes she used to play on folks.

Here is sock monkey.  I got him as a toy for Sedona but she didn't like it too much so it just rides on the dash.  Good practce zooming with new camera

Here is a close up of Sedona.  I was trying out the different zooms and settings on  the camera.

Of course I had to try out the Power T from my pillow.  Color is great.

We had our first fire at Mark's.  First fire shot with the camera.  Fire was started with my fire starters made with toilet paper cores, dryer lint and candle wax.

Tina (Tinski) and Roy cuddle up 'cause it was cold.

Here are Tina, Roy, Mark, and me.  It was so much fun sitting out on such a cold, clear night. We were sharing stories from the past.  I like how my camera worked at night.

Same ones except we added Jerry (fake Roy) to round out the evening.








Later...

McMinn Central Class of 1969

It finally happened, our 40th class reunion.  It was a success and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  It was held at the C&W Drive-In on the north end of town.  One of our classmates is part owner so it seemed the logical place to have it.  It was casual dress and everyone was able to stand or sit around and talk about old times.  It was good to see everyone and hear of other's memories.

Our t-shirts were donated by another classmate, Jamie, who owns Chota in Englewood TN.  There were 87 people in attendance and for 6 weeks preparation, I think that was a good turnout.  We had 2 principals who attended and one teacher. 

Everyone wanted another reunion soon.  That would be nice if THEY want to get it together.  It takes a lot of time and planning to pull this off.  Joyce Farley and Paul Williams were tireless in getting in contact with everyone.  Nancy Anderson Dalton did a great job with all the pictures, nametags and memories.  Susie Bledsoe kept it going forward.  I'm still not sure what I did except get us together initially.  It was fun, thanks everyone for coming and for working hard.  It wouldn't have happened w/out you.

Later...

Bon Voyage, Carolyn

My BFF, Debbie and her dh, Randy, gave a halloween bon voyage party for me as I was leaving Nashville.

Here they are in their finest Debbie's attempting to blow a bubble and Randy was in full scrubs "playing" a gynecologist.  Debbie, Randy and I met when I moved to Chattanooga in 1973.  They were duplex neighbors.  Debbie always said I was responsible for her going into labor with Melissa because of my spagetti she ate the night she went into labor.  She has always been there for me and I consider her my other sister.  Debbie and Randy are already on my calendar at Key West in May.

 All the guest came in their finest and it was such a good time.

My costume was that of Caribbean Queen.  I was getting ready to address my subjects from above and Debbie, says "look at all your guests."  I was too focused on what I was going to say and she repeated, "look at ALL your guests."

So I did, I looked closely at ALL my guests and standing in the middle of all my peeps, was my son, Jonathan.  He had flown in from So Ga and even dressed up, as Dog the Bounty Hunter.

No wonder I didn't recognize him right off.  I sure didn't expect to see him w/long blonde hair.  LOL

Here is a better view of mom and son, striking? 

Good long-time friend, Bill Williams, as Dracula.  Bill always has GREAT costumes and has won many contest.  In fact, he has beat me out of some good prizes.  Bill and I worked together as colleagues in different departments in state government.

Sandra Williams got creative with her black-eyed pea costume.  Sandra and I worked together in the Department of Personnel and have remained friends forever.  She's gonna keep up with me through my blog and Skype, plus she better come visit me sometime in Somewhere.

Cindy Walker was the Mardi Gras Queen.  Cindy opened her home to me when I sold my condo in April and was sure a gracious & patient hostess.  When I moved to Nashville in 1978, Cindy was responsible for me going to work for state government (do I thank her?) and we have been friends through thick and thin.

Ann and Clyde are my new found friends of eight years.  Ann was the first person I met when I went to work at the TN Wildlife Resources Agency.  It took me another four years to convience her to come work with me in my division.  She did and I'm glad she did.  Hate it that she has to stay there w/out me but she's the best worker and she will do well.  She was responsible for my retirement party and it was a doozy!

Where to begin with this crew?  Dare Bible, Hippie Chic, and I worked together in State Parks.  I have done so much knowing her that I would never have done.  Like?  Zip line at Fall Creek Falls, Rappelling off the falls, stayed in Pawley's Island at a private house for years with great friends, experienced losses of our soul mates and have some really good memories.

Ron and Sandy are soulmates from about 17 years ago when we worked on a project together at Environment & Conservation.  They say I'm responsible for them getting together.  I am glad I got the credit.  Dare, Ron, Sandy and I had lunch Sunday at Ellendales in Nashville before I left.  It was so good to refresh memories and share stories.  Love Ya Mean It!

Melissa and Glenn Atnip, Debbie's daughter & son-in-law have been married since 2002.  They came as Pharoh and Cleopatra and their costumes were so cute.  Melissa and Jonathan are about a year apart in age and they grew up playing Dukes of Hazard.  We took a lot of trips together and they were good company for each other.

Theda Young and I became friends when she was at Pinson Mounds State Park and then renewed our friendship when she became Park Manager at the Bicentennial Mall State Park.  She is the Law Dawg of the YaYa group.  She came to the party as a jail bird with shackles and cuffs.  She is a great caretaker and wonderfully devoted friend.  Theda is also scheduled to visit Key West this spring.  She is now the park manager at Johnsonville Historic State Park and she will be my mail forwarding service while I'm fulltiming.

Missi Dodge is a beautiful friend.  She has such a true heart and a positive outlook on everything.  She is Giggles in our YaYa group.  The other YaYa is Becky Hopper, Lotus, who is now in Henderson NV but came to the party via phone.  Missi and I met through work, however we became friends fast and we know we are there for each other, whenever.

New found friends, Sandra and Jim Hughey, were met through Debbie and Randy.  We have been to many functions together and they are such fun.  A memory I have of Sandra was when I was looking for a birthday present for Randy.  Debbie, Sandra and I went out to dinner and then we went to Hustler in Nashville to find a gag gift for Randy.  We went in and Sandra's mouth went open and her eyes were wide as this was the first time she had been in a place such as this.  It's funnier when told and I guess not so funny in the written word.  Their story of their experience on the "dude" ranch was funny.  If you knew Sandra you wouldn't think she could do cattle rustling.  I think Jim was justifying why he had genuine leather chaps and looked so comfortable in his "costume."

Here is a good picture of mother and daughter, Melissa and Debbie.

Next came the gifts which were totally unexpected but were so appreciated.  One think that I didn't have but really wanted was a camping recliner chair, several of the girls got together and I got one.  It's is just so cool, it's mesh so it will be quick to dry, it also has a locking mechanism so you don't tilt when it's in certain positions.  It's a Lufana.  I just had to try it out. 

Another very needed gift is my snorkling vest.  Safety first, you know.  This will help me keep up with my granddaughter, Taylor, when we go on our snorkling trips.

Of course what every good RVing woman would need is a flamingo beach towel.  Everything I need, a coozie that tells me "It's always 5 o'clock Somewhere and a nice bottle of Wild Turkey American Honey.  And a nice pillow that says "Home is where you hook up."

Oh but what would be a party without games?  There was a game and it had to do with a plunger and toilet paper.  It was fun and funny, here are the supplies and some shots of Jim and Sandra and Melissa and Sandra participating in the game.

And last but not least, what would a Queen be without her throne?

Oh, yes I did!  You all didn't think I would put it in here!

 Later...