Heart of Dixie

It's Official!

The hubs is now retired from work. Even though tomorrow is his last official day, last Friday was his last day at work. On Friday, he had a thank-you cookout for his section and then the department had a retirement reception. He got some really nice gifts - a $350 GPS unit from the division he supervised; $150 gift certificate to Camo Country from the department; and from individuals he got a $50 gift certificate to Mark's Outdoors, a gift card from Wolf Camera (amount unknown but probably $10-25), and a gift card from Bonefish Grill.

We spent the weekend in Atlanta just bumming around. We went to the new Georgia Aquarium, Bass Pro Shop, and Harry's Farmer Market made famous by Alton Brown on Good Eats. We had a great time but we're glad we're home...and so is Dixie! Photos later!

Totally Frustrating Day

It is now almost 1:00 and so far this day has been nothing but frustration, mostly from the Georgia Aquarium "customer service" people. It's my age-old thing, so I won't pull out my soapbox. Suffice it to say that I've probably spent close to $25 on long-distance calls to try to straighten out something they did and they act like they are doing me a favor. Because of what they did, even though I have reservations, I have to stand in line to get my tickets.

growl, growl, growl, growl.

Oh, by the way, in case you ever go there, you have to go through security much like the one at an airport. You cannot take ...and I quote.... knives, guns or fishing poles into the aquarium. Dagnabit...see what I mean? I was all set to fish for one of their sharks and the crummy people won't let me bring my fishing pole in. Oh wait, maybe this is just one of those ploys to get you to spend more money there. They probably sell or rent them for outlandish prices once you get in. Yeah, that's it. Greedy people.

Then the hubs comes home for lunch. I know it was my mood but everything he said or did just irritated the snot out of me. He admits he knows nothing about looking stuff up on the internet, so what does he do while I'm trying to find something for him? Constant instructions, comments and questions about why I didn't do this or that or the other. blah. blah. blah.

growl. growl. growl, growl.

Anyway, I've lost 5 pounds in the last 4 weeks, so I'm really fighting the temptation to eat my way out of this frustration. There's chips and cookies and brownies and cheesecake pudding in there. AAAUUUGGGHHH. I shall be strong, I shall be strong.

If Your Product is New and Improved

does that mean you weren't being honest when you said your last product was the best ever? So, Downy, if your fabric softener is new and improved, why do I have to use twice the amount to get not even the same result as before?

Hardees, you used to advertise that you had good food. Now, when you came out with the Thickburgers, you said that your former food wasn't that good but that you were changing all that with the Thickburgers. That's all you were going to concentrate on just Thickburgers so you could make sure you were serving the best burger. When they first came out they were DELICIOUS! Now they are mashed flat and just not that wonderful. Now you're offering chicken sandwiches and taco salads. So now you've lied to me twice by not sticking to your statement about concentrating only on burgers to keep them the best.

Is there a company that actually tells the truth in their advertisements without spin and exaggeration?

Reflections of the Past

Two events, one yesterday and one today, made me pause and think about past occurrences and how lives change in a blink.

As some of you know, beginning February 1 I'll be cutting back my work hours from 2-3 days per week to 1, possibly two. Yesterday afternoon I spent cleaning out my desk, trashing the junk and trying to better organize what I needed to keep. I basically know where everything is but heaven help someone who may be appointed to my job in the future! What I found was a piece of paper that I had intentionally kept but had not seen it in quite sometime. It was a flight itinerary from Northwest Airlines. Montgomery-Memphis; Memphis-Detroit; Detroit-Manchester NH (yes, Deb, I really have been there too! :-) ) My return flight was cancelled and I have notes scribbled all over the page with phone numbers, re-booking confirmation numbers, new flight numbers and times ... for three different rebookings, none of which ever occurred.

My original return flight date was September 11, 2001.

In today's paper was an obituary for someone two years older than me. I recognized the name just because we went to the same high school but I didn't know him. The name that caught my eye was his surviving wife. She lived across the street from me when I was in the second, third, and fourth grade and we were close friends. When we moved away, her mother told my dad that she was in mourning for weeks, wouldn't eat, wouldn't play with any of the other kids, just moped around all the time. By the time I moved back and was in the same school with her in eighth grade, I was chubby and ugly while she was a cheerleader and very popular and didn't want to restart the friendship. I don't blame her....that's just the way it is in junior high. But seeing her name reminded me of our good times together, and my heart aches for her as I know she must be going through hell right now.

Give yourself a hug from me and give everyone you love a hug or give 'em a call or something to let them know you care.

Four New Experiences..

..with two pair of jeans. I recently bought two pair of jeans at Kohl's. The first experience was that I have never bought any "already look worn" jeans or any embellished jeans. One pair I bought had both, although the embelishment part was nicely done, not to any extreme.

The other new experiences came with the second pair of jeans. First they were low rise, or maybe mid-rise - I'll admit I'm not conversant on the exact points of either :-) Anyway, it was the first pair I've bought that I felt comfortable in. I do have one other pair but they aren't stretchy, so they don't feel as comfy around the tummy pooch as these do. Second...and the most unbelievable of all...they are too long, even with boots with 2" heels!! At almost 5'8", I have always had difficulty in buying jeans that are long enough, even with just flat shoes or tennis shoes. Sometimes they were a good length when I bought them but would shrink after washing and drying. I guess I have the trends of jeans that drag the ground and jeans worn with high heels to thank for this.

CONGRATULATIONS TO DEB AND SCOTT! They are getting married this Friday. Best wishes for a long and happy life together!

It's a rainy, dreary day here. Of course it's the very day that I was running later than usual and had to park on the uncovered top deck. I just hope it's not raining when I leave at 5:00.

Greetings, Earthlings

well, I guess this is the part I'm supposed to say something interesting or humorous or offer some thoughtful insight to some moral question. Well, errrr, ummmm, geez, I just don't think it's gonna happen today!!

Once again I have been trying to shed some pounds and inches. Although I've not had outstanding, woweeee results, I thought I had been doing okay. Until today. When I saw myself in the mirror wearing white sweatpants. Holy moley. I thought about scanning the internet to see if some aquarium had lost an albino whale. ::shudder::

It's a nice day here. Mostly/partly cloudy skies but the temps aren't too bad.

I must be weird or something because I don't like to chat on the phone. For some reason, I'm just ill at ease talking on the phone. Maybe my basic shyness. I do emails or private messages or bulletin board posts all day long. I've even gotten to where I can be chatty face to face, but the telephone is just not my thing.

There was no need to make up a story :(

Last year about this time, I was talking to someone I'll call Jane. Jane is a really sweet person and I like her a lot. Somehow we got on the subject of roller coasters. I said I did not like them at all and that the last time I was on one I promised God if he got me off safely I'd never get back on another. I told her that I kept my promise except for the one time I was tricked into getting on one (the line where you got on it and where you got into the car did not indicate it was a roller coaster. I was told by a now ex-friend it was not a roller coaster...but I digress).

Jane surprised me by saying that she had never, ever, in her entire life been on a roller coaster. She's probably in her early 40's and, at one time, she and her kids lived near a major amusement park, so she had plenty of opportunity. I said, "Never? How come?" She explained that when was 14 a friend of her mother's had gotten seriously hurt on one. Even though it was a freak accident, she was always too scared to ride on one.

So fast forward about a year. In another setting that included a bunch of other people, Jane talked extensively about the time when she was 12 and went with some friends to an amusement park and some story that had to do with when they .... yep .... rode a huge roller coaster.

I didn't even hear the story. I was too dumbfounded when I heard the part about when she rode on a roller coaster. I tried to mentally explain away the differences in the two stories, but there was nothing to reconcile. She definitely told me she had never, ever been on one and here she was saying she had.

I didn't say anything to her then or even later when I had a chance when no one else was around. Nothing good could have come of it and I didn't want to embarrass her. It still bothered me though. It made me wonder what else she had told me that may have skirted the truth.

Sad to think that she felt she had to make something up, either to me or the group. Very sad.

Thurday Thirteen

as seen at Sugarfused .....

Thirteen things I will not eat
1. Liver
2. Heart
3. Gizzards
4. Kidneys
(maybe I should have just combined these into one category called Animal Organs)
5. Oysters--raw, in stew, fried, it matters not
6. Dark meat fowl
7. Mushrooms
8. Almost everything prepared on the original Iron Chef show. Now granted, I've never tried any of it but most of the ingredients sound so heinous! Fish eyeballs, for gosh sakes.
9. Cooked spinach - raw is okay in salads
10. Sardines
11. Brains - my step-grandfather used to eat pork brains and scrambled eggs. MAJOR ICK
12. Anything so spicy that all I can taste is HOT. I don't get why people spend a lot of money on food and then douse it in hot sauce or a ton of curry. Why not just get cheap bread and put the same stuff on it? You'll save yourself a lot of money and get the same effect.
13. Mostly any pepper, with the exception of ground black pepper and sometimes yellow bell pepper.

What about you?

The Auburn Dachshunds

"Dachshund" is German for badger dog. Dachshunds were bred to hunt badgers. My Auburn Tigers played so pitifully against the Wisconsin Badgers that I think if we ever have to play them again that they should let dachshunds be on the team. Apparently Tigers can't handle Badgers very well. Auburn Coach Tommy Tuberville and Braves Manager Bobby Cox must have studied the same "how to play in postseason" book. Both teams in the regular season look awesome but then look lame in the postseason.

A nice thing happened to the hubs today. After 34+ years of working for the State of Alabama, he'll be retiring at the end of this month. Today in the mail he got a note from someone he helped about two years ago. It was someone that used to work for him but, because of family circumstances, he asked to transfer to their office in another city. The hubs contacted the chief of the other office and got the transfer set up. The guy heard that John was retiring and wrote him a congratulatory note and thanked him for being a straight shooter and helping him get the transfer he needed. Enclosed with the note was a gift certificate for $25 to one of our favorite restaurants. A classy thing to do.

Wacky Weather

It was nearly 80 degrees and clear skies. He was working outside, sweat dripping down his face and neck .... this is NOT the opening passage of a bodice-ripper that begins in the summertime. It was reality - today - January 2. The sweat-dripping part was also real but no Fabio hunk. Just the hubs helping a friend wire a workshop :D Sheesh - it's supposed to be winter. However, it appears that we will have winter by Friday, when the forecast high is 49.

Another weird weather phenomenon. One day last week I was in the kitchen on the phone with the above-referenced hubs when I heard a loud noise. I couldn't figure out what it was at first. I told him to hold on, put the phone down, and walked into the den, where the windows look out to the front and back of the house. I then thought it might be wind and looked out the windows to the back but didn't see any leaves or limbs moving. Not unusual, though. Where the house is situated, sometimes we get only high, treetop winds, but I didn't see anything when I moved closer to the window and looked up. The noise was getting louder.

I then realized it sounded like a hard rain on the metal roof, but it wasn't raining. At least out the back window. I then turned and looked out the front windows and it was pouring down rain! Nothing out back but coming a gulley-washer out front! Apparently the edge of the rainstorm was literally over my house! In another minute or so, there were some raindrops hitting the patio but it never was as hard as the front!

The another wacky weather change. One second the rain's coming down hard, at least out front, and the next .... nothing .... the sun was brightly shining, out all windows!

Maybe the conversation a friend and I recently had about the supernatural had something to do with it. Maybe? Hmmmmmm.