OKC is OK with me.

I had a great time this weekend visiting the BFF and her family. The Good Major hammed it up for the camera, obviously not thinking about the photos later appearance on the world wide web . . . or maybe he did. Hmm. Hard to tell. Biscuit and I shared fajitas. Perfect plan minus his trying to give away my pica de gallo which is totally unacceptable.He quickly realized the error of his ways and returned the pica to my side of the table ; )

Feeling Urban

Yesterday Randy and Diana and I made plans to meet up in old Plano. This is big fun for me because I take the DART train up to Plano, walk over to the pub, and then when I go home, I have a 45 minute period to contemplate life, if you will, before getting back in the car to drive home.

As always, Diana was dressed to the nines. She got the very cute dog purse for Christmas. The interior of the purse matches her jacket, or should I say, her jacket matches the purse. We have been to this pub before, and I say with great confidence that they make the BEST cosmos that I've ever had. I mean, ding dong freaking good. I'm slightly flushed from sun and cosmos cause it was like 80 degrees yesterday and I had a couple of their yummy drinks.

Do I look bowlegged in this picture? I'm thinking I might.

This is probably my last hurrah for a while since school starts tomorrow. sigh. I thinking I'm sliding into a funk as I write.

Hour 48 into family vaca

OK, sorry I haven't written in a while . . . but we now have less than 24 hours left in the vacation. You know, the one that I got as a Christmas gift to go to Florida with my parents, sister and her family. . . the golfing vacation as it turns out. Only one problem with that . . . yup. I don't golf. Sigh.

It actually has been ok. I arrived Monday at about noon. Got into town, had lunch, they went to play golf I hung out. Yesterday we went to the beach. It is a little too brisk for comfortable tanning, but I did give it a good effort. We watched the manatees swim and then headed back.

Today they went golfing again, but at least I got the keys to the car and went to the mall. Tonight we celebrate Dad's bday at Outback Steak House.

Tomorrow morning we get up at the crack of dawn to head towards the airport. Their flight leaves from Miami at 11:30, and mine leaves from West Palm Beach at 1:30. Yes, I'll be at the airport all dingdong day.

Curse me and my foolish ways

Sooooooo, yes, I dragged myself out and ran. Well, not run so much as walk and what I hoped was a brisk pace. I had two layers of pants on, three layers on top, an ear muff, hat, scarf and gloves. The clothing alone added an extra ten pounds. Who can run with that kind of extra weight?????

I ran a little bit, but it was running with long bouts of walking.

Got him and Scott, my handyman extraordinaire came by and asked if I wanted to go to lunch . . . yes, it is a well-known fact that I have no life at this point, and I'm up for pretty much anything.

I went to see Quantum of Solace with another friend. Oh my. Why, Lord, can't I have Daniel Craig . . . or someone very similar? Yowza.

I'm basically walking like a 90 year old woman at this point. Slowly and with pain when I get up and down. Sigh.

I've promised myself tomorrow I stay home and ACCOMPLISH THINGS. We'll see how that goes.

Christmas Wrappings

Please pretend you hear The Waitresses singing 'Christmas Wrappings' as you scroll through my lovely Christmas decorations photos. ( I say this because, as many know, it is the greatest Christmas song ever written.)

I decorated happily jamming to my Ipod the Friday after Thanksgiving (may have already blogged this, but what the heck.) It was the first time in years that I had no pressure to be doing anything else, so I was truly able to enjoy myself. Sabrina hardly paid any attention as I decorated. She was much more interested in the goings on occurring on the street. I managed to make the front room completely festive, and the rest of the house slightly festive. Thus giving the people passing by the idea that I really know how to celebrate Christmas without actually having the entire house fru-fru-ed up. I placed the nativity in the front room and prayed that the stupid dogs wouldn't go running in there, slam into the table and destroy my beautiful pieces. In addition I decorated my hybiscus (notice the baby nutcracker and little berries tied to its limbs, AND I decorated the ficus plant with bows. Ah, I do so love the holidays : )

Happy Thanksgiving

So I woke up bright and early this morning. . . with a headache. Shoot me. At any rate, I got myself together in time for MaryBeth et al to pick me up, so that we could participate in the biggest cluster @uck you can be a part of on Thanksgiving. 34,000 people most of whom on a 3 mile path through downtown.

They dropped me back off at home, before heading north. I did a drive-by on my friends R and D because they gave me a domain for Christmas. Unorthodox, I admit, but then so are they.

Then I headed over to MB's brother's house. He fried a turkey, and it was so freaking good I could hardly stand it. Sadly, fried turkey may need to be on the "unapproved list for girls without gall bladders" damn.

I did fall into a small tryptophan stupor for a while, but I was able to recover enough to eat some pecan pie. Then we headed over to the in-laws. Yes, I've basically broken her entire family (including in-laws) to just expect me at all events.

Going to Georgia

Because I am such a good friend : ) I went to Fort Benning, Georgia with my friend Roseanne to watch her son, Drew, graduate from basic training before he headed off to college at Texas Tech. She was very proud, and after 15 weeks, he was very lean. A lean mean fighting machine. The first day we walked around Columbus (not a lot to see as it turns out). It was Drew's first walk in the outside world since he had arrived at Fort Benning in June. I was very proud of the fact I was able to figure my way around the base because of visiting MaryBeth at her many locations around the world. We did stop on our cruise through town long enough to get a photo of the "LSU" house. We both thought of Dad and how he would enjoy living in and/or across the street from a house with such lovely colors . . . On our return trip, I took a gander out the window of the airport to contemplate the hard work of our local baggage handlers. I had to take a photograph because I was so impressed. I hope you can see the arrows. The first arrow points to the baggage handler at the end of the machine ready to catch the bags at a moments notice and toss them onto the little truck to be delivered to all of the passages. The second arrow points to the ONLY PIECE OF LUGGAGE on the machinery. Once he caught it and tossed it, another appeared. . . ONE AT A FREAKING TIME. I don't know how Southwest airlines ever gets ontime arrival status if that is how slowly luggage is unloaded before the plane takes off for its next stop. Yowza. Impressively slow. That is all I'm saying!

Pictures from San Francisco

I just had to look at the pictures on my camera to realize that a. I haven't downloaded any pictures or deleted any off the camera in over a month which mean b. I really haven't been keeping up with the little things in quite some time. I'm lucky I remember to wipe my butt from the looks of things. So, first and foremost, how about some pictures from my many adventures? I say yes!

So, first, my San Francisco trip. Annette got a photo of GK and me. We went to downtown San Fran the first day and walked around China Town etc.

We had dinner at a place called Max's. GK's credit card has Tinkerbell on it. Annette held it so that I could snap a photo because he has this theory that women are like Tinkerbell. Very cute, very loving, until you make us mad, and then you better look out. Poor man, might be a little scarred from his marriage. We went to Santa Cruz with a friend of Annettes and Alexander. Alexander, GK and I did a little Bumper Car Boogie that afternoon. GK was a total sweetheart because I told him I yearned to go to Heartz Castle, not realizing how freaking far away it was from his house. The place is very cool. It had a beautiful swimming pool. Made me want to have another pool. A little bit. I also took a bunch of photos of plants and trees that I want in my yard. I really want a big honking Lemon Tree.

We had to ride a bus up to the top. In front of me sat one of the most annoying children. It was, "mama" this and "mama" that. I wanted to choke the oxygen out of his little lungs. (By that point, I might have been a little stressed from other factors.

I don't remember where we were when we pulled out of a gas station and saw the "Max for Mayor" banner. Cracked me up. I thought it was a pretty good slogan.

I did not get any photos of us rollerskating. Let me rephrase that. Annette, her friend and I rollerskated. GK felt he would be wise to stay on the sidelines. It was really a lot of fun. It is now on my list to do in Dallas, especially since I actually have my own indoor roller skates.

As another update, I thought I'd mention GK now has a house about six blocks from the old house. He is getting settled in and I think the kids are grooving on the idea of having a calm place to go away from the stress of their mother.

Last Saturday

For the last Saturday of freedom before school starts, I have failed to use it properly. I worked from 8-12:30. I'm impressed that most of the girls did show up and they worked hard. I left early, but they had to leave by 3. The janitors get really cranky if we don't leave in a timely fashion.

I finally used the Spa pass my editors got me at the banquet in the spring. I went to Red Door and got a massage, facial, manicure, pedicure and make-up. Probably could have done without the make-up, but it was all super nice. Diane and I made plans to do something this evening, but she ended up going to dinner with her daughters and doing stuff with them. Oh well, so much for a final hoorah.

I am now committed for the next four months to staying on a schedule and working on the book. I have to be dedicated and focused. No accepting invitations to do stuff. Hard core. If I have friends at the end of the four months, it will be a miracle. But there will be a book at the end of four months, there will be a book.

I walked the dogs as sweat poured off of me. Yikes. Emily is out of town, so I have been grabbing her papers for her. I threw yesterday's in the house after walking the dogs. Looks like I should have walked them farther. As you can see they had some energy left to destroy the paper. How sweet. They aren't always naughty. They play like mad things in the yard. You can see the pool in the top left corner, Sabrina is really too big for the pool. They also get the pool dirty and nasty because they get in and out so much. They fight to see who gets to stay in the pool. Silly doggies. I looked out the kitchen window at one point, and they were actually sitting quietly! I'm not sure if you can see how much bigger Sabrina is than Buddy, but she is about twice his size. I have to be careful coming out of the bedrooms. When they start chasing each other circling the house, they are as likely to knock me down as not. Of course, if Buddy stops suddenly and Sabrina is too close then she skids over him because she is so much taller. If I could catch that on film, I would post it in a heartbeat. And then there are the moments I live for . . . they wear themselves out and sleep! I tried to get video of it because Sabrina makes a lot of noise when she sleeps. Snores, snorts, barks etc., but as soon as I started to try she got quiet. Rats. Time for me to go to bed. I have a schedule to keep!

The worse things get, the funnier the blog

I'm contemplating this comment as I prepare to write about today. Our last day on the family vaca. Where shall I begin . . .

We have been talking off and on all week about going horseback riding. Katherine, Cassie and Lydia had all said that they wanted to go. We called yesterday a couple of times but were never able to reach anyone. Some of the group (most of the adults) were going to go to some cheesy museum and shop in the cherokee indian shop. Some of the group (most of the kids, Dad and David) were going tubing on the river. (By river, I really mean something that once was river like but is now mostly rock with a thin layer of water.)

This morning Katherine managed to get someone, found out that we could have a 12:00pm appt for a 2 hour horse ride and hung up. We'd had such a hard time reaching them in the first place that it hardly seemed worth it to call back and confirm that 1. since they are under sixteen does it have to be their parents to sign permission for them to ride? 2. confirm the location 3. find out if there is anything specific that we needed to wear etc. 4. confirm that they take credit cards. (Do you already have a sense that there are several ways for this to go wrong?)

So, we head out. We get there (so we think) but don't see a sign or anything like that. We call. Luckily we get through. The guy tells us that we are at his house. (expletives deleted) He tells us that it is about 20 minutes away, and we'll probably be late and most likely only be able to ride for an hour.

So, we go back out onto 19 then back to 74 past the hwy that leads to the lodge another 1/2 mile. We pass it. Turn around go back. Turn in to an area when we see a sign about horseback riding, but are there a lot of signs that clearly direct us back through the woods to the place where the actual stable is? Hell no. So we putz around a little more, ask a guy for directions and finally get there. We are only 10 minutes late. On the up side the guy is impressed with our time. Does he take credit cards? No. However, he is very nice and says after we ride I can go back up to the main lobby of the resort (they use that term loosely) and pay there and bring him the receipt back.

Within five minutes of being on the horse I think to myself that a 2 hour horse ride is about 1 1/2 hrs too long. sigh. Katherine and Lydia had never ridden before so I think that they really enjoyed the ride. Cassy and I had ridden enough that we were a wee bit bored, but it was a lovely ride. I was on Pearl. A lovely horse with no interest in trotting. So, every once in a while the guide would pick up the pace. All the horses would pick it up except Pearl who obviously felt it was a waste of her effort if it was anything less than a gallop.

Our two hours ended and then we headed out to meet up with the group that went tubing down the river. We stop, rent our tubes ($3.00 pop, total power buy) toss them on top of the car (it is impressive, we saw one car go down the road with 6 tubes on top. I have no idea of why they don't fall off) and we head down the road.

We arrive at the park and see David by the car, so we pull up beside him. Dad is sitting in the front seat of the mini-van, and he does not look well. He looked 10 years older. I don't know what happened, the river was really low, so if you weigh more than 120lbs, half your time is spent trying to dislodge the tube from the rocks. So, Dad spent quite a bit of time dislodging his tube, when he got off the river, he immediately got sick.

The girls had gone to change clothes, so I left their tubes with David, grabbed mine, tossed it back on the car and got Dad. I dropped by tube back where we got it and took Dad home.

By the time I got back to the river, (almost an hour later, these places are not close) David and the kids had gone back up the river to tube down. So, I hung out there for a while, before I saw David returning to the car because he had a business call he had to take. So I headed up to check on the kids. I had a suit, but it was in the bag that had been with the girls, I could have grabbed it, but I figured it would take too long.

It's about a mile from the car to the place where they put the tubes in the water. I saw them in the water about half way down and walked then rest of the way, and then walked with them back up. Then walked with them down. Then walked with them up. Then walked with them down. David meets up with us at this point and we all trek to the top for a final run. I walk down. We get the tubes and start walking to the cars when I realize. . . I DON'T HAVE THE CAR KEYS. I'm sure you hear the panic in my voice.

Me" OH MY GOD"
David "What's wrong?"
Me "OH CRAP"
David "What's wrong?"
Me "The car keys"
David "What about them"
Me "I don't have them"
David "To the car"
Me "Yup, to the car"
David "Do you need to go back to the top and look for them?"
Me "I don't think so"
David"Why not?"
Me "Because I don't think they are there" "Oh crap, I better go up"

So I head back up searching, searching, searching. No keys. I get about half way back down when my phone lets me know that I have a couple of messages. I check them. One is from the travel agent I use for all of my school stuff (I don't even think they made this reservation) they let me know that they gave Hertz my cell phone number. The second call is from Hertz giving me Joe's number who has my keys. (I hear singing in the background, hallelujah chorus I believe) I call Joe. But Joe does not have my keys. Joe's wife has my keys. She set off up the path quite some time ago. She's in pink and very short. He also tells me that the keys were found by someone who hung them in a tree. Someone else saw that and thought that was a poor idea (No kidding especially since my eyes had been glued to the ground, it never occurred to me to look up for them.). They took the keys and headed to the parking lot. In the parking lot they met up with Joe and his wife who were parked by my car and had a cell phone. So, Joe called etc.

Cassy and Katherine met up with me on the path. I knew that if I didn't get some water I was going to pass out and/or start barfing. So I head to David's car on the way to my car (apparently he moved his car after his phone call to be closer to the river.) Katherine and Cassy say that they are going to keeping heading to my car, I say that I'll meet them there. I grab a water. David is surrounded by 42 tubes. Ok, not that many, but a lot. I get Lydia who is ready to put shorts on and screech at her that she can do that later. We grab her tube and the 2 tubes of Katherine and Cassy and head towards my car.

Had a camera been on my face at this point, I would be getting a million hits a minute on YouTube. I arrive at the parking lot with Lydia and come to a dead halt.

Lydia "What"
Me "The cars gone"
Lydia "Are you sure?"
Me "Yes"
Lydia "Is that it?"
Me "Holy Crap no, the car is gone."

Lydia says this conversation took all of 30 seconds. I think it lasted a hell of a lot longer than that before we look up at the road to see Katherine and Cassie in the car driving towards David's car. (Expletives) "Stop the freaking car" or words to that effect. They are now stopped on a two lane road (without a lot of shoulder). I mention to them that I was looking for the car to be where I left it, it was illegal for them to be driving it etc etc. Screeching ensues. Andrew and Travis are in the back. I boot them out and send them walking towards David's car. I screech at the girls to get the tubes on the car and their butts in the car. We head towards the next parking lot so that I can turn around. We pass David. He picks up the boys.

As we are heading back, I see that I have a missed call. I say the number out loud. Katherine says that she thinks it is the cabin. I call it. It is Joe. Sooooooo I say thank you again. As I am thanking him we come around a corner just as a stray dog is coming around the corner from the other direction. I almost wreck the car. Hang up with Joe.

We, thank you, Lord, make it back to the cabin without further incident. I mix a stiff drink, and then we have dinner.

Now, which of you is NOT thinking this is totally typical of how my world works??? I almost had a cornary. A couple of times. Crikey.

At any rate, I knew I had to get this on the blog before I forgot. Too good to not post. Now everyone is playing dictionary. It is a painful game that someone in this family made up. Someone reads a word from the dictionary, everyone then tries to write what they think it means and whoever gets closest wins. Luckily I made another drink, so I think I'm ready to play. shoot me.

I leave for the airport at 7:00am in the morning. More later.

Family Photo and the Biltmore

We seem to wake up in waves. Fran, Travis and Lydia and I are usually in the first wave (I admit I have wandered between waves.) Then Gabe, Nicole, Grace, Cassy, Mom, Dad, Monica and Andrew in differing order. Then the final appearances of Jim, Giovanna, Keith, David and Katherine. This morning was picture day. That meant that every one got up and arrived in the kitchen in varying states of dress but all had to return after putting on the mandatory white shirt and jeans.

17 people. 2 cameras. We basically have about 3 photos and that’s it. Let’s hope one of them was good.

Then most of us (only Katherine in Keith’s family came) headed to the Biltmore. By the time we got there it was lunch time, so we had lunch had the world’s spiffiest McDonald’s ever. It had a player piano and columns!

The Biltmore is very big with lots of rooms and no a/c. That’s right, no a/c. So, Katherine, Cassy, Travis and I led the pack as we cruised through. We came, we saw, we moved on. David was just a little bit behind us Couldn’t take the pressure of moving as slowly as some of the pack. Fran and Jim broke down about half way through the house and left the slow ones to make their way. That left Monica, Mom and Dad. You know Dad wasn’t the problem. Monica was on the fence if you ask me, but Mom was going to get every last bit of her $30.00’s worth. Apparently if there was anything to read or learn, she was reading and learning. If the answers weren’t in the book we bought, she found a guard and asked. So cute. So glad I was in the first group.

This is probably the first time I’ve even had a few moments of being relatively alone. I was in the first car back with Fran, Jim and Cassy. Solitude didn’t last. Keith’s family arrived from their adventures about 5 minutes ago, and I just heard David gunning it up the driveway. So much for alone time.

Quick update

Good news. Things have improved tremendously. Yesterday was our day of White Water Rafting. ooohhh aaahhhh. The morning was fairly mundane with people reading the paper, working on computers and some of the kids watching Pride and Prejudice.

The river rafting was tons of fun. We were in 3 rafts. We had guides in two of the rafts, but poor Jim had to be the guide for the 3rd one. (It had three 13 year olds, Cassie (17) and I.) It was the ADD raft. Jim would hollar out paddle. Then within about 3 strokes we were all looking around aimlessly with Jim yelling "paddle, I didn't say stop". Almost immediately our boat got turned around. We hit a big ole rock and Jim bounces off the back . . . holy cow he is hopping up and trying to get out of the way of the raft which is ready to pick up speed now that it bounced almost 200lbs out, my mouth is hanging open and his paddle is floating down the river.

He grabs hold of the back and is trying to get in when I FINALLY remember they gave us instruction before we began that in such an instance someone INSIDE the raft should help the person outside of the raft by pulling on either side of the top of the life vest which I did began doing immediately. I hauled him in and handed him my paddle post haste. He was ok, and we got help from others getting the paddle and one of his shoes which had floated off and away.

The rest of the float down was not so exciting (thank heavens) and everyone in the other boats managed to stay on. We were all keeping our eyes on Mom and Dad, but they did great. Although word on the street is that they had trouble remembering which side of the raft they were on. When instructions were hollared on 3 strokes on the left . . . they were slow on the pick up and required some reminders that they were on the left.

After that, the adults all went to dinner. We celebrated Mom and Dad's 50th anniversary AND Fran and Jim's 22nd anniversary (since it was actually on Tuesday). The service was awful, but the food was delicious.

We returned to the cabin and the kids had set up a cake that Monica had ordered and picked up and decorated the table. It was really cute. I was ready to fall into my cake at that point, so I quickly ate and then headed to bed.

Today we took our little caravan of vehicles and drove to some water falls, took a walk up to the waterfalls and then walked back to the cars for a picnic lunch. We were a motley crew and quite a few of us required multiple breaks.

After we ate we took a drive through the Smoky Mountains. We got out at the top of some mountain or another and walked to the very top. I have got to get in better shape. That is all I have to say. No, really I have a couple of other things to say. Keith is leading the way on today's adventures, and I feel better knowing I was not the only family member that was quite done with walking, walking uphill and nature in general by the end of the day. Specifically, I like nature. It's great. Pretty blah, blah blah, but enough is enough already.

We got back and had dinner (soooo good). Jim made London Broil. Mind you, dinner wasn't until about 8pm because we were out in nature for about 8 hours. We keep eating so late. I'm going to be lucky to not have any gnaw marks on my arms by the time I get home.

Tomorrow we are supposed to go to the Biltmore. Keith is going to be taking any people not burned out on nature for another walk through woods or some such while the rest of us going see how the rich and famous have lived. Feel free to guess which group I'll be with.

The final arrivals

Last night was not what I would call a good night's sleep. I don't know what my problem was. 1. I couldn't go to sleep. 2. I kept imagining I was hearing noises (I swear at one point I heard a car engine, so I thought my rental car was being stolen, then I heard a door upstairs, so I feared a burglar was breaking in and stealing stuff.) I heard noises all night. When I wasn't hearing noises I 3. had to go the bathroom once an hour. I finally gave up the battle a little after 6:30. I was awake long before everyone else. Maybe with the arrival of Fran I'll have company when I'm awake at the crack of dawn.

This morning Katherine, Andrew, Lydia, Gabriel, Cassy, Travis and I went swimming in the lake. We even swam across and back. I made everyone stay together so that if a boat came speeding by we would at least be a group of bobbing heads in the water. Good defensive swimming, don't you think?

While we were in the water, Monica, David, Nicole and Grace (Keith and Giovanna’s youngest) went to the Fontana Dam.

When we were done swimming, we came back up to the house, cleaned up and then the rest of us headed to the dam. Now, in the words of Keith the dam was “very close” turns out that he wasn’t perfectly clear on where the dam was because it was really quite far off. The Fontana Dam is one of the ones built by the TVA between 1942 and 1945. It is the tallest dam in the Eastern United States.

On the way back, at the urging of Cassy and Katherine who were in my car (with Dad too), we lept ahead of the pack. David is a very conscientious driver which loosely translates as slower than snot. We had to stop for gas, but managed to get back on the road and arrive at the house as David was just driving up.

We were back and started lunch (late lunch about 2pm) when Fran and Jim arrived. Hooray! What a happy cheerful pixie face! And it was great to see Fran too. Ha ha.

Fran, Jim, Katherine and I went to Cherokee because Katherine had forgotten her swimming shoes and Fran hadn't brought a suit. Luckily, I knew just where to go.

Fran brought two of her laptops and one of them has wifi, so we are able to access the internet anywhere that there is cell phone access. Oh happy, happy, joy, joy

Keith has started working on dinner ( steak kabobs), sadly he just told Monica that dinner won't be ready until 7:30!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm gonna die!!!!!!!!!!

My face is a little pink from our water adventure, and tomorrow we go river rafting. Can't wait to see how that goes.

The gathering continues to grow

Unfortunately, Cassie and I got back to the house at 6:15, so we were late for dinner. Tension continues to reign. I have no idea of why or how to make it stop.

Keith, Giovanna and their 5 children: Katherine, Andrew, Lydia, Gabriel and Grace arrived shortly after 8pm. We had saved dinner for them, so they sat down to eat and M, D, Cassy, Travis and I sat down to watch. It was a bit like animals in the zoo but they were able to eat their food even with all of us watching!

After dinner, Mom sat with the kids for a while, so I got a photo. She was in her happy place. Monica is in a better mood now that Keith and Giovanna are here. Now that I think about it, David seems to be in a better mood too. I’m going to try not to think too extensively about this.

I am praying when Fran and Jim arrive it gets better, but Fran called a little while ago to let us know she had arrived at Monica’s (they will come up here tomorrow). Monica hopped up to get the phone and headed straight outside to talk, so we know that means she was venting to Fran which is great, maybe it will help. I can only hope so.

If the noise level is any indication, the kids are having a great time. I’m not sure of what they are doing on the third floor, but they are noisy!!

I forgot to add the picture of the goat. While Cassy and I were in search of a swimsuit, we cruised by this house with a goat hanging out in the front. I’m pretty sure the goat was the family pet. I still don't have the pic available. I'll get it at some pt.

The beginning of the End

Please allow me to describe the scene. David, Monica’s husband, isn’t talkative to begin with but our crowd generally causes him to stop talking completely. He’s a man who likes his world ordered and a particular way (Did I had he is an only child, of an only child, with only one child). Dad has just been home 3 days before catching a plane to Atlanta. Please keep in mind Dad is a homebody and he’d already been traveling for 2 weeks with Mom in Alaska. As far as I’m concerned, we’re operating on borrowed time. I, of course, enter the scene like a beaten dog, every once in a while I’m foolish enough to stick my head up and speak, but I’m usually beaten into submission fairly quickly.)

There are only 8 of us here at this point, but we went through a loaf of bread before Monica, David and Nicole got back from church. So, when they got back there wasn’t enough bread for 3 sandwiches. Uh oh.

While they had gone to church, Mom, Dad, Cassie, Travis and I went on an expedition tour. We drove and drove and the road got narrower and narrower. We stopped when we reached a tree across the road that was too heavy to move. We saw a man walking down the road from the other direction. Turns out it was his driveway. Oops. There was absolutely no indication that the road was private at that point, actually the tree fell right before his driveway. He said that most of the land belonged to the forest service. Only about 45 acres was private and that was land that had been owned for a very long time So, we turned around and went back. It’s almost noon at this point and Dad declares himself hungry. You know what that means. It was time to eat and eat immediately. We didn’t know how long Monica et al would be at church 1-2 hours depending. (Hey, it’s the country, there is no telling how long the service might last.) So, we got back and immediately ate. Then we started another grocery list of what we needed to get.

Monica called on their way back from church much put out. She said we were supposed to have chicken for lunch not sandwiches. When I mentioned the lack of bread and cheese, I think she was still thinking about the meal mix-up. So, when they got home and she saw there wasn’t enough bread for three sandwiches, things went from bad to worse.

The air was tense after their return, so you’ve never seen 5 people move so fast to go to the grocery store. We got a ton of stuff at the grocery store. By the end of our little trip, Dad started getting cranky. I mean craaannnnkkkyyy. We returned to . . . the silent treatment. Monica looks innocent and says she is not giving us the silent treatment, but I’m telling you I know the silent treatment when I’m getting it.

So, M, D, Cassie, Travis and I took the little path down to the lake. Please translate this as very narrow, very, very steep path to the rocky steep shoal by the water. Mom, Dad and I were panting and took a little while to catch our breath while Cassie and Travis were skipping rocks. They are quite proficient at it too. On the plus side, the water looks like it is great swimming water. (I couldn’t find any of my swimming suits, so if I can find a Target or something I’ll try to go buy one.)

Now, we sit. Monica, Travis and Nicole are playing cards, David is watching a baseball game, M and D are reading the newspaper, and I’m typing madly. I hate the thought that by the time I get internet I might forget some of the precious moments that will need to my complete alcoholic haze. So, I’m going to keep track until I can finally upload.

I have my certains about being able to find any internet. The closest starbucks is 50 miles away.

Cassy and I went in search of a swimming suit since I couldn't find any of mine. We started out going to Knoxville, but then I decide that was too freaking far away. So GPS said Pidgeon Forge was closer, but we totally were backtracking. Then we saw a sign that said Cherekee. It spoke to us, and there we were. Now have a swimsuit, it ain't pretty but it covers the naughty bits. Sadly, the fat still pokes through. Then we walked down the street a wee bit. Then we headed home with the laptop in Cassy's lap. Lo and behold, the Teddy Bear Motel has unprotected internet. They probably have a lot of unprotected something else too, but I'm trying not to think about it. Hooray! I found internet. Let's hope I can find this place again!!

Ta ta for now

The trip to Bryson City

I am off to Bryson City, NC. Where is Bryson City you ask? You will have to Google it because I’m not exactly sure myself.

Roseanne picked me up at 10am. She was running her long run (16 miles) which was supposed to be done by about 9am, but it was hot, muggy and slow goings, so she finished right before picking me up. On the plus side, I was congested, so I had to take her word for it that she smelled. I sat beside a very large girl leaving Dallas after her first MaryKay Summer Meeting, and she was quite excited about it all. I think she wanted to talk, but I quickly gave the international signal for don’t talk to me by picking up my book and putting on my headphones. Across the aisle was a young girl, maybe 13-15. I thought of Dad. She talked the ENTIRE trip. Total stream of consciousness a constant barrage of sound. She made my ears hurt. In front of me holding a baby was the poor woman this girl clapped her eyes on as entertainment for the trip. All I can say is better her than me.

Changed planes in Cincinnati, I was going to grab a bite, and sit in the little café. Thank heavens I didn’t because it turns out that I had to go wait for a bus to take me to the next terminal (that took forever to show up) and then the terminal was very, very long. Yikes. I would have never made it.

For the final flight, I sat beside a guy flying from California, where he was stationed in the marine corp. He said he was going home for 2 weeks, then to Iraq for 7months, then college. He was nice and interesting, so we talked most of the way. The best part was when he began to describe his hurt ankles, trick shoulder, etc. All of his injuries added up to make him feel really old. I believe his words were, “I feel like I’m 30.” Ouch. The blade sinks in.

I arrived in Asheville a few minutes after 6pm. I’d been calling Hertz since Wednesday begging for GPS in the car. Luckily, they had one car that had it. Yippee. Headed towards Whistle stop Lodge middle of nowhere North Carolina and arrived by about 8pm.

Monica and David drove up yesterday with Nicole, Mom, Dad, Cassy and Travis. (They came up to Dallas early to go with Mom and Dad since Fran and Jim couldn’t come until Monday)

Mom started getting antsy at about 7:30, so she called about every ten minutes after that. Good thing I planned ahead and put the ear bud in. I was fairly certain I’d be talking to her.

The house is 3 floors and has a bathroom on each floor. All wood floors and walls. Huge kitchen/dining room table. Very nice.

To those of you who mocked my preparedness of bringing 3 bottles of vodka, I say to you, I am in the middle of nowhere. I haven’t seen a liquor store, and I know for a fact I’ll be hitting the liquor soon.