Mood:  loud

And I can pretty much guarantee it won’t be pleasant for anyone.

I got a chance to call my Aunt Buddie last night. I have avoided calling her just because I knew that she was extremely unhappy about being in assisted living and I know that I would have to hear how miserable she is. I wanted to give her some time to get settled.

She answered the phone in her normal Aunt B voice but when she heard it was me her voiced changed to the “poor, feeble, unhappy” Aunt B. She told me that I needed to come take her out of this hell hole. She wants to go back to her house and that if mom likes this place so much then she could stay there and how horrible the staff was to her and how she had asked for chipped beef and gravy for breakfast and they brought her runny eggs, one piece of toast and cold coffee. She said she hopes we are not doing to her what Mabel’s daughter did.  Put her in a home and sell off all her stuff. I asked her if she honestly thought, after all we have done for her over the years, hat we were over selling off her stuff. I told her the reason Mabel’s daughter sold the cottage was that Mabel could no longer make decisions for herself because of memory loss and confusion. She didn’t answer me but instead starting talking about the coffee and said that sometimes in the afternoon she wants coffee but that they won’t give it to her. I stated that there was coffee service right outside her room. She said she shouldn’t have to walk out there to get coffee. I informed her that it was the same distance from her living room into her kitchen at home. She didn’t like that answer either. She then started making stuff up to make the place seem horrible but I called her on it. I told her that they did not make her wait an hour for her breakfast after dragging her down to the dining room. She also said that no one has checked on her which I pointed out that at the beginning of the conversation she said the nurse had just stopped by to see if she needed help getting down to the dining room. She also complained about having diarrhea all day and that no one cared. I asked her if she told the nurse she wasn’t feeling well and she said no. Well then how the hell can you expect them to know if you don’t tell them? When ever I came back with an answer she didn’t like all I heard was…”I don’t like it here and I want to go home!” It was talking to a 5 year old.

She said that she was going to have a serious talk with mom and that it wasn’t going to be pleasant. I stopped her mid sentence and told her that she needed to show mom a bit of respect. Of course I got well she didn’t show me respect by putting me in here. I said that none of us get any pleasure from her being there. I would love nothing more than for her to be in her cottage. We are all worried about her safety and know that she has been lucky so far that she hasn’t broken anything during her recent falls but that her luck would soon run out and I would rather her be in assisted living than be n a nursing home which is where she will end up should she fall again. She stated that if we didn’t want to care for her then she would find someone else that would. I stopped her there and told her that all we do is care for her. Mom travels 50 miles round trip every time she calls and never asks for a dime to help pay for gas. She has been getting her groceries, taking her to doctor appointments, and sorting out her medication.  But it is apparent that she needs round the clock care and mom just can’t provide that because she has a full time job. Mom isn’t doing this to be mean, she is doing it out of love and that if she gave it a chance she might just like it. She knows she can’t argue with me like she does mom and because I don’t put up with it. Mom can be a bit more diplomatic than I am. Aunt Buddie quickly changed the subject to when am I coming home and when will I be by to see her. I allowed her to change the subject because I knew that she could only take so much and I knew she was starting to cry. When we ended the conversation it was upbeat and positive about seeing up and maybe the baby and it would give her something to look forward to.

Mom then called her about an hour later and Aunt Buddie laid into her. It was so bad that mom called me on the verge of tears. I felt bad that I couldn’t talk to her but we had just sat down for dinner and Lennie had reached his “Aunt Buddie Drama” quota for the night. Luckily Aunt Pat called her after I hung up so she got the brunt of it. When I called her back after dinner she was much calmer. I reminded mom that the staff told us it would be rough for a few weeks and that Aunt Buddie is scared and that mom is the only one right now she can take it out on. Mom has to go over today to take Aunt B. to the doctors and I know the car ride will be more of the same from last night.

Mom said she will call me later to tell me how it went. There is one thing I will not tolerate from Aunt Buddie and that is a lack of respect. Mom has done so much for her and she doesn’t need to act ugly. I have a feeling she and I are going to have to have a come to Jesus meeting. I don’t care if she gets mad at me I can take it but poor mom is just trying to do the right thing and is losing sleep and is just being beaten down.

Thanks for letting me rant.

Mood:  caffeinated

Seriously I think it froze over. It is FRIGGIN COLD!!!!! It was 24 degrees this morning when I got up. Luckily Lennie was kind enough to take Potter for his morning walk. He has finally come down with the crude I had weeks ago and I feel so bad for him. He looks miserable.

The weekend was nice except that for some reason my brain didn’t want to function. Orvis was co sponsoring an event with the Neuse River Golden Retriever Rescue where you could bring your dog in and get its picture taken in front of the Christmas tree and fireplace. For some reason I had it in my head that it was Saturday. So we got all dressed up and brushed out Potter and showed up at the store and there was no one there. Apparently the event was Sunday. So we loaded back up and dropped Potter by the house and then headed down the The Nog for the evening. Lennie was presenting at the Whiskey Tasting and I was to meet up with Maria and her family to hear the Belfast Boys. It was a great night but I was glad to get home and curl up in bed.

Sunday morning I woke up to a flat tire. Lennie took it in to get fixed but after looking at all the tires I really need to get them replaced. There goes $300 I don’t really have. The rest of the day Sunday was spent cleaning and doing laundry. Then at 4pm we all loaded back up in the car and headed over to Orvis. There was a big line of people waiting for pictures. Most of them had goldens that they rescued so it was fun talking to everyone and Potter enjoyed it because everyone had treats in their pockets and were happy to give him a few. The pictures were $40 for 2 poses. One of just the dog and then one of you and the dog. I did get a little annoyed with the photographer at one point. She has just given birth to a beautiful little boy. I seriously mean JUST gave birth as in the baby is only a couple of weeks old. She is breastfeeding which is great but the baby started to cry to be fed while she was taking pictures. Instead of having an assistant take over she rushed us through the pictures so she could go off to feed. They sat Potter up on this bed which isn’t the pose I wanted. They all start calling his name and squeaking toys to get his attention so he jumps down off the bed to get to the toys. So we have to keep picking him up and putting him back on the bed. I could tell that they were getting annoyed so I said if you just hold up your hand where you want him to look and say “focus” you won’t have an issue. Once they got a couple of shots of Potter they started to bring in the next dog. I spoke up and said we were to have one of us as well. So they sat us on the bed and Potter on the floor in front of us but he kept walking over to the other dogs. She took a picture and then tried to dismiss us and I spoke up again and said I wanted a better shot with Potter closer to us. She sighed and looked at her husband and the crying baby. I felt bad that she wanted to go feed but at the same time I am spending $40 bucks and deserve to get the same attention as everyone else and have a decent picture. I just know they are going to turn out crappy. We ended up winning one of the raffle prizes which made the evening a little better. It was a large basket of dog toys and treats which Potter drove right into pulling out the big rubber ball.

There was one funny moment in the evening when this yuppie couple walked into the store. They were dogless so wasn’t aware why there was a multitude of dogs running around the store. The woman came up to me and asked what was going on. I told her about the NRGRR and Orvis having a professional photographer here to take pictures of your pets. She went back over to her husband and explained it to him and then said, “Have you noticed something? The dogs are all beige. I have never seen so many beige dogs. I saw one black dog around the corner but the rest of them are beige. You think they could find dogs with other colors.” LOL Hello! Golden Retriever Rescue!!!!

I spent last evening out with Maria. We met up with her friend Michelle at a tapas place called Oliver Twist. Michelle has crush on this musician named Matt who was playing last night. It was an odd evening to say the least. Not sure if Matt is all that into Michelle or if he is just too shy to show her he likes her. I was just brought along so that Maria had someone to talk to. Which I don’t mind because Lennie had class last night so it got me out of the house and I always enjoy hanging out with Maria. She makes me laugh. J

Lennie got tickets for us and Maria and Todd to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra this weekend and I am so excited. I have the parade in the morning which is going to be COLD but I can’t wait to see the show. I have been dying to see them and every year I try to buy tickets but they are always sold out.

I don’t know how much posting I will be doing this week. I have a ton of stuff on my desk and I still have to get things ready for the parade so I hope everyone has a nice week and if you are in Raleigh head down to the parade and get your Frisbee from me. J

Mood:  bright

Sounds like an interesting premises for a book doesn’t it? But actually it was my dream from last night. Totally bizarre and so life like. In my dream Lennie and I were living in what appeared to be a dormitory. This dorm has actually been in several of my dreams lately and I don’t have a clue why. Anyway, right next to the dorm was an elementary school. One day the floor inside the school gave way exposing an ancient temple. One night I was walking and pass the school when I was suddenly hit with an urge to see the temple. The door to the school was unlocked but this didn’t strike me as being odd. I walked down the steps into the temple where I was greeted by a tribal boy about 10 years of age. He took my hand and said the others were waiting. We walked down a low dimly lit corridor and arrived in a beautiful golden room. There were many people there dressed in tan togas. Upon closer inspection I noticed the crowd was full of people I have met before both from the past and present including my friend Maria who was smiling and holding the hand of a beautiful little dark haired boy. She looked at me and nodded and said its okay we have all been through it before. Been through what? At that point the tribal boy takes my hand and leads me to a large wooden throne that had hand carved animals all over it. It was amazing. The boy said that the chair is different for everyone. He sat me down and faced me towards the fire pit in the center of the room. An old man entered from somewhere and gave the boy a cup which he then handed to me. He told me if I drink from the cup my path will be made clear. He said he would guide me that I shouldn’t be frightened. As I was just about to drink from the cup a sound woke me up. It was Fenwick playing with the blinds. I got up and shut him out of the bedroom and tried to fall back asleep and continue my dream. When I did fall back to sleep I wasn’t in the temple anymore. I was in the school standing at the steps leading into the temple. This time the entrance to the temple had collapsed and there was police tap all around it. Lennie was there this time and I heard the chiming of a security alarm and I realized I had set off a silent alarm. We both ran outside and as we did we saw a little white kitten sitting in the grass. She was so cute and cuddly and purred as she brushed up against my leg. I picked her up and held her in my arms and then heard the police sirens and knew they were looking for us so we ran back to the dorm. That is when I woke up for the second time. And try as I might I couldn’t get back to sleep. I have been trying to rack my brain with just what my dream might have meant and little disappointed that I didn’t get to drink from the cup and see what was true path and life was. Oh well…maybe another night.

My great Aunt Buddie enters an Assisted Living facility today for 30 days. She has fallen 5 times within the last two months. This last time (Sunday Night) we managed to falls backwards hitting her head on the ground and bringing the walker down on top of her. She has been lucky not to break a hip but we are all worried that she can’t seem to stand upright. Worried for her safety mom suggested that she go into Assisted Living for a time Aunt Buddie refused at first but I think now is resolved to the fact that she doesn’t have a choice...she needs help.  I can see the issue from both sides. We want her to be safe and know that right now she needs round the clock care and needs time to heal. But she and I are a lot of like. We are both very independent and stubborn so I know that if it were me being forced to go I would hate it and also be scared out of my wits. Will my family just abandon me? Will I ever see my home again? She also has it in her head that she will have to sleep on the floor and be force to eat with people she doesn’t like. It is only for 30 days and I am hoping she will look at it as a kind of vacation. I know the first few weeks will be tough but I do think if she gives it a chance she might like it. She is a very social person and living by her self she sometimes gets depressed so maybe being around other will perk her up a bit. Once she gets settled in we will send her a card and some flowers.

Well I hope you all have a great weekend. If you are in Raleigh next weekend come check out the Christmas parade. You might just see a familiar ranger walking in front of a boat handing out Frisbees.

Mood:  bright

I woke up this morning with a feeling I haven’t had in a long time. Hope! Not just hope for a better America but for a better world. There is an energy in the air today that can’t be denied. I knew when I went to bed last night that Obama had won but this morning it was made final. What an historic day for all Americans. No matter whom you voted for you can take pride in the fact that you participated in the greatest election of our time. Not just because we have elected our first black president but because a record number of people registered and voted in this historic event. I have voted in every election since I turned 18 and even though there were times when I thought it was pointless because my voice would never be heard, this election proved that to be untrue. As a woman when I stand in the voting booth I am overcome with emotion. There was a time when my gender would have been denied access to such locations.  But women from all over the country…democrats and republicans… came together and fought for the right that every person in this county should have…the right to vote. We can come together again to turn this country around and put it back on the right track.

Americans stand at a great precipice. Do we continue to allow ourselves to be divided by this great chasm of differences or do we search for a bridge to unite us. I am flooded with thoughts of what this election could mean for us all. We have the opportunity to change for the better. To show the world how great we really are. Like Obama has said…we are not red states and blue states but the United States.

I look forward to January when he will take the oath of office and can get started on all those campaign promises. I know that we will not see results quickly. Our current situation didn’t happen over night and it will take time to set it right but I have faith…hope that we can all pull together to help to get the job done.

But now there is just one question remaining….What kind of dog do you think they are going to get?

Mood:  don't ask

This probably won’t be a long entry. I have so much to get done today. This morning has not started off well and I am hoping that I can get it back on track by lunch time.

I am apparently supposed to be early ranger this week but I had it in my head that I was the duty ranger. So instead of showing up to work at 7am I showed up at 8:30. It wasn’t a big deal. Dana got the morning report for me but for some reason I am totally frazzled now and just can’t seem to get organized and do what I need to do.

To make matters worse I had some really bizarre dreams last night and I keep running them through my mind trying to figure out what they might mean. Very Distracting!

Halloween was a lot of fun but I think I am still recovering. LOL My body just doesn’t party like it used to. Not that I was much of a party person to begin with. I got home from work on Friday and started getting ready. Lennie cooked dinner and handed out candy while I finished putting my makeup on. Last year we only had 7 kids and I ended up with a bunch of candy left over. This year we managed it give out all the candy except for 4 Hershey kisses. At 8:30 we headed down to the pub. Everyone loved our costumes especially Lennie dress up like Jesus. Our friend Annie was just about to announce the winners of the costume contest when we walked in. She ended up giving us 1^st place. Yeah she was probably a little biased but the $50 bucks we won went towards our drinks for the night. I had my picture taken so many times throughout the night. One of which was for a newspaper but I was too tipsy at the time to ask the guy what paper he worked for so I have no idea where it was printed. I have checked all the local papers and it didn’t show up anywhere. * shrug *  I also managed to scare the crap out of some poor woman. Apparently she is terrified of cockroaches and she was too freaked out by the fake ones I had crawling on me. She ended up having to leave the pub.

Well I should get back to work. Hope you all enjoyed the weekend and gaining an extra hour of sleep. I would have enjoyed it if someone had told the cat and dog that they time had changed. Oh well Lennie had drill this weekend so I will be able to sleep in.  J

Mood:  hungry

It seemed as if every radio station I turned to this morning was playing “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by the Blue Oyster Cult. Don’t get me wrong I love the song but hearing it during my entire morning commute to work was a little much.

Happy Halloween everyone! Oh how I wish today was a federal holiday. I wonder if there is any chance we will get dismissed early…probably not. My costume is finished and my makeup is all in order. I now have to set up my plan as to how to apply everything. I have this huge elaborate plan but of course it never turns out like that because…well…I am a park ranger and not a makeup artist.

I am feeling much better today. I took off Tuesday and slept all day. Well except for Michelle Obama calling at 10am to remind me that I could vote early in NC. Potter thought that I had stayed home to play with him all day and tried desperately to find a toy that I was interested in playing with. I woke up at one point to find the bed littered with balls and squeaky toys. His favorite of which is his new hedgehog that grunts when he bites down on it. He insisted on playing with it right by my head. I finally had to take it and hide it under the covers so that I could go back to sleep. He finally got frustrated and laid his head on top of my back and let out a huge sigh and fell asleep. Too cute!

I think Lennie was hoping that my being sick would prevent me from celebrating Halloween. I told him about the year I had Bronchitis and still went to several haunted houses and a hayride. I reminded him that I worked hard on my costume and I would make sure that if I was still sick that I would highly medicate myself so I could last through the night. Good thing I am feeling better. ;) He is still not looking forward to it but I am hoping that it is like the dinosaur thing that he will enjoy it once he gets there.

I did find out a little bit of upsetting Halloween news. My favorite haunted house in Leitersburg, MD closed its door last year for good. They had put on the show for 30 years and they decided to call it quits. It took place in an old school house and they said it was getting harder every year to keep it up to code. Even though I haven’t been since I moved in NC it was nice to know that it was still there. It will be missed for sure. People would come from miles just to have the crap scared out of them. It is truly the end of an era.

Well I should get some work done. I hope you all have some great plans for tonight. If you are going out…have a great time, be safe, and have a designated driver.

Oh and for those of you who are bored at work and want a little Halloween fun….here is a link to one of my favorite short stories. It is a lesson it being careful of what you wish for.

The Monkey’s Paw

Mood:  spacey

I feel like crap this morning. I wanted so badly to just stay in bed and sleep and that is exactly what I should have done. So why am I sitting here at work? Because I have too much to do. I just can’t afford to be sick right now. Not in a financial way more like everything is due this week and I need to be here to get it all done.

I was feeling great last week. Well except for waking up every morning with hives. So I called my Doctor on Friday because the allergy meds she gave me just weren’t working. I hate taking medication so I was hoping that she could find out if there was something in my environment that I could change to get rid of the breakouts. She told me to come in and she would run some more blood work and allergy panels. Of course when I got there the waiting room was FULL of sick people so therefore now I have a cold. I suggested to the nurse that they need separate waiting rooms for sick and healthy people. She laughed and said, “Honey, people don’t come in here if they are healthy.” Which I guess is true but there are some of us who aren’t contagious and would like to stay that way. Poor Lennie…I thought my feeling crappy this weekend was my allergies acting up but now I know that I have a cold and I am pretty sure I have managed to pass it on to him but he isn’t showing any symptoms yet.

The Doctor still can’t find out the source of the hives. She thinks it could just be a change in the seasons since it happened this time last year. But last year we wrote it off to nerves since I was running around trying to get things ready for the wedding. She suggested I go see my dermatologist but she doesn’t have an appointment available till January. The hives have gotten better though so what ever was causing it has subsided a bit.

I should have rested this weekend but the house was a mess and there was laundry that needed to be done. I spent most of the day Saturday cleaning and baking cupcakes for work. I even managed enough energy to finish my costume and make dinner for Lennie. I think he knew I wasn’t feeling 100% because he offered to take me out to dinner instead. I just made a Chicken Broccoli Braid and a salad so it wasn’t anything gourmet but I was still utterly exhausted. .

Sunday We got up early and Lennie went over to work on his house. He came home around 1pm so we could go vote. We stood in line for about an hour but the line moved quickly. I was surprised to see that many people out voting. Things ran smoothly until I got in line to get my ballot. The guy in front of me started causing a scene because apparently they couldn’t find his information in the computer. The woman took his information to the back to look it up on another computer and asked the gentleman to step to the side so that others behind him could be helped. Well apparently the fact that others were getting their ballots and he wasn’t set this man off and he started yelling at the polling place employees that there was a conspiracy to prohibit him from voting because he was a McCain supporter and that he wanted his ID back NOW and Government employees couldn’t do anything right.  He then pushed me to the side so that he could prohibit me from picking up my ballot until he got his ID back. The woman tried to calm him down and said they would trying hard to locate his information and if they couldn’t find it, he could re-register there but this guy was having none of it. They gave him his ID and he left. The poor guy behind the computer where I was standing had gotten so flustered that it took him a minute to remember that I was still standing there waiting for my ballot.  Personally the think the guy was purged from the system because he was a nutcase. But I managed to cast my vote and I feel good about my decisions. Now I just have to wait till Nov 4^th to see the results.

Well I better get back to work. Hope you all had a great weekend.

Mood:  caffeinated

I was hoping to post yesterday but I spent the entire day reading through resumes. Yep we are finally working on getting someone hired for my old job. I still have about 10 more to read today but I am taking a moment to drink my coffee and write a quick post.

Wednesday night I had tickets for Lennie and I to see “Walking with the Dinosaurs”. Lennie was not anxious to see and tried just about everything he could think of to get out of it. But I told him that I spent $50 on his ticket so he was going to go whether he liked it or not. I reminded him that I went to see Rod Stewart and never complained.

The weeks leading up to the performance every time someone brought up Wednesday night Lennie would sigh and say things like, “Rebecca is making me go see Dancing with Dinosaurs” or “We got to go see Barney and Friends”. I knew once he got there and saw the show that he would like it.

We had to leave early because the State Fair is going on right across from the center and traffic would be a nightmare. We ended up having to pay $10 to park which pissed me off a little but we got to park close to the center. I had gotten special tickets in the balcony section which provided us with our own bar and free popcorn and soda. Once Lennie saw that he started to brighten up s bit. We got some burgers and beer and took our seats.

The show started and I was amazed from beginning to end. I have never seen anything like it. The dinosaurs looked so real and you forgot at times that they were puppets…very LARGE puppets. They even had a full size Brachiosaurus. AMAZING!!! And what did Lennie think of the show? He really liked it. He said it was no Rod Stewart concert but he was glad I had forced him to come.

If you see that the show is coming to your town….BUY TICKETS!!! Especially if you have kids. It is amazing and you will be entertained. Just check out the video below.

Walking With Dinosaurs

Well my coffee is finished and I need to get back to reading resumes. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Mood:  hungry

What a weekend! Let’s start with Saturday shall we. Lennie spent much of the day at the Library.  He had dropped Potter off at the groomer then headed over to try to get some studying done for this tax class. This left me at home to clean and do laundry. I was a little pissed that Lennie didn’t at least offer to help clean seeing as for the past 3 weekends I have stayed home to clean while he worked on his house. I was so perturbed that I had to give up my free time to clean and sew buttons on his oily uniforms that I decided that he could make it up to me by taking me out to dinner. We decided to go to our favorite little Greek place, Taverna Agora.

The dinner was fantastic as always. We of course had the flaming cheese (Sananaki). YUMMMMM! For dinner we both had the sea bass with a caper/garlic sauce over seasoned rice and veggies. Very tasty. We had just finished our meal and were relaxing with the remainder of our wine when all the sudden there was a HUGE explosion outside and the place went dark. It turns out that a transformer blew and they said it would likely not be repaired or a few hours. Luckily we had already eaten but there was a huge party that had just placed their order. We sat there for about an hour in the dark with just a few candles to see by until they could figure out what to do with our bill. They finally had to calculate it by hand and had to run the credit card through one of those old imprint machines. I wasn’t too worried about the blackout and like I said we had already had out food so we weren’t waiting hours for out food but I think they should have offered free dessert or wine.

Sunday morning we got up and noticed that Potter was scratching a lot. We thought it was from the groomer not rinsing out all the shampoo so Lennie put him in the tub and rinsed him off but as we dried him off we noticed a rash on his belly. We figured we would wait and see if rinsing him off help but last night we realized something was wrong. He kept us up all night scratching and licking at the rash. He finally fell asleep at 3am and I finally drifted off to sleep. The alarm went off at 5:30 and I was furious that I had to get up with only 2 hours of sleep. I would have called in sick if I didn’t have a conference call at 9. I pulled back the covers and noticed that the house was FREEZING. We had dropped down into the 30’s last night and so I had set the heat to come on in the middle of the night. It apparently never had. I went to the thermostat and tried again to turn the heat on…nothing. So I went in and woke up my lovely live in HVAC repair guy. Lennie was not amused but he got up and went up in the attic to check it out. He cycled it though a couple of time and then all the sudden warm air starting flowing. YEA! He then decided that perhaps Potter would need to go to the vet so he drove him over so that I could get to work. Turns out he has seasonal allergies and will be on these pills for the next 10 days. I hope it will relieve his itching. The poor thing is so miserable and we really need to get some sleep.

So here I am at work today and highly unmotivated to do anything. I have been on the phone with Progress Energy this morning for about an hour trying to get copies of our bills. They sent me late notices but we never got our original bills. The steps I had to go through just to get them faxed to me. My god I had to confirm who I was with 4 different people and send in an email request. I think I hear the fax machine queuing up now so I will end it here. Hope you all had a nice uneventful weekend.

Mood:  a-ok

What a fantastic weekend. It was so nice that I didn’t want to come back to work today. I was able to sleep in all three mornings while Lennie had to get up for a change and take the dog out and make the coffee. I still had to feed the bird but he doesn’t mind waiting till I get up. Potter let me sleep in till about 8am but then insisted that I get up and entertain him. We lounged around the house in the mornings and then headed to the dog park to enjoy the beautiful weather.

I did manage to set some time aside to carve my pumpkin (funkin actually) and decorate the outside of the house. It felt odd to be decorating for Halloween in 80 degree weather. October is supposed to be chilly so you can wrap up in warm blankets and sip hot apple cider all afternoon.

Lennie still isn’t enthused about Halloween. He did finally pick a costume which was a huge improvement from the previous…I am just going to skip Halloween this year. He has decided to go as Jesus which tickles me to no end. I just hope he doesn’t get struck by lightning when he steps out the door. I still don’t understand his dread about the holiday. I know he hates Christmas because he doesn’t like to be told that he has to be nice to everyone and has to buy gifts for people. But Halloween is just a fun holiday. You don’t have to buy presents and you don’t have to be nice to anyone. You just put on a costume, drink a few beers, and maybe have a laugh or two. Maybe it is a Scottish thing. * shrug * I keep telling me that he is turning into his father and that one day I will come home from work to find him sitting on a stool in the kitchen watching his soaps on a small black and white TV. It just reminds me of that scene from French Kiss….”you people make my ass twitch” He swears next year he is just going to fly Justin down to deal with my whole Halloween obsession.

As I was decorating the house yesterday I noticed my neighbors walking by and giving me strange looks. My neighborhood has a large religious sect and you don’t typically see Halloween decorations. The closest you will ever see if some sort of Fall flag or maybe a carved pumpkin or two. I am the only one with spider webs, creepy door hangings, craved pumpkin, mice and spiders. I am sure this has the neighborhood in a tizzy and I will get some letter from the Homeowner’s Association. See when you live in the Bible belt you are surrounded by people who think that Halloween is associated with Satan. I have heard from one of my neighbors that the Africans who live next door think that I might be some sort of witch. Their reasoning is that I have a fairy in my yard and I refuse to go to church. Now I have all this “satanistic” stuff on my porch. Come on folks! They are just decorations!!! It isn’t like I am sitting out on my front lawn with a Ouija board, communicating with the dead. Oh just wait till they get a glimpse of our costumes. Me dressed as a zombie bride and Lennie dressed as Jesus. Heads will spin. LOL

Well my lunch break has ended and I need to finish inspection fire extinguishers. Hope you all had a great weekend!!!

Thank god it is finally Friday. What a long week it has been. I have been so tired the last two days. Probably because I haven’t quite recovered from the Albannach Show. I didn’t drink much…just 2 glasses of wine and a sip of some 20 year old Whisky. But we didn’t get home till midnight and I had to be back up at 4:30am to go to work. I keep telling my boss that we need a cot in the conference room so I can take a nap in the afternoons.

Today has been pretty good so far. It started with the Janitor reminding me that I will have off on Monday because of the holiday. I had totally forgotten and probably would have shown up at the office and wondered where everyone was. With the holiday and Lennie having drill this weekend I have been so blissfully happy that Lennie will have to be the one to get up while I get to be the one that sleeps in. I can just feel myself cuddled up in my bed as I type this. Granted I only sleep in till about 8am but still that is better than 4:30am. I originally thought that my mother might come down this weekend but she decided to go to Baltimore with her friend Carol instead. Which is actually good because I am hoping that Lennie and I will actually be able to spend some time together. I haven’t seen much of him since we came back from Scotland. I know I am being selfish and I know he needs to work on getting his house on the market but I feel a little neglected. L

Everyone else has been out in the field today so I opted to stay in the office and catch visitors who came in. I am glad I didn’t because I have gotten lots of goodies today. There is this little old guy named Glen who has come by to see me almost every day. His wife died last year and I think he is rather lonely and just needs someone to chat with. I am always happy to oblige because he has some great stories. Anyway…while I was talking to him this morning my stomach growled very loudly. I laughed and said that I had skipped breakfast. He left shortly after that and came back with a country ham biscuit. YUMMMMM!

Then right before lunch one of our daily walkers to the dam stopped by to bring me some homemade cookies and fudge. She knows how much I love her snickerdoodles so every time she makes them, she always brings a few by for me. I am hoping I can hide them from the rest of the staff so I don’t have to share. Yeah I know…I am mean like that.

Then one of the security guys installing our cameras brought me a HUGE bag of chocolate for helping him the other day. All I did was stand and watch the monitor and told him when the camera was in the right spot but hey it’s chocolate so I happily accepted. Hmmmm thinking about it…may have to contact our lawyers to make sure it doesn’t qualify as a bribe. I am sure it was way under the $20 limit but the feds can be funny about that.

One of our co-workers brought her dog to work today so I have been dog sitting while she is out talking to a contractor. Buster isn’t a bother and is such a sweetheart. We played Frisbee in the hallway for a bit and then he went and laid down under my desk. I wish I could bring Potter to the office everyday although I don’t think I would get anything accomplished.  

At some point today I need to review some road improvement plans and review our recent budget submittals. Yeah I am still doing admin work and it SUCKS!!!! I got hired for my new job back in May but they have only just recently advertised my old job. I am hoping by the end of Nov we will have someone hired and I don’t have to do this type of work anymore. Instead I will be spending my days out in the flied. Bliss!!!

I also need to go down and check out a pest problem on the dam. Apparently we have an infestation of Japanese Beetle Grubs destroying the grass on the slope. Not cool. I don’t really want to spray that close to water so I don’t know what kind of treatment to opt for. I have read that there is a parasitic nematode that has been used with much success. It eats the grub from the inside out. * evil grin *

Well it looks like Buster wants to play another round of Frisbee so I am going to end it here. I hope everyone has a nice weekend and if you have off for the holiday…go out and do something fun. LATER!

Mood:  don't ask

The leaf color that is.

I noticed while getting the morning report that the trees have traded their bright summer green for the dull dark early fall color. The chlorophyll starts to drain from the leaves which cause them to darken and then eventually turn into the bright colors of autumn. So I suspect by mid next week we should start to see the change.

The weather has gotten cooler which I love but the days are getting shorter which I hate. I have enjoyed spending the evening walking at the local park but I have had to cut my walks short so I can make it home before it gets too dark.

Halloween is fast approaching and I have almost finished my dress. I installed a new zipper which doesn’t look great but it works. I need more practice installing them. I have dyed it in tea and coffee and bustled the train. Now I just have to rip it up in places and glue on the bugs. I spent 2 hours at the Spirit Store on Sunday. I LOVE that place. I think the manager has a crush on me. He gave me a free bag of mice. LOL how romantic. Lennie never gave me a bag of mice. I also pick up a craft pumpkin because Michaels had them on sale for 50% off. I usually do a real pumpkin but figured I would give this a try. My co-worker gets one for her husband to carve every year because he hates putting his hands into a live pumpkin. I will have to pick a cool design because if it works I will be able to use it next year as well.

We have gone from 3 Halloween Parties to just one which makes Lennie VERY happy. He dreads Halloween. Maria decided not to have their party which I kinda figured because hosting a party while pregnant is a huge undertaking.   Amber was going to host a party for her kids and we came up with some great recipes but it turns out one of the other mothers beat her to it. She didn’t want to try to compete with this woman for attendance so she cancelled her party. So now it looks like we will just be going to the pub. We will try to hand out candy to the kids before we go but I think Lennie may have to do it because I think my costume might scare the little ones.

Speaking of scary…I woke up this morning around 3AM completely covered in hives. I got up and took some Benadryl and then sat outside in the cool air until the pill kicked in and I almost fell asleep. I got up this morning and most of them have gone away but I still have some on my neck and face although they are reduced to small red bumps instead of the full blown blotches. I don’t have a clue what caused it. The Benadryl hasn’t worn off yet so I feel very tired and a bit disconnected. All I really want to do is put my head down on the desk and go to sleep.

I am hoping things clear up tonight because Albannach is here in Raleigh and we will be going to the pub tonight for the show and for a Whiskey tasting and a Scottish Buffet. I don’t plan on being out late since I have to work tomorrow. I can’t wait to see the boys tonight. Not only are they an awesome band but they are really nice guys. They always make time to talk to the fans and have a drink or two. I know that most of you have heard me talk about them before. It was actually after their last visit to Raleigh that Lennie and I got engaged. They are a pipe and drum band straight from Scotland but it isn’t your typical piper show. It is sort of like bag pipe and drums on steroids. Here is a video of one of their performances. It isn’t a great quality but it will give you an idea of what they are like.

ALBANNACH

Lennie said listening to their music gets him so pumped up that he just wants to fight someone. LOL So if you are in Raleigh tonight…head down to the Nog and catch their show. You won’t be disappointed.

Well I should probably get some work done. Hope you all are having a great day.

Mood:  down

We as human beings refuse to learn the lessons of the past. Once again we think we are better at managing wildlife. We fail to realize that Mother Nature knows exactly what she is doing.

The Gray Wolf was almost completely eradicated from the lower 48 states by the mid 1930’s. It was believed then that the wolf was competing with man for food. That they killed lives stock and children. We had no idea then what kind of impact killing off the wolf would have.

Today areas are over populated with deer. They are responsible for thousands of automobile accidents every year. They damage 90% of crops just in North Carolina alone and we are seeing an increase in diseases such as chronic wasting disease. If the wolves has been left intact the deer population would be much better controlled.

I thought that we had finally learned from our mistakes when they started to reintroduce the wolf back into the Lower 48. The program was doing well and for some unknown reason the fin and feather people (fish and wildlife) had them removed from the Rocky Mountains endangered species list.

"Gray wolves in the Northern Rocky Mountains are thriving and no longer require the protection of the Endangered Species Act," said Interior Deputy Secretary Lynn Scarlett. "The wolf's recovery in the Northern Rocky Mountains is a conservation success story."

Well just last month I read and article that they requested that they be put back on the list because of a steep decline in their numbers. Hopefully the ruling will pass and they will once again be protected.

Now lets turn towards Alaska. It has been the one last refuge for the wolf. It seemed that Alaska had it right. Leave nature alone…it can take care of itself. This morning I was sent an email with a link in it from a friend of mine who is a ranger in Alaska. Typically he just sends me jokes and knows I typically delete the email so in this one he wrote. “This is not a joke!” I open the link and was horrified but what I saw. I will warn those of you who are animal lovers this video may be hard to watch. I cried almost all the way through it.

Defenders of Wildlife - The Truth about Hunting Wolves in Alaska

This next video was the one on the news this morning.

Brutal: Sarah Palin's Record on Aerial Wolf Hunting

Nearly 700 wolves have been killed over the past 4 winters. More than 150 so far this year from aerial assaults.  The Alaska Board of Game allows marksmen to use low-flying airplanes to chase the wolves, run the helpless creatures to exhaustion then gun them down at point-blank range once they're too tired to run any further. In 2007 Gov. Palin enacted a law giving $150 to any hunter who brings in a leg of a wolf. So far, the Bush administration has refused to use its power to stop the slaughter of these innocent animals, including pregnant mothers and young wolf pups.  The politicians say that they are slaughtering these animals so that there are more moose and elk to feed the people of Alaska. I know I will get emails complaining about me being anti-hunting. So let me just say that I fully support hunting for food not for sport or trophies.

I know that some of you are Republican/Palin supporters and I am not here to tell you who to vote for. You all are smart readers and can comb through the facts to make the choice that is right for you. But these poor creatures can’t vote and they need our help.  We must stop the slaughter of Alaska's wolves. Help me protect these magnificent creatures by clicking the link below to send a free message to President Bush and Interior Secretary Kempthorne urging them to enforce the Federal Airborne Hunting Act before it's too late for Alaska's wolves.

Please go to http://www.SaveWolves.org to take action now. Then forward this message to your friends and family and ask them to join you.

Thanks for helping to protect our precious wolves.

I was highly unmotivated this year to be creative when it came to a Halloween costume. I was just going to recycle my witch costume from a couple of years ago but make a few modifications. Well the other day I was scanning Ebay and I found a woman who used to make costumes for a theater in New York. The theater has gone out of business and she is trying to recoup some money she was owed by selling off some of the costumes. While perusing her site I found a dress and all the sudden a light went off and I got that surge of excitement that I used to get when it came to create my costume. See I used to love Halloween and I love making my own costumes but when I moved down here I was surround by people who just were not excited at all about the holiday.

So what is it that I have decided to be you ask? ……A Corpse Bride. But not the one from the Tim Burton movie. Just a bride back from the dead to avenger her death. This is the dress I bought off of Ebay…

I plan on aging it by soaking it in tea then deconstructing it by ripping holes here and there. Then I am going to hot glue creepy bugs all over it and then maybe run it through the dirt.

I have a plan for my makeup but haven’t decided on my cause of death. Either a bullet hole to the forehead or a slashed throat. Then I will use some Spirit Gum to stick some creepy insects onto my skin then gather a bouquet of dead flowers and there you have it.

I think…more like hope, it will look awesome!!!

I've built a Web site on Shutterfly to share pictures from our Honeymoon to Scotland. The pictures are set up on a slideshow but if you want to see a larger version just click on the pictures. I haven't figured out how to tag them yet so if you want to know where a certain picture was taken just let me know. I will try to figure out how to tag them when I have some more time. Please come check it out!

http://scotlandtrip1.shutterfly.com/

From the moment we landed in Ireland we had to deal with the rain. It ended up lasting through the entire trip. Apparently the UK was experiencing above normal rainfalls for the month of August. Maybe we were to blame because it seemed to follow us everywhere we went.

When we got off the plane in Dublin, Ireland we noticed there was a light drizzle. We didn’t have enough Euros for a cab to the hotel so Lennie went to ask the guys at the information desk where the closest ATM was. They informed him that he didn’t need to take a cab that there was in fact a bus parked outside that would drop us off at the hotel. When we got out to the curb we noticed it wasn’t a hotel shuttle but a city bus. We boarded anyway because the guys inside said it went right by the hotel.

We rode for what seemed like an hour. I was worried that maybe the drive had forgotten about us. Finally he stopped and turned to say that this was our stop. I looked and didn’t see a hotel of any sort along the street. When we asked where the hotel was he pointed up a side street and said, “It’s about a quarter of a mile up that street.”

By this point it was raining harder and the wind had picked up but we didn’t’ have any choice…we had to walk. So up the street we went in the pouring rain with me wheeling my luggage behind me. Lennie turned to me laughing and said, “Welcome to your honeymoon!”

The rain from that point on seemed to stalk us. We would watch the weather reports and it would say that the sun was shining in Skye. We would drive to Skye and as soon as we stopped and found a place to crash for the night, the dark clouds would appear and the rain would start to fall. The morning we got up to leave the sun would come out. If we even talked about staying on an extra day somewhere because the sun was shining the clouds would roll back in. The sun always seemed to be shining in whatever part of Scotland we were not in. If we were in the East the sun would be shining in the West. If we went west the clear skies moved east. On occasion the sun would come out and we would get hopeful, but an hour later the rain would be back 

In the end when you are walking through the Highlands surrounded by green grass, purple heather and waterfalls everywhere you turn, the fact that it is raining starts to not matter so much. I honestly can’t describe how beautiful it was. I wish I could have bolted a camera to the car so you could see the drive along the A9 through the mountains. It was breathtaking. I joked with Lennie that if I had been driving we wouldn’t have made it far because I would have been stopping every 10 minutes to take pictures.

Trust me I took tons of pictures and I almost have then ready to upload. I am working on a webpage so that you all can see them and my goal is to get that done tonight. Keeping my fingers crossed.

There were several places we visited, like Rosslyn Chapel, where I couldn’t take pictures I will try to talk about them in my blog because they were fascinating places to visit.

Well I better get back to uploading the pictures. Stay tuned for the next installment from the Land of Kilts and Haggis.

Mood:  hungry

Today is my first day back to work after being in Scotland for about 18 days. It feels good to be back in the office and doing something productive. 18 days is a long time to be stuck in a car with your husband and hear nothing but, “It is okay honey I don’t need directions, I have my man GPS on” and “You see that cemetery over there? I hear people are just dying to get in.”  I had to hear that last one every time we passed a graveyard and there are a lot of them in Scotland. I adore my husband though and even though we spent 24/7 with each other, we didn’t argue once. I had some testy moments when I was tired and hungry but Lennie knew to back off and keep quiet.

I have tons of pictures and will hopefully get them posted this week. I will also tell you all about my trip when I have more time to sit down and write. Don’t worry I wont do a day-by-day account of the trip. I will just give you the highlights and funny tidbits.

It was a great trip and I am glad we had a chance to go. I don’t know when we will get a chance to travel like that again. It was great to meet Lennie’s father and brother and I hope his mom is able to come for a visit soon.

Some other good news to share is that my niece Naomi was born while I was away. She arrived on August 28^th and is just as cute as a button. She has bright red hair and an attitude to match and I could tell already that she is spoiled rotten. So I send out a big congrats to Anne and Jimmy and I can’t wait to see more of Naomi.

Well I better get back to work. I have 253 emails to get through. I promise I will get trip stuff up soon. Just give me time to get settled back into my routine.

Mood:  don't ask

There is a reason I don’t go on vacations. It is too much of a hassle and I end up all stressed out so I don’t actually enjoy the trip.

I finally thought everything was falling into place. Everything had been worked out. We had a pet sitter. My neighbors were going to mow our grass, and Lennie’s parents are going to let up borrow their car so we won’t have to get a rental.

Sunday our neighbors came over and said their mower had broken down and they didn’t know if they would be able to mow for us. Not a big deal they can use our mower. Problem solved.

Lennie’s parents confirmed we could use the car so that was still good.

This morning I opened my email to find a note from the pet sitter. Apparently it dawned on her that they only have one vehicle. Well actually they have two…her car and her fiancé’s motorcycle. Well that battery died in the bike so she now has to take her fiancé to work everyday and won’t be able to stay at the house. She has offered to take all the animals back to her house but Fenwick the cat doesn’t travel and wouldn’t do well in a strange home and her one dog doesn’t like other dogs so I worry about where Potter would be in the house and certainly don’t want him sleeping outside. Merlin can be locked up in a room away from the dogs just as long as he is fed and cleaned everyday and given some love and affection. I sympathize with the pet sitter and want this to work out for both our sakes but it is definitely something I would have thought of before I responded to the ad. Lennie offered to let them use his truck but just don’t know if I want to go there. I can’t worry about it right now because I have a pile of stuff on my desk to do plus we had another drowning on Sunday (the 2^nd in a week) so at some point I have to get the report done.

I just don’t need the stress!!!!  Lennie says I worry too much about all the details but I know that if I don’t they wont get done. I just want everything in place so I can sit back, relax, and enjoy my trip. Is that too much to ask?

It was a busy weekend but at least the weather was nice.

I was off Friday and so took that time to run a few errands. I went and had a facial then got the oil changed in me car and finally I drove out to the mall to attempt to find a dress for a wedding I was going to on Saturday. All I really wanted was a basic sundress but everywhere I went the dresses had big “80’s style” prints and patterns. I was about to give up when I went into JCPenny. Right when I walked in the door I was created by a huge section of clearance items and I spotted a rack of nothing but sundresses. I grabbed a handful and tried them on. I fell in love with a black and white Ralph Lauren dress but the tag said it was $100. When I stepped out of the dressing room the attendant asked me what I thought of the dress and I told her I loved it but I wasn’t going to pay $100 for it. She smiled and said you won’t pay $100 because it is on sale. She took me over to the register and scanned it and guess what price came up……. $17.00. That’s right I got a $100 dress for $17. I ended up buying two dresses and a shirt which if I had to pay full price they would have been around $200 but I manage to pay for the whole lot for $40. I just love a sale!!!

Saturday we had to go to Lennie’s friend Bruce’s wedding. It was an outside informal wedding so I was glad that the weather wasn’t too hot. We got there at about 1:30 and chatted a bit before the ceremony started. It was a short quaint service but by the end we were all being eaten alive by gnats and so quickly headed into the building where the reception was being held. The building was built to be a game room and had two window AC units working overtime to try to cool things down but when you stuff 30 people into that small of a space it is going to be hot. Lennie and I shoved ourselves in to a corner and we waited for the bride to make bunch. It was the kind my mom used to make for church socials. Sherbet and 7up. Once the punch was made and they cut the wedding cake, which was DQ ice cream cake, we were finally allowed to eat. I was starving by this point. We get up to the table with the food and I was a little shocked by what I saw. I wasn’t expected a big spread or anything but as some who loves to entertain and throw parties I was horrified but our food selection. We started off with little finger sandwiches. One was pimento and cheese which was ok for a party but the next type was bologna and cheese. Yep that’s right bologna and cheese. Martha Stewart would have had a cow. Next was a Crockpot full of cocktail weenies that had been sliced into small pieces and coated with some sort of red sauce. Next was a big bowl of macaroni salad and lastly a big plate of sausage roles. I got a plate, grabbed my sherbet punch and went off to my corner. On the tables where we sat there were bowls of peanuts, mints and a pineapple cheese ball with some crackers. Lennie and I scarffed down our food and had some cake and chatted with the bride and groom and family members. . About 4 o’clock we decided to head home. On the way home it was quickly apparently that we had had way too much sugar because the high wore off and we could barely keep our eyes open. When we got home I went for a long walk and Lennie took a nap. We had planned to go out to dinner that night but we both felt like crap so we stayed home and vegged in front of the TV.

Sunday we got up and cleaned the entire house. Lennie dusted and vacuumed and I cleaned the kitchen, bathrooms, and did laundry. We then headed off to the store to get food for the pet sitter. Yes we did finally find someone. I took an ad out on Craig’s List and I actually got a lot of responses. Some were just plan bizarre Like the one woman who is thinking about leaving her husband and needed a place to go and wondered if we would let her stay with us till December so that she could save money to get her own place. Oh and the best part was that she was going to charge us $35 a day till she left in December because she would continue to pet sit for us even when we returned. I wrote her back and said that wasn’t interested in that arrangement and after our trip we wouldn’t need a pet sitter because we would be home every night. She then sent me 3 emails pleading with me and telling me her entire life story. There was also one woman who wanted to charge me $65 a day. Yeah no thanks. I could put all my animals in the kennel for that price. I was about to give up when I got this really sweet email from a woman named Kim who works at a Vet’s office in Durham. She came over that night and met the kids and everyone hit it off great. She is charging up $10 a day and I agreed to supply her with some food and laundry detergent. She moved here from Dundalk, MD and doesn’t know many people here so I have decided to do my part to make her feel welcome. We all plan to go out to dinner when we return.

Today I am trying to finish up the last of the paperwork on my desk. I can’t believe this Sunday I will be heading to Scotland. I don’t know how much posting I will do this week because I will be busy getting everything in order. So take care and I will think of you all when I am hiking up in the Highlands.

Mood:  don't ask

Well my husband is off to MS. After making a dozen sandwiches for him and Bruce and packing a cooler full of green tea he was on the road for a long 13 hours drive. We are hoping he will be back Friday because his friend Bruce is supposed to get married on Sunday. Cutting it close. LOL

We are slowly trying to get things ready for our trip but all the previous plans we made for the pets are all falling through. Lennie’s friend Bruce was going to watch Potter but now he can’t so Lennie has been trying to find a kennel. I had found a girl on Craig’s List who was willing to watch Merlin and Fenwick for the 3 weeks and wasn’t going to charge because she just wanted a place to stay while she looked for an apartment. I emailed her this morning to see if she would be willing to watch Potter too and she wrote back that she didn’t realize she had a family reunion the first week of our trip and she has decided to charge a small fee (she didn’t say how small). She said if I could get someone to watch them the first week she would do the last two. So now I need to decide if I want to go with that arrangement or find someone else to do all 3 wks. It makes me a bit nervous that I will be relying on her to show up for the last 2 weeks. I will try to write up an ad today and post it on Craig’s List to see if I get any responses. I hate running around at the last minute stressing over what to do.

It has been a fairly quiet weekend here at work. Everyone seems to be behaving themselves. The heat has been horrible and at the end of the day I am just exhausted. I came home last night and Lennie had cleaned the house and mowed the lawn. I think he feels bad that he has disrupted my whole routine. LOL I am hoping when he is done with this post-deployment stuff that we can actually spend some quality time together.

Don’t have much planed for the week ahead. I need to find a pet sitter and make sure I have everything I need for the trip. I need to find a sun dress for Bruce’s wedding and find time to get the oil changed in my car. I hope maybe sometime this week I can meet up with Maria and hear all about her trip to Ireland.

Well I better get back to work. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.