Gaelic Fest 2006
Mood:  happy
Do you live in or around the triangle area? Are you frustrated with the lack of fall activities? Well then let me draw your attention to the Gaelic Fest 2006. Myth & Mayhem - A Gaelic Halloween at the Koko Booth amphitheater in Regency Park in Cary NC. Saturday, October 28th 11:00am till 10:00pm.

I went to this event last year when it was held in Raleigh and had a great time. There will be some fantastic Irish music, dancing, food, and vendors. This year has a Halloween theme complete with costume contest and a haunted trail.

The whole week leading up to the big event is packed with activities. There is going to be a KILT Night on the 26th at Tir Na Nog. Then on the 27th they will have two bands, The Ghosts of Erin and then later that night Seven Nations will preform. All day Saturday at KOKO Booth there will a bus going from Tir Na Nogto the event and back to the Pub at 10.15 for the After Party. So if you are interested in that either let me know and I will pass your name on to the even planner or you can go to Irisheventsnc and send a message to Annie Nice.

May I also recommend going back to Tir Na Nog on Sunday for their brunch. One of the best brunches in the triangle. All of the food is fantastic but you got to try the bread pudding...it is heaven on a plate.

Admission is $5 and you can purchase them through Ticketmaster


Hope to see you all there!!!!

Mystery Solved
Mood:  don't ask
Okay so I solved the Nancy Day and Robert Walter mystery from yesterday. I was correct about not know Nancy but wrong about Robert.

Robert, or Rob as I know him, dated about 4 or 5 years ago. We only went out a total 4 times. He just wasn't what I was looking for and I had had my eye on a Marine so I called it off. We remained "friends" and we have only talked about 3 times since we dated. I don't know much about his life except for the fact that he discovered that women like men in uniform and supposedly joined the air force. I have no proof of this just his word.

I haven't a clue why he would put me down as a reference. If I am going to use someone as a reference I would make sure it is someone I talk to with great regularity. Not some person I dated years ago. You can't tell me that this guy didn't have another friend he could use.

Why didn't I remember him? I think I was so hung up on the name Nancy Day because that is the first name the guy on the phone gave me. I was so focused on it that when he mentioned Robert I just drew a blank. I was sitting at home last night and it finally dawned on me who it was. So I dug out my old address book and looked him up. I didn't have a last name, just wrote Rob W. Assuming it is the person in question.

Oh well...Hopefully they can still get the loan without my reference. Even though I have remembered who he is, I don't have a clue what he has been doing for the last few years and would not feel good about giving a reference.

Is my memory getting that bad or are these people up to no good?
Mood:  quizzical
I just received a strange phone call from a company call Capital Auto Loans stating that someone by the name of Nancy Day and Robert Walter put my name down as a personal reference. Normally this would not be a big deal but I don't know these people. At least I don't think I do.

I told the guy that I hadn't a clue who these people were. He said they are more than likely an acquaintance that thinks we have more of a friendship than we actually do. I am pretty good at remembering people but the name doesn't ring a bell. He informed me that she works for USDA and that she had put down my home address and phone number. He said she lives in MD and the other references live in MD and DE. He believed that Robert Walter was her son...maybe I knew him? Nope!!! Still doesn't ring a bell. I am hoping this is a case of mistaken identity. There are several people in Raleigh with my name, maybe they have me confused with them?

After I hung up the phone I looked Nancy Day up on the USDA website and got her email address. I sent her a message to see if she can jog my memory. I will be anxious to see if she responds. I will keep you all informed.

Just a word of advice to all my readers. If you are going to use someone as a reference...call them first to see if it is okay and to see if they still remember you.

I'm going to the Cirque-us!!!!
Mom called me at work yesterday to inform me that she just bought us tickets to the Cirque du Soleil - Corteo on Nov 23rd in Washington DC. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I have always wanted to go to a Cirque du Soleil show. They have been to Raleigh a few times and will be here this December but the show is during the Christmas holidays and in the past I have had a hard time getting someone to go with me. Mom said she got an email with the advertisement and thought it would be fun. Bad thing is...it is the day before Thanksgiving so I know Mom and I will have a hard time getting up Thursday morning and cooking. Oh well...I GET TO SEE CIRQUE DU SOLEIL!!!!!!

One of these days I will see the Cirque Dreams show here in Raleigh. I hear it is spectacular.

The Great Mom Weekend
Mood:  happy
Well my Mom left yesterday morning to drive back to West Virginia. It was odd to have the apt back to myself. Not that she was much trouble, I am just not used to other people being in my living space.

She arrived around 2:30pm on Thursday and she came into work to pick up a key. She hadn't yet met a couple of people that I work with so I showed her around and introduced her to everyone. She then handed me some apple cider to share with the staff. They must of liked it because it was all gone this morning. LOL She then left to go to my apt to unpack and get settled in. After I finally got home we decided we were hungry for Italian food and there is only one place for GREAT Italian food in North Raleigh and that is Cinelli's. The food was amazing as always (best calamari). After dinner we came back home, watched Survivor and went to bed.

Friday we got up and I cooked breakfast then we got ready and headed to the spa for our massages. Both Mom and I had men masseurs. I had Michael and Mom had Jeff and they were both fantastic. I opted for a deep tissue since my back had so many knots. There were a couple of points during the massage when I had tears in my eyes from the pain but I knew I needed to have the knots worked out. After I was done, Michael suggested I ice down my back. I didn't...now I some bruises. LOL oh well. Mom and I both must have been full of toxins because we spent the rest of the day in a constant stage of nausea. I was looking forward to a nice dinner that night but both of us were so sick that we opted for some Mexican food which neither of us ate.

Saturday I was feeling better but Mom was still a little sick. I cooked breakfast and we decided to head to Durham to do some shopping. In the afternoon we came back to Raleigh and decided to rest until dinner. My Mom loves a restaurant here called "Firebirds". They have the best fillet mignon in town. So for dinner I decided to take her there. I called ahead to see if there was a wait and sure enough the wait was 45 minutes to an hour. I put our name on the list and we hung out at home until about 10 minutes before our reservations. When we got there the place was packed with teenagers out for their homecoming dance dinners. I went up to the hostess who informed me they were running behind and we would have to wait another 20 minutes. If I hadn't had my heart set on a blue cheese fillet I would have left. Mom and I stood near the door where Mary Kay Cosmetics had a table set up for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. There were raffling off a gift basket and a free makeover. Mom and I decided to put our names in even though we knew we wouldn't win. We were finally seated and had a most excellent meal. After dinner we headed home and watch the movie "The Lake House" which was okay...a little odd.

Oh forgot to mention...as we headed out of the restaurant we noticed that Mary Kay had left. Mom made a comment about not winning the gift basket. I told her (jokingly) that she probably won but that she had put her WV phone number down on the sheet and I am sure there would be a message waiting for her when she got home. When she got home Monday and checked her machine, she had a message from Mary Kay saying that she had one. Apparently I am going to get a call from the woman to pick up the basket and get Mom's free makeover. LOL

Sunday morning we got up and I took Mom out for brunch at Tir Na Nog in Raleigh. One of the best places for brunch. Cheap and a ton of food. After brunch we headed over to the science museum. Mom has never been and I wanted to show her the butterflies (my favorite exhibit). After that we came home and relaxed before going to see The Lion King, which was AWESOME! The costumes, music, and special effects were amazing. I didn't want the show to end. The opening scene at Pride Rock were all the animals come in to see baby Simba, brought tears to my eyes. I don't know why I got so emotional. LOL

Monday morning we got up and I cooked breakfast while mom packed her stuff up. After we ate and cleaned up she said goodbye and headed our. Looking back through this entry I noticed that most events revolved around food. LOL That's the way it should be.

Well I should get back to work. Take care!

How Many Government Employees Does it Take to Work a Laptop?
Mood:  hungry
It took 2 hours and 4 government employees to get our office laptop working. We have to watch this video today so we decided that we would order pizza and watch it over lunch. Our co-op went into the conference room to hook up the laptop. He quickly came out to get me saying he was having problems logging on. I went in and typed in my ID and password and got a message that I wasn’t a valid client on the network. I tried retyping it…got the same message. I tried enter my log on in all cap…then is all lowercase. Nothing! At that point the rest of the staff came in to see why I was yelling at inanimate objects again (I do this quite often). Everyone tried entering their information and we all got the same message. We finally decided to give someone in the IT helpdesk a call and let them figure it out. As we were leaving the room I notice another T1 (government internet access) outlet by the door. I ran over, grabbed the laptop and plugged it in to this port. I typed in my ID and password and it worked. I was able to finally log on. WTF! We then decided to test the CD to make sure the video would run. We put the CD in and the computer refused to recognize it. Have I mentioned yet how much I hate this laptop? Thank God I bought everyone thumbnail drives with year end money. We were able to load the video on that and then load it onto the laptop. What a pain.

On a lighter note…my mom arrives this afternoon. Although we talk almost every night I haven’t actually seen her since February. I have a pretty fun weekend planned for us. Tomorrow we are getting massages, then Saturday I am taking her to Durham to this really cool pottery place, then Sunday we see the Lion King and Monday she goes home. I think somewhere in there I will take her to the Sawmill Tap Room so she can experience Fried Pickles and beer. YUMMM!

Mom called me the other night on her cell phone to tell me she had just come from Aunt Buddie’s (my 96 year old great aunt). Apparently she called mom at work that morning and was worried that I was suffering from some sort of apple deficiency and she wanted mom to come over and take her to the farmers market to buy me some apples and cider. Mom wasn’t thrilled about it because she had tons of stuff to do before her trip here but when Aunt B calls you do whatever she wants. She is sort of like the Godfather of our family. After work mom drove the 30 minutes to Hagerstown, picked up Aunt B and drove over to the fruit stand. Aunt Buddie picks up two baskets of Empire Apples and asks Mom he she thinks she should get me two more. Now I LOVE Empire apples and you can not get them here in the south but what the hell would I do with 4 baskets of apples? Luckily mom convinced her that the 2 baskets would be enough. She then walked over to the cider and picked up 2 gallons of cider. Once again I LOVE cider but there is no way I can go through 2 gallons before it spoils. Mom convinced her that maybe 2 half gallon jugs would be plenty.* Laugh it up Anne….you are going to end up with 5 grates of Apple Butter* Bless her heart…you can’t be mad at her. One of these days I will have to tell you the cordless microwave/vcr saga. Old people and electronics don’t mix. LOL

Well the pizza will soon be here. I don’t know if I will have a chance to update while Mom is here so you all take care and I hope you have a great weekend.

I sort of met a celebrity
Mood:  happy
I am duty ranger this week, which means I am stuck in the visitor center talking to visitors. Normally I don't mind it but lately the people coming in here have only wanted to complain.

So when a gentleman came in here a few minutes ago I wasn't really looking forward to talking to him, but that soon changed. He was looking for some fishing spots and activities he can do with his son on Monday. He then informed me that his son is Cody Weiss (I think that is how he spells his name) who plays little Simba in the traveling version of "The Lion King". How cool is that? I will be seeing the the play this weekend!

I am so looking forward to seeing the show. It has been all over the news and I believe most of the shows are sold out. Thank God we got our ticket ahead of time.

SOOOOOOO Excited!!!!!!

Camping Adventure: Day Three - All good things must come to and end
Mood:  lazy
As I lay in my tent Sunday morning I hated to think about the fact that this was my last day and soon I would have to pack everything up and head home. I decided I couldn’t lay there anymore (there was also a boy scout from three sites down that was trying to whistle the theme from the Pink Panther…very annoying) so I stumbled out of my tent and headed straight for the coffee pot. After yesterday’s ordeal of try to get the water to boil, we decided to wrap tin foil around the burner and the pot. This worked like a charm and with in 15 minutes or so we had coffee. Gift from the Gods!!!!!

Once we finished our coffee and instant oatmeal, we clean up the dishes and packed up everything on the table. Then if was off for another cold shower. There was a girl in the stall next to me that kept screaming and complaining about the water to her boyfriend who was standing outside. Yes we all know it is cold. Suck it up and deal with it. If you want luxury…stay at a hotel.

Once we were showered, primped and our faces fully applied, we started to take down our tents. The wind by this time had picked up so our tents were blowing all over the place. I looked over once and saw Marie completely taken over by her tent. Apparently she had tried to shake all the dirt out from the inside and the wind pick up the fabric and blew it over top of her and she tried desperately to find an opening to get out. LOL I wish I had had my camera ready.

We finally got everything packed up and loaded in the car. I am amazed that my little Scion could fit all that camping gear. We decided before we hit the road to go over to look at the ocean one more time. There was such a nice breeze coming off the water. It really made it harder to leave. But we trudged back over the dunes one last time and climbed into the car.

We didn’t have to wait long at the ferry dock. Most people, I am assuming, were in church. All of them except for the line of heathens that now wait to board the boat that will carry us to the mainland. Once everyone was on board and the boat left the dock we immediately felt a jolt then the boat sort of tilted to the left. The captain then started to try to back the boat up. Apparently we had run aground on a sand bar. Whoops! We quickly got off and the captain steered us around the obstacle and we moving along. As we sat there I noticed a huge flock of sea gulls had accumulated off the front of the boat. Upon further inspection I observed a bunch out tourist feeding the birds. Now let me just give you all a lesson in boating. First all…don’t feed the gulls. They are like any other animal. If you feed them they will not leave you alone. Secondly…if you insist on feeding the gulls, feed them off the back of the boat…not the front. Not only does feeding them off the front obstruct the view of the captain but it also creates hazards to the people and cars on board. If a gull gets hit by the boat it will more than likely bounce and either hit a person or smash into someone’s car. Plus these animals poop as they fly and I for one do not want to be caught underneath.

We finally docked in Hatteras and after a quick restroom break we headed up to Nags Head. This drive, although it is very pretty, seems to always take forever. Especially when you get caught behind drivers who refuse to go the speed limit. Once we arrived in Nags Head I dropped Marie and her stuff off at Jockey’s Ridge and proceeded home. I made good time and only stopped once to get a BBQ sandwich. Once home, I unpacked my car and then crashed on the couch fully rejuvenated from my trip/

It was such a great weekend. I really need to do more camping. It is a cheap way to travel. Hotels this time of year on the Outerbanks can run anywhere from $60 to over $100 a night. Compare that to the $20 a night we paid to camp. Yeah you may not have hot showers and a continental breakfast but you do have smore’s, starry night skies, clean ocean air, and sand between your toes.

Check out Marie's last day post.

Camping Adventure: Day Two - Look at all the Dingbatters walkin' around!
Mood:  hungry
Saturday Morning Marie and I climbed out of our tents and I immediately started to try and make some coffee. I pulled out my percolator, filled it was water and coffee grounds, and set it on Marie’s little gas stove. Marie turned it on, lit it up and we sat there waiting for it to start doing its thing. There we sat, for what seemed like an hour, hoping that any minute we would see that like “bloop” of water in the clear plastic cap. It never happened. The water got hot but for some reason it refused to boil. I can’t function without coffee. In fact if I don’t have it, I get a horrible headache. At one point Marie offered to drive into town to get me a cup of coffee. Being one who does not like to be defeated I was determined we were going to figure this out. Marie then suggested that we pour the hot water out into a cup and pour it back over the filter. This worked great! At last I had coffee. Apparently the coffee pot is too tall for the little burner. Most of the heat escapes from the side so we would need to figure out a way to capture the heat.

After we finished breakfast and cleaned up the dishes, I headed over to the showers. Have I mentioned these are cold showers? There isn’t hot water anywhere in the entire campground. You enter into this wooden stall and above you is a shower head with a cord attached to it. Pull the cord and out comes freezing cold water. This is a sure fire way to wake you up and it also guarantees that you will not linger in the shower. Once Marie and I primped and dressed we headed into the small village of Ocracoke.

We parked the car at the NPS parking lot and as we walked into the town we notices a sign for the Artwalk Festival where local artist would have their studios open and be on hand to talk about their piece. Bonus!!! The village is such a quaint place to visit. If you ever decide to visit NC you really should make this place one of your stops. The shops are filled with local pottery and art. There is also a really cool bead shop where you can make your own jewelry. Marie made an anklet and I made a bracelet. After creating our own jewelry masterpieces I then took Marie down to Howard’s Pub. This is a hot spot of tourist. The really do have some great food. We ordered a dozen steamed clams that were some of the best clams I have ever had. They were tender and tasted like the ocean. Yummm! We then order some sandwiches which were also excellent. After lunch we headed to a few more shop and then finally back to the car. As we got back to the parking lot we noticed a little museum. Marie and I (both working for parks) love to critique museum exhibits. It was a little house that they have packed full with information. There wasn’t really any rhyme or reason to the displays and some of them were hard to follow but they did have one exhibit that I was very amused by. Did you all know that Ocracoke has its own language? It is referred to Ocracoke Brogue. Around town I have heard some of the dialect but didn’t really think too much about it until I saw the exhibit and video. Following are some words and their meaning that you might hear during your visit to the island. Also if you visit this little museum, check out the video. There is a really cute story about some Ocracoke men, two coolers of oysters, and a trip to Las Vegas. Hysterical!!!

hoi toide on the saind soid - high tide on the sound side

Buck- a friend

Mommuck-to harass or bother Young'uns hain't I been mommucked this day" classic island statement. You can Mommuck something up.

Call the mail over-distribute the mail.

Catawampus-in a diagonal position, crooked. Used in a sentence it would be, "The boxes in the general store are piled up catawampus."

Dingbatter-nonnative of Ocracoke.(tourist) "The dingbatter kept getting his fishing line tangled up with mine."

Meehonkey- Game of hide and seek

After the museum we headed back to the campground. We stopped by the local grocery/harware/liquor store to pick up some bug spray, charcoal, and chicken. I had a thought that maybe the charcoal would be hot enough in the grill to get our wood to burn.

Once we got back to our camp I put the chicken in a pot and covered it with marinade and Marie and I decided to head across the dunes to see the water. The sand was so soft and cool on my feet and as we walked little ghost crabs scurried all over the place. We reached the water and a wave came up and washed over my feet. I was amazed at how warm the water was. It felt so good after spending the entire day walking. The sun was starting to set so we headed back over to our campsite to cook dinner. Chicken on the grill in some sort of a lemon marinade and garlic mash potatoes. It actually turned out really well. After dinner I lowered the grill plate close to the coals and we stacked the firewood on top. Within minutes it was up in flames. Yea! We made some smores and drank yet another bottle of wine. Once the bottle was empty it was time to say goodnight and we headed into our tents

Coming Soon…The conclusion to the great camping adventure. But until then…I have posted a few pictures from our trip. Check them out. Camping Photos

Also check out Marie's Day Two Blog Post

Camping Adventure: Day One Girls can do anything boys can do...except for peeing standing up
Mood:  happy
I had such a fantastic weekend. I love camping and should really do more of it. I have come back refreshed and ready to take on the world. Well at least for today...tomorrow may be a different story. I am going to try to break up my camping trip into three segments so you all don't have to read one huge, rambling entry. So on to the first day...

I left Raleigh at 9:15 AM on Friday. The plan was to meet Marie at Jockey's Ridge State Park in Nags Head at 1PM. We would park her car there and take my car to Ocracoke. The trip normally takes about 3.5 hours but I some how managed to shave off 15 minutes. I called Marie to let her know I was in town and she informed me she was still about 30 minutes away. No big deal. This weekend was all about relaxing and going with the flow. Plus it was a perfect day so I looked around the museum and then decided to sit our in the warm sun for a bit. Marie finally arrived and we loaded her stuff in my car and we were on our way. (Anne...we stopped at Grits Grill for lunch. Still no milkshakes)

The ride from Nags Head to the Hatteras Ferry is about an hour if you don't stop to look at all the lighthouses. We arrived at the ferry port and noticed there was a huge line of cars waiting to board. The ferry isn't large and I think they can only hold about 30 cars, so there was no way we would make the first one. We got out of the car to stretch our legs and decided to do some people watching, which is one of my favorite activities. There were some eclectic people to watch from the men who ran the ferry that looked like they could be over 100 years old to the people walking their dogs. But the one group of people that had us entertained were the "Nantuckets". I don't really like to stereotype people but when I think of Massachusetts I picture these people. The mother was wearing white pants with a light blue shirt with the sleeves of her sweater tied around her neck. She had a silver bob haircut and a huge rock on her finger that sparkled in the sun light. Her husband had on khaki pants with a white shirt, tan loafers and a yachting cap. The son (who looked to be in his early 40's) had on khaki pants with a light blue and white striped shirt with the sleeves neatly rolled up and tan loafers. All very neutral colors. Then all the sudden it was like I was back in grade school playing that game, "one of these things is not like the other" Around the other side of the vehicle came this woman. She was really tan and was wearing a hot pink shirt and jean, peddle pushers. It was a stark contrasts compared to the others. We think she was either the black sheep of the family or the tour guide for this little group. We watched them try to figure out how to eat grapes that still had the seeds in them...very entertaining. Heaven forbid these people spit the seeds out in public like the rest of us. At one point I glanced over and saw "Nantucket Mom" pulling weeds out of the cracks in the parking lot.

The second ferry arrived and we started to board. Once in place and emergency brake engaged we got out of the car and walked over to the edge of the boat. to enjoy the scenery and to cool breeze. Forty five minutes later we docked in Orcacoke and headed to the camp ground.

We arrived and I quickly informed the gate attendant that we had reservations. I thought he would say, "Yes ma'am! You are in site such and such." Instead I got, "Drive around and pick out your site, then come back and let me know." We drove around hoping to find a spot close to the dunes. We were in luck...spot C1 was open. We headed back to the ranger station where he informed us that the site had been taken. We looked at the map and decided on site B8. It was across from the dunes, away from RV's and was close to the bathrooms (proximity to a toilet is very important when picking out a campsite). We headed over to our site and immediately started to set up camp. The sun was starting to set and I wanted to try to get everything in place before it got too dark. During the process we had to fight off the mosquitoes that were relentless in their pursuit of blood. No amount of bug spray or smoke could deter them.

None of the sites had fire ring. I think they were afraid of fire destroying the endangered beach grass. So all sites were equipped with a standing grill. Determined to have smore's we tried with all our might to build a fire that would sustain itself long enough to roast the marshmallows. Marie was kind enough to bring firewood but it was still a little bit wet from the night before and was in large pieces. Her boss had her bring an axe so that we could chop the wood into smaller pieces. Marie took the axe and started chopping away at the wood. Her stance was a little unproductive and watching her I all the sudden heard the voice of my old woodsman team coach, saying, "Use the axe...don't let the axe use you." Marie gave up and handed the axe to me. Feeling the axe handle in my hand, I automatically took my old competition stance. Body slightly turned, one hand on the butt of the axe...the other up near the bit. I raised the axe over my right shoulder and swung down onto the wood, sliding my hand down till it met the other. The wood split like butter. I had forgotten how good that feeling was. There is no better way to work out all of your frustrations. You put all of your anger and worries in the axe handle and it gets released when it contacts the wood. I know it sounds corny, but it is true. Marie stated that she couldn't do anything like that. I was shocked to hear her say this. She is after all enlightened. I informed her that any woman can do it...it is all about leverage. I have seen women who were 5'4" and 109 lbs cut down a telephone pole with an axe. Marie could definitely do this. I gave her back the axe and showed her how to swing. Within a few tries she had it down. With most of the wood split I started to build the fire while Marie took out her camp stove and started dinner which would be chicken noodle soup. We ate dinner and quickly roasted marshmallows before the poor little fire finally died. Studying the grill I came up with an idea that might work for the next night. I would just have to make a stop at the local grocery store.

Marie and I sat by the dying fire, talking and drinking our wine. Once the bottle was empty it signaled that it was time to go to bed. We crawled into our tents and I fell asleep as soon as I shut my eyes.

Coming soon: Day two...Journey back in time to Ocracoke Village.

PS: You can all also read Marie's accounting of the weekend events on her blog. She does a really good job of describing the our neighbors at the camp ground.

Thursday Thirteen
Mood:  not sure
Okay so this whole thing started today with Diana Peterfreund (Author of the awesome book, Secret Society Girl) posting this Thursday Thirteen on her site and then my sister posted it on her site. So I figured, like the sheep that I am, that I would post one as well. Since I can't remember the names of episodes of tv shows that I watch nor are there 13 things I miss about college (I can only come up with two). I figured I would list the 13 things I miss about the town of Thurmont, MD. That is the town I lived in for 6 years before moving to Raleigh, NC. Just in case you are not familiar with its location...it is located about 15 minutes north of Frederick, MD which puts it close to the PA border.

Thirteen Things I Miss About Thurmont, MD 1. Chimney Rock in the fall. 2. Friday Night Horse Auctions at Eyler's Farm 3. Colorfest...home of the world's best pit beef sandwich. 3. The Country Kitchen Restaurant...where if you kill it...they will cook it. 4. Christmas Services at Eyler's Valley Chapel 5. Cunningham Falls (the largest cascading waterfall in the state of MD) 6. June is Unity Month...not in Thurmont it isn't 7. The Cream of Crab Soup at the Little Creek Side Cafe. 8. Living in a town with only two traffic lights. 9. My old neighbors Charlie and Phil, who I used to call Frick and Frack. 10. Covered Bridges 11. The High's Gas Station that still served Slush Puppies. 12. The Fireman's Parade and Carnival 13. My best friend Justin Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Diana 2. Anne

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I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine
Mood:  hungry
Today's title is a line from a song. The first person who can tell me the name of the song and the musical it is from will win an Official US Army Corps of Engineers Park Ranger Winter Baseball Cap.

I am back to my normal work schedule today which means that I had to deal with morning traffic. Traffic here isn't nearly as bad as it is in places like Washington DC but the people here just don't know how to drive which makes the commute very frustrating. I only live about 7 miles from the office. It should not take me 30 mins to get here. Most of the traffic problems can be avoided if people were courteous and paid attention to what they are doing (ie..get the hell off your cell phone). This morning there was a disabled car in the right lane. The traffic moving in the left lane wouldn't let cars from the right lane merge in, which caused a huge back up of cars.
If everyone in the left lane would let one car merge in front of them, things would go much smoother. Instead the people in the left ride the bummer of the person in front of them and scowl at the people in the right lane like "don't even think you are getting ahead of me." This morning...I was in the left lane. Knowing the proper rules of the road, I slowed down and allowed a couple of people to merge in front of me. The freakin Dilbert behind me had the gall to honk his horn in disapproval. This didn't upset me nearly as much as the people who I allowed to merge in front of me who did not give me the "window wave" to say "thanks!" This is one of my biggest pet peeves about the south. It is very rare that someone will thank you for allowing them to move into your lane. A lot of the time they don't even wait for you to offer to let them in. They just start merging into your lane...expecting that you care so much for your car that you wont dare hit them. If you are one of these people....WAVE!!!! Show some respect even if you momma didn't teach you any. Where the hell is the southern hospitality that I keep hearing so much about? ARRRGGGG!!! *sigh* Okay...rant over.

Last night I watched the new TV show HEROS . It was pretty good. Not nearly as captivating as LOST was but it was watchable. I really only had one complaint. When they showed the scenes with Masi Oka (the guy from Japan), all of it was in subtitles, which I hate. Not that I am so egocentric that I think everyone in the world should speak English. It is just that I don't wear my glasses at night while watching tv so when the subtitles come up, by the time my eyes focus the words are gone. So I haven't a clue what the hell he and his friend were talking about. All know is that his power is to manipulate time. I was happy to see Adrian Pasdar who played Nathan Petrelli in last night episode. He is such a cutie.

Well I should get back to work. Hope everyone is having a great day.

Peanut, Walter, and Jose come to Raleigh
Mood:  bright
I am so excited!!! I recently found out that ventriloquist, Jeff Dunham will be preforming in Raleigh at Charlie Goodnights Nov 2-5. I have caught his show a few times on Comedy Central and he was on David Letterman last week. He is hysterical. Check out this video with his puppets, Peanut and Jose Jalapeno.

Jeff Dunham

He also has a DVD out which you can get from Netflix if you are a member, entitled "Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself".

Daily Grind
Mood:  not sure
Well here I am back at work after a very lazy weekend. I got a lot done around the apt but didn't venture outside much. I did scour the town on Sunday, looking for tent spikes for sand for my upcoming camping trip this weekend, but I didn't have any luck. I did find snow spikes that the sales guy said will work fine but I didn't have the right attachments to my tent to make them work so I would have had to purchase extra hardware. At $1.50 a piece per stake (I would need 5) and $6.00 for the attachments I decided it was a tad too costly and I would rather spend the money on the stuff to make smores. My co-worker has offered to let me borrow her stakes. I just hope she remembers to bring them in.

Today is my last day to be early ranger. If it wasn't for the fact that I have to get up at 4:30 AM I wouldn't mind it. It is actually nice not having to deal with the typical morning traffic I encounter when I come to work at my normal time. I also get to see the sun come up on the lake and now that the weather is cooler and the water is still 74 degrees there is a nice mist that rises up off the surface. Mix that with a bright golden sun and it is really quite beautiful. The rest of the staff starts trickling in about an hour later so I have lots of time to get things done without interruptions.

I think I have finally finished all my year end stuff. I have faxed everything into the district office and now I just sit here and wait for the inevitable phone call to tell me I did it all wrong. *sigh* They change the procedures every year so none of us have a clue what were are doing. Everyone keeps calling me and asking for advice, like I am some end of the year end budget guru. I haven't a clue what I am doing. LOL

Well like I said earlier...my camping trip is coming up this weekend. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I just can't wait to get out of Raleigh for a weekend. Don't get me wrong...I love Raleigh, I just need a change of scenery.

The following weekend my mother comes down. She got us tickets to the Lion King. The rest of the weekend will probably consist of shopping and eating. What we do best!

Well I should get back to work. We have another VIP visit this week so we are busy trying to get the office ready. I luckily don't have to make lunch or dinner arrangements. *YEA!*

Men in Trees
Mood:  hungry
Friday night as I laid on the couch flipping through tv channels I came across ABC's new show, "Men in Trees". I am not a huge Anne Heche fan but there wasn't really much on, so I decided to watch it. I LOVE this show. It has such a cute premise and the guys are so adorable.

Premise:

"Finding a good man in today's world isn't as difficult as some women think. You just have to watch out for the signs. You wouldn't drive with a blindfold on, but for some reason, women continue to date with one..." So native New Yorker Marin advises a crowd of her devoted fans. Marin thinks she has found her good man, fiance Graham, but discovers, bound for a speaking engagement in Elmo, Alaska, that he's been cheating on her. Plans for the wedding come to a screeching halt. Concluding that she really doesn't know anything about men, Marin resolves to temporarily stay in Elmo, where the ratio of men to women is ten to one, and get started on her new book - about men.

Marin's subjects are quite a lively bunch. Adorably affable Patrick, an avid fan of Marin's books, runs the town's only inn and radio station. Man's man Buzz owns and flies the only plane in and out of Elmo. Sophisticated Ben runs the town's only bar and has an unusual past. Last but definitely not least, strong and silent Jack protects the environment and comes to protect Marin from a possibly rabid raccoon and, occasionally, herself.

There are women in Elmo too. Both Theresa, Ben's estranged wife and former rock musician, and Sara, the town's "working girl," introduce Marin to a whole new way of thinking about men. And of course there's Annie, Marin's biggest fan, who moves to Elmo after hearing about Marin's break-up to reassure her -- mostly by quoting the relationship advice she has learned from Marin's books. Back in NYC, Marin's tough-girl editor, Jane, lends her long distance support, and even braves the ice and bad cell phone reception for the occasional visit.

Marin learns that she has been living with her eyes closed for too long. Now that they're finally open, she sees the amazingly beautiful world around her, and for the first time she'll have the chance to stop and breathe. Now if she could just get the raccoon out of her hotel room, this place might be perfect.

"MEN IN TREES" stars Anne Heche as Marin Frist, Abraham Benrubi as Ben, Emily Bergl as Annie, Seana Kofoed as Jane, Suleka Mathew as Sara, Derek Richardson as Patrick, Sarah Strange as Theresa, James Tupper as Jack and John Amos as Buzz. "

Check out this link to watch a preview of the show: Men in Trees

Saturday I spent a large part of the day at Bugfest. They had some great exhibits this year. Including a station where you could construct a robot insect. I saw a bunch of kids at the table and thought, "how hard can it be. I do have a college degree after all." But apparently a degree in Recreation and Park Management did not prepare me very well for this task. I got my box of parts and my instruction sheet and started to build. I am about 20 minutes into the project when this 7yr old boy sits down beside me. He immediately starts assembling his insect and is finished before I even have the first leg attached. The instructor had the patience of a saint with me and I am sure at one point he wanted to just take the damn thing out of my hand and finish it for me. LOL An hour later I had it complete and left it on the table for the world to see. They also had a really good evening talk for adults called, "Insects in Movies" which was very interesting. And yes for those of you wondering...I did eat a cricket and a couple of meal worms. They weren't half bad.

Sunday I ran a bunch of errands including a trip to Dick's Sporting goods to buy myself a pair of Crocs that I had been eying for awhile. I had a gift card so I decided to put that towards the purchase. They are so cute...light blue. They will be great for my camping trip which is coming up in like 12 days. SO EXCITED!!! I haven't't had any time off since May.

Well that is it for today. I should probably get back to work.

Rain, Rain Go Away!!!!
Mood:  blue
It is raining again today. We need it but still I wish the sun would come out. I have loved the cool weather this week. It has felt a lot like fall. It is suppose to get warmer though by the weekend.

I came into work this morning to yet another power outage. This time it blew my surge protector as well as my boss's. So now I have to scamble to purchase new ones. The outage also caused the pump at the well house to blow so we are also currently without water. *sigh* My boss, our two co-ops and our Chief Ranger are all down trying to get it fixed.

I am about to go and purchase over $20,000.00 worth of IT equipment. 2 new laptops, 1 new desktop, 2 new laser printers (one is going on my desk, Yea!) a new GPS unit, a HUGE scanner, and some thumbnail drives. I LOVE spending money...espeically when it is not mine. LOL

My plans for the weekend aren't many. Saturday is Bugfest at the science museum which should be a lot of fun. I am hoping I work up the nerve to eat a cricket. LOL Other than that I am just going to relax and enjoy the warm weather.

Why am I always in the dark?
Mood:  irritated
I came into work this morning to find the power out...again. I don't know why they can't seem to get the problem fixed. Apparently there is exposed wire somewhere in the ground that is shorting everything out. The worst part is...the power is only out in phase I which includes where my desks sits. So my cubical is dark and I haven't any internet access. So right now I am sitting in the corner at the back of the office typing away on an old laptop. *sigh* Hopefully the power will be back on soon. I have SOOOOO much work to do today.

On a lighter note: I watched another good movie last night, "Akeelah and the Bee."

With an aptitude for words, 11-year-old Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) is determined to spell her way out of South Los Angeles, entering scores of local contests and eventually landing a chance to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Despite discouragement from her mother (Angela Bassett), Akeelah gets support from her bookish tutor (Laurence Fishburne), her principal (Curtis Armstrong) and proud members of her community.

In the movie Akeelah is studying with her tutor when he asks her what she wants to do with her life. She shrugs and says she doesn't know. He then gets up and asks her to read the words in a frame on the wall. This is what it said...

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves -- Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are we not to be?" Taken from Dream of this by: Marianne Williamson

Wow! How true is that? A lot of us go through life not knowing what great potential lies before us because we don't believe enough in ourselves.

Hearing that quote made me remember a poem that a friend shared with me a few years ago. I posted it on my old blog and I often read it from time to time when I get discourage with my life and the people it it. I thought I would repost again for those of you have never seen it.


Desiderata by: Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.


Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.


Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.


Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.


You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.


Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.


With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Kinky Boots and the Big Reveal
Mood:  mischievious


Did that grab your attention? LOL

No this is not going to be an x-rated post so you don't have to make your kids leave the room. Sorry if I got your hopes up.

Let's start off with the "Kinky Boots" part of the title shall we?

Kinky Boots is the name of a movie I happened to watch this weekend. Several months ago I heard a critic talk about how he saw this movie at Sundance and how much he loved it. I thought it would be enjoyable so I decided to add it to my Netflix list. It arrived Friday and I popped it in. What a FANTASTIC movie!!! It had drama, comedy, and a few "tissue" momentst. It was just a good story about not being afraid to be yourself. Below is an overview of the movie and a link to the trailer. Read it...watch the trailer then run out and rent the movie.

Based on a true story. Charlie Price thinks he has finally escaped the dead-end industrial town of Northampton with ambitious fiancee Nicola, when his father suddenly passes away, leaving Charlie unexpectedly in charge of the sinking family business in sturdy shoes. Trapped between a world of cheap knock-offs and to-die-for Jimmy Choos, Price & Sons seemingly doesn't need a manager so much as it needs a savior. With mounting dread, Charlie soon realizes that to even stay afloat he's going to have to lay off many of his dad's loyal, life-long employees. Then, one dark night in Soho, Charlie is literally smacked in the face with an idea that could bring the factory roaring back to life. When Charlie meets tough, tender Lola and her teetering high heels, everything changes. They might come from completely different walks of life, but both men have reached a point where they have nothing to left to lose by taking a risk. Deciding to buck tradition and boring loafers, Charlie sets out to conquer the brave new world of sexy cross-dressing footwear, with Lola as his fashion advisor. But it isn't just the assembly line that the disarming Lola transforms. As the make-or-break Milan fashion show approaches, everyone in the factory--from the macho Don to the stalwart Mel to Charlie's confidante Lauren--finds the unlikely dreams of Lola and Charlie catching fire.


Kinky Boots Trailer

Now onto the big reveal and the moment you have all been waiting for. Okay maybe not all of you but I am sure at least some of you.

As most of you know by now...my friend Marie and I have decided to go to a Renaissance Festival...in costume. Now before you start saying, "Oh Lord she os one of THOSE kinds of people!", let me just say this is the first time I have ever gone to one of these things in costume. Normally I go in plain clothes and I mostly attend for the food and the story telling, not to mention it is a great place to do some people watching. But I am always up for an advanture and I always enjoy doing things outside the norm. So I took the challenge and decided to make my own dress. I started it back in June and about a week ago I finally finished it. It was a lot of work. More so than I thought it would be. It has some flaws but,I don't think it is too bad for my first attempt. I have promised that I would post some pictures when it was finally complete, so here they are. Enjoy!


Rennaissance Dress Pictures

Stingrays are not evil creatures
Mood:  not sure
Like the rest of the world I was saddened by Steve Irwin's death. I was not a fan of the show, mainly because I thought his antics encouraged people to take risks around wildlife and invade their space. I saw this first hand in my first year with the park service when some idiot thought he would pretend to be the crocodile hunter and tried to pick up a timber rattlesnake to impress his girlfriend. He ended up getting bite and having to go to the hospital. Luckily timber rattlesnake venom is not lethal in most cases but the whole thing could have easily been avoided if the man had respected the snakes space.

I do however agree with the message the Steve was trying to get out there. Just because something has scales instead of fur and would rather bite your head off than cuddle on the couch with you, it still has a purpose on this planet.

The news has been filled with stuff about Steve, which is normal when someone so popular dies. But last night I saw something that really irritated me. I believe it was on one of those entertainment news shows. They were trying to scare the public into thinking that stingrays are these evil creatures that are out to hurt humans. The basic message was that stingrays often strike without warning. This is SOOOOOO not true. I get so mad when the news tries to villainies an animal just because someone was hurt by it. The public then gets scared and wants to eliminate said animal from the planet. Steve would not stand for this and neither do I.

Stingrays are, for the most part, very gentle creatures. I had a chance to swim with them while on vacation in the Cayman Islands. They enjoyed being touched by humans and even seemed to enjoy swimming with us. After they had been fed they could have easily swam away but they stayed until the last person got out of the water. At one point while I was snorkeling along a ray past me and circled back and came up on my side. It was sort of like it was checking me out. Maybe it was laughing at the way I looked in my snorkel and mask. I found the whole thing to be very therapeutic and to this day it is one of my fondest memories.

But like every creature, even humans, it will defend itself if it feels like it is endangered. I truly believe that is what happened in this case. It was said that Steve was on one side of it and the camera man was on the other. The poor thing felt trapped and struck. I don't believe its intent was to kill Steve. Just injure him enough so that the ray could get away.

There is no reason why everything on this planet can't co-exist. I don't think anyone of us would enjoy a stranger coming into our homes and poking around or getting too close to us. Animals are the same way. So just give them the respect and space they need

Love holiday weekends
Mood:  not sure
I love having off 3 days in a row. Although my internal alarm clock woke me up yesterday at 5:30. *sigh* It's okay though...I wanted to get some hiking in anyway.

Saturday Marie and I had our massages. A half hour massage wasn't nearly long enough for my aching back but it has helped. Still searching for my hunky masseur. I have yet to receive any application. Maybe in OCT I can afford the 1 hour deep tissue massage. After the massage we sat in the sauna for what felt like an eternity but was probably only 20 or 30 minutes. Then we were off to lunch and some retail therapy, where Marie convinced me that my life would not be complete until I owned a corset...so I bought one. It was on sale and it wasn't another pair of JEANS! So proud of myself. We finally got back to my place about 5PM and Marie pinned the hem on my dress for me and she headed home. Thanks for everything Marie! It was a fun day.

Sunday I did a lot of "me" things around the apt. I sewed the hem of my dress and ironed the whole thing. I have someone coming over next weekend hopefully to help me take some pictures of it. I then did some laundry and cleaned the litter box. About 6PM Tanya and Andy showed up at my apt and we talked about what we could do on Monday. We then decided to go hiking (not Tanya's favorite activity) up at Hanging Rock. Andy called some friends and they agreed to meet us there in the morning. All this talk about physical activity has now made us hungry so I searched my pantry and came up with enough ingredients for a pretty good chicken casserole. I combined cubed chicken, frozen vegetables, cream of chicken soup, white wine, swiss cheese and stovetop stuffing and popped it in the oven.

Monday morning we all got up early and headed up to Danbury, NC (a 2.5 hour drive). We had just gotten on I-85 when Andy's friend called and said that they were all too hung over to join us. We then decided (actually they decided...I was still gung-ho) that maybe we should just stick close to Raleigh. So I turned the car around and we went to Ulmstead for a short 2 mile hike. *sigh* I was hoping for something like 6 miles. Oh well...next time.

We then came home and headed up to the pool for awhile then came back and cleaned up and they took me to one of my favorite places to eat...Firebirds. I think they felt bad that we didn't make it to Hanging Rock. We came home and I crashed on my couch and spent the rest of the evening watching the Dark Angel Marathon on Sci-Fi.

So now I am back to work. Counting down the days till my camping trip. I have just started our year end closeout. For those of you not familiar with the federal govt...we end our fiscal year 30 Sept.. Because of this I will be SWAMPED so I don't know how often I will get a chance to post. But I will try my best.