Wonderful Charleston!!!

Well, we're FINALLY back from our trip to Charleston. We had a bit of personal business to take care of down there on Friday, so I had traded shifts with a co-worker earlier this week so I could get some sleep Thursday night before driving down on Friday.
Well, that didn't QUITE pan out like I had hoped.
We got in bed about 2300 hrs...(11PM).... and JUST as we was falling asleep- we was RUDELY AWAKENED.
Me by Lucy(fer) as she climbed on the top of the entertainment center and then dive-bombed to the top of the Drafting Table which, I might add, was propped up at a steep angle so she ended up sliding down the top of it and landing directly on top of my chest and stomach..... and Paul was awakened by me yelling at Lucy(fer) when I finally caught my breath from her stupid little kamikaze stunt. After all that commotion, neither Paul nor I could get back to sleep at all, and we ended up talking til time to shower and get dressed and leave for Charleston.

Well, we got down to Charlie-town about two and a half hours earlier than we was scheduled for- but they took us back right away and we was there for a grand total of about 8 minutes. Seriously.

After the appointment was over- we decided to drive down to Mount Pleasant and have lunch at Waters Edge. We asked to be seated overlooking the water on Shem Creek, and we ordered...seafood!!! Yeah- I know, Right??

Well, as we sat there waiting for our dinner, a few pelicans flew by and one landed on one of the posts outside the window where we was sitting, and Paul took a lovely photo of it. He laughed saying he knew it looked like a totally touristy thing to do...but then he said heck- it was his first time to visit the city and obviously from his accent he wasn't from around here....so .........LOL.
We discussed heading out to Patriot's Point and taking a short Harbor tour, but as we was sitting there discussing it- looking out on the water of the creek....two bottle-nosed porpoises surfaced and started playing right outside where we were sitting. Those porpoises are the main reason we(meaning I) were/was thinking about taking the harbor tour- so seeing as how we had the main attraction already,it was hot as Hades, the humidity was horrid and it was starting to get cloudy outside and looking more and more like rain, we decided against the boat-ride.
Instead, we rode a bit farther down past Mt. Pleasant onto Isle of Palms and ogled some of the ritzy high dollar real estate on the island.
I also pointed out where my condo was on the island...in a prior life.

Believe it or not- we didn't even really go into Charleston Proper. We went onto the Ravenel Bridge..and what an absolutely STUNNING piece of art that thing is, too!!!....and we thought about riding back thru Charleston around Battery Park and Rainbow Row, but by that point we were both starting to get a bit punchy and thought it was best if we headed back to Easley instead. So off we went, having had a LOVELY time and still enjoying every second of it.

Well, we didn't get very far. About 45 miles back towards home, in Orangeburg, I was literally falling asleep at the wheel, and Paul was nodding off himself. So, seeing as we had WELL over two hundred miles more to go before we got back home, I knew I was going to get us killed if I tried to continue on- so we pulled into the first Days Inn we came to (luckily less than five miles later)and got a room for the night. My sister, Nina, was at Pawleys Island just along the coast a ways vacationing and had invited us to come down, but we had planned to drive straight thru back home after our appointment....had we known we wasn't going to make it back home anyway, we would have drove along the coast for the 45 miles instead and spent some enjoyable time with her and her family. (Hindsight is 20/20 huh???)
Well, we signed in and literally five minutes after walking into the room- I was fast asleep. And I didn't wake up until after midnight. And then I went back to sleep for another hour and a half before waking up again- but this time because my blood sugar was crashing. I woke Paul up and altho I had drank some sweet soda, my blood sugar was still plummeting so we got in the car and drove the three blocks to the nearest Waffle House and got some real food to eat.

After eating Supper/Breakfast, we went back to the room and I slept for another hour and a half while Paul watched TV for a while. When I woke up again, we decided to just go ahead and drive back while the sun was down and it was somewhat cool and comfortable outside...plus there was little traffic out at that time of the morning as well.

So we re-fueled and we drove a while until we found a 24-hour McD's where we got a couple of Caramel Frappe's and then we continued home. We arrived back here at 7:45..... almost exactly 24 hours to the MINUTE since we had left the day before.

I have to say- we don't get to take trips very often, but when we do, they always turn out to be an adventure for us to remember.

Ain't Life SWEET????

Why??????

Okay, in my last post I told you what I would do if I had been told I had a terminal illness and only had a very few weeks or months to live, and then asked why I/We weren't living like that now since we are basically one day closer to dying every day of our lives.
And I got some interesting comments on it already.

Paulius said it translates to "what would you do if there was no consequences".....and
"We may not live each day as if it's our last, but that's because if we did, there's a good chance it would be our last...or we'd make our remaining days miserable."
And in response to that I want to ask- How would doing what you have always wanted to do make you miserable?
"Call off work, lose your job. Eat nothing but desert, get fat and unhealthy, etc, etc."......Okay first of all- calling off work to make love all day to your hubby if you only have a few weeks/ months to live isn't frivolous- it's making some more really wonderful memories for your loved one to have of your last days instead of being all sad and miserable about how little time you have left together....eating nothing but dessert-Obviously not ALL the time- but if you have always wanted to but have always been sensible and responsible and you wanna see what it's like to be bad- what do you possibly have to lose(unless you're diabetic and wanna speed things up, that is)....get fat and unhealthy??? LMAO- you're DYING and only have a few weeks/months anyway....how much more unhealthy can possibly make a difference???

Odie agrees with me about Quality of life and grabbing life by the horns and LIVING your final days the way you want to make it COUNT.- Altho I have to argue against myself a bit and say "What???- Like my life wasn't counting for anything BEFORE I was diagnosed with this THING???"

Scratch says she would get a second opinion- first thing.
Second start contacting everyone she knows- and third put her affairs in order....

Okay
My reply to her is
First- Well, DUH!!!!!
Second-WHY?? Why would you be contacting everyone you know? Especially the ones you haven't heard from in a long time. I wouldn't. I would let immediate family members know, then my few REAL friends who care enough to KEEP in CONTACT on a regular basis. And then I would let the grapevine do the rest for me....anyone who really cares would contact me- and if they didn't then they don't matter anyway.
Or that's MY take on it anyway.
And third-putting your affairs in ORDER???? Sweetie- WHY do you not have that done ALREADY??????? OMG-you have a family to think about..... God forbid- what if you were in an accident today and something happened to you?? Would your loved ones be taken care of? Would they have enough money to take care of funeral expenses and to take care of bills and such during their grieving/mourning period? Or would they have to go back to work after three days like I did when my dad and son left us?
(I'm sorry hun, from experience I really have a hard time when it comes to getting affairs in order.)
In all fairness, tho- I'm so WITH you on the Hot Fudge Sundae thingie tho....make mine with Chocolate ice cream, extra hot fudge, extra nuts and a half dozen cherries on top of the REAL whipped cream!!!!

Okay so more on this later if/when I get more comments.....

"I'm Sorry but......"

Okay so today's blog-post was inspired by Michelle and her blog-post about her and her hubby going out to a restaurant just for(GASP!!!) Dessert.

Holy Cow- what a concept!!!! And a damn GOOD one!!

That's exactly the way I would live my life (and want to NOW)if the doctor gave me the news that..."I'm sorry, but you have an incurable disease and only have a few weeks to live."
Now, Michelle has recently been diagnosed with congestive heart failure(I'm not giving out any big secrets here- if you go to her blog it's in her "ABOUT ME") and I'm pretty sure that they're getting it under control with a big diet change and some meds and such...but it's still a royal pain in the arse for them I'm sure...Paul and I had the same deal when first I, and just a few months later HE, was diagnosed with Diabetes.

What I'm saying is it changed the way we thought about everything. My FIRST bout of thinking about this came with my kidney hospitalization in early 2008. I came very close to dying then. It was scary.

But anyway....I'd go out to eat and I would eat dessert first. Or have dessert for the entire dinner..(Or breakfast). I'd call off work and just stay in bed with my hubby and make love all day. I'd go to the theme park and ride all the things I was scared to ride before. I'd tell everyone exactly what I was thinking. I'd have picnics in the park, and go riding horses on the mountain trails. I'd go for long drives. I'd eat only if I wanted to eat. I'd go for long walks in the afternoons.
I'd only do what I wanted, when I wanted to do it.

But here's the thing......
We're ALL, every day, one day closer to our last day on Earth...so why am I NOT doing all these things I would do if I had been told by a doc I was dying?
Why are WE ALL not doing the things we really want to do? Can't we still lead productive lives and do all those little things that we would do if we had limited time left?

Think about it.

Happy Birthday Joan!!!...and Other things...

First of all, Happy Birthday to my mother-in-law, Joan.
We love you BUNCHES & we wish we were there to celebrate with you!!!
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Okay, so Paul and I have been having LOADS of fun doing the new Podcast. We're getting loads of feedback on it- altho no one seems to want to leave comments on the podcast comments spot!! Don't be shy- let us know what ya think!!

So far- we've learned that the first one was a bit too short.....the second was a bit too long and a bit too ......."off direction" at the end. We knew that.
So I think we're going to change it up a bit and do a couple of regular feature type things on it and then our discussion in between. Paul had his podcast before and it isn't so new for him, but having a partner in one IS new to him and it's ALL new to me. I'm still trying to find my rhythm in it. It's hard for me too- because I like to think about what we're discussing before I make any points that he could blow holes the size of Texas in, but by then the podcast would be over so I'm having to learn to think fast on my feet!! (I also still get mesmerized by his accent and the rhythm of HIS voice, so it helps for me to only sort of "half" listen to him and to have something else to distract me a little bit while we're recording. LOL!!)

Finally, we are getting to go to Charleston!! Ever since we've been married we(meaning I) have wanted to take a short trip down there. I'd LOVE to stay for a weekend, but we just can't afford that at the moment, but we DO have a business appointment down there for Friday, so we're finally going to get to go for a day anyway. I figure we'll get there, have our meeting, maybe go to the market and stop by the Mad Hatter, and have a bit of early dinner somewhere down there before heading back. How I would LOVE to be able to stay and have a moonlight stroll on the beach before heading back upstate!! I can't be out in the sun much due to my Blood Pressure medication, but just as the sun is going down would be a lovely time to be out on the beach!! We'll see, maybe we can swing it, after all.
One of my Co-workers, Kevin, graciously agreed to trade shifts with me this week so I wouldn't have to work 12 hours and then drive down to Charleston immediately after. So I'm in for him tonight- so HE can extend HIS long weekend and have an extra day with his friends near the coast too!! Works out for us BOTH!
I work with such NICE people!!!

Speaking of work....I suppose I better go get dressed and head that way. We have a big day planned for my off day tomorrow too...gotta check all the stuff on the car to make sure it's trip-worthy for Friday!!
Okay, so we need to check: the Coolant, the tires(air pressure and worn spots), the transmission fluid, The wiper fluid, & fill the gas tank.........vacuum and clear out the car of all the accumulated "stuff" so we get decent gas mileage too.
We also need to make sure we have change in cash for parking fees, sunscreen, and something sweet in case either of us have a blood sugar drop on a long stretch of highway not near an exit. Need to wear something cool and comfy too..... Cash card & check off the paperwork we need to take with us.

Am I forgetting anything??

The Podcast.....Happy Birthdays...... & the Rest Of The Day.

Another podcast finished. Paul's editing it now so it should be up sometimes Sunday. It wasn't as comedic as the last one- but then, nothing's the same every time, now is it? I'm getting used to the mic now- not so shy about being recorded. I suppose that's a good thing.

I spent most of today baking a Pink Lemonade Pound Cake with Pink Lemonade Glaze & a couple dozen Lime Cupcakes with Pineapple Coconut Frosting for one of my BFF's Birthday celebration tomorrow at work.(Happy Birthday Karen!!!!...Oh- AND Happy Birthday to our blogfriend Dave too!!! Y'all not getting older- y'all're getting BETTER!!!) Karen requested the P/L PC and I decided to do the Lime CC's extra.
I tell ya- I LOVE my BFF's. They keep me from going insane at work!!!

I also made a batch of No-Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Drop Cookies for my Baby Bro's birthday on Saturday!! He LOVES those things! When we were growing up, I got in the habit of making homemade baked goodies for gifts for Christmas for the family. Well, for the guys, that is....My Daddy always wanted Fudge with Peanut-Butter in it.
My brother Eddie, he always wanted Chocolate Brownies so that's what HE got. Baby Bro, Charlie, always wanted the Chocolate oatmeal Cookies, so that's what HE got. Mom usually wanted a Black Walnut Pound Cake with Creamy Maple Glaze(also a favorite dessert for Thanksgiving Dinner).
Paul seems to favor Cherry Yum-Yum.(Also the favorite dessert for Christmas Eve Buffet.)
Everyone else seems to hold their breath for the first frost of the year because the weekend following is usually the only time of year I make my big ole VAT of Chili, served up with loads of extra sharp melted cheese and corn-chips!!!

Dammitt- now I've made myself hungry....and I'm sleepy too.

Later Y'all!!

Charleston Bound..... Next Week.

Have an appointment in Charleston next Friday

OMG!!

OMG!
OMG!!
OMG!!!!

:-)

OMG!!

OMG!
OMG!!
OMG!!!!

:-)

Something New.....

Well, that was kinda fun.

Paul just set us up "testing" for a podcast we've been thinking of doing for a while now.

And it went so well I think it may possibly be our first "actual".
I stammered a few times- but I do that in real life too- not because I have a speech impediment, but because sometimes my brain goes faster than my mouth(if THAT's even possible). And because I wasn't aware there was a possibility of it being an "actual", I wasn't all shy and nervous like I usually am when I KNOW I'm being recorded.....stop laughing Paul.

We're having a time figuring out a name for it tho......

Back-Fire!!!

Okay, so I admit it-

I set up a little boobie-trap for the cats who were acting like total spazzes last night- and then I forgot about it and ended up torpedoing myself.

Dumb-ass.

!!#@$$$$$*(&%^@!%*@#!!??&!@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay........ so since I got up NOTHING has went right for me.


*I took dentures out last night to clean and the adhesive stayed IN my mouth between my cheek and gum.....when I removed it- it took a layer of skin with it and my mouth is so raw I can't wear my dentures to work tonight.
*I boiled some eggs for dinner at work- the shells took all but a THIN layer of the white.
*I couldn't get the computer to come on.
*When it came on- I couldn't get it to bring anything up on the screen.
*Had to reboot three times before it began working properly.
*Took a shower, couldn't find my body wash. (Paul certainly doesn't use it, so that leaves the cats to have knockd it off the counter and batted it around til it was somewhere they couldnt get to it and now it's lost...)
*Couldn't find any of my hair clips
*Couldn't find my underwear in the mountain of laundry that's yet to be folded.
*Got overheated in the bathroom while taking my shower
*Couldn't find matching socks in aforementioned mountain of laundry
*stepped on sticky tape on way back from laundry room
*having a blood sugar drop right now from the stress of the day so far....and I've only been up for 3 hours so far....

Time to go to work and don't wanna..........the way my luck is running, I'll have an accident on the way to work or fall down the stairs once I get there.

Anyone wanna go in for me tonight?????????
PLEASE?????????

Compartmentalized Memories...

I was just sitting here watching Sex & The City- The Movie. I was watching the final scenes where they are all out celebrating Samantha's 50th Birthday and it reminded me of my girls at work- Cece, Karen & Mary- who threw me a surprise 50th Party and was thinking it was ever going to be one of my favorite memories. (Thanks dolls!!)

And then I got thinking about how I tend to compartmentalize my memories...I have Family memories in several sub-catergories, Work memories, Vacation memories in sub-categories such as Lake memories, Beach memories,Mountain memories and camping memories. I have injury memories, hospital memories and party memories. I have baby memories, wedding memories and practical joke memories.

I remember a LOT of stuff about a LOT of things....
But then I got thinking about how my memories can all be put into at least two or three different categories each and that got me thinking about the PICASA app where my pics are.

Hahahaha- I have a Picasa memory bank.

:-('''''''''

Well, today I was supposed to go to lunch with my Mom. We've been talking about this and planning it and trying to co-ordinate our schedules to do it for weeks.

Well, I got up this morning and made busy work for myself trying to keep the morning from dragging on like it does when you're really, really, really looking forward to something.
You know, like your birthday party, or the last day of school before Summer vacation, or Christmas Eve night when you're waiting on Santa to come so you can get up next morning and see the pretty prezzies under the tree!!!!...I mean see what he brought you.

;-)

Okay, so anyway, I waited til about 11 AM and then called her to see what time she was going to be over.....we had said around 1-ish but sometimes she runs late- or even shows up early. And as I said- I was really looking forward to us doing lunch together but when I called her- she and her boyfriend was JUST getting BREAKFAST started!

It took everything I could do to not cry when I heard that news because I knew then and there that our lunch together wasn't going to happen. For one thing she wouldn't be even CLOSE to hungry again by even two or three o' clock in the afternoon- and she had two appointments today...one at 4P and another at 6P.

Anyone that knows me knows I usually don't get upset about things that go awry, cause things happen to change plans,no one knows that better than me, but it wasn't something that just came up and changed our plans. It seemed more like a deliberate ....looking for a word....not exactly a snub, not a rejection....but something along those lines.

Am I really that inconsequential to my mom?? Cause in all honesty- that's exactly how it felt.

And it hurts.

I'm Lazy....

Just so those of you who read both THIS Blog and my diet Blog know....I'm being a bit lazy today, so I'm putting this post on both with just a bit added on to this one..........
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I hate exercise. I just do.
But lately- in the past month....I just can't NOT go for my walk/run.

That's why at 12:30AM when I woke up- I was lacing into my shoes, finding my big kick-ass 4 cell Maglite-(that I broke my OWN nose with before Paul and I were married)- and hitting the pavement. About halfway into it- as I was talking on speakerphone to one of my friends who is working night shift, I saw at the end of the road a few of the neighborhood teen groups(guys all) who were roaming the streets.
I was a bit uneasy about that, but then in a loud clear voice my friend on the phone, Cece, who had no IDEA the group was out there, asked me..."You DO have a GUN don't you?" To which I honestly said "Yep!!" and then started my lap back to the house down the driveway.
I decided to end my run a bit early, altho I had only logged 1.71 miles, just to be on the safe side.

And God Bless Cece!!!

That's the bad thing about living here in the Southern States....it's just too dang HOT to walk/run at a reasonable hour. Especially with this heat wave going on!!!
And I HATE being all freaky paranoid and especially about lumping all those kids into the "probably up to no good and looking for trouble" category- but come on....at 1:30 AM....what else are you supposed to think about kids who are out at that time of night/morning with no adult supervision?

Like I said- better safe than sorry but it really does make me sad that it has come to this with me. And I'm sorry- but even if I have to walk TWICE as many laps and just go from my house to my moms house, which is only half the distance to the road as I usually go, I'm not giving up my walks.

Hell, if that dang growling the other night didn't stop me from walking again- nothing will!!!!

Lazy Day........

This morning I got up before the sun came up to go on my walk/run. I walked for almost an hour...until the sun finally peeked over the horizon obliterating the shade from the driveway where I walk. From our front door to the mailbox at the road and back is almost exactly a quarter mile. The first fifty yards or so is a nice steep incline, but the rest of the way to the mailbox is, altho still a bit of an incline, it's more of a slight, gradual climb. I walked/ran my two miles and stopped when the sun came out full blast. At that point it was around 7:30AM. I came back to see Paul getting the grill going for smoking the rack of ribs we got for today's dinner. As I walked past him he asked me if I could , at some point pretty soon, go to our local Wal-mart and get some more charcoal. We thought we had plenty but we actually had MUCH less than we thought.
So off I went to Wal-mart.

Well, Paul's mistake was sending me to Wal-mart by myself. With the bank-card.
:-)
They had a 4th of July Sale going on.
So I came home with a new pair of Danskin Workout pants (in a smaller size!!!), a pair of workout shorts, (a first in 10 years for me), a tube of hair sleek for this damn humidity that makes my hair look like Albert Einstein's, a big huge bottle of Tony's Creole Seasoning,.....and the charcoal.

In my defense, I got the seasoning mostly for Paul's mum. I'm sending her a few spice blends that they can't get over there in the UK.

So now I'm sitting here in the yard, in the shade, having a lazy day, while watching my husband enjoying our smoker/grill while listening to his TWEET ME HARDER podcast.

We're thinking about going to Downtown Alive in Greenville this evening, but I don't know. Depends on how we feel later. The festival has live music and street performers, food and at the end of the night- a HUGE fireworks show.
Sounds like a blast- and it's something we haven't done yet, but you have to park a mile away and pay for the privilege of doing so. And there's like THOUSANDS of people there and I'm a bit weird about crowds.

Maybe we'll just stay here and watch the LOCAL fireworks while we're going on our night walk this evening.
I can't believe it's so cool outside today. It's only about 80 degrees out and there's a nice breeze today as well!!

On a completely different note- I just looked down at my sneakers and once again wished that I could find a pair of Nike+ shoes in pure white. What makes sneaker manufacturers think we ALL want those dang ugly neon colors all the time? Some of us want WHITE- or BLACK- or even a combination of the two would be better than all that color splash crap. I'm a purist. I LOVE plain white sneakers. But the only brand of sneakers I can find in all white is Wilson Tennis Sneakers. There's nowhere to put my sensor in Wilsons. LOL- and everytime I write Wilson's I think about Tom Hanks talking to "Wilson" in CASTAWAY. How upset he was when Wilson got loose and floated away from the raft. Poor Guy.

OMG- Paul and I could do a better job of making a podcast than the one we're listening to now. They are talking about Hamburglar and crow-bars and soapboxes. WTH?

I'd love to pitch horseshoes today- but Paul doesn't play. And neither does anyone else around here. Which really sux. I also would LOVE to go fishing, but our fishing-license expired last month and the pond down the hill is grown up and snaky and I won't go down there.

Anyway, that's my day so far. I hope y'all are having as great a day as I am!!!!

Happy 4th!!!!

Greetings From Planet Earth.

Okay, so seriously, if you were chosen to create a message to send to an alien world for First Contact, what would it say?

Would you send a Goodwill message? Music(a la Close Encounters of the Third Kind)? Binary Code? A picture or photograph?
What would it be and why would you choose that particular message? How long would it be? Short and sweet? Or Long and descriptive? A simple sentence, a paragraph, a page or a 300 page declaration?

I'm thinking on it- you know, just in case I am ever assigned that particular job by the powers that be. (Yeah, I got friends in REALLY high places!!!)

To me it, sort of, smacks of the story of the man who said he wouldn't speak again until he had something momentous to say to the world......and he never spoke again.

What could we possibly say that would be momentous enough for a First Contact?? Should we be friendly? Curious? Welcoming? Peace-loving?
Or would we convey that we are ready to defend our planet from aggressors and invaders? That we want to communicate but will not welcome visitors until we know their intentions?

What would we be inviting, either way? Should we be inviting and friendly or intimidating and aggressive? Neutral/ And how would one go about conveying those ideas to a race that may not understand our intentions either way?

A mathematical code, perhaps? What set of numbers? Why?



Kinda scary to think about it, isn't it?