tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52127667372773600292024-03-20T22:05:30.659-07:00Embracing Our Inner VagabondAdventures while traveling....Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-71747667861734757612009-06-02T19:17:00.000-07:002009-06-07T05:02:11.903-07:00New Chapter.....New Blog!<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm starting a new blog to commemorate the newest chapter in our lives. Since we have bought a property and won't be travelling extensively in the near future, I don't think I can continue "embracing my inner vagabond." But I've enjoyed keeping this online diary and will continue to do so. If you're interested, visit my new blog at:<span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /><a href="http://hoosiermamanow.blogspot.com">http://hoosiermamanow.blogspot.com/<br /></a></span><br />That's Hoosier Mama Now.<br />The adventure continues!!!<br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-78277445506302748402009-05-24T06:53:00.000-07:002009-05-26T20:59:51.520-07:00We bought the farm - - Literally!!<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"....which had no boundaries in time and space, where lurked musical and strange names and mythical and lost peoples, and which was itself only a name musical and strange."</span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">- Ross Lockridge, Jr.; Raintree County</span><br /><br />Yesterday we closed on the farm in New Castle, so it's official. We're Hoosiers! Next Saturday we'll start moving in, not that we have much to move!! Mostly photos and memorabilia! For furniture we'll be visiting various rummage sales, auctions, and the local Salvation Army (or Salvation "Armani" as my sister calls it!!)<br /><br />After the closing we meandered around Henry County to get a taste of the local flavor and see what the area has to offer. I think I would describe the local flavor as "corn." It seems that the outlying areas consist mostly of farm fields and the towns and villages seem to consist of liquor stores and tobacco shops.<br /><br />The folks around here seem to have a healthy sense of humor! I don't think we were in Henry Co., but on our way to the closing, we drove past a liquor store that had a HUGE pink ele</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">phant statue wearing shades guarding the entrance!! I'm going to try to get a picture and post it later.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I just finished reading a novel that is supposed to be based on Henry Co. It's called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Raintree-County-Ross-Lockridge-Jr/dp/1556527101/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243394831&sr=8-3">Raintree County</a> by <a href="http://www.raintreecounty.com/shortBio.html">Ross Lockridge, Jr</a><a href="http://www.raintreecounty.com/shortBio.html">.</a> It takes place on a 4th of July in 1892, but most of it is flashbacks from the narrators life. It's a big, thick book full of political and religious postulating and surrealistic dream sequences. Even though I got a little bogged down in the dream sequences, I enjoyed the story, especially the historical perspective it gives about the attitude of the characters towards slavery and the Civil War.<br /><br />When we were in Asheville, I read <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Wolfe">Thomas Wolfe's</a> novel, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Look-Homeward-Angel-Thomas-Wolfe/dp/0743297318/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243395012&sr=1-1">Look Homeward Angel</a>. I think it was written about 20 years prior to Raintree County. Wolfe's novel, while fiction, is actually based on the people and places of his youth. He changed the names, but left them obviously similar to the areas and people that they represented. </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Apparently his family and friends weren't appreciative of the way in which they were depicted.<br /><br />Raintree County is written in a similar fashion. The main character is based on Lockridge'</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">s grand-father and the area where he lived as a boy. In comparison to the Wolfe novel, I have to admit I enjoyed Raintree County more. (I wasn't even able to finish reading Look Homeward, Angel. I just lost interest.) I think Lockridge's characters were more fully developed and even though he acknowledged and illustrated their faults, he seemed to possess a certain level of respect for them, even if he didn't agree with their beliefs or actions.<br /><br />I know I'm not the only person who has drawn similarities between the two novels, but the most ironic similarity is that both authors only published one major work during their lifetime, and both died tragically at a young age after the work was published. Wolfe contracted tuberculosis of the brain and died 9 years after the publication of his novel; Lockridge committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning just a few short months after his novel was published. Apparently he suffered from depression and possibly a chemical imbalance. It seems especially tragic because he left a wife and 4 young children. My next read is his biography, written by one of his sons called, The Shade of the Raintree.<br /><br />I've enjoyed looking at the area where will be living and trying to imagine what it was like during the Civil War and how things have changed.<br /><br />In other news, we have acquired a new member to our K-9 family! </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Our neighbors here at the KOA in Greenfield, IN bought an Australian Blue Heeler puppy a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, she was a bit too much for them to handle. Heelers are very energetic, intelligent dogs. This couple is quite young, the husband works 90 hours a week on a gas pipeline (which is why they live in a 5th wheel.) The wife stays ho</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">me with their 16 month old daughter and a puppy just didn't fit into that scenario well.<br /><br />Since we're familiar with the breed and getting ready to move to a farm, they asked us if we would be interested in adopting her. I kinda had a feeling when they brought her home that we might "inherit" her, so it wasn't a complete surprise.<br /><br />She's actually a very sweet dog and I think she'll be a great farm dog!! Twiggy and Shelby are learning to tolerate her and she seems to be adjusting to her new life quite well.<br /><br />I'll include a couple of photos. She's quite photogenic!</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Her name's Ellie Maye and she's about 10 weeks old.</span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAFzwj1RV885oDkoWQC7m_E2wEgKvkbdozP-UHzIUnQB2iEdyW8MbDmEdFwBZP-I2jnZEqSzoOUgjlcawRNtIBj-pQ9HKOm23N5Vrfcq_OlsgjDVZr8BqG7sUzp6w1FqBE5JQnbKQO9iY/s1600-h/Ellie+Maye_2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAFzwj1RV885oDkoWQC7m_E2wEgKvkbdozP-UHzIUnQB2iEdyW8MbDmEdFwBZP-I2jnZEqSzoOUgjlcawRNtIBj-pQ9HKOm23N5Vrfcq_OlsgjDVZr8BqG7sUzp6w1FqBE5JQnbKQO9iY/s320/Ellie+Maye_2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340344743569940322" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgme082CLchmElVsH_EObPI5-GtghTxVVf53Gsr8a_tZXLPmpYfnyk7XkZUy0UHw75GC01pCNALneLKiRDNXFM9onhlQj3es-6nXVIiCX6uHiKD_62KC4zrCw6UEhc7-toM7Fkwr_3mlF8/s1600-h/Three+Amigos_1.jpg"> </a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Here are the Three Amigos with their bones.....</span></span><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgme082CLchmElVsH_EObPI5-GtghTxVVf53Gsr8a_tZXLPmpYfnyk7XkZUy0UHw75GC01pCNALneLKiRDNXFM9onhlQj3es-6nXVIiCX6uHiKD_62KC4zrCw6UEhc7-toM7Fkwr_3mlF8/s1600-h/Three+Amigos_1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 177px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgme082CLchmElVsH_EObPI5-GtghTxVVf53Gsr8a_tZXLPmpYfnyk7XkZUy0UHw75GC01pCNALneLKiRDNXFM9onhlQj3es-6nXVIiCX6uHiKD_62KC4zrCw6UEhc7-toM7Fkwr_3mlF8/s320/Three+Amigos_1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340345327102900082" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">So, this will probably be my last post as a "Nomad of the North." I think I'm going to start a blog about life on the farm as a wannabe potter. I'm trying to come up with a name for it. I was thinking about "Hoosier Mama."The other possibility that came to mind was, "Some Assembly Required." Something tells me that will be an ongoing theme for us in the future! Life continues to be interesting and fun!</span></span><br /></div><br /><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-80183897888054851592009-05-10T19:28:00.000-07:002009-06-02T19:17:00.662-07:00Be Careful What You Wish For, You May Receive It!<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Yet more changes appear to be on my horizon. Lately I feel like many of the situations I find myself in are giving me an <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">opportunity</span> to examine and evaluate (and re-evaluate) my life and choices I've made and determine whether or not I'm ready to pursue something I've always wanted to do.<br /><br />Recently, an opportunity availed itself to me that has caused me to try to figure out how serious I am about my favorite hobby - pottery! Clay is something I've dabbled in sporadically since high school. I've never had any "formal" education in the medium since I chose to drop out of commercial art school after just 4 short weeks, which is a whole '<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">nother</span> story about choices. But I've always managed to keep ceramics in my life in some form or another, either by taking (or even teaching) a class here and there at various art centers or setting up a makeshift studio on my back porch, or finally a "real" studio, at our last permane</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">nt residence before we adopted our current nomadic lifestyle.<br /><br />I've always felt like I've never been able to give it my full attention. I've always wondered if I could ever become "successful" at it, if I was able to truly focus on it as more than just a sporadic, but enjoyable hobby.<br /><br />During our winter in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Asheville</span>, I became quite interested in salt-firing, but this method of firing requires a rather expensive kiln and some expertise that I don't feel I've acquired yet. But earlier this week, a good friend of mine who also happens to be a knowledgeable potter, and was aware of my interest, e-mailed me about a situation that could enable me to pursue this dream that's been cogitating in my feeble brain.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">(The object of my desire.....)</span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSm1pHt6Fa93n6D7EuyVTh08IrjqCNFvTnS690NpPqObZmRk0uk2Q6_1Fve50ios611dg7RPjV12evvXG2mDhV5qIpObjewGurMh3Y6sKM291MeXfkMrfMxlvSbFTEfYRzoKZV-79gF8M/s1600-h/salt+kiln+2+billy.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSm1pHt6Fa93n6D7EuyVTh08IrjqCNFvTnS690NpPqObZmRk0uk2Q6_1Fve50ios611dg7RPjV12evvXG2mDhV5qIpObjewGurMh3Y6sKM291MeXfkMrfMxlvSbFTEfYRzoKZV-79gF8M/s320/salt+kiln+2+billy.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5334428070428146690" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Unfortunately it seems that whenever I find myself on the brink of realizing a dream, a little voice inside my head says, "Be careful what you wish for...." Up until just a few minutes ago, I really couldn't remember where I had ever heard this phrase, or what is the unstated but seemingly dire implication of obtaining that which we have wished for.<br /><br />So, I googled it.........."be careful what you wish for...." and now I remember!! It was a quote at the beginning of a short story I read, probably in a junior high or high school <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">English</span> class, called <a href="http://www.americanliterature.com/Jacobs/SS/TheMonkeysPaw.html">The Monkey's Paw</a><a href="http://www.americanliterature.com/Jacobs/SS/TheMonkeysPaw.html">.</a> In this story, an old couple is given a "magical" monkey's paw by a friend of the family. According to legend, the owner of the paw will be granted 3 wishes. Typically, the first thing the couple wish for is "riches" in the form of 200 pounds. Unfortunately, the wish is fulfilled by the death of their only son, who is killed by a horrible accident at his place of employment. His parents are given monetary compensation by his employer which of course is equal to the amount that the couple had wished for. A few days later in the midst of their grief, the wife, remembers the monkey's paw and convinces her husband to wish that their son be brought back to life. He reluctantly agrees, and shortly thereafter they hear a knock at the door. Suddenly, the husband realizes that if it truly is their son at the door, brought back to life by the wish, they may not want to see him in the state he's in, considering he was mutilated by the accident and has been dead for several days. The father quickly makes his third wish and when his wife opens the door, there's no one there.<br /><br />I don't really think that buying this kiln will have such dire consequences, but I have come to realize that when we wish for something, we usually don't take all the facts into consideration when we imagine what the granting of that wish might entail. When I was young, I thought that I would be eternally happy if only I could have a horse. That wish was eventually granted for me, and my horses did bring me much happiness! If I had it to do over again, I would in a heartbeat! But I didn't realize the amount of time, money, and work that horse ownership required. It was more than I anticipated, but I also think that owning a horse helped me to develop a good work ethic, and patience, and many other benefits that I never realized would come with the blood, sweat and tears of the responsibility.<br /><br />Similarly, I always wanted to own a small farm (this wish probably goes hand-in-hand with the previous wish!) Again, I had no clue that one never truly owns a farm, the farm owns you! But, also, I would do it again in a heartbeat (and apparently I will be soon, if we acquire the 18 acres in New Castle that we've made an offer on!)<br /><br />So, yesterday and today I've been wrestling with the idea of buying this kiln (and a few other pieces of equipment) that would motivate, actually force me, to truly commit myself to being a potter. As I told a friend of mine, I guess it will make me finally shit or get off the (proverbial) pot!!<br /><br />And as always seems to be the case, 2 fears stand in my way: the fear of failure and the fear of success!! I'm sure that my fear of failure is understandable and needs no explanation. Will I be able to produce quality work? Will anyone be willing to buy it? The real question is, will I be able to produce INCOME to justify the expense of the equipment?<br /><br />But how can I be fearful of success?? I think of questions like, will the work consume me? Will I begin to hate the very process that I enjoy right now because I can do it when I want to, not because I HAVE to??<br /><br />I also worry that I'm a little long in the tooth to be entering the phase of "emerging artist." <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Fercryinoutloud</span>, I'm 47 years old!! Most days I would describe myself as a "submerging artist!!"<br /><br />And then there's a 3rd fear that looms, the fear of regret. What if I spend the money on this equipment and months or years from now, find myself regretting it?<br /><br />I have to say that I think my fear of regret is what has ultimately helped me make my decision. At this point in my life I feel like we can afford to take the financial risk, I feel like I've probably got more time on my hands than I've had available to me at any other time (even with the new grand-baby and the new home) and I feel like the classes I took in North Carolina, and the friends I've made recently will give me the resources I need to pursue this dream! I am truly afraid that if I DON'T take advantage of this opportunity, I'll definitely regret it!!<br /><br />I have to admit that I've prayed about this <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">a lot</span> and I've been waiting for some kind of "sign from God" to show me what I'm supposed to do. I also have to admit that over the years, I've never really felt like God's reached down and hit me over the head with any obvious signs! It's usually been more a case of going into something with the right attitude. When I can do that, it seems to work out better. And that attitude has got to be something like, OK, let's give this a try and see where God takes me with it. When I've had an attitude of, "I need to do this no matter what the cost to me or my family...." it just has never worked out very well. I usually end up exhausted and disappointed because the cost turns out to be much more than I ever imagined, monetarily, physically, and emotionally!<br /><br />I also think it's important that Steve backs me up in this endeavor. I've made a lot of decisions that he hasn't been too happy about (and of course he's made some boner decisions that I was against too.) It seems like if we're not on the same page when it comes to major decisions like this, stuff just <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">doesnt</span> work. But, we talked about this extensively and he seems to be very supportive, he told me to "go for it!" I know he has some worries and concerns, just like I do, but knowing that he's backing me up makes me feel like maybe I can pull it off!! Unfortunately, it also means I can't blame him if I fall flat on my face, dammit!!!<br /><br />Actually, I think my point is somewhat similar to the point of the story I mentioned earlier. My desire to have God show me what to do is a form of wanting to leave my decision to fate. In the story, this point is illustrated in a conversation between two of the characters. The friend of the family who reluctantly gives the magical monkey's paw to the old man, tries to explain to him that having 3 wishes granted may not be as delightful of an <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">occurrence</span> as he would imagine. At one point something is said to the effect that fate rules people's <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">lives</span>, and that those who <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">interfere</span> with it "do so to their sorrow."<br /><br />I'm hoping that this sweet deal that appears to have fallen into my lap at just the right time is a case of fate (or in my mind, God) ruling my life!! Of course I also believe that He require us to "take a leap of faith" once in awhile. I guess that's what I hope I'm doing!<br /><br />Only time will tell, but over the years it seems like when I let Him be in control, things seem to go a whole lot smoother!</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-90354356032385185052009-05-08T17:24:00.000-07:002009-05-08T18:35:24.077-07:00I have a new man in my life, he's a charmer!<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">It seems like it's been longer than a week since my last entry, but the calendar tells me that's really all the time that's gone by. On Monday morning our daughter still hadn't gone into labor so she went into the hospital to be induced. 24 hours later, our new grand-son, Jaedon, made his appearance in the world. It was a long night and we had some tense moments. She finally had to have a c-section, but both of the</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">m are doing great now!! They came home from the hospital yesterday and I am totally in love with this little guy!!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The experience has brought back a flood of me</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">mories from when Steve and I were starting our family! It's been an emotional roller-coaster the last few weeks! With his dad in and out of the hospital, and the 2 of us in the process of </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">buying a house, and then the grand-baby coming - shwew! Let me catch my breath!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm so glad that we're living in close proximity to them right now. I remember how I felt with a new baby. I was only 20 and it made me feel like I was all grown-up, until something out of the ordinary happened, or he wa</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">s fussy all day after a sleepless night, or I just wanted to take a long, relaxing, hot shower, but every time I laid him down, he'd start crying! Then my mom would appear and I didn't want her to know that I was relieved she'd shown up, but I WAS kinda relieved. And I'd take my shower, or a nap and then she'd start getting on my nerves and I'd be ready for her to leave us alone. My mom never had a clue when to give me my space. I don't think she understood the concept because she was the kind of person who LOVED to be around people!! She hated being b</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">y herself. So sh</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">e just really had no ability to realize that sometimes I wanted to be by myself. I wanted to "do it myself." I have this really strong, independent streak. It gets me in trouble half the time! Occasionally it comes in handy.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I think Megan may have inherited that gene (and I wouldn't want it any other way!) I'm trying my best not to be "too" helpful. I do have a life of my own, believe it or not! So I try to make sure that she actually wants us to come over before we go, and when it seems like she's ready for us to leave, I try to take the hint and not fe</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">el offended. I think we're figuring it out.<br /><br />Being a grandma is every bit as fine as I imagined it would be and I just can't wait til he's a little bit older so we can start reading books and playing games and making him laugh!! It won't be long, it goes so fast!<br /><br />So as another Mother's Day approaches, I find myself feeling wistful about my mother's absence, feeling nostalgic about my early mothering days, and feeling joyous about my daughter's entry into the realm of motherhood. There's nothing like it!!<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Here are a few pictures of the little guy............it's been confirmed by </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">everyone who</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> sees him, he's about the cutest baby in the world!! We got some pictures developed at Walgreen's and the photo guy thought he was so cute he didn't even charge us for them!! Seriously!<br /><br />These were taken when he was about an hour old!! He was so wide awake! Look at those teeny little fingers!!<br /></span></span><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh1WmIGMZvLUn_HjeMjbuXYGagbyncKRfTHi5NUHbK9AaAzokTFONnA3l9U2OMTMepnY8_VplBv0a9kL4mqHoik4jl03QpiHszzbgvAU5vqsyUrGvjyhvjRazPf_QNywB-4SbBtyv5JwY/s1600-h/Jaedon+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh1WmIGMZvLUn_HjeMjbuXYGagbyncKRfTHi5NUHbK9AaAzokTFONnA3l9U2OMTMepnY8_VplBv0a9kL4mqHoik4jl03QpiHszzbgvAU5vqsyUrGvjyhvjRazPf_QNywB-4SbBtyv5JwY/s320/Jaedon+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333618750218743362" border="0" /> </a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoiPZzIPJKbbuJksjFpL0N3uVW_yK1GCipljstCQE0Os9H4asA8x8Z4mnxEFD8heh44sXUzZfuD82HWz9lTPP4UvD43TYGo-M52_llzb2viAnF_YuKkrYM_6bc6jVMLWmwq6SvJV0FKYc/s1600-h/Jaedon+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoiPZzIPJKbbuJksjFpL0N3uVW_yK1GCipljstCQE0Os9H4asA8x8Z4mnxEFD8heh44sXUzZfuD82HWz9lTPP4UvD43TYGo-M52_llzb2viAnF_YuKkrYM_6bc6jVMLWmwq6SvJV0FKYc/s320/Jaedon+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333618844248314130" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoiPZzIPJKbbuJksjFpL0N3uVW_yK1GCipljstCQE0Os9H4asA8x8Z4mnxEFD8heh44sXUzZfuD82HWz9lTPP4UvD43TYGo-M52_llzb2viAnF_YuKkrYM_6bc6jVMLWmwq6SvJV0FKYc/s1600-h/Jaedon+2.jpg"> </a><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">These were taken the very next day!</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEFKU6vxE3rYZsyEcDXp0h7WkGIQwgOy9B-k9FDTFkcGL-T51uT_Qp2yQdFIJi4UjK-BhGKzZrydU9pfwHeMDmH4y-QU-L3jJDqhIGyEpHS51nnJbhTtMbeDoQdjIQiNG2qLyWBsF25wU/s1600-h/Jaedon+5.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 259px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEFKU6vxE3rYZsyEcDXp0h7WkGIQwgOy9B-k9FDTFkcGL-T51uT_Qp2yQdFIJi4UjK-BhGKzZrydU9pfwHeMDmH4y-QU-L3jJDqhIGyEpHS51nnJbhTtMbeDoQdjIQiNG2qLyWBsF25wU/s320/Jaedon+5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333619646038143618" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjep7rkRoqJfRxGtMXD62LAKnK3uhhso0pGRp6jzFmryhSHs9fJIxQLhUykwyl1R6V2X7a96lSaKDlNmQMfq_7JPaJlriMTZ8cNSpxXG2sRQd9L1XGQjbxexaVbYzMuhjC0M_wwZI-xkB0/s1600-h/Jaedon+9.jpg"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 278px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjep7rkRoqJfRxGtMXD62LAKnK3uhhso0pGRp6jzFmryhSHs9fJIxQLhUykwyl1R6V2X7a96lSaKDlNmQMfq_7JPaJlriMTZ8cNSpxXG2sRQd9L1XGQjbxexaVbYzMuhjC0M_wwZI-xkB0/s320/Jaedon+9.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333619728457279650" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">And this is my favorite!!! Can't you tell he loves his Nana already?!!!</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYAeEMMt9ghyphenhyphenhs0l8las2t7iCXCsv8qAaUZdiwzqcTpeJWnXWgMKvM_GzyQYbdRdP9Vyn3xt4tWkIlBGstH4hz8ALJ2Ooldbh9lM0WOwBxZOKp31eOMGaAPSNhH2XT3BPgFqw9d0jg6o/s1600-h/Jaedon+with+Mamaw+3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 311px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihYAeEMMt9ghyphenhyphenhs0l8las2t7iCXCsv8qAaUZdiwzqcTpeJWnXWgMKvM_GzyQYbdRdP9Vyn3xt4tWkIlBGstH4hz8ALJ2Ooldbh9lM0WOwBxZOKp31eOMGaAPSNhH2XT3BPgFqw9d0jg6o/s320/Jaedon+with+Mamaw+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5333620577251166258" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">We are gonna have some good times!!!</span></span><br /></div><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-88581277547858495712009-05-01T13:17:00.000-07:002009-05-01T15:38:54.113-07:00To blog, or not to blog..............<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Sometimes I wonder about what sort of things are appropriate to blog about. We've had lots of things going on and while some of them were happening, I had the urge to blog about them, but I wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not because of the "public" aspect of a blog. I think that aspect is probably partially responsible for the popularity of blogs, and I don't think that there are really all that many people who are taking the time to read my blog, but it is "out there" for people to see, so I find myself wondering whether or not I wan</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">t to post certain things.<br /><br />So, at least now I probably have managed to elevate the curiosity of both people on the planet who</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> do occasionally check in on my meanderings! And I think that I will mention the occurrence that I'm alluding to beca</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">use it has had a happy ending (so far.)</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />We spent last Sunday afternoon hanging out in the emergency room of Bethesda North Hospital because my father-in-law had a stroke. It's not a pleasant way to spend a beautiful Sunday afternoon, but I'm thankful that if this had to transpire, it happened in close proximity to a place that was equipped to deal with it. I'm pleased to report that my father-in-law is now in his own home with no apparent side-effects or damage from the whole ordeal. Steve spent a couple days with him to make sure he was truly doing ok, and to talk to his family doctor and get him set up with a medic alert system.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Steve reported to me that the medic alert system is pretty amazing regardless of how dumb the commercials make them seem. When you're talking about maintaining independence and dignity for a relative who's going to be 80 </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">years old this summer, it's nice to find an alternative to a nursing home or assisted living that's inexpensive a</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">nd sensible. Steve says that when they installed the system and checked it out, they told his dad that he could use it if he just </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">wants them to call one of us for any reason or if even if he's just feeling lonely and wants to talk to someone. I suppose it could make you feel a little paranoid, almost like you're being spied on, but I think it's defin</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">itely going to give Steve and his siblings some peace of mind regarding the well-being of their father.<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I have a couple other pieces of news to report. The first thing is that we're still not grand-parents. Apparently "baby Stuie" is unaware and oblivious to the fact that he was supposed to have made his entrance into the world by now. I suppose he's going to take after his Uncle Dan, who was 2 weeks overdue and required surgi</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">cal coaxing to see the light of day. And to provide yet more evidence that it must be genetic, I have to submit that Danny's lack of motivat</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">ion can be traced directly to his father, the guy who put the "pro" in procrastination!! So it appears that we will have become official grand-parents by Monday (or Tuesday at the latest) because as of right now, the plan is for Megan to be induced if she doesn't show any signs of going into labor over the week-end.<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">In the midst of all this excitement we somehow managed to buy a new home. Well, technically, it</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">'s not a "new" home, it's actually a rather old home! But it's new to us. We bought an 18 acre property near New Castle, Indiana with a lovely old farmhouse and a beautiful 3-car garage that will serve as a wonderful pottery studio!</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />As I mentioned in a previous post, we had been looking in the Brown County area and weren't finding anything that looked extremely promising. I had also been having some concerns about the distance between Brown Co. a</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">nd </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Steve's family in Ohio. So, I had started searching for properties between Indianapolis and Troy, rather than south of Indy. We came across this place a couple weeks ago, went to see it, liked it, made an offer, and it was accepted. Now, barring any unforseen issues cropping up during the inspection, it looks like we'll be moving in the last week-end in May! And with everything that's going on with Steve's dad, I think it's good that we didn't end up in Brown Co!!<br /><br />I'll attach a few photos of the place since I haven't included many photos lately.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Here is the exterior of the house..........</span></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkIMvChIM_BfyQAWpS6R0uYPL4m1EK2ySIIhl6lOHlMdvvZYfrBGjNwaPkOt-pk83ifriEiqxOhdyB3fX_uJAzGpy5t6tMSEI_XFH7smV4QoxTkWFqNlByZJeUw3G9VXHIFSPTvMorL2I/s1600-h/exterior+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkIMvChIM_BfyQAWpS6R0uYPL4m1EK2ySIIhl6lOHlMdvvZYfrBGjNwaPkOt-pk83ifriEiqxOhdyB3fX_uJAzGpy5t6tMSEI_XFH7smV4QoxTkWFqNlByZJeUw3G9VXHIFSPTvMorL2I/s320/exterior+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330986441960190050" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Z2NI5HouDmA8mynz9RFODDwGZcTqP5wfu4tkElGaJMEHVvkWU0l4VwHiEshq7QzW5gTztTgwKlWyCztxu1KzT2lLkeTq3fvwDpqlzBBY4x-p2oqjLkrjtruiW73x5lZUfqXBGG1ro_U/s1600-h/the+lane.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Z2NI5HouDmA8mynz9RFODDwGZcTqP5wfu4tkElGaJMEHVvkWU0l4VwHiEshq7QzW5gTztTgwKlWyCztxu1KzT2lLkeTq3fvwDpqlzBBY4x-p2oqjLkrjtruiW73x5lZUfqXBGG1ro_U/s320/the+lane.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330986749530897554" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">It has a verrrrrrrry long lane! I won</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">'t need a Y membership, getting the mail will provide daily exercise!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The living room. I love the natural woodwork! That window will be the perfect spot for this year's Christmas tree!</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_GuoGD5Ge-tcrgk2QrFVSih2Q8zyvrQ5HvJMjaFmGdn8c2jQehqyW7xonsbVh1nMpYzW6HEqiAXlVi4YIUGleS9o7iGz0vfcxbOvZitBkTK_GE-0sdXY-aFtatUUlHjftBofNF6M98k/s1600-h/bay+window+livingroom.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_GuoGD5Ge-tcrgk2QrFVSih2Q8zyvrQ5HvJMjaFmGdn8c2jQehqyW7xonsbVh1nMpYzW6HEqiAXlVi4YIUGleS9o7iGz0vfcxbOvZitBkTK_GE-0sdXY-aFtatUUlHjftBofNF6M98k/s320/bay+window+livingroom.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330987294735501522" border="0" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Mr6Kk9xdJyja-aoF7S1R5DPscLB8pM-LYA4CdPL6P2zncfkn1A9r9WrkIrcY_QMBXhml_p-p7HL0PduDvgHgL7ng5B0N-d5u-XckkHnxf18xYIr2qDfCBLdUzsv01iKOhaoUcca0wIs/s1600-h/stairway.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Mr6Kk9xdJyja-aoF7S1R5DPscLB8pM-LYA4CdPL6P2zncfkn1A9r9WrkIrcY_QMBXhml_p-p7HL0PduDvgHgL7ng5B0N-d5u-XckkHnxf18xYIr2qDfCBLdUzsv01iKOhaoUcca0wIs/s320/stairway.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330987985524287042" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">No sliding down this bannister without a little reinforcement!!</span></span><br /></div></div></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I think it's going to be a fun place to live and have the grand-kids come and visit us! It's a little more house than we were thinking that we need, but this way we'll have plenty of room for family to stay in!! I'm pretty excited!<br /><br />On Tuesday we have an inspection scheduled to determine whether or not there are any issues that may require attention (and money) in order to live in this house. Hopefully they won't find anything serious. We already have some fears about the septic system and some parts of the roof. We'll know more next week.<br /><br />Also, next week, I will hopefully have some news on my grand-parent-hood status. And maybe I'll be able to post a few more pictures of the farm.<br /><br />Until then.........keep on bloggin'! (that sounds lame!)<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-68530096734244421162009-04-22T10:18:00.000-07:002009-04-23T11:20:17.741-07:00A Meandering Train of Thought<div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">We are adjusting once again to new surroundings. This time we're parking our home in Indianapolis, well technically at the <a href="http://koa.com/where/in/14149/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">KOA</span> in Greenfield,</a> which is only about 15 minutes from The Sprawling Metropolis that is the home of the Co</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">lts and the Hoosiers, which apparently refers to both <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">IU's</span> mascot and natives of the state. I've tried to discover where the term was derived from, but the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoosier">details</a> are pretty sketchy.<br /><br />As seems to be typical with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">KOAs</span>, we're once again being lulled to sleep by the constant whine of traffic on the interstate. I would much prefer living near a train track!! I can make that statement with a level of confidence, since I grew up with a train track in my back yard. Our house was probably a couple of hundred yards from the train track and I never found the sound annoying. I actually enjoyed the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">clackety</span>-clack rhythm of the train on the tracks. Sometimes our windows shuddered a bit, but even the whistle blowing had a somewhat romantic, lonely sound to it.<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Our dog, Ginger, LOVED to chase the train, and whenever one went by while she was in the back yard she wou</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">ld race back and forth barking at it frantically! Luckily our yard was fenced so she wasn't in any danger.<br /><br />Living near the train even provided some opportunities for adventure when we were young. I think we talked about putting a penny on the track but we were afraid it might cause the train to derail! We also discovered a "short-cut" for walking to school thanks to some neighbors who lived "on the other side of the tracks" (literally.) At first my mom didn't want us going that way, but she eventually realized it was pretty safe. It's not like you can't hear a train </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">coming and we had to cross the tracks at some point to get to school!<br /><br />In the early 70s, my neighbor, who was MUCH older, probably in high school or college (and who I might have had a little crush on) decided to experience the hobo lifestyle for a couple days. So he and a buddy hopped a freight train and rode it to some point up north. I don't remember how far, probably only a couple hundred miles. I also don't remember how he got home, possibly another less adventurous buddy picked them up. He <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">must've</span> been in colleg</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">e and maybe home for the summer. I seem to remember that his folks weren't too happy about the situation, but they apparently felt he was old enough that they couldn't stop him. (I can't believe they didn't use that tried and true parental stand-by, "As long as you're under my roof, you'll abide by my rules.") I guess they figured there were worse things he could be doing. I remember my mom talking about it, but nobody seemed extremely upset. He was a good kid and I think his parents viewed it as a sort of "rite of passage" into adulthood or something. Of course, I didn't have all this figured out back then, I was probably only 8 or 9 years old. But looking back on it now from my own parental viewpoint, I think that might have been what was going on.<br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfsND52SkYwST7yydsvTh2uDwLOKGk8XcKFj_-zHrRKGzOewx-GbQOVzXL1hiodO-nAcVoEv_WxYS754oDlsUWztcoS9GO14e0gtC8c9UURVr0NNt-mXghn2Bwl6VnOfu4Mnj_j7mI1oA/s1600-h/S&Hstamp.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 104px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfsND52SkYwST7yydsvTh2uDwLOKGk8XcKFj_-zHrRKGzOewx-GbQOVzXL1hiodO-nAcVoEv_WxYS754oDlsUWztcoS9GO14e0gtC8c9UURVr0NNt-mXghn2Bwl6VnOfu4Mnj_j7mI1oA/s200/S&Hstamp.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327943499780991746" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I remember that the neighbor boy's adventure caused my mom to do a little research about hobos. (I'm sure t</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">hat I</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">inherited my inquisitive nature from her, she would've LOVED the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Internet</span> if only she'd been born a little later.) There's nothing more fun to me than googling some obscure topic, but since that wasn't a</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">n </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">option back then, she opened ou</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">r well-worn set of "World Book Encyclopedias" (which I think had been purchas</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">ed from a door-to-door salesman. Either that, or she had bought them with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S&H_Green_Stamps">S&H Green Stamps</a>. We got a lot of products th</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">at w</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">ay!)</span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ClMIDrr0qk_Y8PJKJACHxcnI4MCRN5XEh-p6MHYB31C5pAZwv9ngAzzubsa2uzmCm1FsJ2lr5GvA6mbsdgtayppCELDaVUpxf9w28FqNJ10xCYZ424-79GkP-n9tPzXzwdiLJ-s702U/s1600-h/S&Hstamp.gif"> </a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />She found it interesting that hobos developed a method of communication between themselves. They would <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sedaliakatydepot.com/Images/hobosymbols.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.sedaliakatydepot.com/hobo.htm&h=252&w=573&sz=15&tbnid=kIDazj8ezX65LM::&tbnh=59&tbnw=134&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhobo%2Bsymbols&usg=__xJ-MYFuuKyE1j1LfPu28khBfpTQ=&ei=453vSYGOKZCQyQWSufWwBA&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=7&ct=image">draw symbols</a> on a tree or fence or rock in front of the house or establishment that they had just visited that would let other hobos know whether or not the residents would be sympathetic toward transient types. I think that I even wrote up a paper about it for school at some point.<br /><br />By that time, the era of hobos had pretty much played itself out, but we would <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">occasionally</span> see people hitching a ride in a boxcar. According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobo"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">wikepedia</span></a>, hobos also had a lingo of their own. Here are a few of the more colorful phrases:<br /></span></span><ul style="font-family: arial;font-family:arial;" ><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><i>Barnacle</i> - a person who sticks to one job a year or more</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><i>Bone polisher</i> - A mean dog</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><i>California Blankets</i> - Newspapers, intended to be used for bedding</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><i>Catch the Westbound</i> - to die</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><i>Chuck a dummy</i> - Pretend to faint</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><i>Reefer</i> - A compression of "refrigerator car".</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><i>Sky pilot</i> - a preacher or minister</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><i>Stemming</i> - panhandling or mooching along the streets</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><i>Tokay Blanket</i> - drinking alcohol to stay warm</span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><i>Yegg</i> - A traveling professional thief</span></li></ul><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Up until I was probably 8 or 9, there was a passenger train that ran from our town to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Wapokenta</span>, OH (if memory serves.) One time my cousin's cub scout <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">troop</span> took a ride on it and my mom made signs for my sister and me to hold so we stood out in the back yard and holding those signs and waving to him when the train went by. I don't remember if he said he saw us. I would doubt it, the train was obviously going pretty fast.<br /><br />So why did I even start this "train of thought"?? Oh yeah, I was saying that I wouldn't want to buy a house that's close to a busy highway but I wouldn't mind living near a train track. I also wouldn't want to live near an airport. Having jets constantly flying low overhead is pretty annoying. And I always worry that one of them will crash!<br /><br />I wouldn't mind living next to a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">cemetery</span> or funeral home though. Again, probably because the house I lived in when I was a child was located near a funeral home and a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">cemetery</span>. We actually lived "2 doors down" from the funeral home and one of my schoolmates lived in a house behind it because her dad owned the funeral parlor. (She later went to school to be a mortician and took over the family business.)<br /><br />The funeral home wasn't there when I was first born. Up until the time I was about 3 or 4 years old, there was a field with horses there. That seems so strange to me, because we lived almost downtown!! I have a feeling that having horses next door when I was growing up probably contributed to my love of horses.<br /><br />But living next to a funeral parlor also provided some benefits for kids. They put in a HUGE paved parking lot, and as long as there wasn't a funeral or visitation going on, we were allowed to ride our bikes and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">rollerskate</span> all over the place! We spent many, many hours over there taking advantage of that vast amount of blacktop!<br /><br />On the other side of the funeral home were 2 or 3 houses, then a little church and then a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">cemetery</span>. We actually never spent any time playing in the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">cemetery</span>, I admit I was a little weird, but not completely morbid!! I do remember that every 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">th</span> of July, the city would shoot fireworks from the stadium which was just around the corner from our house and we would walk down to the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">cemetery</span> and sit on the rock wall to watch the fireworks. One time piece of firework shrapnel landed on the roof of a house across the street (a huge old mansion where a local rich widow lived, now the Troy Board of Education.) It began to smolder and our neighbor went up and knocked it off and made sure the roof didn't catch fire. 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">th</span> of July excitement!!<br /><br />After Steve and I got married and the kids came along, we would drive into Troy for the fireworks and park in the funeral home lot and put our chairs or a blanket in the grass and watch the fireworks from there. The people who owned the funeral home were very supportive of the community and never seemed to mind ('cos we weren't the only ones who took advantage of it!) I'm sure they never scheduled any funerals that would coincide with the 4<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">th</span> of July! And anyways, the fireworks never started 'til 10 pm.<br /><br />So, I guess I must be feeling a little nostalgic right now. I'm sure it has a lot to do with this upcoming grand-baby! Yesterday we took Megan out for breakfast at a little cafe near their house. While we were eating, that old <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">Loggins</span> and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">Messina</span> song, <a href="http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858489262/">Danny's Song</a>, was playing in the background . That song was one of my favorites when I was pregnant with our son, Danny (and yes, even had some influence on the choice of his name.) I almost got a little teary eyed while we were sitting there (luckily no one noticed!) It just doesn't seem like it could have been all that long ago that Steve and I were in the same situation that Dustin and Megan are in right now, awaiting the birth of our firstborn. I started remembering the feelings of wonder and excitement and even fear, that they're probably experiencing right now!!<br /><br />And I also started thinking that it's pretty amazing in this day and age that her dad and I are still married and still pretty happy!!<br /><br />Like the song says:<br /><blockquote></blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">Even though we ain't got money,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I'm so in love with ya honey,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Everything will bring a chain of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">luh</span>--uh-uh-uh-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">uhv</span>....</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_25">mornin</span>' when I rise,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Ya bring a tear of joy to my eyes </span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And tell me everything is gonna be alright.</span></blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;"></span>(sigh....)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-90039668788669682602009-04-19T08:09:00.000-07:002009-04-19T09:38:25.131-07:00Looking for Bears<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Yesterday we took the dogs for a short hike in the woods around the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">KOA</span>. It's a nice little trail, but short. The trails at Campfire Lodgings offered at least a couple miles of hiking (and not as much highway traffic noise!)<br /><br />Something else I noticed that was missing was a little excitement. The knowledge that we could possibly see a bear on the trails actually brought a sense of adventure to our hikes, even short ones. (Like a night-time <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">doggie</span> potty break!!)<br /><br />I suppose life's like that. We know we're going to come across the unexpected, but as long as we feel equipped to handle it, it's not as scary or overwhelming. Until we actually experienced a couple of bear sightings, I found the possibility more troubling. But once I realized that the bear was more afraid of us than we were of it......well, it wasn't quite so stressful.<br /><br />I guess that the things in life that cause the most stress are things we haven't yet experienced, things we don't expect, and things we don't feel equipped to handle. Experiences like a new job, losing a job, a new relationship, moving to a new area, or facing a serious illness can all cause stress. But the more we experience these situations and learn how to live through them, the better equipped we are to deal with new ones.<br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgogPVwDmE-UymaTDPcxNlTphqZArzElg1hGDI7ZLc-ypauigYCZZBGrTuW5Lp_VFYTnaM8H57DPrgRx176VAgyxAeUe4J0QmO6B9uraYT_ePRbMU0t2JgV-f0tG5b-7EADuAic0Uyn_7E/s1600-h/bigfoot.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 146px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgogPVwDmE-UymaTDPcxNlTphqZArzElg1hGDI7ZLc-ypauigYCZZBGrTuW5Lp_VFYTnaM8H57DPrgRx176VAgyxAeUe4J0QmO6B9uraYT_ePRbMU0t2JgV-f0tG5b-7EADuAic0Uyn_7E/s200/bigfoot.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326442476045236754" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I dunno, it's just Sunday morning ramblings. I'm also pondering what in the world causes people to claim to</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> have s</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">een</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> <a href="http://www.bfro.net/GDB/">Bigfoot</a> or have had an alien encounter. Unfortunately, I'm not having much success articulating my ponderings so I'm giong to end this post for now.<br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-69950455346352885482009-04-09T18:35:00.000-07:002009-04-12T21:15:45.815-07:00Nashville rhymes with Asheville....<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Last fall when we were leaving the <a href="http://koa.com/where/in/14131/">Richmond KOA</a>, and heading south, the leaves had just begun to change. It was pretty (of course) but I remember thinking, "Thank goodness we won't be around when those leaves come off, I'd hate to have to rake them all up!!"<br /><br />So, now we're back, and it's spring and apparently those leaves waite</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">d for us!! I spent about 6 hours today raking up old dead leaves from last fall and my arms are killing me!!</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />But my motto is "work hard, play hard" so I thought a good w</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">ay to top off such a productive day would be to try the Asian restaurant we keep driving by that claims to serve sushi and and boasts a hibachi grill. Plus I thought my sore elbows might feel better with a little therapy (like repeatedly raising a gin and tonic to my mouth!)<br /><br />Unfortunately it was a little disappointing. I haven't had sushi very often, but when I have, it's</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> been really good. This, unfortunately wasn't. Kinda rubbery and fishy tasting. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up, this restaurant was really more of a Chinese buffet (and we're in Richmond, Indiana fercryinoutloud!!)<br /><br />I felt kinda s</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">orry for the owner. His english was difficult to understand, but I think his name was Tony. He was really nice and apparently trying to come up with new ways to drum up business. He's doing this "promotion" where nothing is priced, you eat however much you want, and pay whatever you think is fair. For some reason, it was a tough concept to grasp!! I could tell by some of the conversations I overheard that we weren't the only ones having this trouble. I asked him why he was doing it and he said it's tripled the amount of customers they get. I guess the local paper did a write-up. I asked him if he was getting ripped off, a</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">nd he said that younger people were usually the ones not paying enough, but most customers were being pretty fair.<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">He was telling me what all they had at the sushi bar and was naming off the rolls, California roll, Pennsylvania roll, and I asked him, "where's the Indiana roll?" He was quite amused by that and said they'll have to start making one!! I don't know what they'll put in it though, corn?? Soybeans??</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Even the hibachi part was a self-serve buffet. There's a variety of uncooked meat and vegetables, you take whatever you want and give it to the hibachi chef who cooks it for you and rings a bell when it's read</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">y. It is a rather intriguing concept, and also a pretty gutsy experiment. I have to admire the ingenuity he's using to battle some tough economic times, but the food just wasn't that great and worst of all, they didn't serve alcohol!! Didn't get my therapy after all.<br /><br />So, yesterday we spent the day in Brown County, Indiana looking at possible properties to buy for our more permanent abode. Last week we looked at a few, all of which were uninhabitable without a lot of work. There was one last week I liked alot with a little house on 20 acres. It had 2 ponds, some woods, a hayfield and a nice sized garage that would make a great studio with a little work. The house was condemned because the septic system wasn't up to code. It </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">was a foreclosure, so we might put a bid on it, but it will be really low and if we can't get it cheap, we won't do it 'cos the house really does need to be gutted and completely remodeled.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Yesterday the properties were a little nicer. Most of them are at least 5 acres. There was one in particular that I liked. Part of it was an old hunting/vacation cabin that was built in 1934. That part would make a great pottery studio and showroom/gallery area. It has an small, old kitchen area, a woodburning stove, and a loft that you get to by climbing a </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">ladder. Wide plank flooring, and that great, musty, old cabin smell!<br /><br />This is the exterior, the part behind the tree is the older section. The 2 story part on the right is the post and beam section. Don't you love that huge tree??!</span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB7vsX9EoIrqw9LYBDcm6KT0CQn4UuOqhiV-smansG-6EcjBqaIklbFq39V5ebo3P3weC6B3aSK4I1XNkLbtbpWs4xX__hHMeushDLJg2LELcCR1B29ho9dMb-_KddzO36sAv4a05K83Y/s1600-h/exterior+4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB7vsX9EoIrqw9LYBDcm6KT0CQn4UuOqhiV-smansG-6EcjBqaIklbFq39V5ebo3P3weC6B3aSK4I1XNkLbtbpWs4xX__hHMeushDLJg2LELcCR1B29ho9dMb-_KddzO36sAv4a05K83Y/s400/exterior+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322878151321320146" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">This is the old cabin area. You can see the woodstove and part of the loft area and in the back is the old kitchen.</span><br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkhnVakvZnsi9szKAcOlOlG9UHep0BELxz792Mlbsm5tcB26hvjwe4loLNQAASorOxq6LWs4XEfM6XetE9aA8tqx4rF60nogap6ve7jIhSQswAib6QTa4Lt3LilHxtPS4Kt9W3wWI9CIA/s1600-h/interior+original+cabin+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkhnVakvZnsi9szKAcOlOlG9UHep0BELxz792Mlbsm5tcB26hvjwe4loLNQAASorOxq6LWs4XEfM6XetE9aA8tqx4rF60nogap6ve7jIhSQswAib6QTa4Lt3LilHxtPS4Kt9W3wWI9CIA/s400/interior+original+cabin+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322879652911935090" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">This is the front half of the room. I think some display shelves and track lighting would make it a great gallery area!</span></span><br /></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHYhZvtM-LWKMwVPb5Dzi2Z7mji5YXrPdnXLmbjw9NcyfwlDpycdUUu41tC89p44P5EKX2o96JqsBncUwUsnDHMThfFYyHYbpc8F-FwR4TqAcxgk48gyImxMMTlGkd1Bgg78_IJRuxy48/s1600-h/interior+original+cabin+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHYhZvtM-LWKMwVPb5Dzi2Z7mji5YXrPdnXLmbjw9NcyfwlDpycdUUu41tC89p44P5EKX2o96JqsBncUwUsnDHMThfFYyHYbpc8F-FwR4TqAcxgk48gyImxMMTlGkd1Bgg78_IJRuxy48/s400/interior+original+cabin+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322880345364999042" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The main living area was added in 1999 and is timber frame. It's a great room, a kitchen and bath and a large loft. The things we don't like about it is there aren't any closets or storage areas. I think it was built as a vacation home. It also doesn't have a bathroom upstairs, which is the master bedroom, actually the only bedroom. But it's a very large loft, I think we could build some closet space pretty easily and maybe someday even put a toilet and sink up there. Going to the bathroom at night is something that we need to do more frequently the last few years and I don't like the thought of negotiating the stairs in the middle of the night!!<br /><br />This is the loft area, I love the window! They have a porch swing hanging up there, you can see part of it in the picture.<br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioD1j0TYOlW-BWydkHmJfEwXF4ZNDDQsiH41NxCr4qPmzWKuqDdq8SxzEjI60Kt7mT-eM3wsIH1Ntz81mKeUrJ1eAG3uKmHEiFBY2FTjQzX891JKwg3dAKivzxZclpK212NutBnQ2kvZY/s1600-h/interior+post+and+beam+loft+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioD1j0TYOlW-BWydkHmJfEwXF4ZNDDQsiH41NxCr4qPmzWKuqDdq8SxzEjI60Kt7mT-eM3wsIH1Ntz81mKeUrJ1eAG3uKmHEiFBY2FTjQzX891JKwg3dAKivzxZclpK212NutBnQ2kvZY/s400/interior+post+and+beam+loft+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322881530456018978" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />After we finished looking at properties, we went into the little village of Nashville to get something to eat. Nashville is the main town in Brown County and pretty touristy. Fudge on every corner!! It was fairly crowded for a weekday, but I think some of the schools are still on spring break and people were there on a little getaway. I picked up some brochures and last night I got online and did some research on some of the local artists, especially potters. They seem to have a fairly well-organized <a href="http://artalliancebrowncounty.com/">Arts Alliance</a> that promotes the local artisans. I looked at some of the potters' websites and I think I like <a href="http://www.schatzpots.com/">Greg Schatz</a> work the best. He does gas and woodfiring and it looks like he has a very nice studio and gallery. I think that next time we're down there looking at property, I'll look him up. I want to talk to him and see if the artists (especially the potters) are friendly and welcome new potters to the area, like they seem to in North Carolina. From what I've seen, it looks like they have a close knit art community, but sometimes in that situation, the people can start to get a little exclusive because they're worried about competition. I hope that's not the case. I may have a pretty high standard in my mind from what I've seen among the potters in western North Carolina, but I figure it can't hurt to check it out and hope for the best.<br /><br />So I guess this is about as close to North Carolina as I'm gonna get for awhile, at least if I wanna be involved with the new grand-baby.....and I definitely do!! I hope we can find a place soon and that it's in <a href="http://www.browncounty.com/">Brown County</a>. I really got some good feelings when we were there, the area's beautiful and hilly, there seems to be <a href="http://www.browncounty.com/static/index.cfm?action=group&contentID=9">a lot of art</a>, a few potters, bluegrass music, and restaurants. And Nashville rhymes with Asheville, what more could I want??? Oh yeah, hippies!! Well, I guess that what Nashville lacks in hippie population, it compensates for with hillbilly population!!<br /><br />I'm looking forward to the next chapter in the little adventure we've been privelaged to enjoy!!<br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-86222974428917639302009-04-03T08:14:00.000-07:002009-04-03T09:34:21.951-07:00Back "Home" Again, in Indiana<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">This morning when I took the lid off the milk carton, it almost shot into the air like a champagne cork. Hmmmm, perhaps I should check the expiration date. MARCH 12!!!! No wonder my cereal tasted funny yesterday!! That's kinda the way things have felt to me lately, not quite right, but you're not exactly sure why. (Well, I'm pretty sure I know why the milk tasted funny.)<br /><br />When I woke up yesterday morning and stepped into the living area, the window shades were up and it was mildly startling to be greeted by vastly different scenery from what has been residing outside these very windows for the last 6 months. That's the strange part I've noticed about living in a camper. The inside starts to feel like home, but when you move, you have to readjust to the outside. It probably wouldn't be as noticeable if we weren't staying in one place for 6 months before moving on.<br /><br />We've come across quite a few people who are taking a year or 2 and living in their camper while traveling across the US. Some are retirees, some are semi-retirees, some are our age some are younger. Some have kids that they're homeschooling on the road, others have dogs (actually almost all of them have at least one dog.) Some of them are working while traveling and others planned not to work during their travels, but are going to go back someday.<br /><br />We've also come across a lot of people who have said, "We've always wanted to do that" and I have to think to myself, "well why haven't you?" I understand that some circumstances could prevent or postpone it, but I think if it's truly something you've "always wanted to do" you'll figure out a way. There are as many possibilities as there are human beings!<br /><br />I would say that over all it's been a fun year and embracing this lifestyle even just for a year was probably one of the best decisions we've ever made! I know that Steve would continue living this way indefinitely, he loves the freedom and the fewer number of responsibilities that we seem to have. I, on the other hand, am fairly ready to settle down again and have a less mobile home. I still want to take some trips and see more of the country. I'm hoping we can figure out a lifestyle that will still allow us to travel, more than we used to be able to.<br /><br />But I also want to have my own flower bed and garden and lots more storage and wall space for hanging art and shelves for pottery!! A home that doesn't rock when the wind blows. A kitchen with a little more counter space. And being within an easy drive from that grand-baby that will be here in the next few weeks!<br /><br />Some of my friends think I was a little crazy to have embraced this nomadic lifestyle. They can't imagine not having a "home" and not knowing exactly where you might be parking your camper next week. Others of my friends think I'm crazy to want to give this up to settle down again. There are aspects about both ways of life that are appealing, and other areas that are not so appealing.<br /><br />I have to admit, there have been some stressful times. Right now I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. We're trying to figure out where to establish permanent residence and there are so many factors to consider!! Some of the questions include, the distance from children/grand-children; the distance from Steve's dad; whether or not the area will be compatible for making and selling pottery; what kind of jobs will be available for if/when we both need to start looking for more gainful employment. How much can we afford to spend? I think we've decided that we want to avoid going into debt if possible, and we would like to have a few acres so we can try to be somewhat self-sustaining. It's a lot to consider and I'm not naturally a patient person. I would like to get everything figured out asap and it just doesn't seem like things fall into place as quickly as I'd like them to. The thing I have to keep reminding myself is that things do eventually seem to fall into place if I pray alot and learn to be more patient!<br /><br />I want to get settled so I can get my hands back into some clay 'cos I'm afraid that I may lose the momentum I feel like I gained when we were in North Carolina! But I can always pick up where I left off. I talked with a really nice potter once at an art festival in Columbus. It was last spring at a time when I hadn't been able to pot for awhile. I believe he asked me if I was a potter and I was lamenting the fact that I didn't feel like one because I hadn't been able to produce any work lately. He told me that he thinks a potter is always a potter, if they're thinking about pots all the time. I suppose it's true of any passion that a person has. If you think about what it is you're passionate about every day, you'll remain passionate about it. Sometimes I think it's even beneficial to have a period of time where you're not actually doing the action, but putting lots of forethought into it. I think that visualization can be an extremely positive force.<br /><br />Eventually, though, you have to actually take all those thoughts and put them to use, or else you're just a dreamer and while I think that a dreamer is a fine thing to be, you're missing out on the whole point if you never actually make your dreams a reality!<br /><br />Someone named Walter Mueller said, "The difference between visionaires and dreamers is that visionaries make the dreams come true." <span style="font-family:arial;">(I love quotationspage.com!!)</span></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><span style="font-family:arial;">By the same token, I think we have to be careful that we don't become so obsessed with achieving our goals that we forget to enjoy the people and circumstances that we're involved with in the process. That's something I have to constantly remind myself to do, enjoy the moment. There's always something to be gained from whatever it is we're going through, whether that moment seems good, bad, or just plain boring!!<br /><br />So here's to walking that fine line between being a dreamer and being a visionary. The main thing to remember is to be sure to enjoy the walk!!</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-77050670135779583452009-03-22T18:55:00.000-07:002009-03-22T20:04:36.081-07:00Farewell to North Carolina!<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Tomorrow I'm leaving North Carolina. I'm going to leave a piece of my heart down here. I think there was still a piece here from my very first visit, which occured almost 30 years ago! Steve and I weren't even married yet. We came down here with some friends and camped on top of Mount Hibriten in Lenoir, NC, about an hour and a half northeast of here. That's when I think this area took hold of my heart!<br /><br />When the kids were fairly young, we came down again. We were visiting Gatlinburg, TN with some friends, and they suggested we come to Asheville for a night. They wanted to visit the <a href="http://www.biltmore.com/">Biltmore</a>. We couldn't afford for all of us to go so we let Megan go with them, and Steve, Danny, and I did a little site-seeing in Asheville. We remember eating at a really good Mexican restaurant and walking through a quirky toy store. We also visited the <a href="http://southernhighlandguild.org/shop.php?shop_main=2">Folk Art Center</a>, which I thought was the neatest place I'd ever seen!!</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I finally went there again today! It's still a real treat! We were doing some <a href="http://www.geocaching.com/Default.aspx">geocaching</a> on our last day and one of the caches required visting the Folk Art Center and decoding information from some of the plaques to help us determine the GPS reading for a <a href="http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=677fbe75-28c2-4095-9d87-a584535dcfb6">couple of caches</a>. It added a new element of fun to the whole treasure-hunting scenario!<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">So after a day of hiking and caching, we came back to the campgrounds and fixed dinner and sat at the picnic table on one of the </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">premium campsite</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">s that wasn't occupied, and enjoyed the sunset. It was a pretty good one for my last night. I took a picture of it......</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFEukbtyc0PsDoomK3V25x8hsXlqzu3zJ-XBcW1VwZ6D9i5-vpqtHPPXZfBKXqwqSPj6QmT23rq6-L3rWHo5y7SWLRXvAyXkhXgu98czEQ4A10UdYFLwi_ml1Ge9tjOims2Ge3LCn8NIg/s1600-h/Last+Sunset+032209.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 458px; height: 319px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFEukbtyc0PsDoomK3V25x8hsXlqzu3zJ-XBcW1VwZ6D9i5-vpqtHPPXZfBKXqwqSPj6QmT23rq6-L3rWHo5y7SWLRXvAyXkhXgu98czEQ4A10UdYFLwi_ml1Ge9tjOims2Ge3LCn8NIg/s400/Last+Sunset+032209.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5316203650476695042" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I'm going to end today's blog with the lyrics to a song that's become very dear to me. It's written by Steven Curtis Chapman and it's based on the verses in the Bible about Moses and his journeys up and down Mt. Sinai when he was leading the children of Israel to freedom.</span></span> <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Exodous 19, I believe.</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:130%;">The Mountain</span><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;">by Steven Curtis Chapman<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">I wanna to build a house up on this mountain<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">Way up high where the peaceful waters flow<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">To quench my thirsty soul<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">Up on the mountain<br /><br />I can see for miles upon this mountain<br />My troubles seem so small they almost disappear<br />Lord, I love it here,<br />Up on the mountain.<br /><br />My faith is strengthened by all that I see<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">You make it easy for me to<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">believe up on the mountain<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">Oh, up on the mountain<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">I would love to live up on this mountain<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">And keep the pain of living life so far away<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">But I know I can't stay<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">Up on the mountain<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">I said I'd go, Lord, wherever You lead<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">For where You are is where I most want to be<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">And I can tell we're headed for the valley<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">My faith is strengthened by all that I've seen<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">So Lord help me remember what You've shown me<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">Up on the mountain<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;"><br />You bring me up here on this mountain<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">For me to rest and learn and grow<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">I see the truth up on the<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">mountain And I carry it to the<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">world far below<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">So as I go down to the valley<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">Knowing that You will go with me<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">This is my prayer, Lord<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">Help me to remember what You've shown me<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">Up on the mountain<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">Up on the mountain<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">I cherish these times up on the mountain<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">But I can leave this place because I know<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">Someday You'll take me home to live forever<br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms; font-style: italic;">Up on the mountain</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">(You can listen to this song on youtube, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JAqB5_EOAM&feature=PlayList&p=072754FC7C387C17&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=4">click here</a> if you'd like to hear the music.)</span></span><br /></div></div></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-56245727649545939532009-03-20T09:32:00.000-07:002009-03-20T21:37:42.747-07:00Last Sight-seeing trip - Grandfather Mountain<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyJHs9DaZoJadKt2TB9nZ6r5ea9e7SdZLKxtlDLnxFuOHvytnQlMFmfgdOHXel00uBeimg2fZUZzzD-u2geenqg3LOwMqzAiP-5VFSEImqD07M8xoK6uvklAzjhK7G2-biYFUHWupx6ns/s1600-h/steve+and+I+grandfather+mtn.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 253px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyJHs9DaZoJadKt2TB9nZ6r5ea9e7SdZLKxtlDLnxFuOHvytnQlMFmfgdOHXel00uBeimg2fZUZzzD-u2geenqg3LOwMqzAiP-5VFSEImqD07M8xoK6uvklAzjhK7G2-biYFUHWupx6ns/s320/steve+and+I+grandfather+mtn.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315474980225882626" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">On Wednesday we decided to visit <a href="http://www.grandfather.com/index.php">Grandfather Mountain</a>. It's one of the last tourist attractions in the area that I wanted to visit before we leave. It's about an hour and a half from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Asheville</span>. I would say it was definitely worth the drive and (almost) worth the admission price ($14/apiece.) S</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">urprisingly</span> enough, it's privately owned (as opposed to a state or national park.) For some reason, I don't mind the fee so much if it's privately owned. Must be the capitalist in me!! When we paid $14/apiece to get into Chimney Rock, a state park, it bugged me to think that a state-funded park would be charging such a high admission fee? Whadda I pay my taxes fur?? Guess I should be happy it isn't MORE expensive!! <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Ok</span>, enough politics.<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Let's talk about Grandfather Mountain! It's basically a really tall mountain <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">th</span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">at's</span> known for it's "mile-high, swinging bridge." I suppose that at this point I could </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">spout off a bunch of statistics and facts</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> t</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">hat I would blatantly <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">plagiarize</span> from their website, or I could just post some of the pictures we took while we were <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">ther</span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">e. I think <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">peop</span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">le</span> would rather look at pictures than read!</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Let me just add a couple more facts to the blog though. When we left <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Asheville</span>, the temperature was in the lower 60s. When we were arrived at the top of the mountain the temperature had dropped about 15 degrees and the winds were whipping across the mountain at 50 mph!! The lady who took my (grumpily paid) admission money recommended we visit the bridge first (if we didn't need to pee) because if the winds get up to 65 mph, they won't let anyone cross it. Don't worry, I don't think I'd WANT to try crossing it!!! She also recommended that we <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">purchase</span> some obligatory fudge at the tourist shop because her cousins ran the shop and it was homemade fudge!! (It was actually pretty good!)</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">One other fact, I'm not <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">extremely</span> fond of heights.</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">OK.......finally, the pictures...........................</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Heeeere's</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">yur</span> sign..............</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrBIFU5Gp0jmWhLH460I7vr7PHYiJrz3dnXfjjNJ2YAUAhANuxyLveTuAvS1ZKUHajFtsjafpTIXWIluhrgzquWlKonSKbauD36OfYpxc167CzJn3UaC7uGvPUQJ4RXMR-1X1fpDKooI/s1600-h/be+careful+on+this+rugged+mtn.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 197px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrBIFU5Gp0jmWhLH460I7vr7PHYiJrz3dnXfjjNJ2YAUAhANuxyLveTuAvS1ZKUHajFtsjafpTIXWIluhrgzquWlKonSKbauD36OfYpxc167CzJn3UaC7uGvPUQJ4RXMR-1X1fpDKooI/s320/be+careful+on+this+rugged+mtn.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315464389787351298" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">That's just what I needed to read! Very reassuring!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Next sign, stating the elevation of the bridge, let's call it a mile.......</span> </span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuobr6Vbe3cqym0ZUabOW2DM21GWcJNFI7YHH2Uv6y6LoghVZkfHpBe9riUgw730njwgTUoYv7Jg3LvHWpd1wdirQxe6wWPqAYq781dbhaSVRO1fJrB-gHk8fRdZJTjb7ubx2x-AVsXs/s1600-h/mile+hi+swinging+bridge.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 186px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuobr6Vbe3cqym0ZUabOW2DM21GWcJNFI7YHH2Uv6y6LoghVZkfHpBe9riUgw730njwgTUoYv7Jg3LvHWpd1wdirQxe6wWPqAYq781dbhaSVRO1fJrB-gHk8fRdZJTjb7ubx2x-AVsXs/s320/mile+hi+swinging+bridge.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315464751114633186" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">(To be fair, that elevation is "above sea level," the bridge itself is spanning a chasm in the mountain that's actually only 80 feet deep. Of course, when you can see for miles all around, vertigo is an issue!)<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I told Steve I had to try crossing it after seeing half-a-dozen snot-no</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">sed</span> kids skipping across! He encouraged</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> me by striding confidently out to the center. His only regret was dressing inappropriately for the altitude! Can you see the goose-bumps on those legs??</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHhzdWGnAWh_X9CB6jhXtVjen8P8SyJoBX1NW0zT6BecvpA4DNe2gPHC3G2PSkyTvyQmR_vc_ps20tzBk_xT4I9RzSK4ZXhGFni2cjbODKBh8BYzeU9edDiryFM1hw3CpMw_snxwWErPo/s1600-h/steve+on+the+bridge+mr+nonchalance.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHhzdWGnAWh_X9CB6jhXtVjen8P8SyJoBX1NW0zT6BecvpA4DNe2gPHC3G2PSkyTvyQmR_vc_ps20tzBk_xT4I9RzSK4ZXhGFni2cjbODKBh8BYzeU9edDiryFM1hw3CpMw_snxwWErPo/s400/steve+on+the+bridge+mr+nonchalance.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315467988639960530" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Before crossing the bridge, I pause for a moment of prayerful consideration. (OK, I'm actually assuming the fetal position!) Those guy-wires were humming like a choir because of the wind!! It sounded ominous, like a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Tibetan</span> funeral chant. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">Hummmmm</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">.........</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhcdTgrLW5sWyW7ZpCn9UcvZ-ZmMFIyzpVgAQcxZrTaRZV499nuYuwyhO1Qm3SXcHQbY8Ox5xigW6mT5rhhNJJvbi-owvcnxKHjlfFn6tHkyx0A1TM1V5fzWtP4FpVzlSD9Ip2VNjZzc/s1600-h/a+moment+of+prayerful+consideration+aka+fetal+position.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyhcdTgrLW5sWyW7ZpCn9UcvZ-ZmMFIyzpVgAQcxZrTaRZV499nuYuwyhO1Qm3SXcHQbY8Ox5xigW6mT5rhhNJJvbi-owvcnxKHjlfFn6tHkyx0A1TM1V5fzWtP4FpVzlSD9Ip2VNjZzc/s320/a+moment+of+prayerful+consideration+aka+fetal+position.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315466566351688626" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Making my way across the bridge</span><span style="font-family:arial;">...........</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF9TLChPlXQ8l043Qbcc7NZe7TDP65rI_sRaXXMRgFPKS6lgzLezbGo1cl0ETCTwV2dAxNSA0pV9MxoErufDzq4mptgciXY0EAf28WtUtcd_n7T8ZAm-BKs6BuAEQomZiyGUEd-w_Q4b8/s1600-h/making+my+way.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF9TLChPlXQ8l043Qbcc7NZe7TDP65rI_sRaXXMRgFPKS6lgzLezbGo1cl0ETCTwV2dAxNSA0pV9MxoErufDzq4mptgciXY0EAf28WtUtcd_n7T8ZAm-BKs6BuAEQomZiyGUEd-w_Q4b8/s320/making+my+way.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315470254309804514" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">.........</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">and I made it!!!!!!</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxupM9ynnk8OS6b-mJlt_xWO_9qEkaJ2yD20PZHFUzOhzZBELcuL0xRTUfZ5msLInDZISnqprIIK1BMhDLLv9zQHtRtmBqWKgNy5NN5jN5OTo6leLaz-KrOEvPt0XF3oFR628Q2lR9clc/s1600-h/I+made+it.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxupM9ynnk8OS6b-mJlt_xWO_9qEkaJ2yD20PZHFUzOhzZBELcuL0xRTUfZ5msLInDZISnqprIIK1BMhDLLv9zQHtRtmBqWKgNy5NN5jN5OTo6leLaz-KrOEvPt0XF3oFR628Q2lR9clc/s320/I+made+it.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315471733644433746" border="0" /></a></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Actually the first shot was taken on my way back across, I was so panicky I didn't want to stop for a photo-op on the way over the first time!!<br /><br /><br />WOW! It was worth it!!!<br /></span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgyFOsr5cg3ABUT0lub7ZlXwtoN4jvtZOPFwrQGFxYhiPmwByv1QCkSqvUvx5Li4AJOIscjXGFjbDP3aMJcU9SVMspTA40f9BhNaUYkDnxjEDuk5wipe6PyHNWmAo3pwxbL4zZ8wZaBr0/s1600-h/i+can+see+for+miles+LG.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 546px; height: 394px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgyFOsr5cg3ABUT0lub7ZlXwtoN4jvtZOPFwrQGFxYhiPmwByv1QCkSqvUvx5Li4AJOIscjXGFjbDP3aMJcU9SVMspTA40f9BhNaUYkDnxjEDuk5wipe6PyHNWmAo3pwxbL4zZ8wZaBr0/s400/i+can+see+for+miles+LG.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5315474598678147682" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">to see the rest of my photos, visit my <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lorettawray/GrandfatherMountain">picasa</a> site!</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">And if you're ever in North Carolina, be sure to visit Grandfather Mountain!</span></span><br /><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-86927012004462403512009-03-14T20:55:00.000-07:002009-03-14T22:18:05.990-07:00Yet more food!!<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm pretty sure I've put on a few pounds while we've been down here!! When we first arrived I lived under the delusional I thought that I might actually lose a little weight, get a little exercise, eat healthy. Yeah, right!! There's wayyyy too much good food that's too easily accessible down here! Not that accessibility has ever been an issue for me! No, I seem to be able to access food, and lots of it, no matter where I am!!<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRcVuEi0mOIEAOUxjHtd3z0iosEIXbW66PsrXVSWvbzmTgDh0E83N_a_y5GtGLkmuxX4j6A4l9UKvJjnKAVMz-bj-Ao9mSk0LuQnJV4NlW7ac4wnBV4T8VYebCUdg6_ssK9RhRECnFWlI/s1600-h/sushi1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 297px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRcVuEi0mOIEAOUxjHtd3z0iosEIXbW66PsrXVSWvbzmTgDh0E83N_a_y5GtGLkmuxX4j6A4l9UKvJjnKAVMz-bj-Ao9mSk0LuQnJV4NlW7ac4wnBV4T8VYebCUdg6_ssK9RhRECnFWlI/s400/sushi1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313268442910067682" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Night before last we went out for sushi. Steve got friendly with one of our campers who took us to a a great sushi restaurant where he is friends with one of the sushi chefs. It's called <a href="http://www.allmenus.com/nc/asheville/131319-mikado/menu/">Mikado</a> and it was great!! I've been trying to get Steve to go to a sushi restaurant with me since we arrived down here. One night when he was out of town, Ande and I ate at <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&u=http://www.greenteasushi.com/&ei=2328ScfFG4PqyQWx9oX2Dg&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=2&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dgreen%2Btea%2Bsushi%2Basheville%26hl%3Den">Green Tea Sushi</a> and I've been wanting to do it again ever since. Of course he thought it sounded disgusting when it was my idea, but when a visiting camper talks about it, suddenly he's interested. Whatever! Our friend, Matt, alas, I'm afraid will never try it. He refers to it as "bait." I have to admit, that when I first got up the nerve to give it a try, the names of the entrees were somewhat intimidating. Of course some had rather innocent names like Butterfly Roll or Tuna Roll, but some of them start to sound like one of the Bizarre Foods you'd see Andrew Zimmer eating on the Travel Channel. Eel, squid, octopus......there's just no way to make that sound appealing to me.<br /><br />The chef, Okki (not sure how it's spelled) was very patient with us and explained many things about the food. For instance, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushi">sushi </a>is assumed to always contain raw fish, but that's not the case. Sushi is the word for a vinegared rice dish topped with other ingredients that usually includes fish. Sometimes, the fish component is raw, this is referred to as sashimi. And that's about as educated as I needed to get, I was ready to chow down!! As long as my meal's not staring at me, or still breathing, I'm not too picky!! </span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ-iWIcCk-OhufeNBAbZjsox3KYLGWGeyjZUULXC8fsHy7HU9FpkXRSDt2TF2KEQI8pOna52jjcu2I3pyNSz7dsoajO3CiV8AsXEyxez_XsVolG9lng-_zp5HLSD2yUfFgXXaXNzCa8iI/s1600-h/Sushiprep1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 308px; height: 231px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ-iWIcCk-OhufeNBAbZjsox3KYLGWGeyjZUULXC8fsHy7HU9FpkXRSDt2TF2KEQI8pOna52jjcu2I3pyNSz7dsoajO3CiV8AsXEyxez_XsVolG9lng-_zp5HLSD2yUfFgXXaXNzCa8iI/s400/Sushiprep1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313268733738634066" border="0" /></a></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I do have to say that food is taken very seriously in most Japanese restaurants and that the presentation is as important as the taste. It's all considered an art form. I would love to visit some of the Asian countires someday to see the pottery and of course eat the food!! I find it pretty fascinating. I recently bought a DVD entitled <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs5WiddD7i0">Eat, Drink, Man, Woman </a>that takes place in Taiwan. It's about a retired chef with 3 daughters. Much of the movie shows the methods they utlilize in that country to cook meals, many are primitive and somewhat graphic. They often start with the live critter and proceed from there to the table! Obviously our meat dishes here in the west begin with a live critter too, we've just managed to remove that step from the general public's concept of eating meat. I suppose we'd have a lot more vegetarians around otherwise. Rent the movie if you enjoy learning about other cultures and can stand to see a little fish gutting.<br /><br />To top the evening off, Okki made us a special dessert (I don't think he put it on the bill which immediately made him Steve's hero du jour!) It consisted of fried bananas with chocolate sauce and whipped cream!! yum!<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Today we went <a href="http://www.geocaching.com/Default.aspx">geocaching</a> in a little town east of here called <a href="http://www.oldfort.org/">Old Fort</a>. We wanted to be the "first-to-find" on a cache that was just hidden. We found it and then started searching for a place to eat. We don't need our GPS for that, altho I think I did punch "all food" in to the garmin in the car. It directed us to a restuarant on the outskirts of town that had a new name. It was called Tagi's BBQ Junction and that sounded pretty good to us!!<br /><br />The owner (and chef) welcomed us warmly. His name was John but he went by Tagi. They weren't very crowded because it was late in the afternoon so we got all his attention. He was extremely friendly and recommended we try the sampler platter when we admitted we'd never been there before. He and his wife opened the place last January and he wants it to be the catalyst that puts Old Fort on the map!! He said he specializes in "fusion" BBQ, which means he uses a combination of secret spices. All I know is, it was pretty doggone good (and we were stuffed!!) The sampler included hushpuppies, french fries, cole slaw, baked beans, pinto beans and rice, a veggie burger, a beef brisket sandwich, and a pulled pork, plus 2 kinds of cake for dessert!!! SHWEW!!<br /><br />I have to say that my favorite dish was Tavi's Special Cake. OMG!!! It was so good. It was a yellow cake with fried apple slices on top soaked in reduced balsamic. If you don't watch the food network, that balsamic part may sound a little gross, but lemme tell you, it was wonderful!! He even brewed me a fresh pot of coffee to wash it all down, no you KNOW that put him on top of my list!!<br /><br />It was an unforgettable experience. One of many we've had down here. Most of them seem to involve great people and great food!! I suppose it's better for my health that we'll be waddling up to Indiana soon. Although, my son-in-laws family has a lot of good cooks, we may be in BEEEEEG trouble!!<br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-29985649417795738772009-03-14T19:40:00.000-07:002009-03-20T21:22:40.030-07:00Striking a balance<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm beginning to feel a little worried. I started this blog as a way to keep track of what has been going on the last 12 months. I suppose that my genetic pre-disposition to forget important happenings was the major "prompting" factor. But when I re-read my posts, I begin to worry that I'm being too dry and ....... factual. My goodness, if anyone besides myself and an obligatory relative read this, well, when I look back at my posts, I pick up on some major, yawn factor (shall I say?)<br /><br />So perhaps today would be a good time to ramble about deep things, like the meaning of life and whatnot. So here goes!!<br /><br />Some days, I think of myself as an artist. I spend the day at the studio, and I'm on the wheel, feeling as if I'm "in the zone" cranking out work like nobody's business. (Well, not as fast as some production potters I've had the pleasure of knowing, but at a pretty good clip for me.)<br /><br />I enjoyed eavesdropping on a make-up class one day being taught by one of the instructors at the studio. After seeing the work being produced by her students and hearing some of her class lectures, I wish I had signed up to take her class this session instead of the one I did. But of course, then I wouldn't have been able to continue focusing on my decorating skills. There aren't enough hours in the day.<br /><br />What I liked about this instructor's teaching was the critiques she conducted with her students. The way she talked about their work was extremely positive but somehow she managed to make suggestions about something they could do that would make the piece more interesting, or improve its design. I've been trying to do that on my own, but sometimes it's nice to have input from an impartial observer; someone who doesn't have the blood, sweat, and tears, invested in a piece that might taint my view of it. This instructor seems to be able to do that without devastating the person who put that blood, sweat, and tears into the piece of work. That is an admirable skill.<br /><br />Of course I still have to spend time doing the real "job" that we came down here for - which unfortunately consists of the mundane type of chores I filled my time with the first 20 years of my marriage. Those years consisted of cleaning toilets (and behinds) and chasing dust around the house. I don't regret keeping my focus on "maintaining a home" during those years, as a matter of fact, when I look back on it, there's little I would change. However, I don't want that to be my focus now. Especially when the home I'm "keeping" is a rental unit on a campgrounds.<br /><br />Fortunately, our decision to come down here during the winter meant that I actually did have enough free time on my hands to spend time at the studio attempting to perfect my ceramics skills.<br /><br />I still find that I think of myself as more of a crafts person than an artist. I don't feel like my work is making any kind of statement, and I'm not sure I want it to. I like producing something that serves a specific function. (Obviously a painting or sculpture serves a function. It's decorating a wall or floor space, and sometimes also making some sort of social or political statement.) But I think that's what I like about pottery. Aside from liking the 3-dimensional characteristics of it, I like the fact that it's often something that a person might use on a daily basis.<br /><br />I was telling a friend of mine about <a href="http://images.google.com/images?q=andy+goldsworthy&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=rhC7SdPjIc-JtgftvMz4Cw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title">Andy Goldsworthy</a>, He's an "environmental" artist who utilizes things in the natural environment to produce works of art. If you're not familiar with him, watch some of the videos posted on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=andy+goldsworthy&aq=f">youtube</a>. He is completely obsessed with the process of producing his art. I get the impression that it's more important to him than any of life's typical neccessities, like food, water, companionship, etc.<br /><br />I don't feel as though I'm DRIVEN to produce pottery or art, it's just something I enjoy doing. (I suppose sometimes my husband thinks I'm obsessed with it, but I could spend many more hours on it than I do.) I've done it sporadically to put it mildly, over the years, with stretches lasting days, months, even years, of not even getting my hands muddy. Looking back, I can't say I would do it differently.<br /><br />I know it sounds archaic, but I can't think of any career or job that would have been any more meaningful to me than taking care of my family was. Of course we had years where we struggled financially and I contributed by finding part-time jobs waiting tables or cleaning dog kennels or horse stalls. I can't say I regret doing any of that either. Well, the only thing I might regret is that it made life a little more hectic. I wish I could have enjoyed and observed many more moments of the kids' "growing up" years, but it was probably good that I had to learn how to budget my time. I had to prioritize what was important.<br /><br />Having several close friends and relatives pass away in a fairly short time period also forced me to re-prioritize what really mattered to me. It turns out that relationships and the time spent developing them, is the one thing that I think I will regret not spending more time on.<br /><br />The pottery is fulfilling and enjoyable and I don't think I'd ever completely give it up, but I also don't see a reason to ever let it completely engulf my life. I hope that somewhere along the way I've learned to strike a balance.<br /><br />I think that some of the current economic problems (and I hate talking politics) are actually a result of the breakdown of traditional family roles. YIKES!! Now that's something I would not have want to admitted 25 years ago!! But it seems as though it's become too commonplace for people to rely on 2 incomes and base their mortgage, car payments, and credit card debt on the dependence of 2 incomes. When one of those incomes suddenly disappears, that can cause major financial problems.<br /><br />I also have always believed that if many women would be surprised if they calculated all the expenses that come with a career (and I'm only considering the financial expenses now, not the emotional expenses that come as part of it) I think it would be shocking how little income is produced by most full-time jobs, unless a woman is a doctor or lawyer, or owns a large, successful business.<br /><br />When one figures in the cost of child-care, travel expenses, clothing for the job, and convenience meals, it's surprising how little is left from that paycheck for the work that went into producing it! I guess that it never really seemed worthwhile to me to work full-time. Of course I didn't have the education or experience to make it a difficult decision. It might have been more tempting to pursue a career outside the home if I could've made $40,000 a year. Or $140,000. I dunno, I like to think I would've still made raising my family my priority.<br /><br />I know that many of my female friends would NOT want to return to the era where women were expected to stay home and cook and clean and raise the children, but part of me wonders if in some ways it might have been a relief to have the roles and expectations so clear. Part of me is glad that women have achieved more "equality" with men, especially in the workplace. I just wish that along the way we hadn't trivialized the importance of raising our children and creating a pleasant home environment. At least for those of us who chose to focus on that.<br /><br />I guess I've started thinking about it more since my daughter is about to give birth. I think that she and her husband are going to make good decisions about what they need to focus on. I just wonder about other members of their generation who take it for granted that their children will go into daycare as quickly as possible.<br /><br />Part of me understands why a woman doesn't want to lose her identity to her children, but another part of me thinks that mothers and fathers both should be a little more concerned about who, or what, is influencing their children, whether it's a baby-sitter, a day-care worker, a teacher, a playmate, the TV, or the X-box.<br /><br />And how I managed to arrive at this topic when I started out talking about art and pottery is beyond me!! I believe this post has been a complete rambling rant!! Well, haven't had one for awhile, guess I'm entitled. Oh!! Entitlement - now there's a whole new topic to rant about. On another day!!</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-3015642620374652332009-03-12T17:52:00.000-07:002009-03-14T19:42:33.631-07:00A busy week!<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I just can't get over how quickly the time passes. Here it is almost the middle of March!!<br /><br />First, I should mention that the Baby Shower/Reception in Indianapolis for Megan and Dustin seemed to be a success. We were so happy to see family and friends that we haven't seen for awhile. There was a good turn-out, Steve's whole family made it!! We got to visit with everyone and even play a few hands of Peanuts, what more could we w</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">ant?<br /><br />Also, besides new baby congratulations to Dustin and Megan, we have to congratulate Dustin for getting accepted onto Pike Twp's Fire Department. He starts trainin</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">g in a few short weeks. He's going to have his hands full with a new baby and a new job!</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Here's a couple of pictures from the shower (and I promise not to hold animosity again</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">st Curt for dropping my crock pot full of weenies! I'm just glad no one was injured!!)</span></span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The Shower Cake......</span></span> </div><div style="text-align: right;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgitGXYxDsBJ-k9m8Nd23D1G8kd3-gSRrgo3dtIOcXRZsh1SWo0grNDZZ77IZ5OXyn68HmF05a_ohgnPtL3uxl9pMZSMSEreO2HC6Vl4wcAjnKwNc_MM06xehn_rUi-4Di9g7ov8H2kxKQ/s1600-h/Shower+gifts+4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 269px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgitGXYxDsBJ-k9m8Nd23D1G8kd3-gSRrgo3dtIOcXRZsh1SWo0grNDZZ77IZ5OXyn68HmF05a_ohgnPtL3uxl9pMZSMSEreO2HC6Vl4wcAjnKwNc_MM06xehn_rUi-4Di9g7ov8H2kxKQ/s320/Shower+gifts+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312472557599690610" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0kwfAIwK1OQoaF9zxM_OEfptHNkoBfltEbea21e0uFrNl2ZxA791Z2HCC1N4JA1RFOI76y3rLpsd-VZEKx8Ze8EpILtByEjdjQn0x_Pw6n1WExTtXDqD5E0jxKVa70NlT3hmp_zsueVo/s1600-h/Shower+gifts+3.jpg"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0kwfAIwK1OQoaF9zxM_OEfptHNkoBfltEbea21e0uFrNl2ZxA791Z2HCC1N4JA1RFOI76y3rLpsd-VZEKx8Ze8EpILtByEjdjQn0x_Pw6n1WExTtXDqD5E0jxKVa70NlT3hmp_zsueVo/s1600-h/Shower+gifts+3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 306px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0kwfAIwK1OQoaF9zxM_OEfptHNkoBfltEbea21e0uFrNl2ZxA791Z2HCC1N4JA1RFOI76y3rLpsd-VZEKx8Ze8EpILtByEjdjQn0x_Pw6n1WExTtXDqD5E0jxKVa70NlT3hmp_zsueVo/s320/Shower+gifts+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312473035374612354" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Another shower cake.......</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Dustin's ready to eat some of that cake!!</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhphyNcqAaS4GnL9pHYkSs4aZOzSfc20oymbXfWYdfaAVCoc6qpirip2QJi-5MmetptuGph9mnUCIRuQvbLiwaPQjMCBKC-agei2r5SUa9hqCwrdKnDtPfo_r_xxuWe_wq0RntaoIsKg/s1600-h/Shower+gifts+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 146px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhphyNcqAaS4GnL9pHYkSs4aZOzSfc20oymbXfWYdfaAVCoc6qpirip2QJi-5MmetptuGph9mnUCIRuQvbLiwaPQjMCBKC-agei2r5SUa9hqCwrdKnDtPfo_r_xxuWe_wq0RntaoIsKg/s320/Shower+gifts+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312474146263824146" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwzWqJ5e1XRMRZiuAKR3E0RhEsWq6_MZ0oxr4-DMCBB_fIXQYwu0HXxTm2FC6IFsbxWWzB37OjZdHPdAwxFC9gR7PV3-94JTl1d4h6h772vpooClgaPQ7OAMEB-Z4mhXle_Yr7r_qlscA/s1600-h/Shower+gifts+1.jpg"> </a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwzWqJ5e1XRMRZiuAKR3E0RhEsWq6_MZ0oxr4-DMCBB_fIXQYwu0HXxTm2FC6IFsbxWWzB37OjZdHPdAwxFC9gR7PV3-94JTl1d4h6h772vpooClgaPQ7OAMEB-Z4mhXle_Yr7r_qlscA/s1600-h/Shower+gifts+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 275px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwzWqJ5e1XRMRZiuAKR3E0RhEsWq6_MZ0oxr4-DMCBB_fIXQYwu0HXxTm2FC6IFsbxWWzB37OjZdHPdAwxFC9gR7PV3-94JTl1d4h6h772vpooClgaPQ7OAMEB-Z4mhXle_Yr7r_qlscA/s320/Shower+gifts+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312473866571399186" border="0" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I like all of Steve's family in the reflection of this one!</span></span></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">After a fun week-end with friends and family we came back to Asheville and met up with our <a href="http://www.geocaching.com/Default.aspx">geocaching</a> friends, the Flip/Flop Girlz from Cincy. They decided to pay us a visit while Jan is recovering from double knee replacement. She seems to be healing pretty quickly because we went hiking with them at Chimney Rock and also broke a record for the number of geocaches we've found in one day on our drive back from Chimney Rock with the help of the Girlz!! It was an exhausting, but fun day!!<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Here are the 4 of us on Chimeny Rock using the timer on my camera!</span></span><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_N49pTLkgZav63VI1KOqTxDKh4i-RZGglqgglYkrI_k1oFZdh45aPEzzL9QGM7SL-jeZ8qSpdbsGptRZ7SeK22WnajNwM7DPtobJwV4xownD0Gd1T6XIx92ZsGbsC5Kckc58QGuLknM0/s1600-h/chimney+rock+031009_3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_N49pTLkgZav63VI1KOqTxDKh4i-RZGglqgglYkrI_k1oFZdh45aPEzzL9QGM7SL-jeZ8qSpdbsGptRZ7SeK22WnajNwM7DPtobJwV4xownD0Gd1T6XIx92ZsGbsC5Kckc58QGuLknM0/s400/chimney+rock+031009_3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312475652581447426" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I took this one from the observation deck above Chimney Rock...the little specks are Karen, Jan, and Steve!!</span></span> <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">That's Lake Lure in the background.</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBBV8GiwGgq7tbZzziURSTXbmIdI5GS70ZoACUo1dD64VzvxoboUa5dk6Sl5UNpC3TLFI-3qNOhqNQ8PHIpGEHPli5A75JzdYQYdG2aUHmFDSm7OUIrpfns6SGwo_AF22DcvQ9nf8gBQ/s1600-h/chimney+rock+031009_4.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxBBV8GiwGgq7tbZzziURSTXbmIdI5GS70ZoACUo1dD64VzvxoboUa5dk6Sl5UNpC3TLFI-3qNOhqNQ8PHIpGEHPli5A75JzdYQYdG2aUHmFDSm7OUIrpfns6SGwo_AF22DcvQ9nf8gBQ/s400/chimney+rock+031009_4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312476083571044050" border="0" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">After spending the morning site-seeing, we geocached the whole way home and managed to snag almost 30 caches along the way. Up until then, our record for one day had been 7!! The Flip/Flop Girlz have found over 2,500 caches and were willing to share their expertise with us rookies!!<br /><br />Yesterday, Jan, Karen, and I visited Thomas Wolfe's family home. Wolfe was an author in the early 1900s who wrote an autobiographical novel about growing up in Asheville. It's called <span style="font-style: italic;">Look Homeward Angel.</span> I read part of it when we first arrived down here but hadn't finished it. His family was rather dysfunctional and it got to be a little depressing! HIs mother owned and ran a boarding house downtown for many years and that home is now a museum dedicated to Thomas Wolfe. After our visit, we managed to find a few more caches too!<br /><br />Earlier in the week we unloaded the salt-kiln at the Odyssey Center. It was an excellent firing!! I wish they had been able to fit more of my work in the kiln, but I had to share space with the other students! To see pictures of most of the work, visit my <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lorettawray/PotsFromTerryGessSaltfiringClassAtOdyssey20082009SecondFiring#">picasa</a> site.<br /><br />Here are a couple pictures of my favorite pieces! This has certainly been a wonderful opportunity for me to improve my pottery skills and learn about new glazing and firing methods!! The experience has been UN-believable and I'm so thankful that we were able to live this life for the past 12 months!!!<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTXtNOk0Ck4aY62rseVcVFrA0jhn9lwg2hGR2E7DP_4_87EF_q7idfJaCVIQPGkF7suiqDpFuKiFL_BC_PYilu458qVDA7zDqxnoDa9OafngOTD0A6QX59C6MxGMTWDcxpVQq758hPCWQ/s1600-h/Oval+lidded+fish+container+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 343px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTXtNOk0Ck4aY62rseVcVFrA0jhn9lwg2hGR2E7DP_4_87EF_q7idfJaCVIQPGkF7suiqDpFuKiFL_BC_PYilu458qVDA7zDqxnoDa9OafngOTD0A6QX59C6MxGMTWDcxpVQq758hPCWQ/s400/Oval+lidded+fish+container+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312479670894546978" border="0" /></a><br /><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >This is a lidded, oval shaped box I made for Steve to charge his R/C helicopter batteries in. It has a hole in the back for the cord to hang out of. I put fish on it to make it more manly than my pieces with leaves.....</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"></span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXQObz-hMUCamEP6b1HEyRvCCMOdD7cxh_2szspvRqbS_2A9Dzp4bN3jTQxEwbOn5-H1-QQx-zJXRbh9FYBr2sKgzyORDxEdOE7c-4-GhyphenhyphenqVwoV_mSzkMiO0lPEP3eeVFel0LUt3l_lbo/s1600-h/wild+horse+platter+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 340px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXQObz-hMUCamEP6b1HEyRvCCMOdD7cxh_2szspvRqbS_2A9Dzp4bN3jTQxEwbOn5-H1-QQx-zJXRbh9FYBr2sKgzyORDxEdOE7c-4-GhyphenhyphenqVwoV_mSzkMiO0lPEP3eeVFel0LUt3l_lbo/s400/wild+horse+platter+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5312480416660111682" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">This is an oval shaped platter that I put a horse figure on with black slip. I was pretty pleased with the result!</span></span><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-3977050289821477652009-03-02T16:35:00.000-08:002009-03-14T19:43:43.904-07:00Pass the gravy.....<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Today we were paid a visit by a small flock of wild turkeys. I always thought wild turkeys were somewhat elusive, but these didn't seem intimidated by people at all. As a matter of fact, Matt thinks they may have been the same turkeys he saw hanging around the campground last spring that were just chicks at the time. I would have to agree with him. He said he had fed them bird seed last spring, and today he went an</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">d got some seed and as soon as they saw him throwing it, they came waddling right up and started having their own little feast.<br /><br />I took some photos and even some crappy video which I will post because thing</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">s have been boring around here. We were somewhat "snowed in" this morning. I did make it into town this afternoon. The road down the mountain is the biggest problem because parts of it don't get any sun at all.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Hopefully it will be melted enough tomorrow to go to my pottery class. We'll be loading the salt kiln for the last firing.<br /><br />Thursday we're going to head north to Indianapolis for Megan's</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> baby shower on Saturday. It will be great to see the family. Then in a few short weeks we'll be heading up there for good. </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />It's hard to believe that our stay here is almost over. We've made some great friends and I'm going to miss them and the mountains.<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">And the turkeys......<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGkpPuRJgSsWNCbFeDFKypZ18GlJ9StGC265RCWrhbf3Myo84cKuClRZAkq6-Y5nhSaFMFDwDvUol1hfZhmmzR_yCOfc3B6-i1q0Db0SwThU6l7VdVAYz2FqNFYPUZM5HLnsrP9lUNznI/s1600-h/turkeys+3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGkpPuRJgSsWNCbFeDFKypZ18GlJ9StGC265RCWrhbf3Myo84cKuClRZAkq6-Y5nhSaFMFDwDvUol1hfZhmmzR_yCOfc3B6-i1q0Db0SwThU6l7VdVAYz2FqNFYPUZM5HLnsrP9lUNznI/s320/turkeys+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308758999530753010" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRb5XvfIn4BBFyUXS7CncR-VvY0WH6RBE2QSS9U16w1gIw2ZZRsyqZQflSl00_bUTIF5hsaMWLVDtQi1fEG60Mgzsk0i2Ovhxop-jiPJ4nwzhfNoR6MTwZyeM0qoSNHW7URr8aFNkVXec/s1600-h/turkey+tracks.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 215px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRb5XvfIn4BBFyUXS7CncR-VvY0WH6RBE2QSS9U16w1gIw2ZZRsyqZQflSl00_bUTIF5hsaMWLVDtQi1fEG60Mgzsk0i2Ovhxop-jiPJ4nwzhfNoR6MTwZyeM0qoSNHW7URr8aFNkVXec/s320/turkey+tracks.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308759311111461506" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">.....these are either turkey tracks, or peace signs made by vandalous hippies!</span><br /></span></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">(Eat your heart out DC!!)<br /></span></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzC5LiNzgNoQQGw7gvqt6JLUR4s47K11BQitkvtD7iJc3ZzLIAkiqrQIMiYG9Yv9Na22ePA-wEU2QEhw81WDg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-70189413328750998152009-03-01T14:42:00.000-08:002009-03-14T19:44:03.951-07:00White Stuff<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Red-bird guarding the feeder....</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw8-PbdGtOLCJ5-rw_J6BsymduMSUJIP5fKgTjw_pjyVi9dng-z5cOCSC1UuzOsqMq4gQvXCeh2jLORJ8fEQ54jKRN9ouI6nBW0Zh1bpTIdxrzeX_MYUOnlfIMzNTfa2KVKh2h94GfKA8/s1600-h/red+bird+in+snow+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 262px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw8-PbdGtOLCJ5-rw_J6BsymduMSUJIP5fKgTjw_pjyVi9dng-z5cOCSC1UuzOsqMq4gQvXCeh2jLORJ8fEQ54jKRN9ouI6nBW0Zh1bpTIdxrzeX_MYUOnlfIMzNTfa2KVKh2h94GfKA8/s320/red+bird+in+snow+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308356430295665298" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Ok, I know that North Carolina isn't the "Deep South," I just didn't expect the weather to be quite so similar to an Ohio winter! Of course, this has been an exceptionally cold and snowy winter for Ohio. I would say the winter down here has been like one of the more recent mild </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">winters we've had up north.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Anyways, the snow is pretty, but it's the first day of March fer-cryin-out-loud!!!! I'm ready for spring. I noticed this morning in the church parking lot that the daffodils were in full bloom!! Unfortunately, I think they'll be killed off in the next couple days.<br /><br />Our boss, Ande, is originally from Florida and she was completely blown away by the snow, taking lots of pictures to email her friends down south (the true South.) I did take a few pictures, but I don't know too many people who will be impressed or surprised by the amount of snow we've received. I'm sure most of our family could send us more </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">impressive winter photos.<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">But I do want to record our stay down here so I've posted a couple snow photos. Unfortunately, it's been too "white" to get a picture of the mountains. It cleared for a few minutes this afternoon when we walked down to the bath house, but I didn't have the camera, and by the time we were done, it was white again.<br /><br />Hopefully we'll get to enjoy a few "spring-like" days before we head north for good.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The view from our window.....</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu-4ThvEEkL4Jsw1Ek6v0z3fjKml1RsfFqDc_6UqzSxyeXw8DrKPx29X_4JSpxvl8HuEQgcQgBCz9vNt0YP0nylYoOfrumKND3nI53HI2LU4lhyoAbykpbzV2LoJ6YmMjMJB4Hr8ntqSM/s1600-h/view+from+camper+030109_2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 434px; height: 325px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu-4ThvEEkL4Jsw1Ek6v0z3fjKml1RsfFqDc_6UqzSxyeXw8DrKPx29X_4JSpxvl8HuEQgcQgBCz9vNt0YP0nylYoOfrumKND3nI53HI2LU4lhyoAbykpbzV2LoJ6YmMjMJB4Hr8ntqSM/s320/view+from+camper+030109_2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308356650733060578" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxkAter6pr3c4YK-jq20jGZq2MR4dl3bLaHE0jsOKILg1dsOYDYrv3pgWnSGLrSTPwkZbohPLZH7z_F0RXzIKDrS-PtmTpzWX6RKb9ed1r2yJiMVQfTJMxZ_69UyhYNwI7XRs2EzSJ6fs/s1600-h/twiggy+lookin+at+snow.jpg"> </a></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Twiggy's happy she's not out there!!</span></span><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxkAter6pr3c4YK-jq20jGZq2MR4dl3bLaHE0jsOKILg1dsOYDYrv3pgWnSGLrSTPwkZbohPLZH7z_F0RXzIKDrS-PtmTpzWX6RKb9ed1r2yJiMVQfTJMxZ_69UyhYNwI7XRs2EzSJ6fs/s1600-h/twiggy+lookin+at+snow.jpg"> </a><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxkAter6pr3c4YK-jq20jGZq2MR4dl3bLaHE0jsOKILg1dsOYDYrv3pgWnSGLrSTPwkZbohPLZH7z_F0RXzIKDrS-PtmTpzWX6RKb9ed1r2yJiMVQfTJMxZ_69UyhYNwI7XRs2EzSJ6fs/s1600-h/twiggy+lookin+at+snow.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxkAter6pr3c4YK-jq20jGZq2MR4dl3bLaHE0jsOKILg1dsOYDYrv3pgWnSGLrSTPwkZbohPLZH7z_F0RXzIKDrS-PtmTpzWX6RKb9ed1r2yJiMVQfTJMxZ_69UyhYNwI7XRs2EzSJ6fs/s320/twiggy+lookin+at+snow.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308357010820924306" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-43875160778165684812009-02-20T10:48:00.000-08:002009-03-14T19:45:17.236-07:00Looking for a home<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">'m beginning to realize that we won't be here a whole lot longer and it makes me feel sad</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> that we'll only be here a few more weeks. The time has gone quickly. Part of me feels ready to get somewhere and become more settled in. I'm anxious to find permanent living arrangements.</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">But another part of me is definitely going to miss this area, the new friends I've made</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">, </span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">and all the pottery opportunities available here.<br /><br />Oh yeah, and the food!! For a town that only boasts 80,000 permanent residents, there sure is a LOT of food! I'm sure that the tourist industry and semi-permanent residents play a huge role in that fact.<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">From a health standpoint, it's probably a good thing we're NOT staying! This week I found a great BBQ place. Even better than <a href="http://www.thefiddlinpig.com/">Fiddlin' Pig!</a> (Well, they don't have live music like the Pig, but the food is better - and cheaper!) It's called <a href="http://www.12bones.com/">12 Bones Smokehouse</a> and it's located about 1 block away from where I do my pottery!! How convenient! The only</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> INconvenience is that they only serve lunch, they're open 11-4 Mon - Fri. And I believe that there's a line out the door no matter what time of day or day of the week you stop in. That's cuz it's gooooooood!! and reasonably priced as I mentioned....a pulled pork sandwich with 2 sides is 6 bucks. Delicious sides too, I might add. I opted for the jalepeno grits and mashed sweet potatoes. They must've had 20 people working behind the counter! It's definitely not a fancy joint. I noticed the thermostat said it was only 59 degrees inside. I guess it keeps the help from over-heating. Anyways, if you're ever in Asheville, you need to visit 12 Bones. I stood in line 20 minutes to get my food and it was definitely worth the wait!!<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">We think we may have found a campgrounds to stay at in Indiana while we're waiting for the grand-son to arrive (and looking for our new home.) It's called <a href="http://www.hiddenparadise.info/Home%20Page.htm">Hidden Paradise</a> and it's located in St. Paul, Indiana. It's about 50 minutes SW of Dustin and Megan's place. I actually came across them when I was on the geocaching website. I think our friends from Cincinnati found a cache there. What really caught my eye was that I saw there was a cache hidden there that you have to scuba dive in order to find! That intrigued me!<br /><br />The campgrounds has a 15 acre spring fed rock quarry thats average depth is 25 feet. They claim that visibility is usually 10-15 feet. There are also some sunken "treasures" like a sai</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">l boat and a mini-bus. Additionally they introduced paddle fish in 2001 and claim that they're now 3-4 feet long. It gives scuba divers something to look at I s'pose. During the late summer they say you might en</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">counter rare, fresh-water jelly-fish. They're not very large, the size of a quarter, and non-venomous. Steve and I don't scuba dive ourselves, but his brother and our neices are certified and would probably enjoy paddling around. Maybe we can talk them into finding the cache!!<br /><br />Of course they also allow swimming in the quarry and have what they refer to as a "water-park" which basically consists of inflatable slides, rafts, etc. I think it sounds like a fun place for the family to come and visit and won't be too far of a drive for our Ohio clan and our Indiana clan. Oh yeah, and the Kentucky clan.<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg92sJRybm4HtM55x56Aer6ShfeGFg-GJuxtLkLV3SnuUtNpmxwdxtcoYqtnnRqz-nmSoFCw6HsoW_XAKzBwj94S0eYqYg9Yq2kBrvgeOlwvuFIQFy0Brx_BI2J15lAdYbx_PKxEmhkopw/s1600-h/Swim+Toys+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 288px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg92sJRybm4HtM55x56Aer6ShfeGFg-GJuxtLkLV3SnuUtNpmxwdxtcoYqtnnRqz-nmSoFCw6HsoW_XAKzBwj94S0eYqYg9Yq2kBrvgeOlwvuFIQFy0Brx_BI2J15lAdYbx_PKxEmhkopw/s320/Swim+Toys+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304964651113760722" border="0" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8fbDmamfkX1PZtqy-zkDvppXIHiwCpbvvYVCMiw27T1ElqGJzEYAuCBjGrS5PPBeJ39ErTSgHZ1KWwEjvVh7UuoPoEwWfgqTnpw20xgwl1d8RaN_VKUDElVVWERIi0xu4-Z6fsQmcrBQ/s1600-h/Paddle+Fish+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 289px; height: 218px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8fbDmamfkX1PZtqy-zkDvppXIHiwCpbvvYVCMiw27T1ElqGJzEYAuCBjGrS5PPBeJ39ErTSgHZ1KWwEjvVh7UuoPoEwWfgqTnpw20xgwl1d8RaN_VKUDElVVWERIi0xu4-Z6fsQmcrBQ/s320/Paddle+Fish+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304972628955206674" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">It's a fairly large campgrounds with over 160 sites, plus a few cabins. Some of the sites are on a river that runs through the campgrounds. I think it sounds nice and I think we'll enjoy staying there more than at the Indy KOA which, of course, is right next to the highway.</span> </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">It's probably near the area that we'll be looking to settle in so that will be convenient for house-hunting.<br /><br />Now I better sign off, it sounds like Twiggy wants to go for a walk.<br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-35432961306336505752009-02-19T05:26:00.000-08:002009-03-14T19:45:38.247-07:00Time for more pottery pix and talk<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I've been immersing myself in pottery activities this week. Just a disclaimer about the content of this post. I'll be talking about cones and reduction and carbon trapping and stuff that won't make sense. It may not even make sense to my fellow potters because I don't know enough about it yet to talk intelligently. (Some may argue that talking intelligently is a past-time I've never engaged in!!)</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Hold on, need a coffee refill......Ah! That's better! I'm going to have to find a coffee shop that roasts their beans daily when we get up to Indiana. I dunno if Hoosiers allow </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">such high-falutin' behavior, I'll have to ask my son-in-law.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I've made a couple friends at the Odyssey Center. They're 2 ladies about my age (when you're my age, that can mean a decade in either direction, so I apologize if either of them is a lot younger than me!!) Anyways, 2 ladies who work as studio assistants at the center have befriended me. They know that I'm interested in learning all I can about kilns and firing so they offered to let me help them load the gas kiln on Monday and hang out while they fired it Tues. The center has them keep pretty meticulous firing logs, and they're making me copies of several of their logs so I'll have them to refer to when I start learning to fire my own gas kiln. Even tho it's a completely different type of kiln, any experience I can get should be beneficial.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />It also offered me the opportunity to hang out at the center all day Tuesday when it's normally not ope</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">n for students to work independently because there are classes going on. (It's not <span style="font-weight: bold;">what</span> you know, but <span style="font-weight: bold;">who</span> you know!!) So I finished up some pieces that have been taking forever!</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />I went in at 6 am to get the ball rolling and didn't get home until 10 pm; it was a long day and I was pretty pooped yesterday! Today we're unloading once it's cool enough.<br /><br />Since it was still firing Tues. evening I got to sit in on a class that was being taught by a very talented potter from the area, <a href="http://www.mudfire.com/leah-leitson-workshop-20080216.htm">Leah Leitson</a>. She does beautiful work in porcelain and besides being a skilled</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> potter, she's also an excellent instructor (as I've discovered, that doesn't always go hand in hand.) She was also not afraid to demonstrate her methods. Happily, this is the case with most potters, but I've come across a few who seem to be worried that a student will "steal" their methods. I think that the potters who</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> worry about that have a pretty low self-esteem. I agree that there is a fine line between being "inspired" by other potters and actually "stealing" their methods, but most of the potters I know who are still learning (which some would say is all of us) incorporate methods and styles of many other potters into their work.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />Let me digress for one moment about taking inspiration from others. Several well-known potters actually encourage others to "steal" ideas. <a href="http://www.dicklehman.com/html/writing/stealing.html">Dick Lehman</a> explains it this way, "</span><span style="font-family:arial;">If you are going to take someone else's idea or be influenced by another's inspiration, steal it - make it your own. If you take inspiration from another, have the integrity, courage and courtesy to develop the idea, to invest in it, to reinvent it, to make it more than it was.</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">" I think he's absolutely right! And ironically, he admits to "stealing" this idea from another potter, Marvin Bartel, who stole the concept from a poet, Nick Linsey!!! Who said, "There's nothing new under the sun?" (I suppose we could argue the source of that quote!!)<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Getting back to the Leah Leitson demo, I can't wait to try incorporating some of her methods into my pieces!! And I'll happily give her credit for being my inspiration. She attributed some of her methods to other potters. That's the beauty of it! I wish I had been able to take more pictures while she was working, </span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">but I didn't think about it until too late. Here's a fabulous little teapot, I love the pouty spout and the feet on it!!<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUcY1XgJgySGWtWYrjQliNFgR9vtfNjUBIExMdGkbxpLbc45aJvvsSxgceyZQa7px_BwF4sypkZn0EZyh9NcZ2AuVhFRqy5lIj6OjXGZ8YCSilR9LZV3umRrPfRxeqO62BD4d-ROOZoZo/s1600-h/100_0448.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 308px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUcY1XgJgySGWtWYrjQliNFgR9vtfNjUBIExMdGkbxpLbc45aJvvsSxgceyZQa7px_BwF4sypkZn0EZyh9NcZ2AuVhFRqy5lIj6OjXGZ8YCSilR9LZV3umRrPfRxeqO62BD4d-ROOZoZo/s320/100_0448.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304507911021906786" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >So to add even more exciting pottery activity going on all around me, </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">we unloaded the salt-kiln Tuesday!! We got some really juicy pots (that's a good thing!) Here's a <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lorettawray/PotsFromTerryGessSaltfiringClassAtOdyssey20082009">link</a> to pictures of my work from this firing. As I look closer at some of the pieces, I see some problems, but over all I was pleased with the firing. It's the first time I can remember opening the kiln and actually liking what I saw right off the bat.<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Many times potters have pre-conceived ideas about what a piece should look like when it comes out of the kiln, but after you judge it for its own merits, not what you think its merits should be, you learn to at least live with it, if not like it better than you would've if it came out the way you had envisioned it. (I'm sensing that this could be some sort of deep analogy for a life experience, something to do with relationships, but I'm still too tired from my busy week to explore it further and this blog's already too long!)</span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">So I will end this blog with a few pictures from the salt-kiln..............<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">This is the kiln-opening...if you want to see it larger, click on it.</span></span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpy-DQ8k_Q7puh3OORE_2S-vtB8oh6BpkR-fMogFAkQf63Cfh3V1G2wc30MHNf9YGHOSfizIQWXD5bLt4cKD7z0znZlqh73T5-LhmPICNR6gQ6ggW9fsCVnfzVr0dod38KQ-Z2-2oEW00/s1600-h/First+firing+salt+kiln+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 277px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpy-DQ8k_Q7puh3OORE_2S-vtB8oh6BpkR-fMogFAkQf63Cfh3V1G2wc30MHNf9YGHOSfizIQWXD5bLt4cKD7z0znZlqh73T5-LhmPICNR6gQ6ggW9fsCVnfzVr0dod38KQ-Z2-2oEW00/s400/First+firing+salt+kiln+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304510745989716050" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">This is one of my favorite tumblers. I'm doing lotsa leaves, influeced by Suze Lindsay, among others!!</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDr8ANXXCDsQKWvyMVkIBn6B-WDEfOKa_XEXHVSh25KaRwtG2YINWoVX4WNLSjd__8xqOYoqudloLlAfTK-HpPx-lR8_XGZp4ST02YVvLjf9OqiaovWDKAns-bB0AAGxQw3CvwwmIYQA/s1600-h/100_0456.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 294px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDr8ANXXCDsQKWvyMVkIBn6B-WDEfOKa_XEXHVSh25KaRwtG2YINWoVX4WNLSjd__8xqOYoqudloLlAfTK-HpPx-lR8_XGZp4ST02YVvLjf9OqiaovWDKAns-bB0AAGxQw3CvwwmIYQA/s320/100_0456.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5304511400062682466" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">And now I had better sign off so I can go help unload the gas kiln!!!</span></span> <span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I guess I never did get to cones, reduction, and carb0n trapping. We'll save that for a future post!!</span><br /></span></div><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-60671416088821662232009-02-14T18:42:00.000-08:002009-03-14T19:46:13.916-07:00Foggy Morning and pitty pat of little feet<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The other morning there was a blanket of fog over the river valley. It looked as though you could walk across the fog. It was quite beautiful.<br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQYmXpE7NDVEwZgYddekjeHMuWKI-KUzaIbb6N977iwMuGlJk9jz295renuGnNMf3B2PlsVmJA5ZKlaYmQHLbfRz-vq333rDGF7kMiYDkAEl_nb65fVt6E-UUQZZ6ZlsRAFERnb9ZceMU/s1600-h/foggy+valley+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 476px; height: 311px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQYmXpE7NDVEwZgYddekjeHMuWKI-KUzaIbb6N977iwMuGlJk9jz295renuGnNMf3B2PlsVmJA5ZKlaYmQHLbfRz-vq333rDGF7kMiYDkAEl_nb65fVt6E-UUQZZ6ZlsRAFERnb9ZceMU/s400/foggy+valley+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302849545605622770" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;font-size:85%;" >We have </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">several campers here for Valentine's week-end and most of the rentals are occupied. We would be full, but we had 2 early check-outs due to a slight rodent infestation in the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Cliffhouse</span> and one of the Yurts. Now Steve and I checked the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Cliffhouse</span> yesterday because we knew we had arrivals and we found a mouse in one trap which Steve disposed of. We had been noticing evidence of them for awhile now and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Ande</span> has had the exterminator in several times to put out traps. Last time we cleaned it we noticed that "something" had unrolled almost the whole roll of toilet paper, and some of it was shredded. I assume it was looking for nesting material. The house is in the woods and unfortunately offers many opportunities for small woodland creatures to come and go as they please. Steve put the trap (it was a sticky pad) up in the laundry room in a spot that he thought was "out of the way." Unfortunately he didn't realize that mice are quite acrobatic, so apparently a mouse got stuck on it right before the family checked in and was there to greet them when they arrived!<br /><br />We had some concerns about this family when they first called to make reservations. First the husband called looking for a cabin for his family which included a young son and a set of 18 month old twins (who were screaming bloody murder the whole time he was on the phone, I heard them because <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Ande</span> put them on speakerphone.) She explained to him that we had a small cabin and a large one, but that they were not extremely "toddler-friendly."He said he'd "get back with us." Then his wife called to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">confirm</span> the reservation (with twins screaming in the background during her call also.) In the course of the conversation, she mentioned that they live in a 10,000 sq. ft. house.<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Ande</span> suggested they rent the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Cliffhouse</span> thinking they would be accustomed to having lots of room. They proceeded to tell <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Ande</span> they would be arriving late, they weren't sure when and they wanted to pay for with cash, rather than putting it on their credit card. We all had a funny feeling they would be "high maintenance" and they were! The <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Cliffhouse</span> is unique and it's one of those places people either love or hate. Luckily for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Ande</span>, most people love it, but every so often you get some people who just don't quite understand its quirks. (Like rodents, and cobwebs.)<br /><br />So, they spent one evening and left early this morning. Later in the day, a young couple who were checking into yurt 1 found a dead mouse in one of the sticky traps. Matt had turned the heat on in the yurt but didn't think to check the rodent traps.<br /><br />Unfortunately, I think we could check on things minutes before people arrive, and still manage to have a rodent running through at some inopportune time. I guess I would be <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">creeped</span> out if I were going to rent a place as a romantic hide away and then have to worry about listening to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">pitty</span> pat of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">mousey</span> feet all night.<br /><br />And the real bummer s that we will have to clean everything - 3 yurts, 2 cabins and the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Cliffhouse</span>! That will keep us busy for the next few days.<br /></span></span></div></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-9928446130434620932009-02-13T06:14:00.000-08:002009-03-14T19:46:44.436-07:00Mountain air causing strange happenings!<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Aside frome the usual bear, Bigfoot and UFO sightings that occur down here on a regular basis, the clean, mountain air seems to have had a rather strange affect on Twiggy, causing her to grow............but only in length! I submit to you the New Improved Twiggy!! Now With 20% More!!!</span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbB_xqMZlH-YwmtKymxU8KyCsur9CziuNuYGgSrfHhAXVrq3I88SuFlOchDu-UlyCn_sUKtwza4BG7W2qLQ6rRocFWPeLTo-TlvGDBzFoE0S3er62rwfZCSwEIhVL6UMSspSg-nZJ_I7Y/s1600-h/Long+Dog.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbB_xqMZlH-YwmtKymxU8KyCsur9CziuNuYGgSrfHhAXVrq3I88SuFlOchDu-UlyCn_sUKtwza4BG7W2qLQ6rRocFWPeLTo-TlvGDBzFoE0S3er62rwfZCSwEIhVL6UMSspSg-nZJ_I7Y/s320/Long+Dog.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302286427657131378" border="0" /></a><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-34801533417945274702009-02-10T07:53:00.000-08:002009-03-14T19:47:01.102-07:00New Age Defying Breakthrough!!!<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Ok, this press release made my day!! I got it from Yahoo! News so it must be true!!<br /><br />Under the title, How Not to Look Old, the story reports that </span><span style="font-family:arial;">"a </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/hl_time/storytext/08599187771700/30905916/SIG=13ve38a32/*http://www.plasticsurgery.org/Media/Press_Releases/Divorce_Antidepressants_or_Weight_GainLoss_Can_Add_Years_to_Your_Face.html" target="_new"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1234279621_0">forthcoming study</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> in the journal </span><i style="font-family:arial;"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1234279621_1">Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery</span></i><span style="font-family:arial;"> offers one surprising idea: as you age, don't be afraid to put on a few pounds. Fat, it turns out, can significantly smooth out wrinkles and give you a younger-looking face." (I'll be doggoned!)<br /><br />The authors of the study call it "volume replacement." (A politically correct term for "fat filling in wrinkles.") Unfortunately, it only appears to work for those of us over 40 (so I guess I was a little ahead of my time!) The study was conducted on pairs of twins. The article reports that </span><span style="font-family:arial;">"many of the twin pairs were of similar weight, but differences in how old they looked began to appear when one had a </span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/hl_time/storytext/08599187771700/30905916/SIG=11r085hmq/*http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/index.html" target="_new"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1234279621_11">body mass index (BMI)</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> at least four points higher than her sister. For twin pairs under 40, the heavier one looked significantly older. But surprisingly, after 40, that same four-point difference in BMI made the heavier twin look significantly </span><i style="font-family: arial;">younger</i><span style="font-family:arial;">."<br /><br />So if you're like me, a member of the "after 40" crowd, go ahead and scarf that crispy creme!! It's less invasive than botox!<br /><br />There IS a God!!<br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-30763159964319912622009-02-08T09:11:00.000-08:002009-03-14T19:47:39.757-07:00Flight of the Honey Bee<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I'm going to attempt to upload a video I took of Steve flying his R/C helicoptor. He and Matt ordered a pair of "Ready to Fly Honey Bees" a couple weeks ago and have been diligently doing their "flight school training." They've been practicing in the office and the garage of the cliffhouse because the weather has been too cold and windy for very much outdoor flying. Finally the last couple days have been mild enough, so Friday morning he wanted to show me his skills. He was a bit puffed up from his successful flight the day before. As is often the case with hobbies, he was brought back "down to earth" shall we say, when I was video taping. And of course, the very best flight he had, when I THOUGHT I was videotaping, I actually wasn't. And it also happened to be the flight where he attempted to use the top of my head as a heliport!! I wish I had gotten it on tape but something tells me that there will be more "near-misses" to come!<br /><br />Instead, I will post this rather uneventful Fight of the Honey Bee......<br /><br /><br /><br /></span></span></span><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzAC667jgQSmU7nyMBLyywM33Hmd9j5_RTtKIPNSeVmpazXKAqiSD4_eULax3YV8P33Mtx02ECmv7RNsZ30Iw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-7518190043248632692009-02-05T17:54:00.000-08:002009-03-14T19:48:07.365-07:00A Frigid French Broad<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">When we talked about the possibility of spending the winter in Asheville (in our camper) we assumed that the weather would be a little milder down here than a typical winter in Ohio. Of course we didn't realize tha</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">t we had picked a somewhat non-typical winter when the jet stream, global warming, El Nina, George Bush, or some combination of the above has caused '08/'09 to be a doggone cold winter all over!<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I'm assuming again (even though it gets usually me into trouble) that the winter we've been having is unusual for this area. Yesterday I went into town to work on some pottery and when I got to the bottom of the mountain and onto the road, there were about half a dozen cars "parked" at various angles in the ditch for about half a mile until I got to a state route. It looked like the drivers had gotten fed up with the slick roads, pulled off to the side and apparently taken off on foot for their various destinations! I even saw an abandoned bicycle!! Crazy hippies ride 'em all over the place down here, no matter what the weather is like, but it finally must have gotten too cold for a</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">t least one of 'em. Maybe his dreadlocks had become caked with ice and snow!!<br /><br />Asheville is definitely not equipped for this weather because they never spread salt on any of the side</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> roads, let alone plow! Luckily my Ohio upbringing (and my subaru) have equipped me for navigation in such a climate!!<br /><br />I certainly am not complaining about what we're experiencing down here when I hear about what's been going on up north in Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana! And I guess they've got it good compared to Chicago and Minnesota!<br /><br />This morning, our co-worker Matt, asked me to take a picture of the French Broad river because he could see that a section of it was frozen. He seemed to think that was a rather unusual phenomenon for this area. So, I took a couple pictures and will post them here. I remember the Miami River freezing over a couple winters up in Ohio. It was always impressive when it thawed and hundreds of huge chunks of ice would get jammed up along the bridges.<br /><br />So without further adieu, here's a picture of a very frigid French Broad.........................<br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />(if you click on the photo, you'll see a larger image)</span></span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV0ieK3Z-JPwcKqjN6bdL46bfoawCJgO2cJ8V_1WitSFVYAcIlh9GjKIuo3miryOLs9ybbmKLY5LbIC8zUDWR-nEepW38Xfbtuhidjtca9G2_CI0kByVhRSjKee1LX1qoJo5gGEOOl2g4/s1600-h/frigid+broad+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 250px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV0ieK3Z-JPwcKqjN6bdL46bfoawCJgO2cJ8V_1WitSFVYAcIlh9GjKIuo3miryOLs9ybbmKLY5LbIC8zUDWR-nEepW38Xfbtuhidjtca9G2_CI0kByVhRSjKee1LX1qoJo5gGEOOl2g4/s320/frigid+broad+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299510918556146066" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">- posted by Loretta</span></span><br /></div></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-92085670471274420502009-02-01T20:24:00.000-08:002009-03-14T19:48:34.059-07:00Info-mercials and what-not<div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Please allow me a few moments to engage in a rant against infomercials............</span> </span><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUEGhw5tKNdZj78wNFKuvXxJKH3it9KVFSfjNk2Q8PKG1_hfgt8KKYL_zlxWkI4d4_8OR3HADhgKaQTa211dM3PqQVDHqxgafJ1ajAfA94d8ToiOvBi-JT1ouHNTlLZSwPk8lO41csOqc/s1600-h/vince+shamwow.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 288px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUEGhw5tKNdZj78wNFKuvXxJKH3it9KVFSfjNk2Q8PKG1_hfgt8KKYL_zlxWkI4d4_8OR3HADhgKaQTa211dM3PqQVDHqxgafJ1ajAfA94d8ToiOvBi-JT1ouHNTlLZSwPk8lO41csOqc/s320/vince+shamwow.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298054572220362082" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Who hasn't been tempted to "call in the next 10 minutes" by Vince, the impish, make that freakish, spokesperson for the amazing <a href="https://www.shamwow.com/ver8/index.asp">ShamWow</a>?? I wonder who made the decision to hire this psychopath to sell their product? Is there anything about him that viewers might find appealing? Doesn't there need to be some type of appeal in order to dupe unwary consumers into buying worthless products? Apparently he did something right because now he's hawking a new product, the <a href="https://www.slapchop.com/ver7/index.asp">SlapChop</a> You need to watch this commercial, the guy actually says, (and I quote) "You're gonna love my nuts." He then proceeds to chop almonds, walnuts, etc.<br /><br />To be honest, I bought a very similar product a few years ago and I use it all the time. (FYI, my gadget "opens like a butterfly for easy cleaning" so it m</span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">ust be high quality!) Ok, I admit I probably paid more money for it than I should have, definitely more than "$24.95, but wait if you order in the next 10 minutes (and you know we can't do this all day) you'll also receive the Graty Chees Grater as a free bonus!! Just pay separate shipping and handling" which, when combined will surpass the total cost of the original product!!! If my chopper ever breaks, as God as my witness, I shall NEVER buy a SlapChop!!!<br /><br />The main question I have about Vince's commercials is, what's the purpose of the cordless microp</span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">hone he's wearing?? I just don't get it.<br /><br />On to the next pitchman.....................<br /><br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">He doesn't have the disturbing evil eyebrow that Vince does, but almost as annoying is his predecessor, Billy Mays, the yell-talking salesman who began his descent, I mean ascent to stardom selling OxiClean. Hmmm, now that I'm actually wasting my time doing some research, I have discovered that ShamWow is in fact, an imitation of <a href="https://www.zorbeez.com/?cid=315321">ZorbEEZ</a>, a product that Billy Mays advertised several years ago. I remember tha</span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">t product now and I'm sure that a lawsuit is under way.<br /><br />I've stumbled upon a funny website http://www.billymays.net/ where the owner is offering to sell Billy Mays the domain registration to his own name!!! For only $149.95 he's offering to sell the domain billymays.com for 3 easy payments, but wait, he'll throw in billymays.org if you call in the next three minutes!! That's pretty amusing.<br /><br /></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji8FEkS9D5KaBi4shyphenhyphenLEMSESDEBapsM3spFiusiQ_oohi4sFm2Nftck0bcyZP_7TxYjJ5t7OScPCktpB7vN09M9XqJSMKJFstywQrwNm9w9d4bA46b7uVu8LFfEEx2eUPnuJ5oLFTqNnk/s1600-h/BillyMays%5B1%5D.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji8FEkS9D5KaBi4shyphenhyphenLEMSESDEBapsM3spFiusiQ_oohi4sFm2Nftck0bcyZP_7TxYjJ5t7OScPCktpB7vN09M9XqJSMKJFstywQrwNm9w9d4bA46b7uVu8LFfEEx2eUPnuJ5oLFTqNnk/s320/BillyMays%5B1%5D.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298066087428335442" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I can't rant and rave about annoying commercials without mentioning the <a href="http://www.headon.com/">H</a></span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.headon.com/">eadon</a> Commercials. It's a commercial that actually points out its own annoyance factor. "Headon, I hate the commercial but I love the product." Be honest, has anyone actually bought this snake oil??<br /></span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiySYVMqIfeqaKqQenPyiZwsW4yn-uMyqsAxP6cgPIwOSCDHKxnNd7SX_l9e8HjfFfmoLO_qOOJzEIWVa96jUTzCSnhbBlIIRutQlEfWM7t8N-8VuQc2K2PvQlsXEQVbKObjDkNAkMvxdY/s1600-h/Headon.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiySYVMqIfeqaKqQenPyiZwsW4yn-uMyqsAxP6cgPIwOSCDHKxnNd7SX_l9e8HjfFfmoLO_qOOJzEIWVa96jUTzCSnhbBlIIRutQlEfWM7t8N-8VuQc2K2PvQlsXEQVbKObjDkNAkMvxdY/s320/Headon.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298056837536733602" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">And speaking of snakes, my last annoying commercial for this evening (or this morning as the case may be) would have to be </span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">the </span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">one featuring Smilin' Bob, the pitchman for that "once daily tablet for male enhancement." Do you, like me, get that stupid, whistling theme song stuck in your head?? I really just wanna slap that smile off his geeky face, he creeps me out almost as much as Vince does!!</span></span></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCBMLm6jjgmvcBfpyF9Gr59VicrTwEzpuq9ohia78GP16vxU-1qXW01v2A3v8BFLtIDhCh4OT2p_FO9gowh_S0g1PyDlDhWYSBsZTvEOd10stYAE6LvBN9FIyqhnziRlevsWiokoEwKg/s1600-h/smilin+bob.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCBMLm6jjgmvcBfpyF9Gr59VicrTwEzpuq9ohia78GP16vxU-1qXW01v2A3v8BFLtIDhCh4OT2p_FO9gowh_S0g1PyDlDhWYSBsZTvEOd10stYAE6LvBN9FIyqhnziRlevsWiokoEwKg/s320/smilin+bob.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298072964242281122" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">I'm afraid that I may have to continue this discussion on another day, there are so many annoying commercials and spokespeople out there that I could go on and on, but alas, I need to get some sleep. I hope I've gotten it out of my system. Goodnight! Operators are standing by.....<br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5212766737277360029.post-73064498220851841422009-01-28T18:26:00.001-08:002009-03-14T19:49:05.352-07:00Down south again (in the nic of time!)<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Our trip up north went by so quickly. We've been back in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Asheville</span> for 2 days now and it sounds like we "got the heck outta dodge" (aka Ohio) just in time!! Snow, ice, cold.......................WINTER!! It was nice to see a little of the white stuff, but today as I was walking around outside in my jean jacket enjoying the 52 degree temperature, I wasn't too upset about leaving Ohio when we did.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br />We had a great time visiting friends and family while we were there. I was so happy to spend some time with our kids and celebrate a late Christmas. It was also entertaining to watch the kids play some new <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">wii</span> games. I never realized how <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">dangerou</span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">s those games can be until Danny somehow managed to punch his own nose while participating in one of the Olympic Events. It was something like a combination of the shot-put and the discus throw and we were watching Danny's little <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">wii</span>-man on the TV, spinning around in circles before throwing his device when I heard a loud "THWACK!" Apparently Danny got a little carried away and somehow his nose got in the way of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">wii</span> control! Had to leave a mark. No blood though, thank goodness!! Only <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">DanWra</span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">y could manage to clean his own clock!<br /><br />The most fun, though, was getting together with the whole <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">WrayClan</span> (sans Holly) and having our 3rd Annual Cookie Decorating Contest! I am posting the whole array of photos to my <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lorettawray/3rdAnnualWrayFamilyCookieDecoratingContest#">Picasa site</a>, but will include a few with this blog entry.<br /><br />I have to admit that even though I think the winning cookie was well-rendered, I am just a tad bitter about the judging since my cookie was not deemed a winner. As demonstrated last year by Steve's loss, the judges demonstrated a definite lack of knowledgeable appreciation towards those of us who like to add an "extra dimension" to our cookie decor</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">ating</span>. Some of us just aren't satisfied with the flat, 2-dimensional <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">bla</span>-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">ness</span> of "painting" icing on the cookie surface. No, w</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">e try to "think outside the box" and in essence "raise the bar" of the art of cookie <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">de</span></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">cor. Apparently cookie decorating suffers from the same preconceived prejudices that exist in the arena of "fine art" where artists who work in 3-dimensional surfaces, such as POTTERY, are shunned by the conventional art</span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"> elitists who only want to see one side of an object!! Apparently Steve was so psychologically wounded by last year's judging that he reverted back to traditional 2-D cookie decor. It has yet to be determined how far-reaching the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">repercussions</span> of this year's judging will be!<br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">So without further adieu, The 3rd Annual <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Wray</span> Clan Cookie Decorating Contest..................<br /><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2xnGVJMMIZsrQ6fQqfJqbXSp67-4joXkYEI8_YcJ22RH-uJTqARkHDGvvxzviDq_zNRBb6ACeOwJXkBFNnzBjGGMTcGtd0pBRdDoRIwyRytYiQr2JNJo3tVIekHm3za9DCPDTkB_UPg/s1600-h/Cookie+decorating+1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 286px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx2xnGVJMMIZsrQ6fQqfJqbXSp67-4joXkYEI8_YcJ22RH-uJTqARkHDGvvxzviDq_zNRBb6ACeOwJXkBFNnzBjGGMTcGtd0pBRdDoRIwyRytYiQr2JNJo3tVIekHm3za9DCPDTkB_UPg/s400/Cookie+decorating+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296555784749396626" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The line-up of entries...........</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcrEAim9ZmzmEy29x7WkNbljplzS5DhCcDxs2UZOsLjtWd2xiPhTx6HZmfPtZftNNpw-9mtCDop8ZqV21g7KVLvllnfXzYR021tAsVGg3bE4RzEIeSH4xueFhXMn4TgtSlx1AVuI6yxwU/s1600-h/Cookie+decorating+2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 374px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcrEAim9ZmzmEy29x7WkNbljplzS5DhCcDxs2UZOsLjtWd2xiPhTx6HZmfPtZftNNpw-9mtCDop8ZqV21g7KVLvllnfXzYR021tAsVGg3bE4RzEIeSH4xueFhXMn4TgtSlx1AVuI6yxwU/s400/Cookie+decorating+2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296557009661178722" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The Winning Entry and its creators...........</span></span><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZtnPC7KDr1VTDG2klOQhblvxBnXZyISUiE1WNL0d-HmQ9XftlrtN504Leox6c8L0qbIdsMHMUjZ5rMWDjSJk9_xbJCMjALdtprS7oKwn76_qCUB5F0jf-5VEqPiJKtIshNpnUiviX1oE/s1600-h/Cookie+decorating+3.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 382px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZtnPC7KDr1VTDG2klOQhblvxBnXZyISUiE1WNL0d-HmQ9XftlrtN504Leox6c8L0qbIdsMHMUjZ5rMWDjSJk9_xbJCMjALdtprS7oKwn76_qCUB5F0jf-5VEqPiJKtIshNpnUiviX1oE/s400/Cookie+decorating+3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296557723031974674" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">My entry.........</span></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Vqi3ah7IGaJnf6R5AOtN0m0RmT8CC6KZddXlSNWU0DzoMec9UAefZHoO-0PTwYQWnn1Hux-hppN5mMmTRSM-_GMC3stRl3lNieKFZ4M4Eh7NUsM7ECnnjtNCMsJBBft42FKbUgkRIwA/s1600-h/Cookie+decorating+4.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 390px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Vqi3ah7IGaJnf6R5AOtN0m0RmT8CC6KZddXlSNWU0DzoMec9UAefZHoO-0PTwYQWnn1Hux-hppN5mMmTRSM-_GMC3stRl3lNieKFZ4M4Eh7NUsM7ECnnjtNCMsJBBft42FKbUgkRIwA/s400/Cookie+decorating+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296558130800854610" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="font-family: arial;">c'mon, it's a helicopter.</span></span><br /><br /></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0