I recently moved my blog to http://sisspace.blogspot.com/

 

Hope to see you there!

 

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=8 

 

The pictures below are of the berries I picked this morning and the hail storm of May 05.

I love the summer (Now, for those who know me well, you probably know this doesn't mean it is my favorite season, 'cause they are all my favorite season's for various reasons), but today, I really love summer.  I'm sitting at my computer, have been spending some time catching up on my brothers' blogs, and have windows in both my right and left periferal vision.  I can see out into both my front and side yards and it is beautiful.  The sun is already high in the sky and very warm (74 degrees in the shade on the top of the mountain...probably already 80 in the valley).  Because I live in the middle of the woods, the sunlight filters down through the trees and dapples the ground around the house.  One of my dogs is getting a drink of water out front, and the side view is one of absolute peace...the branches are stirring a bit in a slight wind which makes the leaves flicker around in and out of the sun beams. As soon as I finish this entry, I'm going to take the last of my cup of coffee out on the deck and watch my hummingbird feeder for a few minutes to try to count how many hummers we have in residence this year.  I know we have at least two, but really haven't taken the time to study them this year to see if there are more...some years, we've had as many as three couples.  By the end of the day, it will be very hot (up to 97 in the valley three days this week), but I don't mind the heat much.  I love the long days this time of year (though Mom, I did sigh a little on Wednesday to know they are now getting shorter). On work days, we are up with the sun, but still have a few hours of daylight left when we get home to do things around the yard (In the winter, we are up before the sun, but get home after dark).

 

I enjoy the canopy of green that watches over the house in the summer...I like watching the various gardens and patches of wildflowers around the yard to see what's blooming this week...I listen for the birds singing early in the morning, and the frogs and crickets and cicadas at night...I'm even beginning to enjoy the sound of thunder and sight of lightning in the evenings as they herald the coming of much needed rain.

 

On top of all of the above, today is a very special day because it is both my dad's and my godchild (niece)'s birthday (dwcrx's Kid2...she was due a few days earlier, but dad has always said she wanted to wait for her granddaddy's birthday to come out...sorry Mrs. dwcrx ). 

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY AND GODCHILD!!!

 

Despite the fact that I am a grown woman of 40 something years (though I only officially confess to 39), I am still and always will be my Daddy’s Little Girl.  Throughout my life I have known, and hopefully appreciated, that I am spoiled rotten by my Dad.  Mom had a hand in the spoiling too, but this writing is about Dad.  From my earliest memories, I couldn’t wait for my Daddy to get home to have dinner and see his family (except on those days that I was waiting for him to dole out punishment for something horrible I had done…it had to be pretty bad for Mom to make us wait for Dad).

 

I remember those talks about my misbehavior and his disappointment way better than I remember any actual spanking itself. 

 

I remember crawling up on his lap and saying “Daddy, do you love me?” when I was trying to get something.  His response to my question was always “yes”, but luckily he didn’t always say yes to whatever I was asking for that day.  Regardless of the prize, the best prize was that I always knew he loved me (If I hadn’t known the answer for sure, I would have been afraid to ask the question).

 

I remember him picking me up in a bear hug and spinning me round and round ‘til I was dizzy and giggling…even after I was really too big for such antics and had to be too heavy to lift. 

 

I remember going on hiking and canoeing trips with him allover eastern TN and western NC.  We climbed Mt. LeComte, canoed the Doe, the Toe, the Watauga, the Holston, and many others.

 

I remember camping trips when we were little going to lots of different state parks, and seeing all different types of places.

 

I remember the first year that he had a month of vacation, he took four whole weeks to take us all the way across the country, from TN to California.

 

Mostly I remember a caring and loving Father who was always there for his children, his wife, his family, and friends. 

 

Happy Father’s Day, and Happy Birthday, Daddy.

Well, I'm determined to post tonight (trying to get back to at least 3 posts per week) despite a new level of exhaustion I'm unfamiliar with.

 

I just finished teaching a 5 hour graduate class.  This wouldn't be so bad, except that I worked 8 hours before it started and was tired before I walked into the classroom.  Sounds pretty tiring already doesn't it.  The funny thing is that this particular group of students really keeps me on my toes. I am teaching a group of teachers how to use technology in the classroom, and for their own technical assistance/administration.  The group ranges from one who already has everything due for the next week and a half done, to a couple of students who are truly plowing new ground in their skill sets.  I find myself trying to juggle students who are already very tech savvy with those who are still saying, "Click what???". On top of that, not only am I a bit ragged, but all these students were teachers themselves all day to large classrooms of students as well.  They were tired when they walked in tonight too. My goal was to try to keep the class lighthearted, while still trying to impart some small amount of technical skills/knowledge into their exhausted brains.  I've been accused in the past of not being "professorial" enough, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't very professorial tonight.  But the good news is, that at the end of the night, they were still excited about what they were learning and asking good, probing questions about the content.  I remember a few times in my graduate classes that by the end of the 2 1/2 hour time slot, I had my pen put away, my notebook closed, and was just waiting for the prof to say "See you next week" so I could get on home or out with my friends.  I saw none of this attitude tonight, even at the end of 4.75 hours (I let them go 15 minutes early...nice huh?).

 

One other quick note.  As I write this Blog, my niece (otherwise known as Kid 1 on dwcrx's page) is graduating from High School.  Congratulations!!!!!  I wish I could have been there, but not only did my students call, but my stepson came home yesterday for a very quick one week visit and I didn't want to leave right when he got home.  Hubby and I are going to try to spend time with him, do some volunteer work this weekend, try to get both kids together for dinner next week, then get one more week's work done, and off we go to a romantic cabin in the Smokies for Memorial Day weekend.

 

Somewhat disjointed blog tonight, but considering the state of my brain, anything I can actually type is probably pretty good.  Have a great Friday everyone!

Does anybody out there need relief from a drought? I think Hubby and I may can help you.  Now understand, we don't do rain dances, or practice any kind of witchcraft or voodoo stuff, we just do things that rain will mess up.  We are all familiar with the thing about if you need rain, you should just wash your car, or forget to carry your umbrella, but we take things a step further.  A few years ago, North Georgia (possibly the whole state) was going through a severe drought.  The water tables had all dropped, it hadn't rained nearly the entire month of June.  Hubby and I finally got the contractor to start on an addition to our cabin on the 1st of July.  They got started digging, cut off the old deck where the new addition would go, and then the rains came.  I rained more that July and August than I have ever seen in the summer in the south.  As I remember, the rains finally quit about the week after the contractor got the addition dried in (when the rain didn't matter anymore).

 

I had actually forgotten much about that soggy summer until the past few weeks.  Hubby had a great idea this year, that we should move most of our vegetable garden to the deck, and build an irrigation system to allow for steady and appropriate watering, both for when we are out of town, and for when we just forget.  In case you haven't already figured it out, it has been raining cats and dogs (and as Lilac says, puppies and kittens) ever since.  Finally yesterday, we had some beautiful dry weather.  Then, much to our amusement, it started to thunder in the early evening, and about 9:19 pm, it started to rain...not puppies and kittens, or even cats and dogs, we're talking mountain lions and giant wolves here.  The significance of the 9:19 is that our irrigation system is set to come on every three days at 9:16 pm.  I was sitting on the porch waving goodbye to our daughter when I heard the system come on...within minutes, our home, yard, and yes, the deck, were engulfed in sheeting, driving rain. 

 

So, if you are in a serious drought situation, just spend some time doing something that rain will mess up or negate.  If this doesn't work for you, then we may have to go back and chalk it up to what my sister-in-law calls the family luck...a step or too beyond Murphy's law for this clan.

 

In the meantime, let it rain, let it rain, let it rain.

I just wanted to take a few minutes to tell you all about my Mom (she also happens to be Big Guy and dwcrx's Mom too).  When we were little, she was a stay at home Mom.  She took us to ball practice, ballet and tap lessons, tennis, choir, scouts, and many other important events in a young child's life.  She was there to bandage scraped knees, hug away the hurts from other children, and spank us when we needed it (all too often I'm afraid).  She promised me Nutty Buddies in exchange for not crying while they stitched up my chin at 5 and again later at about 10 for jumping off the horrifying diving board at the pool where she also took us every summer for countless swimming lessons and days of fun. Once, against all her own motherly instincts, she even set me out in the yard and let me eat dirt because the doctor told her it would help me to stay well. 

 

Mom (and Dad) spent countless Friday nights at DB football games watching each of us in turn as we marched with the band at half-time. I have hundreds and hundreds of memories of specific events in my life, and the most important thing about them all is that she was there.  I truly can't remember a time in my childhood, adolescence, or young adult life that Mom wasn't there when I needed her.  The best part of all is that she was right there even the times I didn't think I needed her.  I think we all go through times like that in our lives (usually late teens and early twenties), and it was very reasuring that despite times I may have taken her for granted, or ignored her advice, she was always there, loving and kind, anytime I had the sense to know I needed her.

 

Now, I'm supposedly a grown woman, I have step-children and a husband of my own, but I can't tell you how great it is to know that Mom is still there to take pride in my accomplishments, to soothe frustrations, to listen to me vent when I'm angry, and still, when I need it, to gently guide me and advise me through situations where I may not be acting in the best possible manner.  We talk on the phone several times a week, sometimes every day.  Thank goodness for cell phones which makes this more affordable....I can't imagine what their phone bills were like when I was in my late twenties and going through some tough times.

 

It sounds cliche, but truly my Mom makes me want to be the kind of woman I have watched her be all my life. I wish everyone in the world could have the kind of Mom we had and have.

 

So Momma, thanks for all the things you do for me (and for the guys too).  I Love You.

Well, the semester is finally over, and all the papers are graded.  At this time of year, I always wonder if maybe I'm a bit too hard on my students and give them too much work to do.  Unfortunately, when it comes time to put the syllabus together, I always seem to decide that everything we are doing is critical and there's really no way to cut it down. My next thought is that I should stagger the due dates a bit more and have more things due earlier on in the semester. Alas, no matter how much of that I do, graduate classes pretty much have to have a "big" project that counts for a large percentage of the final grade.  It always seems unfair to assign this big project without giving the students ample time to complete the work.  Then, since I always seem to have 30+ students, I'm stuck reading 30+ 15-20 page papers/projects in about 72 hours in order to get grades in on time.  This time I was particularly proud as I finished recording grades with 12 minutes to spare.  I walked (at a leisurely pace for once) to the Records Office to turn them in, and then stood in line with a bunch of other mean, hard teachers like me who were turning theirs in at the last moment).

 

I'm relieved to have it done. And best of all, I have one whole week before I start the process over again.

What did you do with it?  My question refers to the month of April.  Someone evidently absconded with almost the entire month right before my eyes.  I just posted my last blog a day or two ago, and yet the calendar says today is the 27th...I'm missing about three weeks.

 

Just kidding, I really do know what happened to most of the month of April and who stole it from me. There were multiple thieves. My office took a huge number of the missing days. We are short one person (officially) and two of us have been scrambling around like chicken's with our heads cut off trying to keep everything running. A couple of others are working hard and doing their jobs, and one...well, let's not go there.

 

My classes seem to be keeping me busier than usual this semester.  I evidently gave my poor students way too much work this semester, 'cause just the thought of all the grading I still have to do makes me want to climb in bed and pull the covers over my head.

 

For some stupid reason, I agreed to take on the direction of 6 students' research projects, and they have to be completed by next Thursday in order for them to graduate...we'll see.

 

I appear to be on more committees these days than there are hours in a day--maybe a week.  I'm about committeed out...maybe I should be committed.

 

And then, there's all the work here at the house.  We have the hugest deck garden going you can possibly imagine.  Hubby got the great idea that we should install an automatic irrigation system so the plants don't go thirsty when we get too busy to water them, or heaven forbid take a week's vacation.  Actually, it really was a bright idea, but took a good bit of time to design, purchase, and build.  Actually, the design credit should really go to him, as he did all the initial design.  Unfortunately, once it came to implementation time, I had to "pee" on the project (as he calls it...he says I'm like a dog and have to leave my mark on everything).  I did have some rather brilliant ideas about where to run the hoses, etc.

 

I wonder what the appropriate penalty should be for theft of days?  I'd like to think I could demand repayment, but somehow I'm afraid that just won't work out. Any bright ideas?

 

 

Okay brothers, here's a question for you (or anyone else who wants to answer).  Who started April Fool's Day and why?  I realize I could probably just google it and find out, but the comments from everyone are so much more fun.

 

My strongest memory of April Fool's Day in the past comes from the year I was 15.  My big brother's Spring Break from college was the week before my high school Spring Break, and I was going to get to go back to Auburn with him for a few days, then to my grandmother and granddad in Atlanta, then fly home (on April 1).  That last day of school, they were giving measles shots, and it was decided that I needed one.  I got the required shot, then big bro' (DWCRX) and I headed out for Auburn. We had a great few days, then he took me to Atlanta to stay with my grandparents.  Then at the end of the week, I flew home.  Now the April Fool's bit comes in that on the morning of the 1st, Mom called Dad at work and told him that I had a bad reaction to the measles shot and had gotten sick enough that I couldn't fly home.  Poor Daddy, he was very worried about his little girl (little girl may sound silly at 15, but at 43, I'm still his little girl so not really).  I'm not sure how long she let him stew, but Mom did call him back and say "April Fools".

 

As for April Fool's day this year.  I've never been particularly good at it, and its much too pretty of a day to mess with Hubby.  Think I'll just enjoy that finally, Spring really does seem to be here.

Really long post coming....got to make up for many missed days.

 

Okay, I've got to hand it to my little brother (otherwise known as Big Guy).  I don't know how you do it...keep up with your blog nearly every day. 

 

In my defense, I've been just a bit busy since my last post.  I have no real memories of last Monday, but know that I went to work.  Then Tuesday, I went to work for awhile (saw Mom and Dad as they came through town on the way home from Hawaii), then flew to Chicago for a couple of days.  Got a firm reminder of why it's called the Windy City.  It was bitter cold and blowing hard (the next day we found out there were gale force winds).  Of course we didn't know this when two of us decided to ride the trains from Midway into the city. Airtran luggage had somehow lost my luggage in the 10 square feet allowed for gate check at the end of the jetway.  Actually, they evidently didn't lose it, they just forgot to put it (and the items for two men as well) on the plane.  They assured all three of us that as soon as they found it, they would send it to our Chicago addresses.  "When will that be?" we asked.  "As soon as we find it" they replied.  This was the most definitive answere we were ever able to get out of them.  So anyway, all the others in the group had already left so we decided to have an adventure.

 

The "L" took us to within what the Chicagoans called a good little walk from our hotel.  This turned out to be about 7 city blocks (we had imagined two or three) in the aforementioned bitter cold, gale force winds.  My friend had dressed for Chattanooga 65 degree weather, so when we saw a Walgreens up ahead, we stopped for directions, hat, gloves and scarf. Being my mother's daughter, I of course had hat, gloves, and scarf, as well as heavy wool pea coat (the weather channel is my friend).

 

Another 4 blocks and there we were at our hotel.  The clerk told us that our friends had already gone to dinner, only a 5 minute walk away.  We opted for the restaurant 100 feet away instead.  We later found out that it was more like a 15 minute walk and we were walked out.  My luggage arrived at the hotel at 1 a.m. so I didn't have to wear the same outfit the next day.

 

We had a nice couple of days, though the hotel's wireless Internet left much to be desired.  I got back to work Friday to discover that my office would be moving on Monday, so it was a busy day of packing.

 

Saturday, after a nice late sleep in, hubby and I went to run errands and buy more fencing product.  We have now bought out all the 1x4x8s at two of the local hardware stores.

 

Sunday, we put in another 60 feet of fence and went to church, then got hit with the hubby clan luck (more about this in a future post). We came out from evening church to discover our Explorer wouldn't crank.  We tried, people came and offered to help, we thanked them and persevered.  Eventually, we accepted a jump start (though I kept saying it was the starter) which didn't work.  Finally, I took a ride home to get another car.  I went back and got hubby and we left the Explorer in the church parking lot.  After dinner, we went back and towed the Explorer back to the house. When we got here, I convince hubby that it was the starter, so he banged on it with a hammer a few times (an old country trick he had heard of) and lo and behold, the bugger started up on the third banging.  So I parked it until we could get a new starter.

 

Monday, I went to work for 3 hours to get the office move started, then off to a prior commitment for the Kidney Foundation concert I had volunteered to work all day.  I spent the majority of the day lifting, toting, and packing something or another for either the office or the KF, then that night we went to the best country concert I've seen in awhile.  All that fun, plus raised money for a good cause. 

 

Yesterday, I don't really remember...unpacked a bit at work, setup a few computers, went to a few meetings, came home, ate dinner, and crashed. 

 

Finally this afternoon, I found the back door off the whirlwind I've been riding and climbed out.  I've had a few minutes here between cleaning the kitchen and cooking dinner, while hubby changed the starter on the Explorer to get this blog going.

 

Hope everyone is having a whirlwind free week.

I realize Spring isn't quite here, but the hubby and I are already trying to get ready.  Today, we went to early church, then out to work on the fence. We put up 48 feet of slats (or pickets), and then off to the garden store to get seed potatoes and onion sets.  Yesterday, we bought deck planters and potting soil, but evidently the only garden store nearby that had seed potatoes was closed yesterday and open today (7th day Adventists maybe??).

 

For our anniversary a couple of weeks ago, we decided against traditional presents and ordered a huge selection of plants.  Unfortunately, none of them have arrived yet, but the planting bug was still biting, so now we have potatoes and onions growing (probably not really yet - but planted anyway) out on the back deck.  This is the lazy gardener's method of a veggie garden.  We also have tomatoe plants growing in styrofoam coffee cups in the house.  Before summer gets here, we will have tomatoes, squash, lettuce, onions, potatoes, and probably cucumbers all growing on our deck.  Then you just walk out the back door to pick, prune or water your garden.  If you're tired or sore, you can just jump right into the hot tub after that.  Cool, huh?

 

Makes me hungry for veggies just thinking about it, but we'll have to settle for canned or frozen tonight. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

Did you wear green today?  I did, but was disappointed by how many people I saw today who didn't.  I actually don't own much green (the right green - Kelly green), but dug out a jacket with a lovely "Kelly" green, blue, and black plaid.  I don't have any green food or green beer for the evening, but evidently, my brother (Big Guy on A Bike) is having a party with a nice spread of green foods, including green nuts (coated with green sugar), so at least someone is doing the whole day up right.

 

So why do we all celebrate St. Patrick's Day?  Are we all a little bit Irish?  The History Channel says many of us claim we are.  Some 34 million U.S. residents claim some Irish heritage (according to the History Channel, this is 9 times the actual population of Ireland itself ).  I believe that Big Guy, dwcrx, and I have some Irish in us...I think 'cause I remember Mom talking about it when we were kids, but my real knowledge of our heritage is Scottish and English (Big brother- dwcrx - probably knows for sure as he has traced our lineage back many generations).  Hubby's grandfather or great grandfather came over from Ireland and homesteaded here in the South.  So this places us in the 34 million somewhere.

 

So why do we all claim to be Irish, and/or all celebrate St. Paddy's day? Maybe its because we either have the gift of Blarney or wish we did, maybe its because we all love the accent, maybe its the excuse to act a bit silly, dress a bit weird, and eat strange green foods and know that for that one day, nobody will think us weird because everyone else is doing the same strange things.  Whatever the reason, I think its great fun that such a large number of people have found a common ground to celebrate history and heritage with fun and joy!

 

 

Okay, I can't seem to move my legs.  Yesterday, to get ready for the aforeblogged science fair, two co-workers and I lined off 213 48"x30" spaces on the floor of our university indoor tennis court.  This is done with tape, a tape measure, and a yard stick.  At 5'6", the floor is a lot further away these days than it was when I was 20 (though remarkably I was 5'6" then too).  I'm sure one of these kids could explain the physics of how the floor got further away, but I'm too embarrassed to ask.

 

Then today, I was working on the scoring.  Science Fair rules require that the scoring take place in a room with absolute privacy from all students and teachers.  The problem is that the only private place in our Racquet Center is a racquetball court that can only by accessed by climbing down a three step aluminum (slick) ladder, and entering a door that is approximately 3 feet high.  Did I mention that I am 5'6"? In an effort for comfort for my tired aching feet, I brilliantly decided to wear thick (slick) socks and clogs today.  I discovered after the first climb down that the clogs and the ladder didn't get along so well, so in an effort to not go to the emergency room, I kicked my shoes off each climb.  This let the slick socks meet the slick ladder.  By the end of the day, I would just sit down on the ledge above the ladder, and kindof hop into the pit...not great for the knees, but probably still better than the ER.

 

So after 200+ deep knee bends yesterday, and climbing in and out of the racquetball court 20 or 30 times today, every muscle below my neck is sore and stiff.  I think I'll go climb in the hot tub.

Do you know how many eyes a potato has?  Or which toothpaste will best whiten your teeth? Or maybe which brand of garbage bag is the strongest? Which popcorn pops the best.

 

Neither do I, but tomorrow I may find out the answer to these and other questions.  One of the events we host at my job each year is the regional science fair.  Nearly 300 junior high and high school students from around the area have come today to put up their science projects.  Some of them were cute, a couple were a bit pushy, but what amused me most is how many had entered the Science Fair, but never read the rules. 

 

The rules are mostly simple.  Don't put your name on it. Don't attach anything that is or was alive (such as potatoes, plants, food (which includes popcorn and candy-more about this later). No glass allowed.  No pictures of persons without a signed release.  No pictures of yourself at all. Senior division must have an abstract.  All these rules were clearly posted on the same website as the application form (which all students had to have filled out or they wouldn't be here). 

 

So here were some of the questions and comments. 

 

 

Now all of these are relatively simple and easy to answer questions, but what really bothers me is that these are the science and math kids (you know, the geeks). They are going to be our doctors and inventors and research scientists of tomorrow.  What if they forget some minor seeming little details that change our health or our world altogether.  I was going to list some examples, but my brain is too tired to come up with any. If you think of some good ones, post them in a comment.

Wow! What a week this was.  It seems it was just a few hours ago I sat down and wrote last Sunday's post, but it was seven days packed with action.  Tuesday (3/7) was our 7th wedding anniversay.  To me it seems like only yesterday we were married, but hubby says it was more like a million years ago. I don't remember much about Wednesday and Thursday, but Friday and Saturday were jam packed. 

 

Friday was my parent's 50th wedding anniversary.  A year or so ago, my brothers and I started talking about the fact that we needed to put on a nice party for Mom and Dad. Then in late summer or early fall, Mom called and said that we had a bit of a problem. She knew we were planning something, but now she and Daddy were not going to be home for their anniversary.  My brother has three daughters, and Mom and Dad have decided to take each on a trip sometime. The oldest is a senior in high school this year and it turns out that this week is her Spring break (the best option for the grandparent trip).  So anyway, Mom says that she and Dad will be heading to Hawaii with her on March 11 (leaving early morning from Atlanta, so had to get started on the 10th). Therefore the brothers and I gave the idea of the party for now, hoping to have a belated one this summer.  Then, serendipitously (sp?), a week or so ago, it turned out that my brother and his family would be traveling to Spokane for the same week, and would be flying into Atlanta with Chelsea on the 10th.

 

At this point, my little wheels began to turn. Maybe we could all be in Atlanta for a short impromptu party for the parents.  Alas, my "little" (read younger) brother had about seven different things going on Friday night and Saturday (read his goings on here - the March 10 entry), and couldn't make it.  But luckily, he has Fridays off and he and his wife (Mrs. Guy) were able to join me to have lunch with Mom and Dad in Chattanooga.  We made it a surprise and it was great.  Mom and Dad seemed really tickled.

 

They left Chattanooga, and I wished them a great vacation and all that. Then after work, hubby and I met most of his brothers and sisters for dinner at Sticky Fingers (great rib place in Chattanooga).  After a fun evening with the hubby's clan, off we went to Atlanta to meet my older brother and his family and celebrate with Mom and Dad again.  (Read his great blog about my parents here - March 10 entry). 

 

So, we surprised them once again.  Daddy remarked that he was really going to be surprised if he stepped off the plane in Hawaii and there I was - don't I wish.

 

Then Saturday morning, hubby and I went to visit his aunt (near Atlanta) and cousin before taking a tour of the Georgia Aquarium.  We got home late Saturday evening, but had a great time. 

 

This morning, we went to church, then a covered dish luncheon, then puttered around the house cleaning up for awhile, before hubby hit the couch for a nice Sunday afternoon snooze.  Not sleepy (for once) I decided it was time to catch up on my blog.

 

Have a great week!

Well, I haven't posted for the past couple of days.  The primary reason is because I made the mistake of sitting down on the couch before sitting down to blog at the computer.  Actually, I never sat down at the computer at all the past two nights.  Somehow, the sandman has come to live in my couch.  After a long day at work, then cooking supper, then eating supper, if I get to the couch, I never make it back to the computer at all.  I start out sitting up, but before long, I've decided I'll just lie down for a few minutes.  The next thing I know, either I wake up to discover it's very late and hubby is asleep on the love seat, or he wakes me up to go to bed.  The former is most likely. 

 

On a separate but related topic, notice that I'm on the couch and hubby is on the loveseat.  For anyone reading this who doesn't know us, I'm kindof a small woman, and hubby is a pretty big man.  I'm sure it would be amusing for anyone looking down to see me all stretched out on our big couch, and him all scrunched up on the love seat.

 

This scenario seems to be a nearly nightly ritual for us...so much so that as soon as I lie down, or he gets out of his recliner and heads for the loveseat, the other one groans and says "Oh, no...you'll be asleep in 10 minutes."

 

So tonight, I'm blogging while supper cooks and hubby works on the other computer.  That way, I can slouch down on the couch after supper and pass out to my heart's content, without thinking (and still not getting up) that I need to be up and writing in my blog.

Over the past week or so, Hubby has been complaining that he has "cabin fever".  Now in many households, this is probably a feeling of being cooped up inside that just getting out of doors will cure, but in our house, this means he has been too long away from his boat and the river.  In fact, we spent several hours outdoors yesterday trimming blueberry bushes, but that didn't cure the fever.

 

So, we got up early this morning, had breakfast, and off to early church.  Determined to pack as much as possible into one short Sunday, after church, we planted some flowers that we harvested from the farm after trimming the aforementioned berries yesterday.  Then, we took the Goldwing out for a short spin (it too was evidently suffering from cabin fever).  Finally, we loaded up the boat and fishing gear, and off we went.

 

Though we live in Georgia, we do most of our boating and fishing in Tennessee.  As luck would have it, Tennessee fishing licenses expire on February 28 of each year, so we had to get our licenses before we could fish.  They've nearly doubled the price this year for out of state fish licenses.  Then to make matters worse, we were skunked.  Not one fish, even a bluegill or catfish. 

 

But overall, it was a really good day.  Beautiful weather, not too cold, a nice boat ride...doesn't get much better than that...except when you actually catch some fish.

Okay, my brothers have finally shamed me into having a blog.  Growing up, if you had asked any teacher who had us all which of the three would be most likely to do a lot of writing in adulthood, my guess is they would have said me. And yet, both of my brother's have developed interesting, creative blogs, and until today, my writing was mostly limited to scribbling on student's papers, the massive amount of work emails I write everyday, and far too few personal emails I write to friends and family.  I used to write quite a bit.  In college, it seemed most every class I took after the junior level had a significant amount of writing, then graduate work was mostly writing, then post-graduate work...at some point, I seem to have burned myself out. The past year or so, I've been talking alot about getting more publications done, but can't seem to actually commit myself to sitting down and writing (it's really hard to get published if you don't actually start writing).  Maybe if I get this started, it will help me get the other writing going too.

 

So recently, my mom and I were talking and she was bragging about my brothers' blogs and how interesting they are to read.  On many occasions, my "little" brother has asked if I have a blog yet, and I've spent several hours today reading both brother's blogs, so I decided to finally join in myself. Why today?  Who knows?  Let's just chalk it up to the result of finally getting DSL this week.  Up to now, getting online at home has been a necessity only, painful process. We had dialup and we could get online, but doing more than reading email and deleting SPAM was too painful to sit through.  If I actually decided I had to download and grade student's papers on the weekends or at night, I would start a download, go wash three or four dishes, or fold a couple of pair of pants, then come back to see it still hadn't finished, then go do a bit more laundry or dishes, etc....

 

Recently, our very rural phone company finally brought the DSL price down to something we were willing to pay (still nowhere close to the $20 a month my dad pays for much faster speeds), so we bit the bullet.  After hours of rewiring, one dead mother board, and two or three near arguments, today I was actually reading email and the phone rang...it nearly scared me to death.  So as my husband napped on the couch, I finally found the time (and the bandwidth) to catch up on reading my brothers' blogs and decided to start my own. Not sure how often I'll post, but at least its out there.

 

Someone tell Mrs. Goodlett (formerly Mrs. Toomey), one of my high school English teachers...she always told me I was a good writer.  Don't let her read it...I'm still pretty rusty.