The Many Faces Of Matt

Fun with my Webcam, and an amusing software program I discovered last night. It looks like it makes use of Logitech's Video Effects software, or something very similar.

Crazy As A Box Of Frogs

Yes, I thought it sounded pretty odd too, but I was amused enough to remember it, and will probably use the phrase from now on. *g* In case you're wondering, I heard that phrase on a London radio station I'm streaming over the Internet right now. I'm working on getting the boffice cleared out, so Amy and Jason will have a place to sleep when they roll into town late tomorrow night. (If you don't know what the "boffice" is well...then you're not in the KNOW! *nudge nudge* *wink wink*)

At any rate, I needed some upbeat music to motivate me to spend the afternoon walking back and forth, up and down the stairs (ducking under the low ceilings in several places), carrying boxes to the upper level of our house where they'll be out of the way until we figure out what to do with them. So I'm streaming Xfm London live on my computer. It serves the dual purpose of trying to get some of my English accent back too, because I've found myself sounding more and more Southern as of late. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just not who I am. Then again, I was born to the south-west of London, and I wouldn't have sounded quite so Cockney either, so I have to find a good balance somewhere in between. :)

I'm about to get back to work, but I had just finished off a bowl of delicious beef stew that Monica made for me the other night, and I thought I'd take a moment to jot down a quick blog post. (Okay, so I'm not really "jotting" it down, but it sounded good so :Þ <---That's me sticking my tongue out at you, for all my "smiley impaired" readers out there. Insert the "ppllrrrpp" sound where you please!) *snicker*

Anyway, I'm off to enjoy to tasty JJ's fruit pie (they finally restocked them at Belle's!) I'll post a couple more pictures a little later. Right now I have to get back to work before I lose all that motivation I've been building up! *g* Peace.

Single Life, Once Again

Well, after a few enjoyable days hanging out together, Monica has once again returned to Woodstock for another week apart, although this time it's just a few days, thankfully! :) She'll be back up here on Wednesday, I think, because Amy and Jason are coming in for Thanksgiving, and will be staying with us for a couple of days. They haven't seen the new place yet, so it will be a homecoming and a housewarming (of sorts) all around!

As for myself, I have the next couple of days off work, so I'll be busy around the house, trying to get some more stuff put away (and other stuff put OUT of the way) before Amy and Jason arrive. The house is coming together, slowly but surely, and we have several rooms more or less complete. The funny thing is that Monica and I were so used to living in single storey houses that we've hardly done anything upstairs. Right now it's mostly just a big area to store empty boxes for Kate and Mike, and other boxes of stuff that we either don't want to unpack right now, or that we're not sure where everything is going to go yet. Eventually we will have a craft/studio area in the topmost room of the house, and will use the "loft" as another guestroom or something, but right now we basically just live on the ground floor and don't even venture upstairs unless we have to put a box up there. It's kind of weird, but we have so much more room downstairs than we've been used to, that we've sort of just been treating this place as a single level house. I'm sure all that will change as we get things more setup upstairs though.

Also, we still don't have TV hooked up, which is kind of surprising because we enjoy watching the few shows that we follow. But it's just been me here most of the time, and I have enjoyed just driving around, exploring the area, and hanging out with Clare and the kids. I haven't really missed TV at all. Sure I've been watching DVDs, but that's different. I've just enjoyed spending more time writing, taking pictures, and hanging out in the woods. Stuff I used to do frequently when I was younger.

Well, I guess that's about it for now. I'll try to post some more pictures soon (probably some Thanksgiving ones with all the family.) Have a great week everyone, and thanks for stopping by. Happy Early Thanksgiving!

Oh The Pain! or My Love/Hate Relationship With The Dentist

Well, I spent most of last night awake, and in a great amount of pain. One or more teeth on the left side of my mouth have been bothering me lately, and last night was a culmination of pain. I spent the majority of the night trying to hold a cold gel pack against the side of my face while I waited impatiently for the pain meds I'd taken to kick in. (Even when they did my face still hurt like hell.)

Anyway, early this morning, Monica decided that I should go see the dentist, so we called one in Athens about 8:40 AM, and made and appointment for 9:45 AM, which we barely had enough time to get to. We needn't have bothered. We got there on time, and then spent the next 2 hours or so sitting in the waiting room, watching person after person go in ahead of me (they must have had appointments for 7 AM or something.)

So anyway, after a lot of sitting around, checking the time over and over because I had to work at 3 PM, they finally called me into the back around 11:45 AM or something. They asked me what was wrong, took a look at my teeth, took some new high-tech X-rays (so different from the last time I had them taken!), and said that I had a cavity on the lower left side of my mouth, and that there appeared to be some nerve damage to the roots. The dentist said that he'd check for that next. So far so good, no major pain, no definite major problems. That all changed pretty quickly!

Sticking some gauze in the side of my mouth, and some cardboard or plastic thing between my teeth and my tongue (I think), he then proceeded to prod at a tooth with some device. I didn't feel a thing, which at the time I thought was a good thing. Then he was like "Moving on to number 12" or something like that. He started prodding at that tooth, saying "Feel anything now?" All of a sudden pain lanced through my jaw, my back arched up off the reclined chair and I was like "Yes! I can feel that one!!!" Man did it hurt! And he was like, "Yep, that one's alive." Apparently I was SUPPOSED to feel the sensation (not that the fact made me any happier about it, because I enjoyed the complete LACK of pain I felt upon the first tooth he tested!) Unfortunately, that was the one with the damaged/dead nerve endings, but I really think I'd be alright having all of my nerve endings "damaged" so I couldn't feel anything. It would sure beat all the pain I've been feeling lately!

Anyway, the dentist informed me that I would require a root canal. Somehow I've managed to avoid these all my life, so I wasn't too thrilled about hearing the news, especially when they told me what it was all going to cost. So now I have to schedule at least 2 more appointments. The first, to actually do the root canal work, and excavate the problem areas. Then they have to build the tooth back up, possible insert a post, and then top if off with a temporary cap. Then I have to schedule ANOTHER appointment to go have a crown added on in place of the temporary cap. So it's going to be lots more time at the dentist, and lots of money which we don't really have. I want to wait until after Thanksgiving, if the pain will let me, because I don't want to be out of it or unable to eat properly while we have family and friends here. I have to get it done before the end of the year though, because our insurance through Home Depot changes in January, and it might not be as good.

So anyway, I tell the hygienist and the receptionist that I'm going to have to wait to schedule and appointment for the root canal, because I've just moved to the area, and money is tight. They say that's fine, and then they give me some prescriptions for an antibiotic and a pain killer or two, and then Monica and I finally head back towards home, stopping at Wal-Mart to drop off the prescriptions and grab a quick lunch at Golden Sun (or whatever that Chinese restaurant over there is called.) Then we dash home, I hop in the shower and get ready for work while Kate and Jacob arrive to spend the day with Monica (going to get Page), and then drive back over to the other end of Baxter to spend the evening working at OM.

That was pretty much my day today. Now I'm sitting here typing this long blog as antibiotics, pain killers, and the remains of a 5 Hour Energy shot I drank before I left work course through my system. Hopefully I'll have a relatively pain free night tonight, and maybe actually get some sleep. If the pain comes back though, I'll take another Percocet this time, and then I just won't CARE that much if it hurts. Ah, narcotic pain killers...gotta love them. lol

So that's the latest from my world - possibly painful dental dilemmas, and bothersome bills (un)fortunately forthcoming. Oh well, look at the bright side. Gas is only $1.70 per gallon around here. That's got to be worth something! :) Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend.

Beer And Potatoes

I swear that's what it sounded like when my sister called me on my way home from work today. "Do you want to come over for a walk and beer and potatoes?" What she ACTUALLY said was "DEER and potatoes" which is good, because I don't really like beer, but I was really confused for a moment or two! So Monica (who's up here for a couple days "visiting") and I went over to Clare's for a dinner of country fried (or something like that) venison cube steak, diced potatoes and Lima beans (sadly I didn't eat these, because they're not my favorite. lol)

Anyway, it was nice sitting around the wood burning stove again, hanging out with Clare and the kids, getting to be Uncle Matt and Aunt Moe. It's so nice having family closer to us now. Monica is going to spend the day with HER sister tomorrow while I'm at work, so she'll get to be Aunt Moe to Jacob, which is always fun and a delight for her. Now if we could get all our family and friends to move withing a 10 mile radius it would be awesome! Still, it's nice being around the kids, and knowing that they'll grow up actually knowing who I am, and not just think of me as that "strange bearded guy" who only shows up shows up once or twice a year. "Is that Santa, Mommy?!?"

Thanks for dinner, Clare. You'll all have to come over for "deer can" chicken one of these days (I promise, it won't be one of yours! *g*)

Moving To The Country, Gonna Eat A Lot Of Peach Pies

They're fairly bad for you (or so I remember being told at one time), but I've got to admit...I LOVE JJ's Peach Pies!
I like a couple of their other flavors too, but the peach pies are the best! The trouble is, I purchased the last ones that our local Bell's grocery store had the other day, and as of last night, they haven't restocked any more of them! :( I bought the last cherry one last night, and the only other flavor they had left was lemon. And there were a LOT of the lemon ones left. Apparently, lemon is the least favored among these tasty delights (from flavors such as peach, cherry, chocolate, apple, and lemon.) I know it's the last flavor I would ever buy!

So now I have to wait until they bring in some new pies, and who knows HOW long that's going to be! I mean, this is rural Crawford we're talking about! Restocking JJ's Snacks probably isn't high on the priority list (not that it is anywhere, but I can dream. *g*) Sure, there are other stores that most likely carry these things, but most of THOSE stores are at least 10 miles away, and I have to drive around enough as it is up here without going out of my way to get a peachy snack!

I realize that this blog post is of the utmost trivial nature, but I wanted to write something, and the song lyrics "Moving to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches." keeps bouncing around in my head, so I thought I'd say what's on my mind. (Just hold off with that Nobel Prize. I'm sure I'll come with something more profound to say one of these days!)

So that's it. I'm finally in the country, and I'm without my peach pies. What's a guy to do? I suppose I could always eat that last cherry one I have. Mmm...pie.

A Chilly Fall Day

I had the day off work today, and after driving around on a couple errand runs, I decided to drop in on Clare and the kids and see if they were home. Marie was there when I arrived, which was a nice surprise, because I know that Clare enjoys her company, and I worry about her spending so much time on her own (yes she has the kids, but it's not the same.) I know how she feels though. I'm feeling fairly lost these days without Monica being here, but it's nice having Clare and her family less than 10 minutes away, because I can drop in whenever I like and we can keep each other company and spend some quality time together; something we hadn't been unable to do before we moved up here.

Anyway, Clare and her lot have been recovering from colds, but they seemed to be in good spirits today, and after some time spent hanging out and chatting around the wood burning stove, Clare bundled up Esme, popped her in her carrying pack, and the two of them joined me for a brief walk in their woods as the sun was slowly sinking below the horizon. I do so enjoy being back in the woods, and getting back to nature again, and having Clare and her family close by to share the experience with me has made it that much better. Now if only The Big Orange will get things together and get Monica up here ASAP, things will be perfect! Monica hasn't been feeling well the past couple days, and has really been missing her mom, so I wish she was up here so that I could take care of her. I know Carol (and other friends of hers) are helping take care of her though, and for that I'm truly grateful.

Anyway, here are a few pictures I took today. Enjoy, and keep warm. It's going to be a COLD one tonight!

Tilt Pictures

Random pictures, taken with my phone.

This Means War!

Okay, so living in the country, one comes to expect a certain amount of "bug problems." We have had small ants wandering all over the place, and while it has really unnerved Monica, it's something I more or less accepted as part of the "country life." That was until tonight.

I have an extreme love of JJs peach pies (yes they're not that good for you, but they're delicious!) I purchased a small stock of peach, cherry, and chocolate pies the other night at Belle's, and have been eating one here and there throughout the week. Tonight I decided to eat the last one, a peach pie, my favorite. I grabbed it out of the closet, walked into the office and sat down at the computer, intending to eat the pie while I surfed the Web. No sooner had I opened the end of the box up than I felt a funny sensation on my fingers. Looking down, I saw dozens of ants pouring out of the box, swarming all over my delicious peach pie! Running into the kitchen quickly, I tossed the pie, still in the box, into the sink and turned the water on, letting it wash over the pie and the ants inside the cardboard box.

This was the first thing that annoyed me, because I'd really been looking forward to that peach pie (simple pleasures are the best), and now it was ruined. But then I decided to look into the cupboard where the pie had been stored. I was greeted by the site of probably hundreds of ants, crawling all over the place, back and forth!

Well, I went nuts. I grabbed a natural insect repellent we have here at the house, and started spraying all the ants that I could see. It's either killed them instantly, or stunned them beyond their control, because most of them just stopped moving if they came into contact with the spray. After spraying everything down (and making the house smell all lemon citrus), I jumped online to look for some natural ant deterrents and killers. I found all sorts of recommendations, and I have employed most of them (springs of salt or black pepper; bay leaves; a mixture of apple cider vinegar and water...you name it, I've used it. Now I need to get some mint from Clare to plant around the perimeter of the house too, because apparently ants don't like mint

So now I'll have to see if any of these work, and I'll have to go to the store and buy some new peach pies. :( I love the country, and everything that comes with country life, but these ants have GOT to go! *sigh*

Lots Of Pics, Coming Soon

Okay, now that I'm back online, I have to take the time to go through the numerous pictures I've taken over the past couple weeks. Many of them were taken with my cell phone, but I have taken with my digital camera too, and some taken with Kate's camera, and pulled from other picture sites that have a couple pictures from the ASL Walk last weekend.

So, as soon as I get them all sorted out, I'll do a mass picture posting. Stay tuned! :)

The Adams Family

Well, we've moved into the house finally. And by "moved in" I mean we have all the boxes of stuff in the house, but most of it still has to be put away. Still, we finally did it, and moved to our "big house in the country."

Right now Monica and I are over visiting at Clare and Josh's place, because we won't have Internet access until Wednesday of this week. It's been a bit odd without it (and once in a while problematic), but I haven't really missed it THAT much because I've enjoyed spending time with family, walking in the wood, and just exploring the area that's our new home. The drive to work is going to be a bit long, but most of it's through beautiful countryside, so even that's enjoyable. I start work on Tuesday, and although I know how to do everything in the ImPress department at OfficeMax, it's going to be like starting a new job because the store I'll be working at is much older than the one I left, the equipment in the print department isn't the same as what I was used to using, and the store layout is completely different from what I had finally learned. Oh well, it will all be new and interesting experiences I'm sure. Just like my new co-workers. Most of them are rather "interesting" looking too. Should be fun! :)

Anyway, Monica and Clare are upstairs with Esme somewhere, so I'm going to check on them now. When I get back online I'll post some more blogs with some pictures. Maybe I'll even post a mobile blog from my camera before then too.

Thanks to all of you who helped get us moved into the new place. I promise when we get things a little more setup we'll have you all over for dinner and movie or something. Until then, enjoy this wonderful weather we've having (because there's rain on the way in a few days), and keep in touch. Peace.

It's The Final Countdown

While classic 80s music blares in the background (Europe's The Final Countdown of course), I ponder on the fact that this is the last week I'll be living in this house. We officially commence the move to Crawford one week from today, Saturday, November 1st. It's been a bumpy past 3 years, with numerous ups and downs, but we've (for the most part) enjoyed our time in this house (even if I felt like a giant among men at times, due to the low ceilings throughout the place.)

Right now our house looks like a bomb went off in it (if that bomb was also able to fill numerous boxes with random stuff and stack in piles throughout the house.) We've got a lot of stuff packed up already, and a lot of stuff that's still in closets and packed from when we moved INTO this house, but we still have a long way to go, and this is going to be one crazy week! Add to that the fact that some potential new renters are stopping by tomorrow to check the place out, and things are getting a bit stressful. We warned Dad and Sandra that the place isn't really up to "showing specs", but they didn't seem to mind (or at the very least care, not that they told us.) We will do our best tonight and tomorrow to tidy up as much as possible, and make it at least SOMEWHAT presentable, but there's still going to be stuff EVERYWHERE! What we really need is one of those POD things, that we could park outside in the driveway and fill with the boxes as we pack them. It's kind of frustrating packing stuff and moving it to one location. And then moving it again into what ever we're going to move it to Crawford in. And then moving it AGAIN when we take it all into the house and unpack it all. Why hasn't anyone perfected teleportation yet?!? I mean come on, that would be SO much easier than driving 2 hours back and forth between houses!

Okay, enough complaining. We're really excited about the move, but right now we're having to deal with the frustrations of packing, and the allergies that are being induced by all the dust we're stirring up. Still, it's almost over. I have one more week working at OfficeMax down here, and then it's time to pick everything up and move it north-east, where I will start unpacking it and getting my lair setup in the new place. With the way things look right now though, it might be a bachelor pad, at least for a little while, because Monica may be remaining in the area and living with a co-worker for a week or more, until Home Depot raises the employee transfer "freeze" they have in place at the moment, or they figure out somewhat to transfer her to the Athens store despite the ban. So she could end up living with a friend and female co-worker of hers, and I could end up living in the big old house in Crawford all by myself for a while. (Did I mention movie & game night?!? [See my last post.] Clare, you might be seeing a LOT of me over the next week or two, because it might be just me at the house, and you'll be the only people I know in the area! lol)

Anyway, thanks to those of you out there who are coming to help us move. We definitely appreciate all the help we can get, and it will be fun showing the new place to our friends. We just have to cross our fingers and hope that the hole job situation resolves itself quickly, and that Monica is able to join me in Crawford ASAP! We've lived apart before, during the time we've been married, and it sucks, but we're sort of used to it (sadly.) I'm just glad she'll be among friends who she likes and who can take care of her. :)

So let the countdown begin! T-1 week and counting. Rock now, rock the night! (Sorry, Europe again. *g*) Have a great weekend all. Peace.

Coming Soon - Movie & Game Nights

Okay, for the few of you out there who actually follow my blog, it's obvious that I have watched a lot of movies over the past few months. Thanks to Netflix, RedBox, and the occasional purchased or TV movie, I have seen at least 52 movies recently, and those are just the ones I've posted on my blog. That's at least 1 movie for every week of the year, and I've seen them all in a 2-3 month period! It sounds like I've got a LOT of spare time on my hands, but I don't really. I just stay up later than most normal people, and have back-to-back-to-back movie marathon nights fairly often. Sometimes it's just me watching all these movies, but usually Monica joins me and we watch them together. But why not share the cinematic experience and the joy of movies with others?

With that said, as soon as we're settled into the new place in, I plan on trying to have a "movie night" at least once a week, and inviting friends and family over for an evening of movies, popcorn, drinks and snacks. And who knows; if you're nice, I may even cook dinner for you once in a while! *grin* I still need to acquire a new surround sound setup to complete the theater-like experience, but I have a nice new TV that's a blast to watch movies (and play games) on. It's not huge, but it's much bigger than the TV most of you out there used to watch at our house, and it's high definition so the picture and sound is so much better that what I was always used to!

The new place has much more room too, so hopefully we'll be able to host and entertain lots of friends and family members in the near future. In addition to movies nights, we also plan to have game nights, Sunday brunches, and cook-outs, so stay tuned for more information about that.

We're not entirely sure what the immediate future holds job-wise, so our living situations might be a little odd for a while (more on that, should the need arise), but we plan on being in the new place the first week of November. So if you're available to help us move and/or get setup in our new house, then please let me know before next weekend. Halloween (next Friday) will be my last day at the local OfficeMax, and we plan to start moving out the following Saturday. The sooner we get our things moved into the new place and setup, the sooner we can have you all over to hang out with us, so any help would be greatly appreciated! *smile*

As usual, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read my ramblings. Have a great rest of the week, and we look forward to seeing some of you soon. Peace.

It's Official...We're Moving

Well, things are finally falling into place, and it's official now...Monica and I are moving to the Athens area (Crawford to be exact) the first week of November. Now begins the frantic rush to get the house packed up, tie up some loose ends, wrap things up at our current places of employment (thankfully we're transferring to the Athens versions of our respective stores), and move our plethora of person belongings two hours or so to the north-east.

For those of you who are interested (or haven't seen it before), this is the crazy place we're moving to. It's an old farmhouse built circa 1858, that used to serve as the Parsonage for the town of Crawford. It's got a lot of character, and Monica and I fell in love with it the moment we saw pictures of it (and even more so when we actually went to check it out in person.) It needs some work here and there, but I think it will be a place that we'll both be happy in, and somewhere we can entertain family and friends alike.

So the clock is ticking, and the countdown is on. Halloween will be my last day at the local OfficeMax (and Monica's last day at Home Depot will be around that time too.) Then we move into the new place the first week of November. We should start our "new" jobs the following week.

We plan to have a Thanksgiving get-together for family and friends at the new place on the day after Thanksgiving (or possibly 2 days after Thanksgiving, to make it a Saturday), so stay tuned for more information on that. We're going to miss our family and the friends we've made in and around Acworth, but know this...we'll be less than 2 hours away, and you're welcome to stop by the new place for a visit. Just let us know when you're coming, and we'll leave the light on for you. (Yeah, I know, that's been used and is copyrighted I'm sure, but it's much easier than finding your way in the dark! lol)

So come join us as we transition into a new phase of our lives, and thanks to all of you out there who have supported us and befriended us over the last 3 years here in Acworth. Enjoy the rest of your week, and this wonderful weather, and thanks for stopping by. Peace.

Visiting With Family

Unfortunately Monica wasn't feeling too well again today, so she missed out on the visit to Dad and Sandra's where I was able to spend time with Clare and the kids. We went for a walk out on the mud flat behind Dad's house (usually a cove of Lake Acworth, when it contains water), and then we enjoyed a nice meal. Here are a few pictures from our day. One of them is similar to one you posted, Clare, but I took THIS one. :) Enjoy.

I Love Fall

The weather is so wonderful today, that I'm going to try and get out somewhere to do some photography. I want Monica to come along, but she hasn't been feeling that well this week, and doesn't want to venture too far from home. We did enjoy a nice buffet breakfast at the Chick-Fil-A Dwarf house on Hwy 92 this morning though, after having a leisurely lie-in until 11 AM. It was nice to be able to go out for breakfast together. Most of the time we work opposing schedules, so we don't get to spend much time together (I'm sure you can relate to that, Clare, but you have kids to boot, so that makes things even more challenging.)

Anyway, I took the time to enjoy the breeze out in the front yard, and pursue a childhood pastime, namely blowing bubbles. I got this fun "bubble sword" in my Christmas stocking last year, and every so often I wander out into the yard with it and blow copious amounts of bubbles, or a smaller number of larger ones. I can get hundreds of bubbles from a single dip into the bubble formula sometime, and the cats have a ball trying to chase the elusive spheres all over the yard as they are borne on the breeze. I also took advantage of the fact that Monica still smokes (unfortunately), and had her blow some smoke-filled ones that would drift away, filled with a swirling haze, until we popped them and released the little clouds of smoke that they had contained. Such childhood delights (except the smoking part. I hope there aren't too many children out there who have picked up that habit!)

So now I'm just waiting for my digital camera battery to finish charging, and then I'm going to venture out into the breezy day to take some pictures, and maybe do a spot of fishing (if I can find some water that can be reached from the shore.)

I love this weather, and look forward to it each and every year. It's the perfect weather to enjoy the outdoors with family and friends. Oh, and Monica has expressed the desire to get a sturdy, lightweight mountain bike, and to get back into riding, so if any of you out there know anyone who's looking to get rid of a couple bikes (one guy's, one girl's) please let us know. I'd like to get at least 18 speed ones, maybe by Trek, Cannondale, or some other well-known company. We want ones that can stand up to the rigours of trail riding, boulder hopping, etc. (at least I do.) So please let us know if you hear of anything. Thanks! :)

Well that's about it for now. I'm off to check on my battery, and then out to enjoy the wonderful windy weather. Until next time, take care, and enjoy the rest of the weekend! Peace.

Four, Three, Two, One

The countdown has begun...

Happy In The Outdoors

Monica, yesterday at Allatoona Pass.

Finally Made It

Clare, you'll appreciate this...the truck just passed 300,000 miles! :)

Canon Firing Video

Firing A Civil War Era Canon @ Yahoo! Video

This is the video I shot yesterday with my digital camera. They were demonstrating the procedure for firing a Civil War era canon.

Sad But (Apparently) True

911 Call Goes Bad @ Yahoo! Video

Just an audio file really, but humorous nonetheless.

Ghosts of the Civil War

Well, not really, although that was what I was trying to take pictures of. I saw something on TV last night where some people had captured what appeared to be pictures of Robert E. Lee and other Civil War era personages in some photographs they'd taken at Gettysburg. We have numerous Civil War battle sites in the area, and Monica and I visited one of them today to take a walk. Tomorrow (today really, since it's after midnight - October 5, 2008) marks the 144th anniversary of the Allatoona Pass Battle. We had no idea, but some local Civil War buffs were marking the occasion, and putting on a demonstration this weekend during guided walking tours of the area around the Pass. We thought we were just going out for a nice, quiet walk in the woods, with hopefully not many people around. What we were greeted with was anything BUT that.

The first thing we saw were numerous signs that read "SLOW Walking Tour." Then we saw the parking lot, usually barren but for a few cars, filled mostly to capacity. Luckily we found a space, and headed over to the trail head to see what was going on. Around the entrance to the pass, and beside the Civil War memorial that's there, numerous period tents were pitched, and soldiers wandered around in authentic period clothing. There was a group of people gathered at the trail head, and as we walked towards them, a platoon of soldiers released a volley from their muskets, shattering the stillness of the warm air. We watched them for a while, and they fired off another volley or two. Then we stepped onto the the trail, heading into the woods of the Pass.As we walked along the bamboo and cliff lined path, we saw something ahead of us on the trail, something that didn't quite belong in the woods. It was a cannon, with a group of Civil War soldiers standing around it. We had read on the daily events sheet that there was going to be one last artillery demonstration that day, and it was only about 45 minutes away! So we said hello to the "soldiers", asked them if/when they were going to fire the cannon, and strolled along the Pass trail for 15 or 20 minutes, before returning to wait for the firing of the cannon.

So that was part of our day today. A walk in the woods, with some unexpected entertainment! I took a couple videos of the muskets and cannon firing. I'll try to compress them enough to post them online for anyone who wants to see them.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I'm glad I had something a bit more interesting to write about today. *s* And if I happened to have captured any pictures of ghosts in my shots, I'll be sure to post those too!

Have a great rest of the weekend. Take care.

Today's Lunch

Cornish Rock Game Hens cooking on the grill! :))

The Continuing Crisis

Long lines of cars on the side of the highway. Two hours or more wait time. Only 1 gas station within 50 miles or so that has any gas (or so we were told by a Quick Trip employee at a station that was out of gas, again.) That is the gas situation around our local area. Help is on the way, they keep saying, but when will it arrive? Apparently the fuel tankers are having trouble getting refuel, or so they say, be it with the precious cargo they're designed to carry, or the necessary fuel to get that cargo out to the masses. The EPA has released the fuel restrictions, allowing the release and sale of the standard gasoline, instead of the summer blend most stations within the area are required to fill their tanks with over the hottest months of the year. But so far we've seen one station after another run completely out of gas. Or, a station will get a fresh supply in, only to run out a few hours later due to the long lines of cars queuing for a chance to refuel. We spoke with one man tonight, who had been waiting for over an hour on the side of Highway 41 to get gas from the local Home Depot, the only station around here that had any gas. He said that he'd run out of gas waiting to GET gas, had then had to walk to Wal-Mart (I think) to buy a gas can, then walk back to the gas station to buy some gas so he could walk back to his car and fill it up with a little gas to continue waiting in line to try and get a FULL tank of gas. That's just insane!

So when is this all going to end?!? I tell you...the terrorist organizations that are against the United States, and wish to do us harm, are probably sitting around right now, laughing their collective heads off, watching as we slowly work ourselves into a frenzy over our pursuit of a full tank of gas! Police officers have already had to be called in for a number of incidents where gas station customers have started fist fights (or probably worse in some cases) with each other while they were waiting for their turn at the pump. If things continue on the way they have been, it's only a matter of time before people start holding up fuel tankers at gun point, syphoning gasoline from any cars they find unattended (most likely already going on in some places), and putting other people's lives at risk, bringing about possible injury and/or death. All for a tank of gas. That may sound rather extreme, but things are rapidly getting out of hand! We need gas, and we need it now, before the stress of economic turmoil and the scarcity of gasoline cause the collective masses to just snap!

They say helps on the way, but will it get here soon, and will it be enough? Only time will tell...

Girls & Their Cell Phones

Heather & Monica relaxing on the couch, on her birthday. My first "official" mobile blog post. :)

Waterfall Picture

This was a test picture from my cell phone (No, I didn't take the picture, it came with the phone.) to make sure I have it set up correctly to where I can mobile blog again. Now, once again, I'll be able to post pictures anytime, from anywhere. Isn't technology wonderful! ;)

Monica's Birthday

Well, tomorrow is Monica's birthday. Supposedly Heather and Louise are coming up here to spend the day with her tomorrow, and her friend Amanda will possibly be coming in for a visit late tomorrow night, and will then stay with us a few days. Plans are likely to change though, what with the "gas crisis" at hand. It's getting difficult to find gas stations that actually HAVE gas to buy, and then when you CAN find it, the nearly $4 per gallon (or higher in some places) price tag makes filling your tank an expensive ordeal! Still, I hope everyone comes, because I know Monica misses her friends a lot, and would love to see them, and share her birth day with them.

Other plans are in the works, and things could change dramatically over the next few months. More on that later though. Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope you're enjoying this wonderful fall weather, and that you're able to walk down the path of life that was meant just for you. Peace.

Oops...They Found Out!

Here's something humorous I just came across:

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"I'm a PC," and I Was Made on a Mac

Microsoft's new phase of its ad campaign, aimed at renovating the image of Windows, which began with the much criticized Seinfeld-Gates ads (three of which were filmed but only two of which were aired), seems much better than the first phase.But it's also proven somewhat embarrassing for the company: images created for use in the campaign were created using not just a competitor's product (Adobe Creative Suite 3), but also non-Windows based PCs --- Macs to be exact.

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How ironic...Microsoft is trying to improve its image...but to do that, they've had to use Macintosh computers. It's kind of sad really. ;)

Jacob Turns Two

Monica and I went to Commerce yesterday to celebrate Jacob's second birthday. It was a relaxed affair, with only immediate family in attendance. Mike and Kate made/cooked food, and we all hung out and had a good time chatting and catching up on each other's lives.
Here are a couple of pictures of the now 2-year-old Jacob.

Pound Cake - The Results

Okay, so here is how the pound cake turned out. We used our castle/cathedral bundt cake pan, and Monica managed to turn it out perfectly (she's so good like that. *s*) This picture shows it with 10X powdered sugar on it, but it also has an orange rum glaze on it now too. :)

So here you go...a post with a new picture. Enjoy! lol

Pound Cake & MP3s

Well, after a late night (in bed after 4 AM, BOTH of us), and a long lay in this morning (got up around noon), we are enjoying the day, just hanging out. Monica is chatting on her cell phone right now, while a pound cake she just made bakes in the oven. As for myself, I'm looking through some of my old files, trying to find The Big Chill soundtrack to load onto Monica's iPod. I know I have it somewhere, it's just a matter of locating it.

I've also been playing around with my new phone, and getting things set back up to where I can post to my mobile blog from it. The link on this page has a posting that I initially sent, but then deleted, so I have to upload something new to replace that one. I really missed having a camera on my phone, because I often see things I want to snap a quick picture of, and I couldn't, while using the Samsung Go phone that has been my standby for the last month or so. Still, I'm glad that we had it, or I would have been completely out of touch with everyone!

At any rate, I want to get out today and do some photography with my digital camera, but I don't want to wander too far from home, because I've been having stomach issues for close to a week now. It's not really stomach pain (although it does hurt from time to time), it's more that I feel somewhat "sick to my stomach" and it "churns" a lot. It was probably from something I ate recently, but who knows. Regardless, it's rather annoying. No big deal though! :)

I want to try and find SOMETHING interesting to put on my blog this weekend though, because I know that I'M tired of just seeing posts with words, so I'm sure the 2 or 3 others of you out there reading these things probably are too. I promise I'll post some new pictures (of something) soon, hopefully by this evening! *g*

Well, I guess that's enough text for now. Have a great weekend everyone, and keep safe. Peace.

Random Pictures of the Crawford House

Okay, so here are some (small) pictures of the house we MIGHT move to in Crawford. Just click on the link below, and then navigate through the pictures by clicking on each thumbnail at the bottom of the page. The images are basically grouped together, with between 4 and 6 pictures per room of the house. You can't really get a complete idea of what the house is like, without seeing it in person, but here are some pictures anyway, if you want to try. Enjoy.

http://www.fullmoondesign.net/gallery/