Magnolia Mom

Like I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been super busy with soccer league pictures. I finished up last night with taking the pictures. Now I’ve got to finish going through the pictures, editing, posting to galleries, sending emails, and placing orders. Then, start deliveries. Lots of work. I’m just happy that I was able to take all the pics on schedule. No rain outs!

I’ve got several posts in the works, but I just gotta find time to get them finished up and posted. I was looking at my blog earlier and realized that my header has a Corgi on it. WOW! I got a huge lump in my throat, realizing I don’t have a little black Corgi at my feet tonight as I sit and write this post. Tuesday after writing my last post, I cried much of the day. In my peripheral vision, I’d see something white and black on the floor. I guess, by habit, my mind would jump to the conclusion it was Rosie, and then I’d remember that she’s gone. Ugh! I’ve also heard lots of noises while home alone this week. Usually, I would have just assumed it was her, but now with her gone, I became quite curious what was making so much noise. One day, there was a cricket in the kitchen that kept hopping, which made a noise like Rosie’s nails on the floor.

Rob worked hard Tuesday and Wednesday digging a hole in the backyard. We buried her Wednesday and plan to have a funeral for her after the kids make a stone to put on grave. Oh how I miss her…

Anyway, Wow. I got off subject there. I love my header, so I’m not sure I’m going to change it because I know someday, we’ll have another Corgi. But, maybe I’ll find another cool pic to use instead. I’m also working to have some Menu pages with links to those in my sidebar. I’ll let you know when those are up.

So the posts that I’m working on include:
- Kids’ 1st day back to school
- TV Boy’s soccer pics
- Some new recipes
- Cub Scout Survivor Pictures
- Soccer Tourney pics (from this weekend)
- And…..probably more travel posts. I’ve got a couple more cruise posts that I want to share. Then, I plan to move on to Road trips!

So stay tuned.

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I just love when Rude Cactus does the posts of numbers. I’ve kept that in mind, trying to find a good time to do a post like that. Well, unfortunately the time has come. LOL! I was hoping it would be some wonderful post about a vacation or new job. Not so much. I’ll just let you figure out why it is unfortunate by leaving you with the totals….
Days since this all started: 16
Days it seems like it’s been going on: 35
Trips to the emergency room: 1
Antibiotics Rob has taken: 3
Pain meds attempted: 2
Trips to the dentist (so far): 1
Root canals to be had this year: 1
Antibiotics that seemed to work for a few days: 1
Antibiotics that made his tooth hurt more than it ever has: 2
Phone calls to the dentist: 6
Phone calls to the pharmacy: 2
Cost of meds including all the ones that are wasted: $31.24
Days the dentist was on vacation while this was going on: 5
Times of puking: too many to recall
Dentists who said it was out of her “realm” to prescribe Phenergan: 1
Phone calls to relative for Phenergan: 1
Times Rob and I have decided we must be totally ignorant: 30
Times we mentioned that Rob is allergic to Codeine: 50
Times we wonder why we keep putting drugs into his system: countless
Days of work he’s missed: 4 (I think), but regardless WAY too many
Times I googled something related to nausea, drug side effects, etc: 42
Times I told the kids to be quiet because their Dad is sick: 164
Times I think he’s getting better: 7

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Tuesday night the week before 4th of July, Rob was talking with his brother about finding something “fun” to do over the weekend. The last few years we have mainly hung out at home and enjoyed time with our neighbors. Before that we headed to Texas to visit my family there. Anyway, after some thought and research we decided it would be fun to head up to the North Georgia Mountains. Since it was so close to the date, there were only a few options. We ended up staying here in Murphy, NC. We went with Rob’s Mom, Step-Dad, adopted sister, and his brother. Dividing the cost of the condo ended up costing about the cost of hotel for one night!

Rob really enjoys going up that way for many reasons, which include the beautiful mountains and seeing his old stopming grounds at Young Harris College.

Friday
We arrived around 3, settled in, waited for the other carload with Rob’s Mom, Step Dad, and adopted sister, Rachel. Not long after they arrived, a group headed out to the store for groceries for the weekend. We planned to utilize the kitchen in the condo to help save money.

Our Cabin

Nice wrap around porch with a beautiful view.

After they got back Rob and Nick got the fire going to grill the super thick steak. So yummy! We also had salad, broccoli, and stir-fry veggies. Dessert was Strawberry shortcake.

Beautiful Sunset

Saturday

We got up and had breakfast. Then we went into Murphy for some 4th of July festivitives. There were many of the normal carnival activities, which we didn’t participate in because they were so expensive. We are so spoiled to live in Auburn, where we have City Fest and other events that are completely free to the public. We walked along the little river walk, watched the ducks, and the kids played on the playground.

Pretty scene near the Riverwalk area

This duck kept talking to me

We made it back over to the area where they did a peanut drop. An airplane flew over dropping 5,000 peanuts. Everyone ran like crazy to pick up the peanuts as they fell to find the red, white, and blue ones, which could be turned in for cash. We didn’t find any of those, but it was fun anyway.

Airplane that flew over Peanut Drop

After that we went to the Cherokee Chambers of Commerce/Visitor Center and then we went to the Fires Creek Picnic area located in Nantahala National Forest. There we picnicked for lunch and the kids skipped rocks in the stream.

After we packed up our picnic lunch we went for a short hike up the Leatherwood Loop hiking trail. While hiking I was stung through my sock by a hornet. I screamed like crazy after realizing I was being stung and it wasn’t just a thorn poking me through my sock. After getting the durn thing off my sock, I hiked a little ways up to the stream. I was able to sit on a rock near the icy cold stream, where I soaked it to help the pain and slow down the swelling.

*Icing* my ankle in the cool stream after being stung.

We stopped at a couple places for some scenic pics and then back to our car.

I continued to be in a great deal of pain. It was just a constant feeling of being stung over and over. The rest of the afternoon, I just chilled at the cabin. We cooked out hamburgers for dinner along with baked beans and smores. The rest of the family went to watch fireworks. I stayed in to rest and keep my ankle elevated and iced, but was able to see some fireworks from my chair.

Sunday
Sunday after having breakfast, we went to the Hiwassee Dam, which is so beautiful.

From there we drove around for a bit looking for a place to fish. We ended up down a dirt road in a secluded area. Although I lathered up in OFF the chigars found their to areas that I had not sprayed. I got nearly 30 bites. Ugh! At this point of the trip I had about had enough of nature and was ready to be inside. 2 fish were snagged, but both were smaller than my hand and were thrown back in.

After leaving there we were hungry and next on our agenda was Fields of the Wood, which is something so different than anything I’ve ever seen. You can climb to the top of the Ten Commandments Mountain and visit The Psalms Of Praise. We ate lunch in the covered picnic area. Then, without it occuring to us that there were 372 steps, we walked to the top of the 10 Commandments! Needless to say we were ZONKED. We wanted to see the rest of the place, but it required climbing a lot more stairs. We should have planned to drive around to the top of the 10 Commandments and then seeing the rest by stairs (because there is no driving access.) We were able to drive up to the cross of flags, which is quite a ways up the mountain. Nice views also.

Then, we went back to the cabin for some much needed R & R and leftovers. Late that evening Rob, Nick, TV Boy, and I drove over to Brasstown Bald for a midnight hike to see the stars, surrounding cities, and possibly late night fireworks. It was nice and cool, in fact, downright chili on top of the observatory. The stars are amazing when you’re away from civilization like that. After tromping back down the mountain, we had a midnight snack at Waffle House in Blairsville.

This is the top of the observatory. The tower is off limits to the public, but at the bottom of the tower there is a museum and info desk.

Monday
Monday we got up, started cleaning, and packing. The other car load of family was leaving first thing to head straight home. Our family along with Nick were headed out for another day of site-seeing. We wanted to get the most out of our trip and really didn’t want to leave. We stopped for lunch at Downtown Pizza and then back to Brasstown Bald for a daytime hike and an opportunity for Monkey to see it.

We left Brasstown and we were ready to get home. We did decide to take Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway.

Here’s a pic at one of the stopping points on the highway. Yah, I know it’s not “scenic”, but the road and cliffs were cool and then when this Maverick drove by, I couldn’t resist

Then near the end of the trip, Monkey Boy got silly and wore my neck pillow on his head.

I have lots more great pictures from the trip that I would love for you to see, so click here.

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Not sure if I’ve talked about my temporary evening job I’ve had since November. If you follow me on Facebook, you’re well aware. Anyway, it has been a true blessing. It really helped us survive Christmas. Unfortunately it has finally come to an end, but I’ve made a few notes during this experience. I’ve learned so much and it has really been a fun job. So hear goes…..

Did you know that you can rent lap tops at the library?
and
Group study rooms?
Extension cords and even power strips?
There’s also DVD’s, Boxes of Rocks, and dry erase markers that you can rent out.

And nearly all of these things listed above cause great heartache, disbelief, bad attitudes, rudeness, questions of why things are done the way they’re done, etc among the population of library-going students.

For those of you who have ever been on a cruise to Cozumel or Nassau you often wish you had one of these shirts?

Well, working at RBD you often wish you had one THESE shirts!

I heard many interesting conversations. I wished I could have documented more of them. Here are a few conversations I overheard:

Some guy: (didn’t see him, just heard him talking on cell while I was at a back cubicle working): No, don’t text me. I’ll just find out the real way. I don’t want to find out if I made it from a text. I’ll text you after.

Girl sits on couch with laptop in lap: “Hi! I got an email saying I was in the top 20% of my class. I can be a part of this honor’s society group, but it’s a $75 application fee. Not sure if you think I should do that. Maybe you can research and see if it’s a scam or worth doing. That’s just lot of money when I may not even get in. Well gotta go, take my online quiz. Bye”

Guy standing in stairwell having what sounded like a very interesting conversation…”I’m not a GD socialistic…something or other…psychic…I don’t know what the future holds. We’ve effed up in the past and all we can do now is try. I can’t make any promises. All we can do is try and see what happens. Then, we won’t wonder what could have, should have, would have been…”

Situations observed while working at the circ desk:
Mat told a girl that was checking out a laptop that her computer was due back at 12:45 am. She happily replied with a huge smile on her face, “I’ll be 21 by then!”

Ok so this girl comes over to me and says she has a book question. She showed me the book while pointing down at the foreword by …. and prologue by…edited by….down at the bottom of the front cover. She wanted to know who the author was, but said, “Would it be who edited it or what???”

I’m looking……looking… And then I look up at the top to see the title and any other info it may say up at the top. It said “Shakespeare’s Hamlet.” I’m like (while trying not to BUST out laughing) “well the author would actually be (while pointing up the top) Shakespeare.”

With the look of mortification she said, “Please, please, pretend I didn’t just ask you that.”

I replied , “Oh, it’s no problem.”

The new fashion is girls in short running shorts with furry snow boots.

I guess this is a clue wear they’ve gotten this trend from:

A girl comes in with dry erase board, coffee, and Swedish fish.

Athletes I assisted:
Football
#91: Jake Ricks (jerk)
#92: Cameron Henderson
One other really sweet player not sure what his name or number was.

Golf
Karlin Beck
Cydney Clanton

Gymnastics
Leah Vining
Another gymnast, can’t remember her name.

Equestrian
Kristin Hansen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2 guys started coming in during the 2nd semester and they always wanted a group study room. They always wanted to renew it and since there was a high demand for them we’re not allowed to renew them. The rule is they can turn it in for 15 minutes and if it was available after that time they could check it out again. I didn’t really do anything special. I don’t think. I guess the only thing I did was check out any other rooms first, so that if there was a room left when they came back it would be the one they were in.

On my last night, he asked if they were starting to get on my nerves and I said, “No. Even if you were getting on my nerves that today is my last day.”

He was like, “Whaaaaa??? No!!!!!” He was so sweet and said, as he was walking off that if I didn’t seem again to have a good one or something to that effect. During my last hour, I wasn’t sitting at the front desk, but he still made an effort to peak around the corner and say Good Bye! It gave me warm fuzzies, which is not something that happens much. Just another reason this job will be quite memorable.

I’m sure most of these anecdotes won’t mean much to you, but again, I’m just documenting my life.

Popularity: 4% [?]

I’ve been so busy lately. I started a temporary job at the Auburn University Library. I’m there four days a week M-Th from 6 pm to 12 am. I also substitute as much as possible and still work at the day care teaching music M & W. All this means that if I sub on M & W I work from 7 am to 12 am!! WOW! If it sounds like I’m complaining, I’m not! I’m actually shocked at myself that I’m able to survive this, and very glad to have this opportunity to get some extra money, with school being out so much for the holidays.

I am so very thankful for my wonderful husband, who is doing a great job “taking over” for me while I’m gone. He’s helping me out in every way he can to ensure I’m getting as much sleep as possible. He’s started getting the kids up for me in the morning to allow me to sleep a little longer. Every evening it’s so comforting to come home to a clean kitchen…sparkling clean! There’s just something soothing about not seeing dishes piled up in the sink. Thank you, Rob!

{{So I’ve got several posts that I need to get caught up on. Hopefully I can get those done soon.}}

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SparkPeople

by: SparkPeople
Category: Healthcare & Fitness
Released: February 2009
Size: 1.1 MB
Spark People is an app to keep up with your fitness and healthcare goals. I’ve used sparkpeople.com for years and really like it. I think the app is even better. There are many different tools on the app, some of which include weight goal, daily food intake, daily fitness log, and useful charts. I would highly recommend this app and the website for anyone who is goal oriented eager to keep with food intake and setting goals.

Popularity: 1% [?]

You’ll probably see more random entries, because I just feel like I’m not documenting my life. And with all the stresses, I just don’t see how I’ll remember all this. In fact, I’m upset that I haven’t documented more the last couple of years. Oh well…I never said I was a great writer, or that my stuff is even interesting.

So anyway, I’ve been substitute teaching more the last couple weeks. Up until today, I had subbed 8 straight days, which is good since I’m not getting any compensation any more. I’m hoping and praying that I can continue to work pretty much every day, at least until I find something more permanent.

I still teach music twice a week at a local day care. Not sure if I ever shared that with yall, but I’ve been doing that for a year now. It was something good to get me out of the house and to have something on my resume. In the last year, I’ve pretty much checked out all the music related books at the public library. Living in a college town really has a lot of perks, but you don’t realize how nice it is until you do. Of course, as a student you’re all in the midst of it all, but you don’t see it from a normal working citizen. At least when I was in college, I felt like I lived in a bubble. Anyway, my point being that just down the street is one of the largest libraries in the state, thanks to Auburn University! Several times in the past I’ve thought about getting an alumni card so that I can check out books at the AU library. This week I finally took the steps to do it. I feel so official with an alumni card, which looks like a student ID. WOW! If that doesn’t bring back memories.

So today I headed over to campus to use my card and check out books, so I could write my music plans for next week. Anyone who lives here or in a college town probably knows what a pain in the tail it is to park anywhere near campus! I usually just park in the library parking deck illegally and pray I don’t get a ticket for not have a (B) parking tag, but can you believe they PAY someone to stand at the entry to the lot??? I was shocked, but even more perturbed! So I drove around trying to find Duncan Street so I could get a visitor pass. Couldn’t remember where that is, so I ended up parking in the Auburn Hotel and Conference Center parking lot. All the places around campus have huge signs saying TOW AWAY ZONE. I parked there and prayed that I could get done fast enough that my car would still be there when I got back.

Going up the 3rd floor to the juvenile section brought back lots of memories. I was able to grab a few books and run. I plan to go back after business hours so I park in the parking deck and not have to worry about getting a ticket or being towed. I could spend hours in that library.

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— This evening around 7:40 I was able to get away and go to the grocery store! Pretty sad, when I’m excited about going to Wal-Mart. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a normal trip for groceries. I went through the self-check out, as I always do. I rang up my 50 items or so and paid. Then, as I got ready to pull my buggy away, I realized I didn’t ring up the items in the top part of the cart. Since there was a line waiting behind me, I wasn’t able to just ring up the items. I had to get back at the end of a long line and ring up the 2 loaves of bread, hot dog buns, grapes, bananas, and pickles! All at the cost of $12.76!

— Today Monkey and I were watching TV and this commercial came on:

He wanted to know how you can fly with oatmeal.

— Did you know Monkey loves to eat hot dog buns plain? He can put down half a pack of buns in one sitting! The boy loves bread, much like his great grandfather.

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You know, I haven’t actually written here in a while. Yah, I’ve posted stuff; menus, pictures, other random superficial posts. I haven’t talked about what’s been going on with me. I’m not sure you wanna hear it, but at this point, I have to remember this blog was started for me and for my family who are far away.

I’ve spent the last few weeks, well really all summer, but especially the last few weeks, trying to find a teaching job. With no luck! I’ve only had 4 or 5 interviews. Teaching jobs in this is state are very hard to find since we don’t know how to properly fund education. I think I’ve discussed that before, so I won’t dwell on that. Anyway, it looks like I’m going to be substitute teaching and hopefully getting enough work to meet what I’ve been getting in unemployment, which runs out very soon. It’s all so very scary. I just keep thinking that God has a plan for me. But truth be known, I really wish I knew what that plan was, because it’s driving me nuts. I really hate the unknown. Regardless, I’ve had many long talks with Him as of late. So we will see. I know I’ve got people praying for me and that’s a good thing to know that people love me enough to do that. I also have to remind myself that life could be much worse. When you get all wrapped up in your own problems its often easy to forget about what’s going on around you and the fact that there are people much worse off than me. I really should be counting my blessings. It might even be good for me to write down what things I am thankful for. Sometimes seeing something on paper (or in this case typed on the screen) is therapeutic.

So I guess what you (if anyone is still reading) can take from this is that nothing much has changed. I still need a job, so if you know of a teaching job, I would love you forever if you could give me a shout out. Heck at this point, I’ll take an office job. Since Monkey is going to be in school now, I don’t have to worry about childcare for him. That opens up a lot more opportunities, since we won’t have to worry about that $500 a month!

As usual I could ramble on and on, but I’d probably just be saying the same thing over and over, so I’ll shut up for now.

NOTE: This is post is not meant to get pity or whatever. I’m just voicing what’s going on with me, sorry if it bored you.

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Thirteen things…
I’ve been doing some “tidying” up of my blogosphere and realized that all my banners for Thursday 13 were because the original website is gone. So I went and fixed that. Then I found a link to a new Thursday 13 site and decided I might try to pick back up on this. This used to be one of my favorite posts to do each week.

Now thinking about what to write for my 13 this week. I’m going to list 13 things that have happened since my last Thursday 13 post, which was at the end of 2006!
1. Sold our 1st house and moved into a new house
2. Had career issues
3. Started my own business
4. Got a new computer
5. Been on lots of road trips
6. Been on 1 cruise
7. Cut my hair short
8. Did some remodeling to our new house
9. Quit blogging for awhile
10. Got a new car
11. Went to lots of concerts
12. Took tons of pictures
13. Taught myself how to use CS3 & CS4

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