Our Tennessee vacation—part 3

Sunday…

               

              We woke up and decided to make microwave omelets today.   HA!  What a joke!  The microwave looked real good but had to be the slowest cookin’ one I’ve ever seen!  I’d gotten a carton of egg beaters southwest omelet mix.  I figured traveling with eggs probably wasn’t a good idea.  They’d have been a scrambled mess by the time we got to the cabin anyhow so why not start with the mix?  And we didn’t plan on eating real healthy this trip so this little effort to do something right seemed good.  We had lots of juice with us too, lots of fruit, bagel thins and coffee so we were set.  Also the pre-cooked bacon.  I know.  It’s not healthy, but remember the eggs?  Ya.

                We headed out for our day after checking the porch out in the daytime.  Didn’t get to spend much time there the day before since we wanted to get to the park fast.  So pleasant out there in the mornings.  Even if it was just for a couple minutes a day, I enjoyed a few rocks or swings before we started our day.  We wanted to check the hot tub temperature too.  That sucker was HOT last night!  Wowie zowie someone had set it on MELT! 

                Our time for the resort tour was 11:30.  I wanted to take a couple pictures where it was too.  You know me and my camera.  It’s set up on a great mountain with an awesome view.  One famous mountaintop you see is the one that inspired the song “Rocky Top.”  The other was Mount LeConte, the third highest peak in the Smokies.

                My first picture after checking in was … in the bathroom.  I just thought it was a good idea.  I think I’d like this in the basement bathroom.  Hahaha

               

Actually I think I’d prefer it in public restaurants still using single size rolls.  How many hate those stupid things where you have to just “slide to the side for extra roll” printed on them?  Ya with me on this?  Have you ever been the one to have to slide it?  Not always easy, is it?  Lol  With this, you grab the cardboard and crumple and pull it out and voila!  Whoop there it is!  Or, if they’re using the kind of TP I think should be sold everywhere, you have the “no tube” rolls.  Use and use it and use it then it’s just gone and down would come the spare.

My next picture was of the cool looking furniture in the room they did the presentation in.  I love the outdoorsy stuff.  The whole room was fresh with the colors and styles of nature.

               

Before we boarded the shuttle to go check out the cabin that was completed (three buildings were either done or in the process), I got my chance to take a couple pictures of the scenery.  I was in love with the place.  Not just the resort.  This whole part of the country.  But if this was the same as the Wyndham hotel deal we’d done in Myrtle Beach?  No way Jose.  Not happening.

               

Some folks walked over to the cabin.  It wasn’t real far, but the hill was VERY steep.  Ramps and hills are not good for my knee and I wasn’t taking the chance of ruining it the second day there.  They offered a shuttle and it was a go for me and two others who also had knee issues.  One young gal was so bad she was in braces and walked with a cane.  So much younger, thinner... I felt bad for her!

When we walked into the place I loved it.  So homey.  Just my style.  The one we looked at had a two bedroom side with huge full kitchen, livingroom, big bathroom, laundry area and patio.  Completely furnished.  Of course.  It had a connector door to the “guest” area which had its own everything!  Yep, even the laundry and kitchen.  I liked that idea if we ever travel with the kids.  They’d feel more on their own. 

I won’t go into all the boredom of the presentation, but I’ll tell you it was the best we’d ever seen, the most for the money and the cheapest.  We bit.  We got in pre-construction so it was a way better deal.  Way less than half what the Wyndham deal would have been.  Plus a huge military discount.  I don’t have any regrets or anything even now that we’re home.  And, it’s not a place you have to go a week at a time.  You can do a day at a time if you choose.  All over the world.  Our actual deed is for Branson since the State of Tennessee requires your deed is for a completed place.  We do have the option of trading for the Pigeon Forge on if we choose but it doesn’t really matter since it’s not a reserved specified week at a specified location.  I like that.  And…we’re probably selling the campers.  This will cost us about the same as the camper BUT it will be paid for within a few years.  And it will be passed to our heirs.  Not only do we have the two plus weeks a year, we also have 12 get away weekends and lots of other perks for life, but there are a lot of other extras since we bought pre-construction.

Things were running late, we talk A LOT for those of you who don’t know us personally, so they offered to call Dixie Stampede and change our tickets for Monday instead of Sunday.  We were good with that.  Since we’d decided to do Dollywood just one day, Monday was now open.  And Dixie Stampede is good any day of the week.  I just really, really like the show.

One of our perks was a dinner certificate.  We ended up going to the same place as some of the folks that worked there.  They invited us to sit with them and we really enjoyed their company.  We all exchanged cell numbers and will be keeping in touch now I’m sure.  Next time we’re down there, maybe we’ll talk to them about meeting at another place they all go.  We like eating on the local rather than the chain.  And down there?  Local food is soooo goooood!

                 We had also gotten a hundred bucks cash for doing the presentation and at first thought it would go for souvenirs for the kids.  Well instead, since we already had set aside that $$, we thought we’d take the time to check out the casino in Cherokee, NC, just a little down the road through the mountains.  Now THAT was an adventure! 

                We all know the mountains are full of twists and turns and tunnels.  No one told me they also do circles!  Yes, circles. 

               

I did do a video of that circle, but it’s not as impressive to watch as it was to ride.  Whoa hold on!  It was a beautiful ride.  Seeing the sun set over the mountains was awesome.

               

                I’m not wanting to do the casino again.  They were renovating and where went in was at the complete opposite of where we needed to go get a players card.  AND you HAD TO have one!  The machines won’t take your money unless you do!  I don’t like that at all.  Sometimes I prefer to play without a card!  Not real impressed.  And if we had gotten hungry, the penny machines were at the opposite end of where the food places were!  Nope.  Don’t want to go back.  But I do want to go back to Cherokee. 

The National Cherokee museum is there plus lots and lots of little shops and things.  There were also stages set up in front of some with dancers.  The American Indian culture has always fascinated me since we lived in Oklahoma and north Texas and followed the historical signs and checked out those museums.   AND, they have a place called Santasland!  It’s an amusement park and zoo, but it hints to Christmas!  Cool cool. 

Not the best picture, but it was taken while turning a corner.  lol



                We didn’t stay real long.  When we got back to the cabin, we hit the hot tub again.  Oh how I want one at home.  We were getting spoiled.  Sleeping wasn’t fun.  It was hot.  Even with a fan blowing directly on me (we always take a fan) I was uncomfy.  This was not good.  The week was set to get hotter and hotter day by day.  Ohhhhhhhhh

Our Tennessee Vacation--part 2

Saturday…

                Day #2 is about to start!!  GET UP GET UP GET UP GET UP!!!

                All of y’all who know me KNOW I don’t do morning.  Well THIS morning is different!  Can’t sleep!  Gotta be up and out and on the road.  Dollywood awaits!  YES!

                We got there bright and early.  $8 to park.  Whew!  To take up just a few square feet of space for just not even 24 hours?  Wow what a racket!  Lol  We followed the signs and found the park without a hitch.  It was a lot farther from the main road than we thought it was.  Don’t know why, but we both thought it was right over yonder just past the main road.  That’s where the sign is, but the park is quite a ways back.

                We parked up close in the handicapped parking in an end spot so we could unload the carts.  The ramps that we got at Harbor Freight worked perfect.  We were able to roll the cart right up and then roll them right back out without a problem at all.  We had backpacks that we hung on the back of our seats to hold water and other things we thought we might need through the day.  We’d also packed our filtered water bottles.  Great things.  Each filter will do 150 bottles of water.  They hold 20 ounces I think.  That’s about $22 worth if you get 24 16.9 oz. bottles on sale for $2.99.  Filters are about $3 each so it’s a lot cheaper than bottled water.

                Dollywood has a great rate for military, active and retired.  The total cost is $39.90 for one day.    Their regular rate is $57.25.  Before the day is over, if you plan to go a second day, you can upgrade to a season pass for $34.  So for $73.90 you can go again and again and again.  We actually planned to do that but decided that we would only do the one day.  There is SO much down there we wanted to experience all we could.

                And we

were at Dollywood!

                We picked a great time to be there.  They were having a Barbeque and Bluegrass celebration.  We saw so many awesome acts!  Loved it!  And the smells.  OH it was mouthwatering!  But something else impressed me even more.  I don’t think I could even count how many people, workers and guests, who noticed Cliff’s retired Air Force hat and came to thank him for his service.  It was really something to behold.  The people of the south really do appreciate the servicemen.  In fact, this was only the introduction to the appreciation.  Everywhere we went it continued to happen the entire week.  And at every performance we were at they outright honored the military.  Amazing.

That’s the Smoky Mountain String Band.  Cool guys.

                Next stop was just to glance at the outside of Dolly’s bus.  Oh wow.  I’d have loved to go in it, but I didn’t want to try the climbing just yet.  I’d had that shot in the knee on Wednesday and it seemed like it was doing a good job, but the day had just begun and I didn’t want to wreck myself just yet.

                            

                Next we caught a show.  It was inside a theater and we drove our buggies right on in.  The group was great.  And the gal in it told us to look for her brother in the 50’s street show.  Okie dokie.  Sounded like a plan.     

                   

               

                We ate burgers for lunch.  Nothing special but good.  I really enjoyed the little show we watched as we ate.  A 50’s street show called the Gem Tones, the one that gal had told us about.  Cute.

               

                Throughout the park were memorial signs for lots and lots of entertainers.  It was interesting to check them all out. 

               

                The next performance we came upon was a group called The Larkins.  Loved the fiddlin’!  Oh the singing was great too, but that fiddle…

                

At the end of their show they announced that there was going to be a cooking demonstration followed by a watermelon eating contest.  Cool!  Down home country fun!

                Too bad we’d already eaten.  We ran up on this super skillet of mmmmm good smellin’ grub after we got done with the Larkins’ show. 

                       

And the pie wasn’t bad either!  25 pounds of apple pie for $70.  You could feed a crowd for a week!

                          

                Just had to show you this cute picture.  I got such a kick out of the crafty things everywhere.

               

                Up the road a piece we found the replica house of Dolly’s childhood home.  It is unbelievable that they raised that many younguns in such a small, small space.  My hat’s off to that mama!

               

                I got a real kick out of the rocking area. 

               

                Since we were in carts, we felt the freedom to see something and go for it instead of count our steps and make use of each one.  We did a lot of ziggin’ and zaggin’ and saw a lot.  The wagon maker was cool.  There was a barn that had a guy making wagon wheels.  He’d stopped to talk to one family and we sort of sat by and listened. 

                The carts made by this company had something special about them.  They were all made by hand with an eagle eye of love and in each you would find an embedded penny.  The penny served more than one purpose.  It records the year of manufacture, it brings luck to the passengers and it ensures the wagon will always be worth something.  Neat, isn’t it?

               

Next we stopped in the beautiful little chapel that actually does hold services on Sundays.  But I think the next stop about did my cart in.  I was curious. 

It was at the tippy, tippy top of a steep, steep hill and I made my cart do it with all my weight.  I could almost hear it crying!  How could I resist though?  Log furniture!  Gorgeous stuff.  Everything from bedroom sets to outdoor swings.  I loved it all.  And there is a skunk outside as I’m writing this.  It’s a little hard to hold my nose and type!  I appreciate wildlife but this lil honey can find another place to roam!

Next we watched a show called wings of America.  Cool, informative bird show.  It was in the area that they have eagles who’ve been rescued and are healing or who have injuries that won’t allow them to be sent back to the wild.  I’ve never been so close to that beautiful bird.

         

No, the birds weren't in little bitty cages.  They actually had a mountainside all their own. 

                I think I appreciated the bird show more since our kids just got birds from a bird rescue place.  A friend of theirs has the rescue and let them adopt two of the birds.  Our extra son Brian has also adopted one.  Such beautiful birds.  They are slowly learning that they are in a place that will love them and are beginning to get back feathers where they had plucked themselves bald.  One of Kris and Darlene’s wasn’t an abused bird and had its feathers.  Its owners just couldn’t take care of it any more.

                We did go into the blown glass shop to have a look see and I couldn’t leave without a favorite ornament.  Butterflies is Dolly’s symbol and she sings about chasing rainbows.  I found a rainbow colored butterfly perched on a circle of clear glass that made me think about the song we heard earlier that I LOVE.   ~~ Will the circle be unbroken, by and by, Lord, by and by.  There’s a better home a-waiting, in the sky, Lord, in the sky.~~  The ribbon on it said Dollywood 2011 so it was a perfect souvenir of our trip.

 Supper was at a little place called Ham and Beans.  And that’s what I had.  Pulled ham and beans with cole slaw on the side and a little iron skillet of cornbread and butter.  Yummy.  The gals at the blown glass shop said we wouldn’t be sorry and they were right. 

   

While we were eating, I was watching the leather worker.  He was working on a belt.  If Cliff hadn’t just got a new belt, we’d have been in the market for one.

On our way to the show Sha-kon-o-hey (land of blue smoke) we did run into a funky chicken.

Wouldn’t it be fun to run around like that and watching all the little kids’ faces?  I really do like to interact in silly ways with the public.  Just don’t get the chance to do it much these days.

                My pictures of the show didn’t turn out good.  I really needed to use a flash and even though we were allowed, I felt like it would have taken away from the beauty of the show to sit back and flash away with as many pictures as I take.  The normal Joe only takes a couple.  I take hundreds.  It was a fantastic show.  So entertaining for all ages and full of education.

                I know I’ve missed a lot of what we saw, but if I told you everything there we’d be here for hours!  I loved the iron works.  I loved every single show we saw.  I loved the rides.  It was all good.  The only thing that sort of made the hairs on my neck stand up on edge was this weird old man.  Cliff had gone to get our Dixie Stampede tickets from the booth they had there (our next day’s adventure plan) and the old guy followed me and sat and kept talking.  I don’t mind talking to strangers ever.  But this guy?  He was just weird!  And his conversation went from odd to downright nasty!  Lol  Sooooo I put my buggy in “go” and went!  And wouldn’t you know that on our way out, HE FOUND ME!  Lol  Put the buggy in rabbit mode then and high tailed it to the van! 



Our Tennessee Vacation – part 1

Travel  day…

                Our drive down to Tennessee was pretty much uneventful.  The weather was good, the traffic was nothing to write home about.  Nothing out of the ordinary for the beginning of a fun filled week.  We didn't make many stops since we had food with us.

I actually was able to make the drive pretty easily.  The shot in the knee (cortisone) that the doctor gave me on Wednesday helped get me tuned up for an 8+ hour ride in the van.  We were packed tight, but left my seat with a bit off room behind it thinking I may need to tilt back and stretch out.  Nope.  Didn’t need to.  The knee didn’t act up at all.

When we got down to the area, we decided we should probably stop at the Welcome Center and pick up some information on things to do.  We had four shows booked, but wanted to be sure to sneak in some other fun things too.

While at the center, we set up to do one of those tour-schpeels about a new resort they are starting.    We thought, why not?  The hundred bucks we were getting to do it would buy the souvenirs we planned to get the kids.  We would be heading to the resort, just up the street, on Sunday.  Sounded good to me!

Next stop, the cabin.  We drove the main drag through Sevierville, Pigeon Forge and the Gatlinburg.  On our way twisting and turning and twisting and turning, we wondered would we ever get up there AND were we getting into bear country?  We were.  But we never saw even one. 

We finally made it to the cabin.  Not exactly what we thought we were going to, but it looked okay from afar.  Cliff got out of the car and fought his way though some killer spiderwebs to get to the key’s lock box.  Cool.  The combination worked.  We have a key!  Then CRAP! The key broke off in the lock!  NOW what?? 

I got out the information on the cabin and Cliff called the emergency number.  It was Friday evening and any office would have been unattended.  They answered and after a few minutes decided to send out a locksmith.  Well GOOD!  Shouldn’t have been much to think about!  They suggested we “run back into town to get a bite to eat.”  It was 8PM.  This area doesn’t really do 8PM.  They close up early in these here parts.

Down, down, down the twisty, winding roads.  Into Gatlinburg.  There seemed to be a couple places to eat, but maybe not.  Looked like everyone was pretty much heading back to their motels and cabins.  Okie dokie well Pigeon Forge seemed like a town a little more with it.  Through the mountains and on to Pigeon Forge.

We drove around a little bit and ended up stopping at a place called Old Mill area.  The main restaurant seemed super busy.  No dice.  We were tired!  Instead we went to the Old Mill Potteryhouse Café and Grille.  What a good choice!  The menu was a good one and the food was reasonable.  I loved the decorating.  Might be the pottery lover in me.  I wish I had felt more like exploring and that we’d gotten there a little sooner.  The restaurant was about to close as were the other little shops around. 

We both ordered the Old Mill Chopped Steak.  It was a nice 10 oz. piece of meat topped with onions and mushrooms, served with mashed potatoes and cinnamon apples.  Mmm. 

             

            What a surprise we got too!  We were sitting and trying to relax a bit when this man came up and asked if we were the people in the grey mini-van.  Why yes.  We were.  “Did you know all the doors are wide open?”  Huh?  Wha what?  We had EVERYthing in that van.  Computers, cameras, all our belongings, our ECV carts.  Whoa boy.  Cliff got up and went out and sure enough, while he was sitting, keys in his pocket, he somehow hit the buttons and opened up the doors!  He closed it up and thanks to the couple who were sitting with their ice cream on the bench next to it, no one got in and took anything.

               

                I had hoped to shop for a little piece of pottery but it was late, we were tired, and the sidewalks were rolled up by the time we were done eating.  I put it on our possibilities list for our spare moments.  Didn’t happen.  But, now that I’m home and able to get on the computer, I see the prices were a bit out of my league anyhow.

               

                Time to head back to the cabin.  Boy these mountain roads were a little trickier in the dark!  But we made it.  After what we’d experienced so far, I told Cliff to check it out before I even started to get out of the van.  He opened the door and the inside seemed very nice. 

                When you walked into the cabin, you entered into the kitchen.  Nice big kitchen too.  It had all the kitchen things anyone should need for a Smoky Mountain getaway.  The table’s top came off and it was a bumper pool table.  Never did use it, but we had it.  The living area was just beyond the kitchen.  The area was split about even.  There was a fireplace, a TV on DirecTV and a leather couch (sofabed) and chair.  So far so good. 

The other side of the room had a door that opened to the porch.  On your left when you went out the door was the hot tub.  Not new, in fact the cover was pretty crappy and shed, but it would do the trick.  To the right was a porch swing, two wood rockers and three white stacking chairs.  This whole porch was surrounded by the woods and couldn’t be seen from the roads.  Privacy.

Back inside, we checked out the bedroom.  VERY big bedroom with kingsize bed, TV on a little corner shelf up high, dresser and two side tables.  The little lamps didn’t work very good, but oh well.  The Jacuzzi was very big and in an alcove off the bedroom.  There was a little cabinet there that had the sheets in it for the sofabed.  The bathroom wasn’t anything special.  Tub, sink, toilet.  And one and a half rolls of toilet paper.  Better go get extra.  We were staying a week.

Our only issue was it was warm inside.  And the windows didn’t have screens.  If there had been screens we could have opened up and cooled the place off.  We turned the thermostat down and figured we’d get cool.  Didn’t happen.  The thing froze up and continued to freeze up all…week…long!  UGH it got to nearly 100!

We unloaded, plugged our carts in, then hit the hot tub.  Nice.  Wow I wish we had one at home.

If you’re curious and want to check out the cabin more, it’s called Together Always and will be found in the cabin rental websites.  I just did a google check and it comes up if you type in Together Always cabin Gatlinburg.

Monday and Tuesday all rolled into one

Have I told you about our sweet little guy CJ lately? He is such a doll! He's growing so fast and really beginning to show us his little personality. He coos and goos and smiles and giggles. I love when he goos back whenever his mama calls him a good boy. It's like he's agreeing...gooo gooo. :-)

 

My plans for this last week of summer with the grandkids is taking shape one minute at a time. Somehow I need to get with Casey for her to do a patio block. I was wanting to do them with some of the kids tomorrow but I don't see that in the plans. Thursday is out because it's supposed to rain. Hmmm. Got to workit in. Kennedy's last day here is Friday. Casey goes back to Florida on Monday. Wow. Time has flown!

 

I'm anxious to bake with Kennedy and hopefully Morgan tomorrow. The plan is for Morgan to spend the night as far as I know but I haven't talked to her Nan and Pap to see if it's okay with them. Don't know if Corry did or not. Kennedy will call her tomorrow and see what's up. My plan is to make chocolate yummy cake with them. It's what I'd like and Kennedy too. She said she was hoping for chocolate for her birthday this year.

 

We got all the reservations handled for the shows we're going to on our trip. We're doing Dixie Stampede, Comedy Barn, Hatfield and McCoy's and the Murder Mystery Theater. We'll also be doing Dollywood for two days but those tickets will be purchased there. That's where we get the best discount. I can't wait!! I LOVE SHOWS!!

 

Our cabin is paid for too. First and last payments have gone through. We'll get the directions and key code by next Wednesday. I'm excited. A jacuzzi AND a hot tub! A porch with two wood rockers AND a porch swing to look out over the mountain. A fireplace if it gets chilly. Sounds like heaven.

 

There are a few other places to see/do while we're in the Gatlinburg area. I've got Cooters on my list. I want to take a picture by the General Lee. And it'll be fun to check out the Dukes of Hazzard Museum. Fanny Farkles looks like a fun lunch stop. Not so much the amusement stuff but foot long corn dogs are right up our alley. I'd like to ride the sky lift if I'm not too fat and the space needle too. Might even eat up top at the Flying Saucer Italian Bistro. Their menu looks like they have reasonable normal foods like wings and pizza and calzones.

 

We do want to check out some of the local cuisine too and I'm thinking a trip to the Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery would be fun. We don't drink, but it'd be fun to check the place out and bring home some little treats for those in the family who do.

 

One of the places on my DO DO DO list is the Incredible Christmas Place. I love all things Christmas. It's really a must. And we try to add an ornament to our tree each time we make a special trip that reminds us of the trip. I'm sure they'll have something very special there.

 

~~~~~

 

Our first stop yesterday was to the AAA office to order a trip tik for our vacation. We don't need the maps really, though they're good to have. What I really wanted was the books. I like to follow along in the trip tik and books as we're traveling reading what all there is to say about all the areas we pass through. A little education never hurts. I got in that habit when the kids were little trying to keep them always learning. Ya. I was kind of a bore as a mom probably. We also went on back road adventures following the trails of the historical signs. Aren't you glad you weren't our kid? lol

 

We got lunch yesterday at Bellacino's. Love their grinders. We got the Italian grinder and a small pizza to split. It was enough to be

both lunch and supper. Plus we texted grinder to 639227 and got a free quarter grinder for Papa's lunchbox.

 

We went in to check and see if we could schedule my van to have an oil change and check on a couple other minor little problems. They scheduled us for today.

 

While we were in that area, I made a trip into Hobby Lobby. There just aren't many places around these days to buy fabric. They had the fleece I was needing 30% off plus I found two hunks of it on their clearance shelves. I also got some marked down yarn and some ribbon to make special bows for 50% off. I love sales!

 

We went from that area over to Papa's podiatrist appointment. Not

good news. He has been having a lot of pain in the foot he had surgery on after crushing his heel. Turns out the screw has begun to push its way through the bone and is very close to popping through the skin. They are scheduling him for surgery after we're back from our trip. Good thing we found him an electric cart too! He wouldn't have been able to walk.

 

When we got done at the doctor, we made a trip to the Apria office. This change in medical coverage has really become a huge pain! They can't seem to get it all straight. Apria was the medical supply company the old insurance used too BUT ... They have to have new orders from the new doctors. sigh Nothing seems to be falling into place like it should.

 

From there we went to Ravenna to check on Papa's mom. She fell the other day and broke her upper arm. I HATE how the medical CRAP is handled these days!!! She didn't press her medical alert button. Another bad decision medically. She should not be on her own. BUT she cannot be qualified for help! WHAT THE HECK!

On the way home, I spoke with one of the kids on the phone. He had gotten a message that our next door neighbor had died in the morning. HOW?? Can't be! She's MUCH too young! There wasn't anyone I knew to ask so I did a little computer investigating when I got home and indeed she had. No details. It's really shocking. Life is not to be taken lightly! Make use of every minute! Make sure those you love know it! And DON'T be revengeful and DON'T hold grudges! I'm sure she didn't wake up knowing she was going to die that day. You don't know to make amends because... So...just keep your relationships running smoothly.

 

We needed a little something to soothe us. Ice Cream! Yep. We wove around until we got to Stricklands. I AM SO GLAD WE DID!!! The flavor of the day was grape! My favorite! Oh fer joy fer joy. A big cone and a quart to take home!

 

We were just getting ready to get off the highway at our exit when we got a call from Rusty. He had been working on his garage all day so we turned around and went over to see what all he'd done. I hadn't been able to do a lot of walking all day but I did manage to check out his work and go inside and see Emmi for a few minutes.

 

Next stop was home. My knee was such a wreck. Ice, raising it. Had to baby it all night long. I got up to pack Papa's lunch and grab some cantaloupe for dinner for myself. Then I sat my butt down and relaxed. I'm continuing with my knitting to get scarves made to sell up at the Browns games. My goal was November but I was asked to have some ready for mid October. Cool beans. Can do.

 

~~~~~

 

Today I had SO much on my list. Didn't do much of it. I'm still babying the knee. Most of the rest of the body has gotten tolerable. But that knee...

 

I did a lot of sitting in place activities. Not until after I went up to the attic to do a scrapbook page and purge a bag full. I'm going to keep trying to purge little by little by little. Sooner or later it will get done.

 

I got all the week's coupons cut. Haven't filed them yet but that's next. If they're cut, they'll get used.

 

Next, I flipped my chair over and started doing some work behind it. I had a couple bags of winter clothes for Miss Em that needed a home. The trunk behind my chair wasn't being used completely so I opted to put them there.

 

While I had the chair flipped, I went through some shoes I had in a storage hamper. I found out they do all still fit but they don't feel at all good on my feet. I'll probably take them on our trip anyhow.

 

After I dejunked the blue trunk, it was time for a potty break. I decided to go down instead of up. While I was down, I decided to do a quick check in the freezers. I found frozen pie shell and fruit. Sounds like a pie to me. I also have five apples needing used. Might end up doing apple rather than something from frozen fruit.

 

I cleared email and tamed the spam box. All seems fine now. It's a bummer to have a build up of 100 or more pieces of mail no matter what "box" they're in.

 

Molds are high today and I sure can tell! It's been sneeze city all day long. I hate when that happens. Molds also make me hurt. And it's not bad enough they're in the air outside, when I came up for my shower tonight I got totally miffed. The shower curtain and shower chair got covered in mold spots over night! grrrrr

 

I can't find my daughter's recipe for stuffed pepper soup but I did successfully find one online. I'm wanting to make that probably tomorrow. I'm in the mood and I've got leftover rice to use up. Sounds like a plan. On another trip down to the bathroom, I grabbed some ground meat to use in it.

 

My sister called last night AND tonight and wished me an early happy birthday. lol She cracks me up. I enjoy talking to her. We really don't need an excuse to talk the night away.

 

Our flowers have sure had a rough time with this heat. I had to do some transplanting and combining to come up with some decent looking pots. I want the yard cleaned up and decent in case the wake is next door. It would be terrible of us to have our yard looking depressing. Tomorrow Papa is supposed to finish the mowing. We should look decent enough then.

 

I did a quick frig clean today when I was doing the dishes. It needed it. I got a good inventory of what's there to be used. Still on that use-it-up mission of mine. :-) Also made a jug of orange juice.

 

Before settling in to knit this evening, I went outside and swept off all the "helicopters" from the deck. It was covered! And when I looked up into the tree, I saw we've got plenty more to fall.

I'm going to hang up for now. lol I want to see if I can find out the Mega numbers for Tuesday night and I also want to see if I can find out why about 30 cop cars blared down the street in front of Corry and Angel's late last night. Couldn't find anything earlier because it was too soon for them to post it.

 

Hugs to one and all...

 

~~Mama Sage

 

I was going to put a quote on here but realized the ones I wanted to add shouldn't be added right now. I'll find good ones for next time. ...I hope...

I'm so full of good intentions!

And I just never manage to get on here and blog! Man. I miss it! I want to blog and honestly I need to blog. Somehow when I blog away the details of my day it makes me feel more accomplished. Like this ol' wrecked body of mine really isn't completely worthless. It makes me feel more human and more connected. I think for personal therapy's sake I should blog. I should MAKE MYSELF come up here each night and weedle out the minutes to blog. I type fast. My thoughts are what comes out. Nothing too deep. lol It really shouldn't seem like a chore. It didn't used to. It's just one of those "habits" I broke and need to regain. All habits are not bad.

 

Today was kind of fun even though I was pretty wrecked. You see yesterday I fell down the steps. Let me back up a minute here.

 

~~~~~

 

Saturday -- It was a busy day that started earlier than we'd hoped. We hoped to get several hours of sleep in the morning. We didn't have Emmi so we didn't need to be up early. Kennedy and I had stayed up watching things on TV and Papa had worked.

 

Bright and early (for us) we started getting phone calls and texts. Nothing to make us mad or upset. In fact it was COOL finding out Kris and Darlene had gotten two very nice birds. Someone Kris knows rescues birds and they got two who needed homes. I couldn't believe that one is 3' tip of the head to foot! Wow! THESE are BIRDS! I can't wait to meet Zazu and Chico.

 

The other call was for us to pick up presents that got left in their hiding place in the closet on our way to our grandkids' birthday party. We were going to be celebrating Kennedy, Zach and Haydn's birthdays.

I was in charge of making the gift certificates for the gift Corry and Angel got the boys. Tickets to see the Browns in November. I got it all designed and wanted special paper to print it on. It was on the shelving unit on the stair landing to the attic. No biggie. That's my craft room, my hide away, my place of peace and relaxation.

 

I wanted to come down carefully because my knee had been acting up. (I have an orthopedic appt. on the 24th.) Sideways, one foot carefully followed by the other. And then BLAM! down I went. My bad leg point UP the steps and my butt came down hitting a step for each cheek all the way down. I knocked over a 5 gallon bottle of water at the bottom and thankfully it didn't spill. But oh how I hurt!!! Generally I bust out laughing when I get hurt thinking about how it probably looked. This time I sat there in pain wondering how many parts of me I broke.

 

Kennedy heard the thunder and came to see what I'd done. She wanted to run out for Grampa and I told her not to bother him. He was out recleaning the van. Oh THAT was another fiasco. That happened during the week. The back window of the van shattered. What a mess!

 

Anyhow. I sat at the computer and finished up the certificates. Next was a "card" to camouflage the certificate so the boys couldn't read through the envelope. Got them done too and realized being done meant I had to go down yet another flight of stairs. Zheeze! Living in a three story home is just so....so....eventful!

Got downstairs and got started on the fruit salad. The watermelon was disappointing. It sounded hollow like it should and it was horrible! Not ripe at all! But I used what I could of it. This salad had

• watermelon
• cantaloupe
• kiwi
• strawberries
• blueberries
• bananas
• mango
• pineapple
• mandarin oranges
• red grapes
• green grapes
• papaya

I think that's all. Pretty sure. It was good!

 

We loaded up and headed over to Kathy and Calvin's. They have a huge yard and a pool. Great place for gatherings. The kids had Kris' karaoke set up too so we were in for fun. Hamburger and hotdog picnic, cake, music...who could ask for more?

 

By the time we were ready to leave I could hardly move. I'd gone in to the bathroom and hardly made it back down the steps and outside. They got out Calvin's electric chair and I wheeled out to the van.

When we got home, I decided that the first trip up the steps would be my final for the day. Pain had set up in every inch of the body.

 

Kennedy ended up staying with Kris and Darlene. After she came to pick up clothes, up the stairs with ice bags and aspirin. Oh ya.

 

~~~~~

 

Today we had Emmi. I tried taking it easy. Did pretty good protecting myself from over doing it again.

We got a call around noon that Papa's mom had fallen. She fell on Saturday but didn't press her life alert button. From what I understand, she laid on the floor for several hours. Typical of an older person, she didn't understand how the button works. She figured why press it since the people who she'd talk to didn't have a key to get in and help her.

 

Kennedy's end of the season zoo picnic was today. And it rained. ~~sigh~~ Brandi went to meet her after she got off work and she brought her home to keep us from making another trip out. Made me happy because then I got to see Brandi today too!

 

After she gathered her things, we took Kennedy over to her other grandparents'. She's staying there a couple days before summer's over and she's back to her mom's starting school. The ride was okay but I did have ice on my knee. It's always what gets it the worst when I get hurt.

 

Once we dropped her off, we went to see what was up with Mom Sage. April had taken her to the ER. She has broken her upper arm and has to immobilize it. This is going to be a little tough on her. She's not used to not doing. She may move slow but she does move. She doesn't sit still for long periods of time.

 

This evening we had Em until 8:00 or so. She's so fun! She getting to the huggy lovey stage where for no reason at all she'll run up, give hugs and say I lub you. And she's got names for all her animals and gives them all love too. And then she tosses them. No Emmi. We don't throw. Trow? We don't throw. Trow?

 

After texting with my girlie this evening (Kennedy always texts when she can't seem to fall asleep.) I came on up to go to bed. But...I hurt. So falling to sleep will be a real trick. I took Excederin, all I have for pain. Not helping much. I have a sweet friend who offered a massage, but I don't want to get started with something I can't continue with. I'd want to head to the massage therapist Anne all the time and it's not covered on our medical.

 

I think I'll check back on some of my blog notes and see what still could be added here. My "recipes." lol I laugh every time you guys out there call them that. They're just food fixin ideas.

 

~~~~~

 

From Aug 4....

 

This was a fun day so far. BUT carpet cleaning is still in my future. I got so far as to LOOK at the machine and imagine myself taking the child safety lock off the cabinet where the cleaning solution is. Now. If I can get up the want-to before I go to bed tonight.... I will. It's necessary!!

 

I started out the day with my normal checking email and such as I bring my body to a sitting position and get my back ready to actually walk. If I don't just sit and relax on the bed a little while and instead jump and move, I'm done for the day. It's humid today so it's not been easy physically for me. The knee and other trouble spots always give me fits when it's humid. But...I make it.

 

I had several baskets of laundry in the office that needed to be put away. Did that before heading downstairs. Did a bit of towel sorting as I put them away. What I really need to sort is my clothes. I don't see that happening for a while. lol Too much work!

 

When I went downstairs, I got on the computer and printed out this month's R Store coupons. Well this two week's. They put up new ones every two weeks. There wasn't a lot I'd use, but I figured I'd find something. Missy had gone in the morning with a friend. Then Darlene called me and said she wanted to go too. I met

her, Kris and Casey down there and shared coupons.

 

It was a good trip even though I was dodging the golf traffic. Yep the Bridgestone Invitational Golf Tournament is held here in Akron. It really generates the traffic and it was all right in my path. No matter

which path I chose, it would either be the outright traffic or the parking areas.

 

I picked up half gallons of Welch's grape juice for 1.19, big jugs of OJ for 1.99, little debbie's for everyone's lunches for 2 / .99, Pepperidge farm fishy honey whole wheat sandwich thins for 1.19, marie callendar's pie shells for 1.19 I think (I make good crust but just don't have the want to right now), boxes of fiber one chocolate chip walnut muffins for 1.29 I think it was and huge bags of tortilla chip rounds for a buck a bag. Can't remember what else I found at the moment. OH big bags of already made, individually wrapped pork or chicken egg rolls for 4.99. Oh and sugar free cool whip for .89 and a big ol' thing of butter flavor popcorn salt for our popcorn machine when we set it up for .89.

 

Came home from there, unloaded, went down and put things that will be in the basement storage away, started a load of sheets so I can finish up all the laundry and sat to relax a minute. Right now I'm sitting in the dark! The timer on the light got messed with and it hasn't come on yet. Oh well. What do I need lights for?

Soon I'll be leaving to pick Kennedy up from her 12 hour day at the zoo. She did her regular day of volunteering plus an extra few hours for membership night. Missy, Rusty, Cait and the girls went to visit. She was hoping someone would come say hi. When I pick her up, I'll be picking up Missy and Melanie too and taking them back home.

 

Sometime this evening I need to fit in making Papa's lunch! lol Don't know what yet, but I'll make it come together somehow.

 

~~~~~

 

I didn't mention Corry and some of their kids came over to make Kennedy's birthday present. It was cool watching them working together to make her a drawing board she can carry back and forth from her mom's and our place.

 

~~~~~

 

Lunch Friday....

 

Salad...

Romaine

Sugar snap peas

Vine ripe tomatoes

Cucumber

Scallion

Green pepper

Carrots

Celery

Dried blueberries

Dried cranberries

Pine nuts

Herbed yogurt cheese

 

Wraps...

Herb wrap, cream cheese, turkey, muenster

Herb wrap, cream cheese, ham, Swiss

 

Peach cobbler home made muffins. I printed the recipe from the computer. If you want to hunt it up, I'm pretty sure it was from Southern Plate. They were extra yummy!!

 

~~~~~

Given the choice between the experience of pain and nothing,

I would choose pain.

~~William Faulkner

~~~~~