Daily Grind

Well, I think I am back into the full swing of things... finally! I still am not 100% but I am darn close. Yesterday I was able to go to work and talk all day with minimal coughing and then I was able to go to the gym and work out!! Woo hoo!!

I am still loving the weather down here... I still haven't had to pull out my winter jackets. It has been averaging a high of around 60 degrees lately... not too shabby! I have heard that there will be a couple months that I may want my jacket... not looking forward to that but then I guess it will still make me appreciate summer!

Where's the Turkey???

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Well, last night I went to make the pumpkin pies for our Thanksgiving dinner today. I made the pies, put them in the oven, waited the 50 minutes like the directions said but they were no where near being done. So, I waited another 15 minutes... then another 15 minutes, and another 15 minutes... still the pies are not done... hmm. We finally figured out that the oven, although it was warm, really wasn't the required 350 degrees to cook the pies. The day before the big Thanksgiving dinner, where we have a huge turkey, the oven decides that it no longer wants to work! We use the oven about once a month... and this is the month it decides to die!! So, the Thanksgiving day plans changed... last night at 11:30pm... when we finally established that we wouldn't be fixing the oven anytime soon we went out to Kroger and picked up some new pies and some ingredients to cook the turkey in the slow cooker. It isn't quite dinner time yet so the turkey isn't ready... but it sure smells good! By the way... the pies that I made didn't go to waste... I went into the kitchen last night and found one of them eaten and a note from the "Thanksgiving Day Fairy" thanking me for the pie... although I do suspect 2 of my roommates...

This morning I woke up and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving parade!! And then I decided that I needed to do something while I watched the show so, in my normal Thanksgiving weekend tradition, I put the Christmas tree up! It is so pretty!!! As soon as I take some pictures I will post them with the rest of my pictures.

I am finally feeling better!! For the first day I can talk with out coughing... although I still am coughing! I am taking the medicine from the doctor still and it is really helping!!

Long time... no blog!

Sorry I have been away so long. This week I only worked 3 days... and those 3 days were extremely busy. I did about as much work in those 3 days as I normally do in a week. On Wednesday I started to feel sick (I was really hoping that it was allergies).

On Thursday I finally got my license changed. I took the day off in order to get that done and it only took a couple of hours. Down here they have offices that just do licenses. I got there a little before 9 (they open at 9) and I was at least 60th in line. I figured I would be there all day but I was lucky... by about 10:30 or 11:00am I was done. After that I went to get my plates for my car but was unable to do so because my dad has co-signed the car for me and he has to sign a letter stating that it is alright for me to have the car changed to Georgia. So, I will probably have to take more time off work to go there again because they are only open 8-5 Monday thru Friday... which is when I work.

I wasn't feeling very good on Thursday either and I Friday I really knew I had a cold. I spent all weekend at home... I went out once with some roommates to eat and to get groceries. We went to Wal-Mart so I looked at fake Christmas trees also... found one that I like so next weekend I can put it up!! Yesterday I woke up with no voice... hoping that it would come back by this morning but it didn't. I am going to figure out where the closest med center is and go there later today.

So, that really gets you back up to date. Sorry I have been away so long!!

Added Link

I just recieved an email from my friend Monique. Her and I worked together at the Northwood help desk. She sent me the link to her blog so I have added it here. Take a look!

I am slowly getting back into my gym routine. I went last night and was able to run without pain for the first time in a while! Woo hoo!! I am still seeing the chiropractor but will be slowing seeing him less... which means I am getting stronger (very good thing!)!

Monday... again!

Welcome back to Monday...

I had a very fun weekend but really didn't do a whole lot. The only time I left the house was to get my oil changed in my vehicle but for the most part my roomates and I played games.

This is the week that I am going to transfer all my vehicle/identification to Georgia... I have taken Thursday off (since that is the only day that I can do that in my county) and hopefully will be able to get that taken care of all on one day... wish me luck!!

Pappadeaux

I was able to visit with Grandma and Grandpa E last night. It was really nice to see them again although it had only been a few days since I last saw them. We went out to Pappadeaux to eat. We actually got there at the perfect time because it wasn't too busy yet. We all had fish... yum... and there was so much for me that I could only eat half of it so I will have dinner for tonight too!! By the time we left there were people waiting to be seated... I have been there a few times before and it is quite big but this was the first time that I saw people waiting to be seated.

Christmas Vacation

I had so much fun seeing everyone on my Mom's side of the family!! It was nice because the whole family was able to get together for the Christmas celebration. We opened presents in the morning... I got some really nice gifts!! We ate dinner in a diner in the town... it was actually like a Thanksgiving dinner (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn...). We then played cards for the rest of the night. The girls all played one game that they related to the card game Golf (although we only called it crap) it was basically a game of luck... I lost every game but it was fun. We then played euchre and I lost them all again!! We had so much fun though. My Grandma just sent me some family pictures so I will try to post them up to the picture site in just a minute.

Picture...

Here is Derek, Cliff and I from the hike... 

I was playing with a tool to add pictures to my journal... just testing with one of the pictures from the hike...


I also have gotten my boarding pass for my flight this afternoon. The flight number is 258... from Atl to Flint (just in case you are curious). I should be arriving in Flint at 5:55pm. I have my seat already too... I was able to pick it online... I will be by a window... woo hoo!! I like to be able to look outside while flying, it is always so beautiful!

Um... Merry Christmas??

This weekend I am going up to Michigan to have Christmas with my Mom's side family. We have been doing Christmas around this time of year for the past few years because it seems to work out as the best time to have everyone get together. I am very excited to see everyone!! Tonight will consist of packing so I decided to see what the weather is going to be like so I can pack accordingly. I went to weather.com and here is what it told me:

Fri Nov 05 Partly Cloudy 48°/38°
Sat Nov 06 Partly Cloudy 55°/43°
Sun Nov 07 Few Showers 54°/33°

I thought ouch... but then those of you living there year round this year probably think that isn't too bad... but it has been so warm here that I am going to have to bring a couple of layers!! But... I am still excited to be visiting!!

Changed again...

Sorry I was so busy yesterday at work that I was unable to update this blog. Luckly with the election today the phones are quiter this morning so I am able to play around a little bit.

Yesterday lunch though was really fun... I was able to see Uncle Mike and Uncle Ed. They were driving from Florida to Michigan and they came thru Atlanta right at my lunch break so I took them out to Folks (a southern restaurant). It was a lot of fun to see them!! They did take some pictures so they should be on Uncle Mike's blog once he has time to add them(linked on the side). They also gave me an I Love NY tee shirt!! Very cool!! I wore it last night once I got home!!

Pictures from the Hike

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Just a note to tell you that I have added pictures from the hike to my pictures link... they are beautiful pictures!! We had the most fun on the hike yesterday. It was a beautiful day for a hike... it was mid to upper 70's and it was partly sunny for most of the hike. (In the last mile it did sprinkle but we didn't mind at all). We ended up going about 13 miles and were in the woods for about 8 hours. Needless to say I am very sore today!!

The Amicalola Falls were absolutely beautiful and I took quite a few pictures of the falls. The falls were in the first mile of the approach to the Appalachian Trail. We ended up walking up the back side of the falls so we saw very little of the falls on our way in. We did go to the top and saw the view from the top. We then walked about 5 miles of the approach to the Appalachian Trail. We then circled to a lodge where we stopped and ate our packed lunch. We then followed the lodge path back to the falls and then walked down the front of the Amicalola Falls. The most difficult part was the approach to the Appalachian Trail because it went up and down all of the hills instead of walking around them... but it all was a lot of fun!!

We are looking to go back to the trail and hike from the lodge to the beginning of the Appalachian Trail at Springer Mountain in a few weeks. The path from the lodge to Springer Mountain is about the same distance as the waterfall to the lodge so we would be able to do the path from the lodge to Springer Mountain and back in one day. If we were to start where we did yesterday it would be a good 2 day walk from the falls to Springer Mountain.

Enjoy looking at the pictures... I sure enjoyed taking them!!

(Quick) Update

I have added pictures to my link and I love this camera (one of my roomates)... the pictures came out beautifully!!! P.S. you will want to look in the In the ATL folder.

I am planning on taking the camera with us on the hike... maybe I will be able to add some of those as well.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

So, I probably will not update this thing again until Monday so... Happy Halloween!!


Tomorrow I am planning on going hiking with my roomates. We are looking at going to the Amicalola Falls. It should be a lot of fun!!

Travis Tritt

Well, I found out something interesting for all you country fans... I found out that Travis Tritt grew up in the county that I now live in. There is a road down here called Travis Tritt highway that is (obviously) named after him... silly me, I had driven by the "highway" (2 laned road) before but didn't put that together! Oh well, a little tidbit of trivia!

Last night I went to the gym... when I walked in my trainer and the doctor were sitting right at the front entry way so I talked to them for a little while... they are really nice people... we discussed my neck and things that I should be doing to help make it stronger and to help get rid of the pain. I will probably work with the doctor for a little while in getting my neck stronger so I don't hurt it again.

Did anyone else look at the eclipse last night?? It was pretty cool to see... it turned all red. I was watching the Red Sox game last night and would go outside to see all the phases of the eclipse... very cool!!

Can you find it?

Can you spot the 3 diffrences between these 2 pictures? Click here to look. Let me know...

Weekend fun!

On Thursday night I went to work out at the gym... I did about 2 weight exercises and my neck and head started to really hurt... my head started to throb and got really hot and I felt like I was going to pass out. Now, I had felt much less but somewhat similar pain before when working out but it was a lot less and after a minute or two of sitting it didn't really hurt anymore and I could move on. Only one time did it hurt long term but that was only for a few hours and then the pain went away. So, I tried to do another exercise but the pain was too much so I decided to leave... but before I left I stopped to my trainer and told him the pain I had been feeling... he wanted me to come in the next day and see the chiropractor but I had to work all day and I was going to North Carolina the next day to see some of the mountains and to do some gemstone mining (something I hadn’t done before). So the trainer stated he would talk with the chiropractor and he just wanted me to call in to see what he said.

I drove home and on the way my head started hurting so bad that tears just started flowing, I started to feel dizzy, and as the night went on the pain got much worse. I couldn’t find a comfortable position to lie down, I was taking medication, and I was just in pain. I was lucky because one of my roommates went out and got me some stronger medication and a heating pad for my neck. The combo made it so I could at least sleep part of the night.

The next morning the alarm went off and I opened my eyes and thought… hmm… it doesn’t hurt so bad… and then I sat up. All the pain came rushing back!! So, I took a shower and then tried to get ready for work but the pain was just too much. I called my trainer back and surprisingly he answered the phone (it was about 6:00am) and said that the chiropractor wasn’t scheduled to be in until 9:00 but he was going to find out if he could come in earlier. I then called my manager and let him know that at best I was going to be to work late… when my trainer got back to me he stated that he couldn’t get a hold of the chiropractor but he would be in at 9am… I stated that I would be too.

I was there at 9am and started talking to them, and then chiropractor did some testing and cracking and stated that I had pulled most of the muscles in the back of my neck. He stated that I should ice it (20 minutes on, 20 minutes off), take medication if necessary and he gave me a few stretches to do daily. My head was still in so much pain that I decided that I would just take the rest of the day off sick and ice my neck like crazy… the last thing I wanted to do with my headache was deal with crabby people!!

For the next few hours I slept (since I really didn’t sleep well then night before) and iced my neck. By 3:00pm I decided that I still wanted to go up to N. Carolina (I asked the doctor and he said it would be fine to go) so I got my stuff together and met one of my roommates at their work and we drove up… we met their parents up there and found a hotel room and I continued to ice the whole weekend but on Saturday morning my neck finally started feeling better (but I continued to take Tylenol because my head was still sore).

Saturday we went gemstone mining… it was definitely a different experience (probably similar to panning for gold. We had planned on going to one mine (Sheffield – I think was the name of the place) but after going to the town’s information center and talking to the guy behind the counter we decided to go to Rose Creek (I think that was the name… again… I am so terrible at remembering names). It was closer but we missed the road to the place so we ended up going a ways out of our way… it wasn’t a big deal though because we were in the foothills of the mountains and the leaves on the trees were turning color so it was actually quite pretty.

When we got there we learned how to “mine” for our gemstones. They had a shed that they had brought a mix of dirt, clay and mud to, we filled our buckets full of dirt and then sat down by some water with a sifter and sifted the mix thru the water and there would be some gemstones still in the sifter. It was kinda cool to see all the dirt and then to remove it and see some very pretty stones… some were large, most were small but all were a lot of fun to see come out of the dirt!! We were there for a few hours but after a while it gets tough on your back and hands (some of the clay and mud was hard to sift out).

There was also a Pumpkin Festival going on so we decided to check that out… it ended up being a few booths of arts and crafts, 1 folk style band and a few food booths… we got there about 4:30 and it ended at 5:00… but by that time we were all pretty hungry so we found a restaurant, and then went back to the hotel room. There was a swimming pool in the hotel so we all went down there.

In all it was a very fun weekend… and seeing all the color was so beautiful… so much so that we are hoping to go hiking in the Georgia Mountains this weekend… hopefully the weather will cooperate!! It has been pretty nice down here weather wise though!!

I did take a few pictures over the weekend... once I figure out how to get them off the camera I will add them to my link!

Dave and Busters

Last night I went with one of my roommates to Dave and Busters and we were going with some other people from their work. I have been there before and it is basically an adult arcade but also has a restaurant and bar in it. Last time I was there I had a lot of fun... well, like most places in Atlanta their work staggers hours of operation for all the people so we sat at the bar and waited for everyone to get there. By the time the majority of the people got there it was after 8:00pm and we were so hungry and we just found out that Dave and Busters doesn't take reservations so we would be waiting a while for a table for the amount of people that we had. My roommate and I were so hungry we decided that we would just go and eat... we were seated at a table and waiting for about 15 minutes and the whole time we were sitting there we didn't see a waiter... not that they just didn't come to our table, we didn't even see them walk by... so we decided it was time to go.

We left there and went to Joe's Crab Shack. It was a very cute place to eat and I know they have them all over... but it was my first time going to one. The only problem was most of the food is fried so I ended up getting chicken... but it was very tasty (and they got our food out to us fairly quickly which was a huge plus since we were so hungry)!!

Even though we had to wait for food for so long it was a very fun night!! It was also very cool to meet some more new people!!

The Diva Prayer...

I got this from a friend of mine here at work and thought it was hilarious!! Enjoy!!

The Diva Prayer...

Armani
Who Art in Neiman's
Hollowed by thy shoes
Thy Prada come
Thy Shopping done
On Rodeo
As it is in Paris
Give us this day, Our Visa Gold
And forgive us our balance
As we forgive those who charge us interest
Lead us not into Penny's
And deliver us from Sear's
For thine is the Chanel, the Gaultier and the Versace
For Dolce and Gabbana

Amex

Allergies

I can tell it is the change of seasons... as it gets colder out I like to have more blankets on the bed... and I pull out all the sweaters that have been in hiding... but pulling it all out means that I am bringing with it about 6 months of dust... Ugh... alleregies are back. Funny thing is... it still really isn't too cold here... just cold enough to get the change of seasons started.

Welcome to Tuesday... thunderstorms are in the forecast for today and I don't remember where I last put my umbrella. I may need to look for it at lunch (hopefully it is in my car). I get made fun of every once in a while because it is bright pink and quite small (hey, I have had it since I was 8) but it still keeps the rain off my head (that is when I can find it)!

I am hoping to get my hair cut soon... I am growing the dye out of my hair so I have cut my hair short and am trying to get it cut regularly. The last time I got it cut was a few months ago. The only problem is I don't have a salon that I like to go to here yet... have to keep looking I guess!

PS... thanks Mom and Jason for the comments!!

Comments, again.

When I changed my background to the Halloween one the comments section went away... must have been that the template just didn't add the comment section... so, after a little bit of research, I have found a way to add the comments back in. Enjoy!!