rainrainrainrain and big trucks

tuesday, december 8, 2009

that’s it, im done.

i left brenda’s house on the mountain this morning and met christina at her house.  i followed her to the motor vehicle driver services place so she could  a new driver’s license.  i read books about carrots and dinosaurs to peter & james while she went in and took care of that.  after goodbyes, i left, in the rain, and drove, in the rain, crossing two state lines, in the rain.

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and this is how i felt about all that rain, and the big trucks that think they own the road:

yes, im cranky. im tired and i am sore from head to toe from the stress of this day’s driving.  this trip has been an experience of a lifetime (!!), but days like today, and trucks like i have encountered (one tried to run me off the road today, again) have taken me to a cranky place.

i miss my kids, i miss the best boyfriend ever, and i hate this cold cold rain.

i am in whytheville, virginia tonight at the days inn.  i treated myself to shoney’s for a nice sit down dinner, and am updating my blog.

tomorrow i will be home. i could almost cry.

on a hike with the boys!

monday, december 7, 2009

today, i went over to christina’s and we took the boys to a new hike spot they had never been to.  it was a ways away, and christina called it a pocket area, or something.  georgia has some wonderful natural areas with waterfalls and hiking trails.  as a family, they go walking and hiking a lot!  the baby had recently dropped, and it is christina’s thinking that the more she walks, the further the baby will drop, thanks to the gravity thing.  so we spent the afternoon with the boys at the shirley miller wildflower trail, sans the wildflowers, hoping to find a waterfall, but to no avail.

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afterwards, we stopped at the ew(sans the pl) to return a robe in exchange for a nightgown, and get stuff to make spaghetti.  back at christina’s, i cooked supper while she took a nap, then we all had a nice hot supper with ice cream for desert!  i went back to brenda;s house to sleep in that peaceful silence.  it is SO silent there, unusually so, and i love it!

brenda and lee have put their sweet little 3 BR (!!) property up for sale, by the way, in case anyone out there is interested in a cozy, quiet mountain top home.  asking around 60k (!!) – it’s a steal, believe me.   check out the vintage kitchen cabinets!  they are in mint condition and so groovy!

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mom and my vick

sunday, december 6, 2009

left relatively early this morning as i have a long day on the road again.  the weather is cold.  i dont like it.  i want to be home and see my kids and the best boyfriend ever, not to mention i do have to get back to work (bleh), but after being on the road in california, the southwest, the gulf, florida…i am NOT looking forward to the cold.  no sir-ree.

today i headed west (!!) back into alabama.  to the bessmer area. to davis creek baptist church, to be exact.  its been years since i was here to visit with my mom and my sister, vickie.  they are buried there.  it was cold and wet. i smudged the ground with sage and said some prayers.  i spent a good while there, just talking about my kids, my life, vickie’s kids and grandkids.  filling them in on stuff, ya know.  not that they didnt already know.  i believe their spirits keep tabs on us and somehow guide us.  i miss them both so much.  i left them some gifts.  jolly ranchers and peacock feathers, as i stood there in the cold grey and cried for missing them just so damn much.  it was tough, yet it was good, to be there.  to be with them.

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leaving before church services were out, to avoid the traffic (this is a meant to be a joke, as davis creek is a teeny church in a very rural area and there were like 10 cars in the parking lot), i headed north and east (this will be my general direction for the next few days!!!) to lookout mountain, georgia.  brenda has a house on the mountain there which is where i will stay for a few days and visit her daughter (my niece) christina and her family who live nearby. 

christina and her husband john, and their two boys, peter – 4 and james – 2, met me at brenda’s house to turn on the gas for the hot water heater and the fire place.  it is SO good to see them!!! i havent seen them in so long that i hadnt even met james yet.  they are love bugs and very energetic young sweeties!!  they stayed a while and james kept asking “where’s grandma”.  brenda is their grandma, and we were at her house, but she is in florida, and it only makes since that if we are in grandma’s house, then she should be there too.  be patient, young james…grandma will be here next week!  you see, christina is extremely pregnant with their third baby, and brenda is coming up on the 16th to stay a while.  the baby is due on 12/31, but there is hope that it will come while brenda is here.

we visited while the house warmed up, then they left and i snagged a can of soup from the cupboard (thanks bren & lee!) and relaxed from another cold, grey, long, day on the road.  it is so peaceful here, whew!

makin’ tacos with the boys

saturday, december 5, 2009

spent the day playing with dani’s kids.  she has three:  jayden is 7, nathan is 5, and kaylee is 3.  we went to mcdonald’s for breakfast then later i went to the grocery and got things to make tacos.  the kids collected pecans for me from the yard (they have a pecan tree too!!) for me to take home “and make cookies”.   later when dani took the boys (kaylee was napping) to get their dad, david, at work, i prepared the meat for tacos.  when the boys got home, they helped in the kitchen getting the fixin’s and shells prepared, then we all made our own tacos.  they had a lot of fun making their own, and it was fun watching them!  :o)  they are just So cute!!

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later in the evening, the kids went to bed and dani & david’s friends came over.  we had a few beers and watched the florida/alabama game.  no one there cared either way for who would win as they are all georgia fans, but it didnt matter as it WAS a college football game so it was exciting! 

soon the friends left, and i had to get to sleep.  i am leaving in the morning to go see mom and my vick.

georgia

friday, december 4, 2009

brenny left early for another 12 hour shift, and i got up, packed up ,and decided to say goodbye to siesta.  i filled three sandwich bags with the white white sand.  a beach-walker said i shouldnt steal the sand because i could get arrested.  i think he was kidding. brenda had said there are shark’s teeth to be found at venice beach, so i just had to go see.  didnt see one tooth, bue i found the best seashells yet.  and sea urchins! it was so worth the detour!  heading north, (!!) i thought another trip through st petersburg might hold a chance to meet paulie, but he was busy at work, and those damnable fates!!! next time. next time. 

it was a LONG day on the road as i passed into georgia and on to columbus to see my sister, dani and her family. there is no easy way to get from north florida to columbus so i traveled along some back roads and was delighted to see lots of cotton fields and pecan groves (!!) i LOVE pecans, and used to have pecan trees in my yard in mississippi when i was little.  they are so majestic!

i arrived really late…10:30ish, and was held at bay in the back yard by a really scary pitt bull.  after waiting 10 minutes in the vibe with the temperature outside now in the 40’s (!! – i was just at the beach, jeesh – !!) i took my chances and left the safe confines of the vibe and dashed to the back door.  dani was at work managing the piggly wiggly until 11, so i watched tv with her little kaylee until she got home.  when she got home we visited for a while then i was so tired from the drive and the cold, i had to go to sleep.  dani is off tomorrow, so i have the whole day to spend together with her and the kids.

seashellin!

thursday, december 3, 2009

today was brenda’s day off (!!) so she and i went a couple hours south to sanibel island.  i hear it is the PLACE to find sea shells.  the drive was nice, and it was great to spend the day together with brenda, yep.  we went to a couple of beaches there.  some were better than others for finding sea shells.  they just wash up on the beaches there!  the island is a boomerang shaped piece of land that naturally catches the shells in the currents.  sometimes you find ones that still have the animal inside (those you have to throw back – it’s the law!), but empty shells by the jillions line the beach at the tide line, and all you have to do is walk along and pick them up!

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many are destroyed by the crashing waves, but there are lots of really pretty, unbroken ones to take.  you must be prepared with the right equipment (scooper, bag, and SUNHAT!) , and will no doubt get your skirt wet, but i had SO much fun, i mean, really a lot of fun!!!  and, have LOTS of (free!!) souvenirs to bring home.

 

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after a long day on sanibel, we stopped and ate a late lunch at biddles bucket before we left the island.  grouper and clams – oh yum!

as you can see, biddles bucket is a unique old florida beach town restaurant.  that’s the thing about sanibel…its all so unique!  the shops and restaurants are old florida, not chain stores and fast food.  life is slow and sweet there.  i think it would be a nice place to come back to and spend a week. 

when we got home, sara came over after her work, and we sat in the living room while i shared with them all the souveniers i have collected on this trip including lava rocks in idaho, stones from the beach in northern california, giant pinecones from the sequoias, spanish moss and peacock feathers in jacksonville, petrified wood from arizona, oyster shells from biloxi, and teeny stones from grandma’s grave.  i have really seen alot!

st petersburg

wednesday, december 2, 2009

today, brenda had to work an 8am to 8pm shift, so i decided to go into st petersburg in hopes to meet paulie.  paulie is a friend of my friend, z. we have talked on the phone before but never met in person, and since i am here, why not go and see the guy for heaven’s sake!  right?  well, it didnt work out to meet him as his life is crazy busy, so we decided it was the fates and agreed that one day sometime in the future, we will.  i did get to cross the sunshine skyway, however…whew! it’s a biggun!

 

while i was in st petersburg, i went to the pier, and got a bite to eat.  as you can see from this  picture, the place was practically deserted.  the “season” has not really begun yet, and threatening rainy weather has kept the snow birds away for a while yet.  it was nice getting a close parking space, i admit, and not having any crowds to contend with.  that has been the case throughout most of this trip actually.  take my advice, if you plan to do a big cross country road trip, do it in the fall, it’s the best time.

i also visited the salvador dali museum.  they have a really big and nice gift shop  there when you first go in, with calendars, keychains, posters, clocks, prints, cards, etc., with his paintings on them.  i decided to let that be my experience there as you can see a lot of his work in the gift shop on the items for sale, and i really felt i could use the $17 admission on other things.

heading back to sarasota i thought i might like to go back to my favorite beach in the whole wide world, but realized just how tired i was with the cloudy grey day, and all the driving, so i stopped at the grocery and got things to make lasagna for supper.  winn dixie had this awesome deal:  buy a stouffer’s frozen lasagna, and get a pkg of frozen veggies, a garlic bread, a 2-liter of pepsi, AND a half gallon of breyer’s ice cream – FOR FREE!! and…i was thinking of lasagna for dinner, so it worked out!

happy first of the month!

tuesday, december 1, 2009

a few of us in the family try each month to see who can call to wish the other happy first of the month.  today – i got brenny!! :o)

bren had to work today, she is a home companion/caregiver for the elderly.  it is a very challenging job, but truely rewarding and i believe she loves it very much.  she put a cuban pulled pork in the cast iron dutch oven before she left, and i kept eye on it while she was away for the day. let me tell you – invest in a cast iron dutch oven, hello!!  sara came over for an awesome supper and we left early enough to catch the sunset at siesta key.

okay, let me tell you about siesta key.  forget lido, forget even monterey (sorry honey) siesta key has my heart.  the sand is SO white, and SO soft…its like walking on powdered sugar.  i am not exaggerating!!  i want to come back here.  i will come back here, yep.  its meant to be, they have pelicans.

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the atlantic to the gulf

monday, november 30, 2009

this morning i left jacksonville heading west and south (!!) towards sarasota to see my brenny and hers.  realizing that i would not get to see the atlantic on this trip, i took a detour south and a bit east to daytona.  i cant tell you what beach i went to exactly, but i parked in a no parking zone and walked out to get my feet wet in this atlantic ocean.  i can now say in my life i have walked in the tide at the pacific, the gulf of mexico and the atlantic – all in the same month!!! hahahahah eeeee!

leaving the beach, i was surprised to pass by the daytona international speedway, where the daytona 500 is run.  surprised, because even though i knew i was in daytona, i had no idea i was so close to the speedway.  so chuck & jason, and all those other nascarers out there…this is for you:

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i arrived in sarasota for supper!  having felt bad that i did not visit new orleans, brenny prepared a big pot of gumbo (!!) with rice for supper, and played jazz music while we ate. (sweetheart!!) then, her and lee took me to st armands circle for pralines to finish off the experience. now, just how thoughtful is THAT!!?  we had ice cream too :o) .  we tried to make it for the sunset at lido beach, but just missed it drop.  the beaches in sarasota are omg SO incredible.  lido gave monterey a run for its money, in my opinion. 

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st armands is a shopping area in sarasota, which is very shi-shi, but fun to walk around and window shop, and eat sweets.  there was a really neat spice shop (see below) and look close in the jeweler's window – that snake…its a ring!!

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they have sculptures all around, and this one i thought was pretty neat.  its is called the seven virtues:

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on the way out, we ran into venus, and neptune

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whew!! a busy, fun, exhausting day!!