Monday, August 31, 2009

Ugh...

Went to the dentist today. Had surgery on two teeth. NOT feeling so well but I know I'll feel much better later.

It feels so spectacularly wonderful outside. I'm headed out now to read on my screened porch before this day is over--and before my meds wear off. ;)

Good night.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Home

There's Cain, messing with Sasquatch. :)

We're home. I'm SO tired. I tell you, that tubing trip, as relaxing as it was at the time, was quite the workout. My muscles are so tense. It was worth it though. :)

I'm gearing up to go to the dentist first thing in the morning. Yay. :(

Good night.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Tubing Baby, Yeah!

That's my honey bunches getting things ready to make himself a cup of coffee while I made some sausage and eggs (and took pictures). Last night was perfect. We had no rain at all and I'm SO happy we came.

Here is a picture of the tent after we got it set up last night. You can see we were ready for rain:

And here are our cots. Marshall found it really hard to get up and moving after sleeping nearly on the ground from our air mattress, so the cot make it easier on his knees. They're actually quite comfortable, too:

This morning we got up early (thanks to me) and toured the old, abandoned logging town of Elkmont. It's a beautiful place with lots of old houses that are just empty--and kind of spooky. Here are Cain and Darren (who got here around 10 last night) breaking the law for my benefit:

Today we went tubing down the river in Townsend, Tennessee, which is over near the Cades Cove part of the Smoky Mtns. The trip was absolutely fantastic. There were a few small (and I do mean small) rapids and I didn't fall off my tube once. Too bad the same can't be said for Marshall. :D The trip took a little over three hours and I'm still kicking my butt for not taking a waterproof, disposable camera. The scenery was just fantastic.

Here's us about 15 minutes after getting out of the water and getting ready to eat lunch:

Please pardon our river-hair. :)

After we finished our lunch (which took place at 3:30ish) we thought it would be a good idea to go to Cades Cove. We were wrong. Apparently everyone in Tennessee had the same idea and we were in bumper to bumper traffic. By time we got out of there we were exhausted and ready to get back to our campsite.

The boys cleaned up and headed to Gatlinburg to do a few of the touristy things, and Marshall and I played cards and just relaxed. Several people came to our campsite to let us know that we had missed three bears: a mama and two cubs, who walked right through our campsite. We were totally bummed about not being here to see that.

Today was a perfect day. The tubing trip was SO much fun and I can't wait to do it again. The weather was perfect, too. Everything was just great.

What a nice life I have. Thank you, God. :)

Friday, August 28, 2009

We're Off

We're camping again. We have no internet service so you'll just have to wait to see these when I get home. :)

We saw TWO bears today. This was the first one. Once again, I was so excited that I almost peed myself (not really, of course, but I could've!).

Seriously, I love, love, LOVE camping. I'm so glad that we came, too. There was a 100-percent chance of rain for Gatlinburg but the 100-percent didn't last long. We came this close ---><--- to canceling our trip. Now we're here and it barely rained on us for about five minutes. Yay!

Good night!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

A Camping We Will Go...

Yucky. Today I haven't felt too well.

Tomorrow we are thinking about going camping. Two things:

a) I hope I feel better.
b) I hope it's not raining.

Good night.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Hitch Packer

We got this hitch packer today and I felt like it was Christmas around here. (o= When we camp we're going to store our cooler and firewood on it. We were both pretty excited about getting it. It folds up when not in use, or we can easily take it off. Yay!

Today has not been a fun day for me. My tooth is KILLING me. This is the same tooth I've whined about for years now. I can't see the dentist until Monday, as you already know, so I just have to deal with the pain.

Yesterday I said I would tell you why I was (and am) so angry with the doctor that I saw, but I really don't feel like going into it all except to say that he was the strangest, most horrible doctor I've ever been to. He barely spoke 10 words to me and didn't introduce himself when he walked in the room, which I do NOT like.

The nurse insisted I speak with the facility manager about him because apparently they've had lots of complaints about him. When I left, my $99 bill was written off. They said they weren't charging me for crappy service, which shocked me. Anyway, if you live in my town, ask me before you see the new doctor here. I'll save you time and money.

Today I bought some shirts for myself that were on clearance at (don't laugh) Tractor & Supply store. The shirts are SO cute. One has an owl on it and it says "I love the night life." I thought it was adorable so I bought two: an XXL and an XL. They run small, but both fit me. I wanted to make sure to have one when I lose more weight, that's how much I love the shirt. (o=

Good night.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

34 Pounds

This morning I was at the gym by 7:10 a.m. I did all of my free weights and 10 minutes of cardio before my class started. I had a WONDERFUL workout.

I've lost a total of 34 lbs. and have also gone down to large and extra-large shirts rather than 2X and 3X shirts. :) It feels amazing and while I still have A LOT to lose, it just blows my mind to see what a difference just 34 lbs. makes, you know?

I went to the doctor today and I'll elaborate more on this tomorrow. I have NEVER been so mad in my life, but I've got such a toothache that I don't feel like talking about it right now.

G'night.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Monday, Monday (la la)

I rode with Marshall over to Guntersville, Ala., today to check on a job or two. Afterwards we drove around looking at campsites to see where we might like to go next. :) We found a beautiful area and we hope to camp there in the next month or so.

I have a dentist appointment for next Monday. That gives me time to get started on an antibiotic. I need to ask the dr. what purpose the antibiotic is for. I mean, why do I need to take an antibiotic before I see a dentist just because I have a leaky heart valve? What does it do for my heart? And I don't mean that sarcastically, I'm really curious as to what good it does. :)

Later, gators.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

No Title Because I Can't Think Of One

Cain isn't feeling well and had to head back to school today. :( I hate it when my children are sick and I feel like I'm a million miles away and can't help them. It's horrible.

Marshall worked at Kandi's new studio today and I stayed home to visit with Cain before he left. We, as usual, barely got to see him at all. :(

I'm ALMOST finished going through all of my photos from every digital camera we have owned and I've deleted so many repeats that I've regained about 60 gigs of space. I imagine when I'm done I'll have about 100 gigs of space. Woo hoo!

Later, gators.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Good Day

This is YoYo. He is the brother of our dog, Hopper. He is INSANE over chasing anything and bringing it back to you about 8 million times so you can throw it that many more times. Today he found a rotten tomato. I only threw it to him once before he devoured it. :) He's a funny, funny dog.

Cain went to spend the day with his girlfriend and Brooke had to work. Marshall and I drove out to see his parents for a couple of hours. It was SUCH a beautiful, cool, fall-like day. We sure enjoyed visiting with them and Marshall's sister before heading on off the mountain.

We drove over to South Pittsburg, Tenn., and had a picnic. This was our view:

After we ate, I decided to check my iPhone Geocaching app to see if there were any Geocaches in the area and there was one so we found it within walking distance of where we had our picnic:


It was a sign-only Geocache but it has given me the bug. I'm ready to start going again. :) I absolutely LOVE Geocaching and we haven't done it much this summer because I don't want to be rooting around in stuff and get bit by a snake...not my idea of fun.

We drove over to a place where I've always loved going because I find lots and lots of butterflies. No such luck this time though. :( I was pretty disappointed that we didn't find many butterflies BUT it was still beautiful over that way and we had a good time:

I loved how the soybean fields looked so beautiful and green under that blue sky. :)

Oh, and I did see a few butterflies today:

We stopped by and saw my Mom and nephew for about 20 minutes before heading on home. We had a great day and it still feels so wonderful outside.

Hope your day was a good one. :)

Friday, August 21, 2009

Kansas?

This is how the sky looked tonight. It was SO strange. This photo is completely untouched besides resizing. I think the actual sky was more yellow than this shows, but it reminded me of Kansas in the Wizard of Oz. It was beautiful.

I didn't do much today. I worked on my photos a bit more, washed clothes, and cooked supper. Most of the day was spent anticipating Cain's return home for the weekend. He still isn't here but should be getting here soon. Supper has been heating for him for a LONG time. Hope it's still good.

Have a good night.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Honey and I ran several errands today. We also rode to Tiftonia to the Wal-Mart over there. Supposedly it's the world's largest so we figured they had more camping gear than most other stores. We were right. :D We may need Camper's Anon or something after all this is over with. ;)

We had lunch with our buddy Kandi and then drove home through Trenton. It rained on us most of the way home. It was great.

We rode up to Kandi's studio tonight to do some work but her BIL couldn't make it so we weren't able to do anything (he has all the tools). We ate supper in St. Elmo and on our way home we saw one of the most spectacular lightning shows I've ever seen.

The lightning stayed in the sky and shot out in streaks all over the place, as opposed to one bolt hitting the ground. It was amazing. I tried to catch it on video with my iPhone but I was too late. :( But, here's a bit of the lightning:



And thunder (and Brooke and our cat, Hobbes, neither of which knew how to keep quiet):



I sure enjoyed watching the storm. It was scary to drive through, but beautiful to see. :)

Good night.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Blah...

I took this picture of Brooke on July 17, 2004. It was one of the first shots that I took with my Canon Digital Rebel. I'm just about finished with going through all of my photos and deleting the ones that just aren't up to par, and I've regained about 30 gigs of space on my external hard drive and I've still got a few folders to go through.

When I take pictures I take several photos of the same thing, just in case one doesn't turn out. It's a good thing to do because you just never know. I've been going through and deleting 10 shots out of 12 of the same things. :)

I haven't felt good at all today. I think I took too much Tylenol yesterday for my toothache and today I've been super-sick to my stomach. I am going to make a dentist appointment and I don't know what else he can do do save the tooth. :( The thing is, is that before I can see a dentist for anything I have to take antibiotics for seven days because of one of my heart problems. So that means I get to deal with this toothache for a week until all my antibiotics are taken. Grrr...

It rained all around us today and most folks had some really good storms. WE did not. :(

G'night.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Where's My Energy?!

This morning I came SO close to talking myself out of going to Pump class at the gym. I'm so glad that I got up and went. I had a really, REALLY good workout and felt so good afterwards.

I'm having major problems today with focusing and staying awake. I'm having to take Extra Strength Tylenol for a stupid toothache. I've had fillings and a root canal on this molar but it will not stay healthy. It's driving me batty. At any rate, I need ENERGY. I can't accomplish anything because I can't keep my focus. I hate days like this.

Oh, let me tell y'all what happened! When Marshall and I were camping at the Smoky Mtns. this weekend we had to use the pay phone at the campground because our cell phones wouldn't work. Brooke camped with her boyfriend and several of their friends and then rafted down the Ocoee River on Saturday. I wanted to check on her so I used my credit card to call her. I got her voicemail so I left her a message that simply said, "Call us, we want to know if you're ok. I love you, bye." Then I called my voicemail to see if she had already called. She had not.

Yesterday I looked at my checking account like I always do so I can mark off what checks have gone through and to make sure I'm balanced. There were two charges FOR THIRTY DOLLARS EACH! The long distance carrier of the pay phone charged me $60 for those two calls. Two calls that were each less than one minute of talk time.

I hit the roof and to make a long story short, my bank is letting me dispute the charges. I explained to them that there was NOTHING on the phone saying that they charged $30 a minute or a flat rate fee of $30 for using your credit card. I was absolutely infuriated.

I don't know how it will turn out because I DID use their service, you know? But all the phone said was that it was 50 cents a minute or a dollar for four minutes. Anyway, I checked my account this morning and the bank didn't let the fees go through so I hope they will not come back and be charged to my account. Be warned. Apparently stuff like this happens all the time.

I just want to say again how much fun I had camping. :) We had a really, really good time. The only bad thing was that the campground had no showers so we had to just wash off with handi-wipes and our wash clothes (thanks again to my honey for buying me the Life Is Good hat so no-one would have to look at my hair).

I can't wait to go back though. :)

Monday, August 17, 2009

Happy Birthday, Honey Bunches!

(Scroll down to Friday, August 14th and read back up if you want to catch up. We were camping in the Great Smoky Mtns. National Park so I didn't have an internet connection.)

Here's my honey bunches three years ago on his 40th birthday at Red Lobster. Today he turns 43. This morning when I asked him where he wanted to go to eat for his birthday he shocked me by saying he wanted me to fix one of his favorite meals: meatloaf with all the trimmings. LOL! He wanted MY cooking over any one of the wonderful restaurants in Chattanooga?

Um, I think he might be going crazy in his advanced age. ;)

He got lots of great presents from me and Brooke on his birthday. I got him an ax and Brooke got him a waterhose. I also got him a whole bunch of old Batman comic books but I already gave him those. Of course he fussed and carried on that we bought him presents as he does EVERY SINGLE YEAR but I know he was happy with his gifts.

Brooke and I went to Wal-Mart today to get groceries and I took a roll of film that I finished this weekend. I was going to send it through the one-hour service but apparently it has been a REALLY long time since I have had film developed because the lady behind the counter told me that they haven't had one hour service there in more than a year. AND now they only have pick ups three days a week. My film will be picked up tomorrow and will not be back until Saturday.

I can't wait to see what's on that roll of film. I've been shooting on it forever now. I'm SO glad that I kept my film camera when I switched over to digital but today made me worry that one day folks might just up and stop making film. That would be horrible. :(

Happy Birthday, sugar bunches. Of course, I know you have never read my blog but one day you will. Maybe. :) I just want you to know how much I love you.

Have a great evening. :)

Sunday, August 16, 2009

AAAAAIIIIEEEEEEEEE! (That's A Scream)

SOooooo, we were leaving by way of going over the Smoky Mtns. and through Cherokee to come home. Even though honey didn't want to, I talked him into driving up to Clingman's Dome. We get about halfway up that road and we both, at the same time, spot a bear on the side of the road. I was so excited that I almost peed my pants. :) You guys know how I feel about bears, right?

I took about 8 million pictures. ;) Initially it was SO foggy that we could hardly see it so most of my photos aren't so good. On the way back down from Clingman's Dome we saw this one:

I got quite a few good pictures of this second bear because the fog was lifting. I was very happy. :)

Lucy had a rough day yesterday. We walked over to the creek beside our tent and the first thing she did was step on a big hornet which popped her a good one. :( I let her stand in the creek for a couple of minutes because I thought the cold would make the sting better.

When we walked back to our campsite (which was just across the little one-lane road) I sat her in a chair wrapped up in a towel because she was cold. She saw me go in the tent and jumped down and the chair fell on her. Bless her little heart. :( She's feeling much better today though. :)

We took our time coming home and drove through Cherokee, North Carolina (because SOMEBODY wanted to pan for gold) then down by the Ocoee River in Tennessee.

It was a beautiful, wonderful, FUN trip and I can't wait to go camping again. Funny, we have a camper but I don't want to use it. :)

Oh, and here's a video of the creek and the wonderful sounds we got to hear from our campsite:



I hate the way I sound on video, but oh well... Oh, and this video was taken with my iPhone, too, so again--excuse the quality. :)

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Lovin' It

This picture isn't perfect but I love it anyway. :) I LOVE it. We had so much fun tonight, playing cards by the lantern. I can't even begin to tell you how good just even ONE night out in this wonderful nature has been for me. I really needed this.

We got up early this morning and headed to Cades Cove. Unfortunately there was a rock slide that blocked the main way there from where we are staying. We had to take a detour to get there but we got to travel through beautiful country.

It has been such a wonderful day. I'm so excited and so happy here. I've always loved the Smoky Mtns. and now Marshall and I both have the camping bug. We LOVE our tent. We both slept very well. We brought our queen size air mattress but we think we're just going to get cots instead.

The jarflies sounded so great last night. It was like music to my ears. Marshall doesn't agree on that so much but he still slept like a baby.

Here is a video I made today to show you our tent. Excuse the quality. I made the video with my iPhone. Anyway, the tent was super-cheap and it's huge:



We love it. :)

Friday, August 14, 2009

We're Here

Obviously I'm not going to have internet service so I'm saving these posts. I DID bring my laptop with me. Can't leave home without it (truthfully I have to have it to upload my pics so I can empty my camera cards).

We left for Elkmont Campground here in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park a little later than we wanted to, but we're here now and just got our new tent set up. Isn't it fantastic? It's much larger than it actually looks in this photo.

The campground is beautiful and we're right across from the creek that runs through the entire campground. The jarflies are already making their music and I bet I sleep like a baby tonight. :)

I'm SO excited. I think we're really going to love this. It's just Marshall, Lucy and myself here. Yay!

G'night.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Waiting

This was honey and Lucy last year in Kimball, Tennessee. It was his birthday and we were headed up to his parents house for a small family reunion. We had a good day.

Today I cleaned house while waiting on the UPS man to bring Marshall some parts that were replacements for some that he ordered the other day. I also packed for our upcoming camping trip. :)

When hubby got home he surprised me with a cap and a shirt from Life Is Good:

How sweet is he?! I love anything from Life Is Good. :) And yes, I know he spoils me rotten. My grandmother tried to warn him before he married me that she had spoiled me and he'd probably be taking over that role. Thank goodness he didn't listen. :) And now Brooke constantly tells him that he spoils me and he doesn't listen to her either. Yay! ;)

I'm still very sore and very tired. I didn't go to my Pump class this morning (because I waited on UPS AND because I was sore) and I hate missing. :( When Brooke got off work this evening she and I went walking in the park so I did get some exercise in. :o)

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

We're Going Camping!

We're going camping this weekend to celebrate my husband's 43rd birthday. I am SO excited. We have a camper but we're going to use a tent. :) We went and bought a few things that we'd need today. I asked hubby if we could set up in the back yard tonight, you know, just to make sure everything is in order, but he declined. ;)

I got SO sick last night. I think it was from eating stupid french fries which is something I haven't done in a REALLY long time. I didn't eat many, maybe 7 or 8, but they were really greasy. I won't make that mistake again.

My workout yesterday was horrible. I worked my butt off, yes, but I just wasn't "with it." That hasn't happened in a long time. Don't get me wrong, I was very happy to be there. After all, I only have 9 months to lose the rest of this weight--and it's going to take all of those 9 months to do it. BUT as happy as I was to be there, I just couldn't seem to get it right. I added more weight to my workouts so I am sure that had something to do with it. And today I'm so sore I can hardly move. My legs are killing me.

I hear thunder in the distance. I wish it would head this way. :)

G'night!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Just Waiting

I'm still reading "The Shack." I've had a few "Oh WOW!" moments, but it's...well, it's several things. I'm having to REALLY let it all sink in and take my time with it, and there are a few things I'm trying to accept that just seem weird to me. So far it's a good read though.

Marshall's birthday is next Monday and we're celebrating this weekend. I can't wait. :)

G'night.

Monday, August 10, 2009

Cleaning Up

Brooke and I worked on the house for the majority of the day. As per usual, you probably couldn't tell it if you came here though.

I went to the gym early this morning. I had a really good workout and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's class.

G'night.

Sunday, August 09, 2009


These are a couple of buildings where Cain goes to school. It is such a beautiful campus.

I didn't fall asleep until after 3:30 this morning. I was so aggravated about it. I don't know what the problem is here lately. I just cannot sleep. :( I don't sleep late either so it's not that. I'm always up between 6:30 and 7.

Marshall, Brooke, and I went to the last day of the yard sales. We only went to Mentone and we got a few things, nothing major. It was so hot that we didn't stay out too long.

One of Marshall's co-workers died in a plane crash yesterday. We sure hated to hear it. His buddy made the plane from a kit and had been flying for a few years. For reasons we're not sure of yet, the plane went down and hit a tree. It killed the co-worker and his brother-in-law. :(

Today is my stepmother's 50th birthday. :) She's old, huh? ;)

Saturday, August 08, 2009

World's Longest Yard Sale

While headed over the mountain to see my Mom today, I stopped on top of the mountain in my hometown to enjoy some of the people set up for the World's Longest Yard Sale. I had several family members set up there and so I really enjoyed seeing them.

Here I am with my cousin, Scott Hill, and his wife, Tatiana Hill (pardon my squinting). I bought the Peanuts Thermos from Scott. I LOVE the Peanuts gang so I was thrilled to get this. :)

I also got to see two more of my cousin's and their spouses, and my aunt, too. I was thrilled to see them all.

I headed on down to the valley to see my Mom. We had an absolutely FABULOUS day together. I mean, I can't remember the last time we've enjoyed one another so much. We just had a really wonderful day together. She got her own apartment (she and my brother shared a house) and I'm SO happy for her. She's a little closer to me, too, so that's nice. :)

I took her back to the mountain so that she could see all the goodies that everyone had at the yard sales and then we had lunch at Geneva's Restaurant. Our food was delicious. When we went back to the valley we rode around to a couple of the places we lived when I was a youngster, before the house was built on the mountain.

When I got home, Brooke was all gussied up to go out with her girlfriends:


It was a great, great day. Hope yours was, too.

Friday, August 07, 2009

Headed Home

Here's Cain and his girlfriend, Ashley. They both had to force those smiles--they were pretty sad about having to be separated since Cain's back at school now.

We had a nice trip home. I'm so thankful that he's not that far away. AND the drive is beautiful so that makes it a pretty enjoyable trip.

Marshall and I watched Valkyrie when we got home. It was a terrific movie, pretty powerful and horribly sad. Brooke spent the night with Marshall's parents so we had a nice, quiet home alone.

Glad to be home. I have a lot of stuff I plan on getting started on in the upcoming weeks. I'm SO ready for fall. Football starts on Sept. 5. Yay!

Later!

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Move-in Day

Today was move-in day for Cain. We got everything moved in and this is how he got the cart back and forth to the car: by riding down that ramp that you see his girlfriend walking down there on the left. He was going pretty fast but you can't tell by this pic. What a nutter.

After we got him settled in, we went to Wal-Mart to get the groceries and other things he needed. He should be set for quite a while. Marshall and I rested at the hotel while Cain went to the football meetings that he had.

We had supper at our favorite Italian restaurant up there, then went back to the hotel. I started reading "The Shack." I've been wanting to read it for a while but I've heard how emotionally draining it is so I wasn't quite ready to take it on yet.

Off to bed. Good night. :)

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Crappy Connection

We are here in Kentucky. We got a later start than we wanted but got here around 9:30. Our hotel has wireless internet but it's crappy and I can't keep the connection. :(

Tomorrow we move Cain into his dorm room. He has his own room so he's very happy about that.

We're tired. Good night. :)

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

The Last Day

This is a little bitty hackberry. Cute, yes?

I've been battling a horrible headache all day. I'm stressed about Cain leaving tomorrow, although I have no reason to be. He's starting his sophomore year at school and I'm just going to miss the soup out of him.

My trainer at the gym was on vacation all last week so today's class was hard. There were a couple of things I couldn't keep up with. It felt good to be back. Of course, I'll miss Thursday's class because we'll be with Cain.

I've been uploading several photos to my flickr account. Are YOU on flickr? If so, add me as your buddy. I'm HERE.

G'night.

Monday, August 03, 2009

My "Baby" Is Back

My beloved 30D got home today around 2:50, after spending a few days at the camera spa at the Canon Factory in New Jersey. They prettied him all up for me and he's as shiny as a new penny. The cleaned his sensor, updated the firmware, and adjusted my exposure and focus. I love Canon and I love my 30D. :)

I cooked a roast with all the trimmings today. I guess that was the last supper I'll fix for the three other members of my family while we're all here together. :( Cain goes back to school Wednesday.

Blah...I'm gonna miss him a WHOLE bunch.

But I can't wait for football season. :)

G'night!

Sunday, August 02, 2009

Lazy, Rainy Day

Didn't sleep worth a flip last night so I slept until about 8:30 this morning. It was one of those nights where I couldn't get comfortable on my pillows. Silly, I know, but I just couldn't.

Marshall and I sat on the screened porch for most of the morning, talking and just listening to the rain. We really didn't do anything all day long besides rest. We watched TV and then I cooked supper and washed dishes.

I still haven't found peace in my heart about the problems I've been having, and don't know when I will. I do want to thank all of you for emailing me and checking on me. Things will be just fine, I'm sure. :)

Have a good night.

Saturday, August 01, 2009

Family Time

This morning Marshall and I got up and went up to Pigeon Mountain. We were searching for Cain and his buddies but they had already left their campsite.

We drove on around through the wildlife managed area and I found a few butterflies to take pictures of, like this variegated fritillary:

We drove on off of Sulphur Springs Gap, which gives you this amazing view of Fox Mountain, and I-59 (there was even a train going by, see it?):

We then drove down into that valley, across those railroad tracks and then on into Rising Fawn. We grabbed us a drink and a snack at a little grocery store and then headed back up Johnson's Crook to my Dad's house.

I took lots of pictures of hummingbirds, butterflies, flowers, and even got to see a fox and a whistle pig (that's a groundhog to all you non-southerners).


Cain and my Dad went fishing so Marshall and I sat on the deck for a while and watched the hummingbirds. That's where we were sitting when the fox came out of the woods and took a rest in the yard, then later I spotted the groundhog under one of the fir trees.

We left there and visited with my grandfather, and I haven't seen him in several months. He looked good (to be 92) and I sure was happy to see him. While we were there, my aunt and uncle, and their grandchildren came over to visit us, too.

We left when a really bad storm started blowing up. The lightning sent us all scrambling to our cars (and my aunt and uncle and cousins back to their house). We waited for Cain (who took my Dad back home) at the top of the mountain and the rain came pouring down. We had rain all the way home.

It's still storming out there and it sounds wonderful. I think it's supposed to rain all night, too.

G'night.