last post HERE

I've decided to move my blog over to WordPress. Here's a link to my new site. All future posts will be on there. No more blogging to Blogger.

http://southerntinkerbelle.wordpress.com/

Ya'll come!

Heartland

We were in Wal-Mart the other day. Robert wanted us to all stick together, although I wanted to split off and grab the things I needed. After all, HE was the one in a hurry. But alas, since Mr. Right is the master of my universe, I meekly complied with his wishes. {Did you see that? I typed it with a straight face!}

So we’re back in electronics for Anna to look for a certain video. I scanned the music while I waited – patiently not splitting off alone. Didn’t find what I was looking for so I’m just kinda cooling my heels waiting. Another shopper was nearby and asked me if the music was in alphabetical order. Thus we struck up a conversation. She was looking for a song by Heartland. “I Loved Her First.” Never heard of them/it. Ok. So I start helping her look for it. After all, I didn’t bring my knitting so I need something to do. Anna can take a while.

I find out my new friend is from out of town. Somebody forgot the wedding music and she has been sent out to save the day. The wedding happened to be in Chelsea. I tell her I live in Chelsea. I replied to her question that, no, there is absolutely no where in Chelsea to buy music. Obviously she’s never been to Chelsea. When we first moved there we only had a blinking light “downtown.” Downtown is 5 buildings, 3 of which are vacant. But we’ve moved up in the world. We now have a real traffic light. All 3 colors. Finally something to do in Chelsea on a Saturday night. Go down and watch the colors change on the traffic light. Ah, fine living!

Anyway, I’m telling her where she might have to go to find the CD, the opposite direction from Chelsea. I can tell by the look on her face that wasn’t her heart’s desire. Then I just happen to find it. “Here it is!” I was expecting maybe a thanks. What I got was a big ‘ol bear hug and a deep wholehearted THANK YOU!!! “Thank you so much! I thank you, the bride thanks you, the bridesmaids thank you……..everybody thanks you!!!!” We were hanging on to each other and doing the steps of The Gratitude Dance in the middle of Wal-Mart. When you're bored and not allowed to go splitting off by yourself, The Gratitude Dance can be quite amusing.

Then she was off. Running to the check-out and still thanking me. I’m standing there probably with a “post tornado” look on my face. It was a hoot!

Curiosity (and boredom) got the best of me. So I pick up another copy of Heartland and start wondering who in their right mind would want a song titled “I Loved Her First” at a wedding? What kind of sick joke was that? Maybe, just maybe it wasn’t what it sounded like. Hopefully, the song has some twist to make it appropriate. (Yes, turns out it was from the dad's perspective. Don't think I'd ever choose that for my wedding, but thank God it wasn't some ex stirring up trouble.)

It’s been ages since I’ve bought any new music. I don’t know what wild hair made me do it, but I bought the CD. I like the song “Play Hurt.” Good message.


"Play Hurt"
I was sitting on a bench with my ankle tapped up
Watching our team getting beat like a drum by a private school
They were giving high fives and acting cool
Tommy fouled out and the coach looked around
Said, 22 it looks like it's down to you
You're back in, do you think you can go again
In the back of my mind I saw an old sign hanging up in the junior high gym
Said, Never Give Up Cause Winners Never Quit And Quitters Never Win

Sometimes you gotta suck it up
And go bite down on the bullet
Don't let nobody know
Wrap it up, walk it off
Tough it out, dust off the dirt
Sometimes you gotta play hurt

[Instrumental Interlude]

I called my folks and told em she was the one
All they could say was, we're happy for you, son
It's about time, you left your rowdy ways behind
She figured out she was destined for some other place
And a little bit more than me I guess
I got the ring back, UPS
For a while I thought I'd never smile like she made me smile again
Now I realized you can't sit around and wait for your life to mend

Sometimes you gotta suck it up
And go bite down on the bullet
Don't let nobody know
Wrap it up, walk it off
Tough it out, dust off the dirt
Sometimes you gotta play hurt

[Instrumental Interlude]

I know you're feeling all torn down
Life's been tough and you've hit rock bottom
Ain't no body gonna do it for you
You gotta get up (gotta get up)
Try again (try again)
When the going gets tough you gotta jump back in

Sometimes you gotta suck it up
And go bite down on the bullet
Don't let nobody know
Wrap it up, walk it off
Tough it out, dust off the dirt
Sometimes you gotta play hurt

Play hurt, play hurt

Wrap it up, walk off
Tough it out, dust off the dirt

Sometimes you gotta play hurt

new traffic lights

The new traffic lights on highway 280 have finally been installed and turned on. There are 2 intersections between Chelsea and Oak Mountain. Both intersections have gotten more and more dangerous due to all the growth in this area. The bad news is that it does slow down traffic. The good news is that it does slow down traffic.

Personally, I’m thankful for the new lights. It’s sad the lights could not have been installed before little Rachel was killed there. A good friend of mine was traveling through the intersection one fateful day. Someone pulled out in front of her and her daughter died in the crash. I really didn’t want to attend the funeral, but I gathered my courage and went for my friend’s sake. To my surprise, that service was one of the most inspirational events I’d ever attended. It was better than a year's worth of sermons. It was what a funeral should be. Yes, it was sad and somber at times. But it was also an incredible celebration of life sprinkled with the sweetener of Heavenly hope and comfort. It felt so right and so good to sing upbeat contemporary Christain praise songs. We may not understand all the details, but we can always be comforted that God is in charge.

Well, since then I can hardly ever go through that intersection without thinking of sweet Rachel. Sometimes I’m saddened. Sometimes I’m inspired. But as in all things, I try to take the good and leave the bad. Another stumbling block turned into a stepping stone.

Memorial Day weekend

It’s been quite a while since we’ve attended a Civil War re-enactment. So this weekend we went to Tannehill to see that one. It’s just the coolest thing to see so many soldiers all dressed up in period costume, especially the cavalry. I’m not sure but this group looked like the biggest gathering of re-enactors I’ve ever seen. (Yeah, like I’m so experienced in this!)

Unfortunately, I was in too much pain to really justify going. In fact, at one point I did tell Robert to go without me. But in the end I just didn’t want to miss out on the fun. A good thing, too, because the day before the {you know the word that goes here}Yankees won, but we got to see the Glorious Grays gain the victory! Yeee-haaaa!!!!!!! (No, I don’t really yell like that in public. It just seems so unlady-like! I leave the rebel yells for the menfolk.)

One of the re-enactors did actually get injured. I heard someone say he got too hot. Those poor fellows are out there in long sleeve wool costumes. And it was a rather hot day. I don’t know how any of them stay cool enough. The paramedics were attending him and they cut the battle short. Frankly, the way I felt I was just as happy it was cut short.

Today I found out something wonderful! They DO have a re-enactment ball every year at Tannehill and it’s open to the public! Hot diggity-dawg! I’ve been tempted to make myself one of those beautiful antebellum gowns! A fancy one, not an everyday dress. Now I have a reason! The kids would love to have gowns, too. Of course, Robert will just have to bite the bullet and go as a nice southern gent. Heaven forbid I play hanky-panky with a Yankee at the ball!

Robert spent the whole re-enactment snapping photos. He ran into a couple of buddies, one who is a semi-pro photographer, the other teaches photography at a local college. So they had a very nice time hanging out together and getting good shots. Apparently, I’m going to have to get my own camera to ever get to take any pics. {G} It’s just something Robert & I both enjoy.

Short & Rodney were up this weekend to see Caleb and do some work on the Playhouse (that’s what we call his trailer because it’s so small. Small, yes, but great for a college man.) Today Caleb grilled steaks for us all. He’s quite handy with a grill. So we all had a nice holiday lunch at Caleb’s place.

Robert did take the training wheels off the kids’ bikes today. Way, way over due. The kids enjoyed the extra freedom.

Anna finally did it. Fell out of the tree. She was trying to climb Susan. It’s a huge magnolia. I have no idea why they named it Susan. I don't think it has anything to do with Aunt Susan. Anna didn’t seem to really appreciate hitting the ground. No, she didn’t fall very far. I think the branch broke. It happened pretty quick, but I think I heard the branch break. No, of course she wasn’t hurt. More of a hurt pride thing. But she really was upset when she saw the huge rip in the back of her skort. Oh, well, it was just about too small anyway. I don’t care about a ruined skort as long as my baby is ok.

Hope everyone had a good holiday. More later.

quote from Og Mandino

"How I change
If I feel depressed I will sing.
If I feel sad I will laugh.
If I feel ill I will double my labor.
If I feel fear I will plunge ahead.
If I feel inferior I will wear new garments.
If I feel uncertain I will raise my voice.
If I feel poverty I will think of wealth to come.
If I feel incompetent I will think of past success.
If I feel insignificant I will remember my goals.
Today I will be the master of my emotions. "

Og Mandino

Mentone, Shmentone

About 3 or 4 years ago I first heard of the Rhododendron Festival in Mentone – a tiny little town about 2 ½ hours up the road from us. It’s on top of Lookout Mountain. Now, you have to understand I love flowers and I love mountains. Festival? Hey, sounds like a party to me! Lookout Mountain holds a very special place in my heart. Some of my best memories have their home on that mountain or in it’s shadows.

So when I heard about this festival of course I just had to go. Unfortunately, every year something came up that prevented us from going. Every year I’d vow to go and every year we didn’t. They even have a fall color festival every year and we kept missing that, too. I even shook my fist in the air in my best Scarlet O’Hara imitation and revised her quote to “As God is my witness, I WILL make it to Mentone!” Well, my patience finally paid off this past weekend. My heart skipped a beat when I looked at my calendar and found that we had no other commitments this weekend and thus we were wide open for Mentone! Yipee! Let the fun begin!

Now, I had freely admitted that having never actually been to the Rhododendron Festival nor even Mentone, I had no idea if it would be worth the effort or not. Info on the ‘net was sketchy. Hummm. But, how else will you know unless you go check it out? Dothan has had the Azalea Dogwood Trail for umpteen years and it’s fantastic. So I guess I just pictured it in my mind something along the lines of the ADT. Let’s see – a spring time festival celebrating flowers on top of Lookout? Yep, I’ll bite.

After we were well on our way, I was gushing about how excited I was and how happy I was to finally be going and how much I love that area. Robert finally admitted that a road trip was about the last thing he wanted at that point. Ugh! I had not realized that having just returned home from back to back travel to 2 of the nuclear plants, he wasn’t in any hurry to hit the road again. Bummer. I’d never mistreat my Darling. So after I apologized for not thinking of that, he said it was okay and if he’d really been too much against going he would have said so. Thus he once again showed me how much he cares about my feelings. What a great guy!

The drive alone was worth the trip. Beautiful scenery. After a totally delightful drive we arrived in Mentone. Well, the town was cute. Tiny, but very quaint. Talk about atmosphere! Definately a "mountain" town. But we never did see more than a handful of rhododendrons blooming. And those were past their prime.

Parking was scarce and the best place we could find was the parking lot at the local utility office. A police officer happened to be stopped nearby so Robert told me to go over and ask if it was ok to park there. Super nice officer. Had a nice visit. No doubt much nicer and friendlier than Robert’s recent “visit” with an officer. Yep, Mr. Perfect got pulled over. His excuse—distracted by a phone call. A rather expensive distraction. Oh, yes, we've contributed to the Georgia state revenues.

As for the “festival” think tacky home made crafts and bad thrift store junk. It was pretty bad! LOL! It was really more of a chain of bad yard sales. Icky-poo! There were several choices for lunch there in the downtown area. “Downtown” would easily fit into a thimble with enough room left over for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and their sack lunches (yes, I’m sure they would be packing.) You could have counted all the businesses on fingers and toes and have digits left over. In fact, I'm not even sure you'd need the feet - but what else are you going to do with them? Being total newbies, lunch was a shot in the dark. Yes, I admit it. I should give up shooting in the dark. The Log Cabin was my idea. I’m to blame. Trust me, I don’t have to be punished for that decision, I’ve been punished enough already! I think the reason we had to wait 40 minutes for our food was so they could take it out back and torture it to death. I'm clueless on how to torture to death a peanut butter on whole wheat but I now know it can be done. I can’t say I’ve ever been served brown corn before. And I sincerely hope to never have occasion to say it again. I’m dead-dog serious here! That corn was brown! Egads! I feared breaking my foot if I dropped that hard roll on it. And what was “that” smell? No!........wait, I don’t really want to know! But, yes, the atmosphere was fun.

We went over to the brow and discovered a delightful little park perched on the edge of the mountain top. Now, that’s better! LOL! That’s what I came for! The view was spectacular. I could have stayed there forever (without ever getting hungry enough to crawl back over to The Log Cabin.)

We did get to see the parade. Wow. That was .............?????..........was that a parade? Uncle Sam and Aunt Samatha lead the parade, carrying an American flag. They had great costumes! The remainder of the parade was an emergency response vehicle, a few cars and some motorcycles. Apparently everything motorized in town. I started waiting for the riding lawn mower but I guess nobody owned one. The folks in the cars tossed beads Mardi Gras style. Yes, we do all know how to get Mardi Gras beads tossed at you. No, I don’t think I’d ever need cheap plastic beads that badly! Although when Robert saw the big-honkin’ white beads I had he said I must have really impressed someone. {ahem} No.

After the parade we walked around the booths and found the best part at the far end. They had an inflatable. Anna calls them “bouncy castles.” So the kids were bouncing away and Robert and I were standing by with another father. Might as well get to know each other, right? He had a Nikon D-70; we had the D-80 so we talked some photography. Also found out our friend was from Chattanooga – the town nearest and dearest to my heart. I was already temped to take this fellow home with me, but then he said he owned a cabin on the Brow. Well, that’s it! I jumped over beside him, grabbed his arm, looked at Robert and said, “you may have a D-80 but he’s got a cabin on the Brow!” We all had a good laugh.

Well, we’d about milked all the fun out of the Rhododendron Festival. Robert whispered to me that we could just take off and go over to Desoto. Hey, not a bad idea!

We headed over to Desoto Falls. First time there. Absolutely incredible! Photos do NOT do it justice! The size alone was amazing! We explored a bit, took some photos and then drove over to Desoto State Park. It was lovely. Robert got some tips on the area from the personnel. Oh, and they actually had mood rings for sale in the camp store. I didn’t even know you could still buy those things. The kids were fascinated that the rings changed colors! So Robert bought them each a ring. That kept their attention the rest of the day.

Then we took Highway 176. The scenic route. Oh, boy was it ever! Take my advice: DON’T eat at The Log Cabin, but DO drive 176! This road follows the rim of the Little River Canyon. The beauty is beyond words. Of course by this time it was late in the day so our goal was to scope out the area for a future return. We stopped at many of the overlooks for a quick look. Amazing! Breathtaking!

As we drove up to one of the last overlooks, I noticed a man sitting alone over to the side on a rock. His motorcycle was parked nearby. The canyon is so awesome, I just assumed that he was there for the beauty and solitude. Thus I actually felt a bit guilty about us intruding on his peace. Yes, it was a public area and yes, we did have just as much right to be there. Still, though.

So we’re looking around, exploring and taking photos. Our soon to be new friend speaks up and offers to take a shot for us so we can get the whole family. Cool. As we started getting acquainted, I voiced my apology at our intrusion on his solitude. He just waved it off and said no, he was just sitting there hurting. Poor fellow. I was wondering if he had a bad back or something. He then tells us he just fell off his motorcycle. Then he starts showing us his injuries. Oh, the poor thing! He was missing too much skin to not be hurting. He was walking towards us to take the photo and I start wondering if he should even be standing up. So of course we immediately offer assistance. He says, no, he’s fine. (He didn't look it.) He told us some guys had gotten some tools and repaired the peg on his bike. And a nurse had happened by and she gave him some first aid and some Alieve. He was telling us how nice everyone had been to him. Of course, he and Robert started exchanging “I fell off my motorcycle” stories. We really were concerned for our new friend, fearing he might go into shock or any number of things. He really seemed quite dazed. He said he was ok and was waiting for some family members to come get him. Still, we were very hesitant to leave him alone considering the condition he was in. So we just hung around. Luckily his family soon arrived.

The really interesting part is what the man first said to his family. “I’ve had the best things happen to me today.” I looked at them and said, “Sure, AFTER he picked himself up off the asphalt!” I couldn’t help but notice that his focus was not on his misfortune, but on his appreciation of the kindness of strangers. He told them about us and the other good Samaritans who had all helped him. We all ended up having a very nice impromptu visit. I’m sorry the man got injured, but it really was a very heart-warming experience for us all.

After that we left and were soon past the Canyon. We had planned to go all the way to Gadsden on Lookout, but by then it was almost sundown and we decided to just get on the interstate and make decent time. The scenic route was beautiful, but very slow. And what good is the scenic route in the dark?

We got home about 9 PM. Tuckered out but happy. We’ll definitely be returning.

contest?

Hey, Ben!
I heard a rumor that you’d rather read my blog than Robert’s! So do I win a prize?

A profound thought

"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards."

Just a little sentence, but so much truth! This one really got my head turning (exceptionally good timing.) Hummmm............

Melissa's email

Got a nice email from Melissa. She was asking some questions so rather than having to repeat myself, I’ll just answer her here so everyone can eavesdrop.

Anna is doing much better but still having some tummy aches. I FINALLY got her new med today. Yes, another change. I think this is the 4th one; frankly I’ve lost count. This one thankfully is a powder to dissolve in water/juice/applesauce. There was a mix up with the doctor’s office that delayed the prescription being called in for 2 days. We got that settled and then the pharmacy didn’t have the med in stock. The good part is I’m now very good friends with one of the pharmacists. She was wonderful through all this. Went above and beyond the call of duty and I truly do appreciate all her efforts. We haven’t met face to face yet but I promised to stop by and say hello next trip into town. During one of our many phone calls, we found a common passion for our local mountains. Yep, soul mates, for sure!

Anna does have a follow-up visit with the GI specialist next month. We’ll know more then and will keep you posted as we find out any information.

Raven is doing great. She’s just growing up way too fast. That kid just amazes me. She’s turned into a big Reba McIntire fan. I think Reba is a pretty good role model.

Today Ravie made a bowl of her delicious oatmeal for me while I was on my elliptical machine (yes, my beloved treadmill died and I decided I would like to try an elliptical. I love it. I didn’t say it’s easy, I said I love it.) I had gotten some organic applesauce with pineapple from Target. So I had oatmeal with pineapple/applesauce and toasted sunflower seeds – it was toooo yummy!! Rave loves making oatmeal for me and she really does a great job! Microwave, not stove.

You’re correct, Melissa. We are all lousy at keeping up with each other. We all have such hectic lives. Aren’t we all thrilled to have all our “time saving” gadgets?! Geesh! Anyway, that’s my goal here with this blog – to try to keep everyone up to date.

For those of you who don’t know Melissa, she is married to Robert’s brother John. And I’d like to say public and heartfelt congratulations to their daughter Julie! Yes, our little Julie is graduating from high school! The now famous Enterprise High. Julie, again, we’re so thankful you weren’t injured in the tornado. We had several loved ones there that day. All were uninjured. Frightened and hit with flying debris, but not injured. Thank God.

It goes without saying that if EHS could survive a teenage Robert, a tornado could only do so much!