Sunday, September 28, 2008

Stuff

This week at work was very slightly challenging. Just a little bit. We were live from the first Presidential Debate in Oxford on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It wasn't at all hard, but I felt like there was real news to present this time. Lindsey Brown, one of our reporters was there. She did a phenomenal job. She's going places. Working with good reporters makes the job easier and more fun. Anyway, it was a pleasant week. Unfortunately, there's no debate this week. Oh well.
Wes & I have taken a lazy weekend... again. Wes worked overnight on Friday night. I joined the gym at Riley's this week. I went while Wes was at work. Members have 24 hour access so I can go anytime. It gives me something to do and maybe I'll find motivation to run again. It's not as nice as Pivotal was in Charleston, but that's expected. There's a franchise fitness center right down the road that I thought about joining, but places like that don't stick around long in a small town like this one. On Saturday, we had a "date" night. Dinner and a movie.
"Amazing Race" and "Cold Case" started today. Ghost Whisperer and CSI starts this week as well. Heroes has already started (pretty good so far). We've been watching Fringe as well. It's pretty good. I ordered Season 4 of Lost the other day. It comes out December 9. Season 5 won't start until January. Oh, well.

ALZHEIMER'S WALK IN TWO WEEKS!!!!!!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Writer's Block... cont.

Image #3
A mallard duck. Floating on top of an oil slick surface. The sun creates beautiful rainbow of colors on the black diluted oil swirls. The green feathers are the only identifying markings left on his matted oil-drenched body. He's among a few other ducks, all of them are jet black and barely distinguishable from the water's surface. A few dead fish are floating nearby. To the left is the gloved hands of a man, reaching down to rescue the struggling mallard and his pals. His waiters are yellow at the top, but turn oily and black at his waist. His face and hair sweaty and weathered. His eyes compassionate and concerned.

Image #4
A dead end street. Empty, abandoned houses line is cracked and potholed pavement. The street sign is barely legible, saying only "..th Ave." and "Dead E..." The house on the corner is a two story brick house with all its windows broken. One faded blue shutter hangs sideways from one of the second story windows. The front door is made of oak with an oval opening that once held beautifully decorated glass. A large ornate chandelier hangs just inside in the foyer, rusted and broken. There's a sign hanging on what's left of the fenced in front that states "For Sale." Another sign is stapled next to the door. It reads "Condemned."

Image #5
A cat sitting in a bay window. Her tail curled slightly down. Her ears are perked up. Her eyes large and determined. Just outside the window a bird feeder hangs on a shepherds' hook. A small robin is eating birdseed. The cat is carefully watching the bird, every movement, every breathe. Her eyes staring intently at it, waiting for the right moment to attack as if there wasn't a pane of glass between them.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Writer's Block #?

"Write a story about the images on a roll of film--using only 12, 24, or 36 paragraphs."

Image #1
A young girl. Sitting alone on a bench looking out over the harbor as a container ship passes by. The bright blue sky lights up the scene as a group of small sailboats milling swiftly around in a close circle, like a cat chasing it's tail. A small fishing boat is also visible, a man with a green hat with several rods cast out into the water. A cooler sits next to him as he leans back in his chair and reads a book. The girl has her eyes closed, enjoying the cool off-shore breeze blowing in her face. A happy, simple smile is on her face. She's dressed shabbily, wearing a worn, stained, dingy white t-shirt and blue jeans unevenly cut off at the knees. Her hair dishevelled, in a messy ponytail. On the ground next to the bench is her bag containing all of her belongings. A few changes of clothes, a worn, dirty comforter, a few pictures, a Gideon's Bible. A small journal containing her deepest thoughts and prayers sits on her lap. She seems content, as if deep in meditation. The cool breeze and the sun on her face gives her a glow, like that of a new mother.

Image #2
A cemetery. Military rows perfectly lined up and perfectly spaced. In the foreground, an bright white unknown soldier marker with a crisp new American flag at attention. In the background, an unending sea of order, white marble stones, dark green grass, and a touch of red and blue. Permanently at rest, permanently at attention, permanently serving our country.

Image #3
coming soon...

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Please Recycle.


Found this bottle on the beach a few weeks ago. I thought it would make a pretty compelling picture and message. Notice that the bottle has barnacles on it. Bottles like this don't disintegrate and often end up in places like this.

Mom and I found this bottle intriguing. We started imagining how it may have ended up here. I said that I'll bet Pete threw it of the ship years ago, and it coincidentally made its way to the Gulf and washed up on the beach on the weekend that we were going to be there. I would have peed on myself if it actually had "Kowall" written on it. How funny would that story be.

SNAIL FOUND: REST IN PEACE.....

We found the snail yesterday... He was under a small piece of wood, somewhat buried in the sand. He was nasty... Oh well....

After church today, we ate lunch with Mom & Dad. (Papaw went with us to church today. He is doing great.) Then we spent most of the evening in the yard. We bought a Weedeater. It's fun. I like to cut things. (HE-HE) I don't like cutting the grass though. I like to trim the bushes. Sometimes I worry that I trim too much. I don't think I have yet. We got a lot done. I edged around the curb at the road and the driveway. It looks much better now.

Please Pray for Pete. He is suffering from the Family Curse!! He has a kidney stone. I'm just waiting for my day. I never expected him to go first.

Friday, September 19, 2008

MISSING: WHITE APPLE SNAIL

Our snail is missing. We don't know where it is.... How can a snail go missing?? We think he's dead and has somehow gotten buried in the sand. We also don't know how long he's been dead either. It's not something we check everyday.

I woke up early this morning and spent two hours weeding and messing around in the yard. (Wes actually woke me up because he was late for school!) Had a good time too. The weather this week has been great! We've slept with the windows open for the last three days.

Papaw is feeling much better. I went to see him this morning. He said that he's walking every morning (without assistance) and he looks healthy too. He called me and wanted me to bring him a bird feeder for their window. I also brought him some preserves that a lady I work with gave us. She made them from the pears. He was excited about that.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Pics From The Beach #2

























Pics From The Beach





















Mom & Me on the Beach

Sorry I didn't post this earlier, I had a not-so-pleasant day at work on Monday and haven't been able to do much. That's the only negative thing I'll say this time. This is a positive entry!

Mom & I thoroughly enjoyed our beach retreat! We left on Friday morning and got there around noon. There was some flooding in Mobile. The causeway was under water and police had many roads blocked.


We heard on the radio later that traffic was very heavy going into the tunnel and I-10 in Mobile because of the roads being closed. We're glad we came through when we did, because we would have been stuck in traffic. A few blocks from the beach, there were several side roads flooded and parts of Hwy 59 were one or two lanes because of ponding. Ironically, it never rained a drop while we were there!


Our condo is great!!! Perfect view of the beach and plenty of space. Thanks to Mom's friend at work for letting us stay there!! We'll definitely be back!


The Balcony furniture was inside when we got there because of the storm. We moved the lounge chairs back out, but left he barstools and glass table inside.
We were about 5 or 6 floors from the top, second from the right.

It was extremely windy! When we parked the car at the condo, I couldn't open the door. I took all my strength to get out of the car and keep the door from slamming into me. We had to go buy some hats. After we got settled, we went for a beach walk. (The hats were a necessity!)
The waves were huge and loud! There were double flag warnings out (double red flag warnings mean extreme surf warning: no swimmers allowed.) The beach park down the road was closed and beach patrol was around keeping people out of the water. You had to be crazy to get in. We walked along the edge. There weren't many people out, just a few daredevils. Later we sat on the balcony and read our books for a while, then took another walk on the beach. (AAHHHH, this is the life sigh!)






That night, we watched CNN and the Weather Channel as Ike made landfall. Mom lived in Galveston when she was a kid, but she didn't remember much about it. The base that was there is closed now. On Saturday, we got up and laid out on the beach for a few hours, reading and relaxing. There were some cute kids digging holes and jumping in them around us. I took lots of pictures of the seagulls, the waves, kids playing in the water, etc. There were still two red flags posted, but the waves and the wind were much calmer, but still dangerous. Oh yeah, I got burnt!! Just on my front because I never turned over. Later on after lunch, we went back and walked the beach again, Mom collecting shells and me taking pictures. We ate dinner at the Original Oyster House. Excellent food. Great crab cakes, although not as good as Barbara Jeans. We had ALLIGATOR for an appetizer. It was pretty good.
Proof that Mom ate Alligator!!

On Sunday after our balcony time, we left the condo and headed for the outlet mall! Mom and I spent about 4 hours walking around the outlets. Got a few things. A new Life is Good Tshirt. Some really tasty chip & dips at the Harry & David store. Mom got some new dresses. I got a wedding gift for a friend who's getting married next month.

I'll post more pics later. (It's past my bedtime!) I took over 350 pictures. Mostly of random people on the beach, windsurfers, seagulls, shells, etc.

Overall we had a great time. It was extremely relaxing and well worth it. We decided next time we should bring our husbands. It may be a little too selfish of us if we didn't. They might start to wonder.......