Saturday, November 29, 2008

The colors of fall





Thanksgiving Dinner

Grandmother cut up the Turkey... My kitchen still smells like turkey.

Mickey stuffing his face.

Nathan doesn't like potatoes, I guess.

Papaw, Virginia, Ken with Wes and Adam chatting in the yard.


My favorite picture. Papaw and Nathan. I just need to crop it a little.

Precious!!


Lynn and her "child" Katie.






Dad would rather be behind the camera.



Friday, November 28, 2008

Yeah for Black Friday - Nay for Work...

Mom, Aunt Lynn & I went Black Friday'n. I got there first, at around 4. (Yes, 4am!) It was a pretty good time! I was a little tired because I only slept about 2 hours last night. I couldn't fall asleep because my mind was racing. We spent a lot of time at Belk & Penney's and then walked through the mall. At around 10:30 we went to Bed, Bath & Beyond. Their sale ended at 10am.. Oh well. That's when I started feeling it. I knew that I wouldn't last through the day if I didn't get any sleep. I went home and slept until 2pm. Wes actually got up and went to Sam's with Tom (a friend from work). They had free breakfast. He said it wasn't much to speak of. He did buy a GPS. He's been looking at them lately. He's still not sure if he'll keep it or not. After he left there, he went back to bed.

When we woke up, I began unloading the car and noticed that the Bradford Pear tree in our front yard has beautiful red, orange and yellow leaves now. It's really pretty. I took some pictures of it today. Today we had our Thanksgiving meal. Dad fried the turkey and mom made the dressing. I made succotash, black-eyed peas and a Hash brown casserole. Ken & Deb came and brought Nathan. I'll post some pics and some of the tree in a few minutes... Sunday, we along with Adam & Becca are still planning on going to New Orleans. That will be nice to get away.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Christmas Decorations...

Okay, so several people have put their trees up around here, including us. A few have even decorated outside already... But I just have to say it, and I apologize if anyone reading this has one of these, but I DO NOT LIKE INFLATABLES! I think they are so NOT Christmas. A Christmas tree in the yard or a nice wreath and some icicle lights. Candy canes lining the driveway is cute. Even those wooden deer with a spotlight on them are pretty. But whoever came up with the idea of a blow-up carousel?!??! Do you want to turn your yard into a carnival? Commercialism at it's finest, if you ask me. I cannot stand seeing a house with a bunch of blow-up santa's, reindeer, teddy bears, snowmen and all that. It's just not traditional. Whatever happened to the Nativity scenes, wreaths and angels in the windows??

I think that Christmas has gotten way too commercialized. In all the hustle of shopping and planning parties, we need to remember the real reason for it all... Jesus.

Monday, November 24, 2008

It's Christmas Time at the Watkins House!!

The trees are up, the little village is prominently displayed and the mistletoe candle is on the warmer. Mom bought us a new Christmas tree for "Christmas." We picked it out at Lowe's this week. They had them on sale for half price. (Isn't recession great sometimes!!! Belk already has their Christmas stuff half price!) The one they had on sale was regularly $200. We got the last one. I actually bought a new one last year (at Lowe's, ironically) for $30 on Black Friday. It was worth less than $30. It was pitiful looking. We got one Christmas out of it. It would be good if you have a lot of BIG ornaments to cover the empty places. Anyway, I also put up my little 4 foot tree in the bedroom. It's completely winter wonderland theme. It's blue and silver and white with nothing but snowman, cherubs and glass balls. It's my favorite. I wish I had all blue/silver/white to put on the big tree. Maybe one day, I can decorate it in style. Maybe one day....
Today we went to Jackson to pick up Adam & Becca. Thing is though, they didn't come! They haven't been having much luck lately (kennel issues, flat tires, expensive airport parking in Seattle, etc.) and ended up not coming. But later they decided to fly through Spokane instead. They are leaving tomorrow (Monday) and will fly into Meridian tomorrow night. Hopefully, they'll make it. They are flying through Salt Lake, the worst airport in the world!! (That's where we were stuck for 26 hours last year!) Good Luck A&B!!! We did manage to get the rest of our Christmas shopping done (minus two).

Thursday we are eating lunch at Wes' Aunt Glenda's in Quitman. Unfortunately, we have to work as well (yuck!), but I'm going to be (un)fashionably late on purpose. On Friday morning, Mom & I are going "Black Friday'in." Saturday we're having our family lunch at our house, so Papaw can stay longer and so he won't have to travel to Enterprise. (Mickey, Lynn & Ryan will be here from Mobile as well.) I'll definitely be taking pictures this week, so I'll have something to post soon.

Going running in the morning, just pray it's not pouring down rain!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Not much to speak of this week....

This week has been pretty boring, unchallenging as always, and a bit cold... I went running on Sunday at the gym...4 miles. I did my country club run on Monday without stopping...5 miles. I've rested yesterday and today. Tomorrow I'm going to try to do 6 1/2 tomorrow morning. It's the only day of which the temperature is above 65 degrees.
Sunday we are going to Jackson. Adam & Becca are flying in for the holidays. We are going to try to make a day of it, depending on when their flight gets in. Maybe do a little Christmas shopping. We were hoping to find a World Market and maybe eat at Qdoba or Moes, but it turns out there aren't any of those in Mississippi... Go Figure.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Best 5K Ever!!!!!

After 5 days of not running and 3 days of being sick, I managed to accomplish my goal of not stopping AND finished faster than any other 5K I have participated in. I finished at roughly 28:40 or so. YIPPEEE!!! I came so very close to stopping going up the last hill. I completely ran out of ATP and started feeling weak. That's because I didn't eat breakfast.. Ooops. Plus it was really windy and very chilly... Anyway, I was quite proud of myself. Let's see if I can do it again in a few weeks at the Jingle Bell Run.

After the race, Mom and I went to a Christmas Crafts show. We ran into Grandmother, as wells as Chris & John and several of their friends in ceramics. We also went to Hudsons and spent a good while... They have Macy's Christmas stuff right now.....

Friday, November 14, 2008

A little better....

I'm feeling a little better today. On Wednesday, my back was killing me. It started with a sore throat and then a sinus headache. At midafternoon, my back started aching and then hurting, like it did when I had my car accident nearly four years ago. I still don't know why. Yesterday, it started hurting again around the same time, but not as bad. So fdar today, I'm just a little stuffy and coughing. Hopefully, I can get over this enough to be able to run tomorrow. I'm going regardless. I haven't run since Monday. I probably won't meet my goal, but the least I can do it try. Wish me luck...

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

I feel like crap....

Seriously. Mom thinks I have the flu. My back hurts and I have a sore throat...

Monday, November 10, 2008

Blah...

Not much going on this week. We took Papaw to church yesterday. He's doing great. I like standing by him while the congregation sings. Hearing him sing is comforting. I don't know why, but it is. It brings a tear to my eye sometimes.
This week I am filling a Operation Christmas Child box. The boxes are filled with toys and books for kids in poor countries who don't have Christmas. We're turning them in next Sunday at church.
I've been running nearly everyday as well. I did 5 miles today. I only did 3 yesterday because I didn't go until later in the day and I was running out of daylight. There's a 5K this weekend. My goal is to run it without stopping. I'd like to do it in under 33 minutes, but I won't be dissappointed if I take longer.
I finished Edgar Sawtelle. I highly recommend it to everyone. I'm currently reading The Shack. My dad gave it to me. It's really good so far, but very deep. I have to reread paragraphs often to understand what's happening. It's about a man who spends the weekend with "God" after struggling for several years with his daughter's death. Very good.....

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Running wild.....

I've been running a lot lately!!! The motivation is alive now, although I don't know where it's coming from. I think I'm directing my need for challenge to running rather than work. I have moved to a five-mile route that loops around the country club. It's pretty easy, except there are more hills and I tend to struggle on the last few ones. Next I'm going to add in the cemetery loop, which will add an extra 1 1/2 miles. I also mapped out a longer route for when I add more.... It's about 8 miles long. Hopefully I can keep this up. I have a 5K race next weekend and another on Dec. 6th.

My dim views on Politics....

I don't follow politics very closely, barely at all actually. In light of the historical events we've just witnessed, I thought I would weigh in what little I have to offer. I don't understand how one person can have such an indirect impact on a large amount of people. Oprah endorsed Obama a long time ago, before the Primary. Nightline tonight talked about how Oprah's endorsement may have persuaded over a million people to vote for him. They had some math whizzes do a study on the "Oprah influence", and figured out that over 1.2 million people may have voted based on Oprah's actions, even though she tried not to "tell us how to vote." They compared this to other instances where she expressed her likes/dislikes(her book club, the beef thing a while back, her "favorite things" shows, etc). Had she not said anything, we would have seen McCain running against Hillary Clinton yesterday. Don't get me wrong, I like Oprah. I think she's a powerful woman. Maybe a bit too powerful. But I don't change my way of thinking or buy a product because she tells me to.
Like I said before, I don't follow politics much. There's too much arguing and lobbying and not enough action for me. I look at certain issues that affect me and are similar in my own personal beliefs... Abortion, Religion, Military support, and a few others. I voted for McCain because his stand on these issues were most similar to my own. I really have nothing personal against Obama. We just don't share the same beliefs.
With this being said, the American public has spoken. And in that light, Obama is my new President. I think America is in for a real change and I think it is a change for the better. Honestly, I would feel that way had McCain won as well. I honestly believe that a large amount of people went to vote yesterday only because there was an African American on the ballot. Had Clinton been on the ballot, the same thing would have happened. The fact that there were millions of newly registered voters this time means that Obama (and Clinton for that matter) has already made an impact on people who know less about politics than I do. In a sense, he's already changing America. Here's a quote from a good friend of mine (who wishes to remain anonymous):

"President Obama will be my president, and he will be your president, whether we like it or not. Though I’m disappointed that my man didn’t win, I’m proud that our country has come to a point where we can look past the color of someone’s skin and actually look at the content of their character. Though I don’t agree with the country’s decision, I do take pleasure in it’s ability to make it."

Welcome to Change.