Kim's Thoughts
Just a few thoughts I feel worthy of jotting down!
This week’s “DUH” award winner
This week the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) made an announcement that is a classic “DUH” award candidate! A study concluded that pets are a major cause of falls and other related injuries to humans…..well, yeah – I coulda told them that……ha-ha!
Although I have never ended up in the ER or with broken bones because of it, I can write a book about all the cuts, bruises, trips, falls, etc. caused by the girls I love so much!!! And it doesn’t stop there – I could do sequel after sequel by adding editions dedicated to other beloved pets in my past.
Pets generally don’t mean to hurt us – I know there are some bad pets, but generally speaking, our pets love us! And THAT sometimes is the cause of our accidents — their over zealous excitement about seeing us, being near us, desire to get our attentions, and on and on and on…..
Let’s see – what are some of the top ways my sweet little girls have unintentionally caused me some level of pain or near misses:
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I have blogged about some of them — like this post devoted to a really bad tumble I took one day (click here to read it)….
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When they finally have confirmation that I am awake in the mornings, they take turns climbing all over me to get their kisses in — my poor body….
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Leaping at me in excitement when I get home from work….
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Siding into the back of my legs as they play around with each other….
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Being under-foot when I’m trying to work around the house….
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Rushing past me going up or down steps….
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Laying in my path and not moving, but when I go to step over or around them, they decide to go ahead and move – right into the spot my foot is about to land….
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Digging at me, jumping at me, etc. when I hide their toys behind me and play “betcha can’t get it” (OK, so those bruises and scratches are my own doing…..)
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And the indirect incidents — when I trip over their toys in the dark….
All this brings new meaning to the term “Love Hurts” — and it is all sooooooooo worth it!!! he-he-he-he
Saturday Evening Thoughts
Just some thoughts, words, and information to share on a quiet Saturday evening – the last Saturday of the first quarter of 2009….
I discovered Lipton White Tea with Blueberry and Pomegranate today — YUM!!! I usually don’t steep my tea bags very long cause I don’t like it strong – I generally get 2, sometimes 3 cups of tea out of one bag, but this one needed to steep quite a while to get all the flavor out of the bag — but it was really worth the wait!!! I am drinking it with a plate of fresh fruit and a piece of chicken — it is a perfectly delicious and lite dinner (I had a late lunch, so didn’t really want a full dinner)!!!
The “Best of Lee County” list was featured in today’s Sanford Herald – I agree with most of the choices, but have a few that I thought weren’t what I would have voted for (no – I didn’t submit my votes – I kept meaning to, but just never got around to it – so, I guess it is like the political elections – if I didn’t vote, I lost my right to complain about the winners……)! The ones that REALLY stuck out at me were:
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that Myra’s Kitchen didn’t win anything – they made it to the runners up, but didn’t win! I see the Herald agrees with me, though – they had them listed on their picks!
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Bella Bistro sharing the honor with Davison’s for “Best Romantic Restaurant” — Bella’s is much more cozy and intimate – a much more romantic atmosphere than Davison’s! Don’t get me wrong – I like Davison’s, but the new location is so open and noisy — not really that much of a romantic setting!
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Davison’s winning Best Steak — true – their steaks are outstanding and until recently, they were the best place to go for a really exquisitely done steak! But — a couple of months ago, Chef Hamm started offering ribeye steaks on his Thursday and Friday dinner menus (prime rib and filet mignon, too, but I am partial to ribeye and that is what Davison’s serves, too – so we’re comparing apples to apples with the ribeye) — Chef Hamm’s steak is a LOT larger and thicker than the standard steak at Davison’s (you can get it cut bigger at Davison’s, but it costs more) and Chef Hamm sears it on the edges with pepper and seasonings that make it oh so good!!! AND it is less expensive than Davison’s standard cut…..I’m just saying……
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And it is no secret that I think All Animals and Dr. Cindy are the best veterinarians in town — so, why did Myres’ win????????
We had some really bad weather around here yesterday — tornadoes ripped through areas not too far from here! Bad!!! And they are predicting more bad weather tonight!!! It has been raining off and on all day and the thunder is rolling in now…..sounds like we’re in for a bit of the nasties pretty soon!!!
I had a meeting with a counselor at First Health in Pinehurst yesterday to talk about my recent diagnosis of Type II Diabetes — he was wonderful and crammed a TON of info into a one hour session — I felt really good and optimistic when I left! I signed up for three classes that each will give me more in-depth info on topics that I could use some more help with. I think this will be a huge benefit for me – help me understand what I need to do to change my lifestyle and cope with this serious health issue — the counselor really helped me realize that I can do this!!!!
One of the 2009 Nora Roberts Collection – Midnight Bayou – is on at 9:00 on Life Time tonight. Looks good. I love Nora Roberts.
Well, that’s all I have for now……I hope the weather is better tomorrow so we have at least one day this weekend that is nice!
Some Ramblings and Movie Reviews
It was a wonderful, lazy weekend – perfect weather, nothing pressing that needed to be done, no concrete plans – just a lazy weekend! I went to see a couple movies this weekend and have some other updates to chat about. So, here are my movie reviews and some good ole ramblings!
I had considered going to see “Duplicity” at the Saturday matinee, but took an unplanned nap, instead. The previews of this movie looked really good — funny, twists and turns, some romance — a little something for everyone! I read the user reviews on Yahoo Movies and it looked like this was not what it was cracked up to be — the critics seemed to like it, but the users pretty much hated it and thought it was boring, confusing, and a total waste of time! BUT – I really like Julia Roberts and Clive Owen, so I was determined to go see for myself! Off I went to the Saturday evening 5:00 show – full price, not matinee price, but, hey – it was Julia Roberts – it was bound to be worth it!! I had it in my head that it would be similar to the 1994 hit, “I Love Trouble”, with Roberts and Nick Nolte – I loved that movie! This looked to be the same bantering back and forth, love/hate, competitively working together – sorta, type of story — only this time it is rival spies working with corporate espionage instead of rival newspaper reporters working to get the same story! I was wrong!!! Yeah, it had a touch of that, but not really. The user reviews were mostly correct – it was boring through a large portion of the movie and it was very confusing! But, I didn’t think it was a TOTAL waste of time. I did consider leaving about 1/2 way through, but I rarely leave a movie – just in case it gets better! The story was good and would have been really good if they hadn’t made it soooooo confusing and if they added some action here and there!!! They worked with flash backs through the majority of the movie — you’d see something happen and then it would flash back to something that happened earlier to explain what just happened…..it was a mess! It would not have ruined any part of the story to just show it in the order it happened – then, like with most movies, if you’re paying attention you can make the connection and “get” the explanation you saw in an earlier scene — and it wouldn’t have been such a confusing mess!! The only flash backs that were appropriate were the ones at the end that tied it all together – you definitely wouldn’t have wanted to see those scenes ahead of time – it would have ruined the ending! All in all, I think it was “OK”, but really wish I hadn’t paid full price and just waited until it came out on NetFlix! I rate it a “C“ (and I might be just a little generous here because it is such a lovely day).
Today I went to see “Knowing”– Nicolas Cage’s new movie – with a friend! Man, talk about intense!! I won’t go into details because any details beyond what you see on the previews would be mean spirited spoilers and I won’t do that to you!!! Suffice it to say that this Science Fiction/Action movie absolutely lives up to the hype!!! I didn’t realize it was Science Fiction and I’m glad I didn’t because I probably wouldn’t have gone to see it and I would have missed a really good movie!!! There is incredible action – there is tense drama – there are bazaar things going on – there is suspense!!! It will keep you on the edge of your seat right up to the unbelievable ending! Even though it was a little too “Twilight Zone” for my usual taste, I really enjoyed it and left feeling really strange…….hhhmmm!!! I give this one a BIG “A”!!!
So, on to the ramblings — I got my car fixed this week! Tramway Auto Body did the work and did a great job!!! I recommend them to anyone needing body work done – they were very nice, professional, helpful, reasonable, and quick!!! For the two days it was in the shop, I rented a Kia Spectra — a surprisingly nice car!! I only needed it to get back and forth to work for two days, so I didn’t really care – just asked for the cheapest rental I could get! But, I was very happy with the Kia – it was comfortable and drove really nice! Sweet little car!
The first day of Spring was Friday and there are signs of Spring blooming all over the place! The Bradford Pear trees are in full bloom and early Spring bushes are blooming all over town! One of the shrubs beside my back deck is all full of blossoms – not sure what it is called, but here is a picture of it:
We saw another perfect sign of spring today on the way to the movie in Southern Pines! We stopped by the little airport in Carthage and the little restaurant there (Pik ‘n Pig) was packed with bikers enjoying some pulled pork at the outdoor tables watching the airplanes come and go:
Well, that’s it for now — gotta go get back to being lazy, the weekend is almost over!!
Best Laid Plans and Blah, Blah, Blah
My goal or plans for the weekend were minimal – mostly just to relax and unwind – but there were a couple things on my to-do list. So far, I have the “relax and unwind” part covered, but none of the “to-dos” have even gotten past the “gee, I oughta” phase!
I had a long week, but it was a good one — got LOTS accomplished and felt really good about it! So, the weekend didn’t need to be used to catch up on anything in particular and I didn’t being any work from work home! yippee! So, I slept in this morning (well, sorta – the girls woke me up at 6:00, just like usual, but they were very happy to go back to bed after they went out to do their business) – I got up (for real) about 8:30….REALLY!! I did some puttering around on here for a while, did a load of laundry, and decided what I would try to do with my day. The plans were to go get my car inspected (it runs out the end of the month) and maybe take it by that guy on the corner of Horner and Wicker to give it a good cleaning inside and out. I also considered going to see “Duplicity” – the new Julia Roberts/Clive Owen movie – but I read the Yahoo Movies reviews and the users pretty much hate it! The critics seem to like it with a “B” average rating, but the users all say it is complicated, boring, and a waste of time! But, since I like Julia Roberts and the previews look really funny, I decided to ignore them and go see for myself! I also had to pop in to the grocery store and get a few things.
Well, I finally decided to hop in the shower and get dressed to head out about noon-ish. I made the mistake of laying on the bed for a few minutes to play and cuddle with the girls — two hours later, I woke up!!! Still in my jammies….the matinee movie start times had passed, it is probably too late to get my car inspected anywhere, and I’m fairly certain the car wash guy is closed or about to close!!!! Chalk today up to a lazy wasted day! Hhhmmm!
So, what’s on the radar for tomorrow? I think I may start some spring cleaning…..or maybe I’ll take a nap!!! I’ll let you know how that goes for me!!!
Moonlight and Magnolias at the Temple Theater
I went to the Temple Theater this afternoon to see Moonlight and Magnolias at the 2:00 matinee. I enjoyed it very much! I was happy to see a nice size crowd for a Sunday afternoon, too. It wasn’t sold out, but was probably 2/3 to 3/4 full or so.
As the audience entered the theater to take our seats, there was a screen playing the audition tapes of all the actresses that were tested for the part of Scarlet — that was cool…..
Moonlight and Magnolias is a comedy based on a true story — David O. Selznick was 3 weeks into the filming of Gone With The Wind and the script wasn’t working to his satisfaction – so, he halts production, fires the director, and calls in famed director Victor Flemming (pulling him off as director of The Wizard of Oz with only 2 weeks left of filming), and a screen play doctor, Ben Hect, to fix the screenplay. He literally locked them in his office for 5 days so the three of them could come up with a workable script!!! The problem was that Ben Hect never read the book and knows very little about the story, so Selznick and Flemming go through the entire book acting out all the parts while Hect sits at the typewriter capturing it all……kinda like Gone With The Wind on super fast forward told and acted out by two men who have had no sleep and only bananas and peanuts to eat for 5 days…….it was so funny!!!! There is some additional bantering between the gentleman about their lives and what is at stake if this movie doesn’t get made.
It was also a pleasure to see Peggy Taphorn as Selznick’s secretary – a small, but very enjoyable part!
Go see it — it is sure to entertain and provide a lot of chuckles!
Updates and a Movie Review
So – what have I been up to since I returned from paradise and rejoined the real world? It was a long week with lots going on! Just about every day had something major….
Sunday:
As I was driving home from the airport, I heard a strange sound – a bang and a whooshing sound – almost like a air hose or something like that let loose! I was not too far from Sanford – just a little before the Deep River Rd exit. So, I pulled over and the noise stopped…hhmm! So, I got out and looked at all the tires – all were fine…I looked under the hood – nothing looked odd…I stood back and looked at the front end and found the problem – the air deflector thingy under the front end was hanging down and scraping on the road!!! After driving slow to not cause any more problems, I got home and looked under the front end and it was GONE!!! Well, that’s that, I guess!
Monday:
I made two calls first thing in the morning – one to the Ford dealer to get an appt to have them look to see if there was any more damage before I just ordered the deflector and had Ron put it on; the second to the Family Doc – a couple weeks before vacation, I had a glucose tolerance test and they wanted me to make an appt to talk about the results as soon as I returned from vacation. After finagling times with both, I ended up with a doc appt on Mon and a car appt on Tues. The news at the doc’s wasn’t good – I have Type II Diabetes! I’m now learning all about the drastic lifestyle change I need to make to keep me from having much more serious health problems!
Tuesday:
I went to the appt I made for my car – he said that it was not only missing the deflector, but also another part and the fender was cracked in two places and was loose…..he recommended I go see the guys at Tramway Auto Body for a quote to replace the whole shebang! I went from there to Tramway Auto Body to get the quote – they were very nice and helpful, but the news wasn’t good – $900 and two days without a car!!!! I was assured by both that I’m not doing any damage to the engine by driving without the air deflector – BUT – the front fender is really loose and it won’t take much to cause a lot more damage to that!!! I will definitely have it fixed fairly soon! I just need to figure out how I’m gonna juggle things to pay for it and what arrangements I can make for another car while mine is in the shop!
I decided that if the rest of the week was going to follow suit with the first part, I just wanted to go back to paradise and stay there!!! ha-ha
Wednesday – nothing special happened that I can remember! A much needed break from the bad news!
Thursday:
The week made a big turn when I was able to participate in a great event! At the end of last year, Wyeth donated $1000 to Communities In Schools for a computer scholarship for a Lee County student. The criteria was that the child attend East Lee Middle School because of their focus on Science and Technology, have a high potential in the area of science, and a high need – no computer at home to use for their school work. The criteria was sent to the school and they were asked to nominate a student to receive the gift. They chose Eli Felix! We decided to ensure it was a secret until the presentation – Eli didn’t have any idea that he was going to be receiving this gift! Thursday at noon, representatives from CIS, Wyeth (I wore two hats, representing both CIS and Wyeth), and Eli’s family, pastor, and teachers gathered in the lobby while the principal went to get him from his lunch. It was an amazing sight to have him enter the lobby, see all these people there, and then see the table with a laptop, printer, bag, other supplies, and a balloon with a teddy bear and candy! He lit up like a Christmas Tree!!! Lots of pictures, congratulations, and an article in the Herald later, Eli left happy and with the technology needed to help him excel beyond his already high aptitude in his school work! It was a good feeling!!!
Friday I was planning to go see “Moonlight and Magnolias” at the Temple Theater, but decided to call it an early night, instead. I do need to be sure to see it before the run ends, though!
Saturday:
I went to see “The Last House on the Left” – it was a toss up between this movie and “The Reader”. I like movies that are suspenseful without being horror based. The previews really intrigued me and the write up clinched the deal! I should have chosen “The Reader”….. The basic story was great — all about a family who take revenge on the creeps who brutally rape, beat and leave their daughter for dead! The sickos end up at the family’s home during a bad storm after they did the unthinkable to the daughter and killed the daughter’s friend. The parents offer their guest house to them until they could take them to town the next day. They soon find out what they did to their daughter and give them the same or worse than they have done to others (they were career sickos)!!! Great idea for a movie!!! The problem was that the acting sucked, the scenes were all too predictable, and they went WAY too far with the gruesome acts of violence! It would have been very believable to have the parents get their revenge by killing them in some intense fight scenes – but it went too far — for instance, there is a torture by garbage disposal and a head cooked to explosion in a microwave oven involved – to name just two! YUCK! While I liked the story, the rest brought the whole mood down……so, I only recommend it if you are interested in gruesome violence – otherwise, I’d leave this one alone. My rating: D
Sunday – so far, it has been a lazy day! I am considering several things and have not, yet decided on which one I’ll do — stay home and curl up with a day of Life Time movies, go to the matinee of “Moonlight and Magnolias” at the Temple Theater, or go in to work and get caught up on a few things — or maybe a combination of two or more…..
Have a nice day and week!
Not a problem…
Megan wanted her ball in the den, but it was caught up in the blanket……did that stop her from playing with it where she wanted to??? NOPE – she just brought the blanket with it!!!
A Few Days in Hawaii…
I had a wonderful adventure last week! I fulfilled a dream by taking a little vacation in Hawaii – I joined some friends there and had a wonderful time!!! It was way too short, but long enough to give me a nice taste of Hawaiian culture and incredible views! We stayed on Oahu right at Waikiki Beach — it was great!!!
Here is a diary of my adventure and some sample pictures:
Day One – Wednesday, March 4th
I got up at 3:00 am to make a 6:00 am flight out of RDU. It was 3 hours from here to Houston, an hour and a half lay over, and then 8 hours from Houston to Honolulu. Then, of course, I also “gained back” 5 hours by skipping time zones! So, I arrived in Hawaii at 2:00 pm. I assumed that I would be totally wasted and not able to do much that first day, but I was flying on adrenaline!!
The shuttle driver from the airport to the hotel was a real “surfer dude” type. He said he lived in Winston-Salem for a while and did a couple semesters at Wake Forest. But, he is a west coast kinda guy and couldn’t stay here very long! Too bad – NC’s loss – what a cutie! ha-ha
I got settled into the hotel – the Queen Kapiolani on Waikiki Beach. Very nice location – just a block from the beach! Here is the hotel and the view from my room – I had a view of Diamond Head and partially of the ocean.
I met up with my friends and we went to dinner at Lulu’s Waikiki – just up the street from the hotel and across the street from the beach. It was a great open air restaurant and we had a really nice dinner! The next shot is the view from our table of the beach.
We went to one of the MANY ABC stores – there is one or two on every block!!!! ABC stores are not what they are here in NC – our ABC stores are liquor stores – in Hawaii, they are convenience / gift stores! Lisa and I got flower barrettes for our hair and we got a stack of cheap t-shirts to bring back for gifts for family and friends (6 for $20.00!!!). We talked about going to the zoo, which was right across the street from the hotel, but I was running out of steam so we decided to just go back to the hotel and plan the rest of our trip!
We stopped in at the tour desk and booked tickets for a “whale watching” cruise and a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Day one was done!
Day Two – Thursday, March 5th
Day two was devoted to whale watching and exploring! Ron and Lisa actually started the day MUCH earlier than I did. I got up fairly early and when I called to see if they were ready for breakfast, they said they were hiking and were almost to the top of Diamond Head and would be back soon!!! They told me all about the grueling hike and the beautiful views over breakfast – here is a sample of the photos they took on their hike:
They took this for me cause I have a “thing” for lighthouses!!!
When they returned, we had breakfast in the hotel. Then we walked to the beach and looked around and took some pictures. We walked out onto a pier – it was so warm and windy (but a little cloudy) – what a great day! Here are some beach pics.
We picked up the shuttle to the whale watching cruise about 11:00 am. This is a day cruise that guarantees whale sightings and they didn’t disappoint!!! We had a very nice buffet lunch on board while the captain cruised to where the whales are. Then, we went out onto the decks and looked for whales. The whales travel from Alaska to Hawaii to give birth in the warm waters. They stay in the area from around Dec to April to let the babies get strong enough to travel back to Alaska and stand the cold waters. The sightings are very exciting! We would first see a “blow” – water shooting up out of the water like a geyser – then their backs would arch up out of the water or they would roll and lift their front fins out of the water – then their huge tails would come up out of the water and expand! When we would have a sighting (and there were MANY), everyone would ooooh and aaaah and scream out in delight! The problem was that it would happen so fast that it was very difficult to capture it on camera – so we weren’t sure if we got any good shots until we downloaded them when we got back to the hotel. We looked at about 100 pictures we took between us and were just about convinced that we were not lucky enough to get a good shot!!! And then, there it was — the perfect picture!!! Ron was the lucky one who got the shot – here it is – the one of the fin fully expanded!
When we got back from the cruise, we walked a few blocks to King’s Village and the International Marketplace to do some shopping. Both were great places to go – lots to see and lots available to buy! We got a few things and headed back to the hotel. The following shots are from our shopping excursion:
We went back to the hotel, had dinner, and crashed!!!! It was a long and FULL day (especially for Ron and Lisa cause they started out climbing a volcano before breakfast!).
Day Three – Friday, March 6th
My day actually started with a view I wished I hadn’t seen….. after my shower, I got on the phone to make a few calls. While I was on the phone, I was pacing back and forth from inside and out onto the lanai and back inside – the exterior of the hotel is an “L” shape on the side my room is on – on one of my trips out onto the lanai, I turned towards the wall of windows to my left and just as I did, a man opened his curtains and he was standing there totally naked!!! It was a BIG window, so he was exposed from the knees up!!! Talk about “ugly naked guy” – it was not a pretty sight! Sorry – no photo of this scenery – not exactly what I wanted to capture for my album! ha-ha As soon as he saw me, he shut the curtains — but, the damage was done – I will always associate the lanai in that room with the ugly naked guy across the way…..
The day seemed to be doomed for us — after the ugly naked guy sighting, we had breakfast and then sat in the lobby waiting for the shuttle to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center. My phone sounded off with the little tune that signifies an email, so I pulled it out to see what it was. It was a “breaking news” email from the Facebook notification that the Sanford Herald sends with news. I opened it up and gasped when I read the headline – I felt the color run out of my face! Ron and Lisa asked what was wrong and I tried to tell them it was nothing, but it obviously WAS something, so when they pressed, I said “I’m not going to tell you” — well, that made things worse!!! So, I had to tell them – Transmatic announced they are closing on April 3rd — Ron works at Transmatic!!! UUUGGGHHH!!!! He made a couple calls and tried to not let it upset him and ruin his day — but, man, I felt horrible!!!
The day picked up, though…..the bus ride to the Polynesian Cultural Center was about an hour and a half long. Our tour guide – Cousin Billy – made the trip a blast – it didn’t feel like and hour and a half at all….. Here are some shots of the country side on our way to the center:
The above photo is of the North Shore
This was a HUGE pet cemetery!!! The whole island is very “pet friendly” – we saw people walking dogs all over the place – beaches, streets, everywhere!
We arrived at the Polynesian Cultural Center and it was FANTASTIC!!!! We took a guided tour with Cousin Billy and had the best time! The tour included seeing the cultures of all the different Polynesian islands – Hawaii, Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti, and others….. we saw hulas, native musical instruments, coconut tree climbing, watched a canoe pageant, took a hula lesson, and so much more!!! The day was capped off with a wonderful Luau and a fabulous night show…..here is a small sampling of the several hundred photos we took between us:
Cousin Billy….our tour guide from Samoa – so funny!
We got back at the hotel at 10:30 pm and were EXHAUSTED – another long, full day — but oh, so much fun!!!
Day Four – Saturday, March 7th
My last day — I decided to just bum around because I had a LONG flight ahead of me. I went to the beach and wandered around some. I took some pictures of the Banyan trees across from the hotel – they were fascinating!!!! There is a large homeless population and they live in the “caves” of the Banyan trees!
The flight back was LONG — not any longer in actual hours than going down was, but we lost all those hours that were gained on the way down — the flight was 8 hours from Honolulu to Houston, a 3.5 hour layover in Houston, and a 3 hour flight from Houston to RDU — AND, in addition to the 5 hours time difference, it was also the night we turned the clocks ahead for daylight savings time!!! So – I left Honolulu at 7:30 PM Saturday, arrived in Houston at 7:30 am Sunday, and then arrived in Raleigh at 2:30 pm Sunday afternoon!!!
I rushed to Sanford to pick the girls up from their adventure at Rae-Zor before they closed at 4:00, came home, and worked to adjust to being back in reality!!!
Ron and Lisa arrived two days before me and stayed two days after I left — some of the things they did that I didn’t do was go to the Pearl Harbor Memorial (I didn’t think I’d be interested in that, but after I saw their pictures, I wished I had planned to do it with them), they hiked to the top of Diamond Head, went to a nearby bay to swim, and Ronald took an airplane ride around the island!
I would like to go back some time when I have more time to spend — but, next time, I think I will plan an island hopping package and spend a day or two at each island to see more than just Oahu! Maybe if I hop around, I might find Frankie and Annette or Gidget and Moondoggie – cause they weren’t on Oahu!!!
That is my vacation…….what a wonderful adventure!!!! Now I’m tired and really bummed to have to reenter the real world…….ha-ha!
Aloha!!!
March…
I turned the calendar page this morning to reveal the month of March! Yes, it is March already – wasn’t Christmas just yesterday or the day before? As I turned the calendar, I discovered that March has a lot to offer – beginning with the lovely and tranquil tropical scene in the picture on the top half of the calendar… Let’s see what else March has in store for us:
First – per the calendar – several days with the word “begins” and “first”:
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March 2 = Eastern Orthodox Lent Begins
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March 8 = Daylight Saving Time Begins (yippee)
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March 9 = Purim Begins at Sundown and Commonwealth Day (UK)
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March 10 = Full Moon
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March 16 = Canberra Day (Australia)
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March 17 = St. Patrick’s Day (Erin Go Bragh)
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March 20 = First Day of Spring (double yippee)
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March 21 = Benito Juarez Birthday (Mexico)
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March 22 = Mothering Sunday (UK)
Personally – this March brings some happy and some sad:
- Some friends and I will have an exciting adventure sometime this month – not telling what/when on here for the world to read (those who know me have heard all about it), but you can be sure I’ll be doing a LOT of telling when it is over!!!
- March 1 = Jen Chapin concert at the Temple Theater
- March 7 = CIS 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament
- March 12 – 29 = Moonlight and Magnolias is presented at the Temple Theater
- March 13 = My oldest step-son’s 38th birthday
- March 20 = The 10th anniversary of my Poppie’s death – Charlie Culmo – my Mom’s husband and the only true “father” I ever had – my hero
There is also an old saying about March that I have always found to be true – “If March comes in like a LION, it will go out like a LAMB” and visa versa! It is raining and yucky here in Sanford, NC (again) today and we are expecting to see some more snow tomorrow and, from what I hear, maybe again next week. I surely hope that means that March will end with some nice calm, spring-like weather!
Speaking of snow in March – one of the “Thumbs Down” comments on this morning’s Sanford Herald Editorial Page mentioned that “Snow in March just isn’t something we’re supposed to worry about…”. It definitely is an oddity here in Sanford. But, where I came from in Western New York, it is expected! You don’t start thinking that there might be an end to the snow until around April and, even then, it ain’t over…. I remember one time in late April (don’t remember the year, but it must have been late 70’s, early 80’s) – it was a beautiful morning, so I left Albion with no coat to pick up a friend in Bergen (or was it Byron?) so we could go shopping in Greece (about an hour – give or take – from my home). We shopped for hours inside the mall, oblivious to what was going on outside. We came out to get in the car and there was a freak blizzard – it wasn’t predicted!!! We could hardly see to get to the car — it was buried in about a foot of snow — neither of us had coats, gloves, hats, etc. We cleaned the car off and headed to Bergen/Byron (whatever) to drop my friend off at her home. The driving was horrible!!! Visibility was near zero!!! We were plowing snow as we went cause the plows weren’t out and we had to get home!!! Just before we reached her house, we thought we saw something in the road – we suddenly realized we were about to hit a COW!!!! The poor thing was standing in the blizzard in knee deep snow in the middle of the road!!! I hit the brakes, which – even though I was already barely crawling – put me in a tail spin and I almost ended up in the ditch!!! Luckily, her house was just a little further up the road and we made it there — but I did NOT attempt to make it the rest of the way to Albion…..I stayed put!!!
So — March (and April) can be very interesting — new beginnings, unpredictable weather, and full of anticipation of Spring!!!
Happy March to you all….
Fire Flies In My Bed?
The morning ritual came with a fancy light show this morning!!! I always knew Amy was a bundle of energy, but this morning she really showed off her electric personality!!! Ha-Ha
About 6:00 am, the fun began — the girls woke me up at 5:00 to go outside, so they took care of all those duties and we went back to bed. About 6:00, they were ready for breakfast, so they started the morning ritual….taking turns wiggling at me, kissing me, laying on me, sitting on me — whatever would get me to rub them and acknowledge that I was awake and able to serve breakfast!
It was still dark in the room — every time Amy would take her turn, wherever I touched her or she rubbed around on the blankets, her fur would become ablaze with flickering lights! She must have had more static electricity in her coat than Progress Energy supplies to a normal household on any given day!!! It wasn’t the kind that crackles and zaps you — neither she nor I were getting shocked! She was just giving off this amazing light show!!!
So – Amy has a new super hero nickname: “Electric Girl”!!!
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