Bobbird3131

Our daughter Stef and her wonderful sweetie Dave drove to our house for Thanksgiving weekend. We all spent hours talking, watching movies and eating lots of yummy food.

Sammy got a lovely gift for the couple. Soon after they arrived, and while we were eating supper, our cat deposited a live mouse on the floor between them. Everything stopped while my husband Marvin chased the mouse into the closet, grabbed him with the barbecue tongs and set him free in the back yard.

After our Thanksgiving dinner we took a drive and looked for unusual signs to photograph. I didn’t have to go far though to catch this shot right in our living room. Yes, we entertained celebrities. I am the mother of the lovely Poppy.

Our Thanksgiving dinner guests will be here on Friday so my sweet husband and I have today to sleep late, watch the parade in our pajamas, meet up with friends at noon, eat chicken wings, watch movies, and call our kids and my mom to wish them a happy day. I am looking forward to every minute. Happy Thanksgiving!!

I was driving home from work last night and right about at “Motor Mile” (where all the big car dealerships with the cars that aren’t selling are), I smelled a horrible burning smell. I figured somebody with an oil leak was limping over to their dealer for service so I just adjusted my vents to interior. The smell stopped coming in and I drove home. When I got in my driveway and jumped out of the van, guess what? The smell was me! Or at least it was my van. I’m the one with the oil leak and I have to take it to the dealer the day ofter Thanksgiving. Good news is I have the day off so it will be much easier to navigate.

I am at work today but there is nothing going on. I’m just a place holder until 5 p.m. Then the holiday fun begins! Our big dinner won’t be until Friday? so my husband and I have already decided to stay in our pajamas, eat chicken wings, watch movies, torture the cat and call all our relatives on Thanksgiving day. Sammy will be happy we are both home – double the attention.

Today is my husband’s birthday. He celebrated by getting a truck load of food for our church’s food pantry. I asked him if I could bring home supper (that’s my version of cooking during the week) since he must be tired. He said no because he had already made a pot of spaghetti sauce and meat balls for tonight. The spoiling just never stops for me at our house and I love my sweetie for it. Happy Birthday honey.

It’s my birthday! I just came back from lunch at Cootie Browns – cheeseburger with everything and home made chips. My bosses took me to celebrate.

My husband’s birthday is tomorrow so Saturday night we celebrated both our birthdays by going out to dinner at the Peerless and then to the Johnson City Symphony.

I had a gift card to the Peerless that my girl friend gave me so it was going to be free and wonderful. Wonderful because this is supposed to be one of Johnson City’s better places to eat and I expected a lot. We get there, get seated and then wait. No “can I take your drink order”, no “hi, I’ll be with you in a minute”, just wait staff running past us to other tables.

After 25 minutes, a waiter stepped into our booth area and took the order of a couple who had been seated after us. I look at my husband, he looks at me, we drop our crumpled napkins on the table, put on our coats and head out the door. We ended up at Zaxbys down the street where we got chicken fingers and chicken Caesar salad ordered, ready and half-eaten in the time we waited at the Peerless. Lots more fun, lots less stress.

We then went on to the symphony (tickets were a freebie perc from my company) and had a wonderful evening. They played Beethoven’s Symphony No.1. This is such a favorite of mine, I wore out 2 cassette tapes of it, so there was a lot of toe tapping on my part.

We have since learned that although the food at the Peerless is still good, the service is not. No matter who you are or when you dine, service sucks. Since we will be eating free, we have decided to treat it as an event. We will go with intention of staying for two hours, armed with lots of gossip for each other and just not care about the time – I am not giving up on free.

Anyway, Happy Birthday to me. I am having a fine day. Couldn’t ask for better.

I stole this from Poppy .

1. Do you like blue cheese salad dressing?
Adore it

2. Favorite late night snack?
Popcorn made with a Stir Crazy

3. Do you own a gun?
No, but there are a couple in the house

4. What’s your favorite drink at Starbucks or other specialty coffee shop?
Mocha latte

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
Only if I already feel like crap

6. What do you think of hot dogs?
It depends on the dog

7. Favorite Christmas song?
Don’t have one

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Coffee

9. Can you do push-ups?
Yes.

10. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry?
A green crystal cross

11. Favorite hobby?
Taking pictures and fooling around with them

12. Do you have A.D.D.?
Yes

13. What’s one trait that you hate about yourself?
I’m often nice to people who just need to be told to shove off.

14. The last disease you contracted?
?

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment.
What constitutes a disease exactly? Will I remember to pick up my friend tonight-must write note to myself. Is the cake in the van melting?

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink?
Water, Coke, coffee

17. Current worry right now?
I try not to worry. It doesn’t go anywhere.

18. Current hate right now?
Ditto from 17

19. Favorite place to be?
For the sheer beauty, on the river in Punta Gorda, Florida

20. How did you ring in the New Year?
I think I fell asleep

21. Like to travel?
Yes, yes, yes

23. Do you own slippers?
3 pairs – 2 in the house and 1 in the camper

24. What color shirt are you wearing?
Green

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?
No, cold and slippery

26. Can you whistle?
I try, but no

27. Favorite singer/band?
Today it’s Bob Dylan

28. Could you ever make it 39 days on the show Survivor?
No. Not that I couldn’t sleep in the rain and eat bugs. It’s just that very early on I’d have to slap someone.

29. What songs do you sing in the shower?
None

30. Favorite girl’s names? Leslie, Stefanie, Alexis

31. Favorite boy’s name?
Wayne

32. What’s in your pocket right now?
Keys to the office

33. Last thing that made you laugh?
My boss. He has a dry sense of humor and uses it often

34. Like your job?
Love it

36. Do you love where you live?
Yes, it’s beautiful and cozy

37. How many TVs do you have in your house?
Two in the house and one in the shed (and there are only two of us)

38. Who is your loudest friend?
Laverne – she’s in Florida and I miss her

39. Do you drive the speed limit or speed?
The speed limit is more like a guide to me than a limit

40. Does someone have a crush on you?
Yes

41. What is your favorite book?
The Silver Sword

42. What is your favorite candy?
M & M’s

43. Favorite Sports Team?
I am a NASCAR fan. I like Dale, Jr and the team that backs him up

44. What were you doing 12 AM last night?
Brushing my teeth before I went to bed

45. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up today?
I’m very comfy in this bed. Why do I have to get up?

You might not know that I……

really do want to help make the world a better place
have been accused of being a Pollyanna
adore my husband
love to knit toddler sweaters
don’t believe I’m 60
love my job
have more friends as an adult than I ever had as a child
am thrilled for my daughter
love Kenny Chesney’s island songs
lived in Florida for 8 years
have been in a category four hurricane
was afraid of my first husband
once won 1st place in a poetry reading competition by reciting a Bob Dylan poem off the back of one of his albums
used to love to watch my son sleep
still like to tent camp
have paddled over an alligator in a kayak

I had an E-mail run in today with a woman who sent me the names of the songs for this Sunday’s church service. Apparently she thought it was up to me to coordinate my weekly PowerPoint church presentation with the woman who puts together the weekly church bulletin. It’s not. The person who picks the songs for the week does the coordinating. My E-mailer is not the person who normally sends me the songs so I explained this to her and she fired back a reply shouting at me to “make sure you all ARE TOGETHER ON THIS”.

You know what? I’m too old to take this crap. I no longer even think about doing things just because someone else thinks I should. I fired back a note asking her not to shout at me in print and saying “once again, the person who coordinates this is you, not me”. Why is it that some people think if they say something often enough and loud enough, they can make it so.

Well, I’m not feeling so cranky now that I’ve spilled the beans here.

It’s raining today in my part of Tennessee and it looks like it will be raining until next Wednesday. That is a very good thing since we are still in the middle of a drought so severe that some towns have asked for voluntary rationing (going to non voluntary if enough people don’t get on board.) It would be a wonderful day to nap half the afternoon and have a big bowl of soup when I wake up. The trouble is I’m at work; and while several suggestions have been made about moving the credenza out of the bosses’ office and putting in a futon, I don’t see it happening any time soon.

I am a power napper so 20 minutes (less than my lunch half hour) with a blankie on the board room table would refresh me, but this is an afternoon snooze kind of day. Just thinking about it puts a smile on my face and a droop to my eyelids. So back to work updating my spread sheets and designing our ad for December. For those of you who are able, I wish you Happy Napping.