The Driveway From H-E-double hockey sticks...

Hello dear readers!!!

A few matters of blog business...since a squirrel fried our transformer at work yesterday and the IT people had to put in our new firewall, I am unable to view my blog there. Yes, it's a travesty I know. What do those people expect me to do? Work? So, I am not ignoring you, I'm just unable to "see" you. And if you're a FB friend, you guys are banned as well. This makes me unhappy but I'll adjust.

Anyway, on to the matter at hand. In my last post, I mentioned the driveway from hell and some of you expressed an interest in hearing about it. Well, I finally have time so I'll tell you about it. The weekend in question, the DH and I were in Chimney Rock, NC for a family wedding (which was absolutely gorgeous and fun-never laughed so hard in my life). We moseyed to the appointed place early that day so we could take in the sights and just explore. This is something we love to do, especially when we don't have little people telling us, "we're bored", "my feet are about to fall off", "are we there yet?". Anyhoo, as we were driving through the quaint little tourist trap of Chimney Rock, Mike spied a lovely covered bridge with a sign on it that said Home Sites for Sale. Oh goody! We love looking at house we would never be able to afford, so we turned in. Little did I know that we had just passed the threshold of the land of the crazy driveways. Now, let me just warn you, if you can't see the top of the driveway---DON'T GO!!!

This is a picture of the little car going up just the bottom part of the first driveway....

Do you see the incline? What is virtually invisible is that there is a turn at the top of this little incline that is the sharpest thing I've ever seen in my life. It was like this >. Yes, that symbol is what the turn (and the incline following it looked like). After much twisting and turning and praying we reached the top.

Which looked like this. It's beautiful, right? What you don't understand is that the width of this "driveway" is about as wide as I am tall (5'4" on a good day). Now don't get me wrong, the view was lovely and serene. And all I could think of was "Holy crap! We've got to go down that stupid thing!" There was much discussion and I'm ashamed to say that I was thinking about walking-it's good for you, you know. But, I would not leave my DH to fight it alone. So, off we went---slowly! All I can say is thank heavens, all the holy angels and whatever Saints you can name off the top of your head that Mike was driving.

We did end up going up another driveway that was was even worse than the first, because it lulled you into a false sense of security through not showing you the top. Even Mike the Fearless was a little worried about that one. He said once we got to the top, "I thought the car was going to tip backwards!" It's a miracle we survived. But survive we did. Here are some more pictures that were taken after our encounter with "the driveway".

All in all, it was a lovely trip. We plan to go back when we can take the childrent and spend more time hiking around Chimney Rock. This trip was like a brief "get to know you" trip. Hope you enjoy the pictures and our adventure. I don't think I'll be buying any mountainside home site in the near future.

Peace and love y'all!

Bring it....

Hello dear readers!
Living in the sunshiney south all of my life has real advantages. It's not really COLD during the winter, the spring is beautiful and full of flowers blooming, summer is a time for sipping lemonade and going to the beach and fall is full of color (leaves and football abound). That being said, this morning I was looking at our Bradford pear trees and noticed an ever so slight color shift in the leaves. WOOHOO!!! I'm ready for fall to arrive. Mike and I were in the mountains of NC this weekend and the air was just a tad crisp with the wind blowing (more including pictures and a story about the driveway from hell later). I was listening to the radio this morning and the Paul Walker song "Cool nights" came on and I thought "self, you are SO ready for fall! You're thinking of sweaters and jeans, boots and the smell of dead leaves". So, in honor of my ever so slightly changing leaves, here are some things to think about:

-The crunch of leaves as you walk through them (I'm one of those people that kick them and scatter them all over the place)

-The smell of smoke as people start burning said leaves and firing up their fireplaces

-That crazy "turning the heat on for the first time" smell that always freaks me out just a little

-College football (I had to put that in there, I'm not a football fan but friends are) and all the sounds, sights and colors of tailgating and the games

-sweaters and jeans!!!!!! With boots!!!!!

-pumpkin hunting and carving

-seeing all the little ghosts and goblins on Halloween (CANDY!CANDY!CANDY!)

-Orange, red, yellow and brown

-That really cool tree on I-20 that turns the brightest yellow every year

What are your favorite things about fall?

Til next time....

Peace and love y'all!

It is enough....

Hello all,
This has been running through my head since last week and I've finally got a quiet moment to sit down and put it down "on paper". I have phrases that I use a good bit when I'm talking to myself. Phrases like "Let go and let God", "I don't have to, I GET to..." and now I have a new one...."It is enough.". This is probably more powerful to me than anything else I can think of. Case in point, a few weeks ago, I was commiserating to my mother that I never did this or that or the other that my friends were able to do before, during and after college for some reason or another (is that vague enough?). The same day, Mike the wonder dude came home and was complaining about not having this or that or the other. Well buddy, did I set him straight and got myself to thinking. This is what I came up with....

-I may not have a big fancy house decorated all fancy dancy. However, I have a home where my family laughs, cries, fights, loves, learns and occasionally works.

-I may not have my dream car (this is something I complain about often). However, our little car is almost paid for. It gets everyone where they need to go safely.

-I don't have my dream job, but in this time of employment uncertainty, I work and earn decent money. If I had kept on track with my education, I would not have my beautiful daughter or be married to a great guy and have a precious boy.

-I may not wear cool clothes (believe me, I don't---I'm more of a tshirt, jeans and flip flops kind of gal). But, I have clothes and they keep me warm when it's cold outside.

-I may or may not agree with the politics of the season, but I live in a country where I can speak my mind freely without fear.

What I have is enough. This isn't to say that I don't WANT things, I do, I want a lot of things. But, I have what I need.

I have a loving, gentle, kind, respectful husband. I don't ever worry about what he's doing or who he's with or in what state he's going to come home. Our relationship is strong, we've gone through a lot and we've come out better on the other side.

I have smart, talented, beautiful children who most of the time think I'm a pretty good mom. They are friendly and loving, scary funny and deeply perceptive. I love seeing them in the mornings, I've memorized their faces and see little changes every day. I have friends who can't have children or have lost a child and I can't imagine the pain and anguish they go through on a daily basis.

I was raised by loving parents. We didn't have much, but we knew that we were loved. They taught us right from wrong and when we messed up, they were supporting us through whatever trial we had to face.

So, my dear readers, I'm standing up today to tell you, I don't need a big house, fancy cars or clothes. I have enough.

Peace and love y'all!

p.s.---Mike, if you read this, I still would like a Porsche convertible for my 45th birthday. Hey, a girl's got to have some goals in life :-)