YAY! Gloria is back! You were really missed. It just isn't the same around here without you.
I am glad you had a safe trip. How was your visit to Georgia? I empathize with you and your sore rear end. When we drive to Ohio to visit Greg's parents it usually takes us about 15 hours. Thank goodness the kids have to pee and burn off energy once in a while because Greg would drive it straight through if it weren't for them.
Get yourself settled and let us know what a wonderful time you had.
Carl is watching his stupid nascar race so i have a few minutes to make a quick post.
I have so much to tell you about our trip that i just don't know where to start. I guess at the beginning is a good place so here goes. Last Saturday morning when we were still in FL. and almost finished packing up the truck and ready for the long drive to upper GA. i decided to take my dogs for a walk just in case they had to pee and poo. The time was about 5 A.M. and it's still dark outside so i figured what would it hurt if i didn't use any leash on the dog's for a super quick 1,2,3 walk up the street and back. Well, i got a couple of houses down and realize I'm all by myself. I don't want to yell because my neighbors are still asleep so i turn around and head back home just in case some of my dogs decided they didn't want to go for a walk. (My dogs ALWAYS want to go for a walk). Carl had the doors to the truck open and the inside light was on. There sitting in the drivers seat was my big dog Digger trying to look invisible and sitting next to him was Sky just looking at me like i was some kind of nut walking up the road by myself. My three little dogs were sitting in the back seat all happy happy and ready for an adventure. I just got so tickled at all five of then sitting in the truck and ready to go that i almost called out for Carl to come see but then i remembered the sleeping neighbors. Just then i hear hubby giggling in back of me trying not to make a lot of noise and whispering, wanting to know if i was ready. With the dogs already in the truck, Carl and i hop in and he starts the engine. Just as were pulling out of our driveway, the car alarm goes off and is screaming at us. This starts my little dogs a howling and Digger and Sky are barking so loud that if the neighbors didn't know we were leaving, well they did now. I'm laughing so hard i almost pee my pants while Carl is trying to find the shutoff button on his key chain and drive at the same time. Life is good.
To be continued.
Have to go get a shower so will talk more tomorrow.
Gloria
Gloria, happy to see you back - I KNEW you would have some great stories for us. It's like "stuff" waits for you to happen!!!!
I feel sluggish today. I studied until midnight last night and am going back at it for awhile this morning.
It's my Dad's birthday today so we are bringing him out to the farm. It looks awful wet outthere from the rain so I hope his wheel chair makes it!
I NEED to get my plants in sometime today and of course, study.
Do any of you have wireless internet through a dish service? I was thinking of using my Direct TV for it but it sure is expensive. I was wondering if anyone could give any advice.
Lucky, we have wireless internet but via cable. My SIL had it through sattelite, though. Her complaint was that it wasn't very reliable. Things like weather would affect it but also it would just randomly knock her offline. I don't know who her provider was or if they were ever able to correct the problems. They have since moved and ended up with cable in their new home.
Good Monday morning to all.
Carl and i didn't do much of anything yesterday for mothers day. Still recouping from our long drive back to FL. on Saturday. I did have a wonderful surprise Saturday when we pulled into our driveway. One of my tomatoes had turned red red while we were gone so tonight we are having B.L.T's for supper. Might have to take a loan on our house in order to buy the lettuce though. The price for a small head runs about $2.00 a head and I'm thinking that maybe the darn thing should be dipped in gold at that price.
I am so happy happy to see you felling better Chelsea. Was really getting concerned that your illness had you down for so long. It will take a while for you to get your strength back, but am thrilled that you are feeling better.
I think it was Kat that was asking about my dog Sky. Well, she is on medication and will have to take it the rest of her life. Unfortunately the drug gives her gas and when your in a small confined space like the cab of our truck, this is NOT a good thing, especially when driving through Atlanta GA. where the traffic reminds me of one of Carl's nascar races. Because we have to go through Atlanta in order to get to our house in upper GA., i try to keep the dogs calm and quite while Carl is driving, but just as were heading for the worst part of traffic, wouldn't you just know that Sky lets out the worst smelling gas. The windows go down, our heads are hanging out the window while cars are zooming past us. I can just imagine what people were thinking, "There goes those crazy people from Florida again.
Still have some reading to catch up on and a ton of house work to do so will say so long for now.
Hugs to all.
Gloria
Gloria, too funny. You should smell the doozies that Daisy lets out. The kids know not to feed her table food but they do it anyway. And it gives her the worst gas every single time - it is how I know if they've gone behind my back and fed her. Of course, I tell them I know because I have eyes in the back of my head. They don't EXACTLY believe me but I've busted them on so many things that they are at least cautious of the possibilit. LOL.
So, I had the weirdest dream last night. You know those that you wake up from and it takes a few minutes to realize you were dreaming? I planned on going to the gym this morning and had all of my clothes, water, MP3 player all ready to go so that I could get there by 5. I had my alarm set for 4:30. Addie happened to wake up from a nightmare around 3:45 and came downstairs. I tucked her in my bed and went to the bathroom and figured since I was up I would go ahead and get ready to leave. So I turned off the alarm clock - and that is the last thing I remember. I obviously got right back in bed and fell asleep again. But I dreamed about getting dressed and going to the gym. Problem was that when I got there I had forgotten to put my shirt on. And everytime I tried to do any free weights I kept rolling off the bench or dropping the weight. I bumped into another lady and made her fall. It was all a disaster so I tried to leave but I couldn't find my way out of the gym. I finally made it home and went back to bed. So, Greg's alarm goes off at 5:30, wakes me up and I swear it took me 15 minutes to figure out how I ended back in bed after going to the gym. I even FELT like I had been exercising. So strange. It has taken me all day to shake that twilight zone feeling.
I am having a good day foodwise but I am sooo hungry. I just can't seem to satisfy my appetite. I've been eating really small snacks througout the day instead of any main meals. I keep hoping I'll finally fill up and feel better. Thank goodness I'm not having any particular cravings as I'm not sure I could control myself on a day like this.
I'm off to baby my tomatoes and peppers a bit and then I have to start getting the kids' sandbox cleaned out. They have one as part of their playset but we've never used it. I bought sand today but I have to go get the weeds and bugs cleaned out before I can put it in.
My daughter Jamie had dreams like that when she was little. Carl and i would be in the living room while the kids were in bed asleep and she would come walking out all half dazed and sit down next to me. Jamie would then ask me if her friend had gone home yet. That's when i knew she was still asleep and i would take her by the arm and put her back to bed. When i asked her about it the next morning, Jamie couldn't remember doing any of it. You do get a strange feeling though like you don't know where the dream ends and reality starts.
I have a subject that has been bothering me that i need to talk to you about. Last week Monday when Carl and i were on vacation, my SIL (JoAnn) was in Georgia looking for a house to buy because she and her husband want to retire there. (Her husband is Carl's brother) Carl and i haven't really talked to them in about 15 years because they live in Hawaii, but now that there ready to retire, they have found that Hawaii is just to expensive. JoAnn came up on Monday night and at first we were very glad to see her. Then she started talking about all the places she has looked at and started making little comments about how she wouldn't want to live in certain places because it wasn't an all white neighborhood. As i sat there listening to JoAnn, i was stunned at the words coming out of her mouth. I know this is a subject that i probably should avoid discussing here with you, but I've been having a hard time getting the visit with JoAnn out of my head. I grew up with very prejudiced parents and the N word was used a lot in my house. I was a kid and thought that that was how things were supposed to be. Now when i hear someone using the N word it sends me back to my childhood and i just want to scream. JoAnn spent all day Tuesday with us and left Wednesday morning. I felt emotionally drained by the time she was gone. Fifteen years ago i really enjoyed spending time with her, but now if she had spent one more day with us i think i would have told her to shut up because that kind of talk is not allowed in my house.
Okay, i feel much better now. Thanks for listening. I hope i haven't upset any of you, but its just that she got under my skin and i needed to talk to someone about it.
Gloria, I have tried to respond to your post a few times since I read it last night. There is not a way for me to really sum up my feelings. I also find the language used by your SIL offensive. I can only say that my reaction to someone like that depends on the type of person they are overall. I would absolutley let her know that those words aren't welcome in your home. Whether or not I spent any amount of time with her would depend on how tolerant a person she is in general. If she is accpeting of people's differences you may be able point out how degrading such language is and solve the issue. If she's a bigot, give her your two cents and then keep your distance as much as possible.
In my opinion, issues of race are difficult to address because they vary from generation to generation. I have friends who are black and when we've discussed such things it is clear that their attitudes and views are very different from those of their parents. Obviously, they don't face the same obstacles their parents did. On top of that, those of us who don't see people as a color tend to tip toe around it all for fear of offending someone. Those who are predjudiced are much more vocal. That is a problem especially in the South, I think. Living in Mississippi I can tell you that the racial divide isn't nearly as big as what you see on TV. My time in college is a perfect example. I attended Ole Miss - not exactly known for ideal race relations. There were plenty of "reports" back then of how segregated we were as a campus. But, the thing is, the student body didn't see that. There was plenty of mixing, mingling, friendships, etc. between white and non-white students. But, for whatever reason, there were a FEW people on BOTH sides of the fence who tried to keep things stirred up and it ALWAYS made CNN. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying all problems are solved and discrimnation doesn't exisit anymore. Clearly we still have a long way to go. But there are so many different levels of it now that it isn't just a line drawn between blacks and whites like it used to be.
Anyway, I'm not here to try and rid the world of bigots in one post. I just wanted you to know that I understand why you found your SIL's comments upsetting and let you know that it is perfectly okay for you to speak your mind should you find yourself in a situation of having to see her on a regular basis. It might not make a bit of difference to her but you'll feel better. You certainly have every right to be comfortable in your own home and if she ingringes on that right by all means, speack up.
For what it is worth, that is what I think, anyway.
Thanks Tricia for making me feel better. At first i wasn't sure if i should post on the incident with my SIL, but the conversation Carl and i had with her kept rolling around in my brain and i just had to talk to someone about it.
Now on the lighter side. Last night when hubby got home from bowling he was all happy happy because his league took seven points. This was quite an
accomplishment for them considering his team really stinks at bowling. When Carl was in the shower he was singing some silly song while i was brushing my teeth. I have an electric toothbrush that makes a humming sound when i turn it on. Carl started harmonizing with the hum of the toothbrush so i added my alto voice with it and i can say we sounded pretty good. Of course it was only one note, but it was a good one note. He is just so gosh darn funny.
Gloria
Today was my niece's 11th birthday and we just returned from a family dinner at her favorite Mexican restaraunt. I have to say I was nervous because it also happens to be MY favorite. I am happy to say that it turned out not to be a big deal at all. I indulged but not excessively and left a little fuller than usually but far from overstuffed. Strangely enough, it wasn't nearly as good as I remembered it. I don't know, it was all just too heavy. I kept thinking to myself, "this is really good but it isn't so good as to be worth feeling stuffed." Now, this is a place the Greg and I would eat lunch at twice a week when I worked. We would split an order of queso dip and then I would clean my plate. I'd be miserabley full and think that was a good feeling. Yuck. I don't know when it all clicked but I realized tonight that how I eat now will be how I eat for the rest of my life. I have to say that I'm caught off guard by feeling that way. I still EXPECT to want to splurge and then not only do I not want to but it isn't even a deliberate choice. I've got a long way to go but I'm encourged by the fact that I THINK like a thin person (even if I don't LOOK like one!).
Well, off to bed. I may have to go upstairs. Greg, my dad, and my BIL took advantage of happy hour while we were there. So, not only did he fall right to sleep he is snoring like a freight train. He had just enough margarita that I know my kicking and nudging won't do a bit of good.
Gloria, I am in the cities at class again but HAD to pop in on your post.
You and Tricia made me proud. Bigots of any kind are the one thing that can set me off. I usually allow people their own opinions but I won't be around bigots.
It makes me mad, sad, and crazy!!!!!
I was at my SIL's parents house once and her Dad made some racist remarks. Since I can't tell someone what to do in their own home, I just stood up and walked out. My brother ran after me because he knew what had set me off. He asked if he should tell them why I left and I said ABSOLUTELY!!!
Anyway, I could go on and on with this subject.
Gloria, I am glad you shared and YES you can write about this here - It's our Sanctuay!!!!
I was thinking on the way home that I never have any fun stories like Gloria -then I remembered on Thursday all through our class - periodically we would hear howling dogs!!!! Our instructor went to talk to some of the staff in the building and they all thought he was nuts. This went on all day - quiet, then howling.
FINALLY at 4PM some women admitted they were hers. She had brought them to work and hid them in an empty room not realizing their howling would come through the vents.
Somehow that story COULD be Gloria's, don't ya think!!!! (Ms 5Dogs)
Well, I am going to do some studying and then check back in - hoping to see your wonderful posts.
I am going to need all your prayers - from now until Wed night that I pass my test and then that I get my life back and will serious about losing this fat!!!! COME ON TROUPS!!!!! Help me.
YAY! Gloria is back! You were really missed. It just isn't the same around here without you. 
