TRAVEL LOG: Jacksonville, FL, February 28 - March 3, 2009

Saturday: Left home in the pouring rain (isn't that a country song???) about 9AM in Daddy's truck, loaded down with a bedroom suite for Brittany. Tracy spent hours covering it with tarps and tying everything down so it wouldn't get wet! We got about 5 miles from the house and realized that we had forgotten the gun we were taking Brandon! So we had to turn around and meet Tracy to get it. Then we set off again. It rained constantly until about Cordele. We stopped in Tifton (which is about 1/2 way) to get lunch and found that the tarp had ripped right in half! It wasn't raining anymore, but it sure looked like it could start any minute! We wanted to sit down in the Steak 'n Shake and eat, but they were so shorthanded that after 15 minutes of no one even taking our order, we got up and walked out. We went through the drive through and headed on down the interstate. I couldn't risk the mattress getting wet. Shortly after Tifton, the clouds cleared and it was pretty and blue skys the rest of the way. We reached Missi's house about 4 pm. Brandon was soooo excited about his gun. He kept saying thank you. Brittany, being a teenager, was more pragmatic... "Thank you and I'm glad to get my bedroom suite." I was thrilled that all the pieces fit in her room and looked really good! Missi's boyfriend, Jon, worked so hard unloading everything and putting it all in her room to her specifications. He was very patient as she made up her mind where she wanted everything. Then we went to dinner at the Golden Corral in Orange Park. Missi's mom and step-dad, Diane and Andrew, met us there. The place was a madhouse! But we ate well. Brandon sat next to me and was so sweet. He sneaked over to the dessert bar and made me a special dessert of ice cream, with candy sprinkled on top. Of course, Brittany hardly ate or said anything. I was also excited because there were girl scouts outside the restaurant selling cookies, and I got 4 boxes of Tag-a-Longs!!! LOVE those things! Then we took some pictures, hugged everyone good-bye, and drove to Mandarian to our motel.

Sunday: Woke to rain. It had caught up with us. There were ducks in the motel parking lot, enjoying it. Called Ronnie and arranged to meet him for lunch. (Gary wasn't interested in coming.) Got ready and went to McDonald's to get some breakfast. Then we went back over to Orange Park and visited Harry Jr.'s grave... it had stopped raining by then. Had the hardest time getting the vase up out of the ground for the flowers I had brought... dirt had fallen in around it. Left the cemetery and went to Beall's Outlet and Big Lots for some shopping! Too much, cause we ended up a little late for lunch! Clark's Fish Camp is right on the river... 2 miles down a residential road... you would never know that you'd find a restaurant at the end! It had cool decorations and the food was great! I had clam chowder and popcorn shrimp. YUM! After lunch, we headed to Evergreen Cemetery to visit Aunt Elizabeth's grave. Had to follow Ronnie to that one cause you could easily get lost in that cemetery. It's beautiful... and HUGE. Then we went to Riverview Cemetery to see the headstone that was put on Michaels' grave... Mom was very happy about that. It took 45 years, but it's taken care of now. Too bad Daddy didn't live to see it. We rode by our old house and Aunt Elizabeth's old house. Most things are radically different, but you can pick out familiar parts. After that, we all headed out to Buddy's in Macclenny. It's about a 30-40 minute drive. Found it with no problems. Ronnie hated having to following me!! LOL! We got there about 3... stayed until about 8 or 8:30! We had a great time. I was so glad to see Buddy... we used to be so close; he and my dad were super close at one time. I had taken my Tapley heritage scrapbook and Buddy loved looking at it and he told me several stories I had never heard. It was great! They took us to dinner... guess what?! More seafood... I had a steak for a change of pace. Went back to their house (without Ronnie - he had to go check on his dog) and visited some more. Mom had brought one of Daddy's guns to Buddy... he teared up... you could tell it meant so much to him and his wife. And Pat, his wife, is one of the sweetest people I've ever met. It was a wonderful visit. Then it was back to the motel and collapsed again!

Monday: This was our free day in Jacksonville. We got ready and went to Bob Evans for breakfast (YUM!!) and then to the closest Goodwill store. Then we headed downtown to the river front. We walked along the river walk... the wind was cool, but it was sunny. The only bad thing is Mom fell. She just skinned herself up, thank goodness. We walked through Jacksonville Landing... it's mostly restaurants, just a few stores. I had printed off some downtown walking tours, so we set off on one of those. Mom wanted to find where she used to work... AT&T has moved since then. But evidently her building has been torn down. A downtown ambassador stopped and offered to help, but he had no idea of the building we were talking about. He directed us to the City Hall to look at the historical pictures they have there. We did, but I asked Mom how old did that guy think she was?... those pictures were mostly from the early 1900's!! LOL! Anyway, we spent about 3 hours walking downtown, looking at the sites, taking a bunch of pictures. We made our way back to the truck... we were worn out! I took Mom to eat at Five Guys - she loved it! Then we hit some Goodwills and I did go to one scrapbook store (had good luck on their clearance wall!). We also went to Burlington Coat Factory, where I found a leather coat just like I wanted. We finally ate dinner at Firehouse Subs about 7:30 or 8 and headed back to the motel. Another full and exhausting day!

Tuesday: Got up fairly early (because we keep falling asleep so early!) and loaded up and headed out. I complained to the front desk at the motel about our door lock. We had complained on Sunday, but they thought they had fixed it... they had not. It wouldn't always lock. We got back on Monday night, grabbed the handle, and walked right in without ever touching our room key. So they gave me a certificate for a free night. Hopefully, I can use that in Raleigh on our way to DC in May. Anyway, left Mandarian and stopped in Orange Park at Chick-fil-A for Breakfast. Then we hit the open road! Stopped in Lake Park, GA at the outlet malls. Had way too much fun at the Kitchen Collection. The truck back seat was piled up... I almost couldn't see out the back window. Mom was squashed from all the stuff she had piled (her stuff) in the floor under her feet! We drove on and stopped at two Goodwills in Macon... more stuff piled in the truck! We finally got back here at 6 pm. Grabbed some supper at McDonald's and watched an old James Cagney/Humphrey Bogart movie. End of trip.

February Round up of Memories

What books did I read this month? The Beach by Jane Green (book club book) and I Am Legend by Richard Mathison (Does this even qualify as a book? :) and audio book: Cotton by Christopher P. Wilson.

Magazines? People, All You

What movies did I see this month? Princess Bride, Legends of the Fall, Out of Sight, To Have or Have Not, Monkey Business, Shark Tales, Bringing Up Baby

TV Shows? I Love Lucy, Jon & Kate Plus 8, America's Most Wanted, Cold Case, CMT Insider, Clean Sweep, Real Life Real Simple, Lie to Me, Cosby Show, Chelsea Lately, The Soup, Leverage, Burn Notice, Golden Girls, Monk, CSI

What special days did I celebrate and how? None... Tracy was gone on storm trouble on Valentine's Day, but he did bring me a rose before he left!

What illness or health concerns did I have this month? Patches bit me during a vet visit on the 2nd... so I ended up going to the doctor, getting tetanus and antibiotic shots, and taking an antibiotic for a week. That set my IBS off so I was very sick for that week. Once I finished the medicine, I was fine... Also, that same week, my allergies kicked up and I had to go back to the doctor. Luckily, there was no sinus infection or bronchitis, so with a steroid shot, Clarinex, and Flonase, I was better in a few days.

What fun things did I do with friends and/or family?
3rd: Stacey and I went shopping and then back to her house for some sewing. She made a couple of those decorative scissor holders out of placemats. It was so much fun with Charlie "helping" every step of the way. Stacey said he sat at the back door and just meowed and meowed when I left. He missed his friend, Miss Liz!

5th: Lunch with my friend, Lisa, at Cheeseburger in Paradise at Perimeter.

7th: Crop here at my house in honor of my new scrapbook room!

11th and 25th: Cropped with Carolyn at Archiver's.

18th: Went to Georgia Aquarium with my mom and Carolyn. Saw the Titanic exhibit. Then Mom and I went to the World of Coke.

19th: Mom and I went to the monastary in Conyers and The Road to Tara Museum in Jonesboro.

28th: Mom and I went to Jacksonville and delivered the bedroom suite to Brittany. Went to dinner with her, Brandon, Missi, Jon (Missi's boyfriend), Diane and Andrew (Missi's mother and stepfather).

What new foods, recipes, or restaurants did I try this month? Recipe: Farmer's Breakfast out of the Good Housekeeping Cookbook... it's basically a gigantic omelet. It was excellent! Tracy was impressed!! Restaurant: Amici's Italian Cafe in Covington... I had the tortellini. Excellent!

What special or unusual purchases did I make? Two new cat towers for our kitties! They had worn out the old ones!

What were this month's disappointments? How badly Tracy and his crews were treated while on storm trouble in Missouri.

What were my accomplishments this month? (1) Transcribed the next section of Upper Houses (a book with the genealogy of the Ranneys). (2) Took three cats to the vet this month by myself... and I was able to catch Trixie!

Layouts!

Finally got several recently finished layouts scanned today...



Took the kids to the Georgia Aquarium in 2007... their second visit there. Had extra pictures so I made another layout to go in my Georgia album.































































That same summer, I took the kids to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. Brandon wasn't impressed...






























Daddy's first hospital stay of three last year.
Looking back, this was the beginning of his downhill slide...

































Also for my Georgia album... the penguins of the Georgia Aquarium.













Trixie has always loved "her" cat tower. It might as well be hers... she's the queen of it and the only one that gets on it.










Several pictures of my mom as a little girl.





































Actually, this is a very recent photo of us... taken the day after Christmas at SeaWorld.











Extra pictures from a visit to Yellow River Game Ranch, so I made another layout for my Georgia album.

Just trying to record recent happenings...

On Tuesday, January 27, Tracy left for Missouri... there had been an ice storm that had literally covered half the country. His road to Missouri was not smooth from the very beginning. He was originally told he was going to Oklahoma. When he and his crews reached Birmingham, they were told that Oklahoma had all the crews they needed and to wait to see if they were needed somewhere else. Well, they were told they weren't, so they started home. They got as far as Anniston, Alabama and were told to head back west to Missouri.

Tracy ended up in a small town in Missouri, just 20 miles north of Arkansas. The conditions were terrible. The power companies out there are unionized and they blatantly took care of their unionized employees and left un-unionized workers (like Pike employees) out in the cold - literally. The first night, they had no where for them to sleep... so they slept in their trucks. After that, Tracy and his men had to sleep in semi-truck trailers (while local motel rooms were reserved for union workers). They didn't have showers (also in the back of a semi-truck trailer) for a couple of days or so. It was COLD out there. Tracy said it was probably the worst ice storm he had ever seen... and that's saying a lot. When the casino complained about the trailers taking up space in their parking lot, the Pike guys were finally given motel rooms... in Memphis - 120 miles away. They stayed there for two nights.

Then on Wednesday, Feburary 4, Tracy was sent to Arkansas. Conditions were actually worse there, believe it or not. They slept in boxcars, with bunk beds lining the walls and a bathroom right in the middle of the car, just a few feet away from your sleeping head. Several of the men came down with some kind of stomach virus, including Tracy. The first night, they had no heat. I had never heard Tracy so discouraged on a storm trouble.

Tracy was released on Monday, February 9, from the power company in Arkansas they were working for. Pike could not find another place for them, so they came home. They stopped in Birmingham and ate Red Lobster about 3pm. A few hours later, Tracy was very ill. He finally made it home about 9pm after a miserable drive. He stayed home sick on Tuesday and came back home from work on Wednesday, still sick. All I can think is that he had food poisoning. Thank goodness he woke up on Thursday morning (yesterday), feeling all better. "Like I was never sick," he said. That was a very good thing, because he left again for Missouri last night about 6:30 pm. He'll probably be gone another couple of weeks.

Before Tracy left, he came home just long enough to pack his bags. But he made sure he did not come home empty handed... with Valentine's Day coming up and all.

And I was ready, too. I had already signed the card I made for him and it was waiting on his dresser. :)

My Monday saga

I'm doing this a bit out of order... but oh, well. I just realized I need to get this down.

It was time for three of my four cats to go for their annual checkups at the vet's. So I called on Monday morning, and as luck would have it, they had an opening that very day for Patches. (For those of you who do not know, Patches is 19 years old and the meanest cat in the world. She growls; she hisses; she fusses; you name it! She is old; has been with me for 17 years; has kidney failure; and is now deaf. With all that, she generally loves her mama [that would be me].)

So about 2:40, I put Patches in the carrier and away we go. Well, I usually don't have an appointment for her; I usually have to drop her off for the day and they get her blood and give her a Rabies shot when they can because she is so "high strung." But for some reason that day - I guess they forgot who they were dealing with - they asked me if I wanted to go back with her. So I did. Well, the vet tech was obviously scared of Patches. And Patches knows she's going to be grabbed by the scruff of the neck, so she knows how to twist her little head to avoid that. But the vet tech was too scared and/or jumpy to hold Patches tightly, thus Patches got away from them twice. The first time, I caught her and put her back on the table. Anyway, she was about to get away from them again, so I went to help and grab her by the scruff of the neck with my right hand. Well, my left arm must have been too close, because Patches proceeded to clamp down on my left wrist. And I mean held on like a pit bull would! The vet is telling me to turn loose of her, and I'm thinking that I'm not turning loose of this cat, cause she'll just get away again! Well, Patches did eventually turn me loose, and the vet was all concerned and took me to a sink to wash with antiseptic and kept telling me that I needed to go to the doctor; I needed antibiotics. Well, they finally did what they needed to do with my cat, and we left.

So it was a pretty serious bite, and I had heard bad things about cat bites, so I did call my doctor's office. Meanwhile, I looked on the Internet and read that 40% of cat bites become infected... so maybe going to the doctor is a good idea. Well, the doctor's office called back and asked me to come right then (it was 4:15 -4:30 by this time so I knew it was almost closing time for them - this bite must be serious!).

I ended up having a tetanus shot (My last one was six years ago.) and an antibiotic shot. The doctor was just relieved that Patches didn't hit my radial artery - he said they would have been trying to save my hand at that point. I also had to go get a prescription for antibiotics for the next seven days, ice my hand, elevate it, take Advil, and keep a close eye on it for infection. (And thank goodness that I still get my elderly cats Rabies shots, cause that was their first question... on the phone AND when I reached the office - had this cat had its shots? They would have taken her, if she had not.)

Well, the bite healed very quickly. I'm a firm believer in peroxide and I poured that over it twice a day. But the antibiotics threw my IBS into high gear. I have been sick this whole week. Then on Thursday evening, my sinuses start up... headache, hurting face, sore throat. How in the world could I get a sinus infection while taking all those antibiotics???!!

So that's been my fun, fun week. I do not blame Patches... she was scared... And I feel sure she did not realize it was ME she was biting. She was hoping to get those people who where manhandling her and sticking her with needles!

Cards

Last Wednesday, Carolyn and I talked ourselves out of driving to Archiver's to scrap all day (It was 14 degrees at her house and I wasn't feeling real well... another story for another post.) so we stayed home and scrapped on our own. I had two old Memories card class kits that I had started and needed to finish. Well, it took me all darned day to finish 11 cards! Part of the reason is that one kit were Valentine's cards and I do not need that many LOVE cards! So I had to think up other themes for them, but would go along with the red cards I had already put together.

Here's the birthday cards I did...


































































Here's the Thank You cards.











And yes, I actually broke down and made two Valentine's cards... the one on the left is for my DH - it's going to say something about how patient he is with me!! LOL.

I made one other Christmas one... but forgot to take a picture of it. Maybe later today... I'm sick with sinus mess so I make no promises! LOL!

January 2009 Roundup of Memories

What books did I read this month? Jumper by Steven Gould and Sineater by Elizabeth Massie. Both of these were passed along to me by my friend, Christy! Really liked Jumper, but I understand the movie is almost NOTHING like the book. Sineater was OK.

I also listened to the audio book, The Full Cupboard of Life, a #1 Ladies Detective Agency book, by Alexander McCall Smith.

Magazines? Guidepost, People, In Touch

What movies did I see this month? Operation Petticoat with Carey Grant and Tony Curtis - very good movie - very funny. I continued on my Carey Grant kick and saw My Favorite Wife (loved it!) and The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer (funny, but not my favorite).

TV Shows? All the usual: CSI, Bones, Two and a Half Men, Everybody Hates Chris, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Without a Trace, Law & Order: SVU, Desperate Housewives, America's Most Wanted, NCIS, Ghost Whisperer, My Name is Earl, Oprah (though not nearly as much as usual.. I think I'm burnt out on Oprah), Clean Sweep, Real Simple Real Life, CMT Insider, and Cold Case. I think I caught Chelsea Lately and The Soup once the whole month! And I actually watched (I can't believe I did this.) A Very Duggar Wedding!!!

What special days did I celebrate and how? None this month!

What illness or health concerns did I have this month? None! Was a good month!

What fun things did I do with friends and/or family? Mom came up and we exchanged Christmas presents and then went to the CNN center and took the tour, The Container Store and IKEA. Stacey joined us.

Then for Donna Bingham's birthday on the 22nd, I took her to The Container Store and out to lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise.

I cropped with Carolyn at Archiver's three times this month.

Donna and I went to the Lunch 'n Learn at the Georgia Archives. It was about Presidential visits to Georgia and was SO interesting! Then we spent a couple of hours doing research.

Visited my cousin, Wesley Jr. and got to hear some more great family information!

What new foods, recipes, or restaurants did I try this month? I can't think of anything. We ended up doing something different on new recipe night.

What special or unusual purchases did I make? I think all the purchases I made for my new scrapbook room were special! Baskets and boxes and organizing goodies. And a Making Memories Embellishment Center! Fun stuff!

What were this month's disappointments? None! It was a great month!

What were my accomplishments this month? Well, Tracy did the most work on my new scrapbook room, but I am happy that I got all my stuff in there and organized. I have also cleaned out and rearranged closets like a mad woman this month!

In addition, I touched base with some people I had not talked to in a long, long time. I have been exchanging e-mails with Tiffany and Robin. Meg Vaughn called me.

My sister and I renewed our relationship this month. Hi, Pat!!! :)