A trip to the High side

Today, Stacey, Mom and I ate lunch at The Varsity in Atlanta.  I don't care how cold it is, that chili dog and onion rings (oh and the fries) make it worth the drive AND the walk across the parking lot!

After lunch, we went over the the High Museum of Art to see the Salvador Dali - The Late Work exhibit.  It has been in town for months, but of course we wait until one of the coldest days of the year to go!  I have only a passing interest in art... I know very little about it.  I can recognize a Monet and maybe Dali's surrealism work.  That's about it.  However, Stacey is a huge admirer of his work, so there we were.  The flier for the exhibit reads:  "Get to know Salvador Dali, whose larger-than-life personality is as well known as his art.  With more than 100 works - including paintings, drawings, prints, and photographs - this exhibition explores Dali's fascination with science, religion, and illusionism, and his surprising connections to such artists and celebrities of the 1960s and 1970s as Andy Warhol and Alice Cooper."

I can say that it was a HUGH exhibit.  An entire floor of the museum.  Room after room of his work and information about his work... plus a gift shop!  Dali was no doubt a brilliant man, but as I said over and over today, I would not have wanted to live in his head.  I'm not sure when he had time to paint... he was so interested in science and religion and many other subjects.  All in all, it was a good exhibit... there were some things that made me laugh, some things that made me shake my head, and some things that just made me wonder.

At the gift shop, Stacey got a package of 10 note cards of various Dali paintings and split them with me.  The one shown here is called "The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory, 1952-54." (I say that's me!)  We also purchased magnets and packages of stickers of actual Dali quotes to use in our scrapbooks. 

Photographs were not allowed in the exhibit, but a really helpful and nice museum employee took our picture in the lobby (which was totally blurry - it's always a gamble when I let someone else hold my camera).  We also went down to Peachtree Street and took a picture of the front of the museum with the Dali poster hanging on the building.  The High Museum is one of my favorite pieces of architecture in Atlanta.  It is a beautiful building.

Another entertaining day in Atlanta...

I need to scrap!

Well, I see that I did not even finish the posts about the Family History Expo.  November turned into a very busy month!  The Expo put me on an "everything genealogy" path, and I have not scrapbooked in probably more than a month.  I did go in my room and clean up one day, but that's it.  Almost every day I think to myself, "I will go in my scrapbook room 'in the morning' or 'this afternoon' or 'tonight'" and it never happens.  I am too preoccupied with genealogy at the moment.  Genealogy requires a LOT of reading.  I was two months behind on genealogy newsletters and it seems that every one has at least 5+ links to follow and check out!  I try to print out the really important stuff to keep for when I really need it.  The rest I scan or save the link for later.  It's crazy.

I did have a couple of photo-taking opportunities in November.  (That's me... tons of photos taken, few scrapbooked!)  Mom had carpel tunnel surgery on her right hand on November 17th.  I went over the afternoon before and stayed with her for about 3 days.  It was actually a simple, straightforward surgery, and it makes it seem a lot more doable for myself - because I WILL have to have it some day.  That's inevitable.  But anyway, I did take a picture of her with her bandaged hand and her nurse, Yarko the cat, on the day of the surgery:

Isn't he sweet - looking over her like that?  Most likely, he was waiting for a treat...

I also took a few pictures of her rotten kitty-cats.  Aren't all pets spoiled rotten?  That's how it should be.  

Of course I took pictures at Thanksgiving.  We hosted this year, the first time in a long, long time.  Many years.  Tracy fried a turkey, I made black-eye peas, green bean casserole, rolls, and banana pudding (my first!).  Tracy's mother brought the dressing and a chocolate cake.  Mom brought cranberry sauce.  It was more than enough food for just the five us us.  I really went all out and used my grandmother's china with cloth napkins; Tracy made a beautiful centerpiece; and Zeus managed to stay off the dining room table!! 

I ordered some prints from York the other day.  I am still ordering prints from our Washington DC trip - which was a year and a half ago!  I used to tell people in my scrapbooking classes not to feel behind - this is a hobby.  Like anything else in our life - work projects, housecleaning duties, holiday preparations, volunteer duties, etc. - you can become so overwhelmed and bogged down that you get nothing done.  'Why go in there if I don't have the entire day to work?  I won't get anything done in just an hour.' Or 'By the time I get everything out, I'll just have to put it all back again!' Now I find myself falling into this same trap.  Yesterday, I had in the back of my mind that I would scrapbook for the day.  Well, we get up and find that there are several chores that need to be done.  So we start on that.  And I'm thinking that we'll finish by lunch and I'll have the afternoon in my scrapbook room.  Then I finish my chores before Tracy, and I find myself sitting down at my computer.  That is ALWAYS a mistake.  I end up being there until almost 3pm.  I look up, see the time, and think "Well, it's too late to go in the scrapbook room now.  By the time I start, it'll be time for dinner!"  Blah, blah, blah.  Same old excuses. So I took a nap instead.  And then after Tracy goes to bed, I go right back to my computer... no use starting scrapbooking that late at night!  It's a vicious cycle.

I need to take my own advice and stop thinking about how "behind" I am.  I am just not motivated to scrapbook right now.  The main reason is my current genealogy obsession.  I have always either worked on one or the other - one falls by the wayside while I concentrate on the other hobby for a time.  I guess the other reason boils down to maybe I don't self-motivate well.  I have that wonderful scrapbook room that Tracy worked so hard on, and yet I don't go in there by myself much.  I think most scrapbookers are the same; we would all rather scrap at our own house with our own stuff.  Let's face it - it's a pain to plan layouts and/or pack up all that stuff to take somewhere else.  And yet... we can't seem to get going without a "get-together" of scrapbookers to justify it.  Ahhh... do you see the Catch-22? 

So I'm working on a new plan.  I bought a webcam.  I can hook it up to my laptop right by my scrapbook table, make a video call to other scrapbook buddies with webcams, and we can all scrapbook in the comfort of our own rooms, and still have that camaraderie.  Others to bounce ideas off of and to look at what we're working on. To ooh and ahh at our efforts and give us an instant boost to our self-esteem that will mostly likely motivate us to keep going.  The plan has not actually come to fruition yet.  I have one scrapbooking friend who has gotten a webcam, and we have not tried the actual scrapbooking together yet.  I'm still talking to others.  But I'd sure like to give it a try - cause I am sooooo behind and I NEED to scrapbook!  LOL

I don't even know...

what to say about today!  I am exhausted; my eyes are tired and burning; and my brain is on overload.  I took five classes today: 

(1)  Getting the most from Family Tree Maker (the genealogy software program I use) - this class was about the newest version, 2011, and I realized very quickly that I HAVE to have it!!  LOL  They are having a show special on the software so after asking a couple of questions tomorrow, Donna and I will be ordering it, for sure!

(2)  Finding People Before They've Died - This class wasn't what I expected.  The instructor, while entertaining, declared right off the bat that he doesn't like genealogy and he doesn't come from that angle.  Oh, well, that's what the rest of us are there for.  But he did give us some new ideas for finding living relatives or non-relatives who may have known our relative and can tell us something about them.  Thinking outside the box, basically.

(3)  Digital Photography for the Family Historian - The instructor was the same one who taught the "Finding People..." class.  This one was better, but again, he was more geared toward taking everyday photos rather than using photography in our research.  He did hit on a few things briefly... like photographing documents or headstones at the cemetery, so it ended up OK.  He did have suggestions for items to include in a "Photos on the go kit" that were good ideas.

(4)  Genealogy on the Go - I learned the most from this class.  It was about using technology such as a laptop, netbook, flash drives, smartphones, etc. when we take our research on the road.  He gave us some good websites to look at that will sychronize our family information between our desktop and laptop or actually let you access your desktop computer from anywhere!  I have so much research to do!

(5)   My Ancestors Were from Germany and I don't speak German! - This was a good class; the instructor was excellent.  However, it was overwhelming.  Germany has such a troubled history (war about every 30 years); the geographical boundaries have changed numerous times; not to mention, the language barrier.  In addition, I do not have the items for my ancestor you HAVE to know in order to research German records.  For instance, you have to know their religion.  Well, I know what church he attended here in the U.S., but it wasn't Lutheran or Catholic, the two main religions of Germany at the time.  In addition, I do not know the exact location my ancestor, George Schwalls, was from.  He mostly just put Germany on the census; there is only one place that he got more specific and listed Bavaria.  However, the instructor told us that the Family History Center has not been allowed as yet to scan the microfilmed church records for Bavaria.  So I may hit a brick wall even if I take all the online courses on conducting German research and buy a German-English dictionary! 

I'm supposed to take another class tomorrow on German research... I can only hope the mud will clear some then.

I have a long list of to do items after I return home.  Also, Donna and I will have to get together and share with each other what we learned in each of our classes.  Will I ever get it all done??!!  I'm going have to live to be 150!!

I'm gone again...

and not just around the bend... though that is a possibility any day. 

My friend, Donna Bingham, and I are way up in Duluth (a whole hour from home) working on our laptops at the LaQuinta, getting psyched about attending the FIRST Family History Expo at the Gwinnett Center tomorrow and Saturday!  Registration begins at 7am tomorrow and we will not have a break, I'm afraid, until the expo is over at 6:30 on Saturday evening!!  We have divvied up the classes - divide and conquor - and we are ready to soak up some learning!!  I just hope I'm not too sleepy to take it all in!

I will not even catch my breath before I have to go to Augusta next week.  Mom is having carpel tunnel surgery on her right hand, and I need to stay with her for a couple of days afterwards.  She visited the surgeon today, and he made it sound like there's not much to it.  He said two days after surgery, they will put a brace on it, and she will be good to go for as much as she feels like doing!  I hope he's right.

We did stop at a couple of scrapbooking stores on our way up here today... I found the most awesome paper for my Oakland Cemetery pictures.  I also bought more Washington DC paper - I sure hope I use it all!  I found some beautiful paper and a Jolee's silver flower with pearls in the center for Brittany's homecoming pictures.  I think it will be beautiful - fingers crossed!  I also got some California stickers, miscellaneous patterned papers that I thought were pretty (like I need any more paper!), and some FFA stickers for Tracy - he was in FFA in high school, and I couldn't believe my luck in finding such a thing!  Oh, and I got a card kit to make some masculine-looking birthday cards.  I think that's everything.  More stuff I need to use, so I need to find the time to use it all.  Doesn't look like that's going to happen in the next couple of weeks!  ;)

Trip to GA Mountains: Day 3, Sun, 10/31

Time to go home!  And boy were we ready!  The owner had told us that we didn't have to check out until 1pm on Sunday since they would be gone to church, but we did not hang around.  We were up and out of the cabin by 9:30! 

Steam was rising off the river as we went into Blue Ridge.  It was really pretty.

Another McDonald's breakfast and we were headed toward Cumming.  We did stop at a flea market; I bought a couple of little things for friends.  Daisy enjoyed the attention, as usual. 

We stopped at the same area in Pickens County where we had stopped on the way up on Friday to let Daisy walk some.  I found a stick for her, and she had a blast playing (more like chewing) with it in the leaves.

We got back to Cumming around lunch time, dropped Daddy off at his office, and Miss Daisy and I headed on home.  We were both so tired.  She actually slept a good part of the way.  We reached home about 2:30pm; I unloaded the car and promptly collapsed into my recliner for about 3 hours.  Daisy was very excited to be home.  She had to inventory her toys first thing to make sure every one of them was still there; she chased Zeus; and she walked around the outside of the house, barking, announcing to the neighborhood that she was back on guard!  LOL

So that was our big weekend in the mountains, and Daisy's first vacation.  I learned that she is like her mama... she enjoys going, but she enjoys coming home even more!

Trip to GA Mountains: Day 2, Sat, 10/30

After not much sleep, we got ready to spend our full day in the mountains.  I had found a scenic driving tour online so we decided to do that in the morning, since it had plenty of places to stop and get Daisy out for a walk.  Then we would hit downtown Blue Ridge and visit the shops there in the afternoon.

We headed to McDonald's first for breakfast.  The McDonald's in Blue Ridge is one busy place.  But even at 10am, the Waffle House was still full, so we had to take the least busy.  Daisy waited patiently in the car.  As we were leaving, a man who worked there walked up to the car to talk to Daisy.  Now our dog is pretty friendly with people and rarely barks at anyone who is visiting with her.  But she started barking at this guy and just wouldn't stop!  I have to think she could sense something "off" about him.  I told Tracy a long time ago, that I think she is an a**hole detector.  I myself trust my dog's instincts.  On Sunday, we went through the drive thru at the same McDonald's on our way out of town, and this same guy walked by and waved and spoke to Daisy, and she barked at him again!  She obviously knew something we didn't!

The scenic drive was somewhat scenic.  As I said, the leaves weren't really turning yet in the area.  The guide pointed out some historical homes, areas where Indians had lived as early as 1835, a one lane wooden bridge, and natural sites such as Blue Ridge Lake (which was WAAAAY down cause they are working on the dam) and the Toccoa River.  Here's pics of both:

Daisy's favorite part was the hike to Fall Branch Falls.  She loved it! The woods, the smells, barking at other dogs, people telling her how pretty she is, and believe it or not, the water!  Now the guide claimed it was an easy 1/4 mile hike to the base of the falls.  Yea, it didn't mention that it was straight up and more like 1/2 mile, at the least!  (Or maybe 10 miles - that's more what it felt like!!)  When we reached the falls, there was a family there that was actually hoisting their children up the shear rock face of the falls!  Unbelievable!  People are so incredibly stupid... anyway, because they were all in the way and would not move, it was hard to get good pictures of the falls.  Then a family came up with a couple of dogs.  Well, of course, Daisy goes crazy, barking and pulling.  We have tried many of Cesar Milan's techniques, but she is so focused and it's hard to get her out of that zone.  We moved off the viewing deck and stepped over to the edge of the stream, and Daisy went right into the water!  I think she thought she could go that way and get to one of the dogs, but when that didn't work, then she realized how good that mountain water tastes!  LOL  She proceeded to jump into the stream at least 2 more times on the hike back down!!  Take a look:

She is such a funny and spoiled DOG!!

On the drive back to the main road, we passed this creepy sounding subdivision:

How would you like to sleep THERE??!!  No, thank you!

After we finished our drive, it was time for lunch.  Again, I felt guilty about having to leave Daisy in the car, especially since she whined when we left her.  This restaurant had terribly slow service, so we both ended up checking on her.  The food was good, (Tracy had shrimp pasta and I had the broiled local trout.) but for $38 for lunch, it should have been the best we've ever had - and it wasn't!

We drove back to downtown Blue Ridge.  I had contacted the old time photo store and inquired whether they allow dogs.  They replied that they do, so that was one thing I really wanted to do on this trip.  We headed there first.  The lady was very nice and helpful.  Daisy let her put a bandanna on her with no problem; Tracy dressed like an outlaw, and I was just a lady of the day.  It was a lot of fun, and Daisy posed so beautifully - she is definitely the photogenic one in this family!  Yea, she'd look at the camera for this woman (especially when I stood behind the woman!  LOL).

We left there and found the dog and cat store.  We bought Daisy a tennis ball that squeaks (She LOVES it, and so does Zeus!) and her own bandanna.  She was so cute wearing it around town.  A lot of the stores put out water bowls for visiting dogs.  I am sure many of the stores allowed dogs, but we didn't risk it.  Plus they were having Halloween in town that evening, and it was starting to get very crowded.  We were all tired, and we headed back out to the cabin for a little rest.

We talked ourselves out of going to the drive-in movie again because we were just so tired.  I figured that's how it would turn out.  When we went back to town, I just did a little shopping in Roses (We don't have them around here!), and we ate dinner at Waffle House.  We didn't even watch another movie on DVD that night!  I think we all slept a little better since we had gotten fresh air and exercise that day!

Trip to GA Mountains: Day 1, Fri, 10/29

After I finally got us all packed, cleaned litter boxes, left out instructions, cat food, and accessories for the cat sitter, Daisy and I finally hit the road about 11am.  Whew!  I could finally rest!  LOL  Daisy was excited because she knew something big was up.  She had whined constantly before we left home, and she continued to whine during the drive.  I did stop in Grayson at a park and walked her for a few minutes.  That seemed to help calm her. 

We got to Tracy's office in Cumming about 1pm, and he had gotten us Chick-fil-A for lunch.  Daisy was all excited to see her daddy and thought the office was an exciting place to check out! 

The three of us headed north.  Tracy tends to get in his zone and not look at what's coming up on the roadside, so we passed several yard sales, flea markets, and antique stores without stopping.  I like to sight-see on trips; being a man, he's all about getting there.  He did finally stop at one antique store outside of Jasper, I think.  We didn't find anything to buy, but it was fun to look. 

In Pickens County, right before the Gilmer County line, there is a scenic pull off.  We stopped so we could let Daisy walk for a few minutes, and it's a good thing we did, because they were about the only turning leaves we saw!  The trees here had beautiful yellow, orange, and red leaves.  The ones up in Blue Ridge had not turned yet.  Oh, well.  We managed to get Daisy to stop sniffing long enough for Tracy to take a few pretty good pictures of she and I.  I rarely get pictures of me with her since I take most all of the family photos.  Here's one of us and the pretty leaves at this stop:

She does not like her picture taken.  She will look away every time.  A digital camera is not fast enough.  I literally have to taken a dozen pictures to get one good one.  You have to be sneaky and quick to get a picture of her looking at you!

We arrived at the cabins' office a few minutes after 4pm.  No one was there.  We called their house (on site) and the daughter and husband came down to check us in.  They could not locate the paperwork.  The husband told us to go on and get settled in, and we'd take care of it later.  We went to the cabin and unloaded the car.  You could tell that Daisy didn't know quite what to think.  After a bit, we went to town to get some dinner.  We had planned to go to the drive-in movie that evening, but we decided that we should give Daisy some time to settle into the new surroundings and move around a bit, rather than forcing her to lie in the backseat for two hours.

By far, the hardest part of traveling with your dog is eating out.  Of course, no restaurant allows dogs, and most do not have outside seating.  I felt guilty leaving her in the car - it was her vacation, too!  And I certainly was not going to leave her alone in the cabin - a strange place.  So we ended up eating Wendy's... we thought it would be quick.  Boy were we wrong!  I felt like that comedian, John Pinette.  It's Wendy's people... you don't have to be a genius to order.  If it's that hard:  'GET OUT OF THE LINE'!!!  LOL 

After we finally ate, we decided to go back to the cabin and watch our Netflix movie I had brought.  Of course, it was dark by the time we returned.  We pull up to the cabin, I got out, Daisy jumped out... and started barking.  About that time, I hear a voice behind me.  It almost scared me to death!  It was the cabin owner, wanting us to come down to the office RIGHT THEN so she can run our credit card!  What the??  I mean we were there on time, and it just HAD to be done right this moment?!  Whatever.  Tracy drove back down there and took care of it.  When he came back, he had a copy of the rental agreement which she was supposed to have e-mailed to us beforehand, along with the directions.  (She didn't.) So we get ready to watch our DVD and... no DVD player.  What?!  I could have sworn the cabin description said there was a DVD player.  I happened to start reading over the rental agreement and it stated that DVD players were available upon request!  So Tracy had to drive back down to the office to get a DVD player, which she basically handed to him and said "Good Luck - hope you are good at hooking up electronics."!!!  He is.  (I told Tracy she could go to Goodwill and get DVD players for each cabin for less than one new DVD player would cost!  I have bought DVD players, VCRs, TVs, and a coffee maker from the Goodwill, and they all worked great!)  We watched the movie and went to bed.  

I had brought Daisy's bed, and Tracy had placed it in the middle of the cabin (The cabin being all one room.).  But she didn't seem happy there.  She kept trying to crawl under the bed, like she does at home, but that bed was way too low for her.  So finally Tracy moved her bed over to my side and placed it between the bed and the wall.  She finally settled down.  I never sleep well the first night in a strange place, and I don't think she does either. By morning, she was on the bed with us!