Life Is Good

Sleep is good and we are getting a little bit more of it now. The new bed is comfortable immediately and we can all fit in it! I'm typically a flip-flopper but not anymore. This bed is so comfortable I pretty much stay in one spot and both of us are not waking up as often during the night as we did in the older bed.

The older mattress is only 4 years old and it's a good Sealy but it is just too firm for us. This is much better and will have been worth the expense in the long run. A good night's sleep is very important especially when you are older.

We decided not to go to Aiken for the reenactment, it ended up being damp most of the day and with the flu in high season it was probably best.

Work is good and interesting. It is nice to not dread going into the office everyday for a change. I'm starting to feel a little better on my second round of antibiotics so I've started exercising a little in the evening. I put on too much weight the last year and really must get it off. After enough weight loss I'll start thinking about quitting smoking. I really need to do that. Sam is thinking of it also. We really must mentally commit ourselves to make it work.

We have a couple cold evenings to get through yet, we'll have frozen bird baths the next couple of mornings. Soon warmer days should arrive. The guard at work is a local and he says it can still be cold the first couple weeks of March but we should get warmer after that. I am looking forward to it. We miss being able to sit on the back porch in the early mornings and late evenings. We're also looking forward to longer days.

Next up, tax time..Ugh.

Our battle about the Battle of Aiken

The Battle of Aiken, SC

The day will start out with drizzle after two days of steady rain. The ground will be wet and muddy. The rain ends in the morning with drizzle over around 9 a.m.

We are in the height of flu season here and I am on my second round of antibiotics for bronchitis which won't help at all with the flu. Yes, it's been about 6 weeks since it came on.

We are wondering if it's a good idea to be around a crowd of 17 thousand people or not. Sam started having doubts a couple days ago and then I began to wonder if we should go. Nearly everyone has been sick at the office and we have about 100 people there, it just keeps making the rounds.

Spring and warmer weather can't come soon enough. We are having highs in the 50s-70s and lows from freezing to 40. The drastic daily change isn't helping. The warmest weather lasts an hour in late afternoon. We have 30 degree flucuations during the day and then right back down by nightfall. And nightfall is still early.

We shouldn't complain. Ma called last week and the weather in Chicago is horrible, so bad Pa hasn't been able to go out. Pa misses church and they were going to go last Sunday, the best day in the forecast. It's too bad they can't fly, we keep telling them they need to come down here for awhile but Pa doesn't want to be so far away from his doctor. I hope we can get up there this summer or fall.

Back to the Battle of Aiken, though we really want to go, we are thinking maybe we should wait until next year. If we go we'll post about it, if not, y'all will have to wait til next year or read about it on their web page which I've linked at the start of this post.

We will be able to report on the new bed tomorrow. Tonight will be our first night trying it out. It sure looks big enough for us and the dogs, let's hope so or we're going to have to kick them out so we can start getting a good night's sleep.

Weekends in the South

Weekends here are trips to the dump and the grocery. It's not a chore as much as an adventure. Down here as it was in Georgia the trash is deposited at a dump site. Manned by a couple older guys and kept quite clean the dump station is either a weekend trip or at least, every other weekend. It's great, we take in our recycling and garbage as well as absolutely anything else you are throwing out. No need to call for special pick up, no cans to roll out to the end of the driveway, and it's free! Can't beat that.

Considering the cost of gas we try to plan our trips away from home to get the most out of the trip. The dump is always first then the grocery, either in the nearest small town Walmart or off to the bigger suburban area to an upscale grocery.

We have a freezer so we try to stock up if we are headed into suburbia. We probably only venture out that far every couple or few weeks as needed. To be truthful the upscale grocery is probably never really a "needed" trip, it's one of those creature comforts I mentioned in another post. They have some good sales and some things we cannot get at the nearby Walmart.

Once that outing is over then it's home for the household chores. Because the sun shines more often that not down here it's actually quite pleasant to do the chores. I guess when you're happy and in a good mood nothing really seems like a chore. Cranking up the country music helps move the weekend tasks along and set a happy mood. The dogs rarely let us sleep late but since there is no trip into the big city we are just happy to be together and home. Hooray for weekends!

Life is good and we continue to be Blessed.

Next weekend it's the Battle of Aiken. It's going to be a great outing. Stay tuned.

Creature Comforts

I believe in comfort if I can have it. That's not necessarily a cherry amoire or a set of china. For me creature comforts are things that make my life easier or more comfortable. A good bed, comfortable patio furniture and a dog door. I don't care what my coffee table looks like, or my dishes as long as they are functional.

Mind you if I was wealthy I'd have the best but when you have to pick and choose what you spend your money on, I have priorities.

I'm looking forward to getting some grass for the backyard, right now it's partly wooded with pine needles and leaves on the ground, the rest is sand. The dogs track sand into the house constantly, they can't help it. Spending money on having the yard seeded will go a long way toward me not having to sweep every inch of this house on a nightly basis! Now that's a comfort.

I'm going to do something about sleeping also. If I don't sleep well I'm not a happy worker. I need to be a happy worker to pay the bills. It's such a vicious circle. :-)

I'm going to spend some of my not yet earned money on a Select Comfort bed. Yep, I'm going 'whole hog' as they say. I've spent good money on regular mattress only to be disappointed within a few years. This time I'm going to do it right. After all we spend 1/3 of our life sleeping and the amount of good sleep we get corresponds with the the other 2/3rds dramatically.

Over the weekend we went to the mall in the city for the first time since we've been here. We don't live in the city so this was a big deal. I love living in the country but I will admit that going to the city to do something other than work was quite uplifting. Civilization! Guess what, the mall had a Select Comfort store. Oh yea! My sleep number is 35 and Sam's is 45. Ahhhh. By the end of this month we will have a new bed and both of us can start feeling better. Our backs have been miserable and we seem to sleep only a couple hours at a time in this mattress we currently have. Hopefully things will improve.

Creature comforts. I had to laugh. We have clothes with holes in them, tables that have chew marks from the dogs, electrical tape on the vacuum cleaner but dang it if we won't sleep good!

Life is good. We are madly in love and God has blessed us in so many ways.

Waiting for Warm Weather

According to the guard where I work, we will continue to have cold temperatures until about the second week of March. I've been watching the Georgia temperatures and sure enough it was warmer there than it is here in SC. Averaging about 10 degrees cooler here than in Georgia and believe me, it makes a difference.

I know it is nothing compared to up North but dang it all we are in the South and I hate anything below 60. I have had this bronchitis for a month now, yes it is better but not completely gone. I'm sure it has to do with the colder temperatures.

Hurry up Spring.

Hush Puppies

Not these:



These:



Well, I figured I'd try my hand at scratch made Hush Puppies.

Tried a couple of different "added spices" to the basic recipe. I think next time a little more Tabasco for the hot ones.

They ended up tasting great although the first batch were anything but round. I'll have to work on my "dropping" technique.

The dogs sure love em! We could have washed the kitchen floor with all the drool Sarge left. He also made sure to sit and guard them while they cooled, we had to put them in the fridge before he gave up and left his guard post.

Beau's Prophesy... Hallelujah! Early Spring!

No Shadow at Georgia's Yellow River Game Ranch

LILBURN, GEORGIA, Feb. 2, 2008 /SUNRISE - General Beau Lee, Ph.D., Georgia’s Official Weather Prognosticator and internationally recognized furry forecaster, roused by "Scattered, Smothered and Covered" Hash Browns and legions of Beau Boosters in bleachers, yelling, "Go Beau" – waddled thru the swinging doors of his Southern Mansion at 7:58 A.M. EST in balmy 28-degree weather at The Yellow River Game Ranch in Lilburn, Georgia, a 24-acre animal preserve.

After conferring with the huddled crowd, Game Ranch CEO Col. Art Rilling proclaimed Beau’s prediction, "Muff the EAR-MUFFS y’all. Beau did not see his shadow. Look forward to an early spring!!!!”

For the 28th Annual Celebration, eighteen-year-old Beau was awakened by the repeated ringing of an antique farm bell. Performing his once a year occupation, Beau reluctantly left the comfort of his plush "Weathering Heights Mansion" to brave the cold in performance of his civic duty. Beau has an extraordinary 94% rate of accuracy.

Beau has been recognized by four Georgia Governors including the Honorable Sonny Perdue who issued a Proclamation, which … “recognizes Beau as ’Georgia’s Official Weather Prognosticator’, and further pays special tribute to him for his precise, annual prediction which enables Southerners to effectively prepare for the coming season.”

Beau’s Bio and the history of Groundhog Day may be perused on the Game Ranch web site at www.yellowrivergameranch.com.