Tybee Island

I guess I should warn everyone that I will most likely be posting alot in the days to come of our vacation. With almost 800 pictures and lots to share, this will be my posts........... Our trip included 4 lighthouses and the biggest mansion I've ever seen. We visited Tybee Island, Hilton Head Island, Savannah, Hunting Island and The Biltmore Estate. I hope you won't find it boring.

What a wonderful vacation this has been. Barry and I have really enjoyed our time together.

We have had the opportunity to spend time together without all the pressures and stresses of everyday life. It has given us the chance to talk openly with each other, and has been a much needed vacation.

We have seen some very beautiful areas as we have traveled through 5 states. The weather was great, which always makes traveling alot better. We had planned to stay in Savannah, but decided to go on to Tybee Island. We found a room there with no problem. I had received some brochures from a friend with information on the area and the hotels. So we had a certain one in mind (Ocean Plaza Resort)and was actually able to

stay there for a couple of days.

It has a restaurant that overlooks the ocean. We had dinner there one night, it was really nice. The picture here is of the hotel, the middle section is the Dolphin Reef Oceanfront Restaurant.

While on Tybee Island, we of course spent some time at the beach. We watched the sun come up over the ocean, strolled along the beach in the late evening, basked in the mid day sun, walked the pier, shopped at several of the beach shops, and sat many times in one of the swings along the beach.

Tybee Island has alot to do and see. One thing that was a "must " for me was the lighthouse. Tybee has two of them. Tybee Light Station and Cockspur Lighthouse.

Cockspur is best seen from Fort Pulaski. This is a little lighthouse that sits out in the water, where it seems to be floating atop of the water at high tide. We visited Fort Pulaski and walked the trail to the lighthouse.

The fort itself was really a very neat place. I thought that it would be so so, but once there I enjoyed it alot. I'll post more about it in another post.

The Tybee Island Lighthouse is Georgia's oldest and tallest lighthouse. It was such a great experience climbing to the top and seeing the view from up there. It was AWESOME!!!!!

The temp was a scorching 104 the day we went here and it was very hot inside the lighthouse and climbing the 178 stairs was a bit of a task , but I'd do it 100 times over. It was everything I ever thought it would be. I LOVED it!!!

Barry wasn't as overwhelmed as I. He had a little problem with being up there. He didn't stay up there long at all. I don't know if it was the heat or the height that got to him, it didn't bother me at all. I walked around it about four times and just stood there taking in the view feeling the wind in my hair. I even took pictures for a couple of families so that their entire family could be in the pictures.

It was an experience I will never forget!

I guess this is enough for one post, I'll try to post again soon with more of our vacation...........

Holiday World

Been meaning to post for some time, but haven't.

I have wanted to post about our recent trip to
Holiday World.

We went there last Saturday with my sister and her family. We had a really good time.

One of Lindsey's favorite rides was "The Voyage" a wooden rollercoaster.

The web site has this to say about this ride:
The world's top "air-time" wooden coaster
Air-time of 24.2 seconds

Track length: 6,442 feet (1.2 miles)

Maximum speed: 67.4 mph

Five underground tunnels

173 feet tall, with drops of 154, 107 and 100 feet

Three 28-passenger PTC trains

2 min., 45 sec. ride time

Eight underground traverses

Three 90-degree extreme banked turns

First drop's angle of descent a steep 66 degrees

Among the world's top three longest and fastest wooden coasters.

Lindsey went back to the park on Tues, with some of her friends and I think they rode this ride several times.

My favorite ride was the Lazy River Ride. It is a slow paced relaxing float along the river.......just my speed.

I think the thing I enjoyed the most was spending time with my sister and her family. I've missed doing that.

It was really nice to spend time with them.

Hopefully we can do more things together in the future.

Well that's what is up with me.......

Hope everyone has a good week end. Me, I'll be working.

I hope this post turns out right. It seems that lately it doesn't post like I want it to. The spacing is always off for some reason.......Oh well.

Truely A Teen

Okay, it is official, my daughter is truely a teen. WAHHHHHHH.............

We went to the firework show at the Corvette Museum on Tues. night and then to a cook out at one of our friends' house on Wed. and on both occassions, Lindsey did not want the glow in the dark necklaces or bracelets. All the other kids had them. They were all playing with them, tossing them up and trying to catch them on their arm or hooking them together and using them as a jump rope. Of course the other kids were younger and none of the other teens had them. I guess those things aren't cool anymore. Oh well.........

Just another one of the things she has outgrown.

I guess it had to happen.

Wild Horse Court

Okay, here they are, pictures of our new home. We are still getting settled in and have not completely gotten everything like we want it. As you can see we still have some work to do on the yard. The buikder had sewn the whole yard with seed, but we have had very little rain. Barry sewed it again just this week and it has actually rained a bit, plus he waters it every evening, so hopefully we will have grass soon.

On to the inside............................

Here we have "The Computer Section" .........what would we do with out this. This was one of the first things unpacked when we moved in. We had to wait about a week for the cable and internet to be installed. Since this is a new sub-division, it had to be put on a route. Lindsey was soooooo glad when she was able to go online after not being able to visit her my space for a whole week. She said that we did that on purpose, so that she couldn't be on the computer. Hmmmmm........did we?

This is my kitchen. The pictures are a little dark ( Iguess I lack Dianna's flair for photography).

I'm not sure if you can see them or not, but my lighthouses are on top of the cabinets and I plan to put up either a border or wallpaper (with lighthouses of course) in here as soon as I can find one that I want. I am debating on going with paper behind and at the top of the cabinets, as it is so much easier to keep clean in the cooking area, or just putting up a wide border all around the kitchen part. Guess it will depend on what I can find. I'll have to take more pics when I get it completed.

I am very proud of this, it is my new hutch. I have a few antique dishes, some Flo Blue pieces and a set of China that I had no place to display. We needed a kitchen table anyway, so we went shopping for the table and a china cabinet too. Since our cabinets are oak, we wanted to find things to match them and this is what we found. I really love them.

So many of the ones we saw were cherry and I am more partial to oak. I wanted something that wasn't too fancy.

So many of the pieces we saw were so fancy......they were beautiful with all their carvings and such, but too fancy for my taste.

This one was perfect. I want my things to be the focus instead of the cabinet.

Next, we have Lindsey's bath. I think we have a thing for this fun fish theme. This is a least the third house that I have had this in. It is bright colors and "FUN" plus the fact that it has different colors in it, so it can be used with several colors. This is good, since I haven't decided the color that I want to paint the bath room just yet.

All of the rooms in the house are the same color. I guess you would call them a beige or light tan. I plan on changing that. Maybe not right away, but soon.

I don't mind painting or putting up wallpaper. To me that is personalizing things.

Just like the front yard, the back needs some work on the grass, but we will get it there eventually.

The sub-division is new and is still under construction. They are in the process of adding more houses and will be putting up streetlights soon. It will be a nice place to live. I hope that there will be a family move in with someone (girls hopefully) Lindsey's age.

At this time there are only 5 houses in our little cul de sac.

The next street over has about that many under construction.

It seems like they would finish one before starting on another, but oh well. We'll just enjoy being the only ones living on this street.

It took us almost two weeks to get our mail switched, because this wasn't on a mail route.

I bet the mail carrier hates having to come here with us being the only house in the sub-division that he has to deliver to. That will change, I know, but it is kind of funny.

Anyway, that is the house (or at least the parts of it that I want to show pics of). The rest of the house is still not quite like I want it to be and I will post more pics as I get things where they need to be.

We had to finish all the closets in the house, so the bed rooms have taken a bit longer to get organized. But, I'll get it there............

Making Adjustments

It's been a while since I last posted. Things have been a bit crazy lately, to say the least.
Alot of changes these days and I am still adjusting.
Sometimes I am fine with everything, but sometimes I feel so overwhelmed.
I know it is going to take time for things to settle down to a normal pace and I am trying to be patient.

When you start a new relationship there are adjustments that you have to make and even though Barry and I have a history together, it is very much the same as starting anew.
We have the way we did things when we were married, the way we did things with others, and now trying to figure out how to do things together again. It's tough. Both of us are the same people we have always been, but different at the same time. I guess everyone can say that about themselves, life in general changes us as we deal with different situations and experiences. I guess it's the lessons that we learn along the way that make us what we are and sometimes give us the strength to move forward.

So here I am attempting to move forward. One step at a time............

I do want to thank everyone for the words of wisdom that have been sent lately. I really do appreciate it more than you could know. It's so nice to know that I have so many that care about me and my family. It has also been good to hear others views. Thank You!!!

I will try to get some pictures of the house on here soon.
Take Care.........and I'll keep you posted.

7th Grade Formal

I thought that I would share some of the pictures from Lindsey's Formal with everyone.

I can't believe how much she has changed. My little girl is not a little girl anymore. She is becoming a young lady.

The Formal was held on the last day of school, May 17th and it was for the entire middle school (7th and 8th grade).

We met some of her friends downtown Bowling Green at Fountain Square Park to take some pictures. It is a really nice park in the middle of the square. It has two stone archways, a fountain, several benches and four statues. It is a really neat place to take pictures.

They look like a good group of kids, don't you think?

Lindsey looks so grown up.

The girls looked so pretty. They had a great time getting all dolled up for the Dance.

I think the guys liked taking this picture best. They really liked getting to climb up into the tree.

Joining The Working World

My son has joined the working world. He has had 2 part time jobs for quite some time, one in an afterschool program and one in the Alumni office at WKU, but this week he started a full time job (for the summer) at the Corvette Plant. I think he has been working 10 hour days. Quite a change from just a couple of hours after class each day. He has to be there bright and early too, no more sleeping in.



He has been teasing me about how he is making more money than me now, of course that isn't saying much.


He says that it is a challenge to keep up with the line, but that he is hanging in there.


He has worked with his Dad some, so he does know how to do physical labor. I think this will be a very good experience for him.

Choices

This has been a strange week for me. My normal routine has been disrupted, because of inventory. I normally don't work nights, but because I am the Jewelry supervisor, they think I need to be the one with the inventory team while they are counting the jewelry. Thank goodness it's only once a year. This working 'til midnight and being up again early the next morning sucks. One of my bosses said," Well you have the next day off, what's the big deal?".
Kids don't just magicially get up and to school on their own. Especially Lindsey. She has never been a morning person and sometimes it is a real chore to get her moving in the morning. Plus I take her to school every morning, so even on my days off I have to be up, dressed and out.

It seems this week that everyone has been asking for advice. It actually has been kind of wierd. Working in retail you commonly have people that will ask you for your opinion with choosing which color shirt they need or which style looks better on them, is this size too big or small, do I need the belt or purse with it, which shoes........ If my bathroom is pink will these gray towels look good in there? My daughter has blonde hair, will this yellow blouse look okay on her? This type of thing I'm used to. But this week I've had people coming to me for life advice.
Questions like......Should I have this surgery that the Doctors want me to have, should I stay in this relationship, what do you do when a relationship is over, should I take the new job I've been offered or stay here, should I let my boyfriend move in............
I like that people feel they can come to me, and I'm honored that they want to hear my opinion. I just feel like my own life is one question after another, that I have plenty of problems making my own decisions. I'm sure in no position to help make decisions for anyone else. But I listen and try to give my support as much as I can.
The whole week has made me think about choices......... We make choices everyday, and each one we make has consequences. The route we choose makes a difference. We have no way of knowing beforehand how something we do will effect things. The only thing we can do is try to make informed and smart decisions.

If It's Not One Thing, It's Another

Yesterday was my day off and I was all set to run a few errands, get some laundry and cleaning taken care of and then to just relax and enjoy the rest of the day.
That did not happen.............

The day started as usual with me getting her up and then taking her to school. However, Barry called about the time we were leaving and asked if he could take her to school instead of me, as he does sometimes on my days off. I had not gotten far from the house when he called, so I just met him and he took her to school. No big deal, but just a change in our normal routine.

So I came back home, checked some emails, started the laundry and jumped in the shower. I then got myself ready to get my errands done. But then my phone rang, it was Lindsey calling from school. It seems that after one of her classes she was getting up to head to her next class when she got really dizzy and sick to her stomach. She was so dizzy that she nearly fell and the teacher caught her. He asked if she had eaten anything and she told him that she had not. So he made her stay there and he went to get her a banana. She ate part of it, but was still very dizzy. He suggested that she go to the office. A couple of her friends had to help her up there.
The nurse in the sick room thought that her blood sugar was low and gave her some juice and candy. This is when they called me. So I head to the school to pick her up thinking that she has caught some bug going around and after it runs its course, she'd be fine.
When I got there she was in the sick room. Pale as a ghost and very upset. She was still very dizzy and nauseous. I don't think I've ever seen her that pale. She was so dizzy that I had to help her to the car. So off to the emergency room we went.
We got there, got her checked in and saw the triage nurse. The nurse seemed to think that she had an ear infection. I, however knew that it was more than that. Heaven knows that we have been down that road enough to know. Both of my kids have had plenty of experience with ear infections. Lindsey has had tubes put in her ears three times, the last time being in 2006. With the tubes still in place, I knew that she would have drainage from her ears if they were infected. I began to get concerned.
The Dr. came in to examine her. He said that her ears and throat looked fine. Her chest sounded fine and she had no fever. He said that they needed to do some blood and urine test. So we waited for someone from the lab to come. In the meantime, the ER nurse asked Lindsey to give her a urine sample, which she could not do. Nothing........not a drop. Granted she had gone right after we got there, but still not a drop. (I know I can go and five minutes later go at least a little). Then a nurse from the lab came in to draw some blood. She checked her arms and started to try to get the blood. She stuck Lindsey's arm and could not get any blood. She tried moving the needle around to get it, but still nothing. Fearing that this is hurting Lindsey, she says that she will try another vein. She pulls the needle out and believe it or not, it didn't even bleed, not a bit. How on earth can you get stuck in the arm and not bleed. The nurse tried again and finally got the blood that she needed. They had to give her some water to drink before she could give them the urine sample.
It took awhile for them to get the test completed and Lindsey was able to take a little nap while waiting.
Finally, the Dr. came back in and said that her blood was fine. No Anemia, no Diabetes, no Urinary Tract Infection. The only thing that showed up was Ketones.
Ketones are produced when the body burns fat for energy or fuel. They are also produced when you lose weight or there is not enough insulin to help your body use sugar for energy. Without enough insulin, glucose builds up in the blood. Since the body is unable to use glucose for energy, it breaks down fat instead. When this occurs, ketones form in the blood and spill into the urine. These ketones can make you very sick.
The Dr. began asking about Lindsey's routine and if she was trying to loose weight. Which she has. She has lost 20pounds in about 4 months. I knew that she was loosing weight and she seemed to be doing it the right way. She has cut out the junk. No soft drinks or candy and she has cut the portion sizes way down of the things that she does eat. All the things I wish I could do. The problem is, that in the last month she has started volleyball conditioning again. So 3 days a week she is exercising and running alot and although this has helped her to loose weight, it has been hard on her body. She has seen the weight loss and liked it, so she started eating less and less to lose even more. She has been skipping breakfast, eating very little for lunch and then eating dinner (the meal I actually see her eat).
The Dr. says that she should take a multi vitamin and drink lots of fluids. He told her to drink Gatorade when she is in volleyball. And of course, she needs to eat.
That was my day off........................
Please, keep us in your prayers that this incident has shown Lindsey the importance of proper nutrition. I sure hope it has.

Sometimes Things Do Go Right

I went to Cingular, after receiving the outragous bill, to change my cell phone plan. I now have a plan that will cover all the calls and texting that everyone seems to think they have to do. While I was there, the lady that was helping me suggested that I call in and plead my case about my bill being so high. She said that since I am a long time customer and that I have recently changed my plan to suit our changing needs, that they would maybe make an adjustment to my bill. So I called.
The lady I spoke to said that some of the Mexico charges did seem to be a bit too high and that because I had made changes to my plan that she would relay this to her manager and that I should receive a call from him in 2 days telling me how much of an adjustment they would be able to make to my bill.
I got the call yesterday.........I can't believe it, but my bill went from $728.00 to $332.00.
I was so glad. I had really been sweating how I was going to pay that bill. I guess ALL my luck is not bad afterall.
So it does pay to question things.
Just thought that I would share this with everyone.
Have a good Thursday..............

Back To Reality

I can definitely tell that I am not in the Magical World Of Disney............
No fairy tales or Pixie Dust anywhere to be found.

It seems all there is around here is STRESS!!!!!!
Stress at home, stress at work....UGHHHHHH!!

While I was in Disney World my stomach and intestines were fine. I pretty much was able to eat what I wanted to, with only minor problems. I didn't go overboard with the spicy or fried foods, but I did eat french fries, hotdogs, chinese food, and ICECREAM. I love icecream and usually it does a number on my tummy. Every now and then I can sneak a bowl in without any problem, but usually dairy products kill me.

Anyway, as soon as I got back, reality and STRESS..........

It started with the phone. I am constantly telling Lindsey that she is on the phone too much. I know that she is a pre-teen girl and that is what they do, but I think the phone is permanently attached to her ear. I received my phone bill the other day and I knew that is was going to be higher than usual, because of Adam's trip to Mexico, but I sure never dreamed that it would be $728.00. Some of my rollover minutes expired and we used up all of the ones that I had left. The Mexico calls were high, but there were some charges that were really high (like one $45.00 charge for data transfer) and then all the text messages that my kids think they have to send. Add in all the overages that they charged us for the calls over our plan minutes and you have a $728.00 phone bill. My daughter alone talked 4,000 minutes. I love to talk, but 4,000 minutes a month..........I don't have that much to say.

At work, things are always behind when you come back from a vacation. I have spent the last week getting things caught up and now we are getting ready for inventory on May 7. Inventory is a task in itself. I have been pre-counting the jewelry in my department, which means, once it is counted if you sell anything or receive any new items that the counts have to be changed. So it takes longer to do the everyday things. Plus it's my job to keep a check of the counts, because the night time people don't always change the counts like they are supposed to.

Then we have my son, who over draws his checking account and comes to Mom for help. Nevermind that his rent is due in 2 days (which I pay). So I sent him to his Dad. Dad needs to help too, afterall, which he did. But then a day later I come home to find my son here at 5 pm when he should have been at work until at least 6pm. So I ask, "How come you are here so early?" He says,"You probably don't want to know." So I am thinking that he got fired. No..... he quit. He has two jobs thank goodness and has applied, interviewed and taken a drug test for a summer job at the Corvette Plant. I sure hope that he gets that one.

He got to work (his afterschool job) and they told him that they needed him to go to one of the other schools and that he may have to work there until the end of the school year. He has been there for quite sometime and felt like someone else should have to go instead, but they told him that it had to be him. So he quit. He didn't stop to think that they just might want to send him there because he has the most experience and that the others at that school are new employees.

Of course we can't leave out 2 sources of stress in my life. Michael and his son...........

They can be two of the most spoiled people on the face of the earth. The two of them have been so used to getting their way that it can really be a challenge to deal with them at times.

Am I ready to go back to Disney World or any other place far far away...........YES!!!!!!!!

Take me away.......

Our Disney World Vacation

Thought I would share a bit about our trip.

We arrived at the airport around 5am and began the check in process. Lindsey had no problem, she had her boarding pass in about 2 minutes. It took a little longer for me. It seems that my name is on the "Watch List" so my information and ID had to be checked more throughly. I could not be checked in curb side, I had to be escorted inside to a counter to be checked in. After about 20 minutes or so I had my boarding pass and we were on our way through the security check point and on to our departure gate.
Our flight took of on time. It was a thrilling experience. We had some turbulence, but I guess that is normal. Our seats were not assigned, but Lindsey and I were able to sit together. We even managed to get a window seat on the flight to Orlando. That was really cool, looking out as we were flying. I especially liked flying through the layers of clouds. At one point on the return flight I saw another plane flying by......that was really neat.

A couple of things I didn't like about flying was the fact that it hurt Lindsey's ears, especially when the plane begins descending, and the having to maneuver through the airports. Nashville airport wasn't bad at all, but Orlando was a bit more difficult. We arrived in one building and had to make our way to the Disney Welcome Center, which was in another building. So we had to take the tram to the main building and then go down three levels and follow the trail of people there with the big Mickey Mouse hands waving you in the direction that you need to go. Not that we had any trouble doing it, but it just makes me nervous. I was so afraid of not being where we needed to be at the right time. But we did fine........

Our plane arrived around 8:30 am and by 11:20 we were checked in to our hotel and inside Animal Kingdom.

The weather did not cooperate fully with us, it was cold. Thank goodness we had worn jackets. It was in the upper 50's with slight rain our first day. I thought Florida was supposed to be warm and sunny. LOL.......

We managed to be inside most of the time that it was raining, either on a ride or watching a show.

On Tues. it was a bit warmer, in the lower 60's, but cloudy. We went into the park early. Magic Kingdom opened for resort guests at 7:00 am. The crowds were much lighter and we got to do alot of things before the park opened to the general public. We did what we wanted to do there and then hopped over to Epcot for awhile. It started to rain quite a bit and we were tired from being up so early for two straight days, so we went back to our resort for awhile.

We rested a couple of hours and then it was on to Downtown Disney for dinner and shopping.

Mousesavers.com rated The Earl Of Sandwich a good place to eat for a decent price and I'll have to agree. We liked it alot. It wasn't crowed like alot of the other places and it was really good. They have hot sandwiches and the bread they

are served on is awesome!!

Wednesday was cloudy, but much warmer with temps in the lower 70's. We returned to Epcot to do all the things that we didn't get a chance to do the day before. Because I am a Disney Visa Card Member we got to have a special "Meet and Greet" with some of the Characters. That was really neat. They let you take as many pictures as you want and take time with you. Usually they kind of rush you with the characters, which I can sort of understand, because there are so many waiting and they are usually outside and you know they have to be sooooo hot inside those costumes.

We got to meet with Mickey, Minnie and Goofy.

After a full day of being at Epcot we returned to our resort to freshen up a bit and then headed to Magic Kingdom to grab a bite to eat and to steak out our spot for The Spectro Magic Parade and Wishes Fireworks Show. We had the "Perfect Spot" on the balcony of the Train Station facing the castle. It was AWESOME!!!! and we were close to the entrance of the park so that leaving and reaching the bus stop was easy. We had just arrived back at our room when some rather strong storms hit. They didn't last long, but were pretty intense with 55 mile per hour winds and some heavy rain.

Look at the crowd gathering for the parade.

Thursday was more like a typical Florida day. It was sunny and hot. The temp reached a high of 88 with a heat index of 92. MGM was our park to visit on this day. Lindsey had a really good time riding the rides there. Her favorite one was the Rock 'N' Roller Coaster. She rode it twice.

She also liked the Tower Of Terror alot.

Friday was our last day in Florida and our day to just hang out at the resort before flying home. Lindsey slept in and I got us all packed up.

Next time I'll have to remember to allow room in the suitcases for soveigners.

We had a wonderful trip and I am very glad that I got the chance to do this with my daughter. It is something we will always remember!!!

Here are some random pictures from our trip.