Week Three: |
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After several days of snow
(that trip to NC is sounding soooo good right about now!), I tackled
a couple more puzzles. Jim got this 3D Carousel puzzle for only $5
at Goodwill, still in it's original un-opened box. Although it only
took 3 days to put it all together, the pieces were quite tricky to
put together correctly. The other puzzle is a 1000-piece picture of
a castle which I'll work on finishing after I return from my trip (I
hear that's more snow in the forecast yet this month
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We've been watching a
cracked tree limb in DO's backyard for about half a year now. We
never had a really good thunderstorm this past Summer, so the branch
has hung on fairly well. At least, until a few nights ago. When the
last storm blew in (literally! the gusts were over 65 mph), the
branch finally broke. It didn't completely break off though because
it came to rest on another tree. When we get access to a chainsaw
again to finish the tree in our yard, we may need to go finish
getting this branch down before it does do some damage. The wood
will be great for the next Hallo-weenie Roast!
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Just wanted everyone to
know that Tara and I got back home safely from a nice trip down to
the Carolinas. We both had a good time, although coming and going
proved to be a little rough. |
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The day started at 5
degrees with about 3.5 inches of snow on the ground and ice and
slush on the roads in town. Oh, and Tara being rear-ended in an
accident!
 Luckily, she's got a tough car and while the other driver
ended up with a crumbled hood, radiator damage and an un-drivable
car, Tara's Passat only had a cracked bumper - thankfully no where
near a problem to cancel the trip. |
The drive down was delightful. Tara and
I hadn't seen each other in a while and had a bunch of catching up
to do. Matter of fact when she put out her hand and yelled out that
she was the "first" one to cross into West Virginia, I couldn't believe
two hours had already gone by.
Tara's "TomTom" GPS on the dash, keep us on track and on time. |
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Traveling through the Mountains of West Virginia |
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Although it will still too early in the
year to "watch" the seasons change from Winter to Spring trekking nearly 500 miles
south, it was a beautiful day for a ride on I-77 through Ohio, into
the mountains of West Virginia and Virginia, and then
into North Carolina. |
Even though our final destinations were South
Carolina (Tara was going another 1.5 hr drive down I-85 into SC,
while my destination of my mom's house was just a few miles into
SC), coming out of the Virginia mountains and seeing the state of
North Carolina spreading out before us meant we were nearing the end
of our journey.
Tara looks out onto Mount Pilot as we enter NC. |
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| By the time we reached
Statesville, I was calling my mom to arrange our meet-up. Of course,
after Tara dropped me off with my mom, she quickly got back on the
road to finish the last leg of her journey. |
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| Later in the evening, as I
talked with Jim, I got to see how my webcam looks to the rest of the
world. I also talked with my babies, who were just confused by all
the technology. |
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| Jim and Aries |
Jim and Zeus |
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| Trying to make it easier
for me to visit everyone, Mom and Dennis loaned me Dennis' car for
the weekend. The only bad problem wasn't that it was a stick shift
(which I can drive) but that fact that I hadn't really driven around
Charlotte since 1985 - and nothing is the same! Although I tried to
follow directions, I got very lost trying to get to my GrandMother's
house (should have printed out a map from google!) I was
disappointed that I didn't get much time then to spend with her. But
Nana isn't a dummy! In arranging for me to follow her over to my
youngest brother's house so I wouldn't get lost again, not only did she get to spend a little
longer with me; but she finagled her way into a free dinner with her
great-grandkids too.
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I must not have charged my
camera battery up, so I wasn't able to take any pictures at Jon's
house. Luckily, I had brought the charger cord though. Even without
the camera to prove it, I had a nice time over there. After dinner,
Jon and Jonathan and I watched "Borat" - yes, it was a stupid
movie; but parts of it were hilarious!! Of course, me hanging around
Lisa (Jon's wife) is like me hanging around Tara - we both chatted a
mile a minute about everything.
At least we didn't stay out on the deck all night talking like we
did this past Summer. It was in the 50's and too cold for
Southerners to be outside at night.
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| Jenny attended a Cotillion earlier in
the month |
Jonathan turned 14 on the 12th |
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| Of course, I never get to
stay too long at any one place on my weekend trips back home, so
all too soon I had to leave the Jon Bivens' Family,
and head back to SC to visit with the Don Bivens Family.
My brother came to my rescue so I wouldn't get lost again,
and loaned me his Magellan GPS unit. I followed it's instructions
and had no problems finding my way. The only thing wrong with the
directions was that when it told me I had reached my final destination, I was
in front of a small playground.
Their house
was in sight and only about 3 houses away, so it was okay it those directions were a
little bit off.
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Of course, since my
brothers have kids, that means they have plenty of video games. Over
at Donny's, Kayla and Allison set up a "mii" of me on the "wii".
(that's a character that looks like me - goatee, moustache and even
a tail just like mine!
 )
The girls and I had a great time playing through the Wii games,
although if we had bowled much more, I think my right shoulder was
really going to be hurting. I even gave Guitar Hero a try.
I was no good at all but I did have the whole family laughing. |
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The girls are boxing and getting a real workout |
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Of course, while I was
getting around to see all my family, Tara was off having her own
vacation. Instead of staying around Easley, SC, she and her
beau
drove to Gatlinburg, TN for a special Valentines weekend. From the
stories I would hear on the ride home, those two seemed to have a
pretty good time together visiting an aquarium, a haunted house, and
the "Dixie Stampede" |
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| While I was safely back at
mom's on Sunday night, listening to the monsoon pouring down
outside, Tara was stuck on the road in the downpour getting back to
SC, so we could head back North. |
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Mom and Dennis smiling for the camera
before I left to head North |
| Tara arrived a little early, and joined
us for lunch as we were just finishing up. I was really glad that
Mom and Dennis got the chance to chat with Tara for a while. Little
by little, my Ohio friends and family have been meeting parts of my
NC family.
I'd love to have all of you (who I call friends and family
)
meet up with everyone else that knows me, and loves me, and reads my
blog. Unfortunately some of you live too far from I-77 to ride along
on a trip (especially you, Emma, over in England
and Rich in California) |
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I had forgotten to take a
picture of the damage to Tara's car when she first dropped me off
(you know she was in such a hurry to get on down the road to see her
boyfriend
);
so I made sure to get one as we loaded my stuff (a suitcase and a
grocery bag full of Cheerwine!*) into her trunk. MouseOver
the picture is you need help finding the damaged area.
*By the way, for my friends living in areas where Cheerwine
is NOT sold, let me explain what it is. It's not alcoholic, but a
carbonated drink. Think of it as the perfect cherry Coke!
Thanks Dennis for getting me 5 6-packs to bring home! |
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| Off we headed back North
hoping to arrive home around 8pm. The afternoon weather, a sunny
warm 68, couldn't have been nicer. After a short 15 delay north of
Charlotte (around Lake Norman), it seemed like smooth sailing. |
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| The mountains of Virginia ahead of us |
The foothills of North Carolina behind
us |
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| Getting closer to the
mountains and the outside temp was already dropping. |
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MouseOver for a closer view of one of
the two tunnels on our trip. It's pretty cool to drive "through" a
mountain! |
| Unfortunately we hit a rough patch in
Virginia. We knew we were approaching the second mountain tunnel,
which was narrowed to a single lane for repairs being made to the
tunnel. However about 10-15 miles before the tunnel, traffic began to back
up. Although we could see that the left lane of the highway curving
around the mountainsides ahead of us was empty, everyone seemed to
be merging into the right hand lane. |
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Eventually, the traffic was backed up
enough to get us stuck for quite some time. While watching other
people park, get out of the cars, and switch drivers, Tara and I
snacked on some boiled peanuts (a southern delicacy that I love and
haven't had in eons!) that she had gotten down in SC.
We sat beside this chunk of rock for nearly 20 minutes! |
For a while we were stuck behind
several different cars that wouldn't go as far as possible in the
left lane nor merge into the right lane. Frustrated and losing time, Tara
gunned it through the berm and around several of the idiot drivers.
Go, Tara, Go!
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Unfortunately after that
long of a delay, we had to resign ourselves to getting home later
than we had hoped. Night fell and the temp continued to fall too.
Eventually we made a pit stop outside Charleston for gas and a much
needed bathroom break. (I had been ready a potty break since clear
back before that damned delay!
 ) We had planned on driving through a MickeyD's but the signs mislead us
when we stopped for the gas, so we decided we'd just stop
further up the highway at the next one. Of course, that meant we hit
the longest stretch of road with NO McDonalds.
By the time we
found one outside of Parkersburg, the filet of fish sandwiches and
salty fries really hit the spot.
Luckily with no more traffic delays
and only a few scattered flakes of snow in the mountains, we made up
a little bit of our lost time. |
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| We both cheered as the
crossed the bridge over the Ohio River and entered Marietta, Ohio -
finally back in our home state!
Glancing to the side of the road, I
saw something I was dreading. Even as I was about to warn Tara, she
glanced out too and saw the same sight - snow covering the ground!!
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| Only a few miles further,
we suddenly entered a sleet storm that dropped visibility to mere
feet in front of us. Tara had to slow to about 5 miles an hour
creeping the car through a whiteout of sleet. Without warning, the
storm was suddenly gone, the road dry, and the moon appeared from
behind the clouds. A local announcer on the radio predicted 30%
chance of flurries during the night, so we were hopeful that we had
seen the last of any bad weather. |
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But we weren't to be so
lucky.
 Not even halfway through the state, it began to snow. Within
minutes, the snow thickened and the wind began to howl. Once again
we found ourselves in a whiteout.
Down to 5 miles an hour again,
with the flashers blinking, we began to worry as the snow came down
even heavier. With my window rolled down, I guided Tara's driving by
keeping her informed on how close we were to the right hand
guardrail. Eventually the snow was so hard, there was nothing but
white, and the road all by disappeared. Up ahead we could see a set
of flashing lights as a vehicle moved too far to the left and
slipped into the center grassy median of the highway. Tara
maneuvered the car near, so we could see if any assistance was
needed. The young guy from OSU was as surprised as us by the
snowstorm. Suddenly the whole world flashed a blinding white (like
turning on your high beams in dense fog) and a crack of thunder
followed. Could this storm get any worse?!?
Now we had to contend
with lightning in the middle of a blizzard! The guy got back in his
vehicle, onto the road and moved in front of our car, riding the
right side rumble strip as we tried to plow our way slowly North
through the deepening snow. Any time gain we made after the tunnel
delay was now lost as we traveled clear up to Canton in the snow.
The storm finally slacked off and the highway conditions were much
more drivable; but not until we came into the outskirts of town.
Needless to say, although we weren't glad to come back to this kind
of weather, it was awfully nice being back home after such a
stressful drive. |
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I knew there was a reason
I didn't usually visit the Carolinas and
cross through the mountains during the Winter. |
Besides dealing with
getting home through a blizzard, I had already been anxious to get
home. Jim has been off and on sick over the last few weeks with some
illness that was passing around his office. Unfortunately, Jim got
hit by it again and was sick throughout the weekend I was gone. He
was sick enough when I got home, that we took him in to Stat Care
the following morning. Recommending fluids, Tylenol, and cough
medicine, the doctor told him his low white cell count probably
meant that Jim had a viral infection.
So Jim has taken a couple days off of work, and I got him all fixed
up on the sofa bed. I'll be pushing Gatorade, Tylenol, Flu meds,
chicken soup, water, and lots of sleep on him the next couple of
days. Jim is very seldom ever sick and after a few days has gotten
quite tired of it all - an attitude I can totally understand. |
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| Personally, I'm starting
to get a little freaked out now. Not only has Jim been suffering
from this flu along with people at his job; but Linda, Cliff and
even DO have been infected with it now. (Even the singers on
American Idol were sick this week!) I'm leery of visiting any of my
friends (much less staying at home) since the germ seems to be
everywhere. I'm trying not to get all germ-ophobic; but I've already
gone through a can of spray Lysol even though it makes me and the
doggies sneeze. Let's hope my little tcells hold on and keep on
working for me.
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Week Four: |
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| While it was almost Spring
down in the Carolinas, Winter is still got the North in it's grasp. |
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| How much is that doggie in the window?
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MouseOver to play Peek-a-Boo
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Click to view a larger picture of a snowy day in our neighborhood |
| More of the white stuff is
predicted in a few days, and then in a few more days after that! |
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Happy Birthday to ALL of us! |
| As I mentioned in my last
email, birthday time has rolled around again for a whole lot of my
friends and family. |
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As the month of Feb. ends let me say
Happy Birthday to
Jonathan,
Lisa, and Donny!
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Next month's upcoming birthdays are
Ritchie, Angie, Bonnie, Celia,
Linda, Mike P, Austin, mIkIE (that's me), Jon, Kayla, and Mark K
There's only a few leftovers in
April - Joxer, Ella and Dennis.
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To keep track of all these birthdays,
you might want to take a look at the
Birthday Calendar I set
up. You can click the picture to the right or the
icon from the menu over the calendar in the menu hidden on the left
side of this page. |
MouseOver for details |
| From the
Pix-a-Day Calendar, you can
view the Birthday Calendar or view pictures from throughout the year
from my webcams. |
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There was a lunar eclipse the other
night and I tried to take some pictures of it like I have previously
in past years. However, it was just too snowy and too dang cold too
stay outside long enough to get a good focused picture. So here's a
picture of the most recent eclipse even though it looks like a blob.
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| The picture to the right is a lunar
eclipse in Nov 2003. You can see the
moon and some surrounding clouds much better in this picture.
However, my best lunar eclipse pictures, below, were taken in
Oct 2003. Not only was it a mild
enough night for me to get a series of shots; but as you can it was
quite spectacular with the moon turning red throughout the eclipse. |
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| Unfortunately, Jim has still been sick
lately. He's been running a low-grade fever of 99-101 ever since I
returned from my trip down South with Tara. We took him to the
doctor's the other afternoon, where after several more blood tests,
she decided Jim has a bacterial infection and prescribed some
antibiotics. However, two days later when he was feeling no better,
the doctor changed him to something stronger, z-pak antibiotics. |
| I'm trying not to be too worried; but
I really am. I'll keep you updated on how Jim is doing. |
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Amongst all the fun of dealing with
the snow, cable service change-over, and Jim still being sick, it
was finally time for me to have more blood work taken. Of course, it
was a morning I woke up sick too.
I'll get the results next month on the 13th - the day before I turn
46!and
the 10 yr. anniversary of the last time I was in the hospital!! |
| Changing ISPs |
| This past week we had a major TV
upgrade and ISP change.
AT&T has started their "U-verse" service in our area. For $10 a
month more than what we having been paying Time Warner for Road
Runner internet service (6mbps) and 20 channels of basic TV, we now
still have the same high speed internet and 200 channels of
television!!
Sure some of those 200!
channels, we'll never watch; but we have MSNBC, SciFi and the Comedy
Central back. WooHoo!We're very happy so far with the new
service. The picture and sound quality is tons better than what
we had with cablevision. |
| We only had a couple problems getting
the new service installed. We canceled the land line to the house
years ago, and we and the service technician had to wait several
hours for another crew to connection the AT&T fiber optic cables to
the house. I felt sorry for all the guys though as 4 inches of snow
had just fallen and another 2 inches continued falling as they
worked outside on our phone line. I had to call customer service the
next day, although they weren't much help in getting my cams online
through the new firewall. However they did give me a couple clues
and by the following morning I had all the cams back online. |
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| mIkIE cam |
LivingRoom Cam |
DriveWay Cam |
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| Click any of the cam images to open up
my webcam monitor page |
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