So, about 2 weeks ago Todd and I were in Petco picking up some stuff for him and when we walked in the door we saw this beautiful cat sitting in a cage. Of course I walked over to her and Todd went and did his shopping. When he was done he came over to the cages and stated what a pretty cat that was and he stuck his fingers in and the cat just went crazy licking all over him and rubbing her head on the cage. So, we asked the Petco lady if she could take the cat out so we could hold her. She did and we fell in love! This cat was so loving!! I held her for awhile then gave her to Todd. Well, as soon as he took her his face began to break out into whelps and his eye turned red and started itching. At that point I knew – no kitty cat for us! So, we put her back and my heart was broken!

As the weekend went on we just kept talking about the cat! But, I kept telling Todd that we couldn’t do it b/c he would be miserable! Well, that Monday I got home from work a little early – due to the holiday the next day. Todd wasn’t there and I thought it was strange b/c he had been off of work for nearly an hour. I gave him a call and he said he had stopped by Books a Million after work and that he would be home soon. In about 15 min I hear him walking through the door and all of a sudden there was this “meeeoooww”. I jumped up and sure enough – he had gotten the kitty!! I was so excited!!! He was too b/c he said he could tell how much I wanted that cat and that he was willing to take shots or whatever it took to deal with his allergy.

That had to have been one of the sweetest things he has ever done for me. So, now we have the most loving beautiful cat in the world!!! She is awesome! Todd is getting better. He’s still a little congested, but the whelps and itching have subsided.

Here is our pretty, Addie Grey……

So, I took this from my friend Lori’s site who took it from our friend Tracie’s site. I went to google and typed in “JoDe needs” and this is what I got:

1. Jode needs to know the full class hierarchie to guess the types (Sure I do!)

2. JoDe needs a site of their own (I think JoDe is a she and not a their)

3. Jode needs a semi quiet home with understanding adults who will allow him to come around at his own pace (If only I were a cat)

4. jode needs me to lend her sum for it (I’ll take it – whatever it is)

5. I think Jode needs to be told glasses and blinders are not the same thing (I think I already knew that!)

6. Jode, Needs me and may be providing safe house to her (?)

7. jode needs to zip himself (I had no idea there were so many boys named JoDe)

Thought that was pretty neat. You should try it!

Seeing that September has now passed (seriously?) and as I’m being bombarded by EOY tasks due at work (whoever came up with this whole Fiscal Year/End of Year deal was a loonatic!), I sit here today and take a look at what has happened to me over the last 3 months. If I think about it day by day, I think my life is so boring, nothing is going on with me and I might as well become a hermit and get a house full of cats.

It’s a much different story when you take it in 3 month increments.

3 months ago today I was: Looking forward to the 4th of July weekend!!! Couldn’t wait to get out on that lake and soak up some sun!! Well, we all know what happened then (http://georgeahpeach.wordpress.com/2008/07/15/mia/). Today I am thankful to be alive and sad to note that the boat has not made it back to water since this trip. Sad.

Since then I’ve also found out that I get to go to Washington, D.C. in two weeks! I am so excited – you have no idea!! It’s another place on my “list of things to do before I die”. So, I’m super excited about marking through that line and moving on to another number on the list. It’s really too bad that I haven’t made as much progress on “what I want in a husband” list. If only….

This also reminds me that I may get a shot at actually doing something on my list that I thought had been taken from me for forever!! It’s meeting NKOTB!!! I thought they were gone – I had missed the boat – another huge dissappoinment in my life that can’t be made right. BUT NO! They are back – alright! haha Watched the comeback show on VH1 and felt like I was 12 years old again. I wanted to go and get all of my Teen Beat and Tiger teen mags and just fulfill the love I had in my heart for those boys! I even threatened Todd with watching the “Hanging Tough – Live” vhs that I still have. Oh yeah – I still have all the tapes too! I tried to get him to relate to how I felt about them by reminding him of how he feels/felt about Pantera when he was a teen. His only comment was, “I loved their (Pantera) music, not the boys.” Yeah well, I loved them (NKOTB) both!

I digress, let’s see….I’m donating my turtles to a wonderful classroom led by my friend Wendy Clemmons. The guilt I feel for the little amount of time I spend with my little turts just hurts too bad. So, I asked several of my teacher friends it they would like a classroom pet? Wendy jumped right in and said she would take them both and I’m so excited! I really like Wendy and I know they will be taken care of in her classroom. My hope is that the kids get a ton of enjoyment out of them and that the turts enjoy all of the attention. I’ll miss them, but hopefully Wendy will let me visit them some times.

Back to Todd…I just don’t know what to say. My mind changes daily.

Gas prices have gone from a 4 year low to an all time high. Crazy and I think we all can see the signs of what is to come. Hang on kids, it’s going to be a bumpy ride! Get your prayer life right b/c God really needs to hear us now! I’m terrified of what is to happen on Nov.4. Either way – it doesn’t look good.

Well, that’s all for now. I need to get back to work. Hope all is well with everyone!

I always used to wonder what it must have been like for my parents and the generations before to live through such world changing events such as World Wars, The Depression, Vietnam, Stockmarket Crash, assassinations of presidents and the birth of inventions; such as the car, electricity and television.

Now that I’m 30 years old, I can easily look back at the things that have been created and changed the world during my lifetime; monumental presidential elections, explosion of incurable diseases, 2 wars, household use of computers, cell phones and finally the internet. To be honest, I didn’t realize the true world impact of any of those things until years later. That can be said for everything except for what happened on Sept. 11, 2001.

I knew I was apart of something that was a first not only for my generation, but a lifetime of Americans. The thought of us being attacked on our own soil to the degree that it was carried out was unfathomable! I remember as a child worrying about my uncle Greg, who flew all over the country for his job. Watching tv and seeing planes held by hostages in other countries and asking my mom if that could happen here; “Of course not,” she said. She believed it in her heart and so did I.

So, at that moment on Sept. 11, 2001 as I sat in my office in downtown Atlanta and heard my co-worker say, “Isreal (her boyfriend) just called and said that the World Trade Center has just been hit by a plane.” I felt my heart fall out of my chest. Immediately, I got on the internet and it was sooo slow b/c everyone in the world was hitting the same sites at the same time. I couldn’t find anything that would tell me anymore, so I picked up the phone and called home. My dad answered and I could tell from his voice, he was worried. I told him what Pia’s boyfriend had just said happened and he confirmed. Not two minutes later he said, “It just happened again. I think it’s terrorists.” WHAT??

This is New York, not Tel-A-Viv. That can’t be it!

Now the calls are coming into my office that the Capital Building has blown up in Washington, D.C., the Pentagon has exploded, and us in Atlanta better watch out b/c CNN is next. (Yes, that is true. We weren’t located too far from CNN and we were being told it was a prime target for terrorists. ha) My dad is giving me a play by play and I’m relaying those messages to the people sitting around me. Then, his voice drops and I hear a quiver, “One of the buildings just collapsed. JoDe, you need to get away from downtown and stay away from there for awhile.”

Believe me – I was ready to run out of there, hop in my 4-Runner and fly home to Athens, AL! The thought even came to me, “Is Athens safe? There is a huge nuclear plant down the road from your house…oh God”. At that point I got off of the phone and fell to my knees at my desk. “God, I’m scared! What is going on?” Next thing I know my boss is calling us telling us to stay off of the internet and get back to work. That’s the best thing to do right now to take our minds off of what is happening. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? So, I sat at my desk for the next 7 hours sick at my stomach and trying to do budget work. Longest 7 hours of my life.

I couldn’t even think of going home to that empty apt, so I called my friend Amanda to see if she was home and she told me to come over. I went over there and we sat in her apt until midnight, glued to the tv. At that point I went home. Living 1/2 mile from an AFB doesn’t ease your mind when helicopters and planes are flying overhead 24/7. You keep thinking, at any minute a bomb could easily just slip out of one of these suckers or it is hijacked by another terrorist. Everything, at that point, could be manned by a terrorist.

 I honestly can’t imagine what it is like to live in a terrorist country and deal with that threat every day of my life and I hope I never do. While yes, things have changed and I think of that more often, it’s still nothing like it is in the Middle East.

Another thing I remember about that day is how blue the sky was and how beautiful the sunset was. I will never forget the crispness in the air b/c it was unusual to be “nippy” that early in Sept. I don’t even know if it was actually cold b/c of the weather or b/c I was so terrified that my blood ran cold. Oh and that sunset; it was priceless. Kind of like another rainbow and promise for the future.

I hope I get to tell my children that story and the others that happened as a result from that day. I hope I get to tell them about visiting the World Trade Center years after 9/11 and the feeling I felt when I first saw that magnificent hole in the middle of Manhatten.

So, where were you when the world changed?

Do you ever just feel like God has just decided to take his loving stream that seems to flow all around you, rushing at speeds of hundreds of miles an hour, and let it just drop to a trickle sometimes? Man, this has been one of those days. God just shut off that stream like he had finished his shower for the morning and turned that water right off.

Now,  this is all an analogy and I know God doesn’t work like that, but it sure feels like it sometimes.

I really thought the day I had today would have happened yesterday. It began with me arriving to work at 6:30 am and as I’m driving through the security gate at Redstone – it hits me – my computer is sitting in my upstairs ROLL TIDE room and not in the backseat of my car!!!!! ARGHH!!!!! What to do, what do to? Oh Susan isn’t coming in until late today, so I can use her comp for a little while. OH YES, Lawrence took today off, so I’ll just use his computer all day! YAY!! Now, I don’t have to drive 45 min back to Decatur to get my laptop. And the thought even crossed my mind, “If this is how it’s starting out – it will only get worse.”

I couldn’t leave. There were too many critical things that had to be done. So, I was sooooo busy that I did not even have time to think about what had happened that morning. Instead I was a robot for 9 hours and it felt good at the end of the day to look back at my work and think – it’s good!

So, I slept in a little later today b/c I have been riding the overtime bus for the past few weeks due to last minute HQ actions. Well, we’re done. So, I got out of the bed at 6, took a shower, didn’t dry my hair, put on my makeup and clothes and shot off to the Arsenal. Since I left later, I got caught in all kinds of traffic snafus. I walked into my office at 7:45 and knew this day would be different – good or bad.

It began with my usual ritual of checking my aol mail, facebook and myspace. I have to get that out of the way so I can go on with my day and be productive. While I’m checking my myspace, I thought I’d tap into Todd’s and see what he has been doing – I should not have done that. Needless to say the straw on the camel’s back broke so fast you would have marveled at the sight. So, now it was time. Give him the call, tell him it’s gone too far and you’re done. That’s what I did. Then I hung up the phone and weeped like a child for about 5 min. Ok, that’s done – check!

Time to really get the day started. Start running reports and analyzing numbers here and there, email dings are going off left and right (ok, this is good.I’m busy. I’m distracted.)  Then I look up and see an email from my program manager entitled Working Relationships. He’s new at being a manager and I thought this was just another one of his helpful emails on Working Relationships – WRONG! Apparently I have 3 girls in a different organization, but we are all DF contractors, that cannot stand me. The first i hear from this is from my program manager, who by the way, is NOT their program manager. So, he doesn’t have a clue about what they are talking about and to be honest, neither do I. No one can give me examples of my behavior or instances that have led them all to hate me. (This is where working with women, sucks!) So, now we have to have this meeting where they will pretty much gang up on me and bash me about several “instances” they have had to “deal” with me – yet I’m completely unaware of any of them. I could keep going, but I won’t. I was taking off of work Friday to prepare for a yard sale I’m having with my mom & sister, but I now have to truck it over to H’ville on Friday to meet with these, people.

So, me breaking up with Todd asking him to come and get his stuff and getting an email letting me know that an organization is about to revolt on me all happened within 30 min of each other. Then my NASA manager sees me crying and he’s mad that they have handled the situation this way and now he wants to call someone. I just had to have everyone STOP. This is my deal and I’m going to defend myself, apologize if needed, acknowledge changes that can be made – on both parts, and walk out of that meeting a better person than I was when I walked in.

It’s going to take a whole heap of praying and faith – but I know the best person for that job! HE can handle it, so I’m going to let him.

So, this is  what’s going on in my life. I really struggle with what to write about sometimes. Sometimes I think it might be too personal, then other times, I just have to have the outlet.

Thanks for “listening”. Keep me in your prayers. Roll Tide

Today is the first day of a new beginning for me. While the act of trying to lose weight is not a new concept for me, I feel like today might really be the beginning of the end of useless weight loss cycles. I think my brain is finally tired of fighting the serotonin that doesn’t flow like it should and therefore keeps me from losing weight and keep it off.

I know many of you are probably thinking, ” I could care less about this, I’ve heard this all before, etc.” But, I really don’t care. For me, this is a personal accountability blog, for right now. I’ll keep myself updated on how I’m doing through pics and # of pounds lost (while never revealing what I truly weigh b/c southern women don’t do that). So, if you’re interested or have any suggestions or encouraging words – please comment! I’d love to hear from you and I’ll need the encouragement.

Every season I’m inspired by The Biggest Loser on NBC, but I just can’t seem to ever channel that inspiration into actually doing anything for myself. So, this is my own Biggest Loser – the blog version. 

I’ll post a picture tonight as my starting point. Pictures, to me, are far more important than # of pounds. Let me  explain – I look at pictures from my past and I think, “I cannot believe that I thought I was fat then!” Well, I thought I was fat and had a bad self image b/c of the numbers I saw on the scale! It didn’t matter that I was running 2 miles a day and involved in so many activities that I was burning calories like crazy b/c I kept seeing those same high numbers. I’m not bragging when I say this, but I can’t tell you how many times someone has seen my weight (generally only health professionals) and they are shocked! They cannot believe that I way that much! What I see on the scale and what I see in the mirror (or pictures) are two very different things. Although, as I get older – the two start becoming one!

This is why a picture means more to me than #’s on a scale. I want to WANT to have my picture made with my friends and my boyfriend. I want to think – YAY – this will be etched in history forever and feel good with what I see in that pic! My friend Stacie is an amazing photographer! I look at those pics and think, “Wow, they really look like they are excited to get their picture made and more than likely they are going to love what they see when they are developed.” I want that too!

Thanks for reading! I’ll keep you posted…..

On my way to work this morning, screeching down 565 I came up on a man sitting in his car brushing his teeth. I know I stared at him for at least 30 seconds b/c I couldn’t believe he was brushing his teeth! I tried to get a pic with my cell phone, but I was caught and had to move on….

Ok, I have been missing in action for a couple of months, but not a lot has happened.   The most exciting story to tell is about my 4th of July fiasco.

July 4, 2008 – I told my mom that Todd & I would be driving separately, from them, to my uncle’s place on Smith Lake. Well, about 9:15 she calls and practically begs us to ride with them. I think it was because she didn’t want to be the only traumatized person in the car with my dad. You see, my dad is a maniac when it comes to driving. He truly believes that since he hasn’t died or had a serious car wreck in his 40 years of driving – that he’s invincible. What he fails to realize is that God has had travel mercies placed on him for all of those 40 years! I feel like one of these days, God might decide to remind him of that and I don’t want to be in the car when it happens! Although, I think it has already happened. Anyway, I gave in and Todd & I rode with them to Smith Lake. I thought, “It can’t be that bad and I’ll be saving gas $$”.

The rents swing by and pick us up at my house about 10 am and off we go. Things are going pretty good, but I keep noticing that my mom will place her hand on my dad’s arm every time she feels we’re going a little too fast. Sometimes it works, sometimes it just makes him mad. Todd will look over at me every once in awhile and mouth, “You’re dad is driving really fast”. Please keep in mind that we have a boat attached to a Yukon, going down a 2 lane, curvy road through rural Morgan and Winston counties at about 60-70 miles an hour. Not only is he driving fast, but he will turn to look at my mom while he’s talking and inevitably run off the road a little. AGAIN, with a boat attached!

Well, we make it about 1 mile from the boat launch in record time – 1 hour from Decatur to Cullman, with a boat attached. So, at 11 o’clock we are 1 mile from the boat launch when I notice the Yukon shaking much differently than before. As I turn around, I can see the boat trailer shaking violently and I notice the right tire on the trailer is very low. As I am screaming this to my dad, the tire blows! YES, it blows out. Luckily I had given my dad just enough heads up for him to slow down, slightly, and gain control of the wheel before the tired shredded. By God’s good grace, we were right in front of a huge gravel parking lot and were able to pull the boat on one tire and one rim into the parking lot and off of the curvy road.

Now, do you think my dad has a spare? NO – remember. He’s never had a blow out on a boat trailer so it’s impossible that it would ever happen. Reasonable logic, right? So, on the 4th of July we’re sitting 1 mile from the lake and cannot find anyone to help. My uncle has no reception at his place so we can’t get him. My sister hadn’t left Hartselle yet, so she’s driving around Hartselle and Decatur looking for a place that might have a tire -with no luck. Meanwhile, this sweet young man comes running down the road to check on us b/c he saw the blow out. He tells us of the only place he knows that might be able to help us. It’s a junk yard about 7 miles down the road.

So, my dad unhooks the boat – leaves Todd and I to look after it while he and my mom drive to the junk yard in the hopes of finding something – anything! I would venture to say that 60 cars passed us sitting on the side of the road and the only one that stopped to check on us was the Sherrif’s deputy of Winston county. He was very helpful and actually went to see if he could find us a tire to at least borrow. But, my dad was able to get the junk yard man to hook us up. The ended up having to “make” a tire onto our old rim. My mom stayed on the phone with me the whole time b/c she said this place made Deliverance looke like Paris! I don’t know what we would have done if that guy had decided to kidnap them! You can’t go very far with a boat that’s not in the water and that’s all Todd & I had.

Finally my dad comes screaming around the curve and pulls into the gravel parking lot and nearly slides right into the front of the boat! Gosh – if I had only known what the rest of the day was going to be like!!! So, we get the boat hooked up and we’re on our way when I notice that this tire is way too low!!! So, we just pray and cross our fingers until we can reach water and unload the boat. We actually unloaded at Houston b/c it was closer. So, I drove my mom and Todd to my uncles place, by water, while my dad went to buy some Fix a Flat and put more air in the tire. By the time I made it to Yellow Creek and we unloaded the boat my dad was at Crantz ready to be picked up. We went back down and picked him up and returned to my uncles at approximately 2 o’clock. YES – we left Decatur at 10 and got to the lake at 2!

We were starving, but too hot & sweaty to eat. So, Todd & I jumped in the water and cooled off for a little while then went and ate a bite. When we came back outside, I notice that the sky is beginning to get dark to the north west of us. Todd and I run down to the water and jump on my uncle’s jet ski b/c we are determined to get some lake time in!! I take us on a ride out of the slough and out into the main part of the river. It’s Todd’s first time and he’s terrified. He just keeps yelling at me to slow down – it was so much fun. Well, we run back to my uncle’s and swap places and he takes off. We are headed back out of the slough when the coldest fastest wind hits us and makes us stop in our tracks. All we can see are boats and jet skis galore heading back into the slough – we look behind us and it is so dark!! So, I have to let Todd, the inexperienced jet ski driver, get us back to my uncles without being run over or running over someone else. All I can say is that is was quite an experience. We make it back just in time for the lightening and thunder to start and then the rain begins.

We stay couped up on the porch for about 2 more hours until my dad says its time to leave b/c we don’t know the condition of the trailer tire and he doesn’t want to deal with it in the dark. We load up and get back to Crantz and I wait to see if he comes back with the trailer and he does. The tire looks good, we load up the boat and we’re headed home.

We make it about 2 miles down the road when I hear this awful screeching noise and my mom starts screaming, “Richard – the boat is loose, the boat is loose!”, and I turn around to see the boat and trailer all over the road. My dad slams on the breaks and all I see is this boat headed right for the back windshield of the Yukon. Todd is screaming Oh S***, my heart is beating a million miles an hour, my dad is saying, “Oh no!” and my mom is just covering up her face! The boat hits the back of the car, propelling us forward like we’ve just been rear-ended by an 18 wheeler and then we come to a stop. Thank God the boat is still ON the trailer and the safety chains held to the car. What had happened was that the trailer came unhooked from the ball that sticks out of the back of the car!! YES – again this had never happened to my dad in his whole life. All I have to say is that on July 4, 2008 my 57 year old dad experienced many firsts in his life and I was there to witness them all!!!!!

It look all 4 of us to lift the trailer back up so my dad could back the car to the trailer and hook it up again. Once that was done, I just wanted to be home. I just prayed the whole way home for travel mercies!!! We made it back to Decatur and Todd and I were so emotionally drained that we didn’t even go to see the fireworks. We were just so glad to be home and alive. About 45 minutes later I get a call from my mom letting me know that they made it back to Athens, alive.

So, with all of that said you can see why I am so hesitant to ride with my parent’s to Florida this coming Friday for our vacation. Todd is meeting us in the middle of the week, so it would be really silly for us to have 3 cars down there. My mom is trying to talk my dad into letting me drive, but he says that we are treating him like he is senile and unable to drive – I would agree, wouldn’t you? haha

Now that I’ve written this novel, everyone should have enough to last them until I get back from vacation. I have no doubt there will be more stories to share after next week!

Pray for us, please!

I was at work the other day and I turned around at my desk and just felt a elation inside of me when I realized where I was! I love my job!!! The weather was so perfect the other day that I thought I would try and capture my view out of my window. Yes, I have huge windows in my office and I get this beautiful scenery everyday! Go NASA!