Merry Christmas

Today is the anniversary of a day that holds some wonderful memories for me. Every year on Christmas morning, I would smell bacon & Livermush (and other breakfast delights) being cooked in the kitchen of my grandparent's house. I would hear a "HO HO HO" or two from my Dad and the night before was the night where my brother & I could not go to sleep no matter how hard we tried. I imagine it was in the 15 minutes or so that we did go to sleep that Santa visited b/c we'd take turns going out to the living room to find out if Santa had visited. NOPE. Finally we'd see the tremendous amounts of treasures Santa brought. Some of my favorite gifts over the years were a Cabbage Patch Doll, a grey monkey that I named Jacho, a doll house, and a baby doll that I just loved. I believe I still have Jacho & that baby doll in the closet. I carried Jacho everywhere and until this moment I never even thought that Jacho might need to have a spelling. :o)

Of course my favorite gift ever in my whole life came from my Grandparents. Those of you that know me .. know that the Tarheels rule. They rock my world. Well in 1993, my grandparents gave me a signed T-shirt from the UNC basketball team (the 1993 championship team no less with Eric Montross' signature on it).

So UNC has become an integral part of my Christmas' since forever ago. This year I was surprised with a new UNC shirt and a UNC blanket. Even more surprising, I pretty much awoke to the smell of bacon cooking in the kitchen. It is amazing how far back this smell is taking me.

Gift gifts are great. I love them, but I got two really wonderful gifts this year that are priceless. The first is that of my health. I have been so sick for the last three years that I have little memory of the past few years. So this year I was blessed with better health. The other is that of old dear friends. I have found so many friends this year from the past. Those gifts are just priceless.

Football Friday Fun

I haven't posted about my fun last week until now because I've been focusing on my hand healing, thinking about Tricia and hoping for the best outcome in the Kelly Currin Morris case.

In any case, I had a blast at the football game. Shortly after Dad and I arrived home from the band room, Kellie called. Kellie is one of my friends from the good old band days. Oh what fun we had in the high school days from band camp to band competitions. So when we found each other on facebook, we decided that we had to get up together for a football game. We have not seen each other in 14 years. So shortly after she arrived, we all left to go to the game. We walked into the band room that we had walked into many times. It was bizarre to see the same room with all these youngin's in it. (Here's the picture off of Kellie's camera that was taken by some random person at the game. Ain't half bad for two old fogy's with glasses.)

We "marched" our way up to the football field with the band. We didn't intend to, but once a band geek --- always a band geek. We found ourselves rolling our feet to the beat of the drum, laughing all the way up to the field. We lingered standing, but after the band performed their pre-game show (aka Star Spangled Banner & the Fight Song) ... we had to find a seat.

We watched our team do their best, but lose they did. We got to see, not one, but two half time shows. Our rival high school was there performing their show as well. So that was a blast to be able to see two shows in one shot. We walked over to get something to drink and saw "fashion statements" that should have stayed at home. The most noticeable thing was a pair of neon orange high heel pumps. (and to those that are thinking it: No it wasn't our school colors or the rival schools color ... and I thought to myself SELF would Nathan wear these shoes?)

Glad I didn't get "that" memo on fashion. We stayed on the concession side of the field until the game was over. Then we walked down the "new hall" which had become worn with age. It was brand spanking new when we were there, but it was raggedy looking now.

Our next visit will be in two weeks when we drive to the mountains. I marched for one semester and drooled over for three semesters the Pride of the Mountains Marching Band. It is Western Carolina University's band and they are superb. We can't wait to see them. I go every year for Alumni Band. The very first year, I got to march. However, the years since I was unable with all my physical ailments. I may just have to pick up a flag and spin for a few minutes this year though. I miss marching with the Pride.

Vacation Part Three

Now up until this point, I was still itching. Quite severely. (and btw: I am still itching. I'm not sure what's going on with that. I will find out something when I go for my dressing change).

On Sunday, we weren't quite ready to leave. We took our time on the beach and collected massive amounts of shells. PS. We found a whole sand dollar. Ain't that freaking awesome? :) We took our haul back to the room and washed them free of sand. I didn't want all that sand tracked into our house. We packed up our stuff and went down for more free breakfast. This time I had two blueberry waffles, a danish, a cinnamon roll and something else that I just can't remember. It was delicious. :) Rob had his "standby" of sausage and cereal. But he shocked me, he also got a bagel. :)

It was nearing check out time so we checked out and went shopping. We went to a couple cool places and didn't buy a thing (we had already blown our budget for the trip so we couldn't get anything else). On our way to another very cool thing we did, we stopped by Duck North Carolina to eat Pizza. We couldn't stand that the pizza didn't do it's job the night before.

I'll tell you the very cool thing we did in the next post, but know that we got home 6pm. We thought we'd be home by 4pm, but decided that we'd stay longer. And ya know .. that is so unlike us. Usually we're awake 5am the morning of departure and out of the hotel by 6 and gone like the wind by 7. So it was nice that we took our time on the way back.

P.S> I spent most of Sunday morning trying to get a picture of one of these ... DOES ANYONE KNOW WHY THEY ARE EVERYWHERE IN THE OUTER BANKS?

Our Vacation Part 2

That night I crawled into bed expecting to enjoy a nice night of sleep. I began to doze off when it hit me. I had an itch so I scratched. That led to a night of scratching, Zyrtec, hydrocortisone cream and very little sleep. I got up fairly early and we walked down to check out the free breakfast. Now most of the time, continental breakfast doesn't mean very much. In fact, most of the we see what is served and leave to go somewhere to eat breakfast. We saw waffles, french toast sticks, sausages, hard boiled eggs, pastries, bagels, yogurt, fresh fruit and much much more. I chose two blueberry waffles with maple syrup and lots fresh canteloupe and strawberries with apple juice. Rob chose two sausages, one bowl of cereal and milk. Hmmmm Tasty. We were pleased. So pleased in fact, we didn't eat lunch until nearly 4pm. (of course this could have something to do with the fact that we couldn't find a place we wanted AND we had lots of free donuts and Rita's Ice at the Great Strides Walk).

After this, we got in our car to the Great Strides Walk. I've already written about that, but what I failed to mention is that Rita's Ice is Da Bomb. I've heard about Rita's and I've read about Rita's, but I've never TASTED Rita's. Rita's donated some of their delicious stuff for the Great Strides walk and boy .. I have to find my local one because it rocked my taste buds right off my tongue.

Now even three months ago, the walk itself would have put me in the bed for a day. I would have worn a knee brace afterwards (which I did the Walk in Cary, NC) and I would have needed lots of pain meds. I had asked before we left on the mini vacation whether or not we could do something that I have never done. Rob told me that we could possibly do that particular thing I wanted to do. We were both unsure whether or not I would have the physical capabilities of doing such items especially after the Great Strides Walk. I did not even think of the fact that I would have to deal with one of my greatest fears should we do said item.

I am going to skip around what we may or may not have done and go on with the rest of the day. Because that "said item" deserves its own blog. After all, I haven't even told my mother what I did. Once she finds out, she is going to be SHOCKED.

So after "said item," Rob and I went to this restaurant near MilePost 4ish? Now the thing is that on our way up and down the strip on Friday night, I *know* we must have seen at least 10 pizza place. We left before the pizza was being served at the Great Strides Walk and we were craving pizza. So we decided pizza it was. Of course on our way through Nags Head, Kitty Hawk and Kill Devils Hill, we could not locate ONE of them. The one place we did see was locked up tighter than (insert your own joke here). So we were going to turn around and try it again when we saw .... The Black Pelican. Now we had no idea what place this was, but we saw the sign .... Pizza till 11pm. So we went in. Now keep in mind, we are southern people. We do things the southern way. SWEET ICED TEA is the only kind of tea there is. We should have walked out when after I said "sweet tea no lemon," the waitress replied, "we only have unsweetened tea here."

Now if that wasn't to warn me off, once we did get our drinks it took an act of congress to get refills. We both ordered a little pizza. And boy was it little. I don't know how many pieces were there .. *7 or 9 or so* but I ate all but two and was still going for them when I realized that my husband was bout to chew off his own arm b/c he was starving and he had finished his pizza. So I offered him a peace offering of my two slices saying that once mine settled I would be fine. (heck no I wouldn't be fine .. I was STARVING, but I love my husband so ... the pizza slices were his).

After the act of congress to get the refills, it took another act of congress to get our check. (it was easier for the CFF to raise 46 grand in one walk than it was for us to get our refills and checks that night). Maybe they were having an off night and maybe they were better known for their .. *um you think they actually serve pelican?* other food, but we weren't too impressed.

After our visit to the Black Pelican, we went shopping. AGAIN. I had to find something special. You see I have this very special nurse. If it weren't for this nurse, I would not be able to do the stuff I did this weekend. So I had to find something and I had in mind what I wanted to give her. I just had to find it. After all how hard it is to find a starfish ... um ... rather difficult to find just the right starfish. In any case, we went from store to store to store trying to find the perfect one. Finally, we found it. :) (I had to get two too b/c there's another nurse there and I didn't want her to get jealous).

We went back to the hotel and opened up our presents to ourself ... two huge blocks of FUDGE. :) Then we went down to the beach for a walk and shell gathering session.

Stay Tuned next time for: Part Three

Our Vacation (Part 1)

I'm an idiot. Apparently having Lyme brain, but I just now realized that I failed to post the first part of my vacation story. *ahhh* So here it is. BUMPED from draft mode.



So our vacation began at promptly 12:02pm on Friday September 12th. Why that time? That is the precise moment we got in our car and drove out of the driveway. Our first 30 minutes or so we were still on 'home turf,' but after a bit of a nap and a couple of hours we made our first pit stop. We stopped at good Ole Wendy's to have a bite to eat. My husband had a chicken sandwhich and I enjoyed the chicken nugget combo and sprite with a twisted Frosty on the side.

We were on our way once again and made it to the first bridge. Now bridges, they frighten me. A few things other than bridges frighten more more (heights, the S critter, tunnels, etc.). Bridges over water ... they frighten me more than regular bridges. Now we had to go over this bridge to get to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We not only had to go over ONE bridge ... we had to go over TWO bridges. One of those TWO bridges was one of those "fancy dancy" bridges that opens up in the middle when a boat happens to need to go through. Wanna guess what happened when we were on the bridge? If you said, "the bridge opened up while you were on it" you just won 17,000 points. And just like on the Drew Carey show, they aren't good for anything.

I decided to spend the time on the bridge taking pictures. If I was taking pictures, I wouldn't focus on the fact that I was actually on a bridge over the Alligator River (uh . you think real Alligators live in that river .. how else you think it got the name?) and then the bridge over one of the Sounds.

So we finally made it to the Outer Banks. We stayed at the Surf Side Hotel in Nags Head North Carolina. I highly recommend this place. The staff was very nice and the complimentary breakfast was .. well .. I complimented it. :) (I'll tell you more about what I ate later). The room we stayed in had a jacuzzi tub (it was HUGE) and you could see the ocean from the room. Way cool. (so easily amused eh?) Only thing I could have a thumbs down to about the room was that the toilet was not working properly (my husband fixed it for each flush so it wasn't so loud) and the batteries in the remote for the TV weren't working (but who needs TV's)(okay this is the last parenthesis I'll use this paragraph). The photo below is one building of the Surf Side. We stayed in the other one. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of the building we stayed yet got the building next door.




That night we drove around trying to find a specific gift for my mother in law. It was because of her that we were able to take this little impromtu get away. She was watching our dogs. So we went shopping at the only place to go shopping .. WINGS. We also went out to eat at Millers Waterfront Restaurant. Upsetting that I couldn't get a "small" portion of popcorn shrimp. I had to pay for "all you can eat" (whopping 18 bucks) and I could only eat 8 popcorn shrimp, 2 fries and 2 hushpuppy balls. Rob ate enough for the both of us in his meal alone though. Still a pricey 70 dollar meal. EEKS. It was our one big splurge for the weekend.

With night one complete, we made it back to our room for a jacuzzi bath and a walk on the beach. I wrote something special in the sand. It was therapeutic.

To be Continued ....