Fast Times on Sand Mountain

Thoughts about home

2007-04-02T15:58:00.000-04:00

So, conversations in the home lately have vastly been related to home. Kevin and I have done some serious talking about it, and I've been thinking constantly about it. The realization is that there just aren't jobs here. I'm never going to find a job I'm really interested in here. My desire is to be in non-profit volunteer training/recruit, or back into children's programming for non-profits. I could go back into social services, but I'm not sure my mental health can take it.

We're now looking at other possible places to live. I would love to move back closer to Atlanta, I miss it a lot. Kevin has no desire to be in a city. I have no desire to drive 60 miles one way to work. So, we're kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. And, to top it off, we live in a house for free. It's ours to do what we want with. We can't sell it though, so the minute we move it is a big financial difference. Not to mention that we have two horses we'd have to find a place for. We're going to go and visit Dahlonega this summer, scouting as a possible place to live. It's in the mountains and rural enough to make Kevin happy - but it's also within 40 miles of places that would actually have jobs. We'll see what happens.

On a good note, it finally rained here this weekend. Everything looks very green and lush, it's quite nice and not too hot yet. I still have a few more things I need to plant in the yard. My day lilies are popping up, nothing else is yet. The cockscomb is doing okay. I think my dog decided to take a nap on top of some of them, so some are smooshed. Oh well (there are 24 of them). On another good note, the dog food we've been using has not been in any of the recalls. This makes me very very happy.

Busy busy bee

2007-03-19T10:30:00.000-04:00

Kevin and I, along with his little cousins, have been very industrious in the yard the last couple of weeks. I've gotten tired of the ugly front yard, so we are changing it to a pretty front yard. For exampled, up until recently there was a nonworking Chevy S10 in the front yard under the maple tree (you might be a redneck if...). Now, there is no S10 in the front yard (there is one in the back though, oh well).

When Kevin's mom lived back here she had lots of flower beds. I've discovered that there are loads of irises that Kevin has not killed with the lawn mower, so that is cool. I've planted some calla lilies. Today I am planting some cockscomb (celosia). I bought some at Wally World that is already blooming and I need to get it in the ground. Kevin's first cousin, Davey, has their grandfather's tiller and came over to till some flowerbeds for me, but the tiller needs a new coil or something and so he couldn't finish. So, I'll be turning the dirt the old fashioned way.

Davey has also given Kevin a chainsaw on permanent loan. Davey built it himself. It's a Husquavarna motor with (currently) a 20 inch bar and chain. Kevin says it can take up to a 32 inch bar, and from the look on his face when he told me, I'm assuming that is a very manly length. I think Kevin has cut down about 10 rogue tress throughout the yard. We've got lots of random poplars coming up in places such as...under the back porch, next to power lines, things like that. So, he cut them down (well, I did the ones under the porch with big clipper thingies).

I also trimmed back the roses that Kevin's mom planted. She came back and looked at them and said they all needed to be trimmed back to about 6-8 inches. They haven't been trimmed in several years and one was trying to get in the house though the wall. And, I also trimmed the box hedge. Yeah, that didn't work so well. It looks stupid now. But, as Davey said, it'll grow back. It was like box hedge gone wild. Okay, what really happened is a I broke down and let Kevin "even it out" with the chainsaw. Yeah, not so much next time, just have to make sure to trim it regularly. I also want to figure out how to grow some more. Vickie (Kevin's mom) told me about a technique where you cut a stem a bit and wrap a moss around it and it will sprout roots. I need to look more into that.

Let's see, the list of things I am planting....calla lilies, day lilies, snow-in-summer (alyssum), cannas, snapdragons, petunias, and morning glories. Wish me luck!

Accomplishment of the day

2007-03-08T18:05:00.000-05:00

So today, because I am going crazy being at home alone, Kevin stayed home with me. Part of it was also the fact that by yesterday afternoon he had already worked 44 hours. Ouch. We cleaned the bedroom. Woo. This is not and excited Woo, this is a I hate cleaning, dejected Woo. But, it needed to be done, and the laundry is hanging instead of in baskets now.

Then we went riding. We haven't gone riding, just the two of us, since before the wedding. So, we saddled up the horses and headed out. The accomplishment in this is that I road Stormcloud on my English saddle, instead of the Western. This is a Big Deal for me as about a year and a half ago I feel off of her and suffered from a concussion and some memory loss while using an English saddle (not much memory loss, just about 15 minutes, but enough to scare the crap out of me and keep me from riding her for about 6 months). I think this might be the first time I used the English saddle on her for any length of time. Didn't do much besides walk. Tried a little bit of trotting, but I have obviously got to work on that some, I kept leaning too far forward and almost falling on her neck. We're going to try to do some trail riding this weekend (which will be in the Western saddle).

It'll be nice to get back in the saddle again, literally.

Wedding pictures online

2007-02-27T11:49:00.000-05:00

Well, I've finally done it. Wedding pictures are uploaded. I've tried to spare anyone who didn't like a picture of him/herself.

Pictures are here. All pictures were taken by Dave Nelson, Roger Benson, or Donna Barres. Unfortunately, I don't have each labeled as who took it currently. There were also pictures taken by Bobbie Jo Walker, but as they involve me getting dressed, they aren't online!

Hope everyone enjoys!

Wanted! Reward!

2007-02-14T09:40:00.000-05:00

So, a couple of weekends ago we went to UAH for Saltare, an SCA dance event. Much fun was had. During the day I wore contacts, but as usual I took my glasses with me in case my contacts started bothering me towards the end of the day. Before we left my lovely husband went to get my "regular" clothes out of the van and we think they fell onto the parking lot pavement at this point. Didn't realize it until we were at home.

So, we contact a few people, and the glasses were turned in to lost at found at the UAH Student Center. This is a picture of them:

They were officially found. This is them on the countertop at the student center. So, we head over there yesterday and I ask for them. They look and they look and they look. And they can't find them now. Someone has claimed my glasses. I WANT MY GLASSES BACK! Be warned, if I see you wandering around with my glasses on, I will personally snatch them off of your head. If you find my glasses and contact me I will give you a cookie. Any kind of cookie you want.

I WANT MY GLASSES!

Update

2007-02-06T15:07:00.000-05:00

Well, I don't know if anyone clicked the link from the previous post or not, but it was a good link.

Life is still busy, yet not. I am still sadly unemployed. Kevin is sadly employed. He has a job, but the pay sucks big time. I've been working on SCA projects at home for a while now. Let's see, I wrote a piece of music in the style of a 15th century carol, and I made a dress based on a 15th century Italian portrait of some girl. Dress turned out pretty. There are a few things that need to be fixed on it, but all in all, it's not half bad. The music turned out okay. I entered into an SCA "competition", and we'll see what feedback I get. I want to rework it some though. Currently, it is in 6/8 and I want to move it to 6/4 and give myself some time for passing tones and such without using 16th notes. I think I will also slow down the tempo somewhat. And it is currently in the Phrygian mode and I'm trying to be good and stay with that, but really, that f natural is going to become and f sharp. It rankles me.

Let's see, this past weekend I went to an SCA dance event. That was cool and fun. I taught 2 classes. One was on 15th century Italian dances for 3 people (instead of couples). The other was on bransles, which are circle dances from 16th century France. I want to learn more of the dances for odd numbers of people. I also took a class on Burgundian dances, which was surprisingly enough a good class. I'd like to learn some more of those, but to do so I may have to take the tenor line (which is written with the dance) and do harmonizations of it. I could do lots of research on that and make it an Arts and Sciences research and composition type entry. Or, I could just make pretty music and not worry about it. We'll see.

Kevin and I started attended a UU church. Went a few Sundays and got a call from the minister. There might be a possible job there in the future, so we are holding off on going until the minister and I can meet. I spent a lot of time thinking about it, and I think I'm ready to go back to being a religious professional. Don't know if Kevin is ready for it. It'll definitely change my lifestyle somewhat. But, one of the benefits is that my social life will be in another galaxy from the church.

And, I think it's time to find a place to go and sing. I'll probably go to the Huntsville chorus. Not the most amazing chorus in the world, but a chorus nonetheless. It's just hard to go anywhere after getting the opportunity to do the big stuff we did with the ASOC. I miss singing and my singing friends lots and lots and lots. And I miss singing John Adams music. And speaking of modern music...does anyone know when the Golijav Oceana is coming out on CD. That music still gets stuck in my head and I really really really want to hear it.

And now, back to getting ready for this weekend. Another SCA event and I am making chili for 100 people. I hate chili.

Well, click the link

2007-01-15T10:05:00.000-05:00

Speaks for itself.

Moving in discovery

2007-01-02T10:17:00.000-05:00

So, I've been going through the last of my boxes of crap and found a writing folder of stuff I had written - some of it when I was 14 or so. I thought I'd share:

At the Top of the Hill

At the top of the hill spires reach to the sky

and the tips touch the clouds.

At the top of the hill you can see anything,

and everything.

At the top of the hill,

when looked upon closely,

divine beauty is discovered.

At the top of the hill the sun touches the

earth, and it is here,

the God we all dream of.

At the top of the hill the moon looks down

upon us and wishes us a night free of worries.

At the top of the hill when all is dark and

peaceful, we discovered what it means to be

happy, we discovered God.

At the top of the hill the spires reach to the sky

and the tips touch the clouds.

At the top of the hill it is not important

what you see, it is only a picture.

At the top of the hill there is a beautiful

picture, but it is not important.

At the top of the hill you must discover

your god.

At the top of the hill I discovered mine.

At the top of your hill the spires will

Reach for the sky.

And it will be beautiful.

____________________

I must have written it when I was 15 or 16. I do remember if was written after sitting on our balcony and watching the sunset over this. I wish I could get a better picture of the front. Oh well.

The Ring

2006-11-28T15:13:00.000-05:00

Today marks our one month anniversary as a married couple. I know one month isn’t long, but we’re doing better than Brittany Spears first marriage. On account of this I thought I’d write a little about some thoughts I had this weekend.

We went into major clean up mode this weekend and we decided to clean the dogs too, they smelled atrocious. I looked down at my left hand and thought I should take off my wedding ring. But, after another moment’s thought I decided not to. I didn’t want to mess it up, but if the symbol of our marriage can’t handle a little dirty work then why have it. So, it stayed on through the dog bathing, and survived just fine. I look forward to many more dog baths and dirty jobs with my husband – and I look forward to our marriage and our love for each other surviving just fine.

Sissy Redneck

2006-11-26T21:52:00.000-05:00

So, I am a redneck and a sissy, as evidence by an event earlier today.

We live in the middle o' nowhere, and in nowhere there are lots of fields. And do you know what's in fields? Mice. Guess what happens when it gets cold. You got it, the mice come indoors.

I don't like mice. They poo everywhere.

Today has been cleaning and rearranging day. Woo! We've gotten a lot done. BUT, in our cleaning we disturbed a little field mouse. I thought I saw him. And then, I came back in the bedroom and watched the little shit run behind the dog's crate, in front of the bookshelf (at which point I yelled, "get out of my house, you stupid mouse!), look at me then run in front of the fireplace and behind the other bookshelves.

I hollered for Kevin and told him to get his pellet gun and shoot the mouse. So, Kevin roots around for the (pellet) gun and then we head back to the bedroom. Kevin sits on the bed with the gun poised and I stand on the bed (which Kevin found humorous). The mouse comes out again and Kevin shot it! But missed :-( Oh well. We did figure out where the little shit was coming in and out and stuff a towel along the wall.

But, I am a redneck sissy. Redneck because I called my husband and requested that he shoot an inch and a half long mouse with a pellet gun. Sissy because I couldn't do it myself and yelled at the mouse as I stood on the bed. I also made Kevin tell the mouse to never come back again.

Okay, back to cleaning/rearranging!

End of an Era

2006-11-21T11:52:00.000-05:00

So, today I did something that Kevin and I have talked about, but was a big move. I put in my resignation at DFCS. There are multiple reasons for it. One is that with our car situation, I can't have a job 70 miles from home, it's just not working. Another is I can't handle the 12 and 13 hour days that the job creates. I'm also not into it anymore. The stress of it outweighs the good. We are given a job that we don't have the resources to accomplish. Some people can work in those situations. I can't. I'm also newly married and would like to spend at least a little bit of time with my new husband. I'll probably find some part time work for the time being and we'll scrape by for the winter. I'll keep everyone posted on the job front.

I know the quitting of the job seems rather rash, but I have a feeling it's for the best. It's what my gut says, and I like to trust my gut. Besides, it was getting to the point that I was starting to not do a good job, and that means it was time to go. So, now it's time to figure out what's next!

Dent at the Dentist?

2006-11-16T21:31:00.000-05:00

So, I'm still having problems with the tooth that was pulled...or with the socket it came out of. I go back to the dentist today and they pull out the xray of my teeth. While I'm sitting there and take a closer look...

Sure enough, you can see a dent in my jaw, which occured last year when I fell of my horse. I can totally still feel the dent too.

Oh, and for people I might see in the next few weekends...I have the tooth, I'm totally bringing it to everything I go to!

Kevin broke a mirror

2006-11-16T12:08:00.000-05:00

So, a few weeks ago, Kevin broke one of the side mirrors on the truck. Maybe THAT explains the problem.

We have an SCA event this weekend which we are supposed to be hauling 3 horses to, in a gooseneck trailer. The truck has a new engine and new carburetor, but still doesn't seem to be running well. Kevin's working on a contingency plan, but things are not looking good currently. This sucks biiiiiiiiiiig time.

And my tooth still hurts. I'm going back to the dentist again today. Went yesterday too. I have a dry socket and inflamed nerve. Ouch.

Much needed update

2006-11-12T20:33:00.000-05:00

I'm married. So is Kevin. Surprisingly enough, to each other.

The wedding went off wonderfully, and that would be thanks to all of our friends and family who made it happen. I'll be posting pictures some day.

I'm now down by one tooth. I had a wisdom tooth yanked out of my head on Wednesday. Oddly enough, at this point, that is the most important event in my life. Because it STILL HURTS. We have a not happy Katie currently. I've been drugged recently...but I am out of the hydrocodone, which is very sad. I did get totally high off the gas at the dentist. Appearently I called my supervisor at work to let him know I wouldn't be at work, and he enjoyed the message so much he saved it and played it for others because I sounded "loopy".

Nothing much else is going on currently. Jake is still in the shop. The truck is doing marginally better (it has a new engine).

Alright, I'm going back to being mopey and in pain.

Katie

ps - Kevin is making me the COOLEST camp kitched ever for SCA events!

Woe is us

2006-10-08T14:20:00.000-04:00

I'll just start with the vacuum cleaner keeps getting clogged.

So, the car situation has gone from exocisism needed to burning at the stake needed. We have been in the company of bad luck lately, but there has been some good come out of it...

When the timing belt went out of my car, it bent the valves. So, all total the cost to fix my car is now $2,000. Yes, that is two thousand smackeroos. We are now looking at taking out a loan to cover the cost of the car and fixing the car. Yikes.

And then...

The motor on the truck is dead. A piston went through the oil pan. It looks like someone took an axe to the oilpan there is a gash so big. Surprisingly enough, we can replace the entire engine in the truck for cheaper than fixing my car. Arggggg.

And, to top it all off, Kevin was all mopey last night and a friend called and asked us to go to a movie. We went and saw Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Beginning. It was possibly one of the most pointless movies I've ever seen in my entire life. Jackass 2 probably would've had more story to it.

Oh well.

Good news is people from the church in Macon are helping us out with the cost of everything for the wedding. I've been told that I am not to worry about anything, that it is all being taken care of, and that is rather awesome.

That is all for now, I will post more when something new happens, so as the car blowing up, because I feel that is a distinct possibility with this car.

Possibly the most jammed back post ever

2006-10-02T20:48:00.000-04:00

So, every once in a while something happens and Kevin says: you should blog about that. Needless to say, I'm very behind. Here are the things I'm supposed to type about:

No Slap Jack in the Car
Superfly Frankie
Jake the Audi
Why the Sheriff was at the house today

So, here goes a shot at it:

1.) No Slap Jack in the Car

So, Kevin and I are driving down the road and I'm driving and slightly bored and thinking of games to play. I come up with one handed slap jack. It was pretty cool for a while. Until I tried really hard to slap Kevin's hand and ended up slapping his nuts. No more slap jack in the car. :-( (p.s. Kevin's nuts seem to have recovered.)

2.) Superfly Frankie

So, Kevin and I are driving down the road on the way to Macon for an SCA equestrian practice. We stop at a gas station so he can pee. And there on the shelf is a monkey that I felt I HAD to have. His arms have rubberbands and you put your fingers in his hands and he's a slingshot! But here's the best part...he does a monkey scream when he lands!!!!!!!!!! We played with him lots at the equestrian practice (including a 5 year old getting pegged in the head) and now he is the best dog toy ever.

Meet Frankie:

3.) Jake the Audi.

I got a new (used) car. 93 Audi with a rebuilt engine. Here's the condensed version of Jake:

Jake belonged to Hanna, a friend from work. I mention I'm looking for a car, she mentions she selling one. We talk. She says she is looking for $2K for it. I say, "will you take payments?" she says, "sure, just get it out of the yard." So we talk more about the car. Here's the skinny:

Hanna has car, car overheats and cracks engine block and needs rebuilt engine. Hanna gets rebuilt engine. Engine is a dud. Hanna gets a replacement engine. Woo! Hanna drives car home from the shop after it being there for MONTHS. Transmission dies on the way home. 2 days before Christmas. That sucks. Hanna leaves the car on the side of the road for the night. As she is driving away with her boyfriend she says, "we should go back and roll down the window so no one breaks in for the radio." But no, they didn't go back. Someone broke in and stole the radio. That sucks. Hanna gets transmission (and window) fixed. Hanna drives car for a couple of months and says, "car, I'm over you" and gets a cute little Honda Accord. Her sister drives the car for a while, but then the car has some problems - possibly needing some new cables for the battery and new a/c and new heater core. All workable things for a car for $2K. So, we go to pick up the car...

Oh, by this point I've already named the car Jake.

...We drive to Chattanooga in the truck with a car dolly behind and go to Hanna's house. It's rainy. Hanna's house is at the top of the hill. We discover the brakes don't work without the car cranking, which it won't because there is not enough juice in the battery. Soooooooo, Kevin hops it, gives it a push and rushes down the driveway and pulls the emergency brake as he hits the road. We manage to get the car up on the dolly (with me inside steering going vroom vroom). So, we head home.

On the way home (mind you, it's midnight by now) some goes BLOOM BLAM and we have a blow out on the dolly. We pull over. We call everyone who might have a spare. No one does. We head to Walmart (which is 25 miles away, and required backing the car off the dolly and dropping the dolly off the truck) and they don't have the right kind. We head back to the car (another 25 miles) and leave a note on the dash saying it isn't abandoned. We stop by the local police station and let them know, then head home (which is 15 miles away). The next morning Kevin goes to the tire shop and gets the tire fixed. We head back to the car and dolly, reload everything and then head home.

We get home and Kevin decides he wants to try to crank the car to get if off the dolly and uses a battery booster to juice up the battery. The keys (both of them) are still in the ignition because they had to be there for the car to be in neutral. Kevin gives the battery some juice and the car does a very magic thing...it locks.

So, we call a locksmith. 45 minutes later he arrives. 2 hours later he leaves and we have an open door. He said he's never working on Audis again.

Kevin works on the car a bit and gets it running, but the brakes need work. I drive it around the block and fall in love. The car goes to the shop to get the brakes worked on. Then I start driving it to work. It has a few electrical problems. The relay for the windows is dead, Kevin resoldered it, but it blew again so we're waiting for the part from the Audi dealership. I go out of town last week for work. Kevin comes to pick me up Thursday night and we stop and get dinner and on the way home the car dies. Turns out it's a timing belt. I should get it back tomorrow.

The car is possibly cursed, but it drives like a dream. If you know of any good luck charms let me know!

4.) Why the Sheriff's Deputy came to be at our house tonight

So, Kevin's uncle and his new wife, who happens to be his second cousin, live down the driveway from us. She is a total butthead. I only say butthead because I've used my allotment of profanity this evening. She has her trashcan in our yard because of where the trash picks up. A dog drug out some of the trash in OUR yard but Paula had a hissy fit. Last time she put anti-freeze in the trash cans (poisonous to dogs). Today, she put rat poison in the trash cans. She is evil. We call the Sheriff's Department and filed a harrassment complaint because she cussed us out. If she does it again we can press charges. And we will. She actually said that if she sees the dogs in the trash can she will shoot them. She really upset me. She's so sour and bitter and unhappy and mean. She is NOT getting a wedding invitation.

________________________________________________________________

Speaking of weddings, ours is still on, 10/28, in Macon. Invitations are going out this weekend. Wedding planning is stressful. We changed our honeymoon plans - the truck isn't doing well enough to haul horses in the mountains. So, we're roadtripping to DC.

Okay, that's all for now!

Life sometimes just isn't fair.

2006-08-24T21:11:00.000-04:00

Today I read Ben and Wanda's blog. It made me cry. I can't even begin to imagine what they are feeling.

Ben and Wanda are friends that I made through the ASOC while living in Atlanta, and are quite possibly two of the funnest people to be around on the face of the earth. And Ben and Wanda have been trying to turn the fun of 2 great people into the fun of 3. Yes, they've been trying to have a baby for god knows how long. (You can read about it here.) They've done everything that they can do - and in the process found out about Wanda's endometriosis (let me tell you, I was pissed on her behalf that she didn't have a doctor to figure that one out until she was in her 30's). But this week they found out that things aren't going to work for them, not in a biological sort of way.

I know that Ben and Wanda will be pursuing adoption (specifically from China), and the good thing to come out of this is that there will be a child (or 4) somewhere who is now going to have a home where he/she will be loved and provided for.

I guess what gets to me most is that in my line of work I see unfit parents on a daily basis and people who don't want their children, and I know two people who want a child desperately but can't have one. The only reasoning that I can come up with is that whatever god there is must have a child somewhere that needs them as desperately are they need the child and that they will find each other and share a love that is unconditional.

And so here is my wish and my prayer for Ben and Wanda ~ I pray to whatever is out there in this universe to help the you two find your child, because there is a child out there that is yours.

Personal offense

2006-07-19T21:30:00.000-04:00

Okay, maybe I am overreacting, but I would like opinions from others.

There is a guy at work who is considerably more conservative than me. (Not hard, I know.) His favorite accomplishment is that he helped to bankrupt an abortion clinic. He is very religious, and I can understand that. We just don't talk about it as we are on opposite ends of the spectrum on religion. As evidenced by this:

Today, he had on the bulletin board outside his office an article about a policial party in the Netherlands that is fighting to change the legal age of consent from 16 to 12 and make child pornography and bestiality legal. I looked it all up. This is true. But at the bottom he had written in something along the lines of: seems the Netherlands need a few good case managers with a biblical world and life view.

WTF????

Here are my issues:

1. There is a policy that no one will put up religious or political things outside their office...this was on the bulletin board in the hall that's right beside his office.

2. I take offense because I am not a Christian and do not have a "biblical" world/life view, but that doesn't mean I support child porn and bestiality (which really, animal cruelty there...).

3. Someone with a true "biblical" view would TOTALLY be about lowering the age of consent to 12. Hello. Did he miss Jesus' mama being 14? It wasn't like that was an abnormal age to be having children, even if you do believe that she was impregnated by God or Zeus or the donkey outside.

Am I crazy for being a little upset about this? I'm going to talk to him Friday and ask him to take it down as it violates policy and I find it offensive. I'm sure this will make for interesting office politics. But it takes a lot of my patience to just deal with his joy about shutting down abortion clinics - I can't also handle religious things like this around the office.

Oh, and he said he knows someone who is an "undercover missionary" in Lebanon. Undercover missionary. Now, refresh me on my Jesus literature, but this seems a little odd.

Okay, I'm stepping off my soapbox now.

It's about time

2006-06-26T19:14:00.000-04:00

Or lack thereof.

Yes, I have been absent lately. I apologize to all of my devoted readers...really. But, life is c-r-a-z-y. Actually, it's not, I've just got a lot going on...so here's the update.

I work. A lot. Working across time zones is the pits in the morning. Pretty nice in the evening. I've met some really interesting people through work. I'm closing a case on a woman who I find inspiring. It takes a lot to find the strength to get clean after doing meth ofr 10 years and to be fully aware of what all that entails, and this lady did it. I hate it that I won't get to see her anymore...although she promises to keep in touch.

And then there's the lady who hit her husband in the head with a shovel. Yeah, not so inspired by that - afraid would be a better word. I get to meet with her this week.

And then there are the wedding plans. Everything seems to be chucking along. I am no longer going to make my wedding dress because I found the most beautiful dress ever and my mom is helping me buy it. So, instead of having barbecue at the reception, it's going to be potluck. So, those of you out there that live close enough to bring a dish, bring one on. The wedding will be at 11:30am in Macon and I'm expecting it to be beautiful...even if it's not, lie to me and tell me it is. The Festival Singers of Atlanta will be coming down and singing in the wedding, and I'm also going to do an arrangement of an Isreali folk song for women's voices that some friends of mine will perform. The only other music thing I have to do is find a guitarist. I know Ben has concerns of hearing bad music at my wedding, but I promise it will not be bad...only classy allowed (as in classy guitar, not easy listening guitar).

I'm also working on some other music stuff (if working means thinking about it and not actually doing anything....) I have friends getting married a few weeks before us and Eeyore and I are singing in their wedding - 3 Elizabethan pieces (or somewhere near the 16th century). We are going to do one in English (that would be the Elizabethan), probably one in Italian, and we are looking at writing one in Latin. I definitely want to get that taken care of before too long.

Let's see, other fun news...oh yeah! We have honeymoon reservations! We are going to the Smokies for 5 nights and doing trail rides there...which means we've been riding more at home. Dude, riding a long time makes your butt hurt, just in case you were wondering. But, I'm getting better, and I'm even cantering occasionally. Woohoo!

Okay, for the funny story of the post...Dave, the Warrior Princess:

So, one thing that Kevin enjoys doing and I participate in because he likes it is RPGs - like, you guessed it, Dungeons and Dragons. I know, sad, but he enjoys it and I enjoy him and spending time with friends, so I got sucked in. Now for about 8 months I had no real interest in it and would let people randomly make up characters for me and I would just go along. But then....one evening...in a bizarre turn of events...I ended up getting the name Dave for an unnamed character. I know, doesn't seem like much, but wait...

So, I decided my next character would also be named Dave. And then I said I wanted a character who wore a Xena outfit and I wanted my character to be Dave the Warrior Princess. Now me, I was thinking Dave was a girl with a guy's name, but Kurt, who was running the game, said I could only make a Xena-esque character if Dave was a cross dresser. And there you have it, the creation of Dave the Warrior Princess, a halfling (read 3 ft tall) cross dressing fighter. He really wear the Xena outfit. With a blue bow in his hair. And he has magic boots of leaping so that he can can 15 feet into the air. Dave is cool. Unfortunately, Dave has to go away for a bit because we are starting a new game. Davidina is the new character :-)

And I'm off. That's all I'm writing for now. The next post will be the Ode to the Laundry Monster, who is often a figure in our lives.

Golly gee, are things coming together?

2006-04-27T20:39:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I hadn't written anything in a while and then I did the piddly post earlier this week or last week, whenever it was. So, here is one for real.

I'm really enjoying my job. Next week I go to my last week of training for a while. I still have some other trainings I have to do within a year, but my schedule will calm down some, which is good. I'm tired of being out of town every other week. I got my first investigation earlier this week and it's been very interesting. I can't say too much about it, though. I start getting my ongoing cases, well, now. I've got the files on one and am getting the rest either tomorrow or when I get back in after training next week. I'm looking forward to it, although it's not very encouraging when your boss says, "I wouldn't recommend that you go to this house on your own."

And, the word of the decade up here is meth. Everybody does it. Everybody cooks it. Everybody wonders why is shows up on their drug screens. Okay, not everyone. But, for those of you who live in areas where it isn't a big deal, I tell you, it is the new crack. And nasty stuff. Hi, I'd like to take every toxic chemical available at the local grocery store and combine it to make and even more toxic chemical that I will then inject into my body in multiple ways. Oh, and let's not forget that the home that this is being made in is now a gigantic bomb waiting to happen. I have no idea what combines to blow up/make big fire, but it's bad.

I'll probably have the local bureau of investigations on me for that paragraph.

The last few months for me (and probably Kevin) have been pretty bad. I've been (not) dealing with depression for a while now - basically since I quit working at the church. Things finally got out of (my) control a couple of weeks ago because of the stress of life in general - money problems, travelling for work, being in the car all the time, car problems, wedding planning stress, you name it and it stressed me out. Well, on the way to work one day a few weeks ago I had a panic attack. That was a first, and hopefully a last, for me. I got my butt into see the doctor in 2 days and he put me on prozac, my old friend from college. Mentally I am doing much better, but physically...prozac and I aren't getting along as well as we used to. Then again, I tend to have bizarre reactions. Who knew that prozac has a rare side effect of making your jaw hurt?
Due to my crazy stress level with planning the wedding (ie I had no one to help me and no resources up here) we decided to move the wedding to Macon. Due to the change in location, we had a change in date. So, we are now getting married at High Street UU Church in Macon on October 28th. We haven't nailed down a time yet. A family friend has even offered to open their home for us to do the reception, which we are taking them up on. So, things are finally starting to come together.

Well, folks, that's all for now. Kevin and I head to an SCA event tomorrow and I have to finish packing!

She's alive!

2006-04-20T20:30:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I haven't written in a while. Things have just been happening, and I've gotten behind on things.

Let's see, the life update.

I'm enjoying my job at DFCS. The drive is a pain, but other than that I really like it. I can't say much more about it because of confidentiality, but it's a good place for me.

I've been having some problems with depression and anxiety. It exploded a couple of weeks ago to the point that I finally admitted I need to go to the doctor. I'm nicely medicated now and feeling MUCH better.

Kevin and I decided to have the wedding in Macon. The date is still 11/11, don't have a time yet. More details when it is official.

I guess that's it for now. I can't think of anything fun and exciting to talk about. The puppy is getting huge and eats everything. That's about it.

Oh-my-goodness

2006-02-19T17:02:00.000-04:00

So, I have a new job now. Woo. I was hoping to post some really amazing things about it, but as I haven't really done anything there yet, I don't have much to say. I did have my first drug test. And I had to go to the local jail to have my fingerprints taken. That was.......interesting. The people seem nice. Lots of people around my age - that's a first for me, and kinda cool. The benefits are amazing. Absolutely amazing. I'm gonna have life insurance. At some point though, I'll have to quantify things for y'all, ie on the dismemberment insurance, f you loose your thumb and index finger on the same hand, you get 25%, but if it's the thumb and middle finger you get nada. Kinda of bizarre.

I'll get an HP Tablet PC. It's on my desk, but I have no passwords. It's teeny tiny small. And the keyboard is also teeny tiny small. Thankfully, the docking stations at the office do hook it up to not only a normal size monitor, but also a normal size keyboard and mouse (the tablet has the stupid mouse button thing in the middle of the keyboard...I hate those). I'll be headed to my first training session a week from tomorrow, in Jasper, GA. Also know as the middle of nowhere, GA. But, it's looks like I'm staying in a fancy mom-and-pop hotel. Woohoo! I was hoping Kevin could come and visit during the week, but we wouldn't have anywhere to put the puppies :(

Speaking of puppies, mine is still quite mangey. Ick. It's pitiful.

And, WEDDING PLANNING SUCKS! We want to have our quaint little sunrise wedding at an overlook at Little River Canyon. Okay. Picking a date sucks. Figuring our brunch/daytime activities/reception stuff sucks. And, I still have to talk to my dad about financial contributions. My mom says she'll give what she can. His mom wants a budget and then she'll decide how much she's giving. And then I gotta talk to my dad. I need a budget sometime soon and need to start making reservations....yikes.

We'll probably try to go for something and then find out we can't get anything at all that day. That'd be my luck. Completely and totally. We are getting married November 11th. The only thing stopping us from getting married that day is if a parent or sibling says no. I ain't changing my date again! It's MINE. Well, ours.

And, there are now emails flying around about my high school 10 year reunion. That should be interesting. Very interesting.

More on the job as I actually start doing the job!

Who's got a job? I've got a job!

2006-02-01T15:40:00.000-04:00

It's offical. I accepted the position earlier today.

As of February 16th I will be a Social Services Case Manager working in Child Protective Services for Catoosa County in Georgia.

Woohoo!

do the happy dance now!

Waiting waiting waiting anxiously

2006-02-01T10:09:00.000-04:00

So, it's been a while since I posted. Things have been a-happening. Actually, they haven't been. I've been pretty mopey lately, hence the no posting. It's been pretty hard actually, but I'm doing better this week.

I quit my job at the school. It just got to the point where it wasn't worth the gas. The pay was not good in anyway whatsoever and one of my co-workers was driving me b-o-n-k-e-r-s. So, I told my boss I was quitting and he completely understood. I miss the kids, but I don't so much miss the co-worker.

And I applied for another job, which I might actually get - I'll find out today. I applied to be a social worker in northwest Georgia, which would entail a move for us in the next few months. I'm really interested in this job. I want it like I haven't wanted a job since I applied at the church. And I know I'd be good at it. I feel like this is a real opportunity for a good career path for me. They are seriously concerned about the commute and I think that if I don't get the job, that will be why. The lady I interviewed with left me a message yesterday, I left her a message today, and hopefully we will catch each other this afternoon. I really, really, really want this job.

Kevin and I talked about the job and our current living situation. We decided that if I get the job then he will limit his job search to the Chattanooga area (possibly Trenton, GA) as well and as soon as he gets a job we'll move. That means we'll be renting (ick) and that the horses will have to be stabled (speaking of horses, anyone want to buy a 14.2 hand quarter horse mutt?), which is much more expensive than having them at home. We'll be looking in Trenton, Rising Fawn, & Ringgold. I think Kevin's preference is Rising Fawn, and I'm okay with that, but Ringgold would be my preference (Ringgold is basically a rural suburb of Chattanooga).

But, who knows what will happen. Kevin got a call for a position he applied for in Birmingham, which is in the opposite direction of where we are looking. He's called back about it and we're keeping doors open - I just don't know that the pay is worth the 100 mile commute, one way.

Life keeps trudging along for us up here, though and we're making it. I have to admit that being jobless isn't the best way to start a lifelong relationship, but as Kevin says, if we can make it through this, we can make it through anything. Although I wonder - if we have jobs, what will I stress over???

I'm working on a few fun projects currently - all SCA related stuff, but really cool stuff nonetheless. Kevin and I are making a bowed psaltery. It's basically practice for making a hammered dulcimer. I've got some music I'm working on for SCA stuff - basically old english carols which are quite beautiful. And, I came across the most amazing website, The Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music, which is free but you have to mail in a signed form for access. They've got rolls and rolls of medieval manuscripts of music scanned in. It's really great if you are looking for period music, but for those of you interested in illumination, I don't think there is much besides not so fancy illuminated letters. But, for all you music geeks out there, I highly recommend it!

And, my other project that I am incredibly excited about is the crowning music geekdom. Kevin and I are going to a Gulf Wars, a week long SCA event, and I'll be teaching six, yes 6, music classes. Doing an intro to period music and basically a refresher on how to read music, and then 4 renaissance counterpoint composition classes. One class is 1st, 2nd and 3rd species counterpoint, one class is 4th and 5th species counterpoint. Both of those will focus on 2 part counterpoint. Then I will do a class on 3 part counterpoint and one on 4 part. I don't expect lots of attendance in the classes, especially the last two. In fact, I think I limited the class size to five people. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to set the classes up, but I have ideas and I'm really looking forward to it. And, I have about 5 weeks to plan it, so I better get crackin'.

On a sad note, it looks as if my puppy has mange. Which makes me sad. Assuming my paycheck comes in the mail today, we'll be heading to the vet. Oh, did I mention that Kevin and I are dopes and that Argus is a girl dog, not a boy dog? Oh yeah, we missed that one somehow.

More when I find out the employment situation!

Days of Christmas Past

2005-12-28T22:51:00.000-04:00

Because Christmas has passed. Thank goodness. Okay, I take that back. Christmas was actually pretty good.

We went to visit my mom for Christmas...I met my little sister's boyfriend, he seems nice. We had presents and did pretty good in that department. I got Burt's Beeswax stuff, gloves, 2 CDs, a nice blanket, a nice winter coat, a pretty necklace, and a pair of really cool earrings. Kevin's mom gave me cast iron and good knives, which rocked. Kevin got a DVD with all the old TV Christmas specials, an "indian" blanket, more magnetix (cool magnet toys that he loves, a horse figurine, and a little gargoyle (from me). He also got a ballcap from his mom and woodcarving tools. So far, he's carved a "k" into a piece of wood. We both got gloves...mine are really ugly (I'm just really not into animal prints), Kevin's are acceptable, but not the most attractive.

Together we got a toaster oven, which will be returned (we thought we needed it, but now the regular oven is working), a gargoyle from my stepdad (which was ironically enough, the exact same from I got Kevin), and a gift certificate to Lowe's from my dad and step-mom. We also got some gift cards to Walmart from his dad's family...which have now been spent. We went to Lowe's and got a new faucet for the kitchen sink. We'll use the rest to buy stuff to make me a bowed psaltery and a hammered dulcimer. Woohoo!

Now, there was one other present I received...well, it was a few presents. It was clothing. Sometimes my mom does good, sometimes she doesn't. She did really well with a pair of pants. And then she bought a shirt to go with them. It has plastic rings in the neckline. 'Nough said. But the coup de grace was the velour track suit. Pink and grey. Literally. Oh my. So, we took that back the day after Christmas, and thanks to all the day after Christmas sales, I got 4 more pair of pants, 2 scarves, and a boggin for my noggin.

We also got several presents from friends...including an awesome CD for me, and friends got together enough money to help Kevin buy a side of leather to finish making his period saddle - he just attached the stirrups tonight...the only thing left to do is to attach a girth to it, and he has to have that done by next weekend as we'll be going to an event where he will need it.

On Friday we head down to Atlanta for a New Year's Eve party. I'm really excited about that - I miss seeing my friends and can't wait to see people again. Not much exciting going on around here. Although I have made the realization that since we've picked a wedding date (10/28...I think we've agreed on that) that I can start doing things...like register. Okay, not really, but I can start looking. First thing we'll register for? A new front door from Home Depot.

Okay, Kevin is now in the living room cutting barding for the dogs...yeah, they're going with us next weekend to the event and will be decked out in support of Kevin!

Peace,
Katie

Pictures of Argus and Wedding location - woohoo!

2005-12-19T18:42:00.000-04:00

This is Argus the War Dog. He's very cute, in a very, vicious, cuddly, war-like sort of way. He is a giant at 10.5 pounds....okay, really, he's the size of a cat, but don't tell him that. He barks like this: mmmmmmmrrrrrrrrrrARF!

Where Kevin is standing (with Lucky the Wonder Dog) is where we're getting married. It'll be a standing sort of ceremony, as the ground isn't flat enough for chair. With people standing we can fit around 80 or so...but at 7am for a sunrise service, do we think 80 people will show???? Michelle says we have to offer coffee.

This is the view into the canyon from the overlook. It's pretty now, but I can't wait to see it in spring, summer, and fall. It'll be absolutely beautiful.

And last, but not least, this is the view of the spot from another overlook. The point is where Kevin is standing in the other picture.

Things are a-happening

2005-12-19T15:57:00.000-04:00

So, lots has happened this weekend, and it's all very exciting stuff.

First, we went to the vet to get boosters for Argus, rabies shot for Lucky, and dewormer for both. Argus is about 10 weeks old and weighs 10.5 pounds. My next post will be pictures of the little guy. He's either a german shepherd cross or a rottweiler cross...we won't know for a while. He's very cute though, whatever he is.

After the vet visit (which we have to go back in 3 weeks for more shots), we went to Nancy's. For those of you who don't know, Nancy owns a horse farm and Sundance and Stormcloud, our horses, are spending the winter there. It's about 20-30 minutes away, and when you have to drive 15 miles to reach civilization, 30 minutes doesn't seem like it's that far. So anywho, we got o Nancy's to ride and for Kevin to work on teaching Sundance to bow. We get there and it's getting late, so there was no general riding, but Kevin hopped on Sundance and rode him for a few minutes, sans saddle, and then worked on bowing. He got one good bow out of him. Woohoo! After that he put me on Sundance, bareback! I've never ridden bareback before. It was really different. You could feel every muscle move and if he shifted his weight I felt lopsided. And Sundance likes to walk fast.

Then we head to WallyWorld. The bane of my existence, but alas, the only place to shop. We took care of shopping and then headed home. It was late, so we called it a night. Next day Kevin gets up and heads to his firefighters class and I start baking for Christmas dinner with his mom. I cooked sausage balls until I felt like I was absorbing fat through my fingers. Then I shelled pecans and roasted those. My fingers started to hurt, but if you want the really thing ya gotta do it. Or something like that.

So, Kevin got home and put something in the kitchen sink to soak. And asked me to turn off the water. Oops. The kitchen flooded. Oops. The kitchen floor is covered in these wooden tiles. The ones near the sink are dead, but we think the subfloor is okay. Yeah, I felt like a schmuck. I feel better though that it isn't completely ruined.

Then we head to his mom's. Dinner was good - there were about 5 kids and 7 adults. Some of the kids were incredibly loud...they just scream instead of talk...so that was interesting. Oh, and Kevin's mom is a really excellent gift giver. She gave me some cast iron and good kitchen knives. Woohoo!

Then on Sunday we went for a drive. To pick out a wedding spot. And we found one! Woohoo! We'll be doing sunrise wedding ceremony at the Canyon View overlook of Little River Canyon. Our plan is this...get married in the morning, have activities during the day, then a reception in early evening/late afternoon. We will not be offended if people choose not to come to the sunrise wedding ceremony...we realize that we are insane, but we'd love to have people there. I'll have pictures up ASAP so everyone can see what it looks like.

We took the dogs with us to investigate wedding sites. Argus is getting MUCH better on a leash. Doesn't fight at all now. And Lucky loves to go out. I think we have to hiking dogs. They thoroughly enjoyed climbing around everything.

We also went for our weekly visit to Chattanooga to visit friends. That was nice, as always. Yummy food and good company. And PRESENTS! One friend got me an awesome awesome awesome CD and several friends got together to give Kevin enough money to buy a side of leather to finish making his saddle with. What is a side of leather you city folk might ask...well boys and girls, it's half a freakin' cow. Just the skin though. Can't take in any stray cows...whole or half. He'll have enough to do the saddle plus some stuff.

And today we are going to pick up pictures...our first professional pictures of the two of us. Let's hope they don't look hideous.

Pictures on the next post...really...I promise!

The Advent of Argus

2005-12-14T21:27:00.000-04:00

So, yesterday was Kevin's birthday. I gave him his birthday present a few days early (in a rather round about way...the present visited a few states before he got it)...I gave him a snaffle bit that is proportedly from the 16th century. I'm going to attempt to track down the info on it and where it came from. Alas, we didn't get to do anything on his birthday - he had class in the evening and so even if we had money to go to dinner we wouldn't have been able to. So, sadly enough, I thought there would be no excitement on his birthday.

BUT, I was wrong. Now, some of youfrequent readers may think, oh god, what happened with the truck now, but this does not involve the truck or anything bad.

Kevin left for work in the morning a little before 8am, as usual. I was at the computer at around 10am and Lucky wanted to go out. So, I let her out. Then I heard dog wimpering and thought, "what in the world?". So, I go out to the front porch, and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a miniature...oh wait, wrong story.

Anyway, at the front door wimpering is the absolute cutest little puppy ever. Very friendly. Very cold. And very hungry. I brought Lucky inside in case the little guy had anything communicable and then gave him an old towel to curl up on (in the sun). He took a little nap and was irresistibly cute.

When Kevin came home I gave the pitiful face. Kevin at first said she could be an outside dog with table scraps, but I informed him that it would not be fair to have an inside dog and an outside dog. After much discussion and pouty-ness, the little puppy was brought in and barricaded in the kitchen. We fed him a little food and played with him a bit.

During the day he got out of the kitchen, but Kevin said there was no mess. So, he left him out when he headed to class. When I got home the little guy got a bath in the sink. We're both softies and the puppy ended up sleeping in the bed with us.

Yeah, we're gonna have to get a king sized bed. The puppy is a rottweiler/lab mix. He's definitely got some rottweiler in him. I think his head is shaped like a lab's. So, we're talking hundren pound dog (incidentally, that's why Kevin was reluctant for the puppy to be an inside dog).

The little guy's name is Argus...named for Odysseus's dog. I thought he might be a Gus, but really, he's going by Argus. He goes to the vet on Friday for shots. He has round worms most likely, and we'll take care of that too. And then, he might be a travelling dog. We're not sure where he's going for Christmas...but we gotta find someplace for him (and Lucky actually).

So, our family just went from two people, two horses, and one dog...to two people, two horses, and two dogs. More evenly balanced that way, don't you think?

I'm going to go and play with my puppy now!

ks

Car Karma

2005-12-08T18:46:00.000-04:00

*Note, I am not using cheesy spelling to be catch-y in my titles!

So, The Boy and I have a car curse looming over us. Seriously. Any of my friends from Atlanta know my car story of the summer...no car working, get in a fender bender in my roommates car, and then I finally get my car back and it costs $400 (which now that I am engaged to a mechanically inclined person I know that I was incredibly overcharged) - and then had to replace some of those parts again (spark plugs). And the car has weird little problems now...the blinkers don't work because they need to be rewired and I need a new top and windows (soft top 2 door Geo Tracker). That's just my car. Kevin has a tendency to get in auto accidents. I'll not even detail that one...but since we first started dating: moved my sister up to college and we got in a fender bender on the way; the transmission died while we were hauling 2 horses; the clutch died and he replaced it but the new clutch was bad and had to be replaced again; flat tire on the way to work; and then a wheel came off.

You heard me right, an entire wheel came off. Now, Ben and Wanda, if you are reading this, you may recall Tim's story on the way to Charleston one year when he detailed a wheel falling off his vehicle...yeah that happened to us two weeks ago.

We were on our way to an SCA equestrian practice and wait, side note:

We live on top of a "mountain". The people around here refer to it as a mountain, and apparently during the ice age or something it was. Now it's like a really freakin' big plateau. There are valleys. You do have to drive "down the mountain" to get to the store. Then you drive back "up the mountain". And, it is like driving up a mountain. We live on Sand Mountain. We were headed to Mentone, on Lookout Mountain (another glorified high elevation plateau). In between the two is Valley Head...a quaint little town, surprisingly enough, in the valley.

End side note (well, in the middle note).

...and we drove down one mountain, through Valley Head and were headed up Lookout Mountain and had just crossed the Mentone town limits sign. And then BAM! The trunk kinda goes kerplunk (too bad I can't do the Batman action words!) and we pull over onto the non-existent shoulder (when I say we were driving up the mountain, I do mean mountainous roads). Kevin looks in the mirror and sees the wheel going up the mountain on the wrong side of the road (slight problem there, as we were still the right side of the road).

So, we now have the truck halfway off the road and he goes and retrieves the wheel, which did eventually stop. He puts it in the bed of the truck and we commence with the phone calls. We call to get the tow and as we're waiting many people we know show up and start directing traffic. And then the fire department showed up and started directing traffic.

The rest isn't nearly as exciting, but we did get the truck fixed. Unfortunately, the brake drum was lost somewhere along AL117.

Now that the truck is all fixed, you think the story is over, don't you?

WRONG!

Yesterday, on the way home Kevin notices the truck driving funny again. When he gets home he investigates and discovers lugnuts missing and bent bolts. So, he has to take the whole thing off again and we have to go to 3 auto parts stores before finding the right kind.

We think what happened the first time is that after fixing the flat tire Kevin didn't tighten the lug nuts enough and they came off and then the rest of the bolts broke. Since then he's been checking them to make sure they're tight, and he thinks someone loosened them. Probably some teenagers being stupid. He took it by the tire shop and nothing is causing extra vibrations to knock them loose. What a pain.

_____________________________________________________

In other news...I get repeated questions about how my recovery from the horse fall is going. I'm doing okay - even went riding again (although Stormcloud and I are breaking up...she doesn't seem to care). I still have some red spots on my arm - I think they might be permanent. I also have a little red mark on my chin/jaw. It's my Red Badge of Courage. My wrist is still bothering me, which isn't a big surprise...it's the one I broke as a child and have had tendonitis in and things like that. I think it's just aggravated every problem I've ever had.

But, I'm doing pretty well. Still have a dent in my jaw. When I see you I'll let you feel it.

Lots of love to everyone!

The phoenix?

2005-12-06T12:18:00.000-04:00

So, I've been gone for a while. We have had an internet shortage at the house, but it is up for now...but not sure for how long.

Unfortunately, nothing very exciting has happened. Let's see, for Thanksgiving we stayed here and I met even more members of The Boy's family. Since we did that we're going to my mom's for Christmas Eve and Christmas. Woohoo!

Let's see, anything else interesting? Not particularly. On the sad notes, both of Kevin's grandfathers have prostate cancer. His maternal grandfather has surgery this week. His paternal grandfather should be having surgery soon as well. Also, I recently found out that some very dear friends of mine back in Atlanta who have been trying to get pregnant for more time than I can imagine have received news that things have gotten worse, not better. And that saddens me a lot, because I think that they would've created the best babies ever. They are going forward with adopting though, and that is good news...because that means that they get to shape the life of a child and share their love, and that is an awesome thing.

Alas, it is shower time. Maybe tomorrow I'll have something more interesting to say...

Arising from the ruins of decay

2005-11-09T13:58:00.000-04:00

So, I'm alive. Still don't remember what happened. Oh well, probably better that way.

I have battle scars. Let's see. I have a bruise on my leg. I have nasty nasty scabs on my arms. I have a big yellow bruise along my jaw and chin. I wonder if it'll turn green? And, I swear there is a dent in my jaw. I can feel it. The Boy refuses to feel it though. How not fun is he?

We're still chugging along up here. This weekend is a stay home weekend to get ready for Castle Wars and clean the house. The kitchen needs some serious work. Well, the whole house does actually. And, I've invited friends to spend the night the Saturday after Thanksgiving so I gotta get to cleaning.

Today I go back to work. I can't wait to give the kids all the gory details of what happened!

The story of a day

2005-11-05T22:16:00.000-04:00

This is the story of Saturday...it was quite eventful...

So after staying up entirely to late Friday night , we got up entirely to early on Saturday to head to an unofficial SCA Equestrian practice. I honestly do not remember all of the details of the day, but it was a beautiful day, and I spent a good bit of time working with Stormcloud, one of our horses. We had a birthday celebration for one friend (who refuses to tell us when his birthday is) at lunch and then went for a trail ride. There were quite a few people who went on the trail ride, and The Boy and I were at the very end of the line. Clop clop clop (that's the noise of the horses' hooves on the ground).

At one point I wanted to make my stirrups shorter, so Kevin and I stop for a few minutes so I can readjust. I remember that. I remember going down a hill. I remember the pretty, level ground and Kevin saying pick up a trot at the bottom of the hill. I even remember telling Stormcloud to trot. And then I remember leaning to the right and thinking, oh god the horse is going to fall on me.

______________________________

Then I remember saying why does my head hurt, why am I holding my wrist like this, and why am I on your horse (I was on Sundance, Kevin's horse).

______________________________

apparently, during that period of time in between I fell off of Stormcloud. Kevin says I lost my stirrups, both of them, and just tumbled to the side and landed on my side and skidded a bit. I remember a few things, like screaming a lot, and a few voices, and I have 2 visual memories, but other than that I got nothing.

From what I gather, I was very panicked. I lost short term memory for about 15 minutes and it seems like every time I realized that I could remember what happened I kinda lost it again. Unfortunately, this happened about every minute or so.

We went to the ER and I have a concussion...I bumped my brain. I have a jammed jaw (reason to the concussion) and a jammed wrist...those will just have to heal on their own. And I have some nasty road rash on my right arm where I skidded. It's starting to scab over now, which is gross, but at least it isn't as tender as it was. A friend of mine did point out that it's going to start itching eventually. That sucks.

And I have a splinter in the side of my hand. It hurts.

So, I'm a little scratched up this week. Skipping work today. I have to take drugs, which will prevent me from driving. And I don't think I can deal with middle school kids today...

All in all I'm going to be just fine, and yes, I will ride again. Once my head stops hurting...

Whistle while you work

2005-11-03T23:11:00.000-04:00

So, as one might infer from the title, I now have a job. Woohoo! I'm working as the Director of the Extended Day program at a middle school about 30 miles from home...although not really the director, the title is just director.

Things I've discovered in the last three days:

1. I really missed working with kids.
2. Middle school kids are all the same everywhere.
3. I will always hate the pretty, smart, rich girls. Okay, maybe not hate, but boy do they irritate me.

Seriously though, I'm REALLY enjoying my job a whole, whole lot. It rocks. Granted, it's only part time, but in the summer it'll be full time. Yea!

Let's see, things going on around here. Hmmm...we are going through a period of being extendedly broke. I told a friend of mine I wasn't good at being poor...she said to think of it as being extendedly broke. I'm trying really hard to look at it that way, but it gets difficult. I've never had such a tightly managed budget. We though me getting a job would help, but I won't get paid until mid-December (on a teacher's pay schedule and delayed one month). But, for now, my mom is helping with car insurance, and that makes a ton of difference...because now I can drive my car instead of the Purple People Eater (otherwise known as a '93 Ford Ranger with a V6 and the truck is purple...don't ask me why). My car gets much better gas mileage, and it's my car, so I like it more anyway.

Speaking of car things, we have to get my car registered here and I need to get an Alabama license. I have mixed feelings about that. I've always been a Georgia girl...can I make it in Alabama? Not sure. This state is soooooooooooooooooooo backwards.

Speaking of backwards, let's have a learning lesson, shall we? Have you ever heard of the concept of "common law marriage"? Now, some people think that common law marriage is dead, but I tell you that in the state of Alabama it is alive and kicking. To be common law married in Alabama you have to meet three criteria. One: you gotta be at least halfway sane (of capacity is the technical term). Two: you gotta both agree to being married. Three: you gotta tell everyone in town you're married. What this means for me: if The Boy goes to town and starts telling people I'm his wife and I don't disagree, I am. Yikes! WTF? One of the first things I told him when we first started dating was that I wasn't getting married in a courthouse and I would NOT be his common law wife. I'm having a real wedding. So nyeh! Alabama is so backwards. Notice that you don't even have to be living together to be common law married. How insane is that?????

And since we're on the subject of marriage...why is it that women are the ones who change their last names? I'm all about hyphenating myself...and I've asked The Boy to do it with me, but he says no. Won't give a reason, just says no. So, yet again does the woman have to give up something while the man keeps his identity in tact. Besides, shouldn't he want something of mine? Maybe I'm just too much of a screaming liberal...although I never think of myself as being all that liberal.

Okay, that's all for now folks.

Katie

ps - one chair is finished. It looks good, even though it broke at one point and has lots of wood glue on it...oh well!

What day is it? I've lost track

2005-10-30T12:05:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I have a fiance who says I have to post on a regular basis. I think it's just so he has something to read in the morning :P

I've lost track of time because we've been working on stuff around the house. Not that that's a bad thing...it's incredibly good. But, there are 3 things in life I really don't like: laundry, packing, and unpacking. All things that needed to be done. Laundry is almost all done. Woohoo! The Boy and I have different opinions on laundry, I have to admit. If it were up to me, I'd do it every 3 weeks or so. Not him. Once a week. Note to self, wash reds with whites and he'll start to do his own laundry. Hehe!

We cleaned out the spare room in the house. Oh my. You couldn't walk into it before. Now, it's a man cave with floor space and everything (although one corner looks like a tack room with all the horse stuff). We moved his computer from the middle room/office into the man cave and set up my stuff in the middle room/office. I even put up pictures! Woohoo! But, then, sadness of sadness, we tried to hook up my computer and something ain't right on it. It's not communicating with the monitor...we tried 2 new video cards and nothing. So, I have a computer sitting there taking up space. Such is life.

And, remember the bed we toiled over? We slept in it last night - pretty comfy. We set it up in the man cave because the bed in the bedroom was covered in laundry, which I have yet to put up. My brain was fried last night.

Any other exciting news? Oh yeah. I think I have a job. I'll find out for sure on Monday. Let's hope it works out...we need the money like a tiger needs stripes. Okay, that was stupid, but I needed something creative, right? Anyway, here's the hoping I get the job.

Alright, back to unpacking, I have approximately 9 boxes left to go...and I have no clue where I'm putting any of the stuff.

Later!

ps - Really, I'm going to get some pictures up, but that takes me getting on the laptop and naming the pictures, instead of them being PICT0024597 or whatever.

At the end of the day...

2005-10-20T22:17:00.000-04:00

You're another day older....

10 points if you get the reference.

Okay, so Kevin wants me to make another post...I think he's the only one who reads this thing. I told him I'd make a post if he dictated what I should write.

His words:

"Had a girly day, cried and took a nap. Went riding with friends."

Well, folks, isn't that incredibly exciting? Hmmm? Good thing he isn't writing this stuff and I am.

By girly day, he means that it has finally gotten to me that I have no job and no money and I got depressed, so I boohooed like a baby, then immediately went to sleep. Rather nice, if you ask me. Point here: we both need jobs.

He just pointed out that I've mentioned it before...maybe because it's important.

We're also still working on the chairs. Oh my. And, then I found out that he is planning on making 2 more sets. One for friends for Christmas and one as a prize for something or other at Gulf Wars. As long as I get credit for sanding and finishing, I'm good. But, they are starting to look nice.

We're heading to Macon this weekend. My little brother is a freshman in high school this year and in the marching band...we're going to see their last home game of the season. Woohoo! Also get to spend time with the family and see one of my friend's week old baby! That should be very nice. And then, on Saturday, hottub at Eeyore and CJ's. What a way to end the week.

And, yes, we did go riding tonight. I got to ride Showboy, a land yacht of a horse...kinda like the cadillac of horses. Not the most intelligent, but a nice smooth ride. Someone we know just got some rescue horses. Kevin mentioned looking at one for me. We can't really afford it, but looking never hurt, right???????

Off to bed we go, it's been a long day and it's bedtime...besides we have no cable or satellite to watch ER. I miss ER.

Adios!

The big bright orb

2005-10-19T09:04:00.000-04:00

Well, there are some good things about living in the middle of nowhere. For one, no light pollution. It's kinda nice. Actually, it's very nice. At night, when the moon is full, the view is amazing. And the sky is so much clearer here than it is in Atlanta. I guess I forgot what lack of pollution is like.

But, there are bad things about being here too. For one, the smell. Appearently, this is the time of year when you lay down fertilizer (gramatically, that should be lie down fertilizer, but that sound to proper to my ears). The popular fertilizer here? Chicken litter. Now, some of you cat (or bunny) people may think that this is a place for chickens to do their business. Wrong. It is the chicken's business, if ya know what I mean. And let me tell you, a field covered in chicken litter is one of the nastiest smelling things ever to exist. Y-U-C-K.

The chairs and rope bed are coming along nicely. We still have to do the backs on the chairs (decorative routing, then sand, then varnish), varnish the legs and seat, and sand and weatherproof the bed. The bed is a riot. With the air mattress on it it, the top of the mattress comes up to my belly button. Literally. But it's comfy, and pretty, too. So, I'll get to sanding...I'm a Master Sander now. And, we have some plywood left over from the roof, so we may make a six panel chest , that can basically be stored flat. We'll probably have one for a cooler and one for general stuff. On that guy's website he also directions to make a hutch (you're medieval cedar chest basically). Maybe I can get Kevin to make one for home?

For the next post, you'll meet Lester and Darrell and Darrell. And pictures of finished furniture, hopefully.

Later tater

In the Beginning

2005-10-16T11:55:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I've jumped on the blog bandwagon. Granted, I've jumped on it a few times before, but really, I'm going to keep up with it this time!

So anyway, this is just a chance to share our (notice the "our" there...yeah, I invited The Boy to write too) thoughts and things that are going on in life. So, here goes.

__________________________________________________

Looking for a job sucks. Just in case any of you out there were wondering. I thought I had found a job, but it would've been 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. Yikes! Who wants to do that? Money isn't that important to me. BUT, I stopped by the Tennessee Aquarium on Friday and they have a part time Assistant Volunteer Manager position open at the Creative Discovery Museum. Filled out an application on the spot and am sending my resume tomorrow, with an excellent cover letter. Now...it is part time, which really, I need the benefits of a full time jobs, but I'd like to work part time. Besides, it's 25+ hours a week with occassional weekends. So, everyone out there, keep your fingers crossed.

The big and fun project is still to find Kevin a job. If we can find him a job and I get this part time job, my pay will be gravy on top of things (yeah, he has a LOT more earning potential than I every will...and why did I get an $80K education?). But, he's continuing to work at the track shop, so we have a little bit of income that way. And, we get to see a lot of each other...he's home by 3:30 everyday, unless.....

There's a fire, or a ball game, or they decide to go and check fire hydrants. Yeah, being a volunteer firefighter takes up a lot of time...especially when you volunteer to help with everything, like he does. But, he's doing a good thing. BUT, he said last night that he might volunteer with the next town over as well. My goodness. And, every once in a while he mentions applying for a paid position in one of the larger towns. Neither one of us are too sure how we feel about that.

We had a very productive day yesterday. It started entirely too early. At like 6am. Yikes. The big project of the day: THE ROOF. Yeah, it gets all caps. See, THE ROOF has been leaking. For a very long time. Like or so years. But no one has bothered to fix it. Seven years of water damage creates some interesting ceilings. So, it gets down to, "I can't live like this anymore, it has to be fixed." I think through the tears the statement to The Boy was, "I love you, but...". Yeah, I never thought I'd say that, but it was getting unacceptable. And wonderfully enough, The Boy listened and realized that it really was something that needed to change (point for the fiance) So then we have yesterday, and the story of THE ROOF...

So, we get up at said Butt-Crack-o'-Dawn and go to Huddle House for breakfast (Kevin has to have breakfast everyday). My waffle wasn't very good, just as a side note...30 more minutes of sleep would've been better.

Then, we head to Marvin's, like Home Depot and Lowe's, only smaller. We go to the lumber yard to buy plywood.

*Now, you might ask how we can afford all this stuff. Well, we borrowed his mom's Marvin's card and will be paying it off for a little while...although not too long.

**Sidenote numero dos: Since we're there with said charge card, he figured we should buy some other stuff too...like wood to make chairs (for SCA events) like these: http://www.greydragon.org/furniture/chairs/. We also need wood to make a bed: http://www.greydragon.org/furniture/beds/ropebed.html (we'll probably modify ours)

Okay, we're back to plywood. There's quite a few options. Three sheets of roofing quality, one 1/4" cabinet grade and one 3/4" cabinet grade (those are for the chairs). Then wood for the bed. We wanted something nice, so we go to the spruce. Incidentally, spruce smells like Christmas. So, we were going to get a few different sizes, but ended up getting eight 2"x6"x a bunch of feet. I think 10. Incidentally again, the living room smells like Christmas.

Turns out we went to Marvin's at such a rude hour so that we could get the pretty wood and not the leftovers. And, let me tell you, we got the pretty wood. We probably aren't going to stain it...just weatherproof it. It's georgous.

So, we have all the wood. Into the store we go. Get a hand sander. Get rubber roofing (this one's important). Get weather sealer. Get stain (for chairs). Jigsaw blades. He wanted a router, but they didn't have them. Rope, for the bed. Other various things. We did NOT buy sheetrock to replace the bad in the bedroom or insulation. Kevin wants to wait and make sure the the roof isn't leaking anymore before doing that.

So, so a few hundred dollars later we head home. Kevin starts tearing down a 4'x16' or so portion of the bedroom ceiling. Hey, we have a really big skylight for a few hours. Then he goes on the roof and gets to work. Now, the roof has rubber roofing on it...meaning a huge sheet of rubber covers half the house instead of shingles. The leak was where the rubber wasn't attached at the back of the house and when the wind blew it would raise up and water would come under it. Now, at some point, we realize we are missing something, not sure what, but we head back to Marvin's.

At this point, Kevin wants a real skylight. Says it's be easier to install than plywood. Turns out Marvin's doesn't have them. Oh well.

We end up going to Lowe's for something, and getting a router. Then head back home.

He goes back on the roof and I make lunch.

Remember the rubber roofing glue from the first trip. Turns out it's not glue. Just tar. So, back to Marvin's we go. They don't have any rubber roofing glue at all, so he gets 2"x 2" to nail down on top of the rubber roofing to make it stay down. Let's hope that works.

At that point, I crawl up on the roof for the last 30 minutes or so. It was a little scary, and getting up there was interesting (it involved crawling on top of the house trailer then hopping on top of the house).

Roof is done. Yea! Happy dance!

We had wanted to go to Albertville in the afernoon to return some stuff that didn't fit (Albertville is where the outlets are...about an hour away) and catch a movie and dinner. But, we have all this wood on the front porch. I say, "babe, let's do something with the wood. It isn't treated and we don't want it to get wet...especially the spruce." Well, we can't fit sheets of plywood in the house, so we start the chairs. We make a pattern and trace in on contractor's paper (so we can make more chairs if the time comes), then we trace the wood (well, I did that). Then the cutting begins. The backs of the chairs are cut and the legs and seats are in squares, but not finished off. At this point, darkness has fallen and we get everything inside...including the spruce, which I love.

We ain't making it to Albertville in any way. So, we decide to go back to Ft. Payne for dinner and a movie, because at this point the chance of me cooking at zilch.

*Now, interesting side point...notice how many times we left the house to go to Marvin's or Lowe's? Some of you might think that that is just a 10 minute drive. You're wrong. We have to drive down the mountain to get there. Literally, curvy road and all. It's about 20 minutes one way. And so was dinner and the movie.

So, we go get chinese. Best chinese they have in town is a buffet. (Take a hint my urban friends...next time I visit you, take me out for good chinese food!) We eat and as we're leaving we decide we're too tired to go to a movie.

We come home. Now, if paying attention to this disgustingly long story, you might have noticed that Kevin pulled DOWN the ceiling and insulation, and we haven't cleaned that up yet. There was a big sheet of plastic on the floor and we had to drag that through the house and then to the truck so he can dispose of it today. Then I have to vacuum where it was. Vacuum isn't working. I'm so tired I'm almost in tears (it's only about 9:30pm), but Kevin comes to the rescue and works out the biggest ball of lint and hair and general nasty vacuum fuzz ever, and I vacuum.

Then we head to bed. And, that was the end of a very long and productive day.

And now, it's Sunday morning at 11:45am and I'm still in my pj's. I have many things to do today...in fact, I think if I don't do some laundry the engagement will be cancelled. But, I think I'll go grocery shopping first...I hate doing laundry.

Ta-ta for now!