Christmas 2011

A few days before Christmas a tornado tore through Gordon County and caused a lot of destruction. One community was hit hard. We had hard rains but we were lucky and didn't have any storm damage here.  

The weather was just the opposite of last year. This year at Christmas we had warm temperatures, plenty of rain, and a tornado. Last year we had an unprecedented (in my lifetime) snow storm on Christmas day. We didn't go to the yearly family dinner last year. I remember eating lots and lots of deviled eggs and potato salad we were supposed to take to the family dinner. Gads. 

This year Momma and I didn't plan anything because I was sick for a couple of weeks and she has bronchitis. Donny and Colt and I were hacking and coughing for a while but I think we are all finally on the mend. I hope nobody else catches what we had. 

The holidays always make me melancholy. I pine for the 'good old days' when the kids were little, or I was young. I don't know why nostalgia seems so sweet as I get older. I just didn't have the Christmas spirit this year. We didn't even put up a single ornament

We had our family get together at Donny's sister's house this year. It was a beautiful day. After the dinner we didn't start home until after dark. We had to drive through a blanket of fog all the way home. Visibility was limited. I asked Donny to drive through Dalton so I could see the Christmas decorations but it was so foggy the lights weren't impressive. It had a creepy, slasher-movie feel to the night.

It's so muddy around here that Colt's car got stuck when he was pulling out and he slung mud all over the white picket fence beside the house. Donny helped Colt clean the fence. Donny was determined to get some gravel.

We got some gravel for the driveway and since one load wasn't enough we got another load today. Yeah! No more slopping around in the mud when it rains. No more having to straddle the mud as I get the groceries out of the car in inclement weather.

Scout is going to borrow Bob's tractor this weekend to smooth down the gravel and spread it out evenly. I can hardly wait.

*****

By The Way my contest was a bust and nobody guessed correctly about my little quiz. Since my buddy Jerry White did respond he won by default. Colt delivered his award. I hope you like the peppers Jerry. Thanks for participating. 

AS ALWAYS

PIO

The Spy Who Loves Me

Now tell me what the Russians are looking for. Are they trying to get insight into me, or merely access my natural wit and humor? Hmm ... I wonder. I'm serious yall, the Ruskies are watching me. No, I am not crazy, although crazy is in the eye of the beholder. 

At first I was flattered when I realized they were coming to Resaca Rose. I thought 'How nice. I wonder how they found me.' I love having visitors from around the world. I've even talked to a couple of people from other countries. 

Russia is one of my top visitors, which is cool but, the only problem is, they don't show up on any of my locators. That raised my little spidey senses and got me to thinking about why some of these countries don't show up on all my various locators. Maybe they are the web-crawlers that sneak in looking for information. That's just plain weird. 

I told a friend about the Russians loving me and she said she loves the Russians, especially one man who was a business associate and a very sweet and charming man. But she also said she thought he was rubbed out by the Russian mob. (Get out of here!) It seems he was competing with the Black Market and disappeared. Poof! He was never seen, or heard from again. Who'd of knew? I'm just surprised to realize that stuff like that really happens. 


I never thought about the mob controlling imports and 'taking care of' competition.  It never occurred to me that people are smuggling merchandise in products they buy from America and shipping them into other countries. I live a  very bucolic and simple life. Things like that just don't happen in my world.

I have wondered how the Russian economy was advancing after the collapse of the USSR. I thought it was a wonderful opportunity for the American entrepreneurial spirit to establish businesses in Russia. Places like Kentucky Fried Chicken or Pizza Hut. It would have been a perfect way to help Russian's develop business opportunities and also expand American businesses.

Despite the fact that it's a joke that Sarah Palin can see Russia from her house, Russia is becoming very connected to America. Russia has announced plans to build a 65 mile underground tunnel between Russia and Alaska under the Bering Straits. It will be twice as long as the famous Chunnel which runs between England and France but the tunnel isn't being built for passenger traffic. It will be a route for shipping cargo underground. I wonder what's so important that they need to build an underground tunnel.

No doubt we will be hearing more about this amazing feat of engineering in the coming years. It will be interesting to see this come to fruition.


I imagine the Russians who are coming to visit me are not like the fellow on TV who says 'Hello. My name is Peggy.' I don't know what they're looking for but it's making me paranoid. That's all I need.


It's not like I'm not paranoid enough, what with all the wars and fighting and recession around the world. The economy is shaky and we're one year away from another Presidential election which can send America spinning in another direction and throwing us off course. 


We haven't adjusted from the entire mess the Bush administration left the country in. I dread thinking about the country's future after the next election. 


I wonder what Russia's government is doing trying to ship cargo through Alaska and how that will impact America. Will Homeland Security be able to monitor everything that will be shipped through the underground tunnel. Will terrorists target the tunnel and try to ship something in or might they try to bomb it? See, I told you I didn't need anybody making me more paranoid than I already am. It keeps growing and growing and growing.


Let's just hope the Russians are nice Russians like Yakov Smirnoff. He's one funny Russian.


Now I wonder what those Slovenians are up to. 

AS ALWAYS

PIO

Kim's Couch

Little Layla and the couch.

How do you like Kim's couch Momma covered with the help of me and Scout and Kim? That's some bright and cheerful material. I think that couch will be remembered for a long time. 

Kim found the couch at an estate sale for ten dollars. It's very retro with the woodwork on the arms. I think it was probably bought in the 60's and decorated in a French style. I like the modern update. Don't you?

Scout and Kim sanded the wood and then we put several coats of polyurethane on it. Momma covered the couch and worked on the cushions. I helped her tear them back down. She finished everything up Saturday with Scout and Kim's assistance.

I didn't get to go up there this weekend and help them because I have some kind of bug and didn't want to chance being around them all and making them sick, especially Momma. She and Daddy have to watch their health. Momma had those blood clots the summer before last and had to go to the hospital. She doesn't need a chest cold.

I have a sneaking feeling that Colt made me sick. He has been coughing and spitting up for a while now. I figure he passed it on to me. We're always together because I get on the computer in his room and he watches TV in here. He thinks he probably got his cough from the neighbor's kids.

Justin and Sydnei have three little boys who are four and below. Colt said Zack coughed on him and he told the kid to cover his mouth. Zackary thought that was funny so he would run up to Colt and cough on him again and again.

Later on Sydnei said the boys had foot and mouth disease (not to be confused with hoof and mouth disease found in livestock). It's Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. It manifests in sores around and within the mouth or on the hands or feet of children.

Being the paranoid person I am, I think I have foot and mouth disease because Colt was exposed to the germy little rug rats. I doubt mankind will go out with a bang. We'll probably go out with a whimper as we succumb to some odious germ.

Maybe I should start carrying around a can of Lysol and spray for germs everywhere I go. Who am I kidding? They'd lock me if if I sprayed Lysol on kids. Kids are all just little walking petri dishes.

AS ALWAYS

PIO

An Update

Thursday I went to my dental implant dentist and had my teeth cleaned. They gave me a clean bill of health and want me to come back in six months. They have been so nice to me that I took them a bag of greens. 

Our turnip greens have taken over the garden. Donny likes to cook a 'big mess' of them on weekends. We've got so many that we've been sharing them with some of our friends and family. I like having something to eat out of the garden this time of year. This is only the second time that we ever had a late garden. I wouldn't mind making it a tradition.

After I got out of the dentist's office I stopped at Momma's and Daddy's to see what Momma had been doing with Scout's couch. Momma hasn't been able to resist working on their couch. It's coming along nicely.


I went back to the upholstery shop today and helped Momma work on the couch. We worked on the cushions and scrapped the first plan and are now on to the second. I'll take some pictures after we get it together. Momma and I are on a roll.


Speaking of being on a roll, wonder what's up with that 'tree'? Maybe it's one of those politically correct type Christmas trees designed to appeal to the masses. Maybe it's an antenna that will get signals from Mars. Maybe it's a big old squirrel cage for them to play on. Welcome to the 21st century in the south. 


Good old Gordon County. Last winter a dump truck with a scraper blade. loaded with gravel fell through the parking deck at the court house. Maybe they took the insurance money and used it to buy this beautiful (cough, cough) holiday decoration. I don't know. I only know I wish I could vote on the commissioners but I can't because I live in the county. I can't even vote for Resaca's commissioners because we don't live in the city limits. That's just downright annoying.

Watch out for the Grinch.

Everybody look lively out there. Home invasions and daytime burglaries are on the rise. My sister-in-law was robbed this week. My cousin told about a couple of strangers showing up at her house late at night, up to no good. The thieves and lowlifes are cranking up their business for the holiday season. Don't be caught unaware.


I just wanted to thank the people who commented on my previous post. Since no one guessed what PIO stands for, and only one person commented, I guess Jerry won by default. Thank you Jerry for kindly guessing. I'll contact you soon about your pepper.

I'll be back when I'm feeling better. I think I've caught a bug.

AS ALWAYS

PIO

DECEMBER

Momma and I haven't been covering anything this week, mainly because we're waiting on Scout and Kim to work on their couch. I took advantage of being home and have been trying to clean up some of the crap I have laying around here. To say I'm OC/DC is to put it politely. 

Piles of newspapers are spread out around my dining room. I won't throw them away or burn them because I want to save the print newspapers. I want to buy some wheat paste and make a huge ornament with shredded papers and our giant beach ball. I'm in the process of separating the print from the colored papers for my ball project. I've got to start my project before the cats or dogs burst my ball. My little imaginary projects never seem to get anywhere. Wonder why?

I don't know if I'm in the doldrums or if it's just my usual disdain for the holiday season but I am not revved up for Christmas. I figure it's mostly because the boys are grown up and live away from home. Scout's not here to decorate everything and run up the electric bill like he usually does. Colt's not big into decorating so he doesn't care very much and I don't care any more.

I know it's almost Christmas but I haven't done a thing. I hope the rest of yall are doing better than that. I'm about as excited as ... well, I'm not excited so I thought, why not do something fun for everyone and generate some excitement.


How about a contest, or a riddle, or a quiz? I'll ask a question and give yall a chance to answer it. Just make a comment and, if you win, give me your mailing address and I will send you a prize. I thought, since I still have plenty of peppers in my freezer from last year, I would share some of them. How about that? So, without further ado ...


What does it mean when I end my posts with PIO? Post your answer on COMMENTS. The contest will be over when someone answers correctly or by December 8th.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Schylar, Scout, Amanda, Kiersten, Tony, Denise, Todd, Carmen, Andy, Noody, and Carole

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Diane and Larry

AS ALWAYS

PIO