Last Week I Climbed a Hill, This Week I Climbed a Mountain

The problem with climbing a big hill and being awfully proud of yourself, is eventually, you have to climb something bigger in order to keep up the challenge. , I wish my motives were that pure, but actually here's how the story went:

Bill, Susan and Billy were going to hike a bit on the Appalachian Trail last Saturday. I was dreaming of a day all to myself at home. Then I heard they were going to The Butcher Block Buffet for dinner. It's a really good buffet that serves awesome pulled pork. When I heard that, I suddenly decided a walk in the woods on a cool, autumn day sounded like a good idea. Yes, I can be persuaded by food, just like Pavlov's dog.

Dr. Dread is smirking as he drives up the mountain. I'm totally clueless at this point that we are actually going to climb a mountain. Last time I went up Skyline Drive I only got out of the car for photo opportunities.....




Here we are at the beginning of the trail. It almost brings tears to my eyes to remember how innocent I was as I sat on that rock. I honestly did not know what lay ahead of me that day. Stupid me, I thought we were going to walk in the woods....





Here is Billy at the beginning of the "Devil's Staircase" trail. I chose to think this was a random pick trail, rather than remember my previous post of Bill considering my expiring life insurance....



Can you see the will to live leaving my body? This trail was straight up for about a half an hour. I didn't realize how unprepared I was until I saw a group coming down and they were dressed in ski gear and had a trekking pole in each hand. While resting, a man with a pack mule loaded with gear passed before my eyes...along with my life.




An hour and a half later, we came back down the moutain. I assumed my now familiar "I did it!!" pose. I thought it was time to go to the buffet.




But no, they weren't done (torturing) hiking yet. After a quick break, we went on another trail. This one was straight downhill, which while being preferable to me, I'm also smart enough to know we have to go straight uphill to get back to the car.



We heard the sound of running water and noticed just over the hill a waterfall. We stopped to take a pic. It was actually pretty stupid, as just beyond the edge was a sheer drop off. Sort of like having your pic snapped with a tiger.




Here was the waterfall just beyond our heels...it's all downhill from there.




Like I said, the walk back was all uphill. Susan and Billy, being younger and more fit, were ahead of Bill and I. Well actually, Bill stayed behind with me just in case I needed CPR.



The only thing more beautiful than this picture was the pulled pork at The Butcher Block Buffet.

Your Kids Are Just Waiting to Correct YOU!

When your children are young, they are so sweet and innocent. Their every motive is pure. However, as they grow, they simply must be corrected from time to time. It might be their speech, their clothing, their hair, or their actions.

But just wait.....for every action there is a reaction...even if it takes 20 or 30 years. Your kids are just waiting for that moment you mispronounce a word so that they can correct you. They love it when you happen to wear a navy blue and a black shoe together and don't notice. They get to correct you, and get a good laugh. Take it in stride comrades....someday they will have children of their own.


It starts innocently enough, something along the lines of "Susan, button up your sweater, it's cold outside."





It may or may not progress to "Hmmm, so your bangs are blue?" It was not a correction, I was simply inquiring was that the look she was going for.





But she worked hard and graduated from college. I am very proud of her.



However, yesterday she told me my blog had a number of grammatical errors. Ahhh young people....do they realize how long it takes for white-out to dry on a computer screen? I got tired and went to bed before all the corrections were dry.



It's all good. :)

Things that Happened in My Home This Past Week

Well, the most exciting thing to happen this week was Bill turning 50 years old. That might not be as exciting for Bill as it was for me, but I have my reasons. See, I turned 50 years old in August. That was 9 long weeks ago. For 9 weeks I've had to hear about how HE'S still in his 40's. He made sure I was a card carrying member of AARP before his birthday. Hope you had a great birthday sweetie! You deserved it!

This pic wasn't really taken on his birthday, but it's to demonstrate how his family tried to make him feel like King for a Day!




My son attended a potluck dinner with 5 scouts on Friday evening. I couldn't think of anything to make. My inclination was just to buy something, but I wanted to be a good steward of not only my money, but also the food I already had in the house. I made some Italian bread dough, rolled it out to a rectangle, and then layered pizza sauce, pepperoni and shredded cheddar/mozzarella cheeses in the middle to 3/4 inch from the edges. I then folded it in half, then in half again. After pinching the sides closed, I slashed the top, added an egg wash, and sprinkled oregano and parmesean cheese and baked it on a stone till golden. It was a big hit.




I felt sentimental and wanted to show a blue and white corning ware casserole dish I got as a wedding gift 31 years ago and still use. People collect this stuff now. We got alot of corning ware when we married (I have my theories on that). The casserole dishes were smaller in the 1970's than they are today, but now that most of my kids are gone from the home, I can use them again.




This doesn't look like much, but it is layered pizza sauce, onions, peppers, mushrooms, pepperoni and mozzarella/cheddar cheeses. Bill doesn't eat many carbs, so this is his version of pizza night.





Here is mine and Billy's pizza. I made a homemade crust, then it's pepperoni for Billy, and pepperoni with lots of veggies for me. It's hard to believe that one time I had to make three of these for dinner. Oh how fast time flies....pizza night is also a whole lot easier!!




This week we had a new roof installed. While in Myrtle Beach this past May, it was our good fortune to have a hail storm of Biblical porportions and to be insured. We ended up needing a new roof, siding on one side of the house, downspouts and gutters. Increased home insurance rates to follow......



Here is a closer look at the old roof. It was a brown color that tied into the brown color of the stone front.




Here is a view of the back of the house. The mildew streaks developed on all the roofs in our area after the long, snowy winter, wet spring, and hot, humid summer.




Ripping off the old roof. What a tremendous racket that made inside the house!!



The finished roof. I chose a charcoal gray architectual tile to coordinate with not only the dark gray shutters and door, but there is also some gray in the stone front.




Here is a view from the back of the house.



Here is a close up of the roof tiles. They will lay down more as the sun heats them up, but you can see how the pattern is more textured than a flat style roof. (They are not blue at all, it's just the lighting when the pic was taken).




If Charlie Brown had a Bradford Pear Tree in his front yard, this is what it would look like in the Fall.





A flock of geese flying South for the Winter. Don't get technical with me. I just thought it was a good way to end this blog.......

I Was Challenged, I Climbed, I Conquered, I Was Really Dumb.....

Bill and I were taking our 3x weekly morning walk. Off to our left is a giant dirt hill that was manmade during the upgrading of the road we live on. It has been a couple of years since the road was finished, and the dirt hill has scrub brush and weeds covering most of it now. Bill casually said he bet I couldn't climb that hill. Now, it's probably 200 feet tall, and from where we were standing is fairly straight up. I told him I could do it if I wanted to, and we kept walking. On the way back, he challenged me to climb it again.

Too caught up in the challenge I never stopped to consider his motives:

1. He didn't think I'd try to climb it, and by default, would be the "fit" one
without even having to climb it himself.

2. He would climb it, have to help me, therefore voiding my actual
climbing effort, would be considered the "fit" one and forever hold
it over me that he had to drag me up the hill.

3. My life insurance is getting ready to expire and he's in danger of getting
no return on his 2 decades worth of investments.


He climbed first, and when he was halfway up, I started. It doesn't look like it from the pic, but the hill was really steep. At one point, I couldn't see the top, but looking behind me, I knew I would fall if I tried to go back down. Bill made it to the top, and then, infuriatingly came back down to stand behind me. He said it was to break my fall, but if I fell, I'd have rolled like a boulder going downhill, and he'd have been in the path. That never bodes well for climbers.

He reminded me of a golden retriever, going all around me, while I was, by then, on my hands and knees, literally clawing my way up this hill with traffic slowing down behind me to snap pics with their camera phones. He kept saying if he helped me, it wouldn't count, so I think the motive was really number 3.....just saying......


To the left of the road at the highest point, is where we started the climb/crawl.




I made it to the top, all by myself, with some skin still left on my knees. If you look over my shoulders, you can see how high up we are from the road. If I could do this by myself, what else might I accomplish?




On the flipside of that thought is this: I'm not a daredevil by any means. How dumb was it to make that climb. If I'd have started rolling backwards, I could have been in the next county before the momentum stopped.

No more climbing without the proper harness restraints in place. I'm not a 10 year old anymore....neither is Bill, but he sure went up and down the hill like a billy goat.

Queen Cat and the Noncat Colony

I am a Cat, therefore, I AM. The life of a cat is rather simplistic.....I've joined your noncat colony, I am the Queen, your life revolves around serving me. Simple.





When I was a kitten, I read in a book that I am a Mackeral cat. I have an M on my forehead. In the cat world, that stands for Master (of the Universe)......the noncats can think what they want.






When I first became Queen of this noncat colony, I sat down to talk with the one noncat I thought I could trust. I have just two non-negotiable situations that I will never tolerate....a small noncat living in my domain, and worse than that, another cat in my territory. That's all I'm going to say about that.





Afterwards, I snuggled on her lap. She, being a noncat, thinks I do it because I love her and want to be close. Actually I did it because I was slightly chilled and her legs were warm. If an electric blanket was around, I would have laid on that...it doesn't try to pet me. I flinch everytime someone touches me. You'd think they would get the "No touching" rule...nope....noncats are dumb.






Ahhhh, never trust a noncat. It didn't take long for the first non-negotiable rule to be broken. This small noncat moved into my house and thought, for about three seconds we were going to be friends.





See that doll in the box beside me? She actually thought she could wrap me up in a blanket and carry me around like a baby. My claws still flex and the thought of it. I would have left marks to permanently remind her I am not a cat to be toyed with, but I decided to give her the evil eyes instead.





"Hey, small noncat, think I have to tell you again we are not going to play together."




"Yeah, I didn't think so..."





After that, I could pretty much do what I wanted. I could hide in a Christmas box to give a noncat a scare.......





Or sleep on top of all the Christmas wrappings, just because I can....





Or my favorite, I collapse in front of you and see if I can cause you to trip over your clumsy, noncat feet.





Yes, life was pretty sweet, until one day I looked over my shoulder and saw my second non-negotiable rule had been broken.




The noncat colony had let in another cat. This cat came in all friendly-like and actually thought we were going to share the territory. What planet did she come from? And did the noncat colony think I was just going to allow this?



OOOOOh, I think NOT!!!!!




Now I must spend everyday protecting my territory. When her head rises above the last stair, I must begin my stalk.




It rarely happens this nicely. Usually I must have my mowhawk rise on my back and chase her down the stairs like a Lion chasing a Zebra.





Instead of sleeping, eating, and grooming myself all day long, I must keep watch at the top of my perch. One day, this cat will leave my domain, and I will once again have complete control of the noncat colony. Until then......





I'll be watching. There is no rest, no peace, no pleasure. All color is gone from life. When the intruder cat is removed, then I shall decide whether to allow the noncat colony to remain. Until then....I am at war.

Musings of a Canine

I love being a dog. My life is pretty good, although not perfect. I love my humans. They take such good care of me. They forgive some of the things I do, because, after all I am a dog. Like eating all the hotdogs that were just grilled for dinner. I left one, but apparently, it was still a major boo boo. If, every once in a while, I have to wear a hoodie so they can snap a "cute" picture to show their friends, it's really no big deal.





Dogs don't get to drive vehicles. It's such a shame. We always have to ride shotgun. I feel sorry for the poor saps that hang their heads out the window into the wind. They look so stupid, ears and tongues flying all around. If only I had opposable thumbs I'd turn the ignition on in this truck and take off.





Every once in a while my human mom rocks me like a baby. Just between you and me, I like it, but then my human Dad came in, and I had to act like I was thankful to be rescued from this humiliation. But I have a secret....I'm really a lap dog.




Ahh, another modelling of clothing. If you have a human child in the house, chances are you are going to be dressed up once in a while. Actually, I think this outfit makes my butt look small.




Oh, isn't this just the cutest!!! Looks like I'm smiling. Come on people! I'm directly in the sun (without sunglasses!) and my butt is sitting on very cold snow. But I do believe a game of fetch followed, so perhaps it was worth it. I'm too easy.




This pic actually made me a little mad. I'm sitting out here, waiting to be let in. They obviously see me because they snapped a picture. Do people take a picture of you while you are waiting to enter the house???? How rude!




I didn't want my picture taken. I hadn't worked out lately and I felt a little bloated.



I had just finished watching Steel Magnolias. That movie makes me cry, everytime! I feel so sad when the St. Bernard's hair is falling out by the handful because of stress....




I was in a good mood this time. I decided, "What the heck," I'll give them one for the Christmas card.