Yahoo! Yay!

Buzzer's home!!! He was able to come home today! No marathon's yet, but he is walking on his own. Yay!

The boys at Hooters in Nashville when we were on our move.

New Friend

I have this rusty metal moon thing that sticks in the ground as a yard decoration...somehow it spins around, but I think I know who's doing it!

Had a good 3-day weekend...like I said the other day, Saturday we went to see X-Men 3, we sat waiting for a hour before they came and told us that the projector was broken. So we got our money back and came home, Greg took a nap and I went shopping! Yeah, there were so many people there and I couldn't find anything, so it was a wasted trip. Well, not that wasted, I did get some Avon Skin-So-Soft bug spray! The word on the street it's the only stuff for gnats, not to be confused with the local Savannah Sand Gnats minor league team. Oh and the new Dream Book from Hallmark. That's the ornament book for you lay-persons. That night, I got to sit around for 3 hours with no electricity! I wasted time at the park, on the phone, chatting up the neighbors...I survived!

Sunday we went to the beach again! It wasn't as beastly hot as last weekend, but get this, the water, the Atlantic Ocean water...it was warm! Was it 'cause the air was cooler? Or did the water warm up with all the 98 degree weather? I guess it just warms up. After the beach we headed back towards town and stopped at Tubby's in Thunderbolt where they were having a "beach party" welcoming summer. The local band, Hazzard County was playing while we ate (not impressed this time with the restaurant) and then we watched Cowboy Crush. We've been getting lucky here and there with some concerts lately! They were really good and pretty fun. Some of you might recognize Nobody Ever Died of A Broken Heart.

My dad is doing great! They have him up and walking around now and he's out of the ICU. Just a few tubes left in him yet. I hear he's getting bossy too!

Today, Monday...we did go and see X-Men, it was great! I liked it, so did Greg. And that's about it! Back to the salt mines tomorrow! Nighty Night ya'll!

Flight Sale

I just discovered something and thought I'd share it with the world just in case anyone is planning on going anywhere, say, Georgia or some other place on the ocean...airtran is having a flight sale right now. Here are the "rules":

Fourteen-day advance purchase required. Tickets must be purchased by June 1, 2006. Travel must be completed by November 8, 2006. Lowest advertised fares are valid for travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Additional sale fares are valid for travel on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Fares are not valid for travel on Fridays or Sundays. Seats are limited, subject to availability and may not be available on all flights. Blackout dates are as follows: June 29 and 30; July 1, 2 and 7-9 and September 4, 2006.

We went to see X-Men 3 today...well, except we didn't get to see it. We sat for a hour waiting, then they came in and said the projector was broken. Neat! So we got our money back (or could have gone to the 2:30 show). So another day. Now I'm going to go to the mall and be a girl! Greg's napping before another night of work. ZzzZzzz

First Check!

I got my first paycheck today! Whoohoo! I must celebrate...I will buy toilet paper, shampoo...you know, the basics!

Other News: Most of you know about my dad...but to get the rest of ya up to speed: he had a couple heart attacks this week and had a quadruple bypass on Tuesday night. Now, he is doing great! I talked to him for a little bit today, he got to sit up with the assistance of the bed. He said food doesn't look or taste good...I said that's cause there's no salt. So Mr. Chocolate & Cheeto's will now become Mr. Apple's & Banana's! But he is doing excellent and should be going home wednesday.

So other than that nothing has been going on. Greg's working all weekend, but we'll find some time to celebrate the 3-day weekend! Tomorrow, like I said, I'm going to celebrate with some shopping, do some girlie stuff...Sunday is possibly another beach day and a evening at Tubby's listening to a couple bands...and Monday, time for The Last Stand!

Here's a picture of our fireplace (non-working) area with the picture Greg's cousin did and some decor. It's one little area we have actually tied together and decorated!

Everyone have a great holiday weekend...Thank A VET!

it's hot

Saturday afternoon set a record high of 96 degrees. I'm pretty sure I was in Air Conditioning at that time!

Look at THIS...Savannah is actually catching up to Beaver Dam!

And THIS is right across the street from us to the side. I'm not really sure where the pool is yet, but I will keep my eyes peeled!

Let's see, what have we been up to? I've been working, ugh! I get so jealous of all the tourists going by. Back to the real world for me with no vacation in sight. Greg worked friday night...I watched the season finale of Grey's Anatomy and then I watched some Sex In the City episodes. Exciting stuff eh? Saturday we ran some errands then of course vegged out in the A/C for the afternoon. Greg worked again Saturday night and I, um...oh, did some house stuff...cleaned and what ever. Man, do I know how to whoop it up! Sunday we went to the beach, Yay! We were beach bums for almost 5 hours then came home and I made lasagna. Click on the link and I'll tell you where we were...in the big aerial picture with the pier, we were to the right of that about at the 2nd long dark thing (the bridge over the dunes from the street to the beach).

I've heard those sacada bugs already! Now you know it's hot! Does anyone know how to spell that anyways? I was trying to look it up, but even the internet doesn't know what I mean!

Work is going fine. It reminds me of when I worked in the little print shop during college. I'm not sure when I'm going to go to the Southside...we're working on a big project right now, so I'll probably stick around for a little bit. The people are nice. One gal could be Megan Mullally's sister...she's hilarious! Or I should say Karen Walker's sister! It's a very family oriented business...the delivery guy (Chris) usually has to take the grandkids football practice gear to the Southside for grampa (owner) to take the grandkid to football practice. I find it all a little confusing, but it works I guess.

Another thing I noticed...people don't have the best manners around here. The office manager's wife (daughter of owner) was in, never got introduced. Junior (son of owner who runs a store) was in...he was there for a couple hours, never got introduced. Ruby who runs another store was in and she introduced herself to me after 20 minutes. Apparently you have to prove your worth around here or something? Or just do things yourself?

Alright, better get to bed for another fun filled day of work! It's actually not bad...I like the girl I'm being trained by and I get to see a lot of different people all day...not sitting at a computer all day...have a whole store front of windows to watch the world pass by out of...now when does that "managerial" role kick in? :)

Have a good week ya'll...it's supposed to be in the 80's and some showers here, won't have to move as slow.

-K

Day 1, Day 2...

I've made it 2 days on the new job! So far it's pretty easy...it's a copy shop! I'll be doing different things on the southside, like actually making the larger copies (blueprints), but downtown is pretty easy. The hardest part? Standing from 8:30-5:30. Hopefully that's not the case in the other shop. I do get a 1/2 hour for lunch tho, which I of course sit on my butt the whole time.

Greg's working friday and saturday at Sav. Blues. They go by seniority, so he's low man right now with just a couple nights.

That's about it for now. I'm so tired! This working thing really puts a monkey wrench in your day of doing nothing!

Have a good day...I'm off to day 3!

J-O-B-S

It's that time. Back to reality for Kate! I have a job! Actually I have 2 jobs, but I'm not going to take one. I was first hired at Outback Steakhouse on Bay Street. Then I found out there's a test (or 2 or 3) before you can actually "work". You have to memorize every single thing on the menu (food, booze, whatever) for this test...know every single abbreviation and then the description. Hello...I'm 30 years old...I don't know how to study anymore and why do I need to work this hard for a part-time job? Um, yeah, no thanks. Maybe for a Graduate degree or something crazy like that. I would've done it tho if I didn't stumble upon this other job.

I start tomorrow at Savannah Blue Print. I'm not exactly sure what it all is tho. It's kind-of a digital printing type place...maybe like a Kinko's, but on a smaller scale and maybe not so many services. Is it a good or bad thing I have no idea what I'm getting into? haha! Anyways, they have two locations in Savannah...I'm starting downtown for the first week or so doing some training and then will move on out to the Southside (right by the malls and growing end of town) and will take on more of a management position. Now, don't ask too many questions about this, 'cause I have no clue. But it's a job and not at a corporate giant like Outback, teehee!

So now for Greg...he's got a sweet gig right now. Remember that place we went to on Friday? Savannah Blues. He's their new bartender/door man. Just a couple nights a week right now. In the mean time he can keep the house tidy and make me dinner. haha! It's a cool place and a easy+fun job for now. In the meantime, he's keeping his eyes peeled, but is going to take the postal exam in early June. It's a 2 hour 15 minute test and then if you pass that and some of their interviews he'll start as a part-time carrier. At that time you're on the list and you move up the list as other carriers retire or move or whatever they do...then you're on a full-time route. Not sure how long that will take, but it'll probably be worth the wait. Greg worked his first night on Saturday...it was a late night, the bars don't close until 3am here in Georgia. Plus he had to help clean up and get paid.

Saturday night while Greg was at work I got to have a cook-out with the neighbors of Bolton Place (that's what they call our row of condo's). Kim & Kashimi (don't quote me on the spelling of her name!) are next door to us and only come on vacation once a month or so. Art & K.T. are from Tucson and retired here, they live in a upper about 3 down. Mike just sold his condo and is moving 5 blocks north, closer to the bars as he said. He's a bachelor who likes the bars. Hey, his words not mine! He does have a pug tho! And then Kim had his mom along from home, so she was there too. It was fun and great food. As usual, the beer bread was a hit! :)

We went driving around today looking at some other communities to get ideas for the future and living situations. We don't know what we're going to do, hence the idea of driving around looking at budding areas. Lots of building going on...those typical little subdivisions and that. It rained this morning, got muggy for the afternoon and is raining again. It's been nice and warm of course! But now I'll be stuck inside all the time...I hope I get enough sun time on the weekends! I think I'll wait a few weeks or so and see how the "real" job goes and then possibly do part-time waitressing if needed or wanted. Tomorrow on my lunch break (I hope I get one!) I am to go over to Outback and tell them to take their test and, well, ya know. Haha!

I better have some Grape Kool-Aid and relax before my big day tomorrow. I'll leave you with a shot of the oldest oak in town...it's the Candler Oak...these are called Live Oaks because they always have green leaves on them all year round. The park is surrounded by them and they're all over town. They are the trees you see with the Spanish Moss all over.

This is in front of the old, old, old Candler hospital (hence, Candler Oak) which is right across from Forsyth Park, which means, it's just a few blocks from our house. Whew! From the link, you can see that Candler is now part of St. Joseph's and has moved from this relic. There are some offices in there, but it doesn't look to busy...kind-of like the old Lakeview Hospital in BD.

Toodle-loo magoo's,
The Working Girl

Bloomin'

The magnolias are blooming! There are a few trees right in the park, just a couple blocks away. They are ginormous things! Here's a few pics of the process. These are all different blooms on a couple different trees that I just took pictures of today. If ya'll hurry, there's a ton more to see! :)

I'm just a little bugger

I feel a new dawn calling me out

Here I am in all my southern glory

So tired of being pretty

BLAH

Porter loves the park. We got one of those crazy walk-about leashes that usually give people rope burn, but it's handy at the park...I can walk 3 feet away while he poos!



I was attacked...by a freaking bird! I was walking around town and thought I ran into a branch...no, it was a nightingale or some weird freak of nature dive-bombing me. It got me twice...just grabbed at my hair. Avoid that corner! I don't remember the cross street, but it's somewhere on Drayton. Little bastard. Some guy said it's been doing it for years. Needless to say, whenever I hear the call of the nightingale, I duck my head and look around for the bugger.

We've been job hunting. I think I've had some good luck this week...we'll see what happens. I will report when I know for sure!

Tonight we're going to eat at SixPence Pub (where Julia Roberts discovered her cheating husband Dennis Quaid in "Something To Talk About") and then go to City Market to Savannah Blues to listen to a band.

Things I've Noticed

Here's a couple things that I've come across that is going to take some getting used to...

Every single bridge has a sign that says "Bridge May Freeze Where Road Begins" or something like that. Every SINGLE ONE. Not like in WI where there are one or two...like on the Lake De Buttes Bridge up by Oshkosh...but every one.

Hallmark stores...they SUCK down here. I hope you all appreciate your friendly staff and wonderful selection at the local Gold Crown store in the Mall (or what's left of the mall), but I've been to 3 around here and they stink. #1 didn't sell plate stands and were nice enough I guess, offered suggestions. #2, the manager or whatever she was was a total nazi camp leader. She was training someone while another gal rang me up (apparently another newer gal)...I asked for the big purple plastic bag and the mgr looked in the bag to see what she put in there. Heaven forbid you just do what the customer asks. Then the girl thought I wanted another purple bag and she was putting it in the other bag and the nazi said "oh nooooo, we do not give away bags to customers" and I wanted to say, "heaven forbid you please your customers and good job on losing a excellent future customer". So then I went to #3 (the other 2 were in the malls) and this one was downtown, not far from the house. They were pleased as punch to chit chat with the regulars and everyone but me. One lady was sitting on the floor in an aisle, yeah, just sitting there!!! She was talking to the other customers from there too. There selection was so-so. I saw some plate stands, but a poor selection. And get this, they don't take the gold crown card! Last time I go there! I want my rewards! I miss my Evenson Gold Crown Store in the Beaver Dam Mall. :( Ooh, I just found another one to try. Whew.

I guess that's it for now! We're off to see Mission Impossible 3! This time I'm going to see Keri Russel and what she can do on the big screen action flick. Tom Cruise has lost his luster. FREE KATIE!

Peace out.

The Trip

Here's a recant of our trip to California. We were gone April 20th - May 1st, it was
a long one, but a fun one!

Thurs: Early AM road trip to Jacksonville airport. It was a 2-hour drive and not too terrible. Luckily it was early enough we didn't have traffic issues and what-not. So we started our day in Savannah, stopped in Florida, stopped in Texas and made it to California. Flying is fun, haha!

We time traveled, gaining 3 hours when we got to Cali. We went to the hotel and hit the pool and freshened up. The water was heated, so even tho it was about 70 degrees out, it was glorious! Yup, outdoor pool! So after getting prettied up Sara came and got is. Teehee, she has a belly! :) It's cute. We went to their house and saw Mom & Dad too. Uncle Dick & Aunt Elaine also made the trip. They drove out. So we were at the house and Charles, Mom, Dad, Greg and I went to their favorite Taquerita (I can't remember the name, teekeetakee or something like that) and had a snack. Well, the pork quesadilla I had ended up being a meal. This is the place Charles and Sara go on Tuesday nights for Taco Tuesday, so Charles knew all the rights and wrongs...and the right drink. Greg had this concoction (they should try it at Dos!) but it was a glass of dark beer (mexican) shot of tequila and some sweet & sour or margarita mix (remember, this is day one, I don't remember all the details!) Apparently the limit is 3, record is 5. We went back and hung out at the house and Tony, Tricia, Taylor, Dick & Elaine showed up after T,T&T got in from the airport. They were all hungry, so back to the Taquerita! Everyone went except Greg & I and Charles & Sara. We stayed and waited for the dessert guy to bring the cake stand for saturday. Everyone came back, we hung out for awhile and went back to the hotel for nighty night. Wasn't that exciting? :O

Friday: We pretty much just helped at the house for Saturday's party. Mom, Sara and I went and did the shopping in the afternoon, Charles picked up his family at the airport and then we all met. We got everything put away and went back to the hotel to get gussied up. Charles' Aunt & Uncle rode with us and his parents rode with my parents. We got to take them for a little tour of San Jose when we took the scenic route. There's construction and chaos throughout san jose, so it was easy to loose our way! Needless to say we did it again on the way to dinner. :) We had dinner at La Pastaia. It was a neat place and we had our own area, along with our own personal menu's. oooh lala! Greg and I both had the Filetto - fillet of beef served on a portabella mushroom with a Barolo wine sauce and deep fried shallots (yes, I saved my menu) and it was delicious. It was a fun night.

Saturday: Big party day! We went to the house and helped get stuff set up and ready. Went to TOGO's to get lunch...it's a sub shop. After that we went back to the hotel for a siesta before the party, got ready and it was party time! It was great to put names with faces and meeting everyone. And the food was awesome! Dale & Joan did a lot of everything and did it well! Yay! And Marro (don't quote me on the spelling) who is a pastry chef...Greg and I made idiots of ourselves standing around the cake table and sampling one of everything.
That tower is a tower of cream puffs and oh man, they were so good. We were able to stay up late that night due to the massive sugar high!

Sunday: During the day Greg and I went into San Francisco. He wanted to see Chinatown and Little Italy. We had a good time and got in an incredible hill workout! haha! We drove down Lombard St...the infamous crooked hill. What else...walked the pier for a little bit, went across the bridge...ohhh, we ate at The Stinking Rose.
YUM! It's a garlic themed place I guess you can say. We got some of the Garlic Olive Oil, it was so yummy. Thanks to Chris for that great information. Eventually we made our way back to San Jose and by then, everyone was gone and we (Mom, Dad, Sara, Charles, Greg and I) had dinner at Original Joe's.

Monday: We got our stuff together and checked out...went to the house, had a little breakfast and said our goodbye's. Then off we went to find Hwy 1 and 17 mile drive. It's a beautiful drive and you get to see some pretty swanky houses. We also stopped in Monterey, had some lunch, did a little sightseeing and got on our way again. So we made it to Carmel and found a hotel for the night and went on a mission to find a place to eat. So if you're looking for artwork or expensive stuff, this is the place for you! It's not much of a town for us, or kids. But we found Jack London's pub for dinner and then Hog's Breath Inn for a after dinner drink.

Tuesday: off to LALA Land!!! We got there and found a hotel...the not-nice lady at the Marriott lost them our business so we went across the street to Holiday Inn I think it was. Every other Marriott we went to was wonderful, but cranky butt was a queen.

Tuesday night we lived the Hollywood lifestyle I must say, teehee! We went to House of Blues for dinner (one of Greg's favorite places around the country) and our waiter asked if we were there for the show, we said "what show" and he said "Chris Cagle" and I said "ooh, I would like that but he wouldn't". Well, either we were beautiful enough or they just wanted to fill the show, but we got free tickets. So we hung out until the show started and I had a good time, Greg couldn't care less, but had fun. And then, Cagle brought out John Waite! He sang a couple songs with him, that was fun. And THEN Cagle babbled about stuff...he was at American Idol that day and wanted to praise one of the guys...some bald guy named Chris? I don't watch the show, but I was standing 2 feet away from him...around a pole...and then Chris Cagle's whole record label and manager were all in the same vicinity! Our brush with fame! :) So we left a little before the show ended and walked up the strip (oh yeah, this is all on the sunset strip). We went into Whisky-a-go-go, where the Doors were a house band when they first started. What a dive! haha! But it was neat...there was some punk rock band playing, they were fun. Then guess what we did? We tried to get into The Viper Room!!! hahaahaa! Do you honestly think they let us in? HA! We waited 3 minutes and said screw it, Jonny Depp doesn't need our money. At least we can say we walked on the sidewalk where River Phoenix died. Then we went to Mel's Diner, I think that's famous too. haha!

Wednesday: We went to Six Flags Magic Mountain! It was great! This is where we went 100mph on Superman Extreme! It's a big anniversary for them...but I think we were early in the season...not everything was open and there weren't many people there. But we had a blast and never had to wait in line for anything. We went on Superman 3 times. A lot of the rides were the same as Great America in Ill...some had different names. Now what did we do Wednesday night...I think we were a little burnt out from the rides...oohhhh yeah. We went down by the Kodak Theater and Mann's Theater! We saw all the famous handprints,
had a snack at Hooters and looked at all the touristy stuff. That night we found a Hard Rock Cafe to eat at...we thought it'd be a happening place, but not so much. It was nice and food was good, but nothing too exciting. So it was kind-of a early night. I think we were still dizzy anyways.

Thursday! This was awesome...my wonderful brother-in-law got us Front of the Line Passes to Universal Studios. Wait for anything, we did not have to. It was great. We had fun here...the Mummy ride was the best! i will not give it away for any future riders, but it's awesome. We went on it twice. And we went on the lot tour, I did not see anyone famous. :*( It just sounds like they shoot a lot of TV Shows there now...but they are setting up for a sequel to Bruce Almighty...it's called Evan Almighty and stars Steve Carrell (40 yr old virgin). So the tour was fun, but seemed to be a 40 minute ad for all the Universal shows of course.

After this we made our way to San Diego! Our hotel (the only place we made reservations for and that was just a couple days in advance) was in Old Town. The first night we went and ate at a Mexican place. We were waiting for a table and I was wearing a Dos shirt, so we got to chat with a guy from Stevens Point area. He's in the service and is in hawaii right now. But he wants to retire in San Diego. So they were able to give us some pointers. we had dinner and then walked around for a bit.

Friday: I think we just drove down to the Gaslamp Quarter and walked around there...we did a lot of walking and saw where the Padre's play...That night we went back to Gaslamp and had the worst dinner of our trip. Do NOT go to Whiskey Girl. I thought it was called Whiskey Grill until I saw the stamp on my bun. ha! Service was eh and the food was pathetic. So we got out of there as soon as possible and found some other places to have fun. Dick's Last Resort, Jimmy Loves, Gaslamp Tavern, Long Yard...it was fun.

Saturday: We went over to Coronado and saw the famous Hotel Del Coronado. It was a very cool place and when we're rich, we're going to stay here. :) we drove around the island and saw stuff. Then we wandered around and went the long way back into San Diego. I'm not sure what else we did...San Diego is kind of a blur...there was a lot of walking and seeing stuff. That night we went to Pacific Beach tho. We had dinner at the PB Bar & Grill...that was good and a fun place. Then we went over to Moondoggies...this place we have just learned is one of the top places that UCSD kids go to. No wonder why I felt old. Haha!

Sunday: Zoo day!!!
And then we had hours to kill until our flight at 10:30 that night. We ended up walking thru Balboa Park for a bit and then found ourselves outside of the Park. We ended up at Gaslamp again and decided to see a movie to kill some time. Greg has been begging to see Silent Hill and I refused to see it, so we had some alone time...he saw that and I saw Ice Age 2. Then we walked around some more and found our way to the trolley depot and hoped on that to get back to the hotel. We waited around and then it was time to go to the airport! And thus concludes our journey...a red eye flight back to Georgia.



It was a fun trip, but we were glad when it came to an end. And now we're home! What have we been up to? Well, putting weight back on Porter, getting back to the grind. Yesterday we went for a drive. There is actually a Hooter's in Savannah. It's out a ways tho. we didn't go there, just wanted to see what the area is like...we believe it is in a area that is going to be growing. There are a lot of hotels...and we found a little outlet mall! yay! And now it's Thursday already! Time flies eh? I think I'm going to walk up to the River today...and I might experiment with the free trolley bus that goes around town. So I'm off! Have a good weekend ya'll!