Georgia | FabGrandma

Tripping Again IX

October 27, 2011 By Fab Grandma 5 Comments

Yesterday was the last day of our roadtrip. We started out in Corinth, Mississippi, getting a late start because we slept in. We got all the way to Tupelo before stopping for breakfast at the Cracker Barrell there.

Mississippi countryside along Hwy 72

The leaves are just now starting to change around there, so it looked very autumny all the way. We took Hwy 45 to Hwy 78, and followed that all the way to Birmingham. Ah, Birmingham. I could have done without going through that city! So much traffic, going so fast, and right through downtown! At least it wasn’t at the lunch time rush.

Acckkk! I hate all that traffic in Birmingham!

Once we got on I-20 eastbound, there was lots of construction. I was kind of hoping it was finished–my daughter went to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa from 1992 through 1997, and I can remember the roads being under construction back then, too. But no–it was torn up in many places between Birmingham and the Georgia line, with signs out for “Trucks Use Left Lane” every time there was construction going on. I was never so glad to get off a highway! (well, except for that bumpy one in Oklahoma City).

construction on I-20 eastbound in Alabama, east of birmingham

Construction--just one of many places along I-20 east of Birmingham

We arrived at Jellystone Campground in Waco, Georgia around 4:30 p.m. eastern time. This is a really nice campground, only three years old, and most of the sites are long pullthroughs. The monthly rate is $300 plus electricity deposit–not bad at all.Oh, and it is only about 3 or 4 miles from Cracker Barrell, Wal-Mart, and Ingle’s Grocery Store.

fall colors on I-20 in the Talledega National Forest

Fall color along I-20 Eastbound in the Talledega National Forest

I haven’t been to see any of the family or friends yet. I haven’t had a hair cut since February, except for when I cut my own bangs at the entrance station when they got too long for my hat. Becky is coming to spend the night with us on Saturday, and she will give me a great hair cut. Can’t wait!

Our home for the next month or so at Jellystone Campground.

Filed Under: Alabama, Georgia, Life on the road

A Flicker Feeding Its Babies

September 20, 2011 By Fab Grandma 1 Comment

When we had our house in Georgia, there was a dead tree next to the deck. We had almost decided to cut it down when a pair of Flickers moved in. It took me 10 rolls of film (yes, film) before I was able to get this photo of the male feeding the chicks!

Male Flicker feeding his young

Male Flicker feeding young

Flicker with young

Flickers

Flicker feeding young chicks

Filed Under: Georgia

Boots, Bras, and Barbecue

March 30, 2011 By Fab Grandma 7 Comments

When we got to town yesterday, I had a shopping date with my daughter, Emily and my friend, Suzanne. We went to the mall so I could shop for boots and bras. Yeah, my two favorite things in the world to shop for. Not!

Last year, we went to a shoe store in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to buy our boots for the job. I bought Wolverines on the recommendation of someone who has worn them all their working life, and paid quite a bit for them. They were comfortable and fit the criteria of being brown polishable boots. But after only two months of wearing them on the job, they started coming apart at the seams. That left me to represent my employer in raveled, ugly boots.When I emailed Wolverine, they pretty much told me they were not going to do anything to help me, that I should expect some wear and tear on a pair of work boots. Well, yeah, but you would think that a pair of boots that cost over a hundred dollars would last more than two months. Even at the Grand Canyon. Especially since I am required to keep them polished and clean. So, sorry, Wolverine. You don’t get any more of my money.

Crafstman 6" Sport Boot

This year, I bought a pair of Craftsmen 6″ Sport Boots from Sears. They looked pretty good on me, were comfortable, and were on sale. I hope they last through the season. If they don’t, I hope that Sears will stand behind their product.

After spending half the day finding boots, it was time to shop for the dreaded undergarments. And you know what a hard time I have shopping for bras! I wanted to buy five new ones, but it seems that most of the women in this town wear the same size as me. With three of us searching, I could only find two bras in my size. Sad but true. At least I didn’t come away empty handed.

After the shopping trip, we all went to our favorite barbecue joint, Hudson’s. It was delicious as usual. I have to tell you about Suzanne. We met over 40 years ago when we were both working at Southern Bell. She was my first room mate when I moved out of my parents house. We kept in touch with each other for about 10 years but then lost each other as life went on. Then, a couple of years ago, we hooked up on Facebook. Yesterday was the first time we had seen each other in at least 30 years! It was really fun to see her again.

Suzanne, her husband, Bob, and me. She was my first room mate way back then.

My son in law Tommy and grandson, Spencer met us at the restaurant, too.

Emily and Spencer finishing up his homework

Spencer is like most other third graders I have known, and puts off doing his homework as long as possible. But because Emily is a teacher, she makes sure he does it. Here he is working on his homework while we waited to be served last night.

Emily, Spencer, and me

Filed Under: Daughters, Friends, Georgia, Grandsons, Life on the road Tagged With: boots, Family, Friends, shopping, shopping for bras

Becky And Rafe Got Married

February 22, 2011 By Fab Grandma 12 Comments

I know you have all been waiting for pictures, so here ya go! It was the most beautiful wedding and we had so much fun! On Friday night, we went over to the Cornelia Community Center to meet up with Rafe’s parents and their friends Evelyn and Gabe, and Rafe’s Aunt Ann to decorate the venue and set things up. It was hard work, setting up tables and chairs.

Cornelia Community Center

We put out all the linens–table covers, chair covers, sashes for the chairs. Candles. Lots of candles. and tyed some more bows.

We tied all those bow! I think there were 85 of them.

The fireplace decorated with greenery and candles

On Saturday night, we attended the Non-Rehearsal Rehearsal Dinner. We met so many people, and met up with our daughters there:

Left to right: Emily, Becca, Me, Becky, the bride.

Me and my girls--I am in Mama heaven here.

I wish I had taken pictures of the food. Becky and Rafe made sure there was gluten free food at the rehearsal dinner and at the wedding. I felt so special just for that! At the rehearsal dinner, which was held at The Nacoochee Grill in Helen, Georgia, I had Shrimp and Grits with Grilled Asparagus. OMG was it ever good! FabGrandpa had Flank Steak, and it was so tender he could cut it with a fork.

Here I am with the mother of the groom, Nancy

FabGrandpa and I really hit it off with the parents of the groom. At the rehearsal dinner, Nancy and I both stood up and said our little piece, and we both got all choked up and cried. (and of course our husbands and children laughed at us!) We are both just so very happy for our children.

The primp party!

On Sunday morning, Jenna Carros from Charmaine’s Inc. came to do everyone’s hair and makeup. I went first. Jenna did a wonderful job and made me look stunning! She put my hair up in a loose bun in the back, and my makeup was not too much. I loved the finished look.

FabGrandma all dressed up!

When it was time for FabGrandpa to get all dressed up, his daughter told him “Dad, put on your black Converse sneakers and let me see how they look with your suit.” She deemed it appropriate, and said “That is so “Dad”.”

Becca and her boyfriend, Ken

Emily and Dad

Me and Fabgrandpa

The Bride and her Daddy

The Bride and her Grandparents

The Groom and his Parents: Buzz, Rafe, and Nancy

Fabgrandpa. The Bride, and me getting wedding photos taken

Becky and her Daddy walking down the aisle

Saying their "I Do's"

Mr. and Mrs. Rafe Singer

and then the party started! There are so many more photos, I may just post some more tomorrow.

Filed Under: Daughters, Family, Georgia, Life on the road Tagged With: daughter, Family, mother of the bride, wedding

Can I Get A Woooo Hooo?!

December 10, 2010 By Fab Grandma 3 Comments

I have been sick for almost a week and sleeping most of the day. I have gotten up long enough to take my medicine, do only the most necessary tasks, then back to bed. Finally, I am feeling better. Strep throat is no fun.

I have so many things I have wanted to write about, so this first post is going to be about some good things that have made me say Wooo Hooo! lately.

Friends

First, our friends, Lynda and Charlie were here for not long enough, only two days, but while they were here, I showed Lynda my rash, that YES, unfortunately has come back and was still itching. I knew if anyone would know what the heck it was, it would be her. And sure enough, she did. She took one look, and said, “Kid, that’s ground itch.” Now, I had never heard of that, but looked it up, and it does sound like what I have been experiencing. And the first doctor I went to in Flagstaff prescribed something that is recommended to cure it, so he was paying attention when I went to him in April. Lynda said to paint it with clear nail polish. So, I painted the area with nail polish and it has cleared up some. Talk about old fashioned remedies! but, by gosh, WOOOO HOOOO! it is helping me.

Camp hosting at Unicoi State Park

We had been talking about looking for a volunteer position in Oregon for next winter, but we have also been talking about buying a little house in Georgia. After talking with several lenders, we have come to the conclusion that if we are going to buy a house in Georgia, we’re gonna have to BE in Georgia for a little while to pull it off. So, we started looking for a winter volunteer spot in Georgia, and last week we confirmed with the volunteer co-ordinator at Unicoi State Park. We’re going to be there from November 30, 2011, through April 10, 2012. And before we head up into the mountains in the north of Georgia, we’ll be spending the month of November at an RV park in west Georgia near our daughters. So, there ya go, another WOOOO HOOOO! Actually three of them, one for BEING in Georgia, one for BEING NEAR our kids, and one for having our volunteer spot BOOKED for next winter already!

Hair combs

I have always loved hair combs–not the kind you use to comb your hair, the decorative kind you put in your hair to be pretty. It may be because I always admired the way they looked in my Aunt Ada’s hair,but, my hair is thin, and combs have never stayed in. A couple of weeks ago, I found this cute little hair gadget at the grocery store. It has two combs that are attached to each other with elastic strands. You put them in and they sort of pull on each other to keep them in place. I am LOVING them. They look so pretty to me.

New hair combs

When we went to Georgia the last time, we were in Best Buy, so I decided to upgrade my phone on my “new every two” with Verizon. So, I picked out just a regular cellphone. It was a decent phone while we were in civilization, but the farther out in the country we went, the less signal it had. By the time we got to the trailer, I had no signal at all. My old phone would at least make a call here. So, the next week, we went to Tuscaloosa and tried to return the phone. Because I didn’t have my old phone with me for them to reactivate, I couldn’t do it. So, a week later, we went back up there and took the phone back. I told the guy at Best Buy that that phone wouldn’t get a signal if I was sitting under the tower! After that transaction was completed, we went over to the Verizon store, where I got a Droid X!

My new love!

I never thought I would be the person who had one of these things. All I ever wanted my phone to do was make a phone call, period. But I have to say, this thing is great! I can get my emails, Facebook stuff, look things up on the internet, play games, and on and on and on. I walked out of the store not even knowing how to make it make a phone call! It took me about a day to figure things out, but Wow! This thing will even get me on the internet with my laptop through a USB connection! And, if I wanted to pay an extra $20 a month, it can be a 3G wireless hotspot! WOOOO HOOO! to that!

Mi-Fi router

While I was at it, I upgraded my Wireless Aircard to a MI-Fi. This little thing is about as big as a credit card, and lets us both get on the internet at the same time! And,even when the phone doesn’t get a signal, this does. I am so amazed by it! I was sitting in the woods, in the middle of nowhere, updating my status on Facebook. Now THAT is connected! WOOO HOOO!

That’s about it for now. What Woooo Hoooo moment have you had lately?

Filed Under: General, Georgia, Volunteering Tagged With: Friends, Georgia, hair, internet, itching, phone, Volunteering

Another Road Trip

November 25, 2010 By Fab Grandma 7 Comments

It seems like we just got here to Alabama, but it was time to jump in the truck and leave again. This time, we went to Georgia to visit some of our family. We drove about 100 miles through the Alabama countryside before we got to I-20:

Across the road from our campsite at Payne Lake

Hwy 25 in Hale County

along Hwy 25 in central Alabama

Between Calera and Pell City, Alabama

We saw this chemical lime plant in Calera, Alabama–everything in the area was covered with a thick layer of white dust. I wouldn’t want to live nearby to that:

the lime quarry

We made it up to I-20 for the next 100 miles. The fall colors were still hanging on to the trees up there:

Somewhere in Alabama on I-20 headed east

We crossed the Georgia state line:

Welcome to Georgia

Then into the Eastern Time Zone:

Yet another time zone!

and finally to our hometown:

My old stomping grounds

I grew up in Douglasville–my family moved there when I was 13. I lived there until we sold our house in August of 2000. The town is nothing like it was back when I was a kid–there are so many people, so many cars, new businesses and a mall. You can’t get out of people’s way in the stores or on the road. If we didn’t have friends and family there we wouldn’t go there at all.

The first night in town, we met up with my daughter Emily, son-in-law Thomas, and grandson, Spencer at Longhorn Steakhouse. Mmmm, we used to go there about once a month. After dinner we went to the mall to walk around and look at stuff. I bought a couple of sweatshirts that I wound up taking back the next day. Emily got some bar stools for her new house that she also wound up taking back.

On Sunday, we went over to Emily’s new house:

Emily's barn

A real tire swing for Spencer

Spencer with one of the kittens

They bought this house a few months ago–it has three bedrooms, 2 baths, a huge kitchen and dining room, front porch across the entire front of it, on six acres, with a barn, for $110,000. They got a great deal on it. Spencer loves the big yard and tire swing.

From Emily’s house, we met our daughter, Becky, at her beauty shop and got our hair cut. Then, FabGrandpa and Becky went to a movie, and Emily and I went to my mother’s house. Then, we all met up at Red Lobster for dinner–there was me and FabGrandpa, Emily, Thomas, Spencer, Becky, and our nephew Daniel and his family–Alicia, Brodie, and baby Katherin. We were so glad to see Daniel–we haven’t seen him since before Brodie was born and he is 3 now. Spencer and Brodie got along so well, and the baby was passed around and loved on by all of us!

Becky and Katherin

Daniel, Brodie, Spencer

Becky, Brodie and Alicia

FabGrandpa lovin up on Katherin

Seems like all we did was eat eat eat, but that is not really true. We drove, ate, visited, slept, and did it all over again for four days. On Monday, we drove up to Cleveland, Georgia to visit FabGrandpa’s Mom and Dad. They live a hundred miles from Douglasville. We had a very nice visit with them–didn’t get any photos there though. We spent the night at the Days Inn in town, then went back for a second short visit before heading back to Douglasville for one last night there.

And it always surprises me that even though I lived there for so many years, went to high school there, and was the service unit director for the Girl Scouts there, I NEVER run into anyone I know anymore. Except–FabGrandpa and I went to dinner on the last night there at our favorite barbecue restaurant. It was very crowded, so we squeezed into a booth. When I sat down, the man sitting at the next table reached over and put his hand on my thigh. I was mortified and couldn’t speak for a moment!! It turned out that he was one of our friends we used to hang out with when we lived in Douglasville, and haven’t seen in 10 years.

Wednesday morning, we finally loaded up all our stuff and headed west, back to Payne Lake in Alabama. It was a whirlwind trip, four days and nights of rush rush rush–I am glad it is over and we are back home to sleep in our own beds. And the only traffic we see is this, right outside our door: