Score!

They're closing the Sam's Club here in Fairmont and moving to Clarksburg, so David and I went yesterday since it's closer for us.. The building was partway emptied out and they were selling thier display items, one of which we'd been looking at before, but at $600 was too much for our budget. Well, there sat the entertainment center - for $100!! It was a bit nicked here and there, but a $500 reduction,who cares? So, what's everyone doing for Halloween? Jackson is going over Becky's house, his costume involves his suit and sunglasses, I forget what he told me. David will be handing out candy and laying in wait for that rotten little girl that took our money for cookies for the Katrina Relief Fund and never brought them. David said if he sees her he's going to snatch her candy bag and he'll be even. Only kidding, but I'm sure he'll say something to her. That'll teach us for paying upfront. I got another 'warning email" this morning, as everyone knows I HATE them. This one was that tells you Swiffer WetJet has a chemical similar to antifreeze in it and causes liver failure in pets. DOES ANYONE READ THIS CRAP BEFORE THEY SEND IT OUT?? Why on earth would a company sell a product that kills pets? And do people REALLY think there's a bunch of dead pets laying all over the US and no one's noticed? This website http://urbanlegends.about.com/  is the best, you go there, type in what the email is about in search and it'll come back with the current circulating email and tell you if it's true and when it started. And for the record - there is NO antifreeze in Swiffer Wetjet, why would there be???

Calm After The Storm

David is still cleaning up the mess left from the snowstorm we had during the week. We lost a big tree behind the house (about 20,25 feet) so he's been sawing it up all week. As soon as it dries out around here, we're having a bonfire! and I can't wait. Everyone has them all the time, you're allowed to burn everything with the exception of spouses and couches. And they've really cracked down on the couch burning, all of the college students were paying thier fines this week so they were being peevishly broadcasted on the local news since a large number of them feel that being unable to torch thier sofas is a civil rights violation. ANYHOW, I had a midterm exam this week, no, I don't know how I did and refuse to even guess at it. Since it's a certification course the only grade that matters is the one I get on the certification test so this was more of a test run than anything else. I've been doing my usual amount of driving but now discovering more back roads and I can pretty much navigate around without ever seeing a major highway most of the day. The one thing I really love about all the back country roads this time of year is the leaves, I'm trying to enjoy them while I can. David is busy plugging away at his new room he's building and is starting to look at jobs. Since they're such a pain in the ass about testing not to mention finding any help around here, his new tact is to only do small jobs and his ad has gotten a fairly good response so maybe that's the way to go for now.

Let It Snow??

This is what greeted me this morning - snow. And not just a light freakish dusting, snow SNOW - at times blizzardy sort of stuff. School was delayed 2 hours, and then completely cancelled. Of course it had rained for two days beforehand and it was a wet snow so it caused plenty of damage. We didn't lose power - thank goodness, but most of Morgantown did last night so a lot of people were late to work this morning and pretty chilly. Of course, being a visit nurse made my day interesting. On my way to the lab from the 1st job I saw the cars stopping in pairs on both sides of the roads, it looked like friends stopping  when they see each other driving by. But it was one side of the road telling the other to turn around because there were live wires on the road and to follow them to route 68. I told the two cars next and they told the ones after that, it's an interesting system that works around here.  They closed route 7 down for the whole day due to downed power lines and trees so I ended up taking Snake Hill Road out to Masontown (pictures 5 - 8 ) - it wasn't too bad if you went slow. The trees were so heavy with snow they were bent down enough to brush the top of my car in some spots, it was so pretty though! The trees are still yellow and red and covered with snow they looked amazing.  I managed to get out to all my patients, the last one said "I didn't think you were coming, but I'm really glad you're here!" I was glad I made it too.

Take Your Son To Prison Day

Yesterday was the trip to Moundsville Penetentiary - it's far from us, about 100 miles but as you can see from the pictures, was worth the trip. David went with us so we took turns with the driving. The prison was built in 1866, one of the oldest in the country so the old parts are very cool. The original prison was built by the inmates themselves and in the newer parts, there's artwork all over the walls - all painted by murderers and rapists.  Jackson and Becky really enjoyed the whole thing, usually neither of them will say boo in public, but the two of them were asking all sorts of questions and volunteering to try out the equipment. The guide was a former guard of the prison (it closed it's doors in 1996 due to the supreme court deciding the 5 x 7 cells were inhumane, but really - considering the people they housed weren't too concerned with human rights, it's just not understandable). The cell that I took pictures of Jackson in at one time had 3 to a cell which I can't imagine. They had a display room with all the homemade weapons, a letter from Charles Manson asking to be transferred there (he grew up about 8 miles from the prison) and the electric chair which was used only 9 times. They hung them right up to the 1950's - I think there were 94 hangings and did you know that the gallows are exactly 13 feet high? One foot for the judge and one for each juror. It was a good trip because not only was it right up Jackson's alley but it was very historic. The only thing that was not good was the weather which was very cold, damp and rainy - being in a prison  constructed soley of metal and stone was not the warmest place to be. They stop running the tours in November due to that - the guide said some tour groups have tried to tour in January but they rarely make it through more than half as the only thing that's heated is the lobby where you start the tour and the display room where you end. After we went to Young's Homesyle Cafeteria where we saw everyone from the tour there, the food was pretty good and then we headed home. Even though it was a long drive, I was very glad we went.

Hail To The Doritos!

That's not really a giant dorito chip in his hand, I think it's a tri-corner hat. That's a very strange statue which is on top of the court building in Waynesburg, painted silver since it's obviously not quite tacky enough for some people. I think the next things I'll be taking pictures of are the local bars around here which can be a bit odd, to say the least. I might try to get a picture of the Hunting Club in Masontown which is pretty hysterical. I thought it was abandoned until I saw all the guys in camo. I've been having a hard time getting through my jobs with all the autumn leaves to distract me, not to mention almost getting bonked down the mountain by a logging truck who didn't see me parked on the edge of the drop off. A little inadvertant Thelma and Louise action I suppose. They're also doing alot of road work so you sit and wait, I wish they would get another Stop/Slow sign guy out in Holbrook - the one they have now is super disgusting. He spits. A lot. I was the 2nd car back the other day so I got quite the view of Mr. Yicky hawking loogies every 3 seconds. After about 5 minutes I felt like hopping and out and yelling DO YOU HAVE SOME SORT BRAIN DISORDER THAT MAKES YOU DO THAT?? but I refrained as he didn't look overly friendly either. Oh well, at least thier fixing the roads this year, last year they didn't have any money in the state budget so all they could afford was a bunch of guys to stare at the road. Now we can afford guys that can stare and spit, whoo hoo living large!

Some Outdoors Is Greater Than Others

The leaves are finally getting spectacular, all over now. It's not all over though, some towns I drive through are still green and others are a riot of color. I'm going out to Holbrook tomorrow and plan on taking a lot of pictures there. The mountains are getting really nifty looking with all the oranges, reds and yellows. They're predicting some wild weather though and it was pretty windy today so I hope we don't have one big storm and instant bare trees. David's latest project is the hot tub room - he's actually rebuilding it with recovered lumber so it's pretty cheap, just very messy.  We're busy just doing stuff lately, work has been very busy but I think it's about to fall off, I'm discharging a pile of patients this week and things are pretty quiet on the western front which has me a bit worried. And I have plenty to worry about so I dont need any help from outside sources.This weekend I'm finally putting away my winter clothes which David got down the other day, all that and the temps in the 70's today. It's not going to last though according to the weather, they're expecting a cold front. And what's the gas prices in your neck of the woods? Today I saw it as low as $2.45!

Man Bites Dog

Copper is still neurotic about his feet, therefore we play with them whenever the opportunity presents itself. He gets all wierd and paranoid and that just encourages everyone,doesn't it? David's done with the living room, he painted it with the grey paint we picked up at a sidewalk sale ($3 for 5 gallons) to prime it and we liked the color so much we're leaving it. The french doors are a huge improvement, the windows on the house are north and south instead of east and west so it makes the house dark. We're painting the dining room a cream color because that room is REALLY dark and not helped at all by the Brady Bunch style dark paneling. David's started ripping apart the hot tub room off the kitchen next, the next set of french doors will go there, the old tub is OUT and the new tub will be in. He's taking out all the big windows as it's all rotted out around them from them being improperly installed. He found a very large wasp's nest - there are no wasps in it - it was probably there before they closed in the porch. If anyone wants it, let me know. His next project is the church - they've hired him to start renovation which will work out nicely for us - it's pretty close and he can still work on the house. Church this week was a big meeting, we are now in committees as the sudden resignation of our church leader has really left us floundering. No one still knows why they resigned, both the leader and her husband are refusing to talk to any church members, so perhaps we'll never know. I appear to be permenently in charge of the coffee since I signed up for it twice. David's volunteered for the yardwork and I'll be doing Growth and Membership (there are only 3 people in my committee but that's better than the last time when there was 1).(the 1 would be me.)

Cow Jam

I had a weekend visit to do yesterday morning out in Pa so I headed out at 7:40am only to find myself sitting in cow traffic. The cows had gotten out again and were rather happily standing in the road trying to figure out thier next move. Eating and Pooping is fairly high on thier list so that would be what they were doing. I don't think thier mother knew they were out as they appeared to have been out for quite a while. Most of the fences around here are original and havent' been repaired so they're a hodge podge of sticks, wire, boards, etc - when the cows decide to see if the grass is greener on the other side they just lean on it and there they are, on the other side. I took the backroads all the way out to my patient's house, I passed a huge coal mine with equally huge piles of coal, all the mines here are in high production now, I don't know if it's because winter is coming or with gas prices everyone is switching to coal. I tried to take a picture of one of the little bridges I have to go over(#5), it's hard to see but the actual bridge is so rickety it's hilarious. I don't worry about it falling - it's apparently been there forever and will be there long after I'm gone. Not to mention if the road slides, they just pop a sign up and that fixes it. When we lived on Grafton rd, the bridge had collapsed on one side so they put up a sign and safety cones and although they fixed it the following year, I always wondered why the other side didn't collapse or better yet - why no one but me worried about it. My favorite sign of the week is "Falling Rocks" - like how are you NOT supposed to worrry about that??

My Milkshake Brings All The Boys To The Yard...

There appears to be a lot of cows out lately, more than usual. I'm not sure if there's something going on in Cow World or perhaps this is the time of year they migrate. The leaves are finally turning colors and all of my older patients are predicting a hard winter using various wives tales as proof that it will happen. We'll see. I've been busy as usual with work and school and David has been working hard renovating the house. He's scheduled to take the contractor's test in a few weeks which is a major pain in the butt - what a scam. Apparently it doen'st matter who takes it in the house - I can take it for him!! And if I wasn't so busy with everything else I would consider it. Adam spent his birthday out at sea again but will be back in port soon I think. He's thinking of coming home in January or so but will be running all over. The tempeture has dropped this week and David has got to get the winter clothes out, I'm starting to look a little silly in my cotton skirt and flipflops. Vincent has really been bad lately, David relieved him of another chipmunk yesterday and made him go in the house - he said the chipmunk seemed to like that idea too.

Road Trip

I went to a wound care seminar yesterday in Johnstown, Pa. My co-worker was going too so we rode together - I drove - 115 miles to where they were holding it. I at least had a little heads up on the fact we were signed up for it, Melissa wasn't told until Monday so she was a bit not too enthusiastic, especially given the 230 mile round trip.We were also offered a hotel room due to the distance but no one was too interested in spending the night in Johnstown, Pa The Hot Spot Of Pennsylvania, Home Of The Strip Malls And Fast Food Restaurants Every Two Feet as tempting as that is.  Since we live down the road from one of the largest teaching hospitals who must have seminars all the time, it didn't make too much sense, but we got paid for the day and I get milage so whatever. We met at Sheetz at 5:45am and arrived a bit after 8 - which would have been perfect had our boss given us the right address. She did not. The hospital was hosting it, but the actual seminar was being held at the local college 20 minutes away, 30 if you didn't know where you were going. My GPS decided to fritz out but we had good directions so we made it there by 9am and I don't think we missed much. We got out a bit early which was good but I didn't get to take any pictures of the fall leaves because my camera had dead batteries. And then when we got back to town I-79 was back up - both sides as there had been multiple accidents so we had to take the scenic route to Melissa's car - it just wasn't my day.

A Couple More Pictures

Becky's mom took WAY more pictures than we did, but was nice enough to make us a set - they came out pretty good. They both looked so nice, but of course today they're back to Festive Funeral Wear. The leaves are turning more colors but I think I'll wait until next week to do any more picture taking since some of the trees are taking thier own sweet time about things. It seems like summer just dragged on and on and on, but now October is a third of the way over!  I've got to figure out where Mylan Park is too - they're having a big hot air ballon festival there next week which I'll be attending. This week church was not too much fun - our lay leader and her husband abruptly handed in thier resignation with no notice sending the entire church into a tailspin since no one, including the board saw this one coming. I'm in charge of the coffee again this week - Mark was laughing when he saw the sign up board (mine was the only name on it) and cheerfully pointed out the next 3 years appeared to be open...... I finished up early today so I'm home at 3 - but tomorrow I have an all day seminar in Pittsburgh which means I'm out of the house at 6 am. Yuck -o - la.

Homecoming.

I picked up Becky's corsage yesterday - I wish I'd taken a picture of it because it came out very pretty - red roses with  black lace. Jackson was very impressed. Jackson refused to get dressed until it was almost time to go and left with tie in hand. No one in the house knows how to tie a tie so Becky's dad was in charge of that detail. I took pictures of Jackson before we left but when we got to Beckys' she wasnt even dressed - I'd forgotten I was dropping him off early. Becky's mother is going to have two sets made so I'll have them later on in the week. As I was almost home I passed David who rolled down his window to tell me he was going to Becky's house because Jackson had just called to see if Dad could bring the ticket he forgot. I gave David the camera so we did manage to get one picture. Becky's mom was impressed I think that Jackson brought a corsage so we scored brownie points in that department. Jackson said the dance was ok. I think the rain might stop today - the temps have dropped into the 50's at night and then we warm up to shorts weather during the day guarenteeing you'll never be dressed right. I've got to go to a seminar in Pittsburgh on Tuesday which would be more fun if I didn't have to be there at 7am (it's a two hour drive).

Under Construction

David has been busy for the past week remodeling the livingroom, he bought the french doors from the pawn shop believe it or not. They were in perfect condition and David recognized the brand - new they would be over a thousand dollars apiece. He got two sets for $300 and will install the other set at a later date. They're great heavy doors and came with a screen which has already been Cat Tested much to David's annoyance. We're trying to decide what color to paint the livingroom now, we're leaning towards a cream yellow sort of color or a brick red. I'm trying to convince him to do the dining room now too, that will definately be a lighter color due to lack of windows. He also moved the deck to outside the french doors beside the pool which we're covering with a tarp this weekend as it has become very G-ross. We thought the chemicals we put in it would keep it from turning green but they did not. We either did something wrong or because we've left it uncovered the sun probably evaporated all the chemicals. But we're pulling out the liner in the spring - we're just leaving the water in to keep it from collapsing - so as long as I don't have to look at it, it's ok. Homecoming is tonight and everyone is excited, I have to pick up Becky's flowers this morning and David got Jackson's suit from the cleaners. Of course it's raining this morning and will probably be raining tonight but that's not putting a damper on anything. Vincent just came in, he's soaked - he insisted on going out this morning and reappeared in the window a minute ago wearing the classic Drowned Rat ensemble. He's now sitting on my foot drying himself off, such a considerate fellow, sigh.

A Bird In The Paw Is Worth Two In The Bush

Vincent has become quite the killer as of late. Mainly birds, but David said he'd caught a chipmunk the other day, but lost control of it. So he spends his days now in the yard figuring out who's number is up today. Jackson and Becky have been curtailed, Becky apparently is not doing too well in school which has led to a reduction of Jackson Time. We have to go pick out a corsage today for Homecoming, which judging from all the ads is a Bigger Deal than I thought it was. Everyone in town is eager to supply all of our Homecoming Needs. I have to take a look at his suit since he wore it to school one day and who knows what he got on it. Work has gotten tough this week, every time I call a patient to confirm an appointment there's a problem - no supplies, they didn't deliver the medications, etc... and I end up on the phone forever. I've got to start taking pictures again, the trees are really turning colors now. The only thing I have to be very careful about is the deer, since it's not only rutting season but hunting season starts soon which riles them up further. And these are not the sedate deer of The Hideout, these buggers come flying out of nowhere in a herd so I've very much slowed down on the back roads. Especially since we've established last week in the backwoods I'm very much on my own. I'm currently starting a new knitting project - another poncho and it seems to be coming out much better than the one I made a few months ago with the stripes. Stripes seemed like a good idea at the time but the final results proved other wise.

It's Not All Buckwheat And Roses

Today was the last day of the 61rst Buckwheat Festival in Kingwood, WV - better late than never I suppose. I didn't realize it was that time of year and we missed the parade, and the judging and Jessica Lynch, but we managed to make it for the last buckwheat pancake dinners.  They charge you $6 a head but it's all you can eat. The trick of it is - all you CAN eat is about two buckwheat pancakes and maybe a couple sausage patties(David of course got double sausage, one of the advantages of dining with a vegetarian) - after that you would either explode or drop through the floor from sheer weight. I also discovered that the Beehive Hairdo is alive and well in Kingwood,WV. We went to the arts and crafts and the blue ribbon hall, then headed out home, stopping in Arthurdale where Eleanor Roosevelt stopped through about a million years ago and they've never gotten over it. They take thier celebraties seriously around here. Don Knotts has his own boulavard as does Mary Lou Retton, this year was the first one that Don didn't come out for the annual Don Knotts Festival as he wasn't feeling up to snuff. The weather is having a hard time deciding what it would like to be. This morning we were discussing getting out the winter clothes, by noon we were in shorts. David bought us a  bedroom set from Bubba's Garage the other day, it's pretty nifty and was only $230. We've also been busy bees getting ready for the Homecoming Dance, I had Jackson trying on dress shoes to go with the suit and made him put on a size 13 1/2. He said "What do you think I have, clown feet?!". I told him if the shoe fits.....

Half A Building Is Better Than No Building I Suppose

This building is in Uniontown Pa and it's fairly nifty. When you drive by it looks huge but as you come around it's thin with a crappy little red building attached behind it. They've found a nurse for Uniontown so I probably won't be spending too much time up there anymore. I didn't mind the driving but I did mind getting home really late every night. The tempeture has dropped quite a bit at night, we've fired up the heater a couple of times so far but David's looking into a pellet stove too. All the houses around here are heated with natural gas and if you watch the news we are going to get slammed big time this winter. David sold his big lawn tractor which he used all summer before he bought the gravelly -and he sold it for exactly what he'd paid for it so we didn't lose any money.Jackson went on a haunted hayride with Becky, her brother and her brother's wife and had a good time. They have a ton of them around here for all of October. The last picture I've posted is Adam and Reiko, aren't they a nice couple? I'm so glad he's found someone so nice and hopefully they can come home in the spring so we can meet her! For anyone who's sending Adam birthday related things his address is: SN Adam Lester, O Division Operations Dept, USS Gary FFG-51, FPO-AP 96666-1505.  He's going to be out at sea again for his birthday this year so he could use a bit of cheering up. We're not doing too much today, there's a football game at WVU so the traffic is jammed and they're scalping tickets on the side of the road which makes the problem worse. There's wall to wall RVs and every hotel, motel, and flophouse is packed - some people here actually rent thier houses for game season.