12 of 12 March 2008

It's that time of the month again. Chad's 12 of 12. 12 photos from my day on the 12th of each month. Here we go with March.

7:56 a.m. - No - it isn't the return of '24'. It is just me oversleeping again. Looks like I'm still not getting use to the Daylight Savings Time change, as I keep sleeping through the alarm. I needed to leave the house by 8:00 a.m. for a doctor's appointment at 8:45. Looks like I'm gonna be running late. (I'm calling this one a bonus picture, just because you can barely see it.)


7:58 a.m. - No time for hair or make-up, but I'll at least make the time to brush my teeth.


8:07 a.m. - Diet Coke - The Breakfast of Champions. (and oversleepers.)

8:10 a.m. - Heading out of the house and setting the security system. Only 10 minutes behind schedule. (The bright side of DST, now the clock on my security system is back to being correct. I have no idea how to change it, so it is always an hour off during the winter.)

8:22 a.m. - The doctor that I have an appointment with has an office at the Fayette hospital, which is sort of in the boonies. So, I got to see some nice scenery on the way down. You can't really see it very well in the photo, but there is a beautiful fog over the lake to the right.

8:42 a.m. - I make it to the hospital with a whole 3 minutes to spare.

11:27 a.m. - I've spent the last hour having my neck x-rayed. I keep wobbling and she's had to redo several of them. I can't help it, I just keep getting dizzy when I try to stand perfectly still for so long. At least she has been nice about it (as well as understanding when I asked if I could snap a photo for my 12 of 12.)

My morning has been spent having a multitude of x-rays, an EKG, and blood work (no photos of that - didn't want the flash to distract the lady sticking the needle in my arm - especially since it took 3 tries to get a good vein.) I also have to go back in a few days for an MRI, but she didn't want to stress me out more than necessary with too many tests in a single day, especially since I tend to freak the heck out when I have an MRI.

My doctor thinks that the episode I had last week may have been a mini-stroke, hence all the tests. You know, stroke isn't really a word I wanted to hear being used to describe my health until I was at least 80. But at least it has the word 'mini' in front of it, so I guess I'll hold on to that for now.

12:29 p.m. - My Mom went with me to the doctor's appointment, and I took a vacation day since we weren't sure how long the tests would take. So, I ended up having time to go back to her house for lunch when everything was done for the day.

12:33 p.m. - That's my Mom showing off the blooms on her Camilla. Mom doesn't just have a green thumb - her whole arm is green. She can take a half inch of a plant, root it in a cup of water on the window sill, and a month later have something like this.

1:45 p.m. - I figure since most of my 12 of 12s have been indoors or at the office, I'd take advantage of being outdoors and shoot some of Mom's yard. Here is one of the Bradford Pear trees, already in bloom despite the freezing temps we had last week.

1:46 p.m. - and one of the bird bath.

3:17 p.m. - Finally home from Mom and Dad's and checking out my mail. Looks like I finally got the post cards my parents sent to me from Argentina and the Falkland Islands two weeks ago. They went to Antarctica and back and still beat the post cards home.

4:28 p.m. - It has been a long day, so I'm taking advantage of having the day off and taking a little nap. I just kind of liked how the light looks shining through the combination of the blinds and the sheers.

11: 40 p.m. - Finally waking up from what was to be a short nap. So, no more photos for the day. and of course, it is almost midnight and I'm now wide awake. Great.

Guess I'll go check out the TiFaux real quickly and see who was booted from American Idol (yes - I watch that) and Top Model (yes - I watch that too.) My bets are on AI booting either the girl that ruined '8 Days a Week' or the male stripper, and for ANTM, since we've already lost Atalya and Allison, I think one of the remaining "A" girls (Amy, Anya, Aimee, Aimy, @me*, Amis, Alfalfa, etc.) will be the girl who Tyra does not have photo of in her hands and must therefore go back to the loft, pack her bags and leave immediately.

Yep, that should put me right to sleep.

54 Years and Still Counting

Happy Anniversary to my parents.

They were married 54 years ago today in New York City at Rockefeller Plaza on a television show called "Bride and Groom." This was an NBC daytime show that took ordinary couples from across the country, married them live on the air and showered them with prizes and a honeymoon trip. My parents - the original Reality TV celebrities.

Mom applied on a whim, and was pretty surprised when they were selected. They originally planned to be married in June, so that Mom's sister could be her matron of honor (she was pregnant with her second son, who was due in May) but when the show called, the wedding date was moved up to February and Mom had to find a quick replacement.

While Mom and Dad both worked for Delta at the time, Delta did not have service to New York. So, on a cold winter day in February, my mom, her parents, brother, aunt, 5 year old cousin and a friend, along with my Dad and his mother, all loaded into my grandfather's car for the drive to New York. Yes, you read that correctly - 9 people in one car. Dad said that after that trip, the last 54 years have been a breeze.

Fortunately, while Delta couldn't fly them to New York for the wedding, they were able to provide them with the hook up for their honeymoon trip to Havana, Cuba (in exchange for what would be Delta's first nationwide, network television advertising during the show.)

Now, 54 years later, they are on the road again, this time headed for a 3 week cruise of South America and Antarctica. I dropped them at the airport a few hours ago, and I miss them already.

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad. Here's to another 54 years together.

February 2008 - 12 of 12

Well, it is that time of the month again. No, not that time. It is the 12th, and so time for another 12 of 12. (Brainchild of Chad Darnell.)

So, away we go.

7:11 a.m. -If you'll indulge me for a moment, my first photo of the day is accompanied by a rant.

Now, I can understand that when an apparently healthy 28 year old is found dead, many people may initially assume that illegal drugs were involved. Heck, I thought about it myself when I first read that Heath Ledger had died. But then, I'm just a random person, thinking that thought to myself or discussing it among friends. I'm not a news journalist. And so, it really irritated me that the supposedly legitimate news media kept spouting unconfirmed, and apparently untrue, rumors (pills strewn around the apartment!!!) and salacious innuendo (he was naked!!!) regarding his death before any real facts were ever determined. And one of the things that bugged me most was the whole - "Oh My God, He had 6 different prescription medications in his home!!!"

Heck, ONLY 6? I currently have 10. And those are just the ones that I've had to take in the last two weeks. Between orthopedic surgery, arthritis, depression, anxiety, trouble sleeping at night (which leads to trouble staying awake during the day), allergies, a recent virus and some ongoing stomach issues, a CNN reporter would lose their frickin' mind should they wander into my bathroom following the discovery of my body and see just how many pill bottles I have on my counter. (God, I hope I'm not naked when they find me.)


7:42 a.m. - Major fashion faux pas narrowly averted. You see, I have the same pair of shoes in black, brown and navy. And I almost walked out the door with one black and one brown. I really need to get the burned out light bulb in my closet changed, because it is becoming more and more evident that I'm dressing in the dark.

7:55 a.m. - The infamous intersection where I was accussed of running the red light. Which isn't there. Because there is a STOP SIGN.

8:07 a.m. - One new years resolution was to take my lunch to work and not eat out as much. I even found this nifty little insulated bag for my meal....... 12:20 p.m. - which in real life, never looks like it does on the box.
3:27 p.m. - Following a discussion with officemate MB that started out business related, but took many twists and turns on the way through Non-Sequitur Land, I ended up finding out that my middle name is of French origin and means Sea of Bitterness. Not quiet sure how I feel about this discovery.

5:35 p.m. - Finally leaving the office. There's my reflection in the shiny doors of the elevator.

5:37 p.m. - And out into the parking lot for the long (2 minute) drive home.
5:39 p.m. - Pulling into the alley behind the house after work. You can see my little white garage door opening on the left. Also, you can see one of my company's buildings in the distance behind the blue garage at the end of the alley. I really am that close to work.

5:42 p.m. - When I got home, I noticed that my neighbors Kirk and Randy (you can see Randy peaking out the door through the blinds) had their grill up and running, cooking some ribeyes for dinner. I had bought one too over the weekend (Publix had them on sale) and so Kirk told me that I could bring mine over and he would cook it up. These guys are awesome neighbors.

5:45 p.m. - I love Kirk and Randy's See Rock City birdhouse. We just need to find a good tree to hang it in.

8:15 p.m. - I'm trying so hard to cut back on the Diet Coke. But I'm losing that battle. You know it is bad when you run out, and even though you've had your shower and are in your PJs, you get back dressed so you can make an emergency run for some more. But, then again, I need something to help me choke down those 10 prescriptions.

11:15 p.m. - Bonus shot - The theme for the bonus is, what else, 12. Since most of my favorite TV shows long ago ran out of new episodes due to the strike, and since most of what is on now is really, really bad reality crap, I find that I have a lot more time to read. This week, I've been reading one of the Janet Evanovich books in the Stephanie Plum series. These are some seriously funny books. I'm only on the ninth one - I think that she is about up to 13 now. Anyway, I just hit chapter 12.
So there you have it. See you next month.

Is time moving backwards???

Last week, it was Paula Abdul and Tom Petty at the Super Bowl. (1989)

This week, I've got Tina Turner singing "You Better Be Good To Me," The Time singing "Jungle Love," and Herbie Hancock winning Album of the Year at the Grammys. (1983)

If REO Speedwagon, Styx and Hall & Oates (1980) show up at the Academy Awards, I'm gonna move back home with my parents.

Thank God Its Over.....

at least for now.

The lead up to Super Tuesday has driven me nuts. I've been receiving an average of 5 calls a day (some recorded, some with real people) supporting various presidential candidates.

I was home sick following a medical procedure Friday before last, and I received 7 calls within 2 hours. Really! I know I can be prone exaggeration for comedic effect, but trust me, this quit being funny after then 3rd call.

My caller ID, which holds the last 30 calls, no longer holds the number of anyone I actually know. But I have 7 calls from Hillary Clinton (seriously - check out the caller ID!)

I hadn't bothered to even listen to my messages for the last few days, so tonight I decided to listen to them before I deleted. My two most favorites were from Hillary and a supporter of Huckabee.

On the Hillary one, she was giving her spiel via recording, telling me what her plans are in a nice, friendly tone, and then suddenly her voice changes, the tone turns sharp and she goes, "So GET OUT and vote." I swear, the GET OUT was so loud and harsh, it sounded like she was trying to expel an evil entity from an old home in Amityville. I almost dropped the phone and ran out to see if I could vote again.

The Huckabee one was a little frightening as well. The caller sounded so old, that I think she may have made calls for Warren G.Harding campaign back in 1920. I could only understand every other word, but I think she may have said something about being pro-life unless you were an illegal or gay, and then something about guns.

Thankfully, only one person never called, never woke me up, never interrupted my dinner. And he's receiving my vote.

President Colbert. That sounds nice.

Must Remember

It sort of defeats the purpose of the 100 calorie snack.......

if you consume 6 of them at the same time.

My Brain Hurts

But I'm Happy!!!

Hurley showed his shadow this evening, so that means at least 7 more weeks of Lost.

Thank God, because I'm just about HGTVed out.

Save me Al Gore!

This Global Warming is killing me.

So for the second time in less than a week, it snowed here in Atlanta.

Not tons of it, but more than we had the other day.

Tonight, the temperatures are supposed to go down into the teens, so what we have will probably freeze over during the night and I will definitely be stuck come tomorrow morning.

I was fine with that, until I realized that I'm out of Diet Coke. Truthfully, I've been trying to cut out drinking so many of them and have done pretty well since the first of the year. But the more that I thought about spending two days without one, I just couldn't take it, so I broke down, drove over to the gas station/convenience store down the road and got one before the roads got bad.

Took this shot of my house on the way back.

Now I'm ready to curl up and settle in for a while. I've got my Diet Coke, my blanket and a couple of left over Vicodin, which should be helpful as the cold is making my knee hurt again. I've also got the first season of Dexter and the second season of Life on Mars on my TiFaux, along with a couple of movies, so I think I'm set.

Wheeeeeee!!!! It's Snowing

Before anyone makes fun of me, please understand that I live in Atlanta, and it never really snows here. So when we get flurries of any kind, and they actually start sticking, it is a big ole "Run to Publix and Buy Milk and Bread" kind of deal for everyone.


As an added bonus, we got sent home from work an hour early. Because when it only snows once every four years, and usually no more than an inch or two, our state doesn't really invest in all the road cleaning gear associated with real heavy snow. So traffic can get pretty messy really quick.


You can't really see the snow in this last one, but I thought it was a pretty shot.

12 of 12 - January 2008

This month's 12 of 12 is pretty weak, seeing as how it was a Saturday and I've been sick most of the week. So today was the one day that I could sleep the morning away and feel no guilt. Of course, not much to document either, but I tried.

11:17 am - Once I recalled that it was the 12th, I had to search the rubble that has been accumulating on my desk to find the camera. It was buried under all this. Maybe I will make cleaning off the desk a project for the day.
11:26 am - I'm actually a little bit hungry, so I made some Eggo Waffles in the toaster. That is really about the extent of my cooking skills. Oh, and this picture features my favorite kitchen utensil - Toaster Tongs from Pampered Chef. Best $3.00 I ever spent, and at least I was able to say I ordered something at my friend's party.


11:55 am - FX runs episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Saturday and Sunday mornings at 7:00 am, so I will occasionally TiVo them and have a mini-marathon when the mood strikes. We are currently in Season 7. I think this was from the episode "First Date" where we find out that Principal Wood (DB Woodside - such a hottie) is the son of the slayer that Spike (James Marsters - also a hottie) killed in the 70s. Don't know why I TiVo these, as I have all 7 seasons on DVD.
1:40 pm - Since it is obvious I'm not going anywhere today, I thought that I'd at least take advantage of the semi-warm temperatures and sit out on the front porch, read and get some fresh air. Well, as fresh as it can be this close to the airport. But thankfully, we are no where near the flight paths, so it is reasonably quiet.

1:41 pm - another one from my chair on the porch. Told you it was a slow day.

1:42 pm - I'm reading "Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door" by Lynne Truss. You know, maybe I should go back inside and bolt the door as she suggested.

2:50 pm - Heading back indoors, I spot the dining room. Well, at least if I don't get the desk cleaned up, I still have one clean room in the house.

5:30 pm - I really need to get this case of water put away before I end up tripping on it, or worse, kicking it with my little toe. But it is just so darn heavy.

6:05 pm - I need a nap. Be back with you in a bit.

8:37 pm - OK - Nap over. Let's see if I can get that desk cleaned up. Of course, it will probably take hours, since I will stop to read everything on the desk while I'm decluttering it. See - here is my Entertainment Weekly magazine, and I must at least scan it before I move on. Can you believe that all 4 Baldwin Brothers are on TV at the same time? And some of them are actually on good shows.

11:14 pm - Yay! I got the desk area cleaned up and all of my stuff filled. I took this from the distance so you could see a little more of the house, since several of my out of town friends still haven't seen the place. But maybe, little by little, I'll photo the house and put it all together in one post.
11:15 pm - And the view from the other direction. You may notice in next to the door are my canes - the bane of my existence lately. I have two - an inside one (with the old lady feet) and an outside one (black and sleek, goes with my outfits.) I'm able to get around a little better around the house without them, but any long distances or steps still requires the support of one.

So I guess that is it. Nothing too exciting, but at least I feel a little better after lounging around the house all day.

Happy 2008 2.0

Yeah - I'm trying this again.

Hopefully my second attempt at kicking off the new year will go better than what happened last week. I've already got my lunch ready to go for tomorrow, have an extra alarm set for the morning, and have planned a new route to work to avoid the invisible traffic light that only one cop can see.

Wish me luck.

I Want a Do Over

One working day into the year and I already want a do over.

I had resolved to start the year by setting the clock a half hour early, to allow plenty of time for me to make breakfast at home and prepare a lunch. This would help me save money by not eating out, and would be healthier for me since I wouldn’t be eating as much junk.

So of course, I woke up this morning at 8:30 (30 minutes past when I’m due in at work) with my alarm clock flashing at me. Unexplained power outage during the night. Since I had to rush out the door, homemade breakfast and packed lunch were quickly forgotten.

Then I am stopped by the police on my way to work. Now, I only work ½ mile from my house. And yet I still manage to get pulled over for running a red light. Only, there was no red light. There was a stop sign - which I stopped at. There was a red light 80 feet down at another intersection. But where I pulled out, there was only a stop sign. Which I stopped at. And waited for two other cars on the main road to pass before I pulled out. But apparently, there is a special invisible red light that only this one cop can see. Cause to every one else in the world - there is only a stop sign at the intersection of Harding and Virginia.

To make the experience all the more enjoyable, he pulls me over as I'm pulling into my office building entrance, and so all my coworkers, boss, etc. get to witness me standing there with the police as they arrived at work for the day. Now I am my father's child - I very much respect authority figures and am always polite to the police. So when I was accused of running a red light, I told him (nicely) that I pulled out at Harding, where there is a stop sign, and not at Rainey, which is where the light is. So then he tells me that there are red lights at both streets and that I was obviously lost and probably had no idea where I was going and just didn't notice the red light. I explained that I only lived one street over from Harding, and that I drove that road every day to work, so I wasn't lost, and that I knew that it was a stop sign. And he told me that he didn't give a damn where I lived, that he patrolled that street every day and he knew it was a red light. So at this point, I was starting to get a little upset, and I offered to ride back down the 100 yards to the street and show him that it was a stop sign. Well, that really made him mad (I guess since it would ultimately prove him wrong) and then he threatened to take me in and have me tell it to the judge. But then thankfully, he started backing down off of it and said he would just let me off with a warning, and to not run the red light (WHERE THERE IS NO RED LIGHT) anymore.

By the time I get into my office, I am shaking. Both from the 18 degree cold and the whole being pulled over and threatened with jail for no reason. And so, as I start signing into my computer, I see something red all over my keyboard and I realize that my finger is bleeding all over the place. And not just a little bit, it was bleeding bad. I think it must have been from when I smashed my finger putting my suitcase in the overhead bin a few days earlier. I ended up with what looked like a bruise, but apparently was a blood blister of sorts, and it must have burst when I hit the keyboard, is all I can figure.

So, at that point I had only been awake for 30 minutes and was late for work, pulled over and threatened with jail, hungry and bleeding. Not really an auspicious start to my new year. Although, maybe like in Garp, my year was just being predisastered and now that I have all the crap out of the way for 2008. Nothing bad can happen to me again for the rest of the year.

Or maybe I'll just have to start over next week and have a New New Year, and try to start all of my resolutions over again.

Of course, that will sort of blow my "I will not procrastinate" resolution.

Happy 2008

New Years Day in my family means three things:

Black-Eyed Peas

Collared Greens

Corn Bread

Thanks Mom!