Quote of the Day

Just finished reading Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner and while I didn't expect to find a lot of deep meaning in the book, I liked this from the end:

"Everyone has sorrow. Everyone has obligations. Everyone keeps going. You lean on the people who love you. You do the best you can, and you keep going."

Veterans Day

"We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude." - Cynthia Ozick

I love that quote for personal reasons but I always find it appropriate when it comes to our military. Thanks to all who have served.

To Go or Not To Go

So, Sarah Palin's book comes out in exactly one week and you expect, I'm pretty excited about it. I was even more excited when I found out she'd be touring the country, doing a book signing. Well, yesterday, she released the dates of said tour via her Facebook page and the closest she'll be to me is Birmingham, Alabama. On a good day, I can make it there in less than two hours, but I'm thinking it's just not worth the gas, time, and waste of a day. I've been really busy lately (with some personal stuff and trying to work as much as I can), and I just don't see that being a good idea. Plus, I'd more than likely have to go alone because the only two people I know who might be interested in accompanying me either can't get out of work or will be in Miami on that day. So, I'm a little bummed about that. Funnily enough, it was about this time last year that I regretfully missed the rally Palin attended for Saxby Chambliss. Can't wait to see her media tour, though!

On another note, like I said, I've been really busy lately. After coming out of one of the crappiest years I've ever had, I'm working a lot to improve things so next year will be a million times better! I have plans to move, to look into some new career options, and get involved with some political stuff again (really looking forward to maybe campaigning for Karen Handel). I won't ramble on about that, but I didn't want to have another month between posts!

In the meantime, you can check out some of my right-wing goodness over at Critical Politics. Most of my writing has been focused on stuff I'm pretty sure none of you is all that interested in reading about, so I'll spare ya that!

Interviews

I've been pretty busy this week and will continue to be, at least for a few days. In th meantime, I've had fun interviewing some cool GOP chicks!

Check out my interview w/ S.E. Cupp here: Women of the GOP: Interview with S.E. Cupp

and

Check out my interview w/ Noelle Nikpour here: Women of the GOP: Interview with Noelle Nikpour

More fun interviews to come! And some other stuff...

The Great Cat Search of '09

So, I figure if I just add "The Great" and "of '09" to everything, it'll sound all dramatic and important and stuff. Anyway, so, if I could go back to Sunday afternoon, when the GC sent me a text that said, "I saw the perfect outfit for you in Old Navy," and I said, "what it is?" and he said "too much to type, I'll come by after work," I would. And I'd tell him I'd planned to go to bed early and he could just tell me another day, because well, I did intend to go to bed early because I plan to start getting up at 5:00 AM every day to workout (no, really - shut up).

But I didn't. Instead, I thought, sure, why not, it'll be nice to have company tonight and he probably won't stay long anyway. At some point before he came, he mentioned something about bringing his nine week old kitten over to introduce me and I guess that went in one ear and out the other because when he knocked on my door that night, around 8:00 PM, I forgot all about the kitten. Before I know it, Gabby has slipped out the door beside me and there is suddenly a little black ball of fur flying through the air, hissing and meowing. Gabby starts yelping and the GC is screaming like a little girl.

And so, the search is on. It's dark and there is not much light out here. (In case you forgot, I live in the middle of the woods, just like the Unabomber.) There are, however, a million and one places a cat of that size could be hiding and the GC is pretty intent we're gonna check all of them. So, we set out into the woods with a flashlight and looked and looked for hours. Oh and upon learning the cat's name is "Burberry," I insisted we stick to "here, kitty, kitty." I climbed on top of things that I look at every day and think to myself, I'm so glad I'll never have to climb up on that, and I climbed under things that I never thought I'd have to climb under. And just as I was bitching about how this search is taking it's toll on my knee (if you'll remember, I ran over myself last summer), I fell about mid-thigh deep into a muddy sinkhole. Hilarity ensued, I suppose.

Around 4:00 AM, we finally called off the search. As I'm sure I've mentioned, I'm not a big cat person, and to be honest, I was pretty sure the thing would be eaten by coyotes or something by daybreak. Plus, the GC had gone from sitting on my back porch with a little cup of food, trying not to cry, to standing just outside my front door, having some super secret convo with some dude he met. Even so, I set my alarm for the minute the sun came up, we decided we'd keep looking until he had to be at work again at 1:30.

Wouldn't you know, the minute we step outside, the little cat is sitting there, yawning and stretching by the back porch, as though nothing has happened. Seriously? What a waste of a night and waste of my tennis shoes (totally gonna have to buy some new ones, as the other ones are encrusted in mud).

Anyway, the little bast...I mean, cat was actually pretty cute (this isn't the best picture, but it's all I've got):

The Great Flood of '09. No, really.

Due to popular demand (and by popular demand, I mean three people), I'm back. The last month has a little hectic and it all started with a little flood. Well, a big flood. A really big flood. But not a flood big enough to warrant the d-bag anchor on a local news network calling it "The Great Flood of '09."

I'll admit, it was a pretty surreal experience. Not like anything I'd ever encountered before in my lifetime. And for that reason, I wanted to write about it a little bit. The details are pretty mundane and the pictures are a little boring, but it's something I wanted to remember. So read on if you want, and if you don't, no problem. I'm just doing this for my benefit.

It all started on Sunday, September 20th. I'd just returned home from an undisclosed location and settled in for the evening, when it began to thunder and lightning. It'd been raining pretty much all week, all over the top half of the state of Georgia, and I figured it was just going to be another stormy night. There's something a little off about the electricity in this house (any time it storms, things spark and pop), so I unplugged my TVs and computer, but for some reason, I forgot about the little internet modem. Biggest mistake ever.

I was sitting in my bed, on the phone with a friend, when he and I both heard the thunder and then the loud pop coming from the living room. I got off the phone, went in there to check it out, and found that my modem no longer worked. No problem, I thought. I'll just get a new one in the morning. I tried to go to bed early that night, but the storm kept me awake. I've slept through tornadoes before but this was loud. It thundered for over twelve straight hours and my particular part of town got about 20 inches of rain over the span of about eight hours.

My mom called around 5:00 AM and asked if my water was working because hers was not. I made a crack about not paying her bills but when I looked outside, I saw WHY her water probably wasn't running. My entire yard looked like a lake. I live on the side of a hill and the water was rushing down it so fast. A pair of muddy shoes I'd left out on the stoop were gone (I have since found one). As a matter of fact, there was trash in my yard that didn't belong to me. Parts of my yard had washed away and there were limbs and all sorts of debris everywhere. The cute little creek that had been dry since I moved in, in May, was overflowing so badly, that it looked like rapids. My car was a few inches deep in water and it was starting to come in up under my door.

All that said, I can't complain. So many people lost their homes and everything they owned, and in some cases, people lost their lives.

Anyway, I turned on the news and watched as the flood coverage began that morning. The county was without water, many were without electricity. Schools were closed for a week, as were many restaurants and stores. Actually, most everything that wasn't a grocery store or hardware store was closed. As soon as it got to be daylight, I picked up my mom and we set out looking for water. Many stores were already running out of it. It was kind of a weird day - the whole town seemed to be in shock.

I'm certainly not comparing it to other tragedies, but it had a very September 11/Hurricane Katrina feel, in that everyone around town was just sort of stunned and focused on the same thing. So many road were and still are closed. As a matter of fact, as we drove around that morning, we had to turn around several times because of overflowing creeks and rivers, roads and bridges washed away, downed power lines and trees, mudslides and even a missing person search.

It ended up being a long week. Thanks to the failure that is Comcast customer service, I had no internet, spent way too much time and money trying to get internet, and fell a week behind on work (which is one reason for my absence). We didn't have running water for a while because every other pipe in town was busted and when we did get it, it was brown and foamy and gross, so we had to boil it before using (or just not use and drink bottled water - if you could find it). It was a just a crazy couple of weeks.

Things are slowly getting back to normal, but it'll probably be at least a year before all of the roads are fixed. That's a pain in the ass because I have to drive out of my way to get to certain places. My yard still looks like it was washed away (which isn't so bad because of all the woods/lack of actual yard) and while the creek is still running pretty full, it's no longer overflowing. FEMA is still set up at a local church and people are still raising money for flood victims. And I'm finally caught up on work which is why I'm writing to you now!

I wish I would have taken more pictures, that first morning, of some of the stuff I saw but I was driving my mother around and well, I got tired of hearing, "Quit playing with your phone and pay attention to the road" every time I tried to snap one. I did get some pictures throughout the week, though (keep in mind, I took these with my phone and most of them while driving):

Not exactly flood related, but for some reason, I saw a lot of turtles in the week or two after. Maybe they washed up? Anyway, this is one of two I saw in my driveway...they were on top of each other. Not exactly sure what they were doing, but didn't want to find out. I moved this one away into the woods.

This is in the middle of a field - it used to be a fairly small, narrow creek.

This road is actually near me and I have to turn around almost every day when I leave the house and set out to ride up this way.

Another road closed; if you click on the pic, you can see just why it's closed.

This is really dark and hard to see but it's the normally nonexistent creek in my yard.

Again, hard to see, but Gabby drinking out of the few inches of standing water in the driveway. Funny, I spent a week giving her bottled water, yet the first thing she does every time we go outside is run and drink out of puddles or the creek.

This is what my water looked like when I tried to shower on the Tuesday after the flood. Yes, this is a BEFORE picture - the filth, foam, an debris came out of my faucet.

Traffic was really bad for much of the week. This is one of the main roads in town around 9:30 AM. Normally, it'd be empty.

Not important but most restaurants were not opening their doors due to the lack of water. This is from Taco Bell, which was drive-thru only.

Here's a little mudslide in the mall parking lot.

And another turtle. This one was out in the middle of the road, so I stopped and moved him/her over.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I failed photojournalism 101 with these pictures but it's all I've got!

I'm not dead or anything.

Just a rough three weeks or so. My entire town flooded, I was without internet for a while, and now I'm way behind on doing stuff that actually pays my bills, but I do have a nice little write-up about the floods that I need to add some pictures to and will get posted later. Thanks for the emails and comments!

This pretty much sums up the week...

I've had the week/last few days from hell and as usual lately, I am way behind on work among other things, including blogging, email, etc. Too bad because there is a lot of stuff I'd like to blog about. In the meantime, enjoy this picture that a twitter friend sent. Cracked me up.

Lisa Fenn Gordenstein

I don't know Lisa Fenn Gordenstein.

I've never met her and until a few days ago, I had never even heard her name. But it only took me about half an hour of searching the internet to find out how important she was and is to many people.

Her boss has said, "She had a heart as big as the ocean. She was a person to whom other associates went for help and she was always available for her co-workers. She was a great businesswoman and a wonderfully creative merchant. Most of all, Lisa loved being a mom."

Her husband has said of her, "...Lisa made everyone feel a little extra special. She had a great sense of people."

She seemed to have it all: a loving husband, a career in the fashion industry for which she had worked tirelessly, for over twenty years, and what was undoubtedly most important, two young, beautiful daughters.

On September 10, 2001, Lisa slipped a note under her husband David's office door. It was a quote from Charles Swindoll that read, "Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do...It will make or break a company, a church, a home." When David found it that night, he had no idea he would be reading it at his wife's memorial service some several days later.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Lisa awoke early to leave for the airport. She planned to travel to California to help open a store for the TJX Companies where she worked as an assistant vice president and merchandise manager. Around 5:00 AM, before walking out the door, she insisted on waking her daughters, Samantha and Carly (then 7 and 3 1/2 years old), and giving them one last kiss before she left.

It was the last the girls would ever see of their mother.

Lisa Fenn Gordenstein, along with several of her colleagues, boarded a plane and made one last call to her husband as they sat on the runway. Later that morning, Lisa's husband received a second call. This time, one of her co-workers informed him that Lisa's plane, American Airlines flight 11, had crashed into the World Trade Center.

They are all gone into the world of light,
And I alone sit lingering here;
Their very memory is fair and bright,
And my sad thoughts doth clear.
- Henry Vaughan

9/11

Quote of the Day: "This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day. Yet, we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world." - President George W. Bush

At some point after September 11, 2001, I actually wrote down everything that happened to me that day and in the weeks after. At the time, I had no idea that writing it up was worthless. I had no idea that eight years later, I'd still remember every detail, every little move I made that morning down. It's as if though those few hours were frozen in time. The best part about that is that 99.9% of the people I know or am acquainted with can do the same. As cliche as it sounds, it really is one thing that can and does unite us.

Anyway, I've had this blog since 2004 (I've deleted a lot over the years), but no matter how often I do or don't post, I've always managed to put something down on this day, not to mark the anniversary, not to commemorate the day - so many other people will do that in ways I'm incapable of - and not necessarily to remember the victims and heroes (I usually handle that privately), but because I do sometimes get scared that I'll forget. And I get scared that so many others in this country will forget, too. They'll forget that we do face pure evil and they'll forget how we deal with that. They'll forget that most of were able to find common ground that day. They'll forget that our freedom and liberty is worth fighting for at nearly all costs.

Every year, I force myself to watch video of people jumping from buildings and I force myself to try to imagine what it would be like if my only choices were to burn alive or jump to my death, all because I decided to get up and go to work that day. Every year, I force myself to revisit those things I'll never forget about that morning, whether I re-write it or tell it to a willing friend. Again, I do this because I don't want to forget. It wouldn't be fair to those who died that day, it wouldn't be fair to those who serve my country in any capacity, and it wouldn't be fair to my fellow Americans.

Anyway, last year, on this day, I remember I was supposed to take a class at the local fire department for my job at the time, but instead, I found myself unemployed and I did ramble and re-write my experience, so I see no need to do it again. Instead, I'll direct you over to Hot Air to read something that really touched me this morning: Quotes of the day: Remembering 9/11/01.

Summer's Over

Quote of the Day: "I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air." - Nathaniel Hawthorne

That picture is from my front patio and I can't wait to watch the leaves turn this fall. At some point, this week, I'm gonna get it all fixed up so I can sit out in my rocking chair and read some good books on these crisp fall evenings. (Wow, I sound like I'm 80.) I'm going to enjoy it! I just love sitting outside, enjoying the fall. I'd love to take a trip or two to the mountains in October or November when the leaves really start to change, but I'll just have to wait and see how things go.

The only downside to the weather changing is that the pool will be closed soon, but I'm thinking I'm going to have to reactivate my gym membership. I hate going to the gym, but I hate not swimming laps, either. Makes me grumpy.

I know today's not technically the last day of summer, but it certainly feels like it. It's been a really good day, actually. Nothing out of the ordinary has happened; just spent the day with family, at the pavilion by my grandfather's pool, eating grilled stuff and homemade ice cream, came home and took a little nap, talked to some of my best friends and then went swimming w/ the GC. Very uneventful, but very pleasant. I hope it's a sign of things to come.

Anyway, didn't really have anything important to say. Just thought I'd wish everyone a happy end of summer! I have a busy week ahead but I will get caught up w/ email, I promise!