Jack-o-lanterns

On Friday night Ryan and I carved the pumpkins we got form Dahlonega earlier in the week.  

The before shot:

Works in progress:

The final results:

Later that night I also made cupcakes for Ryan's last tennis game of the season

Wednesday

Papa's Pantry

I was supposed to have a one-on-one computer session today at Papa's Pantry but that got canceled.  So instead I went in at my regularly scheduled time at 1:00 and we only had one appointment scheduled.  Before that appointment started, I had to vacuum the pantry.  But before I could vacuum, I had to sweep up all the dog food.  People donate bags of dog food opened, unopened, bagged in plastic zip-locks, etc.  The dog food dominates this one corner of the pantry and it's a complete mess and there are random scraps of food everywhere.  It's totally unorganized and very different from how the rest of the pantry looks and operates.  There were some pastors coming in later that day, whom Papa's Pantry wanted to impress, so it was my job to clean it all up and organize it before they arrived.  Mission accomplished. 

I helped the one lady shop for her food.  She was on the verge of tears the entire time, and she ended up taking a lot of food (and neatly arranged dog food!).  It amazes me how some people claim to be so desperate for food, yet they only take name brand items.  We offer both, and I would expect someone in dire straights to take anything offered.  But instead of grabbing 4 boxes of mac and cheese, some will only select the one box we have of actual Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.  Just an observation...

Lynn, the founder of Papa's Pantry, then asked me to do a partnered family through the pantry.  If someone is not partnered with Papa's Pantry yet, then they are allowed to shop for one week's worth of groceries for their entire house hold.  These are the only kinds of appointments I have ever done.  If someone is partnered with Papa's Pantry, then they get to shop for two weeks worth of groceries for their entire family, and they have additional access to non-perishables such as produce, milk, eggs, cheese, etc. They also have access to more name brand items and toiletries than un-partnered families do. 

It was kind of neat to do a partnered person.  I figured they would have access to basic perishables like I listed above.  Turns out, there is a lot they get to select from!  This woman got to take home yogurt, sour cream, butter, cheese, eggs, frozen pizzas, ground beef, ground turkey, milk, orange juice, chocolate milk, broccoli, apples, bananas, tomatoes, burritos, rib tips, turkey legs, breakfast sausages, cream cheese, and Salisbury steaks.  It is obvious that partnered families are desperate enough to partner up with Papa's Pantry, as this women also took razors, tin foil, shaving cream, tampons, mouth wash, tooth paste, soap and deodorant. 

Square Dancing

Square dancing is usually on Thursday nights but this week it got moved to Wednesday night.  Since it was on an alternate night, it was just going to be a review class with no new moves introduced.  Since Ryan and I haven't been to class in the last 2 weeks due to being in MC and then Birmingham, I was grateful for the review class.  Ryan did not go though, as he has tennis practice on Wednesday nights.  He is convinced he is the ultimate square dancer, and that it's not a big deal.  After being at that review class last night though, I can assure you, he's screwed.  They had learned things called do paso, thar family, shoot the star, slip the clutch, box the gnat, ocean wave family, alamo ring, pass the ocean, swing thru family, run family, and trade family. 

It was kind of cool being there without Ryan.  Usually we only dance with each other, but last night I was forced to dance with an "angel".  A square dance angel is someone who actually knows what they're doing and has been doing it for years.  This man must've been around 65 years old and his name was Harold, or Harvey, or Arnold or something.  He smelled atrociously but luckily you move around so much that the whiffs only come and go.  It was cool dancing with him though, since I didn't know what I was doing on all the new stuff.  I think from now on Ryan and I should both dance with angels!

Tennis

So I had my first tennis lesson tonight from 6:30-7:30pm in Kennesaw with their Parks and Rec program.  The class is one night a week for 4 weeks.  There was only me, and this kid named Cameron, in the class.  Cameron is 16 and, for all of you JYMS folks, he reminds me of Travis Mesaros:  over weight, light skinned, hair verging on an afro, and all smiles but won't say a word. 

I used to take tennis lessons for a couple summers when I was around 8 or so.  It was a good thing, too, since we didn't go over any basics like the proper way to hold a racket, scoring, or rules, etc.  I do miss the dumb dumb suckers you could win for picking up the most balls on the court, though.

The coach was a guy named Joe, with a thick accent hailing from the Czech Republic.  His daughter Natalie also accompanied him.  She is 10 years old and has been playing since she was 5.  She was a little superstar!  Apparently Joe and Natalie are not the regular coaches of this class; they were filling in for Mark, who is with his girlfriend in the hospital. 

My backhand was smoking!  My forehand needs more practice.  My serves, which are wimpy and meager, always land in-bounds.  Joe was so impressed he asked me to be on a women's tennis team that practices on Monday nights but has  matches on Thursday nights.  I told Joe I square dance on Thursday nights (even though I haven't been in two weeks)! Then he suggested I play on his mixed doubles team...

Anyway, it was good exercise and nice to be outdoors (82 degrees and sunny at the start of the lesson!).  I'm looking forward to continuing the lessons, and maybe even being on a team someday =)

GA Mountains

Ryan and I had a trip planned for several weeks go to Dahlonega, GA Sunday through Monday.  It just happened to fall two days after spending 3-4 days in Birmingham together. 

Dahlonega was having their Gold Rush Festival on Saturday and Sunday.  We figured we'd go up early Sunday morning, stay the night, and do things there all day Monday. We attempted to leave Sunday at 11:00am.  Two pit stops within 5 miles of leaving Ryan's house caused us to turn around and go back to his place.  My stomach was NOT happy with me.  So we ate, (I) took a bunch of Tums, and took a nap before we re-grouped and headed out again. 

We ended up arriving in Dahlonega around 5:00pm.  The festival ended at 6:00pm, which actually worked out quite nicely since the traffic was a breeze, the crowd was minimal, and it was later in the day so the temperature was a bit cooler. 

 Ryan often came to Dahlonega with his parents while growing up, so he said we MUST eat at the Smith House. 

The Smith House is similar to Das Essenhaus in Middlebury, or  the Blue Gate in Shipshewana, minus all the Amish folk.  It's good home cooking with refills on whatever is needed.  Two main differences:  It does NOT have a million pies for sale or any desserts for that matter, and you sit at tables of 10 making strangers into friends over the course of your meal.  This is Ryan and I with full bellies at the end of dinner =)

After dinner I got a teeny tiny little pumpkin and we got two big ones for carving later.  Then we went to our Bed and Breakfast called the Cedar House Inn and Yurts.  What is a yurt?  It's kind of like a big tent, except there is electricity that runs though it, but no running water.  It's glamping.  We did not stay in a yurt, but we got our picture taken like we did!

This B&B prides itself on being GREEN.  It recycles everything, all left over food goes into a compost pile, lights and water are discouraged from being wasted, and there are no TVs or hairdryers.  They even created some lawn art out of wine and beer bottles their guests have left behind:

Monday morning we had a delicious breakfast with the hosts, Fred and Mary Ann, and two older female guests from Florida.  Then we went up to another of Ryan's old stomping grounds called Blood Mountain.  There is a little store at the top where the view is gorgeous.

We had a picture taken of the both of us here, but that must be on Ryan's camera.  This location also marks the spot of the beginning of the Appalachian Trail. I though the AT logo was pretty cool.

After we left Blood Mountain we went into down town Dahlonega and explored the little shops on the square.  I don't want to brag, but I now have 3 out of 5 little one's Christmas presents done!  Next I wanted to go panning for gold.  There was a Gold Museum on the square but I wanted to actually do the panning, not read about it!

So we left the square and actually went panning for gold.  Not only did I find gold, but I also found some gems that were the neatest shades of purple, green, and pink ever. They put it all into a little vial for you take home as a souvenir. Ryan has pictures of us actually panning, but this is the only one I took:

The next stop on our journey was to Amicalola Falls.  Unfortunately you couldn't really see the waterfall in all it's glory, but here is the view from the top of it, looking down.  It's so steep you can't even see it.

THE END =)

B-Ham continued

Two nights in Birmingham turned into three nights in Birmingham.  Wednesday night Ryan and I had our first fight.  Well, it wasn't actually a fight... the was no blood drawn, nor any insults flying.  Plus, if it was a fight, I would've won.  It was more of a mutual "I'm sick of being around you and I'm not going to talk to you anymore." We went out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory; Ryan had never been to one before.  I claim he was being the stick in the mud, he claims it was me =)

Anyhow Thursday was a whole new day and everything was fine.  I spent the day at the mall.  Those of you who know me really well, know that I do not like to shop.  I don't like to browse, I don't like to try on clothes, I don't like to offer my opinion to others who are shopping with me.  If I am shopping alone, it's because I am going into a store for something specific, with the goal of directly locating the item, purchasing it, and then leaving.  If I'm being forced to go shopping with someone, I am happiest sitting in the nearest chair.  My mom got off so easily having me as a daughter!  So it was quite unusual for me to spend the day at the mall, but it was too windy to go to the pool that day and my work out clothes were wadded up from being sweaty the day before.  I only made it through half the mall but I did do some damage.  I bought mostly clearance items, which means i can't even wear them until next year when it warms up again.  And they were clothes for a job... more dressy than casual.  So next year, at my undetermined new job, I will be looking HOT!

Friday Ryan didn't have to work so he took me to the Birmingham

To get there, we walked through this park that had several adult men hanging out in it.  On our way out, one guy had even fallen asleep at a picnic table.  Here is what the building looked like

:
You start off in a room watching an 8 minute video about how Birmingham became a city prior to the 1930s.  Then the screen lifts up, and everyone gets up and walks behind where it was and that is the start of the museum.  It's a go-at-your-own-pace type of place.  There are statues, replicas of things such as classrooms and buses, copies of newspaper articles, videos playing throughout various parts of the building, quotes, etc.  As you can imagine, the area is very crowded at first, until people disperse at their own rate.  Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, there were no pictures allowed to be taken inside.

It was sickening.  

There was live footage of black people being held back with fire hydrant hoses spraying water, examples of "whites" vs "colored" drinking fountains, photographs of grown men being hung with white people all around watching and cheering, and images of slaves' backs' horrifically scarred.  There was an official klu klux klan uniform, positioned in front of a burnt cross.  There was an example of the difference in type of classrooms in black schools vs white schools; black teachers had an average of 42 students per classroom whereas white teachers only had an average classroom size of 23. 

I was one of the last people to make it through the winding museum.  Close to the end, on a large projection screen, is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. giving his "I Have a Dream" speech.  I wept.  I was glad that somehow I managed to arrive at this part alone.  It wasn't an ugly hysterical cry, but the tears streamed down, constant and uncontrollably.  And I stood there watching this man, with so much power and millions of people following him.  He could have easily promoted violence as his vehicle to achieve basic human rights, but instead he had the foresight, wisdom, and love of being a Christian to preach non violence.  And I wept.

Across the street from the Institute is the 16th Street Baptist Church.  This is the church that was bombed and four innocent little girls lost their lives at the hands of scared white men.  Men who chose violence as their response to non-violence. 

The Institute was featuring a set of photograhs for this season titled "Let your Motto be Resistance" which featured successful and famous black people and their various accomplishments to American society.

To wrap this up, I encourage everyone to live your life in a way that judges people by the content of their character, rather than by someone's accomplishments or lack there of.   Base nothing on how one's body looks whether it is obese or anorexic, a different color, short or tall, male or female, gay or straight, disabled, scarred, dirty or clean, rich or poor, strong or weak.  I also encourage you to remember that no matter what your problems are, there are people who have problems that far exceed yours.  Try to view your life in its true perspective, and follow the path of doing what's right even when you perceive everyone else to be bringing you down. Much love ~ Courtney

BAMA baby

On Monday night Ryan told me that he was going to be in Birmingham Wednesday day and stay the night there.  He ends up going to Birmingham about once every three weeks or so.  He usually doesn't stay the night but there is no estimator in the Birmingham branch so whenever they get jobs to bid, Ryan comes down for that.  Apparently they have enough jobs for him to bid to warrant him staying the night.  Being the non-employed, fun loving traveler that I am, I invited myself to come along.  And then I had an even better idea - that we should go Tuesday night also.  So he called the office and had it all set up for both nights.  We are staying at the

We arrived last night just after 9:00pm local time.  We are staying on the 15th floor, which requires a special key to access that floor via the elevator.  This floor only offers a free breakfast from 6:00am-9:00am, and free appetizers and drinks from 5:00pm-9:00pm.  Needless to say, we missed the free food that night.  This hotel connects to the Riverchase Galleria, which is a huge mall named one of the top 25 malls in the country.  The mall was closed for the night too.

This morning I spent time at the pool. It is on the roof of the 4th floor.  I was the only one there.

Now I'm going to go work out in the little gym here at the hotel, and later I plan on going to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.  I can't be here and not pay homage to our roots!

Not the best Monday I ever had...dumped, complaints, and brussel sprouts

I got dumped.  Via text message.  My most utilized method of dumping people is via text message or email, however, now I am on the receiving end of it.  My latest tutoring client, dumped me.  She said while I was gone for a week she started working with another tutor.  Please send your condolences =)

Then my property manager called me about some issues the renters are having.  1.  Something snapped with the garage door.  They can't open it manually or electronically.  2.  The hot water in the bamboo bathroom shower is trickling out instead of fully coming out.  Gosh darn it I knew I should've sold it while I was in South Bend :) !!!

It was good to be back into my basement apartment.  I got all unpacked and settled in.  Played on the computer, went and worked out (gotta keep that Jazzercise work going!), and I went to the grocery store.  Ryan invited me over for dinner later that night and he made grilled red potatoes, pork tenderloin, and brussel sprouts.  Have you ever eaten a brussel sprout?  Disgusting!!!!!  It tricked me at first because all I could taste was the garlic and butter.  All that was left after that though was the nastiness of the actual vegetable! 

Did anyone notice the time of this post?  I’m trying something new today… getting up and working out in the MORNING.  In one hour I will be taking my body pump class.  We’ll see how this goes!