tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-161634052024-03-14T05:38:09.310-04:00Sean - Staying Upbeat and PositiveSean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.comBlogger192125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-30684726654005566572012-08-19T23:00:00.000-04:002012-08-19T23:01:13.093-04:00Day 5 - Part 1: White Water Rafting<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The fifth day of vacation/family reunion started fairly early (for me). Uncle Duane had mentioned going white water rafting and zip lining on Thursday, and to do so, we would need to get started early. I was a little hesitant because this would be taking place at the same time as the train ride through the mountains, for which I had reserved a ticket. Not wanting the money to go to waste, I wasn't sure I wanted to go at first. Aunt Debbie stepped in and said she would take my ticket, so that solved that problem. But that wasn't the only problem that I encountered that morning.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">On top of the fact that I was pretty uncomfortable with my sunburn, I woke up feeling nauseous. It had nothing to do with nerves or anxiety about what we were about to do, because I know what nerves and anxiety feel like (having met those feelings the day before with my PCAT). This was a completely different feeling that had something to do with my stomach being unsettled. But I went along and hoped that it would clear up in time to enjoy myself. Our first stop would be breakfast at Waffle King, which is similar to Waffle House except they served Belgian style waffles. I had thought that getting some food on my stomach might help my gastrointestinal distress, but alas, I barely ate anything and didn't feel much better.</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><br />We got on the road to find an outfitter for the rafting and zip lining. Uncle Duane had looked one up on-line and programmed the address into his GPS, but somehow the GPS got it wrong and was sending us in the wrong direction! After figuring out which was the "right" way to go, we found several outfitters in the same general area. We had passed the one we were looking for and stopped at a different one, whose name escapes me. It was extremely busy and crowded, but we approached the counter to see what we had to do to sign up. They were so busy, in fact, that the first opening they had for rafting wasn't until about 2:00 that afternoon. We declined and decided to find the place we had set out for originally to see if they had a better offer, since they were just across the street about half a mile away.<br /><br />We drove up to the place and noticed right away that it was much less crowded. RaftOne is the name of the outfitter, and it was evident that they were a bit less traveled than the one we had previously visited. The difference between this one and the other, though, was that RaftOne also had zip lines on the premises. Uncle Duane went inside to find out what they had to offer, and came back ten minutes later with consent forms and a 1:00 appointment. With it being still fairly early, we would have some time to kill before we actually got to do anything. Since I was still feeling pretty lousy, that would mean some extra time to get well before embarking on any wild adventures!<br /><br />We decided to drive around town and walk around a bit before our rafting time, and one of our first stops was to a pharmacy to get something for my troubled stomach. We also drove to the Ocoee River Visitor Center, which is next to the spot where several Olympic events were held during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. There was a gift shop, an information desk that outlined the local attractions, and even a recording that played some of the Olympic events from 1996. That particular area is drained to a minimum during the week, so it is possible to cross the river over the rocks, which we decided to do. We also found out that in addition to the many natural rocks in the river, some were flown in and placed especially for the Olympic games. This is evident during the weekends when that point in the river is full, and you can see all the rapids that were created for events like kayaking. The little river walk on top of the medicine I took really helped calm my stomach down, and was a great way to spend the morning.<br /><br />Once it got closer to time to our rafting trip, we headed back to RaftOne and waited for a while. They had several cornhole games outside on the deck, so in the meantime we played a few games using a friendly wager. We decided that whoever lost between the three of us would buy the others ice cream, which was available at the office of the outfitter. Guess who lost? If you guessed me, you would be right! I decided it would be a good idea to do the ice cream after all the events, so we'll get back to that later.<br /><br />Our appointment time finally came around, and we were prepped for all that we needed to know while on the river. Specifically, we learned how to react if and when we fell out, which was to face down river with head and feet above water. The three of us would be on one raft, and a family of four would be heading out with us on another raft. We were introduced to our guide, Tyler, and our first impression was that he was way too young to be a river guide! But he seemed knowledgeable and confident, and was very energetic to make sure we had a great time. We picked up all our gear, which consisted of a helmet, a life jacket, and a paddle, and boarded a bus that would take us to a drop-off spot up the river.<br /><br />After going over a few procedures and learning the different paddle strokes we would need to employ, we set off on the river. Ryan and I sat towards the front, Uncle Duane was further in the back, and Tyler was in the rear. He would act as a sort of rudder and steer us in the right direction, whereas we only paddled forward or backward according to his instructions. We stuck close to the other group as well, and went down the river mostly together. The first hundred yards or so had a few minor rapids that splashed us with a little water, which felt very refreshing! But after that point, it kicked into high gear and we went over some pretty rough rapids. <br /><br />The first major rapid came early in the trip, and we were offered the chance to "ride the bull," which meant hanging onto the front of the raft and being the first to hit all the big waves. Yeah, I wasn't doing that. Ryan decided he would since I guess he enjoys having water splashed at high velocities in his face and hanging on dangerously to a thin rope on a fast moving raft. Hitting those big waves was a real thrill, and it not only was exciting, but the cool water felt great. We followed our directions to the letter, which guaranteed we had the most fun possible, since Tyler was personally going to make sure that happened. Unfortunately one of us fell off the raft during that first major rapid. Any guesses who? You might guess Ryan because of the reasons I mentioned above, but you would be wrong. Yep, I fell out! But I kept in mind the lessons we learned at first, and Uncle Duane came to my rescue to pull me back into the raft. I thought about this later, and didn't even realize how I could have hit some rocks or something as we went through rapids. Luckily the water was deep enough and there weren't enough rocks in that particular area to worry about, plus we were effectively out of the rapid areas. Whew!<br /><br />After that point, I made it my job to stay in the raft! Keeping in mind that there is really nothing holding you in except gravity, that wasn't an easy feat, but I was able to stay in the rest of the trip! We hit several other rapids in which Ryan "rode the bull" again two other times, and these areas were even more intense than the first time. We got drenched in both cases, but it was a truly exhilarating experience! <br /><br />We also had the opportunity to take a break from rowing and have some fun outside of the raft. One of the perks of being in a small group was that we could get everyone to stop for a few minutes. The larger rafting companies had to keep an eye out for all the group members and had a fairly strict schedule. Since there were only two rafts with RaftOne, we were able to dictate our own schedule and explore some other activities. One of those occurred when we stopped at some large rocks, turned one of the rafts over, and used it as a slide into the river! The water was extremely deep in that area, and the way it ran would take us down a ways until we swam over to some calmer waters that led back to the rocks. I wasn't fond of getting dunked under water in the process (I've had tubes in my ears and my ears and water don't mix well) but it was great fun! The other companies were watching us as they rowed by, and you could tell they were really jealous! I doubt seriously that they got to stop and have the kind of fun activities we did.<br /><br />We stopped again later on to dock at some rocks at a particular point in the river. The rapids formed a bit of a V-shape that sort of sucks you under and out like a tube, and spits you out about 100 feet in calmer water. The guide of the other raft showed us how it was done, and almost everyone tried it out as well (I didn't, per the ear/water thing). One other thing we got to do at a calmer point in the river was actually get out of the raft and float along for a few minutes. It was a sort of lazy river ride like we saw on the Toccoa River when we went tubing a few days prior, except this time the only thing holding us up was a life jacket. It was a pretty cool little ride!<br /><br />I had mentioned earlier that our first impression of our guide, Tyler, was that he looked pretty young to be an experienced river guide. I changed my opinion after our experience, however. It was amazing to me how much he knew about the river, the mountains, the dams that we passed, and the area in general. The most impressive part was how he was able to navigate us to just the right points in the river. He knew how to maneuver the raft to hit spots that spun us in a circle, which was crazy! Plus after we had been paddling pretty hard, he knew exactly where there were some quiet, still areas where we could rest. And when the river was at a low spot where several other companies were getting stuck, he effectively steered us around to the faster areas, and with some hard work, we got through without any problems! I was pretty impressed with him, and after all we went through, I appreciated the fact that Tyler was our guide for the trip.<br /><br />The last portion of the rafting adventure went over what they called "salt shaker" rapids, meaning that it was almost entirely fast-moving water for several hundred yards. We had a great deal of paddling to get to this spot, but after we hit it, we barely had to paddle at all, and just let the wild river take us down. That was the most fun part of the rapids, and tossed us around a great deal. I had been worried that all the bobbing and splashing were going to make me sick, but surprisingly I had no problems whatsoever. It was as if all the fun I was having actually made me feel better! Don't you love when that happens?<br /><br />After that point, the trip was over and we arrived at the pick-up point. We were thoroughly soaked but pumped up and energized from all that we had accomplished. We had to carry the raft to the bus, and it was much harder after having done so much paddling over the last hour or two! We rode back to RaftOne and recounted our trip with everyone else as we did so. We arrived back to the outpost and some flat screen TVs inside showed pictures at various points on the river, which we would have the opportunity to purchase later. Best of all, they got several pictures in a row as I fell out of the raft, so that I could remember in great detail that shining moment in my life over and over again! We were going to meet up with Tyler again before we showered off and got ready for our zip-lining experience, but he ended up going on a last-minute trip with another group. He had the other guide (whose name escapes me) find us and wish us well, as well as convey how much fun he had, and to make sure we had a good time. Of course, our answer was a resounding yes! And to anyone thinking of doing a white water rafting experience on the Ocoee, I would most highly recommend RaftOne for that trip.<br /><br />Next, stay tuned for Part 2, where I will recount our experience zip-lining with RaftOne later that day.</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-30371352911829357332012-08-11T21:51:00.000-04:002012-08-11T21:52:14.009-04:00Day 4: PCAT Day<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Wednesday of my vacation started around 6:00 AM when I woke up before my PCAT. Since my test started promptly at 8:00, and since they wanted us there at least thirty minutes earlier, and since we live about thirty minutes away from the testing center, I would need to leave around 7:00. I got some breakfast and prepared myself physically and mentally for what would be a draining experience.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">I got to the testing center a few minutes later than I had intended, but still in plenty of time to start the test at 8:00. The check-in process is a little tedious, but all in the name of keeping things secure and honest. One of the most interesting observations I had was that as we took numbers and waited to be checked in, there was no number 13. There was a 12 (which happened to be my number) and a 12B. The guy at the front desk explained to us that there is no 13 due to the superstition associated with that number. So many people have complained that their bad test score was due to the number they drew, so this way there is no excuse to do poorly.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">I was in the testing center for more than four hours, and staring at a computer screen for that long was making me extremely tired. The test consisted of two writing sections and five multiple choice sections that tested verbal ability, reading comprehension, biology, chemistry, and math. Writing has always come fairly naturally to me, so those two sections were no problem. The biology, verbal, and reading sections went pretty well, though my eyes were pretty tired through most of the reading section, so I may not have fully comprehended what I was reading! The math and chemistry sections were a different story. In both sections, I ran out of time and came across some pretty difficult questions. I had prepared for these kinds of questions, but the time factor was working against me. My practice book had told me to answer all questions even if I ran out of time, and I found myself doing just that as time ticked away. At least there's a 25% chance I'll get them right, and there's no penalty for guessing since you only get credit for correct answers.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">One of the most rewarding parts of the PCAT was that you get a preliminary score report as you leave the building. The official results still take about a month to report (the essays being the main reason for that), but at least you have a good idea of how you did. That takes away some of the anxiety following a big test, and can be quite rewarding if you do well. Thankfully, the preliminary results were well in my favor, and the percentiles were as follows:</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Verbal Ability 87</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Biology 97</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Reading Comprehension 95</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Quantitative Ability (Math) 82</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Chemistry 95</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Composite 96</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">So as you can see, even on my worst test (Math) I still got in the 80s! Given that my composite score was so high, I was pretty excited to see these results. Obviously they aren't official, but if they are any indication of how well I did, it's looking good that I can get into Pharmacy School!</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">After the test, I picked up a celebratory Chick-fil-A lunch (including milkshake) and went to visit my co-workers at Ingles. We talked for a while and everyone marveled at my growing facial hair (which I kept unshaven during the week of vacation) and sunburn (which was extremely red). I was able to talk to both of my pharmacists (who incidentally are both named Jennifer) and they were both very excited about my results, and insisted that I could get into any Pharmacy School I wanted. We'll see about that when the official scores are published soon enough...</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">After lunch I headed home, and it was during that drive that the sky opened up. I was soaked in just the twenty or so feet I had to walk from my car to the front door, and in the process "drowned" my car remote so that it didn't work for several days. With the weather being so iffy, I decided that I would take a nap (I was pretty exhausted) and would see how it was when I woke up. It was still raining when I awoke from my two-hour nap, so I waited around for a little while longer until it slowed down significantly. I was in communication with Aunt Cheryl, who turned into Cell Phone Liaison between myself and the rest of the family. She told me that dinner would be waiting for me when I got back to the dwelling, but later joked that I should stop at Steak n Shake since it had all been eaten. Luckily she was kidding because I was starving and the food was awesome!</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">I took a different route to get to the dwelling this time, taking the Interstate a little further south, and taking more major highways that didn't wind through the mountains as much. This route proved to be a longer distance, but with the ease of handling the roads and a majority of Interstate travel, it ended up being the same amount of time as the shorter route. When I got back to the dwelling, everyone was done eating, but my plate was waiting for me. Uncle Duane and Aunt Cheryl teamed up for Wednesday's dinner since none of their children were there, and they put together a great spread that included skirt steak, baked potatoes, steamed vegetables, wine, and s'mores at the fire pit for dessert. I hadn't roasted marshmallows or had s'mores in years, and thoroughly enjoyed that activity. Using dark chocolate made for some very tasty s'mores, and the time spent outside by the river was a great way to wind down the day.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">We spent some more time outside talking, and I got to recount my day to several groups of people. I also got to hear about everyone else's day, which included some more tubing (though down a much shorter distance of the river in front of the dwelling). My very busy day ended so peacefully outside listening to the sounds of the night and the river, and finally concluded with some Braves baseball on TV before bed. It was a long day, but overall rewarding and good, and I slept pretty well that night! </span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><br />And so ended Day 4 of vacation, so stay tuned for Day 5!</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-55069584672448135832012-08-05T22:55:00.000-04:002012-08-05T22:55:27.079-04:00Day 3: Resting and Preparing<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">After barely getting any sleep and managing to survive the pain of my sunburn, I woke up to find that almost everyone had finished breakfast already. Thankfully there was some food leftover, which included possibly the best bacon I have ever tasted (thick cut, peppery, and smoked) and some kielbasa, among other things. I had decided not to do anything in particular that day, besides rest and prepare for my PCAT, which I would be taking back in Knoxville the next day. So after breakfast, I started looking at my study book a little bit. It quickly became evident that I was exhausted, so I laid down for about a two or three hour nap, which felt so refreshing.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">After waking up, I was able to get some more studying in, including finishing some practice test sections on-line. I tried not to overwhelm myself, since cramming before a test never really works for me, so I took breaks and tried not to overdo it. Fate intervened, and the once quiet house became noisy again as the great-grandchildren returned from their outing. It became TV watching and relaxing time!</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Of course, it also became snack time, since it had been a while since breakfast, and were there some yummy snacks! My cousin Tarren (Aunt Dawn's daughter) and her family (husband Pete and kids Lucas and Grace) arrived at the dwelling during this time, and with them they brought the recipe for a delicious sweet bread and a dipping sauce. The bread was made with beer, and was absolutely delicious when dipped in a sauce made of sour cream and mayonnaise, among other ingredients. That along with some chips and homemade salsa (courtesy of Uncle Scott) made for an incredible snack. This was followed by more lounging and TV watching before dinner time, which soon followed.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">That night's dinner was again prepared by Aunt Dawn and her family. The dinner would be pulled pork which was made in the crock pot using a unique recipe that included root beer. I'm not a fan of root beer, so I was completely surprised when the pork turned out extremely tasty and tender, and I went back for seconds! I can't remember the side dishes for this particular meal, but there were buns for those of us who wanted to turn the pork into sandwiches.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">I kind of did a "dine-and-dash" sort of thing, since I had to drive back home before my PCAT the next morning. Since I had to be at the testing center by 7:30 AM, I would need to leave Tuesday night, get to bed early, and wake up extra early. I made great time coming home, and was able to get home at a reasonable hour to go to bed. However, I ended up staying awake a little later than I wanted as I looked at some more testing material. I was pretty tired after that, but had to sleep fast as I had set my alarm to 6:00. After putting some aloe gel on my sunburn (which felt good and helped maybe a little bit), I settled in at home and fell asleep right away.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">And that's how Day 3 ended! It wasn't the most exciting or fun-filled day, but it was important that I be prepared for such an important test. Stay tuned for Day 4 which will include my PCAT, among other things.</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-83777686985437534272012-08-01T23:11:00.000-04:002012-08-01T23:11:57.308-04:00Day 2: Tubing the Toccoa<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">My second day of vacation started after a good night's sleep in the screened-in room, which was very comfortable. The only problem with a room surrounded by windows is that the sun comes in full blast in the morning! For someone who likes to sleep in on vacation, this can ruin that chance. But I digress.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">We really didn't have anything planned for the day, so it was going to be an easy, no fuss day. My immediate family was charged with providing dinner that night, so the only item on our agenda was making a leisurely trip to the grocery store. After eating some breakfast and lounging for a little while, my parents decided to do just that. I loathe shopping at the grocery store, so I was looking for any excuse to get out of it. (Yes, I do work at a grocery store, so going shopping in one is something I'd rather skip. Especially when I'm not in charge of the shopping and have to go along with someone else's agenda.)</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Luckily, a great excuse presented itself to me in the form of Aunt Cheryl. She had expressed interest in tubing the river as I did, so she brought it up to see if we would be interested on Monday. I was all ears, but others in our group were less enthusiastic. My brother, Ryan, was also interested, so that meant three of us. My grandfather was semi-interested, but decided instead to be our driver. That way we would be dropped off at a spot and not have to walk back afterward after baking in the sun for a couple hours. Also, since my grandmother had purchased some tubes (as luck would have it, exactly three), we wouldn't have to rent them, and could just put in the river wherever we had the chance without paying anything. Score!</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Aunt Cheryl was staying in her trailer at a campground site about four miles from the river dwelling, and the site has its own dock to get into the river. We thought that would be the perfect site to set off, since we could just ride the Toccoa River from that point back to the house. Good plan, right? More on that a little later.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">My grandfather dropped us off and we started at the campground dock. The water was <u>freezing</u> cold, but with it being July, the hot sun would quickly make that water feel refreshing. And so we set off. It was a comfortable ride at first, and almost seemed like we would only have a lazy river ride on our hands. Luckily that wasn't the case, and we soon found some more rapid-moving water. We had tied our tubes together so that we wouldn't lose each other, and by virtue of plastic baggies, we got to enjoy some music from Aunt Cheryl's phone. It's quite an experience to float down a river listening to "Party Rockers" and "Sexy and I Know It."</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">We went through several rocky areas with faster moving water, which was tons of fun! We encountered several groups of others tubing, and everyone seemed to be having a good time as well. The water was very refreshing, it was a comfortably warm day, and there was a great balance of rapids and smooth sailing (so to speak). But too much of a good thing can be bad too, and after a while, we were getting restless. Where is the house? Where are we anyway?</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">I should probably mention at this point that I was not fully prepared for this adventure; really none of us were. We didn't put on sunscreen before leaving, and I didn't realize how much we would actually be in the sun. After what must have been about two hours, I could feel that I was starting to burn. Putting my hands in the water gave me a strange tingling sensation on my skin, which I knew must have been bad. I tried to keep my legs and arms wet to decrease the burn, but it was started to set in that it wasn't helping. Lo and behold, our savior came to our rescue in the form of Grandpa!</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">We were starting to get tired and burned, and were longing to find the house on the banks of the river. It never came. But then we saw a familiar figure standing on a bridge that spanned the river in a narrow spot, only to find out that after 2.5 hours of tubing, we had only gone about half-way to the house. Only half-way! Thankfully he had driven to rescue us, so we got out when we had the chance to head back to the dwelling. (Who knows how badly we would have been burned if he hadn't shown up?!) As soon as I dried off, I could tell the full extent of my sunburn; it was really bad. It was hot to the touch and was fairly extensive on my legs and arms. The car ride back was agony for me, since we were holding onto the ropes that tied down the tubes on top of the car (my hands were on fire). I was so glad when the house finally came into view and we were done with the adventure.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">After getting dried off and changed, I could definitely tell this was going to be a painful sunburn. Just the casual brush with clothes was painful. But I was intent on getting healed as soon as possible, and tried not to think about it if I could. We had a great dinner to think about which included grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, oven-fried potatoes, baked beans, and other condiments. Plus we had chocolate chip cookies for dessert, yum! All of this was brought to you by my immediate family, though I had almost no part in it except for some help with the cookies.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">After more talking and TV watching, it was again time for bed. My brother had gone to the grocery store at some point to get some lotion for us burned folk, so I took the opportunity to rub some on my burned limbs with the hope it would help me sleep. Boy was I wrong! Climbing into bed was painful enough, but soon after I laid down, my whole body was on fire. Something about the formulation of that particular lotion made it feel like the heat was trapped into my skin, and it was excruciating. I have never been in so much pain in my life, and at one point thought it would be better if God just took me in my sleep. (It's kind of funny to write that now that I've gotten through it, but that's really what I was thinking.) I got up in the middle of the night to wash the lotion off, which did ease the pain somewhat. I was also able to get to sleep, which was a relief considering that a lack of sleep was almost as frustrating and exhausting as the burn itself.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">And so ended Day 2 of my vacation! Stay tuned for Day 3.</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-59565430834820006122012-07-28T20:01:00.000-04:002012-07-28T20:01:50.867-04:00Day 1: On the Road<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">My vacation officially started at around 7:30 Friday night, the time I got off work. It had been several months since I had a few days off (aside from my scheduled two days off a week), so I was ready for a vacation. Everyone knows too well how much has to be done before leaving for a trip, and this time was no exception. We had to pack, map out a travel route, and get the dogs to the kennel. Most of that was wrapped up by Saturday so that we could get on the road Sunday afternoon.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">This trip to Blue Ridge, Georgia, would require a travel route that we had never taken. It winds through the mountains through some small towns in Tennessee and Georgia, and would prove to be quite scenic! The total travel time was about two hours and forty-five minutes from door to door, so not a bad trip at all. We of course over-packed our cars, since it never fails that we tend to take more things than we really need...</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Before I go any further, I should probably explain the point of this trip. Our extended Beauregard family had decided on a family reunion to take place for a week in July, and that a somewhat central location in the Georgia mountains would be perfect. The cabin/house that we stayed in had been recommended by some family friends, so the reservations were made to accommodate as many as wanted to attend. Many of the family members responded and attended, but there were several notable absences. All in all, 26 members of our side of the Beauregard family showed up at some point during the week, so it was a successful reunion despite those that were absent (though we did talk about how we missed them, of course).</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">As we pulled up to the house around 6:00 PM, we noticed how serene and quiet the place was, but also that the house was pretty unusual looking. It wasn't the traditional cabin that we were expecting, but had a unique sort of artistic look to it. There were floor to ceiling windows in many rooms of the three-story dwelling, with many high ceilings as well. We also found out that the house sits right on the Toccoa River, and quickly began to enjoy the soothing sound of rushing water. Ahhhh!</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">Upon entering the house for the first time, we were surprised to find that we had arrived just in time for dinner! Each of the four Beauregard "children" who attended had agreed to host dinner for a night during the week. Thursday night would then be pizza night and Friday night would be leftover night. Since almost every member of my aunt Dawn's family was present at some point (only 2 of the 15 did not attend), she decided to host dinner for two nights, and Sunday was one of them. We were delighted to find that a spaghetti dinner was being finished up as we arrived, so within minutes we sat down to a delicious meal.</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">After dinner, we explored the house a little more and picked out our sleeping places. There were only four traditional bedrooms in the house, but many more places to sleep. My brother and I were given the porch room that had a set of bunk beds and opened to the outside with screened-in windows. It was so comfortable at night sleeping in that room and hearing all the sounds of nature around me (though my brother was less comfortable and complained about warm it was). After some after-dinner conversation, a little TV watching, and a dessert of warm brownies a la mode, we headed to bed. And so ended Day 1 of Sean's family reunion vacation!</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-1399354885125682192012-07-22T22:32:00.000-04:002012-07-22T22:34:31.347-04:00Summer Vacation and Family Reunion 2012<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Yesterday my immediate family and I returned from a Beauregard family reunion in the mountains of Blue Ridge, Georgia. We spent a week in a rental cabin/house right by the river and enjoyed the company of each other amid certain fun activities and pastimes. I wanted to chronicle the trip on my blog, since it has been so long since I have done anything here! Plus I enjoyed my time so much that I wanted a permanent way to record it. Since I don't keep a diary or journal, my blog is the best medium for that.</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><br />I can imagine what some of my long-term readers must be saying, and yes, I have tried this before, and it failed miserably. The last time I tried to chronicle a vacation, I ended up fizzling out mid-way and didn't finish posting. I can't promise that this won't happen again, but I am a year older and more determined than ever to finish it this time!<br /><br />What I intend to do over the next week or so, time permitting, is write a blog post for every day that we were gone. There was one day (Thursday) that might necessitate two posts due to the volume of activity and pictures, but otherwise one post per day of vacation. I intend to start this tomorrow and post a new day's story every couple of days after that. Hopefully you all can get a sense of what I did and maybe even feel some of the same emotions that I felt as I was doing what we did.<br /><br />Thanks for sticking around, even during the bare times of the last eleven months since I last posted! Hopefully I won't disappoint you and you will enjoy what I have to share.</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-55629203268158863892011-09-04T23:01:00.000-04:002011-09-04T23:02:31.336-04:00Day 2 - Fried Green Tomatoes<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">After getting a good night's sleep, one I regard to be one of the best in my life (thanks to Mr. Tylenol), our Tuesday started off with breakfast and discussion about what we would do that day. There were some places my grandmother had suggested visiting, including a local brewery that allowed tours and taste testing. Unfortunately, that location was only opened on weekends and at certain times, so that was out. One other idea came up, and it was to visit the filming location of the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes," which was only about an hour's drive from where we were.</span></strong>
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<br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I had never seen the movie or read the book, so I was viewing everything for the first time. Of course I had heard of the movie, which is now 20 years old, but just had never gotten around to seeing it. Having the opportunity to see the place it was filmed sounded interesting to me, since I had never been on a movie set, current or prior.</span></strong>
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<br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The small town where a great deal of the shooting for that movie was set is Juliette, Georgia, and it's about as small a town as I've ever seen! It's practically in the middle of nowhere, and many of the roads are dirt or gravel, with the exceptions being the highways that got us there. The actual "set" is made up of several small houses and shops in a row about six or seven deep on each side, and trails off to a few more shops down the line. Toward the end and on the left is the Whistle Stop Cafe, which is the largest of the buildings in the area. There is a train that runs nearby, and it came through as we were visiting as well.</span></strong>
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<br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">It was pretty quiet around there, but there were several other cars worth of people walking around and enjoying the day. We parked and walked around into some of the shops, but there was an overwhelmingly delicious smell issuing from the cafe; mental note - must get something to eat soon! One of the more memorable stores we visited was one dedicated to everything honey. The man running it harvests the honey himself from several hives he runs on his property, and it must be paying off for him. He has the plain honey bottled for sale, but also has other food items, soap, clothes devoted to bees and honey, and other commercial products. It was pretty interesting, but not cheap. There was one lady that was visiting who informed us that his soap was the best soap in existence. She bought it all the time and loved it, and didn't mind paying about $5+ a bar; my grandmother remained skeptical and rolled her eyes at the woman.</span></strong>
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<br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">We walked through a few other stores, but the urge to get something to eat was bearing down on all of us (Grandma, my parents, and myself). The Whistle Stop Cafe, which is the same name used in the film, is only open for lunch, and it was just about that time. Upon sitting down, all four of us decided to get the barbecue sandwich, named "Bennett's Bar-B-Q." (To understand that reference, you'd have to see the movie/book.) Unfortunately, it was nearing the end of lunch, and there was not enough barbecue remaining for four large sandwiches. So my mom ended up getting the last sandwich, and the rest of us got hamburgers. In the meantime, we got to try the famous fried green tomatoes, which were served with a zesty onion sauce. Let me tell you, they were delicious! They were just the right texture to be crunchy, yet still juicy in the center. The breading was just spicy enough to give a little kick, but not too overwhelming. It was a little bit salty, but there's very little in the culinary world that I don't find too salty. Add in the zesty, sweet sauce, and it made for the perfect appetizer.</span></strong>
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<br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Once the main dishes came out, we were ready to chow down. My mom was kind enough to offer each of us a bite of the bbq, which they had piled both on a bun and in a dish in case she wanted to share the excess. The bbq was so tender and delicious, and the sauce only enhanced the wood-smoked flavor. Mmmmm! The burgers, on the other hand, were a little overdone and crispy/burnt on the edges. I still enjoyed mine, but both my grandmother and dad were none too pleased. At this point, with the shortage of bbq and the burnt hamburgers, the place was losing a bit of its appeal. The fried green tomatoes were still a success, so everything came down to the dessert to decide the fate of this meal. They had several choices that piqued our interest, but it turned out that all but one were sold out. The only one left was a warm chocolate cake with hot fudge and ice cream; yes, please for me! I was the only one that ended up getting dessert, so the rest of my party ended the meal a bit disappointed. I, however, wouldn't mind going back someday, but maybe getting there earlier would be a good thing.</span></strong>
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<br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">After visiting a few more stores, we decided it was time to head back. It was early afternoon and very, very hot, so it was definitely time to get somewhere cooler. We managed to take a wrong turn at one point, but after awhile we made it back to the main road and back to I-75. By the time we got back to the house, it was definitely time for a nap, so that's what I did!</span></strong>
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<br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Once we were rested and comfortable again, it was time to think about the next meal! (Imagine that...) We had originally decided to prepare a roasted pork loin, but decided against that when it was taking forever to defrost. So the plans changed. Since we had spent a great deal of time driving and adventuring, we decided to make something easier, and heated up some ham and cheese croissants. In addition, since I had never seen the movie, and the rest hadn't seen it in a while, we decided to run to Blockbuster and see if they had "Fried Green Tomatoes." After searching for some time to actually <u>find</u> a Blockbuster that was still in business, they had it! So while we ate our croissants, we were able to enjoy a classic film, which I thoroughly enjoyed! It was great to see scenes shot at a place we had just visited, kind of like we were a part of it all.</span></strong>
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<br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Thus the second day ended on a high note, following a nice meal and an excellent movie, not to mention great company. Stay tuned for the third day, which will hopefully not take as long to produce as this post has!</span></strong>
<br />Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-21589515196437384892011-08-15T22:43:00.001-04:002011-08-15T22:43:54.190-04:00Day 1 - On the Road<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The first day of our vacation began as a vacation usually begins: traveling. But prior to actually getting on the road, there were several last-minute things that had to be accomplished. One of the things I wanted to do before leaving was get a haircut. This did not happen. I had gotten up early and drove over to the barber shop, only to find that it was closed so that the owner could take care of some personal business. Since I really didn't have time to wait for him to come back, and I really didn't want to drive around town trying to get in somewhere else, I decided that was a commodity that could wait. Who cares about hair anyway? Well, I guess most people do. At least my problem at this point is too much instead of not enough.
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<br />The second major thing we needed to accomplish was dropping off our indoor dog, Halo, at the kennel. My brother would be staying home, but with his work schedule, he wouldn't be home enough to make sure she was taken out enough, fed at a decent hour, etc. The outdoor dog, Skye, basically just needs to be fed and watered once a day, and obviously doesn't have to be let out several times a day; he was able to handle that. Since we board Halo only a couple miles from home, this errand took only minutes, and we were on to other things.
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<br />Once we got the car loaded and picked up some refreshments, we were ready to hit the road. We took my car, which was fresh from receiving a brand new $700 set of brakes. I have made four-hour drives so many times in the past, so this one would be a piece of cake as usual. Most of those I made straight through without stopping, though I knew with my passengers, this would not be possible. But, even allowing for a stop or two, the trip should take no more than four and a half hours.
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<br />The first third or so of the ride went well. It was sunny and warm, which normally in a non-air conditioned car would mean temperatures fast approaching that of hell, but with three windows down and cruising at a good 70 mph, it felt great. We ran into several spots of rain along the way, some of which was heavy, which caused some slow moving traffic for a while. The windows, however, stayed down, which felt quite refreshing. It was that kind of rain that fell straight down and stayed completely outside the car, even with the windows open; that's the kind of rain I like! There was the occasional mist of water every once in a while, but it felt great and it greatly cooled off the hot summer air.
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<br />We made pretty good time, and got to our destination (about an hour south of Atlanta) in four and a half hours. The two or three stops that we made didn't slow us down much at all, and it was great for once to arrive before it got dark! We got to my grandmother's house and were greeted warmly, of course. It was then time to play our family's favorite game: find the new furnishings in Grandma's house. None of us can visit without finding at least one thing that is different since our last visit, and most of the time, there are a fair few changes! But my grandmother has great taste in furniture and art, so it's always a change for the better (though I think most of us will admit that before the new additions, everything already looked great).
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<br />That first meal on vacation turned out to be beef short ribs, which we got to share with Grandma, Cheryl, and Scott, and it was delicious. Afterwards there was a lot of catching up and talking, and a little bit of TV watching as well. Personally, I was pretty tired and could barely keep my eyes open; plus I had developed what I'm guessing was a migraine headache, which was making it difficult to stay awake and alert. So, I headed to bed, and had probably one of the better night's sleep that I've had in a long time....but then I've noticed I always sleep better after taking some Tylenol. (On a side note, does anyone else have funny dreams when taking Tylenol before bed?)
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<br />So Day 1 was mostly a day for traveling and eating, plus some very important catching up. Day 2 would bring a bit more travel, a bit more eating, and some interesting history. Stay tuned for Day 2 - Fried Green Tomatoes. </span></strong>
<br />Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-60266035402264112011-08-11T22:41:00.001-04:002011-08-11T22:42:13.066-04:00Family Vacation<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Well, it's only taken me a week and a half, but it's time to blog about our vacation! I think I'll take a page out of Kathy's book and separate each experience into a separate post, in this case each individual day. There were seven days of vacation and family reunion, so look for seven new posts coming up!
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<br />Just to give a bit of background on the reunion itself: there were four generations of people all together, and it was great to have so much family all in one place. Here are the four generations:</span></strong>
<br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong>
<br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"><u>1st:</u> Marcel and Pat</span></strong>
<br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"><u>2nd:</u> Karen & Steve, Cheryl & Scott, Duane & Debbie, Dawn & Mark, Tim</span></strong>
<br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"><u>3rd:</u> Sean (me), Tracy & Robert, Amber, Kelly & Paul, Tarren & Pete, Jean Pierre</span></strong>
<br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"><u>4th:</u> Alex, Aaron, Micah, Lucas, Grace</span></strong>
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<br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">While it was great to see all these people, there were several notable absences. My brother, Ryan, did not attend, and none of my aunt Cheryl's children were there. My cousin Duane and his family had prior engagements, and also did not attend. My mom's youngest sister, my aunt Colleen, went Home to be with the Lord several years ago; her children all live in California and did not attend. But we also had the blessing of having family visitors: John Gaughn and his grandson Austin joined us for a few days, so we had a bit of extended family present!</span></strong>
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<br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Look for my other vacation posts coming soon. I'm hoping to get those cranked out in the next week, so stay tuned!</span></strong>
<br />Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-19438555541554516322011-06-30T22:23:00.000-04:002011-06-30T22:23:36.892-04:00Mission Accomplished!<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Well, I did it, thirty blog posts in thirty days! This experience brings to mind something my fifth grade teacher, Sister Jolita, told us in reference to any book we would read, but is also very appropriate now. She would always ask us, when writing book reports, to write about what we learned from the book. Sometimes this was difficult for me, since I didn't really understand how I was supposed to learn something from a work of fiction. But Sister said there was always an opportunity to learn something from any experience, and this is true of my June Blogging Challenge.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Thing 1 that I learned is that people are opinionated; actually I already knew this but this experience has hammered that down quite well. Dr. Phil always says that opinions are like butts: everyone has one and they all stink. That might not be exactly true; in my opinion, my opinions never stink. :-) I have gotten some very interesting comments, and I appreciate that you all have shared them with me. I enjoy getting feedback, and I'm glad you are actually taking the time to comment on (and sometimes criticize) my blogs. That being said, there are some opinions and comments that I don't appreciate. Thankfully the only opinion that matters on this blog is mine, so you may say what you want, but keep in mind that this is my rodeo!</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Thing 2 that I learned is that I can be creative and come up with a variety of topics about which to blog. I was afraid when I started this challenge that I would run out of ideas just a few days into it. Thankfully I was able to come up with thirty different topics and write a post of reasonable length every single night. This was so much more difficult than I thought, but at least I was able to come up with them! There were some nights I didn't have my post finished until almost 11:30, but I stuck to it, thought it out, and was able to produce a topic when I needed it.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Thing 3 that I learned, and this is probably the most important, is that I will never do this again! I thoroughly enjoy blogging, but this has been so much work for me. I really don't want to go back to blogging only a couple times a year like I have since I graduated from Xavier, but blogging every single day is too much! Once or twice a week would be ideal, so hopefully I can get on a schedule where that is feasible. Unless the outcry from my readers is so intense as to change my mind, the monthly blogging challenges are over!</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">So, I just wanted to say to all who have read my blog this month, Thank You! This experience has brought more hits than ever to my blog, which means that so many new readers are looking every day. I'm glad that there are people out there that find my writing interesting, and I'm glad you have come back over the last thirty days. I hope I can keep everyone interested in the future, and that you will keep on coming back! So I just have to say, Mission Accomplished! </span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-55857927679249825932011-06-29T22:17:00.000-04:002011-06-29T22:17:23.173-04:00International Eating<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The list of foods that I simply <u>won't</u> eat is probably pretty short. And most of those foods are over-processed "American" dishes that contain lots of salt, mayonnaise, or vinegar. I wanted to bring up some different types of food on my blog today, because my day was filled with two very different flavors from two very different cultures.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">For lunch at work today, we had Mexican food from 3 Amigos here in Powell, which I would highly recommend for people in this area craving Mexican food. My favorite to get from there is the chicken chimichanga with rice and beans. Most of the time chimichangas are fried to a crisp and topped with various condiments like sour cream, pico de gallo, cheese (either solid or a cheese sauce), and guacamole. I prefer to get the chimichanga un-fried (or should that be fried-less), and the combo I get comes with just a simple cheese sauce. Mmmm. The restaurant also throws in a bag of chips, a cup of salsa, and a few pieces of sopapilla for dessert. It's great stuff!</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">For dinner tonight, my mom decided she wanted Chinese food, and we usually get ours from a local restaurant called China Jiang. I would also highly recommend this place to my local friends and family. My "usual" is to get sweet and sour chicken with an egg roll (mmmm), but today I decided to change it up a bit, since my lunch was so heavy and filling. This time I got chicken with mixed vegetables and an egg roll, and it was delicious! The portion size was so large that I'll be able to get at least two more meals out of it, which makes it economical too. More good stuff!</span></strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Of course my all-time favorite cuisine is Italian, and you can read about my most recent Italian experience on my Olive Garden post. I think I like Italian food so much because so many dishes are tomato-based, and I love tomatoes. Obviously there are Italian dishes that aren't tomato-based, but I like those too. Pizza is always a favorite for me, since you can change it up with whatever kinds of toppings you want. So, I could probably eat Italian food every day!</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Obviously I didn't cover every single type of cuisine, so there are many more than I enjoy. What kinds of food do you enjoy the most? Are there any that I didn't mention that you find delicious? And are there any "weird" food likes that you have?</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-2130083330680405942011-06-28T22:31:00.000-04:002011-06-28T22:31:09.458-04:00Harry Potter Time!<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Well, not quite.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">In case you have been living in a cave or under a rock, the last Harry Potter movie is coming out July 15th. I really don't think I can impress upon you how excited I am about this! And I don't think I can impress upon a non-Harry Potter fan the magnitude of this event coming in just over three weeks. But let me try. This franchise has completely changed my life; for one thing, it actually got me interested in reading. For another, it opened me up to a world of creativity that I have never seen before, and will probably never see again. I have such a great amount of respect for J.K. Rowling (the author), and I can't thank her enough for creating this amazing story for us.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I have written a blog post in the past explaining my relationship with the Harry Potter franchise, both the books and the movies. In case you didn't read that post back then, I came across the movies before the books. Yes, I had been introduced to the books first, but never really took an interest in them back then. It wasn't until the sixth movie came out that I really wanted to get into the books. I enjoyed that movie so much, and I wanted to know what happened next so badly, that I wanted to start reading right away. So I went to our local library and checked them out, one by one, until I finished them. I had set a goal for myself to finish the books before the second-to-last movie (representing roughly the first half of the seventh book) opened in November of last year, giving me more than a year to finish them. I figured with my busy schedule and my general dislike of reading at the time, I would have just enough time to finish. Little did I know that just three months later, I would have read all seven books, which for me was a <u>real</u> accomplishment!</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">At any rate, I am on the edge of my seat waiting to see the last movie. Of course it comes out on midnight July 15th, and there's no way I can go to a midnight premier, sit through a two or three hour movie, and still get up for work in the morning. Yes, it's tempting, but it's just not feasible! But you better believe it that I will be seeing that movie that weekend! And although I'm thoroughly excited to see the end of the story portrayed on film, it's still going to be sad that the whole thing is over. The great thing is, though, that the books and the films will be around forever, much longer than I will be. I, for one, will continue to re-read the books and re-watch the movies until the pages fall out and the DVDs don't play any more!</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Who else is excited for the newest Harry Potter movie? What kind of Harry Potter "collections" do you have? I have the box set of the books in hard cover, as well as all the movies on DVD, for example. Will you be seeing the midnight premier of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2?" And how will you feel once the last scene is played out and the movie-making is over?</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-74056363880894828942011-06-27T22:00:00.001-04:002011-06-27T22:00:46.666-04:00Missing Tennis<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Wimbledon is going on this week, and I am missing it! Most of the matches are televised during the day, and of course I work during the day. Of course nowadays one can watch anything online, but I don't want to sit on my computer for hours watching tennis after work. I guess there are re-cap shows on at night, so I'll have to see if any of those come on tonight.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I've been so out of the tennis loop lately that I don't even know who the players are! Nadal and Federer are still at the top of the men's sport, of course, and the Williams sisters on the women's side (though I heard they are both out of the tournament now). There are a few others that I know, but all the up-and-coming players that are new within the last two years, I have no idea who they are. That's really unfortunate, because tennis is one of those sports that has a pretty frequent turnover of players usually. Some players stick around for decades, but that is rare. For our sake, however, I hope Nadal, Federer, and the Williams sisters stick around a good long while (among others).</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Is anyone keeping up with Wimbledon? I know that Kathy is an avid tennis fan, but she has yet to post a Wimbledon blog! Who's looking good this year? And could someone please inform me about who are the top players now? I'm hoping to at least see the finals, since those are at least played on the weekend. But it would really be nice to know what is going on before the very end!</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-56721141624399997932011-06-26T21:58:00.000-04:002011-06-26T21:58:12.625-04:00Weeding the Garden<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I enjoy gardening. Maybe I should rephrase that though, because there are <u>parts</u> of gardening that I enjoy. I enjoy planting flowers, shrubs, trees, and other plants in a garden, or in the ground in general. I enjoy watering and fertilizing plants when needed. I don't mind getting my hands dirty in the process, and I don't mind the hard work involved in digging, tilling, or any other preparatory process. But there is one step of the gardening process that I hate, HATE: weeding.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">This is very unfortunate because our garden is badly in need of weeding. I did do some weeding last week, but with all the rain we've had this past week, I'll need to keep on top of it. We put down some plastic to stop the weeds the year we bought mulch, but it can only do so much. It does prevent weeds from sprouting up through the ground. Unfortunately, grass clippings, seeds, and spores got into the mulch and sprouted in the mulch layer. Then it's only a simple step to grow a few inches into the actual ground, and have a strong root. AHHH you weeds!</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I guess the reason I don't like weeding is because it's a never-ending process. Yes, watering and fertilizing are never-ending, but they can take of themselves at a certain point. A little bit of mulch can provide enough nutrients for a couple of years, and rains such that we've had lately provide more than enough water. Weeding is hard work, and sometimes the weeds grow in among the regular plants. It's frustrating to me that I might accidentally pull out part of the healthy, desired plant just to get rid of the weed! Plus, those weeds are so resilient that if you don't get the entire root out, it will grow right back! Argh!</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">We did have a tiny helper in the garden today, though. I was looking outside prior to writing this blog and saw a baby rabbit hopping and sniffing around. He was only about the size of my fist, and seemed to enjoy eating weeds! Now if we could only get a few more of those, the entire garden would be weed-free! I only wish that I could have gotten a picture before he hopped away. That little bugger was adorable!</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">What parts of gardening, if any, do you enjoy? Do you mind pulling weeds? If the answer to the second question was "no," when can you come to our house and pull our weeds?</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-63072944458899253812011-06-25T23:11:00.000-04:002011-06-25T23:11:05.595-04:00Olive Garden<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Since most of us were working on the actual day of my parents' 25th wedding anniversary, we decided to go out to dinner this weekend when we were free. Ryan did have to work, so it ended up being just my parents and myself, and we chose to go to the Olive Garden. This apparently has some historical significance, since my parents have gone out to Olive Garden to celebrate many a wedding anniversary.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The first thing we noticed and enjoyed about our dinner was our excellent seating. We were given a booth in one of the back rooms of the restaurant that sat in a cozy corner. It made for an intimate gathering for family appropriate for an anniversary dinner. The food, of course, was delicious! My mom had a chicken and pasta dish with white sauce, spinach, and tomatoes, which I tried and found excellent. My dad had a garlic Parmesan tilapia dish with Mediterranean-style veggies; again I tried it and liked it. I had stuffed chicken Marsala, which was grilled chicken stuffed with tomatoes and cheese, topped with Marsala sauce and mushrooms, and came with garlic mashed potatoes. Mmmmm... We added in a bottle of wine (which we finished), and topped it all off with a chocolate cake dessert that we split. Delicious!</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">One highlight of the evening came after the dinner and wine were finished. My mom had made a joke that we should get to take home the silver wine bucket, since it was indeed their 25th (silver) wedding anniversary. My dad said this jokingly to the waiter, and he very sincerely agreed to do so! He didn't give us the one we used tonight, but did have one that had been given to him by the restaurant that he very graciously gave up! What a nice gesture, don't you think? So now we have a genuine wine bucket for the future. Whether or not the bucket is actually made of silver is still up for debate, but of course, that is completely irrelevant.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">All in all, it was a great dinner, and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We may have over-indulged a little bit, but you don't celebrate 25 years of marriage every day! I took a couple of pictures while there, including one of the wine bucket we took home, and one of my parents sitting together, which I have posted below. Great job, Olive Garden!</span></strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgplN8u4rw6YlIzfs0o4l33m6yJghuRaGrMJVHGclllw2M6FWAIvCiIKaKd5vScSN_Xri0hTCxTYIU3-CZyl1xpV2TBYAalyHdo7G9_EbnIkQeIzbsGa7vbpk1G0X4wAws4CLjS/s1600/Olive+Garden+Wine+Bucket.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 326px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 246px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622356042011265634" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgplN8u4rw6YlIzfs0o4l33m6yJghuRaGrMJVHGclllw2M6FWAIvCiIKaKd5vScSN_Xri0hTCxTYIU3-CZyl1xpV2TBYAalyHdo7G9_EbnIkQeIzbsGa7vbpk1G0X4wAws4CLjS/s400/Olive+Garden+Wine+Bucket.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv9dPYrY3woBNbHDDkl8i7VUwKgmP8XsqvnvtIjuPFz0KKZaIiaN_9k9DPttv4fWzzz5wZCPgBJzJcMe87x9kaT9cd_0oduBfGiE_29BBCW8lIedF_-PdnjWHO631Bkt1QBO0p/s1600/Mom+and+Dad+at+Olive+Garden.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 326px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 246px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622356045223349506" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv9dPYrY3woBNbHDDkl8i7VUwKgmP8XsqvnvtIjuPFz0KKZaIiaN_9k9DPttv4fWzzz5wZCPgBJzJcMe87x9kaT9cd_0oduBfGiE_29BBCW8lIedF_-PdnjWHO631Bkt1QBO0p/s400/Mom+and+Dad+at+Olive+Garden.jpg" /></a></div>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-63318324326486333722011-06-24T21:23:00.000-04:002011-06-24T21:23:26.424-04:00My Saturn<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">As I was driving to work today, thinking about what topic I would use for my blog tonight, it occurred to me that I should write about my car. Cars in-and-of themselves are not especially interesting; sports cars and convertibles might be something better to blog about. My car is by no means extraordinary. But maybe that's why I wanted to write about it.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I got this car right after I turned 18. I hadn't gotten a car on my own, since I wasn't able to do so without a co-signer; I really didn't want to bring anyone else into the picture. So I waited. And luckily for me, a used car lot not to far from us had several good deals to offer. My dad knew one of the salesmen, so he was willing to go out of his way for me. As it turned out, the car I now own was being re-possessed due to the then-owner's late or non-existent payments. However, at the time I first saw the car, it was not yet for sale, since the business was not yet in full possession of it again. The salesman said we would be the first he called when the car became available, and he kept his word! I got first dibs on this green '97 Saturn SL2, and I was so excited.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Something that made this purchase even more interesting was the fact that my friend Aaron had the <u>exact</u> same car, a green '97 Saturn SL2! His was slightly more up-scale than mine, since he had a sunroof, but mine was hooked up to hold a CD player in the trunk, so we were about even. My dad came to pick me up from school one day, and drove up in the Saturn! He had gotten the salesman to lend him the car for a test drive, and when we got back to the office, we would draw up paperwork! I had no idea this was going to happen, so it was a little overwhelming at first. But after the papers were signed and the deals were made, the car was mine! I got to drive it home that night, and my days of car ownership began.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I have been through so much with this car, for better and for worse. The "worse" has been all of the work I have had done on it. I have replaced a fuel filter, a radiator, several air conditioning repairs, an entire engine, several sensors, and a set of tires. In all, I have far exceeded the $3500 I paid for the car initially! I'm sure I have blogged about most of my car troubles, and they have all been frustrating. Probably the most frustrating was the story of my radiator going out as we pulled in to unload my things on my first day at Xavier. Just imagine clouds of smoke issuing from under my hood as I wait in line with the other freshmen! Luckily I have a great support system in my family, and was able to get that all fixed up and worked out.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">That little car has been back and forth to Cincinnati at least 20 times (a low estimate), so it was my life line while in college. It has been on family vacations, grocery store trips, trips to the gym, drives around town, and to and from work. It gets me where I go, and for the most part is a solid transportation vehicle. Sure, I've had my frustrations, but in general I get what I want out of my car. I could have bought a brand new car after my engine went out, but who wants to have car payments? I hated payments when I had them for this car, and was determined to pay it off as soon as possible. That came in less than two years, so I was very wary of taking that on again! No, this way I could hold onto something that was already mine, and instead of getting something I couldn't afford, I would just manage with what I had. That mentality has really come in handy for me! Ahh my little Saturn...</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">What was your first car? Was it something you grew to cherish, or did you just want to be rid of it as soon as possible? Do you have any good stories about one of your first cars, or even your cars now?</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-89808893743889923572011-06-23T22:48:00.000-04:002011-06-23T22:48:13.245-04:00The Y<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">We have been members of our local YMCA for the last several years, thanks in part to the time we spent at the Y's in Florida at which my grandfather teaches. Attending his aerobics classes got us motivated enough to look into joining and starting our own exercise regimens. Of course, this wasn't the first time we had been Y members. When we were younger we had a Y membership which we used mostly for swimming. Our Y has an indoor-outdoor pool that was perfect for us kids at the time. The canopy stays up year-round, but they pull of the sides to open it up to the outside. That way lounge chairs can be placed outside so that the adults can lay in the sun.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Since we started going back a few years ago, I have developed my own work-out routine that I have pretty much stuck to ever since. First, I do a cardio work-out for 30 minutes on an elliptical machine. I set the resistance up to a setting of 8, which over the years I have determined gives me the best work-out without tiring me out <u>too</u> much. The machine takes my age and weight so that calories can easily be calculated, as well as measuring my heart rate and determining how well I am performing cardio-wise. The machine then adds an additional five minutes for a "cool down," in which it drops the resistance to about 4 or 5. In the course of 35 minutes, I usually stride about three miles, and burn about 350 calories. </span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">After the cardio portion of my work-out, I move on to the weight room. I am not too skilled with free-weights, so I choose to use the weight machines that target the various muscle groups. We were given a thorough tour and demonstration of all the weight machines, and since then I have been able to easily set the machines to my specifications. The number of sets and the weight used varies based on what machine I use, but I always use the same rotation in machines: chest (pectorals), triceps, biceps, calves (gastrocnemius and soleus), and abs. Lately I've been doing my sets and then starting over to do one more set on each machine. That way I'm completely maxed out on each machine and can feel it in each of the muscle groups.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">One perk of my health insurance (which started in February) is that they will reimburse me for attending a fitness center. I signed up for the Healthy Track plan, which is cheaper and provides this perk, among others. The stipulations are that I have to provide proof of membership payment and a list of the dates that I attended said fitness center, which must both be obtained from the center itself. The insurance company will only pay out anything if I can prove I have attended my fitness center 100 times in a year, or 25 times in a quarter. If I have met those qualifications, I can receive quarterly payments of $25, or a yearly payment of $100, whichever I prefer. Since that averages out to about two visits per week, and since I have been going an average of three times a week, I can easily meet those requirements.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I actually went to the Y today after work. Though I don't usually like to go after work, since I have to work this Saturday, I was needing another day to go this week. I usually go on Saturday and Sunday, and pick a day I get off earlier to go as well. Since my schedule changed due to our hours being cut, most days I get off work at 6:00 or 7:00, and I'm finding it more difficult to get to the Y, though not impossible as can be seen from my trip to the Y today. I find that going to the Y helps me relax and generally makes me feel better, so I enjoy going. Obviously the health benefits are huge, since the insurance companies and physicians so highly recommend it. This lowers one's overall health expenses and helps keep us in shape.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">What do you do to stay in shape? Do you have a health membership at a place like the Y, or do you have your own exercise equipment? Do you like to go running, walking, biking, or anything else outside instead of the comfortable air-conditioned room of a gym? And are you given any incentives to work out at a place like the Y, as I am?</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-46982171913406757372011-06-22T23:07:00.000-04:002011-06-22T23:07:37.767-04:00Rain, Rain, Here to Stay?<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Would you be surprised if I told you I love rain storms? I think it's pretty obvious by now that I love snow, what with all the snow-related posts on my blog over the last several years. But perhaps my real love is for precipitation in general. I guess there's just something about the power of water that interests me.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I am one of the few people I know that enjoys it when it rains. This year we have seen many record storms with record rainfall in the course of a day. The amount of rain we have received has been so excessive that most people are sick of it. But not I! Obviously I want to have some sunny days too, but the rainy days can be just as enjoyable to me. This is especially true on days when I am working, because if I'm going to be stuck inside anyway, it might as well rain. Plus there are so many things that one can do stuck inside on a rainy day: play board games, watch movies, read good books, and the best thing to do during a storm is NAP! I always sleep better when it rains, and taking a nap while it's raining can be pretty refreshing.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Probably the top reason I enjoy rain is because it sustains life. Many people don't think about that when the constant precipitation "ruins" their well-laid plans. It's funny to me that the basis for all life causes so many people to cease living! I don't change my plans just because it's raining, unless of course the plans were to be outside the whole time. The way I see it, it rains somewhere every single day, so we might as well accept that today it's raining here. Not to mention that the beautiful flowers and plants that we love to see in spring and summer rely on that supply of rain to grow so beautifully.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Today has been one of those days when the rain has come down as a deluge. We've had two or three straight days of rain, and many thousands of people have lost power during the course of the latest storms. Luckily our power only flickered for a short time last night, and there has been no real damage to this property or the ones immediately surrounding it. All of the destruction, the lightning and the thunder, and the power of it all just amazes me. To witness something so much more powerful than myself, and something <u>completely</u> out of my control, is simply astounding. I encourage all of my readers to think this way regarding the rain, instead of a major inconvenience. The weather doesn't care about your plans, and it will do what it has to do! Just remember that we need the rain and that rain is a GOOD thing!</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Do you all enjoy thunderstorms? Or are you one of those people that hides under the bed when storms come through? Can you see the beauty in the rain? Do you cancel your plans when it rains (including travel or indoor plans), or do you embrace the rain and enjoy yourselves anyway?</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-570517493106517592011-06-21T23:02:00.000-04:002011-06-21T23:02:51.705-04:0025<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">This post is coming pretty late tonight, so hopefully it will get posted before midnight! We had some pretty strong storms blow through tonight, which included some short power outages. But all is good.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Today my parents celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, and I am so proud! They were married June 21, 1986, and what a time it has been so far. I was an early development in this marriage, coming only nine months later! (I guess that makes me a honeymoon surprise!) My brother came along three years after I did, and we remain a family of four. There have been lots of ups and downs, but obviously the ups have outweighed the downs, or we wouldn't be all together right now.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I have been so blessed to witness what it is like to have married parents for all of my life. I can count only a few of my friends whose parents are still married to each other; I guess that's just a sign of the times, but it's still kind of sad. Obviously married people are going to fight and have problems, but you don't stay together for 25 years if you don't know how to resolve conflicts. I can attest to the fact that this has been a key to my parents' marriage, built on a foundation of trust and unconditional love.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I feel doubly blessed to have a set of grandparents who have been married for close to 60 years, which is truly remarkable! Both sets of couples have shown me great examples of what good marriages are like, and as a product of those marriages, I can honestly feel the love they bestow both on each other and their families. I do paint a pretty flowery picture of marriage, which I know isn't true of all marriages. It also isn't true of the good marriages all the time, as I'm sure my married readers will agree. But what does make a good marriage is being able to overcome the odds together, to make compromises, and just stick it through together. Both my grandparents and my parents have shown that they have what it takes to make good marriages last, and for that I am so blessed.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">So the main point I wanted to make with this blog post is to wish my parents a Very Happy 25th Anniversary. I am so happy to be a part of this family, and I thank God every day for each and every person who is a part of it. I hope that 25 years from now I can post about my parents' 50th anniversary, and be even more proud!</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-21741369461191263642011-06-20T22:23:00.000-04:002011-06-20T22:23:53.050-04:00Windows Down, Radio Up<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I had mentioned a few weeks ago on Facebook that I had experienced one of my favorite "life moments." My mom and I were talking one evening and for some reason she started laughing. As she tried to explain why she was laughing, I started laughing too. When all was said and done, we were both laughing hysterically and couldn't breathe, and tears were streaming down our faces. I've never really figured out why we cry when we laugh really hard, but it was a great feeling anyway.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">At any rate, I bring this up because another one of my favorite life moments has to do with music, which has been a topic for a couple of blog posts lately. That moment happens when I'm driving along and a really good song comes on the radio. However, it only works out if I'm driving along really fast and there's no traffic ahead! At that moment, the windows get rolled down and the volume gets turned up high. Sometimes people may look at me and think I'm crazy or annoying, but honestly, I don't care!</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The choice of song usually doesn't matter; any really good song can do. The only necessities are that it has to be a good driving song and must sound great when turned up loud. A sad love song simply will not do. That being said, though, the song doesn't <u>have</u> to be happy. Basically it must be something you can sing along too, meaning you know all the words, and it makes you happy to sing it. Yes, it may be embarrassing to rock out to a certain kind of song, but if it makes you happy, you should do it anyway. Music is all about tastes and preferences, and just because someone else doesn't understand your choice in music, doesn't mean it isn't great to you.</span></strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Personally I like to blast music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s the most. Those were the decades of loud rock 'n' roll, power ballads, and epic guitar solos. Sure, there have been some before and since those decades, but in my opinion, they were the best. Many of the songs I enjoy with the windows down and the radio up have particular memories associated with them that I relive every time I hear them. Maybe I heard a particular song during a fun trip or a memorable summer with family. Or maybe friends and I heard a song while we were just hanging out, and had a particularly good laugh about it. All those memories come back to me, and it brings a smile to my face, which is what music is supposed to do, after all.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Are there certain songs you like to blast with the windows rolled down and singing at the top of your voice? Or are you a stick in the mud that doesn't like to have any fun??? And if you are the former, is it more fun to be driving along alone, or singing along with friends and family to back you up?</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-17741545314854235032011-06-19T18:38:00.000-04:002011-06-19T18:38:25.844-04:00Car Registration<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I decided to take a break from the music posts because of something else that came up recently that I wanted to post.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I renew my car tags every year in June. The state usually sends a renewal letter the month before the registration expires as a convenience. Of course, not getting a letter does not exclude one from renewing one's registration, since it all comes down to personal responsibility (hey, remember that other blog I did??). I usually take advantage of the fact that the Knox County Clerk has several offices around the county, including one at a local mall. I pick a specific weekend or a day off during the week to drive down there and pay for my registration. And while I'm there, I can walk around the stores and maybe get some lunch.</span></strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">This year is a little bit different. Since I don't get week days off anymore, and my weekends are becoming increasingly busier, I don't have as much time to get across town as I used to. The mall is about fifteen miles from home, so round-trip that's about thirty miles; with gas at $3.48 this week, I would end up burning just about that $3.48 in that one trip. In years past, it was always more cost-effective to drive to the County Clerk's office to register, but this year, that $2.00 fee for mailing it in was looking good to me. Our registration is $60.00 a year, so an extra $2.00 is not a huge deal.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">But then I saw on the literature that I could register online! Hot dog! That would be simpler and quicker than mailing it in, and I figured they wouldn't charge me the $2.00. Well I was wrong. Not only do they still charge $2.00 to mail the new tag, but they also charge a "convenience fee" of $2.48! So on top of the $60.00 I was going to fork out, they add $4.48 just to do it online. Thanks, but no thanks! I opted to send in my check through the mail, pay the $2.00 extra, and wait for the tags by mail. Oh, I guess I forgot to factor in the cost of a stamp, but then again, I can't remember how much I paid for the book of stamps I purchased several months ago. At any rate, I figure I saved about $1.00 registering by mail versus driving to the mall (or another equivalent County Clerk satellite office), and saved $2.00 versus registering online. I guess I can still call that "coming out ahead," right?</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">What are car registration costs where you live? Do you have emissions testing where you live (because we do not)? Do you have convenient ways to register your cars, or do they charge you extra like they do here?</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-57516091335931408222011-06-18T21:09:00.000-04:002011-06-18T21:09:09.811-04:00Stevie Nicks<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I'm sure I'll get a lot of clever comments from Uncle Tim about this post...<br /><br />It's no secret that my favorite musical artist of all time is Stevie Nicks. There is just something about her voice that is totally unique, and it is pleasing to my ears. She is a very strong, independent woman, and pretty much every song she has written reflects that. Of course there are also songs where she shows her vulnerability and tenderness; some of those are the ones for which she is most famous.<br /><br />I really "got into" Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks when I started college. Before that time, I had heard their songs on the radio, and enjoyed them. They also played on the store radio at work, though at the time I didn't know who sang those songs. Once I got to college, the songs piqued my interested even further, and I was able to access everything I wanted to read, see, or listen to regarding Stevie Nicks on the Internet. One of the first music videos was to a song called "Gypsy," which soon became my favorite Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac song. I will post the music video at the end of this post.<br /><br />There is just something about Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks music that just makes me happy. Maybe it has to do with how mellow and laid-back the songs are, and how interesting the lyrics are. Or maybe it has to do with how artistic the music videos are for the songs. Or maybe it has to do with the on-stage personas of the artists themselves, especially Stevie Nicks' as a mythical witch figure. I think it's probably all of the above! Whenever I was having a particularly stressful day, I could turn on the Stevie Nicks music and it would calm me down and relax me. The "Gypsy" music video in particular cheered me up because of how artistic and happy it is. I hope you all will find it that way too.<br /><br />Is there a Stevie Nicks or Fleetwood Mac song that you enjoy?<br /></span></strong><br /><br /><object width="425" height="349"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Iagd_RKM3pU?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Iagd_RKM3pU?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="349" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-52831201864303655902011-06-17T22:08:00.000-04:002011-06-17T22:08:18.866-04:00The Power of Music<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">My last two posts were dedicated to a rant concerning proper use of the English language. The next couple of posts will be dedicated to the art form that most inspires me: music. I don't know a single person that doesn't enjoy at least one type of music; even deaf people can enjoy the vibrations from the sounds, or the other artistic portions of a musical act.<br /><br />Just this morning, I realized how eclectic my musical taste is. On my way to work, I have a very limited time to listen to music, since the trip is only about three miles, or around ten minutes. I turned on the radio and instantly found a song I liked on the soft rock station. When that song finished (it was only on for a minute or so), I turned the station to the classic rock station, and found a song I liked. Once again, I joined it about half-way through, and changed to the pop/contemporary station once it was finished, and found yet another song that I liked! When that song finished, a sort of hip-hop/pop song came on that I liked, which I got to listen to all the way through. And finally, when that song finished, I turned to one of the "mix" stations, and found a song I liked! How unusual it is that I instantly heard songs that I liked on a radio station! And even more unusual, given that all the stations play different genres of music.<br /><br />The song that I wanted to share today is a very inspirational one to me. I very much enjoy music from the 70s and 80s when listening to the radio, but religious music has a very high appeal to me as well. I don't generally listen to Christian or other religious stations on the radio, since it's not exactly my cup of tea. Most of those stations reflect opinions and worship styles of certain denominations, and as a Catholic, I enjoy some of the religious music we use in our worship. There are some exceptions to this, of course, but in general, the type of Christian music played on the radio doesn't appeal to me.<br /><br />I wanted to share a YouTube video with a song based on Psalm 23 today. Anyone who has been to any kind of Christian church (especially during a funeral) is familiar with this psalm. The lyrics are very comforting to those who are grieving, but is also inspirational and hopeful to those who are not. This particular rendition was the theme song for the British TV comedy called "The Vicar of Dibley," which used to be shown on our local PBS station on Saturday nights. It's a hilarious program, but the theme song is spectacular. It's a choir version of the psalm that is so beautiful, and I hope that you all will enjoy it. After you watch it, let me know what you think, and also what kinds of music you like.<br /></span></strong><br /><br /><object width="480" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lAZN1oVir5A?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lAZN1oVir5A?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-17016294316180947402011-06-16T22:08:00.000-04:002011-06-16T22:08:24.160-04:00There Their They're<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Last night I expressed my frustration at the way some people speak. Tonight I wanted to discuss one of my other pet peeves: the way people write.</span></strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Once again, I am an educated person, and I try to write like I am. Blogs, e-mails, letters, papers, etc. should always have excellent grammar and spelling. I even carry this over to text messages, which for all intents are purposes are supposed to be less formal. That being said, I still like to use proper grammar and spelling, just because. The English language is our tool, and like any tool, can perform most effectively when used correctly. Let me go over a few of my spelling/grammar pet peeves that really grind my gears.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><u><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">There, Their, They're</span></strong></u><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">This is on of the most popular offenders that I see. "There" is a pronoun referring to a place. "Their" is a possessive adjective that reflects ownership by more than one person. "They're" is a contraction of "they are," referring to a quality of more than one person. I can't stand it when people don't get it right! To me, it's pretty simple, but so many people seem to have a problem with this one.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><u><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">To, Too, Two</span></strong></u><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">This is a common occurrence online and in text messages. "To" is a preposition, "Too" is an adverb, and "Two" is the spelling of a number. I frequently see people leaving off an O when trying to convey "also." I don't know if it's just too difficult with the keys or what, but again I think they are pretty simple.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><u><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Your, You're</span></strong></u><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">This is the one that grinds my gears the most! "Your" is a possessive adjective, and "You're" is a contraction of "you are." So often I see "your welcome," or "your so funny," or a phrase similar to that. Come on, people! I think it might frustrate me because "you're" is made from two words, and it just doesn't make sense to use the other phrase. At least in the second case I presented (to, too, two), all three words are spelled so similarly, and it is a simple mistake to make while typing. This one just gets on my nerves the most.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><u><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Plural nouns used as singular, and vice versa</span></strong></u><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">One of the first things I learned as a science student was how to write a scientific paper. Proper grammar and spelling were essential to conveying one's point, and care should be taken to do so carefully. "Data" is a plural noun, and therefore the subject/verb agreement must be as such. I have heard so many people say "the data is..." as if "data" were a singular noun. Grrr! As one of my professors used to say, "The data are the data."</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">The converse of that is a word like "none," which is singular. A common phrase begins "None of us..." and usually ends with the person using a plural verb. A correct phrase would be, "None of us has had lunch yet." These are a little less obvious, so I'm a little more forgiving when I hear people use this one incorrectly. Now, however, everyone who has read this blog should know how to use these words and phrases correctly!</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Are there any words or phrases that you see misspelled frequently? What are some errors that frustrate you, either at work or in everyday practice? Do you think that proper spelling and grammar are important even in everyday uses like e-mails, text messages, and social media?</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16163405.post-4942821763526196062011-06-15T22:29:00.000-04:002011-06-15T22:29:36.983-04:00Speaking English<strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">In the course of my life, a lot of money has been spent on my education. My parents sent me to private Catholic schools from K-12, and I went to a private Catholic college for four years. That's a whole lotta money! Why do I bring this up? Because as a person who has been well-educated in great places of learning, I should speak as such. To not do so would be a complete waste of those education dollars.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">I live in the South, and just like in any region, people speak in a specific manner. Accents are one thing, and colloquialisms are funny and sometimes endearing. I have no problem with these things. What I don't like is when the phrases or ways of speaking go against the normal rules of the English language. One of my favorite words to use is "y'all," which is a contraction of "you all," and therefore follows the rules of English. Most phrases and sayings are the same way.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Let me give you a specific example of something that drives me insane. One person I talked to on the phone recently said something that sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. When referring to her husband's medication, she said "his'n." AHHHH! The last time I checked, his'n isn't a word; it makes no sense! I also believe I have heard the same woman use the word "ain't," which is a pretty common occurrence around here. It drives me mad when people say it! She could just as easily have said "his" instead of "his'n," and could have said "isn't" instead of "ain't." I honestly believe that some people don't think before they open their mouths.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">In my opinion, you don't have to be well-educated to speak the English language correctly. You just have to surround yourself with people who do, and you will, too. Obviously I am not perfect, and I'm sure there are things that I say that are not grammatically correct. The point is that I always try to speak (and write) in a way that reflects the quality education I have received. I do hope that my blog posts reflect that also! </span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:130%;">Are there any specific phrases that drive you mad? Are there any specific people you want to rat out that say things you can't stand? Or are you guilty of saying certain phrases you aren't proud of?</span></strong>Sean M.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17624332436421975527noreply@blogger.com9