i feel much better after a nice, quiet nap. i think all three of us got a bit of rest before deciding to head back to town. the in-laws still haven’t returned from their day-tripping and we haven’t been able to reach them by phone so i guess their off having a good time. we’re at a little pan in town. hubby and nephew played frisbee while i walked some laps around the park (i’d guess two miles). we then walked down to the river together to talk to the ducks. there was a momma with some brand new hatchlings and we had a good time watching them. they even came up on the bank a few feet in front of us several times. the strange part was when the momma flew off above the dam, leaving her babies behind. we watched in bewilderment for several minutes and the babies were frantic for their momma. finally momma came to the edge of the dam and looked down at them for quite a while like she actually expected them to fly up there with her but she knew better than that. she did eventually come back down and they flocked to her anxiously. i was just astounded. i’ve never seen any of my ducks abandon their chilluns like that. did i mention that my hubby also held up mountain traffic to rescue a turtle in the road. we are now getting ready to play some putt-putt with the group.

after finally getting to sleep in this morning (really, all this getting up at 06:00 is just not my idea of vacation) we met up with the cousins for some ice skating fun at ober gatlinburg. hubby, nephew, and i were actually the only ones to get out on the ice but we had a great time. i think we’re going to relax a bit this afternoon and then maybe get the group together again when it cools off this evening to play some putt-putt or something. i’d like to get back in the very nice hot tub again but it’s much warmer today than it was yesterday so i’m not sure that will be wise. we’ll see. oh, i almost forgot about the amazing storm that came through last night. I couldn’t tell you what time it was since there is not a clock in our room but it was bigger rain, thunder, and lightening than i’ve heard in a long time. it woke us up but that was okay because it was so pleasant to listen to. it really was truly impressive.

a very dear friend of mine found out a couple of weeks ago that he has lymphoma. they found it in his abdomen and say that it has already spread to many lymph nodes around the body. he will be going wednesday for further tests to try to determine a prognosis and course of treatment. it was all i could do to keep it together on the phone with him last night and as soon as I hung up I started bawling. i cried a lot last night because I just can’t stand the thought of anything happening to my friend. I told him he needs to come down and spend some time at the beach before they start chemo or anything. I’m worried, folks, but I am praying that they are able to get him into remission and i’ll get to have many, many more conversations with my
friend.

we also got an update on hs’s son yesterday. the surgery went well on wednesday. he is breathing on his own again and he can flex his arm up towards his body but he cannot straighten it back out yet. apparently, the same nerves that control that extension action also control many
leg movements. he also cannot move his fingers yet. hs is dealing but said that his son isn’t talking much and it doesn’t seem like it’s really hit him yet. they will be flying him back to atlanta monday to a spinal rehabilitation facility. with any hope, he will be able to regain many movements.

it took forever, but we finally made it. we’ve been hanging out at the cousin’s cabin playing pool, talking, relaxing, and most importantly cooling off. it’s bloody hot out there, folks! our car started
overheating while sitting in traffic in town. it’s definitely pretty here (in the mountains) but the general area is far too crowded and touristy for my likes. last time we were here was new year of the millienia. it’s even worse now than it was then. i’m much more of a spend the holidays close to home kind of girl, myself.

got up at 05:13 (well, i've been awake since 02:37). are we there yet?

and i've been soaking it up this morning. of course my poor husband has
been working feverishly all morning to conslidate all of our junk into
one storage building. a task we've been meaning to complete for months
now. he did it too. i tell ya, if there was an olympic event for
packing a lot of stuff into small spaces, my terrifically talented
hubby would win the good hands down! i've been lazily laying around.
i didn't sleep very well because i was so angry at hubby for trying to
get himself killed by a whale in my dream last night. hey, i never
said i was without issues.

we've made it to wedowee so we are officially no longer responsible for
teenage girls. woohoooo! tomorrow we'll spend a little time visiting
gma h and rearranging our storage building. friday, we'll be heading
to tn for a big family weekend (didn't we just do that?). did i
mention that we're teenager-free.

this is my kayak that i paid for in blood:

ironically enough, it is one of the ones that was in our final cuts from this weekend’s shopping. i’m thinking of calling the store (same store we had seen it, skew is still on the kayak) to see whether they will do returns without a “gift receipt”. don’t get me wrong, i am thrilled to pieces with it. but on the unlikely chance that they will do a return, we can take the money and go get the super nice kayaks that we really want but they’re more expensive and we hated to spend so much since we’d need two of them. with what this kayak cost, it would cover most of the better one and we won’t feel so bad buying them. but, i’m also a realist and am very doubtful that the store will give us money for it. i figure, if they’ll do a return at all, they’ll want to give us store credit and there’s nothing else in that store we would buy. either way, i’ve got a kayak and i’m pleased as punch!

you’ll never guess in a million years what just happened… i won a KAYAK!!! apparently, when we gave blood the other day, they were doing a drawing amongst the donors for a kayak . i recall them mentioning it in passing when we were almost done there but i never thought anymore about it because, let’s face it, i’m not a winner. and, actually, while hubby was talking with the woman and said i won a kayak, i was racking my brain to remember where that whole discussion even took place. anyhow, we’ll be going to pick it up after work this afternoon and i’m looking forward to seeing it (please, please please, let it be small enough to fit in the elevators!). i’m so excited. i don’t win things. especially things i really want. you know, since we’ve been kayak shopping for the last several weekends and were really close to buying two of them. yay for blood-letting!!!

and sleep in all day long! oh, to be fifteen again, without a care in the world! (wait, no, i had a job at fifteen and had to work when i wasn’t at school)

in one weekend wii have already unlocked 45 of the 63 songs. clearly, wii are going to need more songs.

it’s been a great way to pass the time.