What color crayon are you?

A co-worker sent this to me, and of course I did it. I'm a YELLOW. Sounds like it describes me pretty well. What do you think?

You Are a Yellow Crayon

Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors. You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius. Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way. While you seem spontaneous and free wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme. Your color wheel opposite is purple. You both are charismatic leaders, but purple people act like you have no depth.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Butter......It's Not! Vol. 1, Issue 2

It's random thought time once again in Seraphim's Wittle World. Lord only knows what's going to come from that mushy loaf of ground beef between my ears that some people call a brain.

*My surgery was July 17th. Although I think that most people who read my blog also read Tal's, so they know about it. It was a pretty easy procedure (at least for ME). I was in there early that morning. Was delayed for 1/2 hour due to an emergency, but they got me in the OR and it was lights out. I woke up a few hours later in recovery, upchucked a bit, then went back to sleep until they wheeled me to my room. Tal and my mom came in for a little bit, but then they left to get something to eat and go home for some rest. I was pretty out of it anyway. Drugs.....they can be a wonderful thing sometimes. They had my IV in a weird place on my right wrist because that was the only vein that would cooperate. But I kept occluding it when I would fall asleep and my wrist would bend, and an alarm would go off and wake me up. I would lie there and listen to it beep until the nurse came and turned it off then we'd try to figure out how to keep me from bending my wrist. Actually, she tried to figure it out, I just lay there in my drug induced coma and watched. We found that if we propped my arm up on a rolled-up towel, that helped a bit. They also had me hooked up to a machine that dispensed painkiller whenever I pushed a button. I called that my "happy button". Then I would lie there and watch the button, waiting for it to turn green so I could press it again. Fun times.

Next morning, they woke me up and gave me some breakfast. Then they removed the IV, catheter, and other things I care not to mention at this time, got me up and on my feet, and we took a walk down the hallway. I felt like a toddler who was still learning to walk, very unsteady on my feet. At the end of the hall, a lady in another room waved at me from her bed and asked how I was feeling. "We met each other in recovery.", she says. Sheesh, apparently I make new friends easier when I'm on drugs. (Doesn't surprise me, seems I get more social when I'm under the influence........) Apparently we carried on a short conversation too, but I have absolutely no recollection.

(LOL........I just pooted and then Classical Gas started playing on the radio. Sorry, just had to share.)

AnyHOO, back to my room and both doctors show up to discuss the surgery (separately, not at the same time). I wish Tal and my mom had been there, because I barely remember what they said. By then, I was sitting up in the chair. Mom and Tal show up, then decide to go get some lunch while I get to eat the yummy hospital food they nurse brought in for me to eat. Finally, they get me all checked out, cleaned up, and discharged and send me on my merry way with my hair sticking out all over the place.

Back home, recovery was nice. A whole month off of work, my every need being catered to, not a whole lot of pain, I was pretty spoiled. Talmadge had gotten me this contraption called the "Golden Retriever" - a mechanical grabber thingy to assist me in picking things up off the floor without bending over. Although, a much more fun use I found later was goosing Tal in the hiney as he left the room and harassing Puddy with it.

It was so tough to return to work after I was released by the doctor. Of course, I HAD to go back to work during one of the busiest times. I'm still struggling with my energy level. I have more days that I am dancing as fast as I can to keep up.

* I just got over a bout with a cold that turned to bronchitis. I still have a bit of a cough, but I'm not sure if it's the bronchitis refusing to totally let go or if it's a side effect of the blood pressure medicine my GP put me on after she found my BP was higher than usual. I'm pretty sure that it spiked because of the cold medicines I was taking. Because of all the coughing, I could not use my CPAP machine for nearly a month. Now I am trying to get used to wearing the mask again. For some reason I'm having problems with a dry nose, now, also. I swear, if it's not one thing with me, it's another.

*I'm also still trying to make myself go back to working out at the Y. It's a struggle to WANT to go. With my still-low energy level, some days I'm raring to go and other days I just feel like I am slogging through wet concrete. Most days, after working all day then nearly an hour in the car on the commute home, I barely have just enough juice left to make supper. Although, I HAVE found that on days that we DO manage to go, I feel much better after working out than I did going in. It's just the GETTING THERE that's the hard part. Have to get home, change clothes, get stuff out for supper if necessary. And - tell me if you agree - the toughest part is that once you get home, you just don't feel like leaving again!

*A couple of weeks ago, the mother of one of my co-workers was fatally attacked by an alligator. She was 82, probably just taking a stroll around one of the many lagoons in their community. It was thought that she may have collapsed from a stroke or heart attack and then the gator came along and found her. This happened on a Friday evening, she was not found until around noon on Saturday. An autopsy found that she did not have a stroke or heart attack, and had succumbed to injuries from the attack. The 9-ft gator was caught and an examination of it's stomach contents found it was indeed the one that killed her. The news stated that while there have been about 8 reported gator attacks in the state of Georgia since 1980 and she was the first fatality in as much time. Please keep this family in your prayers.

Just seems so surreal - almost as if it were an episode of CSI.

*Talmadge and The General have recently been voted the World's Most Freakin' Cute Husbands.

*I really need to get some work done. I'm not getting paid to blog. Where CAN I get a job like that??? :-)

Until later!

-Seraphim "Time Capsule" Gleck

High on the Hog

Borrowing from Kate/Susan's blog entry on her quest to find the world's best sub, I'd like to take the time to enlighten you on my quest to find a decent BBQ place in Savannah, GA.

To start out, my quest was not just for the BBQ, but also the sides that go with. Here is my idea of BBQ nirvana:

*Pulled pork or ribs with a sweet, tomato and brown sugar/molasses-based sauce. Good hickory smoke taste but not so much that if you burp an hour or two later it doesn't taste like you just licked a fireplace log. :) And please, dear God, don't use any of that imitation smoke flavor! That just ain't right.

* A chunky potato salad (fresh please - again, don't give me the crap from the bucket that you bought from Sam's or wherever with the mushy potato chunks). I love red potato salad the best, but as long as it's potato I'm happy. It's best with a bit of hard-boiled egg, mustard, green onions, diced dill pickle (not sweet), and just enough sour cream and mayo to blend it all together.

* BBQ baked beans I like, but they're a negligible part of my perfect meal. I can love 'em or leave 'em. If they came from a can, have to be doctored with some brown sugar, a little BBQ sauce, mustard, and some bacon - even better if you throw some chopped green pepper and onions in the mix. If you want to throw in a handful of chopped BBQ meat in there - well, I won't complain. And after all that, it's got to be baked for a while so that it's not all runny. I've been to places where they just open up a can of Van Camp's pork-n-beans, slap it on your plate, and say, "Enjoy." If you're lucky, you might get that little chunk of fat with your beans. Then your life will be complete.

*Brunswick Stew - This I would consider a side, but I've been known to eat it on its own as a meal with a side of garlic Texas toast. Yum. My version consists of chicken and BBQ pork, tomato sauce, corn, chunks of potatoes and tomatoes, corn, onions, lima beans, and corn. Did I mention corn? Yeah, I like corn - why do you ask??

*And it is all served with some sort of bread (roll, Texas toast, garlic bread - whatever) and a big glass of sweet iced tea.

When we lived in Savannah, my favorite place to go was a chain restaurant called "Red, Hot and Blue". They had good BBQ, I loved their ribs which I would always get with the dry rub and put their "Sufferin' Sweet" sauce on - sweet and just a hint of spice but not hot. They had excellent red potato salad, and the beans were OK - not the best I've had - but the potato salad more than made up for it. I would occasionally get the Brunswick stew there. My heart was broken the day they closed the restaurant down. I heard they wanted to make the place more of a sports bar and grill type place and the owners wouldn't hear of it so they closed it down altogether. It's now the 2nd location of a popular local upscale hamburger restaurant. I missed RH&B so much after they closed that when Tal and I went to Raleigh, NC a couple of years ago that's one place we had to eat!

A local restaurant named Carey Hilliard's has OK BBQ. The meat is pretty good. I don't care much for their sauce. It's a tomato/mustard/vinegar hybrid. The potato salad I think may be the prepackaged kind and their beans are canned. The Brunswick stew is OK, too, but kind of soupy and thin on veggies (especially corn). I do, however, love their pork club sandwich which is a few slices of their BBQ pork, bacon, cheese, lettuce, and tomato on white bread. Mmmm-MM!

Tal and I came across a BBQ restaurant in Bloomingdale, GA (just outside of Savannah) called Black Jack's. I wasn't thrilled with their BBQ. The meat tasted OK but was too finely chopped. The potato salad was not much more than potato salad flavored mashed potatoes with a few pieces of pickle and onion. The beans were directly from the can. And the Brunswick stew, well it TASTED like Brunswick stew but I suspected they must have cooked it, pureed it, then tossed in a couple of kernels of corn to give it substance. I have the feeling that the majority of their clientele live in the woods surrounding the community and specialize in banjo-playing and making people squeal like pigs.

We've also tried another restaurant in Guyton, GA not far from where we live. I can't remember the name of the place. For some reason I don't remember much about the place. I guess I was too distracted by the advertisement on the placemat for "The Cake Lady". The BBQ must not have been much, or I would have remembered it. :)

Yet another BBQ restaurant, even further out from Bloomingdale, is Baxter's BBQ. Now, their ribs are awesome. I didn't have any BBQ but I think Talmadge had some and liked it. I don't believe I had any Brunswick stew there. Potato salad and beans were also not very memorable.

Talmadge's BBQ nirvana is based in Columbia, SC at a place called "Piggy Park". Maurice's has several locations. We can be found most often and the main location in Columbia, or just up the street (I-95) from us in Santee, SC. Pretty good BBQ. The meat is good and the sauce is a mustard/apple vinegar base - otherwise known as "Carolina Gold". All the other sides are middling. A standard side in their dinners is Carolina Hash - from what I can see it's ground up BBQ pork mixed with some other things to a reddish-brown pudding consistency and served over rice. Tastes OK, if you can get past the looks. They don't have potato salad.

My BBQ nirvana of the moment is at a little shop in Pooler, GA (between Savannah and Bloomingdale). It's called L.I.P.S. - Little Italy Pizza and Subs/Hunter Mountain BBQ. The BBQ is good, if not a little heavy on the smoke, ribs are good too but sometimes not very meaty. I do like their potato salad and beans - almost perfection! But the best thing is their Brunswick Stew. It's a tad bit on the soupy side but it's loaded with chunks of potatoes, chicken, BBQ pork tomatoes, lima beans, and enough corn to make me very happy! It's also got a bit of spice to it, just enough for a tiny kick.

We've also been to Sticky Fingers in Savannah. Meh, it's OK, their BBQ and potato salad is good, kind of on the pricey side but I like it OK.

We have a BBQ place in Rincon that I haven't quite gotten up the nerve to try. G&B Rib's N' Things. I would like to try it some day, I just hope it doesn't disappoint and becomes my new BBQ nirvana. Simply because it's so much closer to home than all the others! I'll certainly give a report on that when I do try it!

Man.....now I've got a craving for some of that Brunswick Stew from L.I.P.S.! {{{sigh}}}

And the winner is........

...........Tiger Gleck!

Yeppers, dear BIL lasted exactly 29 days at his new job. Sad, isn't it?

Don't know the details, but Dad said it was probably because BIL had three accidents in the 29 days he was there and the employer probably saw him as a risk (may have also seen his previous workers' comp claim records - I dunno). The accidents: cut his finger, welded his wedding ring to his finger, nearly got his leg cut off by a piece of steel because of some other accident-prone guy (just tore his pants, fortunately). Didn't I tell you nothing is ever his fault???

Well, Talmadge, looks like you owe Tiger $5.00!

-S.G.

Update for the month......

Yikes, I'm slacking again! So, to catch you up I'll give you a brief synopsis of what's going on with me lately.

1) Finally have my surgery scheduled. It's going to be July 17, exactly a week before my birthday. What a nice birthday present - to be recuperating from major surgery. That's about right - for Christmas I got a root canal and crown. For Valentine's Day I got Day Surgery for a hysteroscopy and D&C. For Easter I got another root canal and crown. And now, for my birthday, I get a hysterectomy. Joy! I'd rather have chocolate.........or cake decorating supplies. :)

2) I'm not taking well to being a "hosehead". Mr. CPAP and I are not getting along. More often than not, I end up taking the mask off in the middle of the night and turning off the machine. Dr. Maria prescribe me some Ambien, which puts me out like a light but gives me amnesia. Although, from what I have read about some people who take Ambien I am lucky that's all I do. Others have stated that they sleepwalk, and even sleep-eat. One lady said she kept getting up in the morning to find the kitchen a mess and would blame the kids until she found out it was HER making the mess!

But more often than not, on the nights that I take it I wake up to find that I not only took the mask off and neatly hung it up on the bedpost and turned off the machine. I never remember doing that......but at least I'm neat about it! This morning was the first time I woke up and found the mask on the floor. The machine was off, though. One of the folks on my CPAP email group suggested taping the mask on my head with surgical tape for a while. At least if I try to pull it off, it will HURT and bring me into conciousness. I haven't been brave enough to try that yet. :)

3) The Garden is doing all right. Most of the items I planted are struggling because we have had a severe lack of rain in our area. I have been trying to make sure they have a good amount of water. The weeds are thriving, however. I've been trying to keep the immediate areas around the plants cleared of the weed/grass/whatever but the garden looks pitiful. I am hoping one days the baby plants will be bigger than the weeds and I can tell which is a veggie plant and which is a weed! The only plants that have failed for me are my green onion, regular onion, and spinach plants. That's not TOO bad! I planted some cherry tomato seeds in a planter box just after I got the garden planted, and they went NUTS. I had to thin out the tomato plants and at last count I had 50 plants growing in that one pot. Needless to day, several family members, friends, and co-workers are now the proud plant-parents of some cherry tomato plants! And I still have several left that I have re-potted.

I had also planted two types of mesclun (assorted greens/lettuces, in case you didn't know) in two planter boxes and I'm proud to say I had my first successful harvest as well as an excellent grilled chicken salad this past Monday night. YUM! Wonderful thing about this mesclun is that it replenishes itself!

I think I have become addicted to gardening. I am having fun planting seeds or starter plants and watching them grow and develop. I've reached a point where I know I have an empty pot sitting on the patio - it's currently upside down supporting another plant like a stand - an I am itching to go to Lowe's, Home Depot, or Wal-Mart to see what other type of seeds I can find to plant in that empty pot. Oh, wait, I just remembered that my strawberry plants didn't make a go of it......that's ANOTHER pot with nothing growing in it!!! Hold me back!

In spite of the struggling plants, as I've told Tamadge, I don't consider my little garden a failure but rather a learning experience. I've learned that I probably should have started preparing the garden earlier, mulching, applying weedkiller, etc. in the winter time so I wouldn't have so many weeds to deal with now. I've learned that it probably would have been easier to plant many of the seeds directly into the ground rather than start them in hundred or so little newspaper pots that I made for that purpose - completely eliminating the steps of potmaking, filling w/starting medium, and then replanting in the ground. I've learned that it's harder than heck to till hard ground. (I think I'm still suffering the effects from that with tendonitis or something in my right heel!) I've learned that some of these plants would have probably been better off being planted in planter boxes or flower pots! And last but not least, I learned that Miracle Gro Potting Soil is truly the best. The items I planted in pots using this potting soil have been absolutely thriving! (No, I am not getting a kickback from Miracle-Gro - that's just my personal testimony.)

4) My BIL got a job! Anyone want to contribute to the pool as to how long he actually keeps this one before he: A) gets injured and goes on disability, B) gets fired for poor job performance and/or attitude (such as mouthing off at his superiors), C) quits without having another job lined up, D) tries to dictate to my sister how he will be using "HIS" money for frivola (like cigarettes, Mountain Dew, and video games) instead of adding it to Sis's income in order to secure housing, utilities, and other basic life necessities and she FINALLY gets fed up with his BS, files for divorce, and successfully moves on with her life as a single mother with a brighter outlook for her and her 7 and 10 year-old sons' futures. Selection D, of course, is considered the long-shot.

Talmadge has 30 days, Tiger bets 60. I've already lost, I gave him two weeks. I guess Tal and Tiger were a bit more optimistic than I. :)

That's about it for now! I actually need to go do some work before I lose MY job!! :)

Take care, and I'll try not to go nearly a month again between posts!

-Farmer Seraphim.....MOO

The Masterpiece......

Well, here it is - after two weeks of planning, baking, fussing, and cussing, here is the cake of my labours. BEHOLD, the CAR ENGINE CAKE:

Now, I don't know if this resembles any type of engine that exists in the automotive world. Being a chick, and not knowing one thing about car engines, this is my closest interpretation. I claim artistic license n this one. The engine block and filter on top are chocolate fudge cakes with chocolate buttercream. The little round knobby things - I have not idea what you may call them - are those little round dessert cakes. All is covered with fondant that I colored gray. I also colored a bit of the fondant black for some of the accent pieces.

The pulleys and "fan" on the ends are colored and molded white chocolate, as well are the tools. I have a special chocolate mold for the tools, but I had to fabricate the pulleys and fan myself. The fan was molded from the lid of a Tupperware container and the pulleys I molded from plastic margarine tub lids of different sizes then pieced them together and "glued" them with more white chocolate. They are held in place with dowel rods and more white chocolate glue. The "wires" are chocolate licorice ropes and cherry Twizzler Pull-and-Peels. Oh, and the fan belt is a length of bubble gum tape.

This was an undertaking I don't see myself doing again until well after I have recovered from this one!! But it was fun!

I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!

"Oleomargarine" is already taken, SOOOO.......

Random thoughts for today:

1) Do we offend??? Over the past couple of months or so, several houses on our relatively short cul-de-sac street have gone up for sale. There is one at the entrance to our street, two on either side of the house directly across the street from ours (one of which I am glad for their departure, as the guy has this truck with a loud muffler that scares the bejesus out of me every time he revs the freakin' thing up), and I just noticed today that the house directly across the street is up for sale. I'm starting to get a complex. I mean, I know that quite a few ugly words have emanated from the backyard the past couple of weeks (see previous post "Inna-Gadda-Da-(Gleckia)") but it's nothing different than they've heard on cable....

2) About 2 weeks ago, the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department began an initiative dubbed "Operation Rolling Thunder" - Motorists who were impaired, driving recklessly, not wearing seatbelts, speeding, or committing other traffic infractions that result in crashes were the focus of Operation Rolling Thunder. I sure didn't see a whole lot of police presence on my usual commuting path, which includes an interstate and a major artery into and out of town.

On the way to town today to give a cake decorating demo at the mall, I passed by an overturned pickup truck blocking 2 of the 3 northbound lanes of the Interstate 95. There was an incident just 2 days ago where a woman flipped her SUV over the guardrail at nearly the same spot. Now, I am not saying that speeding was a factor in either crash but experience makes me allege that it was. These two accidents - in conjunction with the many motorists who tailgate me and/or pass me like I am standing still when I am already going about 10 miles over the posted speed limit - prompts me to make just one statement:

Operation Rolling Thunder - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Take that any way you want it. :)

3) I just mixed and baked 10 boxes of chocolate fudge cake mix. The house smells wonderfully of chocolate cake. Talmadge would be retching by now. Good thing he is off visiting Tiger!

4) Bet you're wondering why I have 10 boxes worth of cake in my kitchen. I'm not telling.

5) OK, I'll tell you, but only because you twisted my arm. I've been assigned the task of designing a groom's cake in the shape of a hot rod engine for a wedding next weekend. Wish me luck! I'm just absolutely making myself sick over this cake, because all the pictures of hot rod engines that I have seen look so complicated. SO, this cake is going to be my artist's rendition of a hot rod engine. It may not look like any engine that exists in the automotive world, but it will look like an engine of some sort! I'll post a picture when I get it done to get feedback.

6) Puddy is lying on the floor chasing squirrels in her sleep. So darn cute. Now, everybody go "AWWWWWWWWWWWWW!".

7) It's 1:45 a.m. on Sunday. After doing a cake demo, working in the garden, cleaning out the car (YES, Talmadge, I cleaned the car today), washing dishes, cooking supper, and baking a go-zillion chocolate cakes (actually, four 9"x13" rectangular, three 8" rounds, two 6" rounds, one 9" round, and one 6" square), and writing a blog entry I am ready to go hook myself up to my magical sleep machine and zonk out!

8) I'm wondering if Kate/Susan hits it big in Vegas this weekend, she might considering investing in a little cake shop in the Coastal Empire of Georgia..........

9) You know that I had to include a Number 9. ITTEMDEEOW....and Good Night.

(Late-night blogging should really be outlawed.)

Until later.....

Following Tal and Kate/Susan's lead.......ya'll.......

YOUR LINGUISTIC PROFILE:

YOUR LINGUISTIC PROFILE:

60% General American English

25% Dixie

5% Upper Midwestern

5% Yankee

0% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

I guess that's about right. I'm a mutt. Georgia born, raised, and bred but have a Missouri/New Jersey lilt. Where the hell did that Upper Midwestern stuff come from????

I do have a tendency to emulate the "accent" of whatever particular group I may be hanging around at the time. My dad's family is deep Southwest Georgia and got that good ol' Southen accent. My mom's father was from the St. Louis area, her mom from New Jersey, and while they lived in SW GA the majority of their lives, my grandparents, aunts, and mom have a distinctly different sound. Then there was that summer in which we hosted two British girls as counselors at our Girl Scout camp. By summer's end we all had a mangled Southern/British dialect going. I got tickled at one of my campers when she asked me if Wendy and Jenny were from another country and I said yes, they came from England a couple of weeks ago to learn about America and help us out at camp. This little girl looked up at me all wide-eyed and said, "Wow, how did they learn English so fast??" I tell ya, if she had not been so cute I would have died laughing in front of her.

If you're happy and you know it.......

.....laugh your little heart out.

I came across this video on YouTube the other day and it just made me laugh. I've decided that this is going to be my pick me up when I am feeling down or tired or just plain grumpy. So darn cute you could just turn inside out!

Now, if a singleton isn't enough for you, try this quartet!

I'm just overwhelmed with cuteness right now I just can't stand it!!!

In-a-Gadda-Da-(Gleckia)

Warning! A rather long and schizophrenic post follows:

I have had a rather ambitious project in mind for the past 3 years since we moved into our house in January of 2004. I wanted a veggie garden. Just a small one, enough to get my fill of my favorite veggies. Talmadge isn't much of a veggie eater, so I'll be enjoying this one for the both of us!

In 2004, I could barely keep the two potted plants that I had alive. I had killed off my ficus tree a year earlier while we were still living at the apartment in Savannah.

In 2005, I still had aspirations of gardening. I read a few gardening books, but still wasn't sure if I was up to the task. I did discover a wild blackberry vine that was growing in the corner of the yard and managed to get enough blackberries from that plant to make a nice blackberry cobbler.

In 2006, I tried my hand at "container gardening" on the back patio. I had a tomato, a pepper, a cucumber, and a squash plant. I found a couple more blackberry bushes. My bumper crop for the year yielded me 4-5 decent red tomatoes and, at the end of the season a bunch of small green tomatoes (good thing I adore fried green tomatoes!!), one huge cucumber and 2 smaller ones, a huge squash and couple of smaller ones, and 2 nice peppers. Not quite sure what type of pepper plant this was. I thought it was a bell pepper plant, but they took more of a tapered form but tasted like a bell pepper. It wasn't hot. Oh, and more blackberries for a couple of cobblers and just munching on.

Which brings us into 2007.........the bug has bitten. In winter, Tal and I stopped at "Beaver Bucks" which used to be a pretty big video/music store which has dwindled to part video/dvd, bargain basement music cassettes and rap cd's and part everything's a dollar store. Looking around, I came across a box full of post-season vegetable seeds, 4 for a dollar. I went nuts and left that store with about $5 worth of veggie seeds and visions of a lush green veggie garden in my head.

My brain began forming the plan - I would carve out a small section of our not so huge backyard with the reasoning that it would be less grass for Tal to mow - his favorite chore - so how could he protest?!?! Weeks ago, I started making newspaper seed starter pots based on a plan I found on the internet. I was determined to be the frugal gardener! After our West Virginia vacation in March, I bought some seed starting medium, filled my little paper pots, and planted my seeds. It was warm enough outside, that I put the seeded pots in a plastic underbed storage box that I had, put the lid on it, and put it outside on a table near the patio. It was like a mini-greenhouse! Just enough ventilation so the plants wouldn't smother, and it kept the warmth and humidity inside. To my delight, within a week I could see little green shoots peeking from amongst the newsprint! Over the next week the seedlings just went nuts! So much so that I had to take the lid off the box otherwise the plants would have pushed them off.

I had planned to get the plot ready the weekend before last, however we ended up having cold snap and I had to bring the plants into the garage so they'd be safe and sound.

This past weekend, it was time. I got up early Saturday morning (okay - around 9:30. That's early for ME on a Saturday!) with the best of intentions. I rolled my little cable-spool table out near my garden-to-be, set up the beach umbrella in the little hole in the middle of the table, got out my folding chair, and all my tools and equipment and the ever-important radio (HEY, gotta have tunes to work to, right???). Got a bowl of cereal, a huge glass of iced tea, and came outside to find that the bottom of the cable-spool table had broken, spilling the radio and the umbrella to the ground. I went and got the umbrella stand, put the umbrella in that, set the table back up, put the piece that broke back underneath to support it, put the radio back on the table, sat down, and enjoyed my soggy Lucky Charms while listening to "Car Talk" on public radio and formulating my garden game plan while Puddy helped me out by spreading a little fertilizer.

First, I would use the edger to mark the outer perimeter of the plot. OK, got the edger and extension cord - extension cord not long enough and remembered that I threw out the other extension cord because it was old and frazzled. Grr. So I stomp into the house, grab my purse, and run up to Wally World where I not only purchase an extension cord, but a variety of other items I did not intend to buy.....then back to the house where I discover the umbrella has hit the dirt again. I fold the fallen umbrella and lay it down in the yard, and move the table and my chair over to the shade beside the house, plug in the other extension cord, connect everything up and start running the edger along the areas I've marked. I complete one edge and look behind me to see - nothing. Where's my line? OK, well this idea sucked. I guess I'll just go ahead and start hoeing and raking. I got a "Garden Claw" from the store I was going to use to cultivate, aerate, pulverize, and otherwise prepare the soil to accept my tender little seedlings. You know, like it does on the commercials. HA!! I got maybe one square foot of soil done, looked at the other 127 or so square feet to go and thought, "I'll be here until Memorial Day trying to get this done!" and convinced Talmadge that I needed to go rent a tiller. So off to the rental store we go.

Tal and I return home with what we eventually ended up dubbing "The Machine From Hell". Got it unloaded and pushed it to the backyard and positioned at the corner of the plot, fiddled with the controls, and pulled the starter cord. It sputtered to life, I released the brake and let it go. We were sure we'd have this little approximately 8x16 spot done in no time and return the machine before the store closed at 5:30. As we stood there scratching our heads and watching the machine churn away slowly at the ground, we saw that was not going to happen. Then we discovered the accelerator. We turned that thing up to 11, I released the brake, and it took off across the plot dragging me behind. I managed to get my footing, engaged the brake, and dragged the machine back to the starting point. Tal and I took turns letting the machine drag us across the yard and managed to get one row of tilling done before we collapsed from sheer exhaustion and decided that the ground was too hard to till because of the lack of rain in the area. We were expecting a major storm that night and hoping it would soak and soften the ground. But to hedge, we thought maybe we'd give the soaking a head start and dragged the sprinkler out. It's one of those bow-shaped ones - you know, the ones that shoot off several streams in the shapes of a fan that we used to jump through when we were kids. The little piece that makes it sweep back and forth was broken(that should surprise you how?). Talmadge fiddled with it, trying to make the streams cover the entire plot, at one point pushing on it with his foot which only made it flip over and soak him from head to toe while I stood by and laughed my ass off. I couldn't help it, the way the day had been going so far I almost expected it!

That's how our evening ended. I straightened up the yard, putting all the equipment on the patio and doing a little trimming of branches and such. Tal called the rental place to let them know we were keeping the tiller a little longer.

The next day, the ground was much softer after the soaking. The bad storm that was supposed to hit the night before pretty much fizzled out before it got here and we got only a sprinkling of rain - running the sprinkler was a lucky bit of foresight on our part! The day had started out warm, but it soon turned gusty and cold. We finished the tilling and I raked, weeded, and leveled out the plot then dug a trench between the house and the plot for the irrigation drip line.

Because of the wind I decided to wait to put in the plants so they wouldn't get broken or blown away. So now all I have left to do is mark the rows, plant the seedlings, run the drip lines up the rows, water and fertilize the plants, and then let God take over. Hopefully by mid- to late-summer I will literally be enjoying the fruits (and vegetables) of my labor!

What am I planting, you ask? I've got tomatoes, peppers, onions, okra, corn, beets, carrots, jalapeno peppers, a variety of colored bell peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, lettuce, green beans, pole beans, zucchini, yellow squash, spaghetti squash, pumpkins, cantaloupes, watermelons, and cucumbers. I'll have a couple of hanging baskets with cherry tomatoes and strawberries, a little patch of mammoth sunflowers, two planter boxes - one with a regular mesclun mix and another with a spicy mesclun mix, and regular planter with nasturtium. Oh, and lets not forget the patch of wild blackberries in the wetlands. Think I need anything else???

Maybe I should plant some flowers, perhaps some that would attract some of the helpful insects. Like maybe some ladybugs to eat the aphids, honeybees to pollenate the plants, even perhaps an iron butterfly or two........I just hope this doesn't turn out to be a "$64 tomato"!!

A change will do you good.....

OK, so the nasal pillow wasn't working out so well for me. I'd wake up often on my side to the sound of rushing air from one or both dislodged nostrils and my eyelids flapping in the breeze. I broke down and called the respiratory company who provided me with my CPAP machine and nasal pillow and asked to try one of the nose masks that we had sampled on Monday.

I got a spiffy model with that cool blue gel stuff to cushion it - looks like THIS. And, yeah, I do look as much like a dork as the dork in the picture does. But as long as I can get some good sleep, I could look like Steve Urkel for all I care!

I look like I'm all set for chemical warfare with that thing on. And, with Talmadge's love for beans, I should count my lucky stars for this setup. LOL!

Finally......a refill!

OK, so I got the results back from my sleep study. Dr. Maria says that I have mild sleep apnea. Mild according to the reports, that is. I got a total of 4 hours of sleep - mostly light sleep that did not get to the restful, restorative REM stage at which apnea rears its ugly head. I got to that stage probably 1 1/2 hours before I was to wake up. During that 1 1/2 hour stretch of time I stopped breathing several times, at one time for a whole minute and a half! Dr. Maria said that, had I had a longer REM sleep stage, she feels that I probably would have been classified as severe apnea.

So now I am all set up with a CPAP machine. Thankfully, I do not have to wear a full face mask - I've been fitted with a less cumbersome nasal pillow. The first night, it was weird to wear something on my face. I couldn't really lay on my stomach (where I'm most comfortable without knocking it askew) even though the wonderful Dr. Maria hooked me up with some drugs. The air pressure from the machine, which is what keeps your airways open as you sleep, fills up your head and makes you feel like a balloon! As you breathe, you can hear the air moving in and out of the machine. Later that night, through my drug-and-sleep haze, I could swear I heard Talmadge utter, "Luke, I am your father......." as he crawled into bed. Oh, and I came across a support group for CPAP users on Yahoo Groups (man, they have a group for EVERYTHING!!). One of the posters signed off "Hosehead since 2002". I like that.....I'm now officially a "hosehead"! LOL!

Last night was better, I got some sleep and actually could feel a difference. I was still a bit sleepy after lunch today, though. Baby steps, time will tell!

I have to see Dr. Maria next week for some tweaking of the machine, and she wants to do another sleep study w/ the machine. Afterwards, we should be good to go for scheduling my surgery!

One of these things is not like the other.......

I just realized this afternoon (while counting out a change drawer) that the picture that I took of Talmadge at the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia is the same that's on the back of the 2005 West Virginia quarter - almost from the same perspective! Cool, huh?

(The picture of Tal was modified NOT to protect his identity, but to prevent terrorizing any small children and/or impressionable adults who may happen by my blog.....)

I neither slept nor dreamt......

.....that I know of.

So, I did the sleep study on Monday night. The night seemed promising as I drove the 2-3 miles between our house and the sleep center. I got there at 8:25 p.m. and was met by Wanda, the sleep technician. I was given paperwork to fill in, took a little time to go potty, get a drink of water, and watched TV for a bit. Then Wanda came in and started hooking me up to all the wires while we watched "Dancing With The Stars". It was either that, or the Ohio State/Florida game on CBS. No cable. :-( After I was all wired up and connected, it was beddy-bye time. Yeah - wired was the word for it. I couldn't get comfortable. I usually sleep on my stomach, and I wasn't allowed to because of all the wires and sensors. The center was right next to Hwy. 21, and there were semi trucks going by constantly, the occasional nitwit with his BOOM BOOM BOOM, and the train that runs through Rincon what seems like every 2 hours. I had a fan running in the room, which drowned out a little bit of the noise but not much.

I tossed, I turned, I started to know what a fly caught in a spider web felt like. I was hot, I was cold. Wanda was in the next room and apparently fighting a cold, I could hear her coughing all night. Finally, after I don't know how many hours I had to get up and go to the bathroom again so I had to summon Wanda by knocking on the wall. She came in and disconnected me, I did my business, and on the way back to my room I stole into the waiting room and looked at the clock. 2:00??? It didn't seem that late. I know that I must have gone to bed no later than 10. I felt a little distressed because I only had 3 more hours before they would be waking me up and I had not gotten enough sleep for them to monitor yet. So, back to get hooked up again and try to get to sleep. Without a clock in the room, it was hard to tell how much longer I stayed awake. I just remember Wanda coming in and waking me up at 5:00. Filling in some paperwork, and leaving. I went back home and crawled into bed with Talmadge and Puddy and slept for a couple of hours, wishing that I was still hooked up to the monitors so they could have recorded that. Hmph. Fortunately, I could sleep in a little bit because I had a dentist appointment for a root canal and crown prep later that morning. No, I didn't fall asleep in the chair, but I could have!

I'm supposed to go back to Dr. Maria next Monday for the results of my sleep test. I wonder if I'll have to do it again? If so, they better give me a Valium or something to take prior to it to relax me, otherwise it will be ANOTHER long night.

To sleep, perchance to dream.

Ah, back from our glorious West Virginia Mountain Vacation! Talmadge has blogged about it on his blog, complete with pictures. It was lovely, and the snow.....the snow was just COOL (literally and figuratively). It was the first time this South Georgia girl had seen this much snow. There was the time when I was 4 years old, living in Albany, and had what we considered a blizzard for that area - about 3 inches. It looks like we got at least 4-5 inches in our little West Virginia Winter Wonderland. Gorgeous! Then we had to come back to the humid 80-degree Fahrenheit sandgnat-filled weather of the Coast Empire. Bummer.

After our return, we had Tiger with us until the end of the week. I took him back to meet his mother in Ft. Valley, GA (the usual hand-off spot) and then I went northward a few miles to Macon where I ventured downtown on a search for Nu-Way Weiners. I saw them featured on a Food Network show some time back and HAD to try them when I got the chance. I am a sucker for a good chili dog and I've had some good ones in my time. People in Albany, GA line the block for a Jimmie's Hot Dog, wrapped in deli paper and stuffed in a brown bag that is nearly transparent from the grease by the time you get to your picnic spot (no inside dining there). Star-Ways and Lil' Red Dog House in Albany were also favorites. And, of course, when they ask you "What'll ya have?" at the Varsity in Atlanta, and you answer "Hot dog all the way!", you'll get one the way I like it - chili, mustard, and onions. Yum!

Now, Nu-Way DOES have several locations, one being just blocks away from the Burger King in Ft. Valley where I left what I can only assume was Josiebelle giving instruction to Tiger before handing over the car keys to him. There are also a couple of locations in Warner Robins - within blocks of the highway I had just taken en route to Ft. Valley and could have made the return trip on. But one thing that I have learned from my dear husband is that if you're going to visit a locally renowned and historic eating establishment for the first time, you've GOT to hit the original location if you can! Which is what I did.

It was tucked in a off-street and every bit the old-fashioned lunch counter I imagined it would be. I got three chili dogs for myself, one plain dog for Puddy (who had accompanied me on this trip) and a large triple-thick chocolate malted milkshake. I was in heaven! My only mistake was that I took the chili dogs with me and ate them in the car. It's especially challenging when you're trying to fight off a dog who has already wolfed down hers and is going after yours!! The chili dogs were not the best I have had - I think the Varsity still holds top honors with me - but they were still very good. But the shake was heavenly. I should have gotten the small, as it was so thick that I had to wait for it to melt a bit to get it through the straw. They gave me a spoon, but do you think I could have handled this thing with a spoon at 75 mph on the interstate? I don't think so! It took me nearly the full 2 1/2 hours of the trip home to finish it.

After the weekend, I had a couple of doctor appointments. Monday was the lung specialist (Dr. Maria) for my sleep apnea issue. We have a sleep study scheduled for this coming Monday night (April 2), in which I will go to the clinic where they have a "motel-like room" and sleep while they monitor me. I wonder if I will be able to sleep......I mean, with people watching me??? And, OH GOODY, when I wake up the next morning (provided I go to sleep, LOL) I get to go to the dentist for a possible root canal and a buildup for a crown. JOY! Knowing me, I probably won't get any sleep at the sleep clinic, but I'll probably pass out in the dentist chair. Hehehe.

Dr. Maria was telling me about some of the problems that sleep apnea can cause. To give you an abridged version, check out this brochure. After we find the right treatment, should she find that I do indeed have sleep apnea, my world is (hopefully) going to change for the better. I can't remember a morning since I was young that I actually woke up feeling like I got a good night's rest. I don't want to feel like a zombie any more!!

Tuesday, I had an appointment with the urologist. That went OK, and he says he can fix that problem at the same time they do the LAVH. (TMI! TMI!) This procedure is called a mid-urethral sling transobturator (some rather detailed drawings on this page - don't look if you're squeamish). I'm starting to get the feeling that I will be walking like a cowboy for a few days afterward these two procedures. The horse I will be riding will be named Ice Pack......yee haw. Methinks Tal will be able to sympathize with me on that, eh Tal?

SO, I'm almost set. Once I get the results of the sleep test on April 9th, we'll be able to get the hysterectomy surgery scheduled.

OK, it's Friday night. Just got home from work and finishing this blog entry. Tal and I will be heading to the Y in a bit, then back home for some chicken and rice. (Tal's favorite - his mom's recipe: One can of white meat chicken mixed with one can of cream of chicken soup, served over rice.) So easy, one day Tal might be able to make it. (hint hint) Like maybe Thursday nights coming up. (hint hint) :) (love you!) Maybe we'll get a movie, I'd like to see "The Pursuit of Happyness" (yes, that's how it's supposed to be spelled!) with Will Smith. It just came out on DVD this week and looks to be a good movie. Then off to sleep. I've got a cake class from 1-5 tomorrow. Sunday I will probably do some rat-killing in the house. (That's what Tal calls a major house cleaning - NO, we don't have rats.....or mice......or even roaches, thanks to Jackie the Exterminator). I may do some yard work and get my garden plot dug up. We'll just see how much energy I can muster. Knowing me, I'll be lucky if I can get the dishes done and all the mess out of the living room!

Have a great weekend!

-Seraphim "Did I miss Spring????" Gleck

To cut or not to cut.......

.....that will be the question.

I had an appointment with Dr. Amy today. Talmadge went with me to the appointment. Scratch that - he went to the appointment and I got there late. :) Gotta love that Savannah traffic. I thought I'd try to be smart and avoid what's probably one of the worst intersections here. Then thought that I could get on the road that would lead me right to the hospital where Dr. Amy's office is. I ended up on another road, stuck behind a school bus stopping at every freakin' block, so I tried to go down another street, then another, then another until I thought I was in Dead End Hell! Finally got turned back around and to the street I SHOULD have turned down in the first place. Got stuck in a long light at the intersection there. Tal calls and says, "Where ARE you?" I told him, "I'm stuck in line at a traffic light about 1/4 mile from the hospital but I've got a lovely view of a big azalea bush in some folks' yard so I'm not bored!" Poor Tal had to go into the Dr. Amy's OB/GYN office by himself. I'll bet he was glad to see me walk in! Well, he's ALWAYS glad to see me walk in, but he was probably especially glad at that moment.

I was almost 10 minutes late getting there. Not that it really mattered, as we ended up waiting an hour and a half to see Dr. Amy. Several pregnoids came and went with their "baby daddy". I was praying that none of them would attempt a conversation with me by starting with, "So, when are YOU due?" Because I had worn a rather loose dress and with my gut I could probably pass for an 11 1/2 month pregnant woman carrying quadruplets, and I was sitting there with my husband, it could have very well been an easy assumption. However, the mood I was in after dealing with the stupid traffic and waiting for so long to see the doctor, no telling what I may have said.

So we finally got taken to a room where we waited a little while longer, then Dr. Amy came in and talked to us. Looks like sometime in May I will be scheduled for an LAVH. Dr. Amy said hopefully this will go OK and she won't have to switch mid-operation and do a Total Abdominal Hysterectomy (TAH) where the uterus is removed through a large incision in the abdomen. This is the last resort, as recovery is longer and more painful than it would be with a LAVH. Dr. Amy said that since I haven't had any children the LAVH might be a bit more difficult to do because (entering TMI zone) my vagina has not been stretched out by some big ol' melon-headed rugrat. So if she finds she can't git r' done with the LAVH, I'll be getting cut. Pray that this does not happen! She will also be removing my ovaries and fallopian tubes. I will also have to have HRT after the surgery. Basically, at age 37 1/2, I will be going through (surgically induced) menopause.

I will be seeing a lung specialist before the surgery to be tested for sleep apnea (as I believe I mentioned in the previous post). In my heart, I feel like when all is said and done I will feel so much better. Maybe my hormones will actually get straightened out, I'll be able to get better sleep if the sleep apnea is treated, and hopefully I'll get fixed so (TMI zone again) I won't pee myself when I cough, sneeze, laugh, or bend over to pick something up. (That will be yet another doctor - a urologist - I will be visiting prior to surgery.)

So.....feeling like you know much more about me than you cared to?? LOL.

In the meantime, I am working like crazy trying to get caught up and ahead in work so I won't have that hanging over me. I don't know if this is a blessing or a curse, but my boss and Dr. Amy go to church together. Hopefully, they will both respect my privacy and not discuss me more than relating our "three (two?) degrees of separation". Bosslady has had her own health issues recently and asked me not to mention that to Dr. Amy, which I wouldn't, so I am sure she would be reciprocal.

So, as of right now I am vascillating between being being scared poopless and feeling optimistic that my life is about to change for the better. One moment I want to cry, the other I feel giddy. Weird, huh? I'm truly a work of art, ain't I?

-Seraphim

Gimme a mulligan??

So, here I am again, blogging. It's been over a year since my last blog entry. Sometimes I take for granted that my husband, Talmadge Gleck, blogs everything that goes on in our lives and for me to do so might be a bit redundant. For those who periodically visit my blog to see if I have finally written anything, thanks for visiting! I'll try, once again, to keep up with my blog this time.

What's happened this past year? To start out, since my last blog entry, my Cuz has had an amazing recovery from his incident. The man who shot him has been sentenced to 60 years in prison - he's in his 30's now. Cuz still has the bullet lodged in his neck and will undergo more surgery to his upper jaw in the future. He still has some psychological issues to work out but is doing much better since his attacker has been sentenced. He is back to work on a light duty basis. He's received several commendations from local and state law enforcement agencies and has also been featured on Court TV twice - this is video from one of the shows.

Tal and I have done a little traveling, I got a new job in October at the university I work at (yay, less stress!) and started teaching cake decorating classes at a local craft store.

I've got a few health issues that I am dealing with. Gotta lose weight, and Tal and I have started going to the Y as often as we can. Baby steps...... Been seeing doctors for female issues. If you do not care to hear about them, just scroll to the bottom of the post because from this point on, many of my blogs will more than likely tread into the TMI zone. Well, it won't be that bad, but most entries will probably be about my female parts for which I will not hesitate to use the proper terms. If you are cringing now, you probably won't want to continue. :-P

In early December, I went to my regular doctor for my 3-month follow up visit. She's following my blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol. I have a previous diagnosis of PCOS which I've been kinda treated for but since it's such a mysterious malady there just still isn't a real comprehensive course of treatment for it. PCOS can really mess up the ol' menstrual cycle. I haven't been to a GYN for a while, so my doctor referred me to one. I saw the GYN in January who discovered a couple of endometrial polyps growing in my uterus. February 20 found me in Day Surgery having a hysteroscopy (where they insert a scope up into your uterus, blow you up like a balloon, and take a look around). There was not just 2, but 3 polyps and hyperplastic endometrium (thickened, tough lining as a result of the PCOS) which they removed. Tal calls this procedure a "Roto-rooting". I had a similar procedure done 5 years ago with no real follow-up treatment, which is why I had to have it done again.

My GYN called me this past Monday with the pathology report. It's called complex hyperplasia without atypia. This sort of a pre-pre-cancerous condition that could eventually develop into endometrial cancer. There are 2 courses of treatment for this: progesterone for 13 days out of each month and a biopsy every 6 months.........or a hysterectomy. What a decision I have to make. Now, normally a 37 year-old woman with no children whose only been married 5 years would not even CONSIDER a hysterectomy if there was still a chance of her getting pregnant. But I'm not and never have been normal. I've got several cards stacked against me: PCOS means I don't ovulate. Those of you who regularly read Tal's blog know that he's mentioned getting the snip-snip not long after his son, Tiger, was born. Meaning: world peace will happen before Talmadge and Seraphim Gleck procreate.

That being said, the only obvious decision will be to have the offending organ removed. I'd love it if they could do a tummy tuck while they're down there. :)

I had an appointment with my GYN - who I will refer to as Dr. Amy- this past Thursday. Tal was going to go with me so we could discuss my decision and what to expect and prepare for. Unfortunately, Dr. Amy had the flu and was not able to see me that day. So I will be seeing her on Tuesday. In the meanwhile, I have been surfing the net and reading everything I can about hysterectomies and the aftermath. I've got a good list of questions for Dr. Amy. I also came across this support group, HysterSisters. Cute site.

I've already started a shopping list of things to take to the hospital, like an eye mask - a' la Dorothy Kilgallen of "What's My Line" fame:

I told Tal that I wanted one that looked like a pair of open eyes with lots of makeup, like Tammy Faye Baker's. If anyone comes across one like that, let me know! :) Hey, just because you're in a hospital doesn't mean that you can't have fun! You know the saying, "Laughter is the best medicine!".

Before I have any surgery, though, I will have to be tested for sleep apnea. When I had the hysteroscopy, I had a tough time coming out of it and getting my blood oxygen levels up. Back in my Day Surgery room, the alarm on the pulse oximeter (the machine that measures the amount of oxygen in the blood) kept going off and the nurse kept getting after me to breathe. My mom and Tal were in there coaching me,"Breathe! Breathe!" You'd swear I was in labor or something. I thought my mom was going to hyperventilate and probably pass out (the woman has consciousness issues, I swear) from helping me try to breathe.

Tal and I are going up to West Virginia for a few days next week. I'm looking forward to it. We're renting a small cabin up there and will go to Charleston for a couple of days. We'll spend the night in Chattanooga on the way home.

OK, so I guess that's kind of gotten me caught up. If I think of anything else, I'll be sure to blog that, too!

Sweet dreams!

Seraphim

Whew....close call!

Yes, I know, I know, I know! It's been a couple-few months since my last confes-- Oops, I mean BLOG ENTRY. Talmadge has delivered 1000 lashes with a wet noodle, and Bolivar has also reprimanded me. SO, here are a few thoughts that are bouncing around in my head that I'd like to get out:

First, a very scary thing happened to my family this past weekend. My very sweet cousin, who is a deputy sheriff in a county near where my parents live, was shot while on duty. He's only 25, and had only been in law enforcement since last May, I believe. (Bolivar and Nettiemac, you may or may not remember him, he was at our rehearsal dinner.)

He was patrolling late Friday night (actually 1 a.m. Saturday morning) and a car with its radio blasting passed him. Well, he pulled the car over, just to warn the fellow to turn the radio down. As he was approaching the car, the driver got out and fired at cuz, striking him in the face, just below his right eye. While he was on the ground, semi-unconcious, the guy tried to shoot him again, but the GUN JAMMED. So he started pistol-whipping him while trying to get his gun out of his holster. Cuz managed to regain his senses and get away from the attacker. He got back to his car as the guy ran for his, and with his training and instincts kicking in, Cuz fired a round at the guy's car as he was getting away. He filled that car with holes (I saw pictures of it on the news). But the guy still got away.

He called for help, and they got him to the hospital. He was stabilized and taken to another hospital nearby, where he was listed in serious condition in the ICU.

Fortunately, he was not hit in any vital areas. The small-caliber bullet is lodged against his 1st cervical vertebra and that vertebra has a hairline fracture. The doctor said that if the bullet had gone just millimeters further, he might have been killed or paralyzed. He's also lost a few of his molars - those are what slowed the bullet down. He will have to wear a neck brace for 2-3 months, have dental work done, and once the fractured vertebra is healed they may do surgery to remove the bullet, but because of the fracture he's better off with the bullet remaining in there.

Believe it or not, he went home yesterday evening. Just four days after being shot in the face, he was released to go home.

What a miracle - first that he was not critically injured, and second that the attacker didn't get that second shot in, which could have been a fatal shot. We are all convinced that God had a hand in this miracle, no doubt. He sent Cuz's guardian angel - Cuz's father who passed away 11 years ago at the age of 41 from leukemia - to protect him.

I think the physically he will recuperate just fine. He is young and strong. But, think of this - this is one of those things that will either strengthens an officer's conviction to his job or make him consider a new line of work. I can only imagine what goes through the mind of someone who came so close to losing his life. I mean, I know every police officer knows going in the risks involved in this job. The reality of this risk literally hit Cuz square in the face this weekend. I myself would be scared sh--less to get back out there again.

There have been a couple of incidents since he started in law enforcement that were a lot more risky - the high speed chase, a foot chase when he was just a rookie without a gun chasing a guy with one, and probably a few others that I don't know about - and to get out of those unscathed. But c'mon we're talking about a small rural Georgia county, not friggin' Atlanta, or even Albany, or Savannah with it's high crime rate! Then to get shot in the face while just trying to tell a guy to turn down his radio. That's GOT to somehow get you f---ed up in the head. Or at least make you re-evaluate your life.

Then again, this could have just been a minor setback for him and he gets back out there wiser and a little more cautious.

Whatever comes of it, I'm just going to pray for a smooth recuperation for him and that he suffers no permanent physical or mental damage from this. He's a good guy and deserves to live a full and happy life.

Talmadge told me that, after this incident, he became more than "just another deputy" in the area, as his name has become pretty well known throughout many of the law enforcement agencies in the area. Might open up some great career opportunities for him in the future. "What department wouldn't want to hire "the man who survived a bullet to the face"??" Tal said.

As far as the guy who shot him.......he turned himself in around 9:00 that morning. This guy has served prison time for aggravated assault and had several violations for obstruction of an officer and eluding police. He is now charged with aggravated assault, aggravated battery, criminal attempt to commit murder (!!!), obstruction of a police officer, removal of a firearm of a police officer, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. His future is pretty messed up now. All because he was playing his radio too loud.

-SG

Starstruck

Great Googly-Moogly! I can't believe that it's been a month since my last post, has it really been that long?? Sheesh, I just don't know where the time went. Seems like just yeterday was the beginning of the month and now it's almost halfway through!! I overheard someone at the Christmas Made In The South craft and trade show this past weekend say, "Did you know that Christmas is just 5 weekends away?" I nearly fainted dead away. I'm not ready for it, I'm just not. Seriously, I was just kidding when I asked Talmadge if he'd get the decorations from the attic!

Well, I guess I haven't really written much because there really hasn't been much to write about - or Talmadge had already written about it and it's no use in repeating. :)

A pretty cool thing happened this past weekend. My mom had been here visiting all last week (I kidnapped her the previous weekend and brought her back to our home to stay for a bit - to have a vacation away from things that were troubling her back at home regarding my sister and her issues) and my dad came over Saturday morning to spend the weekend and then take Mom back home on Sunday.

Late Saturday afternoon, we decided that we would try to get a table at Savannah's famous "Lady and Sons" restaurant owned by Food Network's Paula Deen. I had gotten Mom and Dad a gift certificate for Christmas last year and it was about to expire, I didn't want them to lose it. Well, silly us - we were thinking that if we got there early, there wouldn't be much of a wait! HAH! When we got there, we encountered a line winding around the block!

Fortunately, the gift certificate was also good at the restaurant that Paula's brother runs - "Uncle Bubba's Oyster House" further out on one of the islands. So we decided to try our luck out there. It was a short drive from downtown Savannah and, as we pulled into the parking lot, we saw that we'd made the right decision.

We found a parking space just a couple down from the front door. As we were parking, I noticed a very distinguished-looking gentleman standing beside a big, black truck that was parked in the space closer to the front of the restaurant. He was talking to the people sitting inside the truck. We got out of our car as he turned and started walking out into the parking lot. I immediately recognized him - it was Gordon Elliott. I remember thinking, "Hm, I wonder who was in the truck."

We were walking toward the restaurant as the big truck backed out and started driving in our direction. I then realized who was in the truck - Paula Deen and her husband Michael Groover. We waved as they approached, thinking that they would just wave and drive by - I secretly feared that my mother - who is a big fan - would throw herself on the hood of the truck! Not surprisingly - they stopped the truck right beside us and opened the window to be greeted by Paula's well-known, "Hey ya'll!". My mom says, "Do you remember me?" and Paula says, "You look familiar to me, what is your name?" (Well, for those who don't know - my mom and Paula knew each other at and graduated from Albany (GA) High School together in 1965.) My mom told Paula her name and Paula turns to her husband and says, "We went to school together!". They talked for a short bit - Paula's a busy lady and was on the go - Mama told Paula how we had gone to Lady and Son's and saw the line decided to come out to Bubba's instead. Paula says, "Honey, on the weekends even I can't get a table there!" Then they had to get going - we went inside and sat at the bar until the restaurant opened at 4:45. The food there was pretty good - a bit pricey for what it was, but still good.

I have two things to say to all those people who were standing in line outside of Lady and Sons - 1) the food there is good, but IT'S NOT THE ONLY RESTAURANT IN TOWN, and 2) nanny-nanny-boo-boo, we got to see and talk to Paula and YOU DIDN'T!! Hahahahahahaha!!! (Evil laugh). And we didn't have to stand in line for an hour. LOL.

- Seraphim "Yep, I'm gloating" Gleck

Say it ain't so.....PLEASE.....say it ain't so......

I beg of you who work in the fashion industry to please reconsider your decision to bring back the gaucho pants. I can't think of anything much worse than these except maybe culottes.


These things - a cross between a pair of pants and a skirt - have got to be one of the most hideous items of fashion that came out of the 70's. I remember I had a pair or two of them and I avoided wearing them at all costs (hey - I was still a child without much say-so when it came to clothing purchases). They remind me of how my "I can barely wear a size zero" sister looked when she put on a pair of my shorts!!

OK - some people CAN pull off wearing these things. In my most humble opinion the only accessory I can think of that remotely compliments these is a nice pair of tall boots like these. But please don't wear them with these - I don't think these boots are good for anything but dog-sledding, hunting polar bears or while scoring a half-caff double latte' in your favorite bedsheet like our favorite mom, Britney.

I admit that maybe some of my animosity toward gauchos and culottes stems from the fact that I have neither the right type of thighs to pull off such an outfit - nor the calves to wear the tall boots. I like to eat - and I prefer to digest my meals thankyouverymuch.

Who is guilty cuplrit who decided to resurrect this hideous frock??? Was Donatella Versace going through some boxes in her brother's attic and found these stuffed away in a corner and thought, "I'll bet if I just slap the Versace label on these they will sell like hotcakes!"? Did Stella McCartney think, "They were good enough for my mom - and she was a famous musician - then they are are good enough for me!" ? Do they bring back warm fuzzy memories of little Isaac Mizrahi running around in his Mommy's clothes?

I have never claimed to be a fashionista. I think that those who get orgasmic over haute couteur (high fashion), hang on every word of the top designers, and are almost spastic about having name-brand design labels attached to their clothing and apparel are above-the-neck paraplegics.

But GAUCHOS???? C'mon.