The Sweet Card From Aunt Pat

I got this really sweet card from Aunt Pat and I felt compelled to share it. I have missed them more since I went down and came back...but I know the timing was perfect. We had such a great time.

I've felt my urge to write poetry returning since my trip. I've updated my poetry blog a bit since my return. There's something about unconditional love that renews the human spirit...Anyway, hope you're having a great Tuesday.

Because She's Goin' to the Chapel and She's Gonna Get Married........

Go Ellie, go Ellie! She did it! She popped the question! If you want to know what I'm talking about, go to:

http://elliemarie16.blogspot.com/

This is one cool gal! Only thing I want to know is, do I get a virtual invite to the wedding? Oh yeah, and when IS the wedding? Just kidding. Had to say it. Felt compelled. :)

That was good news on an otherwise somber day. It's hard not to be sad today with all the memorials and tributes to the fallen on this the 5 year anniversary of September 11th. It was foremost in my mind all day long. I think it changed us all somehow in America. Some for better, and some for worse. Like all of us, I remember exactly where I was when it happened.

My boss and I were working away in our office. At that time, I still worked in her office in accounting/payroll. She was listening to a news station (BBC?), like she always does, and there was some announcement about a plane entering a no-fly zone in New York City. We rushed to the conference room to watch the news unfold on the television.

Just as we turned on the t.v., the first plane hit. I still remember the feeling of shock and disbelief. When the second plane hit, then the news came in about Washington D.C. as well as the Pennsylvania flight going down, I think we all wondered what was next. There was such uncertainty at first. The grief came later. How truly, truly sad and so unnecessary.

I still can't believe Josh was only 10 years old at the time. My baby was 4. It was so hard to explain to them. I still can't explain it to myself.

So, my thoughts have been with the families and loved ones left behind today. September 11th...9/11....after 2001, it was no longer just another uneventful day on the calendar.

Before I close today, I request the following:

Please say a quick prayer for Bipsy's granddaughter, who is in the hospital today. She's only two years old and has pneumonia. She's very listless and sleeping constantly. She's been sick since Saturday.

To top it off, Bipsy had to have her horse put down last night. He broke his leg, and because he was 25 years old, she was left with no choice. She's just having a tough time of it.

I am calling it a night and heading home. I've had a rough time with my allergies today. I spent a good portion of my weekend cleaning, so this is payback. When will I ever learn to wear a mask? The weather is so nice, the temperature is very moderate, so this is my favorite time of year to clean. Hopefully this flare up won't last long. I hates me some allergies! :) Just call me Kristi the Red Nosed Admin.!

Have a good night, all. More later.

Something I Just HAVE to Say...

I don't usually talk about entertainment or celebrities or anything, but I really have to say this:

The whole Steve Irwin getting killed thing really, really made me sad. It made me sad to the point of getting a huge lump in my throat and fighting back tears.

In fact, I can't even count the many people I talked to about it this week that teared up when trying to talk about it.

Was he in a dangerous line of work? Yes. Did he often take unreasonable risks? Yes. Am I partly sad because he left behind a loving wife and two young children? Yes.

I think even more than that, I am sad for a couple of different reasons:

1.) I think he seemed like the type of rare person who had a really good heart. A heart of gold. An extremely REAL person. I admire people who are themselves, even if people criticize them because of it.

2.) One of the only channels that I watch that we get out of our measly 27 cable channels is Animal Planet. I watched Crocodile Hunter all the time, as did the kids. Hence, he almost seemed like a cousin or long lost friend or something.

3.) He educated me in a way I will remember what I learned. He had an exciting, enthusiastic way about him...the accent helped...but he had a way of drawing people in and leaving them amazed. "She's a beaut!" and "Danger! Danger!" were things he said that made me roll my eyes but smile all the same. He really seemed to love life.

4.) Finally, I love animals, too. No, not to the degree he did. I'll never tromp through swamps to save a crock from certain doom. Although I have been known to brave the dirty looks of my husband to feed yet another stray kitten. I think his level of commitment was something I admired and saluted.

I'm sad about his death. For those reasons. Anyone else feel the same way?

Blogger Boredom

I don't know what's up with me lately, but I seem to have blogger boredom....with my own blog, anyway. I usually love to blog, but here lately I just feel like reading other people's and not posting to mine. My poetry blog is sorely neglected. I know I've been out of town, so maybe it's just fatigue from all the traveling. I'm sure the feelings of boredom will fade. I hope so, anyway.

I do have a funny story to tell about my trip. Keep in mind, my husband is black and my children are biracial, so any of the descriptive words used below are simply to tell the story exactly as it happened. Some folks might have gotten nervous regarding the events that occured. I, on the other hand, found the events quite amusing...fodder for future story telling.

On my way to my uncle's house, I had to switch buses in Atlanta. Atlanta was my last bus change until Athens, Georgia. My uncle and aunt were to meet me at the Athens terminal.

The Atlanta terminal is huge in comparison with all the other terminals I saw. It was ten times bigger than Dayton's bus station, at least. One thing that I learned early on, even at the smaller stations, was that it is always a good idea to line up quickly at my assigned gate, so that I could have a good choice of seats on the bus. So, this is what I did in Atlanta. I lined up quickly, boarded the bus, and looked for a seat between the front and middle of the bus. I like having a window seat, so I found an empty seat by the window behind a black man, who was, at the time, staring out his window quietly. There was no one sitting on the aisle beside me.

Shortly after I chose my seat, a young white girl walked up and asked me if the seat beside me was taken. I assured her that it was not taken, and she gratefully sat down. Later I introduced myself, and found that the young traveler's name was Kayla. Kayla was 18 and from Jacksonville, Florida. She was traveling alone for the first time as well. She was on her way to South Carolina to see her boyfriend.

So, Kayla and I chatted, waiting for the bus to fill up. People got on, found their seats, and minutes passed.

While this was taking place, the gentleman in front of me began to talk to himself. At first, he chattered quietly under his breath, looking out the window. Gradually, his voice grew louder and more noticeable. A few passengers surrounding Kayla and myself began to glance nervously at the man. Kayla and I exchanged glances, and we both decided to put our headphones on. I listened to my Ipod and Kayla listened to her c.d. player.

The man became louder still. He seemed to enjoy his own company, regaling himself with stories and adventures from days gone by.

Then, out of nowhere, he took a break from his talking. It was during this time, a gentleman, he himself a man of color, boarded the bus and sat down by the chatterer. He certainly didn't know what he was in for.

Minutes later, the chatterer began talking again. This time, he seemed to start arguing with himself....almost like he was having an argument between two personalities. I couldn't always hear exactly what he was saying, but he was extremely animated and was using a great deal of profanity. Here is an example of some of the dialogue:

"I said to him, WHAT THE H*ll?"

"Yeah, yeah, I did! I got a piece of that a**!"

"And he said to me, "H*ll yeah, mother f****er!"

"I can't believe he said that s***, man! Can you?"

"H***, no! That was wild!"

Nearly everything that came out of the man's mouth was laced with profanity. This type of nonsense went on and on for about twenty to thirty minutes. It got louder and louder by the minute.

Kayla and I were stifling laughter. I decided to call my friend and coworker, Bipsy, on my cel phone.

I whispered, "Bipsy, you have got to hear this to believe it!" I held out the cel phone a bit so she could hear the rambling. She was cracking up laughing when I put the phone back to my ear. I quietly explained what was going on, but of course the man was talking so loud he couldn't hear anything but the sound of his own voice.

Just then, while still on the phone with Bipsy, the bus driver started talking over the loud speaker.

He announced, "Okay, you two back there: If you can't carry on a conversation without disturbing your neighbors, then I will put you off this bus! And NO SWEARING on the Greyhound!"

Bipsy said, "Did he just say, 'No Smoking on the Greyhound?' or what?"

I laughed, "No!" I whispered. He said, "No Swearing!"

So, at that point I whisper to Bipsy, "I'd better go. I think he's getting kicked off the bus. I'll call you later."

Just as I hung up the phone, the poor hapless guy beside the weird guy starts protesting to the bus driver: "It's not me! I haven't said a word! I don't even know this guy! He's been talking to HIMSELF ever since I got on! He's CRAZY!"

Everyone around us nodded in agreement. A couple of people chimed in, saying, "Yeah, he's arguing with himself!"

Just then, the crazy chattering guy raised up in his seat and points to Kayla and I. He yells, "It's not me! It's the WHITIES! The WHITIES have been picking on me since Chatanooga! That's the only reason I'm p***ed off!"

I think Kayla and I both looked equally shocked.

"WHAT?!" Kayla laughed. "We're just sitting here, minding our own business!"

Again, all the people around us chimed in to validate our point.

"No sir!" said the normal guy in front of us. "They've been quiet ever since they got on in Atlanta."

Taking in all the comments, the bus driver then instructed the crazy guy to either quiet down or he would put him off the bus. At that point, the now irrate crazy guy stomped to the back of the bus and found an empty seat.

Kayla and I shook our heads and resumed listening to our music. At the front of the bus, everyone muttered and chuckled and everything calmed down.

Not five minutes later, voices started raising at the back of the bus. Soon, we could hear the familiar voice arguing with himself all over again.

A young black woman soon stomped to the front of the bus, and proceeded to tell the driver all about the latest excitement. I couldn't exactly hear what she was saying, but we all knew she, too, had an altercation with the once benign chatterer.

Our next stop was Athens. I called my uncle to tell him about the excitement. I told him that I was sure that the driver was going to put the troublemaker off the bus at that stop. Sure enough, the police were waiting for the man when the bus came to a stop. The driver called the man to the front of the bus and made him leave before anyone else was permitted to exit. I passed the police talking to the man on my way out. Apparently, they made the man forfeit his bus ticket. His final destination was Augusta, but Athens was as far as Greyhound would take him. I'm not sure what happened to him from there.

I found my uncle, we chatted a minute, and off we went. They took me out to dinner, and we then made the 1/2 hour drive to my aunt and uncle's home. Relieved to be off the bus and with my relatives, I began to settle in.

About an hour after arriving there I got notification on my cel phone that I had a voice mail. Sometimes when my cel phone is in my purse, it goes straight to voice mail.

The message went something like this:

"Hi, Kris. It's Bipsy, you know your friend and coworker? The one you were talking to when some crazy guy in front of you was making a scene? Remember me? The one you said you'd call back? Ummm, yeah. It sure would be great if you'd give me a call back and let me know you're okay. I've been waiting for like an hour and a half now, and I just thought I'd call you back and make sure you're safe. Okay. Call me. Bye."

Oh, what a laugh! In all the excitement, I left Bipsy hanging. Oh well. It's not every day I get called "Whitey".....To my face, anyway. The whole thing kinda threw me off my game. :)

This is a story I hope to tell my children's children. What a hoot!

Hope you're having a great day. More later.

Georgia on my Mind

I am back from my trip. I had quite a few adventures along the way.

In general, the bus trip was pretty good. If you're a person who loves cultural diversity and thrives on our differences, you would love taking the bus! I have so many stories and met so many great folks!

In particular, I met a man named Scott from Australia. He was traveling around the US for the summer. Last summer, he traveled around the UK. He says he ships his luggage, then flies to his summer destination. He was a really cool person to talk to. I didn't sit by him on the bus, but talked to him in each terminal. We rode the same bus from Dayton to Atlanta.

I also met a lady named Pearl from Buffalo, New York, who rode with me on my return trip from Atlanta all the way to Cincinnati. She was a beautiful, tiny woman with greenish/gray eyes, lovely tan skin and long dreadlocks. She was Polish/Irish/Indian/African-American. She was one of the most interesting people I have ever met. She said she sat by me because she could tell I had a kind spirit and a good heart. We had the most wonderful time chatting away over the miles. Meeting her was a major highlight in my travels.

On several legs of the trip on the way down, many young college girls asked to sit by me. I think that I looked safe to them; they felt comfortable with me. That was a blessing to me as well, because listening to them tell about their lives helped pass time and made me feel less homesick. I think they were feeling nervous, and by me being there for them, I gained confidence in myself.

My visit with my uncle and aunt was so wonderful. They are such a sweet couple, and made me feel welcomed and loved. My cousins came to visit...one brought pizza and homemade cookies to share. My cousin, Stephanie, has a daughter named Jesse, who I got to spend a great deal of time with. She is the same age as my Josiah. Jesse is a ray of sunshine. She drew pictures for me, asked me all kinds of questions about Ohio, and was simply a delight to be around. We are going to write back and forth to one another. She wants me to send items from Ohio that she can share with her class during show and tell.

It's late in the day, so I thought I'd share some photos I took. My uncle and aunt have some wonderful foliage on their 1/2 acre of property. Their property is completely fenced in, and is a little oasis of calm in their community. Hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I did:

Their magnolia tree:

The underside of their magnolia tree:


Close up of the magnolia leaves:



A Wild Rose:

The Bamboo that Grew From out of Nowhere:

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing

So, that's about it for today. I'll write more later on in the week. Hope everyone out there had a super weekend!