It's Been Long Enough, But I Got Some Awards...

It's been a week since I last posted.  I'm quite sure many of you are saying that's quite long enough.  I couldn't agree more.  But if you knew what my last week has been like....  But I'm not here to gripe or complain.  I've read other blogs, and my issues are minute, no offense intended, indeed.  I enjoy all the blogs I read, and any of you who are dealing with "things", I do hope you see better days soon.  Myself, I have just been laiden with a plethera of "things" to get done.

Now, on to business.  I received two...not one, but two awards today.  Thank you so sweetly Marie Anne St Jean.  Is that as in denim or French?  Just wondering.  You can find her at In The Garden With Sow-n-Sow.  She was nice enough to bestow upon me two awards.  They are as follows:

And

Now, for me to have these awards I must share seven things about myself. 

1.  I have a third nipple.  Just kidding.  But I do have a large scar on top of my head.  When I was 10 I was doing back dives of the side of the swimming pool.  I missed the water.  It hurt.

2.  I smoke pot.  Just kidding again.  Tried it a couple of times and so hated it.  I coughed and choked and nearly puked.  I do love plants, though.  I have a handful of house plants and I'm working on the yard a little at a time as $ permits.

3.  I have the body of an olympic gymnast.  Not really.  I WISH!!  I could stand to lose 15 pounds or so from my belly.

4.  My dream job is to be a traffic dirrector.  NOT!  I did have a temp job for 3 days once counting traffic at stop lights in town, though.  When I was a kid I either wanted to be a zoo keeper or draw bridge operator.  No joking about the bridge thing.

5.  My favorite food is brussel sprouts.  Gross!  I hate them!  HATE THEM!!  I love Mexican food and chicken.  And if you combine the two it's just about the best meal you can get.  I know, I know.  I raise chickens.  How can I eat them?  I just can.  I won't kill my own, though.  Someone else has to do that.

6.  I used to be a preacher.  No kidding.  I have a bachelor's degree in pastoral ministries.  I was a youth pastor for 5 years and was ordained.  But I was sent off to Iraq and the church frowned upon certain aspects of my life (as I'm sure the military would have if they knew what the church knew).  So I came home and moved on to a new life.

7.  I once froze off a couple of warts with liquid nitrogen that I got from work.  Really.  We sell liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen.  It used to be my job to fill N2 and O2 cylinders.  So I once used a little liquid nitrogen to freeze off a couple of warts on my finger.  And it hurt.  For days.  Boys and girls, liquid nitrogen, liquid oxygen, liquid argon, or any other cryogenic liquid or dry ice are not something to play with.  They are kinda neat though.

Now to share these awards with seven others.  I usually try to share awards with new people I haven't given an award to, or at least someone I haven't given one to in a while.  I would just say everyone, but then no one could pass it on!  So here's my list.

http://www.gardenchickmusic.blogspot.com/
http://www.phillipoliver.blogspot.com/
http://www.3acrehomestead.blogspot.com/
http://www.jabacue.blogspot.com/
http://www.fromsophiesview.blogspot.com/
http://www.thatbritishwoman.blogspot.com/
http://www.lifeatfoxpawlodge.blogspot.com/

Thanks Marie Ann.  That was very thoughtful of you.  Hope you all have a pleasant evening!

 

My Home Town-Belhaven, North Carolina

I thought I share a little about my home town, where I grew up.  But first, I wanted to let you know about yesterday's pic.  That was a pic of a Atlantic Bottle-nosed Dolphin.  Several times a year they swim up in the creek behind my parents' house.  They are chasing the plethera of speckled trout, mullets, and other tasty fish.  They were actually partially breaching and blowing water, but my camera just wasn't fast enough to catch all that.  They are nice to look at, but they ruin the fishing.  You can forget catching anything when they show up.

I grew up in the small town of Belhaven, North Carolina.  It's a lovely little town nestled right on the Pungo River.  It is only 8 miles from the Pamlico Sound and sits at only seven feet above sea level. 

I actually grew up at Pamlico Beach, a small waterfront community about 13 miles southeast of Belhaven.  It is really country living, but quite the peaceful life.  There's no hustle and bustle of city life.  You won't find night clubs or twenty-four hour grocery stores.  In fact, there's only one grocery store, Food Lion, in this quaint village of approxiamtely 2,000 inhabitants.  The big industries are tourism, bed-and-breakfasts, and fishing.

One of the more popular bed-and-breakfasts is River Forest Manor.  It is a beautful plantation type home converted into a B-N-B with a restaraunt.

My family occasionally visits for a seafood dinner after church on Sunday.

There are a few small shops downtown.  Tourists can often be seen strolling down Main Street on golf carts seeing the sights and lovely homes along Water Street.  There are a few small eateries, as well, in the area.

With any community so close to the rivers, sounds, and even the ocean, fishing for a living is quite common.  I, myself, come from a long line of family members that fish or have fished for a living.  My grandfather started with a small boat and a handful of crab pots when he was only 12 years old.  He is 78 years old today and still fishes for a living.  Of course, I have also made money at fishing, as has my dad, my mom's dad, my mom's grandfather, and many uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. 

In fact, the first job I ever had was on a fishing boat.  I was six months old.  My mom put me in a fish box, and I sat in the wheel house watching the large steering wheel turn from side to side.  My grandfather gave my mom $20.00 because I was on "wheel watch".  I could do an entire blog on commercial fishing, so I will leave that topic here.

Living near the water means there are many opportunites for water sports.  There is always fishing with a fishing pole.  Speed boating and sailing are quite common, as well as water skiing, hydrosliding, and personal water crafts.

There's a history to Belhaven, along with some of the surrounding small towns.  North Carolina is on the central eastern seaboard of the United States where many of the early settlements were.  One of Belhaven's historic buildings is the town hall.

The town hall houses the police department, the town museum, and the town hall offices.  There are nearby historic towns and districts, too, such as Bath, N.C., North Carolina's oldest town from 1789.  It's roots go further back, but that is when it was recognized as a township.

All in all, Belhaven is a nice place to live, particularly is you like the peace and quite of a small town.  There are drawbacks.  It's about a 40 minute drive to the nearest Wal-Mart in Washington, N.C.  As previously mentioned, there are no 24 hour stores.  Some of the stores even close by 7 p.m. And where my parents live, it is a  20 minute drive into town.  But that is a small price to pay for the peaceful, picturesque place to enjoy life.

Wordless Wednesday

He's Here!!

Actually, while I was posting yesterday, he was in the middle of being born!  Tanner was born yesterday at 2:53 p.m.  He was 7 lbs 13 oz and was 18 and a half inches long.  I went straight to the hospital after work, and of course I forgot my camera!  So no pics yet.  He has a pointy upper lip and no chin!  Renell, his mama, says he looks like a little turtle.  She said once he started to come out it was an easy birth.  She's getting tubal ligation today.  He was supposed to get snip snip today, but he had a bit of a fever yesterday, so they are postponing it to make sure they can prevent infection.  But all in all he's adorable!  He can't cry for crap.  He sounds like a little dog wimpering!  But I'm sure that will change soon enough!  Have a great weekend y'all!

Waiting On Tanner

Well, my sister has been having contractions for a couple of days now.  She went to the hospital day before yesterday...well, around 11:30 p.m.  with contractions.  They were 3-5 minutes apart, but only every other one was a hard contraction.  So they sent her home and told her not to return till she could no longer stand the pain, and to take Tylenol for pain.  She went back to the hospital this morning around 4:30 a.m.  I was so smart as to leave my cell phone at home on the night stand beside the bed.  So I called my mom mid morning.  She said Renell had an epidural and was somewhat relaxed.  Relaxed?  I thought the idea was to be stressed in order to get that thing out!!  Anyway, it's mid afternoon now, and I still haven't heard anything.  I will call later to find out.  But his name will be Tanner Lewis.  I'll try to post tomorrow to let you all know about them.

Oddly Enough, I'm Glad To Be Back

My vacation was pretty nice.  I stayed on the beach in Rodanthe, North Carolina with my family.  Lots of my family.  I enjoy seeing my family, but there were nearly 30 of us.  It didn't get as hairy as I thought it would.  I'm sure many of you know what I mean.  Family is family.  You laugh at their weddings, cry at their funerals, but seeing them once or twice a year is enough.  Still I love them and care about them.  We spent most of our time chillin' on the beach or swimming in the pool.  We stayed in a big, beautiful house.

It had a private pool that the kids really enjoyed.

We visited the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island.

We watched Kite Surfers ride the waves.

We watched the 4th of July Fireworks from the deck of the house, though my pics were quite blurry.

The beaches were lovely, but sand in the bathing suit is no fun.

Of course, I had to take a pic of the Atlantic Ocean.  If you squint really hard, maybe you can see my friends over in Europe!

We did other things, too.  We had a couple of shopping days.  We went to the Wright Brothers Memorial.  We had a couple of game nights, and had dinner in my uncle's seafood restaraunt.  We did have a lot of fun!!

And I want to include this panoramic I took.  The first morning I woke up, put on a pot of coffee, and went out on the deck for a ciggy ( I know, I'm trying to re-quit).  No one else was awake, and it was so peaceful.  I LOVED it.  I thought it was about 8 or 8:30 a.m.  But when I went back in and looked at the clock it was only 6:15 a.m.!  You just don't get up that early on vacation.  But check out this lovely view.

It was a nice

Beach Trip!!

It is all set in stone.  I have planned out my beach trip.  Anyone gonna come along?

I will start with a comfy flight out.....

After the flight, it's just a short drive down to the water.....

I picked a nice, quiet little town by the beach.....

I also picked out a great spot down by the sea with an excellent view!!

And you can't go to the beach without playing in the sand.....

There are strict rules, so you must mind your P's and Q's.  None of that stuff you usually do.....

You can't go to the beach without doing a little fishing, right?!

Or maybe you are looking for the big one.....

All that fun can get you thirsty.  But you can't drink just anything....

But I'm sure you can find a good one somewhere close.....

I was gonna suggest a little ice cream in the summer heat, but that seems to be a bit of a sticky situation....

And before the ride home, dinner is a must.  I'd suggest a good pasta meal....

If I don't get back around before vacation (I'm leaving Friday afternoon) I'll see you guys week after next!!

Post Script....Thanks for the idea Tracey!!