Back in civilization!!!!!!!

So Friday was my last day of work (*sniff*). I picked up Justin at the airport in Nashville on Friday night, then we stopped at Carrabbas and had dinner. It wasn't bad. I don't know if I'd go back, but it was nice to see what the hype was all about (note to Carrabbas: add some balsamic vinegar to your oil and herb dip mix).

Saturday morning we went over to the UHaul place and spent an HOUR checking me into the system and getting the paperwork done. (note to UHaul: TRAIN YOUR PEOPLE BETTER).

We spent the day packing, then went out to dinner with Joan and Dane. Dinner was nice, and it would have been nicer if we could have spent more time with them, but there's always the future!

Sunday I got up early, and let Justin sleep for a few more hours while I packed up the last of the little stuff. After he got up and took the last shower in the apartment, I took down the shower curtain and rod, got 2 bales of hay from the barn (and gave the baby horse, John Henry, at least 3 treats). We grabbed all the garbage, turned off the heat and all the lights, left the keys in the cupboard, closed the door, went across the street to get gas, and headed on the road. We stopped 3 times - twice for gas & food in the same stop, and once for ice cream at DQ. I do love the holidays, and the fact that just about everyone seems to have something peppermint flavored.

We got to the house in Ohio around 10pm, got the older neighbor kid to come over and help move boxes, and were in bed by 11:30. Justin got up super early to drive to PA to go to work, and I slept until 9am (ahhhhhhhhh). Today I've been slowly unpacking stuff and my goal is to get everything (or nearly everything) unpacked by tomorrow night so I can make it to PA to get my baby shower list done.

OH! And I *FINALLY* was able to get an appointment with my new OB in Erie. I had to have my OB in TN send my records again for the 50th time, but they did accept me, and my appointment is for Dec 29th at 3:15pm.

I'll miss my friends in TN, but it's good to be back home.

Vegetables

On Friday, we're having a Halloween potluck at work. I was checking the list to see what others were bringing, and under "Vegetables," someone put "Mac & Cheese."

I didn't know mac & cheese was a vegetable! Oh, that's right, in the South, it is. No wonder Alabama is going to institute a "Fat Tax" for their overweight state employees (which I don't agree with, but still).

Chili Cookoff!

Last night my friend Joan and I went to the Giles County Chamber Cookoff. For $5 you got a small black styrofoam bowl and a spoon. There were about 45 vendors serving chili, cookies, cornbread, and sometimes beverages.


Right away we scored an awesome parking spot, right on the square. We got out of the car and looked for the most likely line where we could get our bowl & spoon. Unfortunately, they ran out of spoons & bowls, so we had to go to yet another line (but hey, we walked fast & got there before other people :-D).

Our first stop was at the Chamber table itself, and the chili was great! We then skipped the next couple of tables, and stopped to try some "Hillbilly chili" (which tasted like watered down hamburger and gravy). Joan stopped and tried some other kind, and I went further down where a local guy is running for...something. He had free pop (which I snagged for us), and GROSS chili. It tasted like it had some kind of liquor in it. I shook my head at Joan, and found a trash can. We made our way around the square, tasting whatever struck our fancy (we both prefer thicker chili, so we were looking for that). I tried 2 different kinds of white chili. They were okay.

We stopped and watched the lady-men beauty pageant (one guy actually had pretty shapely feminine legs), which was funny, but I was too hungry to stand there and watch for too long.

One stop I made, I got the spoon to my mouth and started scooping off the chili, and literally almost projectile vomited it all back up. I immediately spit out what was in my mouth back into my bowl, and practically drained my pop just to get the NASTY taste out of my mouth. I then found another trash can and scooped all of that gross into it. I found another chili and managed to find out that tasted decent enough to get the grossness out of my mouth and mind.

We finished up the walk around the square, and decided to end the night with the delicious chili from our first stop, but unfortunately they had *just* run out. Literally. The guy in front got the last bowl. We told the lady dishing the chili out that it was by far the best chili on the square, and she was very pleased.

Both of us very full, we made our way back to the car, and went back to her house for relaxation and chatting.

All in all, I would do it again, but I'd probably be the less adventurous one and ask more questions before I hand over my bowl :-).

There are SOME good things about living in the country

#1 Horses (duh)
#2 The fact that there's nowhere to shop, so I don't spend any money!
#3 I can wake up at 7:45 and be to work by 8-ish
#4 Everyone's generally friendly
and finally
#5 Trust in people.

Yesterday after feeding my friends horses, I walked down the street to the gas station (that's diagonally across from my apt), and ordered a hamburger and fries. While I was waiting and giving love to the gas station dog, Fido, a lady came in and pumped $10 worth of gas. When she went inside to pay, she realized she had forgotten her check and had no cash or credit cards on her (actually, not many people down here have credit cards, so I've found out). The owner (who lives 2 houses up from me), just wrote her name and phone number down, and she promised to come back tomorrow (today) afternoon and pay him for the $10 worth of gas in her car.

How many stores do you know that would let someone do that, especially a gas station? I think that's about the only one I know of. If I had been quicker about it, I would have just offered to pay the gas for her, but to be honest, I was tired, dusty, and hungry, and was just waiting for my supper. I didn't even think about it until this morning when I woke up. Oh well, there's always next time.

I know, I know

I know I haven't posted for a while, and i'm sorry. Work has been a bitch - it's been sooooo busy, and they're hiring like a million people.

I went to the Dr last week and got my initial visit out of the way - basically I just got weighed (hey, I weigh 5lbs less than when I was sick at the beginning of July!), my BP taken, my history given (no allergies, no surgeries, no nothing - just a nice boring medical history), I peed in a cup (the nurse told me I was dehydrated, but I do drink a lot of apple juice [is that bad?]), and then she tried to take vials of blood from me, but I have bad arm veins (I don't give blood any more for partly that reason), and she sent me over to the hospital to get not one, not two, but FIVE vials of blood taken from me. Bah. Good thing it wasn't any more, or else I would have had to stop at Hardees on the way back and eat a giant cheeseburger.

I have an ultrasound scheduled for next Monday, Oct 6, then my first official visit with the actual doctor on Wed, Oct 8. (I don't think I've ever shaved my legs as often as I will be this next week). After that visit, I will call my boss the next day and finally let him know that I'm leaving at the end of the year. If I don't tell him sooner, then he will find out somehow, since this town is so dang small. I already saw someone at the hospital who is the stepdaughter of a fellow employee there! I just hope she follows HIPAA rules.

Bad Amber, Bad!

So the last time I blogged, I didn't have any water. I'm so sorry you guys had to go a week wondering if I was sitting around in my own filth still... The water was back on by 9:30 that night.

So, oops. Sorry I didn't update you sooner! I blame it on my brain slowing down from having to listen to all of these s-l-o-w talking people.

Water water every.... uh what?

What is more fun than a sinkful of dirty dishes, a washer full of dirty laundry and a need to take a shower (and as I'm sitting here, the ever-growing need to pee)? That's right! NO WATER. Apparently there was a water break sometime this afternoon, and that's why my water heater was making funny popping noises and my water pressure has dropped to nothing. Good thing I have a Brita pitcher full of water in the fridge, since I'm also getting really thirsty (but I still have to pee).

By the way, what's up with being thirsty and having to pee at the same time?

Anony-not

Sometimes, like last week, I'm reminded that I now reside in a "city" of 7500 people.

I was in Piggly Wiggly because I forgot to buy bread at Wal-Mart. I had realized that I forgot when I saw the lady in front of me buying bread, and I was NOT going to wait in line all over again. Any way, Piggly Wiggly had their bread on sale for $1.00/loaf, as opposed to the $1.67 it normally was. Sweet! I read the poster board sized sign [$1.00/loaf, round top or sandwich styles], and chose a nice fresh wheat bread. When I get to the register, it rang up as $1.67. Now, last week I was a little sleep deprived, so I am sure I gave her an evil look (as I unknowingly do when I'm tired), and stood there for about 10 seconds while that price computed.

Me: Um, no, PW Bread is on sale for $1.00.
Cashier: That's only white bread.
Me: The sign only says round top or sandwich, not "white only."

At this point another cashier picks up the ad and starts looking at it, while the first ran off to check the gigantic sign. Neither the sign nor the ad said anything about white bread only, although the cashier tried telling me that 1st, the sign is on the white bread shelf (oh, so a sign that covers 3 shelves isn't meant for more than one shelf?) and 2nd that "the wheat bread is 3/$5, which is still good). Girlie, I could drive back down to wal-mart and pay $1.20 for wheat bread - give me my damn bread for $1!!!!

Finally the other cashier told her to just let me have it for $1. Finally. If they would have not "let" me have the bread for $1, I seriously would have told them I didn't want it. hey, $0.67 is $0.67, you know? That's 2/3 of another cheap loaf!

Anyway, back to my title. While the other cashier and I were waiting for the girl to come back from checking the sign, she looked at the badge on my hip and said, "You work in the Ohio office?" [note: I did not know this girl at all]. I told her yes, I worked in the Ohio office. "Oh, I thought they closed that down." Goodness. I guess I can't be anonymous here. Oh well.

Lunch

This is a post I had forgotten I wrote, so I decided to publish it.
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I don't really know where the restaurants in this town are other than Sonic (mmmmmmmm), so when I don't feel like bringing lunch, I try to see if my coworker, Bill, wants to go anywhere. I like going to lunch with him because he shows me places I didn't even know existed.



One day, we went to a local deli and ate in the restaurant. Afterwards, as we were getting into the car, Bill mentioned that he was going to get a lot of questions in the next week or so, like "Are you getting divorced?" "Who was that woman you were eating lunch with?" As I looked at him in shock, he just smiled and said, "Well, that's the way it is in a small town."



Wonderful.