Sunday, November 20, 2011

Chattanooga is Creek Indian for "rock rising to a point"!

You are so from Chattanooga if you know that goats eat kudzu and wild dogs eat goats....more to come post by post.  They published all these fun facts in a local magazine that they give out.  I pick up ours at the Sports Barn.

Last weekend we went to Nashville! It was a lot of fun. We stayed at the Gaylord Opryland Resort. They have something like 2500 rooms. HUGE!!! It is still recovering after the flood that hit Nashville a year ago. We met some friends from Alabama. The Opry is now being held at the Ryman Auditorium which was one of the original homes to the opry. The current location is being used by the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes for their Christmas show. The hotel and outside were already decorated for Christmas...just beautiful. The hotel has a huge atrium in the center with wonderful landscaping, a river with a boat, restaurants, bars, and shops. We got a shuttle from the hotel to downtown where the Ryman is before dinner. We were going to eat at the Wild Horse Saloon but it was closed because a movie was being filmed in it, so we went up the street for dinner. Not anything too exciting just good food. After dinner we walked around downtown before the show. It was packed. Lots of novelty shops to go in but nothing great...I tried to get Pat to buy this hat.... no luck!



We then went to the show.  It was semi circle seating and was pretty full I thought.  Each singer, band etcetra that is asked to join the opry is obligated to perform there at least once or twice a year, I think.  I know that they only are allowed to perform 2 songs and they get paid $200.00 per evening.  That is why many of todays BIG artists don't want to join the opry because the one night they give up is probably at least 10 times more profitable for them on their own.  Anyway, the show is still a live radio broadcast so we sat through commercials for  Dollar General and Human Health Care.  We saw many performers but the ones that stand out to us were:  Charlie Pride (Kiss an Angel Good Morning),
                                                        Little Jimmies mailbox.  His manager drives him to the opry each nigth.....He has to be as old as dirt....ha.

Little Jimmy Dickens, and Hank Williams Jr's daugher and granddaughter and yes...they sang....I'll Fly Away.  It was entertaining.  We would do it again.

The next morning we had breakfast in the hotel before we left and Pat had "Southern Eggs Benedict"!
Talk about a heart attack on a plate....Get this:  Take an english muffin, add cheese, a big old thick hunk of bacon........a CRAB CAKE!, an egg and then holandaise sauce. Yes, he ate the whole thing.  UGH!

Before we left for Nashville...my oven quit working so I guess I am very Thankful that I am not cooking Thanksgiving dinner.  It won't be fixed until the end of the month!!!!!  So glad for microwaves and grills.

I helped with a Habitat for Humanity build this week.  It is a good feeling to do some manual labor for someone who really needs the leg up.  The lady who will move into the home is caring for her disabled great grandchild.

We went to a Mexican Train party last night.  It is a game with dominoes.  There were about 10 couples there.  We all brought a snack to share and they provided drinks.  I am sure that we will have them over sometime in the future.  Fun!

Our chairs were delivered this morning...I know on a Sunday....seriously.  But, I guess they are getting all the deliveries done they can before Thanksgiving.

Now on a puzzling note....the TV says that Black Friday sales start at midnight on Friday......don't they mean Midnight Thursday????  I thought midnight would be the end of the night.....Think about it...

Living Sweetly in the South,

Miss Jan

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Flying By

November is just flying by! Last week was so busy. Our P.E.O. group has lunches every month and Monday was lunch at the Countryside cafe.  This was a place picked by 2 gals who in the end couldn't make it.  I am sure that they would have had more to tell me about this place.  Anyway, it was a new place and area that I hadn't even begun to explore.  It was a meat and three type of place complete with turnip greens and cornbread and of course PIE (which I did not have).  It also included the LOCALs.......if you know what I mean...  Think of every back woods Tennessee type that you have ever seen spoofed on TV....they were there!  Made for an interesting day.  Oh by the way....I stayed safe and had a BLT. Ha Ha.

A couple of girls and I went to Lookout Mountain for lunch last week. Now, that was fun!  We went to the Cornerside Cafe on the mountain.  There were four of us and we each got something different and shared.  I ordered the daily special - Southern cheeseburger.  It had a fried green tomato on it instead of your normal tomato.  There was also pasta -good but just normal.  Another got the BLT only this also had a fried green tomato on it.  And the other gal had french dip.  Anyway we went out to lunch to learn about a charitable sorority called Sigma Beta.  Last Tuesday they asked me to join and come to the first function that I was included in and that was at the food bank packing sack packs for kids in the area to hold them over the weekend in the way of something to eat.  They deliver 3,000 a week in our county.  There were about 7 of us there...many were P.E.O.'s as well.  This Friday we are working on Habitat for Humanity.

Last weekend we went to an auction....rather I should say that I dragged Pat kicking and screaming to an auction.  It was a hole in the wall.  I love auctions. They are so much fun and "relatively" cheap entertainment.  All the gals I told that I went there ...they couldn't believe I went and now they all want to go....good and bad.  Good for the company, bad for the competition.  I bought two end tables, four B&G plates, and 2 tole painted trays.  I know I really needed all that like a hole in the head but...my end tables were $35. each and Pat is having so much fun fixing one up.  The other just needed some TLC to come in the house.  (Furniture polish) 

We also had a newcomers luncheon downtown at Niko's ...fun and then P.E.O. on Thursday.  The camilias are starting to bloom and my azaleas are just beautiful right now.  I LOVE THE SOUTH!  Yes, Mom, the new azaleas in the south bloom twice a year. 

I can't believe Santa is already at the mall....yuck!  Gotta go now.  Get ready to hear about the Grand Ol' Opry and see Pat's southern version of eggs Benedict!

Living Sweetly in the South,

Miss Jan

Friday, November 4, 2011

Atlanta and friends

The last time I posted I said that I would be going to Atlanta to visit some family friends.  I had a really nice visit with two really great people.  They live near Stone Mountain, Georgia just outside Atlanta.  The drive down there was beautiful.  The leaves on the trees were great and the sun was shinning.  No traffic.  We probably could have talked for hours more but I need to get home since I had been gone seeing Jenny.  I will go back. It is not a bad drive, a little more traffic coming home but not too bad.

The next day I started rearranging my dining room.  I (we- Pat and I) told each other that is was time to pack away some of the things that we have out that we really just use during the holidays.  So that is what I did. 

In doing so I noticed that most of my silver needed a good polishing and I had just read about an easy way to polish silver....
Check out the before picture of the bottom of the butter tray...


And now the after.....
Super easy...  you cover the bottom of your kitchen sink with a piece of aluminum foil.
Next put the piece of silver on the aluminum foil.
Sprinkle generously baking soda over the top of the silver.
Pour boiling water over the piece....and it just FLASHES off....instantly.  If it is really scrolly and ornate you may have to use some silver polish but the rest comes off really easy.  Well...that is has been occupying my spare time lately.....And now I hope it stays nice until after the holidays.

More picture of my "updated" dining room...that I love!



When I came home from KC, Pat had finished our new wine rack that I had blogged about earlier...here it is.....  I really like it!


We got our new sofa earlier this week!  Yea!  Pat is thrilled with it.  He said this is the first piece of furniture that he is really happy about in a long while.  Spice does not get to get on it or the new chairs when they come.  She has a new bed in the living room.

We had book club this past week.  Most of the gals rated the book a 3.5 out of 5 but I said 4. I enjoyed  The Paris Wife.  Next month is In the Dark Streets Shineth - a Christmas book only about 60 pages long and I plan on reading it while we drive to Kansas/Missouri.  I am still trying to finish Honor Among Thieves. In all my spare time.

We went to the movies and out to dinner last weekend.  We saw In Time.  It was okay.  I thought it would have more social commentary but it turned into a Robin Hood type film.  Mellow Mushroom was really good.

Living Sweetly in the South,

Miss Jan

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

So far away

Got back from Kansas City on Monday.  What a whirlwind trip, kind of like the one to Philly.  Wish we lived closer sometimes or at least not so far away from all our family.  But, we love Chattanooga and it seems to like us.

The airports are already SO busy...busy like holiday travel.   Unbelievable.  On the way home from KC, I sat next to a guy from OKC. He knew a Dr. here that we have seen....small world.

Yesterday, was rest and recouperate day... I can't believe how much drier it seems in Kansas than here.  We always thought Kansas was humid but not really.  I was really glad to come back home to where my skin didn't feel so horrible.

Jenny is doing awesome!  She had some great stories to tell us all.  It is hard to believe how much she knows already...and has seen.  I am really proud of my kids! 

Pat worked on our new wine rack.  We will probably hang it up tonight.  I will take a picture and post when we do.  It looks really cool.  He also ....bought himself a tablet...(computer).  Kind of like an ipad but it has windows on it and that way he can manipulate it better..the engineer in him can't leave well enough alone.  I was just so glad that he finally did something for himself.  He takes such great care of us, he deserves something too once in a while.  He takes it to work and says that it is a big help instead of all that paper all the time.

Book club is next week.  I read The Paris Wife.  It is a good book and very interesting about how all the "artists" of the time hung out is Europe.  This trend was started by Van Gogh and Rembrandt.  It wasn't that they had all the money in the world it was just what was done.  If you like Hemingway at all this book from the viewpoint of his first wife is a good insight into his life and how he ended up in the Keys.

I am going to Atlanta tomorrow to see some family friends that I haven't seen in a very long time.  I am looking forward to it.

Living Sweetly in the South,

Miss Jan

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

A few new words...

I went to lunch with the gals yesterday...to celebrate October birthdays...they are going to be the death of me...  They are going out again on Thursday to the movies and then bridge on Friday.  I have got to brush up on my bridge!!!  Anyway while we were out to lunch, southern words and accents came up and I have two new ones for you:

A carbonated beverage in the south  :      Coke
(not soda or pop....Coke)

A shopping cart in the store :         Buggy

Going to Kansas City tomorrow to see JJ!  Looking forward to a great weekend.

Living Sweetly in the South,

Miss Jan

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Prayers at a footlball game...in the South

We had a great time at the Tennessee/Louisiana State football game.  I have never been to a college football game where there was that much school spirit and pride in the football team....basketball yes....but not football.  It was incredible. Even when they knew they were 99% sure of a loss.  First of all the tailgating before the game was unbelievable...you would have thought you were at a pro game.  The stadium is SO old... I guess they don't build a new one for the same reason KU won't build a new Allen Field House.  I said to Pat that the field seemed so much smaller than other places.  The stadium was smaller because they don't have their track around the football field.  The place of completely packed!  I don't know what they would do if everyone had to wear a big bulky winter coat.  Guess they don't have to worry too much about that in the south because the season is really over before it gets that cold.  When the player all came out on the field they played "Rocky Top Tennessee".  Everyone sang it including the WHOO!!!  See the link for the words and tune...   http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=2DIM-KHiDj8 .   After all were on the field a minister came out and conducted the entire crowd in prayer!  It was amazing.  Everyone was quiet and respectful.  We never did that at KU and most people here say it is a southern thing.  It was pretty cool!  Of course they lost but it was really fun.

Friday night we had our Mexican Fiesta fundraiser for P.E.O.  for the projects to further women's education.  We gross almost $5800.00.  That was a really nice event.  There were about 90 people there.

Living Sweetly in the South,

Miss Jan

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Too Long....Lots of Pictures

It has been so long since I blogged last...  I don't know where to begin.  Went to a luncheon today with newcomers and they asked me to be the secretary....I must have sucker written all over my face because I said yes.  Oh well,  if you don't get involved, you can't complain.  At least that is what I keep telling myself.  Then shopping and bought pants two sizes smaller than normal!!!!  Maybe they are a little tight but....buttt......ha ha.

I twisted my ankle in the last week so it wasn't too great for working out today..but now it is feeling better.  I am trying to do the elliptical and then walk and then weights...  Maybe too much too fast.  No pain, no gain but according to the experts exercise shouldn't hurt just exert you.

Yesterday I went back to the endo doc and talked about doing the follow up WBS (whole body scan) as is the protocol for thyroid cancer follow up.  They have a new drug out called Thyrogen that is made in only one place in the world.  It is a radioactive type drug that allows you to do the scan without going off medicine and feeling so rotten.  It has been in short supply due to a shipping problem - hopefully they will get that fixed before January when we talked about having the scan done.  Otherwise it is off meds for 4-6 weeks and then 4-6 weeks to get the meds regulated again. UGH!  We agreed that it is not an immediate threat or requirement that I have this done so I will wait.  I learn something new every time I go or at least I start to understand it a little bit more...  If my kids would hurry up with their studies they could explain it to me better.  They monitor the TSH level in my body.  I thought this was the thyroid level because apparently I still have quite a bit of thyroid left even after the radiation.  The TSH is the hormone released by your pituitary gland in your brain to tell your thyroid to make more thyroid hormone.  They give you medicine so your brain will not tell the remaining thyroid tissue to go active and risk growth etc.  Enough Dr. 101.


Katie in front of Temple School of Medicine (also a Shriners Childrens Hospital for Research)

We had a terrific time with Katie in Philadelphia (and Ryan).  They have a really nice place and are so happy.  We are happy if they are happy.  We got there on Friday and ordered out pizza, played cards and to bed...we were beat.  Saturday, Katie and I got up and went to her work out center.  Pat and Ryan worked on Ryan's car.  His car was not starting in the morning without some sort of time delay that had to do with the security system...Pat figured it out and fixed it I think.  We will wait to see and hear from them if indeed it is still working.  We then got dressed and went downtown to the Med school.  It is beautiful.  It is brand new and SO interesting!  She took us all around and we even got to see the Gross Anatomy lab with someone in the lab working.  It is not like a college with bulletin boards up everywhere with hundreds of fliers on them and dirty trash in the common areas etc.  It is more like a business building with lots of theater classrooms - a training center. 
Katie at Temple in front of the gigantic bacteria sculptures!

The students all behave as if this is their job....to go to school and do what they are there for.    Really neat.  Ryan didn't go with us as he had to do some case studies.  He is on his pediatric rotation.  We went out for lunch to California Pizza Kitchen - my new favorite place except it is not located in Chattanooga .        :(     Then we went to the largest mall in the America - King of Prussia and did some late birthday shopping.  Katie needed some winter type going to class clothes.    We then went back to the apartment to go out to dinner.  Their choice ...Thai.  It was interesting.

                                                                 Thai Food!

  Not really my cup of tea but it was in a really neat location called Manyunck  (Man E Yunk).  Kinda like a Soho in NYC. I was glad that I had stepped out of my box and tried it. We walked up and down the street afterward and I had to try this frozen yogurt place that everyone was carrying around...such a cute name.....Whirled Peace.  It was fun and good.

                                                          At Whirled Peace.....(should we open whirled peace or sno to go?)

Sunday up, dressed and then to QVC!!!!!!!!  I had so much fun. It was so neat to see and SO interesting to learn about how they do what they do and SO amazing how much and how fast they sell stuff.  We saw In the Kitchen with David doing the Temptations and then Mr. Food and his cookbook!Way cool!!!!

From there off to Valley Forge...George Washington slept here!


  We had no idea that the park was that big.  It went on for miles but then again they housed a lot of troops there over the winter.  I can't imagine living back then and how hard they had it and still persevered to win for freedom!  I know no war is easy but their conditions would be against the UN now.

It was such a long drive. The leaves are changing in the Shenandoah Valley and very pretty.

Tomorrow is P.E.O. and then Friday is the big Fiesta for P.E.O. philanthropy.  Hope to raise a lot of money.  I guess about 90 people are going to attend.

Living Sweetly in the South,

Miss Jan

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

I have a friend!!!

Oh WOW!!!  Yesterday I came out of the Sports Barn and checked my phone....a friend called me and said "let's do lunch!".  I was so happy!  I hurried home, showered and we met at Panera...an awesome place for lunch.  YEA!!! 

On a sadder and (stupider) note, I was to go to the Newcomers Coffee today which I thought was at 10:30.....not!  It was at 10:00, so that just messed up my day...I would have been 30 minutes late and decided that I wouldn't show my "stupider" side....ha ha. So now, I just have the dentist to look forward to ...NOT!

This past weekend, we kept pretty busy.  A new section came out in the newspaper...the best of the best.  Well, some of the places I knew that were in the flyer and they were good, so that lent some credibility to "the best".  So, we decided to go out for Chinese Friday night.  The best in Chattanooga....ugh.  It was so gross.....the walls were dirty, the food was very bizarre!  Pat had a seafood soup that actually had a baby octopus in it.  He didn't eat it but still.....ewww.  I ate about 5 bites and Pat finished and we left. Not one of the best!

Saturday, we got up, to the barn and then hit the yard.  We had loaded the car with mulch on our way home from working out so we were ready to get to work.   Yard work...the yard does look better.  Anyway enough of that...we got cleaned up and then went to Georgia (just over the border) to the Georgia Winery.  They use muscatines here for their "grapes".  We toured the winery and of course had samples.  We went to Costco and met someone that had really wanted to buy our house but we beat them to it.  Pat knew him from TVA and Huntsville.  They were transferred up here about the same time.  They are our age and seem to be pretty nice, so we will probably get together with them some time.  Home and grilled steaks out and baked potato....we ran out of propane when we were almost done so....finished in the oven.

Sunday I had ordered some curtains and they had come so we put up rods and then I got to work steaming the wrinkles out.  Eight panels of suede like material floor to ceiling....it took me 4 hours!   Pat did more yard work and we got some pine straw mulch for the back yard trees and evergreens.

Now as for 1/2 and 1/2....it is half sweet tea and half unsweet tea!!!  LOL

Living Sweetly in the South

Miss Jan

Sunday, September 25, 2011

A Meat and Three

Every once in a while I will attempt to post about some "southern sayings" that I have encountered.  Maybe they aren't necessarily "southern only" but they are new to me since we have moved south.  One such saying is "A Meat and Three".  I mentioned this in an earlier post but now feel the need to expand on it.

Last year when we moved, the driver of the truck asked me where's the best place to get a meat and three.  I thought he was speaking a foreign language and had no clue what he was after other than food. Now I get it!

Now I have come across it several times.  It is on the menu a lot down here.  In Midwestern terms, aka Kansas/Jane's Place, it is good old fashioned home cooking - most of the time.   Sometimes it is real southern like fried okra, corn relish, flat green beans, and pimento spread. 

Sometimes it is served family style and other times it just shows up on your plate with a roll and 1/2 and  1/2  (I will tell you about southern 1/2 and 1/2 later.).

Hope y'all get it now as I do!

Living Sweetly in the South,

Miss Jan

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Furniture and Atlanta

Wow!  Sorry for so long since my last post!  Time has been just flying.  I can't believe that my baby will be 23 this weekend!  Happy early birthday, Katie, and that it will be officially fall. 

Last weekend seems like SO long ago.  Pat got home a little early and we drove 5 hours into North Carolina toward Hickory.  We stayed just shy of Hickory.  Driving the mountains in the dark was very stressful, not to mention the rock slide being cleared in the other lane.  They has closed a lane, redirected traffic and moved barricades under flashing lights and semi's going 35 miles an hour uphill and then trying to maintain 45 going down.  Yuck.  We definitely said that we would do the mountains the next day in the daylight.  Well, we did buy a leather sofa (brown - John Wayne looking) and two recliners that don't look like recliners in fabric.  They should be here before Christmas...yea!  However, Hickory is billed as the furniture capital of the U.S. and probably at one time...it was.  They have signs that advertise 20 miles of furniture stores and outlets. Not so much anymore.  Lots of closed shops. We did see some of the factories and saw lots of piles of sawdust, but the economy has really taken its' toll on them.  We went to one location probably the size of Oak Park Mall in Kansas City with smaller shops that represent all manufacturers in it.  You could buy off the floor samples, order, or really look for bargains in the basement.  There is a reason that they are bargain basement items....so far out that you would have to have had a special room designed around some of these pieces. Anyway, glad we went - no wondering about it anymore.

Yesterday, was Newcomers group.  We met in the morning to carpool to Atlanta (Marietta).  There were about 18 of us that went.   Atlanta is SO big.  We did some shopping on the square and then to lunch (of course) at Gabriel's.  The owner is a cousin of Paula Deen.  I had these illusions of a really neat old restaurant....  We had to order the night before as sometimes the wait is too long because it gets so crowded if you want to order off the menu or you just take a meat and three.  They make certain meats and then you order 3 side items.  Staple items in the south are pimento cheese and flat beans (very flat large green beans with not much taste).  I ordered the trio salad ( chicken salad -it's the south, pasta salad, and fruit salad) off the menu.  The restaurant is new and cold, crowded, and noisy.  My food was ready made in the to go refrigerator so it had been sitting there a while in a plastic tray.  A lot of us agreed, it is a place we would not go back to but glad we could say we had been there.  We left and went to a Huge Whole Foods Market.  They arranged a tour of the store for us and it was really fun.  The gal took us around and shared information and samples...we would be walking along and then to make a point, she would grab something off the shelf - open it up and then let us all try it.    We got home about 5pm.

The group is really fun.  It is great to meet new people and see new places, go out for lunch, coffees, and book club.  I think I told you that I was reading the October book, The Hunger Games.  It was really good and a real fast read....youth book that is a trio.  I read the whole series.  It is a sci-fi/social commentary book.   Now I am on to the November book, The Paris Wife.  I think it is about Ernest Hemingway's wife.

While I was in the store, Pat sent me a message that one of his contacts at Burns and Mac was going to be in town and wanted to meet with us and take us out to dinner.  We went to 212 Market Street.  (Again, not a lot of chains in the Chattanooga area - a lot of chefs just open their own store)  It was really pretty good. We told him we had never been there and that our company was usually our guinea pigs to get to try new places.  Of course we caught up on lots of news about Wolf Creek since he and Pat worked together there as well, and we talked about someday going to work for B/M but not right now.  Still opportunities in the NE but I said....who can afford to live there.

Living Sweetly in the South,

Miss Jan

Friday, September 16, 2011

Lions and Tigers and Bears....oh my

643 Deer Valley Drive




Well, you can say that fall is beginning to arrive in Tennessee!  When John and Janet were here we saw a mouse in our garage.....I screamed!  And then, the other day, we had a snake on our back patio......just thinking about it gives me the willies! Pat killed it and threw it over the fence.  It was a little one, but according to what I have read, in Tennessee snakes hatch in late summer......YUCK!  This one was black with bright green rings around it.  I can't seem to find a picture of it. Pat thought it was probably a corn or black snake.  Either way, I am very anxious about the yard right now!  Geckos were bad enough!

Wednesday I went to the Newcomers luncheon that I was telling you about.  It was there annual kick off meeting and fashion show.  Coldwater Creek put on the fashion and there was fajita bar set up for lunch.  The fashions looked a little bit better than CC had last year.  Even the manager, who I sat with, said so!  I joined the group.  Like I said earlier, they have activities every week.  I am signed up to go to Atlanta shopping with them next week.  They are going to some antique/shopping area in Marietta and then on to lunch at a restaurant owned by Paula Deen's relative or something like that...I will let you know more later.

I bought curtains for the back corner (kitchen, dinette, hearth) of the house and we tried them last night...they are going back today!  I will keep looking. I bought dark brown suede-like grommet top - not long enough.

Today I am down 15 pounds!!!! YEA!  It is work but it will be worth it.  I went shopping the other day and have changed clothes sizes, but didn't buy anything yet.  I will need to before too long.  YEA!

We leave for North Carolina tonight.  I hope it is worth it!

I have found two sites that I want to share with you all.  One is on facebook, called Crock Pot Girls.  It is a page that has gone viral!  It has some good tips and recipes on it.  The other page that I have become addicted to is  www.pinterest.com .  It is like having a favorites web site instead of just a favorites column on  the side of your computer.  It is fun to look at categories and see what others have posted and "repin" the ones you like to your boards and to see who likes what you have "pinned on your boards". 

The yard is looking greener and we have been watering so I hope we get some more grass.

Reading the paper yesterday and this is the funny for the day.... "He was shot in the head and then killed!"  Not he was fatally shot in the head, or the gun shot would resulted in his death or any number of other ways to say it....Pat said....the people here are down right mean to shoot someone first in the head and then kill them....that is just mean....Talk about showing your ugly side!

That is all for now.

Living Sweetly in the South,

Miss Jan-

Monday, September 12, 2011

Sometimes I feel like I am "a few strawberries short of a picnic"!

Well, I had my follow up visit to the opthamologist and we think the procedure did help my vision.  Now, I only wear one contact and don't reach for my readers near as much as I used to.  That visit was on Thursday right before P.E.O.  Are you tired of hearing about P.E.O. yet....too bad...!!!

I waited for a new gal who lives just up the mountain from me a little ways and off we went.  Her name is Karen; so I knew I would like her right away!  Anyway, she was being initiated that day.  We were to go..have brunch, meeting and short program.  We had the business meeting, a short program on P.E.O. etiquette and then home.  Karen has lived here about 7 years from California and told me about some other neat places. 

Friday - you guessed it...I got in the car and went to try out these new places.  I went over to the GA/TN line and went to an outlet store for bedding and curtains from JC Penney and Macy's that was advertised in the paper.  They did have a huge selection just not anything I wanted.  Left there and went to a placed that I had seen advertised on tv and the Sports Barn that morning for furniture.  It was okay..again..just not what I wanted.  Went from there to Southeastern Salvage.  It is a really neat store that you really have to go to every now and then because they get new shipments in all the time.  They have a lot of home decor, furniture, mirrors. baskets and such.  Saw a really neat pie safe looking piece but didn't buy it. They show you their items and then they show you where else you could buy it for a lot more money....Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn etc.

From there since I was across the street from Sam's I filled up the car and then went to pick up dry cleaning and then to the "wonderful" bakery Karen had told me about.  Well,  not quite what I expected and in a remote location that I woul have never tried unless someone had told me about it.  They only had dinner rolls and sweet breads for their breads but had a lot of pastries.  I bought what the clerk told me about that they were famous for....cheese wafers and this little cookie looking thing with icing on top as well as two petite fours.    The cheese wafers were the best...but not as good as mine or others that I have had...(showing my ugly side), the cookie things were just that....things...not sure what to make of them - they had some type of spice, grain or something in them that seemed "meaty".  Karen told me the petite fours were the best so I asked them..do you have any ....yes,  "stupid"  they are in the case in front of you.  It literally was not what I was expecting.  They were what the words mean...small cakes.  It was like someone took a sheet cake and cut it into squares..about 3 by 3 pieces and then put a sugar glaze (not a frosting) over it and put a little flour on top.  Live and learn and I won't try those again.  They do have great looking cakes and pies and something to think about for the holidays.  Home after all that.  Pat was home shortly after a meeting with the CEO of TVA!  I worry about him sometimes.  He was told to do a project that they don't have the money for.....Let's see if you want to do a project at your house you can't afford do you do it or not???  One of his co workers in Alabama did that and overspent the budget by $20M and then was let go....  Guess the CEO has a "slush fund" of his own.....damn the torpedos....full steam ahead.

Friday night we ate a quick bite at Chili's and then to a lawn and garden center on "So you want a lush beautiful lawn" .  It was a good talk and we learned a lot.  Sooooo...Saturday...yard work day!  We bought some bushes as two of ours had died and some pansies.  Pansies here bloom all winter or they are supposed to ....we will see. 

Saturday PM we went to the matinee of "The Help".  Very good.  Slow beginning and not as good as the book..never is.  It so reminded me of our mammy when I was little in the scene when they get off the bus.  And mom too!  Playing bridge and pay about $5.00 a day...going rate!  Grabbed a pizza and brought it home with a salad and wine.  Hot tub and bed.  It is getting chilly here in the evenings....low 60's but mid 80's in the day!

Sunday more yard work.  We watched a show on that channel I told you about earlier...EPIX about some dutsch people learning italian.  Two sayings for you....what does "jolly cola" mean???  In the show it was just a coke in a bottle.  And what does "a few strawberries short of a  picnic" mean.....ha ha.

This week I am going to a newcommers group luncheon and fashion show.  It is for newcommers but there are a lot of women who have been in it for years.  They have something every Wednesday. First Wednesday is book club.  I am reading "The Hunger Wars" for it.  Next is luncheon, then activity- they are going to Atlanta- I want to go next week.  Then coffee.  They play bridge and a lot of them are P.E.O.'s.

Made plane reservations to go to KC for the Junior League Show!!! YEA.  I am so excited.  We are going in October to visit Katie in Philly. This weekend we are going to High Point, NC to the furniture outlets.  It is about a 5 hour drive so we will go Friday night, spend the night and come home Saturday night I think. 
That is all for now..

Living Sweetly in the South (or trying to),

Miss Jan

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Tropical Storm Lee and Out of town Guests!

Well, let me start out by saying that we survived the Tropical Storm and two extended power outages.  After having no rain since July 6, we have had two days of solid rain....almost 10 inches!  We needed it so bad.  The soil here is not so great (very rocky, hence - Rocky Top Tennessee) so the tree roots don't grow very deep.  Once the soil is saturated and then the wind blows at all...down come the power lines. 

Laser eye surgery was fine.  I could have driven myself home - they didn't even check to see if I was getting in a car with someone...anyway.  They put a ton of drops in my eyes and then flashed some lights in and heard some buzzes.  I think my close up vision is better, so that is good.

We had some super company over the weekend.  John, Janet, Kona and Madison came to visit.  They arrived late Friday night.  It is a long drive.  We had grilled chicken wraps, cole slaw, and french fries for dinner.  Went for a dip in our hot tub and to bed. 

Saturday we all got up, dressed, and headed for Lynchburg, TN.  The home of the oldest federally registered distillery in the U.S.  We had lunch at Miss Mary Bobo's, a boarding house.  It is family style southern food and is a lot of fun.  They served: Fried Chicken, Meatloaf, red skinned potatoes, green beans, tomato/pepper relish, fried okra, corn bread, and their famous Jack Daniel baked apples.  For dessert we had a chocolate cake topped with whipped cream flavored with more Jack Daniels.  After lunch, we were ready for a walk so we went to the tour.  It was so crowded!  Even though we had been both of these places with some friends earlier, we learn something different every time we go.  Here is a picture of John and Janet with "Jack on the Rocks".



We came home and ate Croque Madame's for supper as we didn't need anything big.  Pat and I had these in France when we were there and absolutely loved them.  You take french bread, slice, butter and toast under the broiler on a cookie sheet.  Take out and turn over.  Add ham, cheese (we had a choice of Colby/jack, Havarti, Swiss, sharp cheddar and pepper jack).  Put back in oven to melt cheese and warm up. Take out add a fried egg on top.  We served it with mixed fruit salad.  Loved it!  If you don't add the egg, it is Croque Monsieur!

Sunday up and out to a place Rachel Ray made famous on her $40 a day trip here to Aretha Frankenstein's.  It is a hole in the wall in the middle of a north shore neighborhood in a house and serves breakfast, lunch, and beer!  We went there for brunch.  It was a lot of food!  The wait was quite long, but worth it.  They only seat about 40 folks at a time.

We took off from there and went to Lookout Mountain.  We were in luck at the National Park - they were doing a civil war demonstration.  I loved it!  Not sure how much everyone else did....until we came home and I showed them that our great great grandfather most likely had been here fighting with Sherman (Union) at the time....don't say it too loud around here...the war is still being fought!  As evidenced by the fact only confederate soldiers were in the reenactment.....see picture.



Confederate Soldiers


Pat and Jan on Lookout Mountain!

I love it!  Went from there with good intentions to go to "See Rock City" but Tropical Storm Lee reared it's ugly head.  We got rained out and decided to sit at Starbucks with coffee and watch it rain!
Home for dinner...out at the Blue Water.  We had always had great luck there, but not this time...it was not a place that we are looking forward to going back to after this experience.  We will find someplace else.  More Hot tub and bed.  The dogs were great even though it was raining.  A little mud inside but no messes!

Monday we got up and more rain!  Took a while to decide what to do...most of the places here are outside things to do.  This is a very outside kinda place.  We went to lunch at Taco Mamacitas - very good then to Costco, (John wanted to see what we had different here....Closed) and then on a driving tour, home to let dogs out, short nap and then we went to the movie, "The Debt".  It was very deep and not at all what I expected.  We all agreed - Good!

Home for dinner of what was supposed to be shishkabobs....NOT....Rain!!!  So we made stir fry! 

Clason's left on Tuesday morning with not power at our house....quick showers by candlelight.  Long drive but glad they came. Hope they come back.

Yesterday we didn't get power back until almost noon.  Just in time for the "show".  Cleaned in the afternoon.  Pat and I had left overs and went to bed....tired!  More power outages!


John and Janet waving good bye from Track 29.....Chattanooga Choo!
Today all is okay so far...they just called....Miss Jan...this is a reminder about your follow up visit ...

This is getting too long....

Until next time...
Living Sweetly in the South!

Miss Jan








Monday, August 29, 2011

So much time and So little to do....strike that ...reverse it!

This week we are having company and we can't wait.  But let me back up some and start by saying that "WOW"  @ Katie Guevel!  First an earthquake, then a mid term, then a hurricane...and now Ryan has car trouble.....you have had more than your share of headaches!!!  Hang in there - the weekend is coming....a three day weekend.  We are just glad that you are safe!  PS. Great job on your midterm. 

Jenny is finding out that nurses REALLY do a lot and have to know a lot!  She (like always) at the start of the new school year is a little overwhelmed but I know her and she will trudge through it!  We have all always heard that if you have a great nurse you will have the best care in the world!  I know Jenny will be great!

Atlanta on Friday was fun.  Linda (P.E.O.) and I met at Costco near the TN/GA line and I drove down since I was the one going anyway.  We went to Lenox Square Mall and shopped....Pottery Barn and Crate and Barrel.  Got some new bedding since Jenny took hers to school and some new wine glasses that are more up to date and not so "cheap" looking...although don't know why since we put "cheap" wine in them anyway -ha ha.  We went across the street (kinda) and went to another mall...the really ritzy mall....with Nieman Marcus, Nordstrom and more shops that I can't think of only know we didn't go in as we both knew we were out of our league!  We did have lunch at Nordstroms but it wasn't as nice as the one in KC.  Went to another gift shop that all the mags rave about called Boxwood...it was okay....  Came home in good time and did not hit Atlanta traffic on a Friday afternoon. 

Pat and I had grilled chicken wraps for dinner.  He was so tired. He fell asleep on the couch. We have new channel on our TV called EPIX.  It runs movies without commercials.  It is kinda like HBO but no cost.  We are enjoying seeing some movies that we never saw at the theater for FREE!!!  We watched Daybreak with Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton last night.  It is really good.

Saturday we got up and went and worked out and then I came home to go to Reciprocity PEO luncheon about 45 minutes away in Cleveland, TN.  It was very nice.  I sat next to a lady whose husband had been in nuclear...now a contractor.  Her daughter just married someone from Yates Center and she and her husband both grew up in Lexington, MO - where Pat's folks grew up.  They knew his Aunt Shirley.  Small world.

We have been furniture shopping...mostly looking.  It is so expensive.  No Nebraska Furniture Mart here.  I think we will take a weekend and go to NC and look and see if we can't save some big $$$$.  Pat's trip to Atlanta in Sept. was canceled so now we have the weekend to go there!  He doesn't know it yet and I have to do some more research! We did buy a headboard for the guest bedroom that was just delivered.  Wrought Iron ...I love it!

Sunday we worked around the house.  Today I just did stuff around the house getting ready for our company. 

Know Katie will be with Ryan doing something fun and Jenny will be going to Chicago with Walker and family - say Cubs game.  We will try and show John and Janet a good time.  Others were invited but said not this time! :(

Tomorrow I having laser surgery on my eye that I had operated on earlier to clear up some cloudiness.  I hope it helps. Holding steady on my diet, no more loss but no gain either! YEA.  I am grilling out a lot to keep the heat out of the house and the clean up to a minimum.  We are having hamburgers for dinner.

If all goes well tomorrow, lunch on Wednesday with some gals and then nails, cleaning and cooking and then FUN!

Until next time...
Living Sweetly in the South!
Miss Jan

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Not sure what direction....

    Yea! After a week, I have lost 10 pounds and 4 inches.  I feel so much better!  We don't eat as much as we used to...for dinner we usually have a meat and side salad.  We went to a farmers market here last Sunday after church.  It was a lot of fun.  Music, arts and crafts, food, flowers, vendors etc.  We bought a bouquet of Zinnias...Dad... and then some salsa and came home and made salsa chicken on the grill.  It was so good.  I used two chicken breasts (boneless/skinless) and marinated them overnight in lemon juice, lime juice, orange juice, pepper, oregano, sugar and some vegetable oil.  (Did you know not to use olive oil on the grill...it will burn faster than other oils...)  We grilled the chicken and then added the salsa over the top on our plate.  We had some brown and wild rice with it and a salad!  Very good!
    See picture below:









    Wow, it has been a week since my last post...sorry.  Time just gets away from me.  I am just not sure when I wake up what direction I will go. Last week I went to the eye doctor and found out that I only really needed to wear one of my contacts...go figure...guess what ...I CAN see better.  I was told that I  need to have laser surgery in the next few weeks to clear up one eye that I had operated on before and that should really help and then later I should really think about having the other eye done as well.  We will see (get it!). I go tomorrow to get some measurements taken for surgery in the future. Anyway, that was kind of a blow to my mind set...  How do you really know if the doctor you are seeing is giving you the best advice and care possible...  Maybe my kids will be smarter about all that than I am. 

    Second blow or *sigh* came when on Friday, Jenny went to her Nightingale ceremony and we weren't there.  First Katie's then Jenny's!  I hope they understand.

    Without the kids at home, Pat and I trying to figure out how to fill our time etc again.  Some evenings we just get in the car and drive.  We have explored a lot of new directions, found short cuts, said...oh that is how you get to that area....  It has been an EYE opener but also a confusion mess for me.  Sometimes I feel like there is so much to see and explore that I find myself in my comfort zone.

    I tried to get Pat to sign up for scuba lessons but it is for an entire weekend and he is reluctant to give up that much time together.....double edge sword.  It is offered two weekends a month so who knows.  He has been working on some big projects at work and is bothered by them a lot....stress.

    On one of our evenings we looked up churches in the area and found a few so we scoped them out and Sunday we went to a church closest to us.  It was very nice, bigger than Burlington, but smaller than Huntsville. They have four services each Sunday.  The people in this service were older so we may try a different service.

    Monday I went and got some very subtle highlights done and Pat said he liked my hair.  It really is getting back to normal finally after all the hormone changes from last year.

    Yesterday I went to lunch with some P.E.O.'s.  I had made the comment at our last lunch that Pat and I couldn't wait to have hot dogs and mac and cheese when the girls left.  Funny, they all agreed and we decided to try a hot dog place yesterday at Debbie's recommendation.  I met Debbie earlier and she took me to some cute shops that I didn't know about.  She drives a red VW bug convertible so we went around 'nooga with the top down.  It was fun. I told Pat we needed one!!!  Ha ha! She is about 5-6 year older than I am.  She has two grand kids and her husband is a pathologist for a hospital here.  They live near the Georgia line.  We had looked at houses in that area but the drive was too far.  Anyway,  she was really nice to show me around...been here about 5 years...but in driving - I quietly learned that I knew my way around downtown a little bit better than she did....again...change direction.  We had a good day.  One of the gals and I are going to Atlanta on Friday to go shopping.  That should be fun.

    Today I am going to the Sports Barn and then doing stuff around the house.  Saturday is reciprocity lunch for P.E.O.  Should be nice.

    Living Sweetly in the South!

    Miss Jan

    Wednesday, August 17, 2011

    Two steps forward....three steps back.

    I got up today with a lot of excitement...I have lost 6 pounds on this diet and feel really good.  I am not hungry although the chocolate chip cookies I made last night to welcome some folks to our neighborhood sound really good....I have not indulged.  OK OK....a little batter and 1/2 a cookie!  But, seriously, this diet is working for me...no cravings, no hunger, no headaches and I have been sleeping through the night and my thermostat is more on an even keel!  All good!

    Tonight when Pat comes home we will take those cookies out of here!  This guy who just built a house used to work with Pat and now is in the fossil fuel division of TVA.    They have 5 kids but I thought it would be a nice thing to do.  There is another new house going up just down the street from us.  Good to know we live in a sought after neighborhood.

    I was going to work out this morning and had my clothes on when the phone rang....it was a new hairdresser that I was trying to get in with calling to say that he had a cancellation.  It is the Splash Salon across the river. One of my P.E.O. friends goes to him and just raves about him....Well, I got my hair cut and styled by him. It is quite a bit shorter but it feels much better.  I needed all the "yuck" cut off to start to let it grow out.  Next Monday I am going to get a few highlights in the top, but still keep the dark. 

    We had chicken Caesar salads last night for dinner.  Very easy....I took a short cut and bought the precooked chicken strips and the prebagged salad.  Tonight we are having grilled hamburger patties and salads. 

    Like I said before I had started cleaning.  The downstairs is almost done...laundry room and back entrance still to do and the upstairs but I haven't done much for the past 2 days.  Need to get back with it tomorrow.  Got caught by the "squirrel" on my desk and started going thru all the papers in drawers and files.  I bought a shredder and have been shredding all recycle things so my name is not flying around out there.

    Talked to the girls last night.  Katie was not feeling very well...summer cold, it sounds like.  She had seen her first patient yesterday - a young woman with 3rd degree burns over most of her body.  She said it was really sad.  She said she was a little disappointed at first because she was going to be with other med students at the same time in the room, but then said it was a good thing because it was hard to keep the conversation going. WOW!

    Jenny is doing great!  She bought her scrubs yesterday and found out her first rotation is in the orthopedic section of the hospital.  That will be very interesting!  She has her "nightingale ceremony" on Friday...wish we could be there but alas....John and Janet will be going!  YEA!

    Well that is all for now -

    Living sweetly in the South,

    Miss Jan

    Monday, August 15, 2011

    Day Two on Xyngular

    After having thyroid cancer last year, I continued to gain weight.  I am now trying a product called Xyngular.  It seems like it is basically a low carb diet with supplements to combat the hunger, cravings and other nasty side effects of a yucky diet.   I am starting with an Ignite program that is supposed to jump start your metabolism.  We booked a crise for next April so I have A LOT of motivation.

    Pat is gone today in Chicago.  I wish I could have gone with him but I really didn't want to go anywhere after moving us, then Katie, and then Jenny!  I just want to be home for a while.  I like my house! 

    Jenny starts orientation today.  I am so jealous! (of both my girls)  I wish that I had known what I was going to college for.  I made sure both of them know that it is hugely important to be able to get a good job.  Now I will have a doctor and a nurse! Katie got 100 on her first med school quiz last Friday.  Yea, Katie. I am also SO proud of them.

    This past weekend a flyer came in the mail for community college classes.  They are offering Bridge.  I would like that and think I will enroll.  They also have wine tasting classes. We are considering those...

    I am going to see about enrolling Pat in a scuba diving certification program today.  I think he would love to go with my brother when we are in St. Thomas in April.

    I am going to go hit the Sports Barn and then keep cleaning the house.  It really needs a lot of little cleaning things done that I neglected while the girls were home.

    Until next time.  Livingly sweetly in the south,

    Miss Jan