California Dreamin'

So, later this year the philosopher and I will celebrate our 20th anniversary.  Hard to believe, right?  I mean, we're only in our early 30s or something..... 

Anyway, we've been talking for a while about what we'd like to do for that momentous event.  Bungee jumping is right out, as is skydiving.  We're not on the wealthy side of things, so as much as we'd like, a month in Greece and Italy won't work, either.

So we picked California.  We've got our plane tickets purchased, round trip from the airport down the road to San Francisco.  We've got our rooms booked, and our travel guide is starting to look dog-eared already.  (What? I'm a librarian.  Of COURSE I did research!)

Specifically, we picked here:

(http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Yosemite_National_Park)

Yep, we're headed for three days of hiking in Yosemite National Park! Now, y'all know I'm not crazy.  We may be shipping in a box of hiking boots and poles and packs, but I'm not roughing it.  We're not camping.  Ain't no WAY.  Instead, we're staying here: The Blue Butterfly Inn Bed and Breakfast, just outside the park boundaries.

 

(http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g32340-d667454-i18730659-Yosemite_Blue_Butterfly_Inn-El_Portal_California.html)

If this is roughing it, then I am ALL in!  So we'll spend three days in Yosemite, acting like the southeastern tourists we are. We've got a whole host of places we'd like to see, so we'll probably take the park shuttle to maximize our time there.  But there will be at least one for-real hike - probably to Yosemite Falls or in Mariposa Grove, because really, how can you go to a place like Yosemite and not get out on the trail at least once?

After our workout in the mountains (6000 feet above sea level?  Really?  How do people breathe???) we'll take roads west, and head to a more civilized clime.... Napa Valley.

(http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Napa_Valley_looking_northwest.jpg)

 Yep, we're headed to wine country!  Heck, we lived in Loudoun County, Virginia, which is a hotspot for wineries, so why not check out the valley that put American winemaking on the map?  And where are we staying?  Hennessey House, of course!

(http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dr._Edwin_Hennessey_House,_1727_Main_St.,_Napa,_CA_10-9-2011_11-45-57_AM.JPG)

Did I mention this is our 20th anniversary?  And that we've been saving for this vacation for more than five years?  No Motel 6 for us this time, no WAY!

Of course the philosopher is currently doing extensive, thorough research on various Napa offerings.  (erm, yes, wines).  We do plan on touring, of course, and are considering using Platypus Tours... because... platypus!!  I mean, how can you not love a company whose boss calls himself the Platypus-in-Chief??!?

It's still a ways off, but we're totally excited about this trip.  And I promise a long drawling blog post with lots of boring photos when we get back.  I would say we wish all our friends could join us, but I did mention that part about the anniversary, right?  8-)

Argh.

So , just finished reading an article in the Washington Post about Obamacare.  And it talked about something I hadn't considered.

Yes, I've considered that next year my employer might decide to ditch its employees and send all of us to the exchanges.

I've considered the more likely option that our spouses will be ditched, sending them out to the exchanges.  And because the exchanges require the reporting of total family income (even if it's just one member of the family applying) my husband wouldn't qualify for a subsidy even though he only works part time.  Unless we got a divorce.  How completely insane is that?

SO not cool.

But then I read the Washington Post article.

It's about prescription drug coverage.  And how one measure of cost cutting could come in the form of requiring the patient to pay more of the cost of "expensive" or "name brand" drugs.   Now, we do that already.  From the article:

"As the details of the benefits offered by the new health-care plans become clear, patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune diseases also are raising concerns...

The easiest way [for insurers] to identify a core group of people that is going to cost you a lot of money is to look at the medicines they need and the easiest way to make your plan less appealing is to put limitations on these products,” Boutin said."

 Four examples listed.  I have two of those.  RA has generics that are nice and cheap.  So that's easy.  But diabetes... that's another story.  There are no generic insulins out there.  Why?  Because the FDA has yet to set standards that allow companies to make generic biologics.  Even though patents on some insulins expired over a decade ago.

I wan never a fan of Obamacare.  I like the idea of open markets with HSAs and the patient/doctor driving the treatment.   But this socialized medicine insanity just makes me sick.

For the coming year, we'll be stable.  But when the employer mandate kicks in and the folks who coordinate our health insurance benefits look at the numbers, I shudder to think what kind of hole we'll find ourselves in.

Hiking to Alabama

We headed off to the mountains last weekend, and ended up hiking all the way to Alabama!  (OK, so we actually started at a trailhead that's only 2.7 miles from the state line, but who's counting?)

 

 The Pinhoti is definitely a favorite trail, and considering it runs from Birmingham, Alabama to Ellijay, Georgia, there's plenty of it to explore.  This trip took us up Indian Mountain.  We ended up being there just after peak color, but it was still beautiful.

 

Spring Branch is probably a rollicking little creek in the spring, but pretty quiet when the leaves are falling.

 

(We've already decided we really need to do this section again during the spring or summer - I bet it looks completely different!)

 

 ALABAMA!

 

GEORGIA!

As we took a break and ate lunch at the state line, we make one critical observation.  If Georgia ever wanted to invade Alabama (or vice-versa) the trek over Indian Mountain would be a significant limiting factor in terms of troop movement.  So from a pair of impartial on-site observers, we recommend Highway 278 or Highway 411 instead.  And if you'd like a more southerly route, Interstate 20 might be worth examining.

OK, so it's not likely that we'll see state invasions in our lifetime.

But there have been other invasions of a much more insidious and secretive nature.  Yes, lady and gentleman, I'm talking about ALIENS.

And we have PROOF.

 See????

And more proof - only aliens would do THIS to trees:

Alien activities!  The trees are lined up! WOAH!!  No human in their right mind would plant hundreds of pine trees in a straight...  Wait... what?  ::whisper whisper, murmur murmur::  Really?  ::mutter mutter::  REALLY?

OK, um.  Never mind.  [Aside: who knew folks go back and plant trees in straight lines on purpose?]

So.

Anyway.

 It was cool and cloudy, but all in all it was a terrific day to be in the forest!

Operation Christmas Child - How to Build a Shoebox!

OK, I know I'm not the first person to blog about Operation Christmas Child, or to talk about how to find stuff for a shoebox, or how to pack it, or ..... you get the idea.

But darn it, it's a GREAT ministry for individuals (and churches) so I wanted both of my regular readers to know all about it!

I shop mostly at WalMart and Dollar General (DG has some amazingly inexpensive toys and clothing, too!)  *IF* you start a few weeks before Collection Week, you'll be able to find plastic shoeboxes at WalMart for less than a buck.  (I waited too late last year, and ended up having to spend more because they were completely out of the cheap shoebox sized boxes!)

Like this:

A lot of folks will take fun wrapping paper and line the box (or wrap the outside).  But instead, I take a bandanna and use that as a liner.  It's fun AND useful!

Then I go on my shopping spree.  I try really hard not to spend more than $15 a box (not counting the $7 donation for shipping - more about that later).  And you know what?  You can totally stuff a shoebox for that, or even less!

This is my box for a 5-9 year old boy.  Bandanna, socks and underwear. Crayons and pencils (with a sharpener and eraser) and a notebook.  Toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, washcloth.  Fun stuff like playdoh, a ball, a car, a top, a puzzle, a stuffed critter, and a glow stick.  I put the soap and toothpaste into a plastic zippie bag.

So inexpensive!  Here's a breakdown (some of these were purchased in a pack which I then broke apart; the prices are for the individual item:

• puzzle - $1
• stuffed bear - $1
• glow stick - .50
• playdoh - .25
• pencils - .50
• car - .75
• underwear - $1
• socks - .75
• bandanna - .50
• shoebox. .97
• scissors - $1.10
• toothbrush - .75
• toothpaste $1
• soap - .50
• washcloth - .50
• notepad - .75

Oh... and the most important part.  A bag of hard candy and gum!

OCC has a great list of suggested items, along with some guidelines.  PAY ATTENTION to those.  No liquids at all.  No war items.  No used items.  No food other than hard candy and gum.

Then break out your best Tetris mojo and start packing.  It can be a challenge, but if you've shopped wisely it will all fit.

When you've got your packing done, go to the OCC webpage to donate for shipping and print out your labels.

If you do this online you can print out a label with a BARCODE!  They'll email you and tell you where your box is going!  How cool is that??!?!

You can also add a family picture or a note with your address.  Sometimes the children will send you a note in return.  That is also WAY cool.

Finally, take your stack of shoeboxes

 to the nearest collection center during National Collection Week, November 18-25. 

YAY for SHOEBOXES!!

Caveat Empor!

My mother-in-law is an amazing seamstress.  She doesn't make clothing, tho, but draperies and valances and pillows... and awesomely cute bags and purses, which she sells at a craft market once a month in Pensacola.  (I've bragged about her work here before!)

We were visiting a few weeks ago, and I fell in love with a messenger bag she'd created.  Well, I fell in love with the *style* - the fabric, not so much. ::grin::  So she said that if we could find fabric I liked, she'd make me one for Christmas.  Later that evening, we headed to her workshop and pored through her piles and piles of fabric.  I saw a couple of things I liked, but nothing really spoke to me.  So I went on an online shopping adventure, and found a fabric I adored at an online fabric wholesaler.  WOOT! 


Credit card in hand, I placed my order with abandon (I think the grand total was a whopping 15 bucks with shipping).  I waited anxiously for the material to arrive, and - voila - a few days later there lay a package on my front porch.  I eagerly pulled the fabric out... and...

Not at all what I was expecting.  At. All.  The print was HUGE - the flowers which in the online pictures looked to be an inch across were closer to 8 inches... way too big to be on a bag.  So it's in reserve in her shop, and I hope someday to find a use for it... pillows, maybe, or a valance?

So the moral of this story is - know what you're buying before you plunk down the money.  ::sigh::

I think I'll head to Fabric and Fringe this weekend!

How To Make It Rain Every Weekend

It's simple, really.  If you need it to rain in your neighborhood, plan an outdoor project that requires NO chance of rain at all.  You know, something like painting your front deck.  We purchased the Deck Over (a Behr product that smells absolutely horrible but does an amazing job on mistreated wood), the deck cleaner for our power washer, and the various disposable brushes and rollers right before the 4th of July.  Since then, it has rained Every. Single. Weekend. (Except for the one when we went out of town, and therefore couldn't have painted the deck anyway.)

 Can you tell it needs a little TLC??


So this weekend, finally, we had a forecast of decent weather.  Greg got out and power washed the deck on Friday, killing all the mold and mildew and other crap.  Then we replaced the handrails, stair treads and a few of the deck boards that were not salvagable.  Our grand plan was to paint it on Saturday!

But God has a sense of humor.  The forecast for Saturday had a 50% chance of rain.  We knew we didn't have anything that we could cover the deck with if it rained, so we decided to, once again, delay the project.

Sunday morning we headed off to church, while the local meteorologist mocked us soundly with "Zero percent chance of rain and low humidity - it's going to be a beautiful day!"  ::sigh::  There's no way we could finish that massive paint job in an afternoon.

Or so we thought....

The philosopher decided, on the way home, to see how dry the wood was on the deck.  It had been incredibly waterlogged, and even though we didn't actually get rain on Saturday we'd've never been able to paint because of that.

Dry!  By golly, it was dry!

So in our complete insanity... I mean, desire to finish the project ... we donned our grubbies after lunch and started painting at 1pm. 

Have I mentioned how much this product stinks?  And that's it's about as thick as concete?

Yeah.  That.

 But we persevered, and if I do have to say so myself it looks darned good!

(Pardon me while I slather on the muscle rub now...)

North Georgia Adventure

We just got back from a wonderfully relaxing trip to Ellijay (in the North Georgia Mountains).
 

::aaahhh::  

It was a beautiful weekend, and surprisingly cool for Georgia in August.

This is where we stayed:

It was perched at the top of a ridge looking down into the valley below.  Although there were plenty of other cabins nearby, you couldn't see or hear anyone else at all. 

We went hiking on the Benton Mackaye Trail on Friday - the first good hike we've gotten since last fall.  (How quickly the time flies!)

And just to prove that we were actually there, here we are at Fall Branch Falls.

 

The falls weren't far from the trailhead, but we hiked on past them for about 5 miles, so all told it was around a 10 mile there-and-back hike from the Fall Branch Trailhead to Scoggin's Knob... with a 1800' elevation change in the process.  (Oh, my aching calves!!)

We saw an Ent looming over the trail - he didn't introduce himself, but I'm convinced it was a relative of Quickbeam.

 

Lots of beautiful mountain views, too.  I'm sure in the winter the vistas are even more gorgeous!

 And then we came across... this.

 We suspect gnomes.

And I have to give props to our little Ford Focus - it really was a trooper!  Our cabin - and the trailhead - were both deep in the woods on several miles of forest-service roads.  Like this:

No, that's not the trail.  That's the ROAD!  The road up the mountain to our cabin was even more alarming, very steep and gravelly and narrow.  Thank goodness we didn't meet any SUVs coming up or down!

We ate dinner in Cherry Log (that's the town, not the restaurant) at a place called the Pink Pig.  And we headed up to Blue Ridge to Mercier Orchards, where we picked up a bag of early apples and some fried apple pies.  YUM!

All in all it was a most excellent adventure - I read several books on the porch swing, the philosopher got some writing done, and we didn't answer the phone or check email at all!  So now, I suppose, I should go check that email and listen to voicemail and get on with the rest of my week!