Donna's Rants And Raves

Wow! It took me a while just to figure out how to log back into this thing. So many changes since I was here almost 2 1/2 years ago.

I thought I'd pop in to invite any old timers still out there to visit my new blog location:)

http://dhrn.wordpress.com/

dockart at 8:37:47 PM EST Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 2 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

I realize for most of you this may not seem like a big deal but for me it was a major discovery. Some time ago, Jess, the college one, turned me on to Google.  For the two of you who may not yet know what that is, it is a useful tool to search for anything  on the Internet that comes to mind. When I first discovered Google I spent hours typing in names of people I knew to see if they were listed...What fun!:)

I found a picture of an old boyfriend (actually two old boyfriends). I was shocked to learn that one had FINALLY married only to discover further down the Google list that his wife had recently died. I found nothing on me but oodles of stuff on my racecar driver son.

Then Jess tells me if I put parenthesis around the name I will get a more specific search....and it doesn't end there. I can choose "images" or "news" and get even more specific. I have become a Google freak. I have found people, products, information...it just doesn't end!

As most of you know, my son is a racecar driver and often times he is in the news somewhere. I only get one local paper so imagine my excitement when I discovered, just the other day, GOOGLE ALERTS! I typed his name in, requesting to be alerted with each new entry, and they email me the results! OMG!! How cool is that?!

I woke up this morning to an email alert that told me he was in today's paper before I even went outside to get the paper. You have to realize, I am still in shock over the replacement of sliderulers by calculators! I am just learning what my digital camera is capable of and I still haven't figured out what to do with this mp3 player.  

dockart at 7:03:20 AM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 6 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

I was thinking about how disgusted I was with the rain coming and how some of my plants are water logged or dying of a fungus while the weeds are thriving. Then I got to thinking about the people of Pensacola who are just hoping their homes will be standing after Dennis possibly comes thru. Suddenly my weeds weren't such a big deal. I remember Isabel and that only hit us as a category 1. It was as bad as I ever want to experience. It convinced me to evacuate for anything greater than a category 1.

         

My backyard during the early stages of Isabel. The lawn goes down past the trees.  Had I taken the picture an hour or so later you wouldn't see any grass. It eventually stopped just a few feet from my backdoor,

Then there are some 50 plus people in London who wouldn't mind pulling my weeds in exchange for their fate. I won't even go into all those who just wish they had a home for weeds to grow around. It didn't take me long to appreciate my weeds. Now, I just have to pull them! 

              

                             A house down the street that wasn't so lucky.

dockart at 8:56:54 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 6 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Stopped off at the lake after the race. It was a nice end to a winning weekend. The "old guy" below;) is my other half. He obviously comes from a better gene pool than I do. Or maybe he just stays in shape? Ya think?! I'm the hot babe driving the boat....just take my word on it!

dockart at 3:48:21 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 6 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Certainly worth the trip to follow your son all over the country to watch him race;) I had a blast! I think it's safe to say they did too.

photos borrowed from www.usarprocup.com  Kathy Bond

dockart at 9:54:26 AM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 4 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

I just got back from my 10 hour drive to Erie, PA where I watched Woody's race. Charley was a great travel companion but let me tell you, 10 hours talking to a dog just doesn't cut it for me. Next time I fly! Randy had to work or he would have gone as well. But then he would have wanted to play pilot and after the last trip (can you say turbulence?) I vowed to go commercial, drive, or stay home.

This is Charlie checking out the traffic on the sofa cushion/booster seat I made for him.

Here is a picture I took of the car while waiting for the race to begin. I love the cloud effect:) Woody managed to finish 9th in that race which is actually pretty good since he was having trouble with the car and he had never run at that track before. He also won the Hard Charger award for starting 21st and finishing 9th. Oh heck, just watch it on the SPEED channel Saturday night      (6-25)at 10PM EST!

It was also unusually cool I thought. I was freezing in my fleece jacket by the time the 7PM race began. It was actually a pleasant break from our heat and humidity.

When I got home I downloaded all of my photos and then spent most of this week updating Woody's website. Now, that may not seem like much to many of my  AOL -land computer geek friends but for me it was like discovering the cure for Stupid! Granted the MIA SloMo (anyone know how she is doing?) set up the framework for me but changing photos and adding updates has been a major task for this computer impaired unemployed nurse! Check it out.

dockart at 10:38:26 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 2 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

I stopped by the local floral wholesale place again (since I was in the neighborhood signing my Advance Directive, Will, etc.) and decided to make myself an arrangement for no apparent reason other than, I felt like it! Oh geez! I just realized I was arranging myself flowers after signing MY will. Sounds creepy all of a sudden.

Turns out I had enough flowers to make two arrangements....well sort of. The second arrangement isn't as full as I would have made it if I were selling these things.

I am really loving fresh flower arrangements these days. I can't believe what the florist gets for them. Maybe I should go into business. Heaven knows I am not beating down any doors to work as a nurse again...although I do miss it at times.

I am having a mini crisis here trying to decide what to do with the rest of my life:) I guess I could stay busy reading all my journal COMMENT....NOT!!...yes all one of them! LOL! Thank you Becky;)

dockart at 9:09:52 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 4 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

 I had to throw MY arrangement away today cuz they just don't last forever so I decided to post the picture AGAIN:) Too bad I can't get AOL to add fragrance to my journal...but then I probably wouldn't know how to upload it anyway.

I went to the mall today with Paris and Nicole... I mean Helene and Jessica. (My daughters were born with champagne taste on a beer budget.) Anyway, on the way there I noticed this older lady driving infront of us. She kept slowing down, almost to a stop, and then she would resume speed only to swerve all over the road. I was certain she was either falling asleep or having a stroke. She was driving like a drunk but I gave her the benefit of the doubt....not that I haven't seen my share of elderly drunks in the ER.

Her head was tilted back and her eyes appeared closed. There was an elderly man in the seat next to her but he seemed clueless. When I tried to pass her she nearly ran me off the road. I honked my horn expecting to wake her up or somehow get one of the two of them to realize what was happening but she/they seemed oblivious. I followed them for a short while and it clearly looked like something was wrong... dementia, alcohol, afternoon nap, stroke, something! Jess called 911 and informed them of the situation while I followed in a low speed chase:)

She finally turns into a side street and I (along with another concerned citizen) pulled up behind her. She rolls her window down and I ask her if she is okay, expecting to smell alcohol or some trace of a metabolic imbalance of somekind. Instead she tells me they were lost and she is fine. Her head remains somewhat tilted back (a neck problem maybe?) and her lids look heavy. The old man is just sitting there letting her do all the talking....or should I say complaining cuz she proceeded to inform me that she was "JUST FINE AND NEXT TIME YOU COULD GET YOUR HEAD BLOWN OFF APPROACHING A CAR LIKE THAT."

Okay, point well taken. I did consider that but with the way she was driving; the age of the occupants; and the fact that the police were on their way; I figured there was a good chance she was more of a threat driving. She informs me that the police ALREADY gave her directions the last time she got stopped!!!!!! HELLO!? Why is she still on the road? She was already reported at least once before me?!

It appears they were headed to see his mother in a nursing home (his mother must be 100+) in  NC. Not long after I drove off, wishing her well and hoping the next policemen would escort them home, the sky opens up. Rain and thunder and this old couple all on the highway at the same time. I hope they didn't kill someone or themselves on the way to visit mother.

Note to self: The days of helping strangers may be over in this new world we live in:(

Here's a pic of the cake we had at the shower. NO, I didn't make it:)

dockart at 5:27:38 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 1 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Charley, all grown up looking here, has decided that I can't be on the computer without his company. I hope he doesn't get much bigger or this will be a problem. I hate to tell you how many times he has pressed delete on me or totally changed my screen walking across the keyboard.

In this picture you can see his puppy photo as my screen saver. I shaved off all of his puppy hair and now he is blonde and silver. He looks more like a Schnauzer (?sp) but he is a Yorkie.

I am having so much trouble finding the motivation necessary to keep this journal updated with fun stuff. I haven' even updated Woody's website and he makes his living doing THAT! Never mind all the journals I haven't gotten around to reading or commenting in yet.

On the upside, I did finally finish my dining room. I will NEVER again hang wallpaper. It took too long to strip and the wallpaper stripper managed to leave its mark accidentally in a few places on MY FURNITURE...too many hands offering to help as we neared the deadline.

The deadline was set as Helene's friends wedding shower which I threw at my house. It was a great party and we didn't even use the dining room:)

This is a photo of the toilet paper bride's dress game. The most fun was had with the broomstick/toilet paper game. I would post that photo but I am afraid AOL might zap me. Let's just say one member of a team holds the toilet paper roll between her legs and the other holds the broom stick between hers. The first one to "connect" the two wins. Of course Jess found that game online.

Here's a photo of the centerpiece I arranged:)

dockart at 8:11:53 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 5 comments: Show Recent | Add your own

Not so sure flipping channels back and forth was worth it. I ended up feeling like I missed key pieces to the LOST puzzle...or did I? I hate that they left it like they did with the boy being abducted and the men stranded at sea with no raft.  Talk about cliff hangers. And what about the hatch...what was that about? Is this show one big puzzle or did I miss something while watching Carrie Underwood belt out her song after she won on American Idol? @%#$, I knew I should have kept trying to cast my vote for Bo. I hope he didn't lose by a one vote margin;)

Note to self: Avoid television during network sweeps. Get a life!

And by the way, I totally blew off the Amber Frye movie...besides we all know he killed Lacey. Enough is enough.

Woody came home and filled us in on his Craftsman truck testing run at Caraway Speedway. He was invited to participate in a GM Racing Drivers Evaluation Test. I decided that was much more interesting than the movie. He did quite well but we still don't know exactly what that will mean. They have such state of the art equipment. He had all sorts of graphs depicting his time on the throttle, and lap times, and numerous other factors that the truck is wired to record. Apparently his numbers were right there with the Craftsman Truck driver with whom everyone was being compared...Dennis Setzer. The big shots were impressed. I will keep you posted on that front!

dockart at 10:24:48 PM EDT Permalink | Blog about this entry |  Add to del.icio.us |  digg this This entry has 2 comments: Show Recent | Add your own