Is there a Room for ME????

See that photo above???? I'm afraid that my time has come to enter the Asylum... Recently, I've made some crazy mistakes.....





I've been "dazed and confused".....





The puzzle won't fit.... What is the problem???? WELL---first of all, I took on the responsibility (since I'm such a smart person who minored in Math in college) of working out the finances for my upcoming trip with my childhood friends in October... I had to pay some money upfront---so I thought I had it all worked out to the minute detail... I sent out emails to my friends telling each of them what they are going to have to pay for our cabin rental...

Instead of just giving them the bottom line of what they owed (which is probably what they wanted), I went into massive details --breaking it all down into its bits and pieces (like only a Math person would do). I was proud of myself and all of my 'hard' work.

WELL---- I finally heard back from one of my friends questioning my totals. How dare her question ME????? WELL---she had to go into detail in order to make ME understand that I had added it all wrong. I did what?????? ME---the Math person????? YES---I did.... I had to eat a little crow and apologize, something that we perfectionists don't like to have to do...





What is wrong Mrs. Math Person????? Are you stressed out?????




Too much late-night blogging, do you think??????





And then, after that embarrassing mistake, I did something even more stupid..... I hate to tell you this story because I'm sure you'll be crying (laughing) your heart out for me. BUT......





Last Wednesday, at the grocery store, George and I bought a couple of beautiful (and not cheap) steaks to throw on the grill on Labor Day. We NEVER ( I mean SELDOM) spend the extra money to purchase steaks. It was to be a beautiful holiday celebration. All was fine until Sunday.





I could almost SMELL those steaks ---as I got ready to marinate them on Sunday. I hollered to George and said, "Honey (sure I said Honey), please get the steaks out of the frig in the garage." George said, "Honey, I didn't put them in the garage frig." UH-OH (you know what is coming!!!)..... I said, "Honey, I didn't see them. I didn't put them in the kitchen frig." Double Uh-Oh.... We both looked in both refrigerators ----and guess what????? NO Steaks!!!!!

I then started looking inside the re-usuable bags (that we take to the store each week)..... Sure nuff---there were our expensive steaks in the bottom of one of the bags HIDING below the other folded-up bags. Yum---can you imagine seeing (and smelling) those steaks being OUT of the frig since Wednesday??????? YUK!!!!!! I was so upset... I had looked forward to that meal so much... Guess it wasn't meant to be...

My hubby (being the Sweetie he is) said, "Let's go and buy some more." I said "NO.... I'm not going to spend that kind of money again. We'll just wait and have steaks on another special occasion." George said OKAY---but he would have done whatever I wanted. I truly felt terrible. What a stupid mistake!!!!!! Why couldn't I have left a can of tuna or some chicken noodle soup in the bag???? Why our beautiful steaks?????? GADS!!!!!





Think they are ready for me at the Asylum?????? Maybe they'll have a bed for me... Does that look comfy?





OR----maybe I can find a "Tree Bed" ----so that I can sleep with the BIRDS... They'd love me --no matter how much of a bird-brain --oops, I mean a NUTTY person that I was!!!!!!


Hope you had a great Labor Day weekend. After all of my mistakes, we really did have a wonderful weekend. In fact, instead of trying to grill anything on a rainy day yesterday, we just visited one of our favorite Mexican Restaurants up here for some fajitas. Thank Goodness I didn't spill anything on me while I was there, or else, George may have to have me committed.

Now---don't laugh TOO hard at this post, or I might have to ZAP a whammy on your computer. Ha Ha Ha

Hugs,

P.S. All of the above pictures came from the internet!

Backbone Rock Tunnel and Falls

George always surprises me with a "Surprise Trip" around Valentine's Day. He knows how to 'spoil' me BIGTIME---and he knows how to plan a wonderful trip. Today I'm going to share a small piece of our trip in 2008. We left early on Thursday morning --and I just relaxed and 'wondered' where we were going. We headed east ---into far East Tennessee. I 'think' I had been to Elizabethton and to Mountain City in my younger years---since I was raised not too far from there in southwest Virginia... But--riding along all of those 'back' roads was SO much fun ---and so gorgeous!

Our first waterfall was not too far from Elizabethton in the Cherokee National Forest (in the Unaka Mountains of the Blue Ridge). This waterfall was named Blue Hole--and was really a four-in-one waterfall since it had four tiers. I will enclose some pictures of Blue Hole in another blog sometime.

Our second stop on this Valentine's Trip was in northern Johnson County, not far from Mountain City, TN (and actually closer to Damascus, VA). We drove on Highway 133--opposite Beaverdam Creek. There were rhododendrons everywhere along our route and it was SUCH a gorgeous drive in the mountains! It reminded me of my hometown area --which was not far from where we were (Big Stone Gap, VA). In fact, we found a BSG radio station in our car that day. I got SO excited!!!!!

The second waterfall was called Backbone Falls. We made the loop hike in order to see this waterfall. First, we were above it--and then we walked down some steps to see if from below. It was nestled in a small canyon filled with more rhododendrons. What a beautiful setting!!!! The waterfall itself was long and skinny---and was called a 'horsetail' by some.

After seeing the waterfall, we enjoyed checking out Backbone Rock Tunnel nearby. Backbone Rock gets its name from a spur ridge on Holston Mountain that ends abruptly at a bend in Beaverdam Creek. This huge stone ridge stands 75 feet high and approximately 20 feet thick. A tunnel was drilled through the rock in 1901 to allow railroad access between Shady Valley and Damascus, VA. After the tunnel was blasted and the track was laid, the smoke stack of the train's engine could not pass through the tunnel. SO--the top of the tunnel had to be hand-chiseled to eliminate this problem. Motorists pass through what is locally known as the "Shortest Tunnel in the World" --as they travel along TN 133.

If you ever get to this area, be sure and check out both the tunnel, rock and the waterfall. Thanks to Clare from Bluff City, TN for reminding me about this place. She lives near there --and wrote about the tunnel in her blog HERE. Check out Clare's blog. She lives in a far eastern TN in a gorgeous area. Above is a picture of Backbone Tunnel. You can see where they chiseled out the top for the train's smoke stack.

Below are five pictures of Backbone Falls. We hiked on a loop trail--first being above the falls and then hiking down some rock steps to get to the bottom. Backbone Falls is from 35-45 feet high. If you look to the left of the falls in some of the pictures (especially the 2nd one below), you'll see ICICLES along the rocks. It was a cold day in February even though the sun was out!!!

George stands on the bridge between Beaverdam Creek and Backbone Rock. Wonder who was taking his picture????? ha

George stands at the sign describing Backbone Rock Tunnel.

This was such a neat tunnel... I love waterfalls---but seeing this tunnel was totally awesome.

Here's one more look at Backbone Rock Tunnel. We read where rock-climbers climb here, but we didn't see any when we were there.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend and Labor Day. I can promise that we will NOT be 'laboring' on Labor Day!!!!! We'll throw some steaks on the grill and just RELAX. How about you?????

I'm taking a few days 'off' from blogging and hopefully can catch up on some Family History and other things around here. I'll be back on Tuesday morning. Have a wonderful weekend.

Hugs,

Elizabethton on Dwellable