A Visit With Aunt Lou

Linda, Nancy and I took off yesterday to visit Aunt Lou, who is in the hospital with pneumonia.  She was in terrible shape over the weekend but she's doing SOOOOO much better now.  She looked great.  She sounded great.  She was surprisingly energetic.  OMG, we love her - she's always such a fun person.  She's one of those people that if you are around her, you know you'll be do a lot of laughing... even in a hospital!

We stayed far too long, but she was so perky and we were all having so much fun that we just stayed and stayed.  By the end, I was getting concerned.  I kept thinking about Rudy and how when people visited, he looked great, but then once everyone was gone, he'd feel terrible.  Once I got that thought into my head, I kept trying to herd everyone out.  I hope Lou didn't think I didn't want to stay for any other reason.  I want to see her well so we can all get together for the lunch we're starting to plan with more of the family.  We call these lunches mini-reunions.

On a funnier note, anytime Nancy, Linda and I are together, there will be some craziness.  For those who don't know, Nancy and Linda are my sisters-in-law.  Now, Nancy and Linda would prefer that I keep our latest adventure on the QT because their daughters, Denise and Carly, will raz them a bit, but that's not stopping me.  I know that when it's our time, our eulogies will contain references to the many times we've messed up.  Some of the stories are legendary in the family.  I am no longer embarrassed.  I found that once I accepted being nuts, I was able to relax and enjoy the adventure.

So, we got in Nancy's truck and headed North.  That's how many of the adventures begin.  Our destination was Gwinett Medical Center, which I'll refer to as GMC from here on).  Mike had given us good directions.  We made it there just fine and were please to be there.

We went in, marched over to the reception desk to state our business and verify the room number.  We were at the wrong hospital.  It was within the same system - see that little heart-like design on the building?  We'll see that symbol a couple more times.  So the ladies at the desk gave us directions to GMC.

I don't know why I decided to capture the parking lot scene, but I had a feeling there was a story in it.

So, back on the road again.

Luckily our destination was supposed to be close.  We'd been told to stay on hwy 120.  We couldn't miss it.

We stayed on 120.  I confirmed every step with Google Maps, which told me we were at GMC at our next stop.  We weren't.  We were at their rehab center.

We knew this wasn't right.  Linda and I marched in.  There was no reception desk, so we went to the first place we saw - a nurses station and I said (a little too strongly), "HELP!"  That probably isn't the best thing to say when walking into a medical facility when you only need directions.

Turns out we were close.  We needed to make a little turn and continue on a mile or two.

Back on the road again.  As I clicked this time, Linda and Nancy became more suspicious of my intent.

I'm happy to say, we finally made our destination and all was well from this point on, until...

On the way home, we hit a good bit of traffic.  There were lots of fender benders along the way.  We called the hero guys to help a motorist who was trying to push his car in the center lane of the expressway.  We played dodge car a bit, especially trying to get out of the HOV lane for passing emergency vehicles.  One of the funniest moments, which I'll leave to your imagination, involved the question, "Is this a lane?"

So here's the my take on this day.  To many, the whole arriving and departing craziness would be dreadful and exhausting and negative.  I disagree.  It's a big part of the adventure.  I had a wonderful time!

One more little thing... once I got back to Linda's, she showed me a family photo our cousin, Darlene, had given her.  Margaret Mitchell is in the photo!!!  MM was writing a story about the family.  MM is the one in dark clothes with a big black hat.  She's at the left end of the second standing row from the bottom.  There's a girl in mostly white standing right in front of her.  The photo is framed and behind glass, so my photo isn't great.  I think Linda said the photo is from the 1920's.  I'll put this photo on Facebook and hopefully, Linda and Darlene and anyone who knows will tag people they can identify.

OH MY! Lorene sent me THIS LINK.
It's a great excerpt from the article Margaret Mitchell wrote about this event (celebrating Virginia Elizabeth Veal's 102nd birthday). What a treasure!!!

Tiny Rant about Blog Ads

I have been reading blogs for ages.  I jumped on that bandwagon before any of my friends.  That's not a brag.  I was a computer teacher and spent lots of time looking at different ways people used computers.  Of course, I'd come across blogs.  They were the next big thing.

Back in "the old days"  blogs were written by people for the love of sharing what they knew.  I found many great ones about decorating, fashion, cooking, refinishing furniture, etc.  When these gals started their blogs, there were no ads.  They weren't selling their own line of this or that.  Companies weren't sending them free products.  They blogged with complete freedom.  They were gold mines of good information I could use.

Almost all of those early favorite blogs are now something like a Nascar car - ads filling every spare spot on their page.

Today, I found a blog that I really, really wanted to explore.  It looked like one that could easily become a favorite.  Unfortunately, it had so many ads, it took forever to load and then practically brought my computer to a standstill.  There were pop-ups - more than one at a time.  There were videos which forced me to stop reading, scroll through the page and find those videos to push pause.  Ad bars were at the top and bottom of the page.  There was almost no empty spot on the page.  Forget it.  I had to close the page.  I won't say that dealing with it ruined my morning because that's an awfully trivial thing.  But it did annoy me and I like to avoid being annoyed as much as possible, don't you?

I understand that blogging takes a lot of time and it's nice that these ladies are now getting a little something for their time, but as a reader I hate it!!! Even if you can get past all the distracting ads, too many of the posts start out sounding like it's from the heart and end up as a giant "buy it" post.

Buy my paint.  Now that I'm famous, I'm cashing in with my own products.  I only blog about what I'm selling now, but as long as you keep buying my stuff, that's fine by me.

I was given this ________ by the company that makes it and if you buy one, I'll get even more money, and you should totally trust my opinion because honestly, I'm not biased at all.  Not even the teensiest bit, right?

I have to admit on more than one occasion, I have considered using ads on my blog.  I tell myself that I'd use good judgement and limit ads.  My posts would still be from my heart.  But, as I continue imagining it, I know that it would make me post differently.

For instance, I thought about a simple Amazon ad just promoting things I was truly excited about.  I have a post that I'm going to do soon about something I love using - wool dryer balls.  I've already got my photos.  Anyway, I once again thought that maybe before I did that post, I'd start the ads deal. I was going to write the post anyway, so that felt authentic.  But immediately, my mind soon jumped to other posts I might do just for the ads factor.  That's when I knew - I do not need to have ads.  My posts would change.  My blog would change.  Those ad earnings pennies might go to my head and change ME.

I like passing on information and tips with absolutely nothing to gain. It feels generous.  When I write that post on dryer balls, you'll know that I truly am excited about them and it has nothing to do with adding a few cents to my bank account.

PS - If I ever change my mind and put ads on this blog, kindly remind me of this post.  Or pass the hat - it may mean I'm broke and desperate.