The Three-hour Tour

DH and I decided to leave work a little early yesterday evening to try and get to an advanced voting location and get in our votes before Tuesday. The Galleria appeared to be the shortest line of the six Cobb locations all week, so that's where we headed. Little did we know that we would be on a three-hour tour of the Galleria! We zig-zagged back and forth outside, then back and forth inside the doors to the old movie theater (which was honestly probably the last time DH and I had been there, back when it was still the AMC), then around the center atrium, around the glassmaker's booth, back around the escalator, then finally through a bank-like line in one of the storefronts to the computer check-in, then to our final destination, one of 30 (thankfully all working) electronic poll booths! I will say that I was very thankful over two-thirds of the line was indoors, as it was getting chilly outside. And the poll workers were all pleasant, the people next to us in line were fun to talk to (we decided about halfway through that the best time to get in line will probably be 5 pm Friday, since most parents will probably be home with trick-or-treating kids), and Jocks and Jills was even offering hot chocolate with whipped cream! We got in line at 5:24 pm, got outside from the poll booths at 8:19. Almost exactly 3 hours. At least I won't have to stand in line like this for another 4 years... GO VOTE!

ARE #2 update

I checked on the Georgia Secretary of State's website today, and according to it, I have passed my Construction Documents and Services test! (Note that they cannot spell "Construction" correctly...hmmm) Yay! 2 down, 7 to go... time to start really hitting the books for Building Technology!

You look good for 100!

Well, I had a crazy but fun weekend (I think), helping the GT Band celebrate 100 years. Honestly, Val and I spent so much time planning it, the actual events seemed to fly by. But I think we both enjoyed ourselves, even though we were sleep-deprived and a little loopy by the time Friday night came around. I got to see the middle part of the Surround Sound Concert. We missed the premiere of the Kappa Kappa Psi-commissioned piece, appropriately titled HardDrive, at the beginning, but the concert band will be performing again in a week, so I'll have to try and catch it then. The Friday BBQ went relatively well - we did run out of BBQ at about the last 15 people and ended up having to order some pizzas, but blame it on me for not bumping up the numbers, the caterer for not throwing a little extra in, the students for taking 3 sandwiches apiece...oh well. Saturday's rehearsal, lunch, marchover with the Band, pre-game, and post-game Tau Beta Sigma reception were all great. Losing the Homecoming game was not. Other than that, I think a great time was had by all. Time to start planning my trip to New York to see the Macy's Parade...

Wooly Beads Part 2 & The New Stash

I had a great time at the Georgia Quilt Show yesterday with my friend Val. We really enjoyed the wool beads class that we took and met a bunch of fun ladies in our class. I am not a quilter, but the conversation turned quickly into lamenting over too many hobbies acquired, UFOs, and the like, so I immediately felt like I could relate right off the bat! We used a wet felting process for making the beads using wool roving - essentially working wool fluff down to a little ball, by slowing wetting our hands and then eventually dunking our ball of wool into warm, soapy water to help the felting process. It was so easy and fun, I just have sore arms today from working down 14 fluff balls! In the end I only needed 9 wool beads for my bracelet, so I have a 3 the same size leftover for another project and 2 smaller ones that I think I will turn into matching earrings. I ended up getting more wool roving at the exhibition hall and also some fun fat quarters that I don't know what I am going to do with yet, but just loved them!

Starting from fluff balls:

Ladies from our class with our finished products:

My finished bracelet and leftover wool beads:

My new stash of angelina fibers (sparklies) and wool roving:

My new stash of fat quarters:

Val and I also were able to meet up with one of my childhood friends, Judith, who recently moved back to Gainsville, and in the process we discovered the Talbot's outlet and a wonderful little French place, the Georgia French Bakery. I got away with a straw hat, velveteen jacket, ballet flats, and two belts for about $30 at the Talbot's outlet, and had delicious French onion soup, roast beef panini, and chocolate eclair from the bakery. Both are highly recommended!

Wooly Beads

It's been a crazy week already, and it's only Tuesday!

First of all, Happy Early Bday to my MIL - it's tomorrow, but just in case I don't post...

I am really looking forward to a class that I will be taking this weekend with my friend Val at the Georgia Quilt Show. It's a wool beads class. Aren't they cool?? This will blend my beading and knitting interests together, so I am quite excited about that. You all might just get a wool beads bracelet or necklace from me for Christmas this year...

If a tree falls in a driveway in the middle of the night...

...does anyone hear it?

First let me say that an *entire* tree did not fall on our driveway, but more like 1/3 of a tree - a very large branch. Secondly, I did hear it fall, because I was up after getting home from the Thrashers game uploading photos from our Seattle trip back in July because Snapfish has a 50-prints-for-50-cents sale going on, and I wanted to get some printed. This was probably around 2 am. I heard something large and heavy sounding fall down in our front yard - like the sound of a large log being dropped on the ground. Being so dark out and sorta freaking out like somebody might be outside, I just stopped typing and listened, and didn't hear anything further, so figured we would check it out in the morning. The cat did wake from a dead sleep and ran to the window to look out. I don't know that he could actually see anything, since it was actually in the driveway on the side of our house, not in the front yard. This is what we saw when we looked out of our upstairs hall bathroom window this morning:

I think it's manageable...we just need to give ourselves some time to cut some smaller branches off and maybe drag it parallel to the bushes to get our cars out today.

2 Down, 7 To Go...

I made it through my test this morning. It went as well as can be expected, I guess, for a 3-hr-long, 115-multiple-choice-questions test. Now it's just wait and see if I get that "PASS" letter in the mail - 2 to 4 weeks, my cohorts tell me. I had to hit up Ann Taylor Loft afterwards for my retail therapy - actually found 2 cute tops and a skirt on sale, AND used my $25 savings card from the last spree, so I made off pretty well. Then later at work I had to run over to CNN Center for a meeting, so I had to hit the food court for my chocolate Frosty therapy. Then DH and I decided to go out for dinner, so I had my Los Bravos cheap Mexican therapy. All told, a pretty good day. I'm gonna take a few days off, but then it's off to studying for my next one - probably the Building Technology graphics test. Not much else to report, since I haven't been doing anything but studying every night over the last week and a half. The gas shortage did wonders to keep me home and studying...

Black is Back

After worrying 4 days about my cat's digestive system (you can read a little more about it here, but we'll spare you the details), I think kitty buddy's GI is back in working order. I never thought I'd be happy to see normal kitty poo in the litterbox! LOL

Sidebar - my friend John sent me a fun little animated clip today. Take a peek if you've got 10 minutes and decent bandwidth to watch this cute short: http://www.vimeo.com/1084537.

Back to the books and sort of half paying attention to the VP debate...

ARE #2 Scheduled

This update just in...

So I buckled down and just went online to schedule my first multiple choice ARE - Construction Documents and Services - for Monday at 8 am. Wish me luck!