Fabulous February

Lunch Spot along Old Sugarlands Trail - GSMNP

January 28, 2011

Not everyone will agree, but IMHO, there is no fancy restaurant anywhere in the world that can rival the atmosphere, sound effects or beauty of the one I enjoyed last Friday and is pictured above.   Yes, I sat on a rock-outcropping with a indentation designed specifically for my butt and yes, I was THIS CLOSE to the water.  I can't think of anything I'd rather have had than the hummus (homemade by ME), Triscuits (only 10), mini-carrots, Cherry Pie Larabar and steaming hot coffee devoured by me after having hiked four miles!  This was a new spot I found and it's just out of earshot of the main road leading from Gatlinburg into the GSMNP, so I suspect, I'll be dining at this "restaurant" frequently!!

Got good news yesterday at the doctor's office.  CT Scan showed no sign of further infection, but plenty of  damage left behind by years of chronic sinus/allergy problems and recurrent infection.  This is the point where the ENT I've been seeing previously always said, "that's all we can do, stay away from those things which "trigger" your sinus infections."  The new ENT said, "now that you're feeling better, here's what we need to do to fix this!"  Way too complicated to go into here because that's not what this blog is about, but he did recommend I begin taking Singulair as a replacement for Zyrtec and I'd love to know if any of you have had experience with that medication.  Lots of bad reviews on the internet (which I pay little attention to), but two things that stand out are "I gained weight" and "I couldn't sleep."  You know these are HUGE red flags for me and if I can get any feedback from REAL people I know that confirms this, I'll ask the ENT is there is anything else.  I've also learned that Singulair is very expensive and there is no generic.   Thankfully, I have excellent insurance, BUT it's still expensive.  All in all, I am feeling so encouraged because 1) maybe I've found the major reason I've felt so rotten since before Christmas, and 2) I've found a new ENT in whom I'm much more confident.  

On to more fun things...............

My good friend, Karen, at Waisting Time  recently gave me the Honest Scrap Award and I am flattered that she chose me out of all the blogs I know she reads.  But if there is a word which I hope always describes my writing, it is "honest."  I promised myself before hitting "publish" the first time, that if I was ever tempted to be LESS than honest, I'd stop.  It has been difficult and painful at times, but so far, I've held true to that promise.....and that's the TRUTH!!

So to officially accept this award, I have to tell you ten things about me.   I've already told you more than you want to know in this post  and this post, so I think today's revelations will be quick and easy!   Just whatever floats out of my brain (which could be scary since there's no longer any infection up there to muddle things up! LOL!!).........................

1)  I am 5'7 1/2" tall and have brown eyes and brown hair.  I am 55 years old and my hair is still it's natural brown.  I've NEVER put ANYTHING on it and I challenge you to find one gray hair on my head!  Most of my friends say this is because we didn't have children!! 

2)  Speaking of children, Mr. B and I did not have children totally by choice.  It was something we completely agreed on from the beginning and we never wavered from that decision.  That isn't as radical now as it used to be, but believe me, in 1977, it was! 

3)  At some point when I was in high school, I decided I wanted to buy an RV and travel around the perimeter of the United States.  I had a map of the US on my wall with the route completely determined.  This is still a goal.

4)  Speaking of the walls in my room, in addition to the map of the US, I had posters of (this is going to be embarrassing) Bobby Sherman, David Cassidy (my face is really red right now!!), Pistol "Pete" Maravich, Joe Montana and Johnny Bench.

5)  "The Carpenters" were the first real concert I got to attend.  I believe it was in 1971.  That was the first of many, many, MANY concerts I've gone to.

6)  I was always the last one picked in gym class.  It was painful then and still hurts today. 

7)  Two friends and I were left at the Memphis Zoo on a Youth Choir Trip.  We were late getting back to the bus and our Youth Minister had told the group he wouldn't hesitate to leave us if we were late.  Can't remember if we were late deliberately or not, but it's not a mistake I ever repeated!  The punishment after I got home still burns today!!

Let's come back to the present..................

8)  I love fresh flowers.  One of my New Year's resolutions this January was to buy fresh flowers weekly.   Amazing how such a simple thing can bring so much pleasure.

9)  I've been undecided on whether to increase my hiking miles goal this year or leave it the same (300 miles) as 2010.  After our horrid weather in January and my being sick for 10 days, I've finally decided to keep it the same.  That was a pretty aggressive goal to start with and I was the very end of December getting it met. 

10)  And last, but not least, I will not be spending six weeks in Europe this summer as I had thought.  Lots of reasons, but it is the best decision.   Mr. B will be there for three weeks, but I'll remain at home.  So I'm in the process of planning our normal summer trip.  Last summer, there was no trip because we knew Mr. B's dad was in a fast decline, so I am really excited to get started planning.  We'll only have the month of June because Mr. B will not return from Prague until May 28th.  I'm thinking New Hampshire/Vermont, Minnesota or southern Colorado. 

That's all, folks!  Please forgive any bad mistakes.  Have to pick Mr. B up for our trek to Atlanta in four hours and I haven't done the first thing towards getting ready to go.   Eek!!  

Any input on Singulair or Summer Trip 2011 suggestions?