A little bit of Sappiness

Ok so Luckie sent me this a week or so ago and I never read it until today... Kinda sappy but I liked it

THE RED MARBLES

Years ago, I lived in Idaho for a short while. I was at the local corner grocery store buying some early potatoes. I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily apprising a basket of freshly picked green peas.

I paid for my potatoes but was also drawn to the display of fresh green peas. I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes. Pondering the peas, I couldn't help overhearing the conversation between Mr. Miller (the store owner) and the ragged boy next to me.

'Hello Barry, how are you today?'

'H'lo, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Jus' admirin' them peas. They sure look good.'

'They are good, Barry. How's your Ma?'

'Fine. Gittin' stronger alla' time.'

'Good. Anything I can help you with?'

'No, Sir. Jus' admirin' them peas.'

'Would you like to take some home?' asked Mr. Miller.

'No, Sir. Got nuthin' to pay for 'em with.'

'Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?'

'All I got's my prize marble here.'

'Is that right? Let me see it' said Miller.

'Here 'tis. She's a dandy.'

'I can see that. Hmmmmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red. Do you have a red one like this at home?' the store owner asked.

'Not zackley but almost..'

'Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way l et me look at that red marble'. Mr. Miller told the boy.

'Sure will. Thanks Mr. Miller.'

Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me. With a smile she said, 'There are two other boys like him in our community, all three are in very poor circumstances. Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatoes, or whatever. When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn't like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, when they come on their next trip to the store.'

I left the store smiling to myself, impressed with this man. A short time later I moved toColorado , but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys, and their bartering for marbles.

Several years went by, each more rapid than the previous one. Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died.

They were having his visitation that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them. Upon arrival at the mortuary we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could.

Ahead of us in line were three young men. One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts...all very professional looking. They approached Mrs. Miller, standing composed and smiling by her husband's casket. Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and moved on to the casket.

Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one, each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket. Each left the mortuary awkwardly, wiping his eyes.

Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and reminded her of the story from those many years ago and what she had told me about her husband's bartering for marbles . With her eyes glistening, she took my hand and led me to the casket.

'Those three young men who just left were the boys I told you about. They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim 'traded' them. Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about color or size .. . . They came to pay their debt.'

'We've never had a great deal of the wealth of this world,' she confided, 'but right now, Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho '

With loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband. Resting underneath were three exquisitely shined red marbles.

The Moral : We will not be remembered by our words, but by our kind deeds. Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath..

Today I wish you a day of ordinary miracles: A fresh pot of coffee you didn't make yourself....An unexpected phone call from an old friend...Green stoplights on your way to work . . . The fastest line at the grocery store . . . A good sing-along song on the radio . . .. Your keys found right where you left them.

REMEMBER THAT IT'S NOT WHAT YOU GATHER, BUT WHAT YOU SCATTER THAT TELLS WHAT KIND OF LIFE YOU HAVE LIVED.

Maybe we need a doctor on call 24/7

I kinda left a few things off the blog from Lin's tooth pulling ordeal because I was unsure as to how he would react, but now that he is back to normal and we can all laugh about it, I feel it's ok to thrown him under the bus now (Love you honey)

So once we got home from Publix and my failed attempt at Rita's, Lin's mom and I began making myself and Lin something to eat. This lead to a conversation about Lin not eating all day, he just didn't have time he claimed :( . As his mom and I were lecturing him on how food was important and that we didn't need him passing out on us, his head began to nod and down he went. At first we thought he was just joking but we couldn't get him to respond. His mom began shaking him and screaming his name but nothing was working. Trying to get him to respond she grabbed his face and began squeezing and shaking it. "Noooooo" I yelled "He just had 3 teeth pulled Mom!" I splashed a bit of water on his face and he finally came to.

Just as we began explaining to him what had just happened he passed out again. This time his mom reached for the phone calling 911 while I tried to get him awake. His mom tried to explain to the dispatcher what was wrong but couldn't quite get the words to come out right. When the dispatcher asked Lin's age his mother responded "32" (lin is actually 30) Lin's head shot up and he gave his mother this nasty look as he mouthed 30. (of all things to pull him out of passing out). I got him some Orange Juice and he seemed to be fine after that. No EMS needed. (well maybe one should have came for his mother and I) LOL!

Thursday night did not go to well for me. I had been fighting a headache since Wednesday and was having trouble sleeping. Lin called me flounder because I just couldn't keep still that night. I kept thinking I was coming down with a cold so I began taking Thera-flu but nothing seemed to break my headache.

I gave up on sleeping and got up Friday morning to get ready to meet a co-worker at Atlantic Station to see "New Moon". I was so excited I made it back into town earlier than expected but luckily my co-worker did also. We headed to Target then over to Regal at Atlantic Station for the 11am showing of "New Moon".

It was so much better than I had expected and so much better than the first movie "Twilight". I wish I could have enjoyed it more, but my headache just wouldn't give up. (No worries I plan to go see it a few more times before it leaves theaters).

I then headed to work as this was my MOD weekend. Still no matter what I did I could not get my headache to go away. I ordered some food from JR Crickets (HORRIBLE) and decided to call it a night. I must have fallen asleep around 9pm, but it was another restless night.

By Saturday afternoon I had a temperature and decided to call my boss and tell him I needed to go home. I did just that and spent the evening curled up on the couch Rita's in hand (thanks babe, your the BEST). hahaha Alisha

Sunday we headed up to Lin's moms for the afternoon and for him to cook us a great dinner. Thanks Rachel Ray!

Monday morning I called my doctor and headed in for an appointment as I just couldn't get rid of the headache. Blood Pressure was really high and he gave me a blood pressure medication that also works on Migraines. The medication made me a little loopy at first but did nothing for the headache.

It's now Tuesday night, the headache is still here, but not nearly as bad as it was. I head in for a CT Scan Friday afternoon so they can check my Noggin and tell me my brain is missing lol! Wish me luck!

From uneventful to Teeth pulling

So this week has been pretty uneventful, which is so unlike us. It has been nice to have a chance to relax after work and not be running from one place to the next, even if it did only last for 2 or 3 days. :)

I decided to work this weekend so I could have the day after Thanksgiving off so that meant I had today (Thursday) off. Wednesday night I headed OTP so I didn't have to wake up early and drive in the morning. I spent the beginning of the day relaxing a bit .

Later that evening I met Lin and took him to the his Dentist in Buckhead. He had a late evening appointment and was scheduled to have 2 teeth pulled. I sat in the waiting room with a plethora of magazines in front of me for my reading pleasure. My butt started to hurt a bit after the first hour, but a half an hour later I began to wonder what was taking so long. Just then the dentist came out for a bathroom break and advised me that they had decided to pull 3 teeth and the last one didn't want to come out.

Apparently she had to call in reinforcement to help her with his temperamental tooth. another hour and a half later the second dentist was able to get his tooth to come free. I was starving at this point and of course Lin was feeling no pain as he was still heavily medicated with Novocaine so we headed to Publix to fill his prescription and for me to find something to eat.

Was anyone else aware that Amoxacillin is a free prescription at Publix or am I just behind the 8 ball?

I tried to get Rita's before heading home but supposedly they close at 8pm now. Not a happy camper!!!

I think I need to open a Rita's so I can have it anytime I want...... Anyone got a couple thousand I can borrow?

Damn Really??? (This Weekend as a whole)

So I (Lin) am posting this today just to let everybody know that I wasn't killed or that I didn't kill anybody. Despite the title this has been a pretty good weekend. I'll take you back to Kara's last post though and fill in some blanks.

How did I know that Kara and I would be together for awhile?? She fell in love with my Nissan Altima I bought a month after we started dating. (She fell in love with me eventually too... I think ;-) ) so she always referred to it as "My (Kara's) Car" even though I was making payments. (Fellas, isn't that funny how that works?).

So Thursday night after getting out of work, I was heading by my apartment for my daily stop by. Those of you who have been by the apartment since Brent and I have been living together coming North on 75 know how bad the Roswell Rd exit on 120 can be backed up. Traffic was stopped way back on the hill at the exit ramp. I slammed on my breaks cause the person in front of me did the same thing. Then I heard tires screeching and being rear ended 3 times in the past 7 years said out loud "Damn... Really?" and sure enough BAM!!! "Our" car was pushed forward. Luckily I did not hit the car in front of me like with my first Altima and Elian Gonzales.

Marietta PD showed up and also informed me that I don't have the proper registration sticker on my Car (Thanks Cobb County)

This weekend was spent mostly with Kara's Family in North GA. Yesterday had us going to watch Paul's Soccer Game in the morning after doing a few errands. The afternoon was full of Fun and Football for the guys while the girls did their Anti Football thing. Apparently Neil and I aren't allowed to hang out anymore according to Kara and Alisha.

Today we find ourselves getting ready to head back to the Metro Atlanta area to spend time with my Mom who just had a back procedure done. Turns out she's going to have to go back again in December. All is well with her right now which is a blessing, but I know she's loopy which is always interesting.

I hope you all have have a great weekend.

Car Troubles

Thursday night around 8pm I get a BBM from Lin telling me that "My car" had got rear ended.

Apparently he was getting off at the exit for his apartment and came to stop at the red light at the bottom of the hill. However the person behind him decided it would be more fun to try and push thru all the cars waiting at the light (she must have been in a real hurry)

Thank goodness Lin was ok! "My car" wasn't hurt too bad but apparently her car was pretty banged up. It's a shame Lin wasn't driving the Focus. hahaha

Not sure what the extent of the damage is since the adjuster hasn't been out yet. Should know by the beginning of next week! We will keep you updated.

Weegle Weegle War Damn Eagle Vol. 1 (AKA: The Massacre at Auburn)

Now that I (Lin) got thrown under the bus by Kara who got called out by Neil (What a great Brother inlaw) I guess it's time to update on the events of the past weekend. So on Saturday Eric and Maranda met up with us earlier in the morning (much earlier than Kara would have preferred to get up) so we could take a trip down to the Lovliest Village on the Plains... You know it as Auburn University.

Now a few things to know before going any further...

1) Lin and Eric are Proud Alumni and Fraternity Brothers
2) Lin and Eric are also Alumni of the Auburn University Marching Band
3) Eric's wife Maranda is a Georgia Tech fan

and...

4) Kara hates football... Keep that in your back pocket (Even though she spent time at Penn State... Do you see why this breaks my heart???)

The drive down was uneventful which is always good cause the wanna be big city cops always have a problem with my lead foot and I. I already decided that if I was pulled over I would say..

"Sorry Officer I was just bringing these kind folks back to Alabama" which quickly turned into a fun game of "Things that Lin can say that the other white folks couldn't get away with"

The trip had us visiting a friend of Lin and Eric's who recently injured himself trying to catch a bus. Keith is great spirits considering the lack of phone calls from his doctor.

From here we went to Campus to Jordan-Hare. I told Kara when we got the tickets that when we went over, she was to wear comfortable shoes that she could walk in. She quickly learned why as we walked a little over a mile to the stadium. We walked through campus and pointed out places where some of Eric and Lin's Shenanigans took place. Unfortunately we missed the Eagle flying, however we had great seats.

Well... Let me say this. Our seats were 2nd row on the 40 yard line on the visitors side. It was Auburn vs. Furman. Had it been Auburn vs. LSU/UGA/Alabama/Anybody SEC... We would have been standing and the game would have been awesome. However those crazy fighting Paladins of Furman who broght a grand total of 133 people (53 of them were the football team) we were sitting down, which means we were staring right at the backs of the Furman players. So to see we had to watch the game on the jumbotron. I would have had great pictures, but the batteries died on my camera that I was allowed to bring in. (I've been playing with my Dad's Nikon D50 lately and forgot all about my Cannon one. SLR cameras aren't allowed in the stadium as the University doesn't want people to have better pictures than them.)

How exciting was the game? By halftime Auburn was up 42-3 and Kara was asleep on my shoulder. Before anybody gives her grief, let me repeat... AUBURN WAS UP 42-3 AT HALFTIME. By 45 seconds into the 2nd half Auburn's JV squad was on the field and we decided to beat traffic and head out. This means another mile walk back to the car.

Other than a traffic jam outside of LaGrange we had smooth sailing back to Atlanta while listening to the Ga Tech Game. Of course after an exciting regulation, the game went into overtime.

By this point we were at home and watching the game on TV. Kara was such a trooper to endure a game of football, Football on the radio and more on TV when we got home, I decided to take my baby to Marietta Fish Market for dinner.

Something else I've learned... When trying something new, we now do it at home first. Poor Kara decided to get the Lobster Boil which included a whole Lobster... Shell and all. Seeing she talks about being from Florida I never thought of this as a big deal till I saw the look of panic when it was placed down in front of her. She is a trooper and finished it, but if you ever want a good laugh, have somebody try to eat a whole lobster for the first time. This gave us more laughs than the movie Next Day Air (I fell asleep during that, and I think Kara is mad that its about 100 some odd minutes she's not getting back in her life)

Sunday really was a lazy day as it started with a "suggestion" that I make breakfast while she burns us a few CDs, me getting us some Ritas (Kara's newest addiction), and us bringing down Kara's new TV stand from Lin's apartment (Thanks Brent!)

So that was our wonderful weekend... I know you are jealous. This week is looking to be pretty tame, but come the weekend, who knows.

And Away We Go

So yes we decided to JUMP on the band wagon of blogging couples. I know, I know seems sappy doesn't it but hey why not?

While I (Kara) was at work today I got this MAJOR craving for some Cuban food. But finding good Cuban food is definitely a task here in the Metro Atlanta Area, so I decided to do a google search for Cuban Restaurants in the Marietta area. The first one to come up was a place called the Cuban Diner.

Pictures looked good on the web site and they had my favorite dish "Lechon Asado", so I IMed Lin to see if he wanted to check it out for dinner. Lin did what every good man does and simply said "Yes Dear". Luckily he knew right where it was at as he lives only a few blocks from it.

It was definitely your hole in the wall Cuban place. I think I got so excited as we pulled in the parking lot that I almost jumped out the car before it stopped.

After we ordered a Tamale for our appetizer I began drinking my water, something didn't seem right with my water.

"Baby, my water is chunky."

Lin looked at me as if he was thinking did she REALLY just say what I think she said? Then he asked if it could possibly be the ice in my drink. Nope definitely not ice. Not sure exactly what it was as I couldn't see anything in it, but it just wasn't right.

So when the waters bad you might as well go with the alcohol! Sangria it was! GREAT IDEA LIN! (She gets one a day from me... That's all folks...)

The food was so-so but the sangria was good!

If you need your Cuban fix I would suggest this place, just don't go there with over the top expectations. So that was a glimpse of our Friday night. As I (Lin here now) say goodnight cause we're actually are going to Auburn in the Morning for the Furman vs. Auburn game.

Good Night Folks!