Trick or Treat....!!

Scary...huh..?

No..?

Well let me tell you the prices on the "affordable" insurance packages are scary....

the package i'm considering is $373 a month and that is with $3500 deductible plus the discount..!

Plus did you know there is a Federal Plan and a State Issued Plan...?

Seems the states that are Republican by nature came up with there own plans for the voting population of their part of the country...

Guess what North Carolina is...come on guess...??!!

Affordable..?

Maybe if your in the same tax bracket as Bill Gates and Sam Waldon....

 

Is affordable health care really affordable.....

 

Maybe the sticker shock caused yesterday's asthma attach....hummmmm...

 

Everyday is a Gift

It was nice....

..while it lasted....back into the high 60's today...

Plus

Insurance was nice while it lasted...

Several weeks ago we were notified that CityBoy's insurance thru work did not meet the minimum requirements and as of Dec. 31st it would be going away....

Today is the day we make the trip to town and talk with an insurance agent and see if we can afford to be  healthy....

We need insurance for me only, but we've been told that all the policies have maternity and pediatrics..

Hummm....don't really need either...

 

I'm too old for more babies and my baby is 34 years old....

 

We'll see what happens...

 

Everyday is a Gift

Last Friday.....

morning we had snow on the mountain....

More at the park than here at the cabin..

But

It was the cold white stuff that arrived on Oct. 25th..

Last year we had to wait for Halloween...

Burrrrrr....

Everyday is a Gift

Turmoil....

The barn quilt above reminds me of this weeks weather forecast...

Things have been up -down, warm-cold, windy-still, beautiful-snowy all spinning around and around...

This does not correspond with the bean count...

4 - light beans/light snows

4 - dark beans/heavy snows

1 yellow bean

The yellow bean must be the snow we got last night...

According to the bean count winter should be "not-so-bad"

Hummmmm

We're not off to a good start...

Everyday is a Gift

Beyond my control....

...with an afternoon delivery from the state park warehouse today..

I decided to change my work schedule for today - 10am-2pm...

ahhhhhh...

I could sleep late...at least that's was my thought when i went to bed last night.

NOT..!

 

At 4:30am CityBoy was up and trying to get the dogs out of a nice warm bed into the cold dark outside...

At 5:00am the smoke alarm started chirping...turn out to be his new phone...

however...

at 5:05am CityBoy was moving a ladder around and looking for a 9V battery...

also, at 5:05am i had two cold dogs quivering in the bed, under the covers, next to me ... 'cause they are afraid of the chirping sound...

Then all was quite until 6:30am when CityBoy left for the Wellness Center...up went the electric garage door....down when the garage door...

At 6:35am Misskitty is screaming on the front porch...CityBoy left her out, it was cold out there and there was a stray cat invading her territory..

Up...outta bed to let her in and of course the dogs ran out into the cold...

I gave them 5 minutes to chase the boggy cat away and then back to bed with cold dogs...

Then i remembered that i was suppose to take Max and Misskitty to the vet this past Tuesday...where has the brain been lately...it seems to be in another zone...

maybe i need more sleep...

I did manage to sleep until 8:00am after that..

but...

woke to Lula Belle staring in the window and howling for breakfast....

Now...

the inside dogs, outside dog and cat are all taking naps and i'm headed for work....

Everyday is a Gift

 

Leaves....we've got leaves....

The leaves have peaked...

and if you want to see them..

better hurry...!!

The winds are brisk and the foliage is falling fast...!

Just a few outside my door at work..

makes playing in the leaves easy...!!

Everyday is a Gift

For Bill and Carol....

...this is just three of the wollyworms on my back porch yesterday...

If you look real close ... you'll see each one is telling a different story about winter....

Thanks for the facebook picture and advice...

but

I'm sticking with the beans in the jar....!

lollollollollollol..!!

Everyday is a Gift

ps......light snow Wednesday night...yahhhhhhh..!!!!

Hello Monday...!

Ahhhhh...

The boys and girls are at it again...

-Tic-Tac-Toe @ Sunrise-

Do they have an App for that....?

Everyday is a Gift

Did you see our dust...?

We left the mountains on Tuesday morning....

Five women in a Dodge Durango...

with five duffel bags...five laptops...one hard drive tower...one tin of cookies...one case of bottled water...2 back packs full of food...one bag of knitting and a partridge in a pear tree...!

 

We made it safely to Haw River State Park....enjoyed two days of training and then headed back to the high country...with all the previous stuff, plus two more laptops...

 

Thanks, Bin!!

 

Got home around 6:00pm on Wednesday

and then...

At 5:00 am Thursday....CityBoy, Papa and i headed out to Johnston City, TN

for CityBoy's out-patient surgery....

We got back home by late afternoon...

everything went well.

I'm tired...!!!

And now i'm going to work.....maybe i'll sleep this weekend...

and 

maybe not...!

Everyday is a Gift

designated driver....again

Yep....the ladies of the parks are on the road again...

this time we're headed for Brown's Summit which a small area NE of Greensboro..

and

you'll never guess who gets to drive again...

I'll be out of town for a few days..

soooo

stay safe, warm, dry and healthy until i get back...

See ya Friday...!

Everyday is a Gift

Color...

..Even though the Twelve Acre Wood is in the middle of an old Christmas tree farm....

I did manage to find a small amount of color ...

The Festivals were Fun...

However

I did not find a quilted treasure this year.....ugh....  :(

But

I did find two small dessert dishes rimmed with gold that will make perfect breakfast doggie bowls...

Yes

I'm still cooking the fur babies breakfast...

Everyday is a Gift

It's that time....

...yep!...

It's Fall Festival and Pumpkin Patch time...

This weekend there are five Fall Festivals that i know of happening on Saturday..

Mom and i "always" take in at least two of them...

and then hit the pumpkin patch looking for the perfect gourd....

 

Can't wait to see if i find another treasure in Grandma's Attic at the Festival of the Fresco's in Glendale Springs .....  for the last three years i've found some sort of hand-made quilted treasure for under a dollar...

wheeee......!!

 

Let the fun begin..!

 

Everyday is a Gift

 

Hummmmm.....

Something about this picture says..

"Good Morning.....it's a little chilly out here today"

Maybe i better dig out the jackets..

Everyday is a Gift

Finally....

...a sunset...

Everyday is a Gift

Leaf-er-ly....

Some of you have been asking for a "leaf" report..

Well....

As i drive across the county i am noticing color...it doesn't seem to be as bright or as lively as in years past....maybe it was all the rain we had this year...

Anyway...

The color is coming along and in another week it should start to peak...

So....

If you've got a free day or two...

Come on up to the high country the temps are..

Mar-vel-ous Darlings...

Everyday is a Gift

Karen..? Bugs..?

I thought i had left all this Tropical Storm nonsense behind me in Florida...

I was hoping to never again hear the phrases...cone of probability or hunker down....

Well...

We needed the rain...but...the wind i could have done without...

The moth pictures i've been posting are from a new assortment of winged friends that are hanging around the park office..

So many that there was a "moth study" done at the park this weekend....

it involved a sheet....a bright  light....a camera and a notebook to document all the different types of  bugs....

I just think they're cute...

Everyday is a Gift

Like a Squirrel....

..CityBoy is storing away a few nuts for the winter...

Everyday is a Gift

Laptop Express....

Here's what's happening....

The State Park Office Assistants have a conference the middle of this month and it was discovered that our laptops needed new programing..

Soooooo...

Grandfather Mountain State Park brought their computer to New River State Park....

then New River State Park brought theirs and Grandfather's to me at Mount Jefferson State Natural Area, where i added ours to the bunch...

Now they are all loaded in my truck and i'm meeting the OA from Elk Knob State Park this morning and handing them off...then she is taking them to Lake Norman State Park ...where the IT tech is waiting to do the programing....

Reminds me of the old Pony Express...

or

maybe it's just team work....

Everyday is a Gift

Can we Talk...?

Insurance ...

When did it become a four letter word?

We all know what's going on in our nation right now with the Affordable Care Act and ObamaCare...

(they are the same thing you know).

Well, we received a letter form CityBoy's employer on Monday letting us know that his company would no longer be offering insurance to part-time employees....

Hummmm...

There went my coverage....CityBoy is covered by the VA and Medicare...

Yesterday being the first day of the new web site...

HealthCare .gov

I decided to take a look at what's available....

Hummmmmm....

Couldn't get on....everytime i tryed  i got the "Please Wait" message...

Hummmmm....

Called a few of the biggies.....you know....

Blue Cross....United....Cigna....etc...

 

we were asking for a policy just for me....one person....basic benefits with vision and dental..

Not anything special...

Hummmmm...quotes....

Anywhere between  $493.00 to $763.93 a month...!

(that last one is more than my house payment)

and the deductibles are unreal...

Hummmmm...

Affordable ..... not so far...!!

Everyday is a Gift

 

Where did the time go..?

Every where i look...time is marching on....

leaves are turning color even though the temps are on roller coaster....

One day it's in the 80's ... the next day it's in the 50's...

you learn to dress in layers here in the high country...

Hard lesson to learn for a Florida girl...!

Then the phone rings and it's one of your old BFF's wishing you Happy Anniversary...

What...!!

37 years have flown right by...

I tease CityBoy it's really only been 17 years...'cause for the first 20 he traveled extensively and the kids and i never saw him...

Or

that could be the reason we're still together...

Anyway..

time has flown by and i think i'll keep him for another 37.....

Everyday is a Gift