My Favorite

This will always be my favorite scene of the "Golden Girls." Always. :)

Waitin' On Some Snow

Will we see some snow tonight, late? Who knows. But we sure hope so. :)

Busy Day

I worked my butt off today. I was scheduled to go to CPR training but I didn't go cause I didn't want to be the girl who said...."I am off to CPR training, y'all," because I have just missed a whole week of work. And, I tried to look people in the eye and be nice to them today.
Peace, love and chicken grease my friends.

First Day Back At Work

It was so cool today to hear "we are glad you are back," from so many people. I gotta tell y'all that I just love my job. I have earned a new appreciation for the work I do in the last week being away from it. Yes, I have to deal with clients everyday that get on my nerves; but, overall my work is rewarding. When I feel like I have honestly helped someone who is hurting and in need right now - I feel like I am making a difference even if it is just a small one. Stephanie, my sweet wife, cooked me both lunch and dinner today. Even though we are eating pretty poor this week because it is the week before I get paid, coming home to a warm, smelling good kitchen did my heart good. :)
Peace, love and chicken grease my friends.

Back Then

I hadn't heard this song in years until today. In the spring of 2004 - this is how I felt. It was strange to hear it... to remember those days - some of the most formative in my life. I am so glad that I was strong enough to make the change I needed to and understand what was really important to me and our world.

Monday

I started getting my list of stuff we are going to make for Thanksgiving together today. We have decided to have a Thanksgiving Feast of our very own right here at home. I laughed at myself this morning as I was cooking breakfast. The list I was making reminded me so much of the lists I would see on my Mammaw's kitchen table when I was a kid. Its just amazing to me how much, even though I try to fight it, like her I am. Anyway, my list is coming together and I am actually really excited about cooking here for us. We are going to have a real southern spread and I cannot wait for some oyster dressing... mmm...mmm. I am sure it will never touch my granny's but we are gonna take a stab at it anyway. And for any of y'all who don't have somewhere to be on Thanksgiving night - come and dine with us - we would love any guests. The more the merrier! :) I am off to run some errands and just get out of the house for a while - I never though I would say I am ready to go back to work, but I will be when Wednesday gets here!
Peace, love and chicken grease.

Names

Found this today thought it was pretty cool.

STEPHANIE MARIE:

The meaning of the name Stephanie is: Crown

The origin of the name Stephanie is French

Notes: feminine form of Stephen

The meaning of the name Marie is: Sea Of Bitterness

The origin of the name Marie is French

Notes: From the name Mary.

CARROLL PAIGE:

The meaning of the name Carol is: Form Of Charles ( Charles meaning Free Man)

The origin of the name Carol is English

The meaning of the name Paige is: Assistant

The origin of the name Paige is English.

And... one of my favorite quotes from "Romeo and Juliet."

Tis but thy name that is my enemy;--
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title:--Romeo, doff thy name;
And for that name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.

----Juliet Capulet

Family Always Makes A Kitchen Warmer

My cousin Linn came to visit me today. It was great. We talked and reminsced about things that not everyone can understand or appreciate. It was a nice change of pace for me to just have a member of my family come and visit with me in my very own kitchen. It may sound like a trivial and simple thing but it was some of the best conversation I have had in a while.
Thank you Linn for seeking me out, and caring about what was going on in my world. And, helping me to validate the change that has happened in my parents that very people can see or understand.
I hope that today will be one of many times someone in my family will come, sit and visit with me. My kitchen felt as warm and wonderful as it has in a long time.
I hope that all of y'all are having as good of a day as me!!
Peace, love and chicken grease y'all.

Protection

Today was the first time Stephanie has ever said these words to me...."You can touch me all you want, but first you have to go use some protection," as she points to the bathroom. She meant the antibacterial hand soap/lotion. My best laugh of the day. :)

The Flu

Well y'all... I went to the doctor today and I've got the flu! Doctor has put me out of work until next Wednesday! I am sure I will be stark raving MAD by then.

Colds

Colds are the worst. I really hate them. I have one that will not let go of me. And, of course I still have to go into work because my back up intake worker is on vacation today. Blah. Thats how I feel. Blah. This is probably gonna turn into a half day for Carroll!! Hope y'all are feeling better than me.

Veteran's Day

I am happy to be at home today instead of working, that is for sure. I am trying to be very conscious today however about why I am home. It's Veteran's Day and we should all be very thankful for those who give their lives to service this country. The vet's I know are proud to say they served and most would do it again. We owe a lot to these people and I give them the utmost respect. Thank you for those of you who served this great great country. We are proud of you and want you to know how grateful we are for your service.

Ignorance

It never ceases to amaze me that so many people in my community still have so much ignorance. Being a history major, I totally get and understand how prejudices , stereotypes and the like could exist in previous generations. Information was not at the finger tips of generations before ours. Today, that is not the case. If one takes the time to do a little investigation, to actually look something up, they can find all (hell more) than what they want to know about something.
We live by one thing, the golden rule - "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Or to be more specific:

"And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise."
Luke 6:31

See... I just looked that up. I would rather have a conversation with a person who disagreed with me because of their own research and opinion instead of someone else's. God gave us eyes, ears, and heart for a reason folks. I wish that more people would use all of these assets and not just take someone else's word for something.

BE INFORMED. FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF.

Peace, love and chicken grease.

Dancing With The Cops, Fire and EMS

Last night I went to a fund raiser for the Person County Burned Children's Fund called Dancing with the Cops, Fire and EMS. It was similar to "Dancing with the Stars." My colleague Lou recruited me to come and participate because her daughter, Heather who is a paramedic, was one of the people dancing in the competition. I joked about how abusive that was, only using me because of my mouth and screaming ability. In reality, I was happy to be there. Heather did great! This is the second year they have held this fund raiser and Heather was the first woman to participate. Each of the dancers were also dancing for an individual charity. Heather's was the Person County Hospital Cancer Services Fund. Her mother-in-law, whom I hadn't met until last night, is struggling with cancer right now and sat across the table from me. Heather dedicated her dance to her mother-in-law and it was honestly a very emotional experience for all of us. In the end she didn't win but we were all happy to be there supporting two great local charities.
I must tell you how much I love Lou and her family. Since I began working at DSS, Lou and I have become very close. She is a wonderful person and has embraced me in a way that no one has ever done in my life. She and her family have welcomed me, actually taken the time to get to know me (and my wife) and they don't judge me or treat me any differently because of the lifestyle I live. Its such a blessing to have these people in my life. It's nice to have people who simply just give a damn about whats going on in your life, the daily struggles each of us have and are supportive in the choices that we have made. They are not my family, but they sure treat me like I was a member of their's. I hope that one day I will be able to vocalize to each of them how much getting to know them and spending time with them has helped me. It's very nice to have supportive people in your world, not just judgmental "you are living wrong" ones. For almost the last decade, I haven't had a support network that really cared about Stephanie and I as unit. I have found some people who will be in my life for a long, long time and I am so thankful to have them, all of them.
You just gotta love a 55 year woman who will call me out about being allergic to nuts - ALL OF THEM - at a community function. Yes, for those of you who don't know, I am allergic to peanuts and tree nuts. Last night I was talking with the people who had prepared our food to make sure that nothing had been cooked with peanuts, peanut oil or any type of nut. Having my face and tongue swell up around all of those people was not my idea of a good time. When I got back to the table everyone was inquiring with me and Lou about why I was asking all of those questions about the food. I start to tell everyone that I have a real allergy to nuts when Lou blurts out "She allergic to all kinds of nuts, which I just think is hysterically funny being that she's gay." Of course then for the next couple of minutes we laughed about how ironic it is that I am allergic to nuts. God does have a sense of humor after all. It made me feel so good though that Lou didn't hide the fact that I am gay. Stephanie wasn't there so she didn't have to explain that tid bit of information about me. In fact, a lot of people probably wouldn't have - but she showed me just how good of a person she is and she doesn't care that people know that her "adopted" daughter is in fact a frickin' lesbian. Just being supported and having someone who looks past the label to see me as a person is a new and wonderful thing for me.
Well y'all, I am off to another Sunday full of football watching, home cooked food eatin' and beer drinking. I wish all of you have a happy and content Sunday and week ahead.

Peace, Love and Chicken Grease!

Will Always Remember

It's True

We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men,
deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed,
That whenever any Form of Government
becomes destructive of these ends,
it is the Right of the People
to alter or to abolish it,
and to institute new Government
laying its foundation on such principles
and organizing its powers in such form,
as to them shall seem most likely
to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Today

Thoughts

All I have to say today is... I hate liars, especially big fat ones.

And....

Trick Or Treat

The busiest night on our street every year is most definitely Halloween night. Because of the neighborhood we live in - we always have tons of families visiting to get some goodies! This year, because Halloween fell on a Friday, we were especially busy. I really enjoy passing out candy to little ones. I remember how exciting it was for me to go and get candy every year and it always takes me back to some wonderful childhood memories.
At work yesterday, a bunch of us got dressed up and I must say it was absolutely a blast. I laughed and laughed and laughed yesterday! We also visited nursing home and made some old folks smile and they told us we should be on TV! That was a blast! Anyway - to one of my calmest, and most sober, Halloween's in a while - I must tell you how gratifying and fun my whole day was yesterday. Here are some pictures of me and my other colleagues dressed up on county time yesterday! Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday!