Book Club

We have a fun book club going in our neighborhood. This is what we have been up to:

Waiting by Ha Jin


Peace Like a River by Leif Enger ***


Mating by Norman Rush ***


The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski


A Thousand Splendid Suns by Gabriel Garcia Marquez


Year of Wonder by Geraldine Brooks


Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather


Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver


A Thousand Spelndid Suns by Khaled Hosseini


Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich


West With the Night by Beryl Markum



Next up, we are reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett.


The only book that I wouldn't recommend is Death Comes for the Archbishop (BORING!!). I love love love Mating and Peace Like a River - they were books that I had already read before the book club started. They were even better the second time around -- although I will report that my group was very divided on Mating - we either loved it or hated it.

What have you been reading??

Restocking

I still can't believe it, but I sold 20/30 necklaces last weekend! OCAF called me and asked me to restock my display. That totally caught me off guard and I was not at all prepared for it. I sold all of the necklaces in which I use my smallest beads, and just by luck those were the only beads that I had left. Ugh - back to work.



I have a totally new appreciation for artists that practice their craft full time. My back is killing me, I can't use my hands, and I have no feeling left in my fingertips, but I scraped together 15 more necklaces to add to the display. There are 2 events at OCAF this weekend and one next week so I hope that I will sell a few more. The Artists' Shoppe will remain open through December 23rd for people to stop in and do some shopping.

The Newly Employed

Chris just got a job at the Athens Regional Medical Center




He is a patient care technician in the Orthopedics ward. He will be working weekends which will allow him plenty of time to concentrate on school during the week. He just started his orientation today and is excited to start!!

Let's hear it for 2 paychecks - woo hoo!!!

The Graduate

It was uncomfortable and sometimes scary, but Hammy successfully completed the UGA Storm-Phobia study at the vet school.



After his initial appointment and a few weeks of observation, we went home with some CDs of thunder and 2 diffusers. We plugged the diffusers into the 2 rooms where Hammy spends the most time. We still don't know if the diffusers had the pheromones of a nursing mother dog (thought be soothing) or if they were just placebos. We were told to play the CDs for him for 10 minutes starting at a very low volume and working our way to the loudest setting about 3 times a week. As we listened, we were not supposed to coddle or punish him, but to do something fun that he likes. Usually, we would play ball with him or do tricks for praise. At first, he hated the CD and would jump at every loud clap of thunder, but slowly it didn't bother him any more.

After 2 months of the behavior modification, we returned to the vet school for a follow up visit. They taped him again and made observations. He didn't shake or hide. He didn't pace, pant, or whine. He didn't try to jump up into my lap at all. It was still obvious that he wanted to be close to me -- he basically sat on my foot and kept looking up at me, but hey that isn't so terrible. He improved greatly and all were impressed. We are so proud of our sensitive little dog.

Good boy Hammy!!

Knobs

Chris and I went on a Christmas shopping excursion to Madison, GA today. We found some perfect knobs to finish off our TV cabinet. Now the project is officially complete.

The Weird Things That Make Beano Go Crazy - Part I

Darts

Let the holiday parties begin...

My office had an early Christmas party this week. Jenny was nice enough to have the entire rowdy staff over to her home. We had a fun night full of good food, good friends and GOOD TIMES. Sadly, Malik is leaving us in January (boo hoo) so it was our last hurrah with him. We also have a new addition to our staff - Lakecia. We love her.


here is the whole group


digging in


the spread (I brought the Buffalo Chicken Dip at the bottom of the picture)


fondue for dessert


Lakecia and Alton


Lakecia and Dr. C


all the women around the chocolate fondue (that's weird!?!?)


My good pals Sandi and Jenny


John and Dr. C


Sandi being crazy


Katie


(Jenny + Amy = Jamie) Nobody in the vet school can tell us apart so we just tell everyone to call us Jamie. Well, they can tell us apart, but they don't know who does what.


Little Liki


Jenny and Yvonne (Jenny double fisting it)


Katie and Dr. C


The office Ho -- I wore my Ho! Ho! Ho! shirt -- I should have known better.

Shorn

Someone got a haircut.

OCAF Artists' Shoppe

I recently became a member of OCAF (Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation). I am participating in their annual Artists' Shoppe for the month of December. I have been working away trying to get enough necklaces made for my display. Luckily, my mom was visiting so I had an extra pair of hands to sand, paint, and assemble - thanks mom!! I also had a last minute unexpected sale so I was able to cover my expenses even before the show started - yeah! I have no idea if anything will sell, but I have had a lot of fun playing around and creating.







Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation’s 15th Annual Holiday Market

The Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation’s 15th annual juried Holiday Market will be held December 5th and 6th from 10am to 5pm at OCAF’s historical educational facilities located at 34 School Street in Watkinsville, GA. Located just 8 miles of Athens, GA on Highway 441, the Market features the booths by seventy of the region's finest artists and crafts persons. The original works will include pottery, paintings, fiber art, stained and fused glass, jewelry, sculpture, photography, and woodwork.

If you are unable to attend the Holiday Market, original works by thirty of the area’s artists and crafts persons will be available at the OCAF Artists’ Shoppe located in the 1902 OCAF Center from Dec 5 through Dec 22. Hours are from 10am to 4pm Tuesday through Saturday.

Happy Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! We enjoyed a fun extended weekend with my parents and grandma. My Uncle DuWayne and Aunt Karen also joined us for dinner from Clayton, GA. Chris was the perfect husband and single-handedly (well, almost) prepared the Thanksgiving feast. I needed the day off to watch the Packers game - Go Pack!!



Chris worked away on the amazing menu:

Hickory Smoked Honey-Brined Turkey
Giblet Dressing and Pan Gravy
Mashed Potatoes and Leeks
Green Beans with Garlic/Lemon Pan Sauce
Scalloped Corn
Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Cranberry Kumquat Ginger Relish
Dinner Rolls
and Homeade Pumpkin Pie



The ladies working away on the meat for the dressing.


Uncle DuWayne hanging out with little Hammy Ham.









Taking final temperatures...


Oh my God was the turkey good!!!!








Mom and Dad taught us a new game that is popular in the Villages. It is a dominoes game called Mexican Train.




We also played a little Phase 10 -- lowest score wins. The A = Amy -- yep that's me!!


Sitting by the fire with dad.


Thanks for coming mom and dad -- we had a great visit!!!

Living Room

It took us 17 months but we finally have our living room in order. We have picked up some great items from our parents (rocking chair, trunk, piano, TV, lamps, and rugs) and recently bought a very useful sleeper sofa. We love the final look and are very happy to have another room to enjoy.

Go Dawgs!

We snagged some sweet Bulldogs tickets from Chris' Uncle Stan this weekend. We were in the 11th row and had a great view. Despite all of our loud cheering and frantic pom-pon shaking, the Dawgs lost. Once again, I forgot my camera and only have phone pictures to share.

Sadly, UGA VII passed away this week. It was a sad day for the Bulldog Nation. Now PETA is protesting at UGA saying that the use of a live dog as the school mascot is inhumane. You can read about it here. R.I.P. UGA VII - you will be missed.

Michelle Shocked

Lisa and Marjin took us to the Michelle Shocked concert at the Melting Point the other night. She hit the stage armed only with her guitar, and gave an amazing performance. She entertained us with her powerful singing but also with her storytelling - she talked as much as she played. It was a great show.

Check out her new album Soul of My Soul.

The Honor Student

Chris was recently inducted into the Honor Society Phi Theta Kappa at Athens Tech. He was nominated by one of his professors for his academic acumen and his leadership potential. Of course, I forgot to bring the camera so blurry camera phone pictures will just have to do. Good job Chris!!

Timber!

We came home to this the other day. Tropical Storm Ida pummeled us with 2 days of heavy rain and strong winds. It proved to be too much for the huge oak tree that bordered our property.







Never fear - apparently all of our neighbors (and Chris) have chainsaws and like to cut stuff up! Mark and Harold spent the day helping Chris get the tree down.


Our mailbox narrowly survived




My hero!




Anyone need some firewood?

Finished Project

You may remember that we started a project this summer (has it really been 4 months??). Well, we are finally finished!! We have a new TV cabinet for our family room. We painted the cabinet a few different colors and then sanded for an antiqued look. We are still on the lookout for some hand painted procelain knobs to complete the whole look. For now, we are just happy that we have this project out of the garage and into the house. Although the pictures make the color look like a bright green, it is actually a dark olive color.

Furlough-cation

The State of Georgia mandated that all university employees take 6 furlough days during this academic year. Our first furlough day was fall break (Oct 30). So, we decided to make the most of it and take a furlough-cation. We packed the car and headed up to Lake Hartwell for some camping and canoeing. We found a nice little spot right on the lake. The dogs loved running up and down the shore and getting nice and wet (and dirty).









This was Hammy's first time sleeping in a tent. He hated it!! He refused to go to sleep and listened intently to every leaf that fell that night. Poor little guy. Beano, on the other hand, snuggled in to the bottom of a sleeping bag and didn't stir until the morning.




We enjoyed some beautiful fall colors and found some gigantic leaves.










We spent a day out in the canoe. Hammy actually enjoyed this part of the day. Chris brought back Kelley's canoe the last time he was down in Florida. We love it!!








On our way home, we stopped at a local BBQ joint and filled up.








Sadly, we did have to head back home.

Garage Sale

We participated in our neighborhood garage sale on Saturday. After many weekends of going through closets, boxes, the attic, the garage, etc. we realized that we had plenty of stuff to justify a full fledged sale. It was a lot of hard work, but we had great success.



Just looking at his favorite brown ottoman in the world was enough to make Chris feel sentimental and sad. He pulled through and sold it in the end.



Some other sentimental items...

My hot curlers from the 80s


Chris' disco pants


The gold couch that Jeannie and I inherited from a friend years ago. It treated us very well and made the moves from Bozeman to Boulder, back to Bozeman, and finally to Athens. We still haven't broken the news to the dogs.


Of course at the end of the day, it was nice to get rid of all the clutter and have a nice wad of cash in our pockets. We were amazed that almost everything sold!! YEAH!!