Romance, chocolate, beads, carving and buckshot

Every now and again Julie and I toss all caution to the wind and leave Patrick to keep an eye on James. We take off for town, enjoy a meal, and do a bit of running around without the kids.

Today was such a day.

We started off by going to olive garden for lunch, which was pretty good. Then it was on to fuzziwigs for some dark chocolate almond bark. A trip to Michaels was on tap to grab some beading supplies for Julie, then a few stores later.. coffee.

Patrick only called us once, and that was to ask if he could go over to a friends house tonight to play video games... all was well at home and they were still alive, so we took our time and enjoyed the good weather and each others company.

I decided that I was going to take the opportunity to finish a walking stick I have been working on, after we got home. So I finished it off and noticed an "extra" piece of cedar I had cut off a previous walking stick, and decided to do a little carving on it. I know the wizard's hat looks like an ice cream cone, but hey.. I'm not finished with it yet.

With the weather better than it has been for a while, 60 degrees and sunny for the past couple of days, we had the door open and were listening to some random music from the satellite channels.

Now living out in the woods as we do, it isn't uncommon to hear the occasional volley of gunfire. There are people all around us that shoot for fun, which is no problem.. unless..... You seem to forget that way back off the road in the woods there is a little tiny trailer where a group of hermit like hippies live in solitude with their kids and dogs... It seems that today someone forgot about that... I was out on the porch working on the wizard's head when the unmistakable report of a twelve gauge shotgun blasted off to my left, a bit closer than normal.

The proximity of the blast made me look up in the direction it came from. I judged the distant and direction of the sound and knew who it was..... then.... there was a rain of buckshot falling on me, the cars, and the trailer... "Now that's not a good thing" was the thought that went through my mind. I walked over to the edge of the porch and listened. I heard people talking and carrying on and hoped that it was just a fluke.. Then a few seconds later... BLAM... the second blast erupted... a couple of seconds later... plinkplinkplinkplink... plink... for the love of....

I shouted, "Careful where you are aiming guys!" and was met with silence... Buckshot from that distance isn't a threat, but what if there was a high powered rifle waiting in line to be fired... there is a two hundred and fifty gallon propane tank out back that would just love to be smacked by a speeding bullet from a nice 308 or something... not to mention that trailer walls aren't very bullet proof... I know it's demanding and all, asking neighbors to watch their gunfire, but getting shot twice in one day can tend to make one slightly edgy...

So all in all it has been a well rounded day of family fun..

Where else can you make the claim that you went on a date, did some serious kissing, ate some Italian food, drooled over chocolate bark, bought beads, picked through Vera Bradley purses and bags, had a damn fine cup of coffee, played with the kids and dogs, listened to the grateful dead, carved a face on a walking stick, and got shot twice...

Welcome to winter in Georgia!