Ellen DeGeneres, the Crew on Mt. LeConte misses you!

I'm dedicating this post to my daughter Courtney. She is currently living on Mt. LeConte in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as a seasonal crew member at LeConte Lodge. She and her co-worker Bethany, who are both huge Ellen DeGeneres fans have put together a YouTube video telling Ellen how much they miss seeing her show. They live without electricity and the hike to the lodge ranges from 5-8 miles depending which trail you take. Please take a minute to view it and feel free to share. They are so hoping Ellen might see it.

Courtney was a labor day weekend baby. Don't tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor. Her birthday is Tuesday~HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  She and her new hubby are coming off the mountain and we are going out with some friends  for a nice birthday dinner. I will have three days to rest this long weekend and it will be the first time I have been out on the town in quite a while.This will be my first restaurant meal with out the lap-band, hopefully I won't totally pig out. So far I have really done well with eating only when I am truly hungry.

 Fall is in the air in East Tennessee and I can honestly say Welcome!!  I am so sick of rain, heat and humidity. I usually get depressed when the seasons turn cool, but I am so looking forward to the break in the heat and hopefully an end to the relentless rain.

September to me is memories of our first days back to school ( kids are now robbed of their summer vacations starting to school in August!), the smell of wood smoke from the first fires in the fireplace or wood stove, trees laden with apples and my favorite memory- the County Fair. Oh how I loved that once magical place. I would eagerly stand up in the back of the car and strain to see the spinning lights of the Ferris Wheel as we approached. First order of business was walking through the livestock exhibit. I remember once seeing a hog so big that it frightened me. Then we headed for the rides. I suppose I even had vertigo then because I didn't like to ride anything that spun me in circles too fast. I loved the Tilt-A-Whirl and the ride through the Haunted House. I played the games till my pockets were empty and ate way too much spun sugar.  When Courtney was little I realized the good old days of a true County Fair were over. Another casualty of time and greed... it looked so small and grungy. The livestock was a few chickens and cows. We went to pick up the little plastic ducks from the water basin, one of my favorite games as a small child.  I would usually come home with an arm full of small plastic Poodles or maybe a hair brush/comb set of you were really lucky. That year with Courtney the prize was a roach clip hooked to a feather... I kid you not. Most of the other prizes were small mirrored pictures of some girl showing way too much T&A  lounging across a hood of a car or something in that same vein. It was a sad evening and I knew it was all over when they handed us our dull grayish cotton candy, crammed into a plastic bag instead of airy pink strands of sugar coiled high upon a white paper cone. Nothing good ever lasts....