Stomach in knots

I started out the day with my stomach in knots and it has stayed that way. On the way to work this morning I witnessed someone hitting a dog with their car. While I know animals getting hit in the road is an unfortunate fact of life, I still hate to see it. It is one thing for it to be a "stinky skunk", "rabid raccoon", "dangerous deer", or "stupid squirrel". But when it is an animal I have and love in my own home like a "cuddly cat" or "devoted dog", it just breaks my heart! Whenever I see a dog or cat on the side of the road, my stomach does a flip and my heart aches. But, this was the first time I actually witnessed one of this loving animals actually get hit. While I am grateful it wasn't my car that hit it, I still had to witness it, and it tore me apart! And to make matters worse, the guy who hit the German Shepherd with his truck didn't even flinch - and just kept driving like nothing happened. I, on the other hand, stopped on the side of the road, called my husband crying, and then managed to dial *HP to report it. I didn't know what else to do. The dog was obviously (or hopefully!) dead, but I just couldn't face getting out of the car and going over to it. If it was alive, I didn't know what I could do for it, and I know that animals that are hurt can attack. I did a quick look at the houses either side of the road, and didn't see any cars or signs of anyone home. So after I had a better handle on myself, I drove the rest of the way to work - of course still crying the whole way. And wouldn't you know this was the day I decided to change purses and didn't have any Kleenex with me!!!! I was able to compose myself in the parking lot and went into work, but I kept to myself most of the day. I just kept replaying the scene from the morning in my head over and over. Luckily some co-workers talked me out of going back to the scene at lunch (I just wanted to see if the HP had done anything yet), but I couldn't stop myself from making the same drive home from work. I did find some relief when I saw it was no longer in the road on my way home. It was dark, so it could have been on the side of the road, but I am hoping that it had been gathered by either the owner or at least collected by the city so that it didn't just rot on the road like all the other roadkill. I think that makes me feel worse - when you see a once living thing on the side of the road for several days - just seems so inhumane. But, I still keep thinking about the owners that no longer have their pet. So sad!! Now I have to be realistic in that I may one day have to be the horrid car that ends a loving animal's life, but I will keep my fingers crossed that I never ever have to experience that!! The few squirrels I have hit are different, and even the deer that kept running and I didn't have to see if it died or not. For now, I am off to watch TV and try and forget about this morning......

Visits with friends......

So sorry blog world for being away so long! Things have been kinda hectic for the Inscore's. Plus, I wanted to wait until I had all the pics from friends of recent activities, because who really wants to read a blog entry without pics, right?!?!

Last time I blogged it was about Elon Homecoming. That was a fun weekend. Even though Brandon and I didn't venture far from our own tailgate to visit with friends who had come back to Elon for the game, we had a great time with Joey & Jen and others who stopped by to see us.

Then came the Elon vs. App State game on Nov. 15th. Brandon and I headed West on Friday night and made a stop in Wilkesboro to stay with the in-laws. Then on Saturday, along with Derek (Brandon's brother) we headed the rest of the way to Boone for the game. We were so glad Derek joined us. It was his 43rd birthday, and what better way to celebrate than to FREEZE at a football game :) We had fun though! Too bad I got no pics (camera is officially broke!) because we were a sight to behold. We wore our Elon attire proud amongst all the App fans. And even though they couldn't pull off a win, they put up a better fight than most had against App this year. So, the snow, freezing rain and cold was worth the trip! We enjoyed another night at the in-laws, church on Sunday, lunch with the rest of the family (love our niece and nephew!) and then headed back to Greensboro to pick up Chelsi from Lucky's.

The next Thursday, we were thrilled to have Mikaela and Greg visit from Boston!! They had a wedding in Pittsboro on Saturday and decided to come a few days early so they could visit us. Mikaela was a really good friend of mine from Elon, and I miss her terribly (I realized this more after their visit). Here is pic of my gorgeous friend at a stop she and Greg made at Elon before arriving at our house.

We enjoyed dinner in on Thursday night and just talking and catching up. Chelsi and Greg became best buds!!

Then on Friday, Brandon gave them the 50 cent tour of Greensboro (I am always amazed at all of his knowledge - I call him "Random Fact Man!", but even though it is all in fun, I really am married to a smart man). We headed to Lexington for lunch because they requested some good barbecue while in NC. And then we headed onto Charlotte for the day. They had never been and we thought it was a growing city they should see. Our first stop was Lowe's Motor Speedway. And even though I grew up in NC, I had never even driven by and was amazed at how large of a place it was! We made a stop at Hendrick Motorsports to check out the museum and team shop. We took some funny pics of us in the cut-away they had displayed in the museum. It was a tight fit! Must have been Gordon's size because Brandon couldn't even fit and we almost had to leave Greg behind because he was stuck!

Then we headed to Uptown to walk around a little and grabbed a beer before heading out to dinner with friends, Joe & Kristi. Kristi, Mikaela and I all lived together one year at Elon, and Brandon and Joe were our 4th and 5th roommates :) Greg went to Cornell, so Mikaela missed him from afar. We had a great time visiting with them and getting to see their beautiful daughter Katherine again!

Saturday morning after a big breakfast at the local Country Kitchen (yummy!), we said goodbye to Mikaela and Greg as they headed towards Chapel Hill for the remainder of their stay ;( And Brandon and I met up with Brian & Brianne back at our house to head to Liberty for another Elon football game! Just call us the ultimate fans!!! I woke up with a cold that morning and so I made sure to bundle up extra good and have plenty of kleenex with me!! Brianne and I were a sight to behold :)

It was a disappointing loss for Elon. They didn't even show up to the game!! But all in all, a great season, and glad we were able to help cheer them on. I was attached to the couch pretty much the rest of the weekend - my cold had zapped me of energy and I was running like a faucet from my eyes and nose (gross!!!).

I rested up best I could the next few days after work so that I could enjoy Thanksgiving!!!

We picked my brother, Andrew up from the airport (in from San Diego) on Wed night on the way to Winston-Salem to be with my parents. Thursday morning we all bundled up (again me extra good due to my lingering cold - don't laugh at the picture!!!) and went to the Turkey Trot Fun Run/Walk. It was really fun to do something different and get out of the house before stuffing ourselves with turkey later in the day.

We ate around 3:30, and then Brandon's parents came to join us for dessert and visit for a little while around 6pm. Both sets of parents hadn't seen one another in a while, so it was nice for everyone to get caught up. Brandon headed back with his parents to Wilkesboro to enjoy some time with them, and Chelsi and I hunkered down in Winston with the Tash clang for another night. Chelsi loves visiting my parents and playing with Aunt Maggie (my parent's 8 year old chocolate lab).

On Friday, I headed to Wilkesboro to spend some more time with the in-laws and to pick up Brandon. We boycotted turkey and went out for barbecue :) And then after another quick stop in Winston to pick up "wild woman", we headed back to Greensboro that night. I was so glad to sleep in my own bed again!!!

Yesterday morning, Brandon headed out early to go to the NC State/Miami game with his friend, Lucas, while Chelsi and I slept in - it was so nice! I met my friend, Amanda (in town for Thanksgiving) for lunch and a movie that afternoon, and then Rachel and Ken stopped by for a visit last night. I fixed dinner and they brought dessert. We talked, laughed, played a game and had a lot of fun!

So, that has been our last couple of weeks in a nutshell. Lots of visits with friends - all of which we enjoyed! Now can't believe it is time to start thinking about Christmas - I have some shopping to do!!!!......including a new camera so we don't have to rely on friends to capture our memories ;)

Weekend

Not much to write.....feeling kinda icky tonight.....just a cold coming on, but still stinks! But, I did want to post some pics that Jen took this weekend at Homecoming. My camera is just about broke - couldn't get anything out of it, so luckily Jen had hers with her so we could at least say we were there :) and have a pic of our house guests from the weekend - it was so good catching up with Joey & Jen!! (The same pics are on Jen's blog, but I wanted to post them too since they turned out so well!)

More later....I have off to veg in front of the TV - what I do best! (Oh yeah, and read for Circle tomorrow night!!).