A very few minutes after I wrote about my heater being broke, I got an e-mail from Kerri saying she had one that she wasn't using and would bring it to me either Sunday or Monday when she went to work. I e-mailed her back and told her to bring it Sunday about 2:30 and eat lunch with me. So, she did.

The heater is smaller than the one I had, but it really puts out the heat. I've been using it on 5 and it keeps me plenty warm while I'm watching TV.

Today Bobby called and told me about a car that a co-worker had that he was gonna sell and asked me if I wanted to see it. I said sure and he said he'd try to get in touch with the guy, but I never heard anything else from him. Maybe he sold it already?

What I would really like is another Toyota or a Honda. They seem to be really good cars and don't need as much work as American made cars. Although the newer Toyotas ARE made in the US of A. Oh well, maybe some day.

This is an excerpt from a letter I got yesterday from Sharon. "Dear Mama, Thanks for the gift. You know that I only got a B'day card from you, Bobby & (surprise) Fara. Usually Keister sends me one and the kids. I guess Ginny stopped that because I never even got a Christmas card from my kids. I did get a Halloween card from them. It had a big ugly witch on front--I liked it, but I think Ginny picked it out.HeHe! On my birthday at lunch we had a pretty, crisp salad with ranch dressing. I went to take a bite and there was a big, fat worm wiggling on the leaf--GROSS!! I kinda had a funky B'day except my friend Becky gave me two boxes of Quaker oatmeal. I love it, but it costs $3.03 a box for ten packs and I can't afford it often."

How sad that a box of oatmeal could make somebody so happy. We take so much for granted and oatmeal made Sharon's B'day special.

She doesn't get a lot of mail, so here is her adddress in case anybody wants to write a note to her sometime.

Sharon Robertson #281356

F.C.C.W.

Troy, VA 22974

Write.........it'll make you feel good!

This was the week end for Rebecca and Tommy to visit and when they're here I usually have Chad and Emily for part of the time cause Tommy and Chad like to play together.

I was also expecting Hayley and Kaitlyn for part of the weekend. They arrived Sat. evening with a friend in tow. A cute lil boy named Jon who goes to school with them and wanted to come to go to the concert at Plan B with the girls.

I called Kerri cause they were supposed to be bringing her a B'day present from her mom, so she came over, too. So, it's supper time and I fix cheeseburgers and fries and everybody ate, then the kids left.

While they were gone I made souse meat for Tami for her B'day which is today. By the time they got back here all the dishes were washed up again.

Douglas came by and they all walked down to the Muse and then came back and got on the computer for a while.

I told them they had to go to church with me and while they didn't go to Sunday School, when I came out from my class there they sat almost filling a pew. I later found out that Jon's dad is a Catholic and his mom is a Jew and here I had him going to a Wesleyan church! Oh well, Jesus was a Jew, too!

All in all, we had a fun weekend, albeit a busy one, cause I also had to grocery shop and take the kids to K-Mart to get minutes for Rebecca's phone. There we got caught in a down pour that lasted for about 30 minutes. The car was in the lot and we were under the awning trying to keep dry. It finally slowed enough for me to get the car and pick up Emily who didn't want to get her shoes wet!

Well, I had a week and a half with no car trouble. Then on the way to church last night, every time I had to stop, the car cut off. I missed two green lights at the "Eddie's" light, because every time I got it started, it would cut off again.

I finally made it to church and did a lot of praying for the car while I was there. I told Margaret when I got ready to leave that I was gonna go as fast as I could(within legal limits, of course) so I could make all the lights and not have to stop.

I made it home without it cutting off, well maybe once, and this morning I called Chad to see if he had replaced the fuel filter in that car and he said he didn't think so. He's gonna come over either today or tomorrow and check it out. It's so good to have a knowlegable car person you can call on.

I hope that's all it is cause next time the kids come up, I have to take them back to Stoneville and there are a lot of traffice lights between here and there!

It's nearly 3AM and instead of being in bed where all good folks are at this time of day/night, here I sit waiting for THE SNOW. Not in anticipation, but because I'm actually hoping it won't happen. At least until 9PM tonight.

Our Wesleyan Women have a chili supper planned for this evening and most everything is in place and ready and so I'm not too keen on snow right now.

Also, I have to go to the Dan Valley Foods store off 58 east to pick up the salad and run by the grocery store to pick up some stuff and my car hasn't been checked out so I'm hoping for at least partly nice weather for morning.

On the other hand, IF it does do the dirty word, I guess we can put the chili in the freezer, eat the desserts and do it next week.

The snow came! Luckily, it was the pretty kind that looks so good falling, but doesn't stick on anything but the grass. None on the streets or sidewalks. At least, in our area.

I had to go get the salad makings and hamburger for the chili supper so I took a chance on the car. I should have realized that when it cut off as I backed out, that I was gonna have a hard time. I finally made it to the gas station and put in a better grade of gas, but thought I'd never get off their lot and into the Old Dutch parking lot right next door. I finally did and got what I needed.

I called my friend Margaret and she gave me a ride to church, so I didn't have to worry about not making it.

Considering the weather, we had a pretty good turn out. The chili was good and spicy; of course, the two top winners were male. So we're gonna let them be honorary Wesleyan Women. The salad was extra good..nice and crisp, and the desserts were out of this world. Of course, we forgot the ice cream that Margaret had bought to go with the cake. Didn't forget to take it, just forget that it was in the freezer!

So, me worrying about snow last night was a lesson in futility. Why worry about things you can't change anyway?

I was talking to Emily today and she said she didn't have any early memories, then she said , "except" and went on to list a bunch.

Then I told her one of my early memories. I was three when my brother Jim(Connie) was born. It was Dec. 18, the week before Christmas and I remember that my grandma had fixed my breakfast and I hadn't seen my mama all the morning.

After a while, Dr. Sager knocked on the door and G'ma let him in and on the way up the stairs, he stopped and gave me a nickel. I was so tickled. It was probably the first piece of money I'd ever had.

After a little while, all of a sudden I heard a baby cry and in a little while, my cousin Edith came down the steps with a lil bundle in her arms to show Daddy and G'ma.G'ma said I threw a screaming fit, "I knew he had a baby in that little black bag and he could just put it back and take it with him. I didn't want or need a brother." G'ma said I went on for quite a while like that. I guess I finally calmed down and accepted him cause we were best friends after we grew up a little.

The day Tom was born was a Sat. and I remember because it was a nice warm day for March and I learned how to ride a bike while Mama was giving birth. Again with old Dr. Sager in attendance.

Richard was the only child of the five to be born in a hospital. I remember getting off the bus from school and walking down Henry St. to cut through the alley to get to my house and old Mrs. Tanksley, the neighborhood gossip, stopped me to tell me that Mama had gone to the hospital to have the baby and did I know what it was....girl or boy? Like I'm supposed to know! I'd been in school all day.

I don't know how I forgot to update on the car. Chad came over today and put a new fuel filter on it, which I was hoping would fix the problem of its cutting off, but it didn't. He said it still cut off when it stopped. He said it needed to be put on a computer to see exactly what the problem is, but that with the leaks it has that it would probably cost more to fix it than the cars worth.

I called Richard and told him what Chad said about the computer diagnosis, but he didn't know where to take it. I didn't give him the other bad news about the leaks. They aren't big leaks, just minute, continuous ones.I do have to go to the bank and to buy some valentines, so.........what to do, what to do?

Valentine's day came and went and for the first time that I can remember, I didn't get a Valentine in the mail. When April(my granddaughter by adoption) came to pick up Anna, she brought me a very sweet hand written Valentine with some money tucked inside and the next day she brought me a pretty blooming plant that looks sorta like a pink peace lily. Later when Susan came by her kids brought me a red foil Russell Stover heart shaped box of chocolates. Maybe it was Whitman? Anyway, a good kind and very pretty!

I'm still without wheels and I really need to go to the bank and the grocery store. The kids are coming this Friday and I'm supposed to take them back to Stoneville on Sunday. That's one reason I need to go to the store. They eat real good! Also, Susan has a B'day coming up next Tuesday and I'm gonna cook her B'day dinner Sunday, so again, I need to go to the store.

Margaret, my friend from church, has been picking me up to go to church, but her little car won't hold all of us to go to church this Sunday. Oh well, maybe something will turn up...........

The other day, Brittany wanted to listen to country music. I put it on the right channel and Toby Keith was on singing a new song. She loves him, so I called her to hurry up(she had gone to the bathroom)and she came running. I said "look, there's Toby". She looked down at the floor and all around and I said,"No, on TV". She looked at me like I was crazy and replied, "G'ma, Toby is de dog, dat's Toby Keef." I guess I learned something, huh?

This weekend Rebecca and Tommy were here and thanks to Cindy, I had a car to get to the store and to church...hers.

It snowed again Saturday morning , but just enough to put a thin layer on the grass. I went to the store in it and Tommy built a snowman at the end of the yard. Then Chad came down and they played out for a little while, but I think they got cold cause they came in and stayed inside the rest of the day.

I took them home Sunday afternoon and Chad rode with me, but he slept all the way home, so I listened to the sound track from Walk the Line.

After midnight Sunday night it snowed again. Still not much, but it was pretty while it lasted. I'll be glad when it snows enough to really cover the grass, but still not stick on the roads and sidewalks.

Monday night my favorite show came on instead of at its regular time on Tuesday. I was so tired by 8 o'clock when it came on that I got ready, got my chocolate fix, got the heater just right, saw the first 15 minutes or however much they show before the first commercial, then I conked out and missed the rest of the show. So, now I'll have to wait for reruns to see what happened with the 15 year old super model.

The wind has been blowing again just like it did last month. Methinks March ought to be real tame and quiet after all the wind we've had the last couple of months. Hope so, anyway. That wind makes my head hurt!

Had three B'days in Feb. Tami, Susan and Leah. In Jan. Kerri and Sharon had B'days. In March, only have Chad, then comes a bunch in April: Rachel, Hayley, Brittany, Emily, April; listed in order of how they come. Won't think about the next few months until it gets closer to May.

I'm wishing for some nice warm weather so I can get out and try to clean up my flower beds so Tommy and I can plant some flowers. I'm thinking of just throwing out the seed and let them fall where they may. It worked once, maybe it'll work again if I can get all the weeds out first. The daffodils are blooming, at least some of them. They seem to get earlier every year. I hope I have some lilacs after the chopping they got last summer. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

This Sunday morning we're having a breakfast at church. I'm supposed to make baked french toast, which won't be too tough to do, if I can get to the grocery store to get the ingredients I need to make it. I hope to bribe Douglas with some gas to take me. I guess Margaret will pick me up Sunday morning, but I hate to impose so much. She won't take money for gas, says she has to come into town anyway. Chad is supposed to be looking for me a car, but working and now working on the new house, I don't know when he's gonna have time. Oh, well.

Do yall like to watch the figure skating as much as I do? It's so neat to watch all the jumps and turns and lifts and spills. They could just do away with all the other Olympic events and just do ice skating and I'd be happy. I always thought that I would like to iceskate, but I guess I'm too old now to try it. I doubt it would be as easy as the guys and girls make it seem. Does that make sense? It sounded funny when I reread it.

Yesterday we had a breakfast at church and Savannah(one of my babies)and her mom came. I was holding her in the food line and asked her if she was hungry and she nodded yes. I then asked her what she wanted to eat and she grinned a big one and said "pasta". We had a lot of good food, but no pasta.

Today Brittany found a breathing tube you use when you're swimming and was using it to give her baby doll 'ossygen'. She was also doing the presses on the chest because 'de baby was having a hard time breving'. She also said she had to call 'de lifesaving crew' for the baby. She told me in all seriousness about the time she was 'puking' in the commode and her daddy was watching.

Anna brought her Kids Bop 9 cd and we played #6, her favorite about 4 times. She sang and danced along with it. I could see her mom in the hair tossing and booty shaking she was doing! She's certainly not bashful about singing and dancing with everybody watching her. And that's good!!

Chad came and got Richard's car today and took it to the mechanic he knows on Westover Drive. I hope it doesn't cost a bunch to fix it (if he can fix it) cause my nearly double utility bill is due this weekend, too. And Tommy and Rebecca will be here and they'll be wanting to go places and do things. And it will be nice not to have to rely on somebody to take me to the grocery store and to church.