I was talking with my friend Margaret the other day and we got on the subject of "the good ole days".

When I was a kid we played outside until dark and as long as we stayed within hollering distance of home, nobody checked on us or worried about us.

When I got older, my friends and I would walk to the North theater any evening to see the late movie and walk back home without being afraid of anything.The evenings we didn't go to the movies, we would go to Pettys Sweet Shop which was on Church Street. We would hang out there with our friends and when they closed, we would walk home. All the way to Highland Court. Still not afraid.

My friend Joyce and I would walk to the public library which was on the corner of Main and Holbrooke at that time. A long walk.......down the highway, across the bridge, all the way up Main St. thru town and then all the way up Main past all the big fancy houses until we got to the library. Then we would check out all the books we could carry and head back home.

Now days, the kids are driven every where or drive themselves. I would worry myself silly if any of them said they were walking to town or to the movie or even the library. And I don't even like for them to be dropped off at the mall. Too much meanness now. I feel bad sometimes when I think that kids today don't have the freedom we did way back when.

It's been a couple of weeks since I wrote anything. We've had 70 degree days and 5 inches of snow......all in the same week.

Last Wed. night when I came out of church it was sleeting. When I got home Susan called. She was in Greensboro with Kerri and Chad and it was pouring down snow. By then, nothing was falling here. A little later the phone rang again and it was Brittany and she was so excited."G'ma, I was in a bookstore and I made some magic and it snowed. A lot of big flakes." I told her to make some more magic and make it snow here and she said she would if she could remember the magic. A little later I looked out and the snow was pouring down and blowing around looking like a blizzard. I watched it until about midnight and then I went to bed. The next morning schools were called off and some businesses were closed and some on delays. It was a beautiful Valentines day.

Sunday Cindy and Charlie drove up and stayed a while. We ate dinner and then Cindy, Douglas and I went to K Mart and to Marshalls. Cindy bought me a candle holder made out of rock salt. It's kinda orangy in color and when you put a tea light candle in it, it really glows and shimmers. It is a companion to a battery operated Glade candle that Fara sent me. That one glows and puffs out clean linen flavored air freshener. It's really nice to lie on the sofa and watch them do their lil shimmer and glow stuff.

Today was a holiday for a lot of people, but I had my baby boy because his mom and dad wanted to go to High Point and look for some bedroom furniture. They found some they liked and they said it was very reasonable compared to the stores here, BUT, it would cost $600 to get it delivered to their house. I think that sorta negates the savings.

Well, that's about it, except I forgot to say that Doug has a part time job at Buffalo Wild Wings and gets really good tips. He got $135 in tips Sat.and about $40 today. I told Tiffany I was gonna quit babysitting her baby and get me a job waitressing at Buffalo Wild Wings. Wish I was young enough......the tips are better than my pay and the hours aren't near as many!

This morning I had to go to Sears. Usually when I go out, it's later in the day and all the streets are filled with kids on bikes, scooters or skateboards. Today it was fairly early and as I went down Baugh St. all I could see were the empty houses that used to house the Pickrels, the Oakes, the Burnettes, Gardners, and yes, the Whitts.

Actually, the only one that was really empty was our old house. I slowed down and looked and it was so sad. The door hanging whopp sided on it's hinges and windows broken out, the roof sagging, trash every where. I could imagine how it used to be. The lawn nicely mowed and the edges trimmed, the bushes trimmed. Some kids sitting on the wall talking and waiting for somebody else to show up. Preferably in a car or pick up truck. Made me feel like I was getting old!

Then when I got down to Claiborne and Bellevue, I could see Geraldine's old house looking nothing how it used to look and Mrs. Shelton's house with it's formerly pristine yard and porch and that was a big mess, teeming with lil kids and animals.

When I got to Highland Court and Riverside Dr. I could see our old house where I was born and lived until I was twenty. It looked so clean and neat, the yard looked good and the siding was clean. I don't know if the renters keep it that nice or the owner, but it still looked good. Made me homesick, tho.

Last Sunday night when I got home from church, I felt a little scratchy in my throat, but figured it was just from talking too much. On Monday when Coby came he had a fever and a snotty nose and by the time I put him down for his nap I was ready to go down too.

As the day progressed, so did my symptons. But Coby was back on Tuesday and feeling worse, so his mom picked him up at 3 and took him to the doctor. She called and told me that he had the flu and that the doctor said I probably had it too. She stayed home with him Wednesday and his dad kept him Thursday. Good thing! I don't think I could have picked him up on either of those days. I had aches, pains, wheezing, coughing, no appetite, and a really runny nose. Douglas brought me two different kinds of Thera Flu that helped, but one of them was really awful tasting.

Sat. morning I showered and dressed and went to the postoffice and the store, but it was all I could do to get the bags of groceries up the steps to the kitchen. Needless to say, I rested the rest of the day.I did go to church this morning, but don't think I'm going tonight.

While I was so sick the only thing that sounded good on Thursday was hotdogs with onions. Susan brought me two and I ate every bite. Then Thursday evening and again on Friday, Danny sent me homemade stew. That was good, too. Today, tho, I decided I'd cook so I made turkey and dressing and potato salad. The p. salad is really good. Lots of onion in it! I even tried a potato salad foldover. Cindy knows about this! Yummy!!!!!!!!