Here it is Jan.2002 and it's at least 3 months 'til the first brave soul decides to have a yardsale. What to do? What to do? Well, Richard and I decided that if we couldn't go to yard sales, maybe we could substitute something that would be as much fun and certainly warmer than a yard sale. So, we went first to a consignment shop.......nice and warm, but not able to haggle over prices with the girl in charge. Last week her mom was there and everything we looked at, she would lower the price. That's a GOOD way to shop. Didn't buy anything at the consignment shop, so decided to go to the Salvation Army Thrift store. Other people are always telling me what good bargains they find there, but we didn't see anything that grabbed us and said "buy me". So off to the West Main Goodwill store......they have better stuff than the big Goodwill on Westover.....and there I bought three books for a dollar and a camo shirt for Tommy for 99 cents. Well, our buying urge still wasn't satisfied so we decided to go to the Westover Goodwill. That place was packed. If a car hadn't been leaving when we got there we wouldn't have had a parking place and they do have a big parking lot. The inside of the store was packed with people........for the most part, very well dressed, jeweled ladies. Didn't find any thing there that we had to have, so we went to Wal-Mart where I bought cat food and birdseed and Richard bought a couple of bottles of wine to enjoy. Oh, but guess what they had for sale at the Salvation Army Thrift store? A beautiful, shiny Jaguar! And only $3,200! But I didn't have that much cash with me and no checks, so I had to pass on it.Maybe next week we'll find a different consignment shop and try it again. 1/5/02

Winter Blues 1/08/02

We're not even a whole month into winter and here am I just waiting for spring and warm weather. I don't like cold, I don't like playing in or shovelling snow, and I definitely don't like driving on icy roads. That said, I'll tell you what I do like......I love the first day when it starts to warm up and you can go out without your jacket and you see robins hopping around and when you move the leaves piled up in your flower beds, you see little green shoots that are flowers starting to come up. Then unexpectedly, you walk out one evening and you smell honeysuckle. That is one of the best smells I have ever smelled. It ranks right up there with the smell of fresh cut grass and the after the rain smell. I love being nice and warm and going to the beach and getting really hot 'cause I can always get cool, but it sure is hard to get warm and stay that way in the winter. If it was up to me, we would have 3 seasons.......spring, summer and fall with Christmas coming in the fall. Oh well, I'm just writing what I feel.......you might feel completely different and that's ok, too. That's what makes our country so great and so different. We can each have our own opinion and nobody gets really uptight if we don't all agree. Goodnight.....see you soon.

Kerri's Quarter Century B'day 1/11/02

Yesterday was Kerri's 25th B'day. We had decided last week to try and do something for her B'day......and it HAD to involve eating! It was to be a "girls" only and definitely no kids. I think the no kids idea was Susan's. Anyway, it turned out to be a girls and one hubby event; which was fine because it was Kerri's B'day and Chad wanted to be with her. We had food...some good, some not so......and snacks which were very good. Especially the cheese ball and the spinach dip! We invited Teresa, but she didn't come, but Linda did get to be here which was a surprise and added to the fun. Cindy, Susan and I rounded out the rest of the guests. So, we had 6 to celebrate and I think everyone had fun and enjoyed the food. It was kinda funny that Chad had never eaten any of the things we had. Never had oyster stew or baked potato salad or cheese straws or spinach dip. But he manfully tried it all...unlike some males I could name, and said he "thought" he liked it. He's a man after my own heart!!!!! I think Kerri got lucky there......at least he'll try stuff and that's how you find out whether or not you like something. Gotta go......thoughts of food are making me hungry!

Computer Illerate 1/15/02

Well, I've been without this puter for 3/4 days now. Cindy did something to it and while it would connect to Gamewood, it wouldn't do ANYTHING else! Bobby finally came over tonight and re-installed Windows 98 and it's working pretty good except he typed my Eudora e-mail user name as ol1939...(it's nice to be 3 years younger), but I can't read my mail cause my password won't work with that name. I've spent an hour trying to figure out how to change it. I finally went to outlook express and read some of my mail, but some of it won't pop up except for who sent it. I read one letter and tried to reply, but ol1939 won't work on that either. I'm just waiting for Cindy to get home and show me how to change it on Eudora. I know it's something simple, but I 've tried everything and so far, no dice. I would like to tell the Mad, Mad, Mad person that I certainly would have invited her to Kerri's B'day get together if I had thought of it. It was kinda a spur of the moment thing when Susan and I talked to Kerri one day. But the food was so good and the company was so good, that we might do it again soon. If so, maybe we'll do it on Friday or Sat. so you can come. Forgive me? And you can bring your delicious dip.....the one that you make when we come to see you. OK? Well, I'm going to eat my cream cheese and olive sandwich.......sounds gross, but it's really very good. Oh, Doug went to audition for a part in a play at Averett last night and had to go for a "call back" tonight. Maybe he'll get the part. We're hoping.

What "THEY" Say 1/17/02

I had my radio on......listening innocently to the weather forecast, when all of a sudden I hear "Clouds tonight but sunshine returning on Friday morning. However, Friday night, rain and much colder. Perhaps freezing rain into Saturday and Sat. afternoon." WHAT?????????? No way! Sat. is my day!!!!!! I have to get out and either make the rounds of second hand stores or hit an estate sale or two. It cannot be ice and freezing rain! Not on Sat. morning. Maybe late Sat. evening after I get to the grocery store and replenish my larder. After all, I'm already out of milk and almost out of bread and this is only Thursday. Oh well, no matter how I feel about it, if "they" say it's gonna do something weather wise, there's a 50/50 chance that "they" will be wrong! Right? Anyway, I'll wait and see and if I get the chance, I'll go to the store tomorrow. Better safe than no milk and bread!

You Can't Be Too Careful 1/19/02

Let me tell you! You can't be too careful. That was the title of the play Douglas was in and it was hilarious. He is so good doing comedy. The play took place in a living room where 4 old lady friends had gathered to play bridge. Doug was one of the ladies, I guess because they didn't have enough girls in the drama class. He wore a mid-length printed skirt, a white blouse with a blue shawl and a gray wig with a little hat perched on top og his head. I heard someone say during the play that the girl playing Edna was really good. Doug was Edna!!! Some of the cast seemed to forget their lines and Doug ad-libbed quite a bit. Imagine an old lady voice saying. "What's good on the lips, is bad on the hips" or I can't work, my osteoporosis is acting up. He was really funny walking and as the play progressed, his walk got even funnier. I asked him about it today and he said his pantyhose started slipping and were down around his knees by the time the play was over. Those pale blue hose and his hairy legs were certainly a sight. I told him he needed queen size next time, but he says he'll make do with knee highs! The two guys playing the robbers were really funny too. Especially the chubby one.......I don't remember if he was Jones or Smith. But he also had a way with comedy. It was a good play.......I wish more folks would come out to support the drama club. I didn't see any students except the ones who were taking tickets or the ones in the play. And it's been like that everytime I've been and I've only missed one play in two years. It's really a shame, because everybody worked hard and it was so good just to sit back and relax and laugh, and laugh and laugh.

Dining Out at Outback 1/28/02

I went out to eat at my favorite eating place last Thursday night with the Doss family and Rachel. That meant that 7 of us were all in one booth. But it wasn't crowded...Ron, Susan, and Chad sat on one side and in this order, Sarah, Emily, Rachel and I sat on the other, with me on the outside. Well, the waitress, Carly, took our order and brought the tea, the blooming onion and the cheesy fries. We all ate quite a bit of the appetizer and she refilled the tea glasses. Then the salads came and she refilled the tea glasses. We ate a little and she came by and refilled the tea glasses. Then the real food came and she refilled the tea glasses. Rachel took a bite of her steak and ate a fry, then she had to go to the bathroom. Of course, that meant I had to stop eating and get up so she could get out. While she was gone, Carly refilled the tea glasses. I don't think anybody but Rachel thought you had to see if you could drink ALL the tea the girl poured. Well, Rachel came back, I got up, she got in and I started eating again. Then she tugs on my sleeve, "G'ma I have to go to the bathroom again". I get up, she gets out, I sit back down, she comes back, I get up, she gets in...well, she went to the bathroom 5 times before we left and we almost didn't make it home before she had to go again. The moral of this story is........if you want to sit and eat and enjoy your meal.....tell the waitress in advance to only bring one glass of tea to the kids. That way every body's happy!