Seems like I just start getting ready for Christmas and it's come and gone!! Rebecca and Tommy came on Christmas morning and stayed until the 4th. On Christmas Day we had the usual pot luck........I decided some years ago that trying to feed people in shifts and still have a hot "formal" dinner was just too hard to do. In our family, every body has several places to visit before they get to my house, so I decided to have a huge pot of vegetable soup, oyster stew, turkey, ham, cheese and other sandwich fixings in addition to several kinds of bread, salads, dips, cheese ball and several desserts and drinks and then whenever the spirit moved them, they could fix whatever they wanted to eat. This works really well because we always have enough seats and everybody gets a chance to visit with each other. This year we only had 28 to come, down a few from last year. Then on Sunday after Christmas, Tami brought Kaitlyn and Hayley to spend a few days and they stayed until Thursday. On New Years Eve we had a sleepover with 8 girls and 1 boy. We partied and ate all night........when I went to bed at 5:15am, 2 of the girls were still awake. They all slept until about 12:30 or 1:00. When I cooked the traditional New Years meal, they looked at me like I was crazy, but most of them ate some of it all. Now it's back to school and baby sitting and it seems like it ought to be just starting the Christmas season!!

What Ever Happened to??????? 1/8/03

Tami called me the other day to ask if I knew where Robert Martin was now? She said she'd had a dream about him and was wondering if anybody had seen him recently. That started me thinking.....remember Sunday dinner when he and Lester always managed to show up just as the meal was finished and would clean up all the leftovers? Sometimes they'd bring Joey Bray and he would eat, too; but usually it was just the two of them. Remember, we called Lester Mikey after the kid on T.V. Then, there was Elizabeth Smiley. She hung around with Betty and Tami and married a guy called Spike Jones. Last time I saw her she was living in Kansas and had a couple of kids. And what about the Oakes kids and the kid from down the street who liked to sneak up and watch the girls sunbathe and sniff the underwear hanging on the clotheslines. And how about the bunch of CBers who used to go skating every Wednesday? Remember the time they were having couple skates and Susan was about 3 and was skating with Chris Trammel, who was about 4 and they ran them off the floor because they weren't a couple? But they were a cute lil couple!! Remember when we used to all pile into Robert's pick-up and go riding to see the ghosts and the "haunted" places he and Keister knew about? Remember when I was pregnant with Cindy and Robert brought me a hoagy full of hot peppers every time he came over? What ever happened to the "good ole days"?

Just Messing Around 1/11/03

I was sitting here listening to the wind howl around my awning and watching snow stories on Ch.33 and decided I'd read Cindy's journal. Although we live in the same house, if I didn't read her journal every month or two, I wouldn't know what's going on in her life. Oh, I know when she's going to class or to work, but we don't really communicate too much. I think she thinks I'm an old fuddy duddy and wouldn't know change if I saw it. I love reading about her plans and hopes and I hope she gets to do all these things she wants to do. I wish I could break loose and take off and live at the beach and not cook or do laundry or babysit. Don't get me wrong, I love Anna and Brittnay, but do you realize I've been watching babies ever since my mama had Richard when I was 16? With NO breaks!!!!!!!!!!!! It seems as if I've always had somebodys baby in my arms and in my heart. Anyway, to get back to the subject, I think Christmas Eve was about the best I've had in years. Cindy and I made candy together and wrapped gifts.....least she wrapped while I told her who they were for, and we just had a nice quiet evening together. Christmas morning was also nice.......we opened our gifts from each other and then we dressed and sorta cooked together until Rebecca and Tommy got here and then the others started coming in to eat. It was nice to be just us here for once.

Snow and Stuff 1/23/03

When the forecasters started talking about snow yesterday, I sorta took it with a grain of salt. I mean, lots of times they forecast the white stuff and we either get none or just a smidging. Like last week......nothing to write home about although it did close the schools last Friday. Well, I watched ch. 33 on and off the whole evening and when I got comfy to watch TV, I got on the big sofa so I could see out the window while I was watching my shows. When I dozed off, nothing was falling and when I woke up a couple of hours later, still nothing. But then, when I woke up to go to bed everything outside looked really bright and white and it was pouring snow. While I like looking at it, I don't like getting out in it so instead, I spent all day eating. Everything in sight!! Oh, I babysat Brittany and Rachel and Emily came down, but it seemed as though the snow just brought out the pig in me. On second thought, maybe I was just using the food as fuel to help keep me warm, cause I sure have been cold today. And as I sit here wrapped in my old faithful wooly bathrobe, I'm still cold. But thoughts of warm sun, sand and water are there in my head and maybe if I can keep warm for a few more months, those thoughts will become a reality. THINK SUN! THINK SAND! THINK WATER! THINK SUMMER!!!!!

How to lose a friend in 10 weeks 2/01/03

Well, maybe not exactly 10 weeks. But ever since Christmas, my brother, who I considered my best friend has completely dropped me for another. First, he would call me on Friday and excuse himself because of bad weather, no money, etc. Now, for the past three weeks, I don't get a call on Friday, I just assume that he has other plans and I plan my life accordingly. I now go to the dollar store alone, the grocery store alone (unless Linda will let Douglas go with me) and any thing else I do on Saturday, I do alone. Don't get me wrong......I'm glad he has a life...I'm just sorry that I'm not a part of it anymore.

Snow................Again!!! 2/07/03

Guess What? It did it again!!! For the last 4 Thursdays, we've had snow! Sometimes just a dusting, sometimes enough to look like a winter wonder land. So, the kids were out of school again today and I didn't have Anna, but Rachel was here by 9:30 and Brittany came as soon as Kerri could get out of her driveway. This was the kind of snow I like.......pretty to look at, but not the kind to stick on the roads and the sidewalk. Tonight as I sat here on the computer, the phone rang. "G'ma, I have big troubles" said Douglas. "What's wrong', said I. "I'm here at CVS and my tires flat. Can you come get me?" "I can, but I don't have a jack and I don't know how to fix a tire. Why don't you call Ron?" So I gave him Ron's cell phone number and told him to call me back if he couldn't find Ron. A little while later he called me from home. He'd called Ron and Ron helped him put his spare on and he was gonna get his tire fixed tomorrow. He told me that he thought the Lord must have been with him tonight because he was supposed to work til closing, but she let him leave early. If he'd worked until 1:30, nobody would have been up to help him with his flat tire. So, just maybe, he was right. Somebody is out there looking after us poor mortals. And I thank Him for that!

Expecting........What??? 2/14/03

Well, as I sit here on another Friday night, I'd like to report that we don't have snow! Of course, the weather man is saying that tomorrow evening and night we're going to get sleet and freezing rain. At first we were supposed to get snow this afternoon, then rain, then ice in the morning. I personally hope that what we get is a nice mixture of blue skies, sunshine and warm weather. I'm getting pretty tired of snow and ice and slush and mud. I wish a happy valentine's day to each of you. I hope that your sweet tooth has been sated, your nose has been blessed with the sweet smell of roses, and your new bikini underwear fits!