Cindy came up for lunch today. I hadn't seen her or my granddog Charlie in about three months. We had a nice lunch and a sorta catch up conversation and then I had to fix food for a church social and leave. She went by to see Doug's apartment before she headed back home.

This was a particularly nice weekend; except now it's over. After I shut my eyes and open them again, it'll be Monday morning and Coby will be here to keep me on my toes all day.

Next weekend is the annual Callands Potpourri and Rt. 41 will be yard to yard yardsales. Ought to be a lot of fun. I told my friend Margaret that it must say something about my social life when yardsales are the highlight of my weekend. Oh well, it sure beats staying home and cleaning!

Haven't written lately.........been busy babysitting and just the usual stuff.

We went to good yardsales the past two weeks. Actually found stuff I'd been told to look for. A new, still in the box cupcake rack for Cindy, a roll away bed for Linda so when James' friend comes to spend the night he'll have a place to sleep, elephants for Tim's collection, some really cute Maxine stuff.....a clock and a chip tray. Also, lots of 25 cent books. And other stuff too numerous to remember.

Cindy had asked me a couple of weeks ago if I would dog sit Charlie for a few days while she had a mini vacation. She brought him last Thursday. Brought his medicine and some hid a pill thingys to put the pills in so he would take them. He was real good.And well behaved. I took him out every morning and again in the evening to do his doggy business and he always cooperated.

Emily took him walking on the river walk trail Sat. afternoon and she said he enjoyed that. Except for the lil boy who tried to run him down on a big wheel.

After he got home Sat. he discovered he could get down real flat and wiggle his way under the studio couch in the den. He'd been sleeping on his blanket at the end of the couch and when I went looking for him to take him out, I couldn't find him. So I got down on my knees and looked under the couch and there he was. Almost flat! But, every time I held the couch up so he could get out, when he came back he crawled under there again. When Cindy got home Monday, I told her where he was and she got him out and he was so glad to see her. He wiggled and wagged all over the place. Then, everytime she got out of his sight he bayed and howled for her. And he hadn't made a sound the whole time she was gone. I guess he missed his mama.

A lot has happened since I last wrote. Last Thursday afternoon Emily had picked up Sarah at school and was on the way home and decided to take the "short" way, which is up Riverside Dr. and turning left at our old church. She was stopped with her signal light blinking and all of a sudden was rear-ended by a car going 45 mph. Sarah was in the back seat, but luckily neither of them were hurt except for a sprained neck (Emily) and a bad headache for Sarah. They're both doing well as I write. Emily has a neck brace, but I think her neck is getting better.

Sat. morning Douglas and I went to yardsales. We had a good time, didn't buy much cause everything was way over priced. And, I had to do the navigating which is not as much fun as sitting in the back and knowing the driver knows where he is going.

Richard and Tommy are on a ship cruising to the Bahamas. They called me yesterday about lunch time. They were sitting by the pool eating their lunch. They will be home at the end of the week.........in time for our weekly yardsale excursion. Of course, they were going to visit the Straw Market, which is like a monster flea market, so they might have their fill of yard sales.

Rebecca and her friend Jessica spent the weekend with me. Tommy had gone on a Boy Scout trip and didn't get to come and next wekend he's going to Jamestown with his school. Rebecca's school is having homecoming next weekend, so I don't think I'll have kids next week end. Oh well, that's OK.

Seems like winter is finally trying to get here. My hands have been cold all day and my feet aren't much warmer, although every time I sit down I turn the heater on.

Let me see, weekend before last, Brittany spent Sat. night with me and went with me to church. She was real good and said she had a good time. She was the only one in her class to be good enough to get a treat bag. We also had lunch at church because it was pastor appreciation day and she liked that. Said she might go with me again soon until I told her we didn't eat every Sunday.

Last weekend we went to yardsales and found several good things. A new pan with lid for Doug, 12 books for me, a pretty glass bowl for Cindy,a lot of new lil thingys I can use for give aways at church. All in all, a good Sat.

This Sat. Tommy and Rebecca will be here so we're going to visit Sharon. We haven't been since Sept. because they weren't here on even weekends in Oct. I hope we have a nice sunny day and no football game in Charlottesville, because that sometimes makes for a lot of traffic. They're out of school next Monday, so will be here all day Sunday and go home Monday afternoon. I know Chad and Tommy will be happy about that. It's been about a month since they've been together and they really miss hanging out.

I told myself and everybody else we'd get an early start to go to see Sharon. I got up early, woke up Tommy and he got up early, but Rebecca was the last one out of bed. I fixed them breakfast and got dressed and Tommy got his clothes on and Rebecca finally got ready and got all the stuff she was taking (homework, book, cell phone, makeup, etc.)into a big tote bag and we finally made it to the car. 9:55!

This was NOT what I had in mind, because I knew that it would be dark before we got back home. And, we had to stop by Foodlion to get Rebecca an energy drink. Which was fine, except it went straight thru her and I then had to find a bathroom on our side of the road. That accomplished, we set off again. UVA was not having a game in Virginia, nor was VT. However, Liberty U. in Lynchburg and another college farther up the road were having games and we got caught in that traffic.

However, we did get there after driving exactly 148 miles. Got there at 1:20, got checked in and patted down right away; but then had to wait for the bus to take us to the visiting area.It finally came and we got there at 1:40. Tommy went ahead and got his mom and us drinks and chips for him and we waited and waited and waited. Finally, at 2PM, I went over to the desk and asked the guard if she would check and see why Sharon hadn't come up yet. Finally, at 2:10, she got there. The girl at the check in place had called her buiding, but they neglected to tell her she had visitors. So, we had a fifty minute visit after driving 3 hours! Next time we really are going to leave at 8:30AM. Sharon looked good, had a nice haircut, had had a couple of fillings in her tooth since we were there last. Tommy got her some kind of BBQ'd chicken and some oreo pie that she really enjoyed. It was a good visit. Just not long enough.

While we were waiting for her, the kids decided that instead of eating chips and candy bars and that expensive food, we would stop at MacDonalds or Wendys on the way home and get something. So, we had a stack of quarters left and after we stopped at Goodwill in Charlottesville, we went around the corner and ate the dollar menu at MacDonalds. I'd never been in a MacDonalds before and it was very nice. This one had a dining area that looked like someone's dining room, complete with a fireplace and lil what-nots. It also had a game room with arcade games, but we didn't investigate that cause by now, we were running late.

I sorta got lost right when we got almost to Danville. Out 29 north there's an intersection that has a light and the left lane goes to Greensboro and the right goes to Blairs/Danville. I'd been following a big truck ever since Lynchburg and when he went left, so did I. I finally found an exit that said Halifax and took an exit off that which put me on 360, right at Richmond Blvd. I actually got home quicker than I would have going the other way.

All in all, a good trip. Didn't see any accidents, no big dogs jumping into the road. Did see about 10 dead deer of varying sizes and lots of possums, racoons and one dead turkey. Also, two state troopers with cars pulled over!