Exciting Fall

I was just thinking about all the things going on in my life right now, and since I needed to update anyway I thought I'd just write about stuff. So- boring alert. You can stop reading now if you want.

Since Bennie and I got bikes a few weeks ago we have been doing some fun riding. We've taken them to Mt. Airy to a trail called "The Greenway", which is right beside a creek and is 2 3/8 miles long. So we ride that end to end a couple of times, and then a little more to make 10 miles. It is nice, level, easy riding - very enjoyable. And then for the last two weekends we have taken them up in the mountains to the New River Trail. That is spectacular. It also is level and is a beautiful ride. We've been to two different sections so far, and, if it doesn't rain, we're going back tomorrow with a church group.

Speaking of church, since I'm the activities person I kind of get to do whatever activities I want, which is fun. So I planned this bike ride. We have about 12 people interested in going, and then some who don't have bikes but want to go and walk. Also I'm planning a Trunk or Treat for Halloween. If anyone has any ideas on this, let me know. One thing I want to do is have a pumpkin-carving contest. So, I want to have prizes for best decorated trunk (or back of pickup), best costume, the pumpkin art, and - what else? I need ideas.

Also I'm enjoying being involved in the political stuff. I think it's interesting watching the whole process. Our county Republican party has had three rallies already in the last couple of months, and we're having two more before Election Day. On the 30th will be a big one. We're going to the Elkin park and having free BBQ and a band- "None of the Above". And this week we have a booth at the county fair, so that's been fun, although it was freezing on Wednesday when I was there.

And then there's FOOTBALL. I love watching football. The Panthers HAVE GOT to win this week. They are without a doubt the best team in the NFL and WILL win the Super Bowl. They've just had some off moments in the last two games. I know everyone was talking about Chris Gamble's trick play last week that lost us the game, but the thing is, if it had gone well it would have been a fantastic play. Oh well. AND, what about Michael Vick? That guy is incredible. And I watched some of the highlights from the Giants/Eagles game last week. Eli Manning came through bigtime. It was 24/7 Eagles going into the fourth quarter. The Giants came back - in overtime - to win 30/24.

Plus, the new TV season is really shaping up. You know I already am hooked on "Justice". I've seen "Men in Trees" (not sure about that one yet), "Smith" (probably will like), "'Til Death" (half and half - but it's a short show), "Vanished" (hooked on it too), "Studio 60" (which was a GREAT premiere - I think it will be a favorite also), and I am recording but haven't seen yet "Jericho", "Shark", "Heroes", "Help Me Help You", "Friday Night Lights", "The Nine", and "Brothers and Sisters". I know this is way more than I can watch every week, because I'm already watching stuff like "House", "ER", "Lost", "Criminal Minds", "One Tree Hill", "The O.C.", "Supernatural", "My Name is Earl", and "Y&R". How many hours is that? Actually I'm just trying the new shows, kind of hoping I won't like them, but so far I've liked what I seen pretty much. And there's a show - "The Bachelor" - that I have never seen and never wanted to before, but this year one of the girls is a step daughter of sorts of one of my best friends, so I have to watch her.

So, like I said. It's an exciting fall. And another good thing about all this is by staying busy I'm trying not to miss my family so much.

And JUSTICE For All

OK, it's that time of year. I have been going over the Fall Preview of the new TV Guide and picking out what shows I want to watch. Two shows have already started that I like. One is called "Vanished". It is really good, but if you didn't catch the first one you're lost. It continues each week and has a lot of mystery to it. The second one, which BTW has become one of my all time favorites already, is called "Justice". It stars Victor Garber (Titanic, Alias) as a lawyer. It is a really good show. It moves quickly and is very interesting - not like another law show that seems to move like mud with the investigation in the first half and the courtroom stuff in the second half. AND another thing I like about "Justice" is that you don't know for sure what happened until the end. They will do the whole show, and then the last couple of minutes they will go back to the crime and show what really happened. PLUS they have a great theme song, Warren Zevon's "Lawyers, Guns, and Money". Each show is its own episode, so you can pick it up at any time. I highly recommend it.

I'll Believe What I Want To Believe

I was just sitting here working, occasionally checking my email, and realized that I'm tired of people trying to tell me what I should believe or how I should feel about something. I got some email from one of these groups that was all up in the air about Sam's Club putting out advertising about the "holidays" instead of "Christmas", and they wanted me and everybody else to email Sam's Club to tell them not to do this, to keep the word "Christmas" in all their advertising. Well, I guess that's all well and good, except I could care less how Sam's Club does their advertising. I like to go there, and I will continue to go there whether they say "Christmas", "holidays", or "go jump in a lake". I don't care. AND I'm tired of getting emails from people with these stupid stories about someone having extraordinary experiences and then telling me to send this to 10 people so I will get blessings myself. Well, I feel like I'm being blessed every day of my life WITHOUT having to send some stupid email to 10 other people. 30 years ago I joined the Mormon church because I felt like it was right, and I still feel that way. I don't need other people telling me what I need to believe in, what I need to be praying about, what sites I need to go to for spiritually uplifting stories, etc. You get the idea. I feel very comfortable in my beliefs, and I DON'T NEED OTHER PEOPLE trying to force THEIR beliefs on me. I don't care about prayer in school. I think everyone can pray to themselves WHENEVER AND WHEREVER they want to. They don't need to have some kind of organized prayer in the classroom every morning. In fact, I don't think they should do that. Does that make me an atheist? I don't think so. And why have a "moment of silence" at ballgames? That, by the way, has taken the place of prayer. Years ago they would always have some preacher go up to the press box and give a prayer before the games so no one would get hurt. So now they do the moment of silence. Last year at the Starmount football games I noticed the chorus would be down there getting ready to sing the National Anthem, and during the moment of silence they would all together, out loud, recite the Lord's Prayer. What was up with that? And another thing. Concerning all these experiences all these people supposedly have (for example the little boy stuck under the garage door and seeing the angels). I know that some people DO have spiritual experiences. I have had many of them myself. The thing is, you shouldn't be talking about them to everybody in the world. You keep them to yourself - they are sacred. I'll admit there are some times when you feel like you should share them with someone else, but it would be at an appropriate time and in an appropriate place - not on the internet going to who knows who. That just cheapens the experience. I also feel that if you do this, you stop having these experiences, and personally I don't want that to happen. So, I hope I haven't made anyone mad. This is just the way I feel about some things.

Bad Day All Around

This is a bad day. Quentin has been living with us all summer and today he has moved out. I'm trying not to be sad. I'm trying to think of all the positive aspects of this. For example, no more crumbs in the mayonnaise. No more running out of bottled water because he came in late the night before and drank all the cold ones - without putting any back in the fridge. No more looking for the laundry basket. No more banging my head on the hangers of clothes in the laundry room that for reason he can't carry to his closet after he gets them out of the dryer and hangs them up. Well, I could go on and on.

But that's not the only bad thing about this day. We have ANTS in our kitchen, and I HATE ants. I called the guy from Wilson Pest Control, and he came over yesterday to take care of them. We have been doing business with them for over a year now. They come every three months and spray around the outside of the house, and we haven't had a problem, until here lately. I've seen some bugs and spiders too in the last few months. So, the guy came yesterday and put out some stuff that looked like glue and some ant traps. Then he said to me that it would probably take a couple of weeks to get rid of them. A COUPLE OF WEEKS? I just smiled and thanked him for coming, but I am steaming. And I can't stop scratching my head. I just FEEL them all over. So, goodbye WPC, hello Orkin!

Surprised

I've been surprised by some things here lately. I'll start with this morning. As I was driving downtown Dobson to go to church I met a red pickup truck. This truck was one of those big ones with the stuff all over the outside and a backseat, something not uncommon to Dobson. In my mind I expected to see someone who looked like Larry the Cable Guy driving. As I passed the truck I was really surprised to see not Larry, but a black guy with a suit and tie on. That just didn't seem right.

And yesterday I received an email from my brother-in-law, Bill. This was one of those "tests" that you scroll down and don't really know what it's about until the end. So I was taking it, and at the end you were either in 98% of the people who took this test or the 2%. Bill said he was 98%. I was 2%. I didn't realize I was that different.

And last night I was visiting with some friends in Low Gap. We had walked outside as I was getting ready to leave, and we stood there for 15-20 minutes talking, right after it had gotten dark. As we were talking I would feel, every once in a while, a crawling sensation on my legs, and I kept swatting at them, just in case there was something there. Well, this morning I was SURPRISED to find 15 mosquito bites. Why was I surprised? I don't know. I just didn't think about that feeling being actual mosquitoes last night.

AND, I guess this will be the last one, I was surprised to learn that another Puerto Rican is going to play basketball at Starmount again this year, and he is supposed to be AWESOME. This will make five PR's in the last three years, so I don't really know why I'm surprised. Since Starmount is supposed to have a pretty bad football team this year I guess they will be making up for in basketball.

Oh, and btw, two more days of no chocolate. I've sticken to my committment, but also I've gained 4 pounds this month. Another surprise!

'I'll Show You How"

Last week Josh and his family stayed with us a few days. On Monday, while Megan and Josh went to Thomasville, I kept Isabella. We had a great time together. We watched a movie, walked around outside, played, ate, and read books. Isabella knows where I keep "her books", so she went right to them that morning and wanted me to read to her. I have "Bambi", "Brer Rabbit", "Peter Rabbit", and a few story books. She got out one of the story books, and we started reading. What I do is find a story I know, point to the pictures and just tell the story by the pictures. As she was flipping the pages looking for the next story she stopped on one and said, "Read this". I didn't know that story, so I said, "I don't know this one, let's find another one." That is when she said, "I'll show you how", and then she commenced "reading" the story to me. How cute is that?

Yahoo Graphics

I don't know if any of you have noticed the Yahoo Graphics. They change a lot. A couple of weeks ago it was this beach scene. The ocean would come in, and a little starfish would jump around, and a crab was crawling. So then a few days ago it was for the 4th of July with fireworks. Now it is a soccer theme, I guess because of the World Cup. If you want to see the animation just move your cursor over the red YAHOO letters at the top, and the balls will start bouncing, then the countries' flags will pop up. Anyway, there is always something different up there.

Speaking of soccer, my favorite teams (England, Argentina, and Brasil) are out. So I guess I'll go along with Quentin and pull for Italy next Sunday. ABF!!

July Sans Chocolate

I have made a major decision in my life. No more chocolate for the month of July. That's right. The whole month. I realized this morning when I weighed that I have now gained TWENTY POUNDS over the last couple of years. So I've been thinking about what has caused this, and chocolate seems to be a really big part of it. Of course that's not all I've been doing wrong. I just eat too much of the wrong things. So, I have put this summer resolution on the world wide web for everyone to see - all five of you - to maybe help me stick to it. I'll try to give updates on how I'm doing.

Just Now Summer

Today is the first day of summer, so I'm updating. What better reason, right?

I wrote my first ever letter to the editor tonight. Well, Bennie helped some. He had actually written a letter, but it didn't go through, and then he changed his mind. So I took some of what he had said and added some thoughts of my own. The Mt. Airy News had written a rotten article about a friend of ours who is a county commissioner in Surry County. He lost his job a while back and got into some financial trouble. Now he is working again, but is behind on a payment, and they splashed this all over the front page. So, I wrote and let them know how I felt. In a nice way. Bennie's original letter was really mean, so it's probably good that it didn't go through.

And, I'm really getting interested in soccer. Yesterday's England vs. Sweden was really exciting. But I couldn't stand the way the announcers kept trashing David Beckham. He's not superman, but they expected him to be. They blamed him for everything that went wrong with England, even blaming him for one of Sweden's goals, and it wasn't his fault. I know, because I was watching. He is a really good player, and I especially like to watch him "bend it". Today Argentina played. I recorded it and will watch it tonight. Tomorrow Brasil (note the spelling) and Japan. That will be a good game, or is it match? Quentin has been teaching me a lot about soccer, which makes it a lot more interesting to watch. And I like the way the clock just keeps going. At first I thought the clock was backwards, then I realized it is right, and the clocks on all the other games - football, basketball, etc. - are backwards.

I saw the Da Vinci Code last week. I thought it was a great movie. I had read the book and had looked forward to the movie for two years. So, I wasn't disappointed. I know there were a lot of bad reviews, and I tried to see it as someone who hadn't read the book, but I think it still would have been good. I really like puzzles and treasure hunt kinds of things. "Angels and Demons" is a really good book too.

Quentin is here for the summer and is eating us out of house and home. I've been used to throwing out a lot of food that we just didn't eat, and now I can't seem to keep food. I'm going to the store every other day. And why can't people use mayonnaise without leaving crumbs in the jar???

So, I guess this is a boring post. It's hard to think of things to write about. Nothing exciting has really been happening, except for the soccer. So, on that note I guess it's time to go watch the Argentina game/match. BTW if you haven't seen Argentina play, you should watch them. They have some really HOT guys on their team!

Me and the Senator - Again

Yesterday I had lunch with Richard Burr! Well, along with about 20 other people, but still . . He is such a cute guy! And really nice. He came to Mt. Airy for several different events – one of them being a ribbon cutting at the Republican Headquarters. He talked for about 7 or 8 minutes, then took any questions anybody had, and then we ate. While we were sitting around eating it was like he was just one of us, just talking and joking and stuff. He just didn’t seem like a big shot United States senator. AND when he got there he drove his own car and was ALL BY HIMSELF. I was really surprised. I thought that senators had all their aides and security people and stuff. Can you imagine Hillary driving to some small town in New York alone? Can she even drive?

So, this was my thrill for the week, especially having him put his arm around me for a picture!!!

The Hot Ewes!

Well, I can't remember what kind of ewes we were, but hot sounds about right. I just got back from celebrating our 50th birthdays with some good friends from high school. We went to Starmount, whose mascot is the rams, hence the ewes.

This weekend was so much fun. Just reminiscing about old times, catching up on everyone's lives today, gossiping, eating, shopping (well, that got a little long, but was still fun), playing cards, and did I say eating? I think I've gained 5 pounds or more. Tomorrow, for sure, I'm starting my diet. The house we got near Boone was beautiful, and the weather was great. The drive up on Friday was especially nice and clear. You could see Grandfather Mountain from Yadkin County. Once everyone got there we all went out for supper - Japanese - at Makoto's, which is one of my favorite restaurants. When we got back to the house we stayed up talking until around 1:00. Then yesterday, after pancakes and bacon, we took off shopping. We went to the Mast General Store and then on to Blowing Rock. We ate lunch at a place called Speckled Trout, which was really good. Then we just walked around all day, looking in ALL the stores. We went to the outlet stores too. For supper (by now it was after 9:00) we went to a place called Pssghetti's, which is what Justin used to call spaghetti. It was a nice place. After we got back to the house we watched a video of our 20th reunion (12 years ago) and played cards, finally getting to bed around 2:30. So, here I am, a grandma, and partying until the wee hours! We all had a great time and plan to do it again next year.

One more thing about the weekend. I know this is hard to believe, but all of us still look just like we did when we were in high school! Amazing - but true.

Happiness is . . .

These are things that make me happy:

Flashing when it is cool and windy outside.

Watching Isabella's eyes light up when she understands something.

Watching Sam Elliott. He was recently in a TNT movie, "Avenger". The older he gets the better he looks. And that voice!

Trying on clothes at Hecht's in the mall. They have those "slimming" mirrors in their dressing rooms.

Making fudge that is not grainy.

Our Sleep Comfort bed. I feel like I'm lying in the clouds.

Watching Victor ALWAYS come out on top on "The Young and the Restless".

Waking up in the morning and realizing it is SATURDAY.

Football season.

All the stuff Bennie does around the house to make my life easier.

Eating Japanese at Makoto's in Boone.

Opening our email and seeing that I have messages.

Seeing comments on this blog.

Playing Spider Solitaire and getting to that point in the game where I realize I've won it.

Back rubs.

When my SLAH parties reach the $400.00 mark. That means I've made at least $100.00. And for what? Going to a party, eating good food, talking and laughing with other women, playing games. The best job I've EVER had!

Watching the full moon come up. Especially at the beach.

Getting phone calls from my sons.

Watching American Idol, and KNOWING what Simon is going to say before he says it, because it is EXACTLY what I would have said.

Sitting on our porch swing (with the springs!).

"Thank you for your service"

Yeah right. What service. I am soooo disappointed. As you may or may not know I have long wanted to be called for jury duty. So last fall, for the first time in my life, I was finally sent a letter asking me to report for jury duty - but it was the same week as our vacation. So I called them and got deferred, until spring. So, in January some time I got another letter asking me to report the week of March 13th. It also reminded me that I had been deferred from last fall. So, I was really excited. The letter said to call a number the day before I was to report for instructions. So, right after 5:00 last Sunday afternoon I called the number. The recording said that all jurors did not need to report Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, but to call the same number back Wednesday after 5:00. Well, okay. So I would just have two days on jury duty instead of the whole week. Better than nothing. So, a few minutes ago I called back like I was supposed to. This time the recording said that all jurors were excused from jury duty and did NOT need to report. And then, just to rub it in, she said, "Thank you for your service."

A True Love/Hate Relationship

I remember the very first time I heard the song, "Born To Run" by Bruce Springsteen. I absolutely loved that song. A little while later I heard "Badlands" and loved that too. And then, not long after that - "Thunder Road", which BTW is my all time favorite Springsteen song. So I started collecting his albums. I had gotten all of them up until a few years ago. I have seen him in concert THREE times; the last time I was 20 feet away from him, drooling the whole time. So, I guess you could say I was a fan. He seemed like a good guy and had a great voice. And, of course, he is a fantastic songwriter. His songs are like pictures with music. And he has a great band backing him up. So, anyway, I liked the guy. And then a few years ago I started hating the guy. He got too political and started joining the Bush-bashers. So, I stopped listening to him. I could have cared less when he came back to Greensboro last year. When the radio would announce playing one of his new songs, I turned the station. I just didn't want anything else to do with him. Until last night. I had gone to bed and was watching TV before going to sleep. I was flipping through the channels, and all of a sudden there was Bruce. He was on VH1, a show called "Storytellers", and he was telling a story. He was all by himself on the stage and playing piano. He would sing a few lines, then stop and explain where those lines came from in his head, and what he meant by them, then he would sing a few more lines, and do the same thing again. Then he would go on to another song and do the same. I was sort of hooked, listening to him again. And then . . . He played "Thunder Road". And I was gone. It was beautiful. He explained a little about the song before he started singing it, as he was playing the opening notes. Then he sang the whole song uninterrupted, just him and the piano. I didn't even know he played piano. So, I guess I'm a fan again. I hate that I had missed the first half of the show, so I looked on through what was coming up and saw that same show coming on again next week. I've already set the recorder. As Keith Carradine sang in Nashville, "I'm Easy".

Mascots

I was just sitting here thinking about names. Starmount is in the playoffs, and I've been reading some of the posts on NCpreps.com. It's interesting to read. But anyway, I've been noticing some of the mascot names. What really got my attention was some team down east - either the Horses or Wild Horses, or something like that, but the girls were called the Lady Horses. Well, that just doesn't seem right to me. And then it got me started thinking about the girls' teams of different schools. For example Cherokee High School's mascot is the Braves. And the girls are called the Lady Braves. That makes no sense at all. They should be called the Squaws. And even Starmount - the Rams. You have the Lady Rams. No - they should be the Ewes. And Thomasville - the Bulldogs. Well, you get the picture. So, here's my list of impossible names:

Lady Rams
Lady Bulldogs
Lady Braves
Lady Bucking Elks
Lady Vikings (I guess there could have been)
Lady Huskies
Lady Blue Devils
Lady Demon Deacons
Lady Hokies (What is a Hokie?)
Lady Wolfpack

Well, I'm sure there are a lot more. I'm just tired of thinking right now.

Just Missed Him!

Okay, I'll start at the beginning. I'll admit I'm a little behind the times here lately - I guess it's just age catching up. Well, a couple weeks ago I had recorded the Grammy Awards. So the next morning I was watching some of it, fast forwarding through most of it. At one point I stopped forwarding to see what was going on, and there, right before my eyes, was one of the best looking guys I had ever seen. He was sitting with Nicole Kidman. I assumed he was just some boy toy she was out with. So I fast forwarded again, and some time later I realized I was looking at the same guy. I stopped it to watch, and there was this guy playing guitar and singing. His name was Keith Urban. I had never heard of him, but I had heard the song he was playing. He is my new favorite singer!

So, then today during my lunch break I was reading the newspaper. In the Winston-Salem Journal there was a small paragraph that said Keith Urban was going to be at this car place in North Wilkesboro signing autographs this morning from 10:30 to 11:30. I looked at the clock - 1:15. I would have gone if I'd known sooner. Of course I'm probably old enough to be his mother, and I am married, but still . . .

Pajama Day

Because of the snow from yesterday we didn't have church today, so I never even got dressed. Every once in a while everyone should have a pajama day. It's nice. Bennie and I just finished 9 hours of "The Godfather Saga" between last night and today. I recorded it back in September, but there just hasn't been time to watch it until now. I love those movies. Next on the agenda is "Lonesome Dove", which I recorded in October. And next week I have it set to record "The Thorn Birds", so maybe next summer some time we'll get to watch that. Well, I will get to watch it. Bennie has already said he would pass on that one.

Also, Michelle Kwan is out! Am I the only person in America who is GLAD of that? I tried to feel sorry for her, but it just didn't work. So now the third place person, Emily Hughes, will rightfully get to compete.

And another tidbit of news. Dick Cheney just shot somebody on a hunting trip. I can't wait to hear what Dave, Jay, and Jon will have to say about that tomorrow. It didn't sound like it was his fault - just this guy, 78 years old, seemed to be wandering around where he wasn't supposed to be. I actually wondered if he did this on purpose to get everybody's minds off the Scooter Libby revelation where he supposedly ok'd the leak of Valerie Plame. Hmmm. . .

And, last but not least, I went to the last regular season Starmount ballgame last Friday. They barely beat North Surry in OT. So now Starmount is undefeated (in the conference), and will be the #1 seed in the sectionals next week. Me, Mom, and John were on TV, Channel 12, when they panned the stands. It was an exciting game. If they play well in the playoffs and don't have any more "off" nights, they will be the next state champions!

The Ice Queens

Last night I watched the figure skating championships. I love to watch ice skating and especially when it is for the Olympics. So last night the top three skaters would go to the Olympics next month in Italy. My favorite was Sasha Cohen, and has been my favorite for years now. I can't stand Michelle Kwan. Did I say I couldn't stand her? I CAN'T STAND Michelle Kwan. She is always the media favorite, but when she has been competing in the Olympics (the last two) she hasn't done well at all. I have never thought she was all she was cracked up to be. But you wouldn't know it to hear her talk and hear the media talk about her. She lost but still gets her picture on the covers of all the magazines. Anyway, she wasn't able to compete last night because she was injured (which I wonder about). So the top three winners were Sasah Cohen, Kimmie somebody who was okay, and then Emily Hughes. Now Emily is the younger sister of Sarah Hughes, who actually won the Olympic gold four years ago (beating out Kwan). So I was kind of pulling for her to win last night too. She was really good, but she fell close to the end. So that put her at third place. Well, because they were taking the top three, and she was third, she should, by rights, go to the Olympics, right? No. Michelle Kwan has "petitioned" to go to the Olympics and just overlook that she wasn't able to try out last night. Well, too bad. That's the breaks. But, because she is "America's sweetheart" or something they are letting her go, and Emily Hughes was named as an alternate. I was so upset. But, then I heard something that lessened it just a little. Years ago when Nancy Kerrigan got hurt by Tonya Harding's thug of a boyfriend she wasn't able to compete at the finals and "petitioned" to go to the Olympics anyway, which she did. Guess who was #3 and got knocked out at that time and only went as an alternate? Michelle Kwan. What are you going to do?

Starmount vs. Supermen

I went to the ballgame tonight - Starmount and Oak Hill. The final score was something like 63-110. We lost. This team was incredible. They just played with us like cats and mice. You know when the teams come onto the floor from the dressing room and start doing lay-ups? They came out and started dunking the ball - all of them, even the short ones. And not just regular ole dunks. These were the turn around, one handed, flying through the air slams. It was a show and a half. Tommy Amaker was there. He was probably the most famous one among all the college coaches and scouts. If you don't know who he is, he played at Duke and now coaches at the University of Michigan. Carlos was there too - Starmount's very own celebrity. So, it was a lot of fun.

"I think that will probably be a source of her demise."

I was working this week, doing my transcription, and the doctor said this about one of his patients. I just thought it was a cool quote. The woman has been smoking for almost all her life, and even though knowing it's about to kill her will not stop. How do people get in this situation? And why is it so hard to get out of it? I've worked with many people who have smoked, and all of them wanted to quit, but they never even tried that I could tell. The one that took the cake, for me anyway, was a guy who worked at the hospital in Mt. Airy. Guess what his job was? Respiratory therapist. Of all the people who KNOW what tobacco does to you. And it's not just lung problems. It seems mostly to be heart problems. Anyway, that's all I have to say about that.

I just finished watching Carolina STOMP the Giants. It was a fun game to watch (if you're a Panthers fan). We're going to Chicago next week. One of the guys, I think it was Steve Smith, was talking to a reporter after the game. They were talking about how it would be cold in Chicago, and the player said he had rather be cold and playing than warm and at home. I predict we will BEAT Chicago next week and go all the way this year - if we continue to play like we have the last two games.

Me and the Senator

Quentin showed me how to put a picture on my blog, so I'm trying this. This is a picture of me and Richard Burr which was taken at a rally when he was running for senate last year. Which he won! So now I can put pictures on my blog. 

Truco Anyone? Envido!

When Quentin was a little boy he used to make up games for us to play, especially during Family Home Evenings. They would be really elaborate games. He would get a posterboard and have it full of stuff, like a gameboard, that you would move your pieces around on. The problem was that as we would play his made up game, he would keep changing the rules during the game, always to benefit himself. Well, he is now 24 years old, and is STILL DOING IT! He has taught me a game he learned in Argentina called "Truco". It's a fun game. A little hard to learn, especially since, like I said, he keeps changing the rules or adding things. So, although I was at a great disadvantage with all this, I STILL BEAT HIM two out of three games today!!! Sweet.

"It's not an accident that we haven't been hit in four years."

Go Dick Cheney! What is wrong with people? I have had it up to here with these stupid dems and these stupid journalists who are sucking up to the stupid dems. They DON'T CARE about us, just their own political ambitions. Merry Christmas!

Party Girl Part II

I didn't realize it had been almost a month since I updated. No excuse, just nothing interesting to write about. So, after reading Justin's comment on my last post I decided to at least try to come up with something. So I thought I would tell about this weekend. I had my fifth SLAH party yesterday at Jeff's (my cousin) in Raleigh. It was a lot of fun. There were about 18-19 people there. I had thought up this game that we played, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. What I did was place 26 of our products around the downstairs of Jeff's house - in the living room, kitchen, dining room, music room, and even in the bathroom. And then everyone got into teams of 2 or 3. They then went around the house looking to see which of the many home decor items Jeff had that were SL stuff, write down the name of the item and the page number it was on in the catalog. It took them about 20 minutes, and everyone had a good time "treasure hunting". Everyone was really nice and easy to talk to, and I got two bookings! One guy and his partner said they would have a party on Jan. 21st. I have to be in Raleigh that day anyway, so that was no trouble. And then a woman and her friend are going to have one the night before on the 20th. So Jeff said I could stay with him again. So that will be fun. Jeff is a great host. The guy who is going to have the party is actually someone I used to know. He grew up in Jonesville and was two years behind me in school. He is very talented musically and is the organist at a big church in Raleigh. He and his partner have been together for over seven years. Last night on the way back from supper Jeff showed me and Mom where they lived. It is a beautiful house, over $350,000. I can't wait to see the inside. That should be another fun party.

BTW - I am cooking this week for Thanksgiving and got some groceries last Friday. Guess what I forgot? The turkey. I hope I remember it tomorrow so it can start thawing in the fridge. It takes several days to thaw, usually five. I may have to just go with a fresh one - which is better but a lot more expensive.

Est Songs

I was driving down the road the other day and "Space Oddity" by David Bowie came on the radio. And it hit me again, as it always does when I hear this song, that this is probably one of the saddest songs I have ever heard. That poor guy. So I got to thinking about other est songs. The funniest song, which I guess wasn't really a song, was one that my brother Tony had when we were young. It was on a 45 and was called "The Golf Game". I guess it was kind of R rated, but it was really funny. Another funny one is the Hannukah song, the original one, by Adam Sandler. The slowest song, one that you wonder if it is ever going to end, has to be "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly. And, almost anything by Jim Morrison - The Doors. Their songs seemed to drag on forever. The sweetest song is "Sad and Deep as You" by Dave Mason. After I had discovered the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I realized that "Ramble On" by Led Zeppelin was one of the coolest songs. And, in that same vein, "Tired Angels" by Mountain, where it mentions Gondor. The ugliest song (but for some reason I seem to like it) is the one by Nickelback about the girl on her knees. I forget the name of it. The longest song that is worth listening to the whole thing is, of course, "Echoes" by Pink Floyd. I love the crescendo-decrescendo theme throughout the song. The darkest song, well there are two. One is called "DOA", and I don't know who it is by, but the guy is dead. The other dark song is "Enter Sandman" by Metallica. That song used to scare me, especially the video. So, saving the "best" for last, has to be "Stairway to Heaven". I never get tired of hearing that, and how many songs can you say that about.

Party Girl

Last Saturday I signed up to become a Southern Living at Home consultant, which means that I will go into people's homes and give parties to sell these products, which are really nice. I can't believe I'm doing this. I'm a little nervous about it. I went to a party in August, and then I had a party on Saturday. So I've been thinking about doing this for a while now. I hope it works out. If anyone reading this wants to have a party for me, let me know. So far I have four parties booked and about three maybes. There's a lot to learn about it.

One problem I had. I emailed my cousin Jeff in Raleigh to see if he wanted to do a party. His house looks like the Southern Living magazine anyway, so I thought he might want to. Well, he did! So I'm going to Raleigh on November 19th to do his party. The problem is this. All the literature I've gotten says things like "Hostess Rewards" or "Hostess Information", etc. So I asked my sponsor if they had anything for hosts instead of hostesses. She got back to me and said no, that we would just have to go with the hostess stuff and hope for the best. I felt bad about this. I emailed Jeff back and told him. He emailed me and said, "Ok I'm calling it off!! HOSTESS indeed!!!!" But he was just kidding. I'm glad he has a good attitude about this. So, wish me well!

It Pays To Have Connections

Before I get into my story of last night I'll catch up a little bit since the last post. Bennie and I spent a fantastic week at Virginia Beach a couple weeks ago. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. I enjoyed riding the bikes the hotel gives us (which saves a lot of money), and of course we walked a lot. So we got a lot of exercise. Virginia Beach is a great place for walking and for bike riding with the 3 mile boardwalk and bike trail next to it. Plus there are a lot of bike trails that leave the beach and go out into the outlying areas. One morning I rode across the inlet over to the "rich" section. There were nice houses right on the beach. They may have sold for $175-200,000 around here. One was for sale, and I asked the yard guy how much they were asking. He said "1.4". It wasn't much bigger than our house, and it was actually across the road from the beach. One day we took off and drove down to the Outer Banks - 1 1/2 hours away. I had never been there. That was fun seeing what it looked like. We walked up "Kill Devil Hill", I guess is the name, to see the Wright Brothers Memorial. We drove down to the Bodie lighthouse. We crossed some really long bridges and ate at a great restaurant. Then came "home", back to our hotel. The only problem with staying gone a whole week is that I still feel like I'm behind on everything. I have about 20-25 hours of TV recorded that I still haven't seen.

Okay, so on to my story. Last night some of the women at church planned a night at the fair. I have done this almost every year for 15 years probably, always with different women going each year. We usually plan to go on the night of Priesthood session because the men are at church. So last night, after some cancellations, we ended up with three of us going. We knew that Clemson was in town playing Wake Forest, and parking might be a problem. So we waited until well into the game to get there so there wouldn't be the traffic. We got to Winston around 5:00. Well, half a mile from the stadium we started seeing cars parked all over the place, on both sides of the road and every available grassy space. It was jam-packed. As we got closer to the fairground and coliseum, all the lots were closed and had "lot full" signs on them. So, now we were starting to worry. As we went by the huge parking lot at the coliseum, it was also full, plus cars were stopped in both lanes coming from the other direction, trying to pull into that lot. So, I told the other two girls that my brother worked at Freddie B's, a bar across the road, and maybe we could park there. So we drive up by FB's, and the lot was blocked with two blue barrels in the entrance. Also it looked to be full. So, now there seemed to be no hope of parking anywhere. The cars going in the opposite direction were just sitting there with nowhere to go. So Kristen Branch, who was driving, pulled into a convenience store to see what was there, but no spaces. She turned around to pull back out, and I suggested that I run down to FB's just to see if Jimmy was there and if he could help. So, that's what I did. When I got to the bar, there was a friend of Jimmy's, Jon Hoots, outside sitting at a table. I went up to him and asked if he could hook us up with a parking place. He said yeah, come on in. So I went back to the street and waved Kristen to come in, while Jon went and moved the barrels. There was one space left that he let us have. He put the barrel back and told me that he had been charging $10.00 a space for parking there, but we got it for free! It was just really cool the way that worked out. I went in and said hey to Jimmy, then we went on to the fair.

I had put in my fudge, but it only won second place this year. But, I also put in chocolate cookies, which won second too. And I saw Will Moore driving around in a Pepsi golf cart. He said to tell everyone hello. He is living in Winston now.

Also yesterday while I was gone I taped the Virginia Tech/West Virginia game and watched it this morning. Marcus Vick rules! He threw 15/17 and ran for a TD. I think the Vick brothers are going to greatly overshadow the Manning boys in a few years.

The Vick Brothers

For the last year or two I have really enjoyed watching Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons play football. He is one of those players that always surprises you. If you don't know, he is the quarterback, but he can run with the ball better than anybody on the team. So when it is third and long, he will try to pass, but if no one is open, there he goes! And he usually makes the first down. So last week I watched his little brother Marcus play, and he has the same kind of style. He is the fastest runner on his team (Virginia Tech), and he throws the ball better than Mike. Today I saw them play Duke, and Marcus threw three TD passes. He has this style of throwing a really long pass like the ball is just up there floating, and then it falls right into the hands of the receiver. They are both a lot of fun to watch.

It was interesting to listen to the announcers today. I was pulling for Va Tech, but the announcers were Duke guys. So it was all Duke. It's kind of like when you watch a Panthers game on the local channel, and the announcers are all about the Panthers. But if you see it on ESPN they are more neutral.

BTW Starmount's football team is bad this year. I mean the bad that means bad, not the bad that means good. BUT, they will have a great basketball team! They have another Puerto Rican. He's a 6'5" junior. And he can also dunk the ball. So they will be fun to watch.

Satellite vs. Cable

(Note I put on our front door this morning)
"Cable guy, Please put the receiver on the porch swing. Thanks."
(Added to note when I got home this afternoon)
"OK Beautiful, if you'll give me a big kiss! Larry"

This is how it went down. I went to our local cablevision company last week and ordered cable TV along with the recording equipment. We would be paying less for a year, then it was going to be a little higher, but we would have the recording stuff, which we wanted. So on Wednesday the guy came and put it in. I had a really hard day at work and didn't really notice much while he was here. So when Bennie got home we tried it out. I wanted to cry. It was terrible! The picture was grainy, and nothing was clear like it had been. Plus there was a lot of junk every time you changed a channel. I just absolutely hated it. So yesterday morning I went to the cablevision office and told them about the poor picture quality. They said that the guy must not have put it in right, and they would send a technician to our house between 3:00 and 5:00. Okay. But it just nagged at me. It wasn't what I wanted anymore. So around lunch time yesterday I got on the phone to Direct TV (or DirecTV) and asked them about their recording stuff. I talked to one guy and happened to mention that we were thinking about switching to cable. So he transferred me to this other guy who was sweet as honey. He started making me all these deals. I finally fessed up and told him what we had done, but that I didn't know if the technician guy could fix it or not. He told me that no, he wouldn't be able to fix it because cable just wasn't the quality that satellite was. Which is true, I have found out. So, to make a really long story not as long, he offered us two recorders which were $148 each for $99 for one with $100 rebate, and the other one for free. So we made a dollar. Plus he took off $5 for six months on the HD package and $5 for a year on our total package. SO, we would be paying $10 less and having two recorders! Well, this all sounded good, but the tech was still coming between 3 and 5. So the guy gave me a new number to call and said he would put all of our deals on the computer if we wanted to stay with Direct TV.

Okay, so then the tech shows up, actually two of them. I explained about how the picture quality was grainy, and right away one of the guys said, "Yeah, there's nothing we can do about that, but it is only on Channels 2 through 70," like that was okay. And these were the main channels we would be watching! Well, it was NOT okay with me, and I told them so. They still tried to talk me into staying with cable (and I did feel bad because everyone had gone to so much trouble for us), but I held firm. I said that I wanted what I had before and didn't want less. So, they finally packed up the cable stuff, and one of them actually went out of his way to hook back up our satellite, which we hadn't turned off yet.

So, I called Direct TV as soon as they left and got us the sweet deal. I am so happy!

As for the beginning of this post - when the cable guy came on Wednesday he had to take one of our receivers with him as a trade off for switching, so he was supposed to bring us back the receiver today. I had to leave, so I left that note. Bennie is a lot of fun to live with sometimes!

Me and Haley Joel

If you haven't heard, Haley Joel Osment (the Sixth Sense kid {and Forest Gump kid}) is starring in a movie being filmed in North Carolina called "Home of the Giants". So last Wednesday I went down to Hanes Mall with my photo and pen and stood in line with a few other wannabe actors and actresses. Some of these people were real pros. They carried 8x10 black and white head shots to turn in with their form. I just had a digital pic that Bennie took at lunch time that day. When it was my turn I turned in my form and picture and talked to this guy for a little bit (my interview I guess). He said the most important thing they were looking for was availability and asked when would I be available to work. Because I work at home now I was able to say, "anytime". So, we'll see what happens. The guy told me that on another movie they had 1700 people apply for 200 spots. And, they mostly wanted teenagers and young adults. I don't really have my hopes up, especially with gas now, but it would be fun.

Today I went and signed us up for cable TV. We have had satellite now for almost ten years, but I liked Justin and Vanessa's set up with the recording thing. So Bennie and I discussed it and decided to go with it. The only con that we both had was that we won't be getting BYU anymore. But a big pro was that we will be paying less. So, now to learn the instructions. And I don't have much time before the FALL SEASON starts!

I Thought You Were Lance

I watch Young and Restless every day. Well, I tape it every day and then watch it when I can. Something happened this week that I wanted to comment on. There is an actor, John McCook, who plays a guy named Eric Forrester on The Bold and The Beautiful. This show is produced by the same people who do Y&R, and so they have crossovers sometimes in their plots. So, Eric Forrester came on Y&R for a little guest spot this week. The thing is, the actor John McCook used to play a guy named Lance on Y&R years ago! It was just weird. There was Lance, but he was Eric.

I have a lot of shows on tape that I have trouble finding time to watch. I don't know what I'll do when the FALL SEASON starts!

Hotlanta

This weekend we went to Georgia to see Justin (Chris) and Vanessa. We had a great time. We left here around 9:00 a.m. on Friday and went straight to Madison, GA. That is a cool little town with a lot of historical stuff. Apparently when Sherman went through burning everything he had some family in Madison, so he left that town intact. So today there are still the houses and stuff. But what I liked was just walking around the square downtown and going in all the shops. A lot of antiques and old books. Then we went on up to Athens about the time Vanessa got off work. We got lost, so she had to come get us. Then we followed her to their apartment - which is a really nice apartment. I think that is the largest kitchen I've ever seen in an apartment. Then around 7:00 Justin came home from work, and we ate homemade pizza for supper. It was really good. We went out for ice cream for dessert. (I know, but who diets on vacation?) The next morning (Saturday) we left for Atlanta. We parked the car somewhere and rode the MARTA (subway?). It was a little scary I thought. I was just glad to get to our destination. Which was the CNN building. We were right downtown. There were a lot of people around. We ate lunch in the food court on the bottom floor, then went on a tour. This was fun. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I really enjoyed it. We started off riding up an escalator which went all the way up eight storeys. It was right next to the food court, and when we got almost to the top I happened to look down. Big mistake. We were WAY UP THERE. It was scary. So then we were on the tour. We walked around and learned different things about the news, and then we were taken to the actual room where they were filming CNN News. You could see the woman primping, and then the camera was on her and she was announcing the news, then they would have a shot somewhere in the world, and the woman started primping again, and then it would come back to her. There were a couple hundred desks all sitting around with computers and monitors and stuff. Then we went down a floor or two to see the Headline News desk. It was a smaller version of the main one. I just thought it was a pretty cool tour, and I don't even like tours.

After we got done there we walked five blocks to Underground Atlanta. It was okay but really crowded. Then we got back on the MARTA and rode back to our car. The back trip was a lot better I thought. On the way in there was a crazy guy sitting close to us carrying on a pretty loud conversation with himself the whole way, so that was a little scary.

Then we went out to supper back in Athens at a place called Buffalo's. Then back to the apartment and just sat around talking. The next morning we went to church (Athens 2nd Ward), then packed up and came on back home. I loved the weekend, but it was nice to get home again. Justin and Vanessa are great hosts. I just wish they lived closer.

One other story. Last week the corn was in at the Branch farm ($1.50 a dozen), and I had thought about getting some to freeze. But with so much going on last week (my two nights of classes, and a church activity on Wednesday), and with getting ready for our weekend I had decided not to get any this year. I had just put it off, and last week was the last week you could get any. And then on Wednesday I was sitting at our church supper and swim party with Meredith Cozzens and her dad (Meredith's grandparents had the corn), and they started talking about the corn and how good it was. So I decided to, after all, try to get some. So Thursday morning I called to see about it, and they said I could pick it up at 6:00 p.m. My class started at 6:00, so they said to just come after that, that they would still be up. So, at 9:15 p.m. Thursday night I went over and picked up five dozen ears of corn. Last year when we got corn from there it was already shucked, but this wasn't. So, I brought the corn home, thinking to just shuck it on the back porch, because it was dark, and I really didn't want to bring all that into the house with all the bugs and worms and stuff on it. But, the porch light was really dim, and it was really hot, so I bit the bullet and brought in one bag at a time to the laundry room. I started shucking it over the trash can, but of course it was flying everywhere. And I tried to keep killing the little bugs as they were making their way to my kitchen. It was bad. Especially the ones with the worms. Finally Bennie came home from Winston and helped me, and then REALLY helped me by cleaning everything up while I started the blanching/ice water process and bagging them up. I finally got done around midnight, but our freezer is full of corn now!

FINALLY!!!

Something happened yesterday that I have been waiting for all of my adult life. A letter came from the Surry County Sheriff's Department calling me to JURY DUTY!! I have never been asked to do this before. Bennie has been on a jury several times, and I was always so jealous. So, I am to report September 12th. I hope it doesn't last longer than a week though, or even the whole week, because that Friday we're heading to the beach. Also, this is CRIMINAL court - the good stuff. So, we'll see how it goes.

Day of Bittersweetness

Did I just make up a new word? Anyway, this has been a bittersweet day. I was released today as Young Women president in our church (12-18 year olds). This was the fifth time I have been called as YW president. I have really enjoyed this calling, as I have every other time. I'm going to miss it. That is the bitter part. The sweet part is that I have a new calling as Activities Director. That will be fun, because I enjoy the social part of church, and I hope we can have a lot of activities. One every month would be fine with me, but that might a little much for the others.

Anyway, especially after reading my daughter-in-law's blog (she just got called as YW president in Boone), I've been remembering a lot of experiences in YW I've had over the years. Some good and some bad. And some really funny.

My first time was in Boone also. I had four girls - Jennifer Welsh, Kim Hess, Rachel Larson, and Melissa Willis. After about a year I had Shannon Willis and Marsha Woods. And there were two less active sisters, Loudermilks I think was their name. Anyway, one of the worst experiences was being at church one Saturday for an activity with the young men. I was involved in one of the games we were playing when a very irate mother came in, did I say irate?, a very IRATE mother came in and came right up to me, and in front of everybody asked why her daughter was sitting outside in a parked car with one of the young men. I had no idea she was out there. But I learned from then on to ALWAYS know where the girls were. Another time I had taken the Boone girls horseback riding at Valley Crucis, the Cook farm. We were having a really good time, and I didn't pay a lot of attention to the time. So when we got back to church one set of parents had gotten tired of waiting and had gone back home, and I had to drive their daughter about ten more miles to take her home. I didn't mind that as much as her father, a man I really respected, giving me this really disappointed look that made me feel bad. I learned from that also - to be back on time or call.

Now for good times. Every time I have been YW Pres, I have done this activity that is really good for your self esteem. Especially mine. I guess I'm pretty selfish, but I enjoyed this. I would give out pieces of paper to all the girls, and we would all write our names at the top of the paper, then pass them to the person beside of us, who would write down a sentence or two about the person who's name was at the top. The rule was it had to be true, and it had to be something good or nice about that person. Then you would pass it on to the next person. So by the time you got your own paper back it would have all these really good things written on it about yourself. I think I've kept all these papers over the years. I always had a good time at Youth Conference and Girl's Camp. Those were the times where you really got to know the girls. I would always take my Pit cards and other games. I remember staying up late at night just talking, about anything and everything. It has been fun just watching the girls grow up and mostly doing really well - marrying in the temple and having children.

Some funny things - It seems like the funny things always happen at Youth Conference, like the time the kids from another stake put shampoo in the fountain at Catawba College, and there were suds everywhere the next morning. (Was that Morganton?) And another time at Youth Conference one of our girls got caught standing at her third floor window one night flashing the boys outside. Well, maybe this should have gone under the worst things, but I guess I just thought it was funny. So the next morning we were called in to talk to the Stake President. It was scary being in on that conversation. And there were always certain girls you had to keep your eye on. One in particular was always giving us trouble. One night we were at a dance in Winston, and this girl had met this guy from Greensboro. I really had to keep an eye on her, so when it got time to leave she told me that she was just going to go say goodbye to him. So several of us were watching from our car as she walked across the parking lot. They talked a minute, and then kissed. She came back, acting like nothing had happened, and then asked why all the other girls were laughing. She didn't think anyone had seen her, but she and this guy had been standing right under a street light. Anyway, maybe you had to have been there. And at girl's camp one year we were staying at this 4H camp near Hanging Rock. There was a four storey lodge and then several cabins. So the older girls were all in this lodge. Well, about 3:00 a.m. the dinner bell, which was on a high pole outside this lodge, starting ringing. So all the leaders ran out to stop the girls from ringing it. When they got outside the ringing had stopped, and there were no girls around. So the leaders went back inside. About ten minutes later the ringing started back again. Same thing. The leaders all ran out but no one was there. What had happened was that some of the girls had rigged up some twine from their third floor window and were ringing the bell from their room. It was a great prank.

So, I guess I'm about done. I just have a feeling that I'll probably never have this calling again, but it was fun while it lasted. It's a great calling to have.

Redneck Heaven

I love to watch fireworks, but Bennie doesn't like to go, so I usually don't get to see them because I hate going by myself. But yesterday Quentin agreed to go with me. So, I picked the closest place to go to watch them - Mountain Park. I had no idea what we were getting into. We parked half a mile away on the side of Mountain Park Road (just short of the ditch) and walked up just as it was getting dark. It was almost 9:00, and I was afraid we'd be late. Well, I had absolutely nothing to worry about. They didn't start until 9:55.

So Quentin and I got up to the school and got amongst the couple of thousand people there. All rednecks. Bigtime rednecks. I only saw one person I knew, a girl from church who pretended she didn't see me probably because she was wearing very inappropriate clothing. Which brings me to the next point. Maybe I don't get out enough, but I've never seen so much skin before. And the bigger the girls, the less clothing they wore. Why is that? Don't they have any pride?

So, me and Quentin went over to listen to the band. The worst I've ever heard. They tried to do rock but didn't have a clue. When they sang Pink Floyd this was the way they sang it, "All in all, you're just a brick in the wall". I wanted to scream "A - nother!" And they tried to do Elvis. It was pitiful. And then it started to rain. So Quentin and I go down to the field and get into the dugout - with about five redneck teenagers playing with firecrackers. That was a lot of fun.

Finally the rain stopped, so we got out and walked over to the fence, waiting for the show to start. It was now about 9:30. So we watched some little kids playing in this huge mud puddle. Then, around 9:45, it started raining again - hard this time. I wasn't about to go back into the dugout from hell so we went and got under a big tree. Right beside some smokers, who HAD to just blow their smoke right in my face. Why is that? I don't care if people smoke, but can't they just TURN THEIR HEAD when they blow the smoke back out? Is that too much to ask for? So, finally, the fireworks start. They were beautiful like I knew they would be. The only bad thing was listening to the blow by blow from the rednecks in our little group describing every one. I had just as soon watch them quietly. But anyway, all in all it was worth going for. And I really appreciate Quentin coming and going with me. It's always fun being with him.

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday was our 31st anniversary - of our first date. Bennie and I met in early June, 1974, but he didn't ask me out until June 24th. We have always celebrated this day. Actually we are celebrating tonight, because I was at Youth Conference yesterday. Being at YC always brings up memories of our dating years. I guess because they talk about it so much at all the classes and seminars. At one point yesterday afternoon two of the girls from Dobson and I went to swing during one of the free times. There were three swings pretty close together hanging from branches of huge trees outside of the art building on the Wake Forest campus. One was especially fun because it hung from a really high branch, so you just seemed to glide forever. Anyway, one of the girls and I got to talking about my past. She was curious and asked me what I had been like as a teenager. I told her some things - my marijuana-scented jacket, the skinny-dipping hitchhikers, etc. Then we got into me and Bennie and how we came to be members of the church. And then we talked about our attraction to each other, and I guess about how come we still have a strong marriage. So I was trying to explain to her about things she should be looking for in a guy. She is fifteen and spent a lot of time the last couple of days on the phone to her boyfriend. So, I was saying how it is easy to look at someone on the outside and just see a good looking guy, but you have to be looking for more. I said that may last for a few years, but people's bodies change over time, and you don't want to end up with a really boring person. Which brings me to my original thought when I started updating this blog today. Bennie is not and has NEVER been a boring person. He has always interested me in so many topics. He makes me laugh, and he is the easiest person in the world to talk to. I always tease him that he has an answer to every question I ask, whether he knows the answer or not he will give one. I have a good time with him, and I'm glad I have him as my eternal companion.

Attack of the Hummingbirds!

This has never happened to me before. I was sitting on our porch swing yesterday watching this one hummingbird at our birdfeeder. He would come and sip a while and then fly away. Then he would come back for more. He was cool. At one point he was so still that I wasn't sure he was even drinking until I saw a bubble float up the bottle. He was mostly black with a red striple around his neck. At one point after he few away a different hummingbird came and started sipping from other feeder. We have two on a post right next to our front porch. He was gray and not as pretty. So, in a couple seconds the first one came back. So I was watching the two hummingbirds on the two different feeders, and I remember my mother telling me once that if two or more hummingbirds are together there is a "boss", and he will chase everybody else away. So I was wondering about this when all of a sudden the new hummingbird flew up and at the other one, and they both took off, RIGHT TOWARD ME! I was just sitting there when these two small creatures came at me 1,000 mph. Before I could even put up my hands to shield myself they were gone. They flew between me and the chain on the swing. It reminded me of the space motorcycles or whatever they're called in Star Wars, the 3rd one.

BTW, my job is going well. I'm still struggling with the accents, but it is getting easier. I got my picture made Friday for the practice's website. When it is updated I'll put a link on here.

Last Day at Dr. B's

This was it. My last day! It was bittersweet. After you've spent time with people 32-40 hours a week for over five years it's hard to just leave, knowing you'll never have that friendship and closeness again. But, on the bright side, I'm excited about working at home again. I was treated very well today. Dr. Bokesch bought lunch for everybody and let me pick out the place (Cross Creek Country Club!), and then on top of that he gave me a $100.00 GC to Belk's. AND, he said if things didn't work out at home to let him know and I can come back any time. Now why wasn't he this sweet all this time I was there?

Storytime. This afternoon Pat and I had been outside our office talking, and then we came in and Inez went outside to smoke. I had just gotten back to my desk and started typing again when Inez opened the door (there were no patients there this afternoon) and yelled for Pat to come out. Well, I went to see what was going on too. You know how "curious" I am. So me, Pat, and Inez were all outside watching this big truck in our parking lot. It was a shredding truck. They had gone next door to pick up a big plastic tub of papers and put it in this truck. It was kind of like a garbage truck. He pushed this button and the plastic tub disappeared up inside the truck where, I assume, the contents were shredded, and then the empty tub came back out. It was cool. So Pat and Inez were talking about the merits of having a service like that come to our office to do the shredding, and we were all watching this truck as it started to leave. As it went across the parking lot the top of the truck caught hold of a cable and pulled it off the roof of our office. As it came off, this wooden piece came flying through the air with it and hit my car busting my windshield and denting the hood and door. Wow, what excitement. Pat went running out to catch the guy, waving her arms and stuff, and I whistled really loud to try to get his attention, but he didn't see or hear either one of us. He just pulled out in the street and kept on going. The wire was lying in the street and in the trees. So, to make a long story short, I called the police, they came, called the guy back, and I guess I'll get my car fixed tomorrow or Monday.

New Job Part II

Okay, this is, as Paul Harvey would say, The Rest of The Story. I started working on my new job last week at night and over the weekend. I had three people's dictation to type. One doctor was hard, one doctor was medium, and the PA was good (kind of like the three bears). And sure enough the one guy who was hard was REALLY hard. I could hardly understand anything he said, and I missed a lot, so I had to leave blanks, which I hate to do. It actually took me 3 1/2 hours to do three reports, which I should have done in 30 or 40 minutes. So I was kind of depressed because he was so hard, and I wasn't going to be making much money doing him - because I get paid by how much I do. But I kept telling myself to be patient, that I would get used to him. Except I didn't believe myself.

So, today I took my stuff back to turn in, and the other woman who does transcription at this office asked me how it went. I told her about what a hard time I had had with this one doctor (who BTW is from Romania and has a really heavy accent). And guess what she said? She said for me not to worry about him, that she would just do his and I can do the other two. I don't know if I can describe the huge weight that just lifted off me when she said that. I was thrilled. And felt very blessed. Now, if I can just get used to the Hungarian guy.

NEWJOBNEWJOBNEWJOB!!!!!!

I got a new job! I am thrilled. And very nervous. I actually have two jobs, although one won't start until August. So, I will turn in my resignation on Monday to Dr. Bokesch and work for Blue Ridge Cardiology. I will still be doing medical transcription, but I will again be working AT HOME! I loved working at home before, but the work dwindled down, and I had to pay my own taxes. Now I will have my taxes taken out, plus I get a really good benefits package. I feel really blessed. The bad part is that two of the three people I will be doing are very hard to understand. It will take me a while to learn them. And, I also agreed to teach a medical transcription class at Surry Community College this fall, two nights a week. I am really nervous about that. I've never even taken a class in this. So, we'll see how it goes.

Unsettled Feelings

That is just how I would describe myself right now. I went yesterday for my yearly evaluation at work and learned that some things are going to be changing about my job, and not for the best. I feel like I'm too old to start a new career. Well, to be honest, I've never had a "career", just a lot of different jobs, but still. I hate looking for a job, going for an interview, and actually starting a new job. I am comfortable where I am, even though I don't especially like what I do. So, I guess to look on the bright side I should be excited about finding something I would enjoy doing, right? Right. I just have to SIU and have faith that everything will turn out for the best.

Just a note about my dear husband. He had an accident last night with one of our brand new Cutco knives. Nothing serious, but he did find out that Quentin was right - they are VERY SHARP. I think Bennie would recommend these knives to anyone now - HANDS DOWN. I think he would say that they are on the CUTTING EDGE of technology. He would probably give a THUMBS UP to them. He would say A STITCH in time saves nine (what does that mean anyway?). And LBNL he would probably CUT TO THE CHASE and say that they are TEARrific!

No Daydreaming Today

I have a problem in church sometimes, well, a lot of times. I find the meetings kind of boring and find myself thinking about everything in the world except what someone is trying to teach me. It is something I seem to always be working on - trying harder to pay attention. Especially in Sunday School. We have been in a lot of different wards and branches over the years, and Sunday School seems to be the most boring class ever. Usually I find some excuse to stay out in the hall or in the library - anywhere other than the chapel where we have our adult SS class. Well, today was different. I went because we had a substitute teacher, and I wanted to show my support. As I told him later, this was the best class I have ever attended - ever. I can always judge how well a teacher is by how much I daydream in class. Today's was the first I can remember not daydreaming at all! He was interesting, he personalized the scriptures, he told stories, and he was hilarious. I will tell one thing he told us. He was talking about people going to church and criticizing things about the church, and how they should find a church they agreed with and go to that church. Then he said, "There are doors all over this building." He then went on immediately to another topic, and it took a few of us a couple seconds to realize what he had just said. You could see people's shoulders shaking with laughter. It was a very enjoyable class. I wish he was our teacher every Sunday. So, have you guessed who it is yet? I'll give you a clue. The very first time I met him I was working at a pizza restaurant. He came up to me as he was leaving and asked what time I got off. I was thrilled, thinking he wanted to get together afterwards. I said I got off at midnight, and he said, "That's past my bedtime," and walked out.

I Got A Bid!!!

I am taking an Ebay class at SCC. So last week I put two things on Ebay, then last Tuesday night, at the end of the auction, I had no bids on either one. I was really disappointed. So this week I put three different things on, and last night I looked, and one of them had a bid! I am excited. It is just $9.99, but still. I am having trouble learning about putting pictures on there, and now, of course, I will have trouble with shipping. So, wish me luck!

If anyone wants to see my stuff, one is a Jesus clock, one is a praying hands figurine made out of slag glass, and the other is a gemstone ashtray in the shape of Texas. You can probably find this stuff. I just see it on "My Ebay". Mom gave me this stuff. I need ideas of other stuff to put on. Any suggestions?

Say It Ain't So Eric

Boy was I wrong. All this time I have been pulling for Eric Rudolph. I thought he probably did the abortion clinic bombing, but not thinking anyone was inside so as not to hurt anyone. But the Atlanta stuff I was absolutely sure they had the wrong guy. After they arrested Richard Jewell for it, and then realized he was innocent, I thought they just said it was Rudolph because no one could find him and he was easy to blame. So I was hoping they would never find him and he could just keep on living in the mountains - free as a bird, thumbing his nose at all the G-men looking for him. Now that he has admitted it, and especially today after saying, "I certainly did," and being so arrogant about everything, I hope he rots in prison. And one other thing. How can someone who is so against abortion because he believes in the sanctity of life commit these crimes?

An Unprecedented Event

This is going to be a long story - kind of. I don't know if any of you readers out there watch American Idol or not, but I have gotten into it this year. I now see why so many people watch it. It is cool. It reminds me of all those times I got out my pen and paper during the Miss North Carolina or Miss America pageants and did my own judging of the talent. There is a theme each week, and all the contestants will sing a certain song going along with this theme. For example, a song from the 80's, or a song from Billboard's Number One songs, or something like that. So it is fun to see which songs they will pick out and how well they do them. And then the really fun part is to watch the judging. Randy Jackson is pretty much positive about 70-80% of the time. He says things like, "You're the bomb," and says "dawg" a lot. Then there is Paula Abdul - she of "Straight Up" fame (and a few other 80's songs). She is about 95% positive. Hardly ever says anything bad about anyone. And then there's Simon. He is my favorite, and what he says usually goes. He is just, IMO, right on the money every time. Me and Mom were talking a couple nights ago about how he always says exactly what we were thinking about the performances. It is amazing. And so, if Simon doesn't like someone, they are usually either in the bottom three or booted out altogether. And, of course, if - in his opinion - they did a great performance, they will be around for awhile.

So, now to the gist of my post. Last week there was, in host Ryan Seacrest's words, "an unprecedented event" in the history of American Idol. What happens is on Tuesday nights the singers all do their performances, and at the end of the show the phone lines are open and all of America (or almost all) calls in to vote for their favorite performer. Then on Wednesday night they have a half hour show where they go back through the night before and then announce the bottom three, and then say who is the very bottom and is off the show - which is a little on the cruel side if you ask me. So, last week during the Tuesday show when they showed the phone numbers to call, they screwed up three of the numbers.

So on Wednesday night, which was supposed to be the short show, Ryan came out and explained what had happened the night before and how they had to throw out all the results of the phone calls, and they ended up doing the whole Tuesday show again, just showing clips of the performances. And then the phone lines were open at the end of that show.

Now, this is a long story to tell this next part. Because, I guess, they have to be on a tight schedule, they decided to have their short show the next night on Thursday. Now, this Thursday night show was only decided to happen on Wednesday. It was not advertised in TV Guide, or the newspapers or anything. So, I was thinking, well, no one knows about this, how are they going to know it is even on. And then it hit me. Most people in America were watching Wednesday night and heard him say it would be on tomorrow night. So, to make a long story short (or just to end it), today I saw in the paper the ratings for last week. Guess what was #4 for the whole week? Thursday night's no advertised show! What power.

An Easter Memory

Bennie had a post about Easter memories, and it reminded me of Union Grove. When I was 16, 17, 18, and 19 years old I went to Union Grove on Easter. It was a huge Fiddler's Convention that happened every year for three days on Easter weekend. It was estimated that 150,000 people attended this event. I loved going. If you can imagine a huge farm - I'm not sure how many acres - filled with tents. These were the old fashioned canvas tents that all looked alike. There were Port-A-Johns every 50 yards or so. Anyway, I didn't attend the music part - hardly anybody did. It was just a huge party. There were people from all over the country and some in Canada and that I met. All hippies. You could breathe and get high. The tents were lined up so there were wide paths like streets. We would walk around for hours. Everyone was really friendly. You could walk down these paths and half the people you walked by would invite you to come sit a while, talk, and smoke some pot - or hash - or opium, which I had never seen anywhere except this place. It was never around Elkin or Jonesville. There was no law enforcement that I saw. Kind of like a country Woodstock. My friends and I would get in free because the Starmount band director's father owned the place, and they would let us in. They had to close it down a few years after I stopped going because they had no control over it. I guess they realized just out of hand things had gotten. Anyway, I was just remembering this. Even though I'm a different person now than I was then, I still have sweet memories of that time.

Out of the Ballpark

Is anyone else getting tired of this baseball stuff? And didn't Mark McGwire tell everyone in the world - without saying anything of course - that he was a big steroid user? And doesn't Jose Canseco look goooooood? Just some thoughts.

I have a desk calendar of George Carlin (which Justin has too) that is really funny most days. On the 14th he was talking about cooking lobsters, and he made the comment that if lobsters looked like puppies no one could ever drop them in boiling water while they were still alive. But instead they look like science fiction monsters, so it's okay.

One more comment - Hooray for Ketek!!!!

Holes

I just saw this movie last night. It is a great movie. I had never heard of it until a friend at work mentioned it a couple weeks ago, how her family had liked it. And then it came on a free weekend on Starz, so I taped it, having no idea what it was about. It is one of those rare quirky movies that is actually good. There are a lot of quirky movies, and most of them are just dumb. I can probably count on one hand the good ones - Princess Bride, Neverending Story, Oh Brother Where Art Thou. So, how come I've never heard of this one? If you haven't already seen it, you should.

And while we're on the subject - has anyone read "The Broker" yet? John Grisham's newest. I am almost at the end - finally. It took a long time to get good. Usually I love his books, but this one is the exception. If I'd wanted an Italian lesson I would have taken a class. And that's all I have to say about that.

Oh yeah, Forrest Gump. One of the good ones.

On To The Regionals

I wanted to give an update on Starmount. They played in the conference tournament a couple weeks ago and won. Then last week they played in the sectional tournament and won that also. This week, on Wednesday, they will be playing in the regional tournament. If they win Wednesday and then Saturday, they will be playing in Raleigh for the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP! They have been good all year but have really improved in the last few weeks, IMO. During one of the conference tournament games, against South Stokes, Ryann Abraham broke the school record by scoring 46 points. He is so much fun to watch. The favored team to win the state is Thomasville. They will play Rosman at 7:00 on Wednesday, and then Starmount plays Maiden at 8:30. I am really hoping that Rosman beats Tville. And of course that we beat Maiden. I'll let you know what happens this week. GO RAMS!

Mouse in the Car!

I will tell you about what happened yesterday morning. Bennie and I had gone out with Rita, Robert, Seth, and Bente on Saturday (and had a really great time!), and Bennie had driven. So every time I get back in my car after he drives I have to take about five minutes to rearrange everything back to fit me. So, Sunday morning, Bennie had already left for church, and I went out to get in the car. So, I sat in the driver's seat and reached over to the passenger seat belt to get my clip. For those of you who don't know, I always use one of those big bulky paper clips to hold my seat belt back so it won't be so tight. And when Bennie drives, I take it off the driver's side and put it on the passenger side. SO ANYWAY, back to the story. I had reached over to take off the clip and then turned to put it on my seat belt on the driver's side. It was then that I heard the mouse! I turned to look, and the mouse was trying to climb up the seat belt. Well, that's what I thought. All I saw was the seat belt moving and just knew it was because a mouse was trying to climb up it. I was just about to jump out of the car when I realized it was just the seat belt going back into place after I took the stupid clip off.

What A Weekend!

I am resting today - which is good because this is a day of rest. I have had a hard weekend. It all started on Friday. Bennie and I needed a new television, as our old one has bit the dust. So we have been looking around now for a few weeks and getting ideas and prices. So Friday, we decided to go to Winston and just go ahead and buy one. We got to Winston about 11:00 a.m. and went first to Circuit City. We were walking around looking at all the TV's, when this one just blew me away. I should tell you that we were looking for a 32" flat screen TV for around $450-500. So we saw this Samsung 32", flat screen, but it was HD. I loved it, but it was too much. It was actually on sale for $750. And maybe I should explain, but everyone who reads this probably already knows, but HD and HD-ready are two different things. This is HD-ready. Which means that you have to buy something else for around $300, and then, since we are on Direct TV, we would have to pay $11 a month also. So, too much money. So Bennie and I started shopping around. We went to Sam's, Sears, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, etc., all the stores in Winston that sell TV's. But I couldn't get that one off my mind. Nothing else measured up. So, to make a long story short, we went back to Circuit City and bit the bullet and got that one.

So, now that we had a TV, we needed something to put it on - a stand or entertainment center of some kind because our old TV was a console and stood by itself. So, since we were at CC, we looked at theirs. There was only one that I liked, and they were out of it (of course). But, "the truck" was coming in tomorrow the guy said, and they would have more then. Well, we had planned to go to Boone, so we thought we would just look somewhere else and get one. So, we went back to all the places again and then some, looking for this. We found a really nice EC at Target, but they were out of them (of course), so we went to the other Target, same thing. So, after all was said and done, we went home, arriving around 9:00 p.m. And then, I couldn't help Bennie lift the TV - it was too heavy. So we got a neighbor to help and got it in.

So on Saturday I had the bright idea to look around Mt. Airy in the morning and save myself a trip back to Winston for the stand. So I took about two hours and went to all the places that sold these things - no luck. So it was back to Winston, where the stands had come in and they were holding one for us. And the guy - who was really sweet - knocked $30 off of it.

So now we have our TV and a stand if anyone wants to come and watch with us, because that is all we can afford to do now. (And a BIG THANKS to Quentin for coming up and helping Bennie set everything up!)

My Favorite SBC's

I watched the super bowl last night, but mainly for the commercials. Neither Carolina nor Atlanta made it, so I wanted both teams to lose. Anyway, there were a few commercials that I really liked. These are in no particular order.

Probably my favorite (because it made me cry) was the airport. You see all these people sitting around an airport, and then a group of soldiers come walking through wearing their khaki outfits. The people slowly begin to notice them, and then they all start to stand up and applaud. The soldiers look kind of surprised, and then smile at the people as they are walking by. At the end it just says "Thank You", and then the sponsor's name, which I think was Anheiser Busch(?). Anyway, that was my favorite.

I also liked the Ameriquest ones. I remember two. One was a guy walking into a convenience store while talking on his hands-free telephone. I can't remember what it was, but whoever he was talking to was buying something that apparently wasn't worth as much as he was going to pay. So this guy on the phone, but you couldn't see the phone, was talking to him, and as he walked up to the counter he was saying, "You're being robbed, you're being robbed", or something like that, and he also puts his hand into his coat pocket to get his wallet. So the store clerk just hears him and sees him going for his gun. So he starts spraying him with pepper spray, and then gets a ball bat out and starts hitting the poor guy. Then a woman comes up and gets in on it too. It is really funny. Then it says, "Don't be too quick to judge" or something like that.

The other Ameriquest was this guy comes home from work and starts cooking supper. He is fixing a big pot of spahetti sauce when his cat jumps up on the stove and knocks it over. He was getting ready to cut the bread and has this big knife in his hand. He has just bent over and picked up the cat by the scruff of the neck with one hand, with the knife in the other, and the puddle of red sauce on the floor when his wife opens the door and sees what looks like him murdering the cat. Again it says, "Don't be too quick to judge".

And the monkey ones were good too. Especially the butt-kissing monkey. And of course Paul McCartney was great! I just wish he had done different songs. Of all the songs he could have sung those were probably some of my least favorite. And I liked the four way screens. How did they do all that?

FINALLY!!!

The snow is here! And it is beautiful. There is just not enough of it. It started off this morning as sleet but quickly changed to big fluffy flakes, and then to that fine snow that covers the ground quickly. But then, after a few hours, it fizzled out and stopped. I was sitting on the couch earlier and heard a noise outside. I looked out the window to see a site I don't think I've ever seen before. Our neighbors have two sons, ages around 7 and 3. The mother was driving her lawn mower down the unscraped road in front of our house pulling behind her a sled with her two kids. Her husband and great dane were walking along. What a cool idea!

Thoughts On An (Un)Snowy Day

I just read Megan's blog, and I feel the same way she did about updating. I want to update this blog more often, but I have no idea what to talk about. I'm sitting hear waiting for snow, which hasn't come yet. I'm all ready to make some snow cream. So far all we have is a soggy mess outside. There was an article in the Journal on Thursday, I think, about Ryann Abraham. He is one of the Puerto Rican kids playing for Starmount this year. It talked a lot about his basketball, and then it mentioned the fact that he had never seen it snow, and he was looking forward to it. It quoted the coach saying that the week before Ryann had sat out on the back porch for two hours waiting for the snow because the weather report was calling for it. When it never came, the coach said that he got mad and asked why the weather people would say something like that if it wasn't true. That's the way I'm feeling this morning. I want it to come on NOW, not tonight when I can't watch it.

Last night Quentin came in from High Point, took a shower, and left for Charlotte around 8:30. It was supposed to be doing stuff last night, and I told him that and not to drive to Charlotte, but does he listen to me?? Anyway, he went on. A couple hours later I turned on the TV and it showed traffic backed up for miles on Hwy. 77 because of several wrecks. The guy was talking about how bad the roads were with all the black ice. So, I got immediately on the phone to call Quentin to make sure he was okay. No answer. I left a message and asked him to call me back right away. Does he? Of course not. He told me later that when I called he was watching a movie with some friends and "couldn't answer right then". He never did call back but made it home just fine around 3:00 a.m. or so.

Which brings up another point. It is very hard to be a parent of grown children. I know Josh and his family live in the snow and ice all winter, but I don't know when they are out in it. And I don't know when Justin and Vanessa are in any danger. But when they are home and go out at night, and stuff goes on like bad weather, then I can't help but worry constantly until they return.

Oh well. I've got a pot of soup on, getting ready to play some Yahtzee, and just waiting for SNOW!!!

Good Reads

I was talking to Justin this afternoon, and we got to talking about books. He had just finished "The Da Vinci Code", which I had given him for Christmas. That is one of my all time favorite books, along with its prequel, "Angels and Demons". Both by Dan Brown. So I was thinking about all my favorite books. I have some recent ones I've liked, and then there are the lifetime favorites. First, my recent ones:

Are You Afraid of the Dark? - Sidney Sheldon
Redbird Christmas - Fannie Flagg
The Zero Game - (I forgot who, but it was good)
And the two mentioned above. I can't remember what I've read good lately besides these.

Now, for the lifetime favorites:

The Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis - my all time favorite books!
Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien (and The Hobbit)
My Side of the Mountain - (can't remember who)
The Forgotten Door - ?
All of Janet Dailey's thick books - Touch the Wind is the best.
All of John Grisham's - The Bleachers and The Partner are tied for best.
All of Fannie Flagg's - Fried Green Tomatoes is best.
Wild Bells to the Wild Sky - Laurie McBain - the all time best romance novel ever!
Most of Stephen King's (the earlier ones - he's really gone downhill in the last ten years).
The Flame and the Flower - Kathleen Woodiwiss - the third best romance novel.
Childhood's End - Arthur C. Clarke
Which reminds me of - Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card - the all time best sci-fi novel ever!
Lazy Liza Lizard - ? - a great book to read to children. I first heard it when my third grade teacher read it to us. I checked it out when my kids were little and read it to them.
If Tomorrow Comes - Sidney Sheldon - I like a lot of his books.
All of Jan Karon's books

Well, that's all I can think of now. If anyone wants to list their favorites, please do.

My New Favorite Place

Yesterday we took the Dobson youth to the temple in Raleigh for baptisms. Afterwards we went to this restaurant for lunch - The Italian something, Pie? Anyway, right beside that restaurant was a place called Ralph's something. As I was walking by it to go to the pizza place something caught my eye - Italian ices. Well, I love Italian ices. I always get them when we go to the beach, but I've never seen them anywhere else. (I'm not counting the frozen Italian ices in the grocery stores)

So, after lunch I talked everyone into going to this Ralph's place for an Italian ice. I was just expecting a few flavors and figured on getting cherry or something. This place blew me away! It had one section of what the guy called "water ices", which was what I was thinking of, with about 20 flavors. And then there was a section called "cream ices", with another 20. Then a third section of, I guess, creamier ices. And then a fourth section of "gourmet ice cream". And the good part was that you could try any of them and see what you liked. I tried several and ended up getting a coconut "cream ice". It was so good that I dreamed about it last night.

President Jarrell saw the Snickers flavor and tried that. He said, "Well you can't beat that," to which the guy behind the counter said, "Oh yes I can," and he pointed out another tub of Snickers with fudge swirled through it.

Anyway, I had thought that the frozen custard place in Raleigh was really good, but this has it beat. I told the Young Women today in church that next time we go to the temple (in March) we are definitely stopping there afterwards.

State Champs!

Tonight I went to see Starmount play basketball for the first time this year. I've been wanting to see them but just haven't had a chance until now. They are an incredible team this year. I predict that they will WIN the state championship! They played Mt. Airy tonight, and the halftime score was Starmount 44, Mt. Airy 7. The final score was 80+ to 20+. And the second and third strings played most of the game. It was actually pretty boring the last three quarters. There are three Puerto Rican kids on the team. The senior is the best. He scored 43 points in a game a couple weeks ago and broke Carlos King's school record. He has already signed with ASU. The sophomore is fast and is always laughing. He seems to have a good time playing. The freshman is like 6'10" or something and easily dunks the ball. He gets all the rebounds, and no one can score against him - he just crams it back down at them when they try to shoot. And did I say he is just a FRESHMAN? Anyway, they are fun to watch.

I hope everyone had a good Christmas! I had a great one except for getting sick. I was finally able to rest on Sunday and skipped church. It was a good day - and our Panthers won again! I hope they make it into the playoffs.

I always try to make some New Year's resolutions - so this year I will try HARDER to diet and lose weight, I will try to be more patient, and I'll try to serve others more. Does anyone else have any resolutions you want to share?

I wish everyone a great year in 2005!

"All I Want For Christmas Is You"

This is my favorite Christmas song. Who sings it? I came up with a bunch of Christmas trivia questions this week for the kids at church, and I thought I would share some with whoever might read this. So, have fun.

Who is the cowboy who sings "Rudolph"?
Who was Scrooge's partner?
What are the names of Santa's eight reindeer?
Where were the chestnuts roasting?
Where did Frosty lead the children?
What is #9 on "The 12 Days of Christmas"?
What did Bruce Springsteen say that Santa would bring Clarence?
What happens every time a bell rings?
Who kept hearing people tell him, "You'll shoot your eye out kid"?
In the same movie, what happened to the other kid's tongue?
What unlikely two famous people teamed up for "The Little Drummer Boy"?
What is the real name of the poem "Twas the Night Before Christmas"?
What do you hear on every street corner?

And last of all, what beautiful Christmas song did Vince Vance and the Valiants sing?

One of Life's Great Truths

Men can't find anything! I have lived with men all my life. I grew up with two brothers, and then I had three sons. And I don't understand why men can't find anything. I have seen my husband or one of my sons standing in the kitchen looking in the cabinet for something, and it will be RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM, and they can't see it. Or, all they may have to do is bend over a little bit to look on a lower shelf, or, and this really gets me, they may have to MOVE SOMETHING TO LOOK BEHIND IT to find the item they want. Well, last night was another great example. Bennie had washed his clothes and went to put them in the dryer. When he turned on the dryer there was this loud banging noise that clearly meant something was in there besides clothes. So Bennie goes to get whatever it was out, thinking maybe it was his fingernail clippers. So he goes to the dryer and opens the door, scrounging around, and can't find anything. So he takes out all the clothes and puts them in a basket and - wonder of wonders - STILL can't find anything. So, he just puts the clothes back in the dryer, turns it back on, and goes back in to watch TV, forgetting about it. Well, I didn't like the noise, and as I said, CLEARLY there was something in there that shouldn't have been. So I went to look. I got the basket and started putting clothes in it, checking each article as I went. About halfway through I noticed a pair of his pants seemed extra heavy. I felt around, and there was a HANDFUL of coins in one of his pockets. It was amazing that they had stayed in his pocket the whole time through the wash, but what was even more amazing is that HE COULDN'T FIND IT! What is it with men?