"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!