SPRING IS COMING TO ALABAMA

I am into my fourth day of spring break and am finally settling into the idea of being off work for a few days. About the time I get to feeling comfortable being off work it will be time to go back. The weather has been a little dreary this past weekend and it has been a little colder then I like. But today it finally started to warm up a little and we were able to make it out to the park and walk for a bit.

I took a few pictures this morning of the buttercups and the forsythia in bloom. That is a sure sigh that spring is on its way in Alabama. It seems that the buttercups just start popping up every where you look. In every one's yard, in pastures, even along side the road. As you can see in my picture they are growing up between the cinder blocks that I have setting at the side of the house. The green onions are starting to take over the yard but they say if you wait and cut them on Good Friday it will kill them for the year. We'll see.

Mark and Paige came in for a visit this past weekend. We went to a few yard sales and prowled around at a couple of thrift stores while they were here, but we didn't find a thing. We spent the rest of the time they were here just hanging out at the house. Mark grilled some really yummy New York strip steaks Saturday night. The only time we ever grill out is when Mark comes home. John and I are not very good at grilling. Mark has it down to a fine art. Paige bought a sofa while they were in town and of course it rained cats and dogs up until about 3:00pm on Sunday. Finally it slacked off enough they were able to start the drive back to South Haven Ms. They made it back without ruining the sofa.

Johnny and Tracy are getting ready to move into their new (to them) house. They came over on Sunday after church and had lunch with us. I made a couple of pictures of Johnny and Mark aka Grisly Adams and Junior Samples. Mark says he is growing his hair out for Locks of Love (is he kidding? Who knows). Johnny was going over to the new house to paint. That's my boys.

I found this really old table at an auction the other week and when we got the old paint scraped off there was a really cool design underneath all the paint. We decided to leave it unfinished and sale it the way it is. It also has a really nice marble top, that I didn't get a picture of. John seems to think it is from the late 1800's. I figure someone that is into Shabby Chic will be smitten by it. Anyway it fills up a spot in our antique booth very nicely.

A FEW DAY'S WITH MATTHEW

This has been a very hectic week and yet a very enjoyable week all rolled into one. Hectic because of work. Our contract is up for grabs and this has had all the management in a real tail spin, cracking the whip and trying to make things perfect that sometimes just cannot be made perfect. Everyone's nerves is about shot and I'm afraid that by the time the decission is made about the contract, the great bond that we have had with all the employees is going to turn to crap. It is such a shame that you have to dread getting up in the morning and heading off to work. At 65 I guess if if gets too much worse I can just say "See ya later. Bye".

The enjoyable part was a short visit from grandson Matthew. He was on spring break this past week and was really antsy to go somewhere for a few days. Monica's mother-in-law is recovering from hip replacement surgery so Monica had to stay close by to check in on her. When I talked to Monica she told me that Matthew was having a fit to do something with his time off. I told her to meet John in Corinth MS and we would bring him to AL for a few days. He had already questioned John about whether we still had Monica's typewriter. Well Monica has been away from home now for about 25 years, but I guess he thought being the pack rats that we are we would still have it stuck back somewhere. So on the way home they stopped a the Salvation Army over in Sheffield and just happened to find a portable Smith-Corona for $5.00 bucks. John said when they got in the car that Matthew kind of held the typewriter to his chest and said "I am finally happy".

John spent Thursday and Friday doing just about anything Matthew wanted to do. Feed the neighbors horses, cut limbs to whittle on, play cards, ride his scooter and you name it. Friday night he spent the night with John Pearson and Emily. On Saturday we took Matthew and Emily and spent several hours at the Antique store pricing items and trying to set thing up in our new booth. I was surprised they let us stay as long as they did. I guess the only reason they were as patient as they were is because they knew there was pizza waiting at the end of the line. After stuffing ourselves with Pizza we headed home. Me for a short nap and the kids to watch a movie. Sometimes while I was napping Sandra called to see if we wanted to go to this little dance club. A friends grandson plays drums for a country band. After Johnny and Tracy picked Emily up to go to town and get her birthday present, we headed back out.

The little dance club is for families, no beer or anything like that. Just a little band that plays really ole country music. Lots of Willie, Merle and Loretta Lynn . They are not the best band in the world but it is just a fun atmosphere. Mostly old people just having fun. For $4.00 you get in and the lady serves food for the guest. That night she had potato soup, chips and dip, hot dogs and dessert. You just buy soft drinks. A really cheap date:)

Matthew had fun. He carried his guitar and strummed along with the band. He and I danced a couple of dances, and he got up and line danced (some what) with the rest of the group. He ate hotdogs and finally wore himself down around 9:00 so we headed back home.

At church this morning Father Andy was asking a question to anyone that knew the answer. I was watching Father and he was walking toward our pew. I thought "Oh crap, I hope he is not going to ask me something. When he stopped at our pew I realized that Matthew had his hand raised. He answered Father's question, which was not exactly the answer Father was looking for, but was the logical one. I was really proud of him for paying enough attention to answer. After church John said it scarred him, because he was afraid Father was going to ask him something too.

After church we headed out to Corinth to meet Tim. We had a bite of lunch at Dairy Queen. We loaded Matthew's stuff into Tim's car. A $5.00 typewriter, two hermit crabs, an eight foot wild cherry tree limb for whittling, a watch with a Indian head penny for the face, his bag, guitar and lord knows what else. It was a great week and Matthew seemed to have a wonderful time. John and I headed back home for a short nap before before we had to turn in for the night. Wheee!!!!

ANTIQUES, INSURANCE AND ARRHYTHMIA

Time is amazing. Here we are heading well into March. Spring is rapidly over taking winter and the time will change next week and we will have longer days to cram more things into. I have been trying to sit down at the computer and write something on my blog, but every day when I would get home from work it was straight to the computer trying to straighten out something about insurance.

John and I have decided that it is a huge ploy to drive all people over 65 to drink, suicide or the mental ward. Well right now I am looking at two out of three. I shudder to think what will happen if the government takes over the health care completely. I bet between the two of us, we get 20 pounds of mail a week just about insurance. Don't you think there should be a cheaper easier way? I know I throw away a small forest of paper each week. I could probably have had liposuction and a face lift on what has been spent on just paper alone.

Oh well so much for insurance woos. I have felt pretty good this week after my visit to the emergency room last Saturday night. I have had arrhythmia for years and occasionally have a spell with it, but that night I had ARRHYTHMIA!!. It scared the beejeebees out of both John and I. They did all the things they do, EKG, blood test and chest xray and sent me home with a huge dose of beta blocker and I have an appointment with a cardiologist on Wednesday. I hate going to the doctor so keep me in your thoughts and prayers.

On to happier thoughts. John and I had spent last Saturday at an auction and bought a van load of really interesting things. We got a marble top wash stand, a table to fit in an entry way, a night stand, a chestnut bed, some mirrors and glassware to name a few. I told him that we would probably be featured on the Hoarders or American Pickers in the future. Most of the items will have to be refinished some what.

We spent all day yesterday day carrying things to our antique booth. We put out a lot of stuff and rearranged both booths. At lunch time we went down the mall to Stefano's and had a pizza (they make the best mega pizza with black olives, green olives, Canadian bacon, Italian sausage, pepperoni, peppers and onions. Come back you are losing you train of thought....). After we ate we stopped in at another little antique store that has just been opened. It is called Keepers in the Corner. While we were in there, I talked John into getting another booth. You know a place to put our overflow things. ( Now you understand why we may be on Hoarders or Pickers) I guess John will have to get everything organized there this week. You know I am sort of glad I will be working:)

I feel better now that I have posted on my blog. Now it is off to church and away we go into a new week. Hope everyone has a great one.