Do you see this little gizmo right here? Looks simple, huh? It took me two....count them....two freakin' hours and lots of sweat and choice words to put it together. I swore a long time ago that I would never buy another thing that had to be put together. I must have had a brain fart and forgot!!
I called my dad today after the storms and asked him if he wanted to go to Home Depot with me. He gets so tired of sitting home unable to do much. It doesn't bother Mom to sit at home. She is perfectly happy there reading a book and sometimes I know she needs a break from him. He watches over her very closely so afraid that she will fall. I went and picked him and his truck up and off we went. I bought a lawn mower. Yesterday I bought a weed eater and a hoe, so I am ready to tackle the yard. There's just one problem. The ground is clay. It is so hard that I can't even get the pole in the ground that I hang my hanging baskets on. I bought a mini-sledge hammer and I still couldn't get it in the ground. I'll get my brother to try when he gets back from Branson. I hope I pick the right place to put it because it will be there to stay!!!
During a recent visit to a restaurant in Shreveport, someone relieved me of the center cap of my wheel. These are rare wheels and very hard to find. I looked several places before finding one through the internet. All I am missing is the 7" center cap......do you hear me....7" of metal. I can't find a new one at all, but a good used one is $35. I am ordering 2 just in case some jerk does this to me again. I love my shiny wheels. I don't know if I'll be going back to that restaurant. It was in the middle of the afternoon and the perpetrator even left me a Burger King cup on the ground by my car. What a gent!!!!
I spent the morning in the recliner, but I did manage to get my act together and get more stuff done this afternoon. I emptied the last box in the garage except the 3 that are going to Goodwill soon. The lady I bought the house from was next door today working, so I went over to make a suggestion for her next houses. There is not enough distance in the walk in closet in the master bedroom between the the rods and the bottom shelves and the rods and the floor. My clothes all touch the shelf or the floor. I made the suggestion that she put a little more distance between them in her next houses. She said she would have the carpenters come in and fix mine for me. I wasn't suggesting that she do that, but she volunteered and I am glad. If it stays like it is, my clothes will always be wrinkled and right now I don't even own an ironing board.
Ok...I am officially a farmer and a gardener now. I worked all morning trying to make my yard pretty. Dad brought an old rickety lawn mower here for me to try. It failed....well, I did get the front yard mowed, but the thing was backfiring so much that it sounded like the 4th of July. I gave up without doing the back yard. I think a new lawn mower is in my future.
Then I went to Dad's to help him garden. He thinks he can still do it, but when he tries he just ca
n't do it. I tilled the garden and planted some tomatoes, radishes, turnip greens and potatoes. And yes, I am the one who will be eating heartily from the fresh veggies. You will wish you were here this summer when I am eating the produce! When I finished there, I came back to my yard and ran over the yard with the spreader broadcasting fireant killer and weed and feed. Then it all had to be watered in. I'm learning!!!
When I finished that, I cleaned up and went to the hospital to see my cousin, then came home, made dinner, ate, and now I am tired!
This is my future church. I visited there today and it just felt right. The service was awesome, the music was awesome, and the people were very friendly. I have been invited here by several people and I saw some of them there today. I have not felt compelled to become affiliated with a particular church for a long time. My membership is still at the church where I grew up. I have attended other churches on a regular basis, but never felt the urge to join and get involv
ed. I think this will be different. I hope so. I have longed for a church family for several years, but it just never materialized because I never felt at home at any of the churches I visited.
My phone has been connected for two weeks now. Imagine my anger and disgust when just 2 days after I was connected I started getting telemarketing calls. Now I have proof that it's the phone company (Bell South in this case) that sells the numbers. I am angry and as soon as is possible I will be switching to Vonage. If anyone knows any negatives about Vonage, please let me know. I will probably not be able to keep my same number, but I don't care!!! I barely know it anyway.
Seems like it has rained the whole time I have been in Minden. Last night I went to Ruston with friends to watch their son play baseball and it rained the entire game. Not enough to stop the game, but enough to be cold and miserable. Ruston is where I went to college and it holds many fond memories, but it was hard to recognize any old landmarks because it has changed dramatically since I was there. I do plan to go back in the day time and find my brick with my name on it that I bought years ago!
Today I spent the day (after going to breakfast at Mom and Dad's) in Shreveport shopping for things that I need for the house. It seems the needs (more likely wants) are never ending.
I took a little detour into slothdom yesterday. I have no excuse. The recliner just had a hold on me that normally does not exist. This just happens sometimes. All I do is sit in the recliner and sleep and snore. Sounds like an old lady.....whoa! Maybe that's the problem. The same thing almost happened today, but I just refused to let it happen. I went and bought a headboard for my bed. I have bedside tables that I really like. My dad made them for me years ago when he was playing with woodworking. They are big and tall enough for my tall bed and I didn't want to part with them. If I'm lucky, the new headboard will be about the same color. If not, it will have to do.
Today my mom turned 81. Since there is not a thing in this world that she needs, I went to her house this morning and cleaned her house for her. She really did need that. She hasn't had her cleaning lady in about 6 weeks and she will never be back. She is older than Mom, but didn't want to stop working so Mom let her keep coming even though she couldn't clean very well any longer. The cleaning lady is now in a long term care facility, but I think it will not be long term. I was at Mom's the last time she came and I thought then that she didn't feel well. I asked her and she said she didn't know what was wrong, but she didn't feel well. Within a few days she was in the hospital. Mom didn't let me get one up on her today. Even though it was her birthday, she got in the kitchen (after I cleaned it) and cooked lunch. I told her not to, but she did anyway. She is a sweet, sweet lady!!
I had to stand on a stool to see the ice over my back fence!!
These are icicles on my roof! BRRR!
It's too cold to get much work done on the house. After church today, I made at least 15 trips up the ladder to the attic to store more junk. Why do I have all this stuff? Most of it is sentimental type stuff that no one will ever care about but me. After a few more years, I won't even be able to climb into the attic. I should just get rid of it all now!! I have a box full for Goodwill and I can't even describe how many trips I took to Goodwill before I left Orange. Is there any reason that any one person should need 40 golf shirts? I THINK NOT! I have way too many clothes, but it's all such good stuff that I hate to part with it. What to do! What to do!. Progress is being made. See the pictures!! :) 
My Texas bathroom is almost completed. I had this guest bathroom repainted all white before I moved in because I knew I had to have my Texas bathroom. I still have some final touches before it is completed, but I love it.
This is my new city. It is very quaint with the main streets being paved with brick. Imagine my surprise when I tried to go downtown on Monday and it was all blocked off because Sandra Bullock, one of my very favorite actresses, was filming scenes from a movie there. If I had my senses about me, I would have walked there to see if I could see her. I met someone today who owns a business on Main Street and he showed me some pictures he took of her. Actually, I am just back home. I was born in Minden and raised just 13 miles south of here. My house is coming together nicely. There is still lots to do, but the past two days have been too cold to work in the garage. I did make room for the car since we are expecting freezing rain and sleet tonight. Wow! Big change from Orange,TX!!!
It went off without a hitch except that the movers had to get a trailer to pull behind their truck. I had too much stuff!! They loaded in 2 hours, so we were off by 11 A.M. I arrived in Minden before them where I was greeted by family and friends also bearing gifts. My new home had baskets of goodies from Main Street Bakery, plants, and balloons. The balloons are still a mystery as we do not know who put them in the yard and on the door.
My 14 year old pal and his dad came and hooked up my music system and my computer. Since there was no internet or cable yet, I have been re-acquainting myself with my massive CD collection. AAAhhhhh--I am so happy! Classical music and a fireplace are magical.
There are no better friends on Earth than mine! Four of them...DeLisa, Robin, Michelle, and Amanda....came over Wednesday night before my departure move on Thursday. They were bearing gifts, wine and the most beautiful green plant arrangement I have ever seen. Of course, they also included an Orange, TX t-shirt with their own personalized messages on the back. Then they took me to Acapulco and "made" me drink margaritas. I had a great time and just love those girls. I will miss them dearly.
This is my new kitchen. Look for me on the Food network soon giving Paula Deen a lesson!!
Today I am turning in my Road Runner equipment and will not be posting for awhile. Not sure how long it will take to get hooked back up to the world once I get settled in my new home. I'm guessing I'll be up and running in about a week, so stay tuned for updates from the new digs!!!
Last week I was at a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Lake Charles and outside where they have all the rocking chairs, they had purple LSU chairs. Sooooo......I went to the Cracker Barrel in Beaumont to see if they had Texas school chairs. They had one UT chair left and I bought it. If they would have had a Texas A&M chair, I would have bought it as well.....so, no need for all you Aggies to be upset! I'm guessing that the Cracker Barrels in all states have their schools on chairs....Clemson, for example!!!
