HANGING OUT WITH MY FAVORITE AUTHOR!

I haven't been on here a lot lately. I have been organizing a lot of our travels over on my Band Of Gypsies blog. That's been a lot of fun and eventually if I decide to make it into a book, the work will be mostly done.

This morning I was checking the blogs as is my usual custom, when I discovered much to my delight that my favorite Author and Christian teacher, Beth Moore herself was going to be in town for a book signing from 11-1:00PM!!! I decided to get to Barnes and Noble at 10:30 to secure my spot in line. I didn't have an advance ticket since I had just heard of the event. I purchased an extra copy of her newest book, "So Long Insecurity" for my best friend Brenda and got into the overflow line. Any time you get a bunch of us "Beth Moore Groupies" together, it's like we're old friends, asking one another which is our favorite study of hers, have we been to any of the Simulcasts or Living Proof events and so on. She made her way towards us and stopped right in front of me to speak to a young woman that she obviously knew. She then bent down and talked to this precious little girl who from the sounds of it, is a playmate of her grandson Jackson. Beth was so focused on that little girl like it was just the 2 of them in that huge bookstore. They finished and she continued on. I was 6 inches away from her and realized what a tiny thing she really is! She may be tiny in stature but assuredly, she is mighty in the annointing of the Holy Spirit!

The line moved along at a good pace and as I go closer, I saw a lady that we used to go to church with standing around looking for someone. She was Charlie's Sunday school teacher back when he was in Kindergarten! I hollered her name and we hugged and chatted. She told me she had an extra advance ticket and would I like to go get in line with her. At first I felt guilty but then remembered that guilt doesn't come from God so I was okay with moving up in line! Ha Ha!

We had been told we couldn't go back behind the table and pose for pictures with Beth. Do you know that precious lady stepped out from behind the table and posed with us! I was so excited when she hugged me that I wanted to squeal! She said what a blessing all of us ladies are to her. When I thanked her for her ministry to us I started to get a little choked up. I don't think I've come off my cloud yet!

ORGANIZATION

Yesterday we had a fierce thunderstorm, the best kind but without the hail that will pummel my car! Good thing since I finally got it back from being repaired after my being rear-ended accident, 3 weeks ago. In the midst of the storm I decided to run an errand to Bed, Bath & Beyond that had been put on hold because I didn't want to get caught in the rain. I have been wanting some zippered, soft-sided storage containers to store the china in. I re-organized the china cabinet a while ago to better display my growing collection of pink, depression glass ware and since we NEVER eat off the china, it made sense to store it. I had stacked it, unprotected in the buffet section and knowing Murphy's Law, it would only be a matter of time before something was chipped or broken. Surprisingly, I estimated what I was going to need, pretty well, all but an extra casserole dish and an extra set of S&P shakers and an extra sugar & creamer is stored and protected. That means I organized the buffet and have it in good working order. I would like to jettison some of Dave's "stuff" that he stores in the drawers (tax forms, receipts, statements etc) so I could better store linens and flatware but that's a battle I don't want to have to gird my loins over and I won't.

For Christmas I got a gift certificate to Amazon (which is an ideal gift for someone like me) and purchased 3 books (used, the only way to buy!) on identifying pink depression glass ware. It's actually interesting and who knew there were so many manufacturers of the stuff! I haven't been able to identify a couple of my pieces so there's a part of me that says,
"WOW you have found something really rare!"
and then the other part of me says,
"It's obviously a reproduction and probably a dime a dozen which is why they don't even bother to put it in the book!"
Whatever its origin, I bought it because it appealed to me and even if it was made in the 1970's, guess what, it's an antique now! I buy what I like and if it happens to have monetary value, well that's a bonus!

I've been spending a bit of time over at the new blog and am pretty excited about it. I should've started a travel blog years ago to keep it separate from all of these ramblings and rumblings that go on over here. Be sure to stop over there and say hi to me. If I'm not here, there's a good chance I am over there!

NOT MUCH

Not much going on here lately. It's been rather quiet and boring as of late. The days all seem to run together and before I know it, the weekend has come and gone and we're doing it all over again! Today is a work day but I'll be done by 1PM and then I have the rest of the day free. I did my grocery shopping yesterday as well as some of my meal preparations for the week which means, dinner is already made for tonight. I cooked beef tips in gravy and all that remains is peeling potatoes and fixing a veggie side dish for tonight. The weather is warming up, the trees are budding and I am realizing that in a couple of weeks, we will start working on the flower beds. My blue bonnets are bursting up out of the ground and it looks like it'll be a colorful Spring.

This time of the year puts the camping bug in my ear. I am excited about our vacation plans for this year which will include some camping at my favorite National Park-Glacier National Park up in Montana. This year marks their Centennial and Dave, knowing how much I love Glacier, altered our vacation plans to accomodate our vacationing there. Originally we were going to do a Spring trip down to Big Bend National Park in West Texas until we realized how significant this year was to GNP. Our goal is to catch as many of the Centennial celebrations at our National Parks as we can. After Glacier, the next one will be Rocky Mountain NP in 2015. I have repeatedly said that Yellowstone ios a National Park that everyone should visit once in their lifetime. The diversity of Geysers, wildlife, hot springs and waterfalls make this an amazing wonderland. I'd be remiss in not adding Glacier to that list of must-see Parks. There is also the Grand Canyon, Bryce, Yosemite....hmmm just get out there an see what you can, they've all been preserved for a reason!

Out of this love for our National Parks, I have decided to start yet another blog! It will be our vacation blog as well as have pictures of some of our past trips. So, consider yourself invited to stop by "BAND OF GYPSIES" a visit.

SATURN

Most people that know us, also know that we are a Saturn Family! I joked that we should be able to do a commercial for the company since we are such loyal customers. Our enthusiasm spilled over to our best friends back in Missouri and as a result they have owned, still own, multiple Saturns as well. We have enjoyed our Saturn vehicles, they're not fancy, just a good, basic car! With the recent automobile disaster, we hoped that GM wasn't going to put their Saturn line on the chopping block. The deal with PENSKE fell through and alas, we are automobile orphans now! Our long term plan of buying a Saturn Outlook when we retire 5 years from now, has been thwarted and we will have to come up with Plan B. With loving fondness for a piece of machinery, I give you the trusty Saturn vehicle!

It all began with a 1995 white SL1 Saturn. This little stick shifted automobile has seen a lot of work over the many years! Dave I taught Jessica and Laura how to drive on a stick. Jessica while in high school, learned the art of loading a drum set and transporting friends to youth group at the same time. She drove this car for a few years and then we gave it to Laura. I am happy to report that with over 222,000 miles, this little work horse is still going strong!

When Jessica moved out in 2001 and needed a car of her own, she bought herself a 1994 maroon Saturn SL2. She eventually trded it in for a new car but the bottom line is that we had influenced her well! This is a 1994 Saturn SL2.


During routine mainainence on the 1995 Saturn at the dealership, I met Bob the salesman. He was really nice and let me drive the VUE which was on my radar. I always liked the look of that car and told him that we would be in the market for a new car in the next year and to give me his card, which he did. Imagine his surprise when we walked back nto the dealership 10 months later asking for him to sell us a 2005 "Storm Gray" colored Saturn ION. I enjoyed this car a lot and we quickly started to put quite a few miles on it. I still liked the VUE but Dave wasn't on board yet.



We hadn't had the car but a little over 2 years when out of the blue Dave told me to go down and ask Bob about a VUE. He didn't have to tell me twice since I still liked that car a lot! Within a couple of days, I came home with my blue 2007 Saturn VUE. So it is currently in the shop since I got rear-ended 2 weeks ago but no matter, this has been my absolute favorite car to drive! It's perfect for Dave and I on our trips, just the right size and good gas mileage!



The last Saturn to join our family is Charlie's light blue 2002 SL2. I told Bob to start looking out for a "Unicorn" for us. He explained a Unicorn as a mythical creature that doesn't exist-low mileage, well maintained, an affordable used car. I drove Charlie's car home that night! Charlie has a fossilized frog wedged in the grill ever since last summer, he attempted to dislodge him and only managed to pull off one of his legs so Kermit remains.


We just received a letter from the Saturn Dealership where we have bought all 5 of our cars. They were sad to announce that despite attempts to convert their showroom over to used cars, the owner was going to have to abandon that prospect. He and his wife are good Christian people and he asked us to pray for his employees that they would be provided for. Bob our salesman has 4 kids, 2 of which are in college. So it is sad losing an old friend this way....