Hello......Hello.......I'm Home!

Well you try getting up in the morning at four a.m. and going off to breakfast in a delightful restaurant in Coos Bay where the oatmeal is thick and real cream is served along with brown sugar and a huge warm bran muffin with apple sauce, then hit the road home with the worst storm on the coast in years. Of course we didn't believe the weathermen, they never tell it as is, well . . . almost never. . .unlucky for us as they forgot to change the sign telling us of the twenty seven miles of very high winds and the snow on the valley floor, which had happened a day or two before, so we worried for nothing. It did hail here and there, and it did rain in spots but very few and by ten a.m. we were back home safe and sound. When I got to my front porch I found it was covered with hail and slush, slippery, the results of the storms they have been having here. We didn't hit real weather until we got closer to home. Well, all in all, we made it and I would say for the most part we had a very good time. Our problem is that we, daughter Pat and I, are not in what you would call athletic shape. Pat has M.S. which creates walking problems and, as for me, old age is the deciding factor as to whether I will get around . . . the old gray mare ain't what she used to be!!!

One of the best parts of travel is looking out and to see the storm clouds take over the entire sky. The imagination soars as the clouds part with sun rising in the east coming behind them and making spectacular pictures. We saw a conch shell in the clouds that was so pretty, oh where is the camera when you want to take a special shot...home..of course; well live and learn, next time I'll be prepared.

When I got my key out to open the door, I saw a long florist box, wow, flowers for me? yeah! I never get flowers, well I can't say never, I have gotten flowers over the years from my children. I had to ask them to stop as I thought they were outrageously priced and I didn't want them spending money on me, when I'd be happy with a big hug, but here was the box and I brought it inside and then spent a good half hour trying to open it. There were no directions on the outside and it was glued shut, I swear. I finally wised up and got out my scissors and made quick work of it and what did I find??? Roses, long stem roses that are so beautiful. I have never, ever, had long stemmed roses and here I am with a bouquet that fills the room with the aroma of summer and the beauty of our world. Joellen sent me this beautiful bouquet as a thank you gift for staying with us at Christmas . . . so unnecessary as she is a welcome guest anytime and all it costs her is a scrabble game. How lucky I am even though I sound ungrateful as I say 'don't do that again . . . save your money for a trip out and come soon. It is a Valentine I'll always remember.

All in all the trip was a success. We came home broke . . . an expected fact . . . after trying out some of the new penny machines which have been changed quite a bit since they first came out. You can now play up to one hundred games and even more and you can play starting at forty cents up to three dollars and even more but I didn't stop to count all of that up, I just looked and thought of how dumb to try to fight those odds. I did win a five spot and I did put it back into several new games that were fun to play, so I had my play time and our trips around town to the thrift stores looking for a special book for friend Marge. Not lucky this time.
I'm not sure we will make that trip again. I sort of felt like this was a last time. The economy is taking its toll on businesses and the quality is not there anymore. The stores are all but empty even with a seventy-five percent discount. I asked a clerk in Macy's , "What happened to the quality of Macy's merchandise? We always paid a little more but got such good quality for our money." Her response was one of shock that I had such nerve, then responded with, "Well, we are at least better than Walmart." I wanted to say ''not by much, as everything comes from China at Macy's too." I didn't but I also didn't buy a thing. We have been taken to the 'cleaners' by the big companies going abroad for cheap labor, a sad but true fact of life and now we are paying a price for it. So before I make up all my off days in one blog, I had better wish you a good rest of today and hope that you have been having a good time doing what you love to do best. Did I tell you I missed all of you . . . I did!! Hugs to all.