Rival newspapers

Here in this tiny little Tidy Town we have 2 town newspapers and 1 county newspaper. It is quite a rivalry among the town papers and people are fanatic in their support of one and hatred of the other. That extends to businesses and in what's going on in town. So it's funny that most people know only half of the events going on in town. I'm sure I'm considered a traitor by everyone because I subscribe to both newspapers. I also get the St. Louis newspaper on Sundays. I'm sure at the next harvest celebration I'll be the one to draw the paper with the black mark (just kidding - but wondering if they had such a lottery here did cross my mind when I first moved here! Aside note: If you haven't read The Lottery, a short story, you may be wondering what the hell I'm talking about. Check it out - a quick read and a great story, plus it was made into a movie.)

I'm getting an impressive grocery list going but I'm waiting a couple days yet before I go. I want to have to make just one trip for the month so I'm scouring the shelfs and pantry to be sure I have absolutely everything on the list I might want or need.

The temps have cooled off quite a bit. It may make 70 degrees today - the temps tonight are supposed to be in the low 40's so I may be turning on my heat. I need to put a call out to the plumber to have him come and service the furnace.

Guess it's time to get the day started......

Bluegrass Weekend

This weekend was definitely a busy one. The weather here was gorgeous and it was one of the last big festival weekends in town. Saturday morning I headed out to the apple festival, mostly to get an apple dumpling. One of the local churches makes several thousand and you have to get there early or they may run out. I was lucky and ate one there and got another to bring home to enjoy Sunday. After spending a bit of time checking out the booths and tables it was time to move on to hear some bluegrass out in the park. It wasn't nearly as packed as I thought it would be (everyone was at the apple festival), but still a nice crowd. The players are broken up into groups and spread themselves out around the campground section of the park and it was fun to listen to some different groups.

The camp ground section of the park always makes me laugh. The park is located on the edge of town - a whole mile away from downtown proper. The local people here, in town, rent the campground spaces - and the spaces come with rather large trailers that probably sleep six. And this is the part that truly gets me - they rent them so that they can get away from the city! I roll on the floor laughing everytime someone says that. They honestly don't go home - did I happen to mention it's 1 mile away - so they stop their mail and newspaper deliveries. They stock up on groceries - there's a supermarket right outside the park! And they think they're roughing it in the wilds of Illinois.

I needed a good laugh this morning.......

National Good Neighbor Day

Yeah, right.....

The weather here is that strange mix of cold nights and hot days. The temps during the day are getting up into the high 80's, but the nights cool right of back into the 50's. So yesterday it got a little warm by the late afternoon but I decided not to turn on the air. By this morning I had the heavy blankets over me and it's nice and cool throughout the whole house.

I haven't had what my grandmother would have called gumption the last couple of days. I think the most of that has been the lack of sleep. Last night I finally was exhausted and, for me, got a relatively good night of rest. Today starts the bluegrass jam in the park. Apparently musicians just kind of roam around into different groups and jam. I thought I'd go over after lunch and hopefully listen to some good music.

Everyone here in town is gearing up for the apple festival tomorrow. For this town it's second only to the Halloween parade for attendance. So I need to find my gumption and get this day started......

You have the wrong name, number, and address

In the 3 years since I've lived here at the new Frog Central location I have had people coming to the door looking for someone who no longer lives here (and in one instance never lived here). I've had pizza delivery people who had the wrong address. And I've been plagued with wrong number phone calls - everything from one gentleman wanting me to drop everything and run right over to fix his plumbing to one guy screaming at me because I didn't have his tax returns ready. I've laughed them all off as people getting one number wrong with dialing, or not knowing that people have moved, but yesterday took the cake. I received in the mail two months worth of Oprah magazine. I did not order them, my name was not on the cover, but it was my address. And if you've ever picked up one of those magazines, they are huge. I mean HUGE! Over 360 pages (most of it advertising from what I saw). So I called up the subscription people and they were real nice about the whole thing when I explained the situation - right address, wrong name - but get this, they've cancelled the subscription but it will take 2 to 3 months for it to stop. I may have to get a new mailbox because that magazine, did I say, is huge - and heavy! It certainly keeps me on my toes.......

Autumnal Equinox

Happy Autumn! While that may be the big news generally, my calendar has other ideas - today is Hobbit Day. I enjoyed the books and liked the movies about the hobbits, and I'm sure somewhere in the world people are donning their costumes, ready to celebrate the day.

The weather finally cleared up here at Frog Central, and today's temps are going to the mid-80's. After so many days with the air conditioner off and windows open, I think this afternoon it will be back on.

I opened up my refrigerator last night to a large pop - the light blew. I now realize how much you depend on that little light. When I walk in to the kitchen to get a drink or raid the ice box I never turn on a light. Even in the dead of night it's just one of those trips you don't need an overhead light for because once you get to the fridge you open the door and voila!, there's a built in little light to guide your way. It's disappointing to open the door and not being able to see what you have. And how can that little piece of chocolate cake in the back, behind the jar applesauce properly call to you. It's all so disheartening. So I'm running out now to get a new little light for my refrigerator. No call from chocolate cake should ever go unheard......

Thunderstorms

We're in between thunderstorms at the moment so thought I'd put up a quick blog entry. It's been a stormy weekend here in Tidy Town, but thankfully there wasn't much planned. This next weekend is another story - the big Appleknocker festival will be in full swing. Also the bluegrass jam will be taking place at the park. I'm going to try and hit both for a little bit. There are a myriad of other things planned also. It's the one weekend where this town feels like a bigger place than it is. There is a huge influx of people - and the best part of all is that the festival funds go to the school and civic groups and helps keep them funded throughout the year.

I was a little hungry last night. Not starving, but just wanted a little something to tide me over to this morning. I decided on making blueberry muffins. I had a mix, that all I had to do was add milk and bake them off. Of course 17 pieces of bakeware, utensils, and bowls later I finally had 5 of the smalles blueberry muffins you'd ever seen. I decided to run the dishwasher to clean up - and I never run the dishwasher, prefering to clean up the few items in the sink quickly by hand. Who knew that one little package of muffin mix could cause such carnage in the kitchen! On the other hand, I was no longer hungry.......

RRRRR Matey!

Today is National Talk Like A Pirate Day. Well shiver me timbers!

Today is going to be warm and humid. The weatherman is calling for rain tonight and tomorrow and I can believe it. I woke up this morning feeling like I'd been run over by a Mack truck. Every joint is screaming, so I took one of the pills the doctor gave me and I should be feeling better in about an hour.

A big Happy Birthday to EH in Mississippi - don't party too hard this weekend in the big easy of New Orleans.

I found out last night that pasta does not keep forever on the shelf. It took forever to make. I ended up boiling it for over 30 minutes to get it somewhere near soft enough to eat. Then I was kind of afraid to, but it tasted alright. I don't eat pasta all that much these days, but I guess I really should clean out the cupboards a bit more often.

On to today....... Hope you have a good weekend.

A late start to the day

I've been forcing myself to stay up later evenings. I find that I'm so tired I fall right asleep and get a pretty good night of rest. The downside is that I'm tired when I get up in the morning. So I was surprised when I got up this morning and it wasn't my usual 6 a.m., but instead nearly 8:30!! I've been running around this morning like a chicken with its head cut off doing my morning chores to get back on track.

I had a phone call last night from MG. He's planning on visiting next month for a couple of days. It sounds like he's pretty busy - his two boys are into the boy scouts (or whatever they call the pre-boy scouts) and he's one of the leaders. It made us both feel a bit old to realize that we've been friends for the better part of 25 years.

Another throw back to childhood - today is National Play-dough Day. I can remember opening those small cans of different colors and the smell wafting up. It mesmerized you as you created all kinds of things your imagination could conjure up. Of course I'm sure mom loved it too as she vacuumed up the crumbs out of the carpet!

I think with that I better get this day started........

Mire of the Damned

Well, that's what it feels like sometimes. Yesterday I was busy catching up with AB, who returned from her long weekend in Cape May and had a great time. That and a million little small around the house jobs kept me hopping all day. When I finally got a minute to relax and was ready to blog it was nearly midnight. I obviously decided against it and went to bed. I had to get out the heavy blanket last night - the temps here dropped into the 40's! I was almost tempted to turn on the heat, but the daytime temps are nearing 80, so I just bundle up.

I got a lot of inquiries yesterday about how are things going here in southern Illinois because the national news showed a lot flooding, power outages, and people being rescued by boats. Here in Tidy Town we got wind and a good soaking, but nothing extreme. I know that St. Louis, which is where one of the local news programs comes from, shut their flood walls because of rising water. Apparently there are still people without power in the area, but again, nothing happened here. Thanks to all those who wrote with their concerns.

I awoke this morning with a headache. So while I'm waiting for the aspirin to kick in, I think I'll go cover up with my afghan and rest my eyes, as my dad would say......

Cool Monday Morning

It was a quiet weekend here at Frog Central. I heard from AB first thing Saturday morning - she's in Cape May - how Victorian! I used to live in that area and would love to go back for a visit. I think gas prices are generally going to be high though through the winter, so maybe next year. The weather here was hot on Saturday and so I decided not to go out to check out any of the surrounding old home days which were taking place. The remnants of hurricane Ike blew through on Sunday and things were very windy and rainy for a bit. A couple small limbs fell off the tree but nothing major. The people along the coast were not so lucky. I was listening to NPR this morning and people were upset that FEMA had not made it there with ice. Apparently some mix-up between the federal, state, and local officials. AGAIN! They really need to get things straightened out.

This morning things are cool. The temps dropped into the 50's overnight and it's supposed to bounce back into the 70's by this afternoon. Nothing is on the schedule for today, but I'd like to get out to Walmart to do a little bit of shopping. I ran out of hot chocolate and that's my morning eye opener. Petey, my cockatiel (I really have to get a picture of her up), was up early whistling for me. Through half-open eye lids I got her out of her cage and put her on my shoulder. As I filled her food dish she's saying "thank you." I've been working with her to say thank you for a long time. Only recently is she taking to talking as well as whistling.

Enough procrastinating - it's time to get the day started. Rather a late start today and I really want to do is crawl back into bed....... zzzzz.....zzzzzz.......

Gas Lines

It was flashback to the 70's this morning. I had to run a couple errands this morning - post office and bank - and you couldn't get down main street. There was a line pretty much all the way down through town. I wondered what the hell was going on - then I drove past the gas station. Gas jumped over 50 cents overnight - in anticipation of Ike closing down the gas pipe lines I guess. People were just nuts wanting to be sure they go theirs. Thankfully I put gas in the car a while ago and still have over half a tank. That should last me for a bit - until this whole thing blows over. It's amazing though, they say that the gas stations are pumping gas they actually bought months ago - that's the reason the price didn't drop as fast as the cost of a barrel of oil. Yet it sure went up awful fast - and the price of barrel of oil hasn't really gone up this morning - hmmm! - I wonder how they'll explain that one.

It finally rained here this morning. It was thunder and lightning for most of the night, but it didn't start raining until early this morning. They weatherman says we're going to have rain on and off for the next three days. I had to turn on the air for a bit this morning to take some of the humidity out ot the air.

I've got a lot yet to today, so I guess I better get to it......

Homecoming Days

All the local communities here in souther Illinois are having their home days, a time when everyone congregates in the center of town for fun and frivolities. They've been going on for most of the last month and the next town over is having theirs this coming weekend. I always find this particular town's home days interesting because they are the only one to advertise their frog jumping contest. This year much of their advertising also centered around the frog theme. While I usually avoid these gatherings, I may have to make the trip over to check it out this year.

We need a do not e-mail list!

I turned on my computer yesterday afternoon to find over a hundred e-mails in my inbox. I spent the rest of the afternoon getting them all cleaned off - almost all junk. There should be a national do not e-mail list!

This cooler weather meant great sleeping, although I woke up sore this morning from not doing my usual tossing and turning. I even fell asleep with the light on and the crossword puzzle I was working on next to the pillow. Good thing I didn't roll over the pencil - I had just sharpened it last evening. That would have woken me up - pronto!

I spent some time yesterday going through old computer discs to see what was on them and whether they needed to be kept or not. I was able to thin out quite a few, especially since a lot of them are not compatibile with the new Vista operating system.

Well today is National Swap Ideas Day according to my calendar. Not sure I have a good idea to swap - maybe I'll just have to listen to a few.....

Drip....Drip.....Drip.....

Last night I don't think I got any sleep at all. It's amazing how well the sound from a dripping faucet in the kitchen travels through the dinning room, down the hall, and into the bedroom. It seemed to be magnified as it traveled. I finally got up and put a sponge under the drip. It's not a fast drip, just slow enough so that as your eyes closed and you start to drift off - DRIP! - and you wake up with a start thinking someone is in the house. It's times like that I miss the Frog Wrangler the most - she was fiercely protective and her growl would have stopped someone in their tracks.

Of course I live in Tidy Town now, where people simply do not run around robbing each other. The streets roll up promptly at dusk and this sleep little town doesn't tolerate noise or wandering people after that time.

So today, which was planned on being very busy running a couple errands and continuing scrubbing the hallway floors, will have to be put on hold while I take a nap. No sleep has given me a heck of headache - and I can barely keep my eyes open.

No Air Conditioning!

The weather never really made it out of the 60's yesterday so it was nice to turn off the air conditioner. The weather for the next few days is supposed to stay in the 70's so it will be nice to open the windows and air the place out a bit. As AB would say - to air out the farts.

I woke up this morning feeling much better. Whatever remnants of Gustav that had been hanging around have finally moved on, giving my joints some much needed relief.

I watched the new program Dog Town last night. They are showing the rehabilitation of a number of the dogs that were part of the fighting ring for Michael Vick. The things that were done to those dogs brought tears to my eyes, especially the one that had all of her teeth removed so she could be bred forcefully. I'm not a fan of pit bulls because I've been on the wrong side of one that had been bred for fighting, but no dog should be forced to endure those atrocities. I just don't understand the psyche of people who think such a thing is ok.

Have a good weekend. It's time to put today into motion......

Ouch!

After a couple days of full-on gung-ho cleaning and errands, yesterday it was like I slammed into a brick wall going 100 mph. I barely made it out of bed yesterday. The remnants of Gustav came through and the pressure changes did a number on my joints. Even hanging onto my walker was tough. Today I'm still sore but feeling a tad bit better.

I'm glad all the political conventions are over and television can get back to normal. Although Wednesday I watched my favorite show, Ghost Hunters. Those EVP's are just the freakiest thing ever. To run a tape recorder - go back and listen to it and hear answers to questions or general comments. It all just makes you wonder what really happens on the other side. The team this week went to a former funeral home - lots of noises coming from the attic area - they go up and see shadows moving around - also freaky. But to get that EVP saying "Leave me alone," that just sends shivers down your spine. And when they catch somebody walking around with their thermal cameras. OK, I'm technically freaked out this morning.....

I finally got my money back from the botched shadow box that I had ordered. A good friend, who is also a woodworker is looking to make me one. I have all of the Frog Wrangler's items ready to go and I think it will be a nice way to show off my memories of her.

So today is National Be Late For Something Day. I'm sure I'll find something today to be late for.... but not my afternoon nap!

Coupons

I was out of the house at 6 this morning to run a couple errands before the heat of the day set in. Also, the remnants of Gustav are supposed to be coming in this afternoon and tomorrow and I didn't want to be out trying to run errands and getting wet. Today is the 3rd so there were the usual pile of bills to send out. Then it was off to Walmart. The coupons I've collected this last month paid off pretty good. The bill came to $65 before coupons and $46 after. Not too bad. I swung by McDonalds on the way home and got one of those McGriddle sandwiches. I like one of them every now and then.

Television last night was terrible. I ended up turning the tv off until Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert - my two favorite programs. Later I ended up watching the beginning of the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. He is truly funny and I like that his opening ten minutes or so when he's doing his monologue - it is entirely improvised.

Re-energized

Hope you had a good weekend. Birdie and I spent the weekend whistling at each other. It was in the high 80's and low 90's for most of the weekend, so I stayed in. Today it's back to the grind. I'm spending the day today running the vacuum cleaner and doing a bit of cleaning. I'm re-energized and ready to go.