Kim's Thoughts
Just a few thoughts I feel worthy of jotting down!
Baby Therapy!
There is nothing like a baby or a puppy to put a smile on people’s faces and bring tears of joy to the eyes of even the least sentimental among us! Gazing into the eyes of something so innocent, so new, so curious is so incredibly amazing! Holding a baby or playing with a puppy is the best way to totally forget all about whatever is eating away at you – it is the best therapy in the world!
An old saying goes something like “where there’s one, there’s three” or “they come in threes”! I am fascinated by the # 3 (check out a previous post devoted to the # 3), so I always watch for ways to prove this old wives’ tale! But, this year has blown it totally out of the water when it comes to people I know who are having babies! Four of my friends are pregnant – all due within a month or so of each other! There are others I know in town who are also pregnant. There are at least 3 women at work who are pregnant – one on my staff! And my nephew’s wife is about 24 weeks pregnant for my very first great-nephew!! WOW!!
I have been overwhelmed with emotion over the past week or so! And babies and puppies have been the reason! It wasn’t in the cards for me to have a baby of my own — the son I raised came to me the easy way — when he was 6 years old! Although I love him and he is my son in every way that counts, I still feel that I missed out on an important experience! So, I think that makes me adore being around babies and love watching friends and family enjoy the experience even more!
All of a sudden, it seems like the mini baby boom I mentioned here is bubbling with events and activities:
-
This past week, I received an email with the 22 week ultrasound photo of my great-nephew! It wasn’t the first photo I have received, but it came at a time when I am a buzz with other local baby events. I hate that they live so far away and I can’t watch Bryan and Brianne enjoy this wonderous time in their lives. We were all so happy about the Thanksgiving/Christmas time last year because Brianne was pregnant, but that one wasn’t meant to be. Now, she is more than 1/2 way into her pregnancy and we all can’t wait to meet the little guy!!!
-
I’ve been having so much fun shopping for baby gifts! Looking for those perfect gift items for showers and just to celebrate the joy of pregnancy and birth has been such a rush! Especially for the two I know who are having little girls — not to down play the wonder of little boys, but I do get an extra special enjoyment out of buying baby girl gifts!
-
On Saturday, I attended a baby shower – for one of the two baby girls I know – and had a great time ooo-ing and aaa-ing over the little booties, outfits, hats, and other assorted gifts that were opened – mostly pink and all adorable!
-
At about 12:30 am on Saturday morning, Hayley Alexandra Liggett was born! Click here to read her proud Dad’s blog post and editorial column. Due to the miracle of modern technology, her Mom and Dad were able to let all their Facebook friends know within minutes after her arrival that she was here and posted photos to show us how absolutely beautiful she was. I, along with other Facebook friends, waited up in anxious anticipation for the news and shed tears of joy at being able to share in their magical event!
-
This evening, I was able to meet Hayley in person and she is incredible! The entire time I visited with her parents and grandparents, I was able to hold that precious angel! What a wonderful feeling! There is something about having a baby cradled in your arms and the way a baby smells — so soothing — the perfect therapy for a long hard day! I had a great time and could have sat there for hours on end!
-
On Sunday, I volunteered with CARA for a puppy adopt-a-thon and I got to play with and cuddle puppies for a couple hours! What a joy that was! The puppy I took care of was named Maestro and he was adorable and playful and loveable – I hope someone gives him a forever home soon – he will make a wonderful addition to anyone’s family! I went home all covered with puppy slobber and hair — the girls gave me the sniffing third degree to figure out where I had been and why I smelled like strange dogs, but it was so worth it!
-
This Saturday I plan to attend a baby shower for another friend and can’t wait to see all the adorable baby things she gets! What fun!
-
I am starting to shop and gather a variety of cute little things for the upcoming arrival of my great-nephew! His Dad, my nephew, is a huge UNC fan, so I’ve been picking up UNC themed baby items, as well as other stuff! I am planning a trip up home in the next couple of months and will likely take what I have so far with me! I am looking forward to seeing Brianne pregnant and checking out what preparations they have made for the baby — if I know Bryan, they already have the room ready and waiting! I have a lot of catching up to do with them while I’m there!
So — babies galore!! How wonderful it is to watch a new generation develop before my eyes! And to be able to share in the joy of all the new parents is a pleasure, indeed! I can’t wait to be a great aunt! He will be the first of that generation in our family and I just know we’re all going to spoil him rotten!!!
Congratulations to all the new and soon to be new parents – my friends and family!
Catching Up – Reviews, recipes, and more…
I had family visiting the last two weeks, so I didn’t take time to blog! So – this post will catch up on movie and theater reviews, a made up recipe, and more thoughts worth jotting down! We crammed a lot into two weeks and it ended way too soon! But, it was a great two weeks!
Family
I love having my Mom here — I really wish I could talk her into coming for more extended visits or to go ahead and move down here! But, I’ll take whatever time I can get. She was here two weeks this time and it was great! The extra thrill this time was that my brother and his wife came for a long weekend while Mom was here. It is the first time they have been to my current home. The whole two week period was one treat after another!
The girls LOVED having company, too — they had non-stop attention and someone here just about all the time! They love it when Mom comes, anyway — but when Kevin and Ace were here, too, they really ate that up!
Recipe
One night last week, Mom and I started thinking about what we wanted to do for dinner. Mom said that she knew what she’d like to have, but didn’t know what to call it or even if it was something we could find somewhere! She said the only name she could think of was “Hamburger Pie” — I asked if she meant something like a “Shepherd’s Pie” and she said no — more like the Calzones we had at Elizabeth’s, but with hamburger! She asked if I thought we could special order one with hamburger! I said I didn’t think so, but we can make it ourselves easy!!! So, we made a list of what we thought should go in it and I ran to Food Lion to buy the ingredients! Here is what we came up with:
Hamburger
Bertolli Olive Oil and Garlic Tomato Sauce
Italian Seasonings
Onions
Peppers
Mushrooms
Mozzerella Cheese
Pillsbury Pizza Dough
Parmesean Cheese
We scrambled the hamburger, chopped onions and peppers with Italian Seasonings in a saute pan. Then we mixed in enough tomato sauce to thoroughly coat the meat mixture. We scooped the mixture onto the pizza dough. For mine, I just rolled it up like a Calzone and put it in the oven. For Mom’s, she added mushrooms and mozzarella cheese before she rolled it up and then she topped it with parmesan cheese. We baked them per the instructions on the dough until it was nicely browned on the outside.
It was actually pretty good!!!! If we had more time, we probably would have made our own dough, but it was supper time and we were hungry, so we opted for the canned dough – which was just fine! We didn’t come up with a good name for it, but I would definitely make it again!
Reviews
Over the past two weeks, we saw several movies – some at the theater and some from NetFlix – and a performance at the Temple Theatre! I won’t go into a lot of detail, but here are some brief summaries of our opinions:
BINGO, The Musical – I got tickets to see the first show of the Temple Theatre season on the Friday night after my brother and his wife arrived. Mom, Kevin, Ace, and I had dinner at Elizabeth’s and then went to see the show at the theatre. It was a delightfully entertaining show. The best part? Peggy Taphorn as Vern! Peggy has great comic timing and it is a joy to experience her song and dance routines! But, in this show, she did a totally enjoyable Clint Eastwood impersonation! It was a fun start to the Temple season. I look forward to the rest of the schedule.
Love Happens – Mom and I saw this at Spring Lane Cinemas. Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart starred in this dramatic romantic comedy. We really enjoyed this movie! But, I wasn’t prepared for it to be as sad as it was at times. It is a really good story – very well done and exceptionally acted! But — a lot of it was pretty intense! The basic story, in a nut shell (without spoiling anything), is about a guy (Aaron Eckhart) who is a motivational speaker who helps people through their grief over the loss of a loved one, but never really worked through his own! But, it is not all gloomy — it is also heart warming, touching, and funny at times. Jennifer Aniston’s character comes along to bring a breath of fresh air into his life. The characters are very real and believable. I would recommend it — but, yeah — be prepared for some intense scenes — take some Kleenex or napkins in with you!!!!
Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself– Mom and I also saw this one at Spring Lane Cinemas. As with most Tyler Perry stories, there was some Madea being her usual outrageous self and a strong moral message. Hope Olaide Wilson was wonderful as sixteen year old Jennifer. Her Aunt April was portrayed by Taraji P. Henson. Jennifer and her brothers were living with their Grandmother after their mother died of drug abuse. When Grandma doesn’t come home from work for several days, Jennifer takes matters into her own hands to take care of her brothers – including stealing to get them money for food and the medicines one of her brothers needs. They are dumped on their Aunt April, who doesn’t welcome the inconvenience! Circumstances and emotions tear at them and bring them together. Highlights in the movie include several songs at a local night club and church by Taraji P. Henson, Gladys Knight, Mary J. Blige, and Marvin Winans. Definitely a good one to go see!
NetFlix– We saw several movies from NetFlix over the two weeks — some when Kevin and Ace were there and some just Mom and me! The movies we saw included: Gran Torino, We Own The Night, The Sentinel, Domestic Disturbance, Ghost Town, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Last Chance Harvey, and New In Town. We liked all but one on some level – some more than others! I think the best one was Domestic Disturbance. The one we were most disappointed in was Ghost Town. I didn’t think I saw this one before, but about 1/2 way through it, I realized I had seen it. But, I was surprised when I went back to read my review from when I saw it at the theater — I actually liked it then!!! This time it was only mildly funny and actually pretty lame! I previously saw all of them and wrote reviews on all but two of them – click on the titles to go see my original reviews – I still pretty much agree with my thoughts at the time (except for Ghost Town).
That’s it……
Search and ye shall find…
Every once in a while, I like to look at the history of search terms that resulted in someone finding my blog. I get a chuckle out of some of them. But, for the most part, it looks like my blog may have provided information or links that someone was looking for…..for that I am glad! For the funny ones — I wonder what I wrote that triggers a connection to the search term used…..it is a source of humor and confusion for me!
Here is a sampling of search terms that brought people to my blog in the past month or so:
Top 5:
-
Some variation of paint color names – 34+
-
Rosa Marina Salad – 18
-
Dancing with the Lee County Stars – 15
-
Variations of The Temple Theatre or their shows – 10
-
Dogwood tree – 8
Searchers looking for someone in particular:
-
Kim Pritt (do people really search for me directly??)
-
Lindsay Tipton – Herald
-
Joe Jon Bryant
-
The Rant
-
Peggy Taphorn
The funny or strange ones:
-
Scary and horrible dream
-
Strange bedroom set up
-
Charter Communications responsible for surge through cable
-
Old 90s teased hair
-
Drunk man jump in water hits concrete
-
Ugly wedding photos
-
Dogs peeing on your computer
Whatever brings you to my blog – I hope you find it entertaining!
YIELD!!!
Can we please provide a mandatory class to all Sanford drivers to remind them what the YIELD sign means? It means “yield the right of way”! You should slow down and decide if you can safely enter the flow of traffic – if not, you need to stop until you can because the flow of traffic on the street you wish to merge into has the right of way!
It does NOT mean “speed up and squeeze or push your way into the flow of traffic” or “everyone has to move over so you can get in” — you do NOT have the right of way!
Yes, people should shift over into another lane, if possible, out of courtesy so that merging traffic can enter the flow. BUT – it is NOT required AND it is not always safely possible for someone to change lanes!
So, please – Sanford drivers – I beg of you – look up what the rules are surrounding yield signs and show a little patience!!!
Labor Day
What is Labor Day? The short answer is that it is the national holiday that falls on the first Monday of September each year. The general view point of the holiday is that it signifies the end of the summer season – a three day weekend people generally use to have family cook outs or trips to the beach or other ways to celebrate a Monday off work designated to honor American workers.
But, there is more to it than that! The first US Labor Day was September 5, 1882. The declaration of a new national holiday was rushed through Congress in response to a violent labor strike that resulted in several deaths at the hands of US Marshals and the military. The strike started because of labor and salary cuts made by George Pullman due to tough times in his rail car company. Thousands of workers walked off their jobs. Other unions joined the strike – workers refused to work on Pullman cars, backing up rail transit and mail delivery. President Grover Cleveland stepped in by declaring the strike illegal and bloodshed ensued. To lift the morale of American workers, Labor Day was declared a legal holiday.
So, Labor Day is a day to celebrate the workforce – to thank them for their service! We choose to use it as a good excuse to head to the beach and cook hot dogs on patios across the country one last time before the end of summer and the autumn weather begins.
HAPPY LABOR DAY! Don’t eat too many hot dogs!
Memories of Beatles
It doesn’t take much to connect The Beatles to a significant memory. They played a HUGE part in my life. So, when I read Billy Liggett’s editorial in Sunday’s Sanford Herald, I found myself running through the many, many Strawberry Fields in my mind. I could relate to Billy’s comments about how his Dad grew up with The Beatles because I, too, grew up with them.
Billy mentioned two things in this editorial that made me stop and think — 1) that it has been 40 years since their last public appearance and album together! and 2) that their reign as rock sensations only lasted seven years! Both of these seemed odd to me because they have been such icons for almost my entire life! To realize that they were only together for such a short time so many years ago took me by surprise — not that I didn’t know this, but that I never really put it into context like that before. In my mind, The Beatles never ended and never will.
My Mom and I became Beatles fans together. I was eight when we sat together and watched The Beatles take America by storm – first as we watched the news reports on February 7, 1964 when they got off the plane at JFK Airport among a mob of screaming girls for their first American tour and then two days later we watched The Ed Sullivan Show to witness their first US appearance. It was magical – the beginning of a lifetime of wonderful experiences and memories!
I remember sitting in our living room watching the Fab Four on Ed Sullivan, but the strongest early memory of The Beatles was actually a little later in 1964. The Beatles’ first movie – A Hard Days Night – came to the theater that used to be on Main Street in my home town. Mom and I went to the first matinee showing on the first day it opened! We sat in the center of the front row in the balcony so that there was no way anyone could stand up in front of us and block our view! The theater was packed – sold out! There was so much screaming going on that we didn’t hear any of the movie, but I remember sitting there crying because I was actually seeing The Beatles bigger than life on that huge movie screen with no one between me and them! I didn’t scream with the others – I sat there frozen, in tears, and in awe! We stayed for the second matinee (back then, you could stay and watch a movie as often as you wanted on one admission price) and watched it again!
I knew every Beatles song by heart and would sing along with the radio or whenever we would put one of their albums on the record player. I had a miniature silver poodle named Mimi and I would sing “Michelle” to her all the time – “Michelle, my belle, these are words that go together well, my Michelle”.
Of course, I had a major crush on Paul — what girl didn’t? But I also thought Ringo was a sweetheart and he was my favorite Beatle. Paul was the cute one; John was the serious one; George was the quiet one; and Ringo was the funny one — that is probably why I liked him so much! Also — I have always had a thing about drummers — not sure if that is why I liked Ringo or if Ringo was the reason I fixated on drummers! But, whichever fascination came first, I was a big Ringo fan and a big drummer fan!
In 1965, Mom piled me, my brother, and several other of our friends in the station wagon and we drove to the Transit Drive-In to see “Help!” on the very first weekend it was released. It was such fun!
Fast forward to the 1973-74 school year – my senior year: The Senior chorus chose “The Long and Winding Road” as one of our songs to perform for our parents at Senior Tea. It became the anthem of my high school years because every time I hear that song, it instantly takes me back to that day and all the wonderful things that happened in my senior year. This song always brings a tear to my eyes whenever I hear it — definitely my very favorite Beatles song of all time!
Then, to show how much influence The Beatles have had on me and my Mom – we are still making new memories to share that are Beatles based! In June 2006, I attended a seminar in Las Vegas and talked Mom into joining me there. We had a great trip, but the highlight by far was when we went to see The Beatles’ LOVE at the Mirage. LOVE is a Cirque du Soleil show featuring all Beatles songs and it was FABULOUS!!! And as with “A Hard Days Night” and “Help!”, we saw it along with one of the very first crowds to get to attend – we got tickets for the few shows that were scheduled prior to the official opening – the dress rehearsal shows that were shown to test the audience reactions. As I watched the show and thought about it afterwards, I compared us sitting in the massive theater at the Las Vegas Mirage with the time we sat in the front row balcony seats in the little home town movie theater 42 years earlier watching The Beatles in “A Hard Days Night”! The same feeling of awe, the same tears, the same wonderful experience shared with my Mom, and the same level of importance in my memory bank!
My favorite Beatles songs? Hard to say, exactly — I already mentioned that “The Long and Winding Road” is by far my all time favorite for various reasons. But, here are a few more that always seem to stop me in my tracks to take time to listen and sing along when I hear them (in no particular order and I’m sure NOT all inclusive of my favorites):
-
The Long and Winding Road
-
Revolution
-
Hey, Jude
-
Eleanor Rigby
-
Here Comes the Sun
-
If I Fell
-
And I Love Her
-
I’ll Follow The Sun
-
Let It Be
-
Michelle
-
Nowhere Man
-
Penny Lane
-
Rock and Roll Music
-
Strawberry Fields Forever
-
Tell Me Why
-
This Boy
-
Twist and Shout
-
Yesterday
-
When I’m Sixty Four
-
Just about anything from Abbey Road – favorite album
So, thank you, Billy – I don’t really need an excuse to think about all the wonderful memories that are tied in some way to Beatles songs, but it was nice to get a trigger, anyway!
Reflections
I have noticed that I tend to sit and reflect a lot more lately than I ever have in the past. I’m not sure why this has increased or if it isn’t that I am doing it more – just maybe that I am noticing it more. Maybe it just comes with age! I don’t know… But, whatever the reason, reflection has been a noticeable part of my activities lately. So, why, at the same time, has a blog about my thoughts been less active and less creative than it ever has been?
I have never been one to rehash the past — what has happened, has happened — you can’t change it, even if you wanted to — everything happens for a reason and something good usually comes out of it, eventually — all the events and decisions of the past are what got me to where I am, so right-wrong-or-indifferent at the time, they made me what I am today! So – why rethink what should have happened or regret actions or decisions? It only serves to make you sad or bitter! I say that because, obviously, the only actions/decisions one would spend time rethinking are those that they feel didn’t go quite the way they had hoped! You don’t rethink the good things – you only cherish those memories and try to relive them in your thoughts!
I am still of that belief and my reflections don’t turn into “what ifs” or “shoulda-couldas”. My reflections are more about thinking through my life to make the connections of how I got here and what am I doing now to be more conscious of what will get me to where I want to be later in life. How can I ensure the actions and decisions I am making now will support getting me to a good place later?
Thinking through things thoroughly is NOT a new concept for me. I have always been a “planner” – someone who gives a LOT of thought before making decisions about everything from whether or not to spend a few dollars on a new pair of shoes and which pair of shoes are worthy of those few dollars to what color to paint the walls in my house (if you read this blog at all, you know that took several years and 27 cans of sample paint colors once I decided to move forward) to major life altering decisions. I am rarely impulsive – although there have been some major decisions that were made impulsively that turned out pretty good for me!
So, what have my thoughts been about lately? After all – that is the title of this blog and what my original plan for it was – to capture my thoughts! That, specifically, is what got me thinking and writing today’s post! I noticed on my dashboard this morning that someone linked to my very first post dated August 13, 2007. So, I took some time to go back and read the first several. I realized that my blog has switched gears over the two years and 515 posts (counting this one). It started out just getting my thoughts out! I added movie reviews, which I really enjoy doing and are my thoughts – so, that is good! But, I also added a lot of what I’m doing and what happened during the day. Yeah, those are also my thoughts about the day, but I don’t think those kinds of posts lend themselves to be as creative as what I intended for this blog! So – that got me thinking about what, exactly, have I been thinking about lately……which brought me to the realization that I seem to have been reflecting a lot lately — the question then was, why haven’t I been putting those thoughts down? Well, some are more private than I would want to put in a blog for the world to see. But, a lot are just the kind of thing I started this blog for! So, why am I not using it for that more?
I’m going to go out on a limb here and commit to doing less “what did I do today” – I can use Facebook for that – and more “what did I think about today” — which may very well include what I did, but only if it was significant enough to cause me to think back and cherish it OR put it in my pet peeve file! I want to get back to capturing my reflections – when appropriate….;)
Life is good — let’s enjoy it, reflect on it, and celebrate it more!
My Daily Tickle
I turned the wall calendar in my office to September this morning (yeah, I know – I’m a day late) and it made me smile and then laugh out loud!! My calendar has a different motivational statement and a pretty scene of some kind each month.
This month, the motivational statement is:
“Every morning before arising, lie relaxed in bed and deliberately drop happy thoughts into your conscious mind.”
Hahahahahahaha
Obviously, this is NOT a necessary suggestion for me! Having three dogs who wake up early and sit in an anxious vigil awaiting for any hint of a sign that I am awake so they can pounce on me for the chance to show me just how absolutely thrilled they are that I opened my eyes!!!! The kisses and excited whining makes it impossible to wake up without happy thoughts!!
It is also NOT a necessary suggestion for someone who dances around every morning singing Broadway show tunes with three happy, excited dogs!
What I really need is a suggestion for how to keep that happy, singing, dancing, attitude all day long! Haha
Roxanne
This morning’s front page article in the Sanford Herald about the Lee County Wildlife Rescue Center brought back some fond and sad memories for me. Before we moved to Sanford in June of 1985, we adopted an unlikely addition to our family – Roxanne! She came to us as a newborn – her eyes weren’t even open, yet! We cared for her and grew to love her dearly!
Roxanne was a raccoon! Unfortunately, the reason we ended up adopting her was because my, then fiance, Ronald killed her mother! You see, Roxanne’s mother had gotten up into the roof of the house and was running around in there and making all kinds of racket and probably doing a lot of damage! So, he took care of it! Then, he discovered that she had a litter of pups up there! If I remember right, there were 6 of them! We decided to help them along until they were strong enough to be let loose. We kept one to nurse – Roxanne – and we found friends willing to take on the others. Our intent was to just get her to where she could survive on her own and let her loose. Well — she wormed her way into our hearts and that was it!!! Roxanne became a member of the family!
I fed her with a baby bottle and she would nuzzle up to my neck and sleep – I became her Mommie! She was very loving, cuddly, and sweet! She became very devoted to us. And she was welcomed into our home by all of our other animals! It was so funny watching her play with our dogs and even a cat we had at that time. She grew and adapted well – she was so well behaved and we trained her to follow a routine and use a litter box.
When it came time for us to move to Sanford, we didn’t think twice about what we would do with Roxanne! We packed up all of our belongings on a flat bed truck and loaded two cars with the essentials — clothes and things we would need while we settled in, provisions for the trip, our son Robby, our Beagle Easy, a cat, and Roxanne! Yes, Roxanne was a Yankee transplant, just like us!
Here is Roxanne drinking from a cup at the Steele Street home we bought when we first moved to Sanford.
Here is Roxanne playing in the yard at my Mom’s with her dogs – Brandy and Mindy.
Here is Roxanne swinging on a hanging plant stand with Ronald at our Steele Street house — she loved to swing on that thing!!!!
She adjusted well to her new home in NC. She pretty much had free run of the house – like the other animals – and she loved it! Knowing that raccoons like to wash their food, we always fed her on the ledge of the kitchen sink. We would turn the faucet on and she would sit there and wash herself and her food and eat. It was so cute to watch! Her favorite food was hot dogs! We would cut a hot dog up in small pieces and she would take each piece in her little hands and wash it under the running water, then she would peel off the outer skin and wash it again, and then, finally, she would eat the piece by rolling it around in her hands while she nibbled all around it – then she’d move on to the next piece! She had other foods she loved – like popcorn, but that is the one that sticks out in my mind the most!
She would run around the house and play and have a ball with the other animals. But when it was time to sleep, she would come to one of us and curl up on our laps – she loved to be cuddled and held!
But — when she became an adult raccoon, it became obvious that we needed to let her go. She still loved us and we weren’t concerned at all that she was turning wild, but she was starting to get rough when she played and drew blood a couple of times. She also stopped using the litter pan and was going pretty much wherever she wanted to — not good! And the dogs she loved to play with were starting to act funny around her and she would hiss at them! So — yes, sad as it was for us to decide, we had to find a way to let her loose. But — you can’t just let a domesticated animal, like that, out in the wild – they could become a victim of another wild animal before they could adjust! So we asked around to find out where we could take her.
Our vet suggested we take her to SanLee Park. They had a wildlife rescue center there and they would teach her to be a wild animal and then let her loose. We visited a few times – they wanted us to visit on a set schedule that would wean her from us so she wouldn’t suffer because she missed us! We would take her popcorn and she would get so excited to see us! We slowly stopped going to visit and on the last visit, I cried my eyes out!!!! We knew we were doing the right thing, but it was so sad to say good bye to her!! We kept in touch by phone for a while so we knew how she was progressing. They succeeded in their mission and she was let loose! I only hope she survived and enjoyed her new life in the woods at SanLee Park.
So — when I read this morning’s Herald article about the Lee County Wildlife Rescue Center, I thought of Roxanne and how they helped us with her many years ago! They are a wonderful organization that does some great things for the wildlife (and not so wildlife) in our community! I will always be grateful for their kind treatment of Roxanne!
One day many months later, there was a raccoon in our back yard – when we went out to shoosh it away, it just sat there looking at us – it sat up and rubbed it’s eyes with it’s little hands and then turned to run off……….I wonder – was that Roxanne returning home for a visit???? It gave me warm fuzzies to think so!
Sunday – Here, There, and Everywhere!
I got up early this morning and headed out on a beautiful top down drive around town! I had a couple errands to run, but mainly just tooled around and snapped some pictures of a lazy, sleepy Sunday in Sanford!
First up — I had breakfast at the Dairy Bar. It was still early, so it wasn’t too crowded, but it was starting to fill in.
Horner Blvd was even quiet — almost NO traffic at all.
The fairgrounds are quiet now……but, just wait until September 15th – they’ll be all lit up and brimming with excitement for the Lee Regional Fair Sept 15-20!!!
Then, I started on my errands — I had to go to Lowes for more renovation supplies, so I decided to drive by the much anticipated Cracker Barrel to see if there were any signs about the upcoming opening! I found the front porch full of their signature rocking chairs just waiting for all the Sanford customers to come buy them and a sign that says they aren’t open, yet, but to come back on September 7th!!! Yippee — just one more week! I love Cracker Barrel……but, I do have some serious mixed feelings about it, though — if I have one right here in Sanford that I can go to any time I want, what will I have to look forward to when I drive up home? I plan my stops for meals around what exits have a Cracker Barrel……will having one here change that? Then, again, I did say on my last driving trip up that it would likely be the LAST time I drive – it is a tough trip by myself! So — guess it doesn’t matter after all……
The rest of my day was spent helping (er, um, watching) Ronald work on the garage — he switched out the water heater…..good bye old leaking 40 gallon water heater…..
Hello new 50 gallon water heater……all snug as a bug in a rug…..
I have a new bush along the back fence — the elves put it in this spring to replace one that had died and left an open spot in the landscaping. It started blooming this weekend – I don’t know what it is and didn’t know it was a bloomer, but it is so pretty! Does anyone know what it is?
That’s all…..
Kim's Thoughts 
Recent Comments