Kim's Thoughts
Just a few thoughts I feel worthy of jotting down!
Saturday Morning Ramblings
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Tomorrow is Mother’s Day! So, I thought I would talk a little about my Mom’s progress since the hip replacement surgery! She’s recovering from that pretty good – she is walking around with a cane and doesn’t have any pain to speak of – she’s just still kinda unsteady on her feet because the nerves and muscles are still mending and strengthening. So, that part is good – surprisingly good – if that was all she had to deal with, she’d be in great shape! However, she has been having some other difficulties that we have heard other’s who have had hip or knee replacement surgeries have also gone through, so we’re hoping it is connected and will go away soon! She’s had some serious swelling of her legs and feet, major fluid retention, shortness of breath, tires out super easy! And, she had to go back into the hospital for a couple days with pneumonia a week or so ago! They have been running tons of tests and CT Scans and had her go in for a stress test (the kind that they inject the nuclear stuff in to elevate the heart rate cause she can’t do it the usual way because of her hip)! She also quit smoking (after 50+ years of smoking) during her stay in the hospital and rehab for the surgery and has the usual withdrawal things to deal with! So — she’s got a lot going on and just generally doesn’t feel so good!! She says that she felt better when she smoked – hope she doesn’t give in to that and start up again!
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So – what did I do for Mom for Mother’s Day???? I sent her a floral arrangement in a coffee mug from 1-800-Flowers! The mug says “Who are all these kids and why are they calling me Mom?” — she got a kick out of it!!! It was just a small token for her to have for the actual Mother’s Day! I have a short trip up to see her planned and we’ll do a “real” celebration then!
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The hail storm last night didn’t leave me with any damage – I see a lot of good healthy leaves on the ground, but doesn’t look like I have any plant / shrub damage! Like I said in the “Hail Hail” post last night – good thing I keep the pony in the garage! I would be heart sick if my beautiful Mustang got damaged at all! I’ll go out and look closer at things later, but from what I can see from the deck, all looks fine!
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I’ve been to a lot of places where I’ve had the opportunity to over hear opinion debates and other cool conversations about our town, but none as enjoyable as what I experienced yesterday! If the politicians and any other citizens want to get a good grasp on the pulse of this community, all they need to do is have breakfast or lunch at Mrs. Wengers and “listen”. I did just that yesterday – not as a deliberate act, but it just happened that a quick last minute decision had me pop in to Mrs. Wengers for lunch. It wasn’t very busy for a Friday at noon, which surprised me! I sat in a booth in the main room (the one with a counter) and ordered my lunch. As I sat there waiting for it and then while I ate, I had the pleasure of over hearing some really good, friendly exchange of opinions on all the recent issues in Sanford – the election, the tax issues, and other topics! I wasn’t there long – I had to get back to work – but during the 20-30 minutes I was there, I heard every side of every issue intelligently and respectfully debated! I particularly enjoyed the “respectfully” part!!! You know, everyone has an opinion and has a right to it!! What I hate about a lot of the conversations and writings about the recent issues (and any issues that come up in this town, for that matter) is that people tend to express their opinion and then get all freaked out when someone offers a differing view point! No matter what side you’re on, people tend to be more vocal about how stupid and invalid the other person’s opinion is than just making their own point and moving on! NO ONE’s opinion is stupid or invalid!! It’s their opinion and it should be respected! A great statement I really like is: “Every one’s truth is their truth” – in other words, just because something differs from your view doesn’t mean that the other person’s view is any less true or valid to them! The ability to openly share opinions is what makes this country great — it would be a pretty boring world if everyone had the same opinion or were afraid to express it!!! So – keep the debates healthy and respectful and stop all this angry criticism of the opinions that don’t mirror yours!! (BTW – that’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it — I’ll slap anyone who dares to argue with it! ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!)
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Speaking of opinions – I had some fun with Jay Riley the other night! I rarely express a specific political opinion in public to take a stance for or against a specific issue or candidate – I have some good conversations with friends, but that’s as far as I usually go with it (other than “in general” comments)! Earlier this week, I posted a comment on Bill Horner’s blog about my opinion on the sales tax issue – there, I did it! First time ever! Well, a day or so later Jay Riley posted a comment and mentioned my comment – he “countered” me!!!! ha-ha The first time I ever post a political stance and I get countered – and by a friend, at that!!!! ha-ha It was NOT an angry counter point — and was actually a nice way to respond! But, when I read it I shook my head and said “Jay, Jay, Jay – you missed my point!” So, I posted my SECOND ever public political comment to clarify myself! Well – I ran into Jay and Holly at the Civic Center Thursday night — I’ve known them for a few years and really like them both a lot – they are good people!!! Jay put his arm around me and laughed and said he didn’t realize it was me that made the comment until he read my “clarification”!!! So, of course, I had to “give him the business” about it – how dare he counter me the one and only time I went out on a limb and offered my opinion! ha-ha-ha It was fun!!!! (snide little chuckle and sh** eating grin going on here)
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The girls are enjoying their play time outside in the back yard on this beautiful morning! They are such happy girls! Not a lot going on with them lately — except for their usual cute, adorable, wonderful personalities!!! They are such a joy!! The other day, I was in an all day development session and the topic came up about waking up grouchy and how it can set a negative tone for the whole day!!! I had to speak up and say that I RARELY wake up grouchy – that I usually wake up singing Broadway show tunes to the girls — it’s what happens AFTER that that turns me grouchy!!!! ha-ha-ha
Well, I’ve got some errands to run and things to do around the house today — so, better get busy!!!
Hail, Hail…
OK – sounds like the worst is over! No more hail – just some distant thunder! WHEW!
Charlie Daniels at the Civic Center!!!
I helped out at the Annual Small Business Banquet tonight as a member of the Chamber Ambassadors. Being a Chamber Ambassador is cool, but a lot of the work we do is during regular business hours, so I feel bad that I can’t participate more than I do. I enjoy it when something comes up after hours and it works out that I can help out! So — when I got the email asking for volunteers for tonight’s event, I checked out my calendar and was super excited that I was able to respond with “yes – I can be there!”!!!!
I always enjoy working the Annual Small Business Banquet and the Annual Chamber Banquet — I get to meet some great people and they are always fun events. But, this particular one got me so much more excited because the Special Guest was going to be Charlie Daniels!!! The Chamber presented Mr. Daniels with a Life Time Achievement Award for his contributions and roots in NC and specifically for this area – he got his start in music right here in Gulf, NC – just up the road a piece from Sanford on the way to Siler City! Click here (http://www.charliedaniels.com/soapbox-2008-011808.htm) for a link to an article he wrote about his ties to our area. I have always loved his music – he’s one of the best!!!! So, the chance to get to meet him reached out and grabbed me!!!
He came early and mingled during the reception and stayed after to sign autographs and take pictures! I didn’t get a chance to spend much time with him, but I did get to meet him, shake his hand, tell him what an honor it was to meet him, and have my picture taken with him! The rest of the banquet was very nice — a reception catered by The Flame, presentations of awards to the Small Business Advocate of the Year and Business Person of the Year, dinner catered by The River Lodge, the chance to see several friends and meet some new people — but meeting Charlie Daniels was the icing on the cake!! Chet Mann mentioned when he was making introductions that the past couple of weeks have been exciting for Sanford — an ex-President of the United States (Bill Clinton) and now Charlie Daniels both visiting our city! I agree – it’s been exciting, but I have to say that the visit from Bill Clinton only caused me to have a passing interest and I didn’t go witness it — but, Charlie Daniels – now THAT is a visit I didn’t want to miss!!! ha-ha
Here are some pictures I snapped to capture the experience:
I shot this one of him in the lobby mingling during the reception – I didn’t notice that he was being interviewed by Jonathan Owens from the Herald until I got home and downloaded the pictures!
The next three show the great decorations that made the Civic Center so festive!!! 
I had such a good time……..now I need to try to sleep!
Whew! What a night!
First – my day at work was busy, busy, busy!
Then, I left about 4:00 to get to the Deep River Elementary School to man the Kid’s Voting Booth from 4:30 – 7:30. I had to get there a little early so that I could vote myself – I had planned to go before work, but I slept too late and couldn’t do that, so I had to be sure to take care of it before my “shift” started cause I wouldn’t have another chance before the polls closed! I made it and cast my vote! Kid’s Voting was so exciting! In the 3 hours I was there, I had well over 30 kids come by and vote! It was so much fun watching them all happy about getting to vote just like their parents! I had the last shift, so it was one of my duties to break down the voting booths and take all the supplies and ballots back to the CIS office. I didn’t think anything of it — until I got the box that the booths went in out to my car…….OH NO!!! The box wouldn’t fit in my car!!!! I love my Mustang, but it has barely more than a glove box for a trunk and not a lot of other spots to put anything bigger than a bread box……..I stood there for a minute wondering how I was going to get everything from Deep River School to the CIS office on Carthage Street…………..then, it hit me! I put the top down and stuck the box in the back seat sticking up out of the car! Luckily, it was a nice night! I will remember that for the November election – don’t volunteer to be the only one closing down, unless I am willing to drive with the top down in November!!!! ha-ha
I ran by McDonald’s to pick up dinner — I went through the drive thru and ordered “a Big Mac with NO cheese, medium fries, and a sweet tea” — the voice came back and said “that’s a Fish Sandwich, would you like anything else?” — I shook my head in disbelief and repeated “a Big Mac with NO cheese, medium fries, and a sweet tea” — she repeated “a Big Mac and what else?” — I repeated it again “a Big Mac with NO cheese, medium fries, and a sweet tea” — she said “would you like me to make it a #1 large?” — I just sighed and said, “that’s fine – just be sure the Big Mac has NO cheese on it” — the screen came up without specifying NO cheese and she gave me the total — I was about to say “NO cheese” again when she changed it, so I was satisfied! When I got to the payment window, she was obviously irritated about being on shift for 7 hours straight and was yelling at someone I couldn’t see that she didn’t care who was coming, but it’d better be someone soon! Then, when I got to the pick up window, the manager was yelling at her employees trying to get “someone” to go take over the drive thru and wasn’t being very pleasant about it — but, then, her employees weren’t being very cooperative, either!!! It was a disturbing sight! If I hadn’t already paid, I would have drove off and left the food there!!!! One of the guys finally brought me my bag and, since there was major confusion going on, I asked “that’s a NO cheese Big Mac, right???” He looked at the bag and then at me and said “uumm, yeah, no cheese”! I was naturally skeptical, so I looked — yep, they got it right!!! I was in shock!!!
I got home and the girls were thrilled to see me!!! I went home at lunch to take care of them cause I knew I wouldn’t have time between work and Kid’s Voting. They are good, but not that good!!!! So, they had a break, but they were still anxious to go out and run around!!! After we all settled down, I turned on the TV and started eating my now cold Big Mac with NO cheese, large fries, and humongous sweet tea (why did I agree to make it a #1 LARGE???).
I had set the recorder for Dancing With The Stars cause I knew I’d miss the beginning and it was the 100th episode celebration — I didn’t want to miss any of it!!!! I actually didn’t miss much of it, but since it was being taped, I flipped back and forth between that and Wayne and Woody’s local election coverage. At the same time, I turned on the computer and started reading today’s blogs and took turns giving each one of the girls my undivided attention. Now, that’s what I call multi-tasking!!! I was able to concentrate and keep up with a cold MEAL, TWO TV shows, SEVERAL blogs, and THREE dogs!!!! My brain hasn’t been able to go in that many directions all at the same time in years! ha-ha
So — my thoughts on everything from tonight:
As for Kid’s Voting — it was a huge success — I hear that all the precincts had really good turn out and we got rave reviews from kids and parents!!! It was good and I’m already looking forward to the November campaign for Kid’s Voting!
As for the adult election — I was happy to see a pretty steady turn out of adults during the 3 hours I was there, too — I hope that was representative of the turn out across the county throughout the day!
As for McDonald’s — well, the experience wasn’t all that unusual — shoulda known better, but it was quick and easy!!
As for election coverage — Wayne and Woody were their usual entertaining selves! I like watching them – they can be fun!
As for the blogs — the election coverage was good — it sounded like some actually had a worse day than I had (sorry for them, but made me feel not so “alone”) — and I noticed a new Sanford blogger that had visited my site!!!
As for Dancing With The Stars — I’m so happy that Melissa has made it to the semi-finals!!! She’s done so good!!! And – the 100th episode celebration was cool — it was nice to see all the favorites from all the past seasons!
So — I am tired — it is almost midnight — I have an all day meeting tomorrow — better get to sleep so that I can stay alert tomorrow!
Movie Review – Made of Honor
Like I said in my Saturday post, I went to see Made of Honor after I got done at the Pottery Festival yesterday! I almost didn’t go because I assumed it was going to be a cheap knock off of My Best Friend’s Wedding – one of my very favorite movies! I had catch phrases all ready – such as, “been there, done that”, “why can’t writers come up with an original idea instead of redoing and redoing what worked for someone else?”, “another ‘don’t know what you got ’til it is gone’ movie”…………and so on!
BUT – I was pleasantly surprised! Yes – the basic story was the same ole, same ole theme — but, it was very nicely done and wasn’t just cramming the same jokes and repeated “scenes with a twist” in your face. Of course, with Patrick Dempsey in the lead role, there’s a chance you won’t notice anything else – maybe that’s why I didn’t find it to be vaguely familiar! ha-ha
Seriously, though, I did enjoy this movie — it was different enough to stand alone and be good, the acting was good, the cast were all perfect for their roles, the characters were delightful, the scenes with the Scottish country side as the back drop were breathtaking, and the ending was perfect!!! The audience in the theater (mostly women – well, actually, I don’t think I noticed any men) laughed out loud at all the right times and applauded for the ending! It met my criteria for a great feel good movie — I laughed, I cried, and I left feeling good! Can’t beat that with a stick!
My recommendation for all you ladies who love a good romantic comedy: Agree to go see “Iron Man” with the boyfriend or hubby and kids – be sure you are the one who goes to the ticket window – buy them their tickets for “Iron Man” and get yourself a ticket for “Made of Honor” – then, when they aren’t looking, sneak off to the screen showing “Made of Honor” — they’ll be so engrossed in the action of “Iron Man” that they’ll never notice you weren’t there beside them!
I took off a small amount of points for copying the basic story line, but the rest overshadowed the reduction for that! I gave it a huge thumbs up — 4.0 on a 5.0 point scale — B+++
Saturday Adventure
I started out the morning reading the paper online and catching up on blogs – mine and other people’s and catching up on emails! While I was doing that, the girls were having a ton of fun playing and running in and out of the house!
About 10:30 or so, I left the house to head to the Pottery Festival! I stopped by the ATM to get some cash (I knew I would need some…..). I also planned to pop in at the Farmer’s Market before I went to the festival, but changed my mind. There was no place to park anywhere near Depot Park – they were slammed! As I drove by, there was some music playing (not sure what was going on) and it didn’t look like many farmers set up with their produce. I decided that I would be doing a ton of walking at the festival, so I wasn’t willing to walk a long distance to get to Depot Park and not have a large variety of produce to choose from! I’ll go next weekend!
I got to the Pottery Festival just before 11:00. I wandered through the displays inside the Civic Center on my way to the outside tents and dropped my entry into the box for the $1000 prize drawing! Once outside again, I decided to check out the food first – since I hadn’t eaten any breakfast! I always visit the Jackson Bros booth when I go to the Pottery Festival — I have friends from work who are always behind the counter there! So – I made a bee-line to their booth and had a delicious hamburger, fries and a coke (and greeted my friends in the process)! There were other food vendors, as well — Davison’s Steaks and River Lodge had a booth that smelled wonderful and there were several other booths with carnival type food — all looked amazing!!!
I sat down at the tables to eat and take the time to look around, scope out the situation, and plan my strategy for how to most efficiently visit every single booth in every single tent! You can’t just go at it nilly-willy, you know! If you don’t plan your attack, you’ll surely miss something or have to spend extra time back tracking through sections you already looked through to get to ones you didn’t look through yet — I am all for making the most of my time at these types of events and not missing anything!
When I was done eating and people watching, I began making my way through the booths – scanning over the displays at each and every booth and stopping for a longer, closer look at those that caught my eye! I liked that they put the tent with the tables and chairs in a perfect central location – it made it easy for me to go sit down for a while when I needed to (I have a bad knee and hip and it is hard for me to stand/walk for long periods without a break to keep the pain under control).
I found so many lovely things to look at! I know it is called the Pottery Festival and that Pottery is the focus of the event, but there is soooooooooooooo much more to look at!!! People who don’t go because they don’t particularly enjoy pottery are really missing out on something I am sure they will find enjoyable!!!! In fact – unlike previous years – I only bought one thing that was an actual piece of “pottery”, but I did leave a lot of cash behind, so this year there were other things that reached out and grabbed me (and my pocketbook)!!!
So – what did I buy this year?
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The one piece of “pottery” I got is an Angel ornament from Lace Pottery in Kernersville, NC (http://www.maggieweldon.com/). Maggie Weldon is the artist and she has merged her love of crochet and the world of pottery. Her pieces all look just like crochet doilies – so delicate and beautiful. The piece I selected is a white angel ornament to add to my Christmas Tree ornaments – I collect angels and the theme of my Christmas Tree each year is focused heavily on white angels. If you visit Maggie’s web site and click on the link to Lace Pottery, the angel I purchased is the first item on that page!
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I also purchased a ceramic item from Fifth Avenue Designs – a shop from right here in Sanford on South Franklin Drive (http://www.fifthavenuedesigns.com/). I won’t say what I got from them because it is going to be a birthday gift for my sister-in-law and I don’t want her reading this and finding out what she’s getting. It will, unfortunately, arrive late cause I already missed her actual birthday, but as soon as I can get to the UPS Store to get it packed up (they pack MUCH better than I do – it might make it in one piece if I have them do it) and sent out, she’ll get it – better late than never, right???
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The booth for Pretty Baby Naturals of China Grove, NC (http://www.prettybabysoap.com/) caught my eye! They had open jars of hand and body creams that I just had to stop and try out! WOW – they made my hands feel wonderful and the smells were amazing!!! They had all kinds of stuff – soaps, lotions, scrubs, masks, etc – all from 100% natural ingredients and all so beautiful – looking and smelling! I got some hand and body creams – a tube of Mango Tango made from a Mango-Berry blend and Mango Butter and a tube of Belly Dancer made from Bay Rum, Oak Moss, Honey Spice, and Cocoa Butter! I’m gonna love them both, I am sure!
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And, finally, I found a booth I don’t think has been at the festival in years past (unless my strategy for not missing anything didn’t work in those past years)! It was a booth full of homemade breads with trays of samples to check out! Slices of Heaven (http://www.slicesofheavennc.com/) is the name and absolutely accurately describes their products!!!! I had a hard time choosing, but I ended up getting a regular sized loaf of whole wheat sour dough bread, a small loaf of banana nut bread, and a small loaf of chocolate peanut butter fantasy bread — all amazing!
So – that is what I bought this year, but I saw so many other things that I strongly considered and some that I came real close to getting!!! One that I am still thinking of going back today and having a second look at is some yard ornaments – they were made of copper, sit on top of a pole, and spin to show the direction and intensity of the wind! And they were beautiful!!!! I can just see one in my back yard in the corner focal area I have – it is a section on one back corner of my yard that has white stone and my Japanese Weeping Red Maple Tree, along with some other special plants — one of these would really look great there!!!! But, they were rather expensive and I always have to give a ton of thought to anything that I spend more than a few dollars on! I may just have to go back today to get another look – maybe seeing them again will either remind me why they caught my eye and help me decide to get them or show me that, on second thought, one might not be as perfect in that spot as I thought yesterday —- OR —- a second look at the price tag just might convince me that it’s not that great of an idea!!! I can also check to see if they have a web site — maybe they have other styles that I might like better!!!
I had such a good time at the festival and ran into a few people that I haven’t seen in AGES!!!! That was a nice treat!!!
After I spent a couple hours at the Pottery Festival, I went to the movies and saw “Made of Honor” — I’ll post a review later, but I can say that I rather enjoyed this one, which surprised me cause I almost didn’t go thinking it would be one of those “been there, done that” redo of the same old theme!!! But, I was pleasantly surprised by it!
When I got home, I enjoyed playing with the girls and sent an email to my Mom and then IM’d with her for a while………………..and, as I said in the beginning of this post, I went in for a short nap with the girls and didn’t wake up until about 5:30 this morning!!! The girls must have been exhausted from their day of fun, too, cause they never bothered me or tried to get me to get up once — definitely a first!!!!
That was my Saturday — wonder what Sunday has in store for me!!!!????
Back Yard Fun
It is such a lovely morning – sunny, breezy, warm – so I propped the back door open and let the girls come and go as they pleased! They mostly stayed outside and played and had a blast!! I just made them come in for a little break and they immediately fell asleep! ha-ha
Here are some shots of them enjoying the back yard just moments ago:
AMY:
MEGAN:
PLAYING & ROUGH HOUSING:
Pottery Festival Today and Tomorrow!
And then, of course, there is the pottery — lots and lots of beautiful pottery — all shapes, sizes, uses, and styles — traditional and not so traditional — classic and quirky — functional and ornamental — you name it, it is there!!!
Looking for that perfect little inexpensive gift for someone special? It will be there! Looking for an amazing new focal point for your foyer? It will be there! Looking for a nice, way to get out of the house and just browse around looking at beautiful things? It will be there!
My only regret from years past???? I tend to attempt to do some early Christmas and birthday shopping by picking up some small items to stick away for future gifts — BUT — I also tend to buy what “I” like, so unless the future gift comes relatively quickly, I usually rethink the purchase and take it out for my own use/pleasure — which results in me needing to go out and buy other gifts for the future events needing gifts!!! ha-ha-ha
Go – have fun – the weather looks like it is going to hold out and be nice (especially today), so it promises to be a great event!!!
Upcoming Events
Also – don’t forget to take your children to the polls with you on May 6th to participate in Kid’s Voting hosted by Communities In Schools of Lee County in partnership with Lee County Schools and the Sanford Herald!!! It is a great way to expose them to the election process! They don’t have to be just from the public schools, either — home schools, private schools, provisional schools — any children who come can participate!!! We won’t turn any child away — in the last general election, we even had some pre-schoolers participate! If they are able to fill out the ballot, they can participate!! And, we’re doing it again in November for this year’s general election, as well……
The next (and last) show at the Temple for this season is Ain’t Misbehavin’ — it starts on May 29th! Don’t miss it!
We’re gearing up for summer and the events will keep coming!!! Hope to see a ton of you out there enjoying our wonderful city!!!
Kim's Thoughts 
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