When asked what profession Josie is interested in pursuing, she replies that she really hasn’t made up her mind yet, but since her best friend and her boy friend are all going to the University of Alabama that is where she wanted to go as well. Besides, she has relatives nearby that she plans to stay with, which will give her a break on the cost of going there.

So we have been shopping for University of Alabama shirts and jackets, and other Alabama apparel for us to wear to her farewell party to show our love and support to her as she starts her new adventure in life. This is so exciting!

I’m just not a happy camper today.

When my sister moved to New York, I was so excited to have her nearby. We have not lived close to each other in a long time. Even though we are sisters, we grew up being the best of friends. I feel sorry for people that do not have any siblings. You miss out on so much if you don’t have someone to share everything with. And after you lose your parents, it is always good to have someone that can remember the good old days when you were growing up. My sister’s house is only a few miles from mine. When she was moving in she needed to save as much money as possible because she lives on a limited income. I told her to go to NY natural gas to find a good deal on her natural gas. These days everyone has to try to save as much money as they can on all expenses. Then I had to show my sister the best places to shop for groceries, the best mall to go to for buying clothes, and a lot of other places. I want to help her as much as I can so she will be happy living here. We have spent a lot of time apart, and I don’t want her to ever move again.

I am hoping that maybe businesses will adapt to the situation by letting their employees work four ten-hour days a week so that they will not have to commute five days a week. In order to do that, however, the day care providers need to be willing to extend their hours. I feel really bad for the people in rural areas where services like that are hard to find.

Driving home my husband offered me a taste of his vanilla shake, telling me to get ready for a “sugar rush.” Well, normally I am a big fan of vanilla milk shakes, but let me tell you this milk shake was really nasty! I don’t know what they had done wrong, but it was so awful that I started to gag! My hubby thought it was really funny that I disliked it so much, and said that when we got home he was going to have to dilute it with a lot of milk.  I think that the next time I order a vanilla milk shake there I will taste it before I leave! I would have gone back to the counter and told them it was nasty and to give me something different!

But when I stop to think about it, there really is no reason that ”
camp” has to be out in the country side, in the middle of the wilderness somewhere. There could easily be a music or drama or dance class in the big city where the kids stay in college dormitories during the night and attend classes during the day. In fact, my youngest son participated in a summer-time camp several years ago that was called “Boys State.” I had never heard of it before, but apparently that is a camp that is rather exclusive in that a high school counselor has to recommend the child to attend the session. The purpose of that camp is to teach high school kids the inner workings of the United States government, and during the session the kids hold mock elections and set up a mock government. At the end of the session a “graduation” type of ceremony is held, and some of the kids are awarded college scholarships based on their participation and performance during the session.

I remember attending the graduation ceremony by myself and sitting on the bleachers in the un-air conditioned gymnasium in the ninety degree heat, wishing that I had worn shorts instead of slacks. The only person that I knew there was my son, and he was sitting with the rest of the kids. I was bored out of my mind, and sweating like I was in a sauna, when the master of ceremonies announced that the winner of the most prestigious scholarship was none other than my kid! I shrieked and all of the other parents sitting beside me asked me if that was my kid, and when I said yes they all congratulated me! That made the day worth while, for sure.

Having things to keep our kids busy and off the streets has always been issue everywhere I have ever been and this would be a good positive step in providing just that for a variety of kids. Maybe I’ll write a Letter To The Editor about it and see what type of reaction I get from it.

I really can’t say that I blame them one bit. When I get to be their age I won’t want to have to deal with the rugged life out here either. Of course if I were to suddenly come into some money so that I could hire a gazillion people to take care of the harder physical labor things that would be different. But I certainly can see the appeal of going south for the winter and back up here for the summer. We do have beautiful summers up here. Ron and Mary told us that they are going to go back to Florida next fall and look at buying some Port Saint Lucie real estate for their winter place. They will be looking for a gated community, and are thinking about a retirement village of condominiums that will have lawn care service done for them as part of their condominium annual fees. That sounds good to me!