March 30

When we got home from church, Joe and JD were already at our house putting up siding. So the guys worked in the rain. While Rose and I...

headed off to Trader Joe's in Cary. I had never been there. It was such a cool store! It reminded me of Italian deli's in RI. After we got home, Arthur warmed up and then I grilled sandwiches with peppered turkey breast and provolone on Tuscan bread. Yum! Then we headed off to

a Casting Crowns concert

We were in the second row. Fantastic seats, but I'll never hear out of my left ear again.

Great day all around!

March 29th

And so the screen house building crew moved down the street. The men worked diligently on Joe's screen house while the women all cleaned our houses and fixed dinner for everyone.

Even Daniel got involved this time.

Joe's son Joseph is giving his direction.

As usual, Gregg is on the roof

Anyone need a screen house?

March 28th

Time for a new haircut. I wanted something different and I had her cover the grays. They were beginning to multiply!

March 27th

Thursday night, Rose and Nancy had Barry Manilow tickets for the RBC Center. Nancy wasn't feeling well so I went instead. He's not one of my favorite singers but he put on a fantastic show.

March 25th

Gorgeous weather! It is supposed to be 80 by Friday.

March 24th

Our last beginners' shag class

March 23rd

The first Easter that I can remember in 25 years that we didn't go to church. I woke up feeling awful. So we took it easy. By about 3:00 I was feeling better. We were supposed to be going to our church pot luck but I had bought a ham since they were on sale. So I threw the ham on, made mashed potatoes and put on some frozen peas. I still had the Coconut Cake that I was supposed to bring to church so we even had dessert; We even had everyone over for burgers, hot dogs, and chicken after they built the screen house and we guarded that cake! Lol!

March 22nd

I am very behind in my blogging but things have been a bit crazy around here! Saturday morning the redneck screen house building crew arrived and put up our screenhouse.

Here is how the screen house looked first thing in the morning.

The wood arrives - via van turned into truck

Now we have sides

They generally had Gregg do the high stuff.

We almost have walls.

And Windows

Almost done!

March 21st

GUESS WHAT!!!!!

Andy and Christine are officially engaged! Love you both!

March 20th

The willow tree is blooming

March 19th

My Newport Plum

March 18th

A volunteer! It appeared in my garden.

March 17th

We had our third lesson shag lesson tonight. Here's from pictures from class!

First we seperate and the ladies learn the steps.

The men learn their steps.




Then we actually have to do them together!

March 16th

So Arthur began working on the deck portion but after nailing down several boards, he decided to go to the neighbors and borrow his pneumatic nail gun. In a few minutes we looked liked a suburban Amish barn raising (or screen house raising). I guess it was quite a sight - 4 men walking down our street dragging an air compressor and a nail gun. Now we have reached this stage and they have decided to build a multi-level deck, hot tub and a fire pit. Well, they might akip the fire pit since they realized that it would be about 3 ft from our propane tank. Probably not a good idea...

Ben's return!

Yes, Ben is returning to the states! Of course, the Army doesn't give you definite but sometime between April 8th and 12th he should be in Kansas. So we'll be going to Kansas and "hanging out" until he lands. After that he'll have some block leave and will find out where he's going to be stationed. I'm hoping for something a bit closer than Kansas (or Iraq)! Of course, he might at some point be redeployed but we'll just take one day at a time. Thanks for the prayers and encouragement!

March 15th

So far, so good! You can see my neighbor has also been working in his yard. He's putting up a fence.

March 14th

The beginning of a new screen house. Arthur got an auger after work today and drilled holes for the posts. We are supposed to have another storm tomorrow so he's hoping to have all the cement in and the posts stabilized before it starts.

March 13th

And so the saga of the screen house continues. Some of you might remember we put up a screenhouse last April. We loved it ! However, screenhouses don't seem to do well with us.

This is screenhouse # 1.

This is our screenhouse after the first storm which happened 2 days after we put it up.

This is screenhouse # 2 which we put up the next weekend.

This is screenhouse # 2 after the storm we had Tuesday night. This time the frame stayed up but the "tent" part of it ripped off. Sigh.. And of course, you can't just buy a new screening for this particular screenhouse. At lease it made it almost a full year.

So now Arthur wants to build an actual screen house out of wood and cement that won't blow away in the storms we have here. Hmmm.. I'm sensing a Bible verse.

Matthew 7:24-26 (New International Version)

The Wise and Foolish Builders
24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

March 10th

Is anyone else having trouble with the time change?? Ugh, it is dark when I get up and I can barely drag myself out of bed in the morning. Now I like it being light later but mornings are rough.
FYI - yes, it is a Del's lemonade clock. Del's lemonade is a RI institution.

March 9th

We finally had a chance to have the Vidal's over for fried chicken. We've been wanting to do this for awhile but between both families schedules and sickness, we couldn't get it together. We did the whole southern thing - fried chicken, biscuits, squash casserole, salad and banana pudding for dessert.

This is Arthur's fried chicken. I do not fry chicken - I repeat I DO NOT FRY CHICKEN. I think I'm too much of a yankee.

Just for Fun

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 66 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Pretty scary, isn't it? There are 66 of me!

March 8th

The Knightdale Waffle House for breakfast. You get breakfast and a show for one low price! Arthur and I sat at the counter and just watched the cooks and the waitresses and were properly amazed. I would be dropping eggs on the floor and grits in someones lap.

March 7th

Every region has their unique food specialties. In the South, you can buy chicken plates at local churches or from tents on the side of the road sometimes. Today for lunch at work, we bought plates from a group raising money for a couple adopting a baby. For $6, we got 1/2 a BBQ chicken, boiled potatoes, green beans, a slice of bread and a slice of pound cake. It was delicious!

March 6th

The Band of Oz

We went to TJ's tonight to hear the Band of Oz. We did practice our dancing a bit but didn't brave the dance floor - we can only go back and forth right now and would probably trip someone! Rose and Joe and Nancy went as well.

March 5th

I came home at lunch and this was what was in front of both of my neighbors' houses. What a colossal waste of money. We are in stage 2 water restrictions - you can't water at all even by hand. BTW, my neighbors didn't buy this; the builder did.

March 4th

My new hummingbird flag. I'm hoping to put a hummingbird feeder in the back this year.

March 3rd

Shag Lessons! These are our instructors Don and Madeline. We are taking beginner lessons for the next 4 weeks. So far we learned a step - but we are doing it really, really well. Next week we learn turns. In case you are wondering, the Carolina shag is a swing dance that shares many figures with “jitterbug,” east coast swing, and west coast swing. It is the state dance of South Carolina. Does your state have a state dance? Lol!

March 2nd

Our friends, Bob and Carol, were visiting from RI and came to our church today. Arthur took them to Knightdale Seafood and Barbecue for lunch afterwards (I had to work). Unfortunately I didn't get a picture.

Everything is starting to bloom here. The Japanese Magnolia and the Bradford Pear Trees and daffodils are everywhere!

February 29th

I was off yesterday and today since I was working the weekend which gave me a little more time to recuperate. I finished up the second book in the Yada Yada Prayer Group series. I'm always a tad behind everyone else - this series came out in 2004 but I just picked it up at the library. It is an excellent series covering a group of very different woman who came together as a prayer group.