Thoughts for the Day

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!  My Christmas Day started out with a harrowing drive in a rain storm.

The rain storm cleared with some sunshine for about 5 minutes, then clouds the rest of the day, accompanied by gale force winds the whole way.  When I stopped for gas mid way on my trip in Western Kentucky, it was snowing.  But the convenience store had a coffee machine, and even though I'm not really a cappuccino drinker (plain, good coffee is my first choice)... I could not resist punching the button for a hot cup of "Shock-A-Cino"--"sleep is over-rated" it said below that.  It was just what I needed to wake me up for the rest of the drive, and also warm my insides!

I do love spending Christmas with my family, so the drive was worth it.  These are my special memories this year. 

1.  I got to see the newest member of our family for the first time.  Little Madalyn is one month old.

2.  I love that my mother still puts up our homemade ornaments.  This is when I did cross-stitch back in the 80s.

3.  I love that the courthouse still looks the same after they repainted it the way it used to look many years ago.

4.  I am still fascinated that one of the high schools I went to is now apartments.  But you can still see the separate entrances marked "Boys" and "Girls".  (FYI, I'm old, but I'm not old enough to remember when boys and girls actually went in separate entrances.  Also, excuse the tilted pictures.  I take pictures on the move... they either come out or they don't!)

5.  I absolutely am thrilled that I finally saw a white squirrel in Kenton, TN.  I have been told my whole life that Kenton was the home of white squirrels, but I have never seen one...until today, when I drove through that area for the millionth time on my way home.  There he was.  Just waiting for me!  (I know you will think this is a fake plastic squirrel someone put on their tree, but it's not.  When I first drove by, another squirrel was chasing it.  I had to drive back and forth three times to finally catch it sitting still!)

6.  This one has nothing to do with me.  It's for Paula!  Yes, Reelfoot Lake is still there.  I pass the sign all the time, but have not been there in years and years.  For the uninitiated, Reelfoot Lake was formed by a series of earthquakes back in 1811 and 1812 along the New Madrid fault (where Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee meet), when the earth rattled and rolled, opened up to form a lake, rang church bells in Boston, and made the Mississippi River run backwards.  Did too!

And, sorry, but unlike Paula, I know nothing about what kind of fish you can catch, unless you count what's on the menu at the local restaurants.  Yummy catfish!

Only a few more days until 2010.... there is an argument going on about that.  Do we say "twenty-ten" or "two thousand ten"?  By comparison, I never said "nineteen hundred ninety-nine" or "twenty oh one".  I'm partial to "twenty ten" myself.  How about you?