Hometown News - Watcha Doing?

(Disclaimer: This story did not make the front page. It was published on page 4)

This is another recent story from my hometown newspaper. It was entered exactly as written, abbreviated and punctuated:

Family Travels 2,000 Miles During Vacation

On June 4, 2010, Dale “Pete” and Loretta _______ took his mother, Iva Mae ______, to her son’s home, Doug and Pamela ______ at Cleveland, Tenn., for vacation. Dale and Loretta returned home June 5.

While in Tennessee, Mrs. ______ visited with Pamela’s mother and stepfather, James and Doris ______. She also visited with her granddaughter and husband and great-granddaughter, Beth and Michael ______ and Alyssa, and her grandson and wife and great-granddaughter, Matthew and Victoria ______ and Megan. (Still with me so far?)

Mrs. ______ was in the Smoky Mountains the first week. She traveled through Gatlinburg and mined for gems in Pigeon Forge. There she found some semi-precious stones. She also went to North Carolina and had a meal and went to the Casino where she bought some truffles candy.

The second week they traveled to Tampa Bay, Fla., to Busch Gardens and celebrated Doug’s birthday on June 16. They stayed at the LaQuinta Motel while there. Then they went to Daytona Beach, Fla., to the Holiday Inn., located right on the beach. They went to the Chocolate Factory and watched them make candy. Iva Mae also bought some truffles there. (Hey, the lady likes truffles.) They toured the historic lighthouse, the second oldest in the world and the tallest.

The group traveled back to Tennessee on June 19. Douglas brought Mrs. ______ home on June 21.

En route to Florida (bet you thought the story was finished, didn’t you?) they went through Georgia. They enjoyed shopping at Wal-Mart, Target, and Dollar General “high end places”. They ate at Busch Gardens, Cracker Barrel, Red Lobster, Denny’s Logan’s Steak House, Shanes, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. (I'm too busy trying to clean up the soda that just came out of my nose to comment.)

This was a very nice vacation and they are planning on Mrs. ______being down there next year on her vacation.

“We all had a very nice visit and one thing I didn’t have to do wash or dry any dishes, which was a treat for me,” reported Mrs. _____.

The group traveled about 2,000 miles.

(Whew! I don’t know about you, but I'm plum tuckered out.)

New Hometown News

More front page news:

Reports Seeing Goodyear Blimp

Terra _____ reported to the Press Saturday seeing the Goodyear blimp flying over Wayne County in a southeasterly direction.

It was seen in the Cisne - Johnsonville area headed toward Geff.

(I was going to tell you about the "big load", but I haven't stopped laughing yet.)

Hometown News

So, I am home now for the next 3 weeks helping my Mom recuperate from hip replacement surgery. She had surgery 3 weeks ago and is doing absolutely fantastic. Determined not to miss doing her exercises, I now have yet another reason to add to a long list of reasons I admire her and call her my hero. My husband and I have both been blessed by strong maternal figures who have set the best examples I can think of.

I grew up in a small town with a population of 6,000, and thirty years later it's smaller still. While businesses have come and gone and our classmates have become grandparents, some things have never changed - mainly the same churches are on nearly every corner and the local clubs (American Legion, VFW, Elks, etc) are the primary forms of entertainment. Those clubs were around long before our county voted to allow the sale of alcohol when I was in high school.

Our local paper along with the local radio station has always been the main source of information. Not much more than a gossip rag, it has employed our city's finest journalists and been the butt of many jokes over the years. I can't think of a single issue that couldn't provide fodder for Jay Leno. Here's a recent story:

Famous White Squirrel Dies

A white squirrel famous for the past two decades in a neighborhood east of Fairfield has died.

Charles and Betty _____ , who with their neighbors have enjoyed watching the squirrel for about 20 years, report that the neighborhood has missed seeing him lately.

Unfortunately, the ______ found while cleaning their pool that the squirrel had drowned.

Life's A Beach

imgfave

Mustn't laugh at others' misfortunes....

(30 Days of Music, Day 17; "I Am" by Train)

Everything’s Amazing. Nobody’s Happy.

This video was shared with me by a Facebook friend a few months ago. I still watch it every now and then and laugh at just how true it is.
 


My husband loves to tell the story of when he was a kid and his Father said to him once that everything that could ever be invented already had been.

Which got me thinking the other day. I remember when we bought our very first microwave, and the first VHS player and how neat it was that you could rent movies and watch them at home – without commercials. (Remember “Be Kind, Rewind”?) Now I have a device that can store over 5,000 songs and another one that can hold over 1,000 books and wonder sometimes just how much more advanced we can get and what do I still have yet to see in my lifetime.

But then, on the other hand, I remember watching the Jetsons as a kid and wasn’t that supposed to be our future? So things have either not advanced as much as we thought or maybe they’ve just gone in a different direction. As good as we’ve got it, I’m still waiting for Rosie the Robot to come and do my laundry.