Just Dishes?

I love FiestaWare, we use these dishes each & every day. Some of you may know these can be a bit pricey, if purchased at a store or online. Twice each year Homer Laughlin (the manufacturer) has a tent sale where they sell their seconds for very little. The plant is in Newell WVA (I know, can you believe it, made in the good ole USA). This is approx 35 min from where I am originally from, Beaver County PA. This year the timing of the tent sale happened to coincide with the bi-annual family reunion on my father's side. Hmmm, sounded like a perfect reason to take a road trip, rather than fly. Mike surprised me when I asked if I could drive up to PA and said yes. (Now before you all think I have to ask permission, relax.....I asked out of respect for his position as head of the household. Rarely does he tell me I can't do something. He preferred I didn't drive that distance alone so Jess flew down and drove back with me. I was really excited, knowing I was going to get some new dishes & also spend time with some friends/family I hadn't seen in a long time.
My plan was to leave by 5:30am June 23. We left at 6a and were on our way. Oops, about half hour from home, I realized I had forgotten my laptop. Since we were so close, I called & Mike met us about 15min away with my laptop. We said another round of goodbyes and off we went. It was an uneventful drive, Jessica & I chatted almost non stop. It started to rain right around the time we got to Beckley WVA so we stopped and spent about an hour or so in a big antique mall there. How fun to walk down memory lane. Jessica spent most of her time in the section with vintage clothes, hats & purses, coming away with 2 purses & 1 hat.  I didn't realize I was to get off 77 in Beckley so we ended up going all the way to Charleston WVA before getting on 79.  It was pretty cool to see the capital building but that detour added about an hour onto our already long drive!  

We finally arrived in Beaver County...I took Jess home & went to visit some dear friends of mine in Bridgewater. I then met Jess & Dave at the Brighton Hot Dog Shoppe in Vanport for dinner, around 8p. Fresh burger with chili & cheddar cheese plus chili & cheese fries.....yummy! From there, Jess & I headed to Homer Laughlin, the plan was we would sleep in the car, I'd get up around 4a to stand in line for our tickets to get in (which they start handing out at 7a). Since Thur was the first day of the sale, I knew it would be busy.  Imagine our surprise when I pulled into the parking lot to discover a line of tents & chairs already set up! I was so unprepared, not a chair in the car. We went to the end of the line, where there were a bunch of ladies in chairs, underneath a canopy type thing. I explained how I had not realized I would need a chair and would they be willing to hold my place. 'No, you have to be physically here in order to hold your place.' was their response. Even the offer of cash did not change their minds! (can't blame me for trying though) Jessica had never been to this sale and all she kept saying was 'all this for dishes? 'They are just dishes'. We walked up to the front of the line, talking to people in line, I'm still amazed at this point, at how many are set up. Jessica was concerned about the weather forcast....called for high winds & storms through the night.....and what these people would do in that event.  This pic shows the last tent (with the clear plastic walls looking up to the front of the line. The next one shows the beginning of the line. These people were from Canada & had set up their tent around midnight Tuesday night, for the sale that started Thursday am! Can you believe it?

Jess & I went back to the car, I needed sleep. Mind you, we both had been up since 5a & it was now about 10p. I slept a bit then went back to the end of the line where a couple was setting up a tent. I explained to them my plight, what the other people had said & they were kind, told me not to worry, they would vouch for me. After thanking them, I went back to the car. Jessica wanted to call Dave so she went to our spot (by now held by an Aldi cold bag, box, and beach mat...all I could find in my trunk) to talk. She was out for about an hour & had fun telling me about the people behind us, from Canada. They set up chairs and covered 2 with a tarp, left one guy there saying 'will you be ok? do you want the xbox? anything? Ok, we are going to the hotel, see you in the am.' (guess he drew the short straw). We both slept a few hours & I got up around 430, took a couple more beach mats to our 'spot'. The concession stand was open by then so I was able to get coffee!  Jess joined me and we both got a breakfast sandwich & coffee. I'm sure this is a nice fundraiser for the youth organization that runs that stand. We sat & chatted with others behind us, finding out where everyone was from. Its amazing so many people come to this event. Not so amazing when you realize how many online/ebay stores there are selling Fiesta Ware I guess. Many of these people come for the entire 3 days, going into the tent multiple times each day. Each time in the tent, one is limited to 4 milk crates worth of product. For the record, I filled 3. The sun started to rise, it was beautiful.  I took a few pics of the end of the line, from where we were.    

Here is Jess, lower rt corner, the concession stand, upper rt corner and end of the line, right across from the truck that is parked.  Finally, it got close to 7a and the tents started coming down, we packed up our stuff and waited for our tickets. We were #s 81 & 82. Once we had our numbers we were free to go, had to be back by 915a. Jess & I walked to the convenience store and got more coffee, she painted her finger & toenails while waiting. We again lined up and starting moving down the hill towards the tents. Waited in line there, until 10a when they let the first people into the tents. We got into the tent before 11, were checking out by 11:30! There were so many things there!  Things I didn't see the first time I was there, 2yrs ago, in the afternoon of the 2nd day. I bought a few things for Stacey & a bunch of stuff for me.  Here are pics of my haul.

The first pic shows the 2 disc pitchers I bought; the 2nd the rest of what I bought for me & the peacock & cobalt are Stacey's. (and the coco wheat, since she can't get it in CA). There was another line of people waiting to go down the hill as we were coming back to the car, and we recognized several people who had been in the front of the line, going in for their second time.  Here's a pic of the line as we were leaving.

Much to my dismay, I did not take any pics inside the tent....I was on a mission, to find what I wanted and get out....LOL.  Oh, drat, I guess I'll have to go back next year and take pics inside the tents. Who is up for an adventure next June? 

Procrastinating

I'm not sure whether it is Mike or me who is best at procrastinating but we both are very good at it!  I'm sure you have noticed, if you follow this blog.

We went to Mike's sister's retirement from the Air Force in May. It was great meeting this sister & seeing his dad & another sister again.  Since the ceremony was in NJ, we stayed in Wilmington DE with my best friend & her family. This was the first time Mike had visited and he fit right in, kept them entertained with his military and growing up stories. He absolutely loved hanging out with my godson, who will be 10 next month.  I'm sure you all will be jealous but sorry ladies, this handsome guy is all mine!

I was also able to spend a couple days in CA with the grandchildren, oh, yes, Josh & Stacey were there too!  While I always have a great time when I visit, the highlight was when Justin brought his shark books to read to me. This is when he dropped the 'Sandy' from Grandma! (for those of you who don't know, we became Justin's grandparents when Josh married his mom). Miss Olivia came to me with this request: "We need to go to the Home Store and buy me some Dora skates." Apparently she had been wanting them for a while but Stacey kept putting her off. As you have probably guessed, as soon as Justin got home from school, we all went to the Home Store!  Here she is, practicing. 

And here is Josh & Justin putting together his new toy....I don't remember what it is called but I guess its pretty popular and a spin off of Pokemon? He also got swim goggles. He is so sweet, he was going to get less expensive ones but they weren't the ones he really wanted. I'm Grandma, he got the ones he really wanted! (btw, they were less than $10)

I have no idea why this wont allow me to have the alignment on the left, I've tried to change it to no avail.

Missy has finished her freshman year of HS, is glad to have that over and done with. She will start her 6 weeks with her mom on Monday.  I was back in Wilmington DE last weekend for the graduation of my best friend's daughter. I met her when she was 3! Not exactly sure how she grew up so fast but it just seems like last week she was starting school! It was a fun time, Jessica was with me, Graceanne had to work. It was nice to spend some time with Jess, first at home here with Mike & Missy, then in DE. Jessica brought us our Christmas gifts. (yes, its been that long!) Missy loves the fashion sketching books & of course, I love the scrapbooking books! For Mike, a new DVD, Jessica knows how much he loves movies!  She will be back in DE when she will be pet sitting in August, when they take Kylie to college. They have 2 great danes, 1 wiemeramer (spelling?) 3 birds and 2 cats. The love bird, Charlie, really took a liking to Jessica.

Mike is back to work as of this past week. No, they have not figured out what is wrong with him. Yes, he still gets the pain in his side when he stands any length of time but the pain meds seem to be making it bearable. All of you who know Mike knows he is not one to be off work for any length of time so I'm sure you are not surprised he went back. I'm not saying Mike is stubborn or anything but he is Irish. Thats all I'm saying.

I am giving serious consideration to attending the Creating Keepsakes Convention here in August, anyone want to come with?  I would even move the scrapbook stuff off the bed in the guest room for you. I have been diligently working on finishing Jessica's books. Finally. I have her senior year to do and then finishing touches on her formal dances & dance books. I am committed to finishing these before starting on Olivia's and she is now almost 3 1/2.

I will go back to work in the morning, have enjoyed being home all week & catching up on some household chores that have been neglected lately. Can anyone explain to me how the inside of a fridge gets so dirty??

I also plan to go to the Homer Laughlin tent sale the end of the month, anyone need some Fiestaware?  Let me know. If you'd like to make the trip with me, the more the merrier!

That's it for now, if you are in our neck of the woods please feel free to stop in or give us a call and we'll be glad to meet up with you.

Freshman Year

(I have finally convinced Missy to write a blog entry for our family blog)

The end of freshman year. I never thought it would end this fast. It feels as if just last month I was starting at Central Cabarrus, and here I am wearing a CCHS Viking’s T-shirt that has phrases like, “best friends forever” and “I’ll miss you”. When the truth is… they aren’t my best friends, and if you really think about it, I won’t miss them, and they probably wont even remember me next year.


Honestly, I won’t miss Central one bit over the summer. No, I will miss every bit of Central. At Central Cabarrus, there’s more to life than homework and test scores. There is a whole other life. My freshman year has been filled with this other life; some of the good and at times it felt like most of the bad. The other life at CCHS, is a life not many have found yet. (Those are the people stumbling to your left, who are also violating the dress code and disrespecting the faculty) I had a hard time recognizing this life. This other world. I pushed and shoved it away when it came to me with open arms. These last few months however, I have found, this other life is a place where people know who their true selves are. I thought I knew who I was as a person in the beginning, but now I realize how wrong I was. I finally welcomed that side of Central into my life.

I have learned that life isn’t always easy, sometimes problems can come at you in multiple directions. That person you wanted to believe you could “love” “forever and always”, sometimes you just can’t. Sometimes love isn’t always true. Sometimes, you have to take a step back and look at things through the eyes of an adult. Sometimes, you have to break someone’s heart. And when your real best friend starts to branch out and find herself, sometimes you have to hold dear the old memories and make room for the new. I have learned people will make attempts to hurt you, but whether they fail or succeed is your choice to make. Sometimes it isn’t your choice though. Sometimes, you will get hurt, you will fall down, but when you pick yourself up and hold your head high, that is not defeat. That is courage and bravery. I have learned to hold on to friendships others throw away. To forget about all the hurtful remarks and make friends with the boy whom used to tease you in the sixth grade. (Usually, those people have an amazing story to tell that will warm your heart and hold onto them tight so they can’t get away.) To look back on friendships (and yes, even the boyfriends you weren’t allowed to have) and remember all the good times you had and trash all the bad.

Most of all, and this one was the hardest, I learned to stop trying to change myself for other people. I learned to except myself as the person I truly am. I learned that if I can’t be myself around someone then I shouldn’t be around him or her at all. If you are constantly taken aside and told how to act, then that person isn’t worth your recognition. I have many friends who are dealing with this problem right now. They know who they are, but people are telling them to change. It’s a constant battle for control… a battle I once fought too. I choose to fight it or be apart of it, no more. It’s wrong to try to change people. They are who they are, whether you like it or not is your problem.

I am who I am…and I have a lot of growing and changing (on my own, I may add) to do. And yes, I will miss those dreadfully cruel eight hours of my day being wasted. I may even miss the homework, oh no, sorry, that was a typo. The correct statement would be: I will NOT miss the homework, or the eight hours. My apologies to my teachers but honestly, (on a lighter note) IT’S SUMMER!!!

- Melissa Riley

Monday, Monday.......(remember that song?)

Here it is Monday, the day after Mother's Day.  I must admit, other than none of the kids being around (Missy was with her mom until 5) it was a pleasant day.  I spent several hours in the scrapbook room, finished up all but 1 of the projects I started at the CK Convention last weekend. Missy made pasta for dinner & we all watched the Amazing Race finale. We were disappointed the cowboys didn't win, but as they said, they kept their integrity & had a great time.  It was so refreshing to watch them all season, never getting ugly with one another, no matter what.  It was a fun season, since Mike, Missy & I watched it together whenever we were all home.

Mike is still seeing drs, trying to figure out what is wrong with him. His PCP thinks perhaps the pain is from his back; Mike is seeing a neurosurgeon today, as I type, actually.

I am about half way through a 4hour airport appreciation sit. Makes me thankful for my laptop, I can spend time surfing the net.

I would be remiss if I did not share how God worked in our lives over the weekend. Mike & Missy took the Mistubishi to pick up the pizza on Friday evening. He called and asked me to pick them up, the car had broken down. The timing belt had broken. First of all, Praise to God Mike was driving the car instead of me driving to Greensboro at 3a!  Mike was concerned the damage would be more than just the belt, costing more money. He found a place to fix it on Saturday & it was fixed and back home by 6p! Praise to God, it was only the belt, nothing more! God is so good!

To get his mind off the car repairs, Mike took me out yardsaling. Since he works on Saturdays, it was great to spend the time together. I picked up several things to use in my scrapbook room; Mr 'I hate cats' bought Chanel a little cat condo with a tunnel; we picked up a couple window fans for Graceanne, if she doesn't want them we'll use them in our Jacksonville house until we get the central air put in.

I made strawberry preserves for the very first time on Saturday. It actually turned out good. Mike is planning on picking up some more strawberries for me on Thur & I'll make more while I'm home on Friday. Not sure what has gotten into me but no one is complaining....LOL

I endured a shopping trip to buy a dress for Martha's retirement & Kylie's graduation. I'm sure I tried on 25+ dresses. For those of you who don't know, I really hate to shop for clothes for myself. I had Mike with me so he helped me pick it out.  Glad that is over....now I can look forward to the retirement next Friday.

What a slacker......

.....I've been! 

Mike is still not well, he's off work at least until Friday, when he sees the dr again.  He's had tests, each dr sends him to someone else.  He says the drs are in 'practice' all right......practicing on him.....LOL. He continues to have pain in his side when he walks/stands too much. Thanks in advance for the prayers. 

I attended my first Creative Keepsakes Convention in Manchester NH this past weekend. I have a friend who lives near there & she invited me. I had a blast, learned some new things & used products I haven't before. Of course, there was also a HUGE vendor fair.......a fair amount of cash was spent. (Hope no one wants to eat this week.) 
The best part was visiting with my friend, she & her family moved to southern Maine in Feb from Colorado. Its wonderful to have her on the east coast, much easier to visit. I can't think of much that is better than spending time with another Christian woman, face to face.

Mike reminds me I have to go shopping, I need a dress for the retirement ceremony. Would anyone like to go for me?  Anyone who knows me well also knows my dislike for clothes shopping.

Are there any Amazing Race fans out there? I've gotten Mike & Missy hooked on it & we all sit and watch it on Sunday nights. Missy has always rooted for the cowboys & they are in the final 3.....can't wait until the final episode next Sunday evening.

Other than working (too much), Mike keeping busy with his 'list' & Missy going to school this is all we've been up to.

Grandma, when are you coming to mine house?

I keep hearing those words that came from Olivia on Wednesday when she called. I had to tell her I don't know. The more I think of it, the more I think that should be an exceptable excuse for missing work. Graceanne suggested I have Olivia call crew scheduling, she might have the right idea....LOL  I pray the USMC will be moved to station Joshua somewhere on the east coast, after his stint at 29 Palms is up.

In other news:
Missy had a fun time over spring break with her mom. She went to work with her and felt very grown up. She also went to the zoo and took some great pics, I can't wait to see how she scrapbooks them. She was eager to get back to school on Monday, somehow I don't think it was the academics she was so excited about.  I think it had more to do with a certain boy named Brandon, I could be wrong but I don't think I am.

Mike & I will be traveling to New Jersey in May to attend his youngest sister's retirement from the Air Force. I'm looking forward to seeing Mike's dad & his sister Janice again & meeting Martha and her family. Mike somehow thought he would be able to have his alpha's altered to fit him......instead he had to order a new alpha top. I'm kind of excited to see him in uniform for the first time.

Gotta love those flight benefits!

I made a quick trip to San Diego on Friday evening, met Josh & his family. Offered to give Josh & Stacey my room under the guise of letting them have some alone time. Think they realized I just wanted to spend every minute possible with my favorite kids? We got up Saturday & spent the day at Sea World. What a fun time, watching Justin & Olivia as they went through the exhibits. It's funny, in years past I was more interested in getting pics of the exhibits than of my kids (not that they weren't in their share of them...LOL). What a difference being a grandparent makes. I found myself focusing on them as they looked, wanting to capture every minute! I must say, I was extremely tired by the end of the day, should I blame it on being in a different time zone?
 Sea World  does not charge admission to military & their dependants and also recognizes them during the Shamu show. Thanks Sea World.

You can see pics of our day at Sea World here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=58064&id=1407031271&l=1d3dd11f7b

I wanted to get home to Mike, since he was home alone so I took the red eye home Saturday night. The best part: watching the fireworks from Sea World while waiting for the flight at the San Diego Airport. The worst part: getting the very last seat: last row, middle. I'm not really complaining though, I was thankful to get a seat as it was showing oversold! Praise God!

Mike, bless his heart, asked me if I was ready to go to Jacksonville when I called to let him know we had landed in CLT. I didn't know he was heading down to help one of his best friends celebrate his birthday Sunday afternoon. Needless to say, this jet lagged woman stayed home! Mike had a good time, as always when spending time with the Woleslagle's.

You might be asking yourself 'where was Missy?' while we were out traveling the country. Not home alone (imagine!?). She's been with her mom since Friday evening, spending her spring break there. She'll be home Friday evening, not soon enough for me, I miss her!