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Today’s Blog:
We are POOPED — getting too old for this kind of work — cleaning and repairing things at a rental property. After 12 hours of this yesterday, we must remember when this property is put on the market some day to laugh really loud when asked if we’ll take less than the sales price!

I know we’re considered the “mean ole landlords,” BUT . . . it’s amazing some of the things we have found after renting a place out for a year or less. Interior doors removed, doors painted purple, door knobs removed, garbage bags left for months in the garage, burned areas on countertops where pots have been left, light fixtures changed or removed, grass/weeds knee high in the yard, a bed roll and light in an attic as living quarters for who knows, a pot-belly pig as a back yard pet (no mention of such on lease agreement) — and much more. And these are homes in nice neighborhoods — no cars on blocks — AND . . . we have taken rental applications to screen out folks with such histories. Oh well, guess this is part of what it takes to become “wealthy one day” — tee hee — as we prepare to replace carpet that is only 18 months old. The other part of this story includes our question, “where is Uncle Sam while we are going through all this?” He’s there at the end of it all to collect some of our hard-work and sweat profit. But then again, where else but in America?

We’re BLESSED — all are healthy, happy, and have each other.

“We Home” — an expression that our booth neighbors, Kathy and Wayne, shared with us at the Warrenton Antique Show. Their little two-year old grand-daughter said this as they pulled into their driveway one evening, and so now that is their expression to each other each time they arrive home from a trip. So, maybe that will be our new expression as well.

Not only did we meet some really nice dealers like Kathy and Wayne, but we also enjoyed meeting and talking with so many folks as they shopped at our booth. We couldn’t have done this show without the help of friends and family! Kelby took vacation time to help us load our 26′ Penske truck, unload it at the show, and then return it to Austin. He came several times to help out me at the booth or Terry across the street “in the field.” Then, he returned to help us load for our trip home. Good friends like Betty, Dennis, and Ann helped us immensely before the show opened on Friday, March 31. “Old” pros like Dennis and Betty gave us great ideas on how to display and didn’t hesitate to pick up heavy boxes to unload or pieces of furniture as we moved things around — several times! And what an idea Dennis had — he tied cards around long stemmed carnations that not only thanked the customer for shopping at Samtiques, but also included a 10% discount if they shopped at my booth in Luling. He filled a huge bucket with these flowers and we gave them out to anyone who walked into our booth — they carried them around Warrenton. Many people commented “oh, this is where those pretty flowers came from.” Thank you, Kelby, Ann, Betty and Dennis!

Cole’s Antiques was a hit — good quality antiques and over 100 booths to shop — all in air condition and no entry or parking fee. Compliments were generous and many said they would start their shopping at Cole’s next time. It will be even bigger by next show — Mr. Cole is planning to add another wing on the other side of the building. He is an inspiring senior citizen — will turn 81 soon and going strong!

Now, we are back home and trying to catch up on “stuff.” April the 15th is not far away — actually, we have until April 17 this year to file our income tax. I will tackle that job in the next day or two, but looking forward to our 41st anniversary on April 16 and a trip to Hawaii for a belated 40th anniversary celebration.

Life is good — reminds me about greeting one customer with the familiar “how are you?”, and he replied, “great, I’m still vertical.”

A few of my favorite things . . .

in addition to my wonderful family and friends, that is . . .

– Josh Turner and his song, “Your Man.” Oh, swoon . . .

– The 18 wheeler that was able to stop behind us on IH 35 during a hail storm when suddenly every car in front of us came to an unexpected halt.

– Rabies tags that can be used to trace a dog’s owner — found a small white poodle near the highway and was able to help her back home.

– Symphony candy bars, especially in the middle of a brownie with Eagle Brand milk baked on top.

– Doctors who don’t make you wait — after all, our time is valuable, too.

– Estate sales that are not run by an estate sale company.

– Garage sales that could be estate sales.

– Rain, especially the slow kind.

– TV shows that must be taped if I’m not at home, i.e., Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, American Idol, Nashville Star, and The Apprentice (probably will be my last season on this one).

— Paula Deen’s cooking show — she is a “hoot” to watch and has some really good recipes to try. She got away with saying “oh crap” on national tv when she thought her baked potato dish had burned.

— The Warrenton/Round Top Antique Show — starts next week! We’ll be there — come see us at Cole’s Antiques in Warrenton.

After some weeks of “health issues” that some of our dear family and friends have been facing, I just want to thank all who have had them in their prayers. Prayers have been answered for Keegan, Gene, Uncle Harold, Aunt Pink, Kenny, and Leslie’s sister Linda–they have been returned to their good health–and Jennifer and Richard’s baby girl arrived 5 weeks early but she is healthy and doing great. Prayers for Jan and Carol have also been answered — both are receiving encouraging treatment and we will continue to ask for their cancer-free body.

Our “retired” life is not exactly what I had pictured. As all who are retired will tell you, it seems that “we are busier now than ever before.” And . . . that is GOOD! I can’t imagine just sitting around flipping channels on the remote all day long. My daddy told me when I retired that “now, you will have time to go to the doctor’s office and wait.” I laughed. And so far, we’ve not had to go there THAT often, but it’s nice to know we can take appointments just about any time. However, I do try to decline EARLY appointments — like . . . before 10 a.m. That interfers with my “recline time.”

I’m also trying to work into my busy schedule a work-out at Curves three times a week. Supposed to be there right now, as a matter of fact. But, I’m waiting to make a bid as late as possible on an ebay item; so Curves will be this afternoon. I finally decided that these extra inches and pounds are not going away without some exercise and perhaps a watch over what I intake. That’s the hard part! One of the women at this Curves establishment is pictured in a huge poster on the wall with “Biggest Loser” below it — 78 lbs. I met her the other day and asked what else she did to lose that much — just couldn’t believe it was all in the Curves exercise program. The answer was what I feared: she watched what she ate, went to Curves three times a week, and walked 2-3 miles each of the other days. That leads me to this quote received in my inbox recently:

“Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways – beer Coke in one hand – chocolate in the other – body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming “Whoo what a ride.”

But, it’s so discouraging to go into my closet and be limited to my choice of clothes because of the “fit factor.” So, I’ll continue to try to do something about that. (And I don’t mean buy up another size!)

Cannot believe the weather we had this “winter.” Think we ran our a/c more than we did our heater. While this might be great in places like Hawaii, I’d just as soon have some of the freezing temps as is usual just to get rid of the little crawly creatures that inhabit our area . . . namely, things like scorpions. Not sure that the freezing temps really kill them out — think they just hibernate like bears. For those of you who don’t really know about our scorpions — they are not life threatening, but their sting (and you are lucky if they pop you only once with their tail) does hurt like a wasp sting. Then they run off fast and you have to go find them while burning with pain. They, unlike some wasps, do not die after stinging you. And the pest control companies will not guarantee their work regarding controlling scorpions — so, all that spray you pay for and inhale may not keep them away for more than a couple of weeks, if that. Surely God created these creatures for some purpose other than to torment us — anyone know anything GOOD about scorpions? If not, they are definitely the one thing I would love to change about Texas! Otherwise, it’s perfect . . . well, except for August, maybe.