Pearls have always been sentimental to me. When my sister got married, she gave each of her sisters a pearl necklace to wear as her bridesmaids. When I got married, I wore my mother in-laws tear drop pearl necklace with my wedding gown. I still have that necklace. When my husband and I were dating, he went to Hawaii with his family. He must have been thinking of me because when he came home, he brought me a pair of beautiful pearl earrings. I have several pearl bracelets that I have picked up while on vacations over the years. Pearls are beautiful and precious because of how they are produced. It is an amazing process. You may have read in magazines about Pure Pearls, the online jewelry retailer. They have exclusive contracts with pearl farms and no middlemen to deal with. Because of this relationship, Pure Pearls is able to offer savings of up to 85% below retail prices. If you love pearls the way I do, you will appreciate the savings. Now, I am off to look at those freshwater pearl bracelets.
Tonight we traveled to Indianapolis to see a friend while she was in the hospital. The drive to Indy is a smooth one except in one area. A mistake was made when access to the highway was allowed along a stretch about 8 miles long. There are stoplights every mile. It takes forever to get through that town. It would help if the lights were synchronized but they are not.
I read in the newspaper, that the area around our town is supposed to be made limited access. I guess they learned from their mistake from the town near ours. There has been talk for years about how to make a bypass around the bypass.
I get tired of traveling on highways where there is nothing but trees to look upon. When I am in a hurry though, it is nice not to have to stop at a bunch of red lights. When we have a day to travel where we want to see the sights, we choose to go through the small towns. It is nice to have the choice.
I have friends who love sports. They plan their vacations around the baseball schedules of their favorite teams. It is so cool to look at their pictures from all the baseball stadiums they have visited over the years. It has been fun, as a family, to check out the stadiums and enjoy the games.
Not everyone has the luxury of attending sporting events. That is when Series A becomes the next best thing. In my opinion, it is better. You don’t miss any of the plays because the big guy in front of you stood up to take off his coat just as the most important play of the game took place!
Many more of my friends love to watch sports on television. There is a sport called Italian soccer that has become a favorite for them to watch. It is similar to our football here in the states. Series A soccer games are available to watch on demand or live. It is fun to watch through Series A 
because, not only do you get to watch the games, you get to hear news and standings for your favorite teams. You get to see that play you might have missed. You also get to watch the play again that had a questionable referee call. I like to watch the players and coaches being interviewed. Hearing them talk about the game makes you understand their insight better and why things went the way they did.
Yesterday, we drove through Gas City, Indiana and an indoor flea market caught my eye. We had to go on through town to pick up a table for my sister. We found the house, or so we thought, to get the table. Red brick house 1/2 mile down the road, were the directions we were given. I didn’t know the ladies name. So, we knocked on the door of this red brick house and the man of the house opened the door. I said, “hi, we are here to pick up the table.” He got a strange look on his face and said he didn’t know what we were talking about. He hollared to his wife to see if she sold something and forgot to tell him. Nope. WE WERE AT THE WRONG HOUSE!
We trekked back to the car and headed down the road. I was on the cell phone with the lady, she saw us and directed us into her driveway. LOL
Her garage was full of stuff. Apparently, she and her husband enjoy going to flea markets, auctions and yard sales. We enjoyed looking over everything. They had 8 or 10 old sewing machines that all worked. There were some big pieces of furniture that looked interesting. The man took the covers off the pieces so we could get a better look. Mom and I ended up buying two dressers. Mom’s is a small piece that has two drawers on the left and a door on the right. The door part was made to hold a chamber pot. Now we need to find a chamber pot. I told me sister to be on the look out because our mom needs a pot to pee in! LOL Grace, my sister, found an old barn auction house that she has gone to the past two weekends. Now she has a mission!
Mom also bought a Singer sewing machine in a cabinet. The man didn’t think he could fit everything in the back of my Pacifica. Ha! He does not know us! My sister, Grace, and I once fit a sectional in my car. We can make it work!
So, in the back of my car, we had 2 dressers, a small table, a sewing machine cabinet and a shredder. (I bought the shredder at an office supply store on the way.)
On the way back, through Gas City, we stopped at the flea market. We knew we could not fit another thing in my car so it was safe to look around! LOL
British Airways has announced it will no longer allow shipments of large, cumbersome objects to be checked as baggage by customers flying on their airplanes. That means a big pain in the butt for sports participants who need to get their golf clubs, surfboards and other necessary items to their destination. How are competitors supposed to get the tools of their sport to the location of an event? Maybe a limit on the number of items would have been a better way to handle the situations. You can read about their reasons at BBC NEWS.
It must be my age because all these “young people” seem to be popping out babies right and left! Most are acquaintances so I try to buy a practical gift to celebrate the new birth. There have been a couple of babies come along where I wanted the gift to be extra special. I think a little baby bling fits the bill! LOL
AristaBrat is a new brand of high end baby bling that will become a much talked about phenomena amongst the new baby crowd. The saying, “Born with a silver spoon in his mouth,” comes to mind. Actually, the products at AristaBrat are some of the most beautiful that I have ever seen. Their beautiful pacifiers caught my eye! They will become family heirlooms I am sure.
When you want to purchase something that will be cherished and convey a special message, make your selection from AristaBrat. 
AristaBrat is a new, up and coming brand that specializes in high end baby bling. From rattles, to pacifiers and baby clothes.
I am so glad to have received some new cd’s. Thanks to my sis, Grace, I no longer have to listen to the same thing hour after hour. LOL
There are some new artists that have caught my ear. Just when you think that all the great artists are out there, someone new comes along to surprise us all.
Did anyone catch the Country Music Awards? That is the only award program I enjoy.
I am ready for another road trip and now I have new tunes to play on the way! Yay!
My mom and dad were avid fishermen. They loved to fish whenever time allowed. That might be why I love to fish as an adult. I do bait my own hook! With three girls, my dad was not about to bait our hooks for us. LOL
When we were small children, we traveled with my parents up the coast of California and visited along the coast of Oregon. I was pretty young to recall the trip in detail now but I do remember fishing and skipping rocks in the beautiful shimmering water. I remember finding the prettiest rocks and driftwood. I understand that today it is illegal to remove driftwood from our nation’s beaches. Forty years ago, it was allowed. We saved our school milk cartons and put all the tiny crabs we found. I doubt that a motel would have appreciated our collections! That is the great thing about vacation rentals; they are like being at home. The oregon vacation rentals are beckoning me to visit again.
The Oregon Coast Aquarium and Hatfield Marine Science Center are great educational centers. There are many parks where you can enjoy picnics and hiking. Oregon offers educational, scenic and relaxing enjoyment to all who visit. 
My prayers are with all the people in southern California as they deal with the horrible fires in their area. For the third day, fires are destroying homes and displacing people. More people have been forced out their homes than from the hurricane that hit in New Orleans.
Having learned from the New Orleans experience, the department of homeland security is handling the situation somewhat better than they did when hurricane Katrina hit. Still, it must be a horrible experience for all who are enduring this horrible situation.
These dates are being recorded so that I will not miss next years show. I am constantly hearing about the wonderful the Paducah quilt show & contest. I am writing it on my calendar. Next year is getting booked!
American Quilter’s Society Quilt Show Dates
Paducah
2008 April 23-26
2009 April 22-25
Nashville, TN
2008 August 20-23
Need to plan a last minute cruise do ya?
