RECEIVE MY ASSIGNMENT TODAY

I am painting a room. That is my task here at the Children’s Home. But I haven’t gotten a drop of paint on me yet. Instead I got lots of paint chips and dust. Yuck!

I spent the day chipping off old paint, working out the old caulking, and sanding. Oh, and I also moved furniture, covered furniture, and took down the curtains. (Don’t worry, family, the furniture wasn’t heavy.)

The hardest part today was deciding when enough paint had been chipped off. The painter is supposed to scrape off peeling paint. But when you’re scraping, how do you know if those paint chips are really peeling off? Maybe they’re coming off because I’m scraping too hard.

I sure was tired at the end of the day. My hot shower felt great! And I’m definitely going to bed early!

Good night,
Suzanne

SIGHT-SEEING

When I was 19, I lived across the street from a graveyard. After classes, I would walk home and then wander through that graveyard for a bit. It was peaceful, quiet, and beautiful.

Today, I walked around a cemetery in Selma. It was a very old one. I found it peaceful, quiet, and beautiful. Here’s a picture of a small part of it.



Those southern oaks with the Spanish moss look so regal. But I just found out that the Spanish moss is missing from many trees hit by Hurricane Katrina. When I was in Moss Point, MS, a gentleman pointed that out to me. And he also mentioned that there are very few squirrels and alligators. He just recently saw his first alligator since Katrina. I am learning that storms like Katrina or Andrew or Rita or Carla (now that dates me) have many ripple effects that are hard to even imagine.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a mild hurricane season!

Ya’ll take care,
Suzanne

OK, I have writer’s block. I've been trying for about 45 minutes to think of something interesting that happened today. I did have a "first" happen, but it really falls into the category of "Oh, that's interesting" followed by dead silence. So, I’ll tell you what I’m up to…..

I’m in Selma, AL, and I'll be here for one week. I’ll be working at the Methodist Children’s Home. I’m with a group called NOMADS. NOMADS are RV’ers who like to stop and help out. We go to the NOMADS website and find projects in the vicinity of our travels. This is my fourth project. I’ve learned how to tape and mud drywall, done a lot of painting, learned to use a hammer gun, mowed some grass, repaired horse barns, and caulked a lot of holes.

I chose to stop in Selma because it is on my way to Perry, GA, where I'll be attending an Airstream Rally. Tomorrow, I'll meet the coordinator of the Children's Home and find out what I’ll be doing.

Here’s a picture of the chapel.



That’s it for now….after all, I do have writer’s block!

Suzanne

LOST KEYS

I’ve known for several months that I had some important keys that probably couldn’t be located. I just didn’t want to acknowledge that they were missing. But I also knew that I would pay the price one day if I didn’t take care of it.

My only hint was that I remembered (very vaguely) putting them in a strange place and then mentally telling myself not to forget. Yeah, like that was really going to work!

I started looking yesterday morning. I first checked my two trailer key rings, then the primary and secondary key storage tins, then the box where I keep spare locks, and then the glove compartment of the truck. No luck. I gave up and left on this trip.

When I arrived in Louisiana last night, I started looking again. I checked the two outside trailer storage compartments, the miscellaneous drawer in the kitchen, the sock drawer in the bedroom, and then checked the two trailer key rings again! No luck. I gave up and went to bed.

This morning, I remembered where I had put them!!!!!!! I pulled them out, labeled each one, put one on the primary trailer key ring, and put the other one in the glove compartment!!!

Sing along…..slow walking tempo….an old gospel…..just a few words changed. “Oh, happy day_____Oh, happy day_____when Suzane found______those missing keys.”

Ya’ll take care,
Suzanne

P.S. They were in my purse in a compartment I rarely use.

It was raining in Rayne when I arrived. I could see the rain clouds coming in from the south, and I was hoping to get far enough east to miss them. But no luck. I just couldn’t outrun ’em.

I am staying in a different RV park. It’s a city park, and it’s very clean and handy to I-10. My friends have been telling me about it so I decided to give it a shot. I’m enjoying it. My air conditioner is cooling me down, the quiet hum of I-10 is soothing, my dinner is ready to cook, and I have great TV reception!

Where I live, I have lousy TV coverage. There’s no cable, but there is satellite coverage. I just haven’t gotten it yet. Meanwhile, it’s a treat to see TV shows that I haven’t seen in months. I just need to find out when Jeopardy comes on!

Well, I need to get going. I’m getting pretty hungry, and dinner is looking pretty good.

So long for now,
Suzanne