Winter has finally arrived...sorta...

By watching and listening to the news I know the rest of the country has had rather odd weather this winter, but I'm sure it feels more personal where you are.

So far we've had more warm weather than cool this winter season. My wood pile has hardly been touched! Of course we have 2-2 1/2 more months to go, so no telling what'll happen!

There was a nice little article in the local paper on Friday about me earning certification.

Helen's calling less than daily lately...that's a good thing!

I spent Saturday in Tallahassee. Mother met Nancy and me at Talbots and we did some major shopping and then went to lunch. Had a rather decent time...at lunch Mother got rather nasty a couple of times and the second time instead of ignoring it I called her down...she went mad! I told her she got her panties in a wad just too easily. She looked at me and said "my what?" ... I said "your panties" ... she looked at Nancy and said "what about my panties?" ... Nancy said (loudly) "They're in a wad!". Mother took in a large gasp of breath and started laughing. She laughed until she had tears rolling down her face. It ended up being quite funny.

Mother went home after lunch and Nancy and I went to an art gallery and had a very nice afternoon. Got home around 7pm,

Sunday was Prentice's 37th birthday.

Mysteries of life?

Wow! This past week I've been sick as a dog! Everyone else in town has been too. All the guys at work started a couple of weeks ago with flu, even Paul and HWB. I kept things wiped down with antibiotic wipes and was compulsive about hand washing...really thought I'd escaped and then last Wednesday started running a fever and feeling just awful. I actually slept for 48 hours, getting up long enough to take care of basic needs like litter boxes, Shirley in and out and my personal needs. By Saturday afternoon I felt well enough to sit up in my chair in the living room for about 4 hours and then on Sunday felt almost human.

Went to work yesterday (Monday) and had the longest 8 hours I ever remember. I'm still very tired with chest congestion and achy muscles, but think I'm on the up hill side of this. Funny thing, I had the flu shot!

In two weeks my baby boy will be 37 years old. Wow! Wish I had an address for him. He's sorta out of pocket now that he's in North Carolina.

I Passed!!!!

I took the 3 hour certification exam yesterday and passed all four sections. HWB also took the exam and passed the first 3 sections, but didn't pass the 4th which was the 90 minute open book part. In his defense, he didn't read the book (I read it 2-3 times and studied several sections again and again). He'll have 2 more times to take it. I hope he will.

Now, I have no idea what this certification will do for me, but I'm quite proud to be able to say that I'm now a Certified Horticulture Professional! Certified by FNGLA (Florida Nursery Growers Landscape Association)! This certification is good for 3 years and then I'll either have to take it all over again or have 15 hours of study in selected fields. Of course by then I'll be 65 and may not care to continue...we'll see.

We've had lots of rain since Christmas. It's raining right now and is expected to continue until Tues. or Wed. I do like it, but it's getting a bit soggy!

I have a new favorite movie, "The Devil wears Prada"! What a hoot!

The new year

Happy 007 everyone!

I stayed home New Years Eve, nothing very new about that! Was in bed by 9 o'clock, but woke up about 20 till 12...just in time to see the ball drop and go back to sleep.

I did spend the day Sunday (New Years Eve Day) in Tallahassee with Nancy. We did some shopping and some eating and visited a while. Was home before dark. Nice day.

Monday Leah Jane had folks over for bloody marys and Ann and I stayed for New Years Day food. I took a mess of greens (a mixture of turnips and mustards) and we had venison sausage, black eyed peas and cornbread. What a feast! Home by 3.

It was so hard to go back to work on Tuesday. This short week has felt 4 weeks long!

My certification exam is tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for me!