Sophie's Story

    The alarm clock went off at 3 AM. It's far too early to get up, but we had to. We were taking an early morning flight to Atlanta. We needed to shower, pack up the last remaining things, drive to the airport and drop off the rental car. I like to leave a lot of time to get through security in case something goes wrong.    We were both tired as we went about getting ready to leave. The electronics went into the backpack. The Nook reader, knitting, camera and packs of gum went into the shoulder bag. C got the cart and loaded our bags onto it. We did a last sweep of the room before checkout. We checked out, put the suitcases in the car and drove away.    Normally I am ready to go home. I want to sleep in my own bed, eat food that I had cooked and hang out with the cats. This time was different. I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay. I wanted to go back to Minnesota long enough to pack up the house, load up the cats and come back to South Carolina to live.    This is a

   It's the end of April and that means one thing. C and I are making our yearly pilgrimage to the lovely state of South Carolina. We have been looking forward to this trip for several months. For awhile we weren't sure if we would be able to make the trip. Fortunately, we could. I thought it a bit strange that I would be looking forward to a vacation after being unemployed for a month, but I was. I wasn't sure why.    After thinking about it, it came to me. It's been a tough couple of months. First the health challenges, then the surgery, then the recovery, then the store closed then I was job hunting for the second time in less than two years and finally another job. That's a lot of stuff  in less than six months. We needed a little time to get away and regroup.  South Carolina is perfect for that.    I was looking forward to the is trip for another reason. Once the anemia was treated and resolved, I've literally felt like a new woman. I didn't realiz

   Yesterday Anne, Lynn and I met in Red Wing. It had been a few months since we'd seen each other. We decided to have lunch and visit an antique store.    It was a nice,warm, sunny day. We met at a tea room for lunch. It was definitely my kind of place. Tea cups and pot everywhere with a good selection of tea. I was tempted to order a scone with cream, but decided that probably wasn't a good idea. Maybe if I was dining with serious tea drinkers, but not with Anne and Lynn.  We all had sandwiches and Lynn and I shared a pot of tea. I told Lynn that I would order the tea. They had a lovely orange spice with paired well with our sandwiches. I think Lynn was a bit amused by the fact that I paired the tea to the meal.   After we had eaten and caught up on what was going on with each of us the last few months, we went to the nearby antique store. It was in a large two story brick building. The inside was filled with various antiques. I saw part of a milking machine. I recognised

   We were hoping that this would be the year it wouldn't happen, but it did. It snowed in April. It not only snowed, there was an actual winter storm. We were supposed to get a foot of snow and everything was supposed to be shut down. People headed to grocery stores for supplies. We are pros when it comes to winter storm survival.    I went to the library and got three books to read. I had just discovered my library card and decided that I should use it. It seems silly that I live less than a block away from the library and I haven't been there in years.    We were stocked with plenty of food and tea. We were prepared to wait out the storm. The Small Town Toastmasters canceled the morning meeting due to the weather. Let the snow come. We were ready.    I was doing my morning workout when the phone rang. No one calls me at 7A.M. unless it is an emergency so I picked it up. It was the scheduler from work. School was cancelled in Maple Grove and the pharmacist that was sched

    A long time ago I came across a list of things that every woman should have. Some of them made sense, a recipe you can serve at a dinner party, a comfortable pair of shoes and a little black dress. One of them was a relationship you would not want to go back to. That one I didn't understand. Essentially the list seemed to be saying that every woman needs to have one bad relationship. Why? Isn't there enough badness in the world? A few years later I would find out the answer to this question.    It started at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. I was there with a friend and it was mealtime. Having acquired a taste for beer cheese soup in North Dakota,we went to a booth that sold soup in bread bowls. The man behind the counter sold me my soup and when he presented my bread bowl he said some rather flattering things to me. Since I was unused to flattery especially from men, I went back up to the booth to have a little bit more conversation with the man.    It was a nice ch

  Hi This is Skamp!    My birthday was about a month ago. I am 11 years old. Except for a couple white hairs on my back I still look very good. I don't mind the white hair much. Sophie says it makes me look distinguished.    I got a birthday present from Sophie and C. They gave me a big blue rug, it's made of wool which comes from sheep. Sophie said that she bought it at a blanket factory in a place called Faribault. It is made from the remnants of material not being used for blankets. It's very nice and good to lay on.    They laid it on the living room floor for me. After giving it a good sniff, I laid on it. It feels really good. I rolled on my back. It is nice and soft. I like the colour too.    There's only one problem with it. Colby keeps wanting to lay on it. I tell him that he needs to stay off of it. It's my birthday rug. Mine. Colby says that if it is on the floor that he has an equal right to lay on it too. I have to admit, the blue does really set