So today was a little different than our last jaunt into Dothan! OK, Gary was still the driver – he had several TC related errands to do and offered to be our chauffer so we ladies could all ride together on our official Ladies Day Out. Gary dropped us off at a strip mall that featured a Christian Bookstore, a Hancock fabric store and a Tuesday Morning store. What more could we ask for! He picked us up in time for us to do lunch at Mildred’s Tea House while he went on to Sam’s Club to pick up some birthday cakes for two of the boys. A quick stop at the Salvation Army (really, what is a day out with the girls if we don’t stop at at least ONE thrift shop?), a drive by the World’s Smallest City Block (don’t ask, it’s in the guide book!), and a quick stop at the DQ, and we were on our way home. Just in time to squeeze in a nap before we all gathered together again for a hot dog roast and good ol’ just hangin’ around fellowship. Sigh. A very nice day out. It’s so good to have a day off, and even though Gary was officially doing TC stuff, I think even he enjoyed driving the gang of us around. 🙂
The smallest block – and the ladies at Mildred’s

Above are the guys, working hard, back at the ranch!

Tomorrow it’s ham sandwiches and cheesy broccoli soup for lunch and PIZZA for dinner (with one of those birthday cakes for dessert!) Gotta love those birthday boys!

This was Parents’ Weekend here at Teen Challenge, and all but 5 of the 30 or so 2nd platoon (they are the ones that have been in the program the longest) had parents come. Although ALL of the boys that didn’t have parent visits were pretty sad, these 5 seemed especially pitiful (:-) ), so Gary and I took them on a little road trip to Dothan. Whooeee!!! After about the 3rd stop (yes, we were running errands!), we had pity on them and took them to the movies. Now since we are mostly out of the loop on what would be a good movie to see (let alone what official guidelines there might be from TC), we decided to play it safe and saw College Road Trip – rated G. Okay, so there weren’t alot of teenage boys in the theatre, but it actually was a pretty funny movie (in a classic Disney sort of way), and there was obviously noth objectionable about it. It’s funny how when you are incharge of 5 boys who come from very different (and often very dysfunctional) families, you suddenly listen to all of the jokes and dialogue through different filters. Of course it had a happy Disney ending – Dad came around to understand Child, and Child came around to understand Dad. Oh, if life could just be that simple (and wrapped up so tidy) for these boys!

After the movies we headed off to CiCi’s – an all you can eat PIZZA BUFFET! Can’t beat that plan!
Here’s the whole gang of them – pretty good looking crew, eh?

We saved our last errand – Sam’s Club – for the final stop of the day. They had a good time checking out all the TV’s, computers and other electronics – and even managed to find the one food sample table (after all that pizza! GAH!). And we had a good time picking up over $200. worth of breakfast bars, oatmeal, jumbo-sized spices and various odds and ends for the kitchen. We had the boys back to the barracks only an hour after curfew (oops!), but nobody got into trouble! It was a fun day, and a good chance to get to know these young men on a different level.

We had a fun little jaunt down to Panama City today to pick up a load of insulation. On the way we got to stop at the dentist (good news though, no big dental work required!), and since it was a beautiful day (though chilly) we had a nice time on the road. Here he is – with the trailer mostly loaded – Pretty creative use of a horse trailer, don’cha think!

We pass this house on the way to PC – and today we stopped to take a picture. I think in a couple of years it will be totally reclaimed by the earth!

And the last shot of the day is a little roadside art. I don’t think it’s currently a functioning shop, but at one time I bet it served up a mean ice cream cone!

So aside from our little outing, the rest of the day was quiet. It’s nice having a day off (well, for me anyway. Gary did work the rest of the afternoon) in the middle of the week. I finished a book, watched Little House on the Prairie, and generally loafed. Tomorrow it’s back to the kitchen for me – I think I’m making Tater Tot Casserole.

Freeze warning tonight – maybe it’s the last one of the season?

Ok, even though we’re here in Florida if you’ve been reading along this winter, you know we’ve had some pretty darn cold weather. So I am happy to report that there are definate signs of spring appearing. I noticed leaf buds on some of the shrubs this morning, and just outside the rig I saw these lovely spring flowers….

And if it’s starting here, I’m sure it will be coming to a neighborhood near you soon! 🙂

And now a Happy Birthday shout out to our daughter-in-law Tammy She’s been part of our family for the last 7 (or so) years, and we have been blessed to call her our daughter. She loves the Lord, she loves our son, and she’s a wonderful mother to our three granddaughters. We love you, Tammy – Happy, Happy Birthday!

Whoeee – a whole Saturday with no official responsibilities!!!!! We slept in (well, a little – till 7:30), watched a couple of quilting shows on PBS (ok, so that was more fun for me than for Gary), and then grabbed some friends and headed to Dothan. Aside from a short shopping list, we were actually planning on doing some geocaching – something we hadn’t done for quite a while! We only did a couple, but it was fun to get back in the game. And we were able to introduce our friends Joan and Bob to the fun! Here we are at a small Veterans’ Memorial in town.

After our Walmart-Sams Club-Home Depot – call all the kids time in Dothan we headed back to the ranch with plenty of time for a quick nap and some down time before our next excitement – Bluegrass and Gospel at a local restaurant in Bonifay.
Here’s a shot of the “down time” –
🙂

The band was pretty good – you know, for local talent. Probably wouldn’t make it to Nashville, but they were certainly having a good time – as were we!
Here they are – the Panhandle Express (or at least the ones that showed up!). Except for the kid on the banjo, it was a pretty “mature” group!

We’re heading to bed -but it really was a grand old Saturday. The weather was lovely (sunny and seventy), the chores were light, the fellowship (and entertainment) was sweet and any day that we talk to all the kids is a very good day!

Sweet dreams!