Saturday, February 19, 2011 AM

I slept late this morning, but was awake most of the night.  Without Ambien, I take little naps, which are not restful.
I'm still half asleep.
I read comments last night during the night.  I think Faune is about the only one who comments much anymore.  She's like me a lot, she talks!  She's pretty good at self-expression in written and spoken works, both.
Marie Shirley wrote me an e-mail recently and complimented me on my journal, too.  She's an old, really good friend.  Her whole family are friends with me.  Tim, her only still-living son, used to deliver our mail, and I still see him at the post office once in a while.  Her son, Tommy, died several years ago of kidney failure.  It warms my heart when people still talk about how nice he was.  He has a beautiful marker in the Methodist graveyard, and my throat gets tight when I see it.  I often see Mr. Gaultney cleaning up the graveyard.  I'm afraid he will soon be a tenant there, as he and his wife are quite elderly.  He's one of those great men in Rutledge who will be sadly missed, too.
Day before yesterday, Elaine, Jeri, and I went to some Goodwills and Family Dollar Stores.  They are both really great running buddies.  Elaine enjoyed herself so much, she said that she was tempted to call in and tell Joan to cover for her.  She's so anxious to get started digging in the dirt in her yard.  She's got a really big, nice yard, and I can see her planning to do things with it.  She asked me if I had been working on her turtle, which is a plastic (?) turtle she has already found in one of her flower beds.  It was really weathered, and I offered to restore it for her.  It's turning out pretty nice, if I must say so.  I work on it at night, when I'm not ready to go to bed, yet.
We ate lunch at Lisa's barbeque in Jefferson City.  There's a waitress there who used to work at Shine's in Rutledge, and we're always glad to see each other.  She and Elaine knew each other.
I worked with Elaine and the crew until closing at the Family Dollar.  There's so much to get done.  I don't know what they will do when it's summer, and I'll be working at home more.
I'm trying to get the cleaning done so that it will look nicer when they don't have so much time after I'm not there so much.
They all tell me all the time how much they appreciate me, and I glow when they praise me.
Steven paid me back $14.00 that he'd borrowed from me, but I took it to his grandfather and gave it to him for gas money.  He has to bring Steven to work, and I don't know if Steven compensates him enough.  He's really faithful to be there, and we include him in our Family Dollar family.
It's good that Grandad is in the parking lot when Joan and her ladies have to leave after dark.
We're all just one big happy family, except for Fern, who is insubordinate to Joan over Joan being the store manager.  We just avoid her.
Yesterday, we all worked really hard to get the truck unloaded.  Logan, Beth's youngest son, had been sent home from school because he had a sniffly nose, so Beth brought him with her.  It was cute to see him trying to help, and he really was a help.  He's getting more used to me, but he's so painfully shy.  He will wave to me now when I call across their yard from the lot at Goodwill.
That's real progress.  I think Beth is trying to get him to trusting me.  He's adorable.
We put out a lot of stock. 
Judith, Norma's sister-in-law, was in the store, and we talked a while.  She misses Norma, too.
Norma was sure a great lady.  She says Momma is not doing so well, and we all know that she's grieving herself to death over Norma.
Elaine's kids took her van up to Doyle Robert's to get her tires mounted, and I called ahead to ask Christine if I could pay for having them put on with my credit card.  She took care of it for me.  Elaine was so pleased that I want to hep her.  She's always grateful for any help, and I want to help those who are grateful.  She's going to take her van to Eddey's to get it aligned on Monday.
'Buzzy', one of Dr. Duck's nurses, came in the store, and I asked her about an appointment for Monday.  She told me to come around 1:00, and she'd take care of me.  She's such a nice lady.  All of Dr. Duck's staff is nice.
I asked Beth to make sure that some things Judith needed were stocked.  Beth is like me, and tries to look after her customers.  Elaine is the same way, though, but doesn't make much notice of what all she does.  You have to have a caring spirit in retail.
I left early last night, as Fern was coming in, and I didn't want her to make any comment about me helping Joan.  She had seen my truck at the Goodwill, and called me to ask if I could find her a chest of drawers for her grandchildren.  I went down to the Family Dollar to ask her about the size and how many drawers they would need.  While I was there, the man we all call "The Hot Wheels Queen" came in.  Fern made Steven follow him around the store.  He steals a Hot Wheels car every time he comes into the store, so Fern makes sure there's someone following him.  He's pretty slick, and will steal something if he's not watched really closely.  I'd give him some cars if he'd just quit stealing from Joan.
It started to rain pretty hard while I was there, and I headed for home.  It seems strange to get home early.  I worked on Elaine's turtle.
As I stated earlier, I didn't sleep well.
It's a really pretty morning today, and it's warmer outside.  It's going to be 'spring fever' time soon.
I'll have some choring to do before I can go help Joan, and I think I can go in about 1:00.
I love helping others.