Greg's General Store

Hello everyone. It's New Years Eve and I feel like one of the toys on the Island Of Misfit Toys from the Rudolph movie. Another year has come and gone and no parties to go to on New Years. Who am I kidding, I haven't been up past 9 on a New Years Eve in years. We are not the party animal type. We are locked up in out house warm and dry and away from all the crazies that are out on the road. The family is watching a movie and I am blogging. Life is good. So here is my list for the week. Better late than never. (its 730) 1. I am thankful to have a roof over my head and a warm house. This year was a struggle for us just like a lot of people but we are still afloat. 2. I am thankful that we have lots of fire wood and it was free. My wife and kids spent all summer chopping wood and now it is paying off. 3. I am thankful to still have a job. I know so many people who are out of work but not me. 4. I am happy that we are thankful for the little things in life and that it doesn't t...

1. Do you find it gross to share drinks with family? Friends? I tend to be a germaphobe so I don’t like to share drinks. I have on occasion tasted someone’s drink when they insisted. I am always afraid of backwash. 2. What have you learned this year? (You didn't see a question of that weight coming, did you? At least not for #2.) When they handed out the nice family cards, someone was dealing off the bottom of the deck to me. Not my immediate family, the rest of the group though. 3. When do you dismantle the Christmas decorations? We usually do it right after the New Year. I am ready now!! 4. Something you wish to accomplish before the end of 2009 is: Just make it to the end of the year without pulling all my hair out. 5. How do you feel about winter (after Christmas)? I hate it. If it weren’t for Christmas I could pass on the whole winter season. 6. Have you participated in after-Christmas sales? Yes. How can you pass them up. 7. Do you have plans for New Year's Eve? Yes; get ...

Well I had just the best Christmas ever. It all started on Christmas Eve. We headed out to Church for our annual Christmas Eve Service. As we were approaching the Church, we noticed someone in the car next to us waiving frantically. It was my wife’s cousin. She doesn’t even live in the same town and we haven’t seen her in over a year. They had driven down for just a few hours to check out a location for a wedding for another relative. It was a spur of the moment decision on their part and they were only staying for a few hours so they didn’t let anyone know they were coming. So what are the odds that we would be driving down the same street at the same moment in time? Pretty slim if you ask me, almost miraculous. The service was packed when we got inside because we spent a few minutes in the parking lot talking with this cousin. We ended up in the overflow area but did get a seat. The message was a little different as well looking at the first Christmas from a slightly different angle...

Babies are offensive: I am not a big fan of babies. I don’t mind admitting it. Of course there are exceptions to this rule. I liked my own children when they were babies. Occasionally I see cute babies that other people have but I guess I am missing the “love babies” gene. It’s more of a preference and it may have something to do with my age. I no longer have the patients I did when I was younger. Call me crazy but I never cared for poopy diapers or baby vomit or pee in my face. I do however like the Baby Jesus. Firemen are courageous: Each year, for as long as I can remember I look forward to seeing those Manger Scenes around town. Lots of people have them in their front yards and some even contained live characters. Then there were the ones at Fire Stations. Those were always the best. My father was a fireman and he actually used to set up the Manger Scene where he worked. Firemen are a special breed of people and my hat is off to them for their sacrifice and courage. Even thoug...

Apparently using the word 0pp0rtunity in your blog title is an open invitation for scammers to attack you. I have had very few scammers on my blog since I started writing. However last night I got 5 scam comments which is more than all the others combined. So be forewarned when you use certain O words. I think that deer read my blog; This morning I had yet another deer dart out and almost run into my car. Ironically it was a few hundred feet from where the car almost hit me yesterday. The animal world has gone crazy I tell you. Now for the good news.... The dentist visit was a huge success. He put the filling back into my tooth and I didn't even need gas. He was able to smooth the other tooth off and I will be returning to his office next Monday to get that one fixed. He didn't want to numb both sides of my face at the same time. He also used a different type of band that didn't cut into my lip. It makes me wonder why the other dentists always use the other one. I am remind...

Well apparently there people in South Africa that want to send me money. It’s true. About every other day someone dies over there and they have no one to leave the money to so they seek me out. Apparently they got my name from the “needs money” list because I get tons of these things. The only part that makes me wonder is that this “lawyer for the family” has trouble spelling. And obviously his computer doesn’t have spell check either. But I just can’t get myself to send them my account number along with my social security number. But that 7 millian US Dallers does sound good. I have noticed an increase in the road rage level over the last week. I am guessing the holiday shopping thing is getting to everyone. And I have a confession. I used my horn this morning. Say it isn’t so!!! Yes I know it is almost as hard to believe as the 7 millian US Dallers but I swear it’s true. I was at a stop light and the other light turned yellow. This guy was coming but he didn’t start to slow down ev...

With Christmas just a little over a week away, there is so much to be thankful for but I will try to keep this to only 5 things. Please Join us over at Truth for the Journey in being Thankful today. (I am assuming Sonya is doing it this week. I may have egg on my face) (1) It was a brisk 35 degrees here in Charleston this morning so the first thing I have to be thankful for is all the wood that my wife and youngest son cut up this past summer. The living room was nice and toasty this morning and after adding a little more wood it got even toastier.  Mr. “T”, our cat was enjoying the warmth and I had to force him to go out to do his morning thing. I am sure he is begging to get back in as I write this. (2) I am thankful for this nice cup of coffee that I am enjoying right now. After my mad dash from the parking lot to my office without a jacket I am finally starting to thaw out a bit and this coffee feels great inside. I tried giving it up a few times but I always come back for more. I...

1. Gingerbread: For or against? Discuss. I am totally FOR gingerbread but I prefer it in the gingerbread “man” variety. It just tastes better when you can nibble on the little feet and hands before stuffing the entire thing in your mouth. I know I am sick this way. And homemade is the best. 2. Is it important to you to always stay (live) close to family? Hahahahahaha. That’s a good one. I will leave you with a definite NO. Someone once said you can pick your friends but not your family. If I could I would exchange a few family members. Sorry but that is just the way it is. 3. Which holiday pretend character do you wish really existed? Hmm another tough question. I would say the little drummer boy. As far back as I can remember I have loved the story and the song. I would love it if some archeologist would find evidence that there was a little drummer boy at the Manger. I think they already have but they just aren’t letting the story out. 4. Which holiday movie best represents how yo...

Ok here I was going over some emails thinking about what I would post"tomorrow" for Thankful Thursday and it dawned on me Duh, today is Thursday. I am such a moron this week. But it is still Thursday even though it is evening so I think I can redeem myself. I am thankful that it is payday. The cupboard was bare but not any more. I am thankful that I am able to maintain my attitude even those around me are going south so to speak. I am thankful that the weekend is upon us and I have some time off. I am thankful for the very thoughtful bookmark that I just got from Edie today. Talk about a nice surprise. Thanks Edie, I needed a pick me up. I am thankful that although everything around my house seems to be breaking all at once, I so far have been able to fix it all myself. And with that I think it is time to get ready for bed. Have a great day, I mean evening, Greg

First off I would like to apologize for being a really bad blogger buddy. I am so far behind in my blog visits I am ashamed to post today at all. It is kind of like when you know you haven't been to the doctor and you know when you do go the doctor is going to scold you so you put it off even longer. But I did want to post today so I am doing the random dozen thingy again so here goes. 1. Which physical trait do you now accept--maybe not love, but accept--and no longer feel extremely self-conscious about? My grey hair. At least I still have some hair. My brothers are all going bald. And besides that “Just for men” is so expensive and doesn’t last. 2. This week Meredith Baxter Birney, best known as the mom on the favorite 80s sitcom "Family Ties" came out of the closet, which led me to formulate this question: Who do you think is/was the best TV mom? (like that was a surprise) Well certainly not her. I never cared for that show. It had some really great actors and actresse...

Well after a great run at the market we were bound to have a bad day. Weather wise that is, our sales were up. On Friday as we were loading things up for the market it began to rain. I had to stuff all the things in the front of the truck that couldn’t get wet but I had to leave a few aloe plants in the back for the night. Aloes are succulents so they don’t like a lot of water but they got more than their share that night. Later that night we got an email saying that opening time for the market had been delayed due to bad weather. We awoke on Saturday to more rain and 40 degree weather. Now I can take the cold and I can take rain but when you mix the too it spells MISERABLE. Around 7:30 the rain stopped so we headed to the market. We were one of the first vendors to set up and our tent wasn’t even ready. It was raining lightly again too so we waited on our tent before unloading the dry stuff. Only about half the vendors even showed up because the weather was so bad but we had a propane...

That was a very good year. 1955 that is. Is it just me or is blogland getting a little vacant? I can hear an echo in here. :)Today I am thankful for the things (people) I am not. 1. I am thankful that I am not the man I saw at the gas station this morning who was counting out pennies on the counter to get 2 dollars and 67 cents worth of gas. Had I had a few more dollars in my pocket I would have offered him a few. But I put my last 10 in my tank. 2. I am thankful that I am not the person who recently ran up and stole the kettle from the Salvation Army man who was collecting in front of a store. I hope this man at least used the money to buy food for his family and didn’t spend it on drugs. I doubt that is the case though. 3. I am thankful that I am not Tiger Woods this morning. With all his talent, money and seemingly nice family it just wasn’t enough. They say money corrupts and I believe it. 4. I am thankful that I am not one of the ones sitting in Afghanistan this morning pray...

1. Which Wizard of Oz character are you most like? Hmmm what at tough question. I would have to say Dorothy but before you say Ewwww let me exclude the gender thing. I say Dorothy because I am always looking over the rainbow and do believe there is a wonderful world out there somewhere even if it isn’t always obvious. And although I do love to travel, there is no place like home, no place like, no place like home. Darn I am still at work. I need some new shoes. 2. When you're deciding what you're going to wear each morning, which item do you select first? Why? I actually decide the night before. I am so scheduled that I either lay out gym shorts or jeans depending on my daily routine. 3. What kind of animal do you think the world could live without? Polar bears. They serve no purpose from what I can see and they are at the top of the food chain just like we are. Ok they are beautiful and they probably taste like chicken but other than that they are mean and vicious. Get that p...