Greg's General Store

It looked like it was going to be one of those days. You know they kind; nothing to blog about. But then it hit me like a ton of bricks and walllah. Something to blog about. Life is good!!! I just came back from running an errand and while out, I saw her: “The most talented woman in America.” She was driving a shiny new KIA and I knew from the moment I saw her that this woman had talent. I also knew from the moment I saw her that she was Italian. She was holding a cell phone up to one ear and her mouth was going a mile a minute. And in the true Italian style her other hand was also going a mile a minute. You all know what I am talking about. They say if you want to keep an Italian quiet simply tie their hands down. It is impossible for an Italian to talk without moving their hands. Forgive me sis for saying that. (she is married to an Italian)And this woman was a true Italian talker. As her vehicle approached mine while I was stopped at a stop light I could see her talking on the cell ...

Those of you that have been following the Thankful Thursday posts over at Sonya’s blog may have noticed that Sonya is no longer leading the charge. She did a great job at getting this thing going though and because some of us enjoy it so much we are going to go it alone. I decided to use this photo that I took a few years back of a sunrise in Florida for my Thankful Thursday posts since a sunrise signals a new beginning. So here goes my Thankful Thursday list; I am thankful that my muscles are finally starting to hurt a little less. As you may or may not know, I started a new exercise routine this week called Body Pump. The class is mostly made up of women because the exercises aren’t tough enough for men to do. That’s what men say anyway. Two days after my first class, my arms are still sore. So I know the real reason men shy away from this class. I am thankful for a few warm days that we have this week. It will give me time to get more wood staged for the next cold snap. That will be...

Remember that skit from Saturday Night live? It was a favorite of mine. At least until this morning that is. Now it just reminds me how sore I am. Last night I decided to try something different. Instead of going to spin class like I usually do on Tuesday nights I made a right turn into the Body Pump class. It is an hour earlier than spin class so it is much more convenient timing wise and I really needed to try something new. I was the second one in the room when I arrived and I asked the person in the room what to do and she told me. I got all my equipment ready and this girl told me to go easy on the weights for the first time because it is harder than most people think. So instead of loading on the weights I decided on 25lbs including the bar. What this class involves is weight training to music. It sounds easy enough but the intent is to use low weights and do lots of repetitions. After the first set I was already sweating and breathing hard so I was glad that I didn’t go all ou...

Bad storms ripped through our area and kept me awake most of the night. I could hear the rain pounding and the wind whistling. Our yard is already soaked so I am sure it is flooded this morning. There was a little lightening but the wind was the worst part. Our power dipped a couple of times which is what woke me up. My wife is just getting over a nasty cold too so I haven’t gotten a lot of sleep in the past few days. I think I have it (the cold) now but so far it isn’t as bad as hers was. Come on vitamins do you stuff. The ride into work this morning was a little tricky. I had to drive really slowly because it was raining hard and there were limbs down everywhere. I even had to go off the road at one point to get around a limb. I haven’t seen that many limbs down since the last hurricane came through. There were still limbs falling which made the drive even more dangerous. I have this fear of having a limb drop on me while driving for some reason. I made it in though after stopping...

You know after a while I just get up on Thursdays and do this post without even checking with Sonya to see if she is still hosting it. I guess great habits are hard to break. I noticed that the weather channel has quit making rain predictions. Last year they said it would be the driest year in history and it was one of the wettest for us. Our back yard is soaked and there is some heavy rain on the way. We have had so much rain I think I saw some animals pairing up this morning. Here’s a thinking question to get the cobwebs out of your head this morning. How many animals did Moses take on the ark with him? Keep reading till the end to find the answer. First off I am thankful for all this rain. I know the ground is soggy but later on this year when it gets hot we will be wishing for more. I am thankful that I got the new roof on my back porch in time. My wife was thankful that the job went well and that I didn’t say any bad words. I took last Thursday and Friday off to tackle that proj...

Where does the time go? It has been almost a week since I posted on my blog. My family has even become concerned because I haven’t blogged. That’s saying something. Life has just been so busy for me that I haven’t had a chance to write. So in an effort to redeem myself I will do the Random Dozen thingie throwing in a little extra humor this week for good measure. Please forgive me Lid. 1. So I was thinking about how Jon Bon Jovi never seems to age much. His hair is smaller nowadays, but he still manages to look like a boy somehow. And then that made me think of the story of Dorian Gray. Question: If you physically lock in one age for yourself, which would you choose and why? In the ramble above I am going to substitute Bono for Bon Jovi because I don’t like either and it makes for a better story. (to tell the truth I don’t know the difference) Only my son knows why I hate this question. But for the rest of you, I will fill you in on why and it has nothing to do with what the question i...

It's Thursday and another chance to be thankful. I have the day off but I still wanted to participate in Thankful Thursday. However when I just visited Sonya's blog I didn't see a Thankful Thursday post. But since I am still thankful and I am in the habit of taking time out to be thankful I am going to post my list anyway. First off I am obviously thankful for having a day off and for having a job that pays me to have a day off. I will be working on my roof today but it is still nice not to have to drive into work. I am thankful for warmer weather. Tonight, for the first time in several weeks it isn't going to freeze. It is 27 here at the moment but the sun us up and it will be warmer soon. I am thankful that my house is nice and warm. I got up early and built a nice fire and it feels great in our house. I also built a fire in the greenhouse and it is up to 75 degrees. The plants are loving it. I am thankful that I am healthy and that I have food for our table. Even tho...

Again I have been lax in my blogging duties. I feel like I am in a rut. But I am going to participate again in the weekly random dozen. It's the least I can do for my fans. :) Enquiring minds want to know. 1. When was the last time you craved a food--what was it, and did you cave? Did I cave? I always do. I usually crave spicy things. Last night after spin class I was really craving pizza. As I walked from the building a Dominoes pizza delivery car passed right in front of me and I took that as a sign from God. Not only did I want pizza, God wanted me to have it. I quickly drove home knowing that I had a frozen pizza there that I could quickly fix. As my luck runs, my family had made pizza for dinner and there was some waiting for me when I got there. Life is good. 2. M & M's or Skittles? Peanut M & M’s are my favorite. I can do without the regular M & M’s and the Skittles. Of course if that is all we have I will eat them. 3. Have you ever read the Bible completely ...

I am thankful for making it through another year and that I have a brand new year ahead of me that I pray is filled with lots of wonderful things. Although 2009 wasn’t the best year for us we did better than most. I am thankful for this cold weather. Although I have to get up early every morning just to keep the fires going, and the fire building is taking the place of my morning workouts, this cold will be thinning out the mosquito and sand gnat populations. So hopefully this spring we will be able to enjoy the outdoors. You people from the South know what I am talking about. I am thankful that I have enough wood to keep the house and greenhouse warm. We are planning on building another greenhouse soon so if you have any spare oak logs lying around give me a call. That is if it’s cut and split…and you deliver…for free. I can dream can’t I? I am thankful that I still have a job. I still have two in fact and they are keeping us alive in this struggling economy. And even though my of...

You know, I said that in 2010 I was going to break away from the pack with my blog but here I am doing the Random Dozen again. But then my answers are the best as evidenced by all the emails I get telling me so. That’s right you aren’t alone when you send me that email telling me how great I am. Did you believe that? I didn’t think so but it sounded good. So without further ado here I go with the first Random Dozen of 2010: 1. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being a cranky-baby-hissy-fitter, how much of a complainer are you? Generally I am about a 2 but you know it is really cold this morning and I don’t like cold weather. Today I will put myself at a 10 just because I want to complain today. 2. When someone else is talking, do you listen, or are you thinking about what you're going to say in response? Excuse me, did you say something? Sorry I wasn’t listening. Seriously it depends on who is doing the talking. When some people talk I am simply thinking; Is this guy every going to shut ...

As is the tradition here in the South, I started out my New Years with a generous portion of Hoppin Johns and Collard Greens. For anyone unfamiliar with the theory behind this traditional meal, let me fill you in. The hoppin Johns bring you luck and the Collards bring you money. (two things that I could really use right about now) Anywhoo, Hoppin Johns are black eyed peas or field peas along with rice. And Collard are; well just Collard greens. I actually never ate them until I was an adult because I couldn’t get past the smell of them cooking but now I love them. Well this year I had them twice on New Year’s Day and then once more the next day. “Why tempt fate” as the saying goes. Or “I would rather be lucky than good.” I don’t know if either of those sayings apply but “Whatever.” And now the rest of the story; So around Christmas time, I had a few extra dollars in my pocket and someone asked me if I wanted to be in a football pool. I don’t usually enter many of those things because...