And So It Begins...

Today marks the first day of vacation for DH. I am the one to make out the itenrary for the week. If it were up to him, he wouled watch ESPN and John Wayne movies all week. It is up to me to say, "You need to mow today!" Or, "We need groceries today!" He usually just follows me around and does whatever I do and that is super, duper annoying to say the least. He would never get up and say, "I am going to fix some things!" or "I think I will clean out the shed!" He has said since the day we got married, that he will do anything I ask him to do - I just have to ask. Well, 16 years later and that still ticks me off. How can he not see that the kitchen light is blown out or that there is a monsterous pile of towels to be folded? I don't mean to complain about him, but it is just so damn esy.

So, I have our week all planned out. Monday we will be trekking out into the boonies, towards Hillbilly Mountain to visit Terra Studios This is the home of Leo Ward and his Bluebird of Happiness. It is a common misconception that if you see a Bluebird and it is not signed by Leo Ward, but by another name, that is is not an authentic Bluebird of Happiness. Well, that is not true. Leo trained other artisans to make his Bluebirds and a number of artists have made them through the years. In fact, I have several signed by the local Sheriff's wife, a friend of DH's from high school and a lady that used to be my Mom's neighbor. It is only about 20 miles from here and looks like a very interesting Artist Colony. They handblow the birds and make pottery and other artsy things. It is free to visit, and I doubt that I will buy anything as I have almost 50 Bluebirds of Happiness already (they are plentiful at every yard sale and thrift in the area and we inherited the MIL's collection as well) I do have in the back of my mind that I would like a pair of earrings with little bluebirds, so I may look for those - although I am not even sure if they make such a thing.

Later in the week we will visit the original Walton's 5 and 10 Store in Bentonville. This is the origional store that Sam Walton opened that became the Wal-Mart empire. They have reproduced the orignal store and even have his office replicated and his original red pick up truck on display. I actually used to see that truck on the roads when I was a kid. I also want to visitthe Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel which is a beautiful place. I have been to a weding ther, but was unable to really "check it out". I really want DS to see it. Also, on this trip there is a Veterans Wall of Honor on which my Step-father's name is engraved. I haven't seen it yet, and we really need to do so. (Mumsie - wanna go?)

On a different day, we will travel to War Eagle Mill which is a real water working Grist mMll. There is an old steel and wooden bridge that leads to it. I am terrified to walk over it as it looks like it will collapse any minute, but it is sturdy as hell. I have been walking over it when a big truck drives by at the same time. The wooden boards rattle and you can see the river under your feet. Freak out time! The mill is great - full of smells and wonderful goodies. One complete floor has all sorts of handmade fudge, hard candies such as sassafrass, horehound and all other sorts of old fashion flavors. The third floor wwhich I simply cannot venture into is crammed to the rafters with enamelware of every sort of color and style imagineable. I will seriously have slobbers hanging out of my mouth! I was there once when they were clearancing out all the yellow splatterware and I was completely b-r-o-k-e and couldn't buy anything. I still remember that! That was 20 years ago!

All of these places are free so it will be a free week for us. Luckily, DS is the type of kid that likes different places and still thinks things are "cool". He likes history and doing different things. "Everyone goes to Branson," he says. But, he doesn't mean that we should go too - he means everyone else goes, so we should do something different. That's my BOY!