Things I have learned living in ARKANSAS

1. Possums sleep in the middle of the road with their feet in the air

2. There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 live in ARKANSAS.

3. There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 live in ARKANSAS plus a couple no one's seen before.

4. If it grows, it sticks; if it crawls, it bites.

5. Onced and twiced are words.

6. It is not a shopping cart; it is a buggy.

7. Fire ants consider your flesh as a picnic.

8. People actually grow and eat okra.

9. Fixinto is one word.

10. There is no such thing as "lunch". There is only dinner and then there is supper.

11. Ice tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're two. We do like a little tea with our sugar!

12. Backards and forwards means "I know everything about you."

13. Jeet? is actually a phrase meaning "Did you eat?"

14. You don't have to wear a watch because it doesn't matter what time it is. You work until you' re done or it's too dark to see.

15. You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH them.

YOU KNOW YOUR FROM ARKANSAS IF:

1. You measure distance in minutes.

2. You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.

3. You use "fix" as a verb. Example: "I'm fixing to go to the store "

4. All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain, insect or animal.

5. You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.

6. You know what a "DAWG" is.

7. You carry jumper cables in your car...for your OWN car.

8. You only own four spices: salt, pepper, Tabasco and ketchup.

9. The local papers cover national and international news on one page but require 6 pages for local gossip and sports.

10. You think that the first day of deer season is a national holiday.

11. You find 100 degrees Fahrenheit "a little warm".

12. You know all four seasons: Almost Summer, Summer, still Summer and Christmas.

13. You know whether another ARKIE is from , north or south as soon as they open their mouth.

14. Going to Wal-mart is a favorite past time known as "goin' Wal-martin" or "off to Wally World".

15. You describe the first cool snap (below 70 degrees) as good pinto-bean weather.

16. A carbonated soft drink isn't a soda, cola or pop..it's a Coke, regardless of brand or flavor. Example: "What kinda coke you want?"

17. Fried catfish is the other white meat.

18. We don't need no stinking driver's ed....if our mama says we can drive, we can drive.

I went to mom's apartment today. I had bought a ham yesterday to cook for Memorial Day. I cooked her some and tried to plan a little for tomorrow (Memorial Day). I wanted to get one of the little oblong hams to cook with some brown sugar and pineapple but because they were so expensive ended up getting a bone-in shank ham. We slice pieces off and pan fry it. I thought about making some chicken and dressing tomorrow but with the heat so bad I may not. Our school season ends Thursday but we are having summer school so expenses won't be soo bad for the summer. After I left mom's I went fishing. I caught only a single bluegill... not enough for a meal so I let it go back. Now I'm playing Materia Magica, watching Gladiator, frying some pork chops, drinking some water, and setting under a fan trying to keep cool.

And lastly some nice pink flowers growing in the foreground of an old house that was the beginning of this lot.

The side view from my yard. The flowers are very small white flowers that are growing hither and yon.

Some nice orange flowers near my mailbox. You can see how high my grass is.

The nice cactus in my yard is blooming. I havent mowed the grass around it because I was thinking of setting up an electric fence and getting a couple of goats and maybe a calf.

I hadnt been out in a while so I treated myself to dinner and a movie last night. I went to the Ameca mexican restaurant in Forrest City, Arkansas and the food was sooooo good. I had the Poblanos with the customary chip and dip and some added cheese dip. Poblanos was two huge peppers stuffed with cheese and fried served with refried beans topped with drizzled cheese and rice. The food opened my sinus's but that is what it is supposed to do. I had fruit punch as a drink. I highly recommend Ameca. After the food I went over to the Broadway Cinema to see X-men 3 (http://www.x-menthelaststand.com/). The movie was enjoyable and had some surprises in it. I was disappointed with the Phoenix. For someone who could do anything she didn't do very much at all and I wished they had scripted her better.

I went over to the casino (http://www.tunica-ms.com/isle_of_capri_lula.htm) to play some poker. I won $140 which bought my lil lawnmower and some gas and oil.

It's been a while since I logged in so here goes. It's the end of May and it's hot. The school year is ending next week with summer school starting around the 6-7th. Mom is doing well. I'm working for her 2 hours a day through Independent Choices but may switch to Alternatives if we can get it approved. Then I can do up to 8 hours a day at $8 an hour. My lil trailer is doing well. My toilet is stopped up at the moment... so gross. The yard is partly mowed and I finally got the water leak fixed and got a screen door to keep out the flies. My cactus is blooming as well as some other flowers in the yard which I need to post some pics of as well as my dogs. I'm intending to set up an electric fence and putting a couple goats and a calf on this grass. I also want to get some rabbits, quail, chickens, maybe a turkey and pair of ducks. I've been batting around setting up a pig sty in the back corner in my mind. Seems weird to be wanting a country life when all around me is modern technology. I don't know what to say. I like it in the country.