Living Large In Our Little House

I really miss the energy I had well into my 30s. I could drive that Baby Blazer that 40 minute com­mute to my cor­po­rate hell, come home and still have the energy to clean out an entire closet, hang some wall­pa­per bor­der or even paint an entire bedroom.

Good thing I have such a small home now, as those tasks are always rel­e­gated to the week­ends (the longer the week­end, the bet­ter), or staycations.

This week­end, they’re pre­dict­ing rain, so it will be a good time to clean out the med­i­cine cab­i­net and bath­room van­ity, as part of my spring clean­ing ritual.

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Yesterday, I had to com­plete yet another very unpleas­ant task at the bank.

I’ve learned these past 18 months since Dale’s very unex­pected lay-off from the good job from which we expected he would even­tu­ally retire — that there is some­thing worse than pay­ing bills — not being able to pay them.

Yet, when I hopped in my 1988 “Baby Blazer” and drove off into the sunny but cool day, my cares melted away.

We Americans have long had a love affair with our cars, and I'm no dif­fer­ent. When I was a younger woman, I wanted, more than any­thing, a "Baby Blazer," those smaller Blazers Chevrolet used to make.

In 1988, we bit the bul­let and for nearly $400 a month for 4 years, which was a lot of money for these 20-something newly weds, I got one.

She was my first and only auto­mo­bile love.

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Congratulations, Roxanne! You’re the win­ner of Kathy Gruver’s, The Alternative Medicine Cabinet! Please email me at fivecoat@​ozarkmountains.​com by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 27 with your snail mail address to claim your prize! Thanks to every­one who entered the draw­ing. If you didn’t win, you can still get this book from Kathy’s web­site, it’s a good one to have on your shelf!

Speaking of books, I’ve really fallen behind on my goal to read 26 books this year. I have a list of them to read for book club, as well as a stack of finds from the used book­store and another stack of books a friend here has given me.

I stalled at six books com­pleted. I know I will get more read just for book club, but I’m find­ing it harder to sit down with a book now that the weather has turned warmer.

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I hope you all had a won­der­ful Earth Day! Today, I have Kathy Gruver, author of “The Alternative Medicine Cabinet,” shar­ing some insights about her book and alter­na­tive medicine!

1). Tell us a lit­tle about your book:

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