Take me out to the ball game......

Sunday September 4, 2011 ~ Hawthorn Bank gave us 4 tickets to a Cardinals vs. Reds game and we took some really good friends with us! It was a perfect day for a game!

We always enjoy getting to spend time with the Greening's! Although the Cardinals should have won it still was a great day to spend time with wonderful friends at a place we all love... Busch Stadium!

It's Football Season.... GO TIGERS!

Saturday September 3, 2011 ~ As the Chamber Ambassador Chair this year I was invited to a special breakfast at Chancellor and Mrs. Brady Deaton's home on the Francis Quadrangle. Brandon was not interesting in going with me as it was his day to sleep in so I asked my friend Kate to go with me! (My Date Kate as I call her)

Kate and her little boy, Rob, had a great time! It was fun seeing their house all decked out to kick-off the first football game of the season!

Ann Deaton came down to see the guests that arrived early! She is such a sweet lady!

Rob was ready to go back outside! He was so stinkin' cute!

Brady Deaton was outside greeting everyone as they ate breakfast! He's a great guy!

What a beautiful back yard! I could just set up camp in their backyard when I need a vacation! :)

I loved the simple table decorations! 

I was surprised to see some of my other favorite Ambassadors there! These guys always know how to make me smile! It was a great day and I really enjoy anytime I get to spend with Kate! She is a wonderful friend and I love her little boy too! :)

Arnold Palmer.....

So a few months ago I purchased a signed Arnold Palmer print from an auction. I didn't really know much about it but thought since it was signed I would purchase it.... if I could get it pretty cheap that is. An older gentleman was selling this because he was trying to pay his medical bills. It was bittersweet because I knew I wanted this print but sad he had to sell it to pay for his medical bills. He said that he won this back in 1985 and at that time they valved this (signed) at $3500.00 which he had to claim on his taxes. He then had it professionally framed with conservation glass to protect it. Well I bid on it and won it for less than $100.00. So I tried to do a little online research and didn't find anything. I had kind of gave up on it until I had a bright idea (oh boy... Michele and her bright ideas) and thought I would call a shop in Pennsylvania and sent them pictures of my print to verify.

 From my "research" I had no idea about "Fitz" and they told me that it was artist James Fitzpatrick and would value this signed print around $700. (I am jumping for joy because this is A LOT more than I even thought about paying for this print) So my next mission was to find the artist..... I searched the internet again and just found an Irish artist named James Fitzpatrick and his work didn't look anything like this print. I gave up hope again and set the print off to the side. I would see it everyday and thought it's a shame that I don't know anymore about this then the story I was told at the auction. I got another bright idea (here she goes again) and decided I would write Arnold Palmer a letter and attached copies of this print for him to review and see if he could tell me anything. It was worth a shot right?

 So less than one week after sending my letter to Arnold Palmer I get this in the mail! Holy smokes that was fast and I have so much more knowledge about this print! This print was taken from the 1985 U.S. Senior Open on the then - PGA Senior Tour was played at the Edgewater Tahoe Golf Club in Stateline NV and was the setting for Jim Fitzpatrick.

 They also sent this (I asked....) to compare the signatures! Pretty sweet I thought!

 This is the signature on my print.....

So I thought, if I was lucky enough to hear back from Arnold Palmer and his assistant how lucky will I get to find the artist, Jim Fitzpatrick? So I found his website and sent an e-mail to them. I left the office for a lunch meeting and as soon as I walked in the phone rang. I answered it and it was Jim Fitzpatrick.... the artist! Holy moly! We visited about the print, history of the print and Arnold Palmer. He was a super nice guy and great to talk to and gave me an idea on the print. It is a lithograph that was from 1985 and is no longer in print. He personally had 10 of these prints signed by Arnold Palmer for his own collection and said that with the signature they shouldn't be sold for less than $5,000! That's the WOW factor! Although the print he was talking about was originally 24" x 20" (approx) and my print is called a mini print (8 1/2" x 11") it would still be valued close to $3,500+/-.  I think I'll be hanging on to this one for awhile as it will only increase in value and now that I have the full story on this print from the main people involved in it's creation I am very happy!

Midway Outdoor Flea Market - CLOSED

August 4, 2011 ~ We this was a tough decision to make but we have decided to close our flea market for good. We started our flea market in August 2010 and was a huge success and decided to continue it this year. The weather played a huge role allowing us to be open because the flea market was in an open field. We would open between rainy weekends and then we hit the hot season and it was too hot for vendors and customers to come out. Our first priority is our electric company and this was something to do for fun to bring people to Midway. We made a lot of  friends as well as reuniting with people from years ago. (We have recently put Max to sleep and Mattie had surgery for cancer in her lower intestines which her care require us to be home more) We feel that if we can't give 100% attention to this business and it's not fair to our vendors, customers or ourselves. Many of our vendors set up at flea markets as a source of income and we want everyone to go where they can make the most money.  If you were a vendor, customer or someone who supported what we did .... Thank you! We wish you all the best of luck in anything you do!

Truckstop Missouri Premier

August 3, 2011 ~ Well it finally aired.... TruckStop Missouri is a reality show about Midway Truck stop in my hometown. I will be honest.... I was not for this when I first heard of it but once I understood it was about a locally owned and operated truck stop, I agreed with that. When you saw all of the TV cameras out there filming and asked anyone at the truck stop about the reality show they looked at you like you had a third eye and said they didn't know anything about a reality show.... really? With all these people filming stuff you don't have a clue? I think if they had just been honest and said we can't talk about it right now I would have had a little more respect. I have lived in Midway for 32 years and always went to the truck stop with my grandma and grandpa as well as I purchase fuel there. So last night was the big premier. I watched it at home and tweeted about it with a friend who was there. I was really worried this wouldn't be tasteful and appear that Midway folks were back woods hill-billy type people but it showed day to day operations of running a truck stop with laughter. Some of it appeared to be staged but it's a reality show.... how many reality shows have you watched that just have the boring day in a day out stuff in them? That's the entertainment factor and to keep you watching! I think in the 30 years they have been operating they have seen just about all walks of life come through their doors and it's the same today. I am a huge people watcher and I bet you could sit in the restaurant and get lots of chuckles watching what comes through the door. My favorite quote from the first episode was when they brought the Big 70 food challenge out and the older woman looks over her shoulder and says "That's just wrong!" I think you could use this quote in about 1/2 of the show! When they got to the second episode I about lost it when Biker Granny wanted to get a tattoo! Oh my goodness.... she was a hot mess and I am pretty sure I was yelling at the tattoo guy telling him "Don't do it!" She wasn't afraid to let it all hang out! Guess I am glad they don't do piercings..... Granny might have gone too far! Oh and the poor little fisherman.... bless his little heart! He got his shows all mixed up and meant to be on Pawn Stars or Hard Core Pawn to pawn or sell his special fishin' pole. Then when he was going to catch fish but was fishin' in the lagoon. Overall I think Joe did a good job. Cheesy? Yes, but would you watch a show that wasn't a little cheesy or backwards? It didn't appear that they were making fun of the town of Midway rather poking fun at the "characters" on the show. I think that as business owners we do things that are positive impacts on our business. Midway Truck stop is perfectly placed smack dab in the center of the state and think about all the people that come there prior to the show.... it's really no different and if nothing else it will bring more people in out of curiosity to see what it's all about. I am not on the show nor am I around when the cameras are however I can't blame him for trying it and based on the comments this morning a lot of people watched it. Will they watch next week too? I will be! 

Happy 35th Birthday to me!

August 2, 2011 ~ Well today marks my 35th birthday! It has been an amazing day filled with lots of fun! From text messages starting at 5:45 am, hundreds of facebook wishes, phone calls and e-mails my poor little iphone died twice before 3:00 pm! My wonderful hubby went to town this morning and brought back my favorite Starbuck's hot chocolate (7 pumps of vanilla and made with whole milk), a piece of pumpkin loaf and 3 great cards! I then had a great lunch with Aunt Judy and Stephanie at Hollihan's and got these beautiful flowers from my best friend, Misty and Maxina! Brandon is taking me to Bleu tonight for dinner to finish up a great day! I am such a lucky girl to have so many amazing people in my life! Thank you to everyone for making my birthday extra special!

An early birthday dinner!

Sunday July 31, 2011 ~ Mom cooked my birthday dinner and had all the things I love... Roast, taters (mashed and then some cooked with the roast), wilted lettuce, gravy, fresh sweet corn cut off the cob, and fresh tomatoes! It was so good but then again... momma's cookin' is always the best!

So my sister decided to be really sweet and go to the Sugar Loft at the Lake of the Ozarks... they have the best cupcakes ever! So while she was being really nice she had to be funny at the same time.... yep that is a little dog poo next to the flower (made of chocolate icing) because she told the lady I had dogs and dog poo seemed appropriate on the grass.... that girl ain't right! She is my sister! (As you see that is a white cupcake and I only like chocolate cupcakes.... so you guessed it.... that one is for Brandon!) It was a great dinner with the family and I got to make Jaxon laugh! He's getting so big and loves to be around everyone to see what's going on. (sorry I didn't have my camera with me to get an updated picture of him)