Spring Has Arrived!

I haven't really posted in a while about what we have been up to simply because we haven't been up to much at all! I got sick right after St. Pat's and I'm just now starting to feel better. The doctor said a bad, bad case of bronchitis, but Ron and I lean towards maybe a case of walking pneumonia. And, speaking of Ron, his allergies have gone haywire. We didnt' think they could ever be worse than in the Upstate, but, well, we moved here......

Ben has been playing his Wii like crazy. In place of the Easter bunny this year, he opted for a Wii sports pack. Clay is still learning his guitar. He's doing really great -- writing his own songs as well as learning the songs he loves. He bought a second guitar and an amp a few weeks ago at a pawn shop. He also won the "tomahawk throwing contest" at OA a few weekends ago which means he'll be representing his lodge at the Dixie in April. Clay did transfer to a new scout troop. This one is a little less "high adventure" and he had a good friend from school there. We've been pleased with the leadership. Clay's "bunny" gift is a camping trip with the troop in a few weeks. We also find out next week which magnet program(s) Clay got into for next year and from there we'll decide if we're staying out in this area or moving over the summer.

Not to be left out, Maggie is still being the family baby! She loves to watch the birds outside our patio door.

The boys and I are on spring break this week and taking it easy. Last night was Bunco (more to post on that later) and tomorrow night Ron and I are going to an Indian restaurant with our Jaycees friends. Then, Saturday is the BIG day -- the Carolina Cup! I haven't been to a horse race in a LONG time (Clay was a baby the last time) and I can't wait.

I can't believe that it is almost April! Wow! Time sure has flown....it seems like just yesterday that I was posting about Christmas. Hard to belive that it soon will be summer! :)

the new guitar

Ben thinks Clay is a rock star or something.....

tomahawk practice

the scoutmaster let Ben give it a try, too

St. Pat's Kick Off

Even though the big party is still a week away, 5 Points had a "kick off" tonight for St. Patrick's Day. After dinner, again this week, at the Salty Nut, we walked over to the fountain to find out about the dyeing of the fountain, get beads and buttons, Ben had green cookies and popcorn and meet Logan, the Leprachaun.

We had a half hour before the dyeing so we walked down the street to a few shops (bought a cup at the Greek Store and a great new blouse to wear for St. Pat's at Wish). Ron used the time to pass out some of the 100s of "St. Patrick's Day" cups from Jaycees. He had a blast giving them away and making people smile. I think he gave away one whole case! (We still have a few more cases in the car for next weekend.)

At 6:00 we headed back to the fountain, where a bag pipe band was performing as the kids dyed the fountain GREEN!! After a walk down to "Yappy Hour" (even though Maggie was at home we couldn't miss a trip to 3 Dog Bakery) for Boston Terrier Creme Pies. The owner even sent Maggie a shamrock cookie, which thrilled the Maggie-dog!

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Another Birthday Celebration for Ben

Today my parents came down to visit and celebrate Ben's birthday. We met them at the State Museum and toured it for a while, did a little shopping, ate lunch in the Vista at 5 Guys and walked the grounds of the Robert Mills house. It was a fun afternoon! And, Ben was thrilled to get another celebration (this birthday has streteched for over a week now!)....he promptly took his $$ gifts to buy a Civil War set at the museum and a new Wii video game!

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Happy Birthday, Aunt Marti!!!

We hope your day is WONDERFUL!!!

We Love you!

Ron, Melanie, Clay and Ben

(in the picture above: Harolyn, Ashley, Me and Aunt Marti one 4th of July!)

Playing Around

I just didn't get a chance to post these last week. Ben, Maggie and I were playing around in the living room and taking some pictures. Thought I'd share....

Mardi Gras!

Today is "fat Tuesday". Our friends, Leslie and Dennis invited us to join them at their church's Shrove Tuesday pancake supper and talent show. The food was great, the entertainment was fun and, as always, it was great to see them! We very much enjoyed ourselves as we celebrated Mardi Gras and the start of the Lent season.

The boys get into the spirit!

Our friends -- Dennis and Leslie

During the talent show they invited all of the kids onto stage for a "kazoo band", Ben absolutely wanted to participate and he did! He is third from the right....

Happy MARDI GRAS!!!

New Ride

Because of everything going on, it has taken almost two weeks to get a daytime picture of our new ride! I drove it for the first time today and all I can say is "smooth".

In a surprise act two weeks ago this Tuesday we retired Ron's ten year old hoopety and bought a 2007 Grand Prix. We weren't really looking for a car, but Ron's car had no heat, radiator and front end issues so we never drove it anywhere -- always taking the Explorer. Out of the blue we decided to do our pre-qualification just to be ready.

The next day we received our approval and a call from a local dealership that they had a deal for us....yeah right we thought. Boy were we wrong! They had one last former rental car that they had picked up and put together a package with a wonderful payment, warranty + extended warranty, paid off Ron's car (site unseen) and brought the car to us that night with all of the paperwork, in case we were ready to take it. The first thing I said to the sales person after I introduced myself was "What's the catch?" "No catch," she assured me, "This is how we do business."

We did all of the paperwork and she drove off in the hoopety! Ron is loving it! Not that we have an abundance of cold weather here, but in the mornings he is very thankful now to have heat and defrost.

And, if you need a new car anytime soon, let me know and I can recommend a GREAT place to buy!

Bunco and a Busy Week

This week has been so crazy that I am just now getting around to blogging about it! After spending Monday with a cold, Tuesday night was our first Bunco. I hostessed with a "New Year's" theme. It was a lot of fun...as we packed 15 ladies into the apartment to socialize and play! :) Most of us were new to the game so we learned a lot and got to know each other.

Sheila, Stephanie, Jamie and Leslie enjoy the "high" table

The whole Bunco group....all 15 of us!

Clay received his guitar this week (he's been saving his Eagle Scout money for year) and I have heard him play "Smoke on the Water" and "Paint it Black" about..oh, a million times! :) But, its great -- he has guitar practice two days a week after school and he LOVES it! Ben has been building some HUGE Lego world for days -- he says it is his "project". So they have kept busy, too.

Last night some friends invited Ron and I to join them at the Capital City Club after work and then when we got home, we all were in bed by 9:00 because we were so tired! Tonight I have two meetings after school and then, finally...FRIDAY!! It is going to be a busy weekend -- I have an interview with a school district on Saturday, meeting some friends from Boiling Springs for lunch, Scout Sunday at the church sponsoring Clay's scout troop and then we're supposed to meet some friends to watch the Super Bowl. But, as for tomorrow night, I'm planning to curl up with Maggie on the couch and read a book. I can't wait! (I need the rest for next week which is even busier than this one was!)

Skating and King Ben

Today our JWC group took the kids skating. I did not skate. I checked out a pair for about five minutes before returning them for my Reeboks. Let me clarify that I love to skate. I got a lot of practice in junior high on Friday and Saturday nights and, truth be told, I wasn't too bad as a skater.

So, why did I not use this opportunity to do something I love, you might ask yourself? First, when we moved here, in a sheer moment of gung-ho "we haven't used it in forever, lets throw it away" I did just that and threw away my trusty, wonderful, if well used, "speed" skates that I had for about 20 years. I haven't worn the high top, wobby rentals since I was about, ummmm, eight. I didn't think that today was the day that I should really try those after all. Secondly, this rink didn't have a wall. Now, I used to be a pretty good skater (even worked at a skating rink in high school), like I said, but on these less than stellar, poor performance, orange suede rentals, if I was going to risk life and limb, I at least wanted some semblance of a security blanket, I mean, wall to hold onto (at least at first!) I opted to help one of the little boys for by holding his hand while he learned to maneuver on wheels and then he, of course, got tired of me and was ready to fly! I then used the opportunity to catch up with my good friend Stephanie and chat with the other JWC girls there.

When I got home (thanks Elizabeth for picking me up!) Ron and the boys were waiting to head out for dinner at Burger King since Ron had a meeting in Lexington at six. We promptly crowned Ben "king of the burgers"! Now I have planned this week's meals, grocery shopped and I'm enjoying the fact that tomorrow is a holiday and that means NO SCHOOL!!!

Snow!

Unfortunately (and unlike in our old home town!), it didn't stick. But, never-the-less, we all threw on coats and shoes and ran outside to see the flakes falling.

Speakers, Banquets and Meeting

Yesterday I got up early to get Clay out the door for his trip to Camp Barstow for OA training and for me to leave out for the GFWC-SC (General Federation of Women's Clubs) Winter Board Meeting. The board meeting was very informative --I learned a lot about GFWC-SC and I am so glad that I joined a group affiliated (Junior Woman's Club of Columbia). I met many new women and was able to spend time getting to know Amye and Leslie from JWC better. After the meeting I headed home to rest before Ron's friend, Bill, came over and we all drove out to Barstow for the Order of the Arrow, Muskogee Lodge, Winter Banquet. Not that they all aren't important, but this one was really important because Clay was being installed to the Lodge Council as Vice Chief of Inductions....quite an honor for anyone, but especially at his age. We had a wonderful dinner, a great speaker ---Rudy Mancke, and awards. We were THRILLED that Clay received a certificate for having received his "brotherhood" during 2007. We didn't think he would get one since he did his at Skyuka and then transferred to Muskogee. The very last certificate they gave out was for Clay and I think Ron and I just about jumped out of our seats! The group also held a silet auction. Clay won two patches that he bid on and Ron won a "legend" for the OA sash. He gave it to Clay at the end of the night as a "we're proud of you" gift. It was a fun evening and even though we got home very late, it was well worth it. BubbleShare: Share photos - Safe Toys e

A Good DRYER Is Hard To Find

Flannery O'Connor missed the mark....you can find a good man, but a dryer, FORGET IT!

When Ron and I got married 14 1/2 years ago my Papa Walker bought us our first washer and dryer. He basically took me to Lowe's one day and said, "pick out what you want." I chose a matching set of Admiral, a little known then, and now appliance name. Now, 14 1/2 years later the washer, though only one setting works completely, is still cleaning our clothes. The dryer lasted for about ten years before dying and I cried because it was a gift from grandfather and he had passed away by that point. We purchased an affordable, but "great working" dryer.....it lasted for a year and half before it died. In an effort to ensure a LONG time before the next dryer we went to the furniture and appliance store and after looking, long and hard at every model, we chose a high, tech computerized (I mean had we ever bought the matching washer this thing could TALK to it), touch screen, expensive GE Profile. Because I hate to buy appliances, especially when they aren't totally broken and for sentimentallity, we never got around to getting to the matching washer, but, man, was this a smart and beautiful dryer. And, you talk about drying some clothes?!?!? I could push the button for "khakis" and withing a specified amount of time (that the dryer itself determined) Ron's pants and our other whites would pop out wrinkle free.

Flashforward about 2 1/2 years.....shortly after we moved in here I noticed a mysterious "thunk" when using the dryer. I blamed it on the moving people. And, then about a month ago we noticed that after a couple of runnings of the same load they weren't drying as quickly as they used to. And, then, last night! I put in a load of towels, pushed my towel setting and three hours later, I still had wet towels! Ron did a little investigating and decided that he would get up today, take the dryer apart and clean it (we did this for one of the previous dryers and it helped keep it running for a while longer). He did get up this morning, ran some internet-idead diagnostics and determined that the problem is the blower....it had gone out! Apparently, in the internet research, this is the most common problem of this model. And, it isn't exactly an easy or inexpensive fix. We mulled our choices ---- order a $200 part and spend countless hours putting it in (according to those who have done it, it is a real pain and best left to a professional) or pay about $500-700 for a repairman to order the part and fix it. We decided the best option was to go to Lowe's and/or Home Depot and just buy a dryer.

And, that is exactly what we spent our Sunday doing. We couldn't get good answers for our questions and Lowe's and we headed to Home Depot where we chose a semi-technologically advanced Maytag. Out of stock. The only two dryers in stock were a (ha!ha! NO WAY!) GE Profile or a really inexpensive Admiral, the same brand as our original and the 14 1/2 year later model!

After loading it in the car, Ron, Clay and I HAULED this thing up the stairs; I would have paid good money to have been watching this as I pulled something in my elbow and Ron pulled something in his back. Now, as I type, Ron and Clay are hooking it up and I am preparing for a HUGE laundry battle that might take a few days for catch up.

I figure that because this one was about 75% less than the Profile and not fancy at all, it will last for another ten years. At least that is what I am hoping!

And, by the way, I fully intend to suck it up and go buy the new washer to match in a few weeks. Because of the non-emergency status, I will have Home Depot deliver and fight the stairs, though! :)

...In With the New!

Just like all the great stuff that I remembered in my previous post looking back over 2007, we have SO much to look forward to in 2008 already! I'm thoroughly amazed that the new year isn't even here and we have filled in many a calender date. Here is a look ahead at what we have to look forward to in the new year:

• USC basketball game in January
• JWC for Melanie
• GNO for Melanie, especially dinner at Ruth's Chris!
• Melanie is serving as the CMN (Children's Miracle Network) Co-Chair for Palmetto Health's VIA
• Clay is serving as the Vice Chief of Inductions for Muscogee Lodge (OA)
• The OA banquet in January
• The theater with several other couples in January
• Dinner for Melanie and Ron with Lee in January
• a weekend in Myrtle Beach (courtesy of the Teaching American History in SC grant) in February
• Ben's 9th birthday!
• Ron's 41st birthday!
• Baubles and Bubbles
• The SC Book Festival
• CarniBall
• Spring Break!
• The GFWC-SC conference in April
• Melanie's 10th reunion at Converse
• Melanie and Ben will participate in the Young Writer's Conference
• Clay will be attending the OA Dixie, fellowships and ordeals
• Clay will turn 14!
• Clay will start HIGH SCHOOL!!!!!
• Maggie will turn 3!
• Ron and Melanie will celebrate their 15th anniversary (hopefully with a fun trip!)
• Melanie will turn 35!
• Gamecock Football 2008!

Out with the Old........

2007 wasn't a bad year at all for our family! We had a LOT of good times and a whole lot of change, too...change for the better. I thought with all the "year in review" and "a look back" specials on the internet and tv, our blog should celebrate, too. So, here is "the Johnson's Year in Review - 2007":

• We have a teenager! Clay turned 13!!!
• Clay earned his Eagle Scout and his OA Brotherhood
• Clay transferred troops, twice, and has gone on several camping trips, kayaking and rock climbing
• Clay was accepted into the TWO Academy, a single-gender magnet program
• Ben turned 8!
• Ben played soccer for Columbia United.
• He had a singing part in the 2nd grades spring program.
• Maggie turned 2!
• Melanie turned 34!
• Melanie spent a week at Converse College to study the Revolutionary War with an NEH grant.
• Melanie spent two weeks with the SC Dept of Archives studying SC history from Reconstruction to 1919 and was able to see many cool sites around the midlands --- Kennsington Plantation, the SC Railroad Museum and the Woodrow Wilson house.
• Melanie was named VFW Post 4262's "Teacher of the Year".
• Ron had a BIG birthday --- he turned 40!!
• Ron was awarded Scouting Mentor pins at 2 ceremonies --- Clay's and another scout/friend, Ryan's.
• Ron took a new job with Wilbur Smith.
• We took several spring trips to Columbia --- for spring break, for the USC spring game/Hootie and the Blowfish concert and house hunting.
• I got a new job teaching a multi-age class at a charter school
• WE MOVED TO COLUMBIA!!!!!
• We used our zoo, museum and EdVenture memberships A LOT! (we also went to HalloWonka, Boo in the Zoo, Lights Before Christmas, Alien Day and Halloween at the museum)
• We went camping for the weekend and hiked at Kings Mountain State Park.
• We went to Myrtle Beach for a November day trip.
• We adopted Dobby in July and he died in December.
• We made a lot of new friends.
• We travelled home to Spartanburg for Veterans Day (to put flags on Papa Walker's grave), Thanksgiving, to see Ryan and Miriam at the beginning of December and to celebrate Christmas with the Johnson's at the end of December
• My parents came down here several times for "grand tours" of Columbia, for Grandparents breakfast at Ben's school, to shop at the Village at Sandhill and to celebrate Christmas with us

Christmas with the Johnson's

We got up this morning and traveled to Sparkle City to finally celebrate Christmas with Ron's parents and sister. We all went to lunch at a local Italian place and then came back to his parent's house to exchange our gifts. I think Maggie had the best time of all....Cousin Bailey was there and they chased each other and played the whole time! They were so cute together!

After we finished Christmas, we drove across town to pick up Clay's best friend, Ryan, who is spending a few days with us, made an exchange for Ben at Wal-Mart and stopped at the Beacon, we have been CRAVING chilli cheeseburgers and sweet tea for weeks!
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Post Christmas....

Now that the excitement of Christmas is over (well, pretty much over...we still have to celebrate with Ron's parents and sister this weekend) and we're all still on vacation the blah's began to set in quickly. We've been staying up late, sleeping late and just hanging out around here for the most part. The boys have been playing with their Christmas goods and we did go out to a nice dinner last night at Bonefish Grille. And, then today we couldn't stand it anymore! We just had to go find something to do.

Clay playing "Guitar Hero" for the 1000th time

cooking a post-Christmas meal (notice everyone is still in pjs and this is for DINNER!)

Ron needed to pay car taxes, pick up his tag and I needed to finally (I guess I am officially a resident of Columbia now) change the address on my license. We did all that and had lunch before driving through the Vista and just exploring. Along the way we ended up down at the Riverfront Park along the Columbia Canal. This isn't an area that we have explored and so we parked and hiked a little ways along the trail, stopping to read the history signs, see the old pump house, the canal and a beautiful heron, which I took a ton of pictures of as you will see. It was quite pretty despite being overcast and just the rejuvenation (and excercise!) we needed.

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Christmas Morning 2007

It is now officially the end of Christmas day! Our gifts are all opened, we've had breakfast and dinner and now everyone has scattered to their own "place"....Ben is building with Lego's,Clay is playing "Guitar Hero", Maggie's sleeping, Ron's playing a "need for speed" game and here I am blogging! :)

We had a wonderful Christmas morning with lots of GREAT gifts! Too many to even begin to go through, but here are some highlights:

Clay - lots of AE clothes, a Rock (as in Rock and Roll!) encyclopedia, Guitar Hero III and a framed John Lennon wall art. (Eagle ornaments from Ben)

Ben - a Gamecock jersey, hats, Lego's and an iPod (a USC football and mints from Clay)

Ron - a Gamecock sweatshirt, pj bottoms, a treat set, and a manicure/pedicure (a USC iPod cover from Clay, a cocky cup and penguin oranment from Ben)

Melanie - Vera Bradley pjs and wristlet, Bella Bellara perfume and goodie basket gift set (a lion mug from Clay, lion cups, ornament and stuffed animal from Ben....no lion it was great gifts!)

Maggie - a plush blankie, snacks and teething toys (a stuffed lion from Ben and a homemade dog-food set from Clay)

Both boys loved their own personal "root beer kegs"! They thought they were hilarious!

We started the morning by telling the boys that all that was left for them was coal...Clay, of course, tasted the coal which was luckily only licorice chunks. Then they stopped to see if Santa had eaten any of his cookies and Diet Coke, read his note and found "reindeer patties" from the reindeer! We opened all of our gifts, ate our breakfast casserole and chilled out for the rest of the day.

Clay claims this is "the best Christmas we've ever had". Ben chimed in, "...because we're in Columbia!"

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Christmas Eve 2007

We got up this morning and after picking up, I headed out to Wal-Mart and Kroger for some serious food stuffs and last minute gifts. Ron had to work for a few hours and when he got home, we ran out so he could do his "traditional" Christmas Eve shopping.

We had planned to cook a big supper, but instead had what Clay dubbed "fun food dinner"....cajun crab dip, brie, a cheese ball, ham, summer sausages, tex-mex dip, chips, crackers and key lime pie! YUM! After dinner Ron and Clay watched a movie, Ben played in his room and I had a wrapping marathon!

We finished up the night with prepping a breakfast casserole for tomorrow morning, baking cookies for Santa, spreading reindeer food for Rudolph and friends, checking for where Santa was at bedtime and watching a movie.

Now, we're ready for tomorrow morning to see what Santa puts under our tree!

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Christmas Adam

We decided today to start a new Christmas Adam tradition of going to do something "Christmas-sy" and then having a nice dinner. Our plan for this first year was to go to "Lights Before Christmas" at the zoo and then dinner at Bonefish Grille. The first part worked perfectly!

We did the lights at the zoo, stopped downtown to see the State House tree and then arrived at Bonefish where the wait was close to an hour. Time to re-vamp the plan! Instead we ate at Red Bowl Asian Bistro out at Sandhill which was, as always, very good and it was still a nice place to eat so it fit with this new tradition! We laugh that when the boys get married and have kids we'll have to take out a loan to keep this tradition going! :)

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The Six Saturdays of Christmas.....Saturday 6

My mom and dad came down to Columbia yesterday to spend celebrate Christmas with us. After lunch the boys and I met them for some shopping and then after a little rest they came over to meet at our place. We headed off to dinner at Little Pig's BBQ and then drove out to Saluda Shoals for "Lights by the River", a drive-thru light display that was really, really good!

We stopped at the "wonderland" on the way out of the park to visit with Santa and then my dad treated us (except Ron and Clay who opted to stay behind) to a train ride around a part of the lights. That was definitely Ben's favorite part!

After the lights we went back to our place and opened gifts. We got some great things! For Clay- AE jeans and shirt, a Clemson t-shirt and goodies; for Ben - jeans, a Lego city set and, his favorite, a Carolina helmet hat; for Ron - a Carolina t-shirt and pullover; for Maggie - an indestructable, glow in the dark ball and for me - jeans, a sweater, a party bag and, my favorite, a 2008 Vera Bradley agenda! We gave my dad a USC golf shirt and Eagles CD and my mom a VB bag and key chain. It was a wonderful time and the gifts were great, but the best of all was being able to spend time together.
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