**Thankful Thursday**

Hi, All! I'm back from my quick trip to Gainesville...which leads me to what I'm thankful for on this Thursday.

I'm thankful to be home SAFE
and in one piece!

As I returned home after midnight (this morning) I don't think I've ever been so thankful to be riding with my sweet DD at the wheel. No...you still don't understand...but I'll fill you in!

Sunday morning, my friend, who sometimes calls herself Dixie, asked if I would be interested in riding with her to Gainesville, FL for a couple of days. (I seem to be particularly attractive to folks heading that way because I have a wonderful dear brother (DB) and SIL who live there and LOVE having company, thus eliminating any hotel expenses. [I'm kidding...not really...] Also, knowing how to get around town is a big plus!) Dixie's daughters were participating in the 4-H State Congress at the Univ. of Florida and she wanted to see them perform on Tuesday night and Wednesday night. Since I haven't had a chance to visit my DB since Christmas, I agreed to keep her company --and of course, made reservations at DB's hacienda.

We headed out Tuesday morning (with Dixie driving). Saying that "Dixie is directionally challenged" is like saying "a few folks live in China!" This woman --whom I dearly love!!!--could get lost changing lanes on the Interstate! So, with me as her GPS, we were on our way.

Along the way, we stopped at a nice seafood restaurant in Lake City called Cedar River. Lots and lots of fried food later, we made it to Gainesville.

Since our stay was so short, I really wanted to spend the evening with my family. That meant somehow getting Dixie to the right place, at the right time --without me. After arriving at my DB's, I started working on HOW to get her to the correct place at the University to watch her daughters perform. We got out the telephone book to find a local map. I showed her the easy route, gave her specific directions --complete with girl directions (AND man directions). Surely, she couldn't miss it; the directions were very easy. After going over the directions again and again; we both still had our doubts as to whether she could successfully navigate herself to the correct address.

Thankfully, (remember, it's Thursday!) my DB came home before she had to leave. Being the wonderful DB that he is, he programmed in the route in his own GPS. Apparently, this did the trick. She was even able to follow the directions to get home!!! If you don't know Dixie, you really don't understand how amazing this was. For those of you who KNOW Dixie, you do!

Tuesday night, I enjoyed spending the evening with my DB and his sweet wife. Guess what? They took me to a new seafood restaurant down the street called...Cedar River. Great fried shrimp! I ate it. It was delicious. I was thankful not to have to cook dinner at home.

Wednesday, my dear Daddy took me to Sonny's for lunch. He had wanted to take me to Cedar River (obviously, the IN place)...but I begged him to take me elsewhere --since I had eaten at Cedar River TWICE the day before! After a relaxed lunch, we spent some time at the mall (eating ice cream) where I would be meeting up with Dixie later in the afternoon. What a treat for me! We had a wonderful visit. I'm so thankful I had his undivided attention for several hours! At 71, he is extremely active and it's rare to get him off when he can relax and not have to rush off to another appointment.

Yes, I'm finally getting to the reason I was thankful to have a 16 yo driver.

The Wednesday evening program we attended to watch Dixie's daughter perform...FINALLY ended a bit after 10pm. (I was thankful it was only 10pm--after watching the entire show, before they would announce the winners, we had to endure an interminable amount of time watching 13 "Air" bands perform to mind-numbing, teeth jarring, LOUD banging and framming music.) After getting the girls back to their dorm, we still had a 2-hour drive ahead of us.

Dixie had not slept nearly as late as I did that morning, she was much more fatigued than I. I offered to drive, but since she works at an Insurance Company, she wanted to drive since it was HER car. (No, I don't really understand that...but whatever.) I was thankful that I-75 was not overly crowded that late at night...but the semi-trucks were plentiful.

Things went fairly well until we transferred onto I-10, just north of Lake City. By this point, Dixie was really tired. Many times, I reminded her to 'go the speed-limit' because she would start slowing down real slow when she would pass a vehicle, or get to talking. By the time we got about 40 miles away from our exit, she started getting really, REALLY tired. I won't go into the details of how she terrified me many times. I did tell her! At one point, I was almost ready to ask her to stop and let me out. Mr. Fix-It was going to pick me up at our local truck stop anyway...he would surely come a few exits more to pick me up on the side of the road?? I was ready to be at Lonesome Pine (not Heaven!), but I stuck it out.

We finally made it to the truck stop, if it hadn't been so nasty...I would have kissed the ground. A few minutes later, my van pulls up with DD driving. After spending the previous 3/4 of an hour fearing for my life, I was NEVER so thankful to climb in with that 16 yo driver!!!!!

Me and Dixie are still friends...I'll drive next time.




Stay tuned.