"STUFFY NOSES"

I am sitting here in a "fog" of decongestants thinking I am getting better. I have now decided that I must have a cold-well whatever-I can't breath unless I stay on the "drugs". Usually a cold last 2 weeks, but the only symptom I have is the stuffy nose-ok not stuffy-TOTALLY CLOGGED. I am not under the weather often and don't like not running on all cylinders. Tomorrow is the "LAST" double digit run before the marathon, and it is only 15 miles,but it is difficult to run when you cannot breath. Oh well-I will think about that tomorrow.

I have had a wonderful fire burning all day today. The fireplace brings wonderful warm memories from my childhood forward. I don't really remember much about the house that I spent my first 5 years in, but the house on James Avenue in Farmerville had a wonderful fireplace. Now when I think about it, I realize how contemporary it was for the time, but at the time, it was perfect. Daddy had a marble seat built the entire length of the wall that the fireplace was on. It was the perfect height for sitting and had pillows on the ends to put on top of the cold stone when you sat. There was no mantle-thus the contemporary look, but the brick went all the way from window to window over the marble seat to the ceiling. We had bucket wicker chairs that were perfect to pull up "right in front" and you could prop your shoeless feet right in front of the fire. AAAHHHH! My favorite seat in the house.

We had a fireplace in the first home that Bobby & I owned together on Hundred Oaks Drive in Ruston. It also was my favorite place to sit in the house. It was on the end of the den and reminded me a lot of the fireplace in Farmerville. We had a glass door in front of it that we closed when it was not in use. All of our children played around that fireplace and the hearth by it was where we kept the baskets of toys. During the cool winter months, my chair was always as close to it as I could get it. When the babies were small, I even pulled my rocker right by it to rock them and enjoy the warmth.

Our home in Vienna has a small den with a fireplace. There is really only one place right by the fire to put a chair. Bobby is very kind and allows me to sit in this "special" chair almost all of the time. I love the smell, the crackle, and the sight of the wonderful fire during the cool Louisiana days and evenings. Yes, the fireplace brings instant warm and wonderful memories for me. I could never imagine a home without one, even though that day may come. For now, I am relishing in the warmth and comfort of a wonderful Louisiana fire.