In high school, I was able to find a part time job after school at a local florist shop. I loved that job and still love flowers – very easy way to score big brownie points with me.

In fact, I’ve worked for several different florists for short periods of time over the years. At the major holidays they are usually glad to have experienced help and I enjoy the hub bub, helping out, and being around the flowers and plants.

Stopped at the corner market this afternoon on the way home to fill up the car at $3.09 per gallon. That’s pretty much the cost of gas anywhere in the Nashville area this week. They were having a problem with the pumps taking credit and debit cards, so I had to go inside to pay for the gas and get my receipt.

While standing in line I noticed a display in a little cooler with two unusual new flavors of sodas. One is Sunkist Float and the other is A & W Float. They come in glass bottles, which is also unusual. There was no price anywhere, but I’m sure they are in the $1.50 to $2.00 range, as all the other sodas are in that range.

The Sunkist Float is supposed to taste like a Dreamsicle and the A & W is supposed to be a typical root beet float. I didn’t succumb to temptation this time, but I suppose when the weather gets warmer and they are ice cold in a cooler that I will try one or both of them.

Have you seen Paula Deen’s cooking show? She is a wonderful cooking show hostess – a great personality and charming in a totally Southern Belle way. I’ve bought two of her cookbooks and one of her magazines. I think I’m going to just subscribe to her magazine – I love the recipes and the photographs that show me what the finished dish is supposed to look like.

Paula has raised up two gorgeous hunks of men and her sons cook, too. They have a couple of cookbooks out on their own. I bought one last weekend and will go back for the other one next week. I bought the one called “Recipes from the Road,” which features the local recipes from famous eateries on their road trip across America.

Brentwood and Franklin have become infested with immigrants from California.

No, I’m not talking about Mexicans. They’re in South Nashville and Antioch. I’m talking about the people from L.A. and San Diego who have cashed out on their overpriced real estate in Southern California and moved to Nashville to buy their McMansions and raise their snotty nosed brats here because they can get so much more house for their buck and we have such a better quality of life here than anywhere in California.

I’m going to just start refering to Brentwood and Franklin as “New California” or maybe “Eastern California.” I hate driving anywhere near the mall anymore. These people from California think it’s OK to just step out into traffic and walk anywhere in the road or parking lots that they want without even looking for cars. California has big laws protecting pedestrians and giving them right of way. Tennessee does not.

In the South, cars rule. The sooner these new people from California understand this principle the sooner we can all get along.

Magazines have always held an attraction for me. I love to browse the magazine racks at the checkout stand and often buy one on impulse because of the cover story or an articles that caught my eye.

At the office our lobby has a few chairs, tables and lamps but no magazines. Often people who come to our office for an appointment have to wait a few minutes for the person with whom they are meeting. So I thought it would be a good idea to subscribe to a few business and general interest magazines. We can leave them in the lobby and also have a few in the kitchenette for people who eat by themselves and need something to read.