Buyer Beware> I have bought items from Goodwill off and on for the past few years. We didn't have a store close by. One thing you need to check is the outrageous shipping charges and handling charges. I saw a lovely metal vintage style tea pot I would love to have....bid 3.00 reasonable............shipping 10.00........handling.....2.00. Hmmmmmmmmmm tea pot not so attractive at 15.00 and that's if you get it for the 3.00 bid. I love looking thru all the items Goodwill has but some of their shipping rates are way out of line. All these items are donated and I know for a fact it doesn't cost 10.00 to ship one tea pot. Don't want to rain on your parade just want to make you aware. I also bounce between goodwill and ebay and yes I am a wicked sniper...............LOL Does anyone remember Andy's Warehouse Auction? It was run by Fingerhut no less..........oooooooooh the bargains I got there and their shipping was reasonable. How i miss them. There were a couple others but I don't remember the names. Sigh! Hmmmmmmmmm maybe I should google. Then there's freecycle.............I can't begin to tell you all the goodies I have gotten off there. Ok so I belong to 5 different ones.............:) I subscribe to all that are within a 50 mile radius and try to pick up two or more items on one trip if possible. Anybody watch the Junk Brothers? Boy would I like to find some of the loot they find. And that Workshop............ ChelCass

got it all worked out this morning. DS1 is off to another July 4th cookout...he was flexible. DH and I have free tickets today from a friend of ours handling the sound system for the performances at the Eno River Festival. Tomorrow -- big burger/chicken cookout by the pool with DH's family, DS1...DS2 took off to Smith Mountain Lake house with his girlfriend's family. Sunday -- friends, DS1 (maybe DS2)...brunch here on the screened porch followed by pool time...then afternoon margaritas, dips, chips, guacamole, etc. I'm going to make lavender scones; strawberry parfaits (yogurt, honey, granola and strawberries); fry up some hash browns, bake some cheese grits, bacon, etc. Trying to decide between a veggie frittata or just scrambled since one is picky.

Welcome to Arkansas- don't worry about the snakes and such- you'll get used to them- We moved to North Central Ark about 12 years ago from Wisconsin and have never regretted it- Be prepared to wave a lot when out driving- for some reason everyone waves at every one else- and don't ever think that you can just "run" in the store to pick up something quick- people here like to talk- a LOT. I have been known to spend over an hour getting a loaf of bread!!! It's nice though- if you ever find yourself stranded on the road people will stop to help no matter what the weather! We live outside the very small town of Salem and it took our 2 older children some time to fit in with the locals but when they did they found friends for life- our 2 youngest were born here and I wouldn't raise them anywhere else- If you have ever heard jeff Foxworthy talk about rednecks you know what its like here!!! ( most of what he says is true) As far as the bugs and such- no different from anywhere else, Jonesboro does have a lot of mosquitoes though because of the rice fields. We get copperhead snakes once in a while- usually when they are out sunning themselves- they are not aggressive so if you leave them a lone they will leave you alone- we get a lot of black snakes too- they are good but they can get big so they seem scary- the biggest one we had here was about 7 feet long. We also have a lot of Armadillos that like to dig holes so watch for them- we generally just chase them off because we're not sure how to kill them. Where we live though our biggest pest is the squirrel- we have hundreds of them and they will eat anything- one year they dug up over 100 tulip bulbs that I had just planted- That is about all I can think of- the people here are great- none better anywhere. I hope you enjoy the area as much as we do. God Bless

1Kgrace345, I kept going back and forth pondering over getting a Presto canner or the All American...I really could have gotten the Presto many years earlier, but I wanted to save my money and just wait. I have two mirro canners that I have had since I was married in 1970 that my grandmother gave to me that she used and they were literally falling apart. The handles were gone, and they no longer had handles to replace them, so I was having to lift the pot by the hot metal...last year I burned my hand really bad...but I kept on canning. I just bought those new gloves made out of well, what ever that is...my brain just backfired...I hate when that happens...darn it. My husband (behind my back) took them both to the dump...that made me really MAD because they were my grandmothers, and I would have like to have kept them for old times sake, anyways. But, he bought me this new one today..and I just about had a flying flip when he said we were going to town to get one...I got ready faster than lighting! I understand how you would still feel like you were a proud parent of your All American, lkgrace!! LOL If my husband wasn't looking at me on the way home I would have petted mine...LOL!!!