Welcome to the May issue of 400 Edition. We hope you enjoy all the articles we have for you, and we invite you to shop at our advertisers. They are such a great bunch of folks and their services are the best around.

Mother's Day is May 13. We hope you have good things planned for this very important lady in your life. There is no one quite like a mother. We've all heard the definitions: Some are tall, some are short, some fat, some thin, some are jolly, but some are grouchy. I used to think all mothers were... 

What a beautiful spring we are having! I look out the windows and see dogwoods, redbuds, forsythia, apple trees, and many other flowering trees. The Bradford pears have already lost their delicate white blooms and are leafed out. There are tiny purple violets all around the house. We have an old black pot that is just overflowing with them. Reminds me of our house where I grew up. My mom had them all around our porch. I think it makes her happy to know we have them too.

Looking back over issues from past years, I see that we are usually talking about snow and cold weather about now. This year is quite the opposite. The days are so warm you don't need a coat, and even the night temperatures are fairly high. This is my kind of weather; but some of the country is experiencing lots of snow and high winds. I look out my office window and see the leaves starting to come out on the trees. My only fear is that we'll get some cold weather that will nip those young buds.

February is usually our coldest month, and cold weather is not something I look forward to. I think bears have the right outlook on winter and we should all follow suit. While a cave would not be my choice of a good place to hibernate, my nice warm home sure fits the bill. Bob and the kids laugh at me for staying home so much, but I love to be home. I guess getting up for 30 years and going out to a job made staying home a real treat for me. Being able to work from home is a wonderful way to live.

What a wonderful Christmas we had this year. It was full of love, talking, laughing, singing, playing games, and eating. We had 22 people together this Christmas. They came from Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Texas. Opening gifts was especially fun because we had six babies under four years old; we had everything from beautiful wide eyes and expressions of glee over a train and a "Beauty & the Beast" fancy dress, to sobs because one two-year-old was afraid of a stick horse. That didn't last long. I had forgotten how sweet those little ones can be at times like this.