It's Wednesday . . . must be time for hodgepodge!

I'm joining up with friends for the Wednesday Hodgepodge. Thanks again to Joyce who comes up with our questions each week!

1. Do you know much about (or understand) Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Does it worry or excite you? I know a little about it. I think it is like many other things – it can be used for good . . .or it can be mis-used. A couple of our staff people did a funny video earlier in the spring using AI to write the skit lines. It was pretty good!

2. What was the last song you listened to? Your favorite movie soundtrack? What song always puts you in a good mood?  I haven’t listened to any music today. My favorite soundtrack from a movie would probably be Mama Mia. My favorite soundtrack from a production would be Wicked (I know you didn’t ask that!). Mandisa has a song she sings with Toby Mac – Good Morning! That song always puts me in a good mood!!

3. What were you doing ten years ago? Let’s see . . .10 years ago, I was 54 years old! I was working at Trinity UMC but wasn’t doing the job I do now. I was the Membership and Evangelism person. I knew our database backwards and forwards and knew a lot of our 3,000+ members by name (not so much now!). I wasn’t a Gran 10 years ago. I have no idea what was going on in our life that required such deep prayeers, but I wrote this post about praying on my knees.  We had not moved to our current home (current is the one that burned) and we were hosting the Young Adult group and I wrote about them here. Basically, we were living life!

4. Your favorite no-bake summer dessert? I don’t make a lot of desserts. I’ve been enjoying sugar free fudge pops already this year. I used to love to make a Key Lime pie or a Peanut Butter pie. Yum. I also love the four layer Chocolate Dessert but you do have to bake that crust. 

5. Something you're looking forward to in June? Hopefully, we will move back into our home toward the end of June.

6. Insert your own random thought here. We are headed to a wedding this weekend and I'm looking forward to the rehearsal dinner and wedding!

Weekend in Review

My weekend has involved lots of studying. My class started last week and I'm taking Biology 101. Biology has changed A LOT since I took it in high school. Of course, the class is online but the labs are all online, too. The labs are like video games for lack of a better description. This is the beginning of my 5th semester since I started and this may be the first semester where I make a B. The class is a four hour class and it will definitely take me at least four hours each week. We have to watch a video, read a chapter in the textbook, do a full chapter review study guide (which has to be turned in each week), and do the labs. I had four or five short labs this week.

We knew that Mark was going to stay with his mother and brother on Saturday night and again tonight, so we made fun plans for Friday night. My neighbor cut flowers from her garden for us and gave them to me when we arrived.

We went to Casual Pint. I love that there are now a few drinks I can drink when everyone else is drinking beer. We ordered four appetizers and shared those for our dinner. At one point, we were laughing so hard we were crying. The SEC baseball tournament was going on about a mile down the road so we saw lots of baseball fans wearing their college gear.

After dinner, we went to check on the progress of the house. Lu and Dave have been with us every step of the way. They were with us on the night of the fire and continue to support us emotionally.

The room below is the loft upstairs and you can see the new hardwood flooring. It hasn't been sanded nor stained yet.

The room below is the loft pre-fire - I'm taking the photo with my back to the door below. We are replacing the rail with black metal.

A decorator in our neighborhood told us about a furniture store that is about an hour's drive from our house. We drove up on Saturday morning and it was a nice day for a drive. We aren't sure what all we need to buy. We don't know if we need to replace all of that furniture in the loft or not???

We definitely want to get some new and updated art and we like the two below to hang side by side in our dining room BUT we didn't buy any yet.

We also want to get something new for the entry hall. I found the piece below and love it BUT we didn't buy it either. You can't tell in the photo but the top is actually painted a different color than the chest. It is solid mahagony and it is lovely but I just couldn't decide.

The piece below (antique barrister's cabinet) was at the top of our stairs. I wondered what it would look like in the entry hall or even the little antique secretary that is the picture of what the loft used to look like. The entry hall is open to the dining room which has very traditional dark wood furniture in it.

This is what was in the entry hall pre-fire. What do y'all think??

I had to work on Sunday morning but after church, I joined Mark and his family for Sunday lunch. Mark and I were the "providers" this week and I picked up BBQ pork and BBQ chicken from Moe's BBQ and we had baked beans, potato salad, chips, slaw, and pickles. We also had Moe's famous cornbread. It isn't as good as my cornbread but it is great with their BBQ.

Today, I've been cleaning the apartment and as soon as I hit "publish," I'm going to get a quick shower and run a few errands. The weather is delightful - not too warm with sunshine, blue sky, and puffy white clouds. I actually sat in the courtyard for 30 minutes after lunch. The courtyard has been one of my favorite parts of the apartment. We have our own outdoor furniture so it feels like "home."

I don't want you dear readers to think that I'm only thinking about today as a "day off." On this Memorial Day weekend, I've thought a lot about my daddy. He didn't die during WWII but served faithfully. He did die of lung/brain cancer years later. Mark's daddy also fought in WWII . . . and died of cancer years later. If we were in our house, there would be an American flag flying in the breeze. I must admit that I've suffered from FOMO this weekend as I've seen everyone's pictures while they are partying at the lake and the beach. Maybe a quiet weekend was what I needed. I'm telling myself that anyway! What did you do this weekend?

Sunday Stealing

I’m joining up with our Sunday Stealing folks. This week’s questions are from Kwizgiver. Thanks to Bev for finding the questions each week!

1. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive through? It depends. If we are travelling and I need to use the restroom, we park and go in . . .and I usually buy a diet coke because we used their facilities 😊. I don’t eat a lot of fast food but when (if) I do, I usually drive through. My husband hates drive throughs of all kinds – food, bank, drugstore. He always prefers to park and go in. Not me.

 

2. Have you ever lost anything down a toilet? Over the years, I dropped a few things in that we’ve had to retrieve but I’ve never flushed anything down.

 

3. Do you have a dog? We do not have a dog. We have a cat who acts like a dog. He comes when you call him. He follows us around like a dog. He LOVES to sit in our laps.

 

4.  Ever go camping? I’ve been two or three times in my life. One time I went with a guy I was dating. We camped on top of a mountain and people were hang gliding off the top. Mark and I were talking about our camping trip last night! We weren’t married yet and had not been dating long. Our singles group at church went to Mt. Cheaha (north Alabama) for the weekend. Mark, his twin brother-George, and I drove up together and we were all three car sick by the time we got there! It was a rough drive that day. I’m trying to remember if I’ve camped any other times. Staying at our farmhouse is sort of like camping.

 

5. Have you met anyone famous? I’ve only met one “famous” person – Jerry Clower was on a plane with us when we were flying home from Hawaii a million years ago. Mark’s daddy loved Jerry Clower and I got his autograph for him. We flew on another plane with Ephrem Zimbalist, Jr. We saw Simone Biles in the airport and were sitting at the same gate. That’s about it!

 

6. Any plans today? I’m writing on Saturday night and Mark is over at his mom’s staying the night with his mom and brother . . .taking a turn with caregiving. My big plans for the evening include a little more studying and reading a book and riding the stationary bike.

 

7. Are you happy? I am joyful. There is a difference. It has been a tough year and I think things will continue to be tough regarding Mark’s mom and his brother. We have wonderful moments of happiness and we are hopefully getting our house back by the end of June which makes me happy.

 

8. Where are you right now? I’m sitting at the island on a bar stool typing . . .in the apartment which has been our home since last July.

 

9. Biggest annoyance in your life right now? I’m actually not willing to share that.

 

10. Last song listened to? I have no idea. I just went to pick up BBQ at Moe’s BBQ and they were playing great music but I have no idea the name.

 

11. Last movie you saw? I saw a portion of Just Getting Started a couple of weeks ago (on TV). I need to watch the whole thing. The last movie I saw in the theater was Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

 

12. Are you allergic to anything? Yes, I’m allergic to cats (I know – I have one), dogs, grass, trees, feathered friends, mold, and dust. I take allergy meds every day. I get two allergy shots every month. I use a prescription nasal wash (3 meds plus saline mixed in a squirt bottle with distilled water) every day at least once (supposed to use it twice . . .doesn’t always happen). I carry an epi pen with me at all times. I’m also allergic to codeine.

 

13. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time? I bought two pair of Birkenstocks when we were in Germany last summer and I wear them all of the time. The other pair is shiny gold.

 

14. What do you think of when you think of Australia? Kangaroos . . .and Outback . . .and didgeridoos . . .and really cool accents . . . and most of all, I would love to go there.

 

15. Do you use smiley faces on the computer a lot? I use smiley faces way too often.

 

It is Wednesday . . . Must be Hodgepodge!

I'm joining up with Joyce and friends for this week's Hodgepodge.

 1. May 24th is National Brother's Day. Do you have a brother? Older or younger? Did you raise brothers? Tell us something about your brother or tell us something about your own children who are brothers.

There were three girls in our family - no brothers. I have 3 brother-in-laws on Mark's side of the family. Mark is an identical twin so one of those brothers-in-law looks just like my husband! People mistake them for each other quite often. When we were dating, Mark had a mustache and George didn't so I always thought M for mustache for Mark!! Brother-in-law #2 is Bill and he is the one who is so sick. Brother-in-law #3 is the husband of Mark's sister. George and Bill are both older than me but Bob is a couple of years younger. Mark and I have fraternal twins - a boy and a girl - so we raised a sister who has a brother! That sounds like "who's on first"!! Glenn and Laura have a special bond. One of their middle school teachers gave us the best compliment. She said that she had taught many twins over the years, but Laura and Glenn seemed to care about each other more than any other set of twins she had ever taught!

2. A great book you've read or movie you enjoy that features brothers? I remember reading The Hardy Boys! I've always loved mysteries!! The Sound of Music features both brothers and sisters!!

3. Something you think is overrated? Something you think is underrated? I don't have a good answer for either of these questions.I can't wait to read everyone else's answers.

4. How much does your past shape you? What parts have shaped you the most? My past has made me who I am. I've had some crazy bumps and hills and valleys along the way but I am who I am because of those things. I think the love of others has shaped me the most. 

5. What's your favorite simple pleasure? Let's see . . .how about drinking a very cold diet pepsi while sitting in a comfy chair in a patch of sunshine with a breeze blowing? Or even better -- how about the hug of a granddaughter?? That one is really good!!

6. Insert your own random thought here. I thought about writing a whole post about this statement from Rick Warren:  "We're challenging the ruling on behalf of millions of SBC women whose God-given spiritual gifts and leadership skills are being wasted instead of empowered for the Great Commission. We cannot finish the task Jesus gave us with 50% of the church forced to sit on the bench. Great Commission Baptists believe Jesus authorized every woman to go, to make disciples, to baptize and to teach - just as he authorized every man." When I read that quote last week, I cried and I cheered. I cried because I think God called me to be a preacher but in my home church, which was a SBC, a female minister was not a possibility. God has ended up using me in all sorts of amazing ways because God is God. I cheered because I'm cheering for Rick Warren and for what he is trying to do. (p.s. I know you may or may not agree with me and that is ok)

Weekend in Review

I'm running behind again. Thursday night, our daughter and son-in-law drove to Birmingham after work and attended a concert. They sneaked into the apartment around midnight and spent the night. Friday was our 39th anniversary and their 5th anniversary! I had to do a couple of things that morning so they slept in which is a treat with an almost four year old. We all went to lunch together at one of the restaurants downstairs from our apartment. Laura and Scott headed over to visit with grandmother and Uncle Bill.

Friday night, we had reservations at Perry's. When I made the reservations online, there was a space to check whether or not it was a special occasion. I checked anniversary! When we arrived, they asked for my phone and took a bunch of pictures for us. She even took a picture of the table decorations! Mark was a good sport and participated in the pictures (not his favorite thing to do). Mark's sister, Susie, and her husband, Bob, got married during the same year we married so we invited them to join us for our celebration. I failed to get a picture of all four of us.

On Saturday night, we went to a wedding at our church. It was a lovely wedding!

The reception was held in the ballroom of a very nice hotel - The Grand Bohemian. When we arrived, we were greeted by servers with platters of crab cakes and tiny egg rolls along with trays of champagne flutes. There was a grassy lawn right outside the space and located on the lawn was a full bar. 

I have no idea who that man is -- I took the picture (above) because those chandeliers were all over the room. They were gorgeous. The band was amazing but loud. The band members were all wearing sparkly clothes - both guys and girls - and I thought it was such a cool look.

Here is the sweet bride and her groom. You can't see it in this picture but the cake had piano keys on it. We are friends of the bride's family and don't know the groom. I need to find out if he plays the piano.

The flowers at the reception were also very lovely. There are three arches at the back of the stage and there were flower arrangements on all of the tables - some big arrangements; some smaller. We sat with a table of friends from church and had fun.

I worked on Sunday morning while Mark went to worship. I was able to sneak away long enough to hear our friend, Debbie, teach Sunday School. She did an amazing job. We ate lunch with family and I came home and meal prepped for my lunches and for Tuesday night Young Adults.

It is amazing to me that life continues on even when sad things are happening. There is joy in every day - sometimes we have to look for it.

Sunday Stealing

 I'm joining up with the gang over at Sunday Stealing.

1. When you tell a story, do you often exaggerate? Once upon a time . . .yes, I exaggerate, doesn’t everyone?

 

2. If a friend were almost always late, would you resent it or simply allow for it? We have a family member that is always late. For years, we allowed it and some resented it. Now, except for very special occasions, we just go ahead with whatever we said we were doing at whatever time.

 

3. Can you be counted on to be on time? Yes, Mark and I are usually early to events.

 

4. When did you last yell at someone?  Why? I’m sure I probably yelled at someone yesterday. I don’t think I’ve yelled at anyone so far today (Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m.). We are loud talkers at our house so sometimes it sounds like yelling when it isn’t.

 

5. If you could have free, unlimited service for five years from an extremely good cook, chauffeur, housekeeper, masseuse, or personal secretary, which would you choose? I just answered this question on Wednesday from the Hodgepodge questions. I have a great housekeeper. I have a great massage therapist. I get car sick so I don’t want to ride in the back of a chauffeured car. I don’t need a personal secretary. I like to cook but I guess I would choose cook because I wouldn’t have to think about “what’s for dinner tonight”?

 

6. Would you be willing to go to a slaughterhouse and kill a cow?  Do you eat meat? I do eat meat. I like meat. I don’t really like to think about who gave their life for my meat. If I were starving I MIGHT be able to kill the animal. We actually have steak and hamburger in our freezer from a friend’s farm and in the past, have purchased ½ or ¼ of a cow (not in a long time).

 

7. Do you feel ill at ease going alone to either dinner or a movie?  What about going on a vacation by yourself? I’ve been to a movie and I’ve been in a restaurant by myself. I was comfortable going to the movie because I’m not going to be talking to anyone during the movie anyway. I usually take a book to read (or these days, a book on my phone) if I’m eating in a restaurant alone. I’ve traveled for work or for a conference by myself before but that isn’t a vacation. I’ve often thought it might be nice to rent a small condo on the beach and go by myself but I’m not sure it would be fun. I think I might get lonely.

 

8. Would you like to be famous?  In what way? I want to be remembered as someone who cared for others, who loved well, and who laughed a lot. I’m not sure I’m living up to either of the first two aspirations. I think that is as “famous” as I would like to be. I’ve always said I would love to be remembered as a philanthropist but I would have to come into some big money to do that.

 

9. Would you rather play a game with someone more or less talented than you?  I like to win!

 

10. Is there something you've dreamed of doing for a long time?  Why haven't you done it? I want to ride in a hot air balloon. We have plans to do that in October 2024. I also want to do a zip line. I need to set that up. I will be 65 in June – maybe that is what I will do for my birthday!

 

11. If you were at a friend's house for Thanksgiving dinner and found a dead cockroach in your salad, what would you do? How close is this friend? If my closest friends, I would probably tell them so everyone could stop eating their salads. I’m afraid I might blurt out, “oh gross” before I could catch myself!!

 

12. Would you accept $10,000 to shave your head and continue your normal activities sans hat or wig without explaining the reason for your haircut? It depends on how much I needed the money. Without explaining would be the hardest part for me.

 

13. If you were able to wake up tomorrow in the body of someone else, would you do so?  Whom would you pick? I would like to keep my body but could I wake up tomorrow without any aches and pains and be at my goal weight with all of the flabbiness removed??

 

14. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?

 

15. What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about? Maybe not at the moment, but usually after the fact, I can joke about most anything. I might not be able to joke about something humiliating like a bathroom accident. I probably wouldn’t be able to joke about a tragic death. I have found that humor is a good healer for me.

I have this weird problem. My mouth sometimes smiles at inappropriate times. Does anyone else do that? I have to be careful in serious situations.

House update

July 9, 2021 seems like a long time ago. As I've been thinking back, I've realized that I was in shock right at first. I remember being told to pack a bag and get what we would need. I remember being told that it would be a minimum of 10 months. I remember all of those who surrounded us with love and care. I remember the actual lightning and the thunder that followed. We've been out of our home for over 10 months but we are moving closer to completion every day. 

The new hardwoods are in downstairs. They have to be sanded and stained and I think that is on the schedule June 5 - June 8.

They are coming along on our bathroom. This project is the big project that we added. Our bathroom was THE ONLY ROOM in the house that didn't have some damage. We had it gutted and are redoing it. I love that white tile to the ceiling and I love that penny tile on the floor.

We have a cute little niche tiled with

penny tile.

The quartz below is for the upstairs bathroom

counters.

Both the en suite bathroom upstairs and the Jack and Jill bathroom

will have the floor tile below and the big wall tile. The quartz

counters will look great with the new tiles.

Above is en suite bathroom and

Jack and Jill is below. We had the giant

tub ripped out of our bathroom

because we have two more tubs

upstairs.

This morning, the schedule shows final cleaning on June 24. That date has moved many times from May 29 to June 7 to June 9 to June 24 and back to June 13. I'm hoping we can be back in before the one year anniversary.

Weekend in Review

I started this post on Sunday night and didn't finish but I'm going to go ahead and post even though it is time for a new weekend!

 

Last Thursday night, we met friends from Sunday school at the Front Porch restaurant. We had just found out that they were moving Mark's brother home on hospice the next day so we might not have been the best companions.

On Friday morning, Mark helped his twin brother clean out the room where the hospital bed was to be delivered and then he went to the hospital and stayed all day. I bought groceries and then went into work for a few hours.

We decided to go on out of town on Saturday morning on our planned get-a-way. We were only an hour and a half from home and knew we could come home at anytime.

Saturday morning, we drove through the Silk Stocking district in Talladega and looked at some of the old restored homes.

We arrived at our friend's farm and immediately headed to the porch.

When everyone arrived, we took the jeep and the CAT into town to eat lunch at a small diner. They served the slaw in pretty coffee cups.

Or they served it in crystal bowls!

Here we are - all 8 of us. There are normally 10 of us but one couple had to back out.

The girls took the CAT up to the base of the fire tower. I didn't climb it this year but I did a few years ago -- you can check it out here. There is a little one room screen porch with an outside porch and we sat there for a long time and solved the world's problems.

We headed back down and hung out on the porch together.

They have a herd of Highland cattle and they are the coolest looking cows.

The cows thought we were bringing treats and were very disappointed that we forgot to grab the treats before we headed out to their pasture.

The guys had switched vehicles for the ride into the woods. You might notice there are only 3 guys, not four. One was asleep in the hammock!

They fished. We talked. We swang. We rocked.

On Sunday morning, Guy set up an omelette bar and cooked breakfast for all of us.

We headed home around 11:00 so that we could get back to check on Bill and the rest of the family. Since we moved him into his mother's house on Friday, lots of folks have been coming to visit him. I was sitting in the living room on Sunday afternoon, surrounded by family, and it was one of those strange juxtapositions. We were laughing one minute and sad the next. We continue to covet your prayers during this difficult time.

Don't pick your nose in public HodgePodge

I'm joining up with the Hodgepodge gang this morning. Joyce writes the questions. We answer. Want to join us? We would love to hear your answers?

1. What surprises you the most about people? A lot surprises me these days! It surprises me when I see someone berating a sales person or waitstaff in a restaurant. It surprises me when someone extends grace or extra kindness to me. I’m often surprised by people’s political leanings – especially the ones who think their opinion matters more than anyone else’s opinion.

2. Would you rather have a chauffeur, nanny, gardener, maid, personal shopper or cook? Tell us why that one? Could I have everyone but a nanny and a chauffeur, please? Actually, I have a maid and I love having a maid and I love our maid. When we both worked full time, she came every week. I’ve even had her come to clean the apartment some because I don’t want to lose her. She teaches school by day (has her Master's degree) and cleans a couple of homes after school. She cleaned full time for a while so she could work her hours around her son andhis activities. I think she only cleans for me and one other person now in addition to her day job. I guess I have a “gardener” because Mark does the yard work. I probably don’t really want a chauffeur because I get car sick if I have to ride in the back. I would love a cook who would make 3 meals a day plus snacks – all WW (Weight Watchers) friendly. I sometimes have a personal shopper – I often use Shipt and I really love Carly. She is my favorite. I also have a friend who works at Talbots and she has helped me find several things!!

3. May 18th is National Notebook Day. No idea what that means but let's run with it anyway. What's something you currently keep in a notebook? Have you seen the movie The Notebook? On a scale of 1-5 how does it rate? (5=a favorite, can watch and re-watch and re-watch again) I love a good notebook. I have been using notebooks to take notes for my classes. I use a steno notebook for my everyday “to do” lists and I order those in a six pack so when I run out, I just grab another. Mark has been keeping a construction running total in another notebook. I think I saw The Notebook or at least read the book. I can’t rate it because I can’t remember for sure.

4. Do you like mushrooms? Last dish you made or ate that had mushrooms on the ingredient list? Your favorite dish that calls for mushrooms? I like mushrooms - sort of. They aren’t my favorite vegetable but I like them enough. I like fresh ones in a spinach salad. I like them sauteed with onions on top of a hamburger patty. I have a stuff mushroom recipe that I like. I used to make them often. I also remember battering and frying mushrooms and serving them with a horseradish based sauce. I did like those. I remember frying them in a "fry baby." Did anyone else have one of those back in the early 80's? One time we were eating in some restaurant and I ordered a pasta with a mushroom sauce . . .and I looked at Mark and said, “it tastes too mushroomy.” Duh!

5. What would you say is the most annoying thing people do in public? Pick their nose is my first answer – yuck!! The next one would be that I hate to see men “adjust themselves.” I have no idea if that is how I should say that or not (blushing). I am also not very big on PDA so I don’t really like to see folks all over each other in public either.

6. Insert your own random thought here. The days are getting so long here in Alabama. I love having daylight until almost 8:00 p.m.

Bless her heart Sunday Stealing

 I’m joining up with Bev at Sunday Stealing. She stole the questions from Kwizgiver for today. We answer and then link back up here. I’m answering and posting on Saturday because we are going to spend the day with friends and I might not have time later.

1. What is in the back seat of your car right now? Right now, there is very little in my back seat. There is a package of hangers for my closet and maybe a couple of pieces of paper and that is it. 

2. When was the last time you threw up? I don’t like to throw up. I don’t like to be around anyone when they are throwing up. I don’t like to talk about throwing up. The end.

3. What's your favorite word or phrase? I’m sure I have several – Bless her (or his) heart; It is what it is; Alrighty. I’m sure there are others that I say, too . . .like Sh*t :-). 

4. Name 3 people who made you smile today? I’m typing this on Saturday morning (early) and I’ve not encountered anyone yet BUT we are headed for 24 hours with some of our friends and I’m sure I will smile a lot.

5. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? Like I said, I’m writing this early on Saturday morning so it isn’t even 8:00 yet where I live. Shortly after 8:00 a.m., we will be on the road to meet our friends.

6. What were you doing 30 minutes ago? I was drying my hair!

7. What would constitute the perfect evening for you? These perfect questions always stump me. There are so many things that could go into a perfect evening. Sometimes having a good meal at home with my hubby and watching Ted Lasso constitutes a perfect evening. Sometimes spending time with good friends eating and having a beverage makes the perfect evening. Sometimes being at Camp Sumatanga for an overnight retreat is the perfect evening. Most perfect evenings would include other people that I enjoy being around and quite often food and beverages and perfect weather.

8. Have you ever been to a strip club? I think that WAY BACK WHEN . . .A LONG TIME AGO . . .I did go to a strip club. I have a vague fuzzy memory of one. I have a very clear memory of going to a bar in Pensacola when I was around 20 or 21 (18 was legal back then). We went with some folks we had met at the beach and it was a drag show. They weren’t stripping but were dressed in beautiful clothes with amazing make-up and they were wonderful entertainers. I was with my long time friends – Kaye, Faye, and Karen.

9. What is the last thing you said aloud? I thought you were at the store! I thought Mark had gone to the store to get a lemon but he had only gone to take the trash out.

10. What is the best ice cream flavor? I don’t eat ice cream anymore BUT I do love some homemade vanilla ice cream. Our family (Mark’s family) makes the kind where you cook the custard on the stove and chill overnight and then freeze in the ice cream freezer. It is so good. From the grocery store, I love a good Butter Pecan or a really good Strawberry. I also like Mayfield Moosetracks. Yum!

11. What was the last thing you had to drink? I’m drinking a Diet Pepsi as I type. 

12. What are you wearing right now? I’m wearing Birkenstocks that I bought in Germany last summer along with a skort from Bass Pro Shop and a summer shirt from Ann Taylor Loft Outlet. I bought the skort and shirt to take on the trip where I ended up buying the Birkenstocks!

13. What was the last thing you ate? For breakfast I ate two slices of Lewis Keto bread with a squirt or two of mustard with 2 ounces of Hillshire Farms thinly sliced ham and one slice of Kraft 2% sliced cheese. I know that sounds like a weird breakfast but I’m not a conventional breakfasts person.

14. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? I bought a new full slip. Yes, I still like to wear slips.

15. When was the last time you ran? We went out to dinner on Thursday night and as we were leaving the restaurant, it started to rain. We “trotted” to the car but I think we did quite well!! We both walk or ride the stationary bike every day but I’m not sure either of our knees would hold up for actual running for exercise.

 

I'm NOT the Queen of the Hodgepodge

 I'm joining up with Joyce at From This Side of the Pond, along with our other friends, for Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. Did you watch the coronation of King Charles III? Share some of your thoughts about that, or about the royal family in general. The TV was on while the coronation was happening. I would glance at it every once in a while. I’m not into royalty that much. My husband thinks all the hoopla is crazy!

2. What are you the uncrowned queen of? For a while I was the Grand Poobah of Shelby. Shelby is our database at work. I think Grand Poobah outranks Queen :-). I’m not sure I’m the queen of anything these days.

3. In a box of chocolates which one do you usually go for? I’m going to choose the one with nuts or the dark chocolate with coconut (except I don’t eat those anymore).

4. Something learned at your mother's knee? Just thinking about my mother’s knee makes me think of Saturday nights, Lawrence Welk, prickly legs, and pink sponge hair curlers. Every Saturday night during Lawrence Welk, my mother rolled my hair and I sat between her prickly legs. My mom died when I was a Sophomore in high school so I have a hard time remembering things I learned from her. She fought her battle with cancer with grace. She taught us to go to church. She taught us to hold our heads high.

5. 'Like mother, like daughter'...in what way is this saying true for you? When I was younger, I evidently looked just like her. I was about 25 years old when my dad died. One of my uncles came up to me and said, “has anyone ever told you that you look just like your momma?” One of my other uncles would always whisper in my ear, “you look just like your momma.” Since she died right after her 50^th birthday, I have no idea what she would have looked like at 64 so I don’t know if I still look like her or not.

6. Insert your own random thought here. Please pray for my brother-in-law Bill and his wife, Rebecca. Bill is 66 years old and has had Parkinson’s for 20+ years. He has been sick since Christmas and has been in and out of the hospital and rehab over the last few weeks. We finally received a diagnosis this week and it is not what we wanted to hear.

This is my favorite picture
of Bill - triumphant!

George, Mark, Bill - quite a few years ago
probably at least 20 years ago

Christmas morning 2022

Here we all are on Christmas
morning - Mark is kneeling by their
momma. Doesn't she look amazing
for 97 1/2 years old? Second row left
to right - me (Lisa); sister-in-law Susie,
sister-in-law Rebecca (Bill's wife)
Back row left to right
Sister-in-law Alice who is married to George, who
is Mark's identical twin brother,
Bob married to Susie (Mark's sister)
and Bill

Weekend in Review

On Thursday after work, I picked out the countertop for our main bathroom. Isn't it lovely?

Friday, we headed south to meet friends for lunch at Sweet Creek. We then went back to their farmhouse and went for a ride through the woods.

After lunch, we headed to our daughter's home. She and I took sweet girl to her dress rehearsal and then picked up Chinese food on our way back to their house.

Satuday morning found us walking all over their neighborhood. We picked up another sweet child along the way.

It had been really cool on Friday, but Saturday morning was hot. Their neighborhood was having a yard sale so we saw lots of folks out and about.

The recital started at 2:00 and the doors opened around 1:30. We stood in line in the blazing sunshine along with a bunch of parents and grandparents and happily entered the gorgeous AIR CONDITIONED theater.

PRDA is the Pike Road Dance Academy. I think it is clever how they have played on the fashion name. Our girl is second from the right. She is just like her mommy -- the tallest one in the group.

Their dance routine was to "A Bushel and a Peck" and they were hugging themselves (above).

Her other grandparents brought a present (we had sunflowers) and she was excited.

She also loves looking at herself in the mirror and I love this photo (above) that I snapped.

Here we are with the little princess.

We hurried back to Birmingham to attend our neighborhood supper club gathering. Throughout the year, we've met in smaller groups in different homes. This was the grand finale where everyone came together. We have a "townhall" in the neighborhood and that is where we held the dinner. We had BBQ from Creekside, a new BBQ restaurant, and it was yummy!

I ran by the house on Sunday afternoon and there is a coat of primer on the walls! Oh my goodness! They are supposed to start laying hardwoods this week. The most recent finish date on the app is toward the end of June. Our apartment lease is up at the end of July so we really need to be in before then!!