Sunday Stealing

I’m joining up with Sunday Stealing. This week’s questions were stolen from SwapBot. I’m not answering these questions with complete sentences 😊.

 

1.  What is most important to you. I’m going with family, friends, faith – not necessarily in that order.

2.  Your best trait. Physical or personality trait? I’m a good listener. I have a great smile.

3.  A movie that makes you happy. I recently watched the two Book Club movies and enjoyed them both!

4.  Something that excites you. Travel

5.  Something that worries you. The state of our world

6.  Actions you admire. Kindness is one. I also love when I see a parent and child and you can just tell that the parent is a really good parent. Patience!

7.  What year has been your best so far.  Each year of my 66 years has had some great things and some not so great things!!

8.  Who do you trust? I trust God. I trust my husband. I trust my closest friend. There are others I trust, too, but I don’t trust easily. If you are one of the people I trust, just know that I don't trust easily!!

9.  A Song from Your Childhood. My mom said that Purple People Eater was playing in the delivery room when I was born.

10.  What you wore today. It is a MILLION degrees here in Alabama (I’m writing on Saturday). It is 93 degrees and according to weather.com, it feels like 100 degrees with heat index. All of that to say – I have on flip flops, a white tank top from Lands End, a pair of exercise shorts. I have the air conditioner running almost non-stop. I probably should bump up the temp.

11.  A book you are currently reading. I’m reading The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni for work. I’m reading A Clean Kill on my kindle/phone. I think it was a Prime free first choice book.

12.  What do you want less of? Pounds! I want to weigh less. I have lost a couple of pounds over the last two weeks.

13.  A question that needs to be asked. This may open a can of worms. If you respond, please be kind. Who in the U.S. could do a good job as President and run this country? I’m not happy with any of the candidates.

14.  The best idea you’ve had this week. I have had no ideas this week. That is not exactly true. I think every idea I’ve had in my personal life has been shot down. This wasn’t an idea but a choice – we went to dinner for my birthday on Friday night and we enjoyed the restaurant, the food, our friends, and our beverages.

15.  How are you creative? I enjoy different types of crafts from paper crafts to vinyl and everything in between. Mark is the most creative of the two of us. He creates these amazing stories to tell our granddaughters as they play and pretend. He used to make up stories for our own kids, too.

Hodgepodge!!

It must be Wednesday because it is time for joining up with Joyce for the weekly Hodgepodge!! 

1. June 12 is National Simplicity Day. In what way is your life simple? What's one way that it's not? I did not know we celebrated Simplicity Day! I feel like when I hold/hug one of our granddaughters . . .for just that moment, life is simple. I have a routine of the things I do each day and I keep a running list of "things to do," so I hope that makes my day "more" simple. We live a very busy and full life and I'm not sure I would call that simple. As I'm thinking about this question, I think about last Thursday. The junior high kids painted four houses out in the West End area of Birmingham. We took popsicles to the work sites after lunch on Thursday. For a few moments, we stood in the shade behind one of the houses while the kids ate popsicles, told us about their day, and played silly games. For that brief moment, life felt simple BUT if I take time to think about the homeowner who is in a lower income bracket and is dependent on a group of junior highs from a local church to paint her house . . .that same moment may not seem simple to her, but very hard. Does that make sense? My simple moment might still be a very hard and not simple moment for someone else.

2. Something you remember from a 'simpler time'? When we were kids, we played in our neighborhood all of the time. There were a ton of kids and we played until we were called home for supper. We rode bikes and played kickball. The girls played Barbie and as we got older, talked about boys. The days of summer felt long and lazy and wonderful and simple.

3. Do you like squash? If so what's your favorite variety? What's a favorite way to prepare squash? I love squash. I like yellow crookneck and zucchini. We love butternut squash. I like acorn squash when we can find sweet ones. My favorite way (which I NEVER cook) would be fried squash like my momma made. Now I like it stir-fried with onions or baked into a squash casserole. I also love it when I can buy the little bitty yellow squash. I cook the squash whole in boiling water and then you make a little bowl in the wider part and scoop out the insides into a bowl. I mix Pepperidge Farm Dry Stuffing (in the bag) with an egg, some cheese, and the scooped out insides and refill the hole. Sprinkle a little more cheese on top and bake for about 30 minutes. Yummy!

4. Do you shop the warehouse stores (such as Costco, Sam's B.J's, etc)? If so how often do you go, and what's something you always buy in this type of store? Costco is very convenient for us and we have a membership. We buy disposable pans for Tuesday night (two sizes), generic Zyrtec, Rotisserie Chickens, bagged salad, Protein drinks, Queso, fruit . . .we don't buy all of those things every time but we buy as needed.

5. Father's Day is this coming Sunday. Any plans to make the day special? Tell us something about your own father, or something about your hubs as a father, or about someone who stepped into your life and acted as a father if yours was not a part of your life. I need some ideas, please!! 

My daddy died when Mark and I were dating. I would love to have a long chat with both my dad and mom. Here are some pictures of me and my daddy:

in the swing of our frontyard - I'm about 
3 or 4 years old (I guess)

This was taken in the months before
he died. He has already been diagnosed
with cancer. I was so thin back then :-)

When I was in the 6th grade, my daddy was involved
in a train accident. He was an Engineer for the railroad
and they thought they were about to hit a gasoline
tanker truck and the crew jumped out of the window.
He broke both of his legs. We borrowed that
wheelchair which was an antique because it
worked for both legs to stick out straight!
His hospital bed was set up in our kitchen.

Mark was a great dad to our kids and he is an even better Pops to our granddaughters. They LOVE Pops!

This was at the beach a few years ago.
Both girls have grown so much!!

Here is is holding the newest granddaughter

I am thinking this might have been taken when
the kids were in high school or even college

That is Mark in the background and Laura is
behind him and Glenn is showing off
his fish!

6. Insert your own random thought here. I saw this and borrowed it from the internet.

Photo Dump!!

I just did a photo dump right into the blog - there is so much to talk about and for me to remember! Of course, as I moved photos from one file into the blog, they became out of order. Why does it do that?? If you don't want to read about the mundane day to day life, please feel free to skip out! 

Our two youngest granddaughters went to the beach with their parents and their other grandparents. They had lots of fun! Big Sis is loving on Lil Sis.

Here is a picture of Granddaughter #2 and Granddaughter #3
at the same age. They are sisters and those genetics
are strong!

We had not seen this baby girl in a month and
it is amazing how much she has
grown and how bright eyed she
is!!

One of my summer goals was to go
to the pool more often.
Granddaughter #1 and her mommy have
been over two times and we've been
to the pool!!

Last week, we headed south on I65 to help our daughter and son-in-law with the girls. They needed to be somewhere early Friday morning, so we drove down on Thursday afternoon and stayed until after lunch on Friday. You probably can't read the facebook article but . . .

About the time we left our daughter's house, a wreck happened on I65 North. We always check Waze before leaving because I65 is notorious for accidents - especially during beach season. Waze told us it would take 1 hour and 37 minutes to get home. Perfect! A little slower than a no traffic day (20 extra minutes) but no big deal. Traffic was moving until it wasn't. There was a HORRIBLE wreck with at least one fatality and both sides of I65 were shut down. All 10,000 cars (made up number) had to exit the interstate and drive on two lane Highway 31. It took us two hours and 20 minutes and when we got back on the interstate, we were still on the Montgomery side of Clanton. Clanton is 50 minutes or so from our house. On a good day, the drive to their house is about an hour and 20 minutes. It took us over 3 hours to get home on Friday afternoon. The deal is that we got home safely. Those families lives have been changed forever. I cannot even imagine.

It never ceases to amaze me how people drive in these situations and how rude they can be.

These photos are so out of order. Our son-in-law and granddaughter #2 planted a garden. Everything is growing nicely. Look at those carrot tops! They have green tomatoes and lots of other things growing.

I know y'all saw the picture below on Hodgepodge day. Mark was entertaining the little one.

We both fed her and burped her and changed her and held her as much as possible! I love how she would hold onto my thumb when I was feeding her.

Pop George (Mark's identical twin brother - Granddaughter #1 named him because he looks just like Pops so instead of Uncle George, he is Pop George) sent golf clubs with us to their house because our son-in-law likes to play. Pop George had a set of clubs just her size and there were also golf gloves! She was trying on the golfing gloves . . .she wanted to know if she could garden in them, also!

Mark played with granddaughter #2 a LOT while I held the baby. When I wasn't holding her, I tried to jump in and play, too.

She is growing so fast!!

We had a meeting a week or so ago at work. I used to make a Big Wheel Sandwich. You can read about it here. I CANNOT find the bread needed. I ordered one-time from their website but shipping was expensive. I improvised and used the rolls instead of the round. I was watching the Birmingham Southern College baseball game while I was making them and burned the bottoms!! I cut the bottom off and took them on to work and we ate them anyway. Does anyone know where I can buy some round loaves of Hawaiian bread? Other round loaves don't work. The Hawaiian round loaves are perfect.

Back on May 30, 31, and June 1, I attended the North Alabama Annual Conference of the UMC. It was such a great three days. Our Bishop spoke at a breakfast for women pastors and women leaders in the church and it was so good. At various times she would say, "You can't make these things up!" We all responded, "No, You Can't!" She told stories about her time in ministry.

This is my boss (and senior Pastor) below. He spoke a lot throughout the conference. Friday of Annual Conference is "wear seersucker" day so, he does have on a seersucker suit.

For those of you not from Alabama, Birmingham Southern College closed on the last day of May. So many people on our church staff and in our church attended Birmingham Southern. They were playing baseball during annual conference and I may have snapped this photo! Looked at what is propped on the hymnals!! Phones with no sound turned on . . .BSC baseball! They went on to play on Sunday afternoon, but lost. They were the college baseball team playing without a college.

We ate several meals together at the conference and Tre Luna did a lot (if not all) of the catering. I attended a Laity session on Friday morning for breakfast and the COSROW (Commission on Status and Role of Women) breakfast on Saturday morning. Both began at 7:00 so the days were long.

On Thursday, May 30 (yes, first day of the conference) as soon as the workshop I was attending was over, I ran to the car and raced home (27 minutes) because it was opening night of Sylvia at the Homewood Theater. The play was about a dog and his owners and the dog's name was Sylvia . . .and Sylvia had a dirty mouth!! The girl who played Sylvia was the perfect actress for the part. On opening night, they always have the "world famous opening night reception" immediately following the play and the snacks usually go along with the play. They had dog bone cookies with Sylvia's name on them. 

A LOT of our church friends are like us and have season tickets for opening night. It is a small theater and it is so fun to be there with our people. There are six of us that are really close and we usually go out to dinner together. We eat at SoHo Taco next door to the theater and we can get a margarita to go to take with us to the theater. One couple was out of town this time but the other four of us went to dinner and then the play. We sent the selfie to couple #3 and told them we missed them.

During Annual Conference, I attended two Learn and Lead sessions - one on radical hospitality and one on getting volunteers (not volunteers, but family members- church family members) to help us in ministry. Both sessions were good.

It was really fun because the conference was held in the church where our son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter #1 attend. I was able to sit in the space where they worship and where small groups are held, etc.

What has been going on in your world lately?

June 10 on the 10th

 I'm joining up with Marsha in the Middle for her 10 on the 10th questions!

1. I would MUCH rather stay in a five star resort. The hotel where we stay in Jerusalem is a five star hotel and it is so nice. The David Citadel is so nice!!

2. I would rather watch a movie in the theater (which we rarely do). I know that wasn't one of the options but it is my answer :-)

3. I had to google Chub Rub and then I was like "oh!" I try to wear only comfortable shoes and no one in their right mind wants Chub Rub. I'm opting out of either!!

4. Wow! I think it would be cool to meet my great great grandparent!

5. I always vote for cold and shivering.

6. I actually love cold pizza!

7. It is annoying when the internet is down because so much of my work is done via the internet/emails/even some social media. I could just log onto social media and leave it open all day while I'm doing something else, so I vote for that one.

8. I'm going to vote for 2050 because who knows what they will be wearing!

9.  I don't eat sweets at all and both of those sound disgusting!

10. I'm not a good swimmer so to swim like Aquaman would be really cool . . .though it would be cool to fly, too!

Sunday Sunday! Sunday Stealing! (on Saturday!)

Thanks to Bev for the questions! I'm joining up with Sunday Stealing!!

1.  Are you afraid of the dark? I’m not usually afraid of the dark around my house, etc. If I were out in the wood by myself after dark . . .then I might be or if I found myself in a place that didn’t seem to feel safe, I might be afraid of the dark.

2.  Can you curl your tongue? I cannot but most of my family can!

3.  Can you wiggle your ears? I cannot and I don’t know anyone who can!

4.  Did you ever participate in a talent show? I don’t think I’ve ever been in a talent show. We used to pretend when we were kids and we played Miss America and we had a talent portion! That is such a silly memory! We used a picnic bench as the runway and the picnic table was the stage!

5.  Do you have any piercings or tattoos? My ears are pierced. I actually have two holes in each ear, but the upper set has grown closed. I keep thinking I’ll get those re-pierced. I don’t have any tattoos but I keep thinking about getting a small one.

6.  Do you prefer Mac or PC? I have always had a PC. I’ve heard that Mac is wonderful and I do love my phone and watch so I would probably love the Mac, too.

7.  Do you still have your wisdom teeth? I do not. I had them taken out when I was around 20. They actually put me in the hospital for at least one night – maybe two! I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of anyone else being in the hospital for wisdom teeth!

8.  Do you watch cartoons? I used to watch cartoons. I love Pink Panther and Wile E. Coyote. I liked the Tasmanian Devil, too.

9.  Have you ever been hospitalized? See answer to #7 above! I was also in the hospital when I had a C-section for our twins and I had a hysterectomy at 42. My surgery in 2022 was outpatient and back in 2014, I tore my hamstring and they just x-rayed me and checked me out and sent me home.

10. Have you had braces? I did not have braces. Mark had braces (before I knew him). Glenn had braces. Laura had braces beginning in 3^rd grade. She wore them a long time and then they put them back on and then she had major jaw surgery on her 18^th birthday.

11. Were you ever a Girl or Boy Scout? (Or a brownie) I was not. Mark was a Boy Scout just long enough to go on the Northern Tier trip. I assume he was a Cub Scout and then was a Boy Scout through age 14 or so. Laura was a Brownie for a couple of years and Glenn was a Cub Scout for a couple of years.

12. What is one food you refuse to eat? I don’t particularly like Salmon or Oysters.

13. What's the most expensive item of clothing that you own? I don’t really know – maybe my Easter dress from last year or my mother of the bride dress for Laura’s wedding.

14. What's your favorite foreign food? The versions I eat are Americanized so not sure that counts! I love Mexican food. I like Italian food, but Mark doesn’t. He loves very spicy food and he likes Thai food. He likes curries, too. Is that Indian food or still Thai? We both like Middle Eastern and Greek food. We enjoy Chinese food. Birmingham is a foodie city so we can get most any cuisine we want.

15. Who's your favorite fictional character? I love Grandma Mazur in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. I love Fortune Redding, Ida Belle, and Gertie in the Swamp series by Jana DeLeon. All of those characters I mentioned make me laugh out loud!

Hodgepodge PLUS Magazine Article

 

1. It's National Cheese Day (June 4)...does anyone not like cheese? What's your favorite? Last thing you ate or made with cheese? I love cheese! I like everything from Kraft Deluxe slices to Aldi’s Goat Cheese rolled in blueberries. I’m not as fond of stinky cheese. I can eat a little blue cheese crumbled on a salad. There is a salad at a local restaurant that has Gorgonzola crumbled on it and it is really good  . . . even though it is a blue. I ate cheese toast for breakfast on Sunday morning! I served Hash Brown Casserole to the young professionals on Tuesday night and it has lots of cheese. My son-in-law and his mother are allergic to cheese. It is hard to cook without adding cheese. So many of my recipes include cheese. Our family really LOVES cheese straws and I'm so glad I learned to make them!!

2. Last time you were instructed to 'say cheese!'? How do you feel about having your picture taken? We took a lot of photos on this day. I don’t remember if she told us to say cheese or not. We made the cover (which is a little embarrassing)! It is not my favorite photo . . . and she used some creative license in the article. There were several very important people who showed up the night of the fire and the next morning and none of that made it into the article. Back to the photos, Mark’s family says I always take great photos – I don’t know about that. Mark really dislikes having his photo taken.

3. What's your travel packing strategy? Are you typically a light packer or do you throw in everything but the kitchen sink? When flying do you check a bag or aim for carry on only? I try to take an outfit per day re-using bottoms for at least two days (skorts, pants, jeans, shorts). I like to take an extra outfit if it will fit. I always like to take extra underwear! For the last trip, I used packing cubes and I really think they worked well!! I usually check a bag and take a small carry-on. These are the ones I ordered and use.

4. What is it about people's cell phone habits that you find most annoying? I worry when I see people driving and reading on their phones – not looking briefly at the map but READING text messages, etc. I also hate it when I’m trying to talk to someone and they can’t look at me because they are too busy looking down at their phone. I also think it is very rude for someone to be in a check-out line and talk on their phone instead of acknowledging the cashier.

5. What will be your summer mantra/slogan? Go to the pool more often! Actually, what has been in my head since last weekend is “Love those that God loves.”

6. Insert your own random thought here. If you are interested, Here is the link to the Hoover Magazine. Our article begins on page 47.

 

https://issuu.com/shelbycountyreporter/docs/summer2024_hooversmagazine_web#google_vignette

15 Years Old!

Today is a birthday of sorts. I wrote my first blog post on June 4, 2009. Musings of a Middle Aged Mom (by Lisa) is 15 years old today! Since that day, both of our kids have graduated from Auburn and gone on to earn their Master's degree. Mark and I have gained a daughter-in-law and granddaughter #1. We've gained a son-in-law and granddaughters #2 and #3. Back on June 4, 2009, I had been working at the church for five years. I've now been working here for 20 years! I even have a different job and a different boss . . .actually, almost the entire staff is different than it was back in 2009. What else is different? We've made even more friends. We live in a different house. Our home burned, we had to live in an apartment for a year, and we had to rebuild our home. We started hosting a small group of young professionals in March of 2010 - those in their 20's or early 30's who are not married and out of college. We are still hosting them 15 years later!! Of course, many of those who came to our home in the early days are now married with children! Of course, none of the original group is with us. They have aged out long ago or moved on to new jobs in other cities and states. On June 4, 2009, I was 50 years old and now I'm 65. On many days, I still feel 50! Back in 2009, I loved going to Auburn to visit our kids BUT I never dreamed I would be taking college classes in 2024. My mother-in-law was still healthy and doing all the things - from church activities to vacation to attending Mother/Daughter brunch with me at Laura's sorority.

There are a lot of things in our life that have changed since 2009. Some have stayed the same. We are still married (40 years). We still attend the same church and love it. We still eat lunch at Mark's mom's house on Sundays after church. We are still in the same monthly supper club though two couples left and one couple joined since then.

What about you? When did you begin your blog? What was your life like in 2009 vs. today?

Happy birthday to Musings of a Middle Aged Mom! (am I still middle aged at 65???)

It Is An Artsy Sunday Stealing Today!

I'm joining up with the folks at Sunday Stealing. I would love to hear your answers!!

1. If you like art, who is your favorite artist and why? I’ve always liked  Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night and I like Impressionist paintings, especially those by Monet. I most love the artists in our family. We have artwork in our home painted by our niece, our sister-in-law, Mark’s sister, our daughter, and our granddaughters.

art by our niece

2. If you were able to learn any three skills or talents instantly and with success, what would they be? I would love to be able to sing beautifully and play the piano or guitar and speak at least one other language fluently.

3. If you were to live in Ancient Times, where - in what country - would you want to live in? I don’t think I would be that great at surviving in ancient times. Everywhere I think about . . .I pause and realize that it would be much harder. I love Ireland but there was the famine, among other things. I love Israel, but they have almost always been at war and fighting over land. I love the USA, but we had our own wars, among many other things, so I don't want to go back in time.

4. What is something you’re embarrassed to admit to liking? Whether it be a guilty pleasure show, or unusual hobby, etc. I can’t think of an answer for this one! I'm SURE I have some answers, but not at this moment.

5. What is the worst job you’ve ever had? I was telling someone about a boss on Friday at lunch. I worked for a very large world-wide company for 11 years when I was in my late teens and 20’s. I worked there until our twins were born in my late 20’s. One of my bosses was unbelievable. He would have these fits of anger and it often felt like someone had been through the office with a blow torch when he finished. I think I’ve told this story somewhere on my blog. He ripped brand new drapes off the wall of a brand new building. There were gaping holes in the wall because he ripped out the hardware, too. That day is seared on my brain forever. Thank God I wasn’t the person who picked those out and installed them! I worked for him for at least five years. He was having an affair with someone who was younger than I was.

6. What is something that you wanted to do as a child that you would still like to do now? I wanted to be an archeologist and that would have been a cool profession. Archeology would still be fun, but lots of hard work.

7. What do you hate being judged for more than anything else? I need to lose a few pounds and I hate feeling like someone is judging me because of my weight.

8. What is your life’s mission? Love God. Love people. All people.

9. If everyone walked around wearing warning labels, what would yours say? My labels might say “Danger-she can be volatile” or . . .”Beware of laughter.” I love to laugh!

10. At what age did you first feel like you were an adult? I have answered similar questions over the last few weeks. You can check it out here.

11. When did you not speak up, but wish you had? I cannot even begin to count the times. I used to speak up too often and now I don’t often speak up when I probably should.

12. What is something that makes your skin crawl? I guess the answer would be spiders and snakes. I don’t particularly like either. There are actually a few people in this world who make my skin crawl.

13. What was the last thing to give you butterflies in your stomach? My online community college classes are totally online. When I sit down at my computer to take my final, mid-term, or any of the quizzes a clock starts ticking down time the moment I click the begin button. Right before I click that button EVERY SINGLE TIME, I have butterflies in my stomach. I also get butterflies in my stomach right before I speak in front of a group, even though I've been doing that for many years.

14. What's your favorite type of media to work with? (Paint, clay, pens etc.) I may love paper the most. I enjoy using my Silhouette machine to cut paper and vinyl.

15. What question do you hate answering? Where did you go to college and what was your major? For all of these years, I’ve had to say something similar to this, “I took classes at Jeff State and UAB but I didn’t graduate.” The goal by May of 2025 is to be able to say that I earned my AA in General Studies at 66 years old (birthday coming soon) from Jefferson Sate Community College. I have to decide whether I’m going to pursue a BA at another college and I guess I have to make that decision by this time next year. I wish I could continue taking online classes at this school to get my BA, but of course, that isn’t an option.