SUNDAY STEALING - Part dos

 Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Impetua is the blogger who delivered us this mother lode of meme questions. They were originally stolen from someone named Mel, whose blog no longer exists. We took 50+ questions and made it 20 questions over two weeks. (Boy, are they ever random!)

Memememe -- Part 2

11. You can build a dream house anywhere in the world. Where would it be located? This is a great question. I have two answers and can't decide which one -- I love our gulf coast and I would love a dream house on the water . . .but I don't like hurricanes haha! Mark and I both fell in love with Ireland when we were there in 2021. We would like to build a dream house in Glenbeigh in County Kerry, Ireland.

12. Have you ever taken a photo in a photo booth? Yes! When I was a teenager, we always took photos in photo booths where we crammed ourselves behind the curtain and four tiny photos came out of the dispenser. Today's photo booths are much more fun. This was at our nephew's wedding back in May.

13. What's your favorite kind of mustard (dijon, spicy brown, bright yellow)? My favorite is the very hot mustard from the Chinese restaurant -- on an eggroll!! I'm not talking about the little packet . . . I'm talking about the one that you have to ask them and it comes in a little plastic cup. It will blow the top of your head off and clean out your sinuses!! Mark and I both like mustard - dijon, yellow, all of the mustards.

14. What did you do on New Year's Eve? You are kidding, right? hahaha! This is the end of September. I'm having a hard time remembering what I did last week. I just looked back on my blog and we evidently had a few people over on New Year's Eve. As I scrolled through posts . . .oh my goodness, I had forgotten all that happened between June of 2024 and March of 2025. Wow.

15. Did your parents ever share memories of their high school days? I don't remember them sharing about high school. My daddy dropped out and then got his GED. He was so smart. He could do all of our math and algebra in his head. My mom was Valedictorian of her class. She was living at a boarding school . . .which is a very long story in and of itself.

16. What's the most famous thing to happen in your home town? The first thing that popped into my head was the fact that some movies have been made here. We have some famous people who call Alabama home. The most famous thing is a very sad thing -- the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing back in 1963. 

17. Did you ever have a MySpace page? I can't remember if I had a MySpace page . . .but I did have some page where I could write journal-ish types of entries.

18. Will you eat a cookie today? I ate two Alyssa's Oatmeal cookies for breakfast -- no sugar!! You can buy them at Publix and they are so good.

19. Who is the last person you spoke to – not texted with – on the phone? Does FaceTime count? Actually, I just talked to Mark when he came in from the garage. I did FaceTime with our daughter an hour or so ago.

20. Do you play poker? I don't play poker, but I can play poker. We have played over the years. Actually, our son learned to do math problems while playing poker. He then went to school and taught his friends. His teacher sent a message home . . ."did you know that Glenn is teaching the other boys to play poker?" oops!

Falling Into the Hodgepodge

 

Thank you to Joyce at From This Side of the Pond for our weekly questions. You can copy and paste into your own blog and answer and connect . . . or you can answer in the comments section.

1. Fall officially rolls into the Northern Hemisphere on Monday (9/22)...what's your favorite thing about fall? 

I can't pick ONE favorite thing. I love fall decorations and Halloween and Thanksgiving! I love walking through crunchy leaves. 🍁 I enjoy SEC football 🏈!!

2. What's one thing on your real or proverbial autumn bucket list? 

I don't have a fall bucket list. (After thinking about this over night, my fall bucket list is simply - make it through all of my classes, have fun on our cruise, spend time with family and friends, buy some pumpkins for our front porch, get out the Halloween decorations, enjoy Thanksgiving!)

3. Apples, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, butternut squash and cranberries are some of the top fall foods. Which one is your favorite and how do you like it prepared? Any on the list you don't eat? Which one have you had most recently? 

I like all of those foods! We make a butternut squash casserole that is delicious and we actually call it "pumpkin casserole," even though it is butternut squash!

4. 'Fall is proof that change is beautiful' is a popular sentiment. Would you agree or no? Elaborate. 

Change can be beautiful. Life is full of changes. One of the things I had to write about for school this week is "pivot points" in my professional life. Maybe I'll share that with y'all on another day. Pivot points bring change and sometimes it is beautiful.

5. Is there a spot near you where people go to see the leaves change color? Will you try to leaf peep somewhere this fall? Lonely Planet lists the following ten places as the best for leaf peeping...of those listed which would you most like to visit? 

Stowe, Vermont~Shenandoah National Park, Virginia~Columbia River Gorge, Oregon~Zion National Park, Utah~Tennessee/North Carolina border~West Virgina~Northwestern Wyoming~Wisconsin Northwoods~Northern Nevada~Ozark Highlands Scenic Byway, Arkansas

Please book a trip for me to see ALL of those places while the leaves are gorgeous. I love to see trees with leaves of red and gold and orange!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

We have to write so much in the classes I’m taking right now. In one class, there’s something due almost every single night. But one of my professors, Dr. G., is just incredible. She actually takes the time to send me emails full of encouragement—like the kind that literally bring me to tears.

Next week I have to travel for work, and of course we have a mid-term in her class. I emailed her to explain and asked if I could get just a small extension. Not only did she say yes—she gave me four extra days and even asked if that would be enough! And then she added more words of encouragement in that same email.

I was telling my boss (he’s our Senior Pastor) about it yesterday, because I’ve just been so humbled by the way Dr. G.  has shown me grace. He reminded me that in my role at the church, I have the chance to extend that same kind of grace to others. He encouraged me to hold on to how this made me feel—because when we offer grace, others feel it just as deeply.

Last Weekend of Summer of '25 Review

 This was a weekend pack full!

On Thursday night, we met our "out-to-eat" supper club at Seasons 52. Our group was very small this time, but the conversation was good. My shrimp skewer over a salad was yummy. We met early and didn't "dawdle" (good southern word), because we had to drive 30 more minutes to the 4th Grade Homecoming football game where our oldest granddaughter would be cheering.

There is not a photo of this, but as those sweet little football players ran through the sign, one of the boys fell down. There was a collective sigh from stands. Bless his heart!

At half-time the dads walked on the field with their daughters, who served as the Homecoming court. I love that young man so much!! Just FYI - he has a broken ankle and will see an ortho doc tomorrrrow. While on the field with our girl, you could not tell he was in pain.

What is it about a son and a granddaughter - seeing this picture makes my heart swell!

Gran and Pops were able to grab a photo with the cheerleader of the hour!

Chelsea Hornets won the game - yay!

Friday morning, I hit the ground running. I had a practice quiz and then a mid-term. I just barely made an A on the mid-term . . .technically, according to the university's grading system, I made an A-. I'll take it.

I also ordered groceries and washed our sheets and completed the other assignments due over the weekend.

And then I packed an overnight bag . . .

because I was headed to Camp Sumatanga for our 5th Annual Women's Retreat. I've been on the team every year, but this year . . . there was no way to be on the team along with working full-time and taking a full load of classes. I went as a participant.

As always, the weekend opened with a silly skit. The team was playing mah jong and fighting over the rules.

Laura Russell is our Pastor of Children and Families (and Women, technically). She is a person who I became really close friends with on our trip to Israel in 2020 . . .right before the world shut down. She actually heard the call to ministry while in Israel and began seminary during covid. We've been roommates every year on this retreat (except the first year - because we wore masks and stayed in individual rooms that year!). 

This is Laura #2 giving the opening talk of the weekend. She and I were a tight team back when we first became staff members at Trinity. We worked together for years and she is one of my favorite people. The theme for the weekend was Encounters and each speaker shared their life story and their encounters with God.

On Saturday night, we had an experiential time of prayer. There were prayer stations set up all around Hutto Auditorium and the overhead lights were off. You could go to any prayer station at any time, but the goal was to pray at all of the stations. There was a giant fabric labyrinth in the middle for us to walk.

Another station was at the foot of the cross - you were given a mirror and a marker and you were to write a lie you believe about yourself on the mirror. You then turned that lie over to God and wiped the mirror clean.

I don't think I've every shown a photo of one of the rooms. We stay in the Retreat Center of the camp and I always say, "It is sort of like a Motel 6." haha!

The weekend was amazing and Laura and I stayed up late talking. I spent some time in the room working on homework, which was ok!

The retreat concluded with one last talk on Sunday morning and communion. Pastor Amy (Pastor of Discipleship) asked if I would help serve communion, which was so meaningful to me. We finished up by 10:00 a.m., packed up, and headed home. We grabbed this photo on Sunday morning.

I got home right before Mark walked through the door from church and Sunday School. I fixed a light lunch and we took a nap . . . because we had tickets to a matinee at the Homewood Theater. This was one of their "after dark" plays, which means the use of language and talk of things not usually mentioned in the plays performed at the theater. It was the story of five bridesmaids wearing tacky dresses. 

After the show, we headed home and I ironed a couple of dresses for work and together, we made the one pot spaghetti for Tuesday night. We finally sat down and watched a couple of shows.

Whew - the end! I have to go back to work to rest haha!

I love reading about everyone's weekend. Hope you had a good one!!

Memememe - Part 1

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

Impetua is a blogger who stole this meme from someone named Mel, whose blog no longer exists. There were originally 58 questions, but for Sunday Stealing we're going with 20 over two weeks.

Memememe -- Part 1

1. The phone rings. Who do you want it to be? Either one of our kids or grandkids . . .or someone telling me I've won a million dollars!

2. When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your cart? Of course, I do! People who don't return their carts annoy me (unless they have a VERY good reason!). Also, in Alabama, we refer to these things you call a "cart" . . .as a "buggy." 

3. In a social setting, are you more of a talker or a listener? I can be either. Sometimes the situation calls for someone to listen and I try to do that. Sometimes the situation calls for a talker who engages other people in conversation, and I can do that, too!

4. Do you take compliments well? I do not, but I'm trying to do better at this.

5. Do you play Sudoku or Wordle? I play neither.

6. Did you ever go to camp as a kid? I was actually at camp this weekend as a "big kid" haha! Seriously, I just got home from a weekend at Camp Sumatanga. I'll write more about it in my weekend recap.

I did go to camp once as a kid in elementary school and I was so incredibly homesick. I still get homesick today :-). I also went to camp a couple of times in high school for long weekends.

7. Could you date someone with different religious beliefs than you? Are you asking me, as a Christian, if I would date a Muslim or a Jewish person or someone who practices Buddhism (just examples)? My faith in God is a very important part of my life so I might have a hard time dating someone (I've been married a million years, so don't plan on dating anytime soon) from a totally different faith background. A friend of ours just married someone of the Baháʼí faith and they plan to visit back and forth between our UMC and her place of worship. 

Even though Mark and I are both life-long Christians who both attend a United Methodist Church, we have differing opinions on a few things and that is hard enough.

8. Would you rather pursue or be pursued? Pursued actually sounds a little scary in today's world. Since I'm happily married, if we are talking about relationships, I don't think I'll go with either of those answers.

9. Have you ever fired a gun? I have. Mark owns guns because his family has always hunted and had a hobby farm. I've shot at targets and I've shot skeet before.

I was taking photos, so this isn't me . . .but I had a turn.

10. Would you rather dine at Olive Garden or Panera? I don't even remember the last time I ate at Olive Garden, but I enjoy eating at Panera a few times a year. 

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

Party at the Hodgepodge!!

 

I'm joining up with Joyce and the gang!

1.  Are you more life of the party or more party pooper? If your answer is somewhere in the middle which side of the middle do you lean towards more? I can be a party pooper, but more often lean toward the life of the party. I am married to someone who can definitely be the life of the party. Mark can out talk just about anyone, and most of the time he is pretty funny. I can be a good conversationalist. We were at the neighborhood supper club on Sunday night and I was super tired. One of the men said, "you sure are quiet tonight." I think that is the first time anyone has ever said that to me haha! Mark and I both love to laugh. If I'm in a situation where I don't know others very well, I can become introverted. I am either an introverted extrovert or an extroverted introvert. I'm not sure which one.

Birthday party, beach party, cocktail party, dinner party, charity fundraiser, surprise party, costume party, garden party, Christmas party, reunion...what's your favorite kind of party? 

I love a good dinner party -- anytime of the year! Table fellowship is so special. Guess what? I was tagged on FaceBook by someone from my hometown. My 50 year high school reunion will be in 2026. How in the heck can I be that old? I think I will enjoy that party. We haven't had a reunion just for our graduating class since our 15 year reunion! A few years ago, there was a combo reunion and it was a lot of fun.

2. Cheese, wine, and balsamic vinegar all improve with age. What would you personally add to the list? 

Some furniture improves with age - if it becomes an antique! I think my personality has improved with age!! I think some bourbons improve with age. I don't drink bourbon, but Mark does . . . I should ask him.

3. How do you feel about your birthday? How do you want to be celebrated? Or don't you? 

I like birthdays and would enjoy being celebrated. My mom was only 50 when she died so I look at every day past 50 as a true gift!! My family is not that great at celebrating me. Mark did really well this year -- he invited two other couples and made a reservation at a nice restaurant and took us all to dinner. We had a great time.

4. What remarkable feat, interesting piece of trivia, or historical event occurred on your birth day and month? Not necessarily your same birth year, just the same date/month. 

Flags are put out on my birthday and when I was a child, I thought they put those flags out for me!! According to AI, my birthday is also National Feta Day, National Bourbon Day, and National Strawberry Shortcake Day - I've never heard of any of those days!!

5. Share two good things about your life right now. 

We are headed on a great trip in a few weeks! We are loved by family and friends and we have family and friends to love!!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

My random thought involves more questions. Today is the midpoint of the week. Are you still recovering from the weekend and the first part of the week or are you already looking forward to the weekend? Or are you just living today and enjoying every moment? I think I'm living one day at a time -- some times I'm living a moment at a time. I'm always happy to be alive and I admit that Mark and I feel very blessed. I'm trying not to be stressed about all of my homework and upcoming exams.

Also, thank you to everyone who has commented recently! I'm trying to get around and comment on all of your blogs, too. It is such a good feeling to get comments!!

Also, have any of you mastered selfies? I keep trying. I forgot to take off my readers, but at least they are cute!!

Weekend in Review

 Happy Monday! What did I do this weekend?

On Thursday night I worked Lil' Lambs until 5:30. This is our massive consignment sale at church. Then I came home to a clean house (cleaning lady came!!) and I studied and worked on a big project for my Professional Perspectives class until almost midnight. I submitted my assignment which was due at 11:59. On Friday morning, the assignment wasn't in the portal so I resubmitted and emailed my professor. She said she would not deduct points for it being late. I have NEVER turned in any assignment late and she knows that. Also, why would a 67 year old lie about something like that? I'm glad my professor is so nice.

Friday morning found me at Costco. I mentioned the Costco trip in my Sunday Stealing post. I ordered groceries from Target and my preferred shopper, Brandon, delivered them. Mark came home from the farm and I made smash burgers for dinner. I also did lots of homework, changed the sheets, etc.

Saturday morning I went to my WW meeting and after the meeting, headed home to study and write more. I did text with a classmate and she is having the exact same struggles I am having. It is a LOT of reading and writing, but we are hanging in there. Mark and I got a few fall decorations out of the attic. I also meal prepped my lunches. I went with cold and easy this week.

I also made two Tollhouse pies for Sunday night.

I knew we had to do something fun this weekend so I made dinner reservations at a new to us restaurant, Farrelly's. That is pronounced like "Farley's." The food was good. The server was nice. Mark ordered a chicken breast stuffed with pimento cheese and it was a very small breast. I ordered the marinated shrimp from the appetizer menu as my main course. The sides were shareable and we ordered roasted broccolini and spinach. I don't even like spinach and I liked their spinach. I think it was cooked in duck fat!

Sunday was our busiest day of the weekend. I was up and on the go from 5:00 a.m. on. I worked and taught Sunday School and helped host the New Member lunch.

 Mark and I went to a funeral straight from lunch. It was a very moving service in Reid Chapel at Samford University...which happens to be where I am in school. Also, my daddy helped build Reid Chapel. Construction of the chapel began the year I was born. Back to the reason we were on campus. The father of one of our Tuesday night young adults died at age 57. He had evidently had life-long health problems BUT his death was not expected. It was one of the most moving celebration of life services I have ever attended. The Samford Gospel Choir sang and oh my goodness . . .they were amazing. Another young woman sang It is Well and she had an amazing voice plus the congregation joined in on two verses. I didn't know the man who died, but I cried through that song. It was so moving.

After the funeral, I went back to work for a meeting. Then I rushed home so we could head to the neighborhood supper club. The hostess served brisket that her son-in-law had smoked, It was very tender and tasty. Someone made a Veg-all casserole. The texture was different from our recipe, but it was tasty. Someone else made green beans and carrots. We had a lovely salad and a baked potato. It looks huge on the plate. The hostess has more blue and white china and jars and platters than I have ever seen.

She set up an extra table alongside her dining table in order to accomodate everyone. The hostess is at the far end of the table. 

Here is everyone at the second table.

We were the first ones to leave because by 9:00 p.m. I was wiped out - totally wiped out. We came home and watched one episode of Breaking Bad. While we were watching, a close friend texted to see if we were still up and if so, could she call. I knew that something must be wrong. Another friend, who we had just seen in Sunday School, was hit by a car yesterday. She was alert and in the ER and they were getting ready to move her to the main large hospital where she will have surgery on her leg today.  She was just getting over shoulder replacement surgery and I understand she fell on that shoulder. I hope and pray it is ok. If you get a chance, please say a prayer for our friend today. 

Sunday on Wednesday Stealing or Wednesday on Sunday Stealing!

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week, all eyes turn to Mary, who long ago played Wednesday Medley, which she credited to Terri D (Your Friend from Florida), who originally came up with the questions.

First of all, how exciting to have questions from our friend, Terri D, (Your Friend from Florida)!!

A Wednesday meme on a Sunday 

1. Name five songs that you have completely memorized. 

Let's see . . ."Jesus Loves Me"! I know most all of the verses of "Amazing Grace." I can't say I've completely memorized this song, but I know the majority of "Sweet Home Alabama"! I know "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" :-)! I'll close it out by saying that I have completely memorized "Happy Birthday to You"! I have memorized other hymns from a lifetime of singing them, but thought I would shake it up with my silly songs, too!

2. What takes up too much of your time? 

Scrolling the internet would probably be the biggest waste of my time.

3. What TV show or movie do you refuse to watch?

Hmmm . . .we tried to watch something the other night and we turned it off before the end of the episode. The acting was horrible and the plot line was non-existent. I can't remember the name of the tv show!

4. What's worth spending more on to get the best?

Spending more money on tennis shoes (walking shoes, sneakers, whatever you call them) is worth it to me. I need good arch support and a wide toe box (even though my feet aren't really wide). 

5. Share something you did last week.

On Friday, I went to Costco! Mark bought an Orvis shirt on Wednesday and he loved it and wanted more, but he left for the farm early Thursday morning. Since he wasn't home, on Friday I got up early and went to Costco right after they opened. I bought gas first! Then I headed into the store. I don't remember the last time I was in Costco! I bought a puffy vest for me and two shirts and a crossover purse!! I bought two more Orvis shirts for Mark, plus a Kirkland Signature dress shirt. I also bought some Christmas ribbon and some canned chicken and some individual packets of prepared grilled chicken strips and two bunches of flowers. I know that y'all probably don't care about my trip to Costco, but I worked four VERY LONG days this week and I've had a TON of homework that I've stayed up late writing every night and an outing to Costco was quite therapeutic. 

I did work a shift and shop at our consignment sale at our church on Thursday afternoon. Our church has been doing this sale twice a year for a long time. They had the most inventory ever this year - over 27,000 items. Our daughter has a child in her class who needs shoes desperately so I purchased a pair to wear now and a pair a size larger.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week

Hodgepodge

I'm joining up with Joyce and the gang for the weekly hodgepodge. Joyce writes the questions and we answer! Come join us!

1. What gives you energy? 

Diet Pepsi, Time with family and friends, a few days away at the lake or beach, traveling to far away places

What takes it away? 

I will start this answer with a question of my own. What sucks the joy right out of my life (instead of what takes my energy away?)? Dealing with people who have a sense of entitlement . . . which there seems to be a lot of these days!! Let me say that I'm sure I act that way at times without even realizing it. 

Also, drama -- drama sucks the life out of me.

Also, when I cross the line from busy to overwhelmed  . . . 

2. How often do you shop for clothes? 

I shop when I need clothes. I shop sometimes when I see something advertised that I like!! I shop for traveling clothes before a trip. I do the majority of my shopping online.

What accessory do you always wear? 

I always wear my Apple Watch . . .and I desperately need a new one. 90% of the time I wear my wedding and engagement rings. 60% of the time I wear earrings. 15% of the time I wear bracelets. 5% of the time I wear a pearl necklace or my diamond necklace. (I totally made up those percentages but it gives you an idea of how little jewelry I wear!

3. What's something free that you feel grateful for? 

I almost said "grace," but then I heard the words in my heart and head, "grace is actually very costly." I am very grateful for God's grace.

4. Breakfast, lunch, dinner...which meal of the day do you enjoy most? What's your go-to comfort food? 

I like them all! Actually, I don't eat a lot of traditional foods for breakfast so I guess that meal would be in last place. I do like to eat something in the mornings - just not eggs (very often). I guess dinner is my favorite - when I have time to cook, or when someone else cooks, or when we go out to eat. I do love table fellowship at whatever time of day!

Saltine crackers - especially the mini ones - are my go-to comfort food.

5. This week the world remembers the tragic events of 9/11. Do you mark the day in any way? How do historical events shape your perspective on your personal challenges? 

I don't mark the day in anyway. I do remember that day very well. I think that day instilled random fears in many of us and days like 9/11 sometimes make people think in terms of "us" and "them" which is not a good thing.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I'm feeling a tad overwhelmed this week. Our September and October are very busy. Very busy. 

Weekend in Review

Hey there, friends! I hope you had a great weekend! We actually had a slow weekend around here. Mark went to the farm on Thursday and Friday. He has finished his bedroom, the kitchen, and is now working on the bathroom. I am so impressed with all he has taught himself to do. He will be the first to tell you that it isn't perfect, but I think it is pretty amazing. I need to go with him after the bathroom is finished to check out his handiwork!!

While Mark was at the farm, I worked all day on Thursday and then I went to Walgreen's for my flu shot and covid booster. The Pharmacist asked me if I wanted both shots in the same arm and I said that I did . . .which is what I always do. My arm is often sore and I don't have time for two sore arms. Shots didn't hurt (or jabs - I've been calling them that because we watch BBC news!) and I went on about my business. By Friday afternoon, I had a huge red welt - I'm talking 4 inches long and about 3 inches wide. It is much smaller now, but it is still there. I am hoping that means I have lots of immunity! 

Thursday night and all day Friday found me studying. The page below is from the textbook below that which is the textbook for my Professional Perspectives class. The girl in the photo works for the clinic that our daughter-in-law started. How cool is that? Our daughter-in-law's company was listed in my class textbook! Our daughter is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and several years ago, she opened her first clinic. It did really well and had a client waiting list so she opened a second clinic about 40 minutes away. Both clinics grew and she sold them about a month ago! She is taking a much needed rest for a few weeks. She sits on several boards so she is still busy, plus she is getting some extra time with Glenn and our oldest granddaughter.

I did drive through the car wash this weekend. My car was filthy! I even vacuumed it!

See how pretty she looks!!

Our friends who live in the Nashville area texted us on Thursday. They were headed to see their grandkids in Georgia and said they would be driving back through Birmingham on Saturday morning. They asked if we could get together! We were such good friends and hung out together often. We went to the beach together several times. They are fun friends. After they arrived on Saturday, we were so busy talking that I never took a single picture. The restaurant below is in our neighborhood and we walked to lunch. Our time with them was so refreshing. We haven't been together in several years and it felt like we had been together every day. We picked up right where we left off.

At some point during the weekend I know I went to Aldi. I bought the cutest little pumpkin gravy boat. It looks like a miniature teapot! I'm ready to get our fall decorations out of the attic!! I bought a couple of other things, too.

Our team - Auburn Tigers - played on Saturday night and we won. We've won two games in a row! We've had so many bad seasons lately that this is exciting.

This is not from our personal weekend -- we don't have chickens, but our son does! Our son, daughter, and I have a group text that Laura named "Mom's Offspring." Glenn texted this photo to the two of us and said he was bored so he made a Chicknick table. You might have to read that one out loud to understand. He stained it after he took this photo. I think this is so funny!!!

Those of you who have read my blog before know where I head on Sunday mornings. Below is our church. I was at work by 7:00 (actually, it was about 7:10 oops!). I didn't take this photo but Sunday's weather was as beautiful as this. I facilitated our adult Sunday School class and we talked about moments of connection we've made and when we've missed those moments. Our scripture was the washing of Peter's feet (by Jesus) and how Peter almost missed the moment.

I got up at 4:30 on Sunday morning so when I got home from work, we ate leftovers for lunch. I had put 10 pounds of chicken breasts in two crockpots (at 4:30) and after we ate, I shredded all of the chicken and made two giant casseroles of Crack Chicken using Plain Chicken's recipe. While I was mixing up the casseroles, Mark browned some 96/4 ground beef for me and I put it in the crockpot (one of the ones I had just emptied) along with tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, onion, and corn for Ground Beef Vegetable Soup. I will take it in my lunch this week.

Guess what we did then? WE TOOK A NAP. Yes, we did. After our nap, Mark cut the grass and I rode the stationary bike and ironed my clothes for the week and typed this blog post and started reading the chapters for my two classes. 

I love reading what everyone else did over the weekend! Please share! What did you do?

 

Sunday Stealing

 

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

It's fall, kids are back in school, and we're asking you to grade yourself. This was originally posted in 2017 by Kwizgiver, who stole it from Cat.

From A to F

Give yourself a letter grade (A, A-, B, B-, C, C-, D, D-, F)  on the following. Just the letter grade is requested, but you're free to elaborate.

• Happiness - A -- I am a glass half-full person and our life is good.

• Being a decent human being - A- . . . I try really hard to be a decent human being, but I fail quite often.

• Being serene (calm, peaceful) - B or maybe a B- . . .I try to be calm, but sometimes I'm not. I jiggle my leg and twiddle my thumbs

• Kindness - B+ . . .once again, I try really hard. Kindness is so important.

• Anger management -- C- . . .actually, I manage it much better these days than when I was young!

• Creative thinking - C- . . .I haven't been very creative lately and so I haven't been thinking creatively

• Modesty - A -- I'm a fairly modest person.

• Being an original - A- . . .I am who I am.

• Knowing yourself - A- . . .I'm fairly self-aware

• Being true to yourself - I . . .that is an incomplete for my grade. I'm not sure about this one.

• Getting along with others - B -- I think I get along fairly well with others!

• Liking yourself - B- . . .Some days I like myself and some days I don't

• Admitting your flaws - B -- usually my flaws are the kind that are out there for everyone to see!

• Self improvement - A- . . .I'm working on myself. I'm eating smaller portions, drinking less caffeine, and exercising for 30 minutes every day.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

Grand Hodgepodge

1. Next Sunday is Grandparent's Day. Share a favorite memory, photo, recipe, or something you learned from a grandparent. 

My paternal grandparents lived in the same town where I grew up and I remember going to their home for dinner with extended family. After dinner, everyone would adjourn to the front porch which was screened in. I was the youngest grandchild (next oldest was 8 years older), so I had to stay on the porch with the adults. I remember the creak of the chain of the swing, the song of the cicadas, and the whisper of adults trying to talk where my little ears couldn't hear. I remember holidays at their house, too. The counters and tables would be covered in food items - chicken and dressing (made together in one pan), celery stuffed with pimento cheese, deviled eggs.

My mother's mother lived a "Sunday drive" away. In reality, it wasn't that far but there was no interstate to her home at that time. An aside - our home today is only a few miles from where that grandmother lived. Granny George lived in a run-down shack in the woods without indoor plumbing. She was the cutest little thing. She was very poor and I remember seeing my daddy slip some money into her pocket. We were NOT wealthy so that money in her pocket was probably a sacrifice that my daddy chose to make. When we went to my fraternal grandparents home, food was plentiful. When we went to Granny George's home, her snack of choice was saltine crackers. I still love saltine crackers!!

This is Granny George. I don't
have many photos of my dad's parents.
I defintely don't have any on my computer.

2. What's a quote from a book (besides The Bible) that has stayed with you? 

Denver Moore in Same Kind of Different as Me: “I found out everybody’s different – the same kind of different as me. We’re all just regular folks walkin down the road God done set in front of us. The truth about it is, whether we is rich or poor or something in between, this earth ain’t no final restin place. So in a way, we is all homeless – just workin our way toward home.”

I didn't read this book, but I've always loved this quote by Hunter Thompson: “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”

3. What's your number one food pet peeve? 

I hate to hear other people chew!!! Does that count as a food pet peeve? 

4. What's one thing about you that is still the same as it was when you were young? 

My smile is still the same!

5. September is National Preparedness Month...does your family have an emergency plan? Do you have some sort of preparedness kit you keep on hand? If so, tell us one thing that's kept there. 

We do not have a preparedness kit, but we do have a box of important papers. Our son, on the night our home burned, said, "Mom! Where is the box? You need to get the box." We got the box. 

We live in a place where we have tornadoes often (sometimes even hurricanes even though we are four hours from the coast). During a tornado, we have two spaces to hunker down - our pantry which is under our stairwell and a powder room. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

One of the classes I'm taking this fall is Parenting. Let me just say that according to what I'm learning, I did a horrible job of raising our kids. I swatted them with a wooden spoon (just a couple of times and it was recommended by James Dobson) and I washed both of their mouths out with soap one time. Both of those are considered child abuse today. Our son and our daughter are far better parents to their girls than I was to them. 

 

Weekend in Review

Starting on Thursday night . . .I've done a lot of writing and a lot of studying. I am going to keep telling myself "I can do this"!

On Friday morning, I had a few errands to run. One stop was at Aldi. Their cheese and meat selection for a charcuterie are excellent. Our team, Auburn, played on Friday night rather than Saturday. Our neighbors invited us over to eat and watch.

I made a charcuterie board to take. It was yummy.

She was baking beans in a dish JUST LIKE my mother had. So this "china" was from the Jewel Tea company - Autumn Leaf by Jewel Tea. The Jewel Tea salesman had a route and he was a door-to-door salesman. He sold coffee, tea, household items, and china. My oldest sister had our mother's china. Anyway, seeing baked beans in this dish made my heart happy . . .and sad!

Our friends have a wonderful outdoor space and the weather was pleasant! Auburn won which made it even sweeter!!

I studied more on Saturday. I went to my WW meeting and ran by Walmart. I actually sat in the courtyard in the sunshine for 10 minutes. It was awesome.

Sunday morning's 5:00 a.m. alarm jolted me awake and I hit the ground running. We were having Fifth Sunday Fellowship following our 8:30 traditional service and I needed to get to the church to meet the Hero Doughnut deliver at 7:30 and put the table cloths on the table.

Since it was a holiday weekend, we weren't sure if anyone would come get a doughnut BUT they did! People were laughing and talking and mingling. That is the point! yay!

While I was at work and before Mark left to come to worship, he put a brisket on the smoker. He has perfected it!

On Sunday evening, we had our son and his family, Mark's sister and her husband, and one of their sons and his girlfriend (our first time to meet her), and another friend that we call a bonus son. Mark cooked the brisket and made his mother's homemade custard ice cream. I baked potatoes and made baked beans and Asian slaw. Mark's sister brought a couple of different kinds of cookie bars. It was a fun night. We laughed a lot!

Bob, our brother-in-law, made this table (or could be used as a bench) from old skis that Mark and George used. He used a pair of skis and a slalom ski. The wood is beautiful. He made a base that goes so well with the skis. This piece of furniture will be used at the farm.

I bought some suncatchers for our granddaughter to paint. She did a great job.

On Monday, Mark and I went to Bass Pro Shop. It is such a cool place.

We also went to the outlet mall and hit a couple of stores.

What did you do this weekend?