Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Come On In - It's A Hodgepodge

 



1.       'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.' How does this saying ring true in your own family, either the one you grew up in or the one you made? 
Let’s see . . .Glenn looks like me and acts JUST like Mark. It is uncanny how much alike they are! Laura looks like Mark and acts more like me.
 
2.       Something you're nuts about these days? How about something that's driving you nuts? 
I’m answering the questions on Sunday night . . .I was nuts about the temperature today in Alabama. It was in the 70’s! If the humidity could have been lower, it would have been perfect. The addition of a little sunshine would have been nice, too.
Bad drivers ALWAYS drive me nuts. Seriously!
 
3.       What does abundance mean to you? 
Enough! Abundance means that I have enough to be comfortable . . .plus a tiny extra. One of the meanings in the dictionary (online, of course!) is: Plentifulness of the good things of life – yes! Another meaning is overflowing.
 
4.       Caramel apple-caramel cake-caramel corn-caramel sundae-caramel macchiatto...what's your caramel treat of choice? 
I wish I enjoyed hot beverages!! Let’s see . . .lately my treat has been Halo Top ice cream (fake, but good) and I enjoy the salted caramel flavor. My mother made a cake with “burnt sugar icing” – Before you correct my “burnt” to “burned,” please know that I looked it up. She pronounced it as “burnt” and that spelling is ok! In hindsight, she was making a caramel icing! It was so good. Mark’s mother made a great caramel cake, too.
 
5.       What's a childhood memory that always comes to mind as the leaves start to fall? 
We lived within walking distance of the football stadium when I was a kid. I can still smell the popcorn and hear the band. Those memories come to mind as fall arrives.
 
6.       Insert your own random thought here. I’ve mentioned that I teach our Sunday School class. This morning (remember I’m typing on Sunday night) I taught a lesson on hospitality based on Hebrews 13:2 -- ‘Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.’
I talked about showing radical hospitality to those who come through the doors of our church. Would you please tell me one thing your church does to make sure that all who enter your church feel welcome?


Monday, October 6, 2025

A Review of All The Things

My alarm rang at 3:00 a.m. last Wednesday morning because I had to be at the airport for a 6:00 a.m. flight to Kansas City. Several co-workers and I were headed to the Leadership Institute at Church of the Resurrection. Upon arrival, we stopped at a BBQ restaurant for lunch. We then headed to the church and met together for a couple of hours and pounded out some plans for Christmas Eve. Our hotel was basically in the church parking lot, so after our meeting we headed to check in and rest a few minutes. We then walked to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. I ordered a bowl and it was gorgeous and tasty.


The person sitting beside me ordered the "taco flight." Isn't that cool??


We ate quickly and walked back to the church for the opening session of worship.


Adam Hamilton spoke at the opening session.


On Thursday, we attended multiple sessions. Andy Stanley was one of the key note speakers and he did an amazing job. I've heard him speak several times over the years and he always speaks to my heart.


I didn't take a photo, but Dan Heath, a well-known author, also spoke and his session was excellent, too.
I also went to a break out session on radical hospitality. I think this chapel is so beautiful. I started thinking about Mark's mom during the session and I started crying. I'm not a crier so it really caught me off guard.


Pastor Laura went down the giant slide in the kid's area.


Here we are - all of us from Trinity UMC.


On Thursday night, we ordered pizza from a local pizza restaurant. We set up shop in the hotel lobby during happy hour and we all hung out chatting and working a puzzle.

The conference wrapped up on Friday at noon. We checked out of our hotel and went to an amazing BBQ restaurant. Kansas City is known for "burnt ends" and they are definitely delicious. We had several hours so we went to see the stadium.


We then went downtown to Messenger Coffee Shop which was cool! One of the employees told us about a unique Indie bookstore so we headed there next.


It was truly one of the most unique shops I've visited. I wanted to bring the library ladder home with me. Please??


Our flight was on-time departing Kansas City, but was delayed leaving Chicago . . .but it all worked out. I got into bed around midnight on Friday night.
Saturday morning . . .I took my mid-term that was due at 11:59 p.m. Friday night. My professor was very gracious and extended my deadline. I made an A.
I did laundry and wrote a Sunday School lesson.

Our daughter came up for a few hours and brought our middle granddaughter, so we met the two of them at our son's house. He LOVES cooking and trying new things. These are deviled eggs . . .but the whites have been deep fried and are crispy. I didn't eat one, but they said they were delicious. My daughter-in-law bought the egg board at Tractor Supply.


There was a "nail salon" on the back deck. All of the ladies plus a couple of the guys were treated to a manicure.


In yesterday's Sunday Stealing, there was a question about our families and the old proverb "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." I mentioned that Glenn is very much like Mark. Here they are -- Mark and Glenn frying fish together. Perfect illustration of that old saying.


The weather was perfect for porch sitting and our son built an amazing deck/porch on the back of their house.


The night ended with dessert. Our daughter's little girl is on the left and our son's little girl is in the middle. The little boy is the son of our son and daughter-in-law's best friends and not only are the parents friends, but those two kids are tight!


On Sunday, I worked and taught Sunday School. We threw a quick lunch together and took a nap! I finished up homework and rode the bike and did more laundry and dressed our skeletons while Mark went to Culture Fest at our West Campus, where he volunteers a couple of days a week. He said it was the best one yet. I was sad to miss it, but I was done for the weekend.


We ended the weekend with an episode of Breaking Bad, an episode of Eli Stone, and an episode of Six Feet Under . . .while I ironed.

What did y'all do this weekend?













Sunday, October 5, 2025

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!

We're stealing this meme about last month from Life of a Fool. This blogger maintains this meme has "been seen everywhere." The questions only require a yes or no, but if you'd like to elaborate, we'd like to hear what you have to say.

In the Past Month Meme

During September, did you ...

1.         Drink alcohol? I did not! I’ve been counting macros and haven’t wanted to waste any on alcohol. I was out of town for work this week and I did have about 2 ounces of pinot grigio at the Element Hotel happy hour (2 nights).

2.        Try a new recipe? I don’t think I tried anything new.

3.   Go shopping with friends? Nope. To be honest, I rarely shop except online. While out of town, we went to a cool indie bookstore, but that was October 3.

4.     Eat an entire box of cookies by yourself? Have you heard of Alyssa’s cookies? They are all natural and have no added sugar. There are eight cookies in a little plastic box and I’m the only one who eats them . . .so technically I did eat a box of cookies by myself!!

5.     Dye your hair? Yes . . . I have my roots covered about every 5 weeks.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week. 

Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Hodgepodge

 


I normally write a weekend in review . . .but that didn't happen this week! Here we are and it is Wednesday already which means HODGEPODGE. Thanks to Joyce for the questions! I love this group of bloggers!!


1. What's your favorite fall scent? Would we find this in or around your home right now? 

I have horrible allergies so I rarely have anything scented in our house. I can use peppermint oil. I need to find a candle made with true peppermint oil!! For the season, I can tolerate one - yes, I said ONE candle. I think it is apple pie - smells like cinammon.

2. October is Country Music Month...are you a fan of country music? Do you have a favorite country artist? Ever been to Nashville? In terms of lifestyle are you more country mouse or city mouse? 

Country music is not our favorite. We prefer more current music or rock and roll :-). Our kids and friends all love country music, so we do hear it sometimes. We both hate the real twangy sounding songs. Does Kenny Chesney count as country? I do like No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem! I am a suburban mouse haha!

3. How about 'country cooking'? (loosely defined as rich flavors, familiar foods, large portions, often fried, and often associated with the southern region of the US of A)? 

Yes, I am a southern cook which does involve some 'country cooking.' Mark doesn't want his vegetables to be crisp. He wants them to be well cooked and seasoned. He also grew up on homemade cakes -- don't offer him a boxed cake or a bought cake haha! I LOVE gravy. I think it should be served at every meal. Do I make it? No! That is one southern thing that Mark doesn't like -- gravy, but both our kids love it like I do. 

chicken and dumplings-fried chicken-shrimp and grits-biscuits and gravy-mac and cheese-fried green tomatoes-cornbread-collard or turnip greens-deviled eggs-'barbecue'-gumbo-banana pudding 

Which of the foods listed is your favorite? Any on the list you haven't tried or would say a firm no thank you to if offered? 

I make great shrimp and grits. I can make good mac and cheese. I rarely fry anything, but I do love fried okra and fried green tomatoes. I think my cornbread could win a contest - my daddy taught me how to make it. Let me just say -- it is not healthy. I love deviled eggs and since our son has chickens, our 9 year old granddaughter even knows how to make deviled eggs. We love barbecue and gumbo. My family loves banana pudding. I didn't like cooked greens until I became an adult, but love collards cooked well. My granny made some of the best chicken and dumplings you have ever eaten, but I don't make those. My mother-in-law made great fried chicken. Like I said earlier, I just don't fry. I love biscuits and gravy, but I never make them and rarely eat them. After all of those words . . .my favorite is hard to pick -- maybe shrimp and grits??

4. What's something that always has a positive impact on your mood? 

I know I answered this somewhere recently! Words of affirmation or a kind smile almost always improve my mood . . or when one of the granddaughters runs up to give me a hug!

5. As we say so long to September share a noun, a verb, and an adjective that tells us something about how that month looked for you. 

I pulled up Chatgpt and typed in a few of the things from September and asked it to give me a noun, a verb, and an adjective. Here you go:

  • Noun: whirlwind
  • Verb: juggle
  • Adjective: fleeting
  • Chatgpt - thank you! You did a good job.

6.Insert your own random thought here: Since I didn't do a weekend in review . . .let's back up -- Friday morning - I got my roots covered. When the hair stylist finished coloring and cutting, she asked if she could try a fun hairstyle. I said -- sure, why not? She twirled the strands around the straightener. It was fun. I tried to make it do that . . .nope! Won't work for me.

Friday night was supper club at our friend's house. The people in our supper club are our people. I do have a few other friends that I consider my people, too. It is always amazing when I'm with any of "my people" I always feel better! Friday night, I made the appetizer and I was proud of my flowers. They ate a lot of the appetizer (which was good). We watched the sun set. Our host grilled porkchops that were delicious. We sat and talked and talked and talked. 


On Saturday, we made a quick trip to see our daughter and son-in-law's new house. They live about an hour and a half south of us. I took one picture. Those girls have my heart. It was a rare day. We were with our son and daughter-in-law and granddaughter #1 and daughter and son-in-law and granddaughters #2 and #3. It is a rare day when we are all together -- just us. Saturday morning filled my cup.

After our visit, Mark and I headed home where I did homework.

Sunday morning, guess where we were? Church - I was at work and taught Sunday School and went to a Discipleship committee meeting/lunch after church while Mark attended worship and joined me in Sunday School. Then I headed home where we did copious amounts of laundry - there are just two of us!! I don't know how we dirty so many clothes. I did more homework. We went to bed at 10:00 and the alarm went off at 5:02 and we started a new week.

I'll be out of town for work - Wednesday through Friday. I'll try to catch up with comments when I return!


Sunday, September 28, 2025

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!

Wednesday, September 24, 2025

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.


Monday, September 22, 2025

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!!