Sunday Stealing

Linking up with Bev - she finds the questions each week and we answer. She stole these questions from Ned the Duck!

Name Your Favorite…

Place: I can be happy anywhere with our family - those times when both kids and their families are with me and Mark. In reality, I have a lot of favorite places - Orange Beach, Ireland, Israel all come to mind and I hope to have more favorite places in the years to come.
Color: Pink is my first choice but there is also a shade of green that I love. I also love orange and red! I'm not very good at pinpointing just one!
Smell: old books! You know - like in the library when I was growing up! Also, there is nothing so sweet smelling as a freshly bathed baby. The diaper our two year old granddaughter woke up with this morning was NOT my favorite smell!
Magazine: Garden and Gun - we love that magazine. The photography is beautiful and the articles are well written.
Texture: I'm weird about texture in food. The first thing that comes to mind is the silky softness of our granddog, Riley's ears. She is a german shorthair and her ears are the smoothest texture and she loves for us to rub them. She is getting to be an old lady. My son texted this picture to me thi week.

Thing to do when bored: One time I was snowed in at a friend's mother's house. Let me tell you that it is rare to get snowed in anywhere in Alabama but it does happen every 10-20 years. She told me that she didn't think anyone should ever say they are bored because there is always something to do. She taught me to polish silver that day! I love to read and I like to ride my recumbent bike and both of those combat boredom if done together! I can always clean out something or organize something - check out my junk drawer post from yesterday.
Precious stone: I love diamonds. Aren't they a girl's best friend?
Animal: Harvey cat!

Time in history: The one I'm living right now! Does that count? It will be history tomorrow, right
Font: I'm horrible at picking out fonts. I use cambria a lot.
Sound: I love to hear a baby laugh - the kind where you can't help but laugh along!
Fruit: I love almost all fruit! I really love strawberries and blueberries and bananas and a good ripe watermelon! I love Alabama - Chilton County - peaches!
Vegetable: I also love most veggies - but nothing beats an Alabama tomato grown on Sand Mountain. Sometimes I will eat a tomato for breakfast, lunch, and dinner during the summer.
Store/shop: According to my shopping habits over the last 20 months or so, it would have to be Amazon! I love our Super Target. I buy most of my clothes at Talbots and Chico.
Quote: I'll have to give this some thought.
Historical figure: I'll give the Sunday School answer - Jesus.
Letter: Are you asking what letter of the alphabet I like the most? I just read this a few moments ago -- Q because it is oval and has a curly tail hahahaha!
Memory: I can't do just one. I remember the day we married and the day our twins were born and the day our son married and the day our daughter married. All of those days are extra special. Our recent trip to Ireland has given us lots of new wonderful memories.
Dessert: I don't eat sugar anymore but if I did . . .there are a few things I love. One is German Chocolate Cake made by my mother-in-law's recipe. I made it this week for our son and daughter-in-law's birthday.   

Candy: see above - I don't eat sugar anymore but if I did - Reese Christmas trees or Reese Pumpkins -- I love Reese cups and the holiday shapes are the perfect ratio of chocolate to peanut butter.
Restaurant: I love Hot and Hot here in Birmingham. It is definitely in my top 3.
Language: English! Or maybe I should say - my love language is words of affirmation.
Thing to learn about: I love learning about other countries. We have a trip planned for June - Italy, Germany, and Austria. I'm so excited. We are also planning another Israel trip in February of 2023.
Thing about yourself: I love my eyes and I love my smile.

What would be your answer to some or all of these questions?

Where Bloggers Live Junk Drawers

 Today I was visiting Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After and her post was about junk drawers! Do you have junk drawers around your house? I have 3 in the kitchen and after reading several posts by bloggers who were linking up . . .I was inspired to organize the kitchen junk drawers. I stopped at Walmart on my way home from work and picked up some inexpensive drawer organizers and they worked perfectly!

Now I need to straighten the pantry and straighten inside my cabinets . . and clean my closet . . . and clean out the bedroom junk drawer . . .and clean out the attic. Oh my goodness. My mother-in-law used to tell a story about a woman who needed a new light switch cover on the wall - plain and simple. As a result of that one piece of plastic, she had to paint the room and then supposedly ended up redecorating the room. I can sort of see how that would happen. Cleaning out three junk drawers made me want to clean out everything!!!

Here are the before shots of the drawers. Could we cram anything else into these drawers? I think not.

this drawer had markers and pens
and pencils and socks from Ireland -
really? There was a whole lot of
other stuff, too!

drawer #2 had an old checkbook
with two church members' names
written on the back - I guess it was
the only thing handy to write on!
Do you keep a roll of string? It
comes in handy? A rolling pin . . .
actually there was another
rolling pin, too!

Drawer #3 held a magazine and
some recipes and some ribbon and
a few cords and some gift cards
for door prizes and more!

Look at these organized drawers! I'm taking bets on how long they stay like this. Some people seem to cram things in the drawers . . . maybe several someones.

Drawer #1 - pens, pencils, glue, 
scissors, hole punchers (2), rubber
bands, and lots of post it notes
plus index cards. I love to make
notes on notecards!

Drawer #2 contains a plethora of
batteries, masking tape, a
book light, sticky felt circles
for the bottom of chairs, extra
reading glasses.

Drawer #3 - tape, cords, flash drives,
random cords, the little rolling pin,
prayer beads, the big rolling pin,
sticks for shish kebobs, and a
selfie stick!

I threw a few things away. I put the recipes in my recipe binder. I have a tiny stack of stuff to put upstairs with my crafting supplies. I have 3 or 4 things on the counter to see if my daughter-in-law or granddaughter wants to claim them.

Do you have junk drawers? How many in the kitchen? In other rooms? Are all of your spaces organized all of the time?

A Glass Half Full Hodgepodge

 1. How did you name your blog and do you now wish you had thought about it maybe another five minutes before hitting publish? Would you change your blog title if it were not a huge pain in the derriere? I'm going to answer the second half of the question first -- I'm 63 now so I don't know if I'm still middle aged. I'm going to keep pretending that I am and not change the title. On to the question about the name. I wrote the following on Thursday, June 4.

Last Friday while driving home from the farmer's market, I decided to create a blog and even thought of the name at that time. I was thinking about our kids - now 22 years old. . . almost 23 - and was thinking about the different role I will be playing in their lives. My thoughts are sometimes erratic. They pop around in my head like the kernels of popcorn that I love. I imagine that my writing will be the same. To be honest, I doubt that there is anyone who would really and truly care to read this so I think I'm doing it just for myself (and then if someone else likes it, that is just icing on the cake!) So just what are my middle aged mom musings this day. Laura is interning at a very special pre-school here in town and I had been to visit on Friday. Seems like only a few years ago that she was the little girl student and now she is the "teacher." Today her class went to a petting zoo. I was able to locate a picture of Laura and Glenn at the same petting zoo when they were in preschool. She took it to school with her today to show the children. Glenn is away this summer working at a Christian camp. He is a grown man . . .on his own far from home.

Today starts the process - I have no idea if I'll write something every day - maybe prayers or something about vacation or scrapbooking - or if I'll ever write again . . .but today starts the process.

2. What bill do you least like to pay? I actually dislike paying bills. We have one major credit card that we use and pay off each month and I hate paying that. As I'm typing, I thought of another one. I hate paying our neighborhood association dues and they are due at the end of December. I live in a wonderful neighborhood and I actually don't mind paying dues but lately we don't seem to have a say so in anything that happens around here.

3. What is your favorite word? Okay okay, calm down. How about one of your favorite words? I'm going to say three words -- please and thank you - ok that was 4 words counting "and." I definitely have some words I hate!! I'm sure that there are other words I like but they elude me at the moment.

4. Is the glass half full or half empty? Elaborate. Half Full 99% of the time though the last couple of days I've been in a weird place. I still think my glass is overflowing with blessings.

5. Were you here for that very first Hodgepodge post? If so, were your answers then similar to what they are today? Tell us what was happening in your life in November of 2010? I was blogging back then but I don't think I knew anything about bloghops like Hodgepodge. I wish I had!! I just reread my posts from November 2010. Our twins were turning 24 and our soon to be daughter-in-law was turning 25. Our son and soon to be daughter-in-law were engaged and we were gearing up for a January 2011 wedding. Our daughter, Laura, wasn't married yet and she and I made some really cute t-shirts for her to wear in her classroom. We have an amazing Children's Hospital here in town and they have a support group for the parents of kids with cancer. Our Sunday school class cooked meals once a month and delivered the meals to the hospital for those parents to eat. I evidently I was the one who cooked in November 2010. It is hard to believe that has been 11 years ago.

6. Insert your own random thought here. I tried a new recipe last night for a spaghetti casserole in the crockpot. We served it to the young adults with green beans and salad and bread. Here is the recipe -- it was yummy. I used whole wheat pasta and ground turkey sausage along with ground beef.

crockpot liners to the rescue!

yummy!!

Weekend Recap

Our weekend sort of began on Thursday night. Our son-in-law's grandmother died and the funeral was to be held in another town. Mark and I drove down after work on Thursday to keep our granddaughter while they went to the funeral on Friday. We had a lot of fun playing with our sweet girl. She is two through and through.

Pop playing baseball with her.
I chased the balls. I had over
11,000 steps on Friday.
Look at the photo - I caught
the ball in motion!

Sweet baby rolling in the leaves

Pop pulling Miss E in her luxury
wagon - it even has a cup holder!

On Saturday, I went to Art in the Lot which was at our church . . . in the parking lot. I saw lots of friends and lots of cool items. My sister-in-law had a booth and I bought a few things from her and I bought a tiny present for my daughter and daughter-in-law at two other booths. This is such a cool event. I could have spent a lot of money in several booths!

This is my sister-in-law's booth.
She is an amazing artist.
She draws the design and then
carves the stamp and
then inks it one color
at a time.

I love the redbird (cardinal)!!

Saturday night we met friends at one of our neighborhood restaurants for an early dinner. It is so nice to be able to walk to dinner. They came back by the house for a nightcap and a little conversation. I didn't take a single picture but I did drink an awesome margarita!

Sunday morning we headed to church and Sunday School. Sunday was All Saints Sunday and it is one of my favorite worship services of the year. We honor those who have gone before us in the last year (November to November). I have tried to write words about this service and its meaning but I can't find any of the right words. I type and erase. Type again . . .and erase. My friend writes the names of all those who died on ribbons which are tied onto a bar/banner. This banner is brought in during the beginning of the service while a bagpiper leads the procession. The congregation then sings, "For All the Saints." No, we don't worship saints and we don't pray to saints. During the communion (Lord's supper) liturgy, the names are called and a candle is lit for each member who died this past year. This year was particularly hard because we had a couple of close friends who were among those named.  We are a large congregation but we lost 38 members this year which is a lot. We also have a tree of remembrance and place a hand painted ornament on the tree for each member who died. We have different ornaments in a basket for others to write the names of friends or family members who might have died this year.

Our senior pastor took this photo and
I may have borrowed it! The
ribbon banner is in the background.
Our pastor also made the wooden
tiered box for the candles. 

The bagpiper - he played during the
processional and then he played 
Amazing Grace at the end of the service
and led those who wished to go to
our prayer garden.

tree of remembrance

Don's ornament - he is our friend
who died while we were in Ireland.

extra ornaments - butterflies

After church we headed to Sunday School and then to my mother-in-law's house for Sunday lunch. It is amazing to me that we've been able to keep the tradition of Sunday lunch going even when she is unable to cook. We've taken turns providing lunch or we've picked up take-outs or we've ordered fried chicken from the Pig and made some sides. For the last two Sundays, Mark's sister has been in town and she very graciously cooked lunch. Grandmother loves having her family around the dining table on Sundays.

What did you do this weekend? Does your church celebrate All Saints Day? Do you eat Sunday lunch as a family?

Sunday Stealing - Family/Framily edition

 

1. How big is your immediate family? Who are the members? My original immediate family – I have two sisters. I’m the baby. One sister is 8 years older and the other is 13 years older. Our parents have been dead many years. My “now” immediate family is me, hubby, one daughter and one son-in-law with a 2 year old and one son and one daughter-in-law with a 5 year old.

Here we are last November - we are having
family photos taken next Saturday for this
year

2. Who are you closest to in your family? What kind of relationship do you have with that person? Is it like friendship? I’m very close to the sister who is 8 years older. We were still living at home when our mom died and I actually lived with her and her now ex-husband for a while. I’m also close to both of our kids. Our daughter calls almost every day and we chat. Hubby and I are as different as night and day so many of our leisure activities are different BUT as empty nesters, we have become much closer. I think Covid and all of those months of staying at home also made us closer.

3. Which day of the year are you most likely to spend with your family? It is rare for me and my sisters to spend any specific day of the year together. Middle sister lives many hours away and older sister lives about an hour away. We usually spend Thanksgiving with our kids and my husband’s immediate family.

4. As a child, did you go on family trips? What do you remember about those vacations? We went to the beach almost every summer for a week. I think my parents must have scrimped and saved so that we could go. We ate most meals in the little houses we rented. We usually went to Captain Anderson’s or some other seafood restaurant for one meal which was always a treat!

5. Is there a black sheep in your family? What is different about them? I don’t think we have a black sheep.

6. Do you know your extended family? How many of them have you met? I know my first cousins on my mom and dad’s side of the family. Hubby has lots of first cousins and we know them, too. I did 23 and me several years ago and I need to try to meet some of those folks.

7. Have you ever been to a family reunion? How was it? We’ve had family gatherings but not in many years. When I was a child, we went to “the first Sunday of May” decoration day. It was at a tiny church and people brought Sunday lunch to be shared together after the service. I think they called it “dinner on the grounds” and they had a concrete picnic table where they spread out the food. I think the point was to “decorate” the graves of your family members. I don’t remember ever decorating any graves. I remember meeting a few other relatives but since our parents and grandparents are no longer living . . .I have no idea where they live or even their names at this point.

8. Who are you most proud of among your relatives? Who do you look up to? My daddy was pretty amazing and actually so was our mom.  My daddy dropped out of school and I assume he got his GED if they did that back then. He was a carpenter and then an engineer for the L & N Railroad. My mom was placed in “foster care” (before there was foster care so I have no idea who she was living with) and she overcame a lot. I don’t know if the families were nice to her.

9 What characteristics have you inherited from your parents? Do you look like them? Do you behave like they do? I look a lot like our mom. Years ago at a funeral, one of my mother’s step brothers came up to me and said, “oh my goodness – you look just like your mom did.” One of her other step-brothers would always whisper in my ear, “you look just like your mama.” Those words were balm to my soul. My daddy had a temper and I have to constantly fight that tendency. As I get older, I also find myself slipping in a colorful word or two . . .and he “cussed” like a sailor!

10. Does your family have any heirlooms? Will you inherit anything that has been in the family a long time? We don’t have any that I know of! I have a quilt that my grandmother made for me when I was a child. My daddy was a blue collar worker so we were never wealthy.

11. What happens to old people in your family? Do they live with younger family members or move to a retirement home? How would you prefer to spend your old age? My parents never made it to old age so I don’t know how that would have been. My husband’s mother is having a difficult time right now (she is 96) and her children are taking turns spending the night with her in her home and we have sitters during part of each day.

12. If you are married, how well do you get along with your in-laws? My mother-in-law has been a mother to me far longer than I even knew my own mother. She has been a wonderful mother-in-law. I think I get along ok with my sisters-in-law and also my brothers-in-law.

hubby's side of the family (in-laws) at our
daughter's wedding. We are missing one
nephew in this photo.

13. What do people mean when they say, “you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family”? This saying is very true. Our family is our family – period.

14. If you live far away from some members of your family, how do you keep in touch? How often do you communicate? I talk to one sister almost every day and I talk to the other sister every three or four weeks. As I said above, I talk with our daughter almost every day and I talk with our son at least once a week.

15. Are you so close to any of your friends that you consider them to be like family? YES! YES! YES! We have been in a supper club since 2004 and those people are framily. We not only gather together monthly but we pray for each other and keep up with each other’s families. I'm also in a friend group with 3 women and we get together once a month for lunch. They are definitely framily - I don't have a single picture of the four of us together. I thought I did!! There are also a few young adults who we think of as family. As I'm typing, I'm realizing how many friends we consider framily. We met a younger couple on a trip a couple of years ago and I think of them as framily, too!

The four friends on the left are definitely my
sisters and I claim the one on the far right, too.
Our daughter is the pregnant one in the middle
and the young women - one on the left
and two on the right -- I claim them as
extra daughters.

I Was Going to Ask You on a Date

Several of you have asked me to share a story that I casually mentioned in another post. First of all, I want to be very clear. My heart goes out to all Vietnam Veterans and to all those who have served in any war. Also, I am in no way form or fashion making fun of anyone who is homeless. Our church is very involved in helping those who have no place to live and those who suffer due to insufficient income.

On to the story and I need to start with the "back" story:

A co-worker, on her next to last day before retirement, backed into my car. Since we were leaving the country, we dropped my car off at the dealership on the night before our flight. We were thinking that we wouldn't have to rent a car because we were going to be gone 10 days and surely the repairs would be done by our return. We returned from our trip and Mark called to see if we could come and get my car. NOPE! They hadn't even begun because of my friend's insurance. After a phone call or two, things were straightened out and work was to begin on my car . . .but now, I had to have a rental. The State Farm agent made the arrangements for a rental car and Mark drove me to the Hertz location and let me out . . .and he drove off to go check in at his office since we had been gone. I walked in and told them I had a text saying my rental was ready . . .and they proceeded to tell me that there was not a single rental car available. I quickly called Mark and he had to turn around in traffic and come back and get me and drop me off at home before he could go to the office. Around 4:00 that afternoon, I called and they had a car so we made a return trip to Hertz.

The rental car had Illinois tags (remember this).

Fast forward (or slow crawl) 11 days and my car was ready. This short story is turning into a much longer story - sorry :-). I called Hertz and asked if I needed to fill the tank before returning the rental and the answer was yes.

There is a Shell gas station/convenience store/fried chicken place about a mile from our office. I drove there on my lunch hour to fill up. I stepped out of the car and inserted the card and started pumping gas. I had pumped maybe 10 seconds when I noticed a man approaching me. I did reach back into my car and grabbed my purse and put it on my shoulder just because I had recently read about some gas station thieves. This man had a pleasant expression on his face and he had great dreadlocks. As he approached, he asked, "Are you from Illinois?" (remember the tag). I told him no and that I was an Alabama girl through and through. I thought he would walk away but NOPE he wanted to have a full blown conversation. I decided that it was broad daylight and there were other people around so I would answer his questions.

He told me that he has a sister who lives in Chicago. Then he asked me for money and I told him that my husband always laughs because I never have cash on hand. He then said, "your husband? That was my next question. I was going to ask you on a date." Y'all . . .at this point I'm chuckling because what the what?? He then told me that he is a Vietnam Veteran and that he is homeless. He also said, "Your husband is a lucky man because you are one FINE woman and your husband is one lucky man!" Once again, I'm just chuckling and I said thank you. He told me that he was 66 and that he was probably too old for me. He asked me several times - how old are you? 49? Y'all I'm 63 but I didn't tell him. He THEN ASKED, "Where is your husband right now? Is he at work?" I said yes, yes he is. The man then proceeded to say, "Well, we've got time then!!" Y'all I kid you not!!!!

I texted Mark afterwards and told him that a 66 year old homeless guy with dreadlocks just asked me on a date. Over the previous weekend, another gentleman had been slightly inappropriate to me when I was with Mark. Mark texted back "I better watch out!" hahahaha!!

Of course, the story doesn't end there. I drove to Hertz that afternoon and Mark was to pick me up at 4:30. I went in and turned in the keys and as I was walking back out to wait (covid - no waiting inside) Mark called. There was a stopped train and he was having to go around the world. I sat down on the curb to wait. Literally sat on the curb in a dress with my computer, my purse, and my lunchbox. He then called and said he had to stop at the dealership first because we had to pay and they were going to close. While sitting on the curb . . .I texted with my friend, Marietta. I read part of my book on the kindle app on my phone. Both of our kids called and I talked to them and FINALLY he got there. I felt like all of that deserved Taco Mama for dinner.

What a crazy adventure all due to a fender bender!!

Oh - just FYI, I drive by that gas station almost every day and I've seen my friend in that Shell parking lot several times. I'm thinking he might be running a scam. I wonder how many other ladies he has asked on a date this week?

Thankful Hodgepodge

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog and link up here or feel free to answer in the comment section!

1. Three things you're grateful for this first week of November? 

I am thankful for my family and our friends (who are like family) and our church and oh so many other things - good health, sunshine, a juicy orange! This week I'm feeling very thankful so my list could go on and on.

2. Is Daylight Savings Time a thing where you live? Do you think we should continue setting the clocks forward and back? Why or why not? If you could add an extra hour to your day would you want it added morning-noon-night? Do you think it likely you'd be more productive or more likely that you'd just waste more time? Yes, daylight savings time is a thing here in Alabama. I wish we could just get on one time and stay there. Of course, I would "say" that I would love an extra hour every day but I don't know if I would be productive or not.

3. Who is  your favorite author? Your favorite book by your favorite author? I love reading so I don't know that I have a true favorite. I love James Patterson. I enjoy Janet Evanovich. Let me tell you what I just read - go load it on your Kindle or go to your library and check it out. Historical fiction is not my normal genre but this book is worth reading. I didn't want to put it down and I didn't want it to end. After you read the book, read what both authors wrote and read where they took creative license vs. actual history. After you read it, I would love to hear your opinion.

4. It's National Sandwich Day...will you celebrate? How often do you eat a sandwich? What's your favorite? I actually had a tuna salad sandwich for lunch on Tuesday. Have y'all purchased the Lewis Keto bread? It is a game changer. I've never been a "normal" breakfast eater so probably 5 out of 7 days a week, I have a few slices of turkey, a slice of velveeta, a squirt of two of mustard, a tiny squirt of Hellman's' light mayo on Lewis Keto bread for breakfast. Yes, I know it is weird but it works for me.

5. Have you started your Christmas shopping? If so when did you start? If not when will you start? Do you give more or fewer gifts than you did five years ago? I have not started my shopping. I will probably do most of my shopping online and I will probably shop online over Thanksgiving weekend. Our "children" and our daughter-in-law all have November birthdays and I like to celebrate their birthdays and Thanksgiving first - before we decorate for Christmas and before I start shopping for Christmas.

6. Insert your own random thought here. We had an awesome Halloween night. By my best calculations, we had between 1000 and 1100 trick or treaters and they were polite and they had fun costumes. I love our street - everyone is sitting outside with a beverage handing out candy. I did feel slightly sorry for myself over the weekend. We were not invited to a single party and social media made me think that everyone I know was at a party. I guess that means that I need to have a party . . .that way, I have a party to attend!!

We bought 1520 pieces of candy and
we gave away close to 1500 pieces.
The first 5-600 got one piece each.
The last 45 minutes, we gave out
two pieces per kid.

The trick or treaters seem to arrive in groups
most of the night. I love when a whole
group dresses up with a theme.
This just shows how many
folks there are - we have all
ages and all nationalities.

I have no idea who this family is 
but I asked if I could take their picture.
This is a great family costume idea!!

We didn't get to see our granddaughters in person but I saw pictures and I'll share those, too!

our son, DIL, and granddaughter #1

Granddaughter #1 made the cutest
unicorn jockey - she LOVES
unicorns

this little nugget had a bad cold
and cough so she dressed up
but they weren't able to go
to their church Trunk or Treat.
She loves that thumb.