To Grandmother's House we go . . .

We actually do go to Grandmother's house . . .almost every Sunday after church. (this week, we actually went to the Dragon - but that is not a normal Sunday!) This was last Sunday at lunch. Over the years, we've played cards with our children while either waiting on lunch or after. Here is a picture of George playing cards with Grace. All of our kids know how to play poker!!

They are discussing who won the hand - I believe George had 2 Aces and 2 queens . . .can't remember what Grace had.

This is where all the cooking takes place. My mother-in-law is a great cook. She cooks an amazing roast beef! I can't remember everything she served last week, but I do remember that we had squash casserole. She usually has a meat, a starch, two veggies and a salad. There are always rolls and there is always, always, always dessert!! Lunch on Sunday is a tradition in our family. (and it is actually a "coveted" item . . .one friend of ours wants another invitation - we've tried to get her to put "Sunday Dinner at Mrs. Susie's" in the youth auction at church, but we haven't been able to convince her. Yesterday, Laura and I were talking about how we need to cherish each day with Grandmother (I've never called her mother or Susie or Mrs. Elliott . . . usually I call her Mark's mother! Since the children were born, I call her grandmother just like they do!)

Grandmother is on the left. Mark is carving some more roast beef and Bill (Mark's younger brother) is serving his plate. While the kids were growing up, we had a table full on Sundays - there are four of us and Grandmother and Bill and Rebecca and George, Alice and Grace. When both Glenn and Laura were living in Auburn, we had many quiet Sundays - if George and Alice and Grace go to Clopton (Alice's hometown), then it would be just Grandmother, Mark and I (because Bill and Rebecca don't usually arrive in time to eat with us). We've loved having Laura live back at home so that we have her with us on Sundays. Sunday lunch at Grandmother's house is definitely a tradition!

Kristi's birthday

I love working at Trinity UMC. I love working there for many reasons but one of them is because I get to work with people like Kristi. We've worked together on and off now for over 6 years (she took a maternity leave in the middle of that time). Kristi is a great friend . . .and she had a birthday last week. Here she is in her office surrounded by all of her surprises. Donna gave her the cutest picture frame and a candy jar full of miniature candy bars. Ann gave her a really cute sleep shirt. I gave her a lunchbox and some other treats. Here is a picture of her surprises. Can you see the picture frame? I think we could make those - it is covered in newsprint (made in India and an Indian newspaper! but we could use the Birmingham News or the Black and White) and then there are these really cute felt flowers and cut outs in a bird shape with felt underneath. I didn't do a very good job of explaining that but I promise it is really cute. Donna finds the cutest gifts!

We will use any excuse to order lunch from Franklin's Homewood Gourmet and a birthday is a great excuse. The baby bleu salad with chicken is wonderful!! I hated bleu cheese until I had it on this salad.

I think this is a great picture of Jeanne (I was trying out my new camera!). Isn't she pretty? She was at the "party" along with all of our other co-workers. (she is another sweet friend - see what I mean? It is just a great place to work surrounded by all these neat young adults!)After eating our healthy salads, we had to have birthday cake.

Happy birthday, Kristi! I hope all your wishes come true!!

Does anyone know her story?

Can you see her? Tucked up against the tree? She is there every single day whether it is 105 degrees outside or whether there is snow on the ground. Her clothes change with the seasons. When it snowed this winter, she actually had on a fur coat. At Easter, she was holding either an Easter basket or an Easter purse (couldn't tell from the road). She sometimes changes positions in the rock garden. My sister, Becky and I have wondered about her. We would love to know her story. Is she simply a "scarecrow lady" to frighten away some critters or is she in memory of a lost daughter? Anyone know her story?

hyperventilate? me?

Yes, I did hyperventilate this morning at 4:30 when our 10 foot long mirror fell from the wall. The crash was one of the loudest sounds you can imagine. The sound was so loud, that I actually thought our upstairs had crashed through the ceiling of our bathroom. After screaming, I jumped out of bed and flipped on the bathroom light to see this:
Then the strangest thing happened. I could not catch my breath. I was trying to scream and trying to breathe and couldn't do either one. Laura is my hero. She grabbed me and shoved me into a chair, ran into the kitchen and grabbed a bag and shoved it into my face and yelled at me, "Breathe, Mother!"

We have wanted to remove this wallpaper for quite some time and a few months ago, I asked the decorator (my friend, Cindy Davis-Davis Designs) for a quote for painting our bedroom and this bath . . .guess we will be doing it sooner rather than later! As always, Mark also came to the rescue. He rolled one of those giant garbage cans right into our bedroom and scooped up all that broken mirror. He then dragged the shop vac up the basement stairs and vacuumed everything. I wiped everything down with Windex and swiffered the floor. . .all before 5:30 a.m.!! Needless to say, we will all be going to bed early at our house tonight.

Lights! Camera! Action! I finally bought a new camera!!

I've been saving my money . . .a few dollars every payday because I wanted to buy a new camera. I've looked at Consumer Reports on cameras. I've asked everyone why they own certain cameras. I've used a Canon Rebel for years but it is getting harder and harder to get film developed into pictures. I also love the ability to load the pictures on the computer (immediately - I love instant gratification). I've been using Mark's little hunting camera which is a Nikon Coolpix and it is a great little camera. I could drop it into its camoflage case and drop it into my purse . . .but I wanted my own. AND I wanted a Canon like my trusty Canon. Yesterday I bought this!!

Friends and family - I apologize in advance. I've always loved to take your picture. I have a feeling that I'm going to be doing that much more often. I'm so excited - I'm like a kid with a new toy!!

Two yummy meals in one weekend!!

On Friday night, we met 4 other couples at the Pita Stop for dinner. I only have a picture of one couple . . but it is a good picture! Two of our very best friends in the world, Phella and Guy. We visited for several hours over wine and dinner. Mark had a seafood omelet and it was huge. Dona had a vegetarian omelet. Kim had a rack of lamb!! Several of us ordered chicken kabobs. This is the way they serve all of their kabobs and a few other things also. They have stacks and stacks of these Pyrex casserole dishes in their kitchen (you can see them on your way to the bathroom).

There is a Greek salad on the left complete with a cube of feta cheese. On the right end, there is wonderful rice. The little silver container on the backside holds hummus - the best in Birmingham in my opinion. They always have an orange slice, a couple of fresh pineapple triangles and a wedge of cantaloupe topped with a cherry. You can eat there in the middle of winter and the cantaloupe is delicious. Of course, there is some yummy pita bread. Across the top is the big skewer of chicken.

Tonight I cooked some of the veggies from the Farmer's Market. I never fry - ever . . .except once a year when we have some fresh okra. Mark and Laura will eat it boiled or pickled but I only like it fried. Marion Wilson is an older lady at church and she taught me how to fry it and it is soooo good. I stir fried some of the squash in olive oil with a little red bell pepper and mushrooms. I can't believe it but I didn't have a single onion in the house so I missed that in the squash. You can see my beautiful peas!! My goal this year has been to learn to eat cooked greens . . .so yes, there on the plate is a small serving of turnip greens. Definitely not the same kind of meal as last night, but equally delicious!

Penguin bag

Isn't this the funniest little backpack? Perfect size for toothbrush, toothpaste and deodorant!! I won't tell you who this belongs to . . .might embarass him.