Memorial Day Weekend in Review

Our weekend was pretty quiet! As always, we are thankful for those who gave their lives for our freedom.

We did some "porch sittin'" -- the weather was spectacular this weekend.

Our hibiscus blossoms are as large as dinner plates - they are spectacular!

In our yard, we have Sweet Bay Magnolias which have much smaller leaves and branches than a regular magnolia. This is in a neighbor's yard and the Magnolia blossoms are even bigger than the hibiscus blossoms!

We went on lots of walks over the weekend. We are building up for our trip to Italy and Germany!

I ate my first Chilton County peach on Saturday and it was DELICIOUS! I love fresh fruit!

Normally, I wouldn't consider buying gas an event . . .but it was $4.29 a gallon and the very next day, it was $4.49 a gallon! I know that when we have traveled out of the US, the gas is often $7 a gallon (converts to that from liters) so I guess we are just spoiled.

On Saturday afternoon, our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter #2 arrived. They had spent the day at the lake with our son and his family. The SEC baseball tournament was happening at The Met which is less than 4 miles from house so our son-in-law went to meet a friend to watch a baseball game. Mark was staying with his mom from 2:00 on Saturday until 2:00 on Sunday, so the "girls" went for a long golf cart ride. Mark brought some catfish food home from the farm and we keep a baggie in the golf cart. We enjoyed feeding the fish in the neighborhood pond.

I had to work from 7:45-11:15 on Sunday morning (remember I work at a church) and after that, we ate at my mother-in-law's house. We try to get the girls over to visit with her as often as possible. My mother-in-law will be 97 in July. I failed to get a picture of  her with granddaughter #2.

After a short nap, we put on our swimsuits and took the golf cart down to the neighborhood pool. It is only two blocks from the house but the walk home is uphill and after swimming, little legs (and ours, too) would be tired.

What is it about swimming that DEMANDS a snack? I remember our kids always needing a snack at the pool. In the picture below, she looks so much like her momma to me . . . as a matter of fact, she looked like her momma all weekend.

She jumped . . .and jumped . . .and jumped . . .jumped . . .and jumped off the side.

The weather was once again just spectacular!

Monday morning was great. When granddaughter #2 went to bed on Sunday night, we told her that both Gran and Pops would be here when she woke up. It worried her greatly that Pops wasn't here on Saturday when she arrived or on Sunday morning when she awakened. She said, "I need to hug Pops"!

Monday brought the smell of bacon cooking! I try to cook breakfast for them when they are here. I also made pancakes but have no photos!

After breakfast, there was some Barbie pretend time. Pops is still rated the best Barbie player ever. He invents stories and dialogue as they go along. He was trying to teach her how to be the voice of one of the Barbies. I was standing on the stairs sneaking a photo between the stair rails. 

They wanted to get an early start so they could get home before her nap time but we had to go to the park for one quick playtime. She was turning around telling me to come, too (which I was).

I love the photo below! Joy!

I am thankful!

Sunday Stealing

Thanks to Bev for our Sunday Stealing questions – She stole these questions from Love Me Some Surveys

1. Who was the last attractive person you saw? Really? I want to say something silly like “myself in the mirror” hahaha! I work in a church so I’ve seen lots of lovely folks today!

2. Do you have a tattoo? If not, are you going to get one? No, I don’t have any tattoos but I have thought about getting one!

3. Have you smoked a cigarette in the last 24 hours? No, I haven’t smoked . . .both my parents died of cancer so I don’t smoke.

4. Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? My first response is yes, everyone deserves a second chance. As a Christian, I believe God’s grace is big enough to give everyone a second chance. I’m not going to lie, though . . .as a human being, I do struggle with giving mass murderers a second chance . . .or pedophiles a second chance. I'm not saying they don't deserve a second chance . . . I'm saying I struggle.

5. What is your favorite number? I don’t think I have a lucky number.

6. What time did you go to sleep last night? I think I went to sleep around 9:30. I get up at 5:00 so we normally go to bed by 10:00.

7. Are you one of those people that always answer their phones? No . . .I don’t always answer. Sometimes I’m in a meeting. Sometimes I just don’t want to talk!!

8. If you died today would your life be complete? I would be sad to not see our granddaughters grow up and there are still things I would like to do, places I would like to see, people I would like to meet.

9. If you are being extremely quiet, what does that mean? Sometimes I need quiet, which means no talking at all and no music and no TV.

10. Do you know what high school your dad went to? My daddy didn’t graduate from high school. He was one of the smartest men I ever knew. He went back and got his GED.

11. Last time you had butterflies in your stomach? I had butterflies in my stomach on the first Sunday in May as I sat down at my dining room table to take my final exam in Sociology.

12. Where is your cell phone? My phone is literally next to my left hand by my keyboard.

13.  What is the nearest purple thing to you? I don’t see anything purple around me. Purple is not one of my colors.

14. When did you last step outside?  What were you doing? This morning, I went for a walk at 5:15. Let me just tell you, the weather was glorious at 5:15 - the air was cool and pleasant! When I arrived at work, there were signs I had to put outside the building.

15. What is the last thing you watched on TV? My granddaughter watched Puppy Dog Pals yesterday and my son-in-law watched something last night but I didn’t watch either. Mark and I are watching two series and we watched one of each on Friday night – Tehran is one and Hanna is the other.

What about you? What are some of your answers?

It's a May Hodgepodge!

 

Please feel free to copy and paste the
questions into your own blog and join us
at From This Side of the Pond or
please feel free to answer in the
comments!

1. It's National Wine Day (May 25)...do you like wine? Red or white? Dry or sweet? Do you have a favorite? Have you ever been to California wine country? Or any other wine region? What's a dish you make that calls for wine? 

We are not wine people. We’ve tried to be wine people but we just aren’t. Mark prefers a darker craft beer or bourbon and I’m mostly a vodka girl who just happens to love a good margarita. I will drink a cold glass of Reisling or if we are at a wedding reception and ALL they have is wine, I can drink a glass of white. I don’t like red at all. We’ve never been to California wine country. Two guys from my small town (and school) in Alabama, have a winery in Georgia. Ray and Rodney are best friends and they even have a blended wine called Best Friends. Check them out here: 

2. What's something you've whined about lately? I’ve probably whined about other drivers 😊. I’ve also whined about several other things . . .I’m pretty sure.

3. Last time you were 'wined and dined'? Tell us about it. It has been a while since I was truly “wined and dined.” About 20 years ago, Mark had an auto dealers meeting in Las Vegas. We went to one of Emeril’s restaurants and there was a lot of wine and a lot of food and even a lot of desserts. They weren’t “wining and dining” me but I got to enjoy. Mark was wined and dined a few years ago and I only got to hear about the experience. Manolo Sanchez, former Chairman, President, and CEO of BBVA was in town and Mark and his boss (the owner of the company) were invited to a dinner, hosted by Manolo, at a local country club. The dinner consisted of multiple courses and there was at least one new wine per course. Mark did enjoy the wine and food that night.

4. Three cheers for all the graduates! Hip! Hip! Hooray!

5. This will be the last Hodgepodge in the month of May. Somehow next Wednesday the calendar rolls into June. Before we go though, sum up your May in twelve words or less. May has been filled with friends, family, food, work, and planning for our trip! Well . . .14 words will do, right?

6. Insert your own random thought here. As an adult (since marriage), I have never been on a girl’s beach trip. For some ridiculous reason, that has been bugging me lately! I have recently talked with two of my friends about going away for a weekend (or weekdays). We’ve been to the beach with lots of family and we’ve been to the beach with other couples but I’ve never experienced a girl’s beach weekend!

Motion Sickness - yuck!

 How many of you suffer from motion sickness? I'm raising my hand higher than everyone else! Cars, trains, boats, airplanes - all of them . . . yet, I can ride roller coasters (I haven't in years but I used to be able to do so??). So, I've tried various things over the years. Sitting in the front seat usually helps but I've actually felt sick a few times EVEN WHEN I WAS DRIVING. I kid you not. I do not kid about throwing up!

Back when our kids were in high school, I chaperoned all of their youth choir tours. We drove across the country to Colorado one year . . .on a bus . . .30+ hours. We had to change drivers somewhere in the middle because one driver wasn't allowed to drive that long. Before that trip, I was telling my ENT about my motion sickness and he prescribed a "motion sick cocktail." It was to take dramamine the night before traveling and then take a dramamine and an ativan about 30 minutes before leaving. I could take more dramamine and more ativan at the prescribed times if needed. I've been using this for years.

Fast forward to 2016. Mark and I had flown to St. Martin and Naussau. I had been on a cruise (lots of dramamine) back when I was young and had been to San Juan and some of the other islands but I had never flown 12 + hours. I went on my first trip to Israel and we flew to Houston and then to New York and from New York, we flew to Tel Aviv. That New York to Tel Aviv portion takes about 12 hours. It is a long flight. I did it again in 2018 except we flew from Birmingham to Chicago to New York to Tel Aviv. 2020 came along and we did Chicago to New York to Frankfurt Germany to Tel Aviv. That did shorten the long flight to two shorter segments. In October, Mark and I flew to Philadelphia and from Philadelphia we flew right into Dublin. In just a few weeks, we will fly to Rome and then we fly to Milan and we will be on a bus driving through maybe the Alps? I need to go look at the itinerary again. I've managed on all of the other trips by taking lots of medicine (motion sick cocktail) and by wearing the accupressure wrist bands and by chewing ginger gum, etc. I hate having to take so many drugs because it makes me drowsy and feeling loopy at times.

Enter my friend, Joe. He, too, suffers from motion sickness and he and his wife traveled with us to Israel and are traveling with us to Italy. He has found a new gizmo and he and I have both ordered one. I'm telling y'all about it now and will review it after the trip. We ordered them from Amazon. Here it is:

It is a Reliefband. It emits electronic pulses which somehow sends signals to the brain and supposedly really helps with motion sickness (or even morning sickness, etc.). Most all of the reviews are very positive.

Joe has tried his out in their car and it worked for him. We had to go to the funeral and other errands this past weekend and I did wear mine in the car while Mark drove. It could be psychosomatic or it could really work. I'll do a review in July!!

p.s. Amazon has no idea who I am other than someone who orders from them several times a month - I haven't received any compensation from them nor do they know I just wrote about them!

Sunday Stealing

I'm linking up with Bev for Sunday Stealing! Join us? 

Fewer than 5000 questions

 

1. Who do you take for granted? I’ve been working on not taking anyone for granted. I’m sure we all do take people for granted at various times. I’m sure I have done so with Mark over the 38 years of marriage. Last October, one of our Sunday School friends tripped over the dog during the night and then died a few hours later in the hospital. It is amazing that things could be wonderful one evening and totally different the next day.

2. Short, knee, or ankle skirts? I prefer skirts to be a little above the knee and I can’t wait to see how Plastic Mancunian answers this question!

3. Do you wear a hat? I look horrible in hats. I actually had this discussion with someone last Sunday and she said I just need to go to a hat store and try on everyone until I find one that works.

4. Who's your favorite cartoon character? I have ALWAYS loved the Pink Panther.

borrowed from the internet

5. Does break dancing impress you? I have seen some pretty amazing break dancing videos over the years. Do people still break dance?

6. Are you a miracle? I think all life is a miracle – how in the heck could one sperm and one egg meet in the way they do . . .and make a baby! (I don’t need a scientific explanation – I actually do know)

7. Have you ever eaten tofu? I’ve eaten tofu in Hot and Sour Soup  and love it. I’ve eaten it once or twice in other ways and liked it ok. I’ve only purchased it from the grocery store one time and I’m not sure I even cooked it.

8. Does the moon have an effect on your mood? I sometimes feel like everyone (including me) is affected by a full moon!

9. Many people will say that the Harry Potter books are pure fluff with no literary value. Do you agree? I’ve only read the first two (this last year!) and I really enjoyed them. I need to get the rest from the library or my daughter-in-law and read those.

10. What are you doing next Wednesday? My next semester class starts on Wednesday (online). I’ll be working during the day and then trying to figure out a new syllabus that night.

11. Why do so many people think Elvis is still alive? I have no idea. We did go to a funeral yesterday and the opening song was by Elvis!

12. Are your hands cold? My hands are not cold at the moment. After I teach our large adult Sunday School class (which still makes me nervous after 30 years), my hands are usually cold!
               
13. Have you ever given blood? Yes, I’ve given 3 times – 2 times were during the heat of the pandemic. The first time I was young and it was at work . . .and I passed out while sitting at the cookie table. I was mortified. They have a VERY hard time getting into my veins (I’m talking 3 employees last time which means multiple sticks). Here I am at one of the ones during the pandemic. That is my boss in the front of the picture and me waving from behind.

14. What SCI-fi books do you read? I’ve only read one or two sci-fi books in my life. Does The Noise by James Patterson count as Sci-Fi? How about Quantum by Patricia Cornwell or Spin (the second in that series by Patricia Cornwell)??

15. Have you ever belonged to a sorority or a fraternity? I did not when I took classes the first time around and this time, I imagine I’m too old hahaha! My husband was a Beta Theta Pi at Auburn and our daughter was a Zeta at Auburn.

Mother's Day, Grandbabies, and Pastries Oh My!

 I realized that I haven't shared about life lately and since I hope that our kids will read these some day, I'm going to do a little catch up with a lot of photos.

We've been riding the golf cart around the neighborhood in the evenings and we've fed the fish in the neighborhood pond, and we've watched a daddy and little daughter fly a kite in the park in front of our house.

We spend time every week with Mark's momma, but this was on her deck on Mother's Day.

This is my husband's identical twin
brother, their mother, and our
granddaughter #1.

Last weekend, we went to our supper club and our hostess was making a Mexican casserole for dinner. Mark suggested that I go to Mi Pueblo, our local hispanic grocery store, to purchase fresh pastries. I meant to take a before picture but this is after everyone had already been eating. They were huge so I cut them in smaller pieces so everyone could try all of them.

The next morning, I drove to our daughter's house to help with granddaughter #2 for several hours. Our daughter was training to be one of the handlers for the comfort dog they now have at their school!

She loves being outside but it was
SO HOT!

We spent some time in her
playroom!

On the way home, I65 North came
to a total stop - wreck ahead.
Waze took me the backroads
and I saw some pretty
country!

On Thursday, a bunch of us from work went to a restaurant together -- The Bright Star -- which is the oldest family owned restaurant in America! They've been serving food since 1907.

My boss, who happens to
be the Senior Minister, was
coming to get us so he
wasn't in the picture!

Thursday was also our wedding anniversary but Mark went to the farm and we will celebrate tonight!

Friday morning, I had my yearly eye exam. No more wall charts - everything is digital now. No significant changes in my eyes so the Lasik surgery is still good and I just have to wear my readers.

I have a horrible time when they dilate my eyes. It takes forever for me to be able to read again. I can't wear sunglasses so they always have to give me a pair of the silly paper ones just so I can drive home.

This morning, we went to the funeral of a friend's brother. He was a Veteran and was living in a lovely facility built for Veterans about an hour away. When we came out of the service, this Veteran was standing in the hot sun waving an American flag.

The funeral was about 30 minutes from our house and we had planned to do a little shopping on the way home. We stopped at Bass Pro Shop. They had flags lining the driveway and all around the entrance.

We then stopped at our local outlet mall and I bought a few things to wear when we are in Italy and Germany.

Food and Relatives Hodgepodge

 

I'm linking up with Joyce for the Wednesday Hodgepodge!

1. What's something that makes you feel stressed? How do you cope? As much as I love to travel and would really love to go all over the world . . .long airplane rides stress make me stressed . . . and I'm thankful for good drugs!

2. What's a food you eat that evokes a memory? Explain. Homemade Vegetable Beef soup and cornbread would be the meal. As a kid, I loved to crumble my cornbread into my soup. We were also able to walk home for lunch when we were in high school and we had a bowl of Campbell's soup (different varieties . . . sometimes more than one kind mixed together) and a sandwich. We had to listen to Paul Harvey while we ate lunch IF my daddy was home. When I eat Campbell's soup now, it reminds me of those days.

3. This week's Hodgepodge lands on National Visit Your Relatives Day. Will you celebrate by visiting a relative? If so is travel involved? Geographically, who is your nearest relative (not counting those living in your own house)? Every Wednesday night, my husband spends the evening and night with his mother. So he will be participating in Visit Your Relatives Day and won't even know it. I saw Mark at 5:40 this morning as he left for his weekly men's group and I won't see any other relatives today. We have several of Mark's family members here in town - all about a 20 minute drive from us. I have two first cousins here in town, also about 20 minutes away and I only see them every few years. Our son and his family live about 35 minutes away and our daughter and her family live about an hour and a half away. Neither of my sisters lives in town.

4. What's your most frequently used emoji? Do you make more phone calls, send more emails, or mainly text to communicate with friends and family? I use the thumbs up emoji and the heart emoji a good bit and I also like the sideways laugh until you are crying emoji. I talk to my sisters on the phone and I facetime with our daughter but I send LOTS of text messages - both for work, family, and friends.

5. Tell us the story behind a favorite piece of furniture. We have a Barrister's bookshelf at the top of our steps and I love that piece of furniture. We bought it at an estate sale when we were dating (I guess technically Mark bought it). It was in Mark's office for over 30 years until he retired and brought it home. I also love a little half moon table that we bought at another (or maybe the same) estate sale. It sat in our entry hall for 22 years. It didn't work in the house where we are now and our daughter has it in her entry hall. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. A week or so ago, we invited our friends who live across the park to come over for charcuterie and conversation. I thought I would share a few pics of the food and fire.

Mark had purchased a round
of Brie and I went online and found
an air fryer recipe! You mixed up
chopped pecans and brown sugar
and spread that on top of the cheese
and then wrapped it in puff pastry
and brushed it with egg. It
was so easy and I didn't have
to heat up the kitchen!!

I love that little glass mug
of German mustard!

Mark loves Wickles Okra!

Do you see those round crackers
in the middle back of the photo?
They were soooo good! They
were savory but sort of had the
texture of a cookie!

Since this was dinner, I tried to have a wide
variety of meats, cheeses, fruits, nuts, and
even carrots and hummus.

It was actually chilly that night and
we enjoyed sitting outside
with a fire!