A Full Plate of Hodgepodge!

 

Thank you to Joyce for the questions!
How would you answer these
questions?
Join us over at Joyce's blog - it's fun!

1. Do you feel like you have a 'full plate' at the moment? In what way?

I feel like I say the same thing so often that people get tired of it. I apologize! BUT . . .working full-time and taking a full load of college classes plus regular life doesn't just feel like a full plate - it is a full plate.

2. How did you learn to cook? If you have children did you teach or encourage them to cook? Do you like to follow a recipe or is your cooking style more 'let's wing it'.  

My mom died when I was 15. After she died, it was me, my middle sister, and my dad. My dad worked crazy hours. So when my sister got married, I lived with my sister and her husband. I was in high school and got home first everyday because they both worked full-time. One of my jobs was to cook supper . . .so I learned. At first I only knew how to make things with a red base - homemade soup, spaghetti sauce, meatloaf. My brother-in-law finally asked me to please learn how to make something without a tomato base. I have no idea if I did learn something else or not. I learned to cook because I needed to eat. I learned to cook by trial and error. I think I enjoyed it even back then. There was no internet and I have no idea if I looked up recipes in a cookbook or not. Regarding our children, our son learned to make homemade waffles when he was 12. He has always loved to cook and is the one who does all of the cooking at their house. Our daughter is a good cook, too. I am a combo/recipe person. Sometimes I cook without a recipe. I will be making a cake later today and even though I've made it before, I will be following the recipe step by step.

3. Last time you bit off more than you could chew? Elaborate. 

I've started this answer three times . . .I've typed words . . .deleted. . . typed words . . .deleted. I finally thought of a real example. When we were on the cruise, they served brussels sprouts as a side with my dinner. I love brussels sprouts. I put the first one in my mouth and they had "waved it over the fire." "Waved it over the fire" is our family expression for vegetables that haven't been cooked enough. I chewed and chewed and chewed chewed some more. I actually love raw brussels sprouts in salads, etc. but a whole one is a bit more than I could chew! I did it, but it took a long time! I found this meme and on that night . . .it was truth.

4. When did you last say 'the more the merrier' and mean it? 

Perhaps on a Tuesday night, I might have said those words?? We host the young professionals on Tuesday nights and it is almost always a "the more the merrier" situation!

5. Write an acrostic using the word T-H-A-N-K-S. I cannot take credit for this. My friend, ChatGPT created it, and I really like it.

T—Trusting in God’s goodness
H—Holding fast to hope
A—Abiding in grace
N—Nurtured by His presence
K—Keeping our eyes on Christ
S—Serving with grateful hearts

6. Insert your own random thought here.

We played "turkey games" in staff meeting yesterday. We "stuffed our turkeys" - this consisted of two rounds where we threw popcorn and then marshmallows into our turkey's mouth (our partner). We played one where you had to identify the flavor of various non-chocolate candy- I handed out the candy since I don't eat candy. It was funny! Did you know that Smarties colors actually coincide with flavors? I have always thought they just tasted like sugar! The white smartie is orange creamsicle! The colors do not necessarily coincide with the flavor you would assume! We played turkey trivia and we had to draw a turkey with our eyes closed. The last "turkey game" involved gobbling . . .and when one person gobbled, no one could laugh. I was out on the second round. I can't help it. I'm just going to laugh.

I am truly thankful for Joyce and for this community of bloggers. Y'all are the kindest and most considerate folks! Happy Thanksgiving!!

Help! Please help!

Hey y'all! I need some help, please. It will only take a moment or two or three! I have an assignment due this week where I am supposed to interview people and then I have to write another paper. Of the 14 of us that will be together on Thanksgiving Day, only four of us are "seasoned" adults - the other 10 are from ages 9 1/2 to 40 (just barely 40 - turned 40 this month). I will interview a few of them using these same questions, but I would love to hear from a few of you -- at least three or four (please!). I know you are busy, but if you could squeeze out a few minutes today or tomorrow to answer these questions, it would be SO helpful! I might cry if no one answers (no guilt haha!).

Here are the questions - you can pretend I'm asking you face to face!! You are to answer these questions from your perspective. There are no right or wrong answers. The answers don't have to be long - a sentence or two at most.

1. What is your definition of "The Good Life?"
2. How do you live a life of meaning and purpose?
3. What does the word, "Vocation," mean to you?
4. If you could do it all over again, would you have done anything differently in your life?
5. What is one piece of advice you would give your younger self? 

Thank you in advance!!

Weekend in Review

Our weekend started at 3:00 pm on Thursday. I ran away from work and we headed south to our daughter's home. Our 6 1/2 year old granddaughter was excited as she waited on us to arrive. Her little sister wasn't home yet . . .but when she came through the door, she stopped. She heard the voice from FaceTime, but she wasn't sure. She smiled at me a lot (pops was in the back playing!), but she hid behind her mommy and daddy. . . until I brought out the new Barbie in her box and her new Gingerbread toy from France. She liked me after that! We went into the little downtown part of Wetumpka with full plans to eat at Coach's Corner. It was Thursday night at 5:20 in a small town . . .and there were no parking places at the restaurant. Who knew? We found two parking places near the Coosa Cleaver and walked through the little tiny downtown to the restaurant. The store fronts are decorated for Christmas and everything was adorable!! One of the little boutiques was open and there was a dress in the window that I loved. Laura and I ducked into the store and they only had a small. Nope. Laura bought a cute pair of Grinch earrings to wear on a special day at school. We met everyone else at the restaurant and piled into a big booth. We ordered Laura's birthday dinner and our food and the girls did really well for a Thursday night after a long day. Then they were DONE and ready to go home. So we did just that - we paid and left! Laura and I stopped at her in-law's new house to drop off a key. They gave me a quick tour and then we headed back to Laura's. Scott went back over to his parents to assist in putting together a huge bunk bed/trundle bed complex because other family members were arriving for the long holiday week. I helped Laura with baths and then Mark told bedtime stories to one while Laura rocked the other.

We all crashed shortly after the kids went to bed. They all leave home at 6:30 a.m. for work and school, so we got up at our usual time (early! still dark!) and got dressed and loaded our small suitcase in the car.

It was FOGGY!! These were the only photos I snapped. We were there a very short time, but they filled my love tank. Big sister is holding her Strausbourg Gingerbread girl and little one has her sippy cup! Let me tell you - she is a mess!

I wanted a quick photo, too, so we were trying to get it together.

Mark grabbed a decent one . . .but had my phone on video, so I just did a screen shot and called it a day. My eyes look crazy!!

We were home before 8:30 a.m. which was good, because I had lots of homework. It was a gray and drizzly morning and we thought it was going to really rain . . .but it didn't during the day. Evening did bring showers. Mark had another dumpster delivered to his brother's house (the brother that died in March). Mark has been working on cleaning it out. Mark and our son filled one dumpster last weekend. Mark, our son, and one of our nephews filled another one this weekend. They still need one more dumpster. I think I mentioned that Mark's brother and our sister-in-law were hoarders. They kept everything. I mean everything. The family has taken some furniture or tagged it. Rebecca's sisters have taken some of her clothes and jewelry and some things that belonged to their family. A woman came to measure last week for an appraisal. Since their mom's house still hasn't sold, they are hoping this one will sell quickly. It, too, needs a lot of work but is in a much more moderate price range.

I debated on whether or not to share the photos below. In 2017 and 2018, I lost a lot of weight - between 70 and 80 pounds. I kept it off, but lately it had been creeping up -- 30 pounds worth. The photo on the right was at the beginning of August. As of Saturday morning, the photo on the left is 30 pounds down. I'm going to try to lose a few more.

On Saturday afternoon, Mark and I went to the Outlet Mall that is about 30 minutes away. I went to The Loft and bought a pair of jeans and a pair of blue velvet jeans and a couple of shirts and then I found Mark and we went to J. Crew where he bought four or five quarter zips in various colors and various fabrics. I bought two more shirts. As we were walking out of the store I said to Mark, "we bagged our limit." That phrase harkens back to our younger days when he would go hunting and I would go shopping. He said I always bagged my limit! haha!

I worked and taught Sunday School and Mark went to worship and Sunday School and then we hurried home to cook lunch. Our son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter #1 were coming for lunch after their church service.

Our island seats three comfortably and we can squeeze in a fourth . . .but five seemed to small for our dining room, so we came up with a new plan! Mark and granddaughter sat at the table and Glenn, Lauren, and I sat at the island. It worked!

After we ate, our son was sweet enough to help us flip our mattress. We hate asking for help, but flipping that king mattress just about kills us. I'm just not tall enough.

After we ate and flipped the mattress, her parents left and she and Mark played Barbie for a long time while I cleaned up the kitchen. Then the two of them took the golf cart to the biggest park. I was about 20 minutes behind them so I just drove over. She looks like a teenager. How is that happening so fast?

There is a HUGE field in this park so she wanted to show us her gymnastics moves.

She is doing a back flip over (or whatever it is called).

She asked if we could head back to our house to do crafts. Gran always has crafts. She and Mark headed off in the golf cart and I followed behind.

We made "regular" felt gingerbread ornaments, festive ones, and crazy ones. This was her idea and I went right along!

We also made enough turkeys to put at every place setting on Thanksgiving. I hope they match my sister-in-law, Susie's, table decor!!

We also made a couple of felt reindeer ornaments.

She and Mark left about 5:10 to meet her mom at the gas station (half way). I cleaned up our craft mess and started on some homework. When Mark returned we watched on episode of Better Call Saul and one episode of something else. We were in bed right at 10:00 and we slept until midnight when our Carbon Monoxide alarm started going off -- four fast blasts and then danger Carbon Monoxide danger. I had cooked lunch on our Wolf gas stove and maybe I forgot to turn on the vent. Anyway - we opened all three doors - top porch; door to screen porch; front door. We turned on the stove fan. We turned on a small regular fan. It took about 30 minutes for her to stop shouting at us. Of course, I was sitting outside googling and we should have called the fire department but Mark did not want to do so. He is checking one thing today and I will call All South and get them to send out someone.

I stayed outside a little longer and the stars were magnificent. If you were to zoom in, you can see the pinpoints of light - God's creation is so amazing.

Please don't yell at us about the carbon monoxide. I know what we should have done but I am married to a very stubborn man. Remember we have been through a house fire. I did call 911 for that, but Mark wasn't home :-).

So how was your weekend? Did you do anything exciting?

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, we're once again stealing from Steph, aka Cry Baby. She loves Taco Bell and asking questions like these.

Revisiting Steph

1) Has anyone ever told you "I love you" but you didn't say it back? Wow – I don’t know. It has been a long time since the “falling in love” days! If so, I don’t remember the occasion.

2) Do you consider yourself organized? I can be organized. Am I always? No. One example is my office. Everyone in our office seems to drop things off that have no home . . .so they stay with me for long periods of time which creates clutter. I do know where most things I might need are located. At home, I try to have a place for everything and keep things labeled. Everyone doesn’t always put things back in the right container or place. Does anyone else have that problem? We worked on our attic last winter and I told Mark that I want to finish it this year.

This is our attic when we were working on it last winter.
I wish we had more flooring in the attic. The door
is small so it would be hard to get wood in to do it.
We should have done it when they were
rebuilding the house.

This is our hall closet after Mark built shelves in it
and I added the bins and boxes. It isn't quite that
organized now . . .but not bad.

3) Where do you look first when you go clothes shopping? I look online first! I check Tuckernuck, Loft, Amazon and Talbots and sometimes Belk. I actually ordered a couple of cute dresses on Friday from Amazon and one from Dillard’s on Saturday. If I must go to a brick and mortar store for clothing, I go to Von Maur at our local mall or to The Pink Tulip, a local boutique. If I don’t have any luck in either of those, I will also go into our Belk store. We have an Outlet Mall about 30 minutes away and I like to go to the Ann Taylor Loft outlet store located there . . .maybe twice a year.

This is the back of the dress that I
ordered from Dillard's.

This is one of the dresses I ordered from Amazon - I guess I'm getting on the corduroy bandwagon. I wear dresses a LOT of the time.

4) Do you often reflect on your past in terms of eras or milestones ("it's been 10 years since X happened")? Since I am now 67, I do think about the past, but I’m still trying to live in the present and look forward to the future. Since I’m back in college, I have looked back to the past several times and wondered what I would be doing had I gone to college at a normal age. One of my classes this semester is Vocation and Calling . . .if I had been a United Methodist when I was originally college-aged and if I had been able to go to college like a regular person, I think I would be a United Methodist pastor now. God has used me anyway and I try not to dwell on the past – on the woulda, shoulda, coulda’s – they don’t get me any further along in my journey, they only make me feel bad.

5) Were you more recently ill or injured (flu vs. twisted ankle)? Let’s be totally honest here. I do not like to be ill or injured!! Back in December of 2024 and January of 2025, I had to go to PT for my lower back . . . but it is from an old injury. I am going to ask my Internal Medicine doctor to send me again when I have my check up in a couple of weeks. I had cataract surgery in February. I did hurt either my Achilles or my heel or either I had plantar fasciitis in the late summer. I iced it, used great cream on it, wore tennis shoes a lot, and it only slowed me down a little. I am always annoyed when sick or injured because I feel like my body is a traitor. I know that sounds weird. Anyone else?

Connect with the thieves at Sunday Stealing!

Day Seven - Rudesheim am Rhein (Germany)

Warning -- I probably should have divided Day Seven into two parts - day and night, but I didn't. If any of you are still reading, I am so appreciative. Seriously!! I posted lots of photos, but only two VERY short videos. They are worth watching.

When Ilko, our wonderful cruise director, was telling us about our upcoming visit to Rudesheim, he said we would be riding on the choo choo! Everyone loved hearing him say choo choo!!

Lo and behold, there was a choo choo that picked us up and drove us into town.

The nice person sitting across from us took this photo! We were all snug inside the choo choo!

As we went around the corner, I was able to snap a photo of the front of the train.

The choo choo was headed to a winery. The following is from their website:

As early as 1647, the name of the Störzel family was mentioned in the archives of the small town with the big name: Rüdesheim am Rhein.  Since then the name has been closely related to winemaking and Rhine culture.

Today the winery is family-run by Adolf Störzel.

After completing his studies as winemaker, Adolf Störzel expanded the winery, initially only a few vineyards in size, to a 10 hectare winery.

You can see the grapes on the vines.

We tasted three different wines.

The tasting room is in a cave below ground - such a cool space.

The little glasses were so cute and we got to keep them.

The owner was a great entertainer.

We stacked our glasses for easier transport - I think we carried them in our pockets.

The tall skinny bottle by the candle was the ice wine. I'm still so annoyed that we didn't purchase any because this winery doesn't ship to the U.S.

We left the winery and divided up into smaller groups and walked the city with a tour guide.

We were supposed to take a gondola ride over the vineyards BUT there were gale force winds that day. Instead we had a walking tour with a guide.

The monument below -- information copied from Wikepedia (thank you to Wikepedia): The Niederwald monument (German: Niederwalddenkmal) is a monument located in the Niederwald, near Rüdesheim am Rhein in Hesse, Germany, built between 1871 and 1883 to commemorate the Unification of Germany. The monument is located within the Rhine Gorge, a larger UNESCO World Heritage Site. It overlooks the Rhine Valley and the town of Bingen on the far side.

The monument was constructed to commemorate the founding of the German Empire in 1871 after the end of the Franco-Prussian War. The first stone was laid on 16 September 1877 by Kaiser Wilhelm I. The sculptor was Johannes Schilling, and the architect was Karl Weißbach. The total cost of the work is estimated at one million gold marks. The monument was inaugurated on 28 September 1883. The 38 meters (125 ft) tall monument represents the union of all Germans. 

Once again, I love these cute streets.

You can tell it was chilly - we have hoods up and coats zipped, etc.

Our tour guide (on the left) took us to see this cute hotel.

The rooms were so cute!! They were in giant wine barrels.

These cute rooms were part of Hotel Lindenwirt.

The tour guide took us through this tiny walkway.

Isn't this street amazing?? I do want to ask you something. Do you see the guy on the right hand side leaning against the building? We saw him several times that day and he was outside a pub and he was very inebriated. He was a local and I think there might have been some illness and possibly the local townspeople knew he was there . . .and hopefully, someone was checking on him.

This was a local establishment - exposed wooden beams. Once again, the architecture is amazing.

Gorgeous door!

I know I just commented on the architecture above, but it is amazing in so many of these old cities!

We had a little free time so we wandered around. I went back to the Christmas Store, but it was hot and crowded and I didn't buy a thing. I wish I had bought a couple of things, but all is well without them.

We headed back to the boat for Sip and Sail - except we weren't sailing because we had more plans after dinner.

After dinner, we got back on the choo choo train and headed back into town. We went to the Siegfried's Mechanical Music Museum. Mark and I both loved the museum. Our guide was a tiny French woman.

This is from Siegfried's website:

Musical instruments from three centuries are on display, from the small music box to the ton-heavy orchestrion, some of which are played live.

The museum has more than 400 self-playing musical instruments

Located at Brömserhof, a knight's seat from the 15th century, directly above Drosselgasse in Rüdesheim am Rhein.

The tour was a 45-minute musical journey into the dance halls and living rooms of those who have gone before us and the exciting technological achievements of that time.

There are six violins in that top part - how in the world did they come up with the technology to do all of these amazing things so many years ago??

This was the ceiling in the piano room of the home. It was original work.

When we exited the museum, the streets were even more enchanting by night!

Rudesheim was one of our favorite spots!!