Weekend Recap

I told Mark this weekend that I want to add "Mardi Gras Parades" to my travel list. It won't happen next year but maybe soon! In the meantime, we have a tiny Mardi Gras parade in our neighborhood and it was Saturday morning. I couldn't get my act together and get our golf cart decorated so I just stood on the side of the street and picked up beads!

I love these decorations!

Saturday evening, we got dressed up and headed to a wedding.

The wedding was at our church for one of the young women who grew up just a few years behind our kids. Her parents and I, along with others, chaperoned a lot of choir tours together. It was a lovely wedding with a sweet sermonette. The reception was at a new venue called The Farrell and it was lovely!

Aren't the flowers gorgeous?
Two ladies from our church - not
professionals - made the altar
arrangement.

I borrowed this picture and the one
below from Hilary's social media.

This was inside The Farrell. We ended up
sitting outside under a patio heater. The high
temps over the last few days have been
in the 40's so I expected to freeze
outside but it was actually ok near
the heater.

I think I'm enjoying social events more these days after two years of very few social events. Anyone else feel that way?

This morning we went to early church and Sunday school and then we headed to Mark's mom's house. I was in charge of lunch - homemade lasagna and salad and bread.

I started to type that this afternoon had been lazy but in reality, I meal prepped my lunches for the week, studied sociology for an hour, walked on the treadmill, wrapped the door prizes for Tuesday night . . .not too lazy after all!

Sunday Stealing

 

Welcome to Sunday Stealing! Join with us and our host Bev Sykes of the blog "Funny the World". .

This week's questions were stolen from Luna Nina and they are actually word prompts, not questions.

 I say,......and you think... 

    Casino ::     Las Vegas
    Bone ::        Chicken
    Painting ::     Grace (our niece)
    Shocked ::   at what is happening in Ukraine
    Quieter ::     not me
    Feed ::        Catfish in the pond
    Song ::        Joyful! Joyful!
    Glass ::        bottle
    Boat ::        fishing
    Junk ::        the crap in the floor of my closet right now
    Sheet ::        clean (I love clean sheets on our bed!)
    Knit ::        mother-in-law and booties
    Gift ::        giver
    Small ::    bite
    Title ::        nobility

This may be the shortest answers I've ever written for Sunday Stealing :-) plus no pictures!

Whoosh . . . and it is Friday!

I can't believe it is Friday and I haven't posted anything since Sunday. Since these posts are for "memory" purposes, I'll do a quick weekend and week recap. Last Thursday, over a week ago at this point, we had plans to meet 3 other couples from church for dinner at the Pita Stop and I was so excited to get some great hummus and pita bread and maybe even some falafel. Mother Nature had a different idea. It was pouring down rain and we were about halfway to the restaurant and my phone started screeching with tornado warnings. We literally drove off the interstate and turned around and went back home. Our safe place is the pantry so I was sitting inside the pantry and Mark was nearby pouring bourbon. We live in a place where tornado warnings are "normal" and we are in tornado season at this point.

Once the threat passed, I had a grilled cheese on Keto bread -- not the same as good Middle Eastern food.

Friday brought work and studying and Supper Club. I was in charge of the salad and made a lovely one!

Our friends had a cute centerpiece . . .just FYI, it was the husband's idea!

The menu was seafood gumbo so the fish centerpiece was perfect!!

I went to Weight Watchers on Saturday and studied some more. I'm sure we did something but I can't remember. No pictures . . .it didn't happen :-)

Sunday morning found me filling the crockpot with all veggie soup for my lunches.

I did this before I went to church. Mark was at his mom's so I was on my own for church.

When I arrived at church, I saw these flowers on the altar. I knew there was a wedding the night before but I have never seen such a large arrangement of calla lilies and roses and hydrangea. It was spectacular.

After church and Sunday school, I headed over to my mother-in-law's where we gathered as family around her table for Sunday lunch. Her memory is failing quickly but she loves having her family gathered around the table.

Monday was a normal day at work and then on Tuesday, I drove to Camp Sumatanga which is about an hour away. I love this place.

We met and worked all day Tuesday. We went to a local Mexican restaurant for dinner. The girls stayed in a cabin and we had so much fun that night. I laughed until I cried.

This is the United Methodist camp for the North Alabama Conference and it is the same place where we held our women's retreat back in October.

this was my room

Eleanor built a fire for us

the cute kitchen area

the outside

We woke up on Wednesday morning. We had brought breakfast food and put it in the oven. The guys walked up from their rooms (they didn't have a cabin) and ate with us. Everyone else arrived and we began meeting again at 9:00. I took this picture while everyone was eating breakfast.

We came home late Wednesday afternoon. Thursday was a VERY busy workday after being away from the office for two days. I went into the office this morning to finish up everything . . . and now we are

at the weekend again!

Sunday Stealing

I’m joining us with host, Bev Sykes of the blog "Funny the World" for Sunday Stealing. These questions are from Friday 5.

1) What one event from your lifetime would you change if you could, and why? I mention this in the answer for #3 below. I’ve answered all of the other questions but this one. The thing I would most want to change is one that I didn’t have control over. Someone else had control over me so I don’t know that I could change it. Another thing I might change is to always be true to me. There have been some years (more than I want to admit) where I tried to be like everyone else. I felt like I needed to measure up. I’m actually a pretty decent person with a good sense of humor and a lot of other good qualities. I wish I had just lived my life as me and I wish I would have been proud of it.

2) If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be and how old would your younger self be when they got it? Do you think your younger self would listen? I need to write a whole post on these questions. I guess one thing I would tell myself “go to college and get your degree.” If I had finished in the early 80’s, I wouldn’t be taking classes now.

3) If you could have a conversation with the historical figure of your choosing, whom would you pick and why? What would you talk about? I’ve actually answered questions 4-15. I skipped 1, 2, and 3 because I just didn’t have good answers. I think I might want to sit down with someone whose true story has been told incorrectly over the years. I might want to sit down with a really smart woman from the 1700’s or from earlier – a woman who was considered to be “property” and who wasn’t supposed to trouble her mind with “men’s work” . . .heck – those women were often the ones running things behind the scenes. Or how about Ruby Nell Bridges Hall who was born 4 years before me? What was it REALLY like to be the first African American child to desegregate a school?

4) What's a safety rule that's very important to you? I can’t think of a good example. When I worked for South Central Bell and AT&T, you would be “written up” for safety violations. One of the biggies was leaving the handle up on the paper cutter. When I first went to work at Trinity, my heart would almost stop every time I noticed the handle up on the paper cutter. Now it doesn’t bother me . . .actually, if it is up and I walk through the workroom, I put the handle down.

5) What would you like to say to people in the future? Be kind to each other. Take care of the earth!!

6) What's your favorite dish to bring to a summer cookout? I make an Asian slaw this is requested often. I also love to bring a big bowl of fresh watermelon.

7) How much time have you spent outdoors this week? I’ve spent very little time outside. Beginning now through April is my worst allergy time. Even on shots and oral meds, I have to limit my outside time right now.

8) Where do you set your thermostat? Well . . .right now, it is on 64 and it is finally warm in our house. Our heat is very efficient. When we go to bed at night in the winter, we turn it down as low as it will go – 50 degrees! We have several blankets and a big quilt on our bed. When the alarm goes off at 5:00 a.m., one of us runs quickly into the other room and turns the thermostat up.

9) How did you learn to swim? I can’t swim. I can doggy paddle. Hopefully, I could save myself. My sister and I took swimming lessons when we were adults. Our swim instructor was awesome but neither of us can still really swim. Mark was an excellent swimmer and swam on the swim team. I always took our kids to the pool when they were little and we did private swim lessons for them when they were 3. They are both great swimmers.

10) How do you avoid overheating? I live in Alabama. In the summer, we use our air conditioner ALL THE TIME. We also dress in cool fabrics like cotton.

11). What are you going to do this weekend? I’ve been studying sociology. Saturday afternoon I watched Chocolat. Questions about deviant behavior will be on our next exam and looking at Chocolat through sociological eyes was interesting! College classes involve YouTube videos, Ted Talks, and movies - for this semester I have to watch Chocolat and Pretty Woman!

12) What’s your favorite way to spend time? I love to read. I love to spend time with our friends and family. I actually like to exercise.

13) What’s the most useless thing you own that you would never get rid of? I feel slightly guilty about my answer. I love my china and crystal – really! I just don’t use it very often and I have 14 place settings. I won’t get rid of it, though. Technically, it is not useless . . .it just doesn’t get used very often. I started to leave this question with no answer and looked up and right in front of me was this . . . hence my answer.

14) Have you started planning your next vacation? Yes! We hope to travel again in June and that trip has been planned for a couple of years and postponed due to covid. My  husband is planning a trip with his twin brother for August AND we are planning another trip to Israel in February 2023.

15) Are you very active, or do you prefer to just relax in your free time or is it one and the same to you? Free time? Seriously? I do love to curl up with a good book but if I have free time, I’m usually cramming a long ride on the stationary bike into the time, too. I did read a book today – Family Money. It was good!

 

I've Been Saying It Wrong!

Each Tuesday night we have an ice breaker question with our young professionals. This week, I asked them to tell us their name . . .and their favorite chocolate. Mark's answer was "any." That works! Katherine said her favorite was a Kit Kat bar which I thought was cute since her name is Catherine and Kat is sometimes short for Catherine. Eleanor said her favorite candy bar was Skor. I don't think I've ever had one. I actually had to google it to find out.

photo borrowed from the internet

I don't eat sweets any more but when I did, my favorite was Reese's cups -- especially the trees and pumpkins because the ratio of peanut butter to chocolate was just right. Here is a picture of a gift I received one time. They knew me well.

Just FYI, I did NOT give up diet pepsis!

So what is this all about? I've always called these wonderful nuggets of chocolate and peanut butter goodness . . . Reese Cups. 

One of our Tuesday night young professionals has the type of personality where everything is black or white. He is very literal and is very vocal. When I said that my favorite chocolate is a Reese Cup, he turned and said, "It's Reese's." He pronounced it more like Reesie's. Anyway, I'll be honest. It ticked me off. I was still thinking about it on Wednesday morning so . . . .I went to my trusty friend, google. Imagine my horror when I realized that he was right - it is Reese's Cups.

I was telling my friend at work about this and SHE KNEW I WAS SAYING IT INCORRECTLY. I said, "why didn't you tell me?." She responded that I always said it with such authority and it was my favorite PLUS she said that I'm a person that is not easily corrected . . .which is so very true.

Anyway, I told Mark about this at dinner last night and he laughed and laughed because I'm not a person who is easily corrected and he knows that fact about me really well. I'm a #1 on the Enneagram . . .I like to tell other people how to correct things and make them right.

So dadgum -- I'm 63 years old -- I've been saying it wrong the whole time . . .and I'm not easily corrected. Yay me :-(

Anyway, what is your favorite chocolate?

Nutty Hodgepodge

I'm joining up with Joyce at From This Side of the Pond. I would love to hear your answers. You can answer in the comments or you can copy and paste the questions into your own blog, answer, and then link up on Joyce's blog.

1. February 16th is National Almond day...are you a fan? If so what's your favorite food item or recipe that contains almonds? I love almonds! I like eating them straight from the can! My husband LOVES Almond Skillet Cake. My friend, Phella, makes THE BEST Almond Skillet cake. It tastes like a giant sugar cookie flavored with almond flavoring.

photo from pinterest

2. Something you are currently 'nuts' about? I'm always "nuts" about our granddaughters but right now, we are also "nuts" about these two things:

This bean soup mix is great! Did you know that you can purchase a hambone at the Honeybaked Store? Soup is not one of Mark's favorite foods but he actually loves this one! Mark has been really "nuts" about this soup. 

I am also "nuts" about Cara Cara oranges. They are so juicy and delicious.

3. Something currently driving you 'nuts'? I have a weird problem that is driving me "nuts." Sometimes I can eat scrambled eggs for breakfast and I'm just fine. Other times, like Monday of this week, I can eat scrambled eggs for breakfast and I feel horrible a couple of hours later. The eggs were good. They were fresh from our son's chickens. I floated them before cooking to make sure they were fresh. I washed them well with soap and water because they were fresh. I scrambled them and mid morning, I went to see if our church chef had any crackers. I felt like my face was surely green. I ate a few Ritz crackers and was perfectly fine about 30 minutes later. When I was first tested for allergies back around 1981, I think I had a sensitivity to eggs but not a full blown allergy. This is driving me a tad "nuts" because Mark loves breakfast food. Eggs don't bother me if I eat them for dinner. Deviled eggs don't usually bother me. Eggs cooked in a pancake or waffle don't bother me. Anyone else have any strange random sensitivities to food?

4. Something you recently bought for 'peanuts'? I can't think of a thing but I heard a great story on Sunday night at a neighbor's house. My husband and I fell in love with a piece of antique furniture in her home. It was a chest but the top was slightly sloped down toward the middle front. We asked her about it and it was some sort of wooden antique cutting board. It had been used for so many years/times that the shape had been altered. She found it at a flea market and paid $450 for it. Let me tell you . . .if she had purchased it at any "antique store" in the greater Birmingham area, it would have been $2500. I just googled images to see if I could find something similar and I don't see a thing.

5. Share a favorite quote uttered by any U.S. President ( if you're not an American, a quote made by the leader of your own country). I'm going to be totally honest here. I do not know a single quote by a single president so I googled "quotes from U.S. Presidents." I found this one that I really like:

“There are men and women who make the world better just by being the kind of people they are. They have the gift of kindness or courage or loyalty or integrity. It really matters very little whether they are behind the weel of a truck or running a business or bringing up a family. They teach the truth by living it.” ― James Garfield (1831–1881)

6. Insert your own random thought here. We are looking forward to a couple of fun outings this week. On Thursday night, we are meeting friends for dinner at a local restaurant. On Friday night, we are going to a friend's home for dinner with our long-time supper club.

Busy weekend recap

Our weekend started on Thursday night when we attended a play, The Odd Couple, at a local theater. We have season tickets and this one was hysterical. Our only problem was that we had been up since 4:30 and it was hard to stay awake. The play was FUNNY so the laughing kept me awake but I'm pretty sure Mark snoozed through a large portion of the play. The Homewood Theater had moved into a new space TWO WEEKS before the play. It is amazing that they were able to get it ready in time. Our good friend, Marietta, was the director and she did an awesome job. Oscar and Felix were played well by the local actors as were the other characters.

Friday morning I worked from home. Mark and I did a quick costco run at lunctime and we dropped his truck off for a new bedliner. 

We had to go back and get the truck at 4:45 and we met our daughter-in-law and granddaughter #1 in the parking lot to do a trade. Sweet granddaughter came home to spend the night with us! She was acting silly while we ate "dinner" (lunchable). She had moved on to dessert. Have y'all seen these tiny ice cream cones (box picture below)? My 96 year old mother-in-law loves them as does our 5 year old granddaughter :-). 

Saturday morning found us up at 6:15 and we started the day with bacon (she loves bacon) and Encanto. Have you seen Encanto? It is sooooo good! We had to be at a community center about 30 minutes away from our house by 8:50 because she had to . . . .

She is the one with the pompoms in
the air

CHEER!

look at that giant hairbow! She
is growing up so fast.

we enjoyed watching these
little boys play. The referees were
great. When they called a foul, etc.,
they pulled the boy over to the side
and explained what they were doing.
Let me just say, there was a lot
of traveling going on. 

Saturday afternoon found me studying at the dining room table. I also answered some work emails (and drank several diet pepsis). Mark ran a couple of errands and we started a giant pot of soup and he did some yard work. Of course, while I was studying the washer and dryer were both working away, too. I also took a much needed nap.

Saturday night, I cooked fresh shrimp (one of Mark's earlier errands was to go to Snapper Grabbers for shrimp), grits, and asparagus. This was our early Valentine's dinner because I'm going to be working on Valentine's night.

The alarm went off at 5:00 on Sunday morning and I rode the bike and we got ready for church. We went to early church and then Sunday school. I didn't have to teach and it was wonderful to sit and listen to the lesson. After church, we stopped at the Walmart Neighborhood Market to grab our Keto bread. Mark also needed half and half and they were TOTALLY OUT of cream - as in zero on the shelf. No big ones; no little ones; no regular brand; no Walmart brand -- no half and half.

We headed to Mark's mom's for our Sunday lunch and my sister-in-law made yummy Gumbo and salad. She also made a homemade coconut cake which is my son's new favorite cake.

We went back to our house and I did two loads of laundry while I studied. I think Mark exercised - he was out in the garage (which is very nice!).

At 6:25, we hopped back into the car and headed a few streets over to a neighbor's home for dinner. We could have walked but we were carrying all sorts of stuff and it was really too cold to take the golf cart. I've mentioned our neighborhood supper clubs that rotate monthly. This time we were with one couple that we met at a previous supper club but the other two couples and the hostess were all "new friends." I am really enjoying meeting new folks. The hostess, whose name is also Lisa, served lasagna and chicken tetrazinni and I took a huge salad. One of the other couples brought bread and the other two couples brought a charcuterie board. Somehow, no one signed up for dessert. We watched a little of the super bowl but mostly ate and talked. I didn't take a picture of the food or of the people but I did take a picture of her flower arrangement on the island. This dough bowl holding the arrangement was huge - 3 feet long, perhaps?

When we got home, I was too wound up to sleep so I read for a while. 5:00 a.m. Monday morning came WAY TOO EARLY. I actually buried my head under the pillow and said to Mark, "Mommy, I want to stay home today." Just FYI, I got up and exercised and got ready and showed up for work.

All in all, it was a great weekend -- busy but fun.

What did you do this weekend?

Sunday Stealing

Join with me and lots of other bloggers for Sunday Stealing.  Thanks to Bev Sykes of the blog "Funny the World.” She steals the questions from the great internet each week and we answer and link up.

These questions are stolen from The New York Times.

    1. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest? Great question. Do they have to be living? If so, I might just choose to eat with our regular monthly supper club. We’ve done life with this group since 2004 (actually much longer but we’ve been eating around each other’s tables every month for that many years). Or maybe I would like to sit down with Maria and Bob Goff (could it be at their house??). I think they are such cool people. If I could eat with those who have gone before me, it would be my parents and grandparents. I have lots of questions.

2. Would you like to be famous? In what way? I’ve always said that I would like to be remembered as a philanthropist . . .but since we aren’t people of that kind of means, that won’t be happening. I just want to be remembered for being a good person who loved well.

3. Before making a telephone call, do you ever rehearse what you are going to say? Why? If it is going to be a difficult conversation, I will try to map out in my head what I want to say. I don’t want to say the wrong thing in the heat of the moment. Otherwise for any other conversation, I probably wouldn’t.

4. What would constitute a “perfect” day for you? I love sunshine and I love the beach so a perfect day would be spent with those I love in the sunshine on the beach with maybe a cold beverage in my hand.

5. When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else? Our granddaughter spent the night last night and we were singing, “Don’t talk about Bruno! No! No! No!” I put our other granddaughter to bed one night during Christmas and I sang to her. My husband hums ALL OF THE TIME. Seriously. I told him that I will start worrying about him if he quits humming. When he is humming, the lyrics are often going through my head.

6. If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year-old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you want? Since we’ve been watching the mental decline of my wonderful mother-in-law over the last year, I think I would prefer the mind of a 30 year old. Though I will say that I feel like I have become more wise in the 33 years since my 30^th birthday and I would hate to give that up.

7. Do you have a secret hunch about how you will die? I don’t. My mom died of cancer (at 50) and my dad died of cancer (in his early to mid 60’s) so I’ve always thought that would be my fate. At this stage of the game, I feel like every day that I’m alive and in good health is a gift. I would like to just go to sleep and not wake up when it is time. I’m sure most people would, too.

8. Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common. We have our faith, love of family, and sense of humor in common.

9. For what in your life do you feel most grateful? Y’all . . .I have a wonderful life. I have a great family. We live in a “just right for us” home in an incredible neighborhood. We have amazing friends. We have “enough” money to go out to eat or go on a trip. I have “more than reliable” transportation. We turn on a faucet and clean water runs out. We have our share of troubles and we’ve had some rough years in our lives but we are still incredibly blessed.

10. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be? I’m not going to overthink this. When I was in the 6^th grade, you could join the band. I wanted to be in the band. My dad had been in a horrible train accident and money was evidently very tight. My parents had to tell me that I couldn’t be in the band. We just didn’t have the money at the time. It is the only time I ever remember them telling me we couldn’t do something because of money which is pretty incredible because looking back, I know that money was probably tight a lot of the time. The only other thing which is way more important is I wish my mom hadn’t died when I was in high school. I think I turned out ok anyway but it was touch and go for a while.

11. Describe your life in one paragraph. See #9 above. In addition, I’m a wife, mom, sister, friend, employee, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, Sunday school teacher, small group facilitator, college student at 63, woman of faith.

12. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be? How about the ability to sing well? I actually used to be able to sing “ok” – I made All State choir when I was in high school. I don’t sing well at all anymore.

13. If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would you want to know? I’m not sure I want to know the future. Sometimes I “think” I do, but I’m not sure I really want to know.

14. Is there something that you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it? I’m doing it. I’ve dreamed of finishing my degree and I’m going to do it one class at a time.

15. What is the greatest accomplishment of your life? Mine is a two for one – we have twins who are 35. They are awesome people. I gave birth to them and kept them alive (some times that was doubtful 😊) and we raised them.

10 on the 10th - It's All about Love

 

Linking up today with Leslie at Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After for 10 questions on the 10^th of each month.

1.       What was something you absolutely loved about 2021? We took a great family vacation to the beach and Mark and I took a wonderful trip to Ireland.

2.       Do you have an interesting love story you’d like to share?  Please do! Are we supposed to share our own love story? If so, my good friends Nancy and Sally planned a canoe trip for single young adults. This was a long, long time ago. They invited their first cousins, who happened to be identical twins, to join us on the canoe trip BECAUSE THEY ACTUALLY KNEW HOW TO CANOE. Anyway, I was not in the same canoe as Mark but we did talk that day. I went home and told my roommates (who happened to ALSO be identical twins) that I had met the man I was going to marry. We did get married two years later and we’ve been together ever since. We’ve had some great years and we’ve had some really tough years. But here we are . . .and dare I say, actually more in love now.

3.       What food do you love and must have on a regular basis? My “have to have” is not really a food but a drink. I have to have diet pepsi every day. I’ve given it up a few times over the years, but I really love it. I love the taste. I love the fizz. I love the caffeine.

4.       What fashion “trend” do you love?  It doesn’t even have to be a current trend. I prefer my skirts and dresses above the knee. I’m 63 so I don’t mean ridiculously short but I prefer for them to hit above the knee. I’m not sure there is a fashion trend that I love. I did love big hair in the 80’s and I had awesome big hair.

5.       Which season do you love most?  Why is it your favorite? I love fall when the temps aren’t quite as hot and the leaves are gorgeous. In Alabama, it is usually still hot enough in September and October for a trip to the beach. I love the long sunny summer days, too.

6.       If you could be with a loved one who has passed, who would it be and what would you do? I would love to sit down with my parents and just find out about their lives. I would also love for my Granny, my daddy’s mother, to be there because I want to ask about our Irish roots.

7.       What would you love to accomplish in 2022? I’ve written this on so many blog posts that it is beginning to sound crazy. I would really love to get to my goal weight. I’ve lost weight so well over the last few years but I have hit a brick wall and cannot get another pound off. I need to sit down and map out a plan. Just wishing for something without a plan to achieve it rarely works.

8.       Which do you love most:  shoes, handbags, belts, or coats? I love shoes but my feet HATE shoes. I wish I could wear gorgeous heels and fancy pumps. Handbags are fun. I’m not sure I even own a belt anymore. Coats are fun but I really don’t like cold weather.

9.       What love remains with you today? I’m not going to give this a lot of thought – I’m going to write what popped into my head – the love and grace of Jesus. He loved me before I was born and he still loves me at 63. His love is faithful and true.

10.   How do you show your love?  What is your love language? One of the ways I show love is by cooking for others. I also try to tell people that I love them. My love language is gifts and that doesn’t mean that I need gifts. I love giving gifts. I really love giving a gift that the person loves. I gave my husband a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle and he was so excited. I gave him a skeet thrower this Christmas (he did pick it out) but I love when he comes home from the farm and tells me how much fun he had using it. My “next” love language is words of affirmation. I thrive and grow on words of affirmation. If I do a good job – tell me – and next time, I’ll try to do an even better job.

Tickle Me Hodgepodge

 1. Besides the predictable name-rank-serial number, what's something you know by heart? We say The Lord's Prayer and The Apostle's Creed, or Affirmation of faith, every week in worship and I know those by heart. I know quite a few hymn lyrics and children's songs by heart.

I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. The third day He rose from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,* the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. (*) We aren't Catholic - see this is a little "c" -- refers to the universal church – or to make it easier – all of the churches who believe in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

Mark's mom sang a song to him when he was little and we sang it to our children and our daughter sings it to her daughter (not sure about son)

Horsey Horsey carry me

Through the woods and to the sea

If you’re tired and want to stop

I will let the bridle drop

2. Something recently that had you tickled pink? Today in our staff chapel, we were doing some fun get to know you things. Someone said that I was their mentor. That was really special and I guess it "tickled me pink."

3. How do you define the word romantic, and are you one? Romantic means (to me) that you would be doing things that you know the other person would love whether you love it or not. Romantic would also include a good surprise every once in a while. I don't think either of us is very romantic but we sure do love each other. Mark did something for me one year for Valentine's day that was very romantic. He made reservations for dinner at a cool venue and didn't tell me where we were going until we got there. It was a Prix Fixe menu and the restaurant presented each lady with a red rose. It was nice. I surprised him with a trip to New Orleans one year for his birthday so we do things for each other all of the time but I don't think of us as romantics.

4. Finish this verse with your own original thought....'Roses are red, violets are blue...

I found this one on line:

Roses are red

Violets are blue

I wouldn't know

because I don't get them from you!

This made me laugh!!

5. Five little things you are loving right now? 

school - because I'm learning new things!!

family - because I love them!

work - because I love my job

daffodils and forsythia beginning to bloom

the thought of traveling again (the thoughts are small . . .travel is not)

6. Insert your own random thought here. Mark and his twin brother went hunting last week and Mark shot a hog. Wild hogs are very destructive and have decided to take up residence in Alabama. Anyway . . . Mark made homemade sausage this weekend. He smoked it last night but I didn't get any more pictures.

Whirlwind Weekend

We had one of those weekends that was full and went by in a flash. I actually worked in the office on Friday and then had lunch with two of my best friends. It was so cold and gray on Friday, but we sat around the kitchen table and enjoyed being with each other.

I studied in the afternoon and then this cutie arrived.

This is her "say cheese" face. Our daughter and granddaughter came to visit for the weekend. We had our Lil Lambs Consignment Sale at the church last week and I bought a big baggie of My Little Ponies for her. Needless to say, she liked them.

She slept in the new little bed we bought from Pottery Barn. It is a big chair that folds out into a twin bed. I ordered foam bumpers from Amazon and they worked really well.

I had found another tub of Barbies of the attic so we enjoyed looking through all of the stuff.

It was another COLD day but this girl loves to be outside. Her momma layered her clothes and they went to the playground. While they played outside, I worked on making the lasagna for our Tuesday night group.

She also enjoyed playing inside.

Laura's good friend came over and brought her little girl for lunch and a playdate.

Pops had been out of town since Thursday and there was one little girl who was very excited to see him when he got home. They went to the pond and fed the fish and they went for a walk.

On Sunday, Mark and I headed to church and Laura and sweet girl went to spend time with Grandmother.

We all gathered at her house after church and Granddaughter #1 was so sweet with #2. 

After lunch, I studied a little more and then I went to a Tea for one of our sweet girls who grew up in our church and who came to our Tuesday night group.

We came home and I took my first exam online. I made a B. I really wanted an A. To be honest, I wanted to ace the test but I have to remind myself that I'm in this to learn. I don't have to have a perfect gradepoint to get into a grad school or to get a job. I'm doing this to learn. Just FYI - I do still have an A in the class.

After the test, I finally got in some exercise on the bike and then I crashed!