Catch Up Post

For the last two weeks, I have been able to answer the Sunday Stealing questions and the Hodgepodge questions. I've tried to take a few moments to comment on other blogs (I'm still working my way around!). I realized that I haven't written anything about what is going on! On Sunday, January 4, we attended our last holiday party. It was mainly desserts so I didn't eat anything! Our cousin, Nathan, made the caramel cake below. It looked so good!

I received the amaryllis below as a gift. The blooms are beautiful!

On Sunday, January 11, our staff hosted two Leadership Receptions. We have a new campus in Hoover that will be opening later this year and our Senior Pastor announced who the new pastor will be at this campus.

The evening was catered by a local company and everyone seemed to have a good time. I was so tired when I got home on Sunday night! This room was filled with people at 3:00 and again at 5:00. 

On Monday, classes began!

On Tuesday night, the young professionals made PB&J's for the Outreach Hub. They made about 100. I love to "eavesdrop" on their conversations. They are so fun!

Fast forward to Saturday, the 17th. Our daughter and son-in-law had some business to take care of in our town so they dropped the girls off for us to keep. We had fun!

We built with duplo blocks - one granddaughter made a giraffe.

The other granddaughter enjoyed tearing down the things that Gran and her sister made.

We live on a park and we spent a LONG time in the park. The swings had a good workout.

Pops and the little one had fun, too.

A neighbor and his daughter came outside and she and our granddaughter played so well together. They were pretending they were panthers and they were after their prey! The little one wanted to be in on their game.

The towers and slides were used!!

The little one has a nasty ear infection and green gunk in the nose! I brought her inside and fixed a simple lunch. Pop and the older one stayed outside playing.

I took her upstairs and put on her sleepsack and turned on the noise maker and we began to "rock rock." She went to sleep in my arms and I sat in that chair for an hour and 15 minutes holding her while she slept. 

While she slept, her big sister and Pops (who the little one calls Bop) took the golf cart for a spin around the neighborhood and they checked out one of the other parks. After little bit woke from her nap, we all headed back out to the park.

Even Pops climbed up in the tower.

It was a fun, but very tiring, day!!

I worked on Sunday, taught our Sunday School class, and then Mark and I went to his twin brother's house (and wife!!) for lunch. Our niece, who was married in June, is moving to DC. Her husband is a patent attorney and his new job is located there. Grace was able to get another great job and they will live there for a couple of years.

Monday morning brought a "field trip" for work for MLK day. We visited St. Paul UMC in downtown Birmingham. This church is on the same block as 16th Street Baptist church where the four little girls were killed by a bomb on September 15, 1963. I was 5 years old at the time and I have no memory of this event. I did learn something new from the displays at the UMC - I had no idea that black people could not use the library where my sister and I spent many happy hours. I teared up when I read about the one library where they could go. I have no idea why that one fact broke my heart a little bit more, but it did.

Below are some pictures from our visit. Since it was a school holiday, several employees brought their children.

Look at the window below -- look at the "big picture" -- Jesus takes up the whole window and then all sorts of people make up the "body of Christ."

It was a gorgeous day, but it was cold!! We took one photo on the steps of the church.

We took one inside the church. I am smack dab in the middle in the red coat.

The photo below is from our church history book. Evidently there was a rumor that young black college men were going to try to enter white churches . . .and our administrative board passed this "recommendation." It is a horrifying piece of our history.

When we got back to the church, Brian wrote the following article and posted the above pictures on social media.

Written by Brian Erickson (my boss, friend, and senior pastor of our church)

Grateful to start the day at our sister church, St. Paul's United Methodist, hearing stories of moral courage from the Civil Rights era, with several of the Trinity staff and their families.

It is humbling to remember that, while Christians were marching from the St. Paul's sanctuary out into the streets to face Bull Connor (another Methodist from Birmingham), Trinity's administrative board was adopting statements instructing the ushers to bar anyone from entry they felt might cause a disturbance, and making sure they didn't show the children denominational curriculum that featured black and white children playing together. Those stories are important for us to remember, because they remind us that good people can do bad things, or at least fail to do the right thing.

History is such a frustrating mirror, because it is often just as complicated as the present moment, if not moreso. I remember hearing a Holocaust survivor once say that the worst mistake we could make was to imagine the Nazis all as monsters, because then we would miss the lesson about human nature in general. We can sift through history to find only the patterns that reinforce our perspective, we can ignore the past altogether, or we can acknowledge what it has to teach us that we don't particularly want to learn. In every edition of the human race, the heroes have never been perfectly heroic, nor have the bad actors been perfectly terrible.

But one day, we will be a part of the past, and someone else will decide what it is we stood for. May that awareness shape the moment we've been given.

Lisa writing again - y'all . . .my final words for the day -- we have to do better. we have to be kind and good people. we have to love God and love all people.

 

BRRR . . .Hodgepodge!

 

1. Ice skating, skiing, sledding, snowshoeing, playing in the snow, or a snowy walk...which winter activity do you choose? Have you done any of these activities so far this winter? We have had no snow here in middle Alabama. We were supposed to have an ice storm this weekend but they are beginning to think it will be north of us. 

2. Everyone is posting pictures from ten years ago on their social media sites so let's jump on the bandwagon too. Share one photo and one thought to go with said photo from the year 2016. And maybe everyone isn't doing this, but many are and we're going to be part of the fun. 

We had a LOT going on in 2016. We became grandparents for the first time (and I've lost a lot of weight since then!). Our son had his colon removed that year. Our son and daughter celebrated their 30th birthdays that year. I took my first trip to Israel -- really my first trip out of the country (besides Nassau and St. Martin) which included a 12 hour flight (without Mark). We went to a LOT of weddings in 2016, too!

3. What's a trend you hope disappears in this new year? I don't have this in my house, but I am not overly fond of open shelving in a kitchen. Give me good cabinets any day! Please don't be offended if you have open shelving. It is just not for me!

4. 'They' say there's a day for everything and January 21st proves it. National Granola Bar Day. Do you like granola bars? How about just regular granola? Do you like bars of other kinds? If we ever buy granola bars, we buy the crunchy Nature Valley ones. I enjoy regular granola, but it can be so fattening! While on the AmaSerena back in October, they served cold muesli. It was basically overnight oats, which I love! I would put a tiny sprinkle of granola on top for a little crunch. It was so good!

5.  A frozen lake, a trickling stream, a raging river, or a deep well...which one describes something about your life right now? Elaborate as much or as little as you like. I guess I am white water rafting down a raging river! Between work and school and life, things are always busy. I am thankful for a deep well, too . . .of faith and friends and family. According to my blog, I had a faith crisis back in the later part of 2015. Did anyone read lots of old posts when you were answer question 2?

6. Insert your own random thought here. I started writing a "catch-up" post on the weekend and I still haven't finished it. Maybe tonight or tomorrow . . .Stay warm!

Sunday Stealing 3 X 5

 

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! 

Back in 2007, Donna from Just Me was tagged by her blog buddy Shaz to answer a long and lovely list of three things. We've pared it back to 5.

3 x 5

Three things I love (Remember, these are things, not people):

1.    A gorgeous sunrise

2.    A gorgeous sunset (I love both sunrise and sunset!)

3.    A cold diet pepsi!

Three things on my desk (at work):

1.    A laptop

2.    A docking station for my laptop

3.    A big monitor and a keyboard

Three things I can't do:

1.    Snow ski (I've never tried)

2.    Snow board (I've never tried)

3.    Plant a garden (we don't have a big enough yard)

Three things I'm good at:

1.    Hosting people for dinner

2.    Cooking

3.     Gift wrapping

Three things I want to accomplish:

1.    Lose the last 10 pounds -- I'm ready to be at my goal weight!

2.    Graduate from college -- planned for May of 2027

3.    Finish cleaning out our attic

 

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

Hodgepodging Along . . .

 

1. What kind of winter person are you-snow lover, fireplace snuggler, winter adventurer, or indoor hibernator? Elaborate. I actually do not like winter. It's fine. Really. It is not my favorite season. I love a brief snowfall . . .because it is so rare in Alabama. I do enjoy our fireplace and a cozy blanket -- I guess that makes me a "fireplace snuggler."

2. The Pantone color of the year is cloud dancer, described as a gentle, billowy off white shade. The color symbolizes 'peace, clarity, quiet reflection, renewal, and a soft reset'. Of the terms just listed which do you need most in your life this winter? Just reading those words is calming to me!! I would like a tad of all five, please!

3. Every cloud has a silver lining, on cloud nine, head in the clouds, storm clouds gathering, or cloud of suspicion...which 'cloud' idiom do you most relate to currently? Explain. I'm going to go with "every cloud has a silver lining" simply because I try to look for the good in situations.

4. coconut, cauliflower, cottage cheese, mayonnaise, onions, ranch dressing...of the white foods listed, which would be the hardest for you to give up? Do you like all or any of the foods on the list? I eat a lot of fat free cottage cheese. I had it this morning with blueberries for breakfast. I love coconut but don't eat it that often since my preferred way to eat it would be with dark chocolate. hahaha! I don't eat sweets.

5. Thomas Wentworth Higginson is credited with this quote-

"How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose, if there were no winter in our year." 

Agree or disagree? Tell us why. I guess I agree . . .winter makes me appreciate sunshine and warm temperatures and days filled with more hours of light.

6. Insert your own random thought here. Classes started on Monday - Spring Semester A. This semester brings Behavior in Organizations and a class on child development. I always feel totally overwhelmed during the first week or so of class. I have so much to read and so many projects. I have to take a deep breath (just did it!!), say a prayer (yep!) or 100, and take it one thing at a time - one deadline at a time.

Sunday Stealing - When I Was Younger . . .

 

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!

We're going into the new year by looking back. Randy at GeneaMusings encourages us to reminisce. 

When I Was Young

1.    Tell us about a time when your family got a newfangled invention (your first air conditioner, color TV, VCR, microwave, computer, etc.). Before Mark and I married (over 40 years ago), we were blessed with many wedding gifts. We kept 12 place settings of everyday dishes, china (actually kept some extra plates), silver, and crystal. We returned all of the extras. We had a $500 credit at a local department store and we purchased our FIRST microwave. It was massive in size. We spent the whole $500 on a microwave. Now a countertop microwave is much much cheaper. I remember getting a big console tv – stereo in one end and radio on the other end – tv in the middle. I was a kid and I remember that it was a big deal!

 Is there a particular song that sparks a childhood memory? I’ve written about this before. In our neighborhood, we would swing and sing. We played kickball and wiffle ball and rode bikes and did all of those things, too, BUT we would swing and sing. I remember singing “This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land” at the top of our lungs!

What is something an older family member taught you to do? Mark’s mother taught me to bake Brown Sugar Brownies (among many other things) and I still make them often. My mother died when I was 15 so I don’t remember many things she taught me. My dad died when I was 25 – same thing. They did teach us to be honest and that sometimes you have to do hard things that you don’t want to do – but you do them, because they are the right things to do.

Back in the day, what name brands would we have found in your family's kitchen? Are we talking back in the day when I was a kid? Or back in the day when Mark and I first married? When I was a kid, I have no idea. I know my mom had a stand mixer – I think it was a Sunbeam. Any new furniture purchased by my parents would have been from Miller’s Furniture store. When we were newlyweds, goodness . . .china is Lenox, crystal is Gorham, silver is Chantilly by Gorham. Our everyday dishes were a stoneware. I let Mark have a “say-so” in picking out that pattern. I never really liked it – it was too masculine – haha! We used it for a LONG time. I know some of our appliances came from Sears. Our kids wore everything from Kelly’s Kid’s clothing to Osh Kosh to Feltman Brothers to clothes smocked by me and sewn together by my mother-in-law.

As a child, did you collect anything (rocks, shells, stickers, etc.)? For a short time, I collected thimbles. I even had a little wooden display case. Why? I have no idea.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

Hodgepodge

 

Thanks to Joyce for our questions. You can answer in the comments below or join us over at From This Side of the Pond.

1. What are three words you would use to describe your 2025? 

"Another Hard Year" . . .or on a more positive note, how about "Blessings Outweigh Difficulties." 

2. I ask this question every January, and I always get comments about how we shouldn't be banning words. This is fun and games so just play along : ) 

Every January 1st since 1976 Lake Superior University has published a list of words they'd like to see banished from the Queen's English. Words may be banished due to misuse, overuse, or just general uselessness (go here to read about how the words are chosen). Here's the list for 2026- 

67 • demure • cooked • massive • incentivize • full stop • perfect • gift/gifted  • my bad • reach out 

Which one (if any) do you use most often? Which one of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word you think should have made the list? 

I think incentivize is such a weird word!! I actually thought "full stop" was already out. I haven't heard anyone use "demure" in years - is it slang for something else? I remember that 67 was word of the year . . .but it is not really a word!! I think I still say "my bad" every once in a while. I don't have a strong opinion on most of these - either direction!

3. What are your nightly rituals? Is that different from your 'ideal' nightly ritual? If so what's your ideal? 

Classes start back on Monday and our routine will be:

I arrive home from work.

I do homework while Mark exercises in the garage and takes a shower.

We eat something for dinner and wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen.

We watch a couple of tv shows.

On a cold night, we turn down our covers so our sheets will warm up!

We floss our teeth, take our pills, brush our teeth.

I set the alarm on my phone and we turn on white noise on both of our phones.

We go to bed - usually right around 10:00 p.m., say sleep tight and I love you, and hopefully, go to sleep!

I don't know what an ideal routine would be . . .what do other people do at night??

4. January 6th is/was National Bean Day. Do you like beans? Which one is your favorite? Last thing you ate made with beans? 

I love a lot of beans - are we counting "peas" as beans, too? If so, I love pink-eye purple hull peas in the summer time! I love pinto beans, black beans, garbanzo beans, and green beans (do those count?). If peas do count, I love black eye peas, crowder peas, lady peas, cream peas, and zipper peas.

Oh my goodness - I asked AI "what is the difference in peas and beans." I learned lots of new things! Peas prefer cooler weather, while beans like hot weather! Beans come in more colors and shapes than peas! Peas are more delicate than beans - I knew that!

5. Are you easily embarrassed? Elaborate. 

I can be easily embarrassed and my face turns red quickly. I actually have a hard time watching others embarrass themselves - like on TV!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Sunset was at 4:54 p.m. today…though since we never actually saw the sun, it was hard to notice when daytime gave up and night officially took over. By February 14, sunset will push back to 5:39 p.m., gifting us a glorious 45 extra minutes of daylight. January and February in Alabama are long, dark months. And yes, I know February is technically the shortest month—but emotionally? It feels like it lasts forever.

 

Sunday Stealing Inspired by Christina at Call Me Patsy

 

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's meme is inspired by Christina at Call Me Patsy, who turned to answering these questions when she felt frustrated by a project she was working on.

Questions to Answer when You Need a Break 

1. What would you rather be doing right now? It is a chilly, gray (or is it grey?) day here in Birmingham, AL. I am writing on Saturday afternoon. My hubby is watching a football game that he taped and he doesn't know the outcome. I am upstairs in my office. I would rather be at the nail salon getting a pedicure, but I haven't been able to get myself motivated to go. Maybe I'll do that in a few minutes.

2. What is always on your grocery list? Diet pepsis, distilled water, no sugar added fudgsicles, lean ground beef, fruit  . . . those are almost always on my list.

3. Have you ever used a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose? I have never used a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose nor for any other reason! A fire extinguisher would not have helped when our home burned.

4. How many times did you text yesterday? My phone is downstairs right now, so I can't give an accurate count . . .I usually text quite a bit.

5. Would you prefer a slow-paced, relaxing vacation or one filled with new sights and experiences? I personally like a mix of both. I love a trip filled with new sights and experiences - why I love to travel! I also love a week like this last week where life slowed down for a moment and I could breathe and sleep. It would have been better at the beach, but it was just fine here at home.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

New Year's Eve Plus Reflections on the Year

 Back around the first of December, Mark and I went to the Outlet Mall. I bought some really cute navy velvet pants at Loft and I found the most beautiful shirt at J Crew. It was a little dressy for dinner at home on New Year's Eve - but hey! I'm 67 years old and can wear what I want to wear, right?

We had removed all of our Christmas decorations (except for our Nativities) and I had redecorated the mantle for New Year's Eve. Since I was on vacation, I made sculpey clay stars one day and had a star theme.

I was very pleased with how they turned out!

I bought some new gold ribbon and traded out the polka dot.

It was not an "over the top" mantle decoration - just right, in my humble opinion :-).

I was able to update the flowers and use the centerpiece ONE MORE TIME. I sent a text to the three ladies who sent it to us telling them that it was the gift that kept on giving. My boss made the box for me years ago and I use it all of the time.

I bought New Year's champagne flutes at Publix and had one at each place on the table. I went back and placed a star at the bottom of each glass - party favors :-).

At one point, three of the guys were backed up to the fireplace. It was cold.

We decided to celebrate when the ball dropped in New York City -- which is actually only 11:00 p.m. in Alabama. We were proud of ourselves for making it! You can see the stars hanging from the light over the island - I bought those stars. Guy was pouring our champagne for toasting.

One couple was unable to join us so we snapped a photo to send to them. We snapped some practice rounds and we snapped one with only 10 seconds to go. In one of the photos you can see the champagne glasses. None of the photos was good of me, but once again - oh well!

I bought nice New Year's paper plates and we ate dinner on paper so the clean up didn't take as long. Mark and I were in bed by 12:30. Our menu was smoked brisket, roasted multi-colored dutch potatoes, salad, rolls, an appetizer and several desserts.

Mark left for the farm on New Year's Day morning and I puttered around the house all day. I sent a lunch/dinner like the one below with him to the farm. We had sliced ham, greens, and black eye peas. I actually added two of those baby potatoes from the night before to my plate!

I cannot believe it is now 2026. Wow!

2025 was quite a year. We lost Mark's brother and his wife - Bill and Rebecca - exactly one month apart. Our family had two weddings - one in Delaware and one in Birmingham - a nephew . . .and a niece. Both weddings were fun and true celebrations.

We hosted a fun brunch for our niece on the day of her wedding.

I graduated with my Associate Degree and moved on to Samford University as a Junior. I did a lot of studying in 2025!

My sister came for a visit and was at graduation.

We had an outside picnic/memorial for my sister who had died at the end of 2024.

Mark and I took a great trip to Amsterdam, Germany, France, and Switzerland.

We enjoyed meals with our long-time supper club - we even spent a weekend at the lake together.

We enjoyed meals with neighbors and meals with people from our Sunday School Class. I continued to work and Mark continued to volunteer. I continued to teach our adult Sunday School class and facilitate on Tuesday nights for the young adults.

Our sweet grands continued to thrive and grow.

I hope and pray that 2026 is a year of peace and a year of joy! I keep trying to think of a personal word for 2026, but I'm not very good at doing that!! I have jotted a list of possibilities, but haven't settled on a single one.

Last Hodgepodge of 2025. . .and It Is Sooo Late!

 

1. Did you make resolutions or set goals for the year we're waving goodbye? How did that work out for you? Will you set any goals for this new year, new season, or new month? Share one or two if you'd like to share. If I made any resolutions, I have forgotten them. I should look back at my blog – I might have shared them!! That sentence should tell you how it worked out for me. I’ve been trying to think of a word for 2026, but don’t have one yet. I would like to finally reach my goal weight at Weight Watchers.

2. When did you have the most fun this year? I had a lot of fun at various times this year. We love hanging out with the young adults each week – they are a lot of fun. We are truly blessed with good friends and we spent lots of time together and that is almost always fun. We had fun on our trip – meeting new people, seeing and experiencing new things, trying new foods.

3. What's a song or song lyric you'll associate with 2025? Tell us why. Golden - KPop Demon Hunters . . . Here is a link to the video.

why? Our staff video was based on that tune - you can see it here (if you have facebook).

4. Best (or a favorite) bite of something delicious you tasted this year? Gingerbread in France. Oh my goodness! It was delicious.

5. What do you want to do more of in the new year? Less of? I want to spend more time on relationships. I'm not sure when I think this will happen, but I would definitely like to do so. I want to do less negative self-talk.

6. Insert your own random thought here. I'm three days late posting this -- Wednesday Hodgepodge on Saturday. Oh well . . .it is what it is.

The Real Christmas at the Elliott's House

We were finally able to celebrate our family Christmas on the Saturday following Christmas Day. Our daughter, son-in-law, and two of the three grands arrived on Friday in time for lunch. I had planned easy kid-approved meals for Friday -- hot dogs for lunch and burgers for dinner.

There is a park in front of our house so there was some playing going on!

There was some playing happening inside, too.

Just FYI - there was NO sleeping going on. haha! That is not exactly true. This one did take a good nap on Friday -- perhaps too long. Mark and I had moved upstairs and had set up the little bed in our bedroom. Laura and one girl slept in our bed on Friday night and the other slept in the little bed -- or that is how the night began. To be honest, there was not a lot of sleeping going on. Scott ended up with the sweet six year old in the bed with him upstairs and Laura and the baby were downstairs. Mark and I were in the other guest room.

Mark met Glenn at the gas station on Saturday morning so that our oldest grand could come for the whole day. Everyone left me at one point for several hours with all three. Whew! The youngest is VERY BUSY. At this point, the older girls were making marshmallow designs with toothpicks and miniature marshmallows. The little wanted to make her own - which included trying to eat a few . . .which I found "glued" to the side of the bar stools later that day haha!

Pops brought in the little table and the bigger girls worked on Gingerbread houses . . .the little one wanted her own chair and her own house!!

When everyone came back, there was more park time. I may have been day drinking at this point - which I never do hahahaha!

That is our son in the swing - just a big kid.

Our oldest is 3 years older than our middle and she is so sweet with her.

I went in to work on our dinner and everyone went to one of the other parks - we have several in the neighborhood.

Before dinner, we gave our gifts to the girls.

The little one wanted jewelry like her sister's so this Gran found safe jewelry. NOPE - she wouldn't have anything to do with it!! Not the same - NO! NO!

The middle daughter received a DJ Furby Interactive toy from Santa - everyone was wearing it like a boa!

Our daughter-in-law had sent the name of some special markers. I was able to get a box for each of the older girls . . .this Gran would like some, too, please. They are in this huge case and there are so many colors!!

She received a scooter and decided to sit on it - immediately!

We grabbed a quick selfie before dinner - you can see all of the wonderful mess around us. Our son-in-law and daughter are on the left. I'm in the middle (horrible picture but who cares, right?). Mark is behind me. Our son is over my right shoulder. Our "son by choice" is in the back right. Our dauther-in-law is on the far right.

The sofa -- our little on the left; middle in the middle; oldest on the right.

After dinner, S'mores were dessert.

Since no one had slept the night before, our daughter and son-in-law and their two loaded their car and headed home after dinner. It is about an hour and a half or a little more to drive to their house. They all went to bed in their own beds that night. It was a short time together, but it was good!