I Can Do It Myself Hodgepodge

 

1. Do you think you're driven more by curiosity or comfort? Explain. This is a tough question. I want to say that I'm more driven by curiosity, but I'm afraid the real answer might be comfort. Maybe that isn't true . . .as I'm typing, I am thinking. I am a college student at 68 years old - that isn't very comfortable and I am very curious! I love to travel - you will read about some new travel adventures soon! If I was only going for comfort, I might choose to stay home and watch Rick Steves as he meanders through exotic locales. I've talked myself into a different answer. I guess I can be driven by curiosity!

2. What non-food item is in your refrigerator or freezer? My vials of allergy shot medicine are in a little brown envelope and they are stored in the refrigerator and there are some alcohol wipes in the fridge with them!

3. Are you comfortable with silence? If you're home alone, do you like silence or do you need regular background noise? Do you seek out times and places to be silent? What's your favorite place to find silence/be silent? I am much more comfortable with silence than my husband, though we are sitting in silence at this moment! I do not need regular background noise. I don't usually have time to seek out silence, but I enjoy it when I have it. I guess my favorite place would be when I sneak into the sanctuary during the week and kneel on the kneelers at the front of the church. If the sun is shining and the lights are off, the sun shines through the stained glass and makes patterns on the carpet. That brief moment of silence spent in God's presence always feels good.

4. Carpentry, electrical, plumbing, landscaping...which skill would you most like to possess and how would you put that skill to use today? My daddy was a carpenter at one point in his life. I think it would be cool to work with wood. Electricians and plumbers can make a really good salary, but I do not think I could unclog toilets and drains - I'm actually gagging just thinking about it. I can't see myself digging up giant bushes and picking up heavy things, but I think it would be fun to have gorgeous flower beds. 

5. Do you lean more towards being too needy or too independent? Which do you find harder to deal with in others? I want to say that I'm independent. Mark might say differently. I'm stubborn so I sometimes do things without waiting on help. Let me say this about myself - I am not a good caregiver so being too needy might be worse to deal with in others.

6.  Insert your own random thought here. I just finished Fall Semester A. I know that I have an A in Research Methods. I don't have my grade yet for Family Resource Management. Fall Semester B starts on Monday, the 19th and goes through the first week of December. I'm only taking one class during Fall B. The class is Human Services Administration. In Spring A and Spring B, I have one class in Family Dynamics, Senior Capstone 1 and Senior Capstone II and Practicum. I am hopefully on schedule to graduate between 2 and 4 people on Friday, April 30. I never dreamed that I would be able to graduate from Samford University with a BA. Depending on how well I do in Fall B and Spring A and Spring B, I might even graduate with honors. Y'all - please know that I am NOT bragging. It is mind boggling to me!!

It's a Survey on 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's highly random questions were stolen from Love Me Some Surveys. 

Survey Asks ...

1. What was the last gift you received? I stepped away from my desk on Thursday and when I returned a short time later, there was a gift bag in my chair! Inside the bag, I found a six-pack of Diet Pepsi and a package of disinfectant wipes. One of my good friends left that surprise and this "gift" shows that he knows me well!! We bonded over Clorox wipes on a flight back in 2020!

2. Who did you last hang out with? I have been closed up in our house for over 24 hours at this point, so I guess I've been hanging out with Mark haha! We did go to see a play on Thursday night, but none of our regular buddies were able to go with us. I did homework from 4:30-6:30 pm on Thursday. We went to the play, came home, went to sleep. On Friday, I did some of my actual job from home but I also did homework. I finished my two big projects for Fall Semester A. I'm typing this on Saturday morning, and I still have one peer review to write. I can't write it yet, because I've previewed the only two that have been turned in. I'm waiting patiently on someone else to post their project. Then I will be done until October 19, which is when Fall B begins.

3. Do you often lose the remote? hahahaha! I never have control of the remote. Seriously. So no - I never lose the remote.

4. When did you last check Facebook? I checked it about 30 minutes ago. I was looking at the damage from the hurricane. It came right up through the state of Alabama and at 9:05 am it is still raining, but the wind is calming down a little. We have big pots of flowers and plants on our front porch and the wind blew them over during the night.

5. Are there scented candles in the room you're in? NO! NO! NO! I am allergic to pretty much all scented things.

6. Next time you leave the house, where will you be going? I just told Mark that if it every stops raining, I need to go to either Walmart or Target. I will go to work on Sunday morning.

7. Do you know anyone named Steven or Stephen or Steve or Stevie? Yes, I know quite a few people with those names. There is a young adult in our Tuesday night group named Steven. He is moving to London next week! We have several others in our church family. 

8. Which do you prefer: macaroni salad or potato salad? I think I prefer potato salad. I love a good pasta salad, but not with mayo (macaroni salad has mayo, right?).

9. Do you have an ice maker in your refrigerator door? We have an ice maker in our freezer but you have to open the door to access it. When we bought it, Mark asked that we have the water and ice features on the inside, rather than on the door.

10. When you woke up this morning, did you get up straightaway or lounge a bit? I got up straightaway! I tried to be quiet, though, because Mark has a cold and I wanted him to sleep!

Hodgepodge

1. Let's embrace it shall we? What's something you recently forgot to do? Is your memory these days more like a sieve or an elephant? I woke up at 3:30 on Tuesday morning and remembered that I forgot to do something. I went into the kitchen and made myself a note (in the dark) and went back to bed. The alarm went off at 5:00 and I got up and did it! I'm a huge list maker so my memory is still like an elephant about many things. Mark will say, "I told you that" and I don't remember. Mark loves to talk and I think he tells his sister or a friend and thinks he told me! haha!

2. Share a trick/strategy you have to help you remember things you need to remember.  I just told you that I am a list maker. Let me tell you another silly trick. So on Wednesday nights, I'm at the Welcome Desk checking in our families for Wednesday night supper. We feed about 400 people. My goal at the beginning of each semester is to know 90% of the family names by the end of the semester. When they come through the door, I say something silly like "Elliott, party of 2 - you are checked in for dinner. Enjoy!" I remember their names by connecting things. We have two brothers - one family has girls and one family has boys. I remember the boy family because the dad's name has a B in it!

3. What's your favorite fall vegetable to cook with? Do you prefer your fall veggies roasted, blended into a warm soup, or fresh in a crisp autumn salad? We love various squashes and pumpkins. We really love Delicata squash and we've cooked two in the air fryer cut into "french fries." So good! I made a protein pumpkin bread this week (no sugar) and I've been eating a piece of it every morning. Mark brought this squash (below - it is an Autumn Frost Squash) home today and we will cook it on Wednesday night. The sticker says you can eat the skin!! I guess that means we like our fall veggies roasted (or air fried).

4. October 5th is/was National Do Something Nice Day. Did you? If so tell us about it. Or maybe someone did something nice for you, and if that's the case please share. I didn't know that Monday was Do Something Nice Day. We actually went to Grandparent's Breakfast with our oldest granddaughter. I got up at 4:30 to exercise. We left our house at 6:00. We drove to her house (in two cars because I had a 9:00 a.m. meeting). We headed to the school at 6:45 a.m. We went to the lunchroom, took a photo, pretended to eat, went to the Booksale in the Library and gave her about $25 to spend . . .and then drove to work. We did those things and I guess they were nice (but they were really because we love her). She gave us both big hugs and thanked us for coming so I guess that was her being nice back to us.

Also, a Walgreen's employee was very nice to me on Monday. Another one was very nice on Tuesday!

5.  Nathaniel Hawthorne is credited with the quote "I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house."  

Do you tend to spend more time outside this time of year? I do enjoy being outside when it isn't 100 degrees. My fall allergies are not usually as bad as my spring allergies so I guess I spend a little more time outdoors.

Do you actively pause to soak in fleeting moments of beauty in your daily routine? Elaborate. I want to do this . . .and do every once in a while . . .but not often enough. Sometimes I will be pumping gas and I will turn my face toward the sunshine and I think of that as a moment of beauty (but that isn't every day).

6. Insert your own random thought here.  I am running at 100 miles an hour over here! I have a lot to do and I'm trying to do it well and get it all done!

I look forward to reading all of your answers. If I don't comment on Wednesday, I've been trying to go back and comment on as many blogs as possible during the week.

Yes! 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 have returned to If By Yes, a Canadian blogger who describes herself as a "left wing left hander with two left feet." It's a shame she doesn't update her blog anymore. Anyway, she inspired ...

WHAT? 

1. What are you currently excited about? We are headed to Grandparents' Breakfast on Monday with our oldest granddaughter. She is in the 5th grade. I wonder if this is the last one. I can't imagine Grandparents' Breakfast will continue once she moves to middle school.

2. What do you wish you had more time for? I usually just need a little more time to "get it all done."

3. What would like to do less? Is that supposed to be "What would I like to do less?" I'm not sure. I would like to worry less about what other people think of me. I wish I were more confident in quite a few areas.

4. What do you spend too much money on? According to my husband, I just spend too much money - period! haha! We spend way too much money on food, and I spend way too much money at Amazon!

5. What childhood wish never came true? I wanted to be an archaeologist - I guess I "wished" for it. That didn't happen!

6. What did you do to celebrate your last birthday? We were at the beach with our kids and grandkids. Our kids prepared dinner, and we played UNO. It was a wonderful birthday!

7. What drives you nuts? People who should NOT be driving - - Y'all . . .people should not get on a major interstate and drive 50 miles per hour when the speed limit is 70. Also, people have forgotten common courtesy - in life and on the road!

8. What keeps you sane? I guess my faith keeps me sane! My husband also tries haha!

9. What historic date is etched in your memory? 9.11 - I know exactly where I was.

10. What one thing would make your life immeasurably better? Are we dreaming here? How about a cook who not only cooks but makes healthy menus, orders the groceries, and cleans up the dishes!

 
Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

It's a Hodgepodge

 

Thank you to Joyce for our questions! Copy and paste the questions into your own blog (or feel free to answer in the comments) and join us over at From This Side of the Pond!

1. When you think of autumn what sounds come to mind? hmmmm . . .a crackling fire, leaves crackling under our feet, soup or chili "bubbling" on the stove, marching bands, cheering from a football game

2.  Is a trip to the mountains something you enjoy? What's your favorite mountain? Mountains are nice. When I was growing up, my best friend's parents always took a trip to the beach and a trip to Gatlinburg (or surrounding area) and I went with them many times. I took my kids when they were older elementary age and it wasn't the same anymore. We've seen some beautiful mountains on our travels.

Lucerne, Switzerland

On the Rhine River

in Austria

This is also in Austria - we rode to the top and it
was so windy!

Austria - it looked like the Sound
of Music

This might be the Dolomites . . .?

This is in Israel - maybe the trail
beside Mt. Arbel??

We climbed to the top - this is also
in Israel - I need to dig through my blog
for the name of this place. It is a ruin.

This might be the Dolomites, too.

3. What's something that once felt like a mountain, but is now just a molehill? I have a whole list of things - losing weight and keeping it off, going back to school, giving birth to our kids and raising them - wait . . .maybe those are all mountains and looking backwards they just look smaller!!

4. Let's play this or that-fall foods edition. Yes you have to choose. 

• pumpkin spice latte or chai latte - I don't drink either but I'm going with pumpkin spice latte
• apple cider or hot chocolate  - apple cider
• stew or chili - chili
• sweet potato casserole or green bean casserole - sweet potato casserole
• butternut squash soup or creamy mushroom soup - butternut squash soup
• cranberry sauce or gravy - gravy all day!!

5. Sum up your September in a sentence or two. September has been a full month of juggling school, church responsibilities, leadership decisions, and the never-ending details of keeping life moving. Through it all, I've kept plugging away—finishing assignments, refining my research proposal, teaching adult Sunday School, investing in the Tuesday night young adults, and planning a trip to England and Ireland along with all of the everyday things!

6. Insert your own random thought here. Have y'all tried a dirty soda? We had one at work this week and I didn't think I would like it . . .but I tried it. It wasn't bad. My base was Diet Pepsi and then I added coconut syrup, coconut cream, and lime. I drank two sips - way too much sugar for me, but it wasn't bad! Also, have y'all been to Great Big Game Show? There is one at the Summit. We went as a team building exercise this week and it was so much fun!

Also . . .how is it already the end of September??? what????

Life Lately

Two of our granddaughters are cheering. Our oldest is in the middle below. She is in the 5th grade and is looking so grown up!

Last Monday night was Homecoming for her team.

Her daddy escorted her on the field!

Gosh - I love these two!!

On Friday, I did some work from home and I did a ton of homework. I also stripped our bed, washed the sheets, and remade the bed and washed my work clothes. While I did homework, I ran the roombas upstairs and down. Mark was at the farm so the house was quiet. I ordered groceries and had them delivered. I had planned to run a couple of errands, but didn't. Friday night I watched YouTube videos about York and Bath and made a list of pubs and places to see.

On Saturday morning, I was in the car before 7:00 a.m. and drove two hours south to watch our middle granddaughter cheer. She is 7 and the difference between the 10 year old squad and the 7 year old squad is pretty amazing. Those 7 year olds are cuties!! Our granddaughter is on the back row, second from the left.

There are so many girls on their squad! Even though it was cool when we all woke up, by 9:00 a.m. it was hot in the direct sun!

The little one was tired of being hot so her mama took her on a walk and they found some shade and a popsicle.

The girls did their half-time routine.

The game lasted about an hour. I had purchased some clothes for these two granddaughters at our church consignment sale so we moved those clothes from my car into our daughter's care. I hopped back into my car and drove 2 hours north. It was worth it to see the girls for a few minutes.

It was a gorgeous fall day - look at that blue sky!! That is a waterway (creek? branch? ??) that runs into Lake Jordan. Yes, I was driving and I had my eyes on the road - I was snapping photos blindly with one hand.

Our daughter and son-in-law told us about a "short-cut" and the drive is really beautiful. There are fields and crops and cows and water. It is very rural and there are a lot of trailers along the way, too, along with some lovely homes.

Look how pretty this lawn is with the trees and grass against the blue sky!

See the trees below? They are called Empress Splendor and they are not native to Alabama. Some say they are invasive. Everytime we've driven by them, we've tried to figure out what kind of trees they are. I was finally able to snap a photo of the sign and googled it when I got home. These are the fastest growing hardwood tree in the world. This tree can grow up to 20 feet in one year!

While I was on the road and Mark was at the farm, he picked a 5 gallon bucket of Spider Lilies. I think he and George actually picked (cut) two 5 gallon buckets - one for me and one for Alice, George's wife. This afternoon, I trimmed them and put them in vases all over the house. I have some on the dining room table.

I have some on the kitchen island.

I have some in the powder room.

I have some on the chest in front of the sofa.

Look at this bucket of flowers. They are so pretty!!

Of course since it is Sunday, I worked this morning. At noon we had a "trip meeting" for our upcoming England/Ireland trip. We have 70 people going - 2 buses full. I am a bus captain on one bus and my friend and co-worker, Laura, is the other bus captain. Brian, our senior pastor, will go back and forth between the two buses. Did you know that there are 365 pubs in York??

This afternoon Mark browned the ground beef and hot sausage and I cooked the pasta and grated the cheese. I made Killer Ziti for the Young Adults to eat on Tuesday night. In addition to ground beef and hot breakfast sausage, it has tiny pepperonis in it, too.

Mark made Mexican Chicken Soup last night for dinner and we are having leftovers for dinner tonight. He did a great job!

I hope you had a great week and weekend!

 

Sunday Stealing by the Usual Suspects

 

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!

Once again this week we aren't stealing, we're contributing! These are questions suggested by our "usual suspects." If you can, please take a moment and visit your fellow thieves. 

DIY Meme

1. If you were trapped in a TV universe for a month, what TV show would you choose? (Kwizgiver) I was just watching a youtube video on York, England (making a list of things I want to see). York makes me think of the show Patience . . .even though I would probably throw up if I saw a dead body or tried to solve a murder, I can see myself living in York! I would probably rather be in a comedy - how about Leanne?

2. What song instantly revs you up and gets you going?  (Annie) I love Overcomer by Mandisa. Another song that gets me revved up is Eye of the Tiger - an oldy, but goody! I actually just pulled it up on YouTube and listened to it!!

3. Are you decorating your home for fall? (Lori) Yes, I have a few fall decorations out. We will get out our skeletons later this weekend.

4. How do you treat a cold? (Syl)  I usually just keep going with a kleenex in my pocket! I will take nyquil before bed and I use a saline nasal wash every day because of my allergies.

5. What insignificant thing would you be genuinely annoyed if you lost it or it was taken from you? (Lisa) Shoot - evidently this is my question and it is too hard haha! Let's see - our kids always knew never to take the last diet pepsi. I would be annoyed if someone took the last one and I didn't have one to drink in the morning.

6. What place do you remember vividly, even though you haven't been there in years? (Country Dew) I can remember wandering through our grandpa's garden. It was massive. I went back to that house when I was an adult, and it was actually quite small! I also remember going to this general store when we were kids and were on vacation at the beach. We always stayed outside Panama City, Florida in an area called Laguna Beach. I think the store's name was The Seahorse! There were wooden floors and you could feel the sand under your bare feet. There was a giant pickle barrel. It seems like there was a porch with chairs. If I close my eyes, I can even smell the Coppertone!

7. Do you have a favorite Dolly Parton song or story? (Roger) I've been singing 9 to 5 today! We watched a special on Dolly on BBC last weekend and they played snippets of several of her songs. I had forgotten about "Coat of Many Colors." "Jolene" was a good one! "I Will Always Love You" is also a good one. According to Wikapedia, Dolly is the first artist to have top 20 hits on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart in six consecutive decades (1960s-2010s). Mark nor I are big country music fans but I did love Dolly. She was just a good human.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

Falling . . .Hodgepodge!

 

1. Fall arrives this week in the northern hemisphere. Does it look/feel like fall where you live?What's something you love to do this time of year that makes you feel its officially fall? It does not look like fall here - it is H.O.T. but we've heard that an Arctic front is coming through at the end of the week and the high will be in the 80's rather than almost 100! When the leaves start falling and crunch when you walk through them . . .it seems like fall!

*If you're answering today from the southern hemisphere feel free to sub spring for the word fall. 

2. What's a small daily task or chore that always seems to fall through the cracks when your schedule gets busy? Hmmm . . .I'm not sure. I always have a running list so I try hard to juggle and not let things fall through the cracks. I hate making phone calls lately . . .so I roll those from one day until the next until I finally have to call!

3. What's something you're falling for lately? Have you eaten Lesser Evil Himalayan Salt popcorn? I've been "falling in love" with that lately haha!

4.  Pumpkin is a popular flavor this time of year.  Are you a fan? What's your favorite pumpkin flavored food or beverage?  I do like pumpkin - I have a pound dropper recipe for some pumpkin bars that are good. Pumpkin bread is always good, too. 

5.What's something you wish would never change? Explain. Gosh - these are hard today! Everything has to change, right? When things are good for our children and for us, selfishly . . . I wish things wouldn't change. If things weren't changing, wouldn't we be stagnant? 

6. Insert your own random thought here. My random thought is more of a random rant. Do y'all have anonymous people leaving rude messages on your blogs? I received a rude comment a few months ago and I thought that it was odd because it said something about my physical appearance. I deleted it and moved on. I posted about getting flu and covid shots this past weekend and some anonymous person decided to say something rude. I deleted and did not respond. I might have a health concern that makes it important for me to get the vaccinations. If others don't want to get vaccinations, they get to make that choice. We are all entitled to our opinions. I just don't understand anonymous rude behavior and comments. ok - stepping off my soapbox.

 

Weekend in Review

Y'all know that we are usually on the go -- all of the time! This weekend has been very slow. I think Mark is bored to death!

On Thursday, we had a Partner Parish meeting with four other churches that took up a chunk of our day. It was a good meeting that was over at 2:00 p.m. As soon as it was over, I scooted to the church gym to shop at Lil Lambs . . . because my shift to work Lil Lambs was at 2:30. Oh my goodness . . .our church has hosted this sale for years and I wish they offered it back when our kids were little. 

I worked until 5:30 as the door keeper. Then I threw my things into the car and headed home because I had an assignment due by 11:59 p.m. I was almost home when I realized that I left my laptop in my office and my assignment was on that laptop. I was so irritated with myself. I called Mark and he said to come home first - he actually had dinner ready. After we ate, he drove me back to the church to get the laptop. I did homework on Thursday night.

On Friday, Mark and I both got our flu shots and a covid booster. Mark also got the two pneumonia shots. I've already had those. 

I ordered groceries and we had those delivered.

I did homework PLUS we took a nap! I also stripped our bed, washed sheets, and remade the bed along with more homework. Then I washed my work clothes . . .then I washed 10 tablecloths from the New Member lunch that was a week ago. I was doing all that laundry while doing homework. We had to write a Null hypothesis and a Research hypothesis and provide validation for our Behavioral Research class. I also took a quiz for the other class and did two peer reviews.

Mark cooked Halibut for dinner and I cooked some veggies to go alongside.

Saturday morning arrived and I headed to my WW meeting. On the way home from the meeting, I stopped at Walmart to pick up a few things that Target didn't have when I placed my Shipt order on Friday. Our TV was on football all day Saturday. I had been craving a cheeseburger so we made hamburger patties with 93/7 ground beef and used Keto buns. I cooked some onion rings and ore ida fries in the air fryer. The food tasted so good! Mark got annoyed during the Auburn game so we flipped over to another streaming service and watched some random TV shows.

Just FYI - I also took a nap on Saturday!!

Sunday morning dawned bright and early and I headed to work and was at my desk by 6:45 a.m. I had to take some information up to the sanctuary and print my Sunday School lesson and make copies of a spreadsheet for a meeting. I headed to the Welcome Desk until 9:30. At 9:30, I ran up to the third floor to teach our adult Sunday School class. When I got off work about 11:15, I headed to Culinary Dropout where we treated our son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter #1 to lunch.

What did we do after that? I changed clothes and rode the stationary bike while Mark browned 4 pounds of hamburger, 1 pound of hot breakfast saussage and one onion. When I came downstairs after riding the bike, I assembled two Firecracker Casseroles for Tuesday night. I will head back to the church in about 20 minutes to attend a nominations/lay leadershp meeting.

It was wonderful to have a Friday and Saturday with nothing planned. As I mentioned, Mark was bored. He did go to Academy at some point on Saturday.

So . . .what did you do? 

Sunday Stealing - Life of a Fool

 

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 our inspiration is Life of a Fool. This blogger maintains this meme has "been seen everywhere." The questions only require a simple, definitive answer, but if you'd like to elaborate, we'd like to hear what you have to say.

Four Superlatives

1. Your MOST overused word or phrase: Seriously? Yes, that is my word and I say it with a question mark at the end. 

2. Your BIGGEST expense: Our house?

3. Your WORST fear: I don't even say it out loud, nor will I type it into my blog.

4. Your BEST memory of Summer 26: We spent time with our kids and grandkids at the beach. Even though it rained and they all left early . . . it was still good to be together.

We played lots of card games and had so much fun.

Another great memory from this summer is that I hit my goal weight at WW (formerly known as Weight Watchers).

We also saw Leeann Morgan live in Montgomery - she was so funny!

I know I was only supposed to pick one - but all three were really good!

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

A Beautiful Hodgepodge

 

1. How do you define beauty? 

I think beauty is found in the little things that make life better. It is a beautiful sunset, a great front porch, a good book, or sitting around a table with people you love. It can also be laughing until I cry with friends. Beauty is found in kindness, in people who make others feel welcome, and in the grace we give one another. Beauty isn't about being perfect. It's about finding joy and meaning in the life we've been given, even when things aren't always easy. To me, beauty is something that makes you stop, smile, and be thankful. Our world tends to define beauty as "our looks." 1 Samuel 16:7 - But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him, for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. I seem to have stepped onto a soapbox - please forgive me! 

2. Have you ever taken a trip by train? If so where did you go and what did you think of the experience? If not do you have any desire to do so? Where would you like to go? (You might find inspiration here-The Best Train Trips in The World) Our son and daughter-in-law, along with three of their best friends, just took the train from Birmingham to New Orleans. They said the first few hours were fun. They flew home haha! We took our kids to ride the "North Pole Express" when they were little. We boarded the train with Santa . . .and rode to the end of a track and back again. I think I would enjoy a luxury train trip through the northeast during autumn when the color of the leaves would be spectacular!  When we were in Austria, we took the train to get around the countryside. I enjoyed those rides every day!

3. Shell shocked, bombshell, bandshell, shellacking, in a nutshell, walking on eggshells...choose one and tell us why you chose it, or how it relates to your life in some way currently. I have been walking on eggshells with one person. I don't want to go into the story on my blog. 

4. Tacos, pistachios, oysters, clams, eggs...your favorite food on the list that comes in/with a shell? Well, I love tacos and I love pistachios. I am not a fan of oysters nor clams. I use eggs in recipes, but don't eat them alone very often. We hosted one of our neighborhood supper clubs at our house on Sunday night. I didn't take a single photo once everyone arrived! We were too busy laughing, talking, and eating. Michele brought the salad and it is my new favorite and it had pistachios in it! Here is a version of the recipe - I don't think Michele chopped the pistachios. https://iowagirleats.com/jennifer-aniston-salad/

5. Are birthdays a big deal in your house? Is your own birthday a big deal in some way? Elaborate. I would like for birthdays to be a bigger deal than they are! Mark's mother always made us all feel so special on our birthday. We have a hard time getting everyone together these days!

6. Insert your own random thought here. I really enjoyed getting out a few fall decorations for our dinner party. Y'all . . .I forgot to light the candles!

Sunday Stealing - True or False . . .

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 was inspired by FOMA. He shared 10 random true statements. Let's see if they're true of you, too. You can answer with just true or false or give a more elaborate answer, if you're so inspired.

TRUE OR FALSE

1. I'm married. True - 42 years to Mark

2. I'm raising a teenager. False - I have raised teenagers at one time, but our twins will be 40 later this year.

3. I recently vacationed in California. False

4. I have traveled to Asia. True -- I've been to Istanbul . . .half Asia, half Europe and I've been on both sides.

5. I have a dog. False

6. I received money from a class action settlement. True - I started to type false, but I think I remember seeing a small deposit recently that was from some big company. It was basically change and I am not even sure what it was for.

7. I've been in the waiting room when a family member had surgery. True - two stories -- one time Mark's mother had colon cancer and his siblings and spouses, including me, were camped out in her room (not exactly a waiting room). We actually got in trouble because we were laughing too much and were too loud. Another waiting room story - when our son had his colon removed back in January of 2016, so many people came to hang out with us in the waiting room during his surgery. They brought snacks and drinks and just sat with us for hours. ok - one or two more waiting room stories -- waiting on all three granddaughters to be born - exciting times. Actually, our youngest granddaughter's birth day was quite scary. Our daughter had some complications and sweet baby girl did, too, but all is well now!

Seeing the photos above brought tears to my eyes. That was a scary waiting room experience and a scary few weeks. Mark and I burned up I65 north and south during the end of that pregnancy and the first weeks after birth. She is a spitfire two year old now!

8. I have attended a convention. True - quite a few!

9. I subscribe to my local newspaper (either print or online). False. Back when we had the Birmingham News in actual paper form, I was a long-time subscriber. First they went to cheaper paper . . .and I couldn't stand holding it! Then, I realized that I had read whatever news article the day before online.

10. I recently had work done to the exterior of my home. What are our parameters for recent? Mark actually did some heavy washing on the outside of our house a month or two ago. Our house burned in 2022 and was rebuilt in 2023 so we had lots of exterior work then -- from a new chimney, to a new roof, to an all over paint job - that is just the outside. Here are some interior and exterior pictures from the night of and the next day. 

Those pictures brought tears to my eyes, too! The redo is lovely. These were right before we moved back in -- one year and 10 days after the fire.

We are having neighbors over for dinner on Sunday night and this is how the dining room looks today.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.