Alabama Women Bloggers - Getting to Know You Questions

I decided to link up today.  Back when Lauren and Glenn were living with us, I signed up with the Alabama Women Bloggers . . .and promptly forgot about it!!  I was reading Alabama Slacker Mama's blog today and saw that she had linked up . . .and remembered that I had signed up so decided to answer today's questions.  I don't have a lot of followers nor a lot of readers . . .but here goes anyway!

1. What part of the state do you call home?  I live in a suburb of Birmingham - just south of town.  I grew up in another suburb of  Birmingham that is northeast of town . . .and it is not a very nice place now.  Really makes me sad to see the area and what has become of some of the places I remember.  I now live in what we called the "over the mountain" area.  As a kid, I thought that was where only the rich folks lived.  Just FYI, we aren't rich, but we sure are blessed with good friends and family.


2. How long have you been blogging?  I started blogging in June of 2009. 

3. Why did you start blogging?  One of my "children" had just graduated from college and the other was about to graduate and I had been to the farmer's market and was thinking as I was driving home. (I do my best thinking in the car) I was thinking that I love to talk and now that the kids were grown there was no one to listen (I think Mark tunes me out :-). I was also thinking that I love to write down my thoughts. I had the highest grade in my class in English 102 in college where we had to keep a journal every single day . . and it was read by the professor and graded. (that love of writing!)  I was also thinking that I love to scrapbook but never have enough time. I love memories (my mom died right after her 50th birthday and I don't want to miss a thing!). I actually love being on the computer and the amazing ability of being able to connect with folks like my sister who live out of town. I guess it was a logical progression in my mind to blogging. To be honest, I really had no idea how to even start one and I think I may have googled it when I got home that day.



4. What is your favorite part of being a member of the Alabama Women Bloggers community?
Considering that this is the first thing I have really done with the community, I don't really know.  Someone share some ideas with me.  My sweet daughter-in-love over at Simply Free has made some great new friends via her blog.  They have even met for blog dates . . .what does she call those?  blates?  That is not right . . .what is it?  I'm going to the She Speaks conference later this summer and I am taking some blogging workshops.  It will be nice to say that I am a part of the Alabama Women Bloggers.  It would be nicer still to actually be able to make some comments about the group :-)


5. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I'm on staff at a church and I hope I will still be working there because I LOVE my job.  I imagine I might be a grandmother by then.  I imagine that I might be a mother-in-law to a son-in-law by then (our son is married but we are waiting on God to send Mr. Right for our daughter).  I think I will still be blogging.  I wonder how blogging will change in 5 years.  Technology changes so quickly.



6. If you could choose an actress to play you in your life, who would you choose and why?
Hmmmm. . . .good question.  When I was young and thin, one of the radio announcers in Birmingham compared me to a young Sophia Loren after I was first runner up in a beauty pageant (this would have been back in 1980 . . .a long time ago!)  I just googled fat, funny actresses and pulled up Melissa McCarthy.  I'm overweight and I like to laugh so she might work.


7. Name 5 things on your Bucket List that you hope you’ll check off before you die?
1.  I really really really want to see the Northern Lights -- problem is my husband says we have to go north when it is really cold to see them
2.  I would love to go to Alaska (but not when it is so cold)
3.  I would like to go back to a tropical island - we've been to Nassau (on our honeymoon for a week - not the best trip - I need to blog about that some time!!).  We've been to St. Marteen.  We've been to Hawaii.  I would love to go to Bali.
4.  I would really like to go to New Zealand and Australia and Greece.  (my bucket list seems to have a theme here - travel)
5.  I would like to go on a hot air balloon ride.  (I'm sure there are some really important things I want to do also - like help end poverty and bring about world peace . . .but I can't think of those at the moment)


8. If you could be known for one thing, what would it be and why?
I've told our Sunday School class this a million times (exaggeration).  I would love to be remembered as a philanthropist.  There is a major problem . . .I don't have that kind of money!!!  So . . .I would love to be remembered as a good wife and mama . . .and a good friend . . .and a prayer warrior . . .and a good Sunday school teacher . . .and the lady who welcomed  lots of folks into her home . . .and the person who shared Christ with many.  Yeah . . .I know that was way more than one thing.  Sorry.  I sometimes have a hard time following directions.


9. Describe the best moment(s) in your life.
Shoot -- I've lived a lot of years.  I don't think I can narrow it down to one.  When we dedicated the prayer labyrinth at church, I told Mark, "this is the biggest thing I've ever been a part of." (I was on the committee . . .poor grammar in previous sentence - oops).  He reminded me that the prayer garden was a thing and that I had given birth to twins.  That was indeed a pretty big moment in my life.  I was pretty scared and they were pretty amazing and I remember being awestruck by the miracle of God . . .not just one but TWO tiny babies . . .six weeks early . . .perfectly formed.  The day that Mark and I married was pretty special, too.  I also preached a sermon from our pulpit at Trinity one time.  That was terrifying and amazing all at the same time.  It is a good thing to have more than one "best" moment . . .it would be sad if I had only one after living all these years.  As soon as I hit publish, I'll think of a whole lot more.


10. If you could “be” anything (no consequences, no fear), what would you “be”?
probably a preacher . . .I would probably go back to school and become a preacher.  Maybe I'm "preaching" right where I am though . . .so maybe a graphic designer or something else creative.  I love to create. 


11. What or who inspires you to blog?
My family, friends, memories, and events all inspire me to blog.  As things are happening, I actually think, "oh my goodness I can hardly wait to blog about this."  Even my husband will say, "take a picture of this so you can blog about it."  He did that on my last post about cleaning the fuzz from the bottom of the chairs!!
I think I want to make sure that when I'm old (really old) I can look back at the stories and pictures and remember.


12. We’re headed to your neck of the woods… what restaurant would you recommend?
Hot and Hot Fish Club and order the Hot and Hot Tomato Salad or maybe Cafe' Dupont - both of these are actually in Birmingham - not in our suburb but they are well worth the 15-20 minute drive from our house.  We only go to those kinds of places for special occasions.  Tecate is great for Mexican food.  Bluff Park Diner is good for meat and three kind of food.  Tip Top Grill is a great place to watch the sun set and have a burger and some fries.  Sam's Deli down in Homewood has a great burger and some good hummus.  The Pita Stop and Taziki's both have great Greek food.  Birmingham has great food.  We have just about anything you want from Sushi to a taco food truck to cupcakes.


13. What’s a southern tradition you and your family have?
I've been thinking about this one.  I think our southern tradition is that we eat together as a family every Sunday after church at my mother-in-law's house.  She is in her late 80's and she prepares a home cooked lunch including dessert (a meat, two vegetables, a starch and a salad) EVERY Sunday and we all gather around her dining room table.  My husband and I and our three (daughter, son and daughter-in-love) are there.  Mark's (hubby) twin brother and his wife and daughter are there.  Their other brother and his wife are there (but they are usually late).  Sometimes someone invites a friend.  If any other family members are in town, they are with us.  The only thing is that my mother-in-law HATES sweet tea so we have to have unsweet tea.  To me that is not very southern . . .but everything else is southern to the core.  We sit around the table and tell stories and laugh.  We've heard the same stories a million (oops - there goes that exaggeration again) times but we laugh every time.

14. If you could pick your favorite blog post from your blog this year, what would it be?
I had a hard time picking . . .I really love the ones with lots of pictures because those are memories but this one has the best advice I guess.  It is called Ten Best Tips for Mothers.


15. We all love social media, tell us your links so we can follow you!
Well, you know my blog . . .Musings of a middle-aged mom.  I would love for you to come and visit often.

You can follow me on twitter (maybe I'll try to remember to tweet!!)

My smart husband and a smart "how to do" housecleaning shortcut

Maybe a better title for this post would be, "If we didn't entertain, we would live in utter filth."   One of my mother-in-law's good friends used to say that and I've adopted it as my motto!! How true! How true!! (by the way, the lady is in her 80's and has been saying that phrase for a long time . . .I just looked "utter filth" up in urban dictionary and it doesn't mean the same thing anymore - we are going with the old definition here -  meaning nasty house)  We hosted a party in our home last night (at some point I am sure that I will blog about it) and we've been cleaning and "fixing up" the house for weeks.  I wanted to share a trick with y'all!!

We have hardwood floors and we don't have rugs because of my allergies.  We keep felt pads on the bottom of our chair legs so they don't scratch the floors as they are scooted all around.  We usually buy sheets of adhesive backed felt in the craft department and change it often.  We've found it actually works better than the felt pads in the furniture section (and much cheaper!!).  There is a problem though . . .as you scoot chairs around they pick up dust and hair and whatever on those little felt pads and after a while... it looks like the bottom of the chair legs have little beards growing from them.

Mark placed a blanket on the floor and flipped some chairs over for me to begin working.  I had my new piece of felt and my scissors.  We looked at the felt and realized it wasn't worn at all, it was only "dusty and hairy."  Mark disappeared for a moment.  Where was he?  He went into the other room to get the lint roller.  He said, "just try it."

You can see how gross the pads become - little dust bunnies houseslippers attached to the bottom of each leg - but these aren't cute bunny houseslippers!!!!

Wanna see a close up?

Lint roller, hmmmmm?  Will it work?  Mark might just be the smartest man alive.  Could he be right?

LOOK AT THAT!!  Those felt pads look brand new!!!!

Look what is trapped on the lint roller!  YUCK!!!!!!  I think of us as "clean" people but it never ceases to amaze me how much dirt and dust and yuck and muck we can drag into our house each week. (plus we have a cat!!)

Hope this little trick helps some of you! Mark is indeed a smart man! A project that usually takes at least an hour . . .pull off the old sticky pads, cut new ones, stick new ones on . . .took just a few seconds and viola' - they looked brand new.

How about you? Do you have a wonderful housekeeping short cut to share? I'd love to hear. Just this last week I called my friend, Linda, and said, "How do you clean the very top of the cabinets?" We've been in this house 20 years - surely I have cleaned them before. I had to wear my dust mask. I crawled up there (onto the lower cabinets - which of course, then I had to disinfect) and sprayed down the top of the cabinets with lemon oil and wiped them up with paper towels . . .and then went back and did it again the next day. They aren't spotless but they are cleaner than they have been . . .probably since they were new!!! I painted all the spindles on our front porch - wrought iron and wooden . . . cleaned the walk through basement door and door from the deck with a Mr. Clean magic eraser . . . all in the name of love :-) If we didn't entertain, we would live in utter filth. Yep! How about you?

Mother's Day 2013 . . .and middle-aged mother thoughts!!

We celebrated Mother's Day weekend starting on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.  I picked Mark up at his office and we drove to Nashville (blog to follow about all of that soon!).  One of the reasons for our drive north was to pick up Mark's momma.  She had been visiting with Susie, my dear sister-in-law, who lives in Delaware.  We drove back to Birmingham on Friday afternoon.

 

On Mother's Day morning, no one was home but Mark and me.  He gave me a card with a crisp $50 bill inside earmarked for a pedicure which was desperately needed!!  Mark went to early church and sat with him mom in the balcony and then he and I met for Sunday School and then I went to the contemporary service and sat with our kids.  We then all met at Grandmother's house to order lunch from Zoe's.  While we were waiting, Grandmother opened her gifts.  We got her a beautiful outfit from Talbots (thanks to Aunt Susie for shopping this time!!!!).  We (Aunt Susie, Aunt Alice and I) usually go together to get an outfit for our mother/mother-in-law for most occasions.  Sometimes I shop (I am the one who purchased the kitchen aid mixer for last year's occasion - or I should say "one" of the occasions).  Sometimes Alice shops -actually she and I bought the Christmas gift this year with grandmother in tow!!  Susie shopped for Mother's Day.  Now it is time for birthday again in July . . .oops - looks like it might be my turn again. 

Here we are . . .sweet daughter-in-love, Lauren, Glenn, me and Laura.  They gave me all sorts of great surprises.  All three of them went together and gave me this really cool camera backpack made by Thirty-One and a matching lunchbox and a camera strap and lens case.  Laura gave me a great Auburn t-shirt with a monogrammed chevron pocket and Glenn and Lauren gave me a RED  - - yes, indeed I said R.E.D. -- whisk and spatula . . .(of course, it matches my red big mixer and red small mixer).  I felt so loved.

 

We had just placed our Zoe's order when Uncle Bill arrived.  I wanted to call and add his order to the order we had already phoned in but Mark said, "no, we will just go in and add it."  I just want you to know that was a HUGE mistake.  It took Mark and Glenn about an hour to get our food and we were starving!!  It was delicious when we finally ate.  When you are hungry food tastes so much better!!

 

Being a mother is and has been such a blessing.  It is far harder than I ever anticipated.  When they were little I was physically tired.  Some years I have been emotionally and spiritually tired.  I have prayed more than I ever thought possible (and I need to pray even more!!).  I never knew you could love anyone so fiercely. . . or want to protect anyone so much.  Being a mother has taught me more patience than I EVER thought I would have (I had none - zip - nada . . .I prayed for it and the very next month found out I was pregnant with twins.  Don't tell me that God doesn't have a sense of humor!!).  Being a mother has taught me to put others first - to not be so selfish - even when I really want to be.  Being a mother has shown me how God loves us unconditionally and how God extends grace to us . . .because I am reminded of that often - especially when I fail to extend unconditional love or grace.  Being a mother has shown me that I AM NOT IN CONTROL.  Dadgum it.  When they were little, I was somewhat in control.  They were sweet and kind and had good manners and all of those things but even then, I knew that these "children" were a gift from God.  They were His first.  He loved them even before I knew them. . . so I wasn't really in control.  I just thought I was in control :-)  Being a middle-aged mother has taught me that I need to put Mark (hubby) before my children - big switch there - probably should have done that years ago.  Being a middle-aged mother has shown me where I made mistakes, where I could have done a better job . . .but being middle-aged has also shown me what good and fine people Glenn and Laura (and now Lauren) are.  They have good hearts.  They love Jesus.  They love people.  They work hard.  They aren't perfect.  Heck - neither am I.  Are you?  None of us are.  Being a middle-aged mother has shown me that also!!  It has shown me that it is ok to be OK with who I am and who you are.  It has also shown me that I am never too old for God to shape and mold me into the woman he wants me to be . . .and to be ok with that, too!!  Being a middle-aged mother has made me think of my mother who died at age 50.  I wish I had known her more.  Being a middle-aged mother makes me smile - yes, it does.  It makes me realize that I have been blessed - very blessed!!  I've been blessed by my own mother and grandmothers who have all been gone so very long.  I've been blessed by my sweet mother-in-law and my two older sisters and also by ladies in the church where I grew up - Inez Lane and Mrs. Parker and so many others who took me in as their own.  I've been blessed now by having both older and younger friends . . . I'm in the middle . . .so middle-aged is not so bad.

 

Guess what?  I'm smiling.  I'm a middle-aged momma . . .and I've been thinking about that today and it is alright by me.  Yes, it is!!

 



SNUGS and the "V.E.T." - shhhh!

How can an animal be so smart? How in the world can an animal who cannot read or talk or spell know what "V.E.T." means? How in the world? Well, this old man kitty does? When I put my purse on my shoulder and Mark goes to pick up Snugs so we can start down the basement stairs to the car . . .Snugs runs in the other direction. These pictures were actually taken back in January when he went for his annual physical but we go once a month for a "mani/pedi" and for them to give him a dose of cat lax. He runs away every time. This last time he ran upstairs and tried to hide under Glenn and Lauren's bed . . .but there was so much stuff under it (because they are getting ready to move) that he "thought" he was hiding . . .but he really wasn't!! His head was "hiding" but his big black and white body was sticking right out from under the bed.

We normally love our vet . . .and all the folks that work there but we didn't have a very good experience this last time.  We have turned into those "crazy cat people" over the years.  Snugs is such an old man and I guess (yes, I know) we have become over protective of him.  They sent a high school student (who is trying to decide if he wants to become a veterinarian- you know how I know this, don't you?  I asked him!!) and an intern (I'm assuming because she looked older . . and I was expecting someone like our friend, Carrie . . .but she wasn't) in to take care of us . . .and let me be the one to tell you . . .they didn't know how to take care of us.  Snugs teeth and gums are really bad and he has a heart murmur and cannot be put to sleep for the teeth and gums to be cleaned . . .and they made his gums bleed as they tried to ram a tongue depressor into his mouth with cat lax on it. So there is all this bacteria in his mouth and all I could think about is that he was going to get an infection and be really sick.  Stupid, I know.  He is usually docile once you put him on that table . . .so it was pretty surprising when he came straight up into a standing position ready to attack.  They tried three times and at that point Mark said, "STOP!" VERY FORCEFULLY.  You have to understand that I've only seen Mark lose his temper once or twice in our entire 29 years of marriage . . .and he was pretty darn close.

Snugs proceeded to hide under Mark's coat (yes, it was cold - in May - in Alabama - weird, I know - so Mark had on a coat) on Saturday much like he did back in January.  They then trimmed his nails . . .they didn't seem to know what they were doing then either but they did a little better job on his nails than on the cat lax.

We asked for someone with more experience to please come in and give him a dose of medicine.  They did send in one of the older ladies (my age!) and she put the medicine on her finger and stuck it right into his mouth - no problem.  We usually have this really sweet lady who calls him "mashed potato toes." 

Snugs was so traumatized that when Mark walked out of the exam room into the lobby, there were two large dogs waiting and Snugs just cuddled up against Mark. He didn't look right or left. He didn't even notice that there was anyone else around. While I was paying, the employees closed the door to the back where everyone (all the techs, etc.) are located . . .I think they were talking about us. I guess we will have the reputation of being the crazy over-protective cat people now. 

I think the problem began with the fact that it was pouring down rain. We usually get up on our designated "vet" Saturday and go to the Vet's clinic right when they open - first ones there (those of you who know us - does that surprise you?) - and get our stuff done and get out of there in about 15 minutes. It was raining so hard that we dilly dallied around the house and were later getting to the Vet's clinic and they were already seeing other "patients" so I guess it was as much our fault as theirs. They always tell us not to make an appointment just for that . . .my goodness . . .the musings of this middle aged mom . . .I used to worry about my kids - do they have an ear infection? are they sick? Now I'm worried about an old man kitty cat . . .

Goldfish and gum and pbandj, oh my!

Did you realize that there are so many people in this world who have so much less than we do? I don't care where you fall on the economic scale, there is someone who falls under you. I can almost guarantee it!!! Sometimes I moan and groan and think we are poor and then I am brought to my knees by the realization that by worldly standards, we are so very rich. But how could that be? We have clothes and a home and clean running water and jobs and groceries aplenty. We are also . . .we humans . . .a selfish people. I like to think of myself as generous. I love to give gifts to others. I love to feed people. I love to surprise others with a treat . ..but I'm still selfish. I believe we come into the world that way for self-preservation (who knows whether that is true or not - just my thought!) and some of us grow and mature and even though that "selfish human nature" is always in us, we overcome it most of the time.

One way that I always remember is by doing service projects/participating in an act of service for others. I wish I had more time to be in service more often.

On this night a few weeks ago, our young professionals group participated in three activities.  They made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches - over 100 of them - for the Church of the Reconciler in downtown Birmingham.  This congregation feeds the homeless every day and they love to have extra peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to hand out.  We have a group from our church that goes down to help feed these folks every Thursday.

I love the pictures of hands at work.  There is another one down below.  We are indeed the hands and feet of Jesus here on earth - doing his work.

This group at the kitchen table started on the project for the Urban Ministry kids.  Our Sunday School class prepares/provides Wednesday night supper for them on the fourth Wednesday night of the even months.  April was the last month of the year (before summer) and we made bags of goldfish crackers for the children. (you can see a picture of the finished projects at the end)  Each child received about 100 goldfish crackers so that was a pretty good treat!!

As soon as they finished the goldfish bags, they moved on to the next project.  There is an apartment complex in town that houses folks with mental illness.  The young adult son of a friend of ours lives there.  We made treat bags for them.  We had to be careful because many of them have diabetes and other health issues so we wrapped big packs of extra chewing gum.  Do you know that we are the only church group who has ever done anything for them before?  We live in a large city.  I was stunned to learn that no one else has ever done anything for them.  I think this activity really touched some of our young adults . . .because this church member who lives there . . .is also a young adult.

 

We had a large group of folks and we even had some new folks.  It was a great night of hands on activities.  God is good.  Yes, he is.  Even when life is hard, God is good.  My scripture for my devotion yesterday said that God is holding my right hand.  I've been clinging to his hand.  What a comfort.

A whole month of fishing at the farm

I am married to a man who loves fishing. I knew that when I married him.  Several of our "dates" were spent in a boat or a canoe.  Since I love to soak up the sun I never minded an hour or two but he would want to stay all day long in the boat.  As I've aged (didn't I say that gracefully?), I am even more prone to motion sickness and sometime I even have a hard time riding around the lake in a ski boat much less sitting in a fishing boat all day.  Thank goodness for other men who love to fish and thank goodness for a lake at the farm!! 

Mark has been enjoying the lake at the farm this year and I am so glad because this lake has given him much worry (and still will because he is such a worrier).  Our friend, Hayden, drove down from Nashville and he and Mark spent several days at the farm.  They caught fish and talked and drank beer and who knows what else (I'm not sure I want to know).

This is our friend, Hayden.  He looks like a happy man.  I love how his jacket matches the fish and the water - couldn't have planned a better wardrobe selection!!

Here is another faithful fishing companion . . .George!  Surely a man's identical twin brother should be a good fishing companion!

How about a son?  Look at the size of that fish?  It is a monster!!  Glenn and Mark fished together a couple of weekends ago.  Mark loves that Glenn is living back in Birmingham.  I don't believe I have ever seen anyone miss someone so much as he missed his boy.  We've been blessed to have Laura close to home and have enjoyed seeing her at least once a week - most weeks two times.  Now we are loving have all three (counting our sweet daughter-in-law) of them in town!

I know . . .and have always known that Mark needs to "run away" to the farm.  He sits at a desk all day long every day crunching numbers and keeping up with important stuff.  He is an outdoor man and needs to spend time outdoors in order to be happy.  I'm so glad that we have the farm and that he has friends and a brother and son with whom to fish.  Who knows?  I might take up fishing in my old age!!

On my knees again

Well . . .another serious post from me.  I promise to post some fun things soon.  I have lots of fun pictures.  I did try to insert some humor in this post. :-)

There is an old song . . ."on the road again." My new song is going to be "on my knees again." I've been spending a lot of time "on my knees." In the last 24 hours I have been on my knees three different times. I'm not bragging. This is just life right now. You know that even in the most serious of times, the hardest of days, I have to throw in a little humor. I always have to kneel on a pillow. We have hardwoods or tile . . .I have to use a pillow. I'm a wimp. What can I say?

Just now I walked down to our sanctuary. Sure is nice to work in a church. The sanctuary was dark except for some light shining through one of the stained glass windows. I knelt at the altar rail . . .where I could see the cross still draped in the white cloth from Easter. That cloth represents hope!!! I was really talking to God. Thank goodness, I was not praying out loud because when I finished praying . . .someone had been in the sanctuary with me. I didn't hear a thing. They were surely tip toeing. I didn't hear a door close or anything BUT the door to the flower room was open when I started praying . . .and it was closed when I finished and there was a light on in the narthex when I started praying . . .and it was no longer on when I finished. Since I got back to my desk I've been listening to this song sung by Jaci Velasquez.  I really love these words:

I get on my knees, I get on my knees;
There I am before the love that changes me.
See I don't know how, but there's power
When I'm on my knees.

There is just something different about praying on my knees.  I think it is because I humble myself before God.  I bow down and acknowledge that HE IS LORD and I am not!

Do you have a favorite place to pray?  Do you have a favorite prayer posture? (sitting in a chair?  kneeling?  lying on the ground?  eyes open?  eyes closed?)  Does it change with the need?