Sunday Stealing

 

1.      Write about the best decision you ever made. How did you make it? Was it reasoning or gut instinct?

My decision to marry Mark was pretty good 😊! It was a “love” decision. My decision to accept the job offer for the job I have now was an excellent choice.  It was probably a decision based on reason.

 

2.      What ONE thing would you change about your life? How would your life be different?

 

Here goes the broken record. I need to lose the rest of my weight – the part that makes me feel fluffy. Losing weight would affect my mental attitude. Why don’t I just do it? Maybe I will buckle down this week!

 

3.      What is the hardest thing you have ever done? Why was it hard for you? What did you learn?

 

I feel like I’ve done a lot of hard things in my life. Saying goodbye to both of my parents before I was 25 years old was hard. Going through a divorce at 21 was hard. Getting married and staying married for 40 years is hard, even though we have a good marriage. Raising twins was hard. Being present in my home when lightning struck . . .and then rebuilding while living in an apartment was hard. What have all these things taught me? I can do hard things. Sometimes I need help, but I can do hard things.

 

4.      What is your greatest hope for your future? What steps can you take to make it happen?

 

I would love to live in a world where peace, truth, hope, and love were the norm. I can love God and love people!

 

5.      If you time travel, what would you tell your 16 year old self?

 

I wrote this a couple of years ago:

https://lisa-musingsofamiddle-agedmom.blogspot.com/2022/04/w-is-for-what-would-i-tell-her.html

 

6.      Write about the most glorious moment in your life so far.

 

I’ve experienced several wonderful moments. The day our twins were born was very scary at the time but in hindsight was glorious. The days both of our children married were also beautiful.

 

7.      What did you struggle most with today?

 

On Saturday, there was a Toll House Pie on the kitchen counter all day. I don’t even eat sweets but it called my name all day!!

 

8.      What made you happy today?

 

I woke up this morning! Also, on Saturday, I met two friends from childhood for lunch. It was good for my soul. Did I get a picture? Nope! I was in the moment.

9.      What did you dislike most about growing up?

 

Well, I probably disliked not always getting my way! I know I pitched a few fits over the years!! I didn’t like that my mom died while I was still growing up.

 

10.  Write about 3 activities you love the most and why you love them.

 

I love to be with our family. There is just something that happens to my heart when both of our kids, their spouses, and our grandgirls are all in our house. It hasn’t happened yet since the newest was born, but hopefully that will happen this summer!

I love to be with our friends, who are like family. We have been so incredibly blessed with good friendships.

I love to travel the world. I think traveling to other countries broadens our minds and opens our hearts in a way that I never expected.

 

11.  What has been your best trip so far?

 

We went to Ireland in 2021 and it was amazing. It just wasn’t long enough. All of our trips, except our honeymoon, have been wonderful.

 

12.  Write a list of 3 things (physical or personality-wise) you love about yourself, and why they make you unique.

 

I love to laugh. I like my smile! I have a very hard time saying “love” about any part of myself. I’m a good friend and can be a good listener.

 

13.  Discuss 3 things you wish others knew about you.

 

I can be an introvert. There is a running critic inside my head, so be gentle when you criticize me. I can’t come up with a third.

 

14.  Write about your top 3 personal strengths.

 

We have used Strengths Finder at work before and my top three are: Positivity, Woo, Harmony. I definitely try to keep a positive attitude. Woo means “Winning Others Over.” I love to connect with people, and I love to see people connect with each other. This is a perfect strength for my job. Harmony means I can’t stand it when people aren’t getting along and I try to look at both sides. This is from the Gallup website, “The world would be a better place if we all just got along. Harmony is more interested in what we have in common than what our differences are; in what unites us rather than what divides us.

 

15.  Is social media a blessing or a curse?

 

It is both. I love seeing what folks are doing. I feel like I’m able to keep in touch. On the other hand, social media also gives me terrible FOMO. Also, I think some people spend all their time living life in tiny vignettes – social media spots. We saw a proposal happen the other night and I’m pretty sure it was staged for the photographer. We need to live life. Snap a photo or two. Write about it so you don’t forget the details. I think we look at THE BEST moments in someone’s life and we compare it with our worst moments. For our mental health, that is not a good comparison.

10 on the 10th of May!

 

What are five things I CAN do in May??

1. I can write several blog posts!!

2. I can ride my stationary bike almost every day (I do this already :-) ).

3. I can have lunch with friends (times 2) - one group on the 10th and one group on the 11th.

4. I can go to our neighborhood supper club on the 18th and take Asian Slaw.

5. I can teach Sunday School this weekend . . .and I'm going to talk about Spiritual Mothers.

What are five things I MAY do in May??

1. I may try to cook for just the two of us a few extra times this month. I've not cooked enough lately. I've cooked a LOT but not for weekday dinners.

2. I may go to a memorial service for a cousin who died a few weeks ago.

3. I may learn something new at a conference at the end of the month.

4. I may finish sewing the cushions for outside furniture.

5. I may go to the pool in our neighborhood!

I had a harder time with the "mays" than with the "cans" which seems weird to me!

Thanks so much to Marsha in the Middle for the prompts for 10 on the 10th!!

Trotting Along with the Hodgepodge

Happy Wednesday! Since it is Wednesday, it is Hodgepodge! We are trotting along through May. How about you?

1. Did you watch the Kentucky Derby this past weekend? Have you ever been to a horse race? Ever ridden a horse? Did you enjoy it? Have you ever been to Kentucky? Do you like Bourbon? 

This is a great multi-part questions! I watched the end of the Kentucky Derby several times. That was so close. I have never been to a horse race before. I have ridden a horse several times and it was fun. I have driven through Kentucky. Mark's sister lived in Madison, Indiana and we went to visit them one time. Madison is on one side of the Ohio river and Kentucky is on the other side. There is a bridge over the water between the two. Mark loves bourbon. I don't. I bought a raffle ticket for him and the drawing is today and the prizes are all bourbon! I imagine we won't win because I've already been lucky one time and won a bottle of Pappy for him.

2.  What's something you wish you'd placed in a time capsule fifteen years ago?

I have no idea. 2009? Our kids were graduating from college that year so maybe just some memories!!

3. Are you adventurous? Elaborate. 

My husband would say I'm not. I think I am in some ways. I had never flown farther away than Hawaii or Nassau or St. Martin and in 2016, I flew to Israel for 10 days without Mark. I even went a second time without him. I feel like that was pretty dadgum adventurous. I was with other people both times but the first trip was a true learning experience. My boss nor I had been to Israel before. Luckily, we traveled with a great company and had a great tour guide. 

4. Something you want to make this year? It can be a new recipe, craft, diy project, a milestone you've set for yourself...anything at all. 

I've started making the patio cushions. I cut out the fabric on Sunday evening. They are only an inch thick so I don't have to make cording, etc. I will take two more classes this year - summer and fall and I hope to make more A's.

5. Cinco de Mayo was also celebrated this past weekend...do you like Mexican food? If so what's your favorite dish? Have you ever been to Mexico?  Margarita-yes or no?

This is my favorite question! I love Mexican food! I actually love rice and beans a LOT. I love a good cheese quesadilla. I love tacos. I love guacamole. I love queso and chips. I love Margaritas, yes, I do!! I have never been to Mexico. Los Valadores is a taco truck near our office and they are authentic. I got a chicken and cheese quesadilla from them about a week ago. Yum. Their tacos have meat, white crumbly Mexican cheese, and onions . . .maybe a sprig of cilantro. No lettuce, no tomatoes, no shredded cheese. They add two little cups of ON FIRE salsa - one is green and one is red. The green one is my favorite and I can only use a drop or two.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We served Mexican food to our Tuesday night YA group this week -- tacos (8 pounds of ground beef), queso, black beans, shredded lettuce, chips, shredded chicken, shredded cheese, onions, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, jalapenos, cheese quesadillas made with pepper jack cheese, homemade guac. I told them that we were celebrating Siete de Mayo . . .

black beans in one slow cooker
and queso in the other

8 pounds of ground beef - they
ate all but a baggie full of
leftovers

homemade guac, shredded cheese,
chopped tomatoes, onions,
shredded lettuce, salsa,
sour cream, chips

Weekend in Review -- on Monday!

I can't believe it. I'm actually going to post our weekend in review in a somewhat timely manner!!

Friday morning we headed south to our daughter's house. We were there about 28 hours and I held this little nugget for a lot of those hours.

I look pretty rough - I let my hair air dry and no make-up!

Even Pops was able to hold her some! Her big sister was quite jealous and said, "Gran can hold the baby but Pops is playing with me!" Pops is the favorite of the granddaughters.

I think one of these pictures was Friday and one was early Saturday morning.

After eating a PB&J for lunch on Saturday, we headed downtown for this nugget's dance recital. It was precious. Their routine was set to "You Are My Sunshine" and they performed as well as a bunch of 4 year olds can. She was in a picture with Gran and Pops.

She was in a picture with Grandma and Grandpa.

She was in a picture with her mommy and daddy.

She was in a picture with her friend!

As soon as we finished taking photos, we jumped in the car and plugged another address into Waze and off we went to Lake Martin for an outdoor wedding in The Church in the Pines. It took us about an hour to drive from one place to another but we were on mostly country roads so it was a pretty drive.

It is an outdoor chapel that is open on all sides and it has a roof with a giant fan. Even though it was very warm outside, it was fairly comfortable during the ceremony. It was a big wedding with 14 or so attendants on each side. When we were walking in, I thought one of the musicians looked very familiar. After the wedding, I approached her and I did indeed know her. She was several years older than me but grew up in my hometown and actually played the piano for the church where I grew up. Her family meant so much to me after my mom died.

I took a picture of the flowers decorating the area above the bridal party - the flowers were so pretty!!

The reception was just down the road at the Lodge on Cocktail Slough. It was a beautiful location but it was soooo hot!!

There is an ice cream place here called Big Spoon Creamery and they had the bicycle cart filled with tiny cartons of ice cream. These two both love ice cream. Laura had Lemon Poppyseed (the couple's favorite) and Mark had Alabama Strawberry.

The live band was good!

These three guys are such good buddies.

The bride and groom - first dance.

The groom and his mom. We are all friends of the groom's parents.

The three buddies a few pictures above are missing one friend.

All four wives were able to attend but one husband was away on business. Since Mark and I had such a whirlwind of a day, we dressed for the recital and wore the same clothes to the wedding. I love the sandals I have on in the picture below, but I was so glad that I had left my birkenstocks in the car. On our way to the wedding, we stopped at a gas station/convenience store about 5 minutes away from the venue and went to the bathroom and I changed shoes and added make-up. After the wedding,  I drove home and it was an hour and 37 minute drive and I was happy to have on comfy birkenstocks.

What did you do this weekend?

 

Sunday Stealing!

I'm joining up with Sunday Stealing!

1. Who is your best friend and why? What do you like to do together? I know that many of you who are married will say that your spouse is your best friend. Mark is a wonderful husband and we’ve been married almost 40 years, and we enjoy doing things together BUT we enjoy LOTS of different things. I have shared before how Mark and I are blessed to have a strong friend group and we are remarkably close with several couples. BUT I have one friend who is extra special to me. I know that I can share anything with her, and she won’t tell. If something is wrong, I know she will want to help me.

2. What is your town like? What are your favorite places to go? We live in a city – a suburb. There are over 92,000 people in our city. We have great shopping, lots of restaurants, and we live next to several other good smaller cities. I work in one of those smaller cities and there are under 30,000 people. We love to try new restaurants! Birmingham is the original “largest city” in Alabama, and we live just a short drive away and can attend concerts and plays and go to the zoo or the Museum of Art.

3. What is your favorite meal? Where and when do you eat it? I love to cook BUT I want to say that my favorite meal is one someone else cooks hahaha! Seriously though, my favorite meals are usually as much about people – who is at the table – than the food. One of my favorite meals is Thanksgiving – Turkey and dressing and gravy and all of the other sides.

4. What is your job like? What do you like about it? I am one of those rare people who loves her job. I am the assistant to the senior pastor at a United Methodist Church of 3400 +/- members. My job includes all sorts of things from scheduling appointments for him and keeping his calendar in order to scheduling baptisms and weddings and funerals. I’m also the staff member who oversees our Welcome Desk and helps with visitors and new members. I teach a large adult Sunday School class and Mark and I facilitate (and cook for) a group of young professionals every Tuesday night. One of my favorite parts of the job is probably the fact that I’ve been able to help with several group trips out of the country. My second favorite part is the people with whom I work. I sure do love them. My third favorite would be that I am able to talk with people at some major points in their lives – like those weddings, baptisms, and the loss of a loved one.

5. What is your favorite place to go on vacation? We love the Alabama gulf coast. We have white sandy beaches and gorgeous water. We’ve spent many a family (and even couple) vacations there. We came across these photos just last week and I took a picture of the picture so not great quality! I also love travelling internationally and hope to be able to do even more!

6. What country would you like to visit one day? We would love to go to Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, back to Ireland, I would like to go to Spain.

7. What bores you the most? A golf game on TV is a snoozer for me!

8. What are you looking forward to this summer? I love the longer days of sunlight! I hope to go to our neighborhood pool more often this year.

9. What is your favorite film? Film sounds fancy! Are we talking about movies? I’m horrible at favorites – I love Pretty Woman. I guess my honest answer might be my favorite movie is whatever I’m watching. I watched “It’s Complicated” last week when Mark was out of town and it was entertaining.

10. Do you sing in the shower? Rarely

11. What is the best gift you’ve ever received? The most thoughtful gift was the camera attachment to my computer YEARS ago before there was any kind of video chat like Zoom or Facetime. Mark not only bought it for me but bought the corresponding portion and sent it to my sister in Texas. Technology was not what it is today, so we didn’t use it often because there was such a delay to our voices. Turning in a different direction, I think our kids have been two of the greatest gifts in my life. As I mentioned earlier, we have such a good friend group and I feel like they are all gifts.

12. Do you prefer being indoors or outdoors? Mark would answer that before I could formulate my answer. He is an outdoor person and I’m an indoor person. Part of my reason for being an indoor person is my allergies. When you are allergic to almost every tree and grass and your ENT tells you that even though you’ve been undergoing allergy treatments since you were 23 years old and you are still having to take shots . . . .and you are one of the rare ones who will always have to take shots. . . outdoors is not always your friend. I do actually love to be outside if I’m dressed in clothes where sweat doesn’t matter!! This is Alabama. It was high in the high 80’s yesterday with high humidity.

13. When was the last time you cried, and why? I don’t like to cry especially in front of people. I did tear up during the last Frasier episode we watched a week or so ago. I also teared up at a recent funeral. I sometimes tear up but don’t actually cry much.

14. What do you keep in your bag or handbag? I keep too much crap in my purse! My grandmother called them “pocket books” – must be a southern thing?? I have a wallet and an epi pen and my phone and lipstick and an inhaler (remember those allergies I just talked about?). My purse always weighs too much and kills my shoulder. I purchase the lightest weight purses I can find because I’m going to fill it up.

15. Can you play a musical instrument? I cannot play any instrument and I wish I had learned. I took guitar lessons for a short while.

Weekend . . .once again, late :-)

Let's see . . .a whole week ago, I met two of my closest friends for lunch at Bistro V and we celebrated their April birthdays. It was so good to be together and laugh and talk.

I borrowed this photo from the Internet because
I tried really hard to be IN THE MOMENT and I
didn't take a single photo!

I mentioned this in the post last week -- the photographer and "reporter" came on Friday from a local magazine. We were interviewed and they took lots of photos. I've seen a sneak peek but I had to agree that I wouldn't share any until after the magazine is published.

I did a lot of studying last weekend.

I had a helper while I studied!

While I studied on Friday afternoon, Mark took granddaughter #1 to Chickey (Chick Fil A) for lunch and then to High Point climbing. Here she is climbing the 55 foot tall ADULT wall. She is 8. For her birthday, we each gave her the gift of time (in addition to some junk!). I took her to Claire's and Mark took her to High Point.

On Friday evening, we actually sat on our porch for a while. When we moved back into the house last July, it was just too hot to sit out there plus we didn't have it "put back together" again. We do now!

We watched some TV - we are watching Bones and Criminal Minds. Several of our other shows just completed. I actually cried during the last episode of Frasier. I had forgotten it from years ago. Harvey was literally watching TV!!

On Saturday, I did some around the house chores and studied. We picked up our good friends who live across the park from us and we went to the Front Porch for dinner. I had a Moscow Mule with Grey Goose vodka and it was good! There was a festival going on in that neighborhood and traffic and parking were crazy!!

I didn't take any other photos BUT I had a great salad. Yum! Yum!

I worked on Sunday morning and when I got off at 11:15, I went straight home. I made a bite of lunch and waited on my grocery delivery. As soon as I got the cold/frozen foods put away, I sat down at the island and took my final. This is what it takes for a 65 year old to study!! Our entire island is covered with information about Native American literature and Slave Narratives and Emily Dickinson. I studied hard!

There was a time limit of 2 hours and I used about an hour and a half. I think I did ok. I calculated that I could make as low as a 70 and still have an A for the semester. Did I already tell y'all that?

And then I cooked and made my lunches for the week and prepped the food for the YA for Tuesday night and CRASHED! I have a couple of weeks off before the next semester begins.

I know that it is now Thursday, but did you do anything fun last weekend?

 

Mayday! Mayday! It's a Hodgepodge!

Today is Wednesday so it must be the Hodgepodge!!

1. Mayday! Mayday!...when was the last time (or a recent time) you literally or figuratively needed to call for help? Elaborate. 

I called for help last week. We have a wonderful lady who cleans our house every few weeks. I needed her to come on a different day than normal and I think my text started with “help, please”!!

2. May Day...when was the last time you danced? Do you have a lot of baskets? What's something you keep in a basket? What's your favorite purple flower? 

I’ll start with the last question first - favorite purple flower - maybe an Iris?

The last time we danced was a while back at a wedding! 

We have some baskets. I keep a plant in a basket, 

and I keep some things organized in my home office in baskets. 

I have toys in baskets for the granddaughter.

That is my new fake tree from Amazon. 
It looks pretty good!

I have lemons in a basket on my island.

3. What's something you may do this month? 

We talked about going to the beach this month because we will celebrate our 40^th wedding anniversary! I don’t think it is going to happen at this point. Who knows? Maybe we can figure out a few days to be away.

4. Do you like eggplant? Quick topic changes lol? If you said yes in answer to the eggplant question how do you like yours prepared? Of the following purple foods, which one is your favorite...plums, purple carrots, purple asparagus, eggplant, acai berries, blackberries, purple cauliflower, elderberries, purple potatoes, or passion fruit? 

Eggplant is ok. I like it in Tulu Tulu but Mark doesn’t like it at all. Quick topic changes work for me! I tend to jump from one thing to the next. I like plums and purple carrots. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten purple asparagus. Eggplant is ok. I like acai berries in a “bowl” of some sort. I like blackberries. Mark LOVES fresh wild blackberries and blackberry cobbler with ice cream is probably his favorite dessert. I’ve eaten purple cauliflower in Israel and it was good. I don’t know if I’ve ever eaten elderberries. Purple potatoes are good. I don’t know if I’ve ever eaten passion fruit. I guess I have a few foods to try!

5. The calendar turns on Hodgepodge Day...

Let me ask all of you. How in the world can it possibly be May already? How? I just can’t believe it!

"Then you have to remember to be thankful; but in May one simply can't help being thankful that they are alive, if for nothing else."-L.M. Montgomery

Tell us one thing you're thankful for today.

I am thankful to be alive. I’m thankful for sunshine. I’m thankful for Mark and our kids and grandkids. I’m thankful for my job. I’m thankful for our home. I can’t stop with just one thing!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I just ordered new fabric to make new outdoor cushions for our wrought iron furniture. I have a tiny break between semesters and I want to do a few creative things. The cushions are for the furniture below. The bolt of fabric and foam is also pictured. The stripes match the colors so well and they are subtle!!