Juggle Juggle Juggle Hodgepodge

Thanks to Joyce for our weekly questions.

1. What are you currently juggling in your life? I'm typing this on Tuesday night and class starts tomorrow. I'll be juggling class alongside work and fun. Speaking of juggling, Mark used to juggle quite often.

2. How often do you buy new clothes? What was the last piece of clothing you purchased? I buy things as needed or when I get tired of wearing what I already own or sometimes I buy clothes for a special occasion or trip. I don't have a set "time" to buy clothes. Last week, I ordered some shorts online from Belk. I bought one pair last year and wished I had purchased more so I ordered three more pairs in various colors. (Crown and Ivy women's scalloped shorts). I had ordered a new dress from Talbots and ordered two sized. When I returned one of the dresses to the store, I bought some new shirts to go with the shorts.

3. What food festival would you most like to attend? If you need help here are links to some of the bigger and more popular food events around the world-

Ten Food Festivals Worth Traveling To Find

2024 Best Food And Drink Festivals And Events In The US

20 Popular Food Festivals Around The World In 2024 For Your Unconditional Love Of Food

Oh . . . Sydney, Dubai, and Prague all sound wonderful. I've always thought it would be fun to go to Germany for Octoberfest. Does that count as a food festival? There is also a food and wine event at Disneyworld that has always interested me. I'm not sure this would count as a food "festival" or not, but before Mark retired, he and the owner of his company attended a dinner for BBVA Compass (pre-PNC) and Manolo Sanchez was the host. The dinner was multiple (LOTS!) courses and each course was paired with a special wine and they told everyone about the course and the wine, etc. etc.

4. May is the 5th month of the year. Tell us something you remember about your 5th grade year. I remember quite a few things about my sixth grade year but I don't know if I remember a single thing about my 5th grade year.

5. What are your favorite five words right now? Positivity, Granddaughters, Fun (as in don't take the fun out of funeral), October trip!

6. Insert your own random thought here. I took this picture on the way to work this morning. I have at least three different routes I can drive to work and I usually check Waze before I leave and go the quickest. I pass this house quite often and the speed limit is VERY SLOW on the road in front of their house and no one was behind me this morning so I stopped, hit the button for the window to go down and snapped a quick photo. I think this is so cool and it is in their front yard! Art on a different level!!

Weekend in Review ON MONDAY! YAY!

Since I work on Sundays, my weekend is sort of Friday and Saturday. When I leave work on Thursday evening, I am thinking of all I need to accomplish. Mark was at the farm so I read, and watched some old TV, and ordered groceries to be delivered on Friday morning.

I have two preferred shoppers and they both do a great job. I love using Shipt/Target delivery. There is no mark-up on items from Target and I trust my shoppers.

I buy a lot of groceries every week because in addition to our own food at home, I usually help my sister-in-laws with Sunday lunch (I didn't help this week), and we cook for the Young Adults on Tuesday night.

Groceries arrived early Friday morning and I put them away and did laundry and rode my bike and emailed my potential professor.

Mark came home around lunchtime and he worked on our screens. The neighbor's cat tore a hole in the screen and Mark decided to replace all of the screens with a better aluminum screen.

I dragged a few more tubs out of the attic and cleaned the outside of the tub and sorted out the inside. I'm going to be honest. I do not know if this is a project I will ever finish. I thought about having the whole floor done while the house was torn up . . .but I didn't . . .and I wish I had.

I'm enjoying cutting letters with the silhouette. Now if I could just get Mark to put the tubs in Holiday order.

Our son called around lunchtime on Saturday and wanted to know if our pool is open because granddaughter #1 wanted to go to a pool to swim.

She and our daughter-in-law came over and I went with them for about 30 minutes. They stayed longer but this "old lady skin" was burning!

She had fun and I loved watching her and my daugher-in-law and I had some nice conversation time.

Saturday night was our annual Neighborhood Supper Club. I've told y'all about the monthly gatherings where we are assigned to random homes and eat together. The May gathering is at our townhall and a committee (those who haven't hosted in their homes) orders and pays for the meat, buns, tea, and water. Everyone else signs up for appetizers, specific sides, and desserts.

I made the Asian Slaw on the left of the plate. I had some baked beans and BBQ (no bun), a tiny bite of mac and cheese (in the middle) and a scoop of potato salad. The theme was Western - as in jeans and bandanas. I wore a denim skort which was as "western" as I had!

The town hall is lovely.

The inside is lovely, too. The middle section is where we are in the photo below. To the right is a living room area and to the left are restrooms and a work out facility.

I thought I took more photos but only have these few. I thought the centerpieces were cute and simple - bandanas with mason jars and flowers.

It was about to rain so we drove my car even though it was only 3 blocks from our house. When we came home, the sun was setting and it was spectacular. I was literally standing in the alley behind my car when I took this photo. The sky had huge streaks of pink.

Sunday morning, I was at work by 7:00. It was Pentecost Sunday and everything was lovely. The flowers on the altar were amazing and looked like "flames." The Children's moment involved sparklers! Our Bishop is moving on after serving our area for 12 years and she preached. In between services, we consecrated our space. Pre-covid was started on a $14M building project - some of which was mold remediation plus new kid's Sunday School rooms and an additional worship space. The building was finished and ready to open and COVID COVID COVID - a worldwide pandemic happened. Finally, we were able to use the space again and all along, people kept paying off the debt. We are debt free now - hence, the consecration! We had cake on the lawn for the "birthday of the church/Pentecost" and also to celebrate that we are debt free which enables us to do SO MUCH ministry -- like feeding 500 families a week with our Food Share program (where Mark volunteers).

Since our Bishop was with us, she prayed over our buildings.

I've told y'all about my "boss" before - the senior pastor. Here is a photo of him at the Consecration.

I had a meeting at 3:00 at another UMC and then I went home and crashed. Mark and I both exercised and folded laundry and watched some TV!

What did you do this weekend?

 

FORTY, yes I said 40 Years!

May 19, 1984 -- Forty years ago today we said I do to each other. Over the years I'm sure there have been many times we questioned that decision, but we stuck it out. Back in 1984, my hair was still the original color! Mark had a giant mustache. We drove to Atlanta after the wedding reception, which was held at the church and we served fruit, cheese straws, wedding cake, grooms cake, nuts, and non-alcoholic punch. I just remembered a funny detail. Mark let me out at the door to the hotel and went to park. There was a fire in the hotel and the fire alarm went off AFTER Mark drove off. People were pouring out of the hotel and bar into the parking lot. A man who had been in the bar . . .tried to pick me up. I remember giving him the stare of death and saying, "I just got married!" The next morning we flew to the Bahamas. A whole lot of weird things happened that week from not being able to check into the hotel for hours and Mark was not willing to leave our luggage. Also, he took his fishing poles on our honeymoon BUT he didn't use them. After our week away, when we got ready to fly home, there was a teenager flying our plane. Seriously. He was sitting in that cockpit and we both look at each other. We made it home . . .but our luggage didn't. It came in a day or so later and that gorgeous conk shell packed in our suitcase SMELLED HORRIBLE. 

In the attic, in boxes yet unpacked, are pictures of us along the way. We were pregnant with twins on our second anniversary and I gave birth in November of 1986. There were some tough years -- years where we were tired and sick and tired of being tired. For most of the first 18 years of our kid's life, I was a stay at home mom. I worked part-time for a few years from the time they were 2 1/2 until they were in lower Elementary school. Then I stayed home with them until spring break of their junior year of high school.

Then they went off to college and it was just the two of us again. It took a little while to get back into the groove of being Mark and Lisa again, rather than the parents of our kids.

Our son proposed to his wife when they were finishing up at Auburn and they got married in the same church where Mark and I married and they had a cat and a dog and a baby.

We became grandparents . . .no longer just Mark and Lisa, but Pops and Gran.

Then our daughter got married in the same church.

and she and Scott had a baby.

And then covid . . . . .  a global pandemic.

The world began to re-open and we started doing fun things again.

And we are still married and still traveling together and still doing family together.

And then our house burned down and we moved to an apartment and started along year and 10 day journey to come home again.

The photo above was in November after we moved home at the end of July. Our daughter was pregnant with baby number 2.

And below was in March at granddaughter #1's eighth birthday party and we are still married.

And we've arrived at the 40 year point. I won't lie to anyone who asks. Some years have been amazing and some years have been tough. Our faith in Christ has kept us together many times.

FORTY YEARS!!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Sunday Stealing on a Saturday

Thanks to Bev and Swapbot for the Sunday Stealing questions!

1. What inspires you the most? I answered a similar question recently. I am inspired by the kindness of others. I am inspired when I see someone else do well. I am inspired by the beauty of nature around me. I am inspired by my faith.

2. How do you think the world will change in 20 years? I cannot even imagine what the world will be like in 2044. Surely there will be flying cars by then, right? I hope we, and those coming behind us, will start taking better care of the earth so that we will still have some natural resources left in 20 years.

In 20 years, our oldest granddaughter will be 28; our middle granddaughter will be almost 25; our newest granddaughter will be 20. I will be 85 and I will be approaching my 86^th birthday. Mark will be approaching his 91^st birthday. He might make it because his mother’s father lived until his 80’s and his mother’s mother lived to be 95. His mother will be 99 in July. He will probably outlive me.

3. Cats or dogs and why? We have a cat named Harvey who is a rescue and he is spoiled rotten. Our son and his family and Mark’s sister all have dogs. I like them ok. I very much dislike dog toenails. They always scratch me. I do love Glenn’s GSP’s soft ears and she likes me to rub them!!

4. What is the funniest memory from your childhood? Oh my goodness – you are asking me to think back a long time ago. This wasn’t funny at the time, and it probably shouldn’t be now, but we were playing kickball and one of the neighborhood guys and I fell at the same time and I broke his leg! When I was in high school and was joining some club, we had initiation and had to dress in pajamas and go to the mall. Once again, it wasn’t funny at the time (to me) but thinking back it is pretty funny.

5. Where do you not mind waiting? I don’t mind waiting in an air conditioned room with windows or in a “just the right temperature” outside spot if I have something to read. I-phones saved the day because I always have something to read at my fingertips. I don't like waiting in traffic or standing in a line in direct sunlight.

6. What was the best thing before sliced bread? Is this a literal question? Sliced bread has been around since way before I was born. I’m going to go with the creation of toilet paper and the creation of feminine hygiene products. I have no idea when they were created but those things changed life for the better!

7. What product would you stockpile if you found out they weren’t going to sell it anymore? Diet Pepsi . . .but actually, the drinks wouldn’t be good years down the road. When they get past the date, I can taste a difference. Thinking back to my answer to #6, I might stockpile toilet paper!! We love Dial soap (bar) for our showers so I might stockpile that, too!

8. What do you get every time you go grocery shopping? See answer to #7 – Diet Pepsis! I also usually get bananas, keto bread, another fruit that is in season, fresh veggies, lean meat.

9. What do people do too much of today? We probably all spend too much time on our phones and other devices. We also spend too much time worrying about what other people think. Maybe I should change the “we” to “I.”

10. Are you a GoodWill, or any second hand store customer? We have a consignment sale twice a year at our church – Lil Lambs. I have bought tons of children’s clothes for one of our granddaughters. My daughter-in-law and I don’t have the same taste so I don’t buy many things for our oldest granddaughter.

We give a LOT of stuff to the Salvation Army store because it is only a couple of miles from our house. I am not a big thrift/second hand store customer. In our last house, I did buy a wooden kitchen table at the Salvation Army store that I used for crafting.

11. How do you feel about the death penalty? I don’t feel that I, personally, have the right to take anyone else’s life.

12. Are there brands of certain items that you will ONLY buy that brand? paper towels, ketchup etc. I prefer Heinz ketchup, Diet Pepsi, Hope’s Granite and Hope’s Glass cleaner, Tylenol, and Motrin just to name a few.

13. What are some things that you will buy the Store brand, and find the quality to be great? I like the 99% fat free ground turkey from Aldi. I went this morning and they were sold out! There are several things at Aldi and Trader Jo’s that I like. There are also several things that are Good & Gather brand at Target that I will buy.

14. What is a Name brand item that really disappointed you recently? I can’t think of anything.

15. Do you wear glasses or contacts? I used to wear glasses and then contacts and about 20 years ago, I had Lasik surgery which was worth every single penny. Now I wear reading glasses from the drugstore.

Let's Review Last Weekend before we begin another weekend!!

This "weekend in review" actually begins with events that happened a week ago. Our friend, Steve, died and his memorial service was last week. Steve was a writer and had an amazing sense of humor. Back in 2011, he was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer (not what killed him) and he wrote a Directive of things he wanted when he died. He wanted to be cremated and then he wanted to have a "wine and cheese" reception. We can't serve alcohol in our church so we did the next best thing. We had a reception with cheese and finger sandwiches from Ouslers and fruit and nuts and white grape juice and red punch. Close enough. His Directive was read during the service by his girlfriend, Lynne. Steve was 84 years old and he and Lynne (also in our Sunday School class) had dated for 14 years. One of the things he wrote was "don't take the fun out of funeral." Everyone in the chapel was laughing as Lynne read what he had written. I actually left his service feeling better than when I entered the chapel.

My sister-in-law arranged the flowers on the table for the reception and provided the antique cloth. Our church parlor looked lovely and the family and friends seemed very appreciative of the "Cheese and juice" party.

I didn't take a picture after we added all of the food!

Steve's book is below. The book is a compilation of stories. He was a wonderful story teller. His son told those attending the service that his dad always said, "don't let the truth get in the way of a good story." I'm chuckling as I type those words.

On Friday morning, I had an appointment for color and cut (hair) and I told y'all last month that my hair stylist has moved to a nearby town. It was a 37 ish minute drive and the day was beautiful and the farm country provided great scenery.

After the hair cut, I drove 40+ minutes back to the neighboring city where I work to meet three friends for lunch. I've told y'all about them before. We meet once a month for lunch. We raised our kids together and that hour is such a needed time together. Have you eaten at Ashley Mac's? It is a nice spot to grab lunch.

Friday night, we were with some of our regular supper club folks. Two couples were unable to attend. Our friends live on a crest overlooking the "main city." I love the views.

Our hostess tried something new! We made our own Poke' Bowls. She had Ahi Tuna, Smoked Salmon, and/or shrimp and all sorts of additions from two kinds of rice to seaweed chips.

We even ate with chopsticks -- the hostess nor I are in the photo.

I actually ran back onto the porch because I wanted to snap a quick photo of the sun setting.

Friday night, the Northern Lights were showing out even in Alabama. My neighbor took this photo on our circle. I went outside at 10:00 and didn't see anything and went to bed. I didn't know you had to look through your camera lens.

On Saturday, I "played" in my office. I worked on the cushions for outside.

I cleaned out some tubs from the attic. I still have a LOT more. I'm going to try to do a couple per week. I cut out more vinyl letters to label the tubs using my Silhouette. I took a few things to the Salvation Army and I took some things to the trash!!

Ta Da! Here are the new cushions for outside.

I'm actually quite proud of them.

I think our courtyard is beginning to look lovely again. Since I took this picture (below) on Sunday afternoon, even more Hydrangeas have bloomed. We have about 40 on each bush.

I got a text message from our daughter with their newborn pictures. Here is big sister who will be five in July.

And here is new baby girl. This was taken a couple of weeks ago and she is already looking so much more awake and alert and growing so fast.

We don't have as many things to do this weekend. My class will start next week so I'm going to try to enjoy some down time!

 

Impressive Hodge Podge

I'm joining up with Joyce and the gang for the Wednesday hodgepodge! 

1. What impresses you?  I’m going with the first thing that popped into my head. Kindness often impresses me! Seriously! I love when I spot someone being kind to another person. I’m also impressed (and somewhat intimidated) by really smart people who know a lot and can talk intelligently about a subject.

2.  Where are you in your family birth order? Do you fit the stereotype of that particular slot? In what way? I am the baby. I definitely fit into the stereotypical role of the baby. I still love to get my way 😊. My two sisters would say that I still fit the stereotype.

3. What motivates you more-a reward or a consequence? Elaborate. My first thought was a reward, but after thinking on it . . .I think it might be that I’m motivated by consequences because I can be such a rule follower.

4. May 14th is National Buttermilk Biscuit Day. Who thinks biscuits deserve their own day? Do you like biscuits? Make your own? Grab one for breakfast at a drive-through now and then? Which drive-through makes the one you like best? What do you like to put on a biscuit? What's your favorite food or dish that calls for buttermilk? I didn’t know that biscuits had a day of their own. I do like biscuits. I can make angel drop biscuits, but I’ve never mastered the kind of biscuits my granny used to make. There are some great “frozen/pop in the oven” biscuits that you can purchase at the grocery store. I used to drive through different places and grab one every once in a while on the way to work. Jack’s used to have good ones. I think Hardees had good ones, too. Our Piggly Wiggly serves breakfast from the deli and they make a decent biscuit. You can get Conecuh sausage on it which is really good. When I used to go through the drive through, I would get a bacon and cheese biscuit or a sausage and cheese biscuit. My favorite food that calls for buttermilk is cornbread!!

5. Are there any weddings on your summer calendar? What's your favorite part of a wedding/wedding reception? We just went to a wedding a couple of weeks ago and I don’t know if we will be invited to any more this summer or not. I always love watching the groom’s face when the bride starts down the aisle. It is such a sweet moment!! I also enjoy watching the bride dance with her dad and the groom dance with his mom.

6. Insert your own random thought here. Look at our hydrangeas. They have the most spectacular blooms – multiple flowers on each stem. Aren't they impressive? Some of them are so heavy, they are causing the branch to bow toward the ground.

 

Mothers who weren't our mothers . . .

We actually had a fun weekend and I want to write a weekend review but decided to do this first. I actually used this as our adult Sunday School lesson yesterday in the class I teach.

2 Timothy Chapter 1 Verses 5-7

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.

For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

I don’t know the relationship that you had with your own grandmothers or your own mother, but in addition to those relationships, I imagine that you have experienced spiritual mothers along the way - those women who mothered us even though they didn't birth us.

My dad’s mom was a member of Rock Methodist Church in Tarrant, Alabama. I remember her quilting friends and other lady friends who would come to visit. She loved to cook for us and I remember spending the night at her house. My mother had a strange relationship with her own mother. This Granny was very poor and I remember going to her house and she didn't have indoor plumbing! 

My mom's mom

My own mother loved Jesus and she loved us. She taught 3 year old Sunday School for years. When she was diagnosed with cancer and was approaching death, it was so important to her for my daddy to be baptized so that they could re-united in heaven some day. He was baptized and I was old enough that I still remember that night. Those of you who have heard my story know that my mother died when I was 15 – when I was a Sophomore in high school. I was called out of class by the principal and told that I was needed at home. I had walked home for lunch earlier that day and my momma had whispered, “I love you” to me and those were the last words she spoke. She died just an hour or so later.

Momma when she was young

Momma holding me and my two older sisters

After she died, I never lacked for a spiritual mother. My best friend's mother, Inez, and another friend's mother, Mrs. Parker, both took me under their wings and met different needs in my life. Inez and her husband, Herb, took me on trips all over the place - from visiting family in other towns to a cruise. Inez taught small groups that I was a part of. She nurtured me in so many ways. Due to that relationship, I was asked to speak at Inez's funeral and was honored to do so.

Karen and her momma, Inez

The Parker family had 5 children of their own, but the summer following my mom's death, they purchased an extra pool pass and the name on that pool pass was my first name and their last name. They also gave me a surprise 16^th birthday party and it was the first birthday party I ever had in my life.

Mrs. Parker

There were three couples who were active in the young adult ministry in my home church. Even though they were actually quite young themselves, they loved me and mothered me and taught me more about Jesus. They loved Jesus and they loved me.

Let me tell you about my next door neighbor when I was in my young 20’s. Her name was Agnes and she was amazing. I was going through a really rough time and she would cook breakfast for me and make me come over to her house and eat with her. She checked on me all the time.

I came to Trinity when I was 23 years old and went to the young adult Sunday School class. The mother of one of the other participants took me under her wing. She taught me to never say, “I’m bored” because there is always something to do. I was snowed in at their house for 3 days and I had never even seen real silver before and over those three days I learned to polish lots of silver.

Not long after I came to Trinity, the single’s class grew and became the Christian Singles class and our teacher was Dale Sibley and she had a direct line to Jesus. She loved us unconditionally. 

Dale

Mark and I were dating and soon married and I cried because we had to find a new class. We married in May of 1984 and the John Wesley class started in September of 1984 and we were charter members. A young couple – Polly and Jack Allison became our class parents. Jack taught and Polly mothered us. I vividly recall standing in their small kitchen talking about parenthood and marriage and all the things. We could ask her anything. Nothing was off limits.

Mark’s mom stepped in as a mother figure in my life. She and I had long phone conversations almost every day. She taught me how to entertain and how to bake and cook. She modeled what it was like to read the Bible every day and to be in Christian fellowship with friends.

Somewhere along the way, I got older – haha! I’m not sure I’m a good example, but I try to be for our kids and granddaughters. We’ve had 100’s of young adults through our house over the last 14 years and I hope that Mark and I have both been spiritual parents to some of them. Actually, I know we have been.

So what about you? Tell me about some of the spiritual mothers in your life? Who played an important role in your life?