Time -- Girl Time

Time spent with family is sweet -- especially time spent with granddaughters.

A couple of weeks ago I headed about an hour and a half south to our daughter's home while Mark, Scott (son-in-law), Glenn (son), and Wynn (friend) went to the farm.

For lunch we headed to Sweet Creek - it is sort of a Farmer's Market with a restaurant and a lot of animals and a really cool playground.

The main playground area is built OVER a combine. The kids can even climb up and sit in the driver's seat.

They have a HUGE chicken coop with all sorts of chickens. Look at the top of head poof and poofs on the white chicken feet!

Sweet granddaughter was afraid to come down the big dark slide by herself. One of the children in my daughter's 3rd grade class was there and she slid down with her. Look at that expression of joy on her face. She was sliding by herself after a couple of times with a big friend.

We looked at all of the chickens.

We took a selfie in the little gazebo outside the coffee shop. I forgot to say that there is a coffee shop there, too. It was a really warm day!

There are two kinds of swings - tires made into tractors and tires made into horses.

She refused to sit on the John Deere tractor seat for her picture but did agree to stand there.

You can see how big and dark and long the slides are!!

We played at home in the afternoon and had planned to cook and eat but decided at the last minute to go to the Mexican restaurant that is really close to their house. We didn't even make her change out of her Mirabel costume.

I evidently had on ZERO make up
that day and I look so washed out!

I started writing this post several weeks ago. The internet is so slow at the apartment that I start writing and then get frustrated when I try to load pictures!

A Hodgepodge of Games . . or not!

I'm joining up with Joyce and friends for the Hodgepodge . . .it must be Wednesday!

1. April 13th is National Scrabble Day...are you a fan? Do you enjoy word games in general? What's an eight letter word that tells us something about your life currently? I live with a man (am married to him, too 😊) who informed me when we were dating that he “didn’t play games.” I remember wondering just what he meant by that. Did he not play games in relationships? Did he not play monopoly? He does NOT play games. He has played poker over the years . . .that might be how we taught our kids some of their math . . .and the second grade teacher may have told us that our child was in the corner hosting a poker game . . .maybe. He has also played a couple of party games over the years on New Year’s Eve and we’ve played our own version of Dominoes but on the whole . . .he doesn’t play games. I am not on the Wordle bandwagon. I don’t remember the last time I played scrabble. I would probably enjoy it!

2.  Do you have a junk drawer? Is it full? Do you know what's in it? What's in it? Yes, even here in the apartment we have a couple of junk drawers and a couple of junk baskets. They hold everything from extra pens and twist ties to some collapsible funnels that I bought to use. One junk drawer has my charger cord for my Kindle. I know there is a baggie with several spools of thread and some sewing needles in it. All of those are in the kitchen alone! In the bedroom, I have a couple of junk drawers, too. I have pictures and some keepsakes and my other odds and ends. I hope to get everything re-organized when we move back into our home.

3. When does time pass quickly for you? When does it pass slowly? Time passes quickly when we are having fun – just like the old saying goes!! It passes slowly if I’m sitting in a hospital room with a family member or if I’m waiting on someone.

4. These eight vegetables are in season during spring-asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery, collard greens, garlic, herbs. What's your favorite? Any on the list you refuse to eat? Last one on the list you ate? I love asparagus – roasted. I enjoy broccoli, cabbage, and carrots. I like celery as a dipper or in chicken salad. I used to HATE any kind of cooked greens but I actually have grown to love collard greens – especially fresh ones that have been seasoned well. Garlic and herbs are in most things. I like some garlic but I would never add five or six cloves to a recipe . . .even if the recipe called for that many. There are a few herbs that aren’t always my friend. I don’t know which is my favorite – I do love roasted asparagus. There are none on the list that I would refuse to eat.

5. What's the oldest thing you own? Tell us about it. What a great question. I have no idea!! Somewhere I think I have a pair of my grandpa’s sunglasses. Pre-fire, I had his Shaped Note hymnal. I hope it didn’t get ruined. I have my mom’s high school ring (somewhere) and that is pretty old. I just asked Mark what is the oldest thing he owns. He has a $5 gold piece from the 1800’s that has been passed down through several generations of his family. He wins that round in this household.

6. Insert your own random thought here. I have several random thoughts. Are you surprised? I need to write an Easter post. I still have a post sitting in my blog to be finished about a visit from a few weeks ago. I did take my final exam on Sunday evening so I’m through for the semester. Next class begins on May 10. I’m not sure what I’m taking. Since I’m over 60, I can’t register until the day before classes begin so that I can get my “senior citizen’s” discount. It will be either a science, an English something or other, or speech. I’m chipping away at this Associate in Arts degree. As a 60+ year old, I have taken four classes spread out over the last four semesters and I have made all A’s. I don’t have my final grade for this class but I think I have an A. I went into the final with a very high A so hopefully, I’ll be ok.

Sunday Stealing that has NOTHING to do with Easter :-)

 I'm joining up with the regular Sunday gang. Thank you to Bev for the questions . . .or prompts.

1. I've come to realize that my chest-size . . .What?? As a female, this is a weird question.

 

2. I've come to realize that my job(s) . . . is amazing.

 

3. I've come to realize that when I'm driving . . . I often have road rage.

 

4. I've come to realize that I need . . .a diet pepsi as soon as I awaken.

 

5. I've come to realize that I have lost .... and regained 100’s of pounds over the years!

 

6. I've come to realize that I hate it when ... I don’t get my way. That answer makes me sound like I’m 3 years old. I’m trying to answer this with a grain of truth and a sense of humor. I also hate it when I burn bacon. I was cooking bacon for our broccoli salad for Easter lunch and I burned it so badly that it was incinerated. You literally couldn't tell that it had been bacon at one time. Now our apartment smells really yucky. I put cinammon sticks and a lemon in a pan and covered with water and simmered it - still stinks. I put vinegar and a lemon in a bowl and covered with water and heated in the microwave - still stinks. I have sprayed unscented Febreeze all around the kitchen - it still stinks. I opened the window in our bedroom which let in an unbelievable amount of pollen - achoo! - and it still stinks.

 

7. I've come to realize that if I'm drunk ... I’m not in control . . .and I like to be in control. I try not to overdrink.

 

8. I've come to realize that money ... can buy a lot of things but it can’t buy the most important things.

 

9. I've come to realize that certain people ... irritate me . . .and certain people fill up my love tank . . .and certain people bring joy to my life and certain people "get"me.

 

10. I've come to realize that I'll always ... struggle with my weight and have to constantly work on it - see #5 above.

 

11. I've come to realize that my siblings . . .are pretty cool people.

 

12. I've come to realize that my mom ... had a really hard life when she was growing up and died far too young. She had just celebrated her 50^th birthday.

 

13. I've come to realize that my cell phone ...is attached to my hand. Seriously, I use my cell phone a lot for work and to communicate with our kids and to communicate with our builder.

 

14. I've come to realize that when I woke up this morning ...it was a new day!

 

15. I've come to realize that last night before I went to sleep ...I am incredibly grateful to have a bed in which to sleep and also, that our Good Friday service was incredibly powerful.

A Hoppity Hodgepodge

Joining up with Joyce over at From This Side of the Pond. She graciously writes the Hodgepodge Questions and we answer and visit and read everyone else's answers!!

1.What would you say is the most difficult task when it comes to spring cleaning? Have you completed that task this year? Any plans to get it done? This year my most difficult task is the fact that we aren’t in our house and I have no desire to spring clean a rental apartment. My real problem with spring cleaning is the fact that dust is one of my big allergens so I have to wear a mask (which is hot) and I have to be careful to not touch my eyes or face or nose with dust on my hands.

2. Your favorite pastel color? Favorite thing you own in a pastel shade? I love pink but I tend to go with more vibrant shades of colors – bright pink; bright blue; brighter greens. I do love the pastels of pink, yellow, blue and green . . .I just don’t wear them often.

3. Do you like ham? Do you fix ham year round or is it mostly just a 'holiday food'? Baked ham-ham and eggs-ham and cheese sandwich-scalloped potatoes and ham-Hawaiian pizza....what's your pleasure? I love ham – especially HoneyBaked Ham. I’ve ordered ours for our family lunch and will pick it up on Thursday. We usually have it alongside our turkey – sometimes at Thanksgiving and sometimes at Christmas. I love it – sliced and served on a plate with wonderful sides.

4. Do you celebrate Easter? What did Easter look like when you were a kid? What are your plans for Easter this year? We do celebrate Easter. We have been in the season of Lent since Ash Wednesday. This is Holy Week which began with Palm Sunday. We begin our worship with palms and end our worship with “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” and we have four young men bring in a huge old rugged cross. It will remain at the front of the church through Friday night when we have our service of darkness. We will begin our Easter services on Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. and Mark and I will attend that service. Mark will go to whichever worship service our in-town kids choose on Sunday morning while I work. After church, we will gather at Mark’s mom’s house for a family lunch of Honeybaked Ham (see #3!), potato salad, carrot salad, broccoli salad and all sorts of other deliciousness. We may even hide some Easter eggs.

5. Something that makes you feel hopeful amidst all the chaos and confusion this world brings? Mark volunteers twice a week at our Hub – which is where all of our Outreach ministries occur. We are feeding over 300 families every week, providing weekend backpacks of food for children who need it in a school system, hosting/leading ESOL classes once a week for refugees from all over the world, assisting those same folks with furniture, clothing, household items, etc. We offer a free store by appointment one day a week where folks can shop for a variety of things. Amazing things are happening out of a gym that is not even full-sized (3/4). When people work together, no matter their nationality or beliefs, no matter their political opinions, no matter their whatever . . .there is hope!!

6. Insert your own random thought here. I don’t think I have any random thoughts today. I hope my “friends” here have a meaningful Holy Week and I hope your weekend is full of joy and light and hope and peace!

The Thorn (and Rodney Scott BBQ)

Our friends (and neighbors) invited us to go to the BJCC to see a play with them and we ordered tickets a couple of months ago.

After work, we picked them up and headed to Rodney Scott's BBQ for a quick dinner. The food was good and after we ate, we hopped into our car and headed downtown.

The advertisement said the play was The Passion story crossed with Cirque du Soleil. The four of us had been to the Passion Play in Germany in summer of 2022 while we were on our Italy/Germany/Austria trip.

These photos are totally out of order. Our internet is so slow at the apartment and I guess that is why they load in an incorrect order. It is weird.

They had dancers and aerial artists and amazing lights and a background that changed as needed.

Here we are - from the left - Lu (Lucinda), Dave, Mark, and me

The story was narrative by John (the Gospel of John) and this actor was

amazing. He was funny and serious and had the mannerisms down of an old man. The whole show was good but this guy was amazing.

The photo below is of the last supper in the upper room. I mentioned this in a recent blog post . . .because the sight I enjoy the least in Israel is the Upper Room. The background scene is a shot of the actual room in Jerusalem and seeing it like this made me like it more. I know that probably makes no sense.

My main critique was the artistic license they used where Satan was involved. I grew up in a denomination where motivation to be good was fear. NO! NO! NO! I won't get on my soapbox today.

I will say that it was the perfect play to see on Wednesday before Palm Sunday and I would recommend it. I probably wouldn't take a young child. I would think 13 and over simply because of the last 30 minutes.

 

Sunday Stealing from Tuesday Four

 Here we are back to the weekend and Sunday Stealing. Bev finds the questions and we answer and link up.

1.Are you currently reading a book you'd like to tell us about? Maybe a TV program you can recommend to us? I am currently studying for my final exam so all day Saturday, I was reading from “Exploring the Bible” by Stephen L. Harris. I am taking Survey of the Old Testament which has been fascinating. I just finished Someone Else’s Life: a thriller on my kindle.

2. Are you a Jane Austen fan? So many seem to be. If you are, what is your favorite book and who is your favorite character.  If you aren't a fan, is there an author you especially like to read? Favorite character, etc.? I’m not a huge Jane Austen fan. My mother-in-law and sisters-in-law went through a Pride and Prejudice phase so I did watch all of those with them at some point. I read a variety of authors – I love James Patterson and Faye Kellerman and Jonathan Kellerman and Janet Evanovich and Jana DeLeon. I love different characters in different series. Grandma Mazur in Janet Evanovich’s books, along with Lula, are pretty great. I love a lot of the characters in the Jana DeLeon books.

3.  How do you spend your time during the day?  Do you set apart time to read, watch TV, study? I work Sunday through Thursday so I’m busy doing various tasks from greeting people to making appointments to scheduling events, etc. On the nights Mark is home, we try to watch about an hour of TV together. I love to read so I sometimes read while I eat my lunch at my desk. I study a lot, too. Right now I’m studying every day. Sometimes I just study 3 or 4 days a week.

4. Have your beliefs changed in your life time? Yes, they have. I find I am more open now and less rigid than when I was younger. I am a Christian and I am a big believer in God’s grace.

5. What are your interests and hobbies? reading? writing? collecting? I love to read. I enjoy writing but don’t seem to make enough time for it. I collect dust bunnies hahahaha! Just kidding. I don’t think I collect anything.

6 How much time a week/day/month do you devote to your interests? I probably don’t devote enough time to my interests. I’m going to try to take my final early so that I can have a longer break between now and when the next semester begins (end of May?). I try hard to exercise every day for at least 30 minutes. I try to read a little every day. I am not always sleepy when Mark is ready to go to bed so sometimes I carve out a few minutes to read or study after he goes to sleep.

7. Do you share your interests with anyone? Mark and I have very different interests so we don’t share many. We both love to entertain and have friends over and we haven’t done that much in the apartment.

8.Tell us why you enjoy your hobby, pastimes or interests. Most of them bring me joy. Exercise makes me healthier. None of my hobbies, pastimes, or interests bring in any income.

9. What emotions and feelings does summer conjure up for you? I love the water – be it pool, lake, beach . . .and there is something about sitting on the sand or by the pool and feeling the breeze blow your hair . . .it is a “feel good” moment.

10. What's summer weather like in your neck of the woods? Hot as hell. Enough said. Actually, you know me. I have more words. It is humid as hell. Sometimes in the summer you can walk out the door and you feel like someone has thrown a wet blanket over your head. We love it when we get a day or two of lower humidity in the summer. Even though it is hot, it is quite lovely if you can be near (or in) water.

11. Got some special summer meals you and your family enjoy? I don’t know about meals but summertime is fresh fruits and vegetables here in Alabama. We have amazing peaches. I love watermelon and corn on the cob. I love fresh squash and fried okra (now in the air fryer). I can’t forget fresh pink eye purple hull peas and sliced tomatoes. Yum Yum!!

12. What do you enjoy doing in summer? Sports, trips, do you go on vacation? From my previous answers, you can tell that I like to be near water. Our neighborhood pool is within walking distance of our apartment (and house) and I hope to use it more this year. When our kids were growing up, we went to Orange Beach every year for a week in the summer. I don’t know if that is going to work out this year. Mark found a few old pictures somewhere the other day and they just happened to be from one of our family beach trips when the kids were in either high school or early college.

13. Did your parents have things better than you today? I don’t think so. I know they had to worry about money but they didn’t talk about it in front of us. I was probably an adult before I realized how tough they probably had it. We have a pretty nice life.

14. What time period would you rather live in or are you okay with today? I’m good with today.

15. What changes would you make for our time to make it nicer/better to live in? I was reading Myra’s blog earlier today and she said the waffle house employees had on shirts that said, “be kind.” I would like to change our culture to be one where people are kind to each other. I’m so tired of ugliness.

Day 8

We've made it to our last day of activities. If you've read the previous seven posts -- thank you for sticking with me!! Day 8 brought a day of touring, seeing, and experiencing but it also brought luggage out to be loaded onto the bus knowing that it would be a loooooong day (more than a day). 

We started our day at the top of the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem. On the way, the traffic was so bad that we were stuck in traffic for quite a while . . .and we only needed to go a short distance. This is a picture of my big picture. A photographer shows up and hurriedly puts the group in some sort of order and takes a photo from across the street -- sometimes he stands on a ladder to do this. They take orders for the photos and deliver them before the end of the day. I'm on the front row - second from the left. Mark is on the left right under the outstretched arm of our tour guide, Rafi.

We walked down the Mount of Olives following the road Jesus would have taken on Palm Sunday.

He would have been riding a donkey.

The view is amazing.

At the bottom of Mount of Olives is the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed on the night before his crucifixion.

The garden is lovely. The tree above has a fence around it. This tree is old enough that it was probably in the garden when Jesus was praying there. Yes . . . they've had to put a fence around it to protect it.

There are flowers and olive trees in the garden. One year when we were there, they had just pruned the olive trees. Somehow . . .I don't know how . . .my boss, Brian, brought some branches home. His wife, Mollie, made a wreath/crown of thorns for me and I have it in my office as a remembrance.

Also at the bottom of the hill, adjacent to the garden, is a church -- The church is known by several names - one is The Church of All Nations. Another name is The Basillica of the Agony. There is a large piece of rock toward the front of the church (altar area) and it is said to be a rock that is thought to be where Jesus prayed. This area is encircled by a wrought iron "fence" that looks like a crown of thorns. I felt bad when we visited because a worship service was happening. We were very quiet but I felt like we were interrupting something sacred.

We also went to the Church of St. Petere of Gallincantu. I'm always so moved when we visit there. It is thought to be built on the top of Caiaphas' home . . .and we go down into the pit where Jesus would have been held. He would have been in a very dark place and he would have been able to hear the conversation of those above him.

Outside is a statue of Peter denying Christ. In my photo, you can just barely see the top of the pillar and guess who is sitting there? There is a rooster . . .before the cock crows three times . . .

These steps were used by Jesus himself as he walked down to the Kidron Valley. These are the places that amaze me so much -- the places that have been dated and they know that Jesus walked there. Even if you aren't a believer, I would think the ancientness (is that a word?) of some of these places would inspire awe.

I know we ate lunch somewhere that day but I have no idea where! We were dropped off at the Old City of Jerusalem for a couple of hours of free time. I wrote about this already but will share the photos and a brief description.

We tried to connect up with some other folks from our group but no one was going anywhere we wanted to go and we had completed our shopping. In 2020, we had seen signs for St. Mark street and knew there was a church there. Mark wanted to find it. I had a mini anxiety attack (maybe not so mini) because we were way off the beaten path. We were finally successful and found it. The sign told us that some think this is the site of the upper room. I like this site better than the commercialized site.

When we got back down into the heart of the Old City, we ran into Susan and Sam from our group and we walked around with them for a while. I needed to find a bathroom so we located one of those! We then walked over to a coffee shop and waited until time for the bus to pick us up.

We went to the Garden Tomb (to be honest -- I cannot remember if we went to the Garden Tomb before or after the free time but I think it was after). The Garden Tomb is a pretty place. It is a much newer site near the bus station! Nearby, there is a rock formation that looks similar to a skull. You get to walk inside an actual tomb and then groups have a time of devotion and communion. Just FYI - I think the tomb is located inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre - it was marked LOOONG ago. Even though I think that, the Garden Tomb area is still the perfect place to contemplate and take communion.

I was so honored and humbled because Brian asked me to help serve communion. You can just barely see me - I'm between the two people in the communion line. 

You are served communion in these tiny wooden cups. I'm assuming all of my other ones are packed up in a warehouse somewhere. 

After communion, we hopped back on the bus and headed to the Olive Tree Hotel. We stayed at the David Citadel but had checked out that morning. The Olive Tree Hotel is used by most pilgrims that use Educational Opportunities (EO) as their travel company. They allowed us to hang out in their bar until dinner time. We sat around and talked for a couple of hours and had beverages. We then went into dinner and there was more than one dining area and there must have been at least 1000 people eating dinner at that hotel. The food was good and plentiful. After dinner, we headed back to Tel Aviv to the airport. Security is tight and it takes a while to get through to the gate. It probably took us at least 2 hours - maybe three. We actually skipped one step because we were with EO.

It was at our gate in the Tel Aviv airport where the guy sneezed and coughed droplets directly onto me. I swear I think that is where I got covid. I had to get a wipe to wipe down my arm - soooo gross. Anyway, we boarded a very full flight and flew 12 hours to Kennedy in New York. We then flew to Atlanta where a large majority of us ate a cheeseburger from Five Guys. Remember the places where we stayed served kosher food so no meat and dairy are ever served together. After we ate, we boarded our plane to BHM and were home in the early afternoon. On this trip, we had the best flights to and from Tel Aviv yet - we didn't spend much time at all in airports.

Once again, if you've read all about the trip - thank you! If you've never been to Israel and get a chance to go -- take it. I love that place!