Wednesday Hodgepodge…Goodbye November, Hello December

Here we are on the last day of November…Can you believe it?  It’s time to join Joyce for her weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge, so here are her questions along with my answers.

1. Do you send Christmas cards? If so about how many will you send this year? How do you display the cards you receive? Or don’t you? (gasp!)  Yes, I still send out a few Christmas cards–to the same people each year.  I usually mail somewhere between fifteen and twenty cards, and I display our Christmas cards on the top of our entertainment center.

2. When do kids become adults?  Despite what the law says, I don’t think kids necessarily become (responsible) adults just because they reach a certain age.  Reaching adulthood is a  process, and it varies with each person.  Some become adults early, some later.  Some kids never become responsible adults!

3. Does your ‘beauty regimen’ change with the seasons?  What beauty regimen? Ha Ha  I have use body lotion for my dry skin during winter.  That’s my only change.

4. What’s something you like to eat that might cause another person to turn up their nose?  The only thing I can think of is mustard or turnip greens.  Some people find them gross, but I enjoy them, especially when eaten with a piece of cornbread!

5. Gloves or mittens?  I never wear either one, but I’d choose gloves over mittens.

6. What’s the longest queue you’ve ever been in? Was it worth it? Queue=line but doesn’t queue sound nicer?  The longest line I ever remember standing in was the line to ride “Space Mountain” at Disneyworld.  It was many years ago, shortly after the ride first opened.  I enjoyed the ride very much, but I wouldn’t stand in line that long to ride it again!

7. Besides Christmas, what is one thing you are looking forward to in the month of December?  That’s easy–the arrival of our new grandson, Chase, who is scheduled to make his appearance on December 27!

Random:  I’ve spent the past two days working on my Christmas tree–and I’m not quite finished.  I still have to finish a little of the top.  Every year, it takes  forever to decorate my tree.  The tree rotates, so the garland has to hang even all the way around, and  the ends have to meet.  Then  I have four tubs of Christmas ornaments to unwrap and sort through each year.  Finally,  I have to find “just the right spot” on the tree for each ornament.  It’s a labor of love.

A ChristmasTrain Story…

Since today is Tuesday, and I always join the Tuesday Train blog hop, I have to share my Christmas train story with you.  Most of my Christmas decorations have a story to go along with them–like where they came from,  who I was with when I bought them, or even what prompted me to get them.  Here is the Christmas Train story of 2011…

I bought a Christmas train set many years ago, when our children were growing up.  I used the train around our Christmas tree for several years, but eventually I stopped using it because it became difficult to put all of our presents under the tree because of the train and its tracks.  The old train has been packed away for quite a while.

Flash forward to now, when all of the children are now grown and we have grandchildren.  We only shop for the grands and a “Dirty Santa Game” that we play with our kids, so we don’t put many gifts under our main tree anymore.  Now there’s no reason not to use the train set, right?  Besides, our little grandson loves trains, and he would get a thrill out of it!  Did I mention that I saw a neat train set while I was out shopping the other day?

I couldn’t really justify buying a new train set when l still had one at home–even though the new one was radio controlled, whistled and played Christmas tunes, and came with a locomotive and five cars–two of which had moving parts!

So, on Sunday I got out my old train set to see if it would still work.  Unfortunately, it required six batteries…I found three old ones, and borrowed three new ones from my daughter–just to see if it would work.  No luck!  I figured maybe some of the batteries weren’t any good.

I asked Ed to go to town and buy us some lunch and six new batteries.  I even gave him the money!  I was thinking if the train didn’t work, I’d go back and get that shiny new set I’d seen at the store.  About 45 minutes later, Ed returned with lunch–and only four batteries!  The batteries came in packs of four, and he said he didn’t want to purchase a second pack!  That made me mad–and before the day was over I had what’s commonly known as a “Jack Attack” (named after my mother, Jackie, who had a nasty temper).  What was I supposed to do with only four new batteries?!

Ed used  the four new batteries that he bought, plus two borrowed batteries, and  finally got part of the old train to work.  It was sluggish…(could it have been from mixing the batteries-duh?!)   Ed said, “the switch just needs a little cleaning”…I said, “Put it back in the box!”  I was still fuming because he didn’t get the correct number of fresh batteries.  No way was I putting a sluggish train under my Christmas tree!  I could just imagine that train making its way to the far side of a fully decorated tree–then stalling!  Oh my...I also instructed Ed to throw the train into the Goodwill pile, which always makes him mad!  He hates giving anything away!

On Monday, after giving the train situation much thought,  I went back to the store and purchased that shiny new Christmas train.  I’ve been very conservative with my shopping this year, and I decided to treat myself for a change.

Guess what?!  The new train only required four batteries!  It’s a good thing because I’m still fuming about being two batteries short for the old train!  I’ll bet next time Ed will buy two packs of batteries whether he wants to or not–in this case he got lucky…or did he?   I sure do like the new Christmas train!

Meet Me On Monday…November 28

Happy Monday, everyone. Have you eaten all of your turkey yet?  It’s time to begin another week anew, and join Java for her Monday meme.  Click the button at the top of this post to play along.

Here are Java’s questions:

1. I really need to clean my…entire house! Everything is in a mess with all of the holiday decorating, but I’m working on it–slowly.  It gets a bit over-whelming dragging out all those boxes!
2. What food makes you think of Christmas?  Divinity, fudge, or any kind of homemade candy.  It’s my family’s tradition to make candy at Christmas.
3. If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, what age would it be?  I’d like to turn back the clock and stay twenty-one forever. (Of course, I’d like to be armed with the knowledge that I’ve gained over the last thirty-six years.)
4. What was your first paying job?  My first “official” paying job was working as a “gift wrapper” in a department store at Christmas.  I loved it!
5. Have you read the Twilight series?  No, I haven’t read any of them.  I haven’t been interested in vampires since I was a teenager and used to watch “Dark Shadows” on television.  Who still remembers Barnabas Collins???

That’s about all I have time for today.  Those Christmas decorations are calling my name…

Three Days After Thanksgiving…

T’was three days after Thanksgiving when all through the house…was a giant mess!  Yes, folks, I’ve now entered the world of “Christmas Decorating Hell”!  It officially began yesterday afternoon, and there is no end in sight!

I’m not feeling the Christmas spirit yet.  All I’m feeling is overwhelmed and tired. I’m thinking after this year I may need to rethink this holiday decorating thing!  Perhaps it’s time to decorate on a smaller scale, but enough about Christmas, let me tell you about our Thanksgiving.

Brandy/Clint--hosting their 2nd Thanksgiving turkey dinner

Our family had a very nice Thanksgiving.  I didn’t quite know what to do with myself on Thursday morning because I didn’t have to get up early and bake the turkey or make the dressing.  Ed and I found ourselves sitting around watching the parade on television,  something we’ve never had time to do before!   I think I could learn to like doing that, although I felt a little bit like an “old person” for passing the responsibility to someone else.

Around noon, the family began gathering next-door at our daughter’s house.  Everyone brought food, and it’s an understatement to say that we had a feast!  We’ve never had so many cooks in the family before!  It’s wonderful.  What a great selection of desserts we had!  Jennifer baked her first egg custard pie, which  is one of my favorites!  It was delicious–right up until she dropped it in the door of her car on the way home!  Ethan, our old hound dog, ate every bit of it, so it wasn’t wasted, and he enjoyed his Thanksgiving treat!

the "ill-fated" egg custard pie

Other than eating all of the delicious food, I suppose the high point of Thanksgiving was looking at the Black Friday sales in the newspaper, and trying to take a successful family picture of all of us.  Believe it or not, the first shot turned out to be the best one out of four tries–even though Cade was eating Nerds.

Thanksgiving 2011

After lunch, almost everyone went to check out Brad and Jennifer’s new Christmas decorations.  Oh.my.word!  I thought I was the “Queen of Christmas Decorations”, but Jennifer is right there with me!  In fact, she may have surpassed me!  Every room in their house is decorated–and it’s a very big house. In fact, Jennifer even convinced Brad to decorate the outside of the house with lights–something he’s never done before.  It makes all of us very happy to see Ed’s mom’s house (where Brad and Jennifer are currently living) all decorated for the holidays.  It’s been many years since it has been decorated–and it’s NEVER been decorated like it is now!

Believe it or not, Thanksgiving Day ended with Clint and Brad going to Walmart on Thursday evening.  What were they thinking?  They thought they might get one of the trampolines that Walmart was advertising on special at 10 pm…Ha Ha After driving over 100 miles–and going to two different Walmarts,  our guys came home around midnight– empty-handed!  Our family had a lot to be thankful for on Thanksgiving…but getting a cheap trampoline wasn’t one of them!  First thing on Friday morning, Brandy promptly ordered one on-line.  That’s my kind of shopping–and I’m thankful for it!

Wednesday Hodgepodge…T’was The Day Before Thanksgiving

Bless Joyce’s heart, she managed to supply us with yet another set of entertaining and thought-provoking questions in the midst of her Thanksgiving Day preparations! She’s really something, isn’t she? Here are this week’s questions and my answers:

1. Let’s start with something controversial…dressing or stuffing? What’s it called at your house and what’s included in your recipe…cornbread? oysters? sausage? chestnuts?  In our family we’ve always called it “dressing”.  We make our dressing with cornbread, bread crumbs, a little cooked rice,  chopped boiled eggs, and sautéed onions and celery.

2. Who do you sometimes compare yourself to?  I like to compare myself to my maternal grandmother.  She was my role model, while I was a child, and after I grew up.

3. When were you last inside an airport?  It was probably about  9 or 10 years ago.  When I worked at school, we took our first graders on a field trip to the Savannah airport one year.

4. What is one side dish that absolutely must be included in a turkey dinner?  My sons would say “macaroni and cheese”, but I would say “sweet potato crunch”!  It’s the only time of the year that I cook it.  Now if you’re talking desserts, we’d all agree and say “pecan pie”!

5. What Christmas song do you dread hearing?  I can’t think of any one particular song that I dread hearing, but I tend to get tired of hearing “White Christmas” by the time Christmas actually arrives.  My daughter absolutely hates “Jingle Bell Rock” by Brenda Lee though.

6. If someone approaches you and asks for money do you give it to them? Do you drop money ‘in a tin cup’ that belongs to a person on the street? Do you have a specific charity you support during the holiday season and/or year round?  No, I won’t give money to strangers.  If anything, I would buy them something to eat.  If a person was sitting on the street, perhaps playing an instrument, I might consider dropping some money in their cup.  I have donated to different charities over the years.  Last year I participated in the “shoe box ministry” through my granddaughter’s school.

7. Share a favorite Thanksgiving memory. If you live in a country that doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving share a favorite memory associated with food.  One of my favorite Thanksgiving memories is when we celebrated the last Thanksgiving  in our old house, next-door, five years ago.  Our first grandchild, Madison, was just a month old then!   After watching our daughter endure a long and difficult pregnancy, we were so thankful that she was able to give birth to a healthy baby.  Having our newest family member among us just made the day more special! It being the last Thanksgiving we hosted in our home of 30 years, also made it memorable.

Thanksgiving 2006, our last one in the "old house"

 

   Random:  So many things to be thankful for this year…including a new daughter-in-law, who is now healthy after a bout with cervical cancer and a ovarian abscess, plus we’re anticipating the arrival of a third grandchild from daughter-in-law, Christina, in just over a month!  2011 will be remembered as a “year of growth” in our family.  Also, in a struggling economy, everyone in our family has a job, and we’ve all been blessed to have a roof over our heads, food on our tables, and enough money to pay our debts this past year.  Speaking of debts–

We took our pecans to market and sold them this week.  We made enough money to pay a large portion (about one-half) of our property taxes and we were thrilled!  Ed and I felt like we’d been blessed from heaven, by his daddy, who had the foresight to plant those trees so many years ago!  Thanks grandpa!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, everyone…I’ll be back on Friday.  I’ll be spending Thursday with family–next door in our old house.  Our daughter is hosting this year while I take a much-needed break  🙂  I’m going back “home” for Thanksgiving…

Saying Goodbye To An Old Friend…

"Sugar Pie"

I first met “Sugar Pie”, the rabbit, about six years ago–while I was doing some volunteer work at our local animal shelter. I came to work one day, and there she sat in one of the kennels–surrounded by scores of barking dogs!  I’m sure she thought she’d died and gone to rabbit hell!

I don’t know for certain, but I suspect that “Sugar Pie” was a discarded Easter pet. It was summertime when she showed up at the shelter, and by then her novelty would have worn off.  Whatever the reason, someone left her at the animal control shelter.

Whenever I saw the poor thing, surrounded by all of those barking dogs, I just had to bring her home with me–even though I already had one rabbit at home.

Fortunately for me, Ed had built an extra large rabbit hutch for “Honey Bun”, my Holland Lop, so he simply needed to add a divider to the middle of it.

For six years, “Sugar Pie”, a female rabbit, and “Honey Bun”, a male rabbit, lived next to each other–with only a thin piece of wire separating them.  Ed says “Honey Bun” probably thought he’d died and gone to rabbit hell, too.  So near, yet so far away…and “Sugar Pie” was such a flirt!

Although the rabbits were originally my pets, for the past couple of years Ed has been their primary care-taker.  He originally began feeding them for me at a time when I was sick, then eventually he came to like them–and they felt the same way about him.  They would actually come over to the cage door to be rubbed by him, just like a cat!

Over the years, Ed fed those rabbits hundreds of pieces of carrots, apples, and pears for treats–and they repaid him with thousands of tiny pieces of round rabbit poop!  Ed quietly became a “pooper scooper”.

Both rabbits were litter box trained in the beginning, but then “Honey Bun” decided he didn’t want to use his anymore, so he didn’t!  Instead, he picked out one certain spot in his cage–and designated it as his bathroom.  Fortunately, “Sugar Pie” continued to use her litter box.

Time passed, and eventually the inevitable happened.  Ed noticed a change in “Sugar Pie’s” appetite a few days ago, so we suspected that her days were getting numbered.  “Sugar Pie” left us on Monday afternoon, and we were relieved when it was finally over.  Her final days were difficult ones.

“Honey Bun” watched as “Sugar Pie” breathed those final labored breaths.  He cowered over in the far corner of his hutch, visibly upset.  After she was finally gone, he watched with curiosity as I removed his friend from the hutch, and prepared her for burial.  Later, I could see him watching, as we laid his friend to rest nearby…and they say animals have no feelings.  I know better!   Rest in peace, dear “Sugar Pie”.  You will be sorely missed.

It’s time to hop on board Tuesday Train.  Click the button below for details on how to ride along…

Meet Me On Monday…Before Thanksgiving!

Another weekend has come and gone, and here we are on the Monday before Thanksgiving!  Time to link up with Java for her “Meet Me On Monday” meme.  Put that Thanksgiving turkey on hold, and let’s have a little fun…

1. I wish I had more time to …finish all of the projects that I have started!   I never seem to have the time to “get around” to them.  One of these days…
2. What is your favorite kind of soup?  Homemade vegetable beef soup.  I’ll be glad when the weather stays cold long enough to enjoy some!  We’re back in the 80’s again!
3. Where will you eat Thanksgiving dinner?  This year we are eating Thanksgiving dinner at our daughter’s house–right next door.  I’ve mentioned this before, but it will be like going home again for Thanksgiving…we raised our family in that house and lived there for 30 years.
4. What is your favorite time of day?  I’ve found that my favorite times of day have changed over the years.  When I was growing up, my favorite time of day was when school got out for the day…After marriage, it was when Ed got home from work…After children, my favorite time of day was their bedtime…Once I began working again, my favorite time of day was whenever I got home from work and changed clothes…Now that I’m retired, my favorite time of day is first thing in the morning, when I’m rested, and the day is still quiet and calm.
5. Did you start Christmas shopping yet?  Yes, I have started my Christmas shopping.  I began my shopping back in early September.  I only have a few more gifts to purchase.

Weekend Wrap Up:

By Saturday I began to feel better, thank goodness.  My stomach has been behaving itself, and so has “Uncle Arthur” (arthritis).  I hope this feeling lasts, but without the Nsaids, it’s only a matter of time before “Uncle Arthur”  pays another visit.  I hope he will skip Thanksgiving!

We had a busy weekend around our house.  I managed to get Ed’s German Chocolate cake baked, and he’s been enjoying it!  I made the frosting with fresh pecans from our trees.

We spent most of Saturday afternoon picking up pecans–lots and lots of pecans.  Ed has taken one load to market already, and we have a second load ready to go next week. ( I can’t wait to use some fresh nuts to make a pecan pie for Thanksgiving!)  We’re grateful for the pecan crop, it helps us pay our property taxes.

On Sunday Ed and I rearranged the living room to make room for the Christmas tree.  Why is it that you have to totally rearrange the room to make room for the tree at Christmas?  Rearranging the furniture is a big deal for us.  We have two couches that weigh a ton, thanks to the two recliners in each one.  It requires two furniture dollies to move one couch!  It will take us until next weekend to recover…we’ll put the tree up then!

Frazzled Friday…

Frazzled…that’s how I feel today–among many other things.  I simply don’t have the energy or peace of mind to write a regular post today, so this will be a random one.

First of all, I got my wish, and we had a “Rainy Night In Georgia” on Wednesday night!  We didn’t get a lot of rain, but anything was better than nothing.  The grass and plants looked refreshed on Thursday morning.  I’m grateful  we didn’t get any of those storms that our meteorologists were “on watch” for.  We’ve now plunged from the 80’s to the 40’s.

The wind and rain of Wednesday evening knocked a new bunch of pecans out of our trees, so my daughter and I had the chore of picking up pecans on Thursday afternoon.  Thank goodness for those “pecan picker uppers”!  It’s nothing short of a miracle that I was able to pick up nuts, considering I was barely able to put one foot in front of the other for the previous two days!

In addition to the stomach issues I’ve been having, I’ve also developed a major case of fatigue, which has now turned to the awful stiffness which happens when I have to get off my Nsaids (due to the stomach issues)…welcome to my world.

The other day, I was talking with my daughter about our symptoms (she has them, too), and she described her stiffness as being like the squeaky “Tin Man” on the Wizard of Oz.  What a great analogy!  Do you remember how stiff and squeaky he got without his oil?  Without our arthritis meds to help control inflammation, we both turn into the squeaky Tin Men.  What a great pair we make these days!

Speaking of illness and symptoms, here’s another interesting medical experience of late...I asked Ed to go by the pharmacy to see if I had any refills left on my old  medication Prevacid.  I haven’t taken prescription strength Prevacid since our insurance changed and the co-payment for it became eighty-six dollars.  Instead, I’ve been taking two capsules of over-the-counter Prevacid–in between trying various other (cheaper co-pay) medications which the doctor has prescribed for me to try (none of which I’ve been able to tolerate, unfortunately).  Lately, the Prevacid OTC hasn’t seemed to work as well either, so I decided to give the prescription strength another try...just hoping for a miracle.  

Anyway, Ed went to the pharmacy, where he was promptly told that our insurance would have to “pre-approve” the prescription before it could be filled–which was not a new prescription, by the way!  Ed says to the pharmacist, “Just let me have it, I’ll pay for it instead of filing on insurance.”  The cash price for the Prevacid?  Sixty-four dollars–that’s twenty-two dollars less than just the co-pay would’ve been!  And we wonder why healthcare is getting so ridiculous in America…

Okay,  I’ll get off my soapbox now, and try to do something productive with my day.  I still owe Ed a German Chocolate cake as part of his birthday gift.  I’m not sure today will be the day he gets it.  We’ll just see how the day goes.

Oh, one more thing before I go!  Speaking of Ed…I found a recipe over on blog friend, Debby’s blog, Just Breathe,  for potato soup.  She posted it on this week’s Wednesday’s Hodgepodge.  It sounded good–and easy–so I made it last night.  Ed loved it!  I mean, he really loved it.  So if you are looking for a simple, delicious soup recipe, that’s a “man pleaser”,  here’s a good one from Debby:

POTATO SOUP
1 bag frozen hash-brown potatoes…(30 oz. bag)- I use cubed!
2 cans chicken broth…(14 oz can)
1 can cream of chicken soup…(10.75 oz. can)
1/2 cup chopped onion – I use flakes!
1/3 t. ground black pepper
1 pkg cream cheese….softened…(8 oz.)

In a 6 quart electric slow cooker, combine potatoes, broth, soup, onion, and pepper. Cover, and cook on low for 5 hours. Then, stir in cream cheese…and cook for 30 more minutes…stir occasionally until combined. If you desire grated cheese or crumbled bacon. that’s OK, too! Serves 4

Thanks for sharing, Debby!  You made Ed’s evening 🙂

Have a great weekend, everyone, and forgive me if I haven’t been by to visit in the past few days.  I haven’t felt like spending much time on the computer.  I’ll get caught up soon.

Around The Kitchen Table…

I’ve been scanning and editing old pictures for the past several months.  I’ve discovered something while doing this…Families used to spend a lot more time sitting around the kitchen table in those days!

The photo above was taken in the early to mid-seventies of my sister-in-law and me, sitting at my little kitchen table. I loved that little octagon kitchen table very much!  It was little and cute, and just right for my tiny kitchen.  A lot of good times were spent around that little kitchen table–from family meals to playing board/card games with family and friends!

The next photo was taken in my mother-in-law’s kitchen, also in the seventies. That’s me and the same sister-in-law sitting with Ed’s mom.  A lot of good times went on around this kitchen table, and many great meals were eaten while sitting there.  I feel a bit nostalgic seeing my father-in-law’s favorite silver glass on the table.  He drank from it at every meal, for as long as I knew him…

Here’s a photo of mine and Ed’s parents, along with our children. It was taken in Ed’s parents’ second kitchen. (Yes, they actually built a second kitchen for canning and large family gatherings.) Do you recognize that little octagon kitchen table? (By then, our family of five had out-grown the little table.)   I love having old photos of our children with both sets of their grandparents…

Last, but not least, here’s a photo of family gathered around my parents’ kitchen table. There’s me and my sister-in-law again 🙂 You’ll also notice Ed’s mom in the edge of the photo. (It wasn’t unusual for our parents to join each other for special occasions.)

These days, people don’t gather together as much, and they certainly don’t spend  time around kitchen tables like we used to do. Everyone is just too busy with other things. Too often, meals are eaten in front of the television or even in the car!

I wish everyone could just get back to the basics and what really matters most–time spent with loved ones around the kitchen table!  I highly recommend it.

Wednesday Hodgepodge…November 16

Thanks to Joyce for another great set of questions 🙂

1. What song reminds you of a specific time in your life and what is it about that song that makes you remember?  The song, “Rainy Night In Georgia” by Brook Benton makes me think of a sweet young couple named Kathy and Ed–back when our love was new.  We spent many Saturday nights listening to that song on Ed’s car radio, and making plans for our future.  Hearing that song takes me right back to that special time in our lives 🙂

2. What’s something you’ve given up on?  Being young and thin again!  Oh, those were the days!

3. What’s something you’ll never give up on?  Trying to feel “normal”.  Dealing with a chronic disease can be difficult.  It tends to get in the way of living sometimes.

4. If you had to cook something from scratch in the next hour what would it be?  A pot of chili because it’s easy, and I have all of the necessary ingredients!

5. Have you started Christmas shopping? Decorating? Listening to Christmas music?  Yes, I began my shopping back in September, but I haven’t finished it yet.

I haven’t started decorating for Christmas.  I prefer to wait until after Thanksgiving.

I haven’t listened to any Christmas music, but I did watch a couple of Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel.  Nothing like the Hallmark Channel to put me in the holiday mood 🙂

6. What do you know about your parent’s wedding?  Sadly, the only thing I know about my parents’ wedding is their wedding date–July 30.  I wish I’d asked more questions (about a lot of things) while they were living.

7. I can’t believe I…didn’t get a driver’s license until I was 26 years old!  I must have been crazy…

Random:

On Saturday morning it was only 28 degrees outside.  Then on Tuesday afternoon it reached back up to 80 degrees!  Today’s high is predicted to be 80 again–then plunging back into the 60’s!  What’s up with all that?  We have a tree in our yard which lost its leaves, then recently put on a second set of new leaves–in the fall!  Our Japanese Magnolia is loaded with new buds, and our daughter recently grew a watermelon in her flower bed–in October!

We are eleven inches below our normal rainfall for the year.  We could use a “Rainy Night In Georgia” right about now!  Perhaps tonight…