Hello Again, Monday…

I don’t know how we managed to be so blessed, here in Gooseneck, but we have experienced two beautiful weekends in a row–during the month of February, no less!  That’s practically unheard of, but we’ve enjoyed both weekends–a lot!  Sunny skies and mild temperatures were ours for the taking, so we took advantage of both.

Ed and I kick-started the weekend, on Friday, with a visit to the hospital where Ed used to be employed, only because it was time for my yearly mammogram.  Actually, it was three months past time for my exam, but I had other problems to deal with back in December, such as basal cell carcinoma and Moh’s surgery.

Anyway, Ed visited with some of his former coworkers, at the hospital, while I went to  the torture chamber  have my mammogram done.  I always get a bit uneasy at mammogram time, because of my past experiences with them. I’ve had to go back and have spot magnification films done two different years, and was even sent to a surgeon for a consultation a few years back. Apparently, I have a tendency to have something called “calcifications”, which sometimes require a closer look.

While we were out and about, on Friday, Ed and I decided we’d go ahead and vote early for Tuesday’s primary.  Sadly, I can’t say there’s any candidate I feel 100% confident about electing to lead our country, but I voted for the person I think is the best [of what’s available].  Sigh.

After voting, Ed and I drove out to the cemetery and picked up the Christmas arrangements from our parents’ graves.  Yes, I’m sad to say, Christmas arrangements were still on the graves of our loved ones, at the end of February, but we replaced them with new spring arrangements, I made myself!

While visiting the cemetery, Ed and I marveled about his parents being buried right in the middle of a bunch of family and friends.  Seriously, there’s family or close friends buried all around them.  We wonder if this was a planned thing, or just coincidence.  My family is buried a good distance away from Ed’s family, but in the same cemetery.

Our oldest son, and his family came over on Friday night, as well as our daughter and her family. Due to sickness, we hadn’t seen our oldest son in two whole weeks!  It was good to catch up with everyone again.  The grandchildren had a good time playing together, and even made some awesome castles/towers out of building blocks.  It’s always great to see kids being kids.  There’s a picture of one, below, but it really doesn’t show the great details.

Ed spent most of the weekend working on a new project.  He bought me three [real] gourd birdhouses, as one of my Christmas gifts, because I like gourd birdhouses.  However, after Christmas, we discovered we needed more than three gourd houses to start a “purple martin community”.  I wasn’t able to find anymore reasonably priced ‘real’ gourd birdhouses, so I bought six plastic gourds from eBay.  We decided to make a pole [for the gourds] out of an old clothesline post that used to belong to Ed’s mama.  It turned out to be a lot of work!

Ed built the dwelling, the question is, “Will any purple martins come?” (those are decoys on top of the pole) I’m skeptical, because of where we had to locate our pole (near our pear tree), but I’m thinking some kind of little bird will take advantage of these “high rise” dwellings.  My ‘real’ gourds still remain in the Christmas bag.  I’m not sure what we’ll do with those, yet.

About three-fourths of the garden seeds we planted, last weekend, have sprouted.  It’s SO exciting to see something growing again!  Our plans, for this week, are to try to get some potatoes and garden peas planted.  Our onions look rather lonely, growing in the garden, all by themselves.

Our chickens have gone crazy laying eggs again.  We’ve been getting five or six eggs daily.  Some days we even get seven.  Our chickens have also gone crazy in other ways, too…

I wish I had a picture of what I saw, on Sunday afternoon!  I’d left the baby gate down, and when I came around the house, and up the steps to the front porch…there sat a large red hen, stretched out, sunning herself on the rug right in front of our door!  It was such a funny sight to see!  I did manage to find a picture [courtesy of Google] of a rooster sunning himself in the yard, just so you could get an idea of what I saw…

I’ll leave you with that image in your head!  We have some strange happenings around our house, sometimes!  Have a great Monday, everyone!

 

 

A Simple Woman’s Daybook Post…

It’s been a while, but, today, I’m writing a ‘Daybook Post’ and joining Peggy Hostetler, and friends, over at The Simple Woman’s Blog.  Thanks to Peggy for hosting!

For Today… Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Outside my window… the wind keeps blowing in gusts, and the sun is playing  peek-a-boo behind the clouds.  I hear a hen cackling, announcing the arrival of another egg. 

I am thinking… I wish it hadn’t rained, last night, so Ed could till the soil in the garden and  make a couple of rows for some potatoes and garden peas.

I am thankful… I was able to get a halfway decent night’s sleep, last night.  I went to sleep listening to guitar music, with ocean sounds in the background.  The sounds reminded me of my “happy place”.

I am wearing… purple Capri pants, with a matching lavender shirt.  It seems strange to be wearing Capri pants in February, but it’s 70 degrees.

I am creating… silk floral arrangements for the cemetery, for our parents’ graves  I make them myself because it’s much cheaper.

I am going… to take these pots of flowers to the cemetery as soon as I get a chance.

I am wondering… what the rest of the week will bring.  We have no special plans.

I am reading… an AARP magazine.  How sad!  I’ve been neglecting my reading materials for quite a while, except for the audio version of the bible, which Ed and I listen to each morning.  We usually listen to three chapters at a time.

I am hoping… the weather won’t stay cold much longer.

I am learning… to have a lot more patience than I used to have when I was younger, which is a good thing.

In my garden…  so far, we only have one row of onions is growing.  We have 50 ‘Texas onions’ and 50 ‘Georgia onions’ growing on that one row.  As I mentioned earlier, we’re hoping to plant some potatoes and peas, soon.

In my kitchen… I cooked fresh shrimp, last night.  Ed and I aren’t supposed to eat those very often, so it had been quite a while (two months) since we’ve had any.  

In the homeschool room… my two oldest grandchildren are busy at work, today.  I’m thankful both of their mothers are dedicated enough to undertake the task of teaching them at home.  The cousins recently celebrated their 100th day of school…

A favorite quote for today…

A peek into one of my days… most days are pretty much the same.  Feed the cats and chickens, listen to the bible, eat breakfast, get dressed, then do some household chores.  Once a week Ed and I usually take a ‘road trip’ and go shopping.  I always look forward to ‘road trip’ days.

One of my favorite things… taking a ‘road trip’ to St. Simon’s Island, and sitting under the shade of my favorite oak tree.  I’m already looking forward to the first trip of 2016, and seeing this view again…

Favorite new recipe… courtesy of Crystal on Facebook

Crock Pot Chicken and Noodles

4 to 6 chicken breasts (I used boneless)

1 bag of egg noodles

2 cans of cream of chicken soup

1 can of chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

Place chicken breasts in crock pot.  It’s okay if they’re frozen.  Pour the two cans of soup over them. Place the lid on the crock pot, and cook the breasts for 4-6 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low.  Once the chicken is done, boil the egg noodles in a large pot of water on the stove.  While the noodles are boiling, remove the chicken breasts from the crock pot and dice or shred them.  Add the chicken broth to the soup that’s left in the crock pot and stir well.  Now add the diced or shredded chicken back to the crock pot.  Drain the egg noodles, once they’re done, and add them to the crock pot, too.  Stir until noodles are well coated, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

This meal is great when served with salad and rolls.

 

Random thought for the  day… I was thrilled, this morning, to read that [husband and wife country duo] Joey + Rory’s new cd, Hymns That Are Important To Us, is debuting at #1 on Billboards country and contemporary charts, and #4 on the top 200 chart!

 I knew the cd’s were selling well, because Cracker Barrel hasn’t been able to keep them in stock.  I’m so happy for the couple, especially Joey, who continued working hard on these recordings, even while going through treatments for [terminal] cancer, last year.  I’m thankful Joey is still alive to enjoy the fruits of that labor!

 

A “Spring Fever” Kind Of Weekend…

We had one of those rare February weekends that could make me think spring is just around the corner…if I didn’t know better.  The days were sunny and the temperatures were mild.  I’m not sure what Sunday’s high was, but I know it was somewhere in the mid to upper 70’s.  Just about perfect!

On Friday, Ed and I began our day by going to get new driver’s licenses because our address recently changed when we moved our mailbox.  After having our pictures taken for our new licenses, we were both kind of depressed.  Why are the pictures [on drivers licenses] always so awful? We both kept asking, do I really look that old?

After the license ordeal, Ed came home and decided to cut down a tree that needed to come down.  We’ve had two dead trees fall [near our yard] within the last month.  Fortunately, the damage has been minimal. This particular tree, Ed cut down, was still living, but was too close to our carport, so it needed to go.  I’d like to say the tree came down without incident, but the edge of it caught the edge of the roof of our storage house. Ed now has a couple of ‘dents’ to repair.

We got a pleasant surprise, on Friday night, when our youngest son and his family came over and brought supper for all of us.  What a great way to kick off the weekend!  However, I guess Ed’s and my company must have gotten a little boring toward the end of the evening, because Jennifer, Evan, and Brad went to sleep [while watching television] a little before 10!  Somewhere around 11, Ed and I turned off the television and just left them sleeping in the living room. Unfortunately, they were gone, by the time we woke up, on Saturday morning.

I still owed Ed a German Chocolate cake for his Valentine’s Day gift, so I began my Saturday in the kitchen, baking.  While I baked the cake, Ed hauled off a truckload of “junk” that had been accumulating around our house over the past few months.  Things like an old yard swing, an old dishwasher, an old gas grill, etc. Ed wasn’t very happy when I asked him to haul off some of his ‘treasures’, but he did it anyway–with the promise of a piece of German Chocolate cake, after he did.

Saturday afternoon was so pretty, we spent most of it outside.  There’s not much Ed enjoys more than starting a fire and burning something, and that’s just what he did!  Two years ago, we had forty-three pine trees cut down from around our house.  We’re still trying to burn the last of them, so Ed worked on that for most of the afternoon.  He burned a lot of trash, but he sure made a lot of smoke.

Ed officially began our 2016 gardening season a few days ago, on February 12.  He made one row in the garden, and planted 50 onion ‘sets’ on it.  Onions are always one of the first things we plant, and, since then, I’ve been dying to plant something else, so… Ed and I made time to plant the seeds for our tomato, pepper, lettuce, and cabbage plants, this weekend, too. We planted them in styrofoam cups where they will sprout and continue to live until the danger of frost is over, in about six weeks.

Planting seeds in cups is much easier, this year, thanks to the neat new gardening table Ed bought on sale at the end of last summer.  (I sneaked a picture of him while he was putting it together.)  Using the table eliminated the need to bend over so much, while doing the planting.  Now, if we could just find some easy way to get those sprouted plants into the ground that’s not easy on our backs!

We’ll also plant some vegetables inside of the gardening table, once the weather is warm enough, but, for now, the table makes a great place to pot seeds or re-pot old plants.  I can’t wait to use it again!

All too soon, the weekend was over, and we decided to end our beautiful weekend by firing up our grill and our fire pit–both at the same time! While the sun went down behind the trees, on Sunday evening, we dined on grilled “turkey burgers” in lawn chairs beside the fire.  Our daughter and her family saw us sitting outside, and decided to come over and join us.  They brought some hot dogs and we all sat around the fire after we finished eating.  Of course, we had to end our first cookout of 2016, with a few s’mores, and they were delicious, if I must say so myself 🙂

I’m already looking forward to many more weekends just like this one! Yes, I guess you could say, I’ve already caught “spring fever”.  I say, “Bring it on!”  If I’m lucky, I won’t mess up my back, and can actually enjoy being outside, this year.

Happy Monday!

 

 

 

A Kind And Thoughtful Hodgepodge…

I simply can’t believe it’s already Wednesday, again!  The days are flying by so fast, my brain can hardly keep up.  I’m ready for a mid-week break, and there’s no better place to spend it than here, with my “Hodgepodge Friends”.  Thanks so much to our gracious hostess, Joyce, for providing the questions and a “gathering place” on  From This Side Of The Pond.

Here are today’s questions, along with my answers:

1. February 17th is National Random Acts of Kindness Day. It lands on the calendar one day after National Do Something for a Grouch Day (February 16) which somehow feels related. Perhaps the 16th inspired the 17th?

Tell about a time you performed a random act of kindness or were the recipient of one. Will you make an effort to perform a random act of kindness on the 17th? Share details if you’re so inclined, and if you have something specific in mind.

The last random act of kindness I did was to pick up our grandson, Chase, yesterday, from preschool, so his mama wouldn’t have to make the extra trip to town. It’s a small thing, but it helps her out on group [home school] meeting days, when she would normally have to make three [14 mile] round trips to town, plus the trip over to the meeting.

I don’t have any plans to perform a random act of kindness, today, but I’ll try to come up with something, now that you’ve mentioned it!  Spontaneous acts are best, anyway.

2.What’s the most uplifting or encouraging thing you see happening in the world right now? You may have to dig deep for this one.

I’ve been SO impressed by the tremendous amount of love and support shown to the singing country duo, Joey + Rory during their difficult journey with Joey’s terminal cancer.  I’ve been following Joey’s battle for almost four months, through her husband, Rory’s, blog.  The outpouring of prayers, love, and support from their family, friends, and fans has been, and remains, phenomenal!   This has renewed some of my faith in mankind.

3. Black olives, black currants, black grapes, black beans, blackberries, Oreos…your favorite food the color of night? Your least favorite on the list?

Oreos are my favorite, while black olives are probably my least favorite.  I don’t think I’ve ever tasted black currants.

4. A while back I read (here) a list of twelve things you should do before you turn 50. They were-

travel when you have the chance, take care of your skin, learn a foreign language, make exercise a habit, leave a toxic situation, stop caring what others think about you, stop worrying, volunteer, spend time with your grandparents, pledge to work less, learn to cook an amazing dish, and seize an opportunity as it arises

What do you think of the list? What would you add or remove and why? If you’re over 50, have you done all 12? If you’re not yet 50, have you done any at all? What’s on the list that you haven’t done, but would like to do?

Some things on the list are okay, others no so much.  I’d remove learning the foreign language (because English is the only language I care about speaking, anyway).  I’d remove stop caring what others think about you (because I believe caring what others think is a good thing).  I’d never worry about learning to cook an amazing dish (because I don’t even like to cook, these days).  I haven’t had any grandparents since I was 32, so  I’d add spend more time with your parents and children, to the list, too.

I’m  well-over 50, but I did some of the things on this list around or before my 50th birthday.  I did some volunteer work and tried to make exercise a habit, for a while.  I also seized a couple of opportunities that came my way.  We did our fair share of traveling, too, we just didn’t go very far.  I have started trying to take better care of my skin–a little late, but “better late than never”, I say.  Last, but not least, I have removed myself from a toxic situation, when I resigned from a job [I dearly loved] due to certain circumstances in the classroom.

5. Besides the classic Christmas flicks, what’s your favorite film where winter plays a part in the setting?

There was a movie about a team of sled dogs who got left behind in a very cold, barren place (Antarctica maybe?) when their research team was forced to leave without them.  The movie chronicles the survival of those dogs, alone in the ice, while their owner fights to get permission to go back and rescue them. It was a nail-biting, tear jerking movie!  Thanks to Google, I discovered the name of the movie is Eight Below.

6.When did you last feel helpless, and what did you do about it?

The last [and only] time I’ve really felt helpless was when I took Ed to the emergency room, in October, and the attending physician told me Ed  had suffered a heart attack, and would need to be transported [by ambulance] to a larger facility, 50 miles away.  I had no idea what lay ahead of us, or if Ed would even survive the trip. I was somewhat in shock, and had to rely on our daughter to drive me to the hospital.  Thankfully, she stayed with me all night, and most of the next day, until Ed was stable.

7. Share a favorite proverb.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Remembering these words helped keep me sane, at times, while our sons were transitioning into the respectable men they are today.

Random:

Our original flock of “red sisters”, back in the day…

The “red sisters” celebrated a birthday this week! The remaining two hens, from our original flock of six red hens, recently turned four!  Those two rule the roost around here, and are doing well, although they do require an occasional wash of their rear ends from time to time.  They’re getting old, but ya’ still gotta’ love ’em.

These days, we let the old and new hens hang out together, and we let them free range most of the day. If we forget to put up our baby gate, this is what we see every day about 4 o’clock–

our ‘girls’, waiting impatiently for their afternoon snack of corn or bread!  Look who’s leading the way up the steps…a red sister!  Some are even bold enough to come up and peek through the glass in our front door!  They’re like a bunch of children begging for candy!!!

A Busy Weekend…

In addition to celebrating Valentine’s Day, this weekend, our family also celebrated a birthday. Our family had, not one, but two days of food, fellowship, and fun, so Ed and I are pooped on this Monday morning!  Thank goodness for being retired and able to rest on Mondays 🙂

Preparation for the busy weekend actually started on Thursday, when my daughter came over and offered to help make cupcakes for Friday night’s birthday celebration.  She knew I wasn’t feeling well, so she came and offered her services, for which I am deeply grateful.  She and I suffer from the same types of health issues, so we understand each other’s bad days like nobody else does.

On Friday night, we officially kicked off the weekend by celebrating our oldest son’s wife, Christina’s, birthday.  Christina’s actual birthday is today, but Monday’s aren’t a good time for a family get-together.  Friday’s are much better!  Who doesn’t love Fridays?  We served crock pot bar-b-que, hot dogs, baked beans, and french fries… Not mine and Ed’s usual diet, but delicious, none the less.

Christina, the birthday girl

In preparing for Friday night’s party, I’m afraid my “old age”  may have shown itself a bit when I accidentally bought a pink round tablecloth to go on my rectangular dining table.  I’m sure the look on my face was priceless as I unfolded that tablecloth!  However, I wasn’t going to be outdone, so I improvised.  Note to self:  You can make a round tablecloth work on a rectangular table–as long as you don’t mind the corners of the table being uncovered!

It was fun watching all of the grandchildren playing with each other, again, on Friday night.  At mealtime, we sat all four of them at a “kids table”, for the first time.  It’s hard to believe Evan’s almost past the “highchair phase” already.  All of them also exchanged Valentine’s Day gifts to each other over the course of the weekend, which was “sweet”–in more ways than one!

After Friday night’s festivities, Saturday was a quieter day.  I’d planned to go on a shopping trip, but postponed it when I woke up feeling tired again.  Too many sleepless nights, I guess.  I made some “death by chocolate” dessert, for Sunday’s lunch, and spent most of the rest of the day resting on the couch.

Later, on Saturday afternoon, our daughter and family brought Ed and I a bag filled with all kinds of Valentine’s Day goodies.  Nestled among those goodies was a movie rental, so I popped some popcorn, Saturday night, and Ed and I watched the movie “Max”.  It was a good movie, and a welcomed change from our usual television watching.

Sunday morning found Ed and me in the kitchen, bright and early, because I’d invited the family back over to enjoy a Valentine’s Day lunch with us. We treated everyone to a lunch of baked ham, vegetables we’d canned from our garden, cornbread plus our son-in-law’s delicious home-made biscuits, along with death by chocolate for dessert.  I cooked, while Ed did “dish duty”.

Ed and I took a few moments to exchange valentines with each other before diving head first into cooking the noon meal. Let me pause, for a moment, and say how thankful I am to still have Ed around to exchange valentines with.  I may have been guilty of taking this pleasure for granted, in the past, but no more!  I gave Ed an “I owe you” for his German Chocolate cake because of the “death by chocolate” dessert we already had, but Ed will be enjoying his cake by the end of this week.  If I didn’t know better, I’d say Ed must read my blog, because of the Valentine’s Day gifts he gave me.  In Wednesday’s Hodgepodge post, I said a heart-shaped box of chocolates says love to me…and look what’s on the table!  There’s also another box of chocolates in that bag!!!

Before Ed and I knew it, everyone arrived for lunch, and, once again, our kitchen was filled with food and people.  We missed our oldest son, at lunch, because he was away speaking  at a nearby assisted living facility (which he does every Sunday), but he was able to join us later. The last of our family left us around 7:30 Sunday evening.  Yes, it was a busy, tiring weekend, but I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way!

Have a great Monday!

Lovin’ The Hodgepodge…

There’s nothing I love better, on Wednesday, than participating in The Wednesday Hodgepodge! (If you’d like to join in, you can find out how to do so by clicking the button at the top of this post) Thanks to our gracious hostess, Joyce, for keeping The Hodgepodge alive and well through two hundred fifty-five editions…and counting!

Now for today’s questions:

1. Create an acrostic using the word LOVE. If you’re unsure what an acrostic is click here.

L– I met the Love of my life over forty-six years ago.

O– Since that day, I’ve Only had eyes for him.

V– I’m a Very blessed woman,

E– to have such an Exceptional man for my husband.

2. Does love really conquer all? Why or why not?

While I don’t believe love can conquer all things, I do believe it goes a long way to help make things better.

3. Tell us about a time recently, where you really put your heart into something.

The first thing that comes to mind is taking care of Ed after he had his heart attack (in October). He’s always taken good care of me, so I considered it an honor to be able to do the same for him.

4. What’s your favorite fictional love story?

I’m really drawing a blank here, but I do like the movie “Pretty Woman”, so I’ll let that be my answer.

5. Do you generally wear your heart on your sleeve, or keep your cards close to the vest?  

Unfortunately, I wear my heart on my sleeve.  It’s very hard for me to hide my feelings, whether they are good or bad.

6. What food says love to you? Why?

A heart-shaped box of Valentine’s Day chocolates, because, when I was growing up, that’s what men used to give their sweethearts for Valentine’s Day.

7. When were you last ‘tickled pink’ over something? Explain

The last time I can remember being really ‘tickled pink’ was the day we bought our new van a few months ago.  After months of searching, everything seemed to come together effortlessly.  We got a great deal on a vehicle we both liked, and we came home happy.

Random:

I haven’t been able to make any video montages, in a while, due to health issues (can’t sit), so I thought I’d share one from the past…  My how our family’s changed a lot in the past few years!  Happy Valentine’s Day!

The Monday After…

Yes, it’s the beginning of another new week, and the Monday after?  Well, actually it’s the Monday after a lot of things.

It’s the Monday after mine and Ed’s brief trip to Florida.  We had a great time visiting with family and friends, but, apparently, the trip almost “did both of us in”, afterward.  Both of us spent most of last week resting on the couch and in the recliner!

Actually, Ed had been sick for a couple of weeks, when we left.  He’d been battling head/chest congestion, and had finally given in and gone to the doctor a few days before our trip.  It’s been exactly three weeks, since Ed caught his “cold”, and he’s still not rid of the mess!

In fact, Ed gave me quite a scare, on Thursday night, when he coughed, turned bright red, and grabbed his head. (His previous heart attack began with a cough)  I asked if he was okay, and he said his neck/head hurt.  He got up, took his shower, and promptly went to bed.  A short while later, I heard him in the bathroom violently throwing up.  I thought, for sure, we were on our way to the emergency room again!  He said he was okay, but we both spent a long, restless night, wondering what was going to happen next.  He never threw up again, but he was pale and weak for two days afterward.  Neither of us has a clue what happened.

Then I came down with a case of sinus congestion, and started taking Sudafed right before our trip, which apparently caused my blood pressure to drop, on the way home from our trip.  I started feeling bad on the way home, but didn’t figure out the problem for a couple of days.  I just knew I felt weak, “faint”, and had shortness of breath.  After taking my blood pressure, and discovering that it was low, I put the pieces of the puzzle together and stopped taking the Sudafed.  My blood pressure slowly began to rise.  Add to that, excessive joint and back stiffness, from riding so much in such a short period of time, and I was down [on the couch] for the count!

Meanwhile, during our “down and out session”, it began to rain here.  It rained over six inches in twenty-four hours!  Our house was literally surrounded by water when we woke up on Thursday morning.  We had to wear rain boots to even go outside!  The road leading up to our house was underwater.  It was crazy!  Finally, after lunch, on Thursday, Ed was able to get outside long enough to “ditch” some of the water away from the road and our yard.  Then we got another inch of rain on Saturday!

rain, rain go a way…

Whenever we get excessive rain, in a short period of time, our well water gets “muddy”.  So, for now, we can’t drink the water or wash clothes.  Well, I suppose we could drink it or wash clothes in it, but who would want to, when the water in the faucet is brown???  I can barely stand the thoughts of taking a shower in the murky stuff, but there’s no choice.  Sigh.

In addition to the excessive water outside, some of us had “excessive water problems” inside!  The roof on our daughter’s house sprang a leak…in her daughter’s bedroom!  What a mess!  This isn’t the first leak they’ve had–and they just had their house re-roofed back in 2009! They’re trying to get to the bottom of the problem.

Unfortunately, Ed and I ‘sprang [another] a leak’, too, just inside the living room door.  It wasn’t our first leak either.  We battle leaks on a regular basis, thanks to Ed’s inexperience at putting on a tin roof, several years ago…  For now, we have a mixing bowl [in our attic] underneath the  leak, until Ed can take care of our latest problem. I hope it doesn’t involve a trip on top of the house, again.

We ended the week with a family Super Bowl pajama party at our daughter’s house, last night.  She’d planned to have everybody over, then ended up not feeling well, on Sunday.  She spent most of her day on the couch, while her husband made the soup for the party.  At the last-minute, she texted everybody to wear their pajamas because… well, she just didn’t feel like getting dressed, and didn’t want to feel out of place.  Almost everybody wore their p.j.’s, and it was fun!  This could be the start of a new tradition!

We watched most of the Superbowl game, but may have gotten distracted a time or two, catching up with each other’s week.  Our youngest son had a near encounter with a tornado, on his way home from work.  He saw the tornado, on Ft. Stewart, but, only from a distance, thank goodness.  The storm hit the nearby army base around 5 p.m.  Fortunately, nobody was injured in the tornado, but there was a lot of damage to trees, cars, and homes.  Around 40/50 people were actually displaced from their homes.

tornado hit nearby Ft. Stewart, GA, this week

Meanwhile our son-in-law experienced”the day from hell” during his Saturday shopping trip, in preparation for the Superbowl party. (Think lots of spilled/dropped things, along with accidentally pushing the car’s “panic” button twice)  Both of those stories trumped anything we saw during the game…well, with the exception of a couple of funny Doritos commercials and one very funny Hyundai commercial, shown below.

Our daughter swears her husband will be like the daddy in this commercial.  She’s probably right.

Today, the sun is shinning, Ed and I are feeling better, and it’s shaping up to be a better week–we hope.  As for our plans, I think we’ll take our forms to the tax man.  Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?

Happy Monday!

Welcoming February With A Hodgepodge…

1. Describe love using all five senses.

hearing – Listening to uninterrupted “oldies” playing on the radio.

sight– The first glimpse of each of our new grandbabies, after they’d just been born.

 

smell – Food cooking on the grill, especially in springtime.

touch – Feeling the warmth of Ed’s arms wrapped around me.

taste – A slice of chocolate cake, served up with a glass of cold milk.

2. February is Canned Food Month. What’s your favorite food that comes straight from a can?

Um, sliced peaches–in heavy syrup, of course!

3. A principal in a UK school recently sent home a letter to parents requesting they (the parents!) dress appropriately when escorting their children to/from school (basically saying please don’t wear your pajamas) You can read the letter here. It’s gotten a lot of publicity, both positive and negative. Your thoughts? And do/did you ever make the school run (or hit Starbucks, Walmart, etc) in your pjs?

I think a lot of people have lost the “sense” of what’s appropriate to wear and, or else they just don’t care anymore.  I grew up in a time when people wanted to look nice when they were out in public, and I, personally, still feel that way.

I have never worn my pajamas out in public, but I’ve seen others doing it.  I think people should at least make an effort to look “presentable”, particularly when they leave their house.

On a recent trip, we passed two different churches that boasted “Come as you are” on their church signs.  I turned to Ed and said, “So it’s too much trouble, now, to dress to attend church?”

4. Crew neck, V-neck, turtleneck, scoop neck…which is most prevalent in your wardrobe?

These days, crew necks are most prevalent in my wardrobe, but I have some of everything mentioned.  The older I get, the higher my necklines get…  Nobody wants to see sagging skin and wrinkles!  I’m really going to miss those scoop necks!

5. I read here recently a list of four things to avoid so you wake up happier. They were late night snacks, hitting the snooze button, social media just before bed/upon waking, checking emails.

Are you guilty of any of these behaviors? Which on that list do you need to work harder at avoiding?

I have been guilty of all of the above, at one time or another, but, currently, the only bad behavior I’ve been guilty of is eating a snack after supper.  If we eat an early supper, sometimes, I’ll eat a piece of fruit or a few pretzels, a little later in the evening.

6. Share something you remember about a house you lived in as a child? Of all the homes you lived in as a child, which did you love best?

my favorite childhood house

My family lived in several houses, while I was growing up, but the house I liked best was the one my parents owned in Florida.  They bought the home new, and we lived there until I was eight, when, unfortunately, they lost their home to foreclosure in 1963.

The walls of the living room were covered in “knotty pine”, which was stylish back in those days, but those “knots” sometimes scared me, when I was younger, because, at night, they looked somewhat like giant flying cockroaches to me!

The living room of our Florida house also had a beautiful “picture window” in the living room, which was also stylish back in those days.  I liked that “picture window” very much.  You could enjoy an unobstructed view of the front yard.

Every since those days, as a child, I’ve always loved a big window, so it only makes sense that every house Ed and I have owned, during our marriage, has had [at least one] “picture window”.  Our current home has two!

7.Your favorite movie based on a true story?

I love movies based on true stories, so, I’m sorry, but I can’t pick just one!  Three favorite movies that spring to my mind are “Unbroken”, “Captain Phillips”, and “Secretariat”.  I’m sure, if I had time, I could think of at least a dozen more.

Random:

Ed and I were finally able to take our “road trip” to Florida, to visit with my brother and his wife.  It was the first time we’ve taken an actual “road trip” in our new van, and we enjoyed ourselves very much.  Satellite radio made traveling fun!  Ed and I listened to 60’s on 6 the entire trip.

Just for fun, we also tried to use the navigation system in the van, but it didn’t want to guide us on the same route we wanted to take home!  It was a relief when we finally figured out how to turn that thing off!!!

Our visit with family [and friends] was brief, barely over twenty-four hours, but we had a great time, and crammed a lot of fun into a short amount of time. We got up early, stayed up late, and had lots of good food to eat!

visiting with family and friends “down by the river side”

Our nine hens and twelve cats were very happy to see us when we returned, yesterday afternoon!  You’d have thought we had been gone for a week 🙂  It’s nice to be loved.