Chillin’ With The Wednesday Hodgepodge…

Summer is still raging here, and I’m spending most of my time in the air conditioned comfort of my home.  Days like these are good for reading, watching a movie, or taking a nap!  They are also good for participating in The Hodgepodge, which you can do by clicking on the button at the top of this post, and answering the questions.  As always, thanks to our hostess, Joyce, for keeping this fun meme alive!

1. Is your home air conditioned? If it’s not air conditioned, is that by choice? Did you grow up with air conditioning? If not how did you cope with the heat? Share about a time or place you remember as being too hot-the temperature kind of hot, lest anyone be confused.

Yes, our home is air conditioned, by choice.  These days, I’m not sure we could survive the heat and humidity, here in the south, without air conditioning.  It was 99 degrees, yesterday, and the humidity levels have been in the 90’s, as well.  Miserable!

While I was growing up, folks didn’t always have air conditioning in their homes.  In fact, for the first few weeks of marriage, Ed and I didn’t have air conditioning in our first home, either.  Praise the Lord, his parents had a spare window [air conditioning] unit that they gave us!

My most vivid memories, of being too hot, is trying to sleep at night without any air conditioning!  We always kept box fans in the bedroom windows, but those usually blew warm air until the wee hours of the morning. By the time it finally got cool enough to actually sleep, it was time to get up!  I won’t even talk about how hot it was in the kitchen…

 2. What’s something in your life right now that falls under the heading ‘up in the air’?

My health. (See Random)

3. Your favorite light and airy dessert?

I don’t know if it qualifies as “light and airy”, but I’m going to say Strawberry Shortcake because we use angel food cake to make ours.

4. When did you last feel like you were ‘floating on air’?

I’m going to say it was when our last grandchild, Evan, was born.  He was the grandchild we thought we’d never have (because his mom is a cancer survivor with no cervix and only one ovary), then we feared he was going to be born with Cystic Fibrosis when prenatal testing showed both parents to be carriers of the disease.  Today, Evan is a happy, healthy little boy who will be two in October, and doesn’t even carry the gene for Cystic Fibrosis!

Evan shows off his new haircut

5. Airport, airmail, airtight, airhead…which have you most recently encountered? Explain.

Airtight, when I opened a jar of green beans that I canned.

6.  Have you ever been to the Alps? If so where did you go? If not, is this a destination on your must-see list? If you were headed that direction this summer, which of the following would be your preferred activity…a gentle walk, a serious walk, a bike ride, a boat ride around one of the lakes, or summer snow skiing?

I’ve never been to the Alps, nor do I have any plans to go.  If I happened to go there, a boat ride around one of the lakes sounds most appealing to me.

7. What is one saying or phrase that was considered ‘cool’ when you were growing up?

I grew up in the late 60’s and early 70’s, so there were many.  “Peace” was used a lot, back then, as was “Can you dig it?”, and “Groovy”.  My personal favorites were “Bad scene” and “Cool your jets”.  Ha!  Just typing those phrases takes me back to my teen years.

Random:

So, yesterday was the day of my long-awaited doctor’s appointment with the neurologist.  The wait to see him was 2 1/2 hours long, while sitting on the most uncomfortable furniture in the world. If a person didn’t have back issues before they arrived, they would after they left!

He told me this:  Your MRI shows two troubled areas, the L 2-3 and the L 4-5.  This presents a problem.  Your symptoms suggest your problem is coming from L 4-5, but L 2-3 is the disc that’s actually herniated.  I can do microscopic surgery, but I need to be sure which disc to target because there’s no room to “look around” in this kind of surgery, which is basically done through a tube.  He told me if I was in a lot of pain and really wanted the surgery done, he would do it, but if he was me, he wouldn’t have surgery, at this point.

We decided I’d try some physical therapy and give the sciatic nerve a little more time to heal on its own. Yesterday, my leg strength and reflexes were good, and the painful spasms have subsided, for now.(Because I just finished a second round of Prednisone two days ago.) Some numbness in the lower leg still persists, but, at least it’s not the entire leg, like before.

If the pain/numbness gets worse, or the spasms start again, I’m supposed to call his office and schedule another appointment to discuss my next option, which would be steroid injections in the spine or microscopic surgery.  (I may have to learn to live with a certain amount of back pain.)  Your prayers for continued healing would be most appreciated.

One thing I’ve learned though this ordeal is that back surgery isn’t a ‘cure all’.  Some patients get better, while others don’t.  I met one lady, yesterday, who’d had 13 back surgeries and a hip replacement! She was younger than me, and walked with a cane, but she was smiling.  She’d recently had a permanent pain pump implanted, to help deal with her pain, and was there for a checkup.  I felt extremely blessed after meeting this lady.  She was a great reminder [to me] that things could always be worse.

 

Going Green With The Hodgepodge…

Spring has arrived, in all its glory, here in our neck of the woods!  The trees are in full bloom, and the azaleas are beginning to burst forth.  Temperatures have been in the upper 80’s, this week!  Ed and I have been making the best of these glorious days–and I have the sunburn to prove it!

Now it’s time to take a bit of a break, from yard work, and indulge in my favorite mid-week meme, The Wednesday Hodgepodge.  This bit of informative fun it brought to us each week by our hostess, Joyce, @ From This Side Of The Pond.  Here are this week’s questions:

1. Share a favorite song, book, or movie title containing the word green?

This is an easy question for me because I’ve been playing this ‘oldie’ a lot, lately–Green Grass by Gary Lewis and the Playboys!  Good stuff! Below is a nice YouTube version of this great old song.

2. Ralph Waldo Emerson is quoted as saying, ‘Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.’ Would you agree? Are you a believer in luck?

Well, go ahead and call me shallow, but I do believe in luck, somewhat. For example, two people, equally qualified, apply for a job.  One  gets the job, while the other doesn’t.  How about, two people purchase a lottery ticket, and one person wins while the other doesn’t?  Explain it anyway you want, but I call it luck.

3. Spring water, Hot Springs, handspring, spring fling, spring break, spring fever, offspring…which ‘spring’ word best applies to something in your day, week, or life right now?

At the moment, I could easily choose a couple of these answers, but I’m going with “spring fever” because Ed and I have been as busy as bees sprucing up around the yard.  There’s something about spring that makes us want to clean and paint everything outside!  Everything is looking much better, thanks to several recent days of ‘fun in the sun’!

4. What’s something you do to make yourself look or feel more confident?

I have my hair cut and styled every five weeks.  I look forward to that appointment very much!

5.  It’s National Celery Month…are you a fan? If so, what’s a snack or dish you enjoy that calls for celery?

 I’m not a fan of celery.  I can only eat celery if it’s used sparingly as an ingredient in some kind of dish.

6. What’s one thing you wish you’d learned sooner?

Pay yourself first!   A word to young folks here: If you think you don’t have enough money to live on and save for your future–find a way!!!  Retirement comes a lot quicker than you think.

7. Would you like to own a second home? If so where would you want that home to be?

First of all, let me say how thankful I am that we own the home we live in.  It’s ours, paid for in full, except for the yearly taxes we have to pay.  (A lot of people can’t say that.)  Second, let me say that we are currently responsible for a second home (Ed’s parents’), for now.  Having a second home to see about is more headache and responsibility!  All of that being said, if money was no object, and I could hire some caretakers, I’d love to own a second home at the beach–right on the water, if possible!  (Might as well dream big, right?)

Random:

Sending get-well wishes to this little cutie, who is currently battling a double ear infection (on the heels of a stomach virus)!  I hope you feel better soon, Evan!!!  In the picture, Evan had been decorating a shamrock for St. Patrick’s Day.  I’d say he enjoyed himself, wouldn’t you?

 

photo from Jennifer’s Facebook page

Marching Into The Hodgepodge…

 It’s time, once again, for the Wednesday Hodgepodge.  You know the drill.  Our hostess, Joyce, supplies the questions, and we supply the answers.  Then we link up at Joyce’s place and visit each other’s blogs.  It’s always fun to see what questions Joyce has for us, and to see how others answer them.  Thanks for all you do, Joyce!

Now I present to you, The Hodgepodge:

1. ‘In like a lion, out like a lamb’…does the first part of this saying describing March weather ring true  where you live?

Actually, the weather has been wonderful on the second and third days of March!  The mornings have been cloudy and cool, but, by lunch, the sun has come out and temperatures have been above 70 degrees 🙂  Unfortunately, according to the weather man, all of that is about to change.  Old man winter isn’t finished with us yet!

2. March 4th is National Grammar Day. What common grammatical error bothers you the most?

I think misspelled words bother me the most, but choosing the wrong word for a sentence bothers me, too–like using ‘their’ when it should be ‘they’re’.

3. William Arthur Ward says- ‘The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.’ Which one are you?

I’m somewhere between the pessimist and the optimist, but I probably tend to lean a little more toward the pessimistic side.  I protect myself from disappointment by expecting the worst outcome, then being pleasantly surprised when it doesn’t happen.  Yes, I know that sounds kind of crazy…but it works for me.

4. What’s something you need to ‘march forth and conquer’ this month?

Ed and I really need to ‘march forth and conquer’ cleaning out his parents’ house.  The house is sitting there, pretty much like it was when Ed’s mom passed away 18 months ago.  We’ve cleaned out most of the drawers and cabinets, but all of the furniture and personal stuff  that family didn’t want is still there.  The thought of getting rid of their stuff is still painful, so we both keep procrastinating.  Meanwhile, ‘Trouble’, the cat, still lives there, and looks forward to her daily visit from ‘the man with the can’.

5. An ongoing debate around here…do you dust first, then vacuum or vacuum first, then dust? Of the two routine household chores, which do you dislike the least? How’s that for wording?

 It depends on what room I’m cleaning.  When I clean the bedroom, I always dust first, then vacuum.  When I clean the living room, I vacuum, then dust.  I know, it makes no sense, but that’s how I do things.  I dislike vacuuming more than dusting, because I hate picking up and shaking all of the throw rugs.

6. According to thrilllist.com, the ten most photographed sites in the U.S.A. are-Cinderella’s Castle in Orlando, Southernmost House in Key West Florida, The Space Needle in Seattle, The Site of the Boston Massacre in Boston, The Bellagio Lake/fountains in Las Vegas, The Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC, Coit Tower in San Fransisco, The Art Institute of Chicago, Niagara Falls, and snagging the number one spot-The Guggenheim Museum in New York City. 

How many on this list have you photographed? Which on the list would you most like to visit and photograph?

I’ve only had the opportunity to photograph one of the sites on this list–Cinderella’s Castle in Orlando. I’ll spare you my unimpressive Polaroid picture from the 70’s.  (You’re welcome.)  I think I would most like to visit, and photograph, Niagara Falls–but not using a Polaroid camera!

7. Fifty years ago Monday (March 2, 1965) The Sound of Music premiered at the Rivoli Theatre in NYC. Have you seen the film? Do you own a copy? On a scale of 1-10 how much do you love it (or not)? Ten=best movie ever. If you’re a fan, what’s your favorite scene or song from the movie?

Sorry, I’m not a fan of the film.  I’ve seen parts of it, but it didn’t keep my interest.  I’ll give it a 2.  I do like the song My Favorite Things though.

Random:

At the risk of wearing this subject out, I have to share my latest dental saga.

On Monday, I went back to the dentist to have my permanent crown put on.  Because this tooth has been so sensitive, over the past month, the dentist ended up giving me four shots before he successfully (and painlessly) got the crown fitted.  I left his office feeling weak in the knees, then felt lousy the rest of the day, and the following day, as well.  Perhaps a little too much Novocain?

However, once the numbness finally left me, the crown felt great.  My mouth, however, was sore from so many shots. Then, on Monday night, when I flossed in between the crown and the tooth next to it, a tiny piece of white, hard matter came rolling out.  I panicked, assuming it might be a piece of broken tooth!  Ed looked, but couldn’t see anything wrong, so maybe it was just a piece of left-over cement from the crown– I hope!

Hopefully, my dental woes have ended, after five visits to the dentist, several restless nights, seven shots, and several hundred dollars less in our bank account.  I’m ready to put the whole thing behind me–until the next time 😦

~~~~~~~~~~

In other news, Ed and I are getting the rare opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with our youngest grandson, Evan, today!  His parents will be in town, attending a funeral, so we’ll have Evan all to ourselves for a while 🙂  It’s been two and one-half weeks since we’ve seen this little fellow, and I can’t wait to see what kinds of new tricks he’s learned since his last visit 🙂

P.S.  About the time I hit publish, our phone rang.  It was our son, Brad, telling us that Evan has come down with the stomach virus!  So, we won’t be baby sitting, today, after all…  So much for the best laid plans:(

 Future NASCAR Driver?

A Few Friday Fragments…

It’s been a while since I’ve joined Mrs. Fours for Friday Fragments, but I’m finally attempting to get back into a normal blogging routine.  That means I should be posting and visiting a little bit more in the future–I hope!

Finally! I am free from the Christmas clutter that has been plaguing me, and am getting back to normal life.  As of last Friday, the last of the Christmas decorations were taken down and safely packed away in their storage containers.  What did we ever do before the invention of those neat plastic storage boxes?!

I have decorated the ‘year round’ tree for January, by covering it with snowmen, snowballs, and snowflakes.  I bought several new ornaments for the tree, for half price, or less.  I also bought a box of old-fashioned icicles (for 75% off) and draped them over the limbs.  Putting those icicles on the tree brought back some old memories from my childhood.  Remember when everybody used to put icicles on their Christmas trees?  Remember how the icicles would cling to your clothing when you got close to the tree?  They still do!  Ha!

January tree (and partial snowman collection)

Everyone’s been busy, plus I’ve had an after-Christmas cold, so Ed and I haven’t seen much of the kids and their families, lately.  Last Friday night, just like old times, the children who live closest to us stopped in for a visit.  Everyone brought their own supper, and we all had a great time catching up with each other.  I jokingly told them I thought they didn’t love us anymore, since we hadn’t seen much of them since Christmas!

Of course, we missed Brad, Jennifer, and Evan’s presence, last Friday night, like we always do when they’re not with us.  It just so happened that Brad called while the others were here, so he did manage to get in on a little of our conversation, too!

Speaking of our grandson, Evan, apparently, he’s learned how to climb since Christmas!  His daddy reported that he’s climbing on EVERYTHING, including the stairs, if given the opportunity!  Evan’s also had his first haircut since we’ve seen him.  Our youngest ‘grand’ is growing up–and we’re missing out on most of it because he’s not here much.

Evan, our youngest ‘grand’

Unfortunately, Ed’s has had a minor health issue that’s been making him miserable, for a little over a week.  He visited the doctor, on Monday, and has slowly been getting better, since then. It’s been a long week for Ed, and I know, without a doubt, he’s glad it’s Friday!

It’s been rainy and cold here for the entire week!  I haven’t seen the sun in so long, I’m having withdrawal symptoms. Judging from the comments on Facebook, I’m not alone!  Hopefully, the sun will find its way through the clouds soon!  I can live with the cold temperatures, as long as the sun is shining!

I’ve been busy doing odd jobs around the house, such as cleaning out and organizing the pantry, sorting and organizing old pictures and mementos, and, of course, packing away the last of the Christmas decorations.   I still need to do some serious decluttering!

In closing, today, January 16th, is a special day for someone who’s near and dear to my heart.

 It’s my ‘oldest‘, ‘bestest’, and only brother’s birthday!  S-M-I-L-E!

 David, I hope your day is just as special as you are!  Happy Birthday!  Wishing you many, many more!

Love,

A Holiday Hodgepodge…

Ho! Ho! Ho!  ‘Tis the season to join in The Hodgepodge, so let’s get started!  Anyone can join in the festivities by clicking the button at the top of this post, answering the questions, and linking up.  As always, thanks so much to Joyce, for providing the questions and hosting this fun meme.

1. What is one new holiday tradition you’d like to establish, or one you’ve established recently, say in the last year or two?

Almost five years ago, our family started the tradition of taking a ‘Crazy Christmas Hat’ family photo on Christmas Day!  I have a collection of crazy Christmas hats, so we each put one on and set the timer on the camera. This makes for some interesting pictures!

 Crazy Hat Christmas Photo ~ 2009

 Crazy Hat Christmas Photo ~ 2013

Note the changes in our family from the first photo until the last one.  We lost Ed’s mom, but gained two grandsons!

2. It’s the second week of December.

Have you sipped a cup of eggnog yet this month? No, and I don’t plan to.

Wrapped a gift? I haven’t wrapped any gifts, yet, but Ed has wrapped two.

Opened a gift? No

Kissed someone under the mistletoe?  Yes, last night!

Lit a candle?  Yes, several of them.

Eaten a Christmas cookie? Yes, some gingerbread men that my daughter and granddaughter made.

Seen Santa in person? Yes, at Wal-mart, last weekend!

Watched a Christmas movie or special? Yes, several of them!

Read scripture relating to the birth of Jesus? No, but I’ve listened to my granddaughter, Madison, recite some of it from memory. Does that count?

3. Do you think it’s better to be an adult or a child at Christmastime? Explain.

I think it’s better to be a child at Christmastime, especially one who still believes in Santa.  There’s nothing else that feels quite as magical as the anticipation of waiting for the arrival of Santa, on Christmas Eve, or as exciting as waking up and finding the gifts Santa left under the tree on Christmas morning!  My husband swears he once heard the pawing of the reindeer’s hoofs, on top of his house, when he was a little boy 🙂

4. It’s often said, ‘Good things come to those who wait’…agree or disagree? Why?

It’s always been my shopping experience if I wait to buy something, it’s usually gone when I return to get it.  This happened to me, again, just yesterday!  So, I disagree!  However, there have also been times when I’ll buy something, only to return to the store and find the item is now on sale…

5. What’s the last sweet thing you baked? Did you keep it, take it to a party/event, or give it away?

The last sweet thing I baked were pies.  I made a pecan pie and a coconut pie, and  I served them to my family at Thanksgiving.

6. This question comes to us courtesy of Jhona who blogs over at The Red House at the End of the Lane. Everyone hop over and say hi to Jhona this week! Here is her question… “I heard an actor talk about how he makes a conscious choice to talk to people in elevators. He chooses to connect, make eye contact, and converse. Do you talk to people/strangers when you’re in an elevator or any other place where you might have to wait together? Why or why not?”

I’ll talk to people if they initiate a conversation, otherwise, I usually don’t say anything other than hello.  I don’t talk a lot with strangers/people because I’m shy.

7. Are you on the naughty or nice list this year? What put you there?

I hope I’m on the nice list because I’ve tried to control my tongue more.  There’s still room for improvement, but I’m working on it.  Sometimes, I tend to say/do things without thinking, but don’t we all?  

My latest flub up was to re-post (and agree with) someone’s blog post link, concerning leggings, on my Facebook page.  Now my DIL’s are self-conscience about wearing leggings around me…  Actually, our son, Brad, being the jokester he is, actually made his wife buy a pair of leggings to wear to our house–just to see what I’d say!  Of course, I didn’t say a word.

If you’re curious, you can read the legging blog post HERE.  It’s somewhat amusing.

Random:

Here’s our granddaughter, Madison, reciting her recent memory verses, which happens to be Christmas scripture.  Way to go, Maddie!

Here’s our youngest grandson, Evan (and his mom), having a picture taken with Santa.  Evan wasn’t impressed!  Don’t ya’ just love watching a small child’s first reaction to Santa? Ha!  This is one of the few non-smiling pics we have of Evan.

Falling Into Another Hodgepodge…

I don’t know about everybody else, but I’m glad it’s finally fall!  I’m lovin’ the cooler mornings and evenings, even though mid-day still gets a little too warm for my taste.

Speaking of fall, how about we ‘fall’ into another edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge, shall we?  As always, many thanks to our hostess, Joyce, for furnishing the questions and hosting this great meme!

1. It’s fall. Y’all. My favorite season of the year! What’s something you love to do this time of year that makes you feel it’s officially fall? And unrelated to that, do you ever say-‘y’all’?

I love driving around and seeing everybody’s outside fall decorations.  The bales of hay, pumpkins, scarecrows, and mums let me know me it’s officially fall.

photo via Google

As for saying ‘y’all’, I was born and raised in the south, and, yes, I say ‘y’all’ all the time!

2. When did you last have a falling out with someone? Has it been resolved?

The last time I remember having a serious falling out with someone was about two years ago.  It took us about three months, but we finally resolved things between us.  I try to avoid conflicts, if possible, because it’s easier to avoid conflict than it is to resolve it.

3. A song you love with the word ‘fall’ in it’s title?

If you’ve never watched it, this is a music great video of ‘The Boys of Fall’, too!

4. What’s something you’ve recently let ‘fall by the wayside?’

Unfortunately, the last of our garden has ‘fallen by the wayside’.  When my back began to hurt, and Ed’s thyroid began acting up, we had to put gardening on hold.  The weeds have been growing like wildfire!

5. When did you last attend an event, read a book, watch a movie, try a new recipe, or visit a shop-town-tourist attraction that fell short of your expectations? In what way?

At first, nothing came to mind.  Then I remembered back when I used to be a fan of Tom Cruise.  Two of the worst movies I ever paid to see were both Tom Cruise movies–Eyes Wide Shut and Vanilla Sky.  Both movies made absolutely no sense to me!  Shortly afterward, I stopped going to see Tom Cruise movies.

6. Describe a time you said or thought, ‘The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

This question made me think about our grandson, Evan. He can fall asleep in a New York minute, any time, any place–just like his mama can.( I have a couple of  pics of Jennifer sleeping, too, but I’ll keep those private 🙂 )

(photo borrowed from Jennifer’s Facebook page)

7. Was today better than yesterday? Why or why not?

No, today (Tuesday) was not better than yesterday.  The day began with our dog breaking through the baby gate, three times, to get on the front porch, where he’s not allowed. (What is it about our front porch?!)  Next, I discovered a second baby chick (Della’s sister, Dixie) with a case of ‘pasty butt’, so I had to deal with that!  Third, that skunk came back into our yard– again!  Give me a break!

Random:                                            

Lately, I seem to be having more than my fair share of ‘animal woes’.  As if dealing with the dog,  baby chicks, and a skunk isn’t enough, on Friday, I have to take our youngest cat to be spayed, too.  She’s an outside cat, so this means I have to find a place inside the house to keep her for a couple of nights.  Normally this wouldn’t be much of a problem, but I’ve got eight baby chicks in the house already, and cats and baby chicks don’t mix!  This should be interesting.

Also, as I mentioned, above,  the skunk came back.  Unfortunately, this made the third time within a week! We’d previously noticed that the skunk moved slowly and would fall down every few steps, so apparently something was wrong with it.  In the interest of safety, Ed sadly made the decision to shoot the skunk.  When he did, the skunk let off that disgusting skunk spray.  Now everything around our yard reeks of skunk spray!  I think I just might scream!

A Mother’s Day To Remember…

Mother’s Day, 2014 will go down as a Mother’s Day to remember for several reasons.  First of all, it was the first Mother’s Day in all of our years together, that Ed and I didn’t have one or the other of our mothers to celebrate with.  My own mother passed away many years ago, but I’ve always thought of Ed’s mom as my second mother.  I really missed having her around to celebrate with us.  

Ed’s mom, celebrating her final Mother’s Day in 2013

My oldest son was a ‘Mother’s Day baby’, which means our family always gets to celebrate his birthday along with Mother’s Day each year!  Brett turned 32, the day before Mother’s Day, and we needed to celebrate!

On Saturday afternoon, Ed and I hosted a family cook out (the one we postponed from Easter).  Ed tried out his new grill–along with his old grill.  He cooked on both grills at the same time, and did a great job!  While we were at home cooking, everyone else was busy doing other things before the evening birthday celebration.

In addition to the birthday and Mother’s Day celebration, our town was hosting its annual ‘Sweet Onion Festival’.  Some of the family attended the parade and festival activities, while others in the family attended showers or visited with the elderly before arriving at our house to celebrate the birthday.  It was a busy weekend for all!

Christina prepares to light Brett’s candles, while Chase looks on

You may recall that it rained here on Easter, and we had to cancel our outdoor egg hunt.  Nothing says ‘love’  like throwing an egg hunt in with your birthday/Mother’s Day celebration, so that’s what we did!   I was impressed with how well the ‘grands’ were able to find eggs, this year, needing very little help from the adults.  Caden found the most eggs.  He also found both of the prize eggs, but he shared one with Madison’s little friend, Brooklyn, who was a guest at the egg hunt.   On Saturday, Ed and I hid 200 eggs in our yard, but the children only managed to find 190 of them, even after searching again on Mother’s Day!

Searching for eggs on Mother’s Day weekend!

Another reason Mother’s Day 2014 was so special is because it was daughter-in-law, Jennifer’s, first Mother’s Day!  Mother’s Day is special for any woman, but for those who have had to over-come huge obstacles, in the process of becoming a mother, the celebration always seems a bit more special.

Jennifer and Brad chose to commemorate her first Mother’s Day by having their son, Evan, christened on this day, which made the day all the more special.  I felt honored and blessed, as a mother, to see every member of my family sitting in the church, on Mother’s Day, for baby Evan’s christening–a baby none of us ever dreamed would be possible, three short years ago!  God is good.

our family after Evan’s christening

We listened to a sermon concerning ‘family’, and continued our celebration throughout the afternoon with family and fellowship.  I am a blessed wife, mother, and grandmother!  I received several wonderful gifts and sweet cards.  2014 must have been the year of ‘living gifts’, as I received a pink dogwood tree, and two baskets of flowers among my Mother’s Day gifts, along with an updated portrait of Evan and a gift card.  I loved each and every gift.

I hope to be around to celebrate quite a few more Mother’s Days with the family, but Mother’s Day 2014 will be always a favorite!  It will be difficult to top this one.

 

 

 

Easter 2014 Revisited (part 2)…

On the Saturday before Easter, rain continued to fall, off and on.  Some of the area egg hunts were cancelled, but some folks managed to have egg hunts in between rain showers.  I was still hoping it would dry off before Sunday, but I was having serious doubts!

Our Saturday was low key, since we didn’t have any plans.  Brad made breakfast for us, and he grilled hamburgers for lunch, too.  Ed and I got to spend lots of time with Brad, Jennifer, and baby Evan.  We caught up with events of the past three weeks.

It was nice having plenty of time to be with Evan and learn his likes and dislikes.  It was, also, nice to have time to take lots of pictures of him 🙂

Over all, Evan’s a happy baby.  He smiles at the drop of a hat, and, usually, only cries when he’s hungry or tired.  Evan’s only problem is he still doesn’t sleep through the night.  This didn’t really bother us, but I sure did feel bad for Jennifer!  She was up and down all night, both nights.

The video, above, is of Evan, along with the Easter Bunny that I bought him.  I bought Evan this particular bunny because of the song he sings.  The song is a variation of a little tune, called Three Little Fishes, that Ed’s mama used to sing to our children when they were babies.  Hearing that song brought back such happy memories!  Besides, I liked the way the bunny’s ears flopped, too 🙂

Sunday morning began early, with Brad and family getting up and dressed to make it to the sunrise service.  For some reason, Evan wasn’t ‘feeling it’ Sunday morning, so he wasn’t his usual pleasant self–until he got to church, his parents said.  After that, he was fine.  By the time Ed and I got up and got lunch underway, Brad and family were already back from the early morning service.

I had a bit of a mishap concerning Easter lunch!  I preheated the oven, then put the ham in.  I set the timer for two hours, then went about the business of preparing lunch.  At eleven o’clock the timer went off, and I opened the oven–only to find my ham sitting there in a lukewarm oven!!!  Apparently, at some point, the oven had cut itself off.  I panicked!  Fortunately, it was only eleven, so I turned the oven back on, but at a slightly higher temperature, this time.  The oven worked fine, the second time around, but the ham got a bit over-cooked in the ordeal.  Thankfully, nobody complained.

After church, everyone came for lunch.  Of course, before we could eat, we took lots of family photos, as usual.  We didn’t take our usual group picture though. The living room was crowded with toys, baby gear, and Easter goodies–and it just didn’t seem quite worth the effort of cleaning up to make room!  Besides, we were hungry!  (I tried to share some photos, but the uploader isn’t cooperating today)

It was our first Easter without Ed’s mom, so in her honor, I used her china and silverware for our Easter meal. It made me feel like she was a part of our holiday, in a small way.  The night before, during our home movies, I’d seen those same china plates on her kitchen table!

The ground outside of our house was still soggy wet, on Sunday, so I made the decision to hide some of our Easter eggs inside of the house.  Early Sunday morning, Ed and I took turns hiding plastic eggs throughout the house.  Between the two of us, we hid 80 eggs.  (Since our home is a bit on the cluttered side, we had no shortage of places to hide eggs!)

searching for eggs in Mimi’s bedroom

After lunch, we had what I call, a ‘controlled egg hunt’ (taking turns hunting eggs), and this kept inside activity down to a minimum.  The children found 78 of the 80 eggs that were hidden.  One of the still-missing eggs is a prize egg! Perhaps Ed and I should delegate egg hiding duties to someone else, next year 🙂

Speaking of egg hiding, our plans are to have that post-poned cookout and egg hunt soon!  We only hid eighty of our two hundred sixteen eggs, and, besides, the adult siblings and spouses didn’t get to participate in looking for lost eggs, this year.  We’ll probably be hunting eggs sometime in May!

When all was said and done, I think Easter 2014 turned out just fine.  It was great having all of the family together, no matter if it rained, the roof leaked, or the oven malfunctioned!  None of that stuff really mattered, in the end.

Update:  Since writing this post, I accidentally found that missing prize egg–when I tried to put on my shoes yesterday afternoon!

Is It Friday Yet?

Yes, it’s Friday, which means it’s time for a few ‘Friday Fragments’–you know, those bits and pieces of news, or thoughts, from the week.  As always, I’ll be linking my fragments with Mrs.4-4-4-4, over at Halfpastkissintime.

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What a crazy week this has been–beginning with the time change!  My body still hasn’t adjusted to the change, and I’ve been feeling somewhat like a zombie all week.  I don’t know about everyone else, but it takes me a while to get back to normal after the time changes.

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On Monday evening, my brother, David, and his wife, Kay, came for a quick, unplanned visit, due to the death of our cousin’s husband.  Ed was able to switch things around, at work, and get Tuesday off, so he could visit with us, too.  We all had a great time together, as always. Unfortunately, time passed way too quickly, and before we knew it, it was time for them to go back home.  We all treasure these visits, which don’t happen nearly enough, since we live so many miles apart.

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Ed and I got a call, from our son, Brad, on Tuesday afternoon, telling us that their baby, Evan, was being admitted into the hospital.   On Wednesday, Ed got off work at lunch, and we made the trip to see Brad and his family at the hospital.  I don’t know who looked ‘worse for wear’, out of the family of three, but all were all a welcome sight for my eyes!  We hadn’t seen any of them in almost a month!  Evan had been sick for a while, then Brad had gotten sick, as well.  Jennifer had been trying to work, in addition to caring for Evan during her time at home.

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Evan’s been sick, first with diarrhea, then later with fever.  Although Evan’s white count was 35,000, which is super high, the doctors couldn’t find any source of infection in his body.  They did numerous tests, and finally concluded, after the white count began to fall on its own, that Evan probably has had a virus.  We were all very relieved, especially since the dreaded word “leukemia” had been mentioned among the possibilities of what the problem could be.  Evan’s been released from the hospital, and is continuing to recover at home,.  Our son, Brad, is still sick (cold/flu) but is slowly improving.

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It’s been a crazy week, here, and those groceries, from last weekend, are still on my kitchen table!  The china, from Ed’s mom’s house, is still sitting in the box on the floor.  Several other mementos from her house are, also, scattered about, and a stack of laundry is in the living room chair.  Hopefully, by next week, everyone will be well, I will have recovered from the time change, and life will be back to normal–at least, for a little while!

Have a great weekend!

Little Bit Of Hodgepodge…

Once again, it’s time for a little bit of this, and a more little of that, otherwise known as ‘Wednesday Hodgepodge’.  As always, thanks to our hostess, Joyce, who supplies the fantastic questions each week!  Here are my answers:

1. Do you have an interest in learning about your family’s heritage? Why or why not? If you know a little bit about your roots, share an interesting piece of trivia or a fun fact about someone who goes way back on your family tree.

A few years back, our oldest son became interested in Ed’s side of the family, and actually did all of the research.  He, then, typed up his findings, put them in a binder, and shared them with each one of our family’s members.  Prior to that, an older lady, at our church, who knew Ed’s family history well, gave him a hand-written account of who married whom, and who their children were.  This lady must have spent hours doing this for us, and we especially treasure it, now that she’s passed away.

I don’t really know anything about my family’s heritage, beyond my grandparents.  I do know that there is some Irish heritage on my mother’s side, and I have some red-headed cousins to prove it 🙂

2. Branch Rickey, the baseball exec credited with signing Jackie Robinson, is quoted as saying-

“Luck is the residue of design.”
Agree or disagree? Why?

I disagree.  Sometimes, things just don’t work out for people, no matter how much they plan or prepare.  Then, of course, there are some people who plan nothing, and have all kinds of good things happen for them, anyway!  I guess you could say, I believe in the ‘luck of the draw’, not the ‘residue of design.’

3. In the town where you currently reside, what’s your favorite green space?

My favorite ‘green space’  in our tiny town, is a little place called “Barnard Park”.  It’s a small park, with a gazebo, a couple of benches, and a walking track.  Sometimes weddings are held there, or other special events.   Occasionally, I used to enjoy walking laps there, after work.

4. Who is your favorite comedian?

Steve Martin.  He used to be a “wild and crazy guy”!

5. March is National Nutrition Month, and almost everyone needs to improve their diet in some way. What about you? How can you improve your nutrition on a daily basis? Will you try?

I need to give up all fried foods, but it’s hard!  Us southern folks tend to like things like fried chicken, french fries, and fried squash.  I don’t eat as many fried foods as I used to, but I could do better.  Will I try?  That’s a good question!  Only time will tell.

6. Which of these green expressions have you ‘experienced’ in recent weeks -green with envy, green thumb, green around the gills, or give the green light? Explain.

I’ve been planting seeds and cultivating seedlings for our spring garden, so I guess you could say I’ve had a ‘green thumb’, lately.  Soon I’ll get the ‘green light’ to transplant those seedlings into the garden, and  then I hope my neighbors will soon be ‘green with envy’.  LOL

7. Where is one place you don’t mind waiting?

At the hair dressers–aka ‘the beauty shop’!  I always find out the local news of the day, plus I end up looking and feeling better, when I leave!

Random:

I mentioned in an earlier post, our youngest son, Brad, and his baby, Evan have both been sick.  Brad has been sick for almost a week(with cold/flu symptoms), while little Evan’s been sick for about a week and a half. Evan first had diarrhea for several days, which cleared, but was followed by fevers of unknown origin.  (Jennifer has been trying to adjust to a new job while all of this has been going on.)  Evan was admitted to the hospital, yesterday, after his lab results showed an abnormally high white cell count.  Prayers for all sure would be appreciated.