Back to School & Back to Work!

Just a quick check-in. Today is the first day of school so I am back to work. Yaaaay.....I mean, YAY!!!!!

Everything went so smoothly this morning, I'm kind of worried about how this afternoon will go. Ha! Actually, it's been great. One problem kid moved away, a couple moved up from elementary to middle school which changed the dynamics of the bus (for the better), and one whole family of sweet (but rather boisterous girls) seems to have moved away, and several high school kids are now driving. I only have 24 kids on the high school bus (that's ALL of them even if no one drives themselves) and 21 on the elementary bus.  Not too bad at all.

My vo-tech run has changed this year. There is a student in a wheel chair going so the school did away with one big bus and contracted for a mini-bus with a wheelchair lift.  There's no possible way for me to switch buses and take the kids to vo-tech then switch back and do my elementary run on time, so someone else has to take them. I stick around the garage after the morning runs and go get them with the mini-bus when it's time.  It's a pain and I'm not thrilled with the way it chops up my day, but if I do this then if they ever put another big bus back on the vo-tech run, it's automatically mine. If I don't do this, then the next full run would go up for bid.

We ushered summer out with a quiet day at home yesterday.  My hubby built the bar for our daughter's wedding (she wanted one made from pallets). Our daughter and future son-in-law came over to help in the afternoon and I got to watch the boy!

The front of the bar. It's going to be stained a darker color
and will be decorated with white lights and autumn leaves.

The back side has a shelf (will be getting a rail on the shelf)
to sit bottles on and enough room for the bartender and
the groom's parents' Kegerator.

Riding Nanny's goat.

And now it's, unfortunately, time to head back to work for the afternoon. Have a great week!

Sunday Stealing: Art History

Linking up with Bev and the Sunday Stealing crew.

Be sure to pop over and visit to find links to the

other players' blogs and to join in the fun!

Bev says:

This is a quiz I picked up a long time ago and my notes say that it was stolen from "Master of Art History Asks," but I can't find a trace of that blog today.  But the questions were interesting (a couple downright relevant!)

1. Do you look forward to the spring?  Yes and no. I look forward to it in that it means the end of winter, which I seem to like less and less the older I get. However, I don't really look forward to it for the sake of it being spring. On the whole it's tied with winter for my least favorite season. I hate all the rain that means mud, mud, and more mud for my husband to track home from a construction site.

2. Which area of the sciences do you enjoy the most?  The ones dealing with plants and animals.  At one time I dreamed of being a wildlife biologist or a zoologist.

3. If you could own a classical statue in the form of any figure from myth, religion, or even modern fiction, who would you choose?  I can't make up my mind. Either Jo March from Little Women, Scout Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird, or Willy Wonka. 

4. Do you have a good relationship with your mother?  It has gotten better, I think than it has been at times, but we still are not terribly close. It goes a long way that she seems to be "softer" these days and not nearly as critical of all my family does.

5. What is your favorite mythological story? I really enjoyed the Illiad and the Odyssey when I had to read them in school.  I would be hard pressed to pick one favorite story from them.

6. If you put on a big feast, what would you serve?  Seafood! Mounds and mounds of crab and shrimp!

7. How do you have fun? (What is your favorite 'Earthly Delight'?) I don't know that it's "fun" as you mean it, but my favorite thing is reading. I also like working in the garden, cooking, writing, and going to new places.

8. Do you often look for hidden messages and meanings? No. I can't say that I look for them, but I have a bit of a gift for reading between the lines or putting 2 and 2 together and reaching correct conclusions that no one else saw. I guess you'd call it intuition.

9. Have you ever received an award or special position?  I don't think I've received any awards since I've been out of school. Back at a previous church I got asked to help with the youth group. I wasn't crazy about the idea (I hate public speaking and had never taught anything), but agreed and somehow that whole thing snowballed until I found myself, a few years down the road, in charge of the church's youth ministry, acting as the Chair of Youth and Family Life on the regional board, teaching at the national level, and leading mission trips to the Navajo reservation. Through all of it I always wondered when they were going to realize they had the wrong person, so it all seemed pretty special to me.
 
10. If a revolution was about to happen in your country, would you be part of it? I'm supposing I would eventually be forced to choose a side, but whether I would jump right in at the beginning would definitely depend on what the issue at the root of it was. I have a lot of peace in my belief that God is ultimately in control.

11. Have you ever planned an act of revenge? No. I don't believe in getting even. You do more damage to yourself than the other person when you harbor that kind of ill will.

12. What is the most dramatic thing you have ever done?  Dramatic? I guess it was when I was pregnant with my first child and we were babysitting our oldest niece, who was in the throes of the terrible-twos at the time. We went grocery shopping and she threw a fit of biblical proportions and I refused to give in to her. My husband turned around and gave her what she wanted. I read him the riot act, asking if he planned to undermine me when our baby came along? I was so mad I stormed out of the store and left the two of them there with all the groceries on the belt. I started walking home (along busy highways in Orlando) and when he pulled up beside me I refused to get in the car and walked all the way home. I blame the pregnancy hormones. 

13. Do you care about your weight? Well, I do now. I wish I had cared more a long time ago, because it is not easy getting rid of it now.

14. Is your life moving too slowly or too fast? It depends. Some things seem to drag, but others (like the grandkids growing up) happens way too fast.

15. Do you prefer to stay in the shade? I do. I have pale, freckled, Scotch/Irish skin. Put me in the sun and I fry like an egg. Plus, I get more freckles.

16. If you could have any mural on your ceiling, what would it look like? Probably the nighttime sky.

17. Do you enjoy the countryside? Very much. It's one of my biggest regrets that we don't live in the country.

18. Are you a romantic? I used to be, but I'm more about practicality these days.

19. What is your favorite historic subject? I'm interested in the Pilgrims because I can trace my family back to John and Priscilla Alden, but the Civil War and the years of settling the west and the Indian wars fascinate me.

20. Do you prefer landscape paintings? Usually.

21. Are you interested in social issues?  Some of them. Some of what passes for "social issues" these days, I find to be completely ludicrous, but each to thine own self be true.

Thankful Thursday: Here Come the......Brides???

It's a beautiful Thursday morning and that means it's time to link up with Rebecca Jo @ Knit By God's Hand for Thankful Thursday.  Shoot over there to check out her list (she is the best list maker EVER) and to find links to the other players.

This week I am thankful...

* that the bridal shower is behind us. It was a stressful event for reasons I'll not get into here.

* for my daughter's cousin-in-law and friend (the matron of honor and a bridesmaid respectively) who saved the day.

* for the husbands of the two mentioned above and the groom-to-be who were good sports and allowed us to dress them as brides in the "classic" shower game involving toilet paper.

Left to right: The bestman, the groom, and our nephew.

* for finally getting to meet our nephew's wife after years of talking to her on Facebook and enjoying dinner with them and our daughter, her fiance, and our grandson the night before the shower.  They are an awesome Christian couple who really have their acts together for as young as they are.  Just love them to death!

 

Our nephew is just one month older than our daughter.
They are close but with him living in Alabama, we don't
get to see him very often.  They've been married 6 years
and this is the first time we've met his wife!

Look at our little Boogie! Sitting up at the table in the restaurant
like he's an old pro at it. It was only his second time, the first
being earlier that day. He was so good the whole time!

* for not being back to work this week and being able to take the young man we know who received a liver transplant 2 weeks ago to get blood work done this morning...vital to being able to continue the anti-rejection meds.

* for some great and very meaningful conversation on the trip there and back.

* for this fabulous weather this final week of summer vacation. Sunny and in the 70s....what's not to love?!

* that my co-worker and friend, who also happens to be a minister, agreed to officiate at my daughter's wedding. Since neither she nor her fiance are saved he is okay with marrying them.

I am thankful that the kids really like him and his easy going manner....and I'm sure my daughter likes his Southern accent.  That has made them receptive to the things he has said to them.  Things like even if you aren't in church you should read a passage from the Bible together every day and you need to have a relationship with the Lord...believing in Him isn't enough. 

My daughter called to thank me for putting them together with him right after they met this past week and she went on and on with a lot of excitement about how she liked his views on Christianity and how they want to do the daily devotions and they've been talking about going to a church...and how she really wants to get back to that life! 

Wooo Hoooo! This mama is just a singing and dancing in praise over here! I was so excited I got right on line and ordered them a couple's devotional Bible and the Duck Dynasty couple's devotional. (Because it's done by Robertson son, Alan and his wife. Alan is the one who is a pastor and he and his wife have a great testimony of what God can do in a marriage.)

* for another 5 pounds lost!

* for a great night out with the ladies from Bible study.  All the men were away and a couple of the gals were missing, too, so rather than leave them all out of a lesson we decided to end the summer with a party!

And what a party it was because several of us had praises to share. Big praises concerning things the group has been praying for.  It was so awesome to hear all that God is doing!

* for my big lumpy hound who is having a harder and harder time getting around.  He still can, it just takes him a while to get going, and he seems happy and not really in pain so I am just loving him every chance I get cause he really is just the sweetest boy that ever was.  Curse those fatty tumors that are taking over!

* for all of you! 

And now I'd better wrap this up because my daughter wants me to come watch my grandson for a little bit so she can get her house cleaned up.  Have a blessed and wonderful day, my friends!

A Total Eclipse of the Hodgepodge

1. Did you watch the solar eclipse? I watched it on the NASA feed. I didn't have glasses and didn't feel like messing with any of the other methods. Your thoughts? It was interesting and pretty cool on the live feed since I could see the totality there. We only had about 80% coverage here so it didn't get all that dark even with cloud coverage. Sun Chips, Moon Pies, Starburst candies, a Blue Moon beer, a Sunkist orange, or a Milky Way candy bar...what's your favorite eclipse related snack on this list? Milky Way candy bars are my favorite candy. I confess I stole all the ones my kids got at Halloween when they were little.

2. What are you 'over the moon' about these days? My grandkids, what else? What's something you enjoy doing every 'once in a blue moon'? Getting dressed up. I'm pretty casual most of the time, but it's nice to get dressed up once in a while.

3. Tell us about something in the realm of science that interests you. I've always like the earth sciences and astronomy. How do you feed that interest? Mostly just by reading and watching things on the subject, but it's not unusual to find me in the yard looking up at the stars or in a creek bed looking for fossils.

4. What are a few things you remember about going back to school as a child? The "painful" back to school shopping trips when my mom and my aunt drug my cousin and I from store to store all day to get all the things they felt we couldn't live without...new shoes, new coat, new school clothes, underwear, and socks. It was torture!

5. I've seen several versions of this around the net so let's make one of our own...share with us five words that touch your soul and briefly tell us why. Oh my....I find these kinds of questions so difficult, but here goes. LOVE...because it is the command that Jesus left us with, to love one another as he first loved us. Very much in mind in these days. FORGIVENESS...because life is less stressful and much happier if you can let go of hurt and forgive the one who hurt you. MEMORIES...because the older I get the more I find myself getting nostalgic over things from my past. CONTENTMENT...because being satisfied with and thankful for what you do have rather than always wishing for what you don't have goes a long way toward being happy in life. DEPRESSION...because watching someone you love struggle with this dragon can be heartbreaking.

6.  Insert your own random thought here. Seems an appropriate thought for the times.

That's it for this week's Hodgepodge. Please be sure to stop by From This Side of the Pond to find links to the other players' blogs and to visit our hostess, Joyce.

Sunday Stealing: Something Different

Welcome to another fun-filled Sunday Stealing Sunday. Sunday Stealing is currently being run by Bev and she is doing a great job. Thank you, Bev! Be sure to stop by the home blog to find links to other players and tell Bev you enjoyed the questions.

This from Bev:

There is a woman named "Wendy Weetabix" who wrote a blog called That's My Bix, but the last entry was from 2015.  But she has been posting random questions for the past several months on Facebook.  I went through and picked a few of them for us to answer this week.

1. What is a normal thing that took you an embarrassingly long time to learn?  The only things I can think of are knitting (and I still can't do that) and letting my kids be stupid (there comes a time when you have to admit they are grown and allow them to make their own decisions-good and bad-and deal with the consequences).

2. In what ways are you old-fashioned?  I'm old-fashioned in pretty much every way if you ask my kids, but they are looking at the way my beliefs and actions are shaped by my faith, which they do not share. Then there is technology...I barely text (I'd rather speak to you), I don't know how to program any of my devices (that's what sons are for), I've had a dash cam for 2 years and it's never been out of the box, and I still listen to music on FM radio and CDs. I still believe in treating everyone with a certain amount of respect and courtesy no matter who they are or what they believe, being patriotic, getting married before you have babies or live together, learning and using manners, and working for what you want.


3. What is the best sandwich you've ever eaten? Where did you get it? What made it so delicious?  I'm not a big sandwich eater, but I really like my grilled cheese sandwiches.  I put Provolone or Mozzarella cheese and a big slice of tomato inside and spread the bread with butter and sprinkle it with garlic powder and basil, then toast it. Soooo good!


4. What are you currently not bragging about that you should totally brag about?  I get annoyed with braggers and don't like to do it, but if I was going to it would be that I lost another 5lbs. this month!


5. What food have you never tasted and are most interested in trying? Mmm....maybe French? I've tried a lot of stuff, but I don't think I've ever had anything French and we recently got a cute little French cafe in the shopping center.


6. What history facts were you surprised to learn because it was never covered in school?  We watched The Free State of Jones back in the spring. I had never heard that there were pockets of people who had seceded from the Confederacy living right smack in the middle of it.


7. What is something that you waited entirely too long to start or stop doing?  What made you say "Why did I wait so long?" Biting my nails. I really messed up the nail beds and my fingernails grow realy weird.


8. What socially expected thing do you hate doing the most? What thing about polite society really grinds your gears?  Paying my respects at a funeral home. I really hate standing around in a room with a dead person on display...I never know what to say. It's so awkward and creepy.

9. What is something about your city that I should know if I'm going to visit? What is the hidden "must see" that you always tell friends and visitors to not miss?  My hometown is also the hometown of Arnold Palmer and Mr. Rogers, we lay claim to the world's first banana split, and every summer the Pittsburgh Steelers hold their training camp here on the campus of St. Vincent College. We have quite a few wineries in the area...not that most people think of PA for that. We have fantastic parks, hiking and biking trails (you can hop on the Appalachian trail not too terribly far from here), skiing, and.....you get the idea. This is a great area!


10. What do you miss most about childhood?  Summers at my grandparents' house, my family being intact and believing it would be that way forever, and not being responsible to pay the bills.

11. What "fact" did you learn in school that is not true or no longer true? Columbus discovered America and by the year 2000 we would have cities under the ocean and colonies on the moon.


12. What's your favorite piece of useless trivia?  Do you know why manhole covers are round? Because it's the only shape that can't be turned in any way that will allow it to fall through the hole.


13. What's your best go to homemade "lazy" meal? My kids always liked it when I browned some ground beef and mixed it into a pan of beef flavored Rice-a-Roni.


14. What's the title of this current chapter in your life?  Finding My Peace


15. What is a habit or practice that you learned from your childhood that you didn't realize was "weird" until you were an adult?  I can't think of anything. My parents were as straight-laced and normal as it gets. They were all about appearances and pushed me to fit the mold. 

Whew, that's that! I don't know about you, but I had a hard time with this one. There were several difficult questions.

Saturday 9: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Saturday 9: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

... because Joy recommended it

Yay! I've heard a lot of people say they don't like this album, that it's the Beatles' worst work, but the movie with Peter Frampton came out around the time my friends and I were transitioning from junior high to senior high and we LOVED it! Then again....we were big fans of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and Benny Hill, so maybe we weren't the best judges. Ha!

1) The Beatles recorded this after they had taken a three-month hiatus from working together as a band. Do you find you're sharp after taking time off? Or does it take you a while to get back into the swing of things in your day-to-day life?  It takes me a couple of days to get back into the swing or the mood or whatever.  It stinks to come back from vacation all mellow and relaxed and have to jump right back into reality!

2) During those three months off, John Lennon made a movie called How I Won the War. What's the last movie you watched? Did you view it at a theater, on TV, or from a device like a computer or tablet?  I don't know what it was called.  My husband was watching a movie about Irish mobs in the U.S. during the 70s.  It was along the lines of Goodfellas and pretty violent. I'm not a fan, but my husband apparently loves those movies because I've lost count of how many times I've sat through them as he will watch every time they are on.
  
3) Paul McCartney and George Harrison both used their time off to make new and different music. Paul composed instrumentals for a movie soundtrack while George studied sitar with Ravi Shankar. Ringo Starr spent those three months with his wife and their two little boys. If you had three months to spend doing anything you wanted, and money was no object, would you try something new (like Paul and George) or just kick back and relax (like Ringo)?  If money was no object I would definitely try something new...like start checking off the things on my bucket list.  I do the 3 months of kicking back and relaxing thing every summer and it can get old sometimes...of course money's always been an object, so maybe that has something to do with it.

4) Paul recalls what fun it was to dress up in Edwardian-era costumes for the album cover. When did you last attend a costume party? What did you wear?  I have no idea. It's been a long time.  I think I dressed as a judge....black robe, white wig.  I used to dress up every year at Halloween for the kids on the bus and give out treats, but the school district kind of sucked the fun out of Halloween by making a rule that we can't give the kids any kind of treats (for any reason...not just Halloween).  They said too many kids have food allergies or sensitivities (yet the kids come out of school on such occasions with bags of goodies the school gives them...).
 

5) Paul says he came up with the name "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" when Beatle friend Mal Evans told him about this great San Francisco band, Big Brother and the Holding Company. Paul hadn't heard their music yet, but he loved the sound of their six-word band name. Soon everyone would hear of Big Brother. Do you know who Big Brother's famous lead singer was?  Nope.

6) Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band appeared on the Billboard charts for 175 weeks. Is this album in your collection?  It was, once upon a time, a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....and it was on cassette.

7) The Beatles are among the top-selling artists of all time in Zimbabwe and Ethiopia. Would you like to visit Africa?  Yes, but I probably wouldn't go these days even if I had the opportunity.  Sometimes I think that in certain places being a U.S. citizen is like waving a red flag at a bull.

8) 50 years ago, when Sgt. Pepper was first released, the average price for gas was 33¢/gallon. When did you last fill up your gas tank? Do you remember how much it cost? I filled my car on Monday and gas was $2.59/gallon.  I've seen a couple of places with lower prices and a few with higher prices. Whatever....Pennsylvania has, in general, one of the highest gas prices all the time thanks to the state adding and raising taxes on it every time you turn around.

9) Random question: Are most of your married friends happily married?  Yes, I would say most of them are.  A few seem to be deliriously happy, a couple are really struggling, but most fall in between and are basically happy and content.

Today is another step on the way to our daughter's wedding next month.  This is bridal shower day!  Our nephew from Alabama drove his sweet wife up to help one of the other bridesmaids put it together.  My girl has stressed herself so much over this. I am praying it is wonderful and lots of people show up. 

(Another niece was supposed to be handling the shower and she never did anything.  She didn't even send invites or include the other bridesmaids. Once this other niece took over things got done, but folks still didn't have a whole lot of warning with the invitations...and that's not a good thing in the summer.)

Tonight I have a dinner out to look forward to.  My birthday was this past Tuesday and it's just too hard to go out during the week with my husband's work schedule so we are going out tonight.  Seafood place or steak place?  I am torn.

Well, I'm out of here.  I hope you have a beautiful, relaxed Saturday.  Enjoy it!

Don't forget to visit Sam @ Saturday 9

to join in the fun and find links to

all the other players.

Thankful Thursday: Say Cheese, Please?

Click here visit our hostess,
Rebecca Jo @ Knit by God's Hand.

It's Thursday and you know what that means.

This week I am thankful...

* the combination of calcium spray, calcium rich fertilizer, and lots and lots of water seems to have cured the problem I was having with all of my larger tomatoes getting blossom rot.  The tomatoes are finally beginning to ripen, too. I have been waiting and waiting, not so patiently, to be able to pick a fresh tomato and make a sandwich out of it.

* that over-the-counter sleeping pills have helped my daughter get some sleep. She has not been sleeping much at all...no more than maybe an hour or two a night.  It all came to a head on Monday and she was a basket case...weeping nearly continuously and lashing out horribly at everyone who came near.  A trip to Med-Express was pointless (after they took her payment and got her in a room they informed her they couldn't treat a sleep problem and suggested she go to mental health), but somewhere during that process I figured out that she had never tried Tylenol P.M. or Nytol or anything like that.  Got her a box of Sominex and a bottle of melatonin.  She's at least getting a few hours of sleep at night now.

* for all my friends and family that reached out to wish me a happy birthday this week.  I was blessed by my Bible study group who gave gifts, hugs, and prayed for me. My hubby was sweet, but we aren't going out to dinner until the weekend since he is so tired at the end of a work day. Oh, and I treated myself to a gorgeous new purse (I am a purse woman as opposed to a shoe woman) yesterday with my birthday money.

* for the "unfriend" button on Facebook. I don't like to use it, but I am grateful it is there when a friend becomes so toxic you have no other choice.

* for my friend who made all of the bouquets for my daughter's wedding. She finished the bride's on Monday.  I can't believe how fast it is all coming up at this point.  For a year it's seemed so far away.

* for the Swallowtail butterflies who like the big planters of flowers along the sidewalk. I love seeing them...there was a stretch of years when I didn't see them at all.

* for every moment I get to spend with my little buddy...who finally has his first tooth coming in!

He's a very happy baby...until it's picture time.  Have I ever mentioned how hard it is to get a picture of him smiling?

* and for all of you!

A Doggone Good Hodgepodge

Click to visit Joyce @
From This Side of the Pond,
Home of the Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Do your actions match your words? Elaborate.  I sure hope so. I really try hard to always mean what I say and say what I mean. It's no secret I'm pretty serious about my Christian faith and there doesn't seem to be much the world likes less than a Christian whose actions don't match their words. The Bible tells us God's not too happy with those folks, either, so I try my darnedest not to be a hypocrite. 

I also have the added incentive of not wanting to be like my dad who's favorite saying when he disciplined me was "Do as I say, not as I do." Ugh! I absolutely hated that when I was a kid and vowed to never, ever say it to anyone.

2. Sick as a dog, go to the dogs, dog days of summer, dog tired, it's a dog's life, every dog has it's day, can't teach an old dog new tricks...now doggone it which saying could most recently be applied to your life?  

Well, I guess we are really in the dog days of summer with only a little over a week until school starts and I have to head back to work. (Nooooooooo!) When I look around outside all the greenery is starting to get that slightly faded look of late summer and the days have a kind of lazy, hazy quality to them. However, dog tired fits right now, too, as we are getting ready for the bridal shower this Saturday and we're only a bit over a month from the wedding. There is so much to do!  

And I just got home from trailing behind my daughter for several hours at the mall while she was searching for just the right dress to wear to the shower. When did it get to be a thing that brides have to wear a white dress to their shower? Anyway, I am definitely dog tired right now.

3. Your favorite book featuring a dog in the storyline? What makes it a favorite?

I honestly can't think of one. There are some series of cozy mysteries that feature dogs, but while I enjoy them, I can't say they are favorites...I can't even think of the names of them.

4. What's something you hope to one day have the confidence to do?

I can't really think of anything other than speak in front of a group without getting so anxious about it. I've done it many times, anyway, but it's torture. I'd love to be calm and confident when I have to speak.

5. August 16th is National Tell a Joke Day. So tell us a joke.

Q. What does a nosy pepper do?

A. Gets jalapeno business. (say it with an accent)

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I had to unfriend another person on Facebook today.  I think that is only the third person I've done that to. I don't like to do it, but sometimes you just can't do anything else. I don't mind if someone has different views from me...as long as we can all be calm, rational and respectful of each other. To that end I've been avoiding nearly all mention of political stuff in an effort to keep my space a positive space.  However, a former classmate has been spewing hate about President Trump and everyone who voted for him ever since the election and it has gotten progressively worse. I just don't understand and am saddened by the pure hate I see flowing from previously nice people. I don't know how or if we can ever heal the rift in this country.

Weekend Wrap: Lottery Tickets, 1985 & Zucchini

Another weekend of my husband working. Both days this time...well, only half a day on Sunday. I hope the day will come when he doesn't feel so driven to work so many hours, but as our various governments (notably state and school district) keep raising taxes and medical/insurance costs keep rising, I don't see that happening any time soon.  Unless we hit the lottery.  I'm beginning to believe the financial and political people who say the middle class is going to be taxed out of existance.

By the way, did anyone win Saturday night's Powerball? I haven't heard and I have two tickets hanging on the refrigerator that I didn't check yet.

We got some time with our youngest grandson on Friday evening while our daughter and her fiance worked on a sign for the wedding shower in Hubby's workshop. Poor little man was kind of cranky, though. He did NOT like his Pappy in his reading glasses (first time he had seen him that way) and was just fussy about everything. I finally just cuddled him up and sang our special song and he went right to sleep. Is there anything sweeter than a sleeping baby?

Saturday was all about cleaning up the house, doing laundry, and sorting through the boxes of memorabilia my mom gave me.  I lost a big chunk of time reading the May 1, 1985 newspaper that our wedding write up was in....Reagan was president, Gorbachev was the fairly new leader of the Soviet Union (which was still the Soviet Union), Delmonico steaks were only $4.99/lb, a brand new Buick Century sedan could be had for under $10,000, and you could put brand new Goodyear all-season radials (their highest quality ones) on that car for $20 or less per tire.  My husband wanted to know if there was a coupon.  Ha!  Can you imagine showing up at the garage with a 32-year-old coupon?

We got a big surprise Saturday evening when our son called and asked if we were at home. Since we were he said they'd stop by to visit. They had been at a local state park swimming all day. They don't really live that far away from us, but it's far enough that we can't really just pop in on each other.  Visits are always planned.  Anyway, it was good to have them here and then our daughter and her family stopped by, too.  It was great having the whole family here on the spur of the moment.

On Sunday I mostly relaxed, but I dealt with another pile of zucchini.  I shredded all of it. I made two loaves of pineapple-blueberry-zucchini bread (recipe here) and froze the rest for later use.  I also pulled some weeds and the plants that were done producing from the raised beds then fertilized what was left. I'm trying to cure my tomato rot problem by supplying more calcium and a LOT more water. Hubby worked then mowed our yard and my mom's.  I made beef stew in the slow cooker for supper and we spent the evening watching TV.

I'm just playing around on the internet this morning, not doing much of anything, and this afternoon I'm babysitting our youngest grandson for a while.

Sunday Stealing: On Art, Heroes & Making a Difference

These questions were on a site by Debbie Hodge, which apparently once had more blog content, but now seems to be mostly devoted to scrapbooks -- content, supplies, etc.

The artwork is by Picasso.




1.  What is the favorite piece of art you own.
I have a numbered Winslow Homer print of a leaping trout that hung in my dad's office when he managed the wildlife preserve. That would be my favorite, I guess. Running a close second are the framed advertising art on my kitchen wall. The best one of those is a 50s-60s vintage housewife leaving a grocery store with her arms full of grocery bags and her twin boys are dressed like cowboys and riding the mechanical horse in front of the store.

2.  The most expensive bill you paid last month.
The payment on my husband's truck. This month it will be the balance on the rental of the tent, tables and chairs for the wedding...or maybe the caterer. It'll be close.

3.  What’s the last thing you apologized for?
I stepped on the dog's tail earlier and apologized profusely. Poor old thing has a hard enough time without me stomping on him.

4.  If you could do today over, would you change anything?
No, I don't think so. Today was a pretty good day and our son and his family surprised us by stopping by for a bit this evening (Saturday) and then our daughter and her family stopped so we had the whole family here. That doesn't happen much outside of holidays.

5.  What is the largest TV screen in your house?
The one in the living room is 60", which I think is plenty big, but my husband longs for an 80" screen.

6.  What did you buy today?
Chicken strips to make a new recipe - Crack Chicken. It was very good!

Ingredients

Meat

• 2 lb Chicken, tenders

Produce

• 1 tsp Garlic powder
• 2 Limes, Juice of

Refrigerated

• 3 Eggs, large

Condiments

• 1 cup Barbecue sauce
• 1 Ranch dressing

Baking & Spices

• 1 cup All-purpose flour
• 1 Black pepper, Freshly ground
• 1/2 cup Brown sugar
• 1 Kosher salt

Bread & Baked Goods

• 2 cup Panko breadcrumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a large resealable Ziploc bag, combine flour and chicken. Shake until fully coated.
2. Set up a dredging station: In one bowl, add panko breadcrumbs and in another bowl whisk eggs and add 2 tablespoons water. Dip chicken in beaten eggs, then panko until fully coated. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and season generously with salt and pepper.
3. Bake until golden and crispy, 20 to 25 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over low heat, warm barbecue sauce, brown sugar, lime juice, and garlic powder.
5. Coat baked chicken in sauce and serve with ranch, if desired.

7.  I wish I had ____
A winning lottery ticket so my husband could retire or at least slow down.

8.  How many photos did you take today?
Zero

9.  Last thing you wanted and didn’t get.
Our second bathroom finished in a timely manner. At the beginning of October it will be a year since my hubby decided (on the day of our daughter's baby shower) to gut the old one.

10.  What was the last new thing you tried?
I guess the above mentioned recipe.

11.  Who is your hero?
This week it is the person who approached a doctor and said they wanted to be a living liver donor. The doctor they approached is the doctor of our friends' son, a young man of 27, who was born without ducts in his liver. He has undergone many surgeries in his life and battled illness. When he was born he was not expected to live to adulthood. 

He has been on the transplant waiting list for several years, but hasn't ever been "sick enough" to move to the top of the list. Thanks to this person who chose to give a part of their liver, he has for the first time in his life a healthy liver that was already producing bile by the time the surgery was complete. He is walking around and feeling well.

12.  Today I feel really secure knowing ____
That God is in control.  If it wasn't for that, I'd be a basket case because these are trying times we are living in.

13.  Whose life did you make a difference in today?
I don't know. I did the kinds of things wives and mothers always do. I hope those things make a difference. And I prayed for lots of people and I know prayer makes a difference.

14.  What would have made today perfect?
If my husband hadn't had to work.

15.  Did you thank anybody today?
I told the people who waited on me at the store and my husband for the things he did when he got home. And I thanked God for a few things, too.

Bonus: If you were a Muppet, which would you be?
Probably Kermit. He's a nice guy, trying to do the best he can while getting grief from everyone else.

That's it for this Sunday. Hope you all have great day doing what you love with the ones you love! Me? I've got a lot of zucchini to do something with.

Saturday 9: Start Me Up

Whew! Today was a busy day, but a good day and a very productive day. My daughter and I got together with a friend who is very talented and crafty to make all the wedding bouquets and table decorations for the wedding. When we finished we treated ourselves to a late lunch at a favorite restaurant.  

Tonight the kids came to make a wooden sign for the bridal shower and Pappy and Nanny got to spend some time with our little Boogie. He did NOT like Pappy with his reading glasses on, though to be fair, he wasn't too happy tonight in general. I think he was just tuckered out since once I settled in the chair with him, he went to sleep pretty quickly.

Now it's time to relax and what better way than to get a head start on the Saturday 9.

Saturday 9: Start Me Up (1981)
... because Kwizgiver recommended The Rolling Stones

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) That's a goat wearing a high heel. What's on your feet as you answer these questions? Nothing. My feet are....naked! *gasp!*

2) More fashion: In the video for this song, Mick is wearing white pants with an elastic waistband. Are you wearing a belt as you answer these questions? Nope. I'm wearing my jammies, though, if I lose a few more pounds I'm going to need a belt or else I'm going to lose my drawers when I stand up.
 

3) In this song, Mick pleads, "Don't make a grown man cry." When is the last time you shed a tear?  Tuesday evening in Bible study. We were all trying to help a friend through something and sharing some very personal experiences.

4) Keith Richard has said this is a song he could play "forever and ever." What in your life doesn't get old, no matter how often you do it? Reading, gardening, writing, cooking.

5) While The Rolling Stones enjoy performing songs, like this one, from Tattoo You, Mick Jagger has dismissed the songs from their 1967 album Their Satanic Majesties Request as "rubbish." Do you have a favorite Rolling Stones song? I'm not a huge Stones fan, but I do like a few and of those, I guess my favorite would be either this one or Beast of Burden.

6) This recording of "Start Me Up" features a cowbell. Do you remember which Saturday Night Live host made, "More cowbell!" a catchphrase? Christopher Walken.  I love that guy!

7) Bassist Bill Wyman once said he thought he should have been a archivist because he loved to make lists. Do you have a to-do list?  Not on any regular basis. I do make one now and then, but I'm horrible at actually following it and getting stuff done.

8) Mick finds it hard to stand still when he sings, not only on stage but also in the studio. The engineer for this song reports that Mick would have to run across the room to get back to the microphone for his vocal. Are you more fidgety, or still?  Still.  I'm pretty laid back and relaxed most of the time.

9) Random question: Do you believe men are inherently more sensible than women?  

That would be a NO!

That's it for this week. Don't forget to visit Sam

over at the Saturday 9 to find links to other players.