Sunday Stealing: Ask Me Anything

Good morning and Happy Easter to you! I'm enjoying a bit of calm before the whole family gets together later for dinner, egg hunts, and Easter baskets. Thanks to Bev, our Sunday Stealing hostess, for finding another fun list of questions for us to answer.

This is from the Question Meme

1. What Did You Have For Lunch?  Well, it's a bit early for that. I haven't even had breakfast yet. Ha! But seeing that it's Easter and all...."lunch" will be huge today: ham, grilled potatoes and onions, fresh corn on the cob, pasta salad, jello salad, veggies and dip, cake...and who knows what else!

2.  Do You Dance In The Car?  It's kind of hard to dance for real when you can't get up, but yes, I do tend to "move around" a bit when something good is playing.

3.  Favourite Animal?  I like most animals. Except for the reptilian ones. And definitely NOT the ones without legs (snakes). If you're going to make me pick a favorite I guess I'd have to say dogs. I always have one and I'm willing to share my house, my food, and even my bed with them.

4.  Do You Watch The Olympics?  It used to be that I never missed it, but since so many of the athletes are now professionals I find it hard to care who wins so I don't watch much of it. In fact, I don't think I watched a single minute of the last one.

5.  What Time Do You Usually Go To Bed?  Later than I should...usually between 11:00 and 12:00. I fall asleep okay, but aches and pains seem to wake me up after only 4 or 5 hours and I hate to lay in bed wide awake.

6.  Are You Wearing Makeup Right Now?  Nope. Still in my jammies.

7.  Do You Prefer To Swim In A Pool Or The Ocean?  A pool, please. Thanks to Jaws (and in recent years, the evening news) I am terrified of sharks. I love the beach and being by the water, but I don't go in past my ankles.

8.  What Was The Last Thing You Ate?  A couple of pieces of candy last night while I was filling eggs for today's Easter egg hunt. One of the perks of being the "bunny!"

9.  Bottled Water Or Tap Water?  Bottled. I guess we have better city water than an awful lot of people, but it smells and tastes like chlorine an awful lot of the time to me.

10. What Makes You Happy?  So many things! My relationship with the Lord, my family, my dog, a lawn full of dandelions, sunflowers, hugs from the grandkids, a good book, time with friends, feeling like I made a difference to someone at work (or anywhere), chocolate, diet Coke, waking up to the birds singing, being at the beach, having plans, baby animals, doing something nice for someone....

11. Did You Like Swinging As A Child? Do You Still Get Excited When You See A Swing Set?  I loved swinging! And I still do. My husband built a big jungle gym for the grands last year and you are likely to see me out there swinging with them. When they aren't here, I content myself with the porch swing.

12. Do You Work Better With Or Without Music?  It depends on what kind of work and what kind of music. It used to be that I would blast my music no matter what I was doing, but these days if I'm doing something I need to focus on loud music is kind of distracting. I do better if it's playing quietly in the background.

13. Do You Make Your Bed In The Morning?  Sometimes. I used to make it every day without fail, but life and the husband seem to get in the way these days.

14. Do You Like Your Music Loud?  If it's a favorite song, yes, I will crank it to 11 and sing and dance along. As I get older, though, I'm finding that I can't take as much loudness as I used to. I have a feeling that if I ever end up in a dementia unit, I am going to be one of the ones who gets all riled up when things are too loud and chaotic. Sorry, since I started working with dementia patients I think about these things. A lot. I think it's a hazard of the job since most I know are the same way. (There may be a good reason, too, since some research suggests that working in a dementia unit raises your own likelihood of developing it.)

15.Do You Fear Thunder / Lightning?  Not usually. I like a good thunderstorm. It only makes me nervous when it's severe with tornado warnings and all that.

Well, that was fun, but I really have to go get busy. Everyone will be here before I know it. Thanks for stopping by to visit and I wish you all a blessed and 

 

Easter & the April Challenge

Good morning! I have been up for quite a while...not at all what I was hoping for on this last day of my Easter break, but eh, life happens.  And speaking of things that just "happen...."  As I was stumbling out to the backdoor to take the dog out this morning, Tim casually mentioned I might want to put my boots on. Huh? Why? Because a quick peek out the door showed that we'd gotten a good 3-4 inches of heavy wet snow and it was still coming down. Good grief!! Spring, where are you?

We enjoyed a nice family Easter yesterday.  Mom, John, our son and his family, Tim and I all went to our daughter's home for Easter. I cooked most of the dinner, but everyone contributed something.

The grandkids hit their Easter baskets before dinner and I'd say they were pleased.

After dinner we took them outside for an Easter egg hunt.  Each of them had a specific type of egg to hunt and then there were plain colored ones that any of them could find.  We only had a big, open area to work with so no eggs were actually "hidden." Still, we laughed that they seemed to have more trouble finding eggs lying out in the open than they did when we hid them. 

Poor little Colton was exhausted and could hardly keep his little legs going. He was trying to keep up with his bigger cousins, but was stumbling and wobbling like a drunken sailor! He finally just gave up and sat down and let his mommy put his eggs in his bucket.

Back inside, we visited a while longer and the kids had a great time playing. Colton was so excited. He doesn't get to see his cousins very often and he just adores them.

Late in the afternoon everyone piled into their cars and came over to our house.  We unveiled the jungle gym. It was a big hit! I can only imagine when they see it with sand in the sandbox and a slide attached. Aeden was heard at one point to say that it was "the best day ever!" 

The kids were all gone by 6:00 and Mom and John walked down for some leftovers. They sat and visited a bit, but by a little after 7:00 Easter was officially over and we could relax.

It was a wonderful day. The only thing missing was going to church. I miss that, but there is a church I'm planning to visit and Tim has said he thinks he will go with me to check it out (that is a huge deal!), so maybe next year will include a service. 

I hope you all had blessed days, too.

April Challenge #2

Your earliest memory.

There are two brief flashes of memory that are my absolute earliest memories. One is of being in my crib at my grandmother's house. It's dark, I'm yelling or crying, and someone opens the nursery door and looked in at me. They are backlit by the light from the hallway so I don't know who it is. 

The second memory is of being held and looking over the shoulder of whomever is holding me. We are in a parking lot and it's raining so we are under an umbrella.

Other than those two, I have many more detailed memories, but I'm not sure how they line up time-wise. They are all at my grandparent's home and involve doing something with my Nana...usually out in nature.

* If you'd like to join in the April Challenge visit Kwizgiver for the prompts and to sign up.

Sunday Stealing: Some Very Random Questions

Joining the Sunday Stealing crew for this week's questions.  If you enjoyed reading my answers please visit Sunday Stealing's site for links to the others playing along. 

From Bits and Pieces by Melissa
 and from
marc and Angel hack life

1. What Are Three Things You Need To Buy? 

• eggs
• Apparently, a wreath hanger. I know I have 2 somewhere in this house besides the Christmas ones that are packed with the decorations, but do you think I can find either one of them?
• Batteries. The remote just died.

2. My Biggest Hope Is________.

To have the kind of relationship with my grandchildren that I had with my Nana.

3. What Was The Last New Thing You Tried?

I tried out the jungle gym Tim built for the grandkids this afternoon.  It's a new thing, just finished (except for the slide which no one had in stock) and I got to swing first!

4. What Mood Were You In Today?

Pretty good. I had a lot to do, but I didn't get stressed over it.  It was nice having Tim home on a Saturday and we just worked all day at everything that needed doing.  I had a nice chat with a neighbor and when I went shopping I picked up some food and gave it to the homeless man standing on the curb by the traffic light.

5. What would be a better name for the color of goldenrod-colored paper?

Mustard?  Golden Retriever?  Pollen?

6. Where did you get your silverware?

It was a Christmas gift.

7. What artifact from this past week would you have bronzed as a keepsake and heirloom?

I can't think of a single thing.  The things I've valued most this week haven't been things at all, but kind words, thoughtful deeds, and hugs from the littlest grandson.

8. What was the most recent ceremony you attended?

I guess it would be our daughter's wedding back in September. I can't think of anything since then.

9. What east Asian cuisine is good for your Seoul?

I don't think I've ever eaten Korean.  Does Chinese cuisine count?  I could live on beef or chicken with broccoli, beef lo mein, chow mei fun, egg rolls, and crab rangoon.

10. What life lesson did you learn the hard way? 

There is no such think as privacy or anonymity online no matter how much you think you've covered your tracks.
    
11. What do you wish you spent more time doing five years ago?

I wish I had spend more time NOT worrying about our daughter.  All the worry and she did what she wanted to do and while it was rough, she came out the other side okay.  

12. What gets you excited about life?

My faith, my family, and my grandchildren.

13. Have you done anything lately worth remembering?

I guess not since I can't even remember anything.

14. What does your joy look like today?

This is kind of an odd question, but I think I get it. Maybe. Today, my joy looks like a husband home on a Saturday, Easter baskets filled with goodies and sitting in a row, most of tomorrow's dinner already cooked or cooking now, helping Tim finish the jungle gym, a sunny day, steaks with fresh corn-on-the-cob for supper, another book read, and realizing I still have two days of vacation left.


15. When you are 80-years-old, what will matter to you the most?

Most likely the list will be topped by the same things it is now, my faith and my family, but I'm sure new things will be on that list by then.  Things like my health (which is already rapidly climbing higher on the list), my friends (if they're still alive), and not being made to live in a nursing home.  

Well, that's all for this week.  I am off to bed to get rested up for tomorrow and the whole family being together.  Enjoy and have a.....

The Best Monday Ever!!

Easter was really different for us this year, but still a wonderful blessing.  We began on Thursday evening with my bible study/home church group.  Every year on Maundy Thursday we have a (semi) traditional Middle Eastern meal and invite our families and friends to join us to enjoy a meal together while we reflect on what Jesus did for us and celebrate his new covenant with us through communion.

Friday was meant to be a day at home catching up on chores for me, but I ended up having to brave the big grocery store when our small neighborhood one didn't have everything I wanted.  It was lunchtime when I finished and my daughter asked me to ride along to a local outlet place that sells craft and decorating things to look for wedding stuff.  We found a couple of cute signs, but that was it.  After that she dropped me at home and I did finally do some dusting, dishes, and laundry.  We threw some delicious steaks on the grill and I made corn-on-the-cob and baked potatoes.  Our daughter and her family came back for that because her fiance's birthday was earlier in the week and we were celebrating that.

We went to Pittsburgh on Saturday to see our son and his family.  We got a bit of time with the kids.  We snacked on the hummus (I made it!) and veggies and shrimp we took down and watched the kids see what was in their baskets and dye eggs.

Our grandson showing the sidewalk chalk he got from my
mom and stepdad and one of the Twizzlers that was
in his basket from us.  I asked him to hold up some
of his stuff.  That's what he chose.  I love that boy.
He is a real character!

Our granddaughter chose to show the fleece blanket she got
from my mom and stepdad and the rabbit and Farmer
Barbie (complete with a chicken) we got her.

I think that's Pappy's hand dunking a shrimp while
the kids are dying Easter eggs.  That dish right
past Pappy's hand is the hummus I made. It was
the first time on my own.  I'm ridiculously proud!

Our daughter called and said she and her family were on their way to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and wanted to know if we all wanted to meet up there.  It wasn't exactly the day we had in mind, but we all went so it was nice that the kids all got to see each other.

It was our future son-in-law's first time at the museum
so we had to take his picture with the dinosaurs.

There were a lot of kids' activities going on
and the kiddos got to meet up with
Rexy, the museum's mascot.

I don't know that the little one was excited
or even interested in Rexy, but Rexy was
certainly excited about meeting a baby!

Our littlest guy and spending some time with
his uncle.  It was the first time they'd been
together since Christmas.  It's so cool to watch
your kids step into adult roles as parents and
aunts and uncles.  It does make you feel a
bit old, though!

The hubby and I tired out before the kids and called it a day while they were all still on the last few exhibits.  Hubby really wasn't feeling too well.  He was hungry, though, so we stopped for dinner on the way home and nearly froze to death since our table was right under the air conditioning duct.  Brrr!

Yesterday, was a very quiet day for us, very unusual for our Easters.  Since our son and his family weren't coming home, my mom and stepdad decided to spend the day with my stepdad's family...something he hasn't done a lot of since joining our family.  Our daughter and her family were around for a bit in the morning and we went out to a local restaurant for the Easter buffet rather than me cooking a big meal because they left from dinner to go celebrate with her fiance's family.  The hubs and I just enjoyed relaxing at home the rest of the day.

I am still off work today.  I went to the hubby's urology appointment with him this morning.  I can talk about it now.  He didn't allow me to (our families don't even know) until we heard what got said today.

It started 2 weeks ago when he saw our PCP following some tests he had done because of pain in his side and groin.  What he heard at that visit was that the cyst we had known was on his kidney was not a cyst at all, but a tumor and the initial tests indicated cancer.  The doctor ordered a CT scan and set up the appointment with the urologist.  We have been trying not to worry and praying...and I did share the prayer need with my bible study group and a private prayer group on Facebook.  So the whole thing has been covered in prayer.

Basically, we walked into today's appointment expecting to hear how bad the cancer was and what the next step would be.  What we heard was that he does not have tumor.  He does indeed have a cyst.  The cyst has a small hard spot that bears watching, but it's classified as 2F which means it has a 5% chance of malignancy and since it hasn't changed in 2 years the urologist feels it's highly unlikely.  With regard to Hubby's pain, she was a bit concerned so she did a scope on his bladder and found a pretty significant bladder stone.  He is scheduled to have that removed on May 31 and she will take a better look at his bladder then and do a biopsy if necessary, but she really doesn't seem to think so.  The CT scan showed nothing else going on but the cyst.  Now what we have to do is figure out the source of his side/back pain.  The urologist said the kidney stone could account for the groin pain, but the other is definitely not urologic.

All I can say is GOD IS GOOD!

Sunday Stealing: The Pumpkin Place

From Bud:

A big thanks to The Gal Herself! She found it from Kimberly at Pumpkin Delight.These are unusual and clever. I obvious had no idea where I got them until The Gal commented in our comments section. If you think I'm just typing to fill this space, then you are right. I think a couple more sentences should do it! I hope hou have a great Easter! I was visiting my mom in the rest home and the Easter Bunny came and gave her chocolate eggs. I forgot it was Easter. Now, I think I wrote enough. If I play this I will see you at WTIT: The Blog. If not then next time. Same time. Same blog. Now...

Cheers to all of us thieves!


Sunday Stealing: The Place for Pumpkin Questions


1. If "happiness" was the global currency, what kind of work would make you a gazillionaire?  I'd either be a book seller or an antiques dealer. I'd be happy doing either even if I didn't make a penny.

2. Would you break the law to save someone you loved?  And, if so, how far would you be willing to take it?  Without knowing the situation it's impossible for me to say.  I suppose there are some circumstances when I might, but I can't imagine when it would be against the law for me to save/defend someone I love....unless they were a criminal and I were to block justice or break them out or something like that and I would not do that.  As for saving someone I love from someone threatening them...I own guns, I know how to use them, I will use them if I have to, I pray I never have need.
  
3. Is it possible to really know the truth without questioning it first?  I think it is sometimes, but most often it's good to question and find the truth for yourself.
  
4. Do you remember that one time . . . oh, about 5 years ago or so . . . when you were really, really upset?  Does it really matter now? If not now, then when?  Yes, I remember.  In a way it matters because the issue changed me in some ways, changed how I see certain things.  But I've forgiven those who caused the pain and while I wouldn't trust them again I've reached a point of being grateful for the things I've learned.

5. Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?  As a Christian I believe the Bible spells it out clearly.
  
6. What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?  I can't really think of anything.  I'm pretty much an open book...what you see is what you get.  I don't hide who I am.
  
7. Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?  Probably more work that I like.  Unless you're going to give me the funding to live a fabulous life of leisure at an undisclosed tropical location, then I'd want less work.

8. Would you rather be an anxious genius, or a tranquil fool?  Wow.  I don't know.  Anxiety sucks, but so does being a fool.

9. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?  In all honesty I'm probably both.  I always hope to do the right thing, but my dad really pounded the need to do things right (his way) into my head. One of his favorite sayings was "If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing right."  I still hear that in my head every time I do anything.
  
10. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?  In my 30s, I think.