Category: Life

And…here we go!

1. Speed kills, so slow down when you’re driving in bad weather.
2. My first grand daughter is what I’ve been looking forward to!
3. One of the things I like most about traveling is seeing new places.
4. My dogs makes me think I am well loved!
5. A road trip to my sister’s house would be fun
6. chicken casserole is what I had for dinner last night.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to cooking a real meal for Hubby, tomorrow my plans include laundry and writing my report and Sunday, I want to read the Sunday newspaper and make Hubby a nice meal!

1. Have you ever played golf? Any interest in playing? Do you have a significant other who loves to play? Did you watch The Masters this past weekend?

We did watch The Masters. Neither one of us play golf. A friend of Hubby’s tried to teach me, but proclaimed I was hopeless. So I ended up caddying for him!

2. Hats are back in fashion this spring…how do you feel about wearing a hat? (fyi-I’m not talking baseball caps) When was the last time you wore one?

My daughter looks great in them, but I never have. It has been many years since I wore one.

3. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 meaning proficient and 1 meaning “I’d starve”, how adept are you at using chopsticks?

I used them just last night. And I am quite adept. I can even pick up a pea!

4. Has technology taken over?

Yes. Which is why, despite the fact that we love our laptop computers, I try to live a low tech life.

5. In the course of a day how often do you look in a mirror?

Not often enough. Lately I’ve been catching glimpses and think, “girl you have to style yourself” or at the very least, comb my hair!

6. Tulip or Daffodil?

Tulips. I love the the fact that you can have many different colors of tulips.

7. I am proud of myself for staying with Weight Watchers all these years I still need to finish it off, and then maintain, but when I decided I was in it for the long haul, that wasn’t an easy thing. But I have done it and I am still down 50 pounds!.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Hubby and I had a love Anniversary dinner last night. Sweet and Sour Calamari, Mussels in White Wine, and salads! Mmmmm! It was such a nice way to spend our Anniversary meal.

The dogs woke me at 7:45 on Monday morning. No sleeping for the incredibly exhausted! I got up, and headed to the door to walk the dogs when I realized, I hadn’t set the coffee machine last night. So, I stopped at the coffee maker  before I went out with the dackels.

By the time we arrived back in from our walk, the coffee, thankfully, was done! I poured a cup and then sat down to read my email!

Hubby got up at a fairly decent hour and then I made our breakfast, before we went back to watching news, and eventually Kathie Lee & Hoda. I used to watch Regis & Kelly, but I miss Regis so much, that I don’t watch any more.

We did watch our local news at noon and I love “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire”, but then I switched it back to news because I boycott ABC TV in the afternoons since they cancelled my Soap Operas.

I also watched “Baby Story” and reruns of “NCIS”. Anything but ABC TV!

Hubby asked me, why I didn’t just watch another one of the Soaps, and I stared at him quizzically! He obviously didn’t get it! After 40 years of watching these shows, I knew the characters and they were like family to me.

No, to ABC TV Programming Chiefs, you totally screwed things up, and lost me as a loyal viewer.

At 6 PM, Hubby and I went out for a nice dinner. Quiet and slow paced, a very nice way to spend the evening!

And I am back! Finally. After feeling really truly ill, I am now over the worst of it and starting to feel human again. So here I go with my Thursday Thirteen List!

1. On Tuesday I was feeling pretty good, so I started the big job of cleaning every thing!
2. On Wednesday I even took apart the fridge and cleaned that!
3. The laundry is getting done now.
4. My Prime Rib is thawing for Easter!
5. The vegetables will be, mashed yukon gold potatoes, green beans, maybe a little asparagus, butternut squash, and some pearl onions.
6. My cousin Janet is making her special yeast rolls. These are totally amazing!
7. She is also making coconut cupcakes!
8. I went to Weight Watchers today. After being so ill, I did not lose anything! I told Hubby that my body is really good at self preservation! If I was somewhere and couldn’t get food, I’d last at least a year!
9. I came home and moved furniture. I was so careful, so I did not hurt my back. All is well!
10. I got my call to Jury Duty again. I will be called in May.
11. Mandy has her 3-D ultra sound tomorrow and I am really excited. I get to go with her, her half sister, and Matt’s Mom! We’re meeting for lunch before, and making a real party out of it!
12. My forsythia is starting to bloom. I sure hope we don’t have a hard frost!
13. I’m trying out a new recipe for salmon fillets.  If it  is good, I’ll post it!

1. What’s the last job you did that required elbow grease?

I burned a stainless steal pot with (oh gosh, can’t recall) and I wasn’t sure how I was going to get it clean. It’s one of my favorite pots, and I use it a lot when I make my jams and jellies. Anyway, I went online and found step by step instructions on how to clean it, and I was amazed that it cleaned so easily. I have saved the instructions, because I just know I will do it again.

2. March Madness, aka the men’s Division I basketball championship, is nearing an end. What sort of ‘madness’ has your house seen this month?

I’ve been so ill that everything has sort of fallen apart. I have fed husband and dogs, and done a little laundry, but I have done far more sleeping.

3. What’s your favorite shop for browsing?

I love Coldwater Creek. But I also love Macy’s. And now I’m going to be a Grammie, Carters!

4. Is there ever a time when giving up makes sense?

No. I can speak from experience. You never know what’s around the corner!

5. What’s a song you love that contains the name of a city, state or country in its title?

“God Bless The USA” by Lee Greenwood.

6. When did you first begin using a computer?

When we first moved down to Florida, back in 1993-94. Hubby would go off to work, and I was alone. Hubby’s college room mate would email me, and he would ask questions that required a response. Before I knew it, I was writing to a dachshund club, then making banners. Well, let’s put it this way, I was hooked!

7. Did you buy girl scout cookies this year? What’s your favorite?

No I did not. Why? Well, because I love them! People say I should freeze them. Well, I love thin mints frozen. And a serving size? One sleeve on thin mints is a serving size!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Okay. What happened to spring? Last week we had the most beautiful, warm, weather. The dogs, Hubby and I were enjoying the heat, I’d even started to think changing my closet around to some summer clothes. Now, overnight, we have freezing temperatures! All I can say is, C’mon, Mother Nature! I want springtime!!!

So, I am pulling my hair out! It seems that if I want to go back to Windows XP, it will cost somewhere over $200.00. And my little laptop doesn’t have enough RAM to accommodate an upgrade to Microsoft 7. So, what’s a girl to do? I may wait a little longer, and then my laptop will die, and I will get something else. I admit that I am thinking about switching to Apple. It seems that they have stayed loyal to their customers.

Here is the biggest Vista problem I have right now. I cannot get my computer to talk to the Network so that I can use either one of our printers! It’s like living in a vacuum!

I spent the morning and part of the afternoon trying to get it all working, but couldn’t. I switched gears later in the day, and wrote my report. I also made dinner, and cleaned it all up.

Now I need to walk away from this silly machine, read for a while, before going to bed. I drive down to visit with Mandy tomorrow, and Hubby and I also need to find a room for the night before the cruise. We called to make sure our friend remembered we were coming, only to find out that he didn’t! Yikes!

So now to find a nice room that will not bankrupt us, for the night.

Between now and the day we leave for our vacation, it sure will be a busy time. So glad that when I called our house sitter, she is all set to move in!

Recently an acquaintance of mine has been presented with a difficult situation. She has lost sleep, cried tears of sorrow and asked for God to ease her pain.

Not knowing exactly what to say, I began to think, quite deeply about the value of people in our lives. Sometimes it is difficult to see their value, and other times, it’s very ease.

Back when I was born, my other Grandmother thought my parents were quite reckless to have another child. Three children! Oh dear. In fact she saw so little value in my birth, that she did not tell her family back in Canada of my birth. My great aunt Mamie, and I met when I was 30 years old! Mamie was 92!

I was talking to my mother about it on Saturday and we agreed that the fact that she had my sister and me has been a real blessing to her in her old age.

You see, sometimes we can’t see the full value of the people in our lives when, perhaps we should.

My acquaintance, is finding that as much as she loves and cares, her feeling are not being returned. In fact, the people involved are being cruel and find no value in her at all.

I told her that God doesn’t make junk. There are times we are tested, and we have to persevere. After all, we ourselves know, we have VALUE.

For many years, I was angry at my mother for bitter words we had exchanged. I didn’t visit, I didn’t call. I was cruel.

But then, I began to see the value of my mother. She will be 83 this year. I’d better stop being so haughty, and start finding the love, because if I don’t she’ll be gone and I will never have the chance to tell her…

Mom, you have value to me in my life.

So, my advice to my acquaintance was to give the worries to God. Let the Lord handle it. You cannot make someone like you, even if your feelings for them are pure. Some people will, sadly, never know the value of those who love them.

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

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The weekend started with icy, sleety, rainy, snow. Hubby was busy keeping the drive clear, and also slipping away to ski. Since I do not like the conditions mentioned above, I stayed home. I just do not do cold and wet when I am trying to ski, and ice? Forget about it!

On Saturday our temperatures started off cold and then began dropping. By noon to become colder. By the time we were ready for bed, it was already below 0 (F).

However the temperature made no difference to us, because I’d made a terrific turkey dinner for Hubby and me, AND the New England Patriots won their playoff game!!! I mean, how good is that? You just have to love Tom Brady. Not only is he drop dead gorgeous, but he is one heck of a Quarterback!

Sunday found us just trying to stay warm. It is all of 6 degrees right now and falling once again. We’re watching more football, to see who will play the Patriots next week, (Baltimore) and it has actually been fun, even though I don’t know much about Baltimore and Houston.

My daughter has her next ultra sound on Tuesday. I am so excited, because we will find out then what they are having!!! Matt’s Mom and I are so happy to become first time Grammies! Not to mention how excited and thrilled Mandy and Matt are!!!

Happy Monday, Everyone!!!