Memaw Bake's Memories

Just Ramblin

2009-11-13T09:05:00.004-09:00

I have no specific topic today. So I'm just going to ramble a bit. It's been a good week, other than my youngest daughter thought she might have mono, but turned out it wasn't. The youngest granddaughter is potty training and doing really well. She's two. I picked the older two granddaughters up after school yesterday and brought them back to work til their mother could pick them up. I have new art work!

Note to self: pick up a couple of coloring books and some colors. I don't like for them to use the dry erase markers I have here in the office. I don't think it would come out if they got it on their clothes.

I played cards last night. Didn't win, but had fun. We have one gal who plays with us that keeps you in stitches. She can take the silliest thing and tell it in a way that doubles you up laughing. What a stress reliever that one night a month is for all of us. The hostess' husband made a pot of potato soup for us, and she had sandwiches, chicken salad, bacon tomato dip, cheeseball, and salad. Then for dessert, she had pecan pie, pralines, and pecans dipped in white chocolate. I was really good, I didn't eat any pie.

We're trying something new here in the office this week. I bought a bottle of sublingual B-12. We've each been taking one after lunch to see if it makes us any perkier(is that a word?). You put them under your tongue(thus sublingual) and let them dissolve. They taste sort of like a sweet tart. I don't know for sure, but we think they may be working. We went to a meeting the other afternoon. Three of the four people in the meeting had taken the B-12. The person who didn't, yawned all through the meeting.

I have three dresses to cut out and get ready to smock this weekend. Then there'll be a 4th one as soon as I can meet my sister-in-law to pick out fabric for her granddaughter. We are making bishop dresses with geometric design, and adding christmas themed buttons around the yoke. Then after christmas, the buttons can come off, and they can continue to wear them til they no longer fit.

And Megan from Little Rock, welcome into my little corner of the world.

That's it for a ramblin Friday. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Pray for our country. Love one another.

Bacon, Tomato Dip

2009-11-11T13:19:00.003-09:00

A friend introduced me to this dip. She calls it bacon, tomato dip, and it tastes like a blt, only richer. I've been making it for some years now, and brought it to work today for a co-worker's birthday:

Bacon, Tomato Dip

1 pkg bacon fried crisp (I use the 12 oz pkg)
1 tomato, peeled, seeds removed
16 oz mayonnaise - not miracle whip
16 oz sour cream
1 round pkg King's Hawaiian Bread

I put the tomato and bacon in my food processer and pulse it till it's chopped pretty finely. You can crumble and chop if you want to.

Add to the mayo and sour cream. Mix well.

Chill mixture.

To serve, cut bread into cubes to use for dipping.

If you don't like the bread(#1daughter), use whatever chips you like.

This dip is finger lickin good. And it's so easy to make.

I hope you are having a good Veteran's Day. If you know one, be sure to tell him/her how much you appreciate what they did for us. Pray for our country. Love one another.

I Need a Cooking Dictionary!

2009-11-10T09:12:00.003-09:00

I was looking at some recipes this morning in an email I get every day. It has lots of good recipes in it, and whether I ever make them or not, I like to read them. But today I got to wondering about something and I'll see if anyone can get me straight on my conundrum.

What is the difference in soup and stew? Is there a particular ingredient that is in one that isn't in the other? Does the stew have to do with the way the meat is cut? Or is it that there are certain veggies that is 'allowed' in one and a 'no no' in the other?

When I make beef stew for example, I use stew meat that I buy at the store cut into chunks, or I buy a cheap cut of beef and cut it up myself. I usually add onion, potatoes, tomato juice and some salt and pepper. But if I make the same thing except I use ground beef that I brown in the place of the chunks, we call it beef soup. I also usually add corn and carrots to the beef soup. Is that what makes it different?

Oh, and I just had another thought. How does chowder, goulash and gumbo come into this mix. I've always been told that gumbo must have okra in it to be called gumbo, so that makes a little sense as to why it's called something else.

You know the saying,'you can't tell the players without a program'? Well, I'm beginning to think the same about cooking.

And Tipper at Blind Pig and the Acorn was right when she said people thought polenta was a gourmet dish, when it was basically what sustained a lot of people who had very little else to eat.

Have you made your Thanksgiving plans yet? What about a menu? What dish is your speciality that you always make for special occasions?

Hope you are having a great Tuesday. Pray for our country(we saw a group from the 875th leave for Afghanistan this morning). Love one another.

I'm Disappointed in my Pecan Tree

2009-11-09T11:49:00.003-09:00

The pecans are beginning to fall here on campus. We've been having warm days and windy nights, and lots of leaves have fallen. Some of the people here in the office go at lunch and pick up pecans. There's probably 40 or 50 trees here, and they aren't the big papershell, they are what we call 'Stewarts', about as big as your thumb and have a very tasty nut inside.

I haven't been going with them to pick up nuts because I have a tree in my back yard. So on Saturday, a beautiful fall day, I might add, I took a container and headed into the back yard. What did I find when I got there? Well, there was one thing I definitely did not find--PECANS! No not nary a one. I immediately think, 'those darn squirrels', but when I look up in the tree, I realize that the poor squirrels are going to be hungry this winter. There aren't even any burrs on the limbs where any nuts have fallen. I've lived in my house for 10 years, and this is the second time there have been no nuts.

Needless to say, I was disappointed. I was looking forward to using my nutcracker to bust them, and then sitting and watching tv while I picked out the nuts. Guess I'll have to find something else to fill my time.

I have 3 and possibly 4 dresses to smock for Christmas, and I'm planning to make pj's for the kids, so I guess it's time I got started on that.

Hope you are having a great Monday. Pray for our country. Love one another.

America, Why I Love Her!

2009-11-06T08:14:00.008-09:00

Anyone who knows me, know that I am a dyed in the wool, die hard, true blue John Wayne fan. He is the epitome of the great American. I know he had his faults, but he never failed to stand up for this country.

After hearing about the shooting in Fort Hood, my heart went out to all those families who are affected by this tragedy and for some reason, this poem spoken by John Wayne came to my mind. Regardless of what happens, how bad we think things are, or how corrupt we feel our government is, we still live in the greatest land on the planet.

Here is a link to the reading of this great poem:
http://sagebrushpatriot.com/america.htm

What is your favorite John Wayne movie?

Did you like his westerns or military films best?

Have you ever noticed that regardless of the film, there is at least one fight--many times in a bar?

Have you ever noticed that the same people were in his films time and again, and even when those people were no longer around, their children were?

Did you know there is at least one movie where he is a singing cowboy? It's a B movie, but it's out there.

Did you know his film company Batjack was the name of a ship in one of his earliest films?

Oh, and this last picture is of my hero, my dad who served in WWII, and who has been gone for several years now.

Hope you are having a beautiful Friday. Pray for our country. Love one another.

Crock Pot Dressing

2009-11-05T05:23:00.004-09:00

I have been asked to post this recipe again. For anyone who may have missed it or didn't try it before, it's the best dressing recipe I've ever found, and the easiest. I would consider it definitely the southern style of dressing.

Crockpot Dressing.

1 – 8” pan cooked cornbread- don’t use jiffy mix, it has a sweet taste to it.
8 slices day old bread
4 eggs
1 medium onion chopped
1 can cream of celery soup
2 cans cream of chicken soup
2 cans chicken broth
1 ½ Tablespoons sage
1 Teaspoon salt
½ Teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons butter.

Crumble breads and add all ingredients except margarine. Pour into crockpot and dot with butter. Cook on high 3 hours or low 3 to 4 hours. Stir half way through.

If I cook a chicken to put in it, I use 32 ounces of my chicken broth. I also heat the broth. It seems to help with the mixing of the breads. If I use hot broth, I wait until I’ve put in the other ingredients to add the eggs so as not to cook them.

I also cook my onion in my cornbread. My bunch doesn’t like to find pieces of onion, and if they cook in the cornbread and then a bit more in the dressing, you can’t find them.

Sometimes, I boil 3 or 4 eggs and cut them up in the dressing.

I also splurge and buy those crockpot cooking bags. Makes cleanup a snap.

I also think if you wanted to, you could put this dressing in the oven and bake it for an hour or so at 350 degrees. It makes a very moist dressing, and everyone that has eaten it likes it.

I hope you are having a great Thursday. Pray for our country. Love one another.

I Guess I know Who My Friends Are!

2009-11-04T07:28:00.003-09:00

I wrote my post yesterday simply to complain about the fact that my oven doesn't heat properly. Thinking all along, I'd get a bit of sympathy, but no, I got accused of trying to get out of cooking the thanksgiving turkey. And #1 daughter(that's #1 traitor from now on) jumped right on that bandwagon.

Actually, I got quite a laugh about it, and I'd have tried it before if I thought it would have gotten me out of cooking(I do so much of it). But we'll be having our thanksgiving at #2 daughter's house, and I'll carry the turkey there to be cooked.

And Laura, I personally have never had a crockpot to die, and I have one that is about 30 years old, but I have a friend whose 'high' setting went out, so she can only cook things that take 8 or more hours to cook, but sounds like you have worn yours out.

And on the subject of crockpots: Have you tried the liners? They are to die for. Clean up is simply throwing out the bag. No stuck food to the sides, no scrapping, just gather up the corners of the bag and pitch it in the trash.

I hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday. Pray for our country. Love one another.

I Promise, It's My Oven

2009-11-03T12:36:00.005-09:00

I don't cook nearly as much as I used to. Now I haven't worn out too many stoves. Although I’ve used some that were worn out. And there was a time when I could put a fairly tasty meal on the table. Even back in the beans, fried potatoes and cornbread days.

But for some time now, it seemed everything I put in the oven had to cook a bit longer than the directions/recipe said. And strange part is, I bought a new range less than two years ago. It's gas, but has a digital panel to set the time and temp so I thought I was all set.

The most puzzling thing was that a cake mix in two pans seemed to bake fine, but let me try to make a bundt cake with or without a cake mix in the ingredients and it would always flop. At first I thought it was my ingredients. Since I don’t bake as much as I used to, I figured my baking powder was old. Or some other ingredient wasn’t good. So I even bought all new ingredients. Still flopped.

Then a few days ago, I was reading a blog that had a recipe. The person had made some comments about how their recipe had turned out, and had mentioned it was very important that the temperature be at the exact setting as shown on the recipe. This person even went on to say you should never trust your oven settings. They could be ‘off’. DUH! Do you think? I put an oven thermometer in my oven, and sure enough, it’s off between 40 and 50 degrees depending on what the setting.

I was making cheese biscuits. The recipe said 45o, so that’s where I set my oven. When it beeped, I checked the temp and it was only 350. I thought I’d give it a few minutes, and it eventually got to 400 and that’s where it stopped. It wasn’t until I set the temp on 500 that it finally got to 450. Who would have thought?

So now, I’ve got to dig out my papers on the stove and hope it’s still under some type of warranty and regardless of whether it is or not, have it checked out. Surely there’s a way to adjust the burner in the oven, but my son said he’d never heard of having to do that. And I have to give him credit, he’s the one who suggested contacting the company.

Well with that startling revelation about stoves, I hope you’ve had a great Tuesday and that all your baking has been perfect. Pray for our country. Love one another.

SomeWhere Over The Rainbow

2009-11-02T10:52:00.006-09:00

This rainbow was what we got to see all the way home Friday afternoon. We discussed God's promise to never flood the earth again, even though it was beginning to look as if He had renigged.

I picked up these three little girls Friday afternoon. My two granddaughters and their little friend. They spent the night at 'Memaw's house. They giggled, they ate, they watched movies, they played, and then suddenly it was bedtime. The next morning, I made the picture of the three of them in pj's doing the 'Hear No Evil, Speak no Evil and See No Evil'. I thought it was quite cute. They ate breakfast, got dressed and went outside to play, which gives us the picture of them in the tree.

They later did a dress up thing in some of their mother's dresses, and was picked up by said mothers about 11 that morning. I enjoyed having them, and I think they all had a good time. I guess we'll find out if their friend had a good time if she ever wants to come back.

I hope you are having a great Monday. Pray for our country. Love one another.

The Day Before Halloween

2009-10-30T12:49:00.003-08:00

Today is Friday before Halloween, and I'd like to know your plans for tomorrow night(that scariest night of them all).

Are you going to dress up?

If you are going to dress up, as what will you be dressed?

Are you going to or having a party?

Where will you trick-or-treat?

Is it raining where you plan to celebrate All Hallow's Eve?

Is it snowing?

Do you go through your children's candy and take what you want on the pretext of 'checking it for safety reasons'?

Do you ever sit outside with a can of silly string to scare the kids?

When you spray them, do they cry while you cackle like a witch?

If you are giving out the candy, do you give a handful to each child, or do you pick up a hand full, then drop only one piece into the bucket?

Have you ever soaped someone's windows?

Have you ever egged anyone's house?

Have you ever toilet papered anyones house?

Have you ever done any other mischef, and if so what was it? (describe in detail for future reference)

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?
(I know, you are wondering what the heck that has to do with Halloween, but it's just me being extra nosey.)

I hope you've had a great Friday. And I hope you have a safe Halloween. Pray for our country. Love one another. PS. Will got an A on his leaf collection.

Mass Innoculation

2009-10-29T11:33:00.003-08:00

Today was the mass innoculation for the seasonal flu vaccine and if you met a certain criteria(which I did not), you could also get the H1N1 vaccine. It started at 7a.m. this morning and was to go until about 3 or until the vaccine ran out. Have you ever gone to a football field to get a shot? That's where we were.

We heard this morning there was 8,000 doses. So, I get myself up and am in line by 6:45. Actually, I was in 'A' line since there were probably 8 or 9 different lines feeding into the spot where the shots were being given.

We had discussed yesterday about some of us going in the same vehicle and that way we wouldn't all be in line in different places. So, my phone rang a little after 7, at which time, my line had not moved. One of the gals in my office managed to get into a parking lot and walked over and got in the car with me since I was much closer than she had been. Then my youngest daughter called. She ended up doing the same thing. Then my boss called and also got into the car with me. I said we looked like the clowns getting out of the little car at the circus in reverse. Instead of getting out, they were getting in. Oh wait, did I just call my co-workers clowns?

And did I say it was raining? If not, let me mention that here. When we finally got close, they gave us wet forms to fill out. Then we got our shots. Just rolled down the window and rolled up the sleeve, and whamo, we got stuck, thanked and asked to move along.

Now let me say, it's much more fun to go as a group, we laughed the whole time, and before we knew it, we were finished, out and back at work. Fortunately, for 3 of us, we work within a couple of blocks from where the shots were being given. We were at work by 8:20, and my daughter was shortly after.

This whole thing reminded me of getting vaccinated as a child in elementary school. I was probably in 2nd or 3rd grade, and they lined us up and gave us all those shots that everyone has to take to be able to attend school now. I think that experience scarred me for life. I surely won't ever forget it. Today was much better. But then I'm 50 something years older than back then.

What has traumatized you lately or in the past? Nothing too graphic here, please.

Hope you are having a great Thursday. Pray for our country. Love one another.

My Bathroom MakeOver

2009-10-27T09:58:00.015-08:00

I have a couple of before shots, and some after shots. You may notice that these first two shots are a pale green. I call it seafoam, and the curtains are all battenburg lace. That was my absolute favorite color and fabric about, oh say, 10 years ago. Needless to say, even though I enjoyed it. I'm tired of it, and it doesn't go with the rest of my house.

My house is small, built in the late 60's, 3 bedroom, 1 bath house of about a thousand square feet. Plenty of room for me. But occasionally I get tired of the way it looks and decide to make a few changes.

About 3 years ago, my son pretty much gutted the bathroom, and put in a new tub and shower surround, new commode, vanity, floor and floor covering. At that time, I repainted it the same as it had been before because three years ago, I still loved the seafoam green.

The other thing we did ten years ago was that we painted the tile. This bathroom had a lot of tile and it was an off white with specks in it. Looked like egg shells from some strange variety of chicken. We took primer, and painted right over it, twice. Not one speck ever chipped or flaked. Even where it was around the tub and got wet continually, it never peeled .

It takes me a long time to pick what I want to do when I make a change. I started deciding I wanted to change about 6 or 7 months ago. I sorta decided what color I wanted, then went looking for fabric to make a new shower curtain. Once I got the material for that, I picked out some towels and rugs. Next was the paint. I took a piece of the material and matched one of the colors in it. Then I thought about it for a while. I wasn't totally sure how I wanted to make the shower curtain. Whether to gather it on a rod and keep it tied back all the time, or to make it so I could close it when

the shower wasn't in use. I decided on the latter as you will see in one of the pictures on farther down.

But the really funny thing is that depending on the time of day, and the amount of light shining in the room, determines the color of the walls. In the first picture taken of the vanity area, they look really gold.

By the way, I have to stop and give credit to my friend Mary. She spent a day and a half painting my bathroom. She painted the walls and the ceiling. And she always does a great job. She loves to paint, and I love her for it.

If you need something painted, I can give you her number. Just kidding, Mary.

In these other pictures, as you will see, the room looks very taupe. I cut off the top of the shower curtain accidentally, so you can't see how it pleats, but I put buttonholes across the top and then put it on hooks. The only problem I've encountered is that I have to adjust the pleats each time I close it so the curtain is distributed evenly. Other than that, I'm really pleased with the way it looks. I've toyed with the idea of making a straight strip to go behind the cutrain with buttonholes spaced the distance the hooks need to be to make it hang right, but I haven't gotten around to doing that yet. And if you know me well, probably won't.

These are my towels. I took some of the leftover fabric from my curtain, and put it across the bottom. I've noticed that someone, some one of my grandchildren have dried their little hands on my towel. I keep a towel lying on the vanity for such things, but do they use that one--noooooo, never. But that's ok, they are my favorite grandchildren, whichever one did it.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my bathroom. I knew it was just what you wanted to read about and see today. I'm really pleased with it.

I hope the sun is shining in your corner of the world. As usual, it's raining here.

And I also hope you are having a great Tuesday. Pray for our country. Love one another.

Will and the Leaf Collection

2009-10-26T13:08:00.002-08:00

We finished Will's leaf collection yesterday. We ended up with 26 assorted leaves. The requirement was 20, so we're hoping for some extra credit on the 6.

In fact, I'll be very disappointed if he makes anything less than an 'A'.

We were able to get all these leaves by asking people what they had in their yard. They were most helpful, and quite willing to bring us one of each, with the name in a baggie.

Then, we did the drying and pressing thing. At one point, I had leaves being pressed in several rooms of the house. My biggest fear was they would mold or worse, become so brittle they would crumble into a thousand pieces.

Fortunately, they dried quite nicely, and then we sprayed them with a clear matte finish spray. I think they held up very well. The only ones that disintergrated was the Mimosa leaves, and the fuzzy mulberry leaf. Everything turned out good. The Catalpa wanted to curl and it looked kinda funny. It's the one just above his right hand.

We had fun working on this project. I don't know if Will actually learned anything, but he can remember memaw and mom helping with the project.

I hope you are having a great Monday. Pray for our country. Love one another.

Friday and Superhero

2009-10-23T13:20:00.002-08:00

It's Friday - ye-ha. I'm so glad. And Superhero is spending the night, and another ye-ha! He's such a sweet happy little boy. He likes to talk and tell tall tales. Sometimes we try to see who can tell the tallest one. He always wins.

He and one of his cousins(Princess#2) got progress reports from school last night. They are both in Kindergarten. They have different teachers, but it's amazing how close they are in progress. Some things he's a bit ahead of her, and others, she's ahead.

Their teachers had lots of good things to say about them. They are both already reading on 1st grade level, but won't be tested to see where they actually are until near the end of school. But they are both in the top of their respective classes. Superhero is in the top 4 with 3 little girls. I just know he hates that.

Princess #1 will get her report Monday. She's a big 1st grader this year. I'll be checking on that Monday afternoon. My 7th grade grandson got his report yesterday also. He keeps saying how hard 7th grade is, and I, as old as I am, remember how hard it was. He ended up with a mixture of A's, B'c and C's. So, all in all I think he did great.

Needless to say, I am very proud of my grandchildren. They are all bright, happy, well adjusted kiddos--as well adjusted as they can be and related to me.

I hope you are having a great Friday and looking forward to a wonderful weekend. Pray for our country. Love one another.

And Once Again It's Raining

2009-10-22T13:34:00.003-08:00

I know, you are growing tired of my continual weather reports. My mood had begun to lift while the sun was shining, but if it continues to rain, I'll be right back down in the big black hole again. It has rained here allllllllll day. That's correct, the whole day.

I've been carrying my lunch the last two weeks so I don't have to go out, and today was one of those days I was truly thankful I had brought it.

My dad had a saying of sorts, in fact, he had several, but the one that comes to mind right now is that in the winter time, if he didn't feel good, he'd say that when the sap rises in the spring, he would feel better. I'm beginning to think he suffered from the same depression I do. The only difference is that when I'm depressed, I really don't care if the sap ever rises again or not.

Let me count my blessings and get off that other subject. I have three grown children who are self-supporting. I have 6 grandchildren ranging in ages from 2 to 22. Only one of whom is old enough to be self-supporting and as much as I'd like for him to go to college, he's out there working.

My son the contractor is in North Dakota pheasant and duck hunting. This means I get to help with his little ones. It's a hard job, but someone has to do it. Actually, I love being needed. I'm picking up the Banty Hen today while mom goes to Superhero's teacher conference. He went home with his other memaw today and is spending the night. I get him Friday night.

I love picking up grandchildren from daycare/school. They are always so happy to see me, and it makes me feel needed and loved. I know one of these days, they will all be too old to yell 'MEMAW' when they see me and run and give me a hug. But that's the way it's supposed to be. I just hope that when I move to the nursing home they'll come by and see me once in a while, and I hope I'll still recognize them.

That's enough moaning and groaning for today, and it's almost time to go home.

Hope you are having a great Thursday. Pray for our country. Love one another.

Illness Abounds

2009-10-21T09:45:00.002-08:00

I hope everyone who reads this post is feeling ok. Here at work, we have one gal who was diagnosed with Swine Flu yesterday after being in a meeting with all of us all morning. We've had two others go home this morning, one has nothing to do with the flu--girl stuff, and the other with an upset tummy.

My DIL and grandson(Superhero) are both sick, but fortunately neither of them were positive for Swine Flu. He has an ear infection, and she has a bad cold. And the Contractor is in North Dakota Pheasant hunting(lot of help he is when you need him). I'm on call to help with anything she needs me to do, and I am picking up The Banty Hen tomorrow afternoon while she goes to teacher conference.

The other two princesses are getting ready for the Miley Cyrus concert Friday night. I'm not sure if they are as excited as their mother, but she has been getting their 'stylin outfits' ready for over a week now. They are going to look like 25 year old midgets with the garb they will be wearing, but I guess as long as it's one night, it won't warp them too badly.

I've really enjoyed the sunshine the last few days, but I fear as all good things must come to an end, this will too. It's a bit overcast today, and there is a rain system to our south, west and north. When I looked just now at the weather map, it appears that the actual rain may go around us. Wouldn't that be the greatest thing? Well, one of them at least.

I hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday. Pray for our country. Love one another.

Hello, Anybody Out There?

2009-10-20T13:20:00.002-08:00

I know, I know, I've been gone. Actually, I haven't been anywhere, just haven't been posting. It's been gloomy, the weather has been awful, and I get very depressed in the fall and winter.

Then on top of the regular stuff, we've had all this rain. I think the farmers are finally beginning to get into the fields. Their crops have sustained a lot of damage.

As for me, my children are healthy, my grandchildren are healthy, but I think I've turned into an old curmudgeon. Can a female be that? Or is that strictly a name reserved for old men? I googled it. It is defined as "a crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas ". I don't know if that describes me or not, but I kinda like the idea of being a curmudgeon. I think I would like being crusty, irascible, cantankerous and full of stubborn ideas. But I don't like being old. So can I leave that part out?

Today the sun is shining. It is 72degrees outside and I have a big pot of beef soup waiting for me at home. Then I'm going to work on my grandson's leaf collection. I sure hope I get an A for all my effort. When I get it done, I'll post a pic or two.

I hope you are having a great day. Pray for our country. Love one another.

Being Nosey on a Wednesday

2009-09-30T09:24:00.002-08:00

I have a question. When you eat soup/chili/stew, do you crumble your crackers in it or do you eat them on the side?

And if you crumble them in it, do you think this is good etiquette? In other words, if you were sitting beside Queen Elizabeth and soup were served, would you hold up your pinkie and slurp from your spoon, or would you crumble up your crackers and enjoy.

Things like this have always puzzled me. I need input.

And, sorry I've been away so long, just haven't had anything to say, but I've been reading blogs as time has permitted.

The weather here is absolutely perfect. Wish we were outside enjoying it.

Hope everyone is having a great Wednesday. Pray for our country. Love one another.

Do You Get Your Feelings Hurt Easily?

2009-09-02T13:13:00.002-08:00

Sometimes I have too much time on my hands and I begin to wax philosophical. And I was just sitting here thinking about people who tend to get their feelings hurt.

No one has hurt my feelings lately--not in a long time. In fact, I often say, you can't hurt my feelings. I don't think that is entirely true, but they don't get hurt easily.

I guess that means I not overly sensitive, so I don't take offense or look for reasons to be offended. I think that's a good thing. However, that becomes a two edged sword. If I'm not easily offended or hurt, then I'm not always sensitive to what I might do that would offend or hurt someone else.

Case in point. Many years ago, a friend of mine had remodeled a house and moved in. When I saw the house for the first time, I went on and on about what a beautiful job she had done with everything. I talked about what good ideas she had for doing the things she had done, and was quite vocal about how pretty everything was. I found out several years later that I had offended her. Her comment to another person was that I obviously thought she had no taste and therefore was quite surprised that everything looked so good.

That wasn't what I meant at all, but that was what she perceived. It's very important that we be careful about the things we say and do, especially what we say. I wouldn't hurt anyone's feelings on purpose, but as usual my mouth does it for me.

"He who will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile." 1 Peter 3:10

It's that guile part that gets me every time.

Have you ever hurt another's feelings without any intention of doing so? I'm thinking a lot of times, we don't know when we've hurt others, so we have to be really careful about what we say and how we say it.

I hope you've had a great Wedensday. Pray for our country. Love one another.

Blue Monday

2009-08-31T09:44:00.003-08:00

I think today is Blue Monday. Actually, I think it has been a blue few weeks. I'm in one of those periods where I don't care if I talk to anyone, I don't seem to be able to do anything. I would be quite content to just sit and stare off into space.

This happens occasionally with me. Sometimes it worse than others. I will interact with others as long as they are the ones to instigate it. But, I'm perfectly happy to be alone. I don't even have anything much to say and it is definitely difficult to do this post. In fact, if it weren't that at some point in the next few days, my oldest daughter would comment about my not posting, I probably wouldn't be doing this one.

I will get better, or something will happen in my life worth posting about. Maybe that's it, there's just nothing going on in my life worth even talking about. Hmmm. So there's nothing wrong with me at all. I'm just a dull, boring person. It's so wonderful to be able to figure out the answers to life's little questions. I suddenly feel so enlightened!

Hope you are having a great Monday. Pray for our country. Love one another.

I'm a Proud Memaw

2009-08-26T09:56:00.002-08:00

If you follow this link, you will be able to listen to my 2 year old granddaughter(aka The Banty Hen) say the pledge of allegiance. This is the little girl who was asked to be taken out of Montesorri school.

They may not have realized it, but she is one smart little cookie.

http://ivanangelaandjoey.blogspot.com/

Hope you are having a great Wednesday. Pray for our country. Love one another.

Kiddos Back In School

2009-08-24T09:37:00.002-08:00

I guess all students, whether they are public, private or home schoolers, are back in the books. The public schools here in NE Arkansas all started last week, and this week the college students start the new semester.

I thought traffic would be terrible coming to work this morning, but I guess that will come Wednesday. Monday and Tuesday are just getting the new syllabus and learning what books to buy and I think you can do that online these days.

Some of the things I remember about starting school each year:
New clothes that scratch and itch.
Seeing old friends that you haven't seen all summer.
Finding out that some old friends moved and won't be back(and you don't know where they went).
Meeting the new kids.
Realizing that if you didn't have friends last year, you probably won't have any this year.

One summer when we were getting ready to start 8th grade, I got stung by a wasp on my face just to the left of my eye. You couldn't tell who I was, much less what I was, but I started school on that Monday anyway. I was embarrassed and humiliated. I was laughed at and made fun of. I would have loved to have had a bag to put over my head.

I don't have a lot of good memories about school. Thank goodness I don't have to ever do it over.

What do you remember most about your days in school? I hope your memories are better than mine.

Hope you are having a great Monday. Pray for our country. Love one another.

How Many Times Will It Snow This Winter?

2009-08-21T10:58:00.003-08:00

I know it's August and who cares how many times it will snow this winter, but since weather prognostication is a science, let me tell you how to determine the number of snows in the winter.

I worked with an older lady a few years ago that said the number of snows each winter can be determined by the number of fogs in August. That seems a bit strange and whether it's totally accurate, I don't know. However, we've had several fogs this August(we're at 5 here in NE Arkansas) so we are thinking it may be a rough winter.

And remember, August isn't quite over yet. We have ten more days, so we may have a few more fogs. Anyway, next spring, we'll see where we stand on the number of fogs in August vs. the number of snows during the winter. Be sure to tune in to find out if this scientific approach works.

I hope you are having a great Friday. Pray for our country. Love one another.

What To Do About Prayer

2009-08-17T11:05:00.002-08:00

I try to catch Huckabee on Saturday night. If I miss it then, I have a second and third chance on Sunday. This week, it was late Sunday night(after the 5 hour Cardinal game) that I watched it.

One of the segments had to do with a couple of educators(Mr Lay and Mr Freeman) somewhere in Florida who are being prosecuted by the ACLU for offering a blessing for a meal at a public gathering. These two men, one a principal and one a coach have a combined 70 years in education. If they are convicted, they will lose their jobs, pay a 5,000 dollar fine, serve some 'jail time' and lose their retirement.

This is a travesty! As Christians(and we are a Christian Nation, I don't care what President Obama says), we should not allow this type of persecution to happen. Where have we allowed people like Madelyn Murray O'Hare(may she never rest in peace) to take us? We are a country founded on Christian principles.

I understand that we aren't the only religion in this country. And even if I don't believe the way others do, I don't have a problem if they want to express themselves in prayer at a public place.
What ever happened to tolerance? It seems we Christians are the only ones showing any.

I have decided to send a dollar to these men via the Mike Huckabee show to express our support for them. I know that a dollar won't do much to help their legal defense, or to allow them to retire. That is if I'm the only one who sends one. But if everyone who reads this blog will send a dollar, and pass this post on to others who will do the same, maybe as a large group, we can make a difference. They go to trial in September. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could have hundred's of thousands of envelopes to show how many Christians there are in this country who are willing to take a stand and show support?

I am sending my dollar to Gov Mike Huckabee % ABC Radio Networks/Citadel Broadcasting, 444 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10022. Be sure to put a note in the envelope saying you support Mr Lay and Mr Freeman and make sure your return address is on the outside. We don't want anyone saying this was a mass mailing from one place. I proudly put Shirley Smith, 712 Catfish Drive, Lake City, AR 72437 on my envelope.

You have my permission to put a link back to this blog on your blog or in an email to anyone and everyone who might participate in this effort. I want to show the ACLU and Pres Obama that we are indeed a Christian Nation and that it is wrong to take prayer away from us, our children and future generations.

I hope you are having a great Monday. Pray for our country. Love one another.

Friday And It's Lake Time

2009-08-07T10:19:00.003-08:00

It's Friday, and my peeps and I are heading to the lake for some much needed R & R. It's my circle of friends who are always there when I need them, and hopefully, I return the favor when I'm needed.

We played together in school, raised our families together, and now play together again. We go eat, we go to the movies, did I say go eat, travel some together, and oh, yeah, eat together. We try to celebrate each others birthdays(always an excuse to eat), and we laugh til we hurt, cry and sometimes do that other thing that I won't mention since that would be unladylike.

Oh, and we laugh at each other too. We constantly laugh at each other's shortcomings - not in a bad way- but if it's funny, let's face it, we're going to laugh.

This weekend we'll be spending a couple of days at M's lake home. Sound's special, huh. It's a big mobile home with a great deck and a porch across the front. We have to drive to the water, but there's a pontoon to ride around on, and it will be fun.

Mostly, we'll laugh, talk, play cards, swim and seems like I'm forgetting something--oh yes, we'll eat.

I have a joke. If Obama, Hillary and Biden were riding a donkey and it jumped off a cliff, who would be saved? Go to the bottom of the post to find the answer.

I hope you have a good weekend planned. If so, I'd love to hear about it. I plan on taking some pictures, so I know you are looking forward to that.

Hope you are having a great Friday. Pray for our country, and Love one another.

America would be saved.