Thankful for a Busy Life

          I have been in the best mood lately. And, staying busy.

My entire attitude has changed since the apartment complex was sold last Fall. I don't stay in my apartment anymore.. I am often down in the community room participating in all sorts of things. I am so thankful for the new staff who has our best interest at heart.

This week we had church services on Monday morning. (we do every Monday) and I am really enjoying that!  Following the service a bunch of us loaded up in the van and headed off for Amicis, an Italian place downtown. We had such a great time, excellent food and fellowship.

One day I did a page in my scrapbook journal. It was all about Valentines day.

I've been cooking some. I guess you could say I am in a SOUPY mood. First it was cabbage soup. Yesterday it was chicken soup. I always freeze left-overs. I tell you, I am tickled to death on a cold day when I don't feel real spiffy to be able to open that freezer and get out some soup to eat. It's just the best tonic for my soul.

I had taken my Christmas wreath down, of course, I had.... it's nearly Valentine's day for gosh sakes. So, I ran up to the Dollar Tree ... no, not RUN... I drove. It's just over a block away but it was cold. I bought me some knick-knacks and put together a Valentine basket for my front door.

This morning I went to our activity committee planning meeting and I was just so proud of myself 😇 . I had a lot of suggestions for new activities for our March Calendar. We have our February one already and I love what they are offering for our well-being and entertainment.

And, this afternoon I played Pokeno for the first time. It was a blast. Can't wait for our next session. We played for little mini-candy bars today... oh Lordy... I will have snacks for awhile now!! Like I need them!!

So... that's what I have been up to. What have all of you been doing? I must check out your blogs and see for myself!! 

                               Joining Thankful Thursday

My Hum is Going Dead

                                              I have a HUM.

                 Not what you think. It's the Verizon version of On Star.

Durnist thing. My son gets my alerts. He's all the way in Alabama and when I had my little rear-end mishap he knew it almost before I did!! 😇

And, my Hum has been sending me messages that my battery is low. First it was the car battery. Next it was the Hum battery.

Okay, I know I need to drive my car! Poor thing just sits there and even if I do take it out anywhere it's only for a couple blocks or so. No wonder the battery thinks I don't want it to work anymore.

When I moved into my apartment I was so excited that EVERYTHING was sooooo handy.

My dr. is 1 and 1/2 blocks away. Hospital 2 blocks, grocery 3 blocks. I don't get that engine going good until I am back home again.

So, Sunday I took her for a little spin! Just me and her. Out on the open road, zipping along enjoying the sunshine. (and almost no traffic).

The weather was chilly but sunny so I drove up Rt. 10 for several miles and then cut through the countryside to go by the cemetery where hubby is buried. And, back home again.

That durn Hum battery is still low. I can't check my car battery but I guess I will know if I get a message saying. "ALERT.... Your car battery is low" anytime soon.

Time Changes Things

                                           How time changes things.

For years I have shared my recipes with my children and grandchildren. They all are great cooks. Have no idea what they want with MY recipes!! They've got me beat.

My son Michael lives in Alabama. He lives alone, is an excellent cook and uses his weekends to cook meals for the coming week so he won't have to cook after he gets in from work. Smart move!!

We always chat over the phone on Saturday mornings, catching up, just enjoying hearing each others voices. 💕 So, he's telling me that he had just made a big pot of cabbage soup. I love cabbage in my vegetable soup so I asked him what all he put in it. He starts calling off... carrots, celery, onion, cabbage of course. I store this info in my wobbly brain so I can make some for myself later on.

                                       In awhile my phone pings. 

He's sent me his recipe for his cabbage soup and then texts "This is different, me sending you recipes, Mom" 

                                       Yep, time changes things. 

Michael started cooking when he was about eleven. His specialty was Crazy Crust Apple Pie. The recipe was on the bag of flour. Here it is... taped to a index card, after all these years. 

      You can tell this recipe has been used and used and used again. Wonderful with ice cream. I don't have a photo of him cooking at that age but here is one of him doing the dishes when he was a tad younger. 

Spooky Television

              
                    There's a ghost in my television. And, I don't mean on the screen, either!!

I sat down yesterday afternoon to watch "The Good Doctor" which I had taped and lo and behold...

                    There's closed captions popping up every time somebody said something.

          I've never used closed captions.. never had to and I don't need them now!

                           Do you suppose Alexa told my television that I am going deaf?

                                                         I did yell at her once! 
                   Oh, and I had to ask her to repeat herself a couple times. But, really!!

So, I am thinking that perhaps it's just this one show that recorded with the captions. Okay, if that's what they want to do... fine with me.

But, when The Good Doctor was over I switched to my regular shows and there those captions were...                                                       STILL... grrrr

Now, I know I did not go into the settings during my sleep. I never go into the settings! Well, hardly ever.

So, I clicked on settings and fixed the darn thing. It was set on YES, I want closed captions.

I didn't do that. It had to have been Myrtle. I always name my ghosts Myrtle. Don't ask me why. I have no idea.
                          But, my tv is like I want it now. Hot Dog!!

A Birthday Cookout

Yesterday was a fun day. We drove over to the Eastern Shore (Virginia) to go to a family cookout in celebration of a great-grandson's 9th birthday.  

One thing I enjoy is going over and through 17 miles of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel. I just can't imagine the skill and hard work it took to put all that concrete and steel in water so that traffic flows across it day and night. I look for ships, porpoises, and birds and wonder what our forefathers thought when they arrived at that bay not knowing what lay ahead of them. It's just mind-boggling! 

                                                          But, back to the cookout. 

G-grandson and his Mom made cupcakes for his party. Lemon with a slice of candied lemon on top. Yum. 

She's teaching him and his sisters how to cook. I think that is a must and I applaud her for her efforts.

lighting the birthday candle. 

I sat in a big comfy chair and enjoyed the fire.

While GGrandson D and his friend rode around in the golf cart. 

Seems they had a little accident, like

running into a tree. 

D was not driving! 

A marshy creek edges their backyard so I watch for birds.

Yesterday it was just Hooded Murganser Ducks on the water.

After burgers and all the goodies that go with them, (and of course, Lemon cupcakes)

we headed back across that LONG 

Bay Bridge/tunnel toward home. 

I Can't Remember!! ha ha

Something happened last night that I got a big laugh out of... after the initial shock.

When my daughter, grandson, granddaughter and her husband took me to a seafood place for my birthday back on the 6th, they gave me gifts. 

Well, last night I am talking to my daughter and we get  on the subject of gifts and she asks, "What did I give you for your birthday, Mom?" 

So, I am thinking, she's trying to trip me up, checking to see how good my memory is! 

                               But, after hemming and hawing,  I had to finally admit...

                               "I don't remember what you gave me, Shirley."

Yep, it worked. She caught me in a very forgetful moment. Guess she'll be checking me more frequently now. 

Then, she started laughing. 

(taken last year)

    "I don't remember either, Mom" and we both tried and tried to think of what it was she gave me.

                                 I felt better. She's a lot younger than me and she forgot!

      Well, this morning she texted me to tell me that about midnight last night she remembered. 

                                                      At least one of us did! 

I am linking with Thankful Thursday.... because I am so thankful that I am not the only one who forgets things. 

Don't Be Bored

Living in a place like I do (55+ residents) I am finding out a lot about human nature. 

Some folks love to stay busy

and

Some just sit around and complain. 

My thinking is that they can't come up with ideas to not be bored. or, maybe they like being bored 😀

Me. I can't imagine not milking every second out of every minute of every day of my life that I have left. 

Are you bored? 

I think not, not if you are on the computer (and you wouldn't be reading this if you weren't)

I've taken up bird-watching. Anybody can do that! Get you a bird identification book and get busy. I can't look through binoculars (it makes me dizzy) so I use the zoom on my camera to find that illusive bird singing in a tree top. 

With the digital cameras coming in to vogue... that changed my life. I take pictures of EVERYTHING. 

Love to travel or just take day trips?

Can't drive anymore?

Call a bus tour company and see what they have to offer. 

Tag along with family (if they'll let you. ha ha) 

or find a friend who drives and make it a girl's trip. 

I love my big computer. Couldn't do without it and all it offers, including all my blogging friends.

But, you can't get a computer?

Get a tablet, a Kindle Fire, or something similiar.

I have a Kindle Fire. Use it to read books, play games, check my facebook and blog etc.

I'm never lonely as long as I have my blog. 

Y'all make it so fun.

So 

There's no excuse for being bored. You just gotta plug into life and living. 

t

Little Angels

We were still in Seattle when I discovered a dance studio not far from our house. So, I enrolled Marie and every week we went to dance class.

Her recital went very well. I made her costume. Her muff  and bolero had all these little gathered yo-yos on it. I thought I'd never get through with those!

Then she was asked to be one of the "angels" in the Seafair in Seattle. 

Seafair is sort of like Madi Gras.

The newspaper wanted pictures of the little angels so the organizer/director came by the house to pick Marie and I up to take us to the shoot. The woman had a little Jacquar convertible and we folded into that tiny thing and here she goes zipping along cliffs above the shoreline. That was scary enough but then came the picture taking. 

They wanted the little girls to climb upon ladders behind a large wooden thing painted with blue skies and clouds. The girls were to poke their heads through a hole cut out of each cloud. 

Marie was already nervous from the zippy-do-da trip we'd had and now they want her to climb a ladder. Well she got up okay but it took a lot of coaxing to get her to stick her head through that hole. 

Finally we are finished.

Then comes the night of the Seafair Ball, held in a big hotel downtown. She's four and a half for gosh sakes and she's in the procession of angels and the King and Queen across the ballroom and then had to sit for hours at the foot of the Royalty. I couldn't have been more proud. 

That's her on the right.

Busy As A Bumble Bee

                                         It just refuses to get Winter around here. 

 That's ok with me. I just know that when it does hit, it's gonna be a doozey. 
So, on a pretty warmish day recently I ran to the grocery store and stocked up on paper towels, toliet tissue and kleenex. I am PREPARED!!😀

 Things have been hopping around my apt. complex. I'm busy as a bumble bee. 

We started having church services here on Monday mornings. I'd been disgruntled with my church so this is filling a void I had and I am thrilled about that.

I got my hair cut.

I am not coloring it anymore so every cut I do, a little more of the gray shines through. It's about to drive my daughters to distraction. They think I will look "washed out".

 TOO BAD. 

I mean, I've earned every single gray hair on my head. 

And, they helped put a few there! 😀

We have Happy Hour. 

I know, when you hear Happy Hour you think of booze and more booze.

Even though there is some wine available (along with the sodas and tea) few partake.

What we go for is the entertainment.

This week we had a guy who sang and played oldies style music 

And, could he ever play that guitar.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone any better.

Next week I've selected a bunch of activities I want to do. And, then, there is my own stuff I like to do. Like I say, busy, busy, busy. I love it. 

See you Monday when I post my Monday Memories.

Where The Crawdads Sing

I have read a LOT in my lifetime. I have always loved to pick up a book and lose myself in it's pages. Well, most of them. There were a few... ha ha.

So, I could not put this book down until I had read the last page! I kid you not. 

Just want to let you know... if you haven't read it, please do. 

                                             And, no, I am not Delia Owen's agent. 😇
                      nor will I get any monetary benefits from pushing sales. 

                             She's doing quite well all by herself, thank you.

If you have read it, please leave me a comment about what you thought. 

A Wise Old Owl

Yes, I know it is not Monday. Haven't gotten that far senile YET. But, with yesterday being my birthday I waited a day for my Memory Monday.

It was 1955 and we were living in a house in an old section of Seattle, Washington. The place was furnished but there's no washer and dryer (except a line out back). Oh, and a stove that every time I opened the oven door, the door fell off. 

But, this isn't about a stove. It's about doing handwash in the kitchen sink.

I had a 3 year old

I couldn't run to the laundromat every time she dirtied her clothes. 

(So now, I've set the scene).

My husband's ship went out for 3 weeks and was in port 2. He told me, while we are in a grocery store aisle I might add, that he had heard on the radio while he was at sea, that there was a Folger's Coffee rep going about knocking on doors.

If you had a can of Folger's coffee and it was already open, and you answered a question you could win a prize.

"Let's buy some", he said.

I don't drink coffee, never have, never will, but I did make it for him so we bought the coffee and on Monday morning I made him his usual cup of coffee (which meant I had to open the can)... get it? 

Later in the morning I was standing at that kitchen sink with my little mini rub board washing out Marie's dirty clothes.

KNOCK... KNOCK

I went to the door and there's a man standing there with a clipboard in his hand. He introduced himself as the rep from Folgers. Now, let me ask you, what's the chances of that happening in a million years. We'd just bought that can. I had just opened it and the man is at my door. 

So, I get him the can to show him it's open. And, he says "can you answer this question? What bird is old and wise?"

Well, durn, any dummy would know that! right? 

I said "Owl" thinking there was some kind of catch but no, he happily announced that I had just won a Westinghouse Laundromat Washing Machine. 

Well, durn, again!! 

I about fell over. 

I called my hubby at the ship and he didn't believe me. Thought I was pulling his leg. But, soon we had that fancy washing machine sitting right in my kitchen. Goodbye rub board!! 

A week later we went to a new grocery store grand opening and lo and behold I won a deep fryer. I was liking living in Seattle pretty well by this time. 

Willie Nelson - The Party Is Over

                                                               The Party is Over

     Thank you for coming to my birthday party. It was lots of fun and I appreciate every well wish you sent me. Your friendship is such a gift to me and one I cherish. 

                                  Now, this old chick is pooped out so I leave you with this....

                          

Happy Birthday To Me

                             I am inviting you all to my birthday party! 

Gee, I wish I could in reality but guess we will just have to celebrate on blogger! 

                                                                 I Am 

and 

Ready to Rock!

Come along and join in the fun. 

It's # 86 for me. 

Dang, how in the world did I get that old? 

Oh, who cares, it's just a number. Let's Party!

Choose Your Friends Wisely

I was reading recently about how our lives are affected by the people we surround ourselves with. 

Sometimes we can't help who we deal with but most times we can. 

Sometimes we keep friends around who annoy us and drag us down, out of loyalty. 

Sometimes we don't want to hurt their feelings.

                          But, we are in charge of how we live our own lives. 

It's ok to distance yourself from those who criticize, are negative, make us feel bad about ourselves. 

It's ok to make new friends who are uplifting and fun. 

It's ok to take control of how we want to feel every single day of our lives. 

Your life is in your hands so make it the most wonderful journey throughout every day you live. You deserve it. 

The New Year

                                                                      Mercy Me!!

                                                                       I Made It!

             The busy and exciting trip is put away in my memory bank,
                   the hectic but happy Christmas is over for another year
                                 and I even saw the New Year in... 
                         not my choice. I just could not go to sleep!!

I was watching the clock - 11:30 - 11:45 - Midnight and 2020 began. I did not lose a glass slipper running home from the ball. I did not have a crystal carriage awaiting. I just took 1/2 a melatonin and went to la-la land.

I woke up to a warm, sunny day. What the heck! It's Jan. 1st, in Virginia. It's suppose to be cold. But, I'll take this weather any day.

I started on a project. You might call it a New Years Resolution! But, I won't do that. I never keep resolutions so calling it that might put a jinx on it. I intend to keep this one and here it is Jan. 2 and I already have TWO (yes, I said 2) kitchen trash bags filled with throw aways, yardsale stuff etc, etc. And, I haven't even left my office yet!! Why... why... why do we stick stuff back that we will never use? Clutter!

At my age, in my small apartment, I have discovered I never really needed most of what I thought I had to have. There's a lot of talk these days about being a minimalist. And, I am sure leaning in that direction. Makes life so much easier.

Anyway, you don't want for me to go on and on about house cleaning, now do you? I didn't think so.

I went into the living room, sat down in my fav chair and looked out the balcony doors. There was the cutest little chickadee having a bit of lunch. I was pretty proud of the way the picture turned out.. it was taken from inside to outside, across my living room, through glass doors. 

                                So I am leaving you with this image instead of the yucky one above!