Hodgepodge Highway

Joyce is back this week with some very "moving" Hodgepodge questions. Join in the fun with your answers and link with Joyce right here.

1. When was the last time you relocated?

Twelve years ago this month we moved from our home of 30 years. The "big move" was only about fifteen miles away, but it proved to be a big move for me leaving all my familiar places, and with all the things that had accumulated over that time. 

Did you move yourself or leave it to the professionals?

We hired professionals for the big items and all the boxes. We carried odds and ends and breakables back and forth ourselves. My sweet sister-in-law came from Oklahoma to help me pack - bless her heart - and I still remember the loud discussions in the kitchen with DH about how to arrange MY kitchen! Turns out he was Mr. Right on that one!

Are you happy staying put or is there a move in your future? 

Husband is pleased as punch to stay here, but I think we need to downsize into a one story house. While I feel very strongly about it, he won't budge and says the stairs are great exercise for us.

Best thing about moving to a new city or town?

Making new discoveries, meeting new neighbors, having all your "stuff" in a more spacious place. When we moved, it was fantastic having all that extra room and the wide open views of the lake behind us. I love, love, love the view from my favorite chair upstairs!

Least favorite and/or hardest thing about moving house? 

Packing and unpacking. All the mess. And the hardest thing?  I had no idea I would cry so many tears over leaving the house I had called home for 30 years. So many memories and it took me a long time to get over it.

2. When were you last 'moved to tears'? Explain.

I remember the last time I cried, but it's too personal to share. If you mean "moved to tears" as in a "touching" or "heartfelt" moment, most recently, I was moved to tears when reading a story in The Voice, a publication by Christ for the Nations Institute. It was telling the miraculous story about the young man who plays drums for our praise and worship team at church. He is in his early 20's and two weeks after he was married had a stroke. The cause was due to a heart disease which had been undetected. His illness was so severe that as they were preparing to care flight him to the heart hospital a few miles away, his young bride was advised she should say her good-byes because her husband might not survive the 15 minute ride. He did though, had open heart surgery, got a serious infection and both of his hands had to be amputated.
Trying to keep this brief, he is now well, has two prosthetic hands and is, miraculously enough, playing drums again. This young man's faith in God, along with the love of his wife, family and church family saw him through this amazing trial. I could not help weeping as I read it. Here is the link: Scott David Grimley - click on magazine.

3. Do you have rules about eating in the car...any forbidden foods? What's the last thing you consumed in your car? Your go-to car snack when traveling long distance?

Nothing too sticky. Grapes are good in the car, sometimes trail mix, maybe some chocolate chip cookies. 

These are good!

The last thing I consumed in the car was a Cobb Salad from Cheddar's while driving our daughter to the soccer field last Saturday. (Cobb Salad would probably be on my "forbidden food in the car list" had I ever thought about the possibility.) We had all gone out for lunch, but ended up having to wait for-ever! just to be seated and then again for-ever to be waited on, and then for-ever to get our food. By the time it arrived, it was time for us to be on the road, so Sara and I packed it up and left everybody else to finish their food.

4. Share a favorite song relating to cars and/or driving.

"On the Road Again.

Goin' places that I've never been.

Seein' things that I may never see again.

And I can't wait to get on the road again."

5. What's your most frequently visited drive-thru...Starbucks? the bank? the pharmacy? some other window?

It has to be the pharmacy! They see us on a regular basis, have our names memorized and I think they are working on our date of birth!

6. "He who hesitates is lost"...would you agree? When it comes to making decisions do you generally act quickly or do you more often than not fall into the 'lost' category?

It really depends on the type of decision. I guess sometimes I over analyze until maybe I do fall into the "lost" category. 

7. When was the last time you got lost? Was it stressful or an unexpected happy adventure?

I wasn't really "lost" per se. Just turned around. But it was in the dark in an unfamiliar location and my eyes haven't been doing so well lately, so it was a little stressful. I managed to find my way back on the right road again!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

It maybe isn't a random thought since this hodgepodge has to do with moving and it's been on my mind for the past few months. I'm very, (extremely) excited and deliriously happy that our dear friends have moved back here after being in Florida for the past five years. I cannot wait to resume our weeknight couples times together and have Alice with me at Bible Study Fellowship! 

Alice and Fred are on the left.

It will be fun for our little group of buddies to be back together again.

Dog Days of Summer

It's HOT!!! HOT!! Ready for some rain and cooler temperatures. Sure would have been nice to have saved some of those flood waters we had back in the month of May. I think it rained almost every day in May and now July and August are dry and hot.

Speaking of the flood waters from May, here is a sight we saw when we were at the lake the other day.

Oh well, life is still good and we have had some fun in spite of the crazy weather. Last week Amy and I took the kids to the Carrollton Rainforest Water Park and had a great time swimming and splashing around. The kids are now big enough to jump and dive off the diving board  (do candyballs, i.e. cannonballs)  into deep waters! :-) So proud of them and their being able to swim and not at all afraid of the water.

At the Malt Shop waiting for snow cones!

God blessed us this past weekend with a visit from daughter Sara and family. They pulled up in our driveway last Wednesday night with jet skis in tow ready for some fun at the lake the next day. We were excited, but managed to sleep that night. 

On the way!

Brady helps with the jet ski while his Dad parks the trailer.

Grandpa and I rented a pontoon boat for the day. I had been concerned about the heat, but the day was breezy and not bad at all. We practically had the whole lake to ourselves, which was really good. Two or three other boats were on the lake, but that was about it. It was so windy there were whitecaps, so we took the boat over by the dam which was much smoother for the kids to ride the tube and for swimming. (Swimming at the dam reminds me of a song my Mom used to sing about the three little fishes ... "and they swam and they swam all over the dam." :-) Just thought I would throw that random thought in there.)

The boat had a cover, we had a couple of coolers filled with all kinds of goodies, including fruit, cold drinks, snacks and homemade peanut butter cookies and chocolate chip cookies. The kids had a blast being pulled on the tube all day. So thankful for Barrett, Jason and Sara pulling those kids for hours.

 Waiting for his turn

On our way home late that afternoon, we stopped at a great place for dinner. The restaurant was next to a place called Hydrous Wakeboard Park. Of course, we all (the guys especially)  had to investigate and after checking that out, their plans for Hawaiian Falls the next day were ditched so they could learn to wakeboard. I think pictures describe it better than I can.

Getting their instructions.

Pretty cool!

This was the learning area.

The actual wakeboard park was much bigger and Brady was able to master his skills enough to go back for private lessons in the big park later that day! They both got to body surf, too!

He was on his way upstairs! LOL!

Kate and Jack came Friday night to stay so they all had a ball playing. We did Pei Wei for dinner and then the time came for pallets on the floor. Kids always love a pallet ... most of the time, that is. The problem on this night was that Brady wouldn't be joining them because he's resting up for a big soccer tournament the next two days. After a lot of haggling about who is sleeping with who, we finally got it all worked out! Whew!

On Saturday, waffles and bacon smell up the house real good and then Brady and his Dad headed out for the soccer fields. 

I managed to get a pic of the three guys before they left!

Noah and Grandpa resting up between soccer games.

The tournament was played both Saturday and Sunday under clear skies and I am not kidding, it was hot as blue blazes out there. (In my own humble opinion, I really don't think this is a good idea to have kids outside in that kind of extreme heat running back and forth kicking a soccer ball! But, who am I to question that?) We all survived, had fun watching our team play and win the championship. Brady went home with another trophy to add to his collection.

Grandpa and Nonnie were left home with some pretty wonderful memories of a good time with our family. Lots of moments to cherish and be thankful for.

Friday Fun Stuff (for me)

 This little army of dogs is ready to roll!

I mentioned in a previous blog that my Bible study group would be making washcloth dogs to pack in our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. It's always fun packing the shoeboxes, but what a cute idea Marie had to add the washcloth puppies as a practical item for the children. To any crafters, this little project would be just that. Little. For me, not a crafter, it was really tricky to make them just right. It also seemed it might have been easier for someone with smaller hands to tie those ribbons and cut out those felt ears and teeny, tiny hearts. But I'm proud to say I stuck with it and they are DONE!!

It seemed fitting to pack them in a shoebox for delivery to Marie!

 A surprise overnight stay from Kate and Jack before they left for vacation.

Jack loves chocolate milk and Sweetie!

This crew is having fun without us!!!

Earlier this week, I said I was having trouble with my vision and also my hair. 

It's hard getting used to the new glasses because for the past 15 years, my eyes have worked together with the mono vision method (if you want to call it that)! Left eye for close-up and right eye for distance. 

Lasik surgery made that happen!

Now, however, I'm not sure the prescription for these glasses are going to be that helpful. I don't quite trust myself driving with these on, so another trip to the eye doctor may be in order.

And my hair!
I said I was going to get it whacked and that's what I did!

I think everything is going to be all right!

A Light and Airy Hodgepodge

It's that time of the week again. Thank you, Joyce for the fun questions every week. 

Feel free to join in, answer the questions and link up with Joyce right here.

The topic this week reminded me of lyrics to this song popular in the 60's:

"Hot town, summer in the city

Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty

Been down, isn't it a pity

Doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city

All around, people looking half dead

Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head."

1. Is your home air conditioned?

Oh, yes! Gotta have AC in Texas. If it's not air conditioned, is that by choice?

Did you grow up with air conditioning? No.

If not, how did you cope with the heat? 

My Dad worked outside all day and my mother stayed home, cleaning house, ironing, doing laundry, taking care of kids, cooking over a hot stove, hanging clothes on the line, and on and on. How did they stand it? And they never complained. As kids, we played hard outside, but came in in the afternoon and coped with the heat by standing in front of the "swamp cooler." We also liked to play with the water hose which cooled us off.

I remember as a teen standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom with sweat rolling down my face as I worked on teasing my bouffant hairdo. Hot. Hot. Hot. If you could get away with it, a way to cope would be to open the refrigerator door and just enjoy! At night, the attic fan would run bringing some relief from the cooler night air.

My first new car didn't have air conditioning and it was pretty miserable in the summer with vinyl seats and a black dashboard! I coped by setting a bag of ice on the center console to lean on. That worked until I had an air conditioner installed in the car. Unfortunately, that caused my problems to multiply because then the car overheated as a result of my trying to stay cool!! 

This was a HOT car! Literally!!

Share about a time or place you remember as being too hot-the temperature kind of hot, lest anyone be confused.

I have shared before about a very HOT day when my cousin and I were about 8 years old. We came in from playing and she stripped down, took the dipper from the water bucket and poured water over her head! 

But another particularly HOT day I remember was when all our family had been celebrating the 4th of July with aunts, uncles, and cousins in Arkansas. We played in the river all day, got terrible sunburns, then spent the night with my aunt who lived in the back of their grocery store. No AC there! My sister and I slept on a twin bed together with a fan turned on us and I really don't think either of us slept much that night because it was so miserably hot!

2. What's something in your life right now that falls under the heading 'up in the air'?

Making a trip to my hometown.

3. Your favorite light and airy dessert? English trifle! Delish!

4. When did you last feel like you were 'floating on air'? I've got nothing.

5. Airport, airmail, airtight, airhead...which have you most recently encountered? Explain.

Airports. Recent trips in the past months to Washington, D.C., Louisiana and Memphis airports.

6. Have you ever been to the Alps? Yes.
If so where did you go?
We toured Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Here is an old photo of us at the Matterhorn.

(I'm not crazy about this pic because DH has the camera or something in his pocket that makes his chest kind of stick out!) It was a gorgeous day there, but very cold. We were wearing lots of layers.

If not, is this a destination on your must-see list? If you were headed that direction this summer, which of the following would be your preferred activity...a gentle walk, a serious walk, a bike ride, a boat ride around one of the lakes, or summer snow skiing?

Our trip in Switzerland was partly via glacier train and I would choose that again, even though it isn't on your list. A boat ride around one of those beautiful lakes also sounds very nice.

7. What is one saying or phrase that was considered 'cool' when you were growing up?

In grade school, Cool, daddy-O. In junior high, everything was "stud," and my mom told me if anybody wrote that in my yearbook, she would tear the page out. Lol! They did and she didn't, though.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Cool is a word I still use and probably too often.

Here is a pic of our son with a couple of his team. The guy in the center is a rookie and this was taken after his first fire yesterday. Our son, the captain, said the rookie did great! Jason had to go in for a rescue.

Jason is on the right.

I think he's a pretty cool dude in his bunker gear. 

Reminds me of the first time I ever saw my husband after a big fire. 

Heroes.

This past week!

What a good and productive week this has been. On Monday, we traveled back from Austin early so we would be able to let Trudy outside before her little bladder popped. We had tried something different this weekend since the regular pet sitters weren't able to keep her. A very nice lady from church came to our house to stay with Trudy and, although I had a few qualms about it, all was well! Since she had to go to work early Monday moring, we needed to get home ASAP!! I thought the trip would wear me out, but I felt energized after a cup of coffee and did a few household chores, bought groceries, and then fixed dinner.

On Tuesday, I made a grape salad from a recipe I found on Pinterest. I was looking for something really simple and this was it! Our Ladies of Grace was having a salad lunch at my friend Victoria's beautiful new home. I took home an empty bowl and later that day, Victoria told me her husband had judged the grape salad to be the best of all the others! Super! I have the link here for the recipe for this easy Grape salad.

Thank you, Victoria for hosting this very nice luncheon for us.

After lunch, Marie, aka the Chicken Lady taught us how to make washcloth animals.

(Marie is known as the Chicken Lady because she loves chickens, 

collects them, and wears various chicken outfits 

to minister to children and at nursing homes.) 

Each year we pack shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child for Samaritan's Purse. You are probably familiar with Operation Christmas Child. Marie thought it might be fun if we made these practical little gifts to put in each box. You can slip in a bar of soap and the child can then untie the ribbons and have a bar of soap and a washcloth!

On Wednesday, I went shopping for a birthday gift for a friend and, of course, I found a lovely gift for me! I never wanted to spend the money for a Vera Bradley bag, but Dillard's was having a 50% off sale, so I thought maybe! just maybe ... and I did!

On Thursday, I met my friends Nancy and Sherri for Sherri's birthday. As always, it was so nice to be with them. We go back a looooong ways and only see each other now four times a year - for each of our birthdays, and at Christmas.

Thursday evening Jason and Amy came over with the kids and we had dinner at the new Cheddar's Restaurant. They were all sunburned from spending the day at Hawaiian Falls water park, and very tired, but excited about the good time they had that day.

On Friday, I met my friend Connie for lunch to catch up with each other, and later that evening, attended Amy's Jamberry party to check out the fun method of doing nails yourself in a most easy way without the fuss of waiting for nails to dry or paying for a manicure only to have it chip away the next day (very long sentence, I know). We each did a sample and today, I even felt inspired to polish my nails as I wait for my new set of nails to arrive next week.

Fun Amy

Conservative me

Except for the usual Saturday type happenings, chores around the house, etc., oh well, I also spent this morning searching online for a quick little trip for DH and me next week. I had pondered making a trip to Tulsa and Arkansas to visit relatives, but somehow it just seems too hot to be driving and getting in and out of the car. It was my plan to make stops at different memorable places in Arkansas and to take photos of aunts and uncles while I can. Then I thought about a trip down to Wimberley, Texas which is supposed to be really nice, but decided that is a trip that should be made in the spring or fall. Just as I was ready to give up my search, I stumbled upon a fabulous spa/resort about an hour and a half away which looks wonderful and after reading over the website and finding it all booked up for the dates I wanted, decided to make it a birthday/anniversary celebration for us in a couple of months. Great idea! It is a diamond collection rated spa/resort and one of the top ten culinary inns in the world. Who knew?

Elm Creek Manor

I Am. So. Excited! 

Amy and I are attending an event at Covenant Church for an Evening with Kari Jobe and Christine Caine. I'm looking forward to this, and dinner with Amy. We haven't had much time together since Kate started school.

And finally, this past six weeks, I have been dealing with the proverbial hair dilemma. Blech! Bad haircut and bad highlights, along with humidity have given me fits!!! My friend Elizabeth at Beauty Without Within has been discussing hair this past week, so I thought I would share my trials and tribulations with hair.

This is what I like my hair to do:

This is what it wants to do:

This week it's going to be whacked off!

I am hoping for the best! Just very thankful I have hair and that

Shereadstruth.org

And finally, last, but not least! As a matter of fact, much should be devoted to the fact that five of our finest from the Marines lost their lives this past week in another horrible and senseless killing. I am so sad for the families of these brave souls who lost their lives not on foreign lands, but right here in our country on a military base. Tragic. We live in a sick world.

photo source