A Flying Hodgepodge

1. Tell us about a time you felt like you were 'flying by the seat of your pants'.

Trying to finish this blog before I leave for Bible Study Fellowship!

Every time I began a new job, I felt that way. And, as I try to take up the baton of tending to the business of our finances, house, and everything that pertains to that.

2. When or where would you most like to be 'a fly on the wall'?

I can't think of anywhere right now.

3. 'Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.'-Henry David Thoreau

Would you agree? Yes.
Why or why not?

I think the answer lies in the wisdom of several Bible verses and doing life God's way: Being content with what you have, being thankful for what you have, giving to others, helping others and you will find joy. I do like feeling happy, but I don't go looking for it. I very often simply feel happy for no reason! I love those moments.

4. Share a favorite movie, book, or song with flying in it's title, lyrics, or theme somewhere.

I'll fly Away; Angel Flying too Close to the Ground by Willie Nelson. I remember reading a book as a child about a little Dutch girl who flew around in an air balloon showing a little boy all the sights of Holland.

5. What is one task or chore you tend to do 'on the fly'? Is this something that really needs to be done another way?

Maybe cleaning the bathroom. And not sure if this counts, but yesterday time got away from me and at 3:30 I realized I needed to get dinner cooked, eaten and dishes away by 4:30. Well, 28 minutes later, this was on our plates and by 4:15, we were ready to go.

6. What was happening the last time you thought to yourself or said aloud, 'Wow, time flies when you're having fun', and you meant it.

Last evening we went to watch our granddaughter play softball and, because we were going to be responsible for taking her home, were a little surprised when we discovered it would be a double header. I wondered if DH would be able to make it that long, but to my surprise, the time did fly and it was great fun to watch the second graders play ball.

7. This Thursday is National Garlic Day. Will you add garlic to your menu on Thursday? Do you like garlic? What's your favorite dish made with garlic?

Anything Italian. I'm going to make a chicken penne pasta which calls for garlic. Tonight stuffed peppers which will be seasoned with garlic.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Time just flies by and this pic came up in my memories on Facebook yesterday reminding me of that very thing. He's the youngest and last of the grandkids and he will be six this week. Kinda makes me sad, but I'm happy that he is the sweetest boy and just watching his expressions bring a smile to my heart and my face.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ changes everything!!

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.

Easter Memories

One thing for sure, picture taking skills back in the 50's at our house were not too good. The background scenery sometimes was sad, the light was bad, and the subjects didn't always cooperate. But, all in all, the memories are sweet, no matter the picture.

My first pic with an Easter basket.

My sister and I with our little bunnies.

With Daddy

The family

The dresses above were palest blue organdy with blue netting aprons,

every stitch was done with love by my precious Mother.

In March, 1958, my brother came along and my aunt made

Easter dresses for my sister and I. They were dresses of soft yellow fabric

with a floral pattern, drop waist, and tan dusters to wear over them.

Little brother

Dark shadows!!!  ;-)

1982

With my mother.

That hairdo!!!!

I remember really liking the dress, but now it

is a tad weird-looking for an adult to be wearing.

The above pics are from my Easters past, but these pics are just in from one of our nephews! Two sweet girls making their own Easter memories.

We went to Good Friday service last night at church, which was very moving, and I'm looking forward to attending Easter service this evening. I always loved Easter Sunday as a young girl. There was so much to look forward to: new clothes, shoes, Easter baskets, hunting for eggs, and especially hearing the story about Jesus. I remember coming home excited about the fact that when Mary went to the tomb, it was empty and how her mourning was turned to joy when she saw Jesus in the garden. I would teach the lesson to my sister and my pretend students.

I pray that everyone has a blessed weekend as we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Worthy, He is worthy of all praise and glory! Without Him, we would all perish! Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift of salvation through Jesus.

Pink Saturday with Joyful News

My prediction is for a beautiful baby girl

or boy from these two!!

They will make good parents.

Grandparents-to-be

My brother with his son.

At last! There will be someone to carry on the family line and hopefully, the name!

 Other news from around here

Noah did an outstanding job with his project on the Horny Toad!

Jack has a birthday next week.

and I'm ready for him!

The sky this morning. I liked the lower clouds which looked so much alike.

Almost twins.

I buy little bottles of wine maybe once a year to have for cooking.

What a shocker that the checker asked to see my I.D.

I just laughed.

My little lamb is filled with goodies for the kids.

And here is my pink.

Today I'm linking with Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday.

Good Friday

Thank You, Jesus, You demonstrated Your love for us at the cross. You became poor that we might be rich. You became sin for us - You were stripped of Your glory willingly and humbled Yourself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross, and being made perfect, You became the author and finisher of eternal salvation to all who believe and obey.

How great are You, Lord, that Your love and for the joy set before You that You would endure the cross, despise the shame and bear our sins in Your own body on the tree so that we being dead in our sins should live to righteousness and be healed by Your stripes.

Thank You Jesus for giving Yourself for us, to redeem us from all iniquity and purify for Yourself a people that are Your very own. How precious indeed is that crimson flow that makes us white as snow.

Thank You that You declared it finished. The debt we owed was paid in full by the sinless Lamb of God. Amen

O perfect Lamb of Passover,
Let me not quickly run.
Recount to me the blessed plot,
Tell how the plan was spun
That I, a slave of Egypt’s lusts,
A prisoner of dark dread,
Could be condemned unto a cross
And find You nailed instead. ~ Beth Moore

Tuesday Random Stuff

My sister had planned to come visit on Sunday, but because of the forecast for storms on Monday, she decided it best to stay home. I don't blame her. Driving on the highway for five hours in thunderstorms is not my idea of a good time. It was a shame because I was looking forward to seeing her and my niece, Robyn. Had a pot roast all ready for them on Sunday which DH and I were able to make a small dent in and had a little more of it today.

The weather forecast proved to be on the money. Yesterday afternoon the storms blew in with high winds, hail, and, YIKES, this is what I saw out my window.

Little waterfall coming off the street.

Behind our back fence.

Yesterday was National Siblings Day, so of course, I had to go on a search for pics.

My sister, Roberta

My brother, Phil

I like this one.

When I was looking for photos with my brother and me, I realized I had never posted any of our trip to Washington, D.C. a few years ago. Not sure how I failed to do that.  Maybe because I always use my phone rather than a real camera and they aren't that good. Oh well, here are some of the fun ones.

Not sure why they made him so stern looking.

I think these guys are frowning because DH did

not dress appropriately for the occasion.

DH is sitting at the computer browsing through photos. I saw this one and so I have to post it because it is such a great picture.

And since this post is just pretty random and has become a hodgepodge of sorts, here are pics of my siblings' wedding days which popped up when I saved the above pic.

Right now I can smell a wonderful aroma coming from the kitchen. It is a chicken tetrazzini one of my friends brought to me today. We are enjoying some fabulous food. Last night Alice brought over a huge casserole of baked spaghetti. Some very good feasting going on at our house. And I'm not kidding you, the jeans are shrinking day by day. Somebody needs to keep her mouth closed for a few days.

Monday Morning

What would we do without family and friends? I can't say thank you enough for all the prayers offered up and the always encouraging support we have received this past year. And all my thanks to God can never be enough for His mercy and grace as He carried us through answering every prayer and even above and beyond. My heart is filled with joy and relief!

At the entrance to the hospital last Wednesday morning.

After a year of waiting and deliberating over the wisdom of what to do with the nasty aneurism inside my DH, it was finally necessary to say yes to the surgery, no matter what the outcome might be! Thanks be to God - it was a success! It is now behind us and we can relax ... anyway, I can relax. The knowledge of the seriousness never worried DH a bit and that was a really good thing.

He was pretty relaxed with a sweet smile as we

waited for him to be taken to surgery.

Waiting. It's always about waiting, isn't it? Surgery was scheduled for 1:00, then delayed to 1:30, and finally, at 4:42 p.m., they took him in. Pastor came to pray, Alice and Fred came for a brief visit, and the rest of us, Jason, Sara, my brother Phil and my sil, Susan, waited and watched the progress of what was going on in the operating room. So cool they give you a card with colors and the waiting room has an electronic board showing the stages of where they are in the process. The surgical nurse called me every hour to let me know things were going according to plan ... and it was finally over about 9:30.

Thursday morning was a beautiful sunshiny day

and the outlook for recovery was bright as well.

Now, biggest decision was what to eat.

All the meals were delicious and served in style.

Everything I had was good, especially that little brownie cake on the left side there.

Kate and Jack sending a hello from the Malt Shop.

I found these gloves in the room to be useful

for stuffing dirty laundry in!

DH's kids smiling over him as they

said good-bye.

Sara went home to take care of her family and Jason was off for a 26 mile hiking trip in the Ouachita Mountains with his pastor and two other guys to prep for the mission trip later this year.

One more river to cross,

One more mountain to climb.

Yeah, somehow I have a feeling it's more about having a good time than prepping!

Yesterday, one of DH's buddies from the McRats (a group of retired old codgers) came by to visit and deliver a card signed by the guys. Now, that was a very thoughtful gesture and you don't usually think about men doing something like that.

It's going to be a good week. And a very special one at that as we remember and reflect on what it means to us ... what Jesus did for us.