God's Word for Today

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Thankful Thursday ~ She has her own now!

The DD told me today that she needed a bigger three ring binder for school.
No problem…I went in search of one in the spare closet. I have many old large three ring binders from my time on various church functions. I rummages around in the box of notebooks looking for one that could be emptied out. Sure enough I came up on one that I no longer used.
Look what I found tucked in the front cover!
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Back then the contents of my purse and my make up bag were a treasure chest of forbidden fruit! She had great fun until I came into the playroom and found her looking like this!
Mt sweet little girl is fifteen today and now she has her own lip gloss and mascara but she still will raid my make up drawer from time to time. And if I want to find my tweezers, well I always know where to look for them, in her bathroom!.
So today I am thankful for a beautiful daughter on her birthday.
Happy Birthday to me sweet girl child.
For more Thankful Thursday head over to Greg’s General Store for more.
Blessings
Robin
On a much more serious and life altering note, it seems that the ol’ laptop may in fact be beyond repair. The hubs has done all he knows how to do in with his semi knowledgeable computer expertise. I will be checking which computer stores have the best deals on diagnostic testing to see if in fact it can be revived from the status of “large gray paper weight” and turned back into a laptop.
Blessings
R

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Random Dozen

Well it’s official. The ol’ laptop is dead! I am off today to buy a new hard drive that will hopefully revive it! I did manage to make it through the day yesterday without the earth spinning off it’s axis while my laptop did double duty as a large paper weight.

Bear with me as I get all my technical difficulties worked out and I will be back in the blogosphere as soon as everything is re formatted, re loaded, downloaded and updated and re-installed again….

So now on to more important things like Random Dozen.

1. Have you ever been so lost that you were really afraid?

I remember once when I was very young and in a search for my first job. I found myself on a bus in downtown Atlanta with a slip of paper with the address of my job interview held in my shaking tight little hand. That was back in the dark ages before cell phones, GPs or Google maps. I had placed my confidence in the hands of the gruff and unfriendly bus driver. I got on the bus and told him where I was going and double checked that this was in fact the bus I was supposed to be on. He looked at me tersely and with a limited vocabulary answers that yes I was on the right bus. My destination was just a few blocks up on the right. I settled in and then to my horror the bus drove down the street and began to make turn after turn and turn. This was very clearly (in my youthful trying to get to a job interview on time anxiety ridden head) not the right bus. I got up out of my seat and went up to the driver and questioned him.

“You said this was going to ……and that it was a few blocks down on the right!”  He looked at me like I was a stupid scared twenty-ish young woman and just returned to his driving. I returned to my seat all the while my hear pounding in a tizzy, where was this bus driver taking me and was I ever going to get to my destination. If memory serves I was over an hour late  to the interview and arrived in such a stat of anxiety that I was nearly in tears.

Needless to say I did not get the job, I don't think I ever went on another interview in downtown Atlanta, or if I did I made sure I left in plenty if time and I drove my own car.


2. Have you ever been to an island?

Some of my favorite vacations have been to the Bahamas and Jamaica and Puerto Rico! We spent our honeymoon on a small island of the coast of South Carolina, Kiawah Island it was great!

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Our next island…Hawaii maybe for our next big anniversary! We are coming up on the big “30” in a few years.


3. Are you more of a thinker or feeler?

Feeler!

To quote Truvy, one of my favorite Steel Magnolia’s.

“No one cries alone in  my presence!”


4. Do you tend to see issues or situations in life as black and white or shades of gray?

That depends. The hard thing about that is that a sin is a sin, there is no distinction in God’s eyes between telling a white lie and committing murder. All sin is bad. In the human world however we are faced with the shifting lines of what passes for truth! It’s up to me to make sure I draw my line of truth in line with what God ‘s line of truth is. I daily pray for the ability to see the varying shades of gray as well as the discernment to know where the truth is and having the strength to stand on the side of right!


5. If you were stuck on an island, what book would you hope to have with you (Let's pretend the Bible is already there, so you can't say that.)

Anything by Dianna Gabaldon, Francine Rivers, Pat Conroy and Colleen McCullough to name just a few. I wish I had more time to read but sadly I feel that if I am reading  my time could be better served doing something more productive. When I get engrossed in a good book everything else goes out the door!

6. What are you most afraid of?

If I am honest I am very concerned about the state of our retirement years. It’s a good thing I have a mini-van because we may need to to live in in our golden years. 

Secondly I am not a real fan of suspension bridges.


7. Would you rather lose all of your old memories or never be able to make new ones?

How can we answer this one. I would not trade my memories for anything however the concept of never making any new ones is very sad!


8. Pretend I'm looking at a scrapbook page about you. There are three spaces for you to drop in individual pictures. What are those pictures of, and why did you select them?

First I would pick my wedding picture. My wedding day was the beginning of my entry into adulthood.

Second would be the birth of my first child. This pivotal moment was the beginning of a series of events that lead my to a relationship with Christ.

Lastly I would probably pick a picture of my two nearly grown children. For me this represents the transition of the life we have. We have made it through (almost) the turmoil of raising our children and the hubs and I are on the verge (four years and counting) of experiencing life in a whole new way.


9. If you were re-doing your wedding, what would you do differently? (If you're single, tell me one thing you would do if you were planning a wedding OR huge party.)

I’m not sure I would do anything differently, really. However at the time neither me or my future husband were not believers so the concept of having a Christ centered marriage was just not important. So looking back that would be the one thing I would change if I could.


10. Tell me one thing you know/believe about forgiveness.

Forgiveness and acceptance are totally different things.

I can forgive you but I do not have to accept you back into my life.

I can forgive you but if the behavior continues I do not have to accept further opportunities for you to treat me badly.

I can forgive you but I also must use discernment and wisdom in my dealing with you.

I can forgive you but I must also be able to trust that you will not repeat the behavior or action that cause the problem in the first place.

God calls us to forgive those who trespass against us but He also call us to be wise as a serpent and gentle as doves.

MT 10:16 I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.


11. You're waiting in a doctor's office. What is your favorite way to pass that time?

If I have remembers to bring a book I read. If not I usually do a bit of people watching. It’s amazing what you see some times.


12. If there were a clone of you in a parallel universe what is one way you hope she/he would be the same as you and one way you hope she/he would be better?

I would hope she would have the same strong marriage and friendships as well as a relationship with Christ! However since I long for or have been brainwashed by the constant media perfectionism of what we as women should look like and the near constant focus of being thin and the fact that we have been brainwashed to feel inadequate or some how less if we don’t look like a magazine super model a svelte athletic body with a metabolism that would allow her to eat whatever she wanted without fear of gaining any weight.

I would also hope for a really nice beach front home with a Food Network kitchen or maybe I'd be living on a farm raising chicken, pigs, cows and goats and tending to her acres of planted veggies. Here’s a thought maybe my parallel universe person can have her own show in Food Network! That would ROCK!

Blessings

Robin

For more Random Dozen head over to 2nd Cup of Coffee for more!

I will try to pop over and visit some of y’all later this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

I hope to be up and running with the laptop very soon!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Project 365 – Week 17

Better late than never. It seems that my technical difficulties may be a bad hard drive. Sad but turn since this is a practically brand new hard drive recently purchased in January of this year. Keep your finders crossed that there may be some manufactures warranty still in effect.

So after a few moment of gnashing of teeth and lamenting I have gotten Live Writer downloaded onto me desk top and I am temporarily making my home in a fixed position in the corner r of the sunroom. DRAT, but I am still thankful that I at least have a computer to work from!!!!!

So with out further ado… her is my week a few missing days I’m sad to say!

Sunday, April 18

I guess I must have take full advantage of the Sabbath, as there were no pictures taken!

Monday,April 19

My list for the day. Are you a list maker????? I am a huge list maker. I get such a sense of accomplishment when I see my list all crossed out if I have managed to get them all crossed out at the end of the day

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It is almost ready!!!

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Tuesday, April 20

A morning Surprise!

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Wednesday, April 21

Almost every week we say the same thing “ Some one needs to be spanked!” because every week someone from the Prayer Shawl Ministry will make the round to the local goodwill stores.  Almost every week we are astounded at the pieces we have added to our cabinet. Some of them look like they have never even been used.

Look at this beautiful afghan that was picked up at the goodwill!!!!!!

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Thursday, April 22

It’s a new game y’all!

I plant it in here!!!!

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Later that day….Buster digs it out and leaves it here!

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Good Times, at least for him anyway!

 

Friday, April 23

A little over a month ago Skoots1mom, me and another dear friend were eating lunch when God showed up and showed me what I was going to be doing in a few weeks!  (Click here if you want to read how this all started.)

Well Friday morning I woke up early and headed out the “Lawrenceville Co-Op Vegetable Garden” It is not far from where I live. I packed up my garden gloves and my shovel and a cooler full of water bottles. The ground had been tilled and the rows were ready and it was time to get the plants and seeds in the ground.

I planted probably 50 tomato plants, there were 105 all total planted, we planted corn, okra, butter peas, and squash.  All the vegetable we harvest will go directly to the local food co-operative. Since the economy has taken such a downward spiral both the local food banks in our area have been struggle with the high demand and have had a very difficult time keeping the shelves stocked with enough food to service the demand from those who are in need.

Well can you image the surprise when a food bank client walks out in a few weeks with not only the expected canned goods but a home grown fresh tomato or a few ears of fresh corn or a mess of green beans or okra?

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Y’all I got home with a bit of a sunburned, a few nasty ant bites, covered in dirt and really really tired, but I had such a wonderful time getting in the dirt for the Lord. I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to know that just the simple act of planting a tomato seedling is going to yield something more than just a tomato.

It was just too much fun. I can’t wait for harvest time!

Saturday, April 24

It was a rainy, drizzly kinda chilly lazy day. I spent the day watching the rain soak my new veggie patch and resting. So I’m down for two days with no pictures this week!

If you want to see more 365’ers then head over to Sara’s blog for more!

Blessings

R

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Technical Difficulties

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It seems that my laptop has taken a turn for the worse. The hubs has been hard at work trying to revive it all afternoon to no avail.

I will be consoling myself with the fact that I can still function with the use of my desk top however there may be some significant power struggles with the girl child over equitable time sharing.

As I have been experiencing some rather strange computer issues over the last few day I had taken the steps and done a full back up of all my files so most of my files, pictures and various post are in tact in my back up file.

I will be out of the loop and my blogging and visiting you all will be sporadic for a few days as we try to get this nasty technical issue resolved.

Blessings

Robin

Friday, April 23, 2010

Flashback Friday

Mocha with Linda shared this "I've had our bloggy friend Lidna on my heart as she is grieving the loss of a dear friend. And while I don't want this to be a gloomy or painful Flashback Friday, I thought it would be interesting to reflect on how we experienced grief in our early years."

I think we all share in Linda's grief over the loss of a dear friend. As we all reflect on how we approach the grieving process let us all take a moment to pray for Diane's family and friend as the remember the person that they loved who has gone on before them.

I have to share with all of you that when I think of this week's prompt I look upon it with a different point of view. One of the things I learned from my Stephen Ministry training was that the majority of people shy away from talking about the grieving process or the topic of death. The other thing I learned is that those who are going through the process although they may not ask for it actually want to talk about those loved one who have died. It's OK to talk about a lost loved one, it's ok to ask a grieving person questions about their loved one, more times than not they really do want opportunities to talk about the ones they loved and lost.  With that said I move on to this weeks Flashback.

How old were you (approximately) when you attended your first funeral?

I think my first funeral was for my grandfather. I was in my early 20's and I had just moved into my first apartment. It's weird what you remember. I had just gotten home from work. I noted my sisters car in the parking lot in front of my apartment. I thought this was odd, but I was starving, being the financially challenged individual that I was I probably did not have any money for lunch nor did I have the organizational skill to remember to pack my lunch so by the end of the day I was really really hungry. I raced up the stairs and blew into the apartment. I ran to the refrigerator and grabbed a container of banana yogurt. I was viciously attacking the cup of yogurt when my sister explained to me why she had come over.

Grandpa had died.

He had been battling cancer for some time and we knew it was close but it did not lessen the pain and the shock of the news. I remember how quickly the taste of the banana yogurt turned  from something wonderfully delicious because I was so hungry into something I had to force down my throat and then I just lost those hunger pangs.

 

Did you experience any significant loss(es) in your growing up years?

I can't say that I experienced any significant losses as a result of death as a young child. However the divorce of my parent was a big loss for me and dramatically change the course of my life and our family!

The most significant loss for me came just after my daughter was born. She was born in April and we were away on vacation in September for the Labor Day weekend. I received a call from my mom informing me that my very best friend's three year old son had tragically died in a drowning accident in their backyard pool.

Devastation is not an adequate word to describe how I felt. It was as if I had lost one of my own children. To this very day I still feel his loss in a very profound way. That experience changed me in a very different way. I showed me a whole new way to be a friend. I gave me a very real picture of exactly what grief really is. I learned patience, I learned perspective, I learned persistence, I learned endurance, I learned so many things as I walked with my friend through her pain and grief! It showed me the true healing process and how it impacts the very core of who one is!

My friend and I just celebrated the birth of her first granddaughter a few months ago and we are both learning about being grannies together. We have our moments when we are deep in conversation. We remember her son and the tears will gently fall as we share our memories of him when he was little. Life moves on but you learn to hold on to those precious memories. One day you look back and you realize that memories that once were too bitter sweet to remember without a painful ache have turned into a precious treasure, painful but still a treasure none the less!

What were your early impressions of death and dying? And while I do not intend this in any irreverent way, are there any amusing memories associated with a death or funeral?

When my BIL's father passed away we drove up to the funeral. My son was probably about 4 or 5 years old. He was familiar with Granny Ruth and Grandpa Wayne, we had spent time with them when they had come to visit my sister and her husband. I explained to my son that when he saw Granny Ruth he needed to go up and give her a hug and tell her how sorry he was. His response has always been one of those moments that as a parent you just never forget. Just as quick as the words came out of my mouth he piped up "Why should I say I'm sorry I didn't do anything wrong!" Out of the mouths of babes!

If you have kids, how have you handled this subject with them? Feel free to share as vulnerably or as shallowly as you want!

Having recently experience a situation that brought the reality of death to our doorstep in an up close and personal way with my own daughter, it was one of those moments as a parent that you hope you never have to face. I saw no reason for falsehoods or shielding her from the reality of the situation. Death is real and there are some things in this world that simply make no sense and defy explanation.

http://rlambright.blogspot.com/2010/03/weak-with-sorrow.html

We wept together as we grieved over the loss of Aubrey, and we have continued to pray for peace for his family comfort for us as we miss him.

As we read all these tender memories let us all be in a mode of perpetual prayer for all those who are struggling with the grieving process.

MT 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn,
   for they will be comforted.

PS 119:28 My soul is weary with sorrow;
   strengthen me according to your word.

PS 30:5 ...weeping may remain for a night,
   but rejoicing comes in the morning.

 

Y'all head over to Mocha with Linda @ http://mochawithlinda.blogspot.com/ for more Flashback Friday!

 

Blessings

Robin

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Random Dozen

1. Ever had any run-ins with the "library police?"

It's been a while, probably a year or so ago, I received a notice from a collection agency. This letter strongly recommended that I pay my $60.75 fine for for my overdue library books before legal action was taken. Well since I was heading up to the local branch later that afternoon for my daughter I took the nasty little letter with me to investigate. Let me state up front that I know lots of friendly informative librarians. I love the library, I even marched in the pouring down rain (http://rlambright.blogspot.com/2009/09/i-was-216.html still don't know what is going on with Live writer and hyperlinks) to keep this facility open!!! However on that particular day for whatever reason the library police were in rare form. I showed the letter to the librarian and she informed me that it was for several books that had been check out at a library that I had never even been too. They were children's books, books in fact that were way below my childs reading level. I explained to the librarian that this had to be an error as I had never even been in the library these book had been check out from.

I get the look, the look that says "Talk to the had you big fat liar!" Well I very emphatically explained that I had no intention of paying a $60 fine for books that I had never checked out and again I get the look.

I obviously had stepped into the only library on the planet that is staffed by humans incapable of making a mistake! She also explained to me that I had been contacted multiple times in an effort to resolve this outstanding issue! Again I explained to her that the notice I was holding in my hot little hand was in fact the very first time I had ever been contacted. No email notices, do automated voice messages, nadda, nothing but a letter for a collection agency.

Again the look! I remain steadfast in my determination that I was not going to pay a fine for books I had never checked out and she remained steadfast that she was dealing with someone who needed to be on an episode of "America's Most Wanted", but there was one thing that she did not know. "America's Most Wanted" aside I was completely willing to stand there all afternoon until this issue was resolved to my satisfaction. I gently but forcefully explained to her that I was NOT going to pay a fine for books I had never checked out and that she needed to figure out some way to correct the situation. After numerous consultations with multiple library staff she out of the "goodness" of her heart extend me a "one time only" because I totally don't believe your story and since you show no signs of leaving any time soon and because I know you are lying through your teeth and I know that there is no way that we have made a mistake because the technology we have in place and the people we have working for us never malfunction or ever have instances where mistake happen because we are all super human and perfect opportunity and she wiped the debt clean. I then canceled my library card and gave her a thank you very much and went on my merry way!


2. Do you have a special organizational plan and place for wrapping paper, gift bags, etc., or do you just purchase whatever you need as you give gifts?

I have a two Rubbermaid containers that live in the closet in the spare room. One hold lot's of various gift bags and tissue paper, the other is one of those specifically designed Rubbermaid container designed for wrapping paper. It has a small compartment built into the top that holds your scissors, tape and small spools of ribbon.


3. Have you ever been in (first-hand witness) a natural disaster?

I was once evacuated from costal Florida in the middle of the night because of a hurricane! We also had some very extensive flooding in our area last year. It did not impact me directly but several of my friends from church got flooded out and it impacted our community for several days until the flooding subsided. Oh and is perimenapause considered a natural disaster, if it isn't it should be.


4. What's your favorite Barry Manilow song?

Pick one! Yes their vinyl records! I will be contacting the Smithsonian later this afternoon to see if there is an interest in these ancient relics that have recently been unearthed!

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5. What's the best costume you've ever worn?

I don't do costumes.


6. Which do you use more often, the dictionary or the thesaurus?

Being the spelling challenges individual that I am I am always looking words up in the dictionary, but I also use my thesaurus function in word almost very time I am working on a post. I hate, or I try not to be redundant with descriptive words. It bugs me. So I give myself a firm 50/50 for both!


7. What's your favorite breakfast food?

I think breakfast is one of my all time favorite meals. I am very happy when you put a plate of scramble eggs, steaming hot grits, buttermilk biscuits and gravy and crispy fried bacon..... heaven on a plate!


8. Have you ever purchased anything from an infomercial?

Nope!


9. Have you ever crawled through a window?

Yep!


10. Do you believe in love at first sight?

Married to him! Yes! When I saw him from across the room I had a very distinct thought that this was it for me!


11. How many pairs of jeans do you own?

The question should be how many pairs of jeans do you own that you can fit in. Four maybe five pairs. Two of which are designate working in the yard and painting jeans not wearing out in public jeans.


12. If someone were going to bake a cake to honor/represent you, what would it be? (Think creatively, like Duff and Crew on "Ace of Cakes.")

A double chocolate cake with pomegranate martin flavored filling baked into the shape of a laptop sitting on a table with my camera and USB cord sitting next to it, my cell phone, my bible as well, with an actual working fan made out of fondant that oscillates back and forth!

 

For more Random Dozen head over to http://2nd-cup-of-coffee.blogspot.com/ for more!

Blessings

Robin

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

She Say's Hi!

These came from my grandma's garden in Columbus Ohio. I remember seeing them in her yard for as long as I can remember. One day on one of her rare visits she brought down a small hand full of bulbs from her yard. For may years they grew in my landscape and I enjoyed them year after year. When we moved I dug some of them up and brought them with me.

Every time they bloom I feel like I am getting a sweet special greeting from my grandma.

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Me & Grandma Young Jean

This morning as I walked into my backyard and there was my morning hello!

Grandma say hi!

 

Blessings

R

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Project 365 ~ Week 16

Sunday, April 11

Oooopppsss! Missed a day AGAIN!

Monday, April 12

three Hand painted martini Glasses @ the Goodwill!

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More about these beauties later as well!

Tuesday, April 13

After a trip to the grocery store my pantry (not my panties http://rlambright.blogspot.com/2010/04/random-dozen_14.html) was in dire need of a bit of tidying up.

Note to self: Eight reasons to keep the pantry  not panty neat and tidy, when I cleaned out the pantry not panty I found two bottle of Soy Sauce, two bottles of Kayro Syrup, 2 boxes of Good Season Italian Salad dressing and 2 two pound bags of dry pinto beans.

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Please take note that there is in fact a bag of chocolate chips in my pantry not panty! Second picture second shelf from the bottom on the left :)

Wednesday, April 14

I finished another Prayer Shawl. I have to share with you that I think this one is one of my favorites. I just love the colors in this one.

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Thursday, April 15

My azaleas' bloom. Ok so it's only one blossom right now but there are a few other buds on the bushes and they have just been planted so it may take them a few seasons before they come into there own. But it's a bit of color at least!

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I spent the morning making the rounds at Growers Outlet and Home Depot. I returned home with everything I needed to get my veggie garden planted as well as my new addition of an herb garden. Very excited about this!

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Friday, April 16

Here it is. The unveiling of my new herb garden. I planted Pineapple Sage, Basil, Parsley, Thyme, Lemon Thyme, Rosemary, Mint, and a dear friend brought me over some Lemon Balm, Tarragon and Bronze Fennel (these last three are not in this picture)!!! I also planted a few small plants of some Romaine lettuce! Yea for me!

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Saturday, April 17

Saturday was a very busy day. It started very early with the annual church "Relay for Life" yard sale. I picked up a neat shelving unit for the DD's bedroom and a birdfeeder for the back yard. After the yard sale I headed over the the town square. The Hubs was recruited at the last minute to be a substitute team member for a Bed Race. Yes! A Bed Race. I have an entire post planned about the festivities. It was the five year celebration of the Family Promise Organization for our county, so more to come on that later in the week! It was a hoot!

I had lots of time on my hand before the race began so I took a wonderful stroll around town and got lots of cool pictures.

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This is the Ezzard House! I'm not sure who the Ezzard's were but they were prominent towns folk from the look of this house! It is schedule to be renovated due to it's historical significance. It use to be the home of some southern military person. I'll have to do a bit of research and get back to y'all about it.

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All total I think I snapped off over 100 pictures today! I think that makes up for a missed day don't y'all

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It's Baaaaaaack! My veggie Garden. After a wonderful day on the town square I cm home and had a bit of a rest then headed out to the back yard once the cool of the evening had come. In an effort to maintain my readership I have set up a personal blog where I can document my progress in my garden to my heart content instead of boring you all to death with pictures of my tomatoes and cucumbers. But I thought I would give you a small glimpse into the very beginning. I am in hopes that I can get better success as I am actually starting on time this year. I planted tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, green peppers, Jalapeño peppers. A very small row of corn will get planted on Sunday and this years I will plant my green beans in planters.

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Well that's my week!

For more 365'er head over to Sara's blog http://thebowyers.blogspot.com for more!

Friday, April 16, 2010

Flashback Friday

Here is this weeks doorway down memory lane!

If you have a child in your life, your calendar for April and May is probably quickly filling up with end-of-year activities - performances, recitals, etc.

Did you take lessons as a child? Piano or another instrument? Gymnastics or dance? Other types of lessons?

Believe it or not I took ballet. My instructor's name was Mr. Tom. How I remember that is a miracle.

Were they weekly?

If memory serves I took classes once a week but I am not sure. I remember the big room with the mirrored wall and mounted bar and hardwood floor. I remember lining up across the bar waiting my turn then leaping and running across the floor doing whatever step or foufie dance thing we were practicing.

How much were you required to practice between lessons?

I don't have any memory of practicing between lessens but I am sure as a little girl I Pirouetted and Pliéd around our apartment.I think if pressed I can remember at least some of the positions of the feet. First position feet flat heels together knees slightly bent...

Did you participate in recitals? If so, do any of them stand out in your memory?

I think I took ballet for several years. I am not sure how my mom paid for it but somehow she did. I took classes for at least three years because I remember three specific recitals. Well I don't remember the recitals but I remember the costumes. I have pictures of my pudgy little body all dolled up in these fu-fu frilly little costumes. One day I may have a weak moment and scan and post them but seeing as hell is probably not going to freeze over in the next 24 hours well the chances of that happening are slim to none!

One costume was a pastel rainbow colored tutu with white tulle and a pastel rainbow chiffon overskirt, there was a ruby red tutu with lots of red sequins and then there was a my favorite costume. It was a white satin costume with flowing white and green chiffon panels that attached at the shoulder. It was not like a traditional tutu as it did not have a skirt. I think we were maybe supposed to be trees as the green and white overlaid panels were raggedy at the bottom and it was very flowing and wispy like leaves blowing in the breeze. I remember the tight hair buns and getting to wear makeup, being nervous before the performances, the pink ballet slippers and the pink satin ribbons tied at the ankles. I remember the older girls in the company all wore the point shoes and I aspired to one day dance in them. I actually did practice in them during some of the class but I was never good enough to get a leading roll in the recitals so no point  for me. Plus I remember they really hurt your feet. Very painful in fact. The lambs wool you used to pad the tips was hardly enough of a shock absorber upon your toes and feet. Some days I even remember having blisters on the knuckles of my toes and sometimes my knuckles would even bleed. Good times :(

Did they foster a love or a hate for that activity?

I can't say I have a real passion for ballet as an adult. I think it is beautiful, but I an take it or leave it. I will say that I am a huge Dancing with the Stars fan. Maybe that stems from all that time spent in ballet shoes

Did you want to take lessons in a certain thing that you never got to?

I was never a musically inclined child so I never wanted to take lessons in any instrument. I do remember wanting to lean how to ride a horse but given our situation I knew that it was something that just was out of my reach. I did participate in Girl Scouts and I was on the drill team in High School so I did not lack for extra circular activates.

And if you have kids now, how did your experiences with taking lessons like these impact the activities you had/have them do?

Neither of my children are inclined to sports, but then neither myself or my husband are avid sport enthusiast. So it has never been an important focus for our family. Both my children were involved in scouting but neither of them found it to be their cup of tea. However, and this will be a mystery to me as I am about the least musically inclined person on the planet and my husband does not know a tuba from a trombone, both my children seem to be musically inclined.

My son picked up his first instrument in middle school and then quickly became very enthusiastic. He soon was teaching himself to play multiple instruments. He began on the trumpet, then moved to the guitar, he was switched over to the French Horn and was involve in both the Symphonic Wind Orchestra and Marching Band.

My daughter had been playing the Violin for the past three years in middle school and plans to peruse it in High School as well. This fact alone means that I have been to countless bad concerts, countess half time shows, countless Festival performances, bought numerous band fundraiser candle, fruit baskets, candy bars to raise money for Band Boosters. Most schools have at least three or more concepts a year, before school practice after school practice. afternoon practice wafting from down the hall as I am cooking dinner, trips to the music store for rosin, replacement strings, guitar picks, music books etc...I actually found a disassemble French horn soaking in my bathroom once. I was thankful that my son was able to get it all put back together and in working order.

 

Great Flashback Friday Linda. For more y'all head over to http://mochawithlinda.blogspot.com/ for more Flashback Fun!

 

EDIT: I am having some significant internet connection issues! I have been trying to visit and comment all Flashback Friday and Random Dozen all morning long and have had a horrible time. I will stop for now as I am about to put my laptop in the driveway and run over it with my car. I will try again later this afternoon. I will come over and see y'all as soon as I get a reliable internet connection. It is making me nuts y'all! I just want stuff to work!!!!!!

 

Blessings

R

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Y'all I can't concentrate

It's confirmed I've totally got the worst case of spring fever.

I set out this morning to go to the Growers Outlet for all the necessaries for my veggie garden. I would drive for a few minute and then it would happen. I would spy out the passenger side window an amazing burst of dogwood trees or azaleas or creping phlox or blooming iris or tulips and on and on and on...well it's a good thing I did not get a ticket as each time this would happen I would forget momentarily that I was behind the wheel of my car.

"Why no officer I have not been drinking but did you see how gorgeous that stand of flowering cherry trees were back there?"

It is just to gorgeous, but I think I already said that.

Now that I am trying to do Project 365 I also find myself fighting the impulse to just pull of to the side of the road and snap off a few dozen pictures of all these amazing vista's, but I restrained myself as I did in fact have a mission of buying my tomatoes and cucumbers.

"No pictures while you're driving!" I actually rolled down the window the other day while I was at a red light and snapped a few pictures.

How could I resist. Just look at this!!!!!!!

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"Remember your off to buy tomatoes and cucumbers!"

I have to have an internal dialog with myself. "No looking at that dogwood Robin, no stopping the car, stay on the road." 

 

"Honey where's your mom?" the hubs asked when he gets home from work. "Gee Dad I haven't seen her!" that because I can't make it one hundred yards down the road without wanting to jumping out of the car to take a picture!

 

Last Saturday as I was on my way home from the farmers Market I drove by a beautiful typical southern home with the pristine white columns, with a deep green lawn carpeting the front fenced in by a graceful white picket fence with a breathtaking oak tree shading the entre setting and to make matters worse there was an beautiful brown horse lazily grazing in the shade of the tree. I bout ran off the road as this overwhelming visual image passed in front of my eyes. Well since this was a private home I did not think the homeowner would think too kindly of me had I pulled over in front of their home and began to snap away.

 

Blessings

Robin

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Random Dozen

This picture is a clarification for question 1:

1. How do you feel about "Gladiator" sandals, also called "Roman" or "Jesus" sandals? A fashion yea or nay?

Nay! But if I had to pick one it would be #9.


2. What is your favorite pizza?

Love the Spinach Alfreado pizza!!!!!


3. There are plans in the works to sell roughly 1,000 items from Star Trek: The Experience in Las Vegas. This means you could buy Picard's chair for your family room. If not a Star Trek item, what prop, background, set, etc. from what TV or movie would you buy if you could?

[Ex: Hurley's "I Love my Shih tzu" shirt from LOST, the plantation home "Tara" from Gone With the Wind, or Tracy's tambourine from the Partridge Family.]

 

Huge Star Trek fan here! So this is a really hard question to answer. I don't think I could pick just one thing.

  1. Captain Picard's communicator, I love it when they reach up and give it a tap and then just start talking.
  2. Spock give Admiral Kirk and antique copy of "Tale of Two Cities" in Wrath of Kahn, that would be cool!
  3. Some of my favorite episode revolve around "Q" so any "Q'"memorabilia would be neat!
  4. Love, Love, Love Commander Date. He is my all time favorite!

I wonder how much they would sell that head he's holding????? Drat! If there were two of them I could make bookends!

 
4. Name a local food or restaurant that your area is famous for.

Down south any restaurant that serves a good tall glass of sweet tea, homemade buttermilk biscuits, fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, green's, corn bread, stewed tomatoes, black eyed peas, macaroni & cheese and banana pudding is a hit. We have one with in walking distance from our house called The Harvest Table. If you are in the mood for comfort food then this is where you want to go, and with it being so close it might not be a bad idea for us to start walking there instead of driving, it would help balance out all that fried food, well maybe a little but anyway!

The Harvest Table

http://www.theharvesttablerestaurant.com/

The Dillard House is a bit of a drive but the food is wonderful and very down home Southern.

http://www.dillardhouse.com/

The Blue Willow Inn is also famous for it's southern cuisine.

http://www.bluewillowinn.com/

Then there is the Holy Grail of Southern Goodness which is a good bit further but well worth the trip. The Lady & Son's in Savannah.

http://rlambright.blogspot.com/2009/04/savannah-part-three-deep-fried-ecstasy.html

I think I may have gained three pound just thinking about all this wonderful food!


5. What is your current favorite snack?

I wish it was this...

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but sadly these are at the top of my list theses days. These potato chips are super crunchy and have just the right amount of heat. They are delicious!!!!!!

 


6. Hypothetical: You are required to be a reality show contestant. Which show would you choose based on your probability of success? (You cannot choose "none.")


A. Dancing with the Stars
B. Biggest Loser
C. Survivor

My first choice would be DWTS, but in all likely hood I would probably break my neck trying. And can I say that I don't think anyone want to see my big old hind end covered with sequins shaking around a dance floor. In reality what I need most is Biggest Looser, but I don't think I could willingly put myself thought the public humiliation. Lastly I would never do Survivor. I am soooooo not calculating and I totally lack the killer instinct. I would be the one who would want to stop what I was doing and go back and help all the other folks who were having a hard time. However I have never watched Biggest Looser or Survivor so I have no real frame of reference. All I know about these two show is what I see on commercials or from reading the various blog of folks who follow these shows.


7. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being uninhabitable and 10 being cleanliness that meets the standards of OCD, how clean is your vehicle's interior?

Probably a 7, and this is only because I have a borderline OCD husband who religiously washes both cars and cleans the interior almost every other weekend.


8. It doesn't feel like Spring until...well since spring is possible my favorite season it begins to feel like spring for me when I see the very first tiny green shoots poking up through the ground. But then once everything get established there is nothing better than taking a walk in the warm sunshine surround by blooming dogwood trees, blossoming azaleas, iris swaying in the breeze, forsythias bursting with yellow-ness, creeping phlox, Bradford pear trees, and on and on and on and on...y'all it just doesn't get any better that this.

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9. Something that made you laugh really hard recently is ___.

Y'all, I tried to tell my accountability sister about this and again got so overtaken with laughter that I had to let skoots1mom finish telling the story because I was laughing so much! After I stopped rolling with laughter I then became very worried again for our country. Sadly this man is an elected official from my own home state thankfully not from my district.


10. Tell me about a goal you're working toward.

World Peace, Reducing my Carbon Footprint, getting a degree in Theoretical Physics...but for now we are working on reducing our miscellaneous spending and increasing our savings, trying to eat more fresh veggies and increase our physical activity level.


11. Share a thought-provoking or inspiring quote this week.

I saw this on Facebook and then again on a blog, it kinda sums up where I am in life. I don't know who wrote it but whoever did deserves a gold star!

"With time, women gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies. So we aren't heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy. Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, Good grief, look how smart I am!"


12. Name one thing that you do as a parent that you absolutely know will make your kids happy. If you're not a parent, feel free to substitute "friend" or nomenclature that works for you.

First nomenclature, really!

For those of us who are not vocabulary savants (we really do love you Linda and we count on you for words like nomenclature) here is the definition: a system of names assigned to objects or items in a particular science or art or the assigning of names to organisms in a scientific classification system, wheuh!... I think maybe I once knew the definition of nomenclature but due to the fact that there is so much wisdom in my head that has now fallen down to my butt I am sure that is the reason that I forgot what it meant, so with that now being clarified we can return to our normally scheduled randomness!

But I digress, and yes I did have to re-read the question to remember exactly what question I was answering! Question #12 right?

While my goal as a mother is not necessarily to make my children happy, insuring their safety, well-being and encouraging there inner spiritual growth are all very important to me, sometime saying no is the best albeit hardest answer!

However there are many thing that when I do them will bring about the desire result of happiness!

  1. Keeping the pantry stocked with chocolate chips. (Edit: For those of you just reading this my ever faithful friend skoots1mom pointed out to me the keeping my panties stocked with chocolate was a "BRILLIANT" Idea, I have now officially corrected my spelling error and now my panties are no longer stocked with chocolate and my pantry is!)
  2. Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits (my son's particular favorite)
  3. The phrase "Let's go out to eat!"
  4. pancakes
  5. Making sure there is always Chocolate Frozen Yogurt in the freezer.
  6. Saying "YES!" when asked to babysit!
  7. The phrase "Let's go to the DQ!" and "Yes, I'll pay for that!"
  8. Buying real Coke instead of the store brand soda, or just buying soda (which I hardly ever do unless there is a really good sale going on or I have coupon.)

Well that it for me!

 

I am not sure what is going on with Live Writer but I can not get my hyperlink to work. So for more Random Dozen head over to http://2nd-cup-of-coffee.blogspot.com/ for more Random-ness!

 

Blessings

Robin

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Project 365 – Week 15

Sunday, April 4

Easter Sunday

It was nice to have my whole family in worship for Easter morning!

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After church we all came back to grandma’s house for lunch! After this…

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it was necessary to do this…can you guess what the Easter Bunny left at grandma’s house. We had fun blowing bubbles in the bath tub!

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I was wondering when she would figure this out. This is now her new favorite thing. She crawls in closes the door then crawls back out and closes the door. The process is of course repeated multiple time. As you can see the dog is a bit perplexed as to this latest development.

IMG_1277

Monday, April 5

Genus: Loropetalum (lor-oh-PET-al-um) (Info)

It survived the move (and winter) from the front yard to back! It’s nice to finally have a bit of color in the back yard.

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Tuesday, April 6

Oooops! Maybe I just thought I took a picture!

Wednesday, April 7

Carpe Deim, yes we seized the day and swung by the subway and met Skoots1mom and her girl child at the park for a pic nic. It was a wonderfully breezy day and we enjoyed our lunch under the cool shade of the pavilion.

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After lunch our girl children took a break on the swings.

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 IMG_1306 IMG_1307    

The wisteria was in bloom. It was a good day for a leisurely stroll!

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God is totally showing off down here in the south y'all. This spring is one for the books. We have been under such sever drought conditions for such a long time that now that the drought is officially over well everything is making up for lost time!

 

It is just gorgeous!!!!!!!

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Thursday, April 8

I went to the grocery store and I walked in and right inside the front door was the an amazing old fashioned flower cart full of the most beautiful spring flowers. Another reason to always have your camera. I had to snap these with my cell phone.

 P0804100004 P0804100003

P0804100002 P0804100001

 

Friday, April 9

A trip to Goodwill. I have a question for you?

If you saw this...what would you think?

 IMG_1328

I will elaborate in a later post once I see what your thoughts are on this!

Saturday, April 10

I read an add in our local paper about a Farmers Market not for from my house. I set out Saturday morning to give it a visit. I had to pull over and snap a quick picture. This was just to beautiful to pass up!

 

More AWESOME-NESS!

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The jury is still out on the Farmers Market. There were not very many vendors there, but I was told that the produce vendor are only there every other week. There were a few vendors selling home made bread, biscotti and granola and a few other things. I am planning a trip back next weekend to see what all the fuss is about. But aside from not getting any fresh veggies it was so take with this establishment. It is a small ranch with stables. You can board a horse there or take horse back riding lessons. they have these amazing free roaming chicken that were just too beautiful.

 IMG_1342 

Isn't he amazing. I can also say that he was defiantly ruling the roost. While I was watching he let out several hearty "Cock-A-Doodle-Do's" assuring to all the world just who was in charge!

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The precious little sweetie spent a pleasant Saturday morning just grazing in the morning sunshine.

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It was am amazing place and I look forward to going back and checking out the fresh produce.

 

That's it for my week! For more 365 fun head over to Sara's at http://thebowyers.blogspot.com/ for more!

Blessings

Robin

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