Fun Activities

My sister is the one who loves to do crossword puzzles but my interest was piqued this week when I was reminded that these were fun challenges.  These two books were on display at Lifeway.  When I opened them up and saw that the Biblical clues had Scripture references, I thought, "This will be fun and I will review and learn things at the same time."  What I did not notice was there were some filler words that did not have references but thanks to Dictionary.com, I now know that garlic mayonnaise is Aioli.  Did you know that before you read this?  Another thing really "cool" about these books (besides being a bit easy) is that they devote at least one puzzle to each book of the Bible so for those of us who are rusty in minor prophet knowledge, some information will be gained again.

At work, we have over 300 children who are gaining some Bible knowledge, too,because we are in the midst of our summer reading program.  It is exciting to see young people thrilled about coming to the library.  Christian kid's lit is fun to read for adults, too.  Theology is presented is easy to understand terms and generally in an entertaining story.

My husband has had fun this week.  He has been a volunteer at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, TN for the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) for Men's golf.      As a side note - - we have been married for almost 34 years.  He has LOVED watching and playing different sports all those years - - - - and I could care less about either activity.  Even with my limited knowledge or interest in sports, I do know that this was a very big treat for him to be a participant.  He said on the amateur level this tournament is to golf what the World Series is to baseball or the Super Bowl is to football.  Even with the rain delays and super humid weather, he has had a wonderful time this week.

And me - - - give me a climate-controlled home and I will cook for those out in the weather - - - which is what I have done.  It is about ready to serve - - - delicious eye of round roast beef (sale-priced) and home-canned green beans from a friend.  mmm - - MMM!

Brothers, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written you only a short letter.  Hebrews 3:22 NIV

Memorial Weekend Vacation

My sister, Sandie came to visit this weekend.   She is the one whose home burned in April.  Her children and friends have been helping clear the debris from her property so her new home can be delivered within a couple of weeks.

As always when she and I are together, we had a great time.   We began the visit on Friday night with pizza.

We think it's the best pizza in the South.  The owner is from Long Island and bakes a NY pie.  Since our family was raised in upstate NY, that very much appeals to our palate.

The dough is handmade.  The cheeses are grated at the restaurant.  Their sauces taste like tomatoes hand-picked from the garden that day.  Pizzas are only one of many items on the menu.  My husband's favorite is the Steak Antole (did I spell that right?)  which is basically a type of Philly Sandwich in Calzone form.  I have difficulty deciding between the pizza and the Chicken Parmigiana.  It is baked and not deep-fried.  It, too, is prepared there from scratch and not taken from the freezer storage off a delivery truck.  Can you tell it's one of our favorite places when we dine out?

However, if I write this much about every place we went, this post will be very long.  Rather, I will give you a few pictures from our trip to Chattanooga on Saturday.  Whenever we go to the Riverfront area, we park ($3 all day) at the garage on Market Street next to the Choo Choo and take the electric shuttle.

Our destination was the Aquarium.

Sandie had been there before but it was her granddaughter's first visit.  This is one of the river views from inside the aquarium.

The aquarium is actually in two buildings.  The first has seahorses on the bottom floor.  Then you take an escalator or elevator to the top to begin the journey of a Tennessee River from the mountain to the ocean.  There are a LOT of exhibits and fish tanks (2 and 3 stories tall) to view in the first building.  The second building has a few tropical birds, fish, PENGUINS! and a Butterfly Atrium.  In the Stingray petting pond, they had blue tang.  Since blue is my favorite color, you have a picture of one.

Remember the camera is looking through the water so may not be as distinct as you would like.  In that same area was this bench made from recycled milk jugs.

Oh well - - you only got the label.  In the next you will see my sister transferring a butterfly to her granddaughter's hand.  Sandie had put her finger in front of a leaf where the butterfly had landed and it walked onto her hand.

Lunch was at the Blue Plate.  For those in the area, as you look at the aquarium, it is on the left and faces the riverfront.  Their food is fresh every morning and is excellent - - - menu items from hamburgers to seafood with wonderful side dishes.

Since I started this post with food and am back on the same subject, I will stop here and give more pictures in my next update.  But speaking of food . . . . . I did NOT cook all weekend!!!

And this day shall be unto you for a memorial . . . . Exodus 12:14a

Ocoee Dinner

Last Saturday my husband and I drove out Hwy 64 to this location.  We went to the restaurant.  Here are the views looking out the window from our table.

After dinner, we took a few pictures of the surrounding outside area.  You can rent cabins with a view of the lake.  (The link above gives the rates and some interior pictures.)

You could go sail boating or fishing.

Or for the more adventurous - - - how about some river rafting?

The rafts are tied on top of the buses when delivering rafters to their point of origin and return trip.

It was a beautiful drive and we had a good time getting out of our  normal routine for a few hours.

One day Jesus said to His disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake."  So they got into a boat and set out.  Luke 8:22

He's a Winner!

I guess it's better late than never when it comes to posting.  Last Thursday was the annual spelling bee to raise funds for the Learning Center for Adults and Families, Inc.   They offer a lot of great services to aid persons with education.  Some of the funds are used for GED scholarships.  Can you imagine studying hard to pass the test but not having $75 to take it?

Anyway this was our team's fifth year to participate and after 20 rounds, we took second place.

This is my sweet husband.  There were two other members on our First Baptist Team but I did not get their permission to post their faces so just cropped them out.  The good news about being second is it was time for another team to win since we have taken first place the last three years.  The 2010 first place winner  was Merck.  They have been the corporate sponsor each year and our close competition.  They generally finish the spelling bee in the top three.

The funny thing is our team could spell words of this difficulty:  ulotrichous, unguiculate, marcescent, and acciaccatura.  The word they missed is anisette.  Do you know why?  Our church team missed the name of a liqueur!  None of them had ever heard of it.  Let's just say that our church friends were pleased to know we were not familiar with anisette!

And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.  Ephesians 5:18a

Mama Said

The owners slept late this morning.  She normally does not work on Friday but he decided to take a comp day and be home, too.  So I didn't see any sense in ending my slumber early either.

(And that's not dirt on my blanket but rather fur that's shedding for the warmer weather.)  So what does "she" do on our lovely relaxing day?  She starts crating us one by one to go for a short ride.

We ended up at the "scary" place.  She said the people here are nice and keep us healthy but we never go there to play - - - only to have hurtful things happen.  

 And before we went in the door, I saw this sign hanging on a fence.

My owners think it's a great deal because it is only $10 a shot because there is no office visit if you are only there for the clinic.  Do you think it's a good deal to be forced out of a crate when dogs are in the same room and have the indignity of being stuck with everyone watching?   It reminds me of a few words from the song by the Shirelles - - - "Mama said there'll be days like this.  There'll be days like this, Mama said.  Mama said.  Mama said."

But from a cat's perspective, is Mama the one who is supposed to start your day this way?

And God created . . . . every living creature that moveth . . . . Genesis 1:21a

Cleaning Up

Do you ever rearrange anything in your kitchen?  I don't do it often but when it begins to feel like it is not operating efficiently, I will shift things around.  Last week the drawer that holds all the seldom used - - - but definitely needed - - - items got sorted.  This drawer has a meat thermometer, beaters for the mixer, corn-on-the-cob handles, etc. etc. and these . . . . . They were in a plastic bag shoved way in the back part of the drawer - - - past the dividers.  I had forgotten about them!  They were my mother's.  These little forks are half the size of table forks and are used for finger food buffets.  I think she had them especially for things like cocktail franks or cheese cubes.  Then I moved onto our regular silverware drawer that also holds serving spoons and a few other "often-used" utensils like vegetable peelers.  Did you know we had five of them?  Why???? That collection has also been better organized and "pared" down.

The great thing about a project like that is you see immediate results that will last a while.  And then there are other things you do that are 3 steps forward and just as many back.

These have been falling off our trees for 2 or 3 days.  I used the leaf blower on the driveway 3 times on Friday.  My husband got on top of the house and blew them off the roof.  It rained hard this weekend and the wind was ferocious at times.  You would think nothing could have kept hanging on the limbs - -- but yet - - we are still clearing the driveway today.  This is our least favorite part of having beautiful shade trees all around us.  Dealing with the leaves in the fall is preferable to the pollen and seeds in the spring.  But it is almost over and then it will be regular maintenance for the summer.  Plus we have the benefit of lower utility bills because of the trees' foliage.

And God said, Behold I have given you every . . . . . tree . . . . . .  Genesis 1:29a

Sweet Sister

Usually I try to post a couple of times on the weekend but when I am not here, it doesn't happen.  Last Friday, I drove to Augusta, GA to be with my sister.  As usual, we had a great time together.  However, my reason for going was not the happiest.  Her home burned to the ground on April 12.  Squirrels were probably the cause.  A neighbor saw electricity arcs at the top of the power pole which meant the insulation was probably missing.  The fire fell to the ground and caught the brush, leaves, etc. which quickly spread.

The best news is no one was home when it happened so there were no injuries.  Other good news is people have been great to give her donations and help her with clean-up of the land.  She also has a temporary place to stay with no time restrictions.  It has this view from the front yard.  You can see the horse on the left.  Can you see the white car on the right-hand side of the picture?  That is her property.  She is in the woods - - - a very peaceful place where the temperature can be almost ten degrees cooler than in the city of Augusta - - about twenty miles away - - - where she works.

Sandie is working on plans to have a new modular home on her property soon.  She is working with Deer Valley Home Builders on a contract this week.  It is a beautiful house she will purchase.

As usual, when we get together, we have an excellent time of fun and food.  We began on Friday night by going to Hildebrandt's in Augusta.  It is an OLD building that contains various items - - the best of which is a delicatessen - - - with DELICIOUS sandwiches and salads.

Before I came home on Sunday, we went to Country Boy's Cooking in Keysville, GA.  The funny thing is the restaurant is not in a town.  It is a nice restaurant built beside someone's home on one of the beautiful country roads.  We had the absolute best barbecue I have ever eaten.  It was so good, I brought some home and my family agreed with me.  That barbeque is almost worth making another ten hour round-trip drive!

We got there just before the church crowd arrived so I was able to get this picture of the empty restaurant.   - - - - and our weekend started with destruction due to fire and ended with nourishment cooked over fire.

How good was it?  Look at the happy faces that Sandie and I have!

". . . . . He sat down among the ashes."  Job 2:8b