July 5, 2010

So how many of you figured out that we were so close to Florida, we might have gone on down to the beach?  You were right.  (Picture was taken through the window of a moving vehicle.)  Panama City was our next stop for lunch at this place.

Pineapple Willy's has an interesting beginning.  Years ago, people buying undeveloped land in Florida wanted it for farming and the "ugly white sand" wasn't of productive use to agriculture.    Gideon Thomas saw the potential to "grow people" and started the tourism industry there in 1936.  Their website shows you pictures of the restaurant and beach.  And to prove we were here, I have to give you a few pictures, including just a few of our favorite signs that were hanging on the side of the building.

Michael & Bill

Lynda - - and I didn't intentionally leave my sister-in-law out of the pictures but she may have been starting the A/C in the van to cool us off since this was the end of our visit.

Although the day was beautiful and the ocean warm, we limit sun exposure.  I don't tan - - just get brown spots - - but we did dip our feet in the water.

 . . when HE gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep HIS command . . . Proverbs 8:29a NIV 

And don't you love it when McDonald's decorates their restaurant to coordinate with the locale?  I leave you with those pictures until the next update.

July 3 & 4, 2010

Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low.  Luke 3:5a

On July 3, we traded this beautiful mountainous scenery

for this part of the country also created by God.

 - - - the flat lands of Alabama.  Yes, it was taken through the windshield while the car was in motion.  Our first stop was at the place we married in Phenix City almost 34 years ago.

My husband's parents built this patio around the tree and obviously did an excellent job because it still looks as good as it did that day in September.  (The yellow house does not belong to the yard of the patio & tree.)  There were people at home when we pulled in the driveway.  When they came out, we asked if we could take a picture and explained the reason.  The guy looked at us like we were crazy, said, "Sure," and went back inside the house.  The wife said, "Aawww.  That's so sweet."

Two hours more down the road and we arrived at "The Peanut Capital of the World" which is what Dothan calls itself since (according to Wikipedia) "approximately one-fourth of the U.S. peanut crop is produced nearby, with much of it being processed in the city."

Have you all noticed how much my husband loves statues?  Some people are tree-huggers.  Not him.  Give him a statue any day.

In 2002, a local downtown group sponsored "Peanuts Around Town".  There are around 50 of these fiberglass peanuts decorated to either complement a business or to honor a person.

This is "Captain Cash" who was sponsored by a bank.  The next statue was to honor a local man who sold peanuts to tourists and locals.  He was very well-liked.  If you get a minute, read this great article about him.

hmmmm -- - Bill forgot to hug this guy.  This inscription is what Mr Trawick said to his customers.

Dothan has a lot to offer.  The peanut people alone might be reason enough to visit here.  You could see them all if you stopped at the Welcome Center and got a map - - but it is not the main reason we stopped.  We went to visit Bill's brother again - - - and had a VERY NICE time with our family!  We even got "adopted" for half a day on July 4th by our sister-in-law's siblings.  They were celebrating July 4th with a delicious cookout that included everything you could hope for in this type meal - - - from the hamburgers and hot dogs all the way to homemade ice cream.  The house and table were decorated with red, white, and blue.  The mood was festive and fun all day.  We really enjoyed meeting some new friends and being included in their extended family's fellowship.

The next update will have one more change of scenery.  If you look at Dothan on the map, I bet you can guess approximately where we went on Monday.

July 3, 2010

This past Saturday morning, we left for a few days of vacation.  As we were filling up the car with gasoline . . .

we noticed some people getting ready for a big party.  They had large tents set up outside to shade them from the sunshine.

They were hoping a LOT of people would show up to get the goodies they had set out on their tables.

Yup - - - - fireworks - - - - on almost every corner just outside the city limits.  People spend a LOT of money at these booths - - - especially the night of July 4th when the explosives are half-price.  If we had stayed in town, we would have had our private show since we live at the top of a hill on a dead end street in our subdivision.  It is a perfect launching place for the evening light show.  My question is do people shoot fireworks to celebrate our nation's independence and to honor those who have paid for that freedom - - - - or is it mainly cuz it is fun for males to create a commotion? . . . . hmmmm - - 

At this point, we are one-third of the way to our destination.  The traffic was worse on the north side of Atlanta.

Once we left the city, it was just a long peaceful road.

Our travel time was enhanced by a ten hour audio book by Karen Kingsbury.  We only heard 3/5 of it before we finished traveling that day.  The next post will tell you where we stayed for 3 nights.

The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.  Luke 3:5b

Dates

I have a new book  - - - a spiral-bound calendar for 2010 - 2011.  It was purchased in May  - - BEFORE school was even out.  That seems a bit rude to remind students that a new school year is about to begin when they haven't even finished the current one!

I like this style calendar and usually get the one that is about the size of a paperback book but this year I went for the larger one so there would be more room to write notes to myself.  Generally I get one with plain pages but when I saw this one with the beach scenes, I thought it would be fun to look at during the year.  The tabbed sections for each month were a bonus, too.

In addition to putting some dates in my new book today, I have been preparing meat for the freezer.

Many of you know that during these hot months, there will be frequent sales.  If you store food in the vacuum-sealed bags, it extends the shelf (freezer) life of it - - - - without any freezer burn or loss of flavor.  One secret I have learned is to put the food in the bag and then partially freeze it before sealing it completely.  It is less messy and you don't have to deal with cleaning excess liquid out of the tray.

We are soooooo thankful to be able to live and work inside air-conditioned buildings.  However, Bill felt the need to get outside in the heat yesterday.

Remember when I told you he was a volunteer at The Honors Course?    Well, he gets to play there one day this next month.  But he has not played golf very much in the last couple of years because it hurts his hands and and sometimes his hips where he has arthritis.  So to bring him up to speed and get some practice as well as some pointers, he met with a coach from Lee University yesterday.  Bill really misses playing his sports.  He was always active in leagues that included bowling, softball, basketball, and golf - - - and those four reasons contributed to his arthritis.  I asked him if he would do all those things on a regular basis again knowing that they wore out his joints.  He said he would because he enjoyed the sports that much.  He has not given up activity though.  He walks at least two miles every day.

 . . . so until next week, Hasta la vista!

Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money."  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. . . . . Hebrews 3:13 - 14b

Happy Father's Day!

Both sets of our parents have passed away which makes us - - - as my mom used to say - - - the top layer of the family now.  Father's Day the last few years is to celebrate my sweet husband since our fathers are gone from this earth.

Today we were blessed to have both daughters and our son-in-law here for a delicious lunch.  They spent the afternoon with us.

Bill has been dad now for 31 years.  He has been a great one - - - - always working hard - - - - whether around the house . . . . 

or at his job, he does a job well and sticks with it to the finish.  Those jobs have been our reason for living in 4 different states - - - - many, many hours from our parents.   However, Bill travels well . . . . .

 

and 99.9% of the time has a great personality.  He has never raised his voice at me or our daughters.    As many of you know, he has a great wit and making puns is second nature to him.  I guess you could say he has a way with words as evidenced by helping his team win the spelling bee fund-raiser three years in a row.

And even though it doesn't fall under the category of father, I am so thankful that after working all week with only one day off, he faithfully goes to help me in the church library EVERY Sunday morning.

 He is a great husband and father and we are blessed beyond words to have him in our lives.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.   Matthew 5:16

Pick Up Sticks

No, I'm not talking about the fun kids' game - - - - unless you call trying to put nature in order some kind of a game.  When you live in a house that has this many trees in the yard  . . . . . 

and they are this tall . . . . 

You can expect to pick up a few of this before you mow the yard.

Actually we only added the top 1/4 to the pile tonight.  The rest has been accumulating this month from other storms and tree-trimming.  I love that wheelbarrow.  We bought it at Sears a few years ago.  It is all hard thick plastic - - including the wheels so it doesn't rust and the wheels don't go flat.  With a heavy load, it is not as easy to move as the traditional wheelbarrow but generally it does the job quite nicely.

Bill and I did yardwork tonight.  We did mowing and weed-eating in the front and the left side yard.

But we still have the right side to tackle.  It has gotten out of control with all this rain.  However, I prefer rain over drought any day.

This bush is just up and right of this area - - next to our driveway.  We have no clue what it is.  We call it a Bee Bush because it certainly attracts them.

Our reward for our work was the supper I had started earlier in the day in the crockpot.  It was Italian Chicken-Rice Dinner.  Our side dishes were cucumbers from our daughter's garden and  . . .

DELICIOUS pickled beets made by a friend from their personal garden produce!  Thank you, Friend for the wonderful addition to our dinner!

Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the Lord.   I Chronicles 16:33a  NIV

1 Multiplies to 3

My life really doesn't revolve around my next meal - - but I do enjoy what I eat . . . and I like it when we have a leisurely weekend and I can cook a couple of things.  This weekend my goal was to eat lighter because I needed to drop at least a pound I have recently gained.   That generally means more vegetables and usually a salad - - which we all love.  So on Friday, I cut and chopped for more than a few minutes so we would have produce for three meals.  The first was Tacos.

We actually used the Whole grain shells this time but I have since disposed of the box.  They have 50 calories less per shell plus more fiber.  We could taste a difference but they were good.

For lunch today we used that produce in a lovely tossed salad to which we added deli-sliced meat and fruit.

It was YUM-cious!!!  Actually it is one of our favorite salads. - - - - and I know some of you would think that we couldn't have possibly been hungry again this evening but we have gotten into that habit - - - so I took these - - - 

 - - - and threw in the rest of the raw vegetables (carrots, colored peppers, lots of cucumbers, sweet onions,) and added canned corn and black beans (both drained and rinsed).  We have found we prefer the Balsamic & Basil Vinaigrette over an Italian dressing.  It has a milder taste.  The Weight Watchers magazine said to add more vegetables and decrease the pasta - - which is a no-brainer - - but a pasta lover likes me needs reminding.  This salad was the perfect answer.  (Let it sit a couple of hours in the refrigerator before eating.  The flavor is better.)

Speaking of fresh vegetables, my daughter and son-in-law have planted their first garden.  You can view it here.

And there is not much else to report this week.  It has been busy at work due to Vacation Bible School.  They had a combined children & adult total of over 800 people.  One great thing they do at our church is have all the classes on a rotation.  The lead teacher is basically the "tour guide" in that she takes them to crafts, snacks, rec, Bible story, and missionary stories.  All classes begin together in the sanctuary for music and some fun activities - - - like racing to pass a balloon or ball through the pews.  The offering taken each day is a girls against the boys competition with the "losing team's captain" (one of the ministers on staff) either taking a whipped cream pie in the face - - - or this year that person had to kiss a pig!  It was actually more unsettling for the pig due to the noise of the students.  The money does not usually go back to our church to cover any VBS costs but rather is used to help missionaries.

We just had one team return from a trip to Ethiopia where some of our church family has adopted children from the orphanages.  If you get a minute, read about their side trips to the Leper Colony and the dump  - - the only home some children know.  It will really make you thankful for what you have - - and also make you wonder, "Why was I so blessed to be born in the U.S. and not in a country with problems of poverty, war, drought, etc. etc.?"

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this:  to look after orphans and widows in their distress . . . . James 1:27a