BUSY & Tired!

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit but this is the time of year when work overtakes my personal life.

You can go to the link for our library post so you can see the activity at our church last week.  Since the reading program started, we have not really had a "breather" until this week.  It's a great thing - - - - but last weekend was definitely a time to relax.

And if you don't go to the library link, it's fine but please go to our younger daughter's link and see her newest "pregnancy pic".  I really like it.   Grandson time is almost here!!!

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.  Psalm 127:3

Wonderful Weekends

Yummy!   Why all the delicious goodies?  Do you see the fabric around the flowers?  See the close-up below?  Looks like little boy toys - - - right?  That is because it was a baby shower for our grandson!  I have the best, best friends who love us and know how to celebrate an event.  I am fairly confident my daughter will blog more about this sometime this week.

 

 

During the Memorial Day Weekend last week, my sister, our brother and his wife, and my sister's granddaughter drove five hours to spend time with us.  They were in the car a LOT on Friday.

On Saturday, they, my husband, and our older daughter went to visit the younger daughter, who had the baby shower and who lives an hour away - - - - in the mountains near North Carolina.  This is a view from her front porch.  Her precious sweet husband cooked a delicious meal for us - - - items off the grill as well as homemade side dishes.   YUM again!

Sunday took us to another edible event.  It was held at a farm owned by one of our church members where we are invited to the annual church Memorial Day Picnic.

I would like to know who made these cupcakes.  They were excellent but the lemon frosting defies description.  It was wonderfully delicious.  I would love the recipe!

This is just the beginning of the food offerings.  There were two loooonnnngggg tables crowded with serving dishes.

This is only a portion of the crowd - - - and the crowd is about finished filling their plates.  What you don't see is the creek under the trees where the children spent 2 1/2 hours playing - - and the rides on the hay wagon - - - the music - - -- and the wonderful fellowship with friends.

Family - - - friends - - - two weekends in a row - - - - could life be much better?!!!

The righteous should choose his friends carefully . . . Proverbs 12:25a

Covering HIS World

Today there were 136 quilts on display.  These were made by the women who meet once a month to sew and fellowship together.

This sign tells the reason for the display.

This is the logo for the QWAP - - Quilters with a Purpose.

No comments necessary on the rest - - - - just a very few pictures of what I saw.

 

Summer Reading Registration officially began today.  We were soooooo busy that I didn't even get totals of today's circulation when I left tonight.  This morning we checked out 247 items!  Tonight was more than steady, too.  I will update those numbers on our library blog this week.

Lunch today was comfort food - - something we ate growing up at home.  It's potatoes, onions, and hot dogs.  VERY delicious!   I did use some butter for frying but also olive oil.  The onions are Vidalia and the hot dogs are Hebrew National.

Just about each night this week, we have finished washing, repairing, or painting in the guest room.  I will show you pics of the completion on another post.  It looks great and I have the best husband for all the energy he has expended in there.

Most of your posts have been read this week - - - don't know if I will have time to comment or not - - - but will try. . . . . . till next time.

 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might . . Ecclesiastes 9:10a

Happy Mother's Day to me and all of you, my Blog Friends!  Yes, that corsage in the above picture is mine!!!  My older daughter gave it to me.  It gave me great pride to wear it to church.  The interesting thing is there were less than half a dozen of us wearing flowers  - - - in a crowd of over 2,500.  How many of you remember when the majority of females wore flowers on Mother's Day?

It was a great day - - - got to celebrate with my favorite people - - - my immediate family and our younger daughter's in-laws.   We had a lovely and delicious time together.

So what do you think this is?

 

Are you thinking dessert of some sort - - - - strawberry or cherry flavored?  It does look luscious, doesn't it?  Well - - - it is actually not pink, it is more of a lavender  - - - and it's not food - - - - - it's this:

The cool thing about this product is it paints on light purple and when it turns white, it's dry!  Is that cool or what?  It sure doesn't take much to entertain me, does it?

The Spackling followed wall washing.  I think I mentioned to you before that Sherwin Williams said the surfaces should be cleaned with white vinegar because it leaves no chemical residue.

We are just thrilled to be back working in the guest room yesterday and hope nothing else major disrupts us.  This is what we were doing last fall before our foundation rebuild.

As you know, painting prep can take more time than painting.   This is how we have split the work - - - we both scraped the textured ceiling.  I wash walls and Spackle.  Bill does sanding and usually most of the painting - - which we will hopefully start this week.  In addition to it, Bill has worked a LOT of hours in our yard this weekend, too.

My hours this past week - - - along with ALL my co-workers - - - have been invested in final preparations for our summer reading program.  Last year we had 479 children enrolled.

If you're interested in seeing more of what's happening at work with me, you can go to our library link.

"Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her."  Proverbs 31:28

Been Very Busy

I have been AWOL.  This is a busy time of year at work - - - and at home, too.  As you can see above, the yard work is abundant.  (That is residual pollen on the deck railing that needs washing.)  The cute cars are for our grandson, Benjamin, to play with when he is  a bit older - - - and of course, he has to be born first!  I got those at the consignment sale.  I had volunteered to work on clean-up two Sundays ago - - and was there about five hours.

The next pic won't excite you but it does me - - - cuz those are new tires on my car!!!  It's amazing how "my" ride feels luxurious due to these additions.   A big "thank-you" to my husband for knowing it was time to purchase them and also for taking the car to the shop for the upgrade!!

Next week we have an associational library conference where we will be reviewing and learning information to make us better ministers in our individual churches.  I get to present the overview and our director will present questions, moderate answers, and challenge those in attendance to complete the material.

In one week, we begin early registration for our children's summer reading program.  Our prizes arrived from a couple of toy companies.  They were unpacked last week and put in clear plastic shoe-boxes.  Next week, they will be sorted by colors, and then numbered.  I'll give you an update as we have it.

This is also the time of year I have annual exams.  Friday was my appointment for my mammogram - - - you really wanted to know that, didn't you?!!  It was the first time I used the Mary Ellen Locher Women's Center.  They have three locations.  I went to Ooltewah and was extremely impressed with their staff and facilities.  It will be my preferred imaging company for future visits - - - as long as my insurance will allow.  We pay a bit more to have Memorial Medical in our network but they are well worth it.

Today was a very exciting and happy time as we celebrated our son-in-law's graduation from Cleveland State Community College.  Of course his family was there, too but I will let my daughter post those pics if she so desires.  The speaker was Larry Gatlin.  He was phenomenal - - - - was funny as well as serious; had great points to make; sang three songs; and included audience participation in all of the above.  All of us were in agreement that he was the best speaker we have heard in all the graduations we have attended in the last forty years!

 - - - so until next week or next time I write - - - - - see ya!

 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.  Proverbs 9:9

Today was the first baby shower for Benjamin Thomas!  It was given by the members of our son-in-law's parents' church family.  Joshua was a member there for years as well as their youth pastor.

 The theme was ducks.  It was inspired by a punch recipe.  I don't know what their proportions were today but I know they used the blue Hawaiian Punch, White Grape Juice, a soda like Sprite, and vanilla ice cream.

 At first I wasn't sure what I was going to think of the taste but this was DELICIOUS!   I highly recommend it if you need it for any theme dealing with blue - - - even a beach theme.

 My husband and I were thankful to be included with this group who loves our "kids".  They  did a beautiful job and also gave them some very nice and useful gifts.  And as a bonus, we got to eat lunch at "Mamaw's house" before the baby shower.  She is does an amazing job of cooking for her family every Sunday.

Last night was all about the grandson, too.  Amanda and I went to a BIG consignment sale.  We had early admission since she is a consignor and Bill and I are helping with the clean-up for this next weekend.  I was able to get furniture type items for our home that retail for $270  - - - - for only $118.   Those in town know the Ashley-Lauren Sale being held this next week.  You can see pictures if you go to the link.  Not shown on their website is the furniture in the outside tent.

Yesterday - - before last night's sale - - - we worked in the yard.  My contribution is to weed eat and cut "volunteers"  for up to an hour each week.  Even at that, it is going to be amazing if I ever get my part done.  Bill does mowing and clearing - - sticks, limbs, and tree trash on the roof.  It is very difficult on his sinus at this time of year - - - however now is the time for the most moderate temperatures.   What you see below is just a very small portion of what was on the roof and in the gutters.

 We won't even have the discussion about gutters and stuff not getting in them, etc.   We have a history with that, too.   Instead I will say it has been a great weekend - - a bit tiring - - - but Praise God for health and energy to do these things!

. . . . for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.  Psalm 43:5b

Friends

Today my younger daughter and I went to the wedding of family friends.  The bride was in Bible Study with Amanda as well as having university connections.  The wedding was at Lee University Chapel.  It's the first time we had seen it since it was built.  It is GORGEOUS!

The reception was held in a renovated barn.  The owners also have a plant nursery.  Although I took the pictures with my phone, perhaps you can still get an idea of how beautifully it was decorated.  Both sides of the long barn had azaleas, lilacs, green trees, and trees that were just branches which were decorated with lights.

It was exquisite both visually as well as in fragrance.  The lilacs' aroma was delicious!

This was one of the most organized weddings & receptions I have attended.  We had an extremely enjoyable time - - - - - got to meet some new friends at our table who liked to converse as much as me!

The flowers above were given to me earlier this week by the grandmother of the bride.  She and I became friends in the library when she moved here almost ten years ago.  It is a bouquet for Easter.  The vase was scalloped at the top to look like a broken eggshell.  For those who live in Cleveland, Perry's Petals did this arrangement.

A co-worker friend had a significant birthday this week.  One of her friends gave her a balloon bouquet.

When she entered the front door - - - as seen here in the top of the picture, she was greeted by paper footprints leading to the library door.   The footprints were numbered beginning with "one".

They ended with her new age!  For those who know her, they would tell you she does not look five decades old!  She liked our footprint joke.

And tomorrow we will be with more friends - - - our son-in-law's family.  We will first worship with him and our daughter before joining all of them for lunch.

This week has been very good - - - - I hesitate to say it's almost been normal because the last time I said that, it got a bit hectic and crazy again.    We have some more construction that needs completion at our house but can schedule it is when it is convenient for us now - - rather than because it is an emergency.

However, the weekends keep us VERY busy with the usual chores and occasionally we complete an optional project.  It's nice to do optional.  My sweet husband worked extremely hard today.  This morning was a bit easy.  It was the annual (free) Hazardous Waste Day where multiple organizations combine to collect trash that needs special disposal - - - - - like paints, chemicals, medicines, computer monitors.  Then this afternoon and evening, Bill mowed our "new yard" for the first time.  It was very tiring as the ground is still settling so it is more than a little lumpy in spots.  He is so precious.

 - - - and it's time to hang up - - - gave you more to read than you might have bargained on.

  A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly : and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.    Proverbs 18:24