reading

I read…

Angie Smith at Bring the Rain advertised that it was a free download for a limited time, so I got to read it for free. It was a good thing I was reading on my Touch that glows in the dark, because I read late into one night to finish it. Loved it. Very precious story.

Made me cry in multiple places. One of which was when she knew her pregnancy was in trouble and that unless God intervened, she would not be bringing home a baby. Strangers would ask seemingly benign questions that broke her heart because to answer truthfully, she would have to tell the story. I remember times like that during Bub’s treatment. On the outside, everything looked ‘normal’ but what we were living was anything but. I so relate!

And right now I’m taking my own sweet time reading Laura Bush’s book, Spoken From the Heart. I’ve taken it to appointments and what not. I haven’t stayed up all night to read it…yet! : )  I’m still in the early section of the book that talks about her childhood. Since she grew up in a small town, it is interesting how many things I can relate to. We moved to ‘the big city’ when I was a baby, but we still regularly visited grandparents and other relatives that lived in Small Town. Many of the things she experienced as a young girl, I had a taste of growing up as well. She is a very articulate writer and it’s easy to see she is very well read.

So it’s been fun to read two such different books that I can relate to on some level.

What are you reading? 

the telemarketer

The phone rang yesterday and it was a 1-800 number. I should have just let it ring. I know better.

But sitting there with a ringing phone and then having to push all the buttons on the answering machine to clear ‘the message’ when whoever-it-is leaves the inevitable pause on the machine, well, that’s just too much for me. So..

Hello?

It was the electric company.

Trying to sell me a new thermostat so I can “save money on my electric bill”.

Saving money on my electric bill really is just code for “turning up the stat and keeping it hotter in the house”. Who are we kidding here.

But I was a nice girl. I know these people need jobs, so I let him make his points and I listened intently. Until…

He asked me if my husband had a job. Yes, thankfully. And he also figured out during this conversation that I am a stay-at-homer. So things are toodling along with this boring convo until he began to make one last point.

That my husband can control the thermostat from his OFFICE.

Excuse me? HE can turn the air up from work without my knowledge while I sit sweltering in the house with 100-plus temps outside?

Click.

That guy must not be married.

camp and a little puddin’

Well, the girl lived through camp. She loved it, although she was more than exhausted when she got home. As were we. Picking up a kid at 1:30 AM is a bit late even for us. But we had the whole weekend to rest, unwind and hear all her stories. Here’s the condensed version…

• Beach open, ocean closed. Oil.
• Pool open.
• Condos rock.
• Delicious food.
• Great worship times and great teaching.
• Made a few new friends. (She is the new girl.)
• Came home tired and unsure about whether she wants to go next year.
• I’m sure she’ll change her mind by next year, though.

Then we had Father’s Day. It was pretty low key. I couldn’t think of anything he needed, so we decided to make a banana pudding for him.

And it’s easy peazy to make.

Banana Pudding:

Make a small box of instant banana pudding with the two cups of milk in a large bowl. Add in one can of sweetened condensed milk and one regular sized tub of cool whip. Mix with a whisk until it’s all combined. Layer vanilla wafers in the bottom of the bowl. Slice bananas on top of the cookies. Pour on a layer of pudding. Repeat with the cookies, more banana and the rest of the pudding. Crumble a few wafer cookies on top, just for pretties.

Tada!

And he got it all to himself since the girl and I can’t eat dairy.

But it sure smelled good!

gone fishing…or maybe just ‘gone’

I kind of feel like I should have put a sign out on my blog that says “gone fishing” or something like that. I sent the girl to camp and then the next morning, I left town.

I went to visit my cousin in the small town I was born in. We stayed up late, slept late, at A LOT of Mexican food, went antique shopping and also did a little scrapbooking. Very fun.

We also went around town taking pictures of some of the landmarks I’ve known my whole life.

There is a sweet little park in town, with several “water features”, lots of ducks and the usual swing sets.

This is a fun little building in town. When we drove by there ‘back in the day’, they stored Cokes in it. Now it’s some kind of storefront.

This is the courthouse. My mother worked there before she married.

This is the little country church my grandparents went to. My parents also went there before they dated and married. Their wedding was there.

And let us not forget…Dairy Queen! We would drive past this on the way into town. It’s been there for-evah!

And yes, we ate there. And it was good! : )

I had a fun trip but it’s nice to be home. Late today the girl arrives home from camp. Can’t wait to hear all about it.

And see if she made it home with everything.

camp

The girl and I have been busy figuring out some of the last minute things she will need for camp. She leaves Sunday evening.

A lady that we’ve both known since our single days is going as a chaperone and one of the cooks for camp. She was on Facebook today reminiscing about what camp used to be versus was it will be for this group of kids. She didn’t go to the same camp I did, but I think a lot of our experiences are similar.

We went to more than one camp over the years I was in youth group.  Now they call it student ministry.  But whatev’s. One of the camps was pretty close to home. It had air conditioning even though it was pretty rustic otherwise. The auditorium was also very dated with shag carpets, but it was also indoors. I went there when I was a good bit younger than my girl and I don’t have as many memories of the place.

In the later years, we went to a place in  Arkansas. I think we went there two or three years in a row when I was an older high school ‘student’. There was a creek that separated the girls dorms from the boys. There was a swimming pool with a bridge in the between. There was no mixed swimming. As a matter of fact, the opposite sex wasn’t even allowed on the bridge nearby during swimming times.  The dorms were very crude and I think there were only 3 or 4 potties to a group of a couple dozen girls. Yeah. And we didn’t have real A/C..only evaporative coolers. Talk about sticky and hot. And the sanctuary was open air too.

I looked them up online the other day and they just built a “state of the art” sanctuary, all indoors, and air conditioned, for sure. I just don’t think it would be the same.

My girl leaves Sunday night for camp in Alabama. She’s never been to camp before at all and she doesn’t know these kids very well. So she’s very excited but a little nervous at the same time. They’re staying in condos on the beach.  I did read online today that they aren’t recommending that people go in the water at her beach, but the beach itself is still open. As is the pool adjacent to the condo.  They will travel by bus to a local church in the mornings and evenings for church and have their meals etc as a ‘family’ in their condos.

Sounds pretty fancy compared to way it was ‘back in the day’.

**Also please pray for traveling safety for our group. They are going to be traveling through the night on buses and that makes me a little leery, if you know what I mean. On the return trip, they will travel all day long, which doesn’t make me as nervous as somebody driving throughout the night.

summer and tv

Summer has sprung!

This is our first week off.

We have:

• been to Walmart more than once.
• been to Aldi to buy cheap food to throw on people at a youth event at church.
• been to Chick-fil-a.
• taken the girl to spend the night with a friend.
• had a girl over to spend the night.
• gotten our season passes to the water park.
• gone to the water park the next day.
• gone to get the hubs a new pair of glasses.
• baked a birthday cake for the hubs. He turned old yesterday.
• eaten a lot of chocolate cake.

We’ve managed to keep busy this week. But when we weren’t busy, I could always count on my ‘friend’ HGTV to keep my company.

BUT…I have a bone to pick with them!

I seems like there aren’t very many decorating shows on right now. I really like to watch Sarah’s House. That’s my fave. Saturday nights at 7:30. But a good decorating show is hard to find right now. It’s mostly the real estate stuff. *yawn*

I like House Hunters. I really do. There’s nothing like watching people pick out a house and then move in and be able to see the changes it took them 6 months to make in one 30 minute show. But…

…it’s like the only program they show these days. It’s on all. the. time!  And sometimes I just get a little peeved at it. I cracks me up when the person shopping for the house has a hissy over the fact that there aren’t granite counter tops. (first off.. ever heard the word “renovate”??? I guess not!)  I get it that you have your own idea of what you want your house to look like. I really do, but this disdain for anything less and the tone of total inability to produce a meal out of a kitchen that doesn’t have granite just cracks me up. *eye roll* Guess what sugar, I’ve NEVER cooked a meal on a granite countertop and yet we manage to eat every single day. I know.

And then I get annoyed at the way the realtors will take the people to see houses they’ve already stated they can’t afford. Which of course will be THE house the family can’t live without. But then they submit a below the belt offer. And then act insulted when the buyer won’t just cave and sell them the house for $50,000 less than their asking price. I always feel sorry for the seller. What a rip!

I spend a lot of time talking right back to the tv when these silly families are on.

Somebody’s gotta talk some sense into these people.

What’s your favorite show in HGTV?