Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

It’s so hard to believe April is about over. I don’t know where this month went! But here are some highlights from the last week:

1. “Skinny” Chocolate “Ice Cream.” I’ve been collecting lower-calorie or healthier recipes on Pinterest. and tried this one this week. I halved it to 1 sliced, frozen banana, 1 Tbsp. of peanut butter, and 1/2 Tbsp cocoa. It was pretty good. It was a little hard to get the frozen banana completely blended with the little off-brand “magic bullet” type blender I was using, but otherwise it was fine.

2. One pound. My weight has been stuck at about the same level for a couple of weeks. It finally went down another pound this week – a pound that put me under a weight that ends in zero. 🙂 That pound from one set of ten down to the next feels really nice.

3. A quiet day. I wasn’t feeling well last weekend and ended up staying home from church on Sunday. I tried listening to a sermon online, but mainly slept while everyone was gone, then spent most of the evening reading. It was a refreshing day.

4. Two take-out meals. We got take-out from my husband’s favorite Asian place on Saturday, then, when I stayed home Sunday, I asked if we could get take-out from McAlister’s Deli for lunch – so basically I had the weekend “off” from cooking except for Great-Grandma’s stuff and heating up leftovers for Sunday night.

5. Our little grandson and his new battery-operated car – or cycle – or “mower” as he calls it, since it’s shaped like his granddad’s riding lawn mower. My husband checks several “deal” sites often and found it for a good price. It was so fun to show it to Timothy and hear his giggles as he tried it. Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo then: in this one I was trying to get him to look up and smile, but he was distracted by a neighbor on his riding lawn mower.

Happy Friday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

I’ve had a pretty quiet schedule this week – nice after several weeks of busy ones! Here are the highlights:

1. Days at home. For the last few weeks, it seems like I’ve been out of the house nearly every morning but one. This week, except for the gym, I’ve been home every morning but one. That’s been both restful to my brain and spirit plus allowed me to get much more done at home.

2. Lunch at my son and daughter-in-law’s. My husband and youngest son were over at their house working on some projects on Saturday, and after I did my errand-running, I was able to go over and spend some time and share lunch.

3. First rose buds of the season. I wasn’t expecting these yet, so it was a delight to see them.

4. Returning flowers. I usually plant these planters by the front door with a variety of flowers and hadn’t realized I had gotten a few annuals in the mix some time before. I had been thinking a while back that I needed to clear the old stuff out of them in preparation for replanting this year, but I am glad I didn’t. I was so surprised to see these flourishing, and with no effort on my part. I’ve forgotten what they are – maybe some of you know? There are some weedy things in there I need to dig out – in fact, I think those little yellow flowers are weeds, but I kind of like the contrast they provide.

5. The annual closet changeover. I finally got all my winter things put away and culled a few things to get rid of. Feels nice to have that done, plus I love the way the closet looks with the lighter colors in it.

We’ve had some gorgeous spring weather this week and now have some rain to wash the pollen out of the air. Happy Friday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on April 15, 2016 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

It’s been a little quiet around the blog this week – I’ve been busy with other things. But here are some highlights of the week:

1. Timothy’s birthday! My little grandson turned 2 this week! Some of you may remember that two years ago he was born 10 weeks early and spent that whole ten weeks until his due date in the NICU. It was a very long and emotional time, as he’d experience pluses one day and then minuses the next. But I am so grateful God spared him. He has been such a joy, and I can’t wait to see how God uses his life!

The card I made for Timothy’s birthday

2. A trip to a little zoo for Timothy’s birthday. We had planned to revisit the Knoxville zoo, but someone at my husband’s work told him about Little Ponderosa, so we decided to give it a try. We weren’t sure how big it would be and feared they might have only a handful of animals, but they had plenty. They also had paved trails, something else we had wondered about. We could walk up to most of the enclosures and touch and feed the animals. It was just the right size for Timothy’s age.

Timothy petting the goats in the spiffed-up wagon Granddad put together for him – came in handy when he got hot and tired near the end.

We went home for a nap and then got back together again for dinner, cake, and presents. All in all it was a wonderful day!

Toddler birthday dinner – mini tacos and juice boxes with car-themed plates!

3. The adorable birthday cake my daughter-in-law made. He’s very much into anything on wheels right now, but especially cars.

4. Lunch at a favorite but distant restaurant. When we were first visiting the area to look at houses, schools, etc., before moving, we stayed in the same hotel, stocked up on supplies at the same W*Mart, and ate often at an Italian restaurant called Gondoliers. I love their stuff, but they’re too far away for us to go to regularly. It was fun to be back in that area and to eat their Meat Eaters pizza there.

5. Not having to replace a shower curtain. My son’s shower curtain had what I thought was mildew over a good portion of it. I treated it in several ways with no luck. I looked around and this particular style was no longer sold, plus I couldn’t find anything in the colors I wanted. I decided to toss it in the washer – and it came out almost as good as new! I don’t know why just washing it worked when stronger treatments didn’t, but I was very glad I was going to be able to keep it.

That’s life – big blessings mixed in with the smaller everyday ones. I’m thankful for this opportunity to stop and count them.

Happy Friday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

Can you believe we’ve completed a week of April already? It seems like it just got here! Here are some highlights of the last several days:

1. Unexpected savings. I was buying some Ensure for my mother-in-law and had a coupon for $1 off. When I went to get the Ensure off the store shelf, I found someone had left a coupon there for $3 off that was expiring that day. How nice of them to leave it for someone instead of throwing it out!

2. Grandma shopping. A certain little someone has a birthday coming up, and it’s been fun shopping for him!

3. Dogwoods blooming. I haven’t gotten a photo of them, but I think they’re my favorite flowering trees.

4. Red Lobster take-out. My dear husband acquiesced to my pleas for it last Friday night.

5. Progress on two fronts: I had my best ever day at the gym with record times on the two machines I use regularly plus a few minutes each on two new machines. I can’t do that every day, but on days I don’t have any immediate obligations, I’m spending a bit more time. Plus I’ve been working on weeding things out of my closet and dresser that I no longer wear.

If you haven’t seen it yet, I wanted to let you know I am having a giveaway for Adam Blumer’s book The Tenth Plague. I’ll be drawing names Tuesday morning. It’s clean, well-written, and highly suspenseful with believable characters. If you’d like to enter, go over to the giveaway post to add a comment.

Happy Friday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

Many of us skipped the FFF last week, due to Good Friday and Easter preparations and also because our hostess, Susanne, was getting ready for her daughter’s wedding the next day and would need to take a week off from FFF, even though she graciously left it open for the rest of us. So we should have two weeks of blessings to catch up on…except that I didn’t make notes and can’t remember much past this week. (Blush!) But here are some of the highlights:

1. Easter isn’t the only time we think about the resurrection of Christ and all it means to us, but it is a time for special emphasis on it. What a cause for joy!

2. Celebrating with the family. We enjoyed a nice meal and then had a little Easter egg hunt, Timothy’s first. For years we’ve put coins in the little plastic eggs for the older kids, with an occasional bill of some kind. Timothy is not into money yet, and no one here likes hard-boiled eggs, so we put Goldfish crackers and M&Ms in his. He caught on right away to gathering the eggs but was more interested in gathering, opening, and closing them than on what was inside. Later we had an extended Facetime with my oldest son out of state.

3. New spring dish towels. I found these at JoAnn’s and thought they were a little pricy, but they were on sale 40% off and I had a gift card. 🙂 Lately it’s been rare for me to find the fluffy type of dish towels in any kind of design I like, so I was thrilled with these.

4. Safe travels. Jason, Mittu, and Timothy traveled several hundred miles for her mom’s birthday last week. They had a bit of an issue with their car that thankfully happened there and not on the road, but delayed them a bit getting back. Last time Timothy wasn’t too happy with all the time in the car seat, but this time he traveled well and wasn’t overwhelmed with being around unfamiliar people. All in all it was a good trip for them. Then Jim safely went to Atlanta for a day earlier this week.

5. Flowering trees around town are such beautiful harbingers of spring…even though they ramp up pollen production and allergy problems.

Hope you’re having a wonderful Friday free from “April fools.” 🙂

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

This hasn’t been a bad week – though there were a couple of mornings of extreme frustration — but as I thought about FFF, I couldn’t think of anything to share. Nothing really seemed to stand out, though there are things I could mention every week (family, books, music, etc.) But as I sat down to seriously think through the week and whether I’d have anything for a post, a number of things did come to mind. That’s one reason I am thankful for Susanne’s starting the FFF – it makes me stop, think, recount, and be thankful for blessings that might have just flown past me otherwise. So here are some faves from the week:

1. Excursions to Joann’s and Hobby Lobby are like “mom’s morning out” to me. I not only look for what I need, but enjoy roaming around the stores. I had gift cards to both places that just about paid for my purchases, an added bonus.

2. A disappearing snowflake on my weather apps. Earlier in the week, both apps I use showed a forecast for snow on Sunday – the first day of spring! Those are gone now, so hopefully that means we won’t get any of the white stuff – hopefully not until next winter.

3. My husband’s shoulder had been giving him serious pain from a strained muscle for a few weeks, but is mostly back to normal now. His sinus infection is on the mend as well.

4. Conflict resolution. We’ve had some issues lately with my m-i-l’s hospice service, the cause of the extreme frustration I mentioned at the beginning. After a couple of conversations that went well, with our being able to explain from our end and receptivity on their part, hopefully things will be resolved. So far so good.

5. A boy and a box. This box from something my husband had ordered was still in the living room when my grandson and his parents came by, and Timothy knew just what to do with it – use it for a baby boy cave. Or fort. Funny how little kids like to climb in boxes.

Sorry it’s a little blurry – it’s hard to capture a constantly moving target. 🙂

Happy Friday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on March 11, 2016 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

It seems like nearly every Friday I comment on how fast time flies by…but it really is hard to believe we’re 1/3 of the way through March already. Seems like March just got here! Here are a few favorites from the last week:

1. My husband’s birthday. He requested tacos for dinner and Boston Cream pie for dessert. It was fun to honor him on his special day.

2. A week with nothing scheduled was much needed after several very busy ones. There are always things to do, but it’s been nice not to have anything “extra” on the schedule this week.

3. Daffodils are beginning to bloom in the neighborhood! They’re not my favorite flowers, but I enjoy their perkiness and their signaling that spring really is on its way.

4. Dinner and roses from my son and daughter-in-law.

5. The Downton Abbey finale hit just the right notes.

Happy Weekend! And don’t forget to turn your clocks ahead Sat. night!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on March 4, 2016 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

What better way to end the first week of a new month than by counting blessings? Here are a few from the last week:

1. Progress. When I first started going to the gym near the end of February, I had to push myself to make it eight minutes on the bike. This week I got up to 20! And I finally reached my goal of 5 minutes on the rowing machine after that. I walk a few laps before, between, and after those.

2. A very productive Saturday. I got most of the weekly housekeeping done in a day.

3. Meals out – or rather, brought in. Not to sound whiny, but the main cook in a household doesn’t get weekends, holidays, or vacations off, unless we travel somewhere, so I regard buying restaurant meals once a week or so as a much-appreciated break. We had Mexican food Saturday night, then Jim brought home a Little Caesar’s pizza after church Sunday night.

4. A good doctor’s visit. This week I was scheduled for a follow-up appointment 6 months after my last physical, where they were concerned about my blood sugar and cholesterol levels. They were elevated, and though not in a danger zone, needed to be addressed before they did get dangerous. That’s one reason I started exercising regularly. We didn’t do the blood work today (no one had told me to come fasting…so I’ll do that one morning in the next few days), but by their records I’ve lost some weight since last time. Not enough to break any records, but enough that they were pleased. It’s good to hear, “Good work! Keep it up!” as opposed to warnings.

5. Timed naps. I can’t seem to get through the day without a nap, even though I do feel more energized from exercising. For a while I tried going to bed a little earlier – but then I just ended up waking up earlier. So now when I get drowsy during the day, usually at my desk, I set the timer on my phone for 20-30 minutes, then set some music to play, and then recline in my desk chair. That has worked out well – I get just enough of a nap to pick up and go again, but not so much that I lose a good chunk of the afternoon.

Happy Friday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

Another week has flown by! Here are a few highlights from it:

1. My daughter-in-law’s birthday. It was fun to celebrate her. 🙂

2. The Blaze pizza place, Mittu’s lunch place of choice on her birthday. It’s kind of like Subway (only for pizza) in that you go down the line and tell them whatever sauces and toppings you want, and then they fire it up in their big oven for 3 minutes. They even have gluten-free crusts! My only complaint was that it was really noisy, especially the (supposedly) background music, but otherwise it was a fun outing.

3. A successful baby-sitting venture. I watched Timothy over at his house (because it’s more baby-proof and I’d be watching him alone) one morning when Mittu had an appointment, and he did fine – didn’t seem to be bothered at all when his parents left. We had great fun. 🙂

4. “Nose kisses.” That’s what Timothy’s parents call rubbing noses, and he has learned how to do so with vigor. 🙂

5. A successful dentist’s appointment. After dealing with a tooth being pulled and a bridge being put in at the beginning of last year, I’m greatly relieved when a routine cleaning shows no problems.

Happy Friday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on February 19, 2016 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

It’s been another busy few days and I am just now getting to a blog post today. Here are some highlights of the past week:

1. Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite days. I make mini-meat loaves in hearts shapes and heart-shaped cupcakes plus make cards for our immediate family. Plus it’s a good excuse to listen to mushy love songs while working. 🙂

I use this recipe only without the mustard (which makes it taste barbecue-y) and much less brown sugar in the sauce.

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Since my d-i-l is sensitive to gluten, I used a Betty Crocker gluten-free cake mix and added about 1/4 more water than it called for – GF cakes tend to be a little heavy, but this turned out just about right.

2. Pink roses from my son and d-i-l.

3. Milk Chocolate Lindt Lindor truffles in a heart-shaped box from my dear hubby. My favorite candy!

4. Timothy coming to me to be picked up. I’ve mentioned before that he’s pretty active and curious and doesn’t usually want to sit and be held for very long, and if he does, he usually wants his parents. But the last few times we’ve seen him, he has come to me wanting to be picked up. Melts my heart. ♥

5. A delicious day. Today was sunny and in the 60s with a little breeze – just perfect, but especially nice after cold, snow, and/or cloudiness for several days.

Gotta run for now – hope to catch you with you later today! Happy Friday!