Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Barbara Harper

Welcome to Friday’s Fave Five, hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story, in which we can share five of our favorite things from the last week, a wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God blesses us with. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.

That song “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” has been playing in my head – not because I am seeing Christmas decorations up (already!) But because it’s beginning to look and feel more like fall. Here are some favorites from this week:

1. Cool weather. It still gets pretty warm some afternoons, but it’s just lovely mornings and evenings.

2. Getting a few fall decorations up. I have to send my youngest up to the attic for the rest of them today or tomorrow.

3. A family outing. My husband, son, daughter-in-law, and I went to a car show this weekend. That’s not my thing generally, but it was fun to go together, and some of the older cars brought back some fun memories. Plus it was during a time when my mother-in-law’s caregiver was here, so we didn’t have to make special arrangements.

4. A slotted spoon the right size in my pattern. That may not sound like a big deal, but it is something I have been longing for for years, even one that wasn’t in my pattern. All the ones I could find were 10″ or longer, and I wanted a simple smaller one to use with a small bowl of vegetables with dinner. This one is even a smidgen bigger than I wanted, but it is closer than anything else I have found. The site calls it a pierced spoon rather than a slotted one – maybe that’s why I couldn’t find it before. I was on the site to order some tea spoons (I don’t know where mine all went…) and saw the pierced one as well.

5. Caregiver situation. The caregiver we have with my m-i-l weekdays went on vacation this week, and we were a little nervous about having someone brand new while she was gone – it always takes a while to show someone new the ropes and for everyone to get used to each other, and some are better than others. But the girl whom we’ve had the last three weekends just lost her weekday job and was available to work all week. I’m so sorry she lost her other job, but I’m so glad she was the one to take over this week, and I’m glad we were able to help provide for at least another week of employment. It was a huge relief when we found out last weekend she was the one who would be here this week.

I’ve also enjoyed working on 31 Days of Missionary Stories: I’ve read some of these biographies many times, and they are so familiar to me now, but they still bless me. I invite you to enjoy them, too!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Barbara Harper

It’s been a busy day, and I am just now getting a chance to sit down at the computer long enough to write a post! Here are my five favorites from this week:

1. An excellent caregiver. The aide who cares for my mother-in-law Monday through Friday during the day goes above and beyond the call of duty. We’re blessed.

2. A new fall TV season. Call me shallow if you want. 🙂 It’s good to see the old favorites come back, cliffhangers resolved, etc. I don’t know if we will watch any of the new series – I have a couple on the Tivo but one only has so much time for TV.

3. Getting some small tasks done – replacing a torn shower curtain, cleaning off the laundry room shelf, even some mending.

4. Lovely weather.

5. Hershey’s kisses. I’ve been trying to cut back on sweets by not buying the kinds I like. Having a couple of Hershey’s kisses with coffee has been nice to satisfy that chocolate craving at a minimum of calories.

Happy first fall Friday! You can check out others’ faves or link up your own here today.

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on September 20, 2013 by Barbara Harper

I’ve been trying to hold out until the official first day of autumn to put anything fallish up, but it’s close enough now, I think. 🙂 It’s hard to believe September is 2/3 over when it seems like it just got here. Here are some favorites from the last official week of summer.

1. A hummingbird’s visit. I don’t have a hummingbird feeder, but maybe I should get one – a little hummingbird was fluttering outside my kitchen window the other day.

2. Jesse’s birthday was Monday. Always fun to celebrate a family member and to have everyone here.

3. Lemon cake. Lemon isn’t one of my favorite flavors – I gravitate to chocolate – but Jesse has requested a lemon cake for his last few birthdays, and now I look forward to it that one time each year. I think it’s the glaze that makes it.

4. Take-out dinners. We can’t just go out to eat anymore, with Jim’s Mom here, but I had a hankering for Red Lobster’s popcorn shrimp recently, and Jim indulged me by bringing some home after work one night. Then he had a hankering for Asian food, and Jason and Mittu brought some over from a place near where they live.

5. An easy-going husband who is content with soup and sandwich on a night when I discover right at time to make dinner that I don’t have the chicken I was planning on using. I had thought there was a package near the back of the freezer – but there wasn’t!

Bonus:

I just got some photos from the phone and camera onto the computer this morning. This is one of my favorites, taken on my birthday.

Happy Friday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Barbara Harper

Friday’s Fave Five is hosted by Susanne at Living to Tell the Story, who invites us to share five of our favorite things from the last week. It’s a wonderful exercise in looking for and appreciating the good things God blesses us with. Click on the button to learn more, then go to Susanne’s to read others’ faves and link up your own.

Here are some highlights of the last week:

1. Feeling better after feeling pretty awful over the weekend and the first few days of this week. It’s amazing how “just a cold” can wipe you out. It’s good to have some energy again.

2. Light meals. As in light energy required. I’m glad my family is ok with them some nights. 🙂

3. Low-key projects. I have a few tasks that are aren’t urgent, therefore they tend to stay on the to-do list. But they were just right for this week when my energy wasn’t up to par, and it felt good to be productive. I got a desk cleaned out, some computer files tidied up, and some recipes that had been pulled from magazines organized. Those last two still need some work, but it helped to put a dent in them, at least.

4. Triple A. Both my mother-in-law’s caregiver and my oldest son needed their services this week. It’s nice such things are available.

5. Tiny Texas Sheet Cakes. I’m pretty sure I have mentioned them before. I LOVE this cake, but it normally makes a cookie-sheet sized cake, and it would be too much temptation (and too many calories!) for me. I was delighted to find this smaller-sized recipe a few years ago that only makes four servings. With three of us in the house, that automatically keeps me from devouring the whole thing. I’ve been craving it for a while now and splurged on it last night.

Happy Friday!

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Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Barbara Harper

I’m running late once again! Here are some highlights of the last week:

1. A visit from a friend of my son and daughter-in-law’s. He stayed with them last weekend and they all came here for dinner after church Sunday. I have this tendency to second-guess myself, and I was thinking maybe going to “the parents'” seemed obligatory and he would rather have spent the time with them at their place, but when he saw us at church he gave me a spontaneous hug and seemed glad to see us, so I was reassured. 🙂

2. A three-day weekend. Labor Day is one of those low-key holidays – not much expectation besides a cook-out (another fave! Grilled burgers!). We even brought Grandma out to the patio for dinner and she seemed to enjoy it though she tuckered out pretty quickly.

3. A relatively quiet week after a few busy ones…although this seemed busy in it’s own way as well and I didn’t get nearly as much done as planned. But at least there weren’t a bunch of deadlines or appointments, etc.

4. Take-out dinner. My dear husband indulged me in a requested night off from the kitchen and brought home take-out Chinese food. He actually didn’t get my text til after he got home, so he had to go back out again to pick it up, poor guy. 🙂

5. Disability aids. I often amazed when we encounter some snag in Grandma’s care and think of what would help, search the Internet, and lo and behold, someone has made it and someone else sells it. 🙂 The latest need was a safety belt for a shower chair. We had been using a gait belt, but it was just short enough to be difficult to attach and didn’t seem very secure. We used the one designed for the shower chair this morning, and it worked perfectly.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Barbara Harper

I’m late to the party today! Had a deadline to meet this morning. But here’s my first-week-of-school faves:

1. The most low-key start to school ever. My youngest son started his second year of community college on Monday. On the previous Saturday I was at the store, saw some notebook paper, and thought, “Oh! I should probably get some of that.” Got a package of pens, too, for good measure. 🙂 And had to replace a lunchbox later in the week (he had used the old one for years and it finally broke.) He had bought his books before his oral surgery, and he had enough supplies and clothes in good condition (with the exception of tennis shoes – he bought some recently) that we didn’t have to have any big shopping sprees.

2. Recovery. Jesse had four wisdom teeth and two molars removed last Thursday, and the first day was really rough (mainly from nausea), but every day since has been progressively better. He is still chewing a little gingerly, but overall is doing well.

3. Bringing church to Grandma. Our church divided into groups on Sunday night and visited the “at-home” members, mostly elderly folks who can’t come to church often, if at all. We had a pretty sizable group come here to sing and read Scripture for Grandma. There were several children in the group who also stood up together and sang. It was sweet to see Grandma singing along with some of the hymns.

4. Beginning a walking regimen. 20 minutes Monday, 24 minutes Wednesday, 31 minutes today.

5. A lamp I’ve had my eye on for three years but thought was too expensive. The store it was in is going out of business, and yesterday when I was in the area I dropped in to see if the lamp was still there. It was, and the salesperson offered it for half price. I had some money I had kept back from last December when my husband gave me a portion of his Christmas bonus and decided to use it for that.

Happy Labor Day weekend!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Barbara Harper

This is the last week of summer break for us, and it’s certainly had its highs and lows – though I guess truthfully you could say that of most weeks. 🙂 Here are some of the highs:

1. A lovely Saturday. Saturday was my oldest son’s last full day of vacation here before having to head back to his place on Sunday. We took a picnic lunch and kayaks out to the lake for a few hours, and though the skies were overcast, it didn’t rain while we were there and the temperatures were wonderful. Then we went to an Asian place for dinner, and the dish I chose this time was just right (the one I had chosen last time was too sweet for my tastes). Then Jason and Mittu took us to the Orange Leaf for dessert, a frozen yogurt place, and they had a couple of nondairy options I could try. All in all a wonderful day!

2. My birthday was Wednesday, and my dear family made it very special for me.

3. Dinner at Cheddar’s for my birthday. Yum!

4. An iPad mini. This wasn’t even on my radar, but my husband thought I might like it and got it for my birthday. And I love it! The screen is bigger and easier to read than my phone’s, but it isn’t as heavy as an iPad and can fit well in my purse.

5. Greetings. I have a handful of friends who still send birthday cards via snail mail – so nice to receive something written by hand in the mail! And Facebook birthday greetings add a lot to the day as well.

The main “low” for the week was that Jesse had four wisdom teeth plus two molars removed yesterday, and though the pain didn’t seem to be a problem for him, he wasn’t able to keep any food down until late that evening. I think it was a combination of the effects of anesthesia, perhaps a bit of dehydration (the surgery wasn’t til 1 and he hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since the night before), and bleeding. He’s asleep now, and I am going to let him sleep as long as he wants to. I hope his stomach is settled today. I’m also praying he doesn’t have any complications, which I would probably do anyway, but his college classes start Monday and that’s added impetus.

Hope you’ve had a great week with more highs than lows as well!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Barbara Harper

As foretold, I haven’t been around online much this week due to Jeremy’s being here for his birthday. I’ve been enjoying having him here and the extra time with all the family together. So here are some favorites from the last week.

1. Having Jeremy here, of course, and celebrating his birthday (lasagna and Boston cream pie!) It’s been a quieter visit since the rest of the family had to work most of the week and we had Grandma here, but we’ve enjoyed talking and eating lots of food! Jim was able to take a couple of days off, and they went to the shooting range one day and bought and installed a new router another. Plus Jeremy helped me figure out a few computer-related issues.

2. Playing games all together as a family.

3. My new iPhone case, found by Googling “iphone 5 rubber case pink floral.” Love it!

4. Grilled steaks and cheesy potatoes. Since we couldn’t easily go to Jason and Mittu’s apartment for dinner one night, since Grandma’s caregiver leaves at 6, they brought dinner here. It was wonderful!

5. Mittu liked the anniversary gift I made for them! They celebrated four years together last week. We don’t usually exchange anniversary gifts, but they’ve done some nice things for ours, and I saw an idea similar to this on Pinterest, so decided to try to do it now. This was what I used my cool hot glue gun for that I mentioned last week. 🙂 I sort of followed this felt rose tutorial but used the hot glue gun instead of stitching.

I have the hanger set so that the flowers are on the bottom left side: I don’t know why I took the picture with them at the bottom.

It has been a lovely week. Hope yours has been, too!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on August 9, 2013 by Barbara Harper

Thankfully this week has been a bit quieter than the last several. Here are some of the highlights:

1. An early birthday present. I had been hoping for a new iPhone with more storage space for my birthday in a few weeks. A couple of weeks ago the one I had stopped playing sound, other than the regular phone ringing and speaking, except through the headphones. My son looked online for fixes and we tried them all, but nothing worked. When my husband took the phone to the Apple store, he was told that they replace them rather than fix them, but mine was out of warranty. So Jim went ahead and upgraded to the new iPhone 5 with the next level of storage space for me. So nice to have sound back and more room to work with!

2. A Gifts basket for Grandma. Jason and Mittu brought some yellow flowers for her (her favorite color) and some very practical and helpful items. One, in fact, was very timely because we were running low on it.

3. The right tools. My husband has often said that the right tools make all the difference in car or home repairs. The same is true for kitchen and craft room! I’d had a cordless hot glue gun with a stand as well as a mat and other hot glue gun helpers for a while, but yesterday was the first time I got them out and used them for a project. (Said project has to remain secret for now. 🙂 ) They helped the whole hot glue gun experience go so much more smoothly than usual.

4. A wand or immersion blender has been another wonderful tool for pureeing Grandma’s food. Much better than the big blender. Wish we’d had these when we had babies – homemade baby food would have been a breeze!

5. Fun moments with Grandma. Sometimes when we get her ready for bed, she’s sleepy and groggy or just patiently enduring. Sometimes she is in more pain than other times – she is so arthritic that you can’t really move her without hearing and feeling snap, crackle, and pop throughout her body. But one night recently she had the giggles. We never could understand what she thought was so funny (though I thought our saying, “OK, time to wake up so we can get you ready for bed” was rather amusing), but she has us giggling as well. Then another night Jim said at about 2:45 in the morning, she very earnestly and a little agitatedly said, “How do you spell Ovaltine?” (So that’s what she thinks about when she’s quiet. 🙂 )

All in all a good week. Jeremy is coming next week for his birthday, so I may not be online as much – although he likes his computer time as well, so I may be here about as much as usual.

Have a great weekend!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Barbara Harper

Here are some favorites from the last week or so:

1. Turning calendar pages. I love turning to the fresh, clean pages of a new month.

2. A parking mat.

I had a hard time parking in just the right place in the garage, and this is simple and less obtrusive than other ways to deal with it.

3. Reading 100+ pages in one morning. Jesse got braces this week, and the appointment afforded me time to just sit in the lobby and read. It was kind of a balm (for me, anyway, not for him, poor guy!) to get away from the hecticness of the last couple of weeks and just sit and read.

4. A good aide. I mentioned in yesterday’s update on Grandma that the home health care aide we have working with her Monday through Fridays has been great.

5. A favorable prediction. On the news last night, the weather man said that August was originally predicted to be hotter than normal, but now he is predicting it will be less hot than normal, just like July has been. We’ve had a few very hot days, but nothing like the usual summer heat, and I am delighted that it looks like that trend might continue!

Happy Friday!

Update: Oops! I forgot Susanne was taking a break from the computer! But it’s good to look back over the week and recount it’s blessings anyway.