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. This has been 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 a few favorites from the past week:

1. Canvas tennis shoes. I tried on the tennis shoes I’ve had for 30+ years, and they didn’t fit. Imagine that! 🙂 I guess it has been a while since I used them. As I looked for new ones, they all seemed to have a very thick and long tongue that irritated my foot and ankle. Finally I found some like the ones I had, plain canvas without being encased in all the extra plastic. They did have some spiffy laces, though.

2. Half-batches. I was craving the kind of Rice Krispie treats I make, with peanut butter mixed in and melted chocolate chips on top, but with just three of us here, we didn’t really need a whole 9 x 13 pan full. I halved the recipe, and it was just about right.

3. Leftovers. With just the three of us, some times I can make smaller meals, but sometimes I make what I always make and then have the leftovers on hand for lunch. That’s really my favorite thing to do for lunch — just microwave something leftover from dinner, though one of my favoritist lunches from this week was quesadillas made from leftover taco meat.

4. Resolution of the difficult situation involving my mother-in-law’s care which I mentioned last week, at least for now, though we will have to face it again in the future. But we’ve got some time to think and pray about the best decision rather than having to make a rushed decision with only two days’ notice, as we faced last week.

5. A writing opportunity. Several months ago, our newspaper asked for submissions for “community guest columnists” whose work would appear on Sunday’s editorial page. My husband pointed it out to me and encouraged me to apply. So I did and sent in a couple of requested samples of my writing. I did tell them I wasn’t very politically minded and I was used to writing from a Christian viewpoint, and that I knew I shouldn’t use that space as a “bully pulpit,” but anything I wrote would be shaped by my Christian worldview. I figured because of those things that I wouldn’t be chosen. I had mixed emotions while waiting to hear back: sometimes I hoped I’d get it, and sometimes I hoped I wouldn’t. Then I just got an e-mail this week inviting me to be one of the columnists! I know over 70 applied: I’m not sure how many they chose and how often I’ll need to submit something. They’re going to send the guidelines and schedules soon. So, I’m excited! And a little scared! What few magazine articles I’ve had published have been for a Christian audience, and though this blog is open to the public, I think most of my readers are Christians. This will be my first experience writing publicly for a secular audience. There’s no remuneration, and it’s only for a year, but it will be good experience. I’d appreciate prayers for wisdom and the right words!

Have a great weekend!

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. This has been 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 a few favorites from the past week:

1. Headache relief. I don’t get headaches often, but I had one hanging around most of six days this past week. It wasn’t incapacitating, but even with taking a couple of ibuprofen at a time, I still just felt draggy and a little down most of the week. Thankfully it seems to be mostly gone now.

2. Jesse’s birthday. I not only enjoyed celebrating his 18th year, but with Jason and Mittu coming over and Skyping Jeremy, birthdays are like a mini family reunion.

3. The official arrival of fall today. The temperatures have been a little cooler, and I am looking forward to more of that.

4. The new fall season on TV. Hope that doesn’t sound shallow. 🙂 But it’s nice to have a few more options than summer reruns. There are a few older shows I’m glad are resuming and a couple of new ones I’ve been anticipating.

5. Reminders that God is in control and cares. With our church going through Job and with recently reading Beyond Suffering: Discovering the Message of Job and The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God, the realization that nothing takes God by surprise and He has a purpose for everything He allows has helped as a difficult situation has arisen just yesterday. It is still unfolding, and it’s still easy to get very frustrated when people don’t realize the consequences of their actions. But He still promises wisdom and grace sufficient to meet every need.

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. This has been 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.

It’s been a good week! Here are a few faves:

1. White cheddar popcorn. When we were in a hotel a couple of weeks ago, Jim’s “premium” status afforded him a little snack bag, and one item in it was a bag of Smartfood white cheddar popcorn (made by Frito-Lay). Oh. My. Word. Sooo good. Fortunately (or unfortunately, calorie-wise) I found a store that sells it here. Jim has also tried making it from scratch with the air popper, spritzing spray butter, and sprinkling with white cheddar flavoring, and it’s pretty close.

2. Pumpkin Spice cookies. I saw a mix of this at Hobby Lobby and got one for my “secret sister” at church and one for us as well. Wow, these were good as well. They were expensive — more so when I realized I had misread the price! And they don’t discount it in their 40% off autumn stuff. I need to find a good recipe.

3. Computer help. My computer evidently acquired a set of viruses from somewhere. Thankfully I have a son who has expertise in that area and is willing to help his mom and whose company allows him to use their remote software free for immediate family. It took the whole day to deal with it, but thankfully it looks like it’s all taken care of. When he is logged in remotely, there is a little window showing it in the bottom corner of the computer, and it was a comfort to see it there, even though most of the time was just letting the anti-virus software run.

4. Online ordering. Since the mall and many shops are 20 minutes away (and I am used to five from our previous location), it’s so nice to order online for birthdays and such rather than traipsing from store to store. And a couple of places had free shipping!

5. The Tennessee Valley Fair. We went last night, and it was perfect — weather a little coolish and not too crowded. Here are a few pics and a really cute video of a duck slide:

Just noticed the 2010 — guess they saved it from last year.

Jason and Mittu.

Notice the sign….

Chicken on a stick. It was pretty good!

Funnel cakes! Can only handle those about once a year.

Jim and Jesse on the Ferris Wheel.

This was the cutest thing — a little slide for ducks. It seemed a little mean to place the food just out of their reach like that — but they didn’t seem to mind:

And here’s Jim feeding emus. Funny to hear the kids calling to him to be careful — used to be us calling to them!

Bonus: Today is Jesse’s 18th birthday! I’ll have another post about that later on today. (Update: A day later, but here it is.)

Hope you have a great Friday! I’ll catch up with you later — I have to bake a cake and wrap presents while a certain someone is at school. 🙂

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. This has been 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.

I missed last week due to a quick out of town trip. Here are a few of my faves from the past couple of weeks:

1. More presents. I had mentioned my dear hubby snagged a good deal on an HP TouchPad for my birthday: he went on to buy me this case for it…trimmed in pink!

I used it when we went away last weekend to keep the TouchPad from getting banged up in the suitcase.

He also got me a dock thingy (dontcha love my technological expertise? 🙂 ) in which the TouchPad rests nearly upright while still charging the battery. I’ve got it on the kitchen counter and I’m loving the “Shuffle” mode to play the CDs I loaded onto it. That feature is way-old news for those of you with iPods and such, but this is the first time I’ve used it. It’s like listening to a radio without commercials! And it’s bringing up songs I hadn’t listened to in a while. Love it!

2. Coolness. The temperatures have been really pleasant this week, such a relief from the heat but not too chilly yet. Some leaves are even starting to change — I don’t know if we’re in for an early fall. Traditionally we’ll usually have some more hot days before fall fully arrives. But this has been a lovely week temperature-wise.

3. Wraps. I had one for lunch last week and one at a restaurant a while back while traveling. They make for a refreshing, not too heavy meal. At home I usually have one with instant ramen noodle cup-of-soups — maybe not the healthiest thing on the planet, but every now and then it really hits the spot.

4. Nice people at counters. The lady at the hotel counter where we stayed last weekend was just the perfect blend of niceness — friendly but not overly so, pleasant but not syrupy sweet. It really is refreshing to have someone like that help you rather than someone who acts like they’d rather be somewhere else or could care less if you’re there.

5. A day off. We don’t “celebrate” Labor Day per se, but we do like the day off. No major plans, just puttered around the house, took a really nice nap to the sound of gently falling rain, and got barbecue from a local restaurant. A nice day after a super-busy weekend.

There — I worked in all of the faves I had jotted down without going over five. 🙂

But here is a little bonus I saw in a Victorian Trading Company catalog: I don’t wear boots and these are too expensive, but they are so cute:

Happy Friday!

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. This has been 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 a few favorites from the past week:

1. My birthday was Sunday, but as Sunday is a busy day for us, we spread the “festivities” out over the weekend. My family did a wonderful job making me feel special. 🙂

2. An unexpected gift. In our family, by request we usually try to give some ideas of what we might like for gifts so that we can get something the recipient truly likes and wants rather than fodder for the next yard sale or donation box. But sometimes people like to veer off the list, and that’s fine, too. After HP announced that they weren’t going to make their Touchpads any more, the prices dropped, and my husband got one for me. You may remember a few weeks ago I was pondering what kind of iProduct to get, and this wasn’t even on my radar, but it works nicely! My regular computer is a desktop, so it is nice to be able to take this in the family room when we’re watching TV or when everyone else is using their laptops. I put all the music from the computer on it yesterday (all by myself! Almost…I did have to make one phone call to Jeremy…), so now I can take it from room to room to listen to whatever I want.

3. Four Layer Dessert. Instead of making one 9 x 13 pan of it, I made one 8 x 8 pan with chocolate and another with banana pudding and bananas and strawberries for a dinner we went to Monday night. It was nice to have both options, and now I’ve found a way to make a smaller version. I used to only make this for company or potlucks because the whole pan was too much for just us (and I love this stuff so much, I was afraid I’d eat the whole thing….:oops:)

4. A weekend free of cooking. We went out to dinner for my birthday Saturday night, and then Jim grilled hamburgers Sunday (so good!) And I only had to make dessert Monday, so I had a nice little break.

5. A cake stand from Jason and Mittu…

…that can also be used in several other ways as well.

(BTW, to my family, I liked ALL my gifts, but just wanted to highlight a couple here. 🙂 ) I also got some books (always a fave!), some exercise equipment I had wanted (resistance bands and a stability ball, which I used to think was silly but have really enjoyed using), a gift card to Joanne’s, and a Scrabble Flash game. They do spoil me, don’t they?

Bonus: This stuff:

I keep their Carolina Sweet flavor of barbecue sauce on hand, but I didn’t know they made this! Jim discovered it at the store and used it on the burgers Sunday. Mmm, mmm, good!

Have a great weekend!

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. This has been 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 a few favorites from the past week:

1. Jeremy’s birthday and visit. My oldest son came down from RI last Thursday through Tuesday and we celebrated his birthday over several days. Though technology has greatly helped span the gap, there’s still nothing like having a loved one actually here.

2. A computer fix. My last Firefox update created some annoying problems — not major, but bothersome. Jeremy was able to fix those and it has made my computer time so much nicer.

3. Aussie Sydney Smooth No Frizz hair gel. My hair is a mess without it.

4. Jesse’s getting his driver’s license. Earlier this week I confessed I had mixed emotions about this, but it has been nice already that he can take himself to and from school.

5. Getting up earlier. I never thought I’d say that — not setting my alarm clock is one of the best parts of summer. But over the summer I tend to stay up later and later and then get up later — I don’t sleep more than usual, just at different times. Yet I do feel I get more accomplished when I get up earlier even if I do need a nap during the day. So school starting this week and the change in schedule is a good thing, but it is taking me a few days to adjust.

Bonus: I got word just this morning that an article I submitted to a magazine was accepted. 😀 I’ll let you know when it comes out, which may be any time within the next two years.

Have a great weekend! My birthday is on Sunday, and since that’s a busy day, we’re doing some celebrating Saturday and then having cake on Sunday after church. I’m not at the age yet that I don’t enjoy birthdays — I think I always will!

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. This has been 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.

Last week I had to search a little for five faves — not this week!

1. Jeremy (my oldest son) is home! His flight was delayed and didn’t get in til 1:30 this morning, so we’re all a little bleary-eyed, but happy.

2. Surprising friends at a wedding. The daughter of some of our oldest and dearest friends was getting married, not in her home town about three hours from us, but way up in northern Ohio. We were so sad that we couldn’t go…but then the week before my husband looked on the map, saw it was only eight hours away, and as we didn’t have anything else planned for the weekend — we decided to go and surprise them. We left early Saturday morning, got to the hotel with a little time to rest and eat, went to the wedding, slept, and then zipped (ha!) back here Sunday. You have to understand, I am not very spontaneous and I don’t usually travel well, but I thoroughly enjoyed this trip! My “travel issues” were at a minimum, and it was such a joy to see our friends and celebrate this special time of the first wedding among their children. The change in routine was very refreshing instead of stressful (for me — my poor dear hubby had to drive another six hours the next day). And I got two books read during the drive! (I could just about have made a whole FFF just from this trip!)

3. Seeing old friends. Besides the friends I mentioned, about seven other friends from early married days in SC were there whom we hadn’t known were coming, and it was fun to catch up with them.

4. French Silk Pie at Perkins, not a place we go often, but I love that place! We stopped there for lunch on our way home as a break from fast food. I couldn’t eat it at lunch time, but we had a cooler to keep on the way home. Not so good for the diet, but a wonderful occasional splurge.

5. A master packing list. I created one on the computer some time ago, and that helps so much!

We’re looking forward to a weekend with the whole family together and celebrating Jeremy’s birthday on Monday. Hope you have a great weekend, too!

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. This has been 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.

This week it’s been a little difficult to come up with five favorite things. It hasn’t been a bad week, per se, but there have not been any standout moments that I could easily list. I try not to repeat things on FFF, but then, I know it’s perfectly fine to be repeatedly thankful for regular occurrences. 🙂 So you might have seen a few of these before, but they’re still favorites.

1. Air conditioning.

2. The end of July. I’m not ready for the summer schedule to end but I am definitely glad this hot month is over and we’re one month closer to cooler weather in the fall. It’ll still be hot here for many weeks to come, though.

3. Pizza and movie nights with the family. Streaming Netflix has been great!

4. Encouraging comments from readers.

5. Not needing many school supplies and finding good deals on them. One really nice thing as kids get older is that they can reuse many school supplies from the previous year. I had a minimal amount to buy and was pleased to find some great deals. Even last year’s school uniforms fit!

I’m looking forward to the coming week mainly because my oldest son, Jeremy, is coming home for his birthday! We haven’t seen him since Christmas (except for Skype and Face Time), the longest stretch that we’ve been apart from any of our kids.

Hope you have a great weekend!

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. This has been 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 a few favorites from the past week:

1. Chicken teriyaki. Back in SC we used to love a Japanese place in the mall. It was fast food but a nice switch from burgers and breaded, fried chicken. And the people there seemed to know the families of their regular customers — I think they acted like that with everyone, really, but if I was there by myself they asked about the rest of the family. Then the guy who was assembling our food asked if we wanted “yummy yummy sauce.” 🙂 We always did. The same Japanese place is in the mall here in TN, but the mall is 20 minutes away, so it’s too far out for a quick stop for dinner. The food was still good: the people, though, were different, of course, and the guy on the end — well, I couldn’t understand exactly what he was saying, but he was holding the ladle of sauce over my plate, so I assumed he was asking me if I wanted some. So it was a little surreal in some ways, but I’d been craving their chicken teriyaki and it was good to have it again.

2. Jesse’s home! I know, I mentioned last week that my youngest son was due back after being on a mission/camp trip for ten days, the longest he has ever been away before. But I was just anticipating it last week, and this week I have the reality. 🙂

3. Air conditioning in my car. I know I have mentioned AC before, but the car is probably the place I can cool off the quickest, with the AC turned up and the vents aimed right at my face.

4. Carrie’s Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge. I’ve enjoyed getting back into these books.

5. A low-key week after a very busy one.

Hope you have a great weekend!