Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on May 13, 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 is one of those weeks when it’s not hard at all to name five blessings – in fact, it will be hard to keep it to five!

1. Mother’s Day. I so appreciate my family’s efforts to make it a special day for me. Flowers, a balloon, a great lunch, and thoughtful cards and gifts. Plus my husband replenished my hanging flower baskets and planters.

Mother’s Day Dinner

2. The Church Ladies’ Brunch with my daughter-in-law. Heard a wonderful testimony and participated in “speed friending” – we sat across from another lady, took turns asking each others questions from a provided list, and moved to the next person when someone rang a bell after 3 minutes or so. We did that for about half an hour, so we got to meet and get a little acquainted with ten ladies.

3. Mexican food take-out on either Friday or Saturday night, I can’t remember. It was good!

4. Refurbished swing. I showed you recently how my patio swing had deteriorated after just four years. My husband painted it and built a new seat and back for it. We sat in it and talked last night.

Rusty, deteriorating swing

Refurbished swing!

5. Thoughtful son and daughter-in-law. As I write this on Thursday afternoon, I got back not long ago from a follow-up visit to the cardiologist. Everything’s fine – I’m told to keep doing what I am doing and he’ll see me in a year unless something comes up (Yea!) Because the appointment was a distance away, they took a long time to call me back, traffic was heavy, and it was raining, I spent most of the afternoon out. Then my son texted me asking if I’d like them to bring or make dinner tonight. Well, sure! I can’t imagine that I’ll ever turn down someone else making me a meal! But especially on a busy day, it’s nice to be able to just relax until dinner time instead of having to start dinner. I’m not sure what we’ll have, but I know it will be good!

Happy Friday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on May 6, 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.

My posting has not gone as planned this week….but perhaps that means the things I wanted to work on either weren’t in God’s plan yet and/or need more incubation. 🙂 But here are some high points of the last week:

1. A meal with my husband in a restaurant. I think you call that a date. 🙂 All the kids had other plans for lunch Sunday, and there was a little Asian place near church we thought we could get in and out of before Great-Grandma’s caregiver had to leave. We did. It was very nice!

2. The tree saga is finally over. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that we had about 50 trees that were dead (hemlocks, we were told) and needed to be cut down. We’ve had guys coming by and leaving their business cards for tree-cutting for months now. We called one who worked about 15 hours over three weeks and got 17 of them down, but would not show up or answer calls for days and then asked for more money. We finally gave him a deadline, and when that passed with the job unfinished, we moved on. The second guy did the same thing over a weekend, and we decided we weren’t going through this again. The third guy had a much higher bid, but he dug in and stuck with it til it was done. They’re all down now, so it’s nice to have it taken care of (and to enjoy the lack of chainsaw noise. 🙂 ).

3. Privacy. We were afraid that taking down the trees would remove any privacy from the neighbors directly behind us. We do most of our living on that side of the house and I wasn’t keen on being able to be seen through the windows. But one had enough shrubs and trees in their back yard that it’s not a problem, and the other house is empty. We’re planning on putting a fence up, but it’s nice we don’t have to feel on display until then.

4. Little grandson kisses. Timothy’s gotten more kissy lately. Nothing sweeter than a little boy being glad to see you, wanting up, and pulling you in for a kiss. ♥

5. Gluten-free snacks. My d-i-l has to avoid gluten due to stomach issues. We’ve found good alternatives to most things, but sweet snacks seem the hardest to use anything other than wheat flour. I passed by these in the store yesterday and thought they looked good – and they were!!!

We’ve been enjoying beautiful spring weather this week. A little rain one day, but otherwise sunny, with today being just the right degree of coolness.

Happy Friday!

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!