Sunday Stealing

It's Sunday and I'm playing along with Bev and the Sunday stealing questions and they are some good questions this week.

1.What is your favorite animal?

I am not a big animal lover, never have been, but this fella right here, well, he stole my heart the minute I met him.  His name was Tater and he was a Goldendoodle that belonged to my brother and his family.  This past February Tater passed away and need I say, it was a sad, sad day.  If I were to ever have an animal/pet it would be a miniature Goldendoodle for sure.

2.Your dream vacation?

I have been fortunate to go on some wonderful trips over my lifetime but we've never been to Banff, Canada.  We've given serious thought but somehow we've just never gone.  I want to go and stay at the Fairmont.  It may remain a dream at this point but, there's nothing wrong with dreaming. Right?

3.Last person's house you were in?

It was a gal that's in a study club with me.  She was the hostess this month and our meeting was this past Thursday.  She has a lovely home and we had a great meeting and lunch.

4.Worst injury you've ever had?

Several years ago I was reaching in the back seat of my vehicle with my right arm.  I had my seat
belt on and didn't bother to undo it.  I stretched and hyper-extended my shoulder and paid a big, big price a couple of years later.  I ended up having to have surgery to repair a torn tendon.  A lesson learned for sure.

5.Last play you saw?

It was at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa this past April.  My nephew was the star and I cannot remember the name of it.. It was a great show and it really aggravates me that I can't remember what it was.

6. Ever go to camp?

Yes, but it has been more years than I care to admit.  I went to church camp growing up and had more fun than a barrel of monkey's.  I think camp is such a wonderful opportunity for kids.

7.Were you an honor roll student in school?

No, I was not, I was just a good ole average gal.  Thankfully, the world is made up of average folks, so I fit right in.

8.What do you want to know about the future?

Well, there are some things I would like to know but that will stay between me and the good Lord as He continues to teach me to not fret over the things to come. The future is completely in His hands and whatever may come He has always and will continue to see me through.

9.Are you wearing any perfume or cologne?

No, I do wear it occasionally, but not like I use to.  And, what I wear is light and airy, not a heavy scent that knocks folks down. Jean Baptiste by Morgan Niven is my very favorite.

10.Are you due sometime this year for a doctor's visit?

Indeed!  I have annual check ups with several Doctors and I haven't finished seeing all of them yet.  I'm all about being proactive when it comes to my health.

11.Where is your best friend?

I have no idea.

12.Do you have a tan?

No! it's been so long since I had anything except a "tan out of bottle" that I can't even remember.

13.What are you listening to right now?

The LSU/Rice game on TV.  Hubby is watching it and of course, I'm sitting here answering these questions and listening to it.

14.Do you collect anything?

No, I really don't anymore.  But, I sure have in the past and still have a couple of the collections but sold the others.   I decided several years ago that I needed to quit collecting as they just become more stuff that someone will have to deal with one of these days.

15.Who is the biggest gossiper you know?

I mean really, do you think I'd put it out here for all to read? I don't think so.

16.Last time you got stopped by a cop or pulled over?

It was about 6 years ago for speeding.  I do not speed as in really speeding but I think I was going 55 in a 45.  The ticket was expensive too, hurt my feelings really bad! ~grin~

17.What does your last text message say?

18.Do you like hot sauce?

YES! I love hot sauce on most anything.  You almost can't get any food too hot for me.

19.Do you need to do laundry?

No, I do not.  I did 4 loads today (Saturday) and my baskets are empty. ~love it~

20.What is your heritage?

Deep Christian roots.  My Dad was a minister and our families lives revolved around the church and its activities. As a result, I accept Christ as my Savior when I was 7 years old.  I treasure the richness of my heritage. something money cannot buy!

Saturday 9

It's Saturday and that means 9 questions to answer. I always enjoy this meme and hope you enjoy it as well. 

Saturday 9: Sentimental Journey (1945)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
I'm very familiar with today's tune and have always loved listening to Doris Day sing it.

1) Doris sings that she has her bag packed. Tell us about your luggage. Is your bag easy to spot on the luggage carousel?




Indeed it is!  I purposely bought red so that I could spot it a mile away.  And, it has worked.  There is always a few more red pieces but not near about as many as black.  I've had mine for about 10 years and use it only for flying.  I use a less tough luggage for car travel. 

2) The release of this song coincided with VE Day, and so it meant a great deal to troops returning home from Europe. What song has sentimental value for you? Why?


I absolutely love God Bless America by Lee Greenwood.  It sends chills over me as he sings about the men who died for my freedom. 

3) As a young girl, Doris was passionate about dance. Concentrating in the studio and performing on stage helped distract her from heartache and embarrassment over her parents' divorce. When you want to escape from what's troubling you, what do you do?
First I begin praying and asking for wisdom and  that I will have the where with all to lay it down.  And, I stay busy.  As they say, "an idle mind is the devil's workshop." 

4) Her dancing days came to an end when, at age 15, she was in a car accident and damaged her leg. During her recovery, she discovered how much she enjoyed singing with the radio, and was delighted to find others enjoyed hearing her. Tell us about a time you unexpectedly found happiness or success.
Well, my greatest success would have to be my son and daughter.  No, they are no perfect but it makes me happy as I watch them live their lives today, especially as a parent.  It wasn't an unexpected happiness but nonetheless, the first thing that came to my mind.  I can't think of an unexpected happiness or success other than them.  Perhaps when I read others answers something else will come to mind.
  
5) She moved from singer to actress in the late 1940s and was a major movie star for 25 years. She was paired with the most popular leading men of her time -- everyone from Clark Gable to Frank Sinatra to Rock Hudson. If you could share a kiss with any actor or actress, who would you choose?

Harrison Ford. This is a picture of him when he was very young and of course, as with all of us, he is much older now but, he's still one of my favorites. 

6) 1968 was a terrible year for Doris. First, she suddenly became a widow. Then she discovered that her late husband and his business partner had squandered her money and she had to file for bankruptcy. Oh, wait! There's more! She also found that, in his role as her manager, her late husband had, without her knowledge, committed her to a weekly TV series. Do you have a 1968? What year you can point to and say, "Wow, I'm glad that's over"?
The first one to come to my mind would be 2010.  In 2010 my Dad was diagnosed with Guillian Barre Syndrome.  He was a sick, sick man and was in a hospital 2 hours away from where we live and I pretty much lived in a hotel that entire summer while he was hospitalized.  We did not think he would live and I had just lost my Mom in 2008 and I  wasn't sure I was going to survive. But, he did survive and made an amazing recovery for his age and I survived as well.  It was a year to remember for sure!

7) After retiring from show business, she became an advocate for animal welfare. She has said we should be more sensitive to the loneliness, sadness and guilt people feel when they lose a pet. Think of a time you were grieving. What words or gestures helped you through? Conversely, what's something no one should ever say to someone who is hurting?
My Mom died very suddenly from a major stroke and a precious older lady said to me, "Lea, you will never get over losing your Mom, but you will get through it."  I cannot tell you how many times I have pondered those words.  They were so, so true!

I do not think that anyone should say, "I know just how you feel."  No one, no one, knows how you feel.  They may have gone through the same loss or same experience but we all handle things differently and no one really knows how we feel.  We might say, "I can imagine how you feel as I've faced a similar loss or experience."  We all mean well when we say such but to a hurting person it is not comforting.

8) Doris' only child was her son, record producer Terry Melcher. Terry had a successful, years-long collaboration with The Beach Boys. Do you have a favorite Beach Boys song?


Just one?  I loved the Beach Boys!  To name a few, Good Vibrations, In My Room, California Girls, God Only Knows and Wouldn't It Be Nice.

9) Random question: What's one thing you've never done, but have always wanted to try?

This is not a big deal but I have never done Yoga and have always thought I'd try it.  I haven't yet and guess if I'm going to, I probably should get on it.  I've heard such good things about it.  Perhaps I'll put that on my list for 2019. 

Wednesday Medley

1.  With the holidays coming, what is your most essential appliance to help you prepare for the celebrations?

It would be my oven(s). I think everything, except the gravy and the congealed salad) that I am preparing for our Thanksgiving has to be baked/cooked in the oven.  Thank goodness I have two ovens and I really do not know how I survived almost 35 years of only having one oven.

2.  What is your favorite (clean) word?

It's two words, Have Mercy.  I don't know that I've ever thought about it being my favorite, but I say it all the time.  So, that indicates that it must be my favorite I suppose.  There are just so many things to "have mercy" over today. 

3.  Are you a good judge of character?
I've gotten much better as I've gotten older.  In my younger years I was often easily fooled and then so shocked when I found out otherwise. I tend to want to give benefit of the doubt and that's okay up to a point but you can't let folks pull the wool over your eyes. 

4. What is the last thing you took a picture of? Can you share it with us?

I was going to post this on FB as my first "touch" of Christmas but I didn't.  I was at Wal-Mart yesterday and saw these gorgeous Christmas cactus and decided I wanted to get a couple.  I'm hoping they will be very happy in this window and "show their stuff."

5. Tomorrow, November 15, is Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day.  How do you intend to celebrate?

Humm............I do not have anything to clean out as I am a fanatic about a "clean" refrigerator.  No joke, leftovers are cleaned out as soon as they are no longer safe to eat and items that have outlived their "safe date" are thrown out quickly.  But, I suppose I can give it a quick look over just to make sure it's clean and orderly tomorrow.

6. Tell us something random about your week!

Coleman has been working on being potty trained for the past couple of months.  He was 3 on August 31st and his nursery school workers introduced him to the potty shortly after school started.  He got the "tee-tee" part figured out about 2 weeks ago but has shown no interest in the "poo-poo" part.  That is until yesterday.  He decided yesterday afternoon that he wanted to give it a try on the potty and he was so excited afterwards.  He called his Poppa and me to share his achievement.  I guess that might have been TMI but it's a big deal in our family.  This little guy is our last one to grow out of diapers. He's a big boy now.

And, I leave you with this..........

Lately.........

And, here's what's been going on lately.............

I have replaced some of my fall decor with more of a Thanksgiving look.  I love these tall candlesticks and the lovely fall candle rings sitting atop.  These will serve as our Thanksgiving table scape. The candlesticks are plenty tall enough to remain in place during the meal.

I love turkey's and the one on top is one I've had a few years and the one on bottom is a new one.  I tried to talk myself out of buying him but he was just so pretty and he's really BIG.  He makes quite a statement sitting on the end of our bar.

Okay, I really stepped out of "my box" with this.  I rarely post any pictures of myself modeling/styling clothes.  It's sort of out of my comfort zone.  But, I just had to show you my camouflage jeggings.  I was shopping with my daughter when I saw these, tried them on and Bridget really liked them on me so I bought them.  For a gal that's a more classic style gal, this look was definitely out of "my box."  Andrea and Lisa, I know I should have had these pics taken outside but it was a rainy day and I ran to my husband's office and had one of the staff snap these real quick. ~just sayin'~ I'll try to do better next time. ~smile~

This past Friday was my Dad's 89th birthday. My brother and I hosted a party for him at the facility where he lives.  Several folks that have known him over the years dropped by to join in the celebration as well.  As you can see, he was really enjoying all the attention from the women.~chuckle~

My youngest brother and his wife came in from Iowa to help with the celebration and to spend the weekend with us.  Daddy had such a wonderful time and he will be recovering the remainder of the week from all the excitement of his birthday and the weekend. 

And I leave you with this...........

Saturday 9 - The Middle

Saturday 9: The Middle (2018)
I have never, ever heard this song, but I will sure do my best to answer the questions.

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song is about compromise. When did you recently give in a little and meet someone halfway?

2) She sings that the floors are wet. Are there any floors in your home that could use a good scrub today? If you answered "yes," will those floors get cleaned this weekend?


The floors in the areas that Hubby and I live in are mopped every week and this week they got a good steam mopping.  We have Acacia wood floors throughout our house, and I don't use steam on them very often but every once in a while I like to deep clean them.  

3) She also sings that the cabinets are bare. What's currently on your shopping list?

Candy and ice cream for my Daddy. (My Daddy was 89 years old yesterday and he can pretty much have any and all candy that his heart desires.)  I have been to the grocery every day this week so there is absolutely nothing that we need at this time.  My brother and his wife are here visiting and I always seem to buy a good bit more when company is here. 

4) You may be familiar with this song from Target's TV commercials. Do you often shop at Target?

I do not shop at Target near as much as I would like to. It's about 22 miles from where I live and not really on my "beating path" when I go to that area.  I have to make a special effort to go and when I do I thoroughly enjoy myself. 

5) The lead vocal is handled by Maren Morris, a Grammy winner for "My Church," which is all about singing with the car radio. What's the last song you sang along with?


It was one of my all time favorites, Could I Have This Dance.  I sang along with Anne Murry, also one of my all time favorite artist.

6) This past April, Maren married singer-songwriter Ryan Hurd and they have performed onstage together. Who is the last person you sang along with? 
Oh, that would have been about a year and a half  ago when my BFF and I were playing around with a Kareoke machine here at our house. 

7) This song was composed by brothers Kyle and Michael Trewartha. With their bleached hair and sunglasses, they look like a pair of surfer dudes -- which they are, having grown up in Huntington Beach, CA. Is there a body of water near your hometown?
Guess it depends on what you call near.  We're about 75 miles from the mighty Mississippi River.  But, real, real close to our house, is a beautiful pond about 60 feet from our backdoor. ~smile~

8) January 2018, when this song debuted, we had a total lunar eclipse. When things like that happen in the sky, do you go out of your way to watch?
Well, I have seen a few happenings in the sky over my life time and did watch the eclipse in January. I don't know that I really go out of my way, but things of this nature are so rare that I definitely want to see them if at all possible. 

9) Random question -- They say we're all young at heart. In what way can you be childlike?


I can get the giggles pretty easily and did just that very recently.  I started laughing and thought I'd never get myself under control.  It was over something that I read on Facebook that was one of the funniest things I've ever read.  

Wednesday Medley

It's Wednesday and Terri from Your Friend from Florida creates questions for those that want to play along each week.  

What is your claim to fame?



I think the main thing would be my gift of organization. Both my Dad and Mom were highly organized so I pretty much came into the world organized.  I think that an organized life is a productive life.  But, to each his own.  

What is something you like to do the old-fashioned way?



I still, and likely always will, keep a wall calendar with all our appointments and activities on it.  I do use my IPhone calendar as well, but only for birthdays.  I like being able to look at the entire month on my big wall calendar.  It's very satisfying to me. ~smile~

What did you think you would grow out of but haven’t?


I have never liked or eaten tomatoes, meatloaf or dark chicken.  And, that still remains.  I do not like the texture of tomatoes or meatloaf and I just don't like the look of dark meat chicken.  I've always been this way and can't see me changing at this point.

What is the dumbest thing you’ve done that actually turned out pretty well?



Well, just yesterday I was in Wal-Mart with quite a long list.  I had a dentist appointment at 11:00 and I went to Wal-Mart around 8:45 and I knew I would have plenty of time to get all the things on my list, bring them home and then get to the dentist by 11:00.  I was almost finished with my shopping and looked down at my watch and it was 10:30.  I almost fainted  and hurried over to check out.  I decided that I did not have time to bring the items home so I would just go on to the dentist and barely make it.  I loaded everything in the car and jumped in to head to the dentist.  When I looked at my dash I saw that the clock said 9:40.  Of course, I suddenly remembered that I had not reset my watch (that's what happens when you have more than one watch) with the new DST.  I ended up having plenty of time. 

If you had to change your name, what would you change it to?
Oh, I can't imagine changing my name but I would change the spelling of my name.  My name is Leah, but I spell it Lea.  My parents always wished they had spelled it with an H but said they were so excited when I was born that they were not thinking straight.  As a result I've often been called Lee.

What is something random you can tell us about this week?

I know, Halloween was a week ago but I didn't get these cuties posted so thought I'd do it now.  We had a sweet princess, a cute unicorn, a baseball player and a scary skelton.  They had their Halloween fun at their churches festivals and the girls got to go on a hayride. 

TBB Asks - Giving Thanks Edition

It's the first Monday of the month (can you believe it's November) and that means the Blended Blog gals have questions and I have answers.

1. Have you ever kept a Gratitude Journal? Yes or No? 
I have not and have thought about it many times, but have not acted on that thought.  I think it would do everyone good to keep one.  

2. Hosting Thanksgiving at your house? Yes or No?

Yes, I will be hosting the Thanksgiving meal here this year.  The past two years we have gone to the country club for their scrumptious buffet.  We will have our son and family and one of Hubby's sisters and her husband and my Daddy.  Not a lot but hopefully it will be very nice.  I've put a whole lot of planning into the meal and doing as much as possible in advance.  I love being "one step ahead."

3. Favorite Food from The Thanksgiving Meal?
It would be a toss up between sweet potato casserole or dressing and gravy. I rarely ever eat either one other than at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

4. What one thing in Nature are you most grateful for? 

The bayous here in Louisiana are just beautiful this time of year.  The Cypress trees are in full of color and we are blessed to have a lot of bayous in our area.  It's something that many have never or may never see.  I'm grateful I get to see them regularly. 

5. Pumpkin Pie: Yes or No?

Oh, indeed! I love pumpkin pie and again, I never eat it except during the holidays.  That makes it all the better.

6. Traditional Cookbook: Yes or No?
I do rarely use a cookbook anymore.  I just go straight to the internet for my recipes.  It's much quicker.  I still have some great cookbooks and on rare occasions I will actually use them.

7. Oven Baked or Deep-Fried Turkey?
I'll take Deep-Fried but we are having neither this year.  I have ordered a smoked turkey breast.  It's soooo much easier to serve.

8. Thanksgiving Leftovers: Yes or No? 
Yes, don't mind eating them once but no more. Enough is enough. ~grin~

9. What is one household product your most grateful for?

I love, love Viva paper towels and use them many times a day.  I love many other products too but these were the first thing to come to my mind. They are like cloth. If you use another brand, you should give Viva a try, I'm betting you'll like them too.

10. Are you most grateful for home cooked meals or restaurant meals? 

Well, I might be lying if I said home cooked because we eat out half the time.  So, guess I'll go with restaurant meals.  Generally our eating out is as much a social event as anything else and we really enjoy it.