Post-Thanksgiving Hodgepodge...

Thank you, Joyce, for this week's Hodgepodge as you continue to put your new home in order! Click on her 'button' below to join in with all of us Hodgepodgers!

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 288

Let's burn off some of those Thanksgiving calories with the Hodgepodge, shall we? Blogging definitely burns calories. I know I sweat when I write the questions-ha! Here's the drill for anyone new here today...answer on your own blog, then waddle over here tomorrow (Wednesday) to share answers with the whole wide world. Our little corner of it anyway! Here we go-

1. Give us three rhyming words that say something about your Thanksgiving holiday (or your most recent holiday gathering if you didn't celebrate Thanksgiving). Grateful-Flavorful-Plateful

2. When did you last say, 'the more the merrier'? Did you mean it?  I usually say it when inviting folks to Thanksgiving dinner, and yes - I really do mean it.

3. What's one piece of advice you'd give someone who is your same age?  Chill.  We're too old to hold grudges or be anxious about things out of our control.

4. You're ordering a veggie plate, what four veggies are on it?  brussel sprouts, broccoli, green beans and black beans (actually, the only veggie I won't eat is okra; I love vegetables)

5. Shop til you drop! Did you? Nope.  Have you ever?  I am not a shopper.  Will you between now and Christmas?  No.  Amazon is my best friend this time of year!

6. What's your favorite chair in your house, and why is it a favorite?  We have a reclining sofa and loveseat in the living room.  Joe and I use the loveseat.  It is comfy and positioned for the best view of our TV.

7. Share an early memory of faith, religion, or spirituality.  My earliest memories of going to church are associated with Easter Sunday.  Dressing up in new clothes, new shoes, a bonnet and gloves AND Grandpa always had a corsage for "his girls" to wear to church.  I think I understood the importance of Easter because we attended Sunday School (Methodist).  My faith grew as I grew up.  I took the required classes to "join" the Methodist church as a young teen. Now I know "religion" isn't as important as a strong faith in Jesus Christ.  Of course I have early memories of Christmas and that it is the birthday of Jesus, but Easter has a stronger faith feeling for me from those early years.  Christmas could get confused with Santa in ways Easter didn't get confused with the Easter Bunny, I think.  For me, anyway.  

BUT...my mom sang in the choir at church and those old hymns from the red Methodist hymnal (I have her copy) are locked in my brain and heart like treasures.  Treasures.

8. Insert your own random thought here.  To continue the above theme... Like many people, I didn't attend church for many years during my early adulthood.  My first husband (I married at age 19) wasn't religious and after the divorce I didn't seek out a church family.  When I met Joe, his very strong faith in Jesus Christ and the example he had set for the boys during his first wife's battle with cancer and her subsequent death was meaningful and inspirational to me.  I started attending church with him and the boys. When we started talking marriage, I went to classes to join the Catholic church.  Joe went with me to those classes and we had many good discussions about what I was learning.  I also had to file for an annulment of my first marriage (which took 16 months).  Joe brought me back to church.  I never lost my belief in Jesus, but I had strayed.  Now I've been Catholic for 33 years (in two weeks, it will be 33 years).  Quite a journey and one I traveled with much love and support. I do miss those old Methodist hymns, though! 

Thanks for your visit today!!  Peace & hugs!

Tuesday Tidbits....

 

Oh my goodness, Monday was the LONGEST day I've spent at work in a while.  It just seemed like 5:00 would never arrive.  But...it finally did!

Home Christmas decorations will take most of the week, since we didn't get things done over the weekend with Joey and Darlene there.  I did put away my few Thanksgiving items at work and got my office decorated for Christmas.

Welcome to my office....

I always hang my stocking, but no one ever fills it!

That's a cat holding a Christmas tree made of fish with a mouse on top.

My sister, Patti, gave it to me ? years ago. I don't have it at home because the cats would knock it over and it is made of ceramic.  It is purrfect for my desk, though!

I hope your Monday wasn't as draggy (is that a word?) as mine!  LOL  Wishing you a good Tuesday and I thank you for your visit!  Peace & hugs!

Weekend Recap on Monday!

Our long holiday weekend has ended.  Sure went fast. We had such a nice time with Joe and Darlene here (and the grandpups).  I wrote about Thanksgiving and have read about most of yours, so let's go to Friday.

Friday, Joe and Joey ventured out to Home Depot and came back with one of the scatter lights that Joe decided he didn't like, but now does. LOL  We turned it on last night and it looks good. (No picture yet - later.)  No climbing on ladders this year!!  We did little else. Just chilled.

Saturday we got up early again because we still had the neighbor's cats to take care of. They got home early evening on Saturday and said the cruise was great. We were happy to turn it back over to them and were able to sleep in on Sunday morning.

We went downtown to the Farmer's Market and walked it back and forth, then went to the Lakeland Brewing Company for some lunch.  Joey and Darlene enjoy craft beers so we thought they would enjoy it and they did.  The City has finished putting Christmas decorations in Munn Park (our "central park" downtown). We picked at the last of the leftovers for our dinner.

Sunday we slept in a bit and then we went out to breakfast at Reececliff.  Good stuff.  Back home for some TV  (all of us hooked on The Walking Dead).  Talk about a slugfest....

I made a big pot of soup with the leftover dark meat (Williamsburg Inn Turkey Soup).  I love that soup and make it every year after Thanksgiving but I do not follow the recipe exactly. I don't cook the carcass and I use chicken broth instead of the water (since I'm not boiling the bones). Everything else goes, however. It is delicious.

Last week I posted a picture of the 'mansion' being built on Lake Hollingsworth and a couple of you wanted to see more photos of it.  I got these for you....

This is the front of the house.

So, that was our weekend.  Back to work today.....sigh.  Retirement is coming closer and closer.

Thanks for your visit!  Peace & hugs.

After Thanksgiving Sunday Stealing....

Thanks to Bud and all for this week's Sunday Stealing!!  Join in HERE....

The Silver Thanksgiving Questions

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. You may have heard the expression, “honor among thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we try to credit the blog that we stole it from. We also provide a link to the victim's meme in our "Previous Victims" widget. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") Sometimes we edit the original meme, to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, to select the best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from recently asked questions from a previously post. 

We found this gem... from from a blogger who calls himself Silverguy of the site MD Junction. I’d like to tell you more but that’s all I’ve got. That site is a Blogspot or Wordpress wannabe but it is more like you have Blogger logos all over your blog. I hope you had a terrific Thanksgiving. (We apologize to our international players for having questions about an American holiday.)

Time to toast! 

Cheers to all of us thieves! 


How many Thanksgivings do you attend? Just one.

Where do you attend Thanksgiving(s)?  Right here at home.

What is your favorite dish?  All of them!  LOL

What is your least favorite dish at Thanksgiving?  I don't make anything I don't like.

What, if any, are your Thanksgiving traditions?  Food, family, friends, food...did I mention food?

Name your FAV thing about Thanksgiving. See above.

Do you make anything for Thanksgiving? All but the pies and cranberry salad.  If yes, share what and why. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, mac & cheese, green beans, corn casserole, pickle plate, gravy....

Out of everything you eat at Thanksgiving, what can YOU cook the best? I think it was all good.

What do you drink with your Thanksgiving feast?  Water, then coffee with the pie.

Has there ever been a feud during your Thanksgiving?  Nope.

Do you have Appetizers before you Thanksgiving meal?  Nope.

How many people attend your Thanksgiving(s)?  This year there were six.  If yes, who?  Son, daughter-in-law, dear friends.

Have you ever missed a Thanksgiving?  Nope.  Been around for all 64 of them!

What kind of pie/cake/dessert do you eat for dessert?  This year we had berry pie, pecan pie and pumpkin pie with ice cream.

Do you ever play games at Thanksgiving?  No.

Name 3 things you are Thankful for:  Family, friends and food on the table.

Is there anyone who has normally attended Thanksgiving, that will not be there this year?  Yes. Who?  One of our friends' husband died, so we are missing him. 

Name the funniest person at your Thanksgiving this year and tell us more. My husband Joe is always the funniest person.

Which person eats the MOST?  We all do a pretty good job of putting away the food.

Which person eats the LEAST?  Probably our friend who lost her husband. She is tiny.

Do any animals attend Thanksgiving dinner?  Three cats and two dogs this year.

If so, do they get Thanksgiving scraps?  They all got a taste of the turkey.

Who carves the turkey?  Husband, Joe.

Have you ever had to make Thanksgiving all on YOUR OWN?  I do every year.

Do you get along with the people you have thanksgiving with?  Of course!

Is your Thanksgiving formal, or do you just do whatever?  The table is pretty but no one has to dress up for it.  Jeans are fine. We are always comfortable at our house.

Thank you for playing this week on Sunday Stealing! Please leave a comment or link when you have posted. Stop back and visit other player’s posts. That is really what this is all about, making new friends! Have a great week. See you next Sunday! 

Thanks for your visit!!  Peace & hugs.

Saturday 9......

Thanks to Samantha Winters for this week's Saturday 9!  Join in HERE....

Baby's in Black

Welcome to Saturday 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme! 

Saturday 9: Baby's in Black (1964)

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

1) Black is this week's signature color because Friday, November 25, was "Black Friday," when retailers cut their prices and consumers flock to the stores. Did you score any "Black Friday" bargains?  I refuse to venture out into those mad crowds for anything. Nothing is worth being out in that madness. Nothing against those of you who love doing it - it's just not for me.

2) Feasting and football are also popular Thanksgiving weekend pastimes. Do your Thursday-Sunday plans include pigging out or watching a game?  Both! LOL

3) At Thanksgiving dinners, Crazy Sam's homemade gravy is always a hit. (Probably because she's so generous with the cognac, which gives the gravy a nutty taste.) What was particularly delicious at your Thanksgiving table?  I was the chief cook so can't brag, but let's just say no one went away hungry and the leftovers have been hit twice aleady.
 
4) Among the biggest of the Black Friday advertisers are Target, Kohl's, Macy's and Best Buy. If you could have a $100 gift card to any one of those stores, which would you choose?  I don't shop at any of those stores so would see what I could find online at Macy's perhaps.  I'm really not a shopper.

5) This week's song, "Baby's in Black," is about a girl who wears black because she's in mourning. Do you find that the color you're wearing reflects your mood?  I wear black a lot and that doesn't mean I'm in a black mood, so no to what I'm wearing reflecting my mood.
  
6) The woman who inspired this song, Astrid Kirchherr, has been friends with Paul McCartney since he and his bandmates (John Lennon, George Harrison, Stu Sutcliffe and Pete Best) met her in Hamburg back in 1960. Tell us what you believe are the components of a strong, lasting friendship.   Trust and respect.

7) In the early days of the Beatles, Paul McCartney and John Lennon began writing a play but abandoned it. Do you have a novel, painting, play, song or poem that you're going to finish "someday?"  Nope. None of those.

8) When he was 16, George Harrison dreamed of moving to Canada, Australia or Malta. In just a few years, he would visit all those places with Beatles and eventually decided there was no place like home and stayed in England. Have you ever thought about moving to another country?  No.  If so, where? I would not give up my U.S. citizenship, but I have thought it would be nice to have a condo on the Amalfi coast in Italy.

9)  Random question: Finish this sentence -- If you want me to give you "yes" for an answer, the best time to approach me is....I'm not a "yes woman" so no time is a "best time" but I can be persuaded when something makes sense to me.  Logic and common sense.  

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!

Thanks for your visit today!! Hope everyone has recovered from leftovers!  We're still happy to have some! Peace & hugs!

The Day After - Friday Foto Friends....

Linking up with Debbie over at Breathing In Grace for Friday Foto Friends.

I was up early to get the meal started. I have an electric roaster and our 20-pound turkey only took two and a half hours to roast.  To save room in the kitchen, Joe always sets up a table in the garage for me to put the roaster on. It works great! I prepared mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, mac & cheese, a pickle plate with jelled cranberries and beets too, a corn casserole, green beans with almonds, yeast rolls, stuffing, and gravy.  Helen brought pies (berry, pecan, and pumpkin) and Cheryl made a cranberry jello salad. I'm happy to say we will eat good tomorrow and probably the next day too!

Joe and Darlene (and the puppies) arrived from Georgia right at 12:30.  Helen and Cheryl came at 2:00 and we sat down at the table around 2:45.

That photo is the only one I took. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of people, but I didn't.  So that is it for this week's Friday Foto Friends.  In spite of only one photo, we had a great meal, great conversation and lots of love around the table.

Today we are going to just chill a bit.  Joey is going to help get Christmas lights up on the outside of the house and all of the boxes we need out of the attic for us. On to the next holiday!

Thanks for your visit!  Peace & hugs!

Wishing You a Blessed Thanksgiving!

Peace & hugs!!

Thankful for This Week's Hodgepodge!

Thank you, Joyce, for pushing through all you have going on to post this week's Hodgepodge!  If you want to join in the fun and link up with a whole bunch of great Hodgepodgers, click her button below!

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 287

Welcome to another week of Hodgepodging. I'm sure no one has anything else going on-ha! I'm still unpacking my house and have twelve people coming for Thanksgiving dinner, but other than that it's pretty quiet here. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and even though we're still settling in I'm glad we'll have a full house on Thursday. 

Okay, you know the drill...answer on your own blog then waddle back here to share answers with the universe. 

1. What's something you might say runs in your family?  Arthritis, cancer, obesity, hard headedness, much love, plenty of laughter and so much to be thankful for!

2. I read here a list of ten things you should do before 2017 arrives (in less than six weeks!)...which tasks on the list might you do? What would you add to your own 'before the year ends' list?

visit your Dr. or dentist, deep clean your home, donate unwanted items to charity, look someone in the eye and tell them you love them, write an honest letter to yourself, clean up your inbox-desktop-photos, travel to a place you haven't been, compliment a stranger, watch the sunrise, think ahead to your goals/plans for the new year

I have done quite a few of those already.  I won't be writing myself a letter, and though my photos need to be organized, that won't happen before the end of the year. Travel is out.  My plans for the new year include retirement!! There's that word again!! Ha!

3. What's something other generations (not your own) misunderstand about your generation?  I just read a day or so ago that the millennials blame the baby-boomers for all of the woes in the world.  What they don't know is that we have wide and strong shoulders. Go ahead and blame us, but we are the ones who created vaccines against polio, smallpox, measles, mumps and whooping cough; we invented mobile phones; we brought about the end of communism; how about the internet, Spielberg, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Beach Boys, the Bee Gees, the Rolling Stones.  Before baby boomers, if you lived past age 60 you were really old and very lucky - longevity. We still salute the flag and consider ourselves Patriots. Just to name a few things.....

4. Sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, cornbread dressing-which would you miss the most if it weren't on the holiday dinner menu?  Sweet potatoes, I think. They 'say' Thanksgiving to me - with marshmallows on top, of course!

5. What are you over thinking right now?  Maybe what to put on my Christmas list for a few of the more difficult-to-buy-for folks, even though I know they appreciate whatever they get.

6. Your favorite slang word lately?  Can't think of a thing.  How about 'brain fog'!!?

7. Write an acrostic for the word grateful.  

God

Really cares

And gathers us

Together on Thanksgiving to

Eat and share until we are

Full in spirit as well as in body

Ultimately sharing His

Love for us with all who gather in His name.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.  I know that I won't be blogging tomorrow and most likely y'all won't either so I want to wish you (my USA friends) a very happy, safe and blessed Thanksgiving holiday!  I have a feeling we'll be sharing lots of photos on Friday Foto Friends!!   

Sending love, peace & hugs!!  Safe travels if you are out and about!  Be blessed!

Tuesday Tidbits....

I'm sitting here trying to come up with something new to write about and realized all of my "tidbits" were posted in yesterday's blog.

It is quiet at work because half the staff is out.

Joe's car should be ready today (I hope!).

Caring for the neighbors' cats is going okay, including the diabetic one that needs injections. She is being good about it.....sort of good about it.

I'm ready for Thanksgiving, the kids being here and a few days off!!

That's it for today.  Just getting through these last couple of days...

Thanks for your visit!  Peace & hugs!

Monday Weekend Recap....

Monday surely did get here fast!  Let's see....

Friday I had to leave work at lunch time because Joe's car is in the shop and he needed mine for an appointment. Rather than run cars and people back and forth all afternoon, I decided to just take four hours of vacation time. It was a tough thing to do, starting the weekend early, but I was happy to do it for Joe....

When he got home, we took off for Walmart to get my new glasses!  They are different from any I've had in awhile, but I like them....

Saturday we slept late, as we love to do.  I got up around 8:30 and I think Joe made it up a little before 10:00.  After we ate our late breakfast, we took off running errands.  

First, we stopped at Bealls, which is a department store that is found only in the south. I know there is one near my sister in Georgia, but I'm not sure how many locations they have. 

We love shopping there.  We took two Angels from the Angel Tree at church last week.  One was for a five-year-old boy and his mom wanted shoes, a shirt, and pants. We got all three and all I can say is that it costs as much to buy for a little guy as it does to buy for a big guy. We had 'sticker shock' but are happy we could help out this family.  We also got an Angel for helping seniors and shut-ins and got a requested gift card for Publix.

After Bealls, we stopped at Lowe's to look at Christmas lights. Joe insists on putting lights on the outside of the house and it always looks great, but I don't want him up on a ladder anymore. We've been looking at those spotlights that have the red and green 'stars' that cover the whole house. He didn't like them so I am going to ask our son to help while they are here for Thanksgiving. 

After Lowe's, we popped over to Sam's Club for a list of stuff there.  We dropped that off at home and then continued on to Publix for an even bigger list. I think I am ready for the big day and even remembered to put the turkey in the refrigerator yesterday afternoon, to start thawing.

All of that running around actually took almost five hours by the time we were done. Good golly!

Sunday, we were up early for church.  Today is the last day of the Catholic liturgical year because next Sunday begins Advent. We celebrated Christ the King.  One of our Deacons had the sermon. He is very good and reminded us that we need to concentrate on doing things His way, not "my way".

There were enough women selling pecans this week, so I didn't stop to help. I didn't sign up for it but would have helped if they were short-handed. We sold a lot of them last weekend!

After Mass, we went to Reececliff (local diner) for breakfast.  I needed a few things from the drug store, so we stopped at Walgreens, then filled my car up with gasoline ($1.99 a gallon!!!), then Joe had to pick up a prescription at Publix that wasn't ready when we were there on Saturday.  Whew....are you following this?!!

Back home, and I got the laundry started.  We had leftover chicken noodle soup for dinner. I made a big pot of it Saturday. It was good both days. And we DO have soup weather now! It went down into the high 40s last night and will only be in the high 60s today.  I think it will be back to 80 by Thanksgiving Day.

It's a short work week for me. We get two days off for Thanksgiving so Wednesday will be my Friday! It is quiet at work because my co-workers who have kids take the whole week since there isn't any school this week.

Wednesday, I will also leave work early because we help to deliver Thanksgiving meals to the elderly and shut-ins. Lakeland has a wonderful organization here called VISTE (Volunteers in Service to the Elderly).  We have been doing this for a few years now and usually take two meal bags to deliver. Hundreds of volunteers show up to help.  This is a picture I took last year of the volunteers lining up to take a bag or bags to deliver. There were that many behind us, too....

Our church also delivers meals to shut-ins and my church women's group supplies rolls and pies, so after we deliver for VISTE, we will drop off our rolls and a pie for the Knights of Columbus, who are the ones who organize the meals for our church.  

A busy week, but so much to be thankful for!!  Blessings over-flow.

I hope your weekend was a good one! Thanks for your visit!  Peace & hugs.

Sunday Stealing - Welcome Back Bud!

Welcome back to Bud, and thanks for this week's Sunday Stealing!  Join in HERE!!

The Getting to Know You Questions

Welcome back to Sunday Stealing which originated on WTIT: The Blog authored by Bud Weiser. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. You may have heard the expression, “honor among thieves”. In that age-old tradition, we try to credit the blog that we stole it from. We also provide a link to the victim's meme in our "Previous Victims" widget. (It's our way of saying "Thanks!") Sometimes we edit the original meme, to make it more relevant to our global players, to challenge our players, to select the best questions, or simply to make it less repetitive from recently asked questions from a previously post. 

We found this gem from a site named Enkivillage.Its original title was “Questions to ask a guy you want to date”. We only changed the title because the questions were so good, that they are universal. I’d like to thank Kwizgiver for returning during my recent medical leave. Thank you to those who have reached out. Time to toast! 

Cheers to all of us thieves! 

1. Would you prefer to be smart or happy, and why?  Smart. But you can be smart & happy!

2. If you could choose one superpower, what would it be and why?  Maybe x-ray vision because it could come in handy in this day and age.

3. What is your biggest regret in life so far?  I don't have any regrets. Seriously, I don't.

4. If you could marry a fictional character, who would it be and why?  Rhett Butler.  Ha! I have no idea and really don't care.

5. If money and career were no object, where in the world would you choose to live?  Right here, where I am, but I might also have a condo in Italy, one at the beach and a log cabin in the Smokey Mountains.

6. What’s the last book you read that you simply could not put down until you finished?  I read the Outlander series like that.

7. What television show do you plan your day around in order to see it live?  None. We DVR them all so we don't have to watch commercials.

8. What extracurricular activities or sports did you participate in when you were in high school?  I ran track and was in the marching and concert bands.

9. Of all your pet-peeves, which is the strangest?  I say all the time that the only thing worse than a package with no "open here" is a package with an "open here" that doesn't work.  Hate that!! 

10. Is it better to beg forgiveness or ask permission?  Everyone always says to beg forgiveness.

11. If you inherited or won a million dollars, what would you do with it?  Help my family, pay off any bills/mortgage, buy a new car and put the rest in the bank to live on. A million really isn't that much anymore.

12. What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you?  A dry booger hanging out of my nose during a job interview.  Found it when it was over..... one of those dry hangers-on. Yuck,

13. Which fictional character do you believe is the most like yourself?  I haven't read about anyone who is like me.

14. Are you superstitious?  No. If so, what are you most superstitious about?

15. Do you believe it is vital to everyday life to know what is happening in the world around you? Not 'vital' to everyday life, but it is smart to understand what is happening around the world.

16. What is the nicest thing anybody has said, or you believe they would say, about you?  Joe said one day that he thinks I am a kind person. That made me feel good that he sees kindness in me.

17. What are your life and career goals in 5, 10 and 15 years?  To be happily retired in less than one year!

18. Would you rather live in a large house in the suburbs or a tiny apartment in the city with an excellent view?  Neither.

19. What are you three weaknesses?  Short on patience sometimes, I am sometimes too trusting, and I hate housework.

20. How would you describe yourself in three words?  Happy being me!

21. Which is more logical to follow—your heart or your head?  It's more logical to follow your head.

22. Are you spiritual or religious in any way?  Yes. If so, how?   I am a Christian who believes that Jesus Christ is my salvation.

23. If you could have any career possible, what would it be?  I would have been an architect had things been a little different way back when, but I'm quite happy with my career as an accountant.

24. Have you ever been arrested or contracted any diseases?  I have never been arrested. I am a cancer survivor.

25. Which is better—a novel or a movie?  The book is always better than the movie, so novel.

Thank you for playing this week on Sunday Stealing! Please leave a comment or link when you have posted. Stop back and visit other player’s posts. That is really what this is all about, making new friends! Have a great week. See you next Sunday!

Happy Sunday and thanks for visitng today!  Peace & hugs!

Saturday 9 Cabaret,,,,,

Linking up over at Saturday 9!  Join in the fun every Saturday!!  Thanks to Samantha!!

Cabaret

Welcome to Saturday 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme! 

Saturday 9: Cabaret (1972)

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

1) In this song, Liza Minnelli encourages you to put down "the knitting, the book and the broom." Which of those three were you most recently doing: knitting, reading or housework?  Reading (always!).

2) She sings that we shouldn't allow "some prophet of doom to wipe every smile away?" Do you know anyone who reliably looks at the downside of life?  Not anymore. He died a couple of years ago, but was the biggest downer you could ever meet. 

3) In 1972, when this recording was popular, so was The Brady Bunch. In the two-part season premiere, The Bradys went to Hawaii. Do you have any warm weather vacation plans this fall/winter?   I am living in Florida. We don't have to go anywhere for warm weather!

4) Though not her uncle, just a friend to both of her parents, Liza always called  Frank Sinatra as "Uncle Frank." Is there an older person in your life who isn't a blood relative, but who refer to as "aunt" or "uncle?"  They are deceased now, but when we were kids, our neighbors across the street were called by all the neighborhood kids as Aunt Pat and Uncle Bob.

5) Liza collapsed onstage during a Christmas concert in 2007. She says she'd been nauseous before she went on and simply fainted. Sam has never fainted. Have you?  Yes, I have fainted a few times. It is a very weird feeling.

6) People are often surprised when they learn Liza is good friends with Gene Simmons -- the KISS member with the long tongue. Tell us about one of your good friends.  I write about my good friends frequently and am blessed with several.  

7) Liza told US Magazine that she loves to eat at Olive Garden. Do you?  We just ate there last week, so yes, we do enjoy Olive Garden. The salad is delicious!!

8) She keeps apple juice and yogurt in her refrigerator at all times. Would we find either in your refrigerator right now?  Nope.  No apple juice ever, but I do buy yogurt now and then.  None right now, though.

9)  Random question: Which would be a more frustrating dinner companion -- someone who won't shut up, or someone who won't say a word?  The one who won't shut up, I think.

Thanks so much for joining us again at Saturday: 9. As always, feel free to come back, see who has participated and comment on their posts. In fact sometimes, if you want to read & comment on everyone's responses, you might want to check back again tomorrow. But it is not a rule. We haven’t any rules here. Join us on next Saturday for another version of Saturday: 9, "Just A Silly Meme on a Saturday!" Enjoy your weekend!

I can't sign off today without mentioning that it's my mom's birthday.  She was born November 19, 1930.  We lost her to cancer in December 1995. I still miss her.  I know she is in heaven and that she watches over us.  Happy birthday in heaven, Mom! She would have been 86 today.

Thanks for your visit!!  Happy Saturday!  Peace & Hugs!

Friday Foto Friends Link-up....

Linking up with Deb, over at Breathing In Grace, for Friday Foto Friends.....

I just have a little 'hodgepodge' of photos to share today. They are all from the last day or so, but there is no rhyme or reason to them...

 A close-up of Lucy's nose.  I took it by mistake, but liked it too much to delete it!

 The front of our Museum. I love the colors of the flower bed. Prettier in person.

 The City has started putting up Christmas decorations, which includes a floating Christmas tree in the middle of most of our smaller lakes.  This one is in Lake Morton.

 Lake Morton is a bird sanctuary and the ducks and geese have free-reign to cross the street at will. There is a hefty fine if you hit one of them, so we are always sitting still while they cross. This was on the way home last night.

Lake Hollingsworth is the walking lake. If you go all the way around it, it's a 5-K (3 miles). It is also where a lot of the wealthy people live. The homes are worth multi-millions and this is a new mansion being built where another one was just torn down.  I can tell you they paid $700,000 for the house that they had torn down to build this one (it was in the newspaper).  I see it every day on my way to and from work. This is the side that faces the lake. I need to get a better shot for you. It really is impressive.  The owners are museum patrons. Maybe I'll get to see inside when it is finished!

I don't know about you, but I am SO happy it's Friday!!  No big plans for the weekend, except we start cat-sitting for our neighbors. They are going on a week-long Thanksgiving cruise with some of their kids & grandkids. Should be a fun get-away for them!

My new glasses are ready to be picked up. We will do that tonight.  I also need to get to the grocery for the rest of my Thanksgiving dinner and extras for the holiday weekend. So happy the kids will be here...just wish our youngest could get away for a holiday.  He won't be alone, so we are happy for that.

Thanks for your visit!  Peace & hugs.