THANKSGIVING

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to one and all! We have had a lovely day. Our daughter and two of her children joined us for a wonderful turkey dinner. In deference to the diet that Sweetie and I are following, we made some adjustments to our traditional meal. We left off the stuffing, dressing, and gravy. We did, however, have turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, green peas, squash dressing (a vegetable dish) and Watergate salad. Pumpkin pie was dessert. It was a wonderful meal and I am happy to say that I did eat less food but I think I enjoyed it more.

After our meal we sent the guests home and everyone had a nap -- I think I slept 2 hours sitting upright in my most comfortable chair -- my usual nap is 15 or 20 minutes so I know I must have been tired. After our naps, Sweetie and I took a walk around the block -- we live on a long block and it is a little less than a mile around, but it felt good to be out together, just enjoying our day.

Nap time over our company came back and we played chicken foot until 9, pausing just long enough to eat a bite of supper.

We had several phone calls from kids and enjoyed visiting with our far-flung family. We talked to the youngest son who was at the DFW airport on his way to Tennessee; to our oldest son in California; to our oldest granddaughter who was in the mountains of New Mexico -- we put her on speaker phone and all got to chime in; to my Mom who was back at home after her time with my brother; and to a friend or two here in town. Isn't the telephone a marvelous invention. Before we had them people went for months, or even years, without hearing from family. Now we can carry our phones in our pockets and make contact no matter where we are. Wonderful!!

I hope all of you had a wonderful day -- even if you don't celebrate our Thanksgiving Day, I hope each and every one will pause and think about their blessings and say a word of thanks!

Movie

Sweetie and I went to a movie this morning -- he was off so we took advantage of the early special. We saw "The Blind Side" with Sandra Bullock. It was a great movie! It made us laugh! I highly recommend it. No sex, no violence and almost no cursing. It is based on a true story.

If anyone goes to see it, let me know what you think.

A second post for today!!

Class day yesterday -- 5 students. I need to check on "I" -- she has missed the past two classes. I hope she is not ill.

We continued our discussion of vowel sounds -- this week we were on long and short i. As we say the words we increase our vocabulary skills. The students were amazed at the pronunciation of the word choir. We looked at it in the dictionary and found that it is pronounced as if it starts with a kwi, instead of ch-oi. They learned what a kilt is, and that led to talking about bag pipes. We learned the word Swiss and found Switzerland on the map.

During our word discussions we touched on women's rights again -- the subject of domestic violence came up. One student told me that here, in this country, if a husband beats his wife he is arrested. In her country this is not true. Yes, some countries still haven't changed!

My students always want a rule to memorize to help with the pronunciation. I have told them that they just need to learn the words -- there would be so many rules that they would be bogged down with remembering them. I don't remember all the pronunciation rules -- do any of you? Perhaps the English/Language arts teachers, but maybe not many others.

I'm going to enjoy my holiday break from classes -- after we start back in Dec we will only have 3 more classes. We should be able to finish the vowels and then perhaps we will have a Christmas party!

It will be interesting to see how each family celebrates this holiday. How are YOU going to celebrate?

So much to be thankful for...

Here we are almost to Thanksgiving Day! Have you made your plans? Sweetie and I are dieting so we have planned a holiday dinner that fits into our diets, yet will leave us feeling like we enjoyed our holiday.

Isn't it funny how much of our celebrating revolves around food! So many different foods become linked with holidays and we are almost chained to the idea if we don't have this or that, well then, we just didn't have a good time.

What foods do your family find necessary for different holidays? I think everyone's answer may be different.

Thanksgiving is turkey for us. In the past we have had stuffing and dressing with our turkey -- this year we are skipping both of them. We will have the turkey and some vegetables, Watergate Salad, I'm sure, and pumpkin pie.

Christmas is often ham. Turkey can also be had for Christmas but I like a good ham -- not the spiral cut or the honey roasted kind -- just a plain ham baked in the oven. The ham is good to eat, and the ham hock is wonderful in beans.

When I moved to El Paso as a single parent, many years ago, my family picked up the tradition of having tamales for Christmas -- tamales and Mexican Grits Casserole were required on our Christmas Eve menu. Now that I live here I can't get the same type of tamales -- oh, I can buy them but they just don't taste the same. So, we probably won't have tamales or the casserole this year -- not on our diets! But, we will still eat some really good food!

What are you thankful for? Enough to eat? A place to live/sleep? A job? Health? Money to pay your bills? Friends? Family? A Savior who was willing to die for our sins? Like I said, we have so much to be thankful for!

What are you thankful for this holiday season?

A New Movie

Sweetie and I were fortunate to attend an early pre-screening of a new movie entitled "Letters to God...a message of hope" This is the latest offering from the makers of "Facing the Giants" and "Fire Proof." It is a wonderful movie and will open in theaters April 9 and 10, 2010 -- the weekend after Easter. I heartily recommend that everyone see it, and that you invite friends and family to join you. And, I also recommend that you take tissues because it does make your eyes leak.

Praise!

I am full of praise this morning -- last night my husband wrecked his Harley. No, that isn't why I am full of praise -- I am praising God because he only received minor injuries! He was wearing his full-face helmet and his jacket with body armor. His helmet is badly gouged -- on the side and directly in front. That would have been his head and his face without the helmet. From the looks of the jacket, he slid for a while, ending up under the car -- but the jacket and armor kept him from making contact with the asphalt. The jacket and helmet were expensive, but they certainly proved their value last night! He did receive a cut on his left knee that the paramedics cleaned and bandaged for him. He had several places where there were signs of having hit something. He didn't go to the hospital -- he went to work this morning, early, since he had some trouble sleeping.

The wreck wasn't his fault -- an impatient young woman pulled out in front of him. She was badly shaken (but not injured.) Her father rides a Harley so she said that made it much worse for her, thinking it could have been her Dad. She did have insurance so I guess everything will get fixed. We were able to pray with her and Sweetie gave her and the Sheriff copies of "Hope for the Highways" the Bible that CMA bikers carry.
PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW!

fun ended

After having such a fun day with my new machine I had a really bad one! Somehow I got the end of the towel I was working on looped back and under the needle so that I did a lovely embroidery on two layers, totally encasing the hoop in the folded towel. Nothing to do but take it apart, cut the towel in half, and throw it away. I was ticked!! Decided to be cool .... turned the machine off and went downstairs and outside to sit in the sun and fresh air for a while. No sense in getting all hot and bothered! Mistakes/accidents do happen!
I survived!

Class today was ok -- only 3 students showed up and two were late and one got a phone call during class and left for 5 minutes. Very annoying!

We talked about long and short e, read a short story about Laura Ingles Wilder, looked through her books, and did a short exercise based on the story. Alphabetizing some of the new words,
matching words and definitions.

After that, and after they read their journals, we talked about some of the words that had been in the news this past week. Words like....half-mast....military base....lockdown.....friendly fire...shelter in place. (That last one didn't refer to Ft. Hood, but we hear it a lot around here when there is a chemical leak around one of the refineries. We also hear lockdown around here.)

They only vaguely knew about what happened at Ft. Hood last week. I guess if you don't speak the language well you miss a lot.

F was doing much better pronouncing the short a sound.

Such Fun!

Yesterday I had a good time with my embroidery machine! I've been wanting to try a project -- had all the materials -- just needed time. I took time yesterday and the pictures below show the results. These are cup towels (from Kroger) and I used my machine to put on the designs.
Each time I use my machine it is learning from scratch again, since I don't get to use it often.
However, I thought these turned out rather well and I plan to make some more today while I still remember all the steps!

Hi, bet you didn't think you'd see me again so soon!
Saturday we had V visiting with us -- after breakfast we went shopping to prepare our "shoebox" gift for the Operation Christmas Child project. Do any of you do shoe boxes? It is a very worth-while project and we always enjoy doing it. V had a great time helping pick out the little gifts that went into our box. (We always use one of those plastic shoe boxes -- they can be used by the child and/or the family after the little gifts are removed.)

This year we chose a "recorder" (like a flute,) a hair brush, barrettes, colored pencils, school pencils, erasers, a ruler, a coloring book, a small doll, some candy, scissors, soap, hummmm, can't remember what else. I told my husband that I wasn't entirely happy about what I picked and he reminded me that I was judging it from my position of plenty but the child receiving it would be judging it from her position of little and she would be thrilled. I'm sure he is correct.

If you haven't done a shoe box, please consider participating. You can google Samaritan's Purse and click on Operation Christmas Child for information.

Good morning, world! It is cloudy this morning -- we had rain last night -- a rather soft, gentle rain -- just the kind I like! It means I don't have to water and more may be coming today. There is a hurricane coming toward the Gulf -- Ida -- and it should bring us more rain. Looks like Alabama and Florida will be the ones who get hit, however, but perhaps by then it will have weakened.

I have plans to sew some this morning -- I had been wondering how to do something on my embroidery machine and a couple of weeks ago Sewing with Nancy had a lesson on that very thing. So, I took my birthday gift card (thanks daughter) and went to Hancocks and got just the thing I needed. Today I'm going to make one item -- at least one -- to see just how it works.

Change of subject: Sweetie and I have thrown in the towel, weight wise, and I've joined Weight Watchers. I went there more than 30 years ago and I know it works. Now they are on a "point" system, much easier than before, and it is very do-able. It is a healthy life style if one can just stay with it! So far, we are doing well. Uhhhhh.....well, actually, we are learning things about our food choices, and some of them are surprising and distressing. Yesterday really made us think! It was only day 3 and we were faced with a real-life situation. Made a choice that seemed good but wow, it really "cost" us a bunch of our food points. Made us think about things. But, the scale was happy this morning, so we will just plod on!

Back on sewing, a while back I posted a picture of some fabric I had been given and said I was finally going to make a quilt for US. I believe I said it would probably be a star block. Well, the more I look at Pat's disappearing 9-patch (I think that is the right name) the more I like it. I believe it will lend itself to the fabric I have, and I've about decided to use that pattern. Thanks, Pat, you inspired me!

Do you guys know that Christmas is coming! It really is, and I have much, much to do to get ready. Right now Thanksgiving is just around the corner -- my Mom is going to come and visit for a couple of weeks so we will have her and W and V. It will be interesting to see how we manage our diets during that time.

Last week we paid to have our front tree (a Live Oak) pruned. It looks wonderful! Then the power company paid to prune our back trees (Chinese Elm, Water Oak, Red Oak, Crepe Myrtle)
and they were butchered. But, we can't do anything about it -- they were planted under the elect lines long before we moved here and have since grown up into the lines. we don't like being without power during storms so letting them be cut is the only option. Everyone has a utility easement in our back yards and the utility company can come and cut anytime they want to. :-(

I seem to have skipped about this morning -- from subject to subject. Guess my mind isn't organized. Either that, or I lost it! LOL
Take care all, and drop by for a visit if you can.

Class day -- we had a good class. At first it was just me and 3 of the ladies and we talked about coloring our hair -- at home vs salon. Interesting.

The students have asked for lessons on pronunciation, especially of vowels. So, today we did short a and long a. F pronounces short a like short o so hat comes out hot and rat sounds like rot. We worked very hard on the short a sound -- like sheep -- baaaaaaa.

We reviewed capitalization rules and talked about the titles Miss, Mrs, Mr, Ms. They were interested in that. Next week I am going to give them a little quiz on capitalization - I don't test very often but I need to see where they are so I will know where to go next.

We are having lovely weather! Cool nights and mid 70's (F) during the day. Love it!!

Went to quilting yesterday -- it was suggested that we might have a low turn-out but as it happened, we had a big crowd. We have three new members -- one is a young woman and it delights the older bunch to see someone young interested in learning about quilting.

I admit that I have made baby quilts until I'm very tired of them so I worked on other projects.
I'm making some Christmas gifts and some have turned out great and others I don't like.
Everything I'm doing involved quilting. though, so I'm staying with the spirit of the group.

I signed up for Pay It Forward and now I'm feeling inadequate. I see what other people do when they send their gifts and I am absolutely sure that my offering will not be nearly as nice. Do you ever feel that way? Worried that you are not measuring up? I guess it is just part of my nature.

Oh, well, guess I better get off the computer and get busy -- if I am going to sew I need to just do it!

Halloween has come and gone -- we had quite a lot of kids this year -- I bought extra candy but still ran out before 8:30 pm. The kids seemed to be having lots of fun. Some years we have a few older kids as it gets later but this year we didn't -- either they didn't come or we ran out of candy too soon. Had several babies this year -- really didn't plan on candy that anyone under 2 years could eat -- so I just gave them tiny Tootsie Pops. It was for their parents, of course, a baby that young wouldn't get the point at all. Perhaps my neighborhood it changing -- fewer older kids and more young ones.

V came over and helped hand out the candy after she made her rounds. Quite a few of the kids who came to the door knew her from school so she had fun giving out the candy. She and her Mom had jack-o-lantern tee shirts and black pants. They looked cute!

I'm curious -- Doug mentioned trick or treaters at his door. What other countries follow this tradition on Oct 31? Let me hear from you!

Home Again, final

The purpose of the CMA Rally known as "Colors" is to worship and to fellowship. There is a huge building on the grounds, known as the Pavilion, that is used for worship services, classes, dining, offices, a "Goodie Store" and for displays of information about different events. The picture below was taken during one of the Praise and Worship sessions. They were really awesome -- wonderful music and messages.



A motorcycle on display in the Pavilion that has special paint decorations that focus on the main purpose. A frequently used motto is,,, "It's All About Jesus!"

Run for the Son is the main fund raising event that CMA sponsors and some of the the monies raised go to a group that provides transportation for pastors in remote areas who have no other means of transportation. They might provide a bicycle, a moped, a dirt bike, or a full blown motorcycle, depending on the situation. Another part provides the Jesus movie for pastors in mission settings. During the day I worked at the "Run for the Son" table, handing out the information packets that had been ordered by chapters all over the US. Every one we handed out saved us postage! I really enjoyed getting to meet the different CMA members as they came to pick up their packets.

..............As soon as we were camped some friends dropped by for a visit. This couple travel/live full time in a 5th wheel camping trailer pulled by a pickup, and pull their bike with side car in a trailer. The little dog goes with them -- in fact, many of the attendees brought their pets.

This is our group after lunch in Hatfield, AR.

There were many, many interesting bikes at the rally -- I thought this motorcycle was especially interesting -- yes, that is a motorcycle!

Across the road from our camp was an area where lots of bikes were parked, including 4 from our group.

Leaving the restroom, looking north, was another section of the campground. As you can see, we were really full!

On Friday, during the morning session, we received the news that friends had arrived but had been in an accident and were being taken to the hospital by ambulance. We immediately went to the hospital in Mena and found that our friend, J, had fallen while getting off her husband's bike, and had broken her arm. About 14 of us were there, praying for her healing, and asking for support for her husband, T. While we were there we also prayed with the husband of a couple that had been involved in a wreck -- the husband was on crutches and the wife had surgery to remove her spleen. A third CMA member arrived, in a wheel chair, for x-rays. More prayers!

Our friend, J, had to be taken to Hot Springs, by ambulance. Several of us drove up there on Saturday morning and were with her husband and her parents during her surgery. When the surgeon came out of the operating room to give a report, he found that there were 20 people there for J, waiting for the news.
Praise God, the operation was successful and she is expected to make a full recovery!

There were many, many other things I could tell but...I think I'll finish the report with this.

It was a great experience, and one that I won't soon forget. Plans are already being made to attend next year's rally!