Tuesday 4 & Wednesday Hodgepodge

Happy Tuesday and Happy Birthday to my daughter and my grandson! We will be celebrating Elijah tonight and we are taking our daughter to lunch on Thursday. Today I had my Life group and last night was my class. This past Sunday my grands had their recital. My grandson sang Taking Back what the Enemy stole from Tauren Wells. He is used to performing on the drums, but singing was harder for him. He did great! My granddaughter who already sings and plays the piano, played the guitar and sang. She sang The Goodness of God.

1.   Food: ~ Do you buy brand names or go for the cheaper store name brand? 

Depend on what I am buying. I like the Lactose free milk from Aldi's better than Lactaid. I buy some things at Sprouts even though it is more money.

2.   Clothes: ~ Wear designer jeans/slacks with a brand name or regular department store jeans/slacks?

I rarely buy name brand and if do, I get it at a place like Marshall's.

3.   Handbags: ~ Buy a designer bag or look for a less expensive copy? 

Copy. Not going to spend the money for a an expensive purse when I can get it for cheaper. I also want to make sure it has the features I want.

4.   Shoes: ~ You get the drift, designer or a cheaper copy? 

I will try to find things on sale. As I get older, I have to really look to find what looks nice and is comfortable. I wear a size 6, and it is harder to find the smaller size and sometimes I do have to pay more.  I try to use what I have instead of buying new.I found some really cute, comfy flats at Walmart. 

1. What's a skill you think everyone should have? 

How to make good financial decisions.

2. Do you have a special place or organizational system for gift wrapping? Do you still buy 'real' cards to send for birthdays, anniversaries, get-well, etc?

I still buy cards and I go to the Dollar Tree. I buy gift bags for presents. We wrap for Christmas.

3. It's National Banana Day...are you a fan? What's your favorite thing to make with bananas or, if you're not a cook, your favorite thing to eat that contains banana? 

I do enjoy bananas. Lately I have been eating sliced bananas with peanut butter. 

4. Do you believe in second chances? Elaborate. 

Yes, for the most part I do. Thankfully, God gives us lots of second chances!

5. What is your idea of fun? 

Being with my family. Going on outings with my friends.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

My days have been busy, and I am happy that I can live life the best I can. I have been spending less time on social media and doing more reading, mostly in the evening. I am on book 9 of the Left Behind series. 

Tuesday 4

1. TV has become a part of daily life.  How much TV would you say you watch weekly?

We watch a lot of tv. I love medical shows. Hubby and I enjoy Dances with the Stars and Survivor.

We also watch The Good Doctor, Chicago Fire, Station 19 and Blue Bloods together.

Right now, we are watching a lot of Christmas movies. We have seen Home Alone 2, National Lampoon's Christmas and Elf. I watched Christmas in Connecticut on Monday. We are waiting to see A Christmas Carol, White Christmas, Charlie Brown Christmas, It's A Wonderful Life and The Bishop's Wife. I have been watching the newest Hallmark Christmas movies. 

2. What is the earliest TV program you remember enjoying? I remember watching I Love Lucy with the family when I was 4. I remember Sherrif John and Looney Tunes. I liked The Mickey Mouse Club and American Bandstand.

3.  Everyone seems to like the TV program Yellowstone. Why do you like/dislike it or why have you not tuned in?  Do you recommend something else? I have not seen it because it is on Paramount, and I don't have that streaming program. We do have Disney Plus.

4.   How many of the western programs and their stars did you watch back when westerns were popular fare on TV?  How many do you recognize? Try not to look at the list below! I did not watch any of those. I remember seeing Perry Mason when my dad was watching it. I was hiding under his desk in the tv room. I watched Little House on the Prairie and Bonanza.

This past Sunday my son Daniel and his wife Melinda had us over for a Christmas get together. The whole place was decorated. The kids had fun while we played Christmas bingo and name that Christmas song and movie. We had make your own Sundays for desert and each person could take a bag of candy home. The net on the back wall had Christmas picture of the family. There second bedroom had ornaments from the years. The front room had a while tree with blue ornaments. It was a great way to start the holiday. The older two grands were goofing off!

Weekend Highlights and Tuesday 4

I had the best weekend. We had lunch with our son and his wife. They showed us their pictures from Yosemite. Later we went to a birthday for our friend who turned 70 last year but celebrated this year. Another friend from church has a Taco business and provided the food. They had a live band that played oldies from the 50's, - 70's. It was outside so no mask.

Sunday was a great day, church with no mask! It felt great to sing maskless! Lunch afterwards at IHop and yes I had pancakes! Then my grandson Elijah had his first band recital and he did great!. He did so well and I am a proud Mema! He is 7 and there were about 10 kids, with him being the youngest. He did one thing the rest did not do,,, he sang as he played and he made us all laugh at the end!  He played The Reason, a song from 2004. Looking at a future worship leader! So happy I could see all my family this weekend!

He was so happy when he was done!

Now for

This week's questions come from Sparky! I hope you enjoy doing them.  

Let's talk about you .....

1. Music. What kind of music do you enjoy? Are you musical?  I love most music. I am just getting use to country music, slowly. Christian music is top on my list and our church just started playing a new song called Holy Water and my son asked if it was a country song! I like to listen to oldies from the 60's -70's. That would include Rock N Roll, Soul and Easy listening.  I am listening to Christian music on YouTube. The Blessing is playing. I can play the piano a bit.

2. Travel. Where have we been? What's your favorite destination(s)? I have answered this a few times. I have been to Hawaii 4 times and plan to go again in the spring when Covid restrictions have relaxed. So I guess you would say that is my favorite place! I have been to Mexico City and Acapulco. I have been on a cruise to Alaska with hubby and church friends. On New England cruise with my parents. Both those cruises stopped in Canada. I have been to Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. I have been to New York prior to the cruise and we visited Mass. and Maine. I have been to most of the famous spots in California like San Diego(90minutes away) Santa Barbara, San Francisco, So Lake Tahoe, Sequoia and Yosemite.

Waimea Falls

On Waikiki  Beach with Diamond Head behind in the distance.

On Diamond Head with Waikiki, Honolulu behind me.

This is on Oahu. We will be going to Maui in 2022.

Brunch at the Disney Aulani Resort

3. Occupations. Did you end up working at what you wanted to be? Do you wish you'd done something else, if so, what? etc. I got a degree to do Social Work but end up at the Postal Service. I end up working in the Marketing Department and really learned a lot on the computer. I loved working with graphics, putting together many types of brochures and training manuals. I also worked on big spreadsheets to keep track of the vending machines in our district. We had around 400 machines and we ranked number 2-15 in the nation. Grand Central Station ranked number one and Huntington Beach was number 2. Headquarters had the machine close down in 2009. I had it all completed by 2010 and they changed my job position and hours. I retired in 2011 with 36 years of service. If I could do things all over, I would have been a nurse.

This is me in front of a vending machine in Hawaii, 2009

4. How do you keep from being bored? I read my Bible, bible journal and craft. I am in a few Facebook groups.  A few are Bible study group with artistic aspects to it. Another group is just a fun craft group. I also spend time with my grands. 

 I found this video today on YouTube and thought it was so funny!