A Wordy Hodgepodge

Joyce asks the questions, and we provide the answers. See how others answered at From This Side of the Pond.

1. What are you currently juggling in your life? 

A routine that makes me feel like I'm productive with not being motivated!

2. How often do you buy new clothes? What was the last piece of clothing you purchased? 

I usually go a long time without buying clothes; I'm not a big "clothes shopper". When I retired last year, 1 of the first things I did was get rid of my work clothes. I should have waited a while...I really need some of those blouses I threw away! I'm looking at dressier pants and shirts that I can use for traveling, made out of quick dry material so I can wash them in the sink, hang them in the bathroom, and make sure they'll be dry the next day. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know!

3. What food festival would you most like to attend?

Joyce gave some international and national suggestions, but there are a couple close to home that I've missed out on in the past and would like to go to:

National Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburg, TN (near Chattanooga)

ChocolateFest-Knoxville, TN OR Chocolate Fest-Jonesborough, TN

International Food Festival? Since Bruges, Belgium is on my list of places I want to visit, there's this one: Choco-Late Chocolate Festival

4. May is the 5th month of the year. Tell us something you remember about your 5th grade year. 

Uhhhhh...nothing. I have no memory of that year whatsoever. That was back when there were "junior highs" so I can't even say I remember being one of the "top dogs" at school. That may have been the year I picked the flute as my instrument...or maybe that was 4th grade. I have no idea.

5. What are your favorite five words right now? 

Joy

Peace

Riiiight?  

Pray

Solitude

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The first Ireland installation has been posted on Flyin' the Coop. I'm doing "Lost Mary" posts instead of changing the name of the blog. My goal is to also post on this blog, but change the post a little bit. I started writing a post on how I lived out of a carry-on suitcase for 2 weeks, so look for that as a "Lost Mary" post on Flyin' the Coop as well. 

{Weekend Wrap-up} An Emotional Yet Exciting Weekend

It's been a while, huh? Seems like I've said that once or twice before! Things are happening in the Small Town. The big thing is that the roads are torn up in preparation for some major road work. It's supposed to make getting to Knoxville easier. We'll see. I have a hard time believing that the businesses that the new road is going to bypass are okay with the new road. But, the paper says they are, so it must be true. 😖
Friday night, I had the pleasure of attending an "Aggie Muster" in Knoxville. If you read my post A Very Special Weekend in a Very Special Place, you know how connected my family is to Texas A&M. Aggie Muster is another long standing tradition that is embraced by all Aggies. Every April 21st, Aggies gather near their homes to remember those who have passed over the year. Since my daddy passed away in February, his was one of the names called at roll call. My sister (who is currently working on her Ph.D. at A&M) did the honor of saying "here" when daddy's name was called. Following roll call, "Silver Taps" is played. And my tears came. I thought about how Daddy loved the Aggies. He was so proud to be an alumnus. He always had several Texas Aggie Magazines and books next to his chair in the living room. He always watched the different sports teams when they were on tv. He is an Aggie through and through. 

Thankfully, the president of the A&M Club allowed me to go in. My sister had been in contact with another man about my coming, and he said I could come; however, he didn't let the president know. At one point he said that we could eat downstairs and come up for Muster, but then he came back and said they'd bring in a table if they had to. And that's how I got in. And, that's how I met this guy:

This is John Chavis, also known as "Chief". He is the defensive coordinator and linebacker coach for A&M. He also coached at UT (That's the "real" UT: Tennessee!) and LSU. I didn't think I'd have the opportunity to talk to him, but we were able to talk to him following Muster. I introduced myself, told him Daddy was an alum of '50, and that he passed away in Feb. Coach Chavis sounded so sincere when he apologized for our loss. I then told him that Daddy often said that Coach was the best defensive coach around and that he was a big fan. He was just so down to earth. He is now one of my favorite people! 1 thing that he said while he was speaking to the crowd: He said he envied Aggies because of all of the tradition. I know how he feels. I envy my sister that she's a part of this great tradition. Even if I had been a serious student in high school, I would have never had the opportunity to be an Aggie. Daddy was insistent that we all attend a college in-state. 
Okay, enough of that! That probably could be a blog post in itself! After Muster, I opened up a bottle of Peach Mead and we sat down to watch Steel Magnolias. My sister was up at the crack of dawn to head back home...too much to do, and CH & I had an appointment to see about some kitchen cabinets. We were planning on going to the Rossini Festival in downtown Knoxville, but it poured pretty much all day. So, when we left our kitchen appointment, we were hungry. We found this really neat looking place:

The building is an old Texaco station, and they brew their own beer in the brewhouse, which is just to the right of the picture.

It was really cool, and the food (and beer!) was excellent. The inside:

It's definitely a place we'll go back to. We were disappointed about not going to the festival; we went a couple of years ago and it was excellent. A lot of different music groups in the area perform; YS' fencing group had exhibitions as well. 
Saturday night, I attempted to make pizza with my new breadmaker. Now that I know when the dough cycle stops, I think it will work! It was edible; next time will be even better! We watched Chamber of Secrets; well, most of it. I didn't make it to the end...it was past my bedtime.
Since the cabinet shopping on Saturday was a bust (very good price; I just don't think I'll be happy with it in a few years), we did more shopping on Sunday. I think I have a pretty good idea of what I want; now we'll see if I can get what I want with my budget! With any luck, my kitchen is going to look very different than it does now:

And I can't wait!!!

{Weekend Wrap-Up} Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

My Cooper SIL & I have been talking about doing this for a couple of years, but we finally did it! Since we both have a birthday in March, we thought this would be a perfect month for a girls' weekend. Chattanooga was the perfect spot since it's halfway between both of our houses. The hotel where we stayed couldn't have been more perfect. We were able to park our cars there when we arrived, and didn't need them until we left on Sunday.
On Friday, we sat for a while & caught up, then we had to find some dinner. It was St. Patrick's Day, so we had to find an Irish Pub, and the hotel employee we spoke with had the perfect spot for us. 

At first, we sat in the pub, until we realized there was outdoor seating. We were able to escape the smoke in the pub, and, thankfully, it was warm enough to be very comfortable sitting outdoors. 
After we ate, we walked around for a bit and strolled into the Moon Pie General Store.The only thing I bought was some vanilla Moon Pie Coffee.  I love moon pies, but I knew if I bought something, I'd want to eat it. And, I've been doing well with not eating sweets...until Friday night. My SIL makes a wicked peanut butter cake, and she brought one for us. With a glass of cold milk, the cake was just amazing. We got back to the hotel, watched Miss Congeniality 2 and had our cake.
Saturday, we followed some friends' advice and ate at a popular biscuit place.

The line was long, but moved quickly. It was very worth it. They had maple coffee that was so good that we dropped back by that night to buy some to take home.
We strolled down to the Rivermart in the parking lot of the Tennessee Aquarium. We visited booths of some very talented artists. Our favorite booth was jewelry made from classic books. They had earrings, necklaces, bracelets. We were mesmerized and couldn't pull ourselves away. If you have a book-lover in the family, check out their Facebook page. These are some pictures of some of the other jewelry they offer. I'm not sure why I didn't get a picture of the book jewelry.

 There was also a lady that made jewelry out of hardware; it was beautiful. How she could look at a sprocket and know it would make beautiful earrings is beyond me. She has an Etsy shop, so go check it out.
We walked over to St. Paddy's on the Parkway and were instantly under-whelmed. The entry fee went to a good cause, but it was much smaller than we thought it was going to be. The most excitement I had was meeting Tank:

My SIL said he was unhappy because he had on a green tutu. Poor little thing! He was such a sweetheart.
Then, we saw these guys the night before, and they showed up on the Parkway:

There were bands on the outdoor stage:

And we knew there were going to be some inside, too, so we headed in The Honest Pint:

We were awed by the building:

 I ordered the same kind of beer I had before we came in, and was disappointed. My SIL ordered Harp, and was told that they were out. So, we ordered Guiness Blonde, and it was flat. I felt sorry for our waitress...she had a few tables upstairs and downstairs. We ordered a couple of appetizers, but were told that they were out of the dip. (And then my SIL saw someone eating some later.) All of that didn't deter us from sitting at the table for a few hours and enjoying some of the music. This was our favorite (Molly Maguires):

On our walk back to the hotel, we saw some interesting structures. The Dome:

Part of the First Methodist Church in 1881:

A random gate that my SIL noticed:

Eyes on a building. There's also a confederate statue on a fountain and a cannon in front of the building. This would appear to be a popular hangout with the college crowd.

My SIL noticed the tile on this building:

We ate a supper of biscuits & peanut butter cake (with milk, of course!) and watched a couple of episodes of Say Yes to the Dress. Overall, it was a pretty low-key weekend, but it was so nice to be able to spend time with my SIL...alone. Without the guys and without distractions.
Before I left Chattanooga, I went to Mass at the Minor Basilica, Sts. Peter and Paul. I saw the building as we were walking back to the hotel (it's across the street from The Dome Building), but I didn't realize that was it because it looks very non-descript on the outside. Oh, but inside!

 The altar

The 3 physical signs that a church is a "lesser basilica": 

 The first is the presence of the conopaeum — a silk canopy designed with stripes of yellow and red, traditional papal colors.  The minor basilicas also have the right to display the papal symbol as in the above picture (the crossed keys). 

The third is the tintinnabulum, or bell. It is mounted on a pole and carried processionally, along with the conopaeum, at the head of the clergy on special occasions.

 I'm not sure about this side of the altar. 

This side is pretty self-explanatory, especially if you're a Catholic!

 The stained-glass windows were designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany.

The Stations of the Cross:

 Kilgen Organ. The Basilica has had the same organist since 1960.

 As American Churches go, this one is pretty old: 1890. But, as in European Churches, it's always important to look up.

The Mass was different than what I'm used to: lots of chanting with Latin thrown in, and, during the Eucharist Prayer the priest had his back to the congregation. It was just amazing.

So...back to work tomorrow, but no kids, making it almost like a day off! 9 more weeks until summer break!

Why I'm Through with Kroger

Let me preface this post by saying that I truly love most of Kroger's products. A lot of the things I buy from the grocery store are Kroger brand. For most of the 30 years I've been married, I've gone to Kroger. Except when we were in SC, because we didn't have one in Rock Hill.

Now that that is out of the way, I've had it with Kroger. I can only remember 2 times in the past 11 years when my groceries were appropriately bagged. Once, I the assistant manager bagged my groceries & did an awful job. Is it so hard to put all of the frozen & cold things together, and in the cold bags that I have?

I bought groceries yesterday afternoon, and I very politely told that young lady that if she could put all of the cold things together in the cold bags, it would be awesome. She put as much as she could in one bag (making it extremely heavy), then looked at me and said that was all that would fit in the bag. I pointed out that I had 2 more cold bags. Then, I suggested that we transfer some of the things in the heavy cold bag to another cold bag. She then put the cabbage in the empty cold bag, and I again repeated that the full bag was too heavy, so I wanted to transfer some items over. She looked at me and said, "Then what do you want me to do with the produce?" I told her it could go into a regular bag. GEEEEEZZZZ.

There have been times when I've bagged my groceries myself. The last time I was there, I had to rebag several bags before I left the store.

Honestly, I'm done. Going to the grocery store is enough of a chore, but then you add that aggravation on top of it, and it's just ridiculous. Publix is a little more expensive, but the employees are exceptionally nice, and they know how to bag groceries. Guess where I'll be shopping from now on?

Jammin' Weekend Wrap-up

Well, another Spring Break is over.  

I spent waaay too much time on school stuff, but I think I've got the rest of the year's materials made.  And, I've planned up until TCAPs, which are the last week of April.  After that week, only 3 weeks until the end of the year.  I think I can, I think I can!
I spent the weekend trying to organize all of the stuff that I laminated, as well as finishing up catching up on The Following.  Have I mentioned how freaky that show is?

Saturday, CH & I went to Garden Ridge.  Oh, how I love that store!  When we lived in SC, I used to go a lot, but we didn't have one here until a few months ago (or maybe a year).  We found some cushions for our patio table chairs.  After that, we went to the pizza joint where YS works for dinner.  Best pizza place around!

On Friday, I mentioned that I'm having a Jamberry Nails online party.  I put on a new set Saturday:

To put them on, all you do is heat it with the hairdryer for about 5 seconds, then put it on your nail.  I used a nail scissor to cut it as close to my nail as I could, then I used a file in a downward motion to get the excess off.  You get enough wraps for 2 applications plus a few extra for your toes!  The wraps on the sheet come in different sizes so you can match the size to the size of your fingernail.
If you're interested, click here.  There are a lot of different designs, or, if you want a solid color, they have those, too.

How about those Tennessee Volunteers?  They didn't even know if they were going to get into the tournament, and now they're in the Sweet 16!  Some people were calling for the coach to lose his job; bet they're singing a different tune now.  It's certainly the craziest NCAA tournament I ever remember with all of those underdogs winning.

Are you keeping up with the Tournament?  If so who are you rooting for?

First Tuesdays Unwrapped of June

Time again for Tuesdays Unwrapped.  Time to take pause and notice things...they may be little or not.  Something that makes you say "thank you"; some gift that you may have been given that you may have otherwise overlooked.

Last Tuesday I wrote about Daily Mass and my "revelation" about one of the priests.  I hate to repeat myself  (but, maybe not because I'm going to!), but I've gotta talk about Daily Mass again.

Last week I went to several different stores looking for either a dress or a skirt and blouse to wear to a wedding on Saturday evening (but I ended up not going ...thanks to a headache).  In every store I went to, people  were friendly,  making eye contact, saying hello, and smiling.  This never happens to me in the mall.  And, to beat it all, I found 2 skirts and a sweater...all on sale!  Each item was under $15.  Again, this never happens to me!  As I was checking out at one store, I found these really cute earrings:

I'm really glad I can wear cheap earrings...I got these for $3.98!  I was so excited, and the saleslady was, too!  This just doesn't happen to me, y'all!  Thank you, CJ Banks!

I'm not saying that God helped me out with the stuff I bought, but it is really weird how all of a sudden everybody is making eye contact with me, smiling at me, and speaking to me.  Maybe it's just a change in my attitude last week...I don't know.  But, I didn't speak to anybody first...they spoke to me.  Coincidence?  I think not!

Hope everybody has a good Tuesday, and don't forget to smile and say "hi" to a stranger!
Don't forget to link up with Susanne at Chatting at the Sky for Tuesdays Unwrapped!