Golfing with the Girls

Posted on May 30, 2013 by veranda

I learned how to play golf almost 40 years ago. My brother and dad played and tried to teach me. I guess I picked it up some. When I got married I thought it would be great for my husband to know how to play so I bought him a set of golf clubs as a wedding gift. I thought he would be able to play with us and it would us something we could do together thru the years. It worked, we have been golfing together for 38 years. And I really enjoy that time we speed together. He also golfs with the guys without me, but I was never interested in golfing with a ladies group, until now.

A couple of months ago, one of my cousins joined a ladies golf league. When she told me about it I decided I would like to join her. So I did. It’s been fun getting to know a new group of girls with the same hobby.  And it’s a lot of fun playing without men around!

We play every Tuesday and some of them also play at a different course on Thursday. The girls range in age from probably 50 to 80 with varying degrees of skill level. Today I played with a couple of girls and had a blast. It was over cast with the sun peeking out from time to time and a light breeze to keep it from getting too hot. I know over the rest of the summer, we’ll wish we had that breeze and it won’t be around.

Since I broke my left arm right in the middle of the bicep last November, I have had to totally change my swing. This has been a challenge. My range of motion is not what I’m used to so I feel like I’m learning to play all over again. It does seem to have helped my drives and second shots, but being off for 5 months has really hurt my chipping and putting. Those take practice and I haven’t given them the time they need to improve. So I guess it’s time to go to the range to practice.

I hope that by playing every week instead of once a month I will improve enough that I start to really enjoy myself when I play golf. I know there will always be that bad drive or second shot in the water or that put that lips out, but if I can consistently hit it straight and avoid the hazards, I will really enjoy golfing with the girls.

I just played today and I can’t wait until next Tuesday to play again!

 

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Decorating with Collections

Posted on March 7, 2013 by veranda

Decorating with Collections

Over 30 years ago, I started collecting menus from different restaurants we went to when we traveled.  I just put them in a box and didn’t pay much attention to them until about 6 months ago.  We sold our China Cabinet and all of a sudden, I had a wall in my dining room that needed something on it.  I had always planned on hanging the menus on the wall, but had never done it.

Getting Started

Since I had all these menus, over 65, I thought about finally hang them.  But how, without ruining them or the wall.  So, I went to the store and bought what I thought would work best, tacky stuff, but I was wrong.  It worked at first, but after only a few hours, the menus began to fall off of the wall.  So, back to the store I went.  This time I bought Scotch removable tape.  It’s made for hanging pictures so it worked great.

Hanging the Menus

I didn’t use any rhyme or reason as to where I hung each menu.  I slanted some and hung some straight.  I tried to put the heavy ones at the chair rail to support their weight.  I have had a few to fall at random, but for the most part, everything’s great.

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Conversation Piece

At the first dinner party we had after the menus were hung we enjoyed trying to remember going to some of the restaurants.  You can imagine, with over 30 years of collecting we have forgotten a lot.  It was fun trying to remember.  Several of the menus are from where we live, so some of our friends remembered some of those restaurants.  A lot of them have closed, so we now have a treasure hanging on our wall and some great memories.

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Finished Project

Since I didn’t have anything on that wall I knew I was going to have to hang something.  I didn’t have a clue what.  I also didn’t want to spend a lot of money.  The menu idea really solved the problem.  And it’s unique.  Now I’m thinking of other things I have collected to see what I can do with them.

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Do you have any collections that you have used to decorate in your home?

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Family Reunions

Posted on October 31, 2012 by veranda

Family Reunions

I don’t remember going to many family reunions growing up.  We lived in Texas and my grandparents and the rest of the family lived in Mississippi.  We took trips to visit about twice a year and saw as many as we could, but I don’t think it was like having a reunion.

Once I got married, my husband’s family all lived in Texas so they had a reunion every year in the fall.  It was held at his grandmother’s house which was close to most of his cousins.  We usually got there around 10 in the morning and stayed to around 5 or 6.

The Food

If you’ve read many of my post, you know I’m all about the food.  A family reunion is the best place to enjoy a spread of food.  Everybody brings their favorite dish and there is always plenty to choose from.  My father n law always fires up the barbeque pit and smokes chickens, ribs and brisket.  And then there are the desserts.  Wow, every kind of cake, pie or cookie you could ask for.  And then there’s Mary’s famous fudge.  It’s the best I have ever eaten.  You may be too full after lunch for dessert, but you have to get a piece of fudge before it’s all gone.  Needless to say, we are all stuffed after lunch.

The Afternoon Events

The older generation likes to either sit and watch all of the games being played by the kids, or even participate.  In the 80’s when we were all younger, we played softball in the open field behind the house.  We’ve all kind of out grown that so my husband’s uncle sets up horse shoes, washers and volleyball to play.  After resting for about 30-45 minutes, those that have the energy begin to play the different games.  It’s a great time to relive your youth and enjoy the company of family.

Going Home

After all the games, it’s time to grab another quick snack before heading home.  Some go for the desserts and some for the leftover meat and sides.  Then once everything is put up and cleaned up, it’s time to say our goodbye’s and head back home.  It’s been a great day.  Lots of family, food and fun.  We really enjoy getting to see all the family at least once a year.

Do you and your family get together for family reunions?  If you don’t, it’s never too late to start.

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Sedona, AZ

Posted on October 14, 2012 by veranda

I’m baaaack!  I know, I’ve been missing in action for too long.  I let my day job get in the way of my fun!  Well that’s all going to change!

Sedona, AZ

For today, let me tell you about our recent trip to Sedona, AZ.  In September we spent a week in Sedona with 6 other family members.  The weather was great and we all had a great time.  We rented a 4 bedroom house just outside of Sedona.  It was so dark at night we sat on the patio every night and stared up at the stars.  Some of us even saw falling stars.  Wow what a site.  For a city girl being able to see that many stars in the sky was totally awesome.  My husband’s cousin had an app on his IPad that when you held it up to the sky showed the constellations.  It was really cool.

Activities

My brother-n-law’s sister and her husband live in Phoenix, so they drove up to join us from Saturday thru Tuesday.  Four of our group played golf on Monday and two played tennis.  While the others played golf, tennis and went fishing on Monday, my sister-n-law and I went shopping in Sedona with her sister-n-law.  We enjoyed walking in and out of the shops and we stopped for a nice lunch with a view of the mountains.  Tuesday 6 of us went to a golf course in the mountains.  The views from the course were spectacular and driving back down the mountain we drove thru Jerome which was an old mining town.  Jerome was built in the side of the mountain, much like the towns you see in the old movies in Europe.

Meals

We had three men that cooked our evening meals.  And trust me, we ate good!  (The ladies did the cleanup.)  When we landed in Phoenix we stopped at Costco and did most of our shopping for the week before driving to Sedona.  We had steaks, grilled chicken and beer butt chicken, all with great vegetables and wine every night.  Sunday night we ate out at a fabulous Italian restaurant in Sedona.  The rest of the week, the guys cooked!

Closing thoughts

I really enjoy being with family and friends for vacation and this was one of those times.  We all get along and enjoy each other’s company.  Everybody did whatever they wanted.  I even got a day that I just sat in my jammies and read for hours!  Life was good.

Where have you been lately on vacation?

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The 2012 Summer Olympics in London

Posted on July 20, 2012 by veranda

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London

Well the Summer Olympics are almost here!  I’m so excited.  We have a close friend who will be competing in the men’s gymnastics.  We have known Jonathan Horton since he was about 10 years old.  Even back then, he was a gymnast.

The Beginning for Us

When we first met Jonathan’s parents, thru my brother n law, Jonathan was already a junior gymnast competing at matches and winning.  Jonathan’s mother tells the story of how he got started in gymnastics.  She was at Target one day and they called her over the PA system to come get him down.  Jonathan had climbed up one of the support poles in the store all the way to the top.  Another time when his older sister was getting on the school bus, Jonathan rode the garage door up and just hung there.  His mom said she knew then she had to get him into something to burn up all that energy.

Watching Him Grow

Over the next 10 years we watched Jonathan get stronger and stronger, better and better.  Going to some of his meets were fun.  Sometimes it got a little nerve racking watching him swing over that high bar, flipping and turning and finally doing his dismount.  All of this took place while he attended public school and did homework.  He would be at the gym before school and then again after school.  Working on his routine and constantly improving it, making it tougher and more challenging.  Jonathan then went on to the University of Oklahoma where they won multiple National Championships.  That took dedication and a desire to be the best.

Beijing 2008

By the summer of 2008, Jonathan had made the Men’s Gymnastics Olympic team.  We were so proud and again so nervous.  Watching Jonathan compete at this level is very exhilarating yet scary.  Constantly hoping he doesn’t fall or miss the high bar on one of his flips.  Well at the 2008 Games, Jonathan proved to be at his best and came home with a Team Bronze medal and an individual Silver medal on High Bar.  We were so proud of Jonathan.

The 2012 Olympics

Now he’s made the 2012 Olympic Team and as the captain of the Men’s Gymnastics Team we hope that he will lead them to another Team medal and bring home the GOLD!  Jonathan has done all this with the support of his family and friends.  And with God watching over his every move, we are praying that he will have another successful and safe competition.

Good Luck Jonathan!  We’ll all be watching!

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Remolding

Posted on June 19, 2012 by veranda

Replacing the Carpet

You know when you move into a new house and everything is nice and new and shiny, life is good.  Then before you know it, 15 years have passed and you need new flooring.  Well that’s where we’re at.

We had the kitchen vinyl and the carpet in the den replaced about 5 years ago and it wasn’t that big of a deal.  They only had to move a few pieces of furniture, no problem.  Now we’re ready to replace the carpet in the rest of the house.  I decided to put tile in the bathrooms.  I know,  who puts carpet in a bathroom?  Well sixteen years ago, most builders did.  So we had tile put in the two bathrooms.  No problem.  We only had to stay out of the bathrooms for a day and a half.  They took up the toilets and reseated them.  We had one working when they left so that we could make that bathroom run during the night.

Now as for getting the rest of the house ready, that’s like packing to move.  My husband has a lot of books and so does my son, the one that no longer lives here but left all his childhood books.  We have taken three large boxes of books to the library and packed books to keep.  We are running out of places to put things.

The Master Bedroom

We have a large water bedroom set that we converted to a Tempurpedic a couple of years ago.  If you know anything about waterbed sets, they are usually big.  Well ours is no exception.  We also have a dresser, 2 chests and an entertainment cabinet.  All with drawers full of clothes.  All the drawers had to come out and stacked in another room to lighten the furniture for moving.  The floor guys dismantled the bed and moved part of it into the master bathroom.  Part of it went into the den.  The first day, they managed to complete the master bedroom except for some of the trim.  They put the bed back together so that we could at least sleep that night. Yay!!!

The Den

When they started on the den, they just moved the furniture from one side to the other.  They didn’t do the trim, so we couldn’t put the furniture back to where it belonged.  The next morning they came to start another room and I insisted that they finish the trim in the master and den so that we could at least put those rooms back together.  Besides, we needed that space to put stuff from the other rooms.

With the Master and den complete, I’ve been able to start putting stuff back where it belongs.  I’ve thrown a lot away and as I’m putting stuff back I’m deciding if I really need it or if I should just trash it.  I think I may be a closet hoarder.

The Rest of the House

Once the den and master bedroom were done, they started on the rest of the house.  It didn’t take as long as we thought it would.  They worked late Sat and Sun to finish up.

 

All Done

Well they finished the floors in 4 long days.  It looks great, I love it.  My husband has decided that we should paint two of the rooms before we move everything back in.   Now our work really starts.

What projects do you have planned for this year?

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Easter on the Veranda

Posted on April 7, 2012 by veranda

With the weather in Houston this Easter, we’re going to enjoy our Easter lunch outside on the Veranda.  It’s not supposed to rain and the temperature is going to be in the low 80’s.  We’ll be sitting out on the veranda in the shade enjoying lunch with our family and some of our friends.

Who’s Coming

There’s nothing better than dinning with family and friends.  We’ll have guests in their 80’s, 60’s, 50’s, 30’s and 20’s. With grandparents having a chance to catch up with their grown grandchildren, the conversations will vary from what’s been going on in their lives to what they have planned for the next week.  Our friends will catch up with us and our parents.  It doesn’t get any better than this.

What’s for lunch?

We’re having spiral sliced ham with brown sugar glaze, potato salad, baked beans and deviled eggs.  My sister n law is making a green salad and her husband is baking fresh bread.  Our friends always bring something good to eat so we’ll have a feast.  For dessert, I’ve made a Lemon Blueberry Trifle.

I hope your Easter plans include time with family and friends and lots of good food.  Happy Easter!

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Dealing with Frustration

Posted on March 30, 2012 by veranda

Back in November 2011, we discovered a water leak on the side of our driveway.  Well since we had been in a drought for most of 2011 and we didn’t want to pay for leaking water, I called the water company.  They sent a man out and he said the leak was on their side since the meters weren’t spinning.  Good news for us!

Reporting the Leak

You would think that since it was their issue, they would get right out to fix it…wrong!  I called back 2-3 times in December before someone finally came out and told me that they didn’t want to tear up the yard during the holidays.  Ok, that sounded alright.  So I waited until after the first of the year to call again.

I called again and again until March.  Now the leak was really getting bad and really wasting water.  I was expecting our HOA to come after me for wasting water for 5 months.  But only my neighbor came over to see if I knew we had a leak?

The Fix

Well, they finally came out to repair the leak a couple of weeks ago.  Now I see why they didn’t want to mess up the yard during the holidays.  The leak was under my driveway and they had to tear up the concrete to repair the leak.  I think that was done in a day, because by the time I got home from work, they were gone and haven’t been back.  They said it had to dry and they’d be back in 2-3 weeks.

Where we are now

Now it’s the end of March and we still have no driveway.  My husband and I have been parking on the street for 2 weeks.  That may not seem like a problem to you, but I have a garage to park my cars in and I don’t like our cars sitting on the street.  It rained last week and again today, so we are still waiting on it to dry.

My Daily Frustration

Every morning I have to go out and clean all my windows so that I can see to drive.  For some of you that may be an everyday occurrence, but not me.  I get up at the same time every day and leave at about the same time every day.  Having to clean my windows has added time to my mornings I don’t have to give.  Added to that is the fact that our cars are filthy and it seems a waste to wash them just to sit outside and get dirty again.  It’s spring in Houston and we like to drive a clean car.

Keep your fingers crossed that we can go a week without rain so that it will dry and my cars can get back under cover.

What frustrates you around the house?

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Check the Oven, Please

Posted on March 12, 2012 by veranda

Do you live alone or have a perfect memory?  If you answered no to either of these then you may have done the same thing I just did.  I was making cupcakes the other day and as usual, I turned on the oven.  I didn’t check to see if there was anything in the oven before I turned it on.

What Happened

I’m sure you can guess what happened.  When I opened the oven door to put in the cupcakes, I found my Tupperware container melting…all over my oven.  It seems that my husband had placed the left over brownies in the oven to be out of the way.  Well, so much for that container.  Due to my gasping, my husband came into the kitchen to see what was going on.  I turned off the oven and grabbed a couple of pot holders to remove the rack, Tupperware and all. I took it outside and set it on the recycle bin to cool while I dealt with the mess in the bottom of the oven. Fortunately I had an oven liner in the bottom of the oven and all of the melted Tupperware landed on it.  I took a pair of tongs and pulled it out, folded it up and my husband threw it away.

Cleaning the rack

Now comes the hard part.  Most of the Tupperware broke off of the rack, but some had melted all around the rungs.  That was a little harder to clean.  I have one of those razor blade gizmos that you use to clean glass stove tops.  I used it to scrape the rungs of the rack.  My husband has a knife that is really hard so he used it to cut thru the melted rubber.  Surprisingly, it only took us about 10-15 minutes to clean up the mess.

The Lesson Learned

I know to check the oven before I turn it on, I just didn’t think this time.  Something that would have taken all of 2 seconds cost me a good 20 minutes and a favorite Tupperware container.  I got real lucky that I had the oven liner or I would still be trying to clean the bottom of the oven or worse, replacing my oven.  I think I will always remember to check the oven from now on.  You never know what you’ll find… or save.

Have you ever forgotten to check something and paid for it later?

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Who’s Job is it to do the Laundry, the Cleaning, the Trash?

Posted on March 6, 2012 by veranda

Well I guess you think I’m going to complain about always having to do chores.  If that’s the case, you’d be wrong.  I’m lucky.  Around my house, my husband and I both do the chores.

Laundry

I usually sort the clothes on Friday night or Saturday morning and make piles in our bathroom.  Now it’s just the two of us, so we only have a few loads each week.  Most of you are probably wishing that was all you had each week.  With kids, laundry multiplies, especially with girls…teenage girls, or so I hear.  I only had a son.  Once the laundry is sorted, whoever is in that part of the house will pick up a pile and head to the washing machine.  My husband knows how much detergent to add and how to set the machine.  So if he’s the one with the clothes, he’ll do that load.  Once the washing machine is finished, either one of us will move the clothes to the dryer.  I know you’re thinking “that’s the easy part”.  Well my husband also helps fold and hang up the clothes too.  That’s right, he helps without even being asked.  If I come walking thru the room with a load in my arms, he’ll get up and follow me to the bedroom and help hang up or fold the clothes.  Are you jealous yet?

Kitchen Duty

We have a standing rule.  I cooked you clean.  But it never really happens that way.  Regardless of which one of us cooks, we both clean up the kitchen.  I usually pack up the left overs and my husband starts loading the dishwasher or washing the pots and pans.  I don’t mind loading the dishwasher, but I hate to unload it.  My husband always laughs when he gets home and has to unload the dishwasher.  We also have a couple of extra helpers named Fred and Ginger.  They’re the best dishwashers around.  They are two dachshunds that belong to my sister-n-law.  She lives behind us so the pups come over all the time, especially around dinner time.

Fred’s the black and tan one laying half off the couch and Ginger is the red one.  You can tell Fred doesn’t miss many meals.  Are you jealous yet?

Cleaning

Well, I don’t want to lead you on.  I have someone that comes in every other week to clean.  With both of us working, it gives us our weekends free.  I know what you’re thinking, with only two of us we shouldn’t need a house keeper. We try to pick up after ourselves, but the floors and bathrooms still need cleaning.  Are you jealous yet?

The Trash

Ok, this is still a man’s job!  My husband usually takes out the trash when he goes out for the paper.  When he’s on vacation and I’m not, I take it out so he can sleep in.  If I remember its trash day, I’ll go out and get the empty can and bring it to the back of the house, but it’s usually my husband that takes care of the garbage.

I hope I have raised my son as well as my mother-n-law raised my husband.  We have been married for over 36 years and he has always helped around the house.  If you have children, take the time to show them how to cook, clean and do the wash.  It will make them better roommates, spouses and friends.

Do you have a helper around the house?

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