Monthly Archives: August 2012

flashback friday – 6 feb. 2009

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EACH FRIDAY I HIGHLIGHT OLD FAVORITES FROM MY NOW-ABANDONED BLOG “FROM THE TOP OF THE STAIRS.” I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE RE-RUNS AS MUCH AS I DO!

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Still hamming it up…

“LENO’S GOT NOTHING ON BRADEN”

Tonight, as I was scrubbing potatoes for the spicy potato soup I’m cooking for dinner, Braden came into the kitchen. Being the sweet-hearted boy that he is, he grabbed the potatoes and, WITHOUT BEING ASKED, started peeling them for me.To illustrate an average conversation with him and his rapidly-bouncing mind (I swear he literally vibrates with energy, even when standing still in one spot), I record our conversation now for all posterity: Continue reading →

wisdom wednesday – 29 aug. 2012

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The past few weeks my sweet friends Bonnie and Roger have brought me gobs of goodies from their garden, including my family’s all-time favorite, corn on the cob!

Today’s post isn’t so much words of wisdom, but a short snippet by one of my favorite author’s, Garrison Keillor, in honor of their generosity…

“Back home, our fridge was always getting full in July. We took tomatoes to church to give away, as Christ said we should do, and arrived late and in the cloakroom we found paper sacks full of Christian tomatoes and cucumbers…

Sweet corn was our family’s weakness. We were prepared to resist atheistic Communism, immoral Hollywood, hard liquor, gambling and dancing, smoking, fornication, but if Satan had come around with sweet corn, we at least would have listened to what he had to sell. We might not have bought it but we would’ve had him in and given him a cup of coffee.”

~~ Garrison Keillor,  ”Leaving Home: A Collection of Lake Wobegon Stories,” p. xv-xvi.

flashback friday – 19 jan. 2009

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Each Friday I highlight old favorites from my now-abandoned blog “From the Top of the Stairs.” I hope you enjoy the re-runs as much as I do!

This week’s is especially appropriate as Braden has once again been sporting his customary bandage.  Last week, when working on a truck that was lifted up on a hoist, he walked right into the trailer hitch and received a nice-sized gash for his troubles!

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Tag, I’m It!

Last Monday, I ran across a post from Zakary over at Shindigcalled “Taggedy Ann” with the following instructions:

1. Go to your documents (I changed this to “my pictures” in my documents file).
2. Go to your 6th file.
3. Go to your 6th picture.
4. Blog about it.
5. Tag 6 friends to do the same.

In my never-ending search for blog ideas (I seem to be going through another dry spell; trying to catch up on laundry just ISN’T that interesting), I thought I’d see, just for fun, which picture would be my Tagged destiny. Imagine my surprise when this little beauty popped up:


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flashback friday – 12 jan 2009

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Each Friday I highlight old favorites from my now-abandoned blog “From the Top of the Stairs.” I hope you enjoy the re-runs as much as I do!

Not much has changed, except I no longer have the Tahoe; now it’s an X-Terra. That counts, doesn’t it?

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To a “T”

Before I ever took the plunge and began blogging, I discovered, completely by accident, several blogs that I really love to read. One of my all-time favorites is Lorrie Veasey’s “Our Name is Blog,” which is one of my guilty pleasures. This week Lorrie is playing the Alphabet Super Game wherein bloggers such as myself who are in desperate need of blogging ideas can request a letter of the alphabet to use for a “Top 10″ favorites list. I totally forgot to beg to be released from the letters Q or X, but she was merciful and assigned me the letter T instead.

So, in the spirit of the amazing Letterman (remember that show? He was able to leap the capital T in a single bound!), here are my 10 favorite things:

1) The Trinity - as in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I was extremely blessed to have grandparents who took me to a Christian church as a child, giving me a solid foundation to build my life on. I totally get that I am a sinner, saved by grace, and I try not to take that for granted (although I know I do, a dozen times a day). I cannot imagine trying to get through life without that assurance.

Plus the knowledge that “God is watching” has kept me, on more than one occasion, from hanging my children upside down by their toes or returning them to the rock I swear they crawled out from under!

2) Tom Jones - as in my hubby, not the aging (well, okay, maybe that part), hip-swaying crooner of “What’s Up, Pussycat.” Although he’ll sing it for you if you ask. But I beg of you, don’t ask… please?

haiti: music to my ears

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Flying into Port au Prince, the capital city of Haiti. The city is approximately 15 square miles and has nearly a million people living there.

Hoots, cheers, clapping, and shouted praises to God erupted when we first touched down on Haitian soil…

This was my first taste of Haiti, acted out as our plane was actually touching down – that suspended moment when the impossibly tiny tires touch pavement, then bounce up again before really getting serious about coming to a roaring stop – always my least favorite part of any flight. Anyway, we had just touched down after a long, 3-three hour flight from New York City to Port-au-Prince over nothing but ocean when every Haitian on the plane celebrated their homecoming.  Now, whether it was an outpouring of gratitude for returning to their homeland, or for safety at having arrived at all, I’m not sure!  Regardless, never before have I seen such a spontaneous, joyful showing by anyone, much less a plane full of people, young and old alike.

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flashback friday – 13 dec 2008

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Each Friday I highlight old favorites from my now-abandoned blog “From the Top of the Stairs.” I hope you enjoy the re-runs as much as I do!

Oh, Savannah is soooo going to kill me when she sees I reposted this! (Insert evil laugh here).  This is one of my all-time favorite Savannah stories.  Even better, she is still a daddy’s girl which makes my heart smile…

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 DADDY/DAUGHTER CONVERSATIONS
Savannah rides her morning school bus with a couple of little cretins, errr, I mean little boys, that pick on her. This pair has been dealt with many times by the bus driver (not just for picking on S), but the problems never seem to get solved. Because of this, last year Tom started giving her a ride to school each morning, which has worked out really well. I have to wake up earlier than they do to get to work on time, so I usually get ready in blissful silence (at least after the boys leave!), and then I wake them both up just minutes before heading out the door. Savannah is totally a daddy’s girl, so I just assumed that this was good quality time for the pair.A few days ago I had another one of my sleepless nights, and I just could NOT drag myself out of bed on time and opted to gain at least 1 more hour of sleep before heading to work. Tom had an appointment at 10 a.m. which meant he also got to sleep in a little before showing up for it. Sooo… I decided that I would take Savannah with me when I left and drop her off at school. I don’t know if it was just because she doesn’t get to see me much in the mornings, but she was in full-on chat mode. She talked my ear off, never once stopping to catch a breath! Tom wandered in after I sent her in for cereal, and made the comment “Wow… she hardly ever talks to me… She just looks at me really weird.” Hmmm… There were so many ways I could have responded, but I decided to be nice and didn’t take the bait! Continue reading →