Monday Mystery

When we were in Richmond, we stopped at Bojangles for lunch. When we finished, we cleared our table and proceeded to the trash receptacle. Then we saw this sign. 

I'm confused. Are you not supposed to clean your table?

Or, is this just a sarcastic, snarky way to get you to do it?

Either way, we did it ourselves. We're used to it. I guess it's just a mystery!

Something for Sunday

This post is appropriate for Sunday since it's church related.

So I’ve always professed to be an irreverent Catholic. Now I’m not really sure what that means, but to me it means, that I'm someone who believes in her faith, but doesn’t necessarily like all the pomp, circumstance, and extra stuff. 

Specifically, I don’t really like going to Mass—although we do it pretty consistently. We enjoy going to Mass in old churches while traveling and often do. But my dislike of going to church comes from going to Catholic school as a child, We had to go to Mass every single day! Actually, we had Saturdays off until the nuns would say on Monday morning, “We didn’t see you at Mass on Saturday”—in the scolding way those mean nuns had of showing their disapproval (in fairness, a few of them were nice). They knew that we lived about 5 houses down from church so we didn’t really have a good excuse not to go. We certainly couldn’t say we were watching cartoons! And, if you didn’t go on Sunday, you were going to HELL so skipping wasn't an option! Outside of Sunday and Holy Days which are obligations, it is hard for me to drag myself to extra Masses. 

That brings me to this past weekend we spent in Richmond, Virginia. We belong to an organization that, frankly, is a little too “churchy” for me, I feel like I’m a kid again with a dress code (black at all times—and dresses only. If I wanted that, I would have become a nun myself)! 

It’s just too much. There are other things I don’t like about it, but the main thing is all this going to church business! Had I known, I would never have joined, to begin with. But, here we are. There are times when I just can’t do it—like this past weekend at our annual meeting. 

I’ve been dreading it so much. Maybe now you will be able to understand me. I had to go to 3 different things at church. On Friday, the first one was a Memorial Mass for the deceased members of this group. It was 2 HOURS—okay, that includes bus time getting there and back. The actual service was an hour and a half.

And then there was Vespers. Vespers is a liturgy of evening prayer in Catholicism. I think it’s just another way to get you to go to church. That was ON THE SAME DAY as the Memorial Mass—and was from 4:15 to 7 p.m! That does include about 40 minutes of bus time. OMGosh! TWO THINGS ON THE SAME DAY IS JUST TOO MUCH! See what I mean? I’m just not that good of a Catholic. I never professed to be!

Prior to Vespers, there was a lecture on the Shroud of Turin. In case you don’t know what that is—it’s the burial cloth that Jesus was wrapped in. It’s a real thing and resides in Turin, Italy, The lecture was interesting with all the facts about how science has been able to authenticate it. Some of it was above my head. I’m mentioning that because I want to get credit for another hour and a half of some sort of “holiness!”

When I got back to the room, I told Butch that I wasn’t going to go to Vespers. He said, “Well it wouldn’t take much for me to skip it either!” Are you kidding me? Now I feel like Eve and influencing my husband to not do something we’re supposed to do. Needless to say, we didn’t go. But, in our defense, this wasn’t over yet.

Saturday was the Mass of the Investiture when new people are invested in the group. That was from 12:30-4:30—okay, that does include bus time and getting ready at the church to process in and pictures after. FOUR HOURS doing church related stuff. It’s just too much, I tell you! Too much. I think it's too much for others too because not everyone goes to every thing. I think I'm the only one willing to admit it.

But I made it through. Well, except for skipping Vespers. At least I’m good for another year now!

Scrapbook Saturday

1. So, I'm really loving my Cricut. It really is so easy. I paid 99 cents for this design and cut it.

I added "luncheon" to the bottom. I'm going to use it on my layout about Connie and Amanda's Halloween luncheon. Of course I'll be sharing the layout whenever I make it.

2. Here's another--I cut the riverboat to use for the title. It's our family vacation on the Rhine River Cruise. On the right is an insert I made--it's a few pages--shown below.

3. I cut the arch and lettering. There are thousands of free designs.

4. And this football!

The picture of the stadium that I put "game day" on is a Christmas card from the Titans a few years back. As for the football, I had this really cool textured--sort of like fabric paper.

Looks like leather to me!

5. I cut the glass and made the bloody Mary title too. And those olives too! So much fun. 

I didn't realize until I was preparing this post that I used the Cricut on every single layout. Of all the money I've spent on scrapbooking supplies and tools--seriously--I'm talking thousands of dollars--over the years, I'm finally getting my money's worth out of something!!

Friday Funnies

Ten Things Thursday

So, I'm taking a break from all of those lovely fall photos. 

1. The weather has been so beautiful that we've been able to resume our happy hours on the front porch.

As I was taking this picture, I noticed...

...that the geraniums look spectacular! They are so full and pretty. I love them and they are still going strong!

2. Stephanie and Nicky sent me this picture.

The beach is perfect at this time of year. Our favorite months are April, May, September and October. Not too hot nor too crowded. Just spectacular. They go down early and stay all day long! It's good to see that Nicky hasn't destroyed this cooler. He has a problem with them! Ha!

3. Matt sent me this picture.

My siblings: Matt, Jennifer and Janice. J & J are the twins but Matt and Janice look more like the twins in this picture. They don't color their hair.

4. My friend, Grenville, recommended this book. 

I had no idea that it is a huge comic book! Like 500 pages. I've barely started it, but it's definitely interesting. And very timely--given our upcoming election.

5. My brother, Matt sent me these pictures. 

He is quite the fisherman with a secret recipe for trout bait. He shared it with "the boys--Olly and Robbie" on our family vacation. They are also having much success with it!! Apparently, Matt and "the boys" are BFF's now! I love it. Matt's a sweetheart!

6. Another beach shot!

My friend, Diane! Everyone loves the beach at this time of year!

They bring their friends with them every year: from left, Grenville, Diane, Dave and Lyn. They are like Steph and Nicky--they go out in the morning and stay the whole day. Me, not so much. I'll do a few hours in the morning--okay, 2 and then hit the pool all afternoon!

7. So, on Tuesday, Nancy and I did our annual fall 6.5 mile hike. This is us at the end. I meant to take a picture before we started.

We go from her house to West Nashville, have lunch and then hike back. It's always so much fun. We do it in the fall and the spring before it's too hot or too cold. It's fun and strenuous. If we did it too often, it wouldn't be as much fun. It would just be work!

8. Well, I finally finished this pumpkin topiary needlepoint.

I've already done this one before. It was fun the first time--I gave that one to Sandy. And it was fun this time. It probably took me 6 months because I didn't work on it constantly. It could easily be completed in a month. I've taken it for framing and can't wait to get it back. It's spectacular. Here's the first one framed:

It's still one of my most favorite pieces. 

9. Morgan sent me this picture of her "boys"!

This is so darn cute: Joey, the middle boy, Marshall, in front, the baby and Finn in back the big brother! I just love that they all love to hang out together! How cute is that? Now that's a family picture--perfect for a Christmas card!

10. And finally...

I exercised my 19th Amendment right (women's right to vote)! It has never been more important than this year. 

That's it for this week. Next week, we'll be back to some beautiful fall photos!

What I Buy Wednesday...

...or today---What I Didn't Buy! 

In fact, this was a gift!

I had already pulled the bottle out of the bag before taking this picture. I wanted to show how it was many gifts in one!

Pictured here are all kinds of "goodies" from the UK. There's a puzzle of Broadway musicals, a bottle of "bathtub" gin (they keep me supplied with gin--flavors we can't get here--this one is Persian lime and Orange Blossom--so good), a glitter tag--on the outside of the bag--but I love it and will use it in my scrapbooking, a tin of mints, a "tea towel" (from Southwell (pronounced--suthell)--a place Diane took us to the last time we were in Nottingham), notepad and matching pen, a box of fudge, a box of chocolates and a darling "thank you" note. I love it all! They are so thoughtful! And, who doesn't love a surprise!

All of these special gifts were from:

Grenville and Diane and their good friends, Dave and Lyn. They also treated us to dinner last week. They are at the beach right now. They've gone down to our place every fall for many years now. They have their favorite restaurants and spend the entire day on the beach. The weather is beautiful this time of year. 

We're happy that they are having a good time and can't wait to hear about the trip.

 

Tuesday Thoughts About...

...Happiness.

In Church on Sunday, the sermon was about happiness. There was a quote by a 14th or 15th century philosopher who said that if you want to be happy, you have to serve others. 

OMGosh! That really hit home with me. I discovered this all on my own years ago. It makes me happy to help people. In fact, I've even blogged about this before. February of 2017 to be exact. Back then, I said:

"Feeling down or "blue" is, in my mind---a very selfish thing. When I'm like this, I'm only thinking about myself. The best way to get myself out of this is to start focusing on others. I can remember in the past, actually looking at my watch and saying to myself, "okay Barb, you have exactly 10 minutes to wallow in it. Then you have to get moving." I was doing nearly full time volunteer work at the time. It's pretty hard to think only of  yourself when you actually have to be thinking of others!

So there it is. I'm going to focus on other things now. Sometimes, things come to you when you least expect it. A friend called this morning in distress. She needs my help to "fix" a hundred invitations that came back boring. That will definitely keep me busy. And is totally right up my alley. Plus, I leave for Charlotte on Sunday to spend some time with "my girls!" That will definitely cheer me up. Sandy and I have a plan to do some table decorating. I'm looking forward to that."

As I was thinking about this in Church, I thought back through the years and how I've served (helped) just about everyone in my life at one time or another--mostly organizing or other physical work. And, I loved every minute of it. That makes me happy.

It's really nice to know that I already figured out the key to happiness! Just serve others! Works for me! 

Well, most of the time!