I LOVE Saturday’s. They are just the best, most fun day of the week. You can sleep in (if you are old like us and don’t have to take kids to a soccer or football game), eat a dutch baby for breakfast, stay in your jammies until 10  and just run errands, stopping at either Sonic for happy hour of diet vanilla coke or Braums for a kid size shake (which is what Randy did today). We are going to some dear friends house to watch 4 hours of Season 5 of 24. Peggy is cooking dinner and this will be a great evening. We will be so wired from watching “Jack” save the world from terriorsts, that we won’t be able to fall asleep until midnight. But….it is worth it. We actually cleaned out a huge closet and took some clothes that we will never fit in again since they are the size we would love to be, but are not, to a young lady who is trying to get her life back together after leaving an abusive relationship. When we have days like today, when there is a little more “cool” in the air and really nothing that has to be done, it is easy to forget sometimes that there are people like this young lady who would love to have this kind of Saturday. It will be quite a while before she has the chance to probably do what we did today. She is a new Christian and is really trying to get her life back on track. It made me stop and count my blessings for all God has given me. First of all, my salvation, and 2nd, a husband who loves me and is so good to me. It is Randy who makes these Saturdays so fun and carefree. I cannot believe sometimes how blessed I am to have a husband who enjoys just going riding to look at new houses, or shopping with me or just pulling into Sonice to get me a coke, because he knew I would be wanting one, even before I ask. No recipes today, just a thankful heart for all God is doing in our lives. We have so much to be thankful for. A great health report from Randy’s dr this week for one. We just have to maybe begin to use one less stick of butter each week, not bad for oldies!. Neither one of us are on any medication, and that is a blessing. BUT……after I go cook my Martha Stewarts’ Pecan Pie Bars, we might be running to buy some lipitor…..Have a blessed Sunday, relax and honor Him by worshipping together with other believers.

Hi friends. Have not been able to write for a couple of days because my computer was off-line, but my husband arranged a few wires this morning and poof, I have internet again. This has been a crazy week, but a week of  lessons that needed to be learned, taking time with friends and a day of cooking a couple of new recipes. Also, just found something new for a table decoration. Will share that in a minute.

I woke up to find a package on the front porch and inside were two new cookbooks from a new friend that I have made. Matthew is a business friend of Randy’s and lives in California. He took us to dinner a couple of weeks ago and found out that I loved to cook. Matthew’s uncle owns a pizza stone oven business there in California and has written a wonderful cookbook. He told Randy that he was going to mail me one of those books and he did, plus a cookbook from Julia Child, since we had talked about see the movie, Julia/Julia….then I go to lunch with another friend, Dena and she has a new cookbook for me today. It is all about cupcakes! So now I have 3 new books I can sit, have a glass of iced tea and read all my new books. A gift from God after having a rather interesting day yesterday. I had an experience which I will not share at this time, but it was one in which I felt God was telling me that maybe I was not suppose to just say yes to everything anyone asked of me. I have been reading a book titled, “Walking With God” and in it, John Eldridge says that we get so busy that everything we do becomes just something else to check off a list, even our prayer lives become something else to check off some days. Because I have a very hard time saying no to people, as I’m sure many of you do, I find myself so busy some days that each week is filled with so many responsibilities that by the time I get home, the thought of cooking or spending time with other family members just wears me out. So I am determined to begin to pray and ask God what He is wanting from me. To quit being afraid of appearing “lazy” to others when declining an invitation, when my schedule is already so full. Maybe that comes with our age, we find out that some of the things that we thought important, truly are not that important. That what we should be concerned with is, “is this something that God has purposed for me” and will it be glorifying to Him?… Writing this blog has made me learn to write out my thoughts and think about my time and priorities a little more than I have done in the past. Maybe it is time for all of us to look at our schedules and put a little more time in our conversations with Him. Wonder what He thinks about our busyness..Is it truly pleasing to God?

Well, it is a new week and after a nice relaxing weekend, I pray that each of you reading this had a really good weekend. We went to a friends birthday party. Marc turned 65. We had a fabulous dinner at their house and it was so nice to just go and sit down and visit with friends . They were  from our old church and since we do not go downtown to that church anymore, it has been about 6 years since being around them. Isn’t it amazing how easy it is to just pick up the pieces and you feel like you have been friends who have shared the previous years together. We talked about that on Saturday night at the party. With brothers and sisters in Christ, you still share the same heart and spirit and conversation just seems to flow even though you had not seen each other in so long. We came away feeling ever so blessed that God has granted us the blessing of first of all, being His children, and 2nd that we are a part of Christian friends who love to get together, share our joys and sometimes, ask prayer for things that are going on in our lives. We are so blessed to be a part of the “family of God”. One of the recipes from Saturday night was just amazing. Will share it with you.

Well, it is just a fabulous Friday. The air is a little cooler, I had lunch with my hubby and have made a batch of yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Am looking forward to tonight when Randy and I will don our aprons and cook orange chicken over udon noodles! We have several friends who are in a season of life which is throwing them some health problems and was reminded of a little story from a few years back. Randy and I were at a meeting down by Austin and while he was in the meeting, the wives of the directors were having breakfast and talking about the different stages of being a women and the different ailments which went along with each of those particular decades. Each women there had had some type of surgery befitting her age, some in their early thirties had just had children, some in their 40’s had had either gallbladder surgery and those in their 50’s (which is where I was at the time) had had knee or hip replacement, back or neck surgery, etc. As we were sharing stories, one lady was complaining that she had had surgery that was just so painful and that the pain pills which the dr had given her was just not doing any good. I told her that she should ask the dr for some valium as it was such an awesome pain killer, and if taken correctly, even if it didn’t take the pain away, you simply didn’t care!. When she heard me she exclaimed, “Trudy, no one should take valium, they are just so very addictive!” At this point, I injected, “no they are not, I have been on them for years”. Well, everyone at the table just cracked up and it was then that I realized just what I had said. What they didn’t know is that I had taken them once a month for that wonderful time each month, when the rest of the world is crazy and mean and I was the only one that had any sense or feelings. That was what the dr’s in the 60’s prescribed and I had taken them with success each month until I didn’t have that “precious time of the month anymore”. So all this to say, sometimes, I do miss my blond hair, it always gave me something to blame my “choice of words”. Hoping your Friday is Fabulous!

Well, just got back from some errands and am once again reminded how good God has always been to us and has showed His faithfulness to us in so many different ways. Randy went for a physical this morning. We have been so blessed with good health thus far and give the glory to God for His provision. We are blessed with a precious new grandbaby, Caleb, now two weeks old. We live in a home which we know was given to us by God and pray that each day we give it back to Him in ways that glorify Him. Am preparing to serve lunch to some Bible teachers next week, here at the house and have been looking through my recipe boxes. I came across a favorite with ladies every time I serve it and thought I would share it today. Hot Onion Souffle. Do not let the title scare you off. It is so very easy and it taste amazing!…as Mikey used to say, “try it, you’ll like it.”

Today is one of my favorite days. Art day. It is just a day of meeting with friends at Hobby Lobby and painting and relaxing and just not thinking about anything but painting the latest picture. It is just a great day, finished off each Wednesday night with us going to El Fenix to meet friends for Mexican food.  Tonight we are taking Sevy, our 5 yr old grandson with us. I love showing him off. He is just Mr. Personality and a cheap date, He doesn’t eat anything but chips, so Randy loves that part. I have to brag on something. Yesterday, I was feeling a little hum……should I say “old” after going shopping with Jodi and seeing her try on cute little spaghetti strap sun dresses, knowing that those days were totally over for me. So I get home and decide to pep myself up by making pralines. While doing so, I am watching “King of Queens”. Carrie walks in to find Doug on the couch and he is playing out a beat on his belly with his hands and asks Carrie to guess what “song” he is giving the beat for. She replys, “Doug, you are keeping rhythm on your belly and I will not even try to guess what song you are “playing” when all of a sudden I yelled out loud, “I Love Rock n Roll” and then Doug yells out, “Carrie, can’t you tell I am “playing “I Love Rock n Roll?” I couldn’t believe my ears, I had guessed his belly music. I was just so proud of myself for actually remembering that song and then correctly guessing what it…ah, life felt so good again. Maybe I wasn’t as old as I was thinking. After all, I had carried around about 30 pounds (car seat and Caleb) that morning, getting it in and out of the car and then coming home, cleaning house and making pralines before making dinner. I need to do that more often, just attempt to look for the moments of “fun” and not take life so serious. I have to go, I want to practice “playing, “Mama Mia” on my belly for Randy!

Don’t forget to check out the new Apple Spice Cobbler under desserts today.