Category: Daily Thoughts

Daily Thoughts

Peeling Eggs & Cake Mix Tips

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Over the years I have struggled with peeling hard boiled eggs. I have tried every suggestion that came across Face Book, or tips from chefs on television. Sometimes they worked and sometimes they didn’t. Since I have 2 daughter-in-laws that eat deviled eggs like they were chocolate truffles, I have made A LOT of deviled eggs this past year, since we moved closer to family. I have begun to really pay attention to how I cook them and what works more times than not, when peeling them. So after peeling 6 eggs today and having every one come out looking like a perfect little white egg, I want to share something that maybe you hadn’t thought of or heard.

They peel so easily when still warm. All I do is put the eggs in a pan, cover them in water and after water comes to a boil, I boil them uncovered for 4 minutes. I take the pan off the heat and place a lid on the pan. Allow to sit for 15 mintues. Pour the water off and run WARM water over the eggs, until you can comfortably handle the eggs. It is almost immediately that I begin to peal them. This allows you to peel them before the skin that is right under the shell to begin to stick to the egg. Thus, the shell comes off beautifully every time. At least 95% of the time. In the last several times of boiling eggs, I have had only one egg that was hard to peel.

Cake Mixes

Cake mixes can taste more like homemade if you make a couple of substitutions.

1. Substitute the water using milk.

2. Instead of the oil that is called for, use half oil and half melted butter. (And NO, using margarine doesn’t count, besides margarine not tasting very good, butter is better for you anyway.)

3. Add a little vanilla or any other extract such as almond, or butter, or well, you get the point. to the cake mix…about 1 teas

4. Add about 1/4 cup of sugar to cake mixes.

5. Never just bake them the time listed on the box. Watch closely and just when the top of the cake looks a little shiny in the middle, but when you shake it, it feels solid, take it out. Remember, to bake it according to your oven. Just because the box says bake 25-30 min, doesn’t mean that fits all ovens. So if you take them out just before they look dry on the top, they are much more moist.

6. Dark baking pans need to have the oven temp a little lower than shiny pans. Instead of 350, try 325.

7. One Duncan Hines cake mix makes 3 8″ loaf pans. You can then freeze 2 of them and pull them out as needed, always allowing you to have a cake in the freezer for those times when you don’t want to bake but company is a’comin!

Daily Thoughts

Nanalicious Lessons

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It feels like I have not written in months, when in reality, it has only been 4 days. Before I left to babysit in Phoenix, I had posted some lessons learned from keeping our 10 yr old grandson for 4 days. Also, I had written that upon my return, I would post more lessons learned after a week of keeping a 3 yr old, a 5 yr old and a 13 yr old. This is the lesson that I learned last week:

WHEN DETERMINING WHERE TO LIVE WHEN WE GET OLD, WE WILL MOVE TO OUR KIDS THAT ONLY HAVE 1 CHILD, NOT 3!!!!!!

There…that was my lesson that I learned.  After spending 5 days in Phoenix with these angels, I learned that I should have trained for a triathlon before attempting this challenge. I learned that I should have had a chiropractor on speed dial.

Never attempt keeping 3 youngsters, at my age, without first buying earplugs, a great pair of tennis shoes and lots of benedryl (for the kids, not me)! I found myself running car pool with a roll of toilet paper in my purse, for Noah’s runny nose, (I couldn’t find any tissue), which really felt weird, when reaching into my purse for my wallet, grabbed the roll instead. The cashier looked at me, then looked at Noah and said, “I totally understand.”

Do not ever enter a restaurant without a bleach rag or antiseptic cleanser. I must have made 5 trips back to the silverware station for clean spoons after Noah kept knocking his onto the floor.

NEVER LEAVE THE HOUSE without at least 3 pair of extra “big boy” underwear! Sometimes, the “big boy” forgets he is a big boy. Need I say more?

All in all, I can’t even begin to tell you how many trips I made up and down the stairs. When I brought the boys their milk for the night, I was so proud that I had bathed them, had them brush their teeth, and they were actually in bed without one boo boo for the day. I handed them their milk and Caleb says to me, “Nana, you have the wong cups. Noah has to dwink his out of his baby cup and I don’t dwink out of this one, because it is a baby cup.” I told him to just exchange them and all would be right in the world. He looked at me and said, “Nana, Noah’s uses the cup that looks like a cow uddor (Caleb doesn’t seem to see the need to use “r’s” so we never hear a “r” in the Dupree household), but it only has 1 uddor on it” So I ran back down stairs to find the cup with the 1 “uddor” on it.  (Are they really teaching 5 yr olds about cow udders in kindergarten now)?When I come back up, I bring two new cups of milk and promise God that when I turn 65, I will go to Africa to be a missionary, if I just don’t have to run back down the stairs again that night. Caleb tells me that I still got the wong cup for him, but he will use the one I bwought up. God is faithful! If I survive this week, I guess I will be preparing to learn how to live in Africa. I kind of feel like this past week was a great start for learning how to live in the wild.

When I plopped into the chair in the airport, waiting for my flight to take me home, I sat there thinking about how old this week made me feel. Why couldn’t I keep up like I could 40 years ago? My aching muscles and swollen feet reminded me that I guess I truly am not as young as I like to think I am. But after a couple days of rest, I’m sure I will be just fine and ready to tackle the next big challenge.

Upon arriving in Dallas, I walk off the plane, in my cute little wedge sandals, knowing that Randy will be waiting with open arms to welcome me home. Well, a few minutes after leaving the plane, I am walking so fast, that I hit a wet spot on the floor that has just been mopped. Whish…down I go right in the middle of Love Field terminal C. All the precious little 15 yr olds walking around me, come over to me and I hear people saying, “help her up, somebody, help the lady up.” I felt my face turn red and didn’t realize until I got up what I must have looked like, trying to get up by myself, having turned over on all 4’s and pushing my way to try to stand. It was a proud moment, I can assure you. But in the distance, there Randy stands, with a huge grin on his face. Was he that glad to see me or had he seen me fall? Could I feel any older than I had when the minivan that had dropped me off at the Phoenix airport was decaled with “nanlicious”? My dear sweet son-in-law thought it would  be cute to have this on the van as I drove it around all week.

Surely things will start to feel better as soon as I get to the house. Surely, as soon as I have a glass of sweet tea and sit down with my chocolate candy I had saved, I would begin to feel my youthful self again, well maybe after a good night’s rest. So settling down on the couch with my tea and chocolate, Randy brings me an envelop and says, “guess what you got while you were gone?” I glance down to see the giant envelop with giant letters forming the words “WELCOME TO MEDICARE”. I guess they think that we can’t see little letters unless they are the size of a large Vitamin.

I think that the Nanalicious van doesn’t look so bad after all. At least it didn’t have a handicap sticker on the license plate and with 3 kids in the back I didn’t feel as old as I did right then sitting there with the Medicare papers to fill out.

Wonder if the witch doctors in Africa take Medicare?

2015-04-20 15.10.18

Breads · Daily Thoughts · Salads

Wedge Salad With Tarragon Buttermilk Dressing & Crunchy Garlic Bread

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One of my favorite days of the month is when my Paula Deen magazine arrives. I tend to save sitting down looking through it, for when I can sit with any type of chocolate or dessert , a glass of tea (sweet of course) and quietness lurking in the room, with no television or radio. It is just my way of “getting away” from daily thoughts and it seems that by the time I finish, I stand up with a smile on my face and a new determination to try new recipes. Don’t you just love that about cooking magazines? They just inspire us to get out of our comfort recipes of meatloaf, chicken casseroles and store bought salads.

If you enjoy cooking magazines, I would like to recommend Cooking with Paula Deen…it has the most fabulous recipes. Haven’t tried one I didn’t love! Pure Southern goodness!

When I turned the page and saw this delicious looking salad with crunchy garlic bread to go alongside, it drew me in. Randy and I love wedge salads, so this one will grace our table this summer.

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup mayo

2 tables chopped fresh tarragon

2 tables chopped fresh parsley

2 tables whole grain Dijon mustard

1 table minced green onion

1/4 teas black pepper

1/2 teas salt

2 heads iceberg lettuce, cut into 4 wedges each

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup sliced radishes

1 cup halved grape tomatoes

In small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and next 7 ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Top each lettuce wedge with carrots, radishes, and tomatoes; drizzle with dressing. Serve immediately.

Crunchy Garlic Bread

2 (16 oz) loaves Italian five-grain bread

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

2 tables minced green onion

2 tables chopped fresh parsley

1 tables garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400.

Cut bread into 1″ thick slices, cutting to but not through bottoms of loaves.

In a small bowl, stir together butter and all remaining ingredients. Spread butter mixture on cut side of each bread slice, being careful not to separate slices from bottom of loaves.

Place bread directly on oven rack.

Bake for 10 min or until bread is browned and crisp. Serve warm.

Daily Thoughts

Grandkids, Grandparents & Guns

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This weekend our 10 year old grandson, Sevy stayed with us for 4 days. Both Randy and I thought about  when our kids were young, how we would take a sack filled with Matchbox cars, or Barbi’s to grandmas house to entertain the little darlings for the weekend. The grandparents felt fortunate if there was a new Disney movie just coming out that they could take the kids to which would then take up a couple of hours.

We want to be sure that other grandparents out there learn a few new guidelines of how to spend 4 days with a 10 year old, without getting stressed out enough to double up on Geritol (or something stronger) or just “accidentally” leave the kid at Dave & Buster’s.

1. Forget the Barbi’s and Matchbox cars. Just be sure you have enough power strips in the house that will handle all the sweet childs “toys’, so you don’t blow a fuse and end up without any electricity. Be aware that any grandchild over the age of 6 will probably tell you that they can and do try to fix anything on your computer or television that will give them access to more games and cartoons. We are now doing research on how to get our tv and computer back to our settings.

2. If you don’t have the cartoon network; GET IT…even though you might have “SpongeBob Squarepants” song embedded in your brain for the rest of your life, just having it on will give you time to shower and get breakfast ready. And….FYI, luckily for all of us grandparents, you will be glad to know that they are 13 Seasons of SpongeBob, each season having 18 episodes..Ain’t life grand?

3. There is no need to “tuck them in bed and read them a story”. All they want to snuggle with is their Ipad, cell phone and Xbox controllers.

4. They have an uncanny way of finding any chocolate that you have hidden away  for those times when you need just something to tide you over until the next football practice, which will give you 2 whole hours of quiet; but cannot seem to every find the other shoe that will allow you to be on time for their golf lesson,or football game.

5. When you ask them if they might want to play dominoes or cards, they will probably ask you if that is an app on your phone!

6. Accept the fact that you will gain 5 lbs the weekend you have the little angel s in your home, due to the fact that you will be eating fast food the entire time. If it doesn’t come from Chick Fila, McDonalds or Pie 5, they don’t want it.

7. Do not ever believe, I repeat, “DO NOT EVER BELIEVE” the sweet little innocent darlings when they say that they wish you would take them to Academy “just to look” at any thing. They are lying. They know when they look up at you and tell you that you are the best Nana in the world, that you will end up carrying out what ever it was that they came to “just look at”.

8. And last great lesson  for the weekend; be sure that you are in good standing with your neighbors. You don’t want them calling the cops when you are out on the driveway, having target practice with the air rifle that they “just went to look at”. Also be aware that sometimes those pellets ricochet and can hit objects that were not intended to hit…thus the new dent in the car.2015-04-12 09.09.58

9. Be sure that you go to bed by 10. Their day begins about 6 a.m. and they like cartoons on the minute they go downstairs. They do not ever like the house void of background noise, so neither should we. After all, if there is quiet, they might hear you tell them to do a chore.

10. Take lots of pictures of them with your phone. One day you will need some evidence to embarrass them to bribe them to come see you in the nursing home.

So these are the lessons that we learned over the last 4 days. I leave Tuesday to fly to Phoenix to babysit 3 more grandchildren. Will write the new lessons I learn there, when I return.

Daily Thoughts

A Spoonful of Sugar & Thankfulness

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My last posting was on a Spoonful of Sugar Teacakes! And truly we have learned in our many (and I do mean many) years of life, that sugar seems to always make the “medicine go down” so much easier. Sugar is that special little ingredient that makes even the worst of medicines or some vegetables, easier to swallow.

In this new Season of retirement, Randy and I are seeking what would the Lord have us do. Sometimes, we (ok, I admit, mostly me) try to get ahead of the Lord trying to figure out where the next path will lead and what will be our place in serving. After all, we tend to think that sometimes we might “deserve” this time Just because we are retired, doesn’t mean that life should be all about us, or that all our time is our own. God leaves us all here for a reason. It is up to us to use our time for His glory and to remain faithful, even when we might not feel like it. Sometimes we might  be focusing on excuse; that we try to say are “reason’s” keeping us from serving others. If we had more time, or money or talents, or friends, we could be more useful. But what if the real reason that we aren’t being used  is that we are lazy, or self absorbed? What if our focus is wrong? Am I being thankful for what God has given me? Am I thankful for the life that He is allowing me to live?

After attending a Women’s Retreat, the speaker, Debbie Stuart, who is so special to our family, told us that sometimes, we can be in the middle of God’s will, even though we feel like we are in the wilderness, just like when God left Moses in the wilderness for 40 years. This past year, I felt many times like we were in a wilderness. There have been days when we felt that maybe we heard God wrong and He didn’t really lead us back to Texas. That maybe we were suppose to be someplace else. But even though there have been days that seemed to feel like wilderness to us, there has been an underlying peace that we know we are suppose to be here. That His plans might not unravel as quickly as we would like, seems to tell us that maybe it’s our faith that He is trying to grow. Maybe He leaves us in the wilderness to teach us that we need to lean on Him more than ourselves; or our motives need to change, maybe our character. Whatever the reason, and there always is one, may we learn whatever He is trying to teach us and then grow into the person that reflects Jesus Christ to others.

This morning, I turned the page to a devotion in Jesus Calling and this is today’s reading.

April 6th:

“Bring Me the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Take nothing for granted, not even the rising of the sun. Before Satan tempted Eve in the garden of Eden, thankfulness was as natural as breathing. Satan’s temptation involved pointing Eve to the one thing that was forbidden her. The garden was filled with luscious, desirable fruits, but Eve focused on the one fruit she couldn’t have rather than being thankful for the many good things freely available. This negative focus darkened her mind, and she succumbed to temptation.

When you focus on what you don’t have or on situations that displease you, your mind, also becomes darkened. You take for granted life, salvation, sunshine, flowers, and countless other gifts from Me. You look for what is wrong and refuse to enjoy life until that is “fixed. ”

When you approach Me with thanksgiving, the Light of My Presence pours into you, transforming you through and through. Walk in the Light with Me by practicing the discipline of thanksgiving.”

My prayer  is that I will become more thankful each day, even when life takes us in paths that lead to the wilderness for a season. May I use the wilderness days to grow my faith and service to God. That I won’t focus on what I don’t have but on what we do have and serve out of thankfulness and love for God’s love, mercies and  His gift of salvation.

Psa 116:17 I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of the Lord.

A spoonful of sugar and thankfulness, a great recipe for wilderness days!

Daily Thoughts

April Has Arrived

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This morning I awoke remembering a great story that happened April 1st, 2002. We had just moved to California and Jodi, our daughter, and Jaden, our first grandchild. It just so happened that Jodi was needing a car, so Randy took her car shopping while I stayed home with Jaden. Randy and Jodi got to the Ford dealership and went for a test drive with a salesman. Jodi drove, with the salesman in the front seat, while Randy rode in the back. Upon arriving back at the car dealership, Jodi informed the young man that she really liked the car and that she would like to see some numbers. The salesman quickly opened the door and ran inside to “talk to his manager to get the best price possible.” Well, while he was inside, Jodi began to rub the door panel and informed Randy that this car was just so pretty and that she loved the gray material of the seats and the doors. Randy told her, that, “yes, it was really a good quality of mouse fur that they had on the seats and interior of the car.” She looked around to him, who sat ever so smug in the back, without cracking a smile.  Jodi asked, “are you serioius? How many mice do you think it took to cover the whole car?” Randy told her that he didn’t quite know but that as nice as it was and you couldn’t even seem seams anywhere, that they must have been really big mice. She was sold. When the car salesman came back, she told him that she really liked the car. Randy was sitting there just wondering if she would tell him that she was so excited about the nice quality of mouse fur that came in the car. But, thank the Lord, she kept it to her self; by the time they got home, Randy had confessed, when he couldn’t hold back the laughter any longer that he wasn’t serious. Jodi couldn’t decided whether to speak to him or laugh. She got the car and we have joked to this day that you can always tell the quality of a car, by it’s mouse fur. Happy April Fools Day!  Will tell you in another post about the time we told her on April 1st that we had ordered her a husband from Russia; as you can tell, Randy is quite mischievous!

Daily Thoughts

Dumpster Diving

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“Randy has hit an all time low. Yesterday we ran to the store to get a few items and while we were out, he told me that there were several sacks of clothing that we needed to drop off at one of the clothes donation boxes, so be on the lookout for one as we drove by parking lots. Well, I spotted one, so he pulled over and since I am such a giving person, I told him that he didn’t have to undo his seat belt and weather the wind gusts that were blowing profusely up to 40 mph. But that’s just the kind of person I am, thoughtful, kind and….well, at least I was until he did the unthinkable. When we were pulling up to the donation box, he slows down to a crawl and says to me, “look, isn’t that just the kind of seat we have been saying that we would go buy for Payton when the kids come over to eat?” I glared at him and said, “don’t even think about it Mister.”

So I got the clothes out of the trunk and placed them in the box. Feeling so very good about us keeping up with our closets this year and instead of putting all the clothes in a bin in our garage labeled, “SIZE WE WISH WE WERE”, we were going ahead and just giving up on that dream and giving the clothes away now, instead of letting the kids burn them when we are gone.

As I began to open the car door to get in, he continues, “just look, that seat is still in the box and it does look like exactly the one that we said would be perfect for our little 9 month old princess.” I reminded him that there are cameras all over the parking lot and if he thought for even one minute that I was going to have my rear end plastered all over a security camera screen in some warehouse somewhere, he was just crazy. After all, I am a author now. Authors don’t go stealing “junk” that sits outside the donation boxes in Walmart parking lots. What if the camera saw us and wanted to use us as examples of “why they ask people not to leave items outside the boxes ‘ and my rear end would end up on the 10:00 News. He told me I watched TV too much and, of course, they didn’t care if items were taken that were still sitting outside the donation boxes. How does he know that? Has he brought home other items that came from outside donation boxes? Does one really ever know their spouse? Maybe that is where he found my new ironing board? or the new lamp that he told me he found that was such a “great deal!”

Well, the new high chair is all sanitized and ready for Payton when she comes over next time. We won’t tell her parents where the chair came from, other than saying, “oh, it was such a great deal and was just exactly what we had been looking for.”  Randy just told me he had some errands to run and told me not to ask where he was going nor could I ask where he had been if he walks in the door with a doll house or wagon; just have the disinfectant out and ready. Wonder which news channel I should watch tonight?

Daily Thoughts

SPRING HAS SPRUNG!!!!! (is that a word?)

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I’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it…Spring is finally here. After many many gloomy days in the last couple of months, we have seen sunshine 2 days in a row. Honestly, I have always been a winter person, loving the fireplace, hot cobblers and stews. But I have found out this year, that maybe it’s my age, naw…surely not, but I don’t think I have ever been so excited to get flip flops out and put the coats in the other closet.

Today, we ate a sandwich outside on the patio to enjoy the breeze and the sunshine. I don’t even care if my dermatologist uses me for his poster child for what the sun will do to aging faces. It felt great to be outside.

Randy and I went yesterday and bought a new little patio table with 4 chairs, just the right size to use on these condo porches. We were so excited about the price and what a great deal we got, until we got home and discovered that it was a great price because we had to put the entire thing together. He told me it would be fun. That he could teach me a few things about assembling a table and that we would be proud of our project that we had built together. He said that if  he went first, I would know how to assemble a table if need be. I told him that  if he went first ,I would have enough insurance money to buy one already put together.  Now maybe it would have been fun, when we were dating or newly married, with all the stars in our eyes for each other to learn together all the furniture building projects. , We wouldn’t have seen all the loose screws that each of us were trying to tighten, only to realize that our muscles got a little “soft” during the long winter months of doing nothing except sitting on the couch eating all those delicious cobblers;  or all the nuts and bolts that kept falling and rolling under the car, and guess who had to dive under to retrieve them. Let’s just say that our little project didn’t bring us closer together. One of us, who shall remain nameless, even lost their balance trying to step over all the parts laying  out on the garage floor and ended up face down on the garage floor. In fact, by the time we were thru, we were barely speaking as2015-03-24 10.15.00 one of us sat at the “cute little table” outside to eat dinner, while the other one sat in the house, having dinner while watching the News.

But, we finally had it put together and we did learn a few lessons:

1. Just because the price is really cheap, usually means that even though the instructions say that it was inspected to be sure all the parts were there and functioning, don’t believe them.

2. Just because, as a couple, you have mastered emptying the dishwasher together without calling a divorce attorney, doesn’t mean that you are ready for the big projects of assembling furniture.

3. Be sure that you have your first aid kit close by, when you are using cutting knives and screwdrivers.

And one more lesson we learned yesterday, It’s usually worth a few dollars to have it put together before bring home. The extra dollars are still less than divorce attorneys.

Daily Thoughts · Salads

Dole Chipolte Cheddar Salad

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2015-03-20 15.05.42Am making dinner tonight for some new friends, parmesan chicken, rice pilaf, green beans, salad, Sister Schubert Rolls, of course, and lemon delight for dessert. On Wednesday I catered a luncheon for 9 ladies and served a salad that each time I serve it, people want to know what it is. So I thought I would tell you about it.

I love salads, but I don’t like to make them. Much more fun to make a cake. But I know that salads make the meals seem complete. I have happened upon a premixed salad in a bag. (before you turn up your nose, I have never liked bagged salads, it seems that I can always taste all the preservatives in them and why did I ever even pick up one of these bagged salads in the first place, but am so glad that I did.)

The salad is Chipolte Cheddar by Dole and it is truly a great salad. I have served it to about 4 different groups of people and even my oldest son, who is truly a food snob (sorry Jason) told me how good it was and where I got it. It has the dressing included and it is just a great salad. I served it with Green Chile Chicken stew on Wed and all the ladies raved about it. So next time you hop (it’s almost Easter, I have to hop) over to the grocery store, do yourself a favor and pick up a bag of Dole Chipolte Cheddar. You will be a fan, I promise.

Daily Thoughts

Senior Sightseeing

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We have had good friends here from California since last Saturday. And yes, we are still good friends. The week didn’t discourage or damage the relationship one bit. It seems that as you get older, it gets a little harder to find couples that you can spend lots of time together with, without feeling like you can’t wait to get back to your routine, or just get back to being the two of you. But this week showed me something. It showed me that blessings sometimes come from the least place you would imagine.

I knew that we would have a great time because we have spent so much time with the friends who were here. They are friends who we have spent weekends with up in Big Bear, California at their home. For a real treat, go to the search engine in my blog and put in Labor Day in Big Bear and read quite a comical essay on our “relaxing” weekend. These are the same friends who almost killed us with “relaxation”, but even then, we came away with a friendship that showed us how truly special good friends bless our lives, if we survive some of the plans they come up with.

Because we hadn’t seen Bonnie and Arnie since October, we welcomed them with open arms and just couldn’t wait to show them Dallas and all the good food that Texas has to offer. Upon their arrival, we headed down to Lover’s Lane to eat at Celebration Restaurant, home of comfort food. We were so excited to be able to catch up that first night over meatloaf, chicken fried steak and baskets of cornbread, it would just be the perfect beginning.

We were seated at the last table available next to a party of about 12 people who got louder with each glass of wine. We couldn’t even begin to hear ourselves talk or think. We just gave up and ate in silence. The food was great but we left with headaches. As we stepped out of the restaurant, we all just stood there and went, “ah…listen, quiet”. It was then and there that I realized that we are now true seniors. As Triple A will tell you, when you are couples riding in a car with the women in the back and the hubbies in the front, you know you are seniors. At the end of the week, we wanted to show them downtown Dallas and thought it would be great to enjoy the first sunshine we had seen all week, so we headed down to the Nasher Scluptur Museum.  We didn’t get there till 4, so not only did we  get the senior discount, but we go in for , “buy one, get one free”, since we got there an hour before closing. Randy is a happy camper now.

But…Randy and I figured that one of the best ways to show off Dallas was to take them into Highland Park and let them see how the other half lives. So we headed down to show them where Jerry Jones lives and the first shopping outdoor mall in Dallas, Highland Park Village. We are acting cool and sophisticated as we tell them that we will go into Starbucks and sit with a cup of coffee watching the Bentley’s and Rolls Royce’s drive up. This is where it gets good. We go into Starbucks and Randy and I tell them it’s out treat. (are we big spenders or what?) So we walk up to the counter and I order a tall Pikes Peak coffee for Randy. The cute little 15 year old, ask me again what I wanted. I repeat the order; a tall Pikes Peak coffee. Randy inches his way beside me and tells the little cutie, “she means a tall Pikes Roast Coffee”. They start laughing and the customer next to us, starts laughing and says, “that was so funny, you just automatically said, Pikes Peak”. I huffed around, wishing that I could grab up her Louis Viton purse and hit her over the head with it. But, I figured that I would just get away from the counter as quickly as possible and go sit with my other old friends. Knowing that we have been to museums all afternoon and my hands could use some cleaning, I see a huge bottle of hand sanitizer sitting right there on the counter by the cash register. So I did a double pump wiping my hands all the way to my elbows back to the table, when I notice people looking at me. Boy, I guess maybe they are looking at my new hair do and how cute I must look. I sit down next to Bonnie and tell her to take some of the sanitizer off my hands, I guess I did get just a little too much. So we are sitting there wiping our hands together when Bonnie says,” my goodness this sanitizer is just getting stickier and stickier.” We both keep wiping our hands together and I think, maybe it is one of those that has to dry but after about 5 minutes.  I can’t stand it any longer, we both get up to go wash our hands when I hear Randy coming back with all our coffees, saying, “everyone behind the counter is wondering why you pumped coffee syrup onto your hands?” OMGosh, why don’t I pay closer attention to labels? As Bonnie and I are walking through Starbucks to try and wash this sticky mess off our hands, people are staring at us and laughing. Apparently they all noticed that I had gone over and used coffee syrup as hand sanitizer. How do I regain “coolness” when I have coffee syrup on my phone and on my drink, I had even wiped my hands on my pants hoping to get rid of some of the excess sanitizer; now my pants were sticky and everything I had touched was so sticky that I had to bring back an arm load of wet towels to wipe everything off. We decided we had best get back to the side of town that allows senior moments to occur without laughing you out of the establishment. So we take our coffees and drink them in the car. We laughed for 30 minutes, remembering now how precious some of our most embarrassing moments can bring laughter and memories that will bind friends together for a long time.

We won’t ever go into a Starbucks again without remembering our afternoon in Highland Park. Some friends might have the memory of shopping St John together, but we came away with a great memory that cost less that $10. It doesn’t take lots of money to make a funny memory. Sometimes, it just takes a good sense of humor and a giant bottle of coffee syrup.

Senior Sightseeing…one of God’s little blessings!