This past weekend, we were invited to a friend’s house up in the mountains at Big Bear Lake. We were told, “well, you poor things, you have had so much company and must be tired, why don’t you and Randy come up for the long weekend so you can rest, sit out on the patio and read and we will just relax and have lots of quiet down time.”

Well, my goodness, did that sound like a great weekend or what? So Randy and I headed to the mountains Friday afternoon, with nothing packed except lots of books to read, an extra pillow for those long afternoon naps and pen and paper for writing some long overdue letters. After all, we would have plenty of time to write, being that we would be sitting outside with our feet up, laying our heads back to soak up the gorgeous sunlight, all while sipping at a glass of iced tea or hot tea, depending on the temp.

We were excited about the “restful” weekend we will be having, when upon arriving, we look over to the side of their house and see a cord of wood that had been delivered for their fireplaces. Oh good, we will have plenty of wood for that sparkling fire that we can curl up on the couch and enjoy, while reading and snacking on cookies and hot chocolate.

We are welcomed by our friends and told, “we need to get a good nights rest because tomorrow, we have lots to do and explore.” I’m sure she means lots of reading and exploring magazines and such. But…next morning we finish breakfast and we are off to a car show. Now, I like car shows as much as the other wives but, I can “enjoy” the car show in less than 30 minutes. All you need to do is walk in the middle of the street, looking at both sides at once, you can finish and be home to sit and read in less than an hour. But not this time, we allow the guys to control this little outing, so we stroll and look at old cars, at new cars, at refurbished cars, cars that need refurbishing, cars that still run and cars that don’t run. While the hubbies have their heads under the hood of one car, trying to decide what type of cylinders it has, we ladies sneak off to the tea room for a delightful lunch. OK, now we’re cooking. I bet after the tea room, we are going to go home and sit outside and just reminisce about all the cars and carburetors we saw at the car show. One of us, who shall remain nameless, decides that we will shop for a while. So off we go to discover new fall goodies that are in the stores. We arrive at home and I’m thinking, “yeah, I will go upstairs and have a nap, but will be oh so quiet as to not wake up Randy from a nap I think he must be enjoying, but where are the guys? We look out back and find them, hauling all the wood from the side of the yard to the back. What? What has happened to our quiet and relaxing weekend? Did we miss it, maybe we came on the wrong weekend!

I am now looking through cabinets, luggage and my purse, for pain medication and aspirin  so Randy will be able to move when he wakes up in the morning from hauling the wood. Tomorrow, yes, tomorrow  will be “the day” of relaxing. We just needed to get all the “honey do’s” out of the way and I’m sure that we will have plenty of time after church to sit and relax.

Sunday comes and we go to town for lunch after church and we discover that we didn’t cover all the stores yesterday, so off we go to finish seeing how much money we can possibly spend before the stores close. We found out that you can spend a lot. Well, our pocket books are empty so we head back to the house, where we find, once again, the guys (except Randy, who is upstairs faking a nap to get out of working) are finishing moving the wood. BUT……here it is, a whole hour that we get to sit outside on the patio and read and talk before going inside to prepare dinner. Oh, but a nice hour it was. It gave me time to read the intro to a new book, “10 New Ways to Relax” before jumping up and begin cooking.

We hear at dinner that plans have been made for the next morning. We will head immediately after breakfast to the Mountain Summit to ride the chair lift up to the top where we will have a wonderful relaxing lunch. We will be snapping pictures of the valley below, pictures of the majestic trees and the beautiful lake we are now able to look down upon.. Ah…the quietness of being swept through the beautiful air via a chair lift. Well……now your talking. I can’t wait. I go to sleep Sunday night with anticipation of the morning ride up the mountain, dreaming of the pics that I will take as we take the chair lift back down. How will the lake look from up that high? Will Randy hug me tightly professing his love to me as we gaze into the beautiful blue sky that is wrapping its arms around us, gliding down the mountain in the quietness of the moment? We both sleep so soundly as we think about the next day and the thrill of the “mountaintop experience.”

During breakfast, we hear some talk from some of our table mates that they are thinking about walking back down the mountain instead of riding the chair lift. We quickly tell them that idea does not appeal to us in the least and that it is not a part of our “relaxing weekend”.  We head out to the mountain, buy our round trip chair lift ticket which includes lunch and off we go to find the chair lift. Here it comes, our chair lift that quickly picks us up off our feet and sweeps us into the air. I look over at Randy and his eyes are closed and his knuckles are white from gripping the bar that is holding us in. He is turning white and weird noises begin to come from him. Noises of fear and panic and I remember that he is really afraid of heights. When I ask him if he is ok, he just responds by shaking his head, not uttering a word. I try to talk about how beautiful the scenery is, hoping that this will take his mind off the fact that there is about a 1000 foot drop below us. He just keeps his eyes closed for the 20 min ride. We did it, we are up at the top and the view is truly spectacular. We have a wonderful lunch and get ready to head to the chair lift when the “host and hostess” of our weekend, suggest that all 6 of us really should hike down the mountain. Well, I don’t know about you, but this little city girl who just had a pedicure and doesn’t really believe in exercise until your Doctor tells you that you “have” to, is not about to walk down the 1200 ft drop to the base of the mountain. When I look at Randy, I can tell that he would rather walk it than ride down, so I tell him that since he rode up in the chair lift for me, I will walk down it for him. So, here we go……surely this is just one of the places that is steep and it won’t all be like this, as my feet slide from the loose rocks. Halfway down one of our group says that she thinks two of her toes are bleeding. Mr and Mrs. Hostess are up in front, smiling and telling the other 4 of us to just smile, enjoy the scenery and in a flash, we will be back to the base. After about 15 min of continually going downhill, my knees begin to shake and are already feeling like jelly. Did the guy at the top say it would probably take us about 45 min to an hour to get down? It’s only been 15 min and I’m about to just sit on my bottom and scoot all the rest of the way down. I have no choice but to continue, there is no way I can climb back up to ride. We are told by Mr. & Mrs. Hostess that we have to stop and smile, every time we get to a sign that points us to the “hiking trail”. We let her take our picture, but we aren’t smiling. We finally tell her to take a leaping jump after the first 3 signs. We stop because a rock has bounced into my shoe. Have you ever tried to get a tennis shoe back on, standing, downhill, while standing on one foot?  The only whipsers of love I have heard from Randy is, “if you don’t make it all the way down, I will be sure you have a proper burial”. After an hour, we reach the bottom of the mountain and because I now cannot even raise my leg to get in the car, Randy has to lift it for me. We ride back to the house and begin preparation to leave for home. We load the car and say our goodbyes and head back down the mountain, as it should be done, in a car……My knees and feet will never be the same. I figure that I will finally get the much needed rest when I am in the hospital having a knee replacement next week. We found out why this weekend is called Labor Day…but we are now headed home where we can sit in our Lazy Boy chairs and relax and read until our little hearts are content and feeling comes back into our toes. We truly had a most fabulous time with friends who we are now bonded to because of the cooking together, sitting around the table eating together, working together outside,  but most of all the “challenge of doing something that got us out of our comfort zone….together” It was indeed a Labor Day of Love. Thank you Bonnie and Arnie, we won’t forget this very special time. I’m sure the after our bodies recoup, we will realize how good that was for us. But next Labor Day, I think we will invite some company to come visit, that way we will get some much needed rest.

Being 62, I have read Psalm 23 more times than I can remember, but until this past week, I can honestly say that Psa 23:3 that says, “He restores my soul” had just been words that reminded me of another attribute of our Lord, but it truly had never meant so much to me as it did this past week.

This morning as I was getting ready for the day and thinking back over the last week, particularly, last Saturday, I sat there and thought to myself, “what a difference I felt today, as opposed to last Saturday”.

Last weekend I did something that I really could not believe I did. It was something that the world would not look on as really a “big sin” or would even not even look upon it as anything done wrong, but the minute I opened my mouth and let words out of my mouth that should never have escaped, I knew that what I had just said, even the thoughts that went along with it, had greatly saddened the Lords heart. It was hard to admit that it was plain and simple, sin, that had now caused me anger at myself and heavy conviction of what I had done. All weekend, I tried to push the feeling away. I thought maybe if I talk it out with Randy, that would make me feel better. Surely he would have words to make me feel better. When that didn’t work, I thought, well, I will confess it to God and knowing that He is always “faithful and just to forgive” I thought well, that will do it. I will be rid of the shame of the sin, but that didn’t work. I tried to stay busy, going back over it in my mind, time and time again, I was going to bed thinking about it and it was the first thing on my mind upon waking. Finally Sunday night, I knew what I had to do. First thing in the morning when the store opened at 10:00a.m. I had to call the lady and apologize for my actions. Words cannot tell you how hard it was to do that. Knowing I had to do it to make things right, I struggled all night, knowing this was before me. It was truly a time of regret, knowing that if I had just “walked in the Spirit” and displayed the fruits of the Spirit, I would not be having to do what I was having to do to have peace. It showed me how sin can truly separate you from the peace of God and we must be willing to suffer the consequences of our actions, when we are disobedient to the Lord.

With the focus on ourselves in todays world, we feel that we can be restored and renewed by going to a spa or going for a massage or doing something we feel would pacify the void in our lives because sin has truly separated us from the “peace that passeth all understanding” which we receive from the Lord.

Before calling the lady at the store, I ask the Lord to give me words and strength as I knew I could never do this without Him. He was faithful to me in making that phone call. It was amazing how I felt when I hung up. Each day since Monday has brought more and more peace and today, as I was sitting there, I began to realize that I truly felt “restored” in the Lord and knew that even though this was a hard lesson, it will always be a reminder to me that when I am tempted to do something that is against the “laws and commands” of the Lord, I will stop and think about how it feels to be separated from that wonderful relationship I have with God and the peace that fills my heart when I”walk in the Light as He is in the Light”

Today, ask the Lord if there is anything that is keeping you from being able to know that perfect peace. If there is, “go, leave the alter and go ask forgiveness from the one you have sinned against”.  Your Soul will be Refreshed and Restored.

 

YUM!!!!! Taken from Food Network Magazine, my neighbor, Nancy, left a copy of this at my front door the other day. Since sliders are a favorite of ours and since not only are they so good, but actually a “cute” food to eat, they are just fun to make.

1 lb of 96% lean ground beef

9 small whole wheat hamburger buns, split, divided (we like the small Hawaiian bread buns instead)

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teas ground chipotle chili powder

2 slices pepper jack cheese, cut in quarters

Toppings: barbecue sauce, lettuce, tomato slices or pickles (maybe a little chopped jalapeño pepper?)

Tear one hamburger bun into pieces. Place in food processor or blender container. Cover, pulse on and off to form fine crumbs.

Combine bread cubs, beef, garlic and chili powder in medium bowl, mixing lightly but thoroughly. Lightly shape into eight 1/2 ” thick mini patties.

Place patties on grill over medium hot coals. Grill, covered 8-9 min  (gas grill 9-10 min) until instant-read thermometer registers 160, turning occasionally. If you don’t have a thermometer, you will know they are done when you are soaking wet from standing over the grill outside in the 100 degree summer heat.  Evenly top with cheese during last minute of grilling.

Place burgers on bottoms of remaining eight buns. Top with desired toppings. Top with top of bun.

 

Several of you have told me that you are having trouble finding recipes on this new format, so “due to popular demand” am going back to the old format. When you are looking for a certain recipe, there is a magnifying glass in the upper right hand of the page. Click on that and it will give you a space to write in the recipe you are looking for. Hope this helps.

Once again, thank you so much for reading the blog. I am spending a little more time at the moment working on finishing my first cookbook. It is my goal to have it finished by the end of this year.

Blessings to you, Trudy

You have probably noticed that you haven’t seen a post on the ole blog for me in about 2 weeks. There is a very good reason for that. We have had out of town company which took me a few days to recover from having a 3 mo old, a 3 yr old and a 10 yr old in the house. Now I love grandkids as much as the next baby boomer grandmother (but please call me Honey Nonnie instead of Grandmother, just not ready to go there yet) but as sweet as these little darlings are, there is just an evil side to them that makes you just want to stand up and cheer as you watch the car back out of the driveway.

We came into the house and just stood at the doorway and didn’t say a word. We listened and just continued to stand there a minute in a daze. For the first time in 11 days, it was quiet. Not just quiet as when they are taking naps, but total silence. It truly was a Hallmark moment. We looked at each other and really couldn’t decide what to do next. Did we just want to go sit down and enjoy the silence? Did we want to dive in and de-babize the house as in picking up raw crushed macaroni off the floor, or pick up all the shoe horns that had been brought out of Randy’s closet? Did we want to begin to throw out the rest of the frozen chicken nuggets that would not be eaten or all the half drank cans of soda sitting there in the fridge? Would the toys in the bathtub be ok if we left them for a day?

We decided to just sit and rest. After all, it had been a while since we had had 3 grandchildren in the house for that long all at the same time. The TV was actually smiling that it wasn’t having to show 39 episodes of Sponge Bob today. We could actually watch what WE WANTED!!!

Before we sat down on the couch, we did notice that there were toys under the cushions and actually retrieved a Piggy balloon from the fireplace. There was money in the computer printer and pink fingernail polish on the flowered couch. Guess the 3 yr old decided that there weren’t enough flowers on the couch, so he added his touch to the artistry. The couch looks great with the new hot pink flower. Adds so much to the red flowers beside it.

Don’t get me wrong, these precious little “gifts from God” are so sweet, when they are sleeping. The naps just don’t last as long as we wanted.

We have now adjusted to our “normal” week when it is just Randy and I in the house. It’s odd that we look back at the week and now only remember the precious times of sitting on the couch holding the 3 month old and trying to get him to smile. Or walking with the 3 yr old down the street listening to him yell out at his pretend friends up in the trees, all the while collecting “pinecones” from the magnolia trees. The memory of the 11 yr old asking if he could make a pallet in our room so he could sleep in there. I loved that, because it will not be too long before he will be wanting to be as far away from “grandparents” as possible.  So we cherished the talks we had with him while taking him to get ice cream, just by himself, is priceless. Just like childbirth, you forget the energy and patience it takes to have kids in your house. We choose to remember the things that give us sweet memories.

After all, the raw macaroni was a great exfolliator for our feet. Think we will just leave it on the floor.

Yesterday I was transported back to a time of elegance, of a lazy peaceful afternoon which I have never quite been shown before. My neighbor and her twin sister invited me to go to lunch with them at the Pasadena Town Club. In my mind, I thought I would be going to a place that would be sophisticated and elegant, but nothing in my past 62 years had prepared me for the treat I received upon entering this era gone-by.

As we drove into the parking lot, which was surrounded by a small red brick wall, with trees shading most of the cars, I knew that I was entering a different type of afternoon, as I saw only ladies entering the beautiful porch leading to the club which began in 1927.

As we walked up to the Town Club, Sally and Nancy began to tell me how it all began. Two women, in 1927 wanted a place where they could just go have a nice quiet place to have lunch. So..these two woman founded the Town Club. As we entered the front door, we were greeted by a hostess which led us to a “parlor” where we sat and had iced tea and visited until they come to ask if you are ready to be taken to your table. As we sat there and chatted about the beginnings of this great place, they told me that the men’s bathroom was named after their father, who became quite tired of “going out to the bushes to potty” because there was no men’s bathrooms, being that it was just a place for ladies all through the week. So their dad determined that a “men’s” restroom would be built, even though the men were only allowed onThursday-Sat nights for dinner.

As women began arriving, it was easy, in the way they were dressed, to imagine, many years before, the ladies arriving with white gloves, hats to match their dresses and always hose and heals.

After about 30 minutes the hostess came and asked if we were ready to be seated and we were led through a courtyard, filled with flowers, fountains, little white lights that I’m sure take you even further from reality when they are shinning at night, to an open room, which was filled with french doors.  We were seated at a table which overlooked and opened up to another courtyard where more flowers and chairs were placed just perfectly for chatting the afternoon away.

As I looked at the table, there was a printed Menu which, of course, had the Town Club’s name printed on it ever so elegantly and the menu of the day.

The silverware had TC on them, as well as the napkins. We had a choice of two entrees, but began our meal with chilled cauliflower buttermilk soup and popovers with little balls of chilled butter. As our main course arrived, I was still taking in the traditional wallpaper that graced the walls and listened to the ladies who had filled the other tables around us. No one was talking about movie stars, soap operas or politics. I heard conversations of family plans or trips that had just been taken; bridge clubs that were awaiting the ladies arrival. I saw ladies introducing their daughters, who were visiting from out of town, to other club members, who had known each other since high school.  Ladies were proudly showing pictures of grandkids to their friends.

As we dined on our beautifully presented salads, we talked about cookbooks and recipes and different places we all had lived. It was just such a relaxing meal. No music in the background, other than the conversations that reflected more gentle times.

Before the dessert was served, the server brought little finger bowls, which were placed on real lace doilies for us to dip our fingers in, if the need arose. Then put before us, was a gorgeous lemon curd sponge cake with a raspberry poppy seed cream sauce swirled around the base of the cake. Delicious and so beautiful.

They took me on a tour of the club, each room looking like a sitting room in an old mansion that was always ready to welcome visitors. Shelves lined the wallpapered walls, with books, chandelier lighting and comfy couches and chairs that just invited me to sit and sip on lemonade while reading a novel or visiting with an old friend.

As we exited the door and walked down the steps, I turned to look at this remarkable place that allowed me to wallow in the luxury of years gone by. I wasn’t really ready to go back to reality. It had been such a lovely afternoon, it was easy to imagine  a time when movie goers were not shot and killed or children were not  molested, while training to play football and no need for Amber alerts.

Thank you, Sally and Nancy for transporting me to an afternoon of innocence, elegance and just plain enjoyment. It was wonderful. The day made me realize that the South has been influential no matter the address…if we allow it to. I began to realize that my Southern roots would be able to be shared as I began to feel at home, even here in California.

Saturday began as any other usual Saturday. We woke up, fixed breakfast and sat down, he with his cup of coffee and me with my diet Dr. Pepper so we could discuss our plans for the day. Because his birthday was last Monday and mine is coming up this week, we wanted to make Saturday a fun day for us both…well, he surprised me by saying, “you have been wanting me to go with you to your massage place, so I think we should go do that to start our day.” I couldn’t believe my ears, here was Mr. Anti-Massage, (after he broke out in a very uncomfortable case of itchy rash after going with me for a salt scrub a few years ago) suggesting that we go get a massage. The ladies in our Sunday School class have introduced me to a place called, Relax Station, so that is where Randy and I go,  wearing just shorts and a T-shirt and lay down on their “chairs” that fold down for an hour, while they do reflexology on your feet and then proceed to work on your back and neck. It is just so relaxing. The room has about 10 or 12 of these chairs, and since you don’t change into a gown, you are fully dressed. So it is very relaxing. Well, we walk in and we are the first to arrive that day. We pick the hour massage and lay down. They immediately bring the tub of water to put your feet in while they start pushing pressure points on your face and head. I can’t see how Randy is taking this, but since I don’t hear any complaining, think he must be enjoying it. About 15 minutes into our massage, I think I hear something that sounds familiar. We are now not the only ones in the place, as others have begun to come in to enjoy this awesome experience that makes you feel like a limp noodle. Well, the “familiar noise” gets a little louder when I take the towel off my eyes and see Randy’s towel going up and down over his nose. Yes…you guessed it…he has fallen asleep and the snoring gets louder to where the others in the room are now snickering. I cannot believe this. I take him for a massage and he is paying $25.00 to sleep. When the hour is over, she wakes him up. He sits up and says, “wow, that was great, I can’t wait to come back”. Well, mister, not with me your not.  I got so stressed out listening to him snore and more stressed out when people began to snicker that I am more stressed than when I walked in. I tell him that if he will take me out for ice cream and lunch, I might forgive him, so off we go to find a yogurt shop.  He decides to put the top down on the car since it is such a beautiful day. Now you must know that I spent an hour this morning washing and curling my hair on a curling iron so I would look nice for our “birthday Celebration Saturday” and after the oil already rubbed in my hair from the massage, it is already going limp, but……we get in the car with the top down, and he sees something on the windshield. Yes, you guessed it…he turns on the wiper water which proceeds to blow over the windshield right in my face. My hair is done. I look so bad, I will only go to a drive thru for a hamburger and talk him into going home so I can redo my hairdo.  While I am doing this, he is still so relaxed from the massage, he falls asleep. Our Birthday Celebration didn’t quite turn out like we expected, but we did end the day at our favorite restaurant, Houstons, where we had a good laugh over the events of the day. When I think of getting older, there is no one else I would rather be with. He not only brings me laughter, but so much joy and adds adventure everyday to my life. Thank you Sweetie for always making our birthdays so special! But….I still won’t go with you anymore to get a massage..You are on your own for that one, buster!