More Than A Song

Busy day today and I saw this at Debi’s place early this morning and it has taken me most of the morning to get around to it! It looked quick and easy and that’s what I’m going for today. Oh, and play along with us!

1. What are you currently reading?
I just started 204 Rosewood Lane by Debbie Macomber. It’s one of the books I listed to read for my spring reading challenge and I thought since I’ve only read one so far for that challenge that I better get on another one.

2. What did you just finish reading?
Oooh, I just finished reading Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, very good! I also did a post the other day about it and if you haven’t read it you can find it here.

3. What will you be reading next?
I’m not exactly sure because sometimes it depends on the mood I’m in at the time! But I’m likely to read Miss Julia’s School of Beauty by Ann B. Ross, the 6th in a series of books about Miss Julia or one of my many borrowed books from sister Stacy! Like The Year of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg.

Do you have a lot of light bulbs in your house? I went around and counted 44 fixtures or lamps in our house that use regular light bulbs…..I did NOT count fluorescent bulbs, outside lights, chandeliers that use smaller bulbs and ooh, I forgot to add the recessed fixtures that I think use regular bulbs too! I’m sure I have well over 55 places in my house that need lights. If Don ever goes to the store with me when we run out, you know, like having a “date” to Walmart, 😆 he tends to buy boxes and boxes of light bulbs. He doesn’t want to run out again anytime soon. I think we usually get anywhere from 20-40 boxes at a time of different watt bulbs; we use 60 the most but have places that need 40, 75 or 100 watts. And when we do have lights burn out, they tend to go out in batches not just one bulb at a time. I finally ran out of 60 watt bulbs last week but still have 6+ boxes of higher wattages left. So I bought some of the kind that are supposed to last 5-6 years…..you might have seen them before:

They cost a lot more than buying those cheap boxes of generic bulbs at Walmart, I think 3 of these ran about $7.50 or 8. I might want to eventually replace all our bulbs with these. If they work and do actually last 5 years I think it might be worth the cost and would take away the hassle of changing bulbs so often! I’ve never used them before so I don’t know how they compare to a regular incandescent bulb. Do they put out the same amount of light, the same kind of light? And, have any of you used them before?
Inquiring minds want to know!

Last night I finished reading Phantom of the Opera and I must say that I did really enjoy it. It was a bit different than some of the lighter stuff that I usually read. I’ve seen the stage play/musical several times and we own the movie so I was already familiar with the story. It is a horror/mystery romance that takes place in the late 1800’s in the Paris Opera House. The phantom is a deformed musical genius who lives a life of seclusion on the underground lake below the Opera house and takes on Christine Daae as a protegee. He tells her that the spirit of her dead father sent him to her as the “Angel of Music”. He gives her lessons and she achieves sudden fame on the stage. Her childhood sweetheart Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny sees her again on stage and falls in love with her and the Phantom becomes very jealous. Thus begins the rivalry and battle for the heart and hand of Christine.

I found a few differences between the musical version and the book, not too surprising I suppose. It might have been more helpful to me if I had read this before I ever saw the play the first time! For some reason I’ve never picked up before that the Phantom had a name, Erik. “Poor unhappy Erik.” You find out so much more of his background in the book. Another thing is that I think in the book his character is a lot more evil than how he is portrayed on stage; the torture scene toward the end of the book is an example of that (and that wasn’t in the play). A character in the book who I thought was a major one, the Persian, was totally left out of the stage version……I suppose that Madame Giry would be the one that filled that role. The Persian and his narrative takes up a good portion of the end of the book and is the one who goes to the Phantom’s lair with Raoul.
Also I thought that Raoul and maybe Christine seemed more young and immature in the book; you get the sense that they are young in the musical versions but it seemed more so to me reading it. Raoul seemed more impetuous, less strong than how I’ve always thought of him in the musical but maybe it’s been too long since I’ve seen it. I had a hard time in the beginning getting into reading it but I’m glad that I stuck with it. It’s a good read, a tragic love story.
Hard to say which I’d like better, book or musical. I loved the stage version and the music is fantastic, the show is very grand and sweeping and beautiful and sad! I enjoyed knowing more of the details that I got in the book. I wonder sometimes if it depends on which you do first, read the book or see the stage play, as to what you’ll like better.
In this case I say do BOTH! Read the book and definitely see the stage version, outstanding!

I got tagged by Lynne for this fun little history meme! Too bad my daughter doesn’t read this because she just might enjoy some of these. I’ve seen others do this one as well. Here’s what you do:

1. Go to Wikipedia and type in your birth date only–without the year.
February 17

2. List 3 events that occurred that day:
1621….Myles Standish is appointed as first commander of Plymouth colony.
1801….An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr is resolved when Jefferson is elected
President of the U.S. and Burr Vice President by the U.S. House of Representatives.
1933….The magazine Newsweek is published for the first time.

3. List 2 important birthdays:
1924…Margaret Truman, American novelist
1925…Hal Holbrook, actor

4. List 1 death:
1909….Geronimo, Apache leader

5. List a holiday or observance:
Random Acts of Kindness Day

Now I think I’ll tag three real life friends: JennaG, Mandalyn, and Coach J.
Oh and Stacy you should do it too if you haven’t already…..Lynne tagged you and I’ll tag you for it as well!

A few weeks ago I realized that Don had a Lowe’s gift card in his billfold that he’d been carrying around for months! I think from something business related is how he acquired it but as soon as I found it about it, I started a “wish list”. So we went off to Lowe’s on Saturday for a big date as he called it….silly boy, Lowe’s isn’t a date! We used about half of the gift card and somehow he ended up getting more things out of it than I did…..I must remedy that the next time we go. Ooh and I just realized, he put the card back in his pocket; I might need it to get more “stuff”. 😉
We had some tools stolen from our back porch while we were gone spring break so that was part of what he got. Pruners, clippers, and a saw have all disappeared recently so he picked those out and got leather work gloves and something to prune hedges with. Which we might not even use anytime soon. Then he told me that all that stuff was for me, like I want to work in the yard! But he doesn’t like yard work either, we are both the same that way. But I did get one thing I’ve been wanting outside, an umbrella to go over our table and chairs. They didn’t have any that exactly bowled me over and I had a time trying to decide whether to go ahead and get it to be using it or wait until I could find something I was really excited about.
But this is what came home with us:
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I hope everyone had a good weekend and not too much trouble from the storms that passed through part of the South. We gave a dinner party and shower for another engaged couple Saturday night so of course it rained! It seems to rain every time we give a party; most of the really bad weather was over before the start and it was just drizzling when we got through.
Got a semi-busy week and Monday’s meal might be eaten on the go. Be sure to visit Laura at Organizing Junkie to see who else is participating and posting their menus. Then maybe post and tell us what you’re having this week! Happy Monday.

Monday………chicken or turkey wraps, fruit, chips
Tuesday………Baked hoisin salmon, sweet potatoes, sesame green beans
Wednesday….church supper, but at the moment I’m not wanting what they have so I might make loaded potato soup
Thursday……Quesadillas (because I didn’t fix them last week!) & salad
Friday & Saturday……dinner plans with friends!

The salmon and green bean recipes are 2 of my all time favorites.
What are you having this week?

I was tagged by Debi to show a picture of my desk! It won’t look as nice as y’all’s real desks but it is what I’ve been using the last couple of years. The pictured desk always belonged to hubby in the past. But when it got to where I was using the computer so much during the day and keeping the sewing machine out on it too often to suit him, he moved his stuff to the desk in David’s room! At the end of the day he likes for nothing to be on his desk! I really need to learn that from him but I’m not there yet. So this is what mine looks like most of the time, sometimes worse and sometimes better!

Do you think we could get any more post it notes up on the map above! Don and I are both bad about putting up notes and papers there and he didn’t take those with him when he moved his laptop! I’m also realizing he didn’t take the fax machine either, no wonder he can get the other desk absolutely empty at the end of the day. 😆

And Stacy, you should show your desk………even though y’all have rearranged and Tim has it now, that’s only happened in the last couple weeks! You used it for years before that!
I hope lots of you will join in and picture yours……..for now I’ll tag Kim and Tammy.

“A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world”.
John le Carre, English writer of espionage novels
(I wasn’t familiar with him but just found the quote and thought it neat!)

That’s what little girls are made of.

And pictures of 2 cute little girls.

We had Strawberry Trifle for dessert this past Easter Sunday! It got gobbled up pretty quick by the crew that was here with just a bit for leftover that night. I’m sure all of you have made something like this before; it’s nothing new and certainly not very gourmet but I did use something just a bit different. If you had come to my house for dinner you might have gotten some of this for dessert

Click below for the ingredients
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Here in Mississippi the azaleas have been blooming the last couple of weeks. I don’t have any in my yard and for some reason have never really had a desire to have them. But I do think they are pretty when in full bloom. I mostly see pink ones, although there is a darker almost red color that I like a lot too. This shot is of an azalea bush that one of my friends has in her yard. We were there a little over a week ago to pick them up and they asked me to take some pictures of it for them. I’m glad I did because they have just about quit blooming by now; I think they bloom for about 2 weeks in our area.

And this is what the same bush looks like today…… it didn’t look so good in person after the rain we got here last night. The flowers have faded and look sort of wilted. I don’t like these pale looking flowers!

“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40:8

Guess this goes against being a Southern girl but I have never really liked iced tea all that much! 😳 I don’t think I ever drank it much growing up, not that I recall anyway. When I got married I began to drink hot tea and have especially enjoyed it that way for years. Water is what I drink the majority of the time. A few years ago though I would start to drink tea just every once in a while, mostly when I made lemonade tea and I would try to use Crystal Light for the lemonade. A summer or two ago I would sporadically buy this stuff:

I got some last week and had forgotten that I really, REALLY like it! It also says on the label that it’s good hot so sometimes at night I’ll heat it up to sip while I’m in bed reading…..what a treat. I know it’s probably better to brew it yourself and I’m sure it must be more cost efficient too. Chris didn’t like it when he was here over the weekend, not sweet enough I think they told me. I think the reason that I do like it is because it didn’t taste overly sweet to me; this one is sweetened with honey according to the back.
But what I really liked seeing on the label was this:

I might just be buying this one a lot more this year! Gotta love anything that says no calorie!

We enjoyed a nice long weekend with 2 of our 4 kids being able to come home for Easter break. College daughter Elizabeth got in Thursday afternoon, as did her boyfriend Chris. College son David came in on Friday, with a mountain and a half of laundry! It’s got to be a crime to have that many t-shirts but I think they get them for every single event that ever goes on at school. My dad came on Saturday evening to attend church with us and visit a bit. They came in stages and left in stages! Dad usually leaves shortly after Sunday dinner when he comes; David left late Sunday afternoon after coercing people into folding his clothes. By the time it was almost dark E & Chris decided to spend the night and leave early, early this morning! E needed to be on the road by 5 a.m. and she’s now back in Alabama in class today. Chris left about an hour after her since he had a shorter drive. I’m feeling very lazy and really need to go walking but haven’t quite made myself go out in the cold yet.
Some photos of the weekend are on the extended page. Nothing super exciting; just standard family shots!
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I hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend. We had a very blessed time at church and fun time seeing some of our kids and family. I always forget how much I have to cook when there are more people here! Kinda tired of cooking but hubby might still want to eat, silly boy………
Hop on over to Organizing Junkie to see other great menus and ideas this week.
As always, thanks Laura for hosting us!

Monday…….Salmon, green beans
Tuesday…….Quesadillas
Wednesday…church supper
Thursday…..Ranchero fish, potatoes, broccoli
Friday………unsure, possibly chowder, rotisserie chicken or dinner with friends!

Last week I planned chicken for Easter Sunday dinner but over the weekend we decided to get rotisserie chicken and make all the side dishes at home. Saturday night hubby and I were at the local grocery store to get steaks for supper so we thought we’d get the chickens then but they were out. I knew the deli at Walmart had them so after supper some of the kids ran out to get them; when they got back they told me there were no chickens in the store but the deli said they would have plenty on Sunday morning. I had handbell practice Sunday morning and then left for the deli but STILL no rotisserie chickens! She told me it would be 25 more minutes but by then we would be late for church…..after church my dad went straight to the store while we went home to get dishes out of the oven. He came back empty handed and said they were out of chicken again! Sheesh, who knew so many people buy rotisserie chicken! We finally gave up and made a run to KFC. So it just seems like we should have rotisserie chicken sometime this week…..of course they’ll probably be out when I try to buy them!

I was doing pretty good this week………until this came to my kitchen table! Even though they are in college they still like Easter candy and of course I was happy to provide. I find it impossible not to eat!

Maybe the kids will eat it all up before they leave because I certainly don’t need to keep it, although I would dearly love to!

Oh my goodness, discovered yesterday that sister Stacy had given me the “Thinking Blogger Award” that is passing around the little bloggy world! Me? I don’t know if she thought that one through because I don’t really write anything to make you think, other than about recipes, shoes, movies, sewing, Easter wreaths, etc. and maybe baby pics now and then. Thank you Stacy for “thinking” of me!
I am honored. And as per the rules of the Thinking Blog Awards, I am to do the following:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote.

I think that all of you that I read make me think in one way or another and about different things….whether it’s about your children, books, recipes, how to make something, all of it makes me think on new things. So it’s a wonderful little bloggy world out there with so many different people who all have different gifts and ideas to offer up. It makes all of this so much fun!
So these are who I pick:

1. Judi at Mommy to two…..I think I found her blog when I started doing the Menu Plan Mondays. She loves recipes and cooking and is just fun! She has 2 cute children, her youngest was a preemie…. she writes about what it’s like with them, things that happen with her daughter that scares her, what she’s been through with the baby and it makes me think and remember how hard it is when you’re a mom at home with kids around.

2. Lynn is another southern blogger who loves to read, just like I do! I enjoy reading her books and reviews and have found some books that are new to me. She is also a grandmom who has her 16 year old grandaughter living with them, and she writes abou the sometimes difficult things they go through with her. Teenage years are hard times!

3. Stacy, the other one! Also known as Vader’s Mom lives in TX with her hubby and handsome dog Vader. She is a reader of my sister’s blog and I started reading hers…..she loves books/reading too and has recommended some fun books that I hope to check out. Her pictures are always so fun to see and it makes me fondly remember our black Lab.

4. Jenna at A Joyful Journey is someone relatively new I’ve started reading. I think I started seeing her on Menu Mondays as well, she has some really good recipes! She home schools her children and I’ve always loved that families do that….and she has some real life friends that blog and I think that is so neat! She lives in my state of Mississippi and another reader.

5. Amy is another southern girl who I found recently and began visiting her blog. I think I was surfing one day while we were in Colorado snow skiing for spring break and happened upon her place while she was holding a contest about books! And since I love books, I had to participate in that! She and her hubby are in the process of adopting a baby from China and it’s interesting to read about the process they’re going through.

6. I also really want to include Debi, another new blogger to me that I’ve been reading and enjoying. She loves books too, homeschools, scrapbooks, does organizing projects and crafty things like knit that I don’t know how to do! She lives in the New York and I like hearing about their life in a different part of the country from me. I think she has a “Grayson” which of course I think is special!

No, I guess I don’t count too good either! But I did think about it and found it hard to narrow down, I could have included everyone that I read! If you haven’t checked them out, visit them sometime soon.