Thursday, July 05, 2012

My Alphabe-Thursday -- "G" -- Things in a Row -- Two Questions --

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."G" is for Great: I am writing this on the 4th of July, U.S. Independence Day (breaking off from English rule) and will write about things being Great with me.

First off is our Great-grandchild, Elle.  She is a year and a half old.  This picture was taken when the kids and Grandkids had a Father's Day dinner for me.  My other Great-grandchild could not attend.

Next is my great-niece, Mandi here with her husband, Kris and soon to be Great-Great-niece.

The picture was taken at her baby shower.  As usual she received a lot of presents as the function was well attended.

The presents are shown below.
Mrs. Jim and went shopping for baby garments to give as a gift at the Great-great-niece's shower.  You will see that they are placed neatly in rows on and around the coffee table.
 

For things in a Row this Thursday, the shower gifts and the displays of baby garments at the store are my offering.

Next on my list of greats is this Great Big toad stool growing in my back yard.  You can see its size in relationship to my sandal beside it in the right  side picture.
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My last item on my great list is the Great 4th of July we have had this year.  My list is as follows:
1.  Played golf with Mrs. Jim yesterday (link to our nineteenth hole post);
2.  Went shopping last evening and had dinner with Mrs. Jim;
3.  Watched the subdivision's fireworks show last night;
4.  Flew our American Flag for the holiday;
5.  Transported two former U.S. Marines who served our country in the Korean conflict in the Woodlands, Texas, 4th of July parade.  Between 20 and 30 thousand were believed to have watched our parade;
6.  Visited our new 'Trader Joe' grocery store.  That was a disappointment.  Tell you about it on another day, another blog;
7.  Had a barbecued chopped beef in a baked potato for lunch;
8.  Had watermelon for mid-day snack. That melon was a part of the disappointment from Trader Joe's;
9.  Watched three symphony orchestras and their associated towns fireworks (Washington D.C, New York City, and Boston); and
10.  Will have some Blue Bell ice cream soon and go to bed.
There, that is all one should do to celebrate a Great 4th of July holiday.
Here are three of our parade pictures:
[Please remember that you can click on the pictures to see them larger and you
click again to make them larger still.  Your 'Back' button gets you back into the blog.]
   
From left to right:
Photo taken by a parade watcher.  The two Korean conflict heroes in back with Mrs. Jim and I up front hogging the air conditioning;
The car we followed.  Riding it were two WWII veterans; and
Mrs. Jim with the two Korean veterans who rode with us.
[BTW, Mrs. Jim's older brother was killed in Italy when his P38 airplane was shot down over Italy by the Germans.]
You can check out more Alphabe-Thursday 'G' assignments with Miss Jenny at the head of the class. You can find her here. You might even like to join us as we go through the alphabet, one letter per week.

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For more things in a row please visit Pat's Things in a Row post. You might like to post your own 'Things in a Row.'

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And now for my Thursday Two Questions: (See Thursday Two Questions by Self Sagacity for more reading. You could also make your own by checking in at this link.)
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Last week 's post was about produce, shopping and your eating favorites. The responses were very interesting.
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My Two Questions for this week:
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1. What are some of the 'Greats' in your life or week or day?
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I  hope that I answered this fairly well in my blog for this week. At least all that you can tolerate for this reading.
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2. How do you celebrate national holidays in your country?
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Ditto from above for the celebrations.  For sure we try to remember to fly our American flag for each national holiday.

Bonus Question: Did you fly your American flag for Flag Day on July 4th this year? 
If you're from another country did you fly your flag for your last national holiday?

A last note here.  Adi, with the flag, is now 16 years old.  She is our Grand-dog and has lived with us for about 15 of those 16 years.  Karen, our daughter, is her mother who due to various reasons at various times could not have Adi living with her.

All for now, cheers.

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# posted by Jim : 7/05/2012 12:03:00 AM  19 comments

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

This and That — MidWeek Blues — Flag Day 2011

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Flag Day 2011



June 14, 2011, is Flag Day. June 14 has been Flag Day now in the U.S. since 1949, making it a 62 year old tradition. Although it is an official day it is not a national holiday. I believe that it is a state holiday in Pennsylvania.

At the right is our flag for 2011. An additional treat for MidWeek Blues is the smallish looking blue flower peeking out between the flag and the pole.

You can see it better below of course. It is one of our Lily of the Nile flower for this year. Most years there are two or three but our hard winter must have changed that for this year. They come up every year. To read about them, please click here.
Mrs. Jim's bridge group played bridge yesterday at our house. Although the others know that she has a husband the players all expect their men to be barely heard and not seen.

Accordingly I spent the afternoon getting some bills ready to mail, grabbing a cup of coffee and a few of the ladies' snacks, and heading out. I went to the post office, the grocery store, and then spent the remainder of my 'time off' in the library. I did have a book that I had requested to pick up also.

My time at the library was spent in reading the Houston Chronicle and the Conroe Courier. We only take the Wednesday through Sunday Chronicle so this was my opportunity to read the Monday paper for a change.

I learned some things:

Prince Albert II, Prince of Monaco, "hopes to have a family soon". That will include getting married to his fiancée and Olympic backstroke swimmer from South Africa, Charlene Wittsock (link). From my reading I believe that the Prince also includes having a child as a part of having a family.

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Blogger, "A Gay Girl in Damascus" had been arrested in Syria. Supposedly she was a young lady of Syrian and U.S. heritage. It turned our 'she' was an anti-government male. Perhaps you have read some of her blog.

Blogger, Tom MacMaster is now safe in Istanbul, Turkey. I do not know if he will continue his/her blog or not. He believes in a cause. We will see.

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"He never talks about his faith." This could be our President Obama. I fault him for that. But this time it isn't. It was said about our Governor (of Texas) Perry by one of his spokesmen, Mark Minor. "He grew up a United Methodist" and now "Attends" Lake Hills Church of West Austin, Texas.

The article was about Governor Perry's contributions to his church. Over the last 10 or so years he has given an average of 0.5 percent of his income to his churches. Lake Hills Church has NO RECORD of his giving since he has been in attendance there. As a Christian myself, I have always heard that we are to "walk the talk." Governor Perry does a lot of talking. We will check out his walking in other areas before we give him a final grade.

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A gigantic ash cloud from Chile has arrived over Australia and New Zealand shutting down most all air flights there. From what I read this could last the next several days.

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A new church, has started in Houston. It is for people who like to take naps. Nap taking is encouraged during the services. The Southern Naptist Convention was held here (Houston, Texas) on Sunday, June 12 at the 14 Pews.

Benefits of napping and meditation were a large part of the discussions. The Chronicle didn't have pictures but the Houston Press had twenty of them. Click here to view them. Click here to read the Houston Press story.

A group of napping devotees started the organization to promote napping under various circumstances (work, church, etc.). It evolved into a church/religion. Sunday nappers have 'naptures' when they meet. There is a 'naptism' meaning scattering feathers on new members who wish to join.

Their goals are to encourage people to become better rested and to remove the stigma given to taking naps.

An aside. In my office at the college one bookcase beside my desk had an upside down box. Under the box was a TV. I used the TV to watch Matlock which helped me somewhat in my teaching of Business Law classes. After Matlock was finished I would take about an hour nap. In fact, I had a nap today (Monday) first thing while the ladies played bridge.

I might be a good candidate for this new Church of the Napists.

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If you want to post a MidWeek Blues picture, go get directions from Rebecca by clicking on the logo picture on the right. She has a Mr. Linky and good directions . Just do what I did.

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# posted by Jim : 6/14/2011 12:03:00 AM  7 comments

Friday, July 08, 2016

~~ Friday’s Hunt v.2.02 -- "B" is for ... (Bird, Bank, and Buick)

Friday's Hunt for the week of July 8th: (1) Starts with B; (2) Week's Favorite; (3) Patriotic


1.1st. Starts with B:  "B" is the beginning for the word, 'Bird'.  The bird pictured is a large pool bird, a white swan.  This is KP riding on it, she can keep the bird very busy.

1.2nd. Starts with B:  "B" is also the beginning of the word, 'Bank'.  Here the two little pigs are enjoying being able to observe a 'Bank Holiday'. 

Do you remember reading the comic, the "Rubes"?  This comic can be viewed daily (Sundays?) at Go Comics (link).  The link will bring up the day's publication.

Rubes was created by Robin Leigh back in 1986 and was carried by our Houston Post, now merged with The Houston Chronicle.  The Houston Chronicle does not carry Rubes.  My picture was of a 1996 creation, October 12, which I had cut out and saved.

His comic characters are mainly from the animal world.  I think that cows are his favorite although there are plenty of pigs.

This year, Rubes® celebrates its 30th anniversary! Rubes is syndicated in more than 400 newspapers and other publications worldwide. http://www.rubescartoons.com/

1.3rd. Starts with B:  "Buick" also starts with "B".  This pretty 1953 Buick Roadmaster Convertible will look my way from my office wall for the rest of the July. 

My Uncle Howard drove Buicks and Grandpa drove them every other new car he bought, taking turns with Fords.  A spittoon carrier was bolted to the front cent hump for each one to make the car drivable.

It is the NAPA Auto Parts Classic Car of the Month.   I had to travel to Montgomery (Texas) to get my calendar for this year. Some of the dealers around Katy here weren't even ordering any. Our closest ran out way early, he obviously didn't order enough. 

 I missed the first edition but have collected one for each year since they began to be published.  A few came from Dad, he would always have the current issue but didn't save them after the year was over. 



2. Week's Favorite:  Our 4th of July celebration was largely a success.  Since we are not in a city, there is no law against shooting fireworks.  I believe that every street in our subdivision, Cinco Ranch, Katy, Texas, had at least one house making a fireworks display.  (It takes an act of the Texas Legislature to make any one of the 93 Texas counties stop its citizens from shooting fireworks.)

Some photos and activities: 
I made hot dogs for lunch.  They are slowly replacing the hamburger as the Number One American Food Favorite.

Mrs. Jim made "Mom's" potato salad and her own recipe for coleslaw.  It was all good.  Sorry that I took a bite of my hot dog before I remembered to take a picture.

Billy and Karen and KP joined us for food and the swim.
 
 
In the morning before swimming and lunch KP and Mrs. Jim went to our community's common area where the civic association had set up a play area for the children.  I am sure they tied things down good in light of the recent accidents from loose bouncy houses flying off in the Coastal Winds.
 
KP's favorite area was the train (sorry, no picture) and also the face painting.  Some of the kids were getting 'arm painting' and KP opted for that.  Hers was a very pretty American flag with a few yellow flowers.

We flew our American Flag in front of the house.  The civic association had also put a smaller flag at the curb in front of every house.

3. Patriotic: Our church service last week was very patriotic, the huge American flag hung in the back of our auditorium and much of the music was oriented towards being patriotic to our nation (U.S.A.).

If you look closely you can see some of he people attending were wearing patriotic clothing. 
[click on any picture for larger viewing -- most times click again for very large sized]

The Fine Print:
 - Teresa of Eden Hills, (click) is running this meme, Friday's Hunt.  Her rules are: "Welcome to linkup for Friday’s Hunt. It’s very simple. Anyone can participate. The link opens at 7pm Central time and will close Sunday at 7pm, so you have plenty of time to enter.
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# posted by Jim : 7/08/2016 02:08:00 PM  9 comments

Friday, August 06, 2021

Letter "F" -- -- Weekend Roundup and Street/Reflections

THE SIXTH LETTER FOR THIS SERIES - The Letter "F" Prompts are: (A) Starts with the Letter "F"; (B) "Flag" (Tom's Choice); (C) A Favorite; (D) Street/Reflections; and (E) A Lagniappe.

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Video of a high-speed chase on Houston's East Freeway 
[Video courtesy of KTRH ABC13 Houston "share"]

 (A) Starts with the Letter "F":  Fast begins with the letter "F".  Fast car, a Dodge Challenger Charger lead authorities on a high-speed chase on I-10 in Houston, but gets nailed by Houston Police. 

[An aside, what is the fastest you've ever driven?  150+ mph, 240+ kmph, in a rented Audi driving on the German Audubon, for me.  I seldom tell my top for US highways.]



(B) "Flag" (Tom's Choice):   These Flag photos were taken on May 30, the original Memorial Day.  We try to fly it on patriotic days when we can.  It is just off the front porch out in front of the dining room window.

The dark area under the eave above the flag is a bird's nest, we think it was a dove who hatched babies and then soon departed with her family.


(C) A Favorite:  This is our new Canna Lily Flowering plant.  It is very disappointed because the rabbits ate all its new leaves.  It should look like these to the right, growing in front of our church. 
 

(D) Street/Reflections:    The Reflection of back yard and neighbors' structures behind me presented in the window.  This other Flower today is a Plumeria that was given to Mrs. Jim a couple of years ago.  At first it was just a stick, a cutting about ten inches long. 
[click on any picture to see it larger sized]
[click that picture for larger still -- works for most]



 (E.1) A Lagniappe:   Fred, this tropical weather activity if it gets larger and stronger and then officially becomes a tropical storm it will likely be named Fred, the sixth named Atlantic storm of the year. 


(E.3) A Final, another Lagniappe:  Is this pretty Flower edible?  It was on my plate with pork chops and mashed potatoes.  I was afraid of making a scene trying it at the restaurant, I did ask the others there and all I got was smiles and shrugs.  Then I was holding it by a green matchstick sized stem that has not survived. 

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Fine print stuff: 

 - [Click on any picture for larger, click it again for extra large]

 - I am linked with Tom of "Backwoods Travel" (Link here to click for Tom's Weekend Reviews) 

 - I am also linking again this week with James of "Weekend Reflections/Street Photos" (click here for his Street Folk and Reflections Photos).

 - The pictures mostly are all mine and rights are reserved to me under Copyright Law 
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# posted by Jim : 8/06/2021 09:02:00 AM  7 comments

Friday, March 09, 2007

In memory of Florence E. Wolff, a very good friend

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Florence was a very good and close family friend. She died last Saturday, March 3, 2007, at age 94 after a long and sad illness.
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Even though we will miss her so very much, Ms. Wolff is in a much better place now. Florence Wolff is in Heaven. I don't know the mechanics of that very much (is this spoken like a former true Aerospace Engineer at NASA?) but I know for certain that is her Final Destination.
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The flag was given her by the U.S. Navy in appreciation for her valuable service. She was a Pharmacy Mate for two and half years from July 1943 until December 1945.
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Posted by Picasa
Here we see her picture at St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church in Corpus Christi, Texas. [Yes, that is where we were in our previous post, the whole city is "No Smoking" for any public building!]
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Ms. Wolff lived in Galveston, Texas, for the last of her working years. She was never married and had no children; additionally she had no brothers or sisters or cousins of her generation.
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Florence thought of Mrs. Jim as an only daughter/child as nearly as one could. They both worked together as social workers in Galveston at the University of Texas Medical Branch, UTMB Galveston.
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Here is a copy of her obituary, composed by Mrs. Jim, and edited by Cage-Mills Funeral Home of Corpus Christi: (link to MakingEverlastingMemories Wed site)

Florence E. Wolff, 94, a resident of Corpus Christi and native of Brooklyn, New York, died Saturday, March 3, 2007 at Trisun HealthCare in Corpus Christi.

Miss Wolff was a retired social worker and was active in the local NASW chapter. She was a graduate of Brooklyn College and held masters degrees in economics and in social work from New York Univ. and Vanderbilt Univ. respectively. She retired from Univ. of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Afterwards, Miss Wolff moved to Corpus Christi where she was in the Navy and based at the Naval Air Station during World War II. She also served in Hawaii.

Miss Wolff was a member of St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church. She enjoyed travel and naturalist activities as well as her affiliation with AAUW and NASW. She was a compassionate and generous individual dedicated to her family, her church, her work and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Louis and Rose Herbert Wolff. She is survived by her cousins,

William Floyd and wife Ann of New York, Richard Manning and wife Emilie, and Gloria Smith all of New Jersey. Others left to cherish her memory are Arlene and Jim Hovendick, Montgomery, TX, Fay Holmes of Corpus Christi, and her faithful caretakers Dorothy Solis and Jessica Castrejon.

A funeral service will held at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, March 8, 2007 at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church. Services will conclude at St. Bartholomew’s.

Memorials may be made to the residents’ activity fund of Trisun HealthCare, VistaCare Hospice, St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church or a charity of your choice.



# posted by Jim : 3/09/2007 02:30:00 PM  8 comments

Thursday, June 28, 2012

My Alphabe-Thursday -- "F" -- Things in a Row -- Two Questions --

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Click on any picture to see it larger.  Your 'Back' button will get you back to here.
"F" is for Fruit:  I took these pictures at my local Kroger Grocery Store in Willis, Texas.  They are also very fitting for my Thursday Things in a Row post.  Texas merchants are proud to be able to sell merchandise which has originated in Texas.  Hence the sign.
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"F" is for Flathead Ford:  This restored 1934 Ford V8 Tudor belongs to one of our car club members.  Our Montgomery Country (Texas) Early Ford V8 Club met on June 2, 2012, at one of our member's home.  We ate, kicked tires, toured the members Texas ranch home, and had a club meeting (link).
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The pictures below are of the Flathead V8 engine of three cars.  Please notice for Thursday Things in a Row posting Ford positioned the spark plugs all in a row.   The first engine on the left is from the 1934 Ford pictured above.  The second is of a members 1936 Ford, while the one on the right is in a 1952 Ford V8 Pickup.
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Ford manufactured the Ford Flathead engines for his cars from 1932 through 1953.  In 1954 the Ford V8's were the newer modern Overhead Valve V8 engines.

You can check out more Alphabe-Thursday 'F' assignments with Miss Jenny at the head of the class. You can find her here. You might even like to join us as we go through the alphabet, one letter per week.

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For more things in a row please visit Pat's Things in a Row post. You might like to post your own 'Things in a Row.'

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And now for my Thursday Two Questions: (See Thursday Two Questions by Self Sagacity for more reading. You could also make your own by checking in at this link.)
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Last week 's post was about gourmet and public transportation. The responses were very interesting.
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My Two Questions for this week:
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1. What are your produce buying methods?
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First we check the weekly specials at Krogers, H.E.B, and Brookshire Brothers.  We also try to buy items in season.  Then for the rest we 'splurge' on what seems to be good at the moment we are shopping.  The local Kroger store is our favorite place to shop.  Sometimes we end up at Sams when we cook for a crowd.
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2. What is your favorite fruit?  How often do you get to eat it?
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Bananas for ice cream and apples to eat with cheese or make apple pie are about equally my favorites.  I like most fruits after these, probably starting with oranges and then grapes.  (I hardly ever buy grapes if they are over 99¢ a pound which would be a sale price.)

Bonus Question:  Did you fly your American flag for Flag Day on June 14?
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Yes, Mrs. Jim and I did fly it on our pole in the ground out in the front yard flower bed.
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The picture here is an old July 4, 2006, one on Adi's Meme.  I took a picture this year for flag day but wanted to get Adi back on the blog.  She six years older now than in this picture but still gets around good.  Good that is, with her arthritis pills and shots.

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# posted by Jim : 6/28/2012 12:03:00 AM  20 comments

Friday, June 14, 2013

— A Random Five post [007], This and That —

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Today is Flag Day (in the U.S.) Please remember to fly yours.

On the left is KP with the American Flag she made in her British school. The picture was taken while she was still two. She is three now and will be four next month.

 On the right is our house where we are flying our flag.

Click on the picture and you'll see our two Lily on the Nile flowers that are in bloom.

==> I am linked up today with Nancy at A Rural Journal. She conducts her "A Random Five" blog hop there. Click that link to read other "A Random Five" posts or to join in with your own. 

Click on any picture for a larger size and a better view.

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One:  Read your car feature

This person thinks a lot of his car.  What kind of a car do you think it is?  Answer will be here on down a bit.

I say "his" because how many ladies still use The Club for theft protection?  Did you ever use The Club?  I have one and still use it on my 1998 Mustang GT Convertible.  Like this man, I say no one ever has stolen it while The Club was on it. 

This man goes to church every Sunday morning and is always n attendance on Wednesday nights for supper and the pastor's study period.  His car?  It is a 1986 Chevy Cavalier.  A picture of it is at the bottom of this post.

Two:  Ugly Foot Contest winner (link) revisited

Pretty feet?  These feet are still not very pretty.  But they are mine.

Up close, see right, you will see why they aren't so very pretty.  My right foot has semi-webbed toes. Click picture.


Three:  My favorite pick-me-up snack

This would be my yummy light or no-fat soda crackers with peanut butter concoctions.  I'll have one or two of these with coffee at mid morning. 

When I play golf, I take five.  One or two with coffee while driving to the course.  Then one or two at about eleven for my quick energy boost, and I'll have what is left while driving home.

Oh yes, the cups are two of the set of eight that I rescued from a big box of assorted items.  Mom had a lot of these and Dad was putting them in the auction when he sold the house. 

Mom had died about five years earlier and Dad was moving into an assisted living after he stopped driving.  Two of the cups have been broken so now I only have six.
 
 
 
Four:  I do my own wash--today I'm showing my outer clothes, next week it may be my sock and underwear drawer.
 
I washed all my clothes in one load this week.  Sometime I do two loads if I have a lot of clothes or have missed a week.
 
On the right are my dress short sleeved shirts, a long sleeved blue dress shirt, my every day shirts and a pair of blue Docker pants.  The every day shirts were the ones I wore at my teaching job before we went 'casual' for dress.
 
In the left picture hanging are my golf shirts.  Please note that they all have pockets.  I have a lot without pockets which I don't wear very often.  These are my faves.  Mrs. Jim had a white blouse drying in the back but it didn't bother me.



Five:  It ain't free if it costs

My Coke Rewards people e-mailed me telling me of a "Free MacDonald's Quarter Pounder" (hamburger).  I enjoy the free things that My Coke Rewards has given me.

So I clicked on the link and this is what I got.  My "Free MacDonald's Quarter Pounder" would cost me fifty points.

Oh yes, here is my friend's 1986 Chevy Cavalier.  Isn't it pretty.  He told me the mileage, it might still be in the 30,000's.  It was very low, I remember.  This man is in his high eighties.

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# posted by Jim : 6/14/2013 12:03:00 AM  14 comments

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