Remembering my dad and my sister…

on their birthday.  My sister Chris was born on my daddy’s birthday and she was always so proud of that fact.  Chris and my dad have been gone a long time but I still miss them both.  Nobody in this world ever called me Boogie but my daddy.  And now you must all forget that I ever wrote that name down.  lol

Not a very good picture of my dad but it shows what he was, an honest man who never pretended to be anything else.  I never saw him in any clothing except bib overalls and grey work shirt except at weddings or funerals.  Happy Birthday Daddy!  I miss you!

I have been searching for the last hour trying to find a separate pic of my sister Chris with no luck.  Chris is second from the left and I am on the far right.  This is the only pic I have that was taken with my 4 sisters when we were adults.  Rae who is next to me in the pic is my only remaining sister.  Happy Birthday Chris.  I miss you!

I hope we all have a good week!

Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Over for another year…

My birthday has come and gone and I am one year older.  This morning I feel like it.  The air is so damp that my bones are screaming at me. It is only supposed to get in the mid 50s toady.  It was 69 here in the house.  I turned the furnace on to get some of the dampness out.

I had a very nice birthday, starting with Saturday when my nieces came to visit in the morning.

My great, great niece with her mommy, my great niece.  She is a lovely child and I enjoyed the visit. 

Then in the afternoon my daughter and son in law brought over an ice cream cake from the Dairy Queen.  YUMMMY!!  I still have a lot of that in the freezer.   Then last night my daughter and son in law took me to Boyd’s Steak House on the river boat.  I had chicken Marsala. a huge baked potato with asparagus wrapped with bacon. My daughter had orange roughy with potatoes augratin  and my son in law had a 14 ounce ribeye steak with baked potato.    Then we went on the boat.  I ended up winning $9.  The kids did a little better than that.

And now it is back down to trying to eat a bit healthier. I had lost 2 lbs when I saw the doctor last Friday so that was good.

I am running way late this morning.  I didn’t get out of bed till after 7.  I listened to my iPod through all 3 stages and turned over and went back to sleep.

I hope you all have a wonderful week.  Stay safe and be happy!!

  Beth

Birthday Time…

In Missouri some time ago a baby girl was born. Same day  several years later in Virginia a baby girl was born. You would think these two might never meet. The Missouri girl coming from a family with seven siblings, the Virginia girl with three siblings.
 
Thanks to the magic of the internet and the blogging world these two did meet (although not in person) and became good friends. We first met through blogging on MSN Spaces in 2005.
 
Tomorrow (September 25) my birthday twin and I are each celebrating our birthday. I know that she has plans with two of her sons. I saw my son last weekend and for my birthday my daughter and son in law are taking me out for dinner to celebrate.
 
This morning my niece, great niece and great, great niece are coming over to see me.
 
I want to take this opportunity to wish my Tennessee Twin a wonderful birthday.  And for the rest of you, stay safe and be happy!!
 
  Beth

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAE

I’ve had such happy moments with you as my sister,

and I treasure our times from the past.

I love to remember our growing-up days

and the years that have flown by so fast…

What a wonderful gift to be given a sister

as caring and thoughtful as you.

And I’m glad all the love that we found growing up

is something we never outgrew.

Happy Birthday

Love,

Beth

Rae, this is a birthday card that I received from our sister Ebby many years ago.  It is a Hallmark card and I give credit to them for the picture and the verse.

Happy Birthday to my dad and my sister, Chris…

Today would have been the birthdays  of my dad  and my next to the oldest sister Chris.  They both have been gone a long time but I still miss them both.  Daddy was fun most of the time.  I can remember that he also knew how to give a good whack on the rear end too.  I knew that because even as a small child I was prone to put my foot in my mouth.  He called me Boogie.  Daddy is the only one who ever called me that.  I always thought when I was a little girl that Chris looked a lot like Lana Turner.  She is the one who took care of me when I was small as mom had her hands full with 8 kids.  I remember the day that Chris left home to get married.  I cried a lot and had nightmares for a long time.
I have been looking for some pictures of Chris when she was young and I can’t find any.  You have all seen a pic of my dad but in case you haven’t, here is one with my mom, Rae on the left, me next to Rae and Ebby on the far right.  Taken on mom and dad’s anniversary in 1969.



Happy Birthday Chris and Daddy.

  Beth

Happy Birthday to my son…

Here are some memories for you Jim.  I enjoyed your visit so much on Sunday.

Just click on the picture to make it larger.
  Mom

Oh NO!

The day is over half done and I have done an extra good job of doing nothing much.  Today is my niece’s birthday and I had her over for cheeseburgers, chips and baked beans.  And, well, since there was a birthday involved that meant a birthday cake.  For Pete’s sake, no one should ever have a birthday without having a cake.  That meant yesterday I had to bake a birthday cake, an orange bundt cake (recipe on my recipe site) with butter cream frosting.  OK, so that wore me out yesterday.  I mean, I usually go to the store and just buy a cake, but I thought what the heck,  I will bake a cake.  Which I did, and it turned out to be very tasty indeed.  But that was yesterday and this is today.  So, my niece left to go home a few minutes ago.

Then the doing nothing started.  I stripped my bed and I have the washer and dryer both going now so I am doing nothing running back and forth to the laundry room.  Now I am back from taking a load of clothes from the dryer and putting another load in.  So much for doing nothing.  I am worn out from it.  I think I will quit doing nothing and rest awhile.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

  Beth

Too much birthday cake and chocolates??

Time to get caught up with unfinished business.  Like yesterday I started cleaning, did a couple of rooms and was just p**ped out so I quit.  Well, maybe I overdid it a bit on the sweet stuff yesterday.  I bought a birthday cake for my daughter.  She came over yesterday morning and I had a big piece of the cake (Italian cream) with a cup of tea.  The cake was very good although I have to braggingly say that my own homemade Italian cream cake is better.  (Recipe below)  Naturally I sent the rest of the cake home with her.

Cream together:

• 1 stick butter
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 5 egg yolks

Stir 1 teaspoon soda into 1 cup of buttermilk.  Add 2 cups of flour alternating with the buttermilk mixture.  Add:

• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Beat the 5 egg whites until stiff and fold them into the batter. Pour into 3 greased and floured 8 inch layer pans.  Bake in preheated 325 degree oven for 45 minutes.  Check for doneness with toothpick.
Icing:
Beat one 8 ounce package cream cheese with 1 stick of butter, add 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1 box of powdered sugar, and 1/2 cup chopped nuts.  Continue beating until spreading consistency is reached.  Fill the layers with the icing and around the sides and top.  Garnish with coconut.

And now I have cleaning to finish, stuff like the dreaded bathroom and mopping the kitchen floor.  But first I am going to the nearest drop box to mail a card.  Since the drop box is in the Kroger parking lot I will have to go in the store.    My daughter asked me why I get all of those free Kroger coupons in the mail and she doesn’t get any.  I think it is probably because I am one of their best customers.  Let’s put it this way.  The path from my back door to the Kroger store falls in one of my comfort zones.  You see I have what my daughter calls my comfort routes; how I get from point A to point B without getting on any of the one way streets.  Works fine for me.

Enough procrastinating, which I have stated before is one of my biggest faults.  Now I have to get busy.

  Beth

Happy Birthday Marcia

Valentine’s Day is a very special day for me.  It is the date of my daughter’s birth.  I would have written a poem or something equally sentimental but I am not very good at that kind of thing.  I always got A’s in creative writing when I was in school but I have never been able to string words together in verse.  So I will just take this opportunity to wish my daughter a very happy day.
Please click on the picture to make it larger.
  Beth

It’s Thursday…

in Central Illinois and I am up bright and early.  Awake at 5 AM, so I just got up.  Company coming today, but just for lunch.  Well actually family, as my brother and sister-in-law are on the way from the St Louis area.  Not to stay all night as originally planned, but to have lunch and then get on the road to Northern Illinois before the predicted winter storm hits.  They wanted to take me out to lunch, but I have cooked a turkey and we will have the regular Thanksgiving type meal.  This is because I had that other turkey I bought before Thanksgiving taking up all of the room in my freezer.  Hey, that is another thing I miss from my old home, a separate freezer.  I do miss the garage and washer and dryer more though.  Not complaining, just reminiscing. 

Today is my son-in-law’s birthday.  Happy Birthday Mike.  Soon you will catch up with me as I get younger each year and you get older each year.  Mike is recuperating well from his knee surgery and is about to wind up his therapy.

And now back to the weather.  It is 23 degrees F right now.  We do have a winter storm advisory out for tonight with 3 – 5 inches of snow predicted.  Looking for my ship to come in so I can have a home in the south for the winter and back home to the Illinois heat and humidity in the summer.

I do want to take a moment again to remember our troops stationed all around the world looking out for our safety.  May God Bless you all.  I wish you all could be home with your families for Christmas.  My constant prayer is for peace on earth!

Guess I better get busy with the fixings that go along with the turkey.  Love that stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy.  That is the best part.

  Beth

Clocks synchronized everyone??

The day is here.  It is the big day.  Our friend, Paul, from the Boston area is celebrating his birthday today.  It is also my wedding anniversary.  Our blogging family is joining me in a salute to him at 7 PM CST (8 PM EST).  I will be having diet 7 UP, Carole is having sparkling water, Jenny is going for 7-7.  Your choice of drink is up to you.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all be together in person to celebrate?  Happy Birthday Paul!!

Speaking of being together in person, today I am remembering our troops all around the world who are unselfishly putting their lives on hold to serve and protect our country.  Do you remember me mentioning the young army reservist who is currently serving his 4th tour of duty in Iraq?  I received a message from him last night just about the time I was ready to go to bed.  Yesterday was a bit tough on me as it was the anniversary of my Jim’s death.  I don’t normally mention things like this because life is for the living and that is the way Jim would have wanted it.  I hope this young man won’t mind that I am going to use an excerpt from his message in my blog today.

“I received your message on the 16th of November, but decided to wait until THIS day to reply, if only to... in my small way... commemorate your late husband.

For what little my words may be worth, I give you my thanks and appreciation for the fine example you and Jim set for a true life-long partnership.
How many couples... not just in this generation, but ANY generation... can proclaim a marital bond of FIFTY-ONE years?? Very few, I'm certain.
That's a tremendous accomplishment and although I married fairly late (36), I hope my wife and I can say the same one day as well.
 
Also may I say this to you one day early, even though he rests in a different and better place now, have a Happy and Peaceful Anniversary tomorrow and God be with you always.”

This message touched me so much!  While we are celebrating our blogging friend’s birthday this evening let us also raise our glasses in a toast to our troops.  May God be with them all.  May the world find peace.

  Beth

Oh what a week…

My sister is home safe now having arrived home about midnight last night.  We had a wonderful time and it will be lonesome around here for awhile until I get used to the quiet again.  We didn’t get to do all  we wanted to and her husband has informed me that I would have to be the one doing the traveling next time as he missed her so much.  So maybe I will get up the courage to get on that plane next year.

My son came to visit us on Friday.  I was really happy to see him as I hadn’t seen him since early June.  He brought me a box of the lovely hand made chocolates that I like so well.  My brother and sis in law visited on Tuesday.  They were just back from a cruise to Mexico, so for my birthday I got a T Shirt with Puerto Vallarta printed on the front and a pink sweatshirt that read “Don’t listen to my sister, I am the favorite” on the front of it, plus a tote bag and other items from Mexico.  My daughter and son in law gave me a beautiful birthday cake and took us all out to eat yesterday at Red Lobster in Peoria.  My sis brought me Willow Tree “Sisters by Heart.”  Pictures below.  They are so beautiful.  When facing each other they interlock hands in prayer.

And now I am so tired it will take me a week to get rested up.  It was worth it though!!  Thanks again to all of you who sent me emails, cards, and gifts!  As our old blogging friend Al used to say “Love Ya.”

Beth

Thank you!!!

 

Thank you to all of you for the emails and birthday cards.  I appreciate them so much.  My blogging friends are the greatest!

 

The delivery man from the florist shop bringing me flowers and a balloon from Kerrie and Jaiden in Australia.

A beautiful scarf from my Twin!!  I purchased this jacket to wear with it.

Because of a mixup in the mail Twin sent me another scarf.  So now I have an early Christmas present.

My Christmas present from my Twin.

These lovely bracelets are from my Sis in Michigan. 

Birthday cards.  Thank you so much all of you for thinking of me.  I love you all.

Beth

Dreary Thursday…

all day long.  We did have a forecast for rain last night but so far nothing.  It is a typical fall type day in the heart of Illinois.  I wouldn’t mind some sunshine but I will take the day anyway I can get it.   I am thankful for each new day and I always hope that I can make the best of it.  Not always easy to do sometimes, but still, that is my goal when I get up each morning.
I do feel a bit sad today.  This would have been my oldest sister’s Corrie’s birthday.  Even though she has been gone for a long time I still miss her and have good memories of her.  She married when I was a small child and I do remember feeling bereft when she left.  Actually she and my next older sister married the same year at a very young age.  I can remember having dreams about them and hoping they would come back home.

This is the only picture that I could find of Corrie.  That is her oldest son Mike.  I am not sure when this picture was taken. I am sure I have some more pictures somewhere.
I have been to Walmart this morning and purchased a new camera.  I have the battery charging right now and I will take some pictures to try it out later today. 
I am waiting impatiently for my sis (Rae) to come,  She is flying in on Saturday and will stay until my birthday on the 25th.  What a wonderful birthday present.  Actually the 25th is my Twin’s birthday too.
I hope you are all having a great day.
Beth

Happy Birthday Rae!

My sister…

My friend

 

You are the one I can call anytime, day or night,

and you will be there for me.

You are the one who understands where I’ve been,

Where I am and where I am going.

You are the one who’s laughed with me,

cried with me and always, always

stood by me.

You are my dear and loving sister…

my very precious friend.

~ Renee Duvall~

Love,

Beth