Feeling Fancy and Pampered!!

We’re back home!!!   I have returned home from a 10 day vacation, and am just now getting back into the swing of things.  We went to Florida, to spend a few days in our time share.  We didn’t drive past the places that had houses demolished, but along Highway 10, there was so much devastation of trees.  It was amazing.  You wonder how much force can pull trees up by the roots!

We decided to drive from Texas to Florida, and see things along the way.  Ha, ha, ha.  We spent so much time driving, that we didn’t stop to see a lot.  We did stop at  Fort Parker, in Texas.  That was quite interesting.

Another fun thing to see was the US Alabama.   There were a lot of planes there also.  My husband was in Vietnam, and he pointed out some of the things he remembered.

We stopped in Cocoa, Florida to see my friend, Cindy Griswold and husband.  They just recently moved to Florida.  They have a great house and look so refreshed and good.  Retirement and a new grandchild seems to agree with them.

Ft. Lauderdale was our final destination, and it was beautiful weather while we were there.  The thing about time shares is that while you’re there, they’ll try to get you to upgrade.  We spent about 2 1/2 hrs. listening and repeatedly saying no thanks.  But we also did some sight-seeing.  While on a famous street, by the river, we sat down for ice cream.  Up above us, were two helicopters in stationary position.  Someone mentioned that wasn’t a very good sign.  As we sat, eating our ice cream, a bomb squad, three police cars, and a fire truck went speeding by.  It turned out that there was a suspicious package not far from us.  Wow!  Another day we went to a nice Italian restaurant in Weston, and our waiter was so cool.  He was Italian, but had lived in the US for a number of years.  Think charming and lots of talking with his hands.

That was also on election day….what Florida THOUGHT was their election day.  We thought maybe it was an unhappy voter.  Florida’s election was so close that they are still counting votes.

We have come back home and are back in the swing of things.  Our church has a big Veteran’s Day celebration every year.  Dick participated in that , wearing his Vietnam army uniform that he still fits into.  Now…we’re preparing for Thanksgiving.  We’ll go to Tulsa for the weekend following T-Day, to see all of the Ruddell nieces, nephews and greats.  I’m hoping to get all of my Christmas shopping for them done by then, so I can take the gifts with me.  We won’t be seeing them for Christmas.    Any occasion with them involves lots of wild card playing, and eating lots of food.

Today, I’m feeling pampered and spoiled.  Linda is here, cleaning my house.  Oooh la la!!!  She’s doing such a good job, and it looks and smells so much better.  I haven’t had anyone clean my house in 30 years…and then it was just a time or two.  What luxury! Of course, I had to go around and pick up a lot of stuff before she came.  She’s going to come once a month.

What are you doing for Thanksgiving?  Are you joining your family for a big dinner?   Is a turkey in the works?  Or are you missing a loved one and having a hard time this year?  I hope you have a nice holiday.

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Grandma Ruddell

Odds and Ends

I’m sorry, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted.  We have had cold weather , rain, rain, and more rain, and now it’s finally feeling like fall.  Crazy weather!!!

I thought I’d just put some odds and ends here, of things we’ve been doing.   We have a vacation to Florida coming up next week.  I’m a little iffy about going through Florida.  Wasn’t the devastation awful???   And now we may be in for lots of rain, from the next Hurricane coming in through Mexico.

We are getting ready for Pledge Sunday,  at our church.  That will be next week.  It will be the culmination of a month long campaign.  Dick and I have been co-chairs, along with another couple, in manning the “Freely We Give, Freely We Receive” campaign.  (Notice we’ve never said the actual word, PLEDGE.)

Our job, as co-chairs, was to stand up in the service, and talk about the different things, and rev up the people.  The first Sunday, Dick talked about the Devotional Booklet.  I was “Vanna White” and showed the booklet around.  The next Sunday, Dick did the talking, and I was “The Opera Lady”, with my mink stole…Isn’t it GORGEOUS!!!…and I had a few quality items that I put in individual packages to hand out to the congregation for “Freely I Give”.   This past Sunday, I talked about the Giving Card that they would be getting in the mail, and we also did a Stair step of giving units.  Dick came out as “Ross Perot”, and brought out a huge chart to fill in.  It was the first time he’d ever had hair gel in his hair, and we tried to make his ears stand out a bit.   We haven’t figured out what we’ll do next week, but I’m sure it’ll be more serious, since it’s the culmination week.

It’s been fun having my two-year old grandson discovering Halloween.  He’s kind of scared of some of the things, but he was really getting into getting some candy.  We’ll go to a pumpkin place tomorrow.   Yesterday, I joined him and his mother to go to Grapevine. We met my nephew and his girlfriend, and had lunch and wandered around.  If you’ve never been to Grapevine, TX, you need to go!!!  It’s a very happening place.  They have the cutest little shops.

The weather was nice for a day.  I found a beautiful butterfly in my garden.  Then it was cold enough for a fire.  Seemed like a good time to make chili.

What do you do, when it’s cooler and you’re feeling like it’s FALL??  I like to cook.  Today I made a pumpkin pie.  Nice to have the house smelling like fall, with pumpkin things, baked breads and cookies.  Yummo.  Because, truthfully, Texas doesn’t have a lot of cold weather.

I’m considering having a lady come and clean my house, once a month.  She’s coming tomorrow to give me a price, or tell me it’s too gross and she won’t do it.  I have lots of recommendations for her.

 

Bill, our 75 lb. black lab, has suddenly decided he’s a lap dog.  It’s pretty funny.  He barely fits, but he needs some lovin’ and scratchin’.

And finally, I want to show you my corn maze.  Do you think you could make it through?   LOL

How is your fall going?   Do you celebrate Halloween?   Will you dress up?  Do you have a child or grandchild, or neighbor child to enjoy the holiday through their eyes?   I firmly believe it’s a fun celebration to have fun dressing up and getting candy.

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Grandma Sherry

 

Grandma Sherry’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am sharing with you my famous Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe.  The recipe I used today, is of my own design, and it is loaded.  They are delicious!  I always get compliments on these cookies.   I was also trying out my new Mega Cookie Sheet.  I was interested to see how many cookies would fit on this huge cookie sheet…..it barely fit in the oven!!!   I was able to get 20 cookies on this cookie sheet.  Yes!!  I love it.

                                           Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cream together:

1 1/2 c. shortening or softened butter

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. white sugar

Add and stir well:

3 eggs

1 1/2 t. vanilla

 

Add and mix well:

3 c. flour

1 1/2 t. salt

1 1/2 t. baking soda

 

Add and stir well:

1 c.  of chocolate chips

3/4 c. toffee chips

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

1 1/2 c. oatmeal

Preheat oven to 375*.   Drop cookie dough by large teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake 8 – 10 minutes until done. { I like to take mine out when they are just beginning to turn golden, and let them finish baking on the pan.}  Remove from pan, and let cool on rack.  Enjoy!!!

 

Let me know if you like this recipe.  What is YOUR favorite cookie recipe?  Press LIKE, below, if you liked this post.

Grandma

Random Thoughts Coming From My Random Brain

Random Thoughts

I’m loving the feeling of Fall.  Of course, my furnace is on at night, the windows are open during the day, and the air conditioning is on , during late afternoon.

I’m kind of worn out from all of the September Happenings.

It’s becoming apparent to me that I have an addictive personality.  I’m glad I never tried a cigarette or beer.  I’d probably be a goner!   But I MUST have my diet coke,  I need my morning routine,  I love gambling, and I’ve become quite addicted to Words With Friends.  I stay up until the battery becomes dead on my phone, to play WWF.  I love the Lightning Round.   When I play cards, I could just play on and on and on.

I joined the gym at my Local Community Center.  Bought some new clothes to work out in, plus some other clothes.  I’m going to get buff!  Yes, I’ve tried this before, plus y0 y0  dieting.  This time it’s going to be my new lifestyle.   I need to do this, so I won’t go over the line with Diabetes.

Though it’s not a great deal, I’m now getting my Spousal Social Security.  I feel like I have a new life!!  Time to buy a few new things to wear.

It’s a new season, and time to get back to organizing.  Yesterday, we took a clothes basket plus two big bags full , of books, to Half Price Bookstore.  They gave me $30.  And…I only bought 3 new books.  That should hold me over the weekend.

I splurged and bought 4 new bras!!  Woohoo!!   It’s really an uplifting experience.  (ok…I know there are not any men reading this blog, so I’m just putting it all out there. LOL)

I’m going to stay all night in my Comp Room, at Winstar Casino, tomorrow night.  Hope to win some big money, and I’m going to try to talk to someone about the Counterfeit $100 I received last time I was there.  It either came out of the ticket redemption machine, or it was given to me by the cashier.  Proof?  I don’t know how to prove it.  It is of the old style, and doesn’t have the line down the center, but very well done.

I’m excited to be back in the choir at my church.  I missed that way too long.  The choir is like a little family….we laugh and sing together.

My grandchildren are awesome!!!

Toodles,

Grandma Ruddell

 

 

September Happenings

September….wow…lots of things happening here.  It has been a month of travelling, parties, grandkids, dogs, and a smelly carpet.  My piano students have started back to school, and to piano lessons.  They continue to be a delight.

The last week of August, going into the first week of September, we were on vacation.  We spent a week in Gatlinburg, and then three days in New Orleans.  We were at a resort, that had several units.  Our particular unit was brand new, because that unit plus three more they were building, had been destroyed in the big fire that Gatlinburg had, a couple of years ago.  Gatlinburg is rebuilding, and you have to look hard to find burnt out homes and trees.  There was a little gurgling brook going alongside our unit.  On the way there, we stopped to see Loretta Lynn’s house.

Gatlinburg is a little bit like driving through the main drag in Branson, Missouri.  Very congested, to say the least.  And it was Labor Day….some kids were having their last big hoorah before school started.  Once the weekend was over, it was less crowded.  The cool thing is that at the end of the main street, the Smoky Mountain National Park started. My hubby loved the park, and he hiked part of the Appalachian Trail.  When we drove, slowly, over the mountain to Cherokee, the road was the only main road going across, and hemmed in by beautiful trees.  My claustrophobia really kicked in.  I was glad to get back to civilization.   One day, we did see a bear, and that was exciting.

Other things we did included going into Pigeon Forge, to the Island.  We ate at Paula Deen’s restaurant, and shopped at her store.  There were lots of fun shops, and I got a start on my Christmas shopping.  We also went to Asheville, North Carolina to see the Biltmore estate.  What a place.

In New Orleans, Dick fulfilled another thing on his bucket list.  He visited the WW II Museum.  I spent some time at the Harrah’s Casino, losing my money.  Sigh.  New Orleans is always hopping.

I had a lot of Mystery Shopping this month.  I’ve gotten very good at picking out good TV’s and computers, and knowing whether or not the sales people are doing a good job when trying to convince me to buy.

My Granddaughter, Libby, turned three years old.  We had her birthday party here.  They brought their new dog, which is a Labradoodle.  Bill, our Black Lab, was rather jealous and they had a few territorial fights.  Bill grabbed not only his own big chew treat, but also the other dog’s treat, and gobbled them down as fast as he could.  Then they had some other treats.  So…here’s the plan for the party:

  •  Grill burgers and dogs outside
  • Kids will play outside in Sandbox
  • Open gifts
  • As kids play inside, adults will watch a big game on TV.

What could possibly go wrong with that????

  • It rained.  We had to cook the food inside.
  • Kids were running around and underfoot.
  • Libby opened her gifts….yeah!
  • During the gift opening, Bill got sick….at least 6 times on various carpets throughout the house.
  • The TV went out on us, and we couldn’t watch the game.

Lord help us, it was one disaster after another.  And I tried to clean the carpets from vomit and pee, with a urine/vomit out carpet cleaner.  It totally stunk for a week or two.  I was so embarrassed!

My good friend, Gayle Landers, was in town for a few weeks.  She and her hubby moved to S. Korea a couple of years ago.  They are planning on moving back in another year and a half.  So while she was in town, I invited all of our Punch Bunch ladies, from church, to a luncheon for her.  It was a salad/dessert luncheon and everyone brought something.  My husband couldn’t fathom a meal without meat!  LOL

We had a fun time.  Lots of catching up was happening. After several ladies had left, there was a small group left.  We were all laughing so hard, and telling crazy stories.  (Which direction do you begin, when shaving your legs?)  All of a sudden, the doorbell rang, and it was the Bug Man, come to do the quarterly spraying.  He said “What is going on???  I could hear y’all clear down the street?”  I told him to beware, we were telling a lot of stories.  He just shook his head, and went about his business.

That was on a Wednesday.  On Friday, of that week, my sister-in-law, Lu and hubby,  Cliff Mark,  came up for the weekend.  It was our weekend to play Euchre…all weekend!   Dick and his sister, Lu are one team, and Cliff and I are the other team.  It was so fun.  It was also Lu’s birthday.  So we celebrated that.

They left on Sunday, and on Monday, I hosted Ladies’ Poker.  It’s such a fun group of ladies!    Then I had a few days of normal activity.  I made a reservation for us and three other couples to go to dinner, on Friday.  Our S. Korean friends were back and ready to see old neighbors.  I thought about who I invited, and made the reservation for 6 at 6 pm.  When we got there, and waited for our table, I counted again, and realized I forgot to count us.  I think my brain had been in overload for a couple of weeks!

This week, I’ve relaxed.  Tomorrow is my dear daughter’s birthday.  Tomorrow evening, Dick is going with a bunch of guys to San Antonio.  This is their annual golf trip, to play three games of golf over the weekend.  I must admit, I’m looking forward to some alone time.  I have my plans!!!!  Winstar, here I come!!

How has your September been?  Feeling some cooler weather?  This may be a fluke day, but it’s nice.   I’m still thinking about those folks in North and South Carolina, and along the coast, with the flooding.  What a tragedy.!

Toodles,

Grandma Ruddell