Mom’s Musings

Goodnight everyone. It’s been a busy day, and now it’s time to start getting ready for bed. When I signed up for Blog 365, I said I would post everyday. This hardly counts for more than a greeting. However, I do remember that I can post another lovely graphic from my friend, Storyteller.

Lois’ Morning Mug Meme Rules:
Most folks drink some sort of a morning beverage, be it coffee or tea, and most likely from a mug. Please share a photo of your favorite mug(s) and tell a story about how it became your favorite. Include what you drink with this mug.

Currently, this is my favorite mug. It holds just the perfect amount of coffee (8 ounces), the amount I can drink while it’s still really hot. Another thing I like about this mug is that it’s just the right diameter to fit in my car cup holder. It helps that the mug has a heart on it, ’cause that’s just kewl.

My morning beverage of choice is Starbucks Espresso Blend, ground fresh right before brewing the coffee, served steaming hot, without cream or sugar.

If you decide to play, grab the cup graphic for your post, and remember to link back to Lois. It’s also nice to mention where you saw the meme, and link back to that blogger.

I found out about this meme from my friend Storyteller at Small Reflections. This is an opportune moment to also post the lovely friendship award that Storyteller so kindly shared with me:

THURSDAY THIRTEEN

Here it is, almost the end of the day, and I’m finally sitting down to do a Thursday Thirteen post (sigh). Since I was the recipient of much thoughtfulness on my recent birthday, I’m sharing with you Thirteen Gifts and Thank Yous.

The first gift to arrive was melt-in-your-mouth-sweet maple sugar candy from Vermont, from our daughter Laura and our son-in-law Darren. Thank you so much for the sweet treat, Sweeties!

My supervisor and fellow-paraeducators surprised me with gourmet fair trade cocoa (bittersweet - so yummy!) and a hand-made journal for haiku. When I walked into the Resource Room, the students all started singing Happy Birthday. It warmed the cockles of me heart, I tell you!

Have I ever mentioned how addicted I am to ANYTHING from the Bath & Body Works store? I have to walk on the far side of the aisle to keep from being drawn in to “just look.” Kayla surprised me with a summery scented Wild Honeysuckle body cream and candle. Thank you, Kayla!

Here are Biddo and T with the funny “Hectic Moose” collage they made for me.

This photo is of TWO presents: Dad and Mom Taron sent the gourmet coffees and the travel mug. Thank you! Thank you! And my sweetie husband got a new coffee maker that produces the desired commodity: strong, HOT coffee.

When the children were little, I baked my own birthday cake because it upset them if there was no cake. To them, no cake meant no birthday. This birthday cake came to me courtesy of dear Kayla.

The cake, prior to the serving of it, with the birthday girl.

I also received Happy Birthday phone calls.

This is a bloggy gift, not a birthday gift, but still very much appreciated. This is from my friend, Storyteller.

One more lovely gift from Storyteller. This was made by Greatfullivin.

So, three more things:

My dear husband washed my car.

I received lovely cards from loved ones.

Friends sent me greetings and goodies on Facebook.

Whew! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

This lovely graphic is from an email forwarded to me by my cousin. I thought I’d post it for you all who help to brighten my day with your kind comments.

Do any of you know who should be credited for this?

My online friend, Storyteller, has been handing out cute badges again. Thank you, Friend!

She is the author of Small Reflections and Sacred Ruminations.

I received this lovely award from a blogging buddy at Small Reflections. This is her “Thank You” to those of us who leave comments on her blog. She and I both LOVE writing Haiku, which we do every Friday. Then we visit each other’s (and lots of other bloggy friends’) blogs on Fridays to read and comment.

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat have gotten to be really good friends.

One of my friends forwarded a bunch of funny sayings to me. This one really caught my fancy. Does anyone know who the author of this witticism might be?

Happy New Year to you all!

We had a wonderful time with our friends last night. Some highlights of the evening included:

• Hours of football playing in the front yard by some of the men and all of the big boys. This tells you that we didn’t get the snow that the children so desired, but they still had a good time outside.
• Lots of good food, made by all the moms, and enjoyed by all. Next year we’re planning to do only appetizers. Yum! It was great having the event here. We’d be glad to host again.
• A table tennis marathon. Much fun for all. I’m so glad my husband and some of the kids unearthed the table and equipped it with a new net in time for the festivities, because it was a real ice-breaker.
• The name game. One person goes to a room, notepad and pen in hand, and those who are playing the game come in, one-by-one, to tell her the name they will have in the game. My name, for example was “Curious George”. Then everyone assembles in one room, and the name taker slowly reads the list of names aloud, two times. The game opens with one person asking anyone of their choice, “So-and-so, are you (one of the made-up names)?” If the guess is correct, the guessed person becomes part of the guesser’s team. If the guess is incorrect, THAT person becomes the next guesser. The game becomes more difficult as play continues, because it’s difficult to remember ALL of the made up names, and because you have to remember the made up names of all of the people on a team in order to claim another team. Last person left unguessed wins the game.
• We sang together quite a bit. Next year a couple of people are going to practice up and we’ll have some guitar accompaniment.
• A darling baby boy was available for holding. He stayed happy for a remarkably long time.
• Some folk enjoyed board games, such as Blokus, while the Name Game was happening.
• The children watched the movie The Iron Giant.
• The Wii was in continuous play, by young and old alike. Wario ware and Wii sports were two of the popular games.

My friend Marmee snapped some candid shots of the event, which you may view at her site.

My online friend Secret Agent Mama has been tagged by one of her friends to take part in writing a continuing story, one blogger at a time. Some call this a story meme, others call it a story virus. Virus sounds scary, so I’ll go with story meme. Let’s see. We need some rules:

• Please include the portions of the story that have been written thus far, with links to the blogs of the prior authors, as well as your addition to the story.
• Those who are so inclined are welcome to do some illustrations to accompany the story.
• Have fun!

Let the storytelling begin:

Really, there’s nothing all that unusual about our dog. She’s got a cute doggie smile, bad breath, and a good nature. As she gets older, she spends more and more time sleeping, her legs twitching as she dreams of running somewhere or the other. My schedule is erratic, so I don’t get to take her for a walk every day, but she does dearly love a walk. I don’t dare say the word “walk” or even spell “W-A-L-K”, unless I’m prepared to be greeted by the overly enthusiastic mutt.

My first suspicion that something was up with the dog was a few days ago when I was busily putting in another load of laundry, and then headed to the kitchen to unload the dishwasher. I continued working but thought to myself, “OK. This is enough for now. It’s going to be dark soon. I’m taking the dog for a walk.” A few moments later I became aware of our dog, smiling her doggie smile at me and wagging her tail, as if to say, “Here I am! I’m ready to go on that walk!”

Now it’s your turn,

Lydia

Willena

Rebecca

Kayla

In a recent post, I told you a few things about my wonderful friend, Merry. Here’s a cute photo, taken during our latest visit, of the two of us enjoying a spot of tea.

Traveling is uncomfortable for Merry now, but in previous years, she and Ken would travel north to visit us a couple times of year. The children so looked forward to those visits, not just because they would get to see Ken and Merry, but because of all the goodies Merry would bring, such as doughnuts, root beer, lunch meat, cheese, and home canned fruit. So, when three of the older children and I went to visit Merry this time, we brought some goodies to her: Black Forest ham, sliced Muenster cheese, croissants, and some fancy cookies. But the best treat of all was the opportunity to visit with a good friend once again.