Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Valentines Day.   My day was wonderful.  Sam loves giving cards and for that reason, I can always expect 3 or 4 different cards which he places all around the house....    He is such a sweetheart.   

This year.....he placed a little "CASH" in each card!!  Woo Hoo....how great for me!   Trista and I are planning a trip to go visit our "Airman" during Spring Break, and this cash will certainly come in handy for all of the great things we are planning to do.  

Many years ago, we owned a flower shop and I so enjoyed making flower arrangements for Valentines.   It was so fun watching the guys as they would come in and try to figure out what to buy for their lady.   Most of them had no clue and just wanted me to make a vase with flowers in it!  LOL.

For my valentine, I bought him an EXTRA LARGE card and then a card that plays music.   He really got a kick out of both of these.

I have to tell you about my craziness yesterday....   I drove to Tyler to purchase a gift for my niece.   She turned 42 yesterday!
On my way home, I pretty sure that I was the one driving since I didn't see anyone else in the car with me........but somehow, I made a turn that I didn't even realize I had made.   

It was only after I had already pulled in to the Nursing Home parking lot, that I realized that I was heading to visit my dad.   I have gone there everyday for the past 2 years and without even paying attention.....I just pulled right in.    Isn't it odd how we get so use to doing something, that we do it unintentionally?   Oh well....

Blessings to each
Shug


Monday, February 13, 2017

Gosh...when you look around at the landscape here in our area....it makes it hard to believe that it is February.  It seems more like April.        Check out my Carolina Jasmine...   


gorgeous yellow blooms.....everywhere.

This is the usual time for the daffodils to bloom and this year...mine are really beautiful.  


At the end of the blooming season this year, I'm going to have to dig them up and replant them.   When Sam built our new fence (which I love) he built it about 2 feet inside the property line, which means that they are only seen if I go back behind this fence!  :(




I'm all ready for valentines day....how about the rest of you?


Sam and I went out to eat this past Saturday......We both knew that the restaurants would be so crowded on Valentines day, so we celebrated a little early.   I had been craving "Olive Garden" and my love took me there.     I ordered eggplant parmesan and it was
sooo good!  This is my all time favorite dish.  

My precious niece has a birthday tomorrow....on Valentines Day!
She will be 42 ...... so hard to believe.

It is very hard to share a birthday with a day like Valentines day.   Everyone is so busy with their sweethearts and it makes it hard to celebrate on that day.  

We usually have to choose a day before or after the 14th, to celebrate her big day...


This month is moving right along.......which means it's almost time to put out the shamrocks!!

Hope you all have a Blessed day..
Shug

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Never say Never....Unless you really mean it!

Never say never........but today, I am saying NEVER.   Yesterday (Tuesday) at approximately 6:00 am, I ventured out on a trip with my sweet, darling Sam.   Let's see.....I was told that we would not be back until Wednesday night and probably more like Thursday morning....

I was all up for that.   We were going to be heading South, down towards the San Antonio area.....and even  f-u-r-t-h-e-r  South into the land of nothing but cactus and mesquite brush.  



 This one way trip is just over 422 miles.  This is a pretty good distance if you ask me.


Do you see Crystal City, way down at the bottom on this map?  It's just about as close to Mexico as you can get.    And then you should be able to see Tyler at the top of the map, just West of Shreveport.  That was our starting point.          Texas is a HUGE State!!   


Imagine this view with no green leaves on the mesquite brush.  Everything was brown and dormant.    Very Dry looking!


Do any of you know how many miles long the State of Texas is?
660 miles wide

Length?   790 miles long.

Like I said....we left at 6 in the morning......drove to our destination....loaded the nursery stock.....drove ALL THE WAY BACK HOME!!!!   Good grief....this was not in our plans!  This is not what I bargained for!

I have no idea what popped into Sam's head, to think that at our age, we could easily drive this distance in one day.   844 miles, plus the extra miles that it took to drive out into the middle of No Where, to pick up the stock.   Three short stops for gas and to use the restroom....and a 30 minute dinner break.       That was all the stopping we did.     

I was exhausted when we got home at midnight!!!  

NEVER....EVER......do I plan to do this again!  

What a day and night!

Shug....








Sunday, February 5, 2017

Don't do it Halfway....

Hasn't it been a great weekend?  Even if most of my hours were spent riding down the highway.

Sam and I left yesterday at noon, to make a trip to Louisiana to pick up Fig cuttings.   Just a five and a half hour trip (One Way)....not bad at all.   I guess that would be like 11 hours on the road...more like 13 or 14 hours for Sam and I.


We have made this trip for Many years now, and I never get tired of traveling to the southern part of Louisiana.   

Anyways, this morning I stayed at the hotel while Sam went to pick up the cuttings.   I turned on the TV and Dr. Charles Stanley was speaking.    I listened a while and one of the things that he said was that we need to live our lives as Christ would have us do.    

One of the things that I picked up on was that we need to be kind to others.....We need to go out of our way to compliment others or to do good things for others.   

As Sam and I were traveling home today, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel to grab something for lunch.   As I was heading to the restroom, a tiny little black lady was just ahead of me.   As we both made our way to wash our hands, I complimented the lady on her dress.   It was a gorgeous color of Pink and she really looked so pretty in it.  

In my mind, I was thinking.....I'm proud of myself, I complimented someone today.    And then this precious little lady began talking to me.   She told me what size the dress was and that she had purchased it last year but could just now wear it because she had GAINED weight.   She ask me a few other questions and some of them, I had no clue as to what she was talking about.  She was so soft spoken and I could barely hear what she was saying.   I was trying my best to get out of there.

At this point, I was thinking......look what I got myself into by complimenting someone!!!!!!!!!!!

I left the restroom and in just a short time, the host called our name to be seated.   

While Sam and I were eating, I noticed that he kept looking past me and I could tell he was really thinking about something.

I asked him what he was looking at and he then told me that he was watching this lady back behind me that was sitting all by herself.  I kinda looked around and there was the little lady that I had spoke with in the restroom.   She was sitting there, all by herself enjoying her little meal.

Seems that something about her had captured Sam's heart, so he asked our waitress for her bill and he paid for her meal.

As I was thinking about this a little later, my heart was saddened by my own actions.    I listened to the sermon this morning, I made the effort to show kindness, but did I allow this kindness to truly come from my heart!?!?

In other words......I did compliment this sweet lady, but when it came time for the kindness to be extended with conversation, I failed.

I think about how lonely she might have been and how she may have needed to have someone to talk to.  

What good does it do us,  when we HALFWAY do an act of kindness? 
I can promise that I am going to try to do better. 
Lesson Learned today!!

Shug   





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