A Book about Southern Funerals

We read the book titled "Being Dead is No Excuse" by Gayden Metcalf and Charlotte Hays. It is filled with comic descriptions of Southern funerals; the foods, music, flowers and people who make them what they are. It is amusing, but hardly the stuff of good discussion for a book club - unless everyone has funny situations to offer, pertaining to funerals.  We had a few.  

But I'm sharing my photos from last night with you - knowing I didn't take enough of them - but I was so hungry I had to stop and take care of my plate. It smelled divine in there!

These silks greeted us on the kitchen island. Lulu is what the grandkids call the hostess. 

Our dining table

The antipasto  - not sure why it is called faux.

Aspic, as you can see.

My plate; think of it as a clock: just to the right of the napkin (12 noon)  pork tenderloin (with teriyaki-bourbon sauce), "Liketa Died potatoes", V.D. Spinach  (also known as Visiting Dignitary Spinach, Bing Cherry salad with Co-cola, pineapple casserole, vegetable casserole.  

It was all delicious and we "licked our plates" - well - we didn't, really, but I wanted to.  

The Travelogue Continues...

Monserrat

Monserrat

Beach in Mallorca

Sunset in Barcelona from the top of a hotel















The cathedral in Mallorca

The Latest Travelogue (Alas, not mine.)

Some relatives of mine are on a European trip and I get the photos!  They flew into Geneva, Switzerland and rented a car. I'm told the mountain pics are Mont Blanc and the water views are in Annecy, France.  The angora rabbit is named Ri Ti Ti. I bet he is soft! The next to last pic made me curious as to how old that rock wall is. Maybe they will find out.  It is all just charming (as is most of Europe) and I have to be content with photos, no matter how badly I'd like to be with them.  I am very grateful that they share their photos with me.  Travel by proxy is preferable to never seeing it at all. I hope you enjoy the pics as much as I do.

And a Happy Mother's Day Was Had by All

My children and grandchildren will seldom allow me to take photos of them; especially if they think I am going to post them on the internet. My instructions today were not to "tag" anyone. I promised not to - although sometimes things are tagged automatically and I am not sure how it happens. Here are some pics, minus one grandchild who went to the beach with her Mom's family. 

 Above is my middle child and her four kids. I may be prejudiced, but I think they are a very handsome bunch of people!! It may not be easy to decide which one is the mom. She takes after her dad - who never looks his age.

 The happy UNC graduates. My granddaughter is on the upper right. We are so proud of her!

 Five of my grandkids. One went to the beach today with her mother's family. WE hope three more of them will graduate from college next May, and the baby (on the right) will graduate from high school.

My grandson James and his pretty (as well as smart) girlfriend. She graduated from NCSU on Saturday. 

Grandma (me), granddaughter, baby daughter, middle daughter and granddaughter. Our attempt at three generations.  

We all had a good day, even though two of the grands were late arriving, due to work schedules.  Our son-in-law grilled two kinds of sausages with onions and peppers, daughter made meat balls in the crock pot, and we had mixed fruit and chocolate cake for dessert. It was all delicious!!

I hope that all of you had a good Mother's Day celebration!!

My Dental Appointment

I have not had a cavity in about 15 years, but that good record ended today. My dentist discovered a hole on the back of a molar, which also has a gold on-lay. She said she will have to remove the on-lay in order to fix the cavity, and that a new crown will be necessary, since there is so little actual tooth left. 

BOOOOOO!  

Any news affecting my financial affairs is always bad - unless I win the lottery  (but you have to buy tickets for that, and I rarely do.)

The only good news is that she says the rest of my teeth and gums are in great condition, and she commended me for taking such good care of them.  I nearly laughed out loud.  I barely do what needs to be done on a daily basis. I have always been a very good tooth brusher, but flossing and using the water-pic sort of fall by the wayside until the week before a dental appointment.  It makes me wonder what would happen if I brushed twice a day, religiously, and flossed and water-picked every time! I suppose I would not now be faced with the prospect of a cavity repair and a new and costly crown!!

"I Still Don't Believe It!"

Subtitled:   I must be living right!!

I went to Target today, holding a $50 gift card that I had been given by BCBS for completing the home health visit last month. I needed a few household products and I had decided to buy something for myself with the gift card. 

I chose an orange purse, with a pricetag of $44.95.  I went up to the check-out and told the clerk that I first wanted to make sure there was no problem with the gift card and she replied that she had no way of checking it in advance. So I let her run it all through, and sure enough, the register said "not usable."  I was livid. I told her how I had gotten the card, and that it said on it that it never expires and has no fees.  She suggested that I call BCBS and ask them if I needed to "activate" the card  (even though the card that came with it did not mention any form of activation.

I prepared to leave and the clerk offered to "hold" the purse for me. I asked her to do just that and said I'd check with BCBS to see what the problem was, and come back tomorrow. 

I left the store and was putting my purchases into my van. A woman interrupted me, saying " Here : I bought the purse for you."  I was flabbergasted and speechless (which seldom happens).  I said....Oh, Gosh, I don't believe it. Let me give you the gift card (worthless though it may be.) She shook her head no, and said "This is for you." 

She walked away so quickly that I could not get her name (she wouldn't tell me) so I said "Thank you so much I'll pay it forward."

I cannot believe that woman bought that purse for me. I had heard of people paying for the food of the person in line behind them - but not $45 purses.  I feel so grateful to her and I hate that I didn't get her name and contact info. I hope she sees this post someday. 

I got home too late to check with BCBS, but you can be sure that I will call them Monday morning.  

Martin and Martin (Steve and Short)

My Mother's Day present came early, in the form of a ticket to see Steve Martin, Martin Short and the Steep Canyon Rangers perform at The DPAC  in Durham. It was my first time at the 4,000 seat theater and I surely hope it will not be my last.

The show was varied, funny (bordering on hilarious) and contained great music too. Steve Martin is an accomplished banjoist and composer and he played a few of his intricate creations, as well as with the Rangers - who are perfection in bluegrass. 

The theater is situated so that there are no sight obstructions and the large screen behind/above Steve and Martin made it possible to see everything. I could also hear well, due to proper sound levels.  

The screen showed some clips from the early days of Saturday Night Live  (the best days, in my opinion.) Also included were clips from their movies. And they both performed in character on stage. Virtually nothing was left out, for which we were thankful.

If these two are appearing near you, I recommend you buy tickets. They are worth it - whatever the cost. Steve said he often wondered about the varied cost of tickets in different venues and for different seats. He recommended that if you had paid less for your ticket than your neighbors, you should place your hand over one eye during the show!!   I laughed until my sides hurt.  Thanks to my baby daughter for this present!!  I thought nothing could top the concert with Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett, but this did. I loved it!!