Oliver’s Law of Public Speaking

Oliver's Law of Public Speaking - A closed mouth gathers no feet.

A very cranky old woman was arrested for shoplifting at a grocery store.  She gave everyone a hard time, from the store manager to the security guard to the arresting officer who took her away, complaining and criticizing throughout the process.

When she appeared before the judge, the judge asked what she had stolen from the store.  The lady defiantly replied, "Just a stupid can of peaches."

The judge then asked why she had done it.  She replied, "I was hungry and forgot to bring any cash to the store."

The judge asked how many peaches were in the can.  She replied, "Nine, but what do you care about that?"

The judge patiently said, "Well, ma'am, because I'm going to give you nine days in jail -- one day for each peach."  As the judge was about to drop his gavel, the lady's long suffering husband raised his hand and asked if he might speak.

The judge said, "Yes, what do you have to add?"

The husband said, "Your Honor, she also stole a can of peas."

Share a smile with someone today.  I just did.

Peachy day in Paradise

Busy day ahead here in the TB household.  Haley is doing a fabulous workshop at her house at 1p, so I’ll be there to scrap and play, along with several scrappin’  friends.

I’ll have to hurry home to pick up Dick so that we can go to the first house of a BSP progressive dinner.  The first house location is in town, and there, we will be served appetizers.  The main course will be served here (north of town), so I’ve got to get Dick to help me set up an extra table or two this morning, and get him to blow leaves off the deck.  We may actually need our outdoor heater tonight.  We’ll see.  It’s there if we need it.

And then the fun really begins.  At the next house, not too far from us, we will enjoy dessert and coffee while participating in our annual ‘vacation’ auction.  No, we don’t auction off a trip.  What we auction off are gifts that we purchase when we travel (it can be some exotic location, like Podunk, for instance).  We bring them wrapped, so that no one knows what is inside or who brought it, just the origin of the purchase.  The guys go nutz bidding against each other, all in good fun, since the money goes into our treasury…and then it gets given away to the local community.  Fun and worthwhile.  And always good food!

Happy, happy birthday to BFF Joan!  We’ll miss you and Dan tonight.

Whatever you do, enjoy your Saturday, y’all.  Life is good!

Law of Close Encounters

Law of Close Encounters - The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

Well, I met lots of 'kin' down in SW Georgia at my aunt's funeral.  They all cleaned up pretty good, and I don't think anyone was embarrassed to be seen with each other:)  Aunt Nene led quite the adventurous life and had written down lots of stuff for the preacher to pick and choose from to speak about her at her service.  Well, it was all so interesting that the preacher read the whole dang thing!  Pat promises to get me a copy of it, because I learned that my own father almost died as a baby, and I never knew that.  Nor lots of other stuff.

And now there are only a few around of that generation who can supply any history.  I asked Aunt Rebecca the middle name of my paternal grandfather, and she knew!  No one else did, and I could never find it confirmed anywhere, so I will take this as gospel.  And...this is major...I got to see the graves of my grandparents and great grandparents!  Of course I took photos, and of every headstone that I thought might be a relative, so I have a bit of work cut out to get all this info checked and double checked.

I think it is important that we not lose our links with our past.  And it is helpful also to have FULL names.  That middle initial on my grandfather's grave did not help much, other than to confirm that he did indeed have a middle name.

What are you doing to preserve your family history?

Thank you, Veterans!

A huge THANK YOU to all our men and women who have served in our Armed Forces to defend our red, white and blue...as well as THANKS to those who are currently making sacrifices and serving now.

Freedom is never free.  God bless the USA!

A sweet goodbye

 

My 99 year old aunt died Monday.  She was a remarkable woman, who  enjoyed life to the fullest.  She was my father’s sister, and now there is only one sibling out of the ten left. 

Today, I am heading to South Georgia, where I will go visit  Aunt Eloise in a nursing home.  She won’t know me any more, but that is OK.  I sure know and love her. 

And then tonight there will be a visitation for this special lady, shown above at her 99th birthday party this past July, with the Celebration of Life being conducted tomorrow.

It will be a happy/sad occasion when we see long-time friends and family, reminisce about the past, and promise not to wait so long to see each other again.  Then life gets in the way, and everyone gets too busy, until the next time one of our members is lost to us.  And then we gather again.

Thanks for all the ‘apple salads’ you made this young gal when we came visiting.  You always made me feel special and loved. 

Rest in peace, Aunt Nene.  I love you, and miss you already.

Tuesday in Mayberry

Let me tell you, those ribs were good, good last night, and super easy.  Yes they were...but after smelling them cooking all day, I sorta didn't want any when it was finally time to eat.  I think next time I'll let them cook out on the deck.  I'll post the recipe on dyerdining when I get done here...and before I go empty the dishwasher.  I was mighty tired by bedtime last night, after being on my feet all day, so I didn't get that chore done.  I'm glad there was no deadline and no time clocks to punch.  Today is another day and another chance to finish what didn't get finished.  And then there is also tomorrow!

I feel sooo sorry for my fave Carnival cruise director John Heald.  There was a fire in the aft engine onboard the Carnival Splendor yesterday as they were en route from CA down to Mexico.  Everyone is OK, well, except for the idiots who will complain about everything.  They are never OK.  Carnival is compensating everyone quite handsomely, but still...John will be putting up with a lot of crappola from some, no doubt!

Right now as I type I am catching glimpses of Amy and Jason putzing in their front yard, with two happy boys playing.  There is only a small gap between the house and the trees, but it affords me a small window of opportunity to see my sweet neighbors enjoying life, and it puts a smile on my face.  I am mighty blessed.

Life is good!

Law of Random Numbers

Law of Random Numbers - If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal & someone always answers.

This is a true story, once upon a time, long before caller ID was invented:

“Hi, may I speak with Jim M.?”

I laugh.  “No, I’m sorry you have the wrong number, but Jim’s number is …”  Only in Mayberry can this happen:)

This pot of wonderfulness is smelling mighty good.  Actually, I have TWO pots slow cooking for tonight’s dinner for a NUMBER of folks.  All the kids, tall and short,  and our park managers will be here for dinner.  The kids are junior park owners, so they need to be onboard, hearing about plans for the (their) future, right?  Our managers do a fine job, so it is always good to hear from them and learn about our park from their particular perspective.  Win/win, and good food!  Can’t beat that combination.

This is Joan’s rib recipe from another long-time family friend Lois, so I’ll certainly post it here:   Dyer Dining  on Haley’s food blog, started as a way to keep track of her recipes.  I asked if I could join her blog so that I could post some of mine, so check it out…or not.  We are actually only posting recipes that are ‘tried and true,’ so it will be constantly updated with some really good stuff!

Life is an echo; what you send out comes back. ~ Chinese Proverb