Wednesday Hodgepodge

First, the recipe of my mom's brown sugar pies.

1c whole milk
1c canned mik (condensed)
1 stick of butter
3 egg yolks
4 Tbsp.flour
1c brown sugar
1tsp.vanilla
Put milk and butter in pan and let come to a boil,  beat together the egg yolks, flour, sugan and vanilla.  Add to milk mixture and let come to  boil.  Pour into baked pie shell.  Tog with meringue and bake until golden brown.


Now on to answering the questions.

1. Have you learned more from success or failure? Explain.

Failure-when you fail at something than you learn from it and I  remember the failure more.  One could learn from success as well.

2.  What did you call your grandparents when you were growing up? If you have children, what do they call your parents? If you have grandchildren, what do they call you?.

I called them Mamow and Papaw.  My step grandson calls me Mamow. 

3.  You're invited to a luau.  In keeping with that theme, what dish will you bring to share? 

Fruit dish-not a chef here..so how about pineapples, coconuts, grapes, melons, etc.

4. Besides Jesus, what one person's life story do you think everyone should know about?

Billy Graham

5. "Don't sweat the small stuff." Agree or Disagree? Why?

Agree and the older I become the more I agree with this statement. One needs to quit getting worked up over something that is trivial.  Of course what is trivial to one may not be to others.

6.  June is National Rivers Month. When were you last on a river? What's the prettiest river you've ever seen? What's a river you'd like to see? 

Honestly can't remember any rivers I have been on.  Brain dead on a river I would like to see.

7.  Speaking of rivers-paddling, fishing, swimming, or bird watching safely from the shore? Which activity would you choose? Yes-you have to choose. 

Not a fan of rivers-would have to be bird watching.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Enjoying the sunshine after the rain.  Hope the rain holds off for a few more days.

30 Day Challenge

Day 4--Favorite book



Oh gosh!!  I love books and I am an avid reader.  Since this is day 4 how about if I chose 4?


1.  My first book would have to be a classic:  The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne.  Not only did I love this book, I loved teaching this novel to high school students.



2.  My second would be: The Help.



3. My third favorite would be: Mudbound






4.  Another favorite classic: To Kill a Mockingbird


Looking forward to see other's answers.

30 Day Challenge

Day #1--My favorite song:

http://youtu.be/yVCcm-SXedk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=yVCcm-SXedk





Day #2-
I chose Enjoy Life because we all have had bad days, but the older I get the more I realized you take the bad with the good.  When I am having a bad day, I say to myself  "Tammy, enjoy life."

30 Day Challenge

Monday, June 3, 2013


My favorite television show-a tough one for me.  Very seldom do I watch television.  Around Christmas, I love watching Hallmark Channel -the Christmas movies.  Hub usually complains saying didn't I ever get tired of watching the same movies over and over.

Over the last few months, daughter #2 has me hooked on "The Voice"-I don't know if it is the singing or just admiring Adam-you know what I mean?

Weekend Rewind

Weekend Rewind,,,

It wasn't supposed to be this way.

First, I must explain last weekend.  With this past week being the end of school-which is a crazy week around here, I didn't get a chance to post last weekend. So last weekend...

Daughter #2 was leaving Sunday (May 26) to begin grad school in Roanoke at the Carillion Hospital (the doctorate of physical therapy program).  We (family + boyfriends) helped her move the heavy stuff (furniture) and clothes the week before.  Hub and I had it all planned to make this a smooth transition move because daughter is a home body type of gal.  Since this was to be a long weekend, we would take grandson and spend the night with her.  Plan was to leave right after church.

After church, I drove the van with daughter and grandson.  The van was packed with some other 'stuff' --lamps, coffee pot, hampers, things we didn't get to pack on the first move.  Hub was to take a walk through and make sure we had everything and then leave.  Daughter, grandson, and I were off.  Daughter and I were talking about her future, and I was convincing her she would make new friends and all would be okay.  About an hour into our trip, hub called.  He wanted to know if I had loaded our bag (clothes, etc.).  I told him, no I hadn't.  I heard the sigh-the puffing kind of sigh.  So I reminded him that he was to do a walk through and had he forgotten to do that.  Hub, thankfully, hadn't been on the road all that long and turned around to get our bags.  Daughter and I looked at each other and grinned on this one.

We made it safely here.

When daughter and I arrived at her apartment, it smelled musty.  Daughter said it had smelled that way earlier and it was due to being closed up.  I told her to open up the windows and the fresh air would help. I got grandson situated so I could begin unloading  the van-going first wasn't a great idea because I was stuck unloading.  When hub arrived, the van was completely unloaded and I was a little exhausted to say the least.  Grandson wanted to walk around and go to the playground before dinner.  After playing on the playground, we went back to the apartment to freshen up before dinner.  I was still smelling the musty smell, but hub and daughter said they thought the smell was getting better. We went on to dinner and when we came back, we walked around the apartment complex some more.  By this time it was a little before 10pm and I knew I had to give grandson his bath.  Daughter volunteered to bathe grandson--yeah for me.  While daughter was bathing him, I was still not happy with the smell, so I began searching for some clues.  The smell was worse in her bedroom.  I took off my shoes and when I walked close to the window in her bedroom-my feet were getting wet.  Then I got on all fours and patted the carpet.  Not only was my hands wet, so were my knees.  Gosh where was the water coming from.  Naturally, I yelled for hub to check it out.  He couldn't find the source of the problem.  Quickly, he called maintenance.  Now, I had my doubts maintenance would come out-it was probably 11 by this time and it was a holiday weekend.  Maintenance did come and the problem was found, but the carpet had to be ripped up and the padding and a huge dryer like thing was put in her bedroom to dry the floor  and a humidifier was also put in the bedroom.  There was no way one could sleep in the apartment tonight.  Grandson was almost asleep on the couch.  Hub called Holiday Inn and got us a room.  Daughter, grandson, and I went to the Holiday Inn, and hub came later-he wanted to make sure maintenance knew what he was doing.

Daughter and I got grandson settled in.  Then daughter wanted something to drink and so did I. How come one seems to be thirsty when there is nothing to drink.  Glad the vending machines were close by.  Hub arrived shortly and said maintenance was still working.  Hub was telling us where the water problem had come from when grandson asked us to turn off the lights and go to bed.  All slept well and the next morning woke up kinda late.  Well late for us if you are use to getting up by 6 every morning.

We went back to daughter's apartment.  What a great smell!  New padding had been put down and the  carpet was replaced.  This made me smile.  Daughter still had some errands to run-last minute stuff to get so we ventured out again for more stuff.  Finally, I do believe we had gotten all she needed-at this time anyway. Hub, grandson, daughter and I grabbed a quick early dinner.  I could tell daughter wasn't ready for us to leave, so we hung out for a few more hours with her.  When it was time to leave-here came her tears which of course made me cry. After hugs and kisses we were headed home.  About 30 minutes on the road, grandson said he didn't see 'ding-ding' that is what he calls daughter behind us.  I explained to him that she had to stay and go to school.  He let out a scream and started crying. Oh my gosh it was a piercing scream and cry.  Bless his heart; he just thought she was following us.  I just let him cry it out and he stopped shortly.


Even though, things didn't go according to plan; helping daughter settle in was worth it.

This weekend I didn't get much accomplished.  I was really wore out from this last week of school.  Hub and I calculated and in 4 days, I was at school for 49 hours.  So this weekend I have been very lackadaisical.  Tomorrow I plan on trying to clean the house.  At least this is my plan.

Have a great week.

Wednesday hodgepodge

1. What question do you often ask yourself?

Why did I say 'Yes' to so many things.  I am okay at first but as time goes by I question myself more and more.





2. Do you grow roses? What's your favorite color of rose? Ever been given a dozen roses? Where was the prettiest rose or rose garden you remember seeing?

I don't grow roses.  My favorite color would be yellow roses.  Yes, I have been given a dozen of roses -a long time ago while in college.


3. Do you read the freshness dates on grocery store products? Will you use eggs past their 'use by' date? Take medication that's expired? Buy a dented can?

Definitely read the freshness date on store products and I never buy a dented can. Now a days it does take me longer to grocery shop because of reading all the labels!  I will only use eggs that are only a few days out of date-no longer use if the date is more than a week.
Medication on the other hand, I will use if expired for a month or longer.  Now having a pharmacist in the family she informs me on the expiration dates-whether some medicine last longer than others.  A plus for me.


4. Should athletes be role models?

Most definitely.  On a not so happy note, it is a shame that most of the athletes aren't the role models they should be.


5. Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal became the first explorers to reach the top of Mt. Everest on this date (May 29) back in 1953. What's something you hope to achieve in your lifetime?

Something I hope to achieve-hum....on the top of my list would be independence-not to depend on anyone for what I need, to travel to many places, and to instill the love of learning to all.

6. What would you do if you had twenty acres of land and the money to develop it any way you choose?

I would develop a fitness center and a garden to grow all vegetables!!!

7. If I invite you to a party with a 7 PM start time, what time will I actually see you there?

No later than 7 that's for sure.  I would arrive at 6:50 or earlier.


8. Insert your own random thought here.
My weekend didn't go as planned.  But on the bright side this is my last week of school-a long week with bus duty and staying late to close up the year. Yeah!! the weather is getting warmer and the sun is shining.

Wednesday hodgepodge

1. It's National Bike Week...do you own a bicycle? When did you last ride a bike? 

Nope, I don't own a bicycle.  I rode daughter's bike a couple of years ago.

2. What's something you learned in school that wasn't part of the curriculum?

RESPECT!! -the longer I teach the more I see of students not having any respect not only for teachers but lack of respect for their peers.

3. What's a food you've never tried, but want to try? What's a food you've tried and will never try again?

Can't think of a food I want to try.  I will admit I tried wassabi a few years ago-can't stand it. I also didn't like sushi.




4. Have you been more demanding on yourself lately or less? Why? Do you think that's a good trend?

Lately, more demanding on myself.

5. Who is your favorite book, movie, or TV show villain? 

The only villain coming to my mind is J.R. Ewing, in Dallas.


6. How concerned are you about identity theft? 

Getting more concerned everyday.  I was never concerned with this until the past couple of years.  It amazes me everyday how we have people who just sit around trying to figure out how to get your identity.

7. I saw this last question on Dawn's blog a couple of week's ago and asked if I could share. Everybody hop over and say hi, but first answer this...would you rather have an ordinary home in an extraordinary place or an extraordinary home in an ordinary place? 

I would rather have an ordinary home in an extraordinary place.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I am really ready to begin my summer vacation.  The last few weeks have been very tiring-home life and school life.  Whew!  I need some R & R time.