By now, most of you really know me. I am so very BLESSED and I love sharing SMILES. So I have a story for you. Yesterday, we went to Valvoline to get the car inspected because we enjoy being able to stay in the car while they do it and /or while they change the oil. Well, after 40 minutes of waiting, we pulled in and they said their computer or machine for inspections was down.
We didn't get flustered as we really have more time than we do money! We just smiled and told them not to worry, we have until the end of the month. So we called a local, very trustworthy place we used to use a lot and they could do the inspection in about 20 minutes. It takes almost that long to get halfway through Rockwall especially with the traffic. We went inside to sit when they took our car. We began talking to a young man who came in behind us about his Dodge SRT. We love fast cars!!! Hubby asked if it was around 800 horsepower (most cars are 200-250, Kelly's vet is around 600) and he said no... it is 1000 horsepower !!! So we teased him about the cost of gas to drive it now. He told us that the best thing he ever did was to buy his mom a house in Fate. Then he looked at me and told us that he had recently given his life to Christ. What a blessed conversation we had with him. His name is Rashard Higgins and he was a Wide Receiver for the Cleveland Browns for about 5 years and now he is with the Carolina Panthers. As I was writing a "Be Uniquely You" note card to mail to him, I looked down at my Christian T-Shirt (I have about 30 to choose from that I wear daily), I realized why he shared his love for God. What a blessing it is to share a smile, start up a conversation, and send a card to others and also of the blessing I received in return. Now I know why God delayed our inspection 40 minutes and had us go to a different location!
Does anyone have a telephone number for Sparks505, or know if Lee is OK? She hasn't answered my email and I am still worried about her. Thanks!
Next question, do you ever see Monarch Butterflies? Do you have any Milkweed plants? They look like this...
When Monarchs feed on milkweed, the caterpillars ingest toxins in the plant that make them poisonous to predators until they become adult butterflies. The plant will have pods on it that contain seeds.
This is what the pod looks like when it opens and the seeds fly away, all over the place. I have at least three envelopes full of seeds and many more pods to open soon. Let me know if you would like seeds. My neighbor, a teacher, always captures the caterpillars and watches them turn into a butterfly. This year we were both out of Milkweed because of the bad freeze a year ago in February. We both bought plants. I also bought 4 colors of seeds which I shared with others already not knowing how many seeds my plant would produce. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this lesson as I did not realize Monarchs covered such a large area.
Have you ever seen a two headed giraffe? Ok, maybe it is the angle but it is really neat looking! I have one more for you... Have you ever seen a giraffe umbrella?
Well, now you have seen both! I am so blessed! My friend since 3rd grade, of about 65 years, sent that to me in the mail. Isn't it cute!!! And I love the feet on it too. Earlier in the week, a friend of about 45 years sent us 3 different flavors of Pretzels. Then yesterday I got two beautiful but different Patriotic scarves I can wear to work from a Hillian friend of about 10 years. I am truly BLESSED!
This morning was cloudy, cool, and spitting rain for just over an hour. So we got the yard mowed. Of course, it is 96° with a "feel like" of 106° or 1006° right now as we still have several hours to reach our high for the day. We even got our errands run, bought dog food, got Hubby's passport picture, and got his glasses ordered from Costco as well as bought everything and then some at Costco that was on our list. We are ready for the weekend! How about you?
Where does the time go? Half the year is almost gone! And here I am to share my Blessings with you again. I know you are grabbing some!
Last Friday I drove an hour to a mall in Frisco just to see my girls and to spend some quality time with my precious DIL, Evelyn. Nicole # 4 in gold top and Michelle # 6 in flowered top. After lunch at the CheeseCake Factory, they all went off in their own groups and I went with Evelyn to return the 2 dresses that Nicole didn't keep.
I am the luckiest girl in the world to have such an AWESOME husband. That sly grin turns into a beautiful smile and the most wonderful laugh!
Thank you for prayers for Kyle Kid, George! He called earlier today and is home from the hospital after the aFib episode. I looked for his picture from several years ago where he won an award from the school but haven't found it yet. Besides, I thought this was a great picture of how much fun he had as a crossing guard. The newspaper went to the school and took a bunch of pictures of him for a special story they did. Please continue to keep him in your prayers as he will find out about continuing the radiation treatments and the chemo pill he is taking that is affecting his vision which is why he isn't on The Hill very much right now.
Just want to say "Thank you for your sacrifice and service!" to all, especially those that gave their life. Many people do things everyday that affect us in one way or another and they don't even realize it. And thanks to all those in other countries that support our Memorial Day. All of them have family and friends that have served.
Quick update on Kyle Kid... I talked to George on the phone just a bit ago. He is still in the hospital because of the AFib episode. But he sounded much stronger than he did last week. Thanks for your prayers!
It is a long weekend for a reason. Please remember what it is all about. Talk about it to your kids, to everyone.
I am so excited for Derrick to now have his new best friend and service dog. If you don't have a charity, please consider donating often to Patriot Paws located in Rockwall, Texas who help Veterans everywhere with service dogs. It is a wonderful organization.
Derrick and Bill are best friends. They ride the laid back bicycles and compete in lots of Veteran races over many miles, often taking more than a day.
As Derrick and Bill were riding away from our house, I realized I forgot to take a picture. Really??? Both of them are in that picture.
Please remember to say "Thank you for your Service and Sacrifice.
Are you ready to celebrate Memorial Day weekend? What a sacrifice so many families have given for each of us. I hope you have your Red, White & Blue on and are sharing your smile with everyone!
I awoke to such beautiful colors in the sky. I had to hurry to catch the rays before the colors disappeared. The cooler temperatures seem to make such a difference.
I even went out to the front today to get a different view of God's painting. I noticed a limb on the tree near the mailbox was broken at the base of the tree because of all our high winds.
So a combination of the cooler temperatures and a broken limb lead to trimming the tallest tree in our yard. We hate to have to duck when cutting the yard on the riding mower.
As we keep cutting off the lower limbs, we have to keep using a taller ladder. Glad our grands keep growing taller so they can still reach a limb to climb the trees. It is always nice to have tall friends and family too. Thanks for being my friend.
I know it is after NooN but what a good morning we had. First was last night, rain was predicted for us the last 3 days and lots of areas around DFW got 3" or more of rain before we even got one drop. But after 10 pm the rain started and we ended up with just over 1". I don't have to water today and my buckets are full of runoff rain.
Yes, this morning I have a big smile on my face. Texas Longhorns baseball won the first game of the Big 12 Playoff. Now if we can just keep up the great pitching and batting! And tomorrow the Texas Longhorns girls softball start Regional Playoffs as the boys will have another game too.
Of course I am also kind of sad today. It is Nicole's last day of middle school. This afternoon she will be a High Schooler. Oh no! However, we are so proud of her and her sister this year for all their awards and achievements.
Hubby trimmed plants (yaupon) and I trimmed the low branches on a crape myrtle tree and a juniper tree. We are still waiting on the promised 95% chance of rain, it is getting closer to us.
As soon as I get my shower, I think I will read my Romantic Comedy by Emma St. Clair, "the Buy-In". Laughter is good for the soul and this book about a small town is funny. So...
After several weeks of very high and gusty winds (my hair looked worse than that), it is a calm, cloudy, foggy, overcast morning again here for the second day in a row. I know in the middle of summer, we will miss the wind but for right now it is a welcome change since we are only at 63° at 10 am. We are hoping for some soaking rains for all of Texas that is still in the drought stage.
So rain or shine (or cloudy), cool or warm, whatever your day is like today, may Blessings and Hugs be in store for you. I hope you will share your smile and make others really wonder what is going on in your head.
What a difference a day makes! What a blessing from God! We were 97 yesterday after lunch, then it dropped to 74 mid afternoon. Today we started at 60 today and at noon we were only 62! We only got 1/10" of rain but we lost electricity from 10pm until 11:30 pm just as the storms got near us.
It will sure make watering the plants this week much more enjoyable with 4 days below 80°. So I am sharing my Blessings and Hugs with you. Grab them!
If we are in the 90's tomorrow, it will tie a record of 15 days in a row in May. Then we are due a cool front and will wake up Sunday morning in the 50's and have several days only in the 70's. Woo Hoo!
Already got the yard mowed this morning because you know what is coming tonight, tomorrow night, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday... possible RAIN. Let the grass begin to grow.
At our place, the sun and rain also mean more flowers! So I am sharing this one with you. I took this picture yesterday evening in our front flower bed. Now time to go watch for all the birds and especially Hummingbirds which I will also share with you! Blessings & Hugs!
Good Thursday Morning! It is almost Friday and time for the weekend. This hot month of May has flown by.
We spent most of the day yesterday in the yard. I know, I know, you are surprised and shocked. I put up 3 new wind spinners (the one above came from Costco). The 3 older ones that I have had for many years, I took apart, spray painted, and reassembled.
So now I am heading out to water all the wilting plants from our mid 90's for almost 10 days so that the bees and hummingbirds will pollinate all the flowers.
Voted✅ Tahoe washed, inspected, & registered✅ Bought Milk✅ Ate Tacos✅ Bought groceries✅ Costco list completed✅ Put together 2 new Wind Spinners for yard✅ It was a successful day!
So be on the lookout for what this Hump Day will bring your way. I am grateful for your precious friendship. Now I am off to smell the flowers.
What a glorious day. The lawn received its first hair cut yesterday . My it looks so nice. Before it happened I just had to pick afew dandelions to put on the kitchen window in the home to give me abit of joy. Now I need to have a cup of coffee. I believe I will have some Neapolitan chocolate, vanilla and strawberry by good&gather to make my day even more special. May you have a nice Wed. day enjoying your moments. Smiles Gloria.
