Resting on the Promises of God

Its all in the details

Kim cooked dinner for Cindy and me last night. I was intrigued by the invitation because it meant a couple hours out of the house; time to forget my primary role of wife and mom. Just spending time with other intelligent, witty women who love and appreciate me. Who cares what she put on the table; I was there for the company. So when Kim served a five course meal, I was floored. She effortlessly glided from oven, to table, to fridge, chopping this, tossing that, and pouring wine while holding a conversation with the two of us. She truly has the gift of hospitality.
Sitting down over the meal, I wish I had brought my camera to chronicle each course like Kathy does when she is whipping up a culinary delight.
*Baked tomatoes with melted goat's cheese drizzled with Italian balsamic vinegar and garnished with basil.
*Spinach salad with sliced almonds, fresh blueberries, mandarin oranges and strawberries.
*Plump shrimp with delicately blanched asparagus spears and risotto sprinkled with shaved aged cheese.
*Sauteed chicken with roasted red peppers and artichoke hearts along side of roasted potatoes.
*Vanilla Bean ice cream on flour free oatmeal lace cookies in a blueberry puree topped with homemade whipped cream.

I assured her I would be back the following Wednesday, same time. We talked late into the night discussing the details of our next trip and the latest goings on in our lives, so much so that I couldn't get up to ride this morning. Oh, well. It was worth every minute.

Puzzling

Alright, alright! Enough about my lack of posts! Here's the most current on our boring lives. Game night has taken on a life of its own. Apart from the girls coming over several times in the last week to play, Robert, the kids, and I have caught the game bug ourselves. We made a trip to Wal-Mart yesterday to pick up some dice to play Whitney's (and now everyone else's) favorite game Farkel, and ended up coming home with a few more gaming options. We bought In a Pickle, which has turned out to be a difficult and fun word game. Robert had the bright idea that a puzzle would be an entertaining exercise for the family to do together and chose two for us to assemble. Perhaps a 1000 pieces wasn't the best beginners choice, because this puzzle has kicked our butts! After a few hours last night, we had the border assembled and a few random pieces in between. Even Whitney pitched in and tried her hand at it for a little while before throwing in the towel. Its night two and we seem to be working in shifts as this thing dominates our dining room table. Periodically someone will wander past and linger to try and find part of the skyline or a flower patch. Robert and Hannah are laboring over it right now. According to the box top, the final product should recreate a detailed scene from the Biblical story of Noah and the Ark. But we're finding the whole experience a little less than spiritual.

Game Night: Summer Reunion 2007

What a weekend! We saw SpiderMan 3 at the dollar movie (glad I waited) on Saturday and then went down to I-Drive on Sunday to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 3D on the IMAX big screen. Three words: A Maz Ing. We're big fans of the dollar movie and AM Cinema, but this was well worth the high price. Although this was Robert and the kids' first time viewing an IMAX film, I saw the last movie Harry Potter movie on the IMAX big screen as well. It was a 1 AM showing on opening night and it took everything in me to stay awake. I went with a huge group of my students who are big Potter fans and got to see the fanatics come out of the woodwork. People were dressed in Hogwart's attire with wands in hand. Interesting.



We had some time to kill before the movie started so we ended up at Festival Bay. Robert and the boys made their way to the Bass Pro Shop again. Hannah and I wandered the rest of mall and found ourselves at the Steve and Barry store. Sarah Jessica Parker sells her clothing line Bitten exclusively through Steve and Barry and it is a GREAT line of clothing. Nothing in the collection is over $19.98; jewelry, dresses, shoes, jean jackets, blazers, everything is under $20! The pieces are so cute and interchangeable. Hannah picked out an adorable shirt in the line for $6.98.

Sunday evening we resurrected Game Night at our house. The girls are all home from college and we have a tradition of playing loud endless games at the Landrum and Torrez house into the wee hours of the morning. Apple to Apples, Egyptian Rat Slap, Pictionary, UNO, Cranium, Disney Scene-It, Scattegories . . . we needed a new game. The girls called and we agreed to meet at Target to choose something. Somehow our paths didn't cross and I ended up getting paged to the Customer Service desk. Humiliating, but the girls thought it was hilarious. We settled on the original Scene-It. Whitney won (read:cheated) and we kept poor Robert awake with screaming and laughing until Jane announced that she had to be at work the next morning. Poor kid is the only one of us working this summer. Party Pooper.

A City Set on a Hill . . .

. . . is not easily reached by bike. When we reached "the hill" today, I reminded Sam that coming back would be much easier than going up. He stared straight ahead as he labored to pedal and replied, "I see you're assuming we're going to make it to the top." Where does he get that dry sense of humor???

I read somewhere that it takes 30 days of repeating an activity before it becomes a "habit". I don't know if that's true or not, but today is the one month mark since I started riding consistently. In that month, I've covered 195.9 miles on my bike. I wish I could say it has changed my life, but the fact is I've lived a non-exercising lifestyle for years. It will take a lot more than 30 days to impact my long term health. For now, I take things one day at a time and enjoy the little victories that come from accomplishing something new each day. (Read: Lycra biking shorts are not in my future.)

Country Boy at Heart

We slipped away for an unplanned visit home a week ago. It was such a reprieve! Nowhere to go and nothing to be done. We visited the town that Robert grew up in. Poplarville, Mississippi isn't exactly a metropolitan mecca; there isn't a single traffic signal in the entire town.

Robert has fond memories of life in the Blueberry Capital of Mississippi. Riding through town, he pointed out places that brought back memories. As we passed Pearl River Drug, he told me about tagging along with anyone who was going there to pick up prescriptions. There was an ice cream counter in the back of the store that made the best shakes. As a little boy, he would climb up on one of the barstool and place his order. Curiosity got the best of him and he pulled into a parking space across the street. I followed him through the door as a bell announced our entrance. He headed straight to the back of the store and there it was. It was as if time had stood still. A mahogany bar stretched across the back of the store with antique tables and bar stools. He ordered two shakes and I watched as they were made with a 1960's blender.

An elderly man shuffled slowly up to the bar and sat down next to me. I greeted him and asked how he was. He paused thoughtfully and replied, "I've got 10 toes above ground, so I guess I'm doing good!" He ordered what appeared to be his daily cup of coffee. I wondered how long he had been following this routine.

There's something to be said for life at a slower pace. I grew up in bustling cities, but Robert has always been accustomed to this rhythm of life. I have watched him adjust to the hustle and bustle of all the places we have lived, always knowing that he was most at ease in the quiet spacious setting of his hometown.

Why Women Should Not Take Men Shopping Against Their Will

After Mr. And Mrs. Fenton retired, Mrs.Fenton insisted her husband accompany her on her trips to Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, Mr. Fenton was like most men--he found shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally unfortunately, Mrs. Fenton was like most women--she loved to browse. One day Mrs. Fenton received the following letter from her local Wal-Mart.

Dear Mrs. Fenton,
Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and may be forced to ban both of you from the store. Our complaints against Mr. Fenton are listed below and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.


1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking.


2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.


3. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an
official voice, "Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right away."


4. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a
bag of M&M's on layaway.


5. September 14: Moved a "CAUTION - WET FLOOR" sign to a
carpeted area.


6. September 15: Set up a tent in the camping department
and told other shoppers he'd invite them in if they would bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department ...


7. September 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he began crying and screamed, "Why can't you people just leave me alone?"


8. October 4: Looked right into the security camera and used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.


9. November 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants were.


10. December 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while loudly humming the " Mission Impossible" theme.


11. December 6: In the auto department, he practiced his "Madonna look" by using different sizes of funnels.


12. December 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people
browsed through, yelled "PICK ME! PICK ME!"


13. December 21: When an announcement came over the loud
speaker,he assumed a fetal position and screamed "OH NO! IT'S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!"


And last, but not least.


14. December 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door, waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, "Hey! There's no toilet paper in here!"


Regards,
Wal-Mart

Wet Wednesday

Well, slurpee stop one was our only successful attempt at free slurpees yesterday. We stopped at 3 more 7-11's between here and Tampa. None of them were participating in the celebration. Whitney declared that she will never marry anyone in Haines City due to this debacle (a great loss to Haines City).

After Tuesday's steamy fishing trip, we decided to cool off at Adventure Island water park. We were exhasted after a day of waterslides, wave pools, cliff diving, and tubing!

Free Slurpee Stop #1

Leslie

Gone Fishin'

I knew it was coming. We've made one too many stops in the sporting goods department, visited the Bass Pro Shop on I-Drive as of late, and watched too many fishing shows on the Outdoor Channel while visiting mom and dad last week. Robert took the day off to go fishing with the kids. Don't get me wrong; I love to fish. But Fishing in Florida in July? One word. Anyone? Anyone?

HOT!!!

We spent time casting off one of the floating piers at Turkey Lake and went through two containers of worms with no real success. Everything biting was too small and needed to be thrown back, but we had a good time just being together. Tomorrow is the eleventh though, and if history repeats itself 7-11 stores will be giving away free slurpees. Yippee!

Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans?

Kim, can you read that signature? I'm sitting at lunch with Robert and
notice there's writing on the wall above his head (no jokes please). Our
dear Harry Connick, Jr. sat at this same table and had lunch when he
came here during the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Talents, looks,
and a heart! Maybe its just the name . . . Harry.
Leslie

Goes on Runs?

The short answer to that is "no". Kathy, how do you do it??? In an attempt to stay motivated and mix things up a bit. Sam and I decided that we would try our hand (or feet) at running this morning. Actually, running would be the wrong word to describe what we did. It was more of a shuffle, shuffle, wheeze, gasp, shuffle, shuffle. We followed that pattern for 2 miles. We were just trying to keep things interesting, but running is a whole different form of torture. Goes on Rides. That's more our speed.

Addicted

87%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

I think the only thing to say is, "Hi, my name is Leslie and I'm addicted to blogging."