Netherlands Nuesday 48

University of Groningen

Humor in the Ugly, Part 2

We were having a lovely Sunday lunch out on our deck next to the mums yesterday when the subject of their prolonged existence came up.

John: I could probably get a few days off work if I tell them my Mum died.
Maria: She died because Poppy wasn't with her.

Maybe I should go throw them away now.

You Only Turn 13 Once...

I found out I still have what it takes to take part in a slumber party as Bridget & I were invited to Emily's 13 year old birthday bash Friday night. It was held at a nearby hotel where we stayed in a suite with Cathy, Emily & 4 of her other friends. Cathy had a great night planned with swimming, a carousel ride, scavenger hunt, group photo session, pizza, games, cake and ice cream all by 1 am! We were rejoicing together that our babies were teenagers, lol. We also had a huge breakfast and more swimming in the morning. Can you believe we also got sleep in there?




I had a scare when the 174 pictures that I took disappeared from my camera. I got a card reader from Radio Shack and was able to retrieve them after I was pretty much resolved to the idea that some memories are just too great to capture.

Strange Little Cat

This strange little cat has been stopping by and looking in our house every day. She (?) just lets me take her picture, lol! Maybe she likes Leo...

Flash Back Friday 90

Sister Paula playing the guitar for Maria and the ballerinas, April 2000

Love Thursday

Bridget & Maria, with her new fake glasses, after school yesterday

Maria and Bridget, though they are 3 years apart, are the very best of friends. When I get my camera out, it doesn't take much at all for them to put their arms around each other and smile and I am so thankful for this. Happy Love Thursday!

Eggplant Du Jour

Many years ago, I was so fascinated by my neighbor's cooking ability that I called the newspaper! LOL! Wouldn't you know it, a reporter came out to interview her about one of her recipes, a Tuscan soup with eggplant, sausage and tomatoes. A couple of weeks ago, this neighbor called to see if I still had the recipe and I did have a preserved copy. It's so good to make when it gets cold in the fall.

Netherlands Nuesday 47

Inside the Groningen Train Station

Finding Joy

Yesterday afternoon, we went to a good-bye party for some friends at church who are moving to Florida. While there, the ever-fun-loving Cathy told me that I had to pour her root beer and she would pour mine. For the rest of the day, the thought of this little thing made me laugh. I thought of how often joy is found in simple things.


Cathy doing some Lands' End modeling

Leo Drama

Guest Blogger: Maria [Las fotos de España]

These are some pictures I took during my trip to Spain in July.

Alicante, España

Segovia, España

Valladolid, España

Flash Back Friday 89

John & the Blogger at a Chicago Cubs game, 1988

Love Thursday

This past Saturday. Edward ran in his first Half Marathon. He's never run as far as 13.1 miles before in all his years of distance training, so we were happy when he got the 2nd place trophy in his age group. We took pictures of him with his trophy, but I lost them in the great Chicago camera trauma. He gave me this refrigerator magnet to remember the accomplishment and I thought that was very sweet. When we got home from Chicago, I had this feeling all night of expectation that Edward would be coming home soon. As a friend reminded me today, he has been gone a month already.



After finally giving in yesterday to the fact that our mums are beyond help, this same dear friend surprisingly gave me these mums today. She didn't know yet about the mum story from yesterday, but she did know Edward had been away a month.

Humor in the Ugly

Remember the beautiful mums that John planted on Labor Day? They never recovered after a solid week of September rain (see above) The other night at supper, I was wondering why they were still out on the deck.

Me: Why are those flowers on the deck still there?

The ever-funny John to his daughters: Those flowers are making Mum mad.

He's still the funniest guy I know.