I'M LEAVIN ON A JET PLANE...NOT!

Come visit Beverly. Thank her for the time and effort she puts  into Pink Saturday so we all may enjoy each others company each week.

"I'm leavin on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again..."
 Words and Music by John Denver

Actually we are leaving in our cute little car to travel to Mesa, Arizona to watch our son Nick run in the Nike Invitational. He will be leaving on a jet plane! We waited too long to get a flight and the prices are too high so Sweets and I are driving there with our middle daughter Rebekah.

While Nick travels by plane we will be adventuring in our car. We plan to travel Wednesday night to our hometown of Pueblo and spend the night with my niece Karla and her crew, hubby Aaron, sons Ryan, Troy and Matt.  We love visiting phamily and it is a two hour trip to their house. We will leave bright and early Thursday morning and travel as far as Albuquerque or Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Friday morning we will hit the road and travel to Mesa and stay at the same hotel our team will be at. They arrive Friday early A.M. Hopefully I can visit with or at least talk to some blogging friends. On Saturday the race Nick runs in will start at 1 P.M. I am hoping Sherry will be able to join us at the meet. Her grand girl Izzie is a runner too so hoping she can join Sherry and come cheer with us!

Any Arizona bloggers are welcome to join us at the Toka Sticks Golf Course in case you like cross country! I would love to visit with Jenny, Judie,Charlotte,Chara, Julie and Ames.  I would love to visit with these ladies and Laura.I know our trip will be lots of car travel but it is an opportunity to see our baby run in the national cross country meet, something we have missed the past three years. It will also be a time to enjoy some time away from my busy job and my Sweets can always use a break from standing on his poor feet all day long!

We will leave Sunday early as we both have to work Monday and our college girl has to return to college classes. Her schedule is perfect, it allows her to come and join us without missing any classes. She will give up a couple shifts at work. But she is a great driver and has maneuvered  the back roads of Nebraska and Kansas to visit friends, driving solo.

I am hoping you will join our featured blogger here. Thanks for stopping by. Don't forget my Pay it forward giveaway til November 30th. Shhh...it is a surprise giveaway but I think you will love it!

SALUTE ALL VETERANS TODAY AND EVERYDAY

On a serious note the military does an incredible job, sacrificing what is important to them to protect and serve us. I am very happy when I hear various businesses giving to Vet's and active miliatary personnel. They get so little and give so much.
Pray for a Vet or an active serve member today.

"B" is for (The) BIG BANG THEORY

Welcome to Alphabe Thursday. Please stop by and thank Ms. Jenny for hosting our weekly lesson! I am sharing my favorite T.V.program with you tonight, The Big Bang Theory, I love this sitcom. It is funny and full of great comedy! We have watched this program for several years and have gotten into each of the characters. The original five characters are 4 geeks and a blonde waitress/actress hopeful.  I love the show because it is silly and I am tired of all the crime on T.V. today. Real life is hard enough without  making T.V. less entertaining and more bone chilling! Perhaps it is my age but I will take a love story or comedy over crime laden shows any day! I am not into the reality stuff so this really suits me.

It is hard to choose a favorite character on the show although Howard and Raj, two geeky friends of room mate geeks Leonard and Sheldon find a  mate/match for Sheldon  via the computer! Sheldon is the annoying one and adding Amy Farrah Fowler to the cast made great sense! The former Blossom star Mayim Bialik plays Amy and she holds a PhD in neuroscience in real life so she really does know what she is talking aobut on  the show!

Melissa Rauch who plays Howard's girlfriend Bernadette Maryann Rostekowski is Jewish in real life  but plays Bernadette as a "good" Catholic!
Penny is portrayed by Kaley Cuoco. She is the blonde Nebraska waitress/actress!
I love this show and the story lines. If you have not seen it check it out. It is delightful!

Love is.... and 1970s Commercials

Hee Hee! We usually don't kiss and tell these days but when we were younger we always stole a kiss at the stoplight! It is my favorite memory of youth!

I was visiting Parsley.  She was talking about singing in the car with her hubby and their daughter getting a kick out of the two of them.

I found these two commercials from the 70s and I loved them. My oldest daughter was a little girl and she would sing this Enjoli commercial and imitate the actors:

Then there was the Suzy Chaffee commerical with Jim "Catfish" Hunter donning their "Chapstick".

Stop over and visit Marydon and all the other Love is...participates.

Don't miss out on my Pay it Forward giveaway. Just comment that you want to be included. It is going to be a surprise.

Writing from the Heart

Please come join this fabulous project.  When Suzanne asked us to join her by sending a birthday card to a senior and include a one bill if we could I was happy to make someone smile! But I have gotten so much more out of this. My phamily got involved and at first they acted like I was trying to make them give their personal history to a stranger! LOL! Then they started signing the cards with me. Now they look forward to each new month so we can sign the cards, include a dollar and get great joy from the project!
I started writing letters to friends and phamily and sending more personal cards to them too. It is giving me something so joyful that I am at a loss of words to describe it! Just ask LV. She knows I can be a chatter box! Ha Ha!
I am a gifted Gabbie. I love to chat. I love talking with friends. I want to hold your hand if you are sad, send you a simple wish if you need a lift.  I could talk to you until you tire of hearing my voice. But I care and I pride myself in being an honest and open person. If I like you it is genuine. If we can agree to disagree that is great!
My whole life I always loved opening the mail on my birthday and seeing the cards and thoughts being sent my way. I save cards and letters and grateful that I do. I have some precious memories with my mom and aunts hand written cards because they are no longer with me.
I have been sad and miserable  this past week. Too many tears, not enough smiling. But I wear my hear on my sleeve and I really take a lot to heart.
So I have found that this project of writing letters and cards and even sending messages to strangers is making my heart light.
I think secretly everyone would like to open their mail box and see it overflowing with good thoughts and wishes. I am a very humble person. I don't have a lot of glitter and glamour! But my heart is generous for you and filled with love and appreciation for your friendship here.
Join me by sending a hand written note or card to someone you care about today.

Pink Thoughts for Thanksgiving

I thought I would share a few "pinks" to celebrate Thanksgiving! It will be here before we know it! I know everyone around the world does not share the same calendar date for this wonderful day but I hope everyone enjoys it here just the same.
When you are finished please visit Beverly and thank her for celebrating Pink Saturday with all of us each week.Then visit some pinkies too.
Make sure you leave a comment and mention my blogaversary giveaway so I can enter you into a special secret giveaway. You just need to pay it forward if you win and make someone else's day special with a giveaway of your own!

 Here is a pretty floral arrangement for your Thanksgiving table. Simple yet elegant.


Sandra Lee does Semi-Homemade recipes on the Food Network channel. I thought I would share her Apple, Ginger, Orange Cranberry Sauce recipe here:

Ingredients

1 teaspoon canola oil
1 cup finely chopped apple
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 (14-ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce
1 (11-ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
Garnish: lemon peel

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add apple, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add ginger and cranberry sauce, and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in oranges, breaking up oranges with the back of a spoon. Cook for 3 minutes, or until thoroughly heated. Serve chilled or at room temperature. Garnish with lemon peel, if desired.

A is for Autograph

As a small child my oldest daughter wanted to meet the country western singer Barbara Mandrell. She performed at the Colorado State Fair many years ago. We waited in line for hours to get her autograph! Barbara was very cordial to us and treated us as kindly as the first person she signed an autograph for! Years later Noelle gave that autograph to her cousin Brian! She said "Because he wanted it and liked Barbara Mandrell too!"

When I was a young teen I had a pen pal in  Indy. Her name was Jane Moon and she got an autograph for me. I loved auto racing and loved Mario Andretti who was an Indy 500 winner! She babysat for Mario Andretti's brother Aldo's children and I had his autograph!
In the 1980's I got the autograph of rich Karlis, kicker for the Denver Broncos. Ah....my very favorite and still in my possession on a cocktail napkin from the now defunct Bronco Inn near my home.
When I was a small child and making my first communion I had a beautiful prayer book (still have it too) and had my mother's cousin's son Richard sign that prayer book, why you ask? Because he was a Catholic priest. Years later he left the priesthood, married and  was the president of one of the local hospitals in my hometown.
Ah....memories. They are awesome! They are amazing! They are part of my Alphabe Thursday post.
When you are finished reading my post please visit our teacher Jenny Then visit more always faithful, absolutely terrific folks who post here too!
Today my autograph book is different. It is a sweet little Dollar Store journal with lined pages that I use when I meet my blogger friends. Here it is:

So here is my autograph book with my first signatures. I do apologize to Suzanne because I had a photo of my page she signed but did not want to reveal her address. I just did not want to publish everything so I tried to condense the pages.
Then I have LaVoice's autograph and her sister Patsy who is also Suzanne's mom! Whew! That was a fun lunch!
These pages are precious to me. I once knew these ladies as bloggers and now they are friends. It is a lovely treasure.
I hope you like my "A" post! I was almost tempted to say "A is for Anne!" Ha Ha! I will share more facts about me as my blog goes on.
Please check my previous posts and make sure to get in my giveaway! It is a surprise. Shh....
Enjoy the day!