Tag Archives: delightful surprise

June 18, 2024 · 9:18 am

Delightful Surprise

I told you that we recently had trouble with our public power going off and our generator failing to come on automatically as it is supposed to do. We have replaced the starter solenoid and the battery and the generator’s red lights are still on. It started manually when we worked on it, but the problems remain.

I called our electric company, since they are the ones who installed the special electrical hookups to make the generator ‘automatic,’ but they said to call an electrician. Yeah. Thanks.

Today my husband found a number to call for generator repair. It turns out we have a generator repair person in Greenwood! His name is David Freeman, Apex Generator & Electric LLC, 4321 Fawn Trail, Greenwood AR 72936, 479-208-8616. We called, and the guy got my husband’s email address. He’ll contact him about when he can come out and look at things. HOORAAAY! Hopefully, he can help us.

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December 5, 2021 · 10:12 am

I’m Crying

It’s sad this is so rare these days. That it was a high school boy – so very talented – and he sang proudly – received wonderfully by the crowd at the game, made the tears roll down my face. I hope this is a wonderful experience for you, too.

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October 22, 2021 · 9:02 am

Absolutely the NICEST Thing…

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Yesterday Lynn, my wonderful massage therapist, texted me, telling me that my cousin had paid for a massage for me – specifying it was an ‘extra’ massage – the payment not to be used for one of my normal once-a-month ones.

It wasn’t my birthday, Christmas, or National Pickle Week – it was a ‘just because’ – the most wonderful type of gift there is.

When I married my husband – over 52 years ago – I gained two beautiful ‘cousins,’ too. AND she is a true friend, as well.

I texted her to thank her for thinking of me, for loving me, and for one of the best gifts I’ve ever received. We caught up a bit, though it’s never enough.

My extra massage is now scheduled for November 4th. :0)

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June 8, 2020 · 10:45 am

Another Sign of Hope

Because of the pandemic, I didn’t plant any annual flowers. Last year I planted wave petunias in four of our planters on the deck. I love the way they spill over the side of the pots in a riot of color and bloom. I just left the empty planters this year. I didn’t even prep them for planting.

Apparently there were seeds left in the pots from the plants I pulled out last fall. Aren’t they wonderful? What a nice surprise and message of hope.

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January 29, 2020 · 3:08 pm

Thoughts on a Wednesday 1-29-2020

Animals Collection

Even though it’s gray, 44 degrees, raw and rainy here today in Arkansas, I’m having a nice day, and have many things for which to be thankful.

Yesterday I opened our mail to find a pair of earrings my husband had found and ordered for me!

I just love them. It doesn’t show here, but the stones are kind of sparkly!  The design of them is giving me a bit of  a problem, though. They have a curved piece on the front that goes through the hole in your ear, and then you close the back onto the end to hold it in place. I’m having trouble getting the curved part through my ear. I’m continuing to try different techniques, but so far, no luck. :0(  I’ll keep working at it because I really want to wear them!

I’m working on a new wooden plaque in my art room. I think it’s going to turn out well, and I’m having fun working on it.

Since it’s still raining, we’re having to delay our trip to Ft. Smith to take our donation to the Veterans Thrift Store. Hopefully, we can do that tomorrow. I’m already finding more things I would like to donate, but the back of our truck will be full with what we have already.

Early this morning I put ingredients for Keto Chili into the crock pot, so we’ll have a nice comfort food type dinner this evening.

Today I’ve decided that my next clean out project will be my clothes closet. I need to move warm weather stuff out and move cold weather stuff in. I want to take my time, though, and get rid of a bunch of for each ‘season.’ Happily, some of my clothes are simply too large now, thanks to my efforts on eating Keto and exercising.

So it’s back to work now, after taking a short break. I hope that YOUR Wednesday is treating you right.

 

 

 

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November 12, 2019 · 3:17 pm

Wonderful Surprise

When I was working in the yard a couple of days ago, trying to clean out our flower planters before the coming bad weather, I found these iris! We have several deep purple ‘twice-blooming’ iris that we treasure. I don’t remember seeing any others around the yard this year, but these were blooming behind the well house. They bloom in the spring, and then again in the fall. I couldn’t bear the thought of them freezing, so I cut them and brought them in the house so we could enjoy them as long as possible.

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August 10, 2019 · 9:52 am

Delightful Experience

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My husband and I signed up to be a host family for a 16-year-old young man from Italy this school year. We have been planning for this for some time now and August 6th the students were to arrive.

Due to a health problem in the family, we were forced to contact the coordinator and opt out. We were really disappointed, but really didn’t want our problem to ruin the year for our young man. Happily, the lady was able to find another family.  We had been texting for some time. When I got the go-ahead, I contacted him and explained our situation, being able to assure him that his plans wouldn’t be changed, other than the host family. He told me he would let me know when he got here.

I figured that when he arrived, he would be swept up into lots of activity and that we would probably not hear from him. I then received a text from him, saying he would like to meet us! We arranged that he and his family would meet my husband and me at a local restaurant yesterday.

The meeting could not have been better. It was was wonderful to be able to hug him and enjoy talking with him and seeing him smile.  I felt like I fell into a hole because I had to look up at him. :0)  He is a really nice looking, friendly young man.

His host family is a delight. Young, energetic, already into school activities because they have two boys, 17 and 13, on football teams at the school, plus a lovely 4 or 5-year-old daughter. Our young man met another boy on the plane who lives in a different part of Italy. He is with another family here, close by!  The three boys will have a blast this year. They are traveling to St. Louis today – after football pics at the school – to catch a Cardinals game.  As you can tell, this is a WONDERFUL situation.

They will let us know the soccer schedule so that we can watch him play. We are making plans for a cookout at our place, and dinner at their place – with our young man cooking! – in the future.

What could have been a sad situation is now a joyful one.

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May 1, 2019 · 9:49 am

Delightful Surprise

 

My husband lost a cap on one of his teeth while flossing night before last. He called our dentist yesterday morning and they were able to work him in at 2 p.m. It was decided that he would need an implant, and that was scheduled for May 7th. He’s had to have one before. He’s not in any pain now, thank goodness, and the procedure, though expensive, didn’t cause any pain last time.

When we finished at the dentist, my husband suggested we get chicken crispers at Chili’s while we were in Fort Smith.  Our lunch was delightful, and THEN he suggested we walk next door to Pier 1, one of my favorite places in all the world, to ‘find something wonderful.’ I, of course, not being stupid, jumped at the suggestion. :0)

 

I chose this cute little rabbit. He was on sale for half price, so I didn’t need to feel guilty. You can see he is actually a votive holder! I love the butterfly on his nose and his necklace of flowers.

When we got to the counter, my husband put this mug on the counter, too. I melted on the spot. I’m drinking from it now, as I type this, grinning.

We brought home a doggie bag from Chili’s, so we enjoyed the leftovers for our dinner last night.

I truly enjoy being a well-loved, spoiled lady.

 

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June 23, 2018 · 12:10 pm

I Ate a Mangosteen!

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I told you a week or so ago that our son arranged to send us some Mangosteens from a place in Miami. He lives in Thailand, and this is one of his favorite things.  I had never heard of them, but found out that pharmaceutical companies are going nuts making supplements from the powder. I actually bought a bottle and am taking the supplements, but I haven’t felt any difference, and don’t look a thing like Julia Roberts yet, so I probably won’t order another bottle.

The mangosteen fruit came really nicely packaged in a styrofoam box with a dry ice type thing in it. We looked at all the fruit, but all of them were really hard, like billiard balls. We put a few on the island in the kitchen to ripen.

I’ve been testing them each day, eager to try one. Finally, two of them ‘gave’ a tiny bit when I pressed them, so I followed my son’s video, sticking my thumb in just under the green leaves at the top and pulling the top off. I then pulled all the purple part off, exposing the nice, white fruit inside. It looks just like this photo! The purple part is fairly hard to get off, but I think this is mostly because I was hurrying things a bit, anxious to try the fruit. The first mangosteen I opened didn’t have white fruit, so I threw that away. The second one looked JUST like the one above, so I carefully separated the white sections, which are remarkably similar to an orange.

They are, indeed, delicious. I ate three sections – which were very small – and took the other three to my husband to try. He said, “These are nice, but not something I would travel far for.” I can’t wait for more of them to ripen. I put six of them in a paper bag, taking the suggestion from Marsha, a good friend of mine. We’ll see if that works. The rest are still in the fridge in their styrofoam box. I certainly don’t want them all ripening at once!

What a fun experience!

 

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June 16, 2018 · 4:57 pm

Hey, Big Spender!

We love it when we see a “Garage Sale” sign when we’re on the way home from errands. It’s so easy to detour, spend a few minutes looking at things, grabbing things we like, and then going on home. Today we stopped at a house where two nice ladies were sitting in the shade of their garage. I say they were nice because the first thing one of the lady’s said was, “Oh, look at the pretty dog!” as Amber complained from the back seat of the truck that we were getting out and leaving her once again. It turned out the lady has a German Shepard who is about the same size as our Amber, so she knows and appreciates big ‘puppies.’ :0)

We made a quick tour of the things for sale. I just couldn’t leave this sweet Santa basket behind. His hat, plus the basket has bells that make beautiful music when you move him. His sign says, “Santa Stop.” You can put Christmas goodies, Christmas stockings, Christmas presents or Christmas cards in the basket. He had a green $1.00 sticker on his nose and I just HAD to adopt him, didn’t I?

 

 

 

 

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February 13, 2018 · 11:51 am

A Really NICE Surprise!

My husband and I were working in the office when our driveway detector went off. My husband said, “Could you get that?” I went out to see the UPS delivery person, something that happens often around here. I brought the box into the office and opened it. It was a vase with a dozen red roses!

My husband doesn’t like to celebrate ‘holidays,’ saying he thinks he should be good to me ALL the time, rather than just a few days each year where it’s EXPECTED that the guy get a present for his love. In fact, we’ve talked about the fact that the ads must make men like my husband  – or someone who might be strapped for extra cash – feel awful for NOT spending lots of money to ‘show his love.’  We think love shouldn’t be a ‘have-to’ thing.

My husband was really good about sending me flowers for NO occasion when I was at work. It was his hope that I would feel special, and that the other women in my workplace would feel jealous that I got flowers and it wasn’t my birthday, or Valentine’s Day, or anything.

In June we’ll celebrate our 49th wedding anniversary. Since we have loved each other since I was 14 and he was 17, you can add another 9 years to the official married years. I guess I’m confessing to a kind of addiction…

I really wasn’t expecting this. The card says, “I never get enough of you!” (For two people who don’t even use the same SALT, you KNOW that isn’t true, but what a NICE thing for him to say! He’s definitely a keeper.  :0)

 

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January 26, 2018 · 12:25 pm

Wonderful Surprise

Mary Lou, my sister-in-law, sent me a surprise package. We received it yesterday.

A “Labrador” pillow cover to honor our sweet ‘puppy,’ Amber!  We bought a pillow insert today after Lunch Bunch and I couldn’t wait to see how it looked on the couch.

 

Great present!  Thanks so much, Mary Lou!!

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January 18, 2018 · 3:56 pm

Wonderful Surprise!

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There is little that gives me so much pleasure as writing my blog. I LOVE sharing things with you that I think you might like. The WordPress people keep track of how many people sign up with their email address, as opposed to people who read the blog through Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

My husband told me that, if/when I reached 1,000 subscribers via email, he would take me for a lobster tail dinner (my favorite food in all the world). I laughed, knowing that I would NEVER have that many followers.

For the past two weeks, for some unknown reason, I’ve had a lot of new subscribers. Last night I had reached 998. I refreshed the page this morning to find 999. Just before I was going to go into the kitchen and make us a salad for lunch, the number changed and said, “1,000!” I whooped with joy and ran to get my husband to come look.

I figured that soon we would go get my lobster tail, but my husband said, “Get your coat. We’re going to get your lobster tail!” We just got back about 10 minutes ago. I am now stuffed to the gills with a truly wonderful, bit lobster tail, bites of which I dipped into a little bowl of melted butter. We got the Red Lobster biscuits that are to die for, and have a gazillion calories and even more carbs, but simply melt in your mouth. I had wild rice and broccoli, plus a small salad to round out my victory meal. I savored every bite.

My husband hat a grilled chicken salad, a couple of the biscuits, and a Corona, but his favorite part of the meal was apple croissants with ice cream and caramel sauce for dessert.

My husband says I need to ‘get to work’ now. I won’t get another lobster tail dinner until my subscriber list hits 2,000….

Seriously, I am very complimented that so many people enjoyed what I was posting enough to sign up. I’ve lost subscribers over the course of the past two years – probably because I tend to post a lot. I hope that people aren’t aggravated by that, because I just have a  lot to share.  I picture people just ignoring my posts until they have the time to look at them, or – if they’re not in the mood – just deleting them.

THANK YOU for reading my posts. Thank you, also, for taking time to write from time to time. I appreciate the feedback very much.

Have a wonderful day.

 

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September 26, 2017 · 10:58 am

“The House Under the Rainbow”

Two days ago in the afternoon, my husband said, “You’ve got to go outside. Walk halfway out to the shop and then turn around and look.”

The temperature had suddenly dropped by about 20 degrees. There was a fabulous breeze and this gorgeous rainbow over the house, though no rain.  I just stood, drinking in the breeze and the beautiful rainbow for several minutes before coming back in. My husband caught this pic while he was out. Neither the rainbow nor the rainbow lasted more than a few minutes, but what glorious minutes they were!

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May 4, 2017 · 3:00 pm

Wonderful Gift

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I had a surprise gift this morning and I’m still feeling WONDERFUL.

Our son lives and works in Chiang Mai, Thailand. He arranged for a chat program that is very secure before he left, so we type messages to each other regularly. Skype doesn’t work well at all for us. We’re not sure if it’s our Internet connection, or what, but we gave that up a long time ago, when he was in China for the first time.

Today, he asked me if I had earbuds and a microphone. I was scurrying around, trying to find a microphone, since we packed that up when Skype didn’t work.

When I got back to the screen with one, he had found a program (appear.in – join the room) that allowed me to “join” him in a video chat. I clicked “join”, and then it asked me if I wanted to use the available video and audio. I said “yes,” and there was our son!

I’ve been grateful that – if we’re both up at the same time (there is 12 hours difference) – we can type back and forth to each other, but to actually be able to see his face gave me such joy. I love his face!  We had a chance to really catch up on what’s happening with each other, to laugh together.

At Christmas it was a year since we’ve seen him. We’ve offered to pay for tickets for him to come visit, but pride rears its ugly head, so we don’t know when we’ll see him. Now that we have this wonderful video chat program, we’ll be able to talk and actually SEE him more often. I haven’t been this happy in a long time. :0)

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July 26, 2016 · 11:41 am

Delightful Surprise!

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onthewight.com

Last week I called for a fill up on our propane tanks. We have a 1000 gallon tank for the house and then a 250 gallon tank for the shop. We gritted our teeth as usual (even though they were supposedly having a sale, according to their email) about paying the bill.

The man came today (coming up our steep driveway backwards (I can’t BELIEVE they do that!) and my husband went out to make sure he filled up both tanks. We figured we needed about 250 gallons to top off both tanks.

When my husband came in with the fill up tickets, I was astonished. Instead of the $2.19/gallon or more that we were expecting, it was $1.09/gallon for the house tank and $1.19/gallon for the shop tank (different plans, different prices – but BOTH a dollar less per gallon than we expected!)

My husband decided I was too stupid to read the tickets. I handed them to him and then he had to eat his words. (I made him grovel a bit for insulting me.) Then he decided it must be a mistake, so he called the propane office. The lady confirmed the prices were correct. He managed to tell her we were ‘pleased’ before hanging up.

We’re still smiling. This just doesn’t happen anymore!!!!

 

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