Superbowl weekend

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Avila Lighthouse Inn and Suites, Budweiser commercials, Karen Bowser, scrapbooking, Superbowl

A year ago on Superbowl weekend I was having an amazing Sister Scrapbooking Adventure with Melody at the Avila Lighthouse Inn and Suites, at Karen Bowser’s annual scrapbooking retreat. It was too wonderful, being able to scrapbook for two days and still get home to Daddy’s to watch the game afterwards.

This weekend is Karen’s retreat again, but Melody is happily in Maui with her husband, and I will be watching the Superbowl at home with my granddaughters (or at least I will be watching; they will probably be complaining about my choice of television shows).

I don’t really have a horse in this race, since the San Diego Chargers aren’t playing, but my heart has to lean towards the Seattle Seahawks. I love Seattle, and by extension, the Seahawks. But mostly I hope everyone plays a good clean game and Budweiser has another tear-jerking Clydesdale commercial!

Whichever team you cheer for, here’s my wish for a wonderful family and friends-filled football day. Enjoy!

My lunch date

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granddaughters, lunch dates, The Lunch Box - Visalia CA

For several days Granddaughter #2 has been lobbying for lunch at her favorite restaurant, The Lunch Box. This charming eatery is located in a building that once was a turn-of-the (20th) century hotel, and boasts amazing sandwiches, pannini, and desserts. The servers are friendly, the food is delicious, and the atmosphere laid-back and relaxed.

Today Georgia and I surprised Olivia with a lunch date at The Lunch Box. After she finished eating, she insisted on posing in the window seat and, of course, Grammy had to take her picture.

Trivia crack

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computer games, Facebook, Trivia Crack

It is no secret that I love games. Pinball machines, computer games, slot machines, you name it — if you can play and rack up a score, I’m there. I know I spend too much time on them, so when my friends started raving about “Trivia Crack” on Facebook, I just ignored them. The name was a bit off-putting, too. “Crack” is serious stuff, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to have anything to do with a game named after that phenomenon.

I finally broke down and tried it the other night when I was feeling really rocky. I was terrible! I couldn’t correctly answer two questions in a row. I commented on my Facebook page, “Evidently I suck at Trivia Crack!” and was gratified to see that several of my friends responded that I must have been really tired. It is nice when my friends have my back!

Now that I’ve been playing for several days, I see where the name came from. It really is fun…and demanding. Where’s the first place I go when I sit down at my computer? Yep, to “Trivia Crack” to see if it my turn in anyone’s game. And where is the last place I go? Back to check on my progress.

That’s all for now. I think it is my turn!

NaBloPoMo for February

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NaBloPoMo for February, story prompts, stuffy head, writing ideas

I just registered at BlogHer.com for NaBloPoMo for February. The theme for this month is Make, and the encouragement is to make things on a regular basis. Crafts, stories, DIY, you name it. Each day there are writing prompts if one needs them…I think I have used two over the past 15 months. Usually my challenge is to narrow all the words swirling around in my head down to one central idea. (Not only do I talk too much, I think I sometimes have too many good ideas!)

That’s all I have for you tonight. My head is so stuffy that the thoughts aren’t coming through very well. Sweet dreams.

My “One Little Word” for 2015

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consistent, NaBloPo, One Little Word, The Simple Scrapper

Lately I have noticed a number of bloggers who have a tradition of choosing a single word to serve as a guide for each year. I first discovered this with Jennifer Wilson, The Simple Scrapper. She shared how last year’s word had accompanied her progress throughout the year, and how she came to choose her word for 2015.

This “One Little Word” idea has been rattling around in my head for several days now, and today while lazing around the house caring for a yucky cold, my word materialized. My One Little Word for 2015 has to be consistent. I have talked a bit before about some of the challenges of being an adult with ADD. One of those challenges is consistency. I am really good at starting projects or routines, but somewhere along the line (usually as the newness wears off) I go astray. So for 2015 I am going to search for whatever tools I need to help me be consistent.

For example, you may have noticed under “categories” that my blog posts for Trigger’s Horse always contain the phrase “NaBloPoMo for (insert the current month”. This refers to the National Blog Posting Month challenge to post every day for one month. I started this with November 2013, and have made myself accountable for my daily posts — very successfully. I am nearly through with my fifteenth month, with only a handful of missing days.

I attempted NaBloPoMo with PhotoFunWithFawn last August, and it was such a struggle. After posting intermittently and being disappointed in myself, I realized today that for me, consistency with PhotoFunWithFawn could effectively be posting once or twice per week. No point in building in failure, but I will still be able to keep up with my blog.

Consistency will be the key for my 2015 Reading Challenge, as well. I have challenged myself to read 50 books this year, and review the majority of them here and at Goodreads.com. I am half-way through two right now, depending on the reading mood I am in, so at first glance I look behind for the year, but I’m right on target. Consistent reading time each day will get me to my goal.

I’ll be checking back in occasionally with reports on the progress with my One Little Word. Would you like to join me?

Exploring reddit

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blogging, reddit.com, subreddits

Several times a day my sweet son-in-law shares with me something he has discovered on Reddit.com. For whatever topic you are interested in at any particular time, there is a corresponding subject, known as a “subreddit” full of comments or longer commentary. I spent quite a while wandering around reddit this evening, even going so far as to add to two scrapbooking-related conversations.

From what I understand, for each post you have the opportunity to vote for the quality of the post (known as “up-voting”) and you are awarded points for both commenting on others’ subreddits and posting your own. Posts that are voted for most often rise to the top of the page, rather like cream. Again, I’m not comfortable with the details, but am learning my way around. (I know I have over-simplified this, but I don’t know enough to complicate it.)

I’m kind of afraid to become too attached to reddit.com. Between two blogs, two email addresses, and games and conversations on Facebook, time is getting tighter and tighter. But it is a fun challenge, and is helping broaden my horizons. Would you care to join me?

Invite them to church

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church budgets, invitations, outreach, St. Paul's Episcopal Church -- Visalia

We had our annual parish meeting after church this morning, a time to gather as a community and review the year’s highlights, as well as to chart the path for the coming year. There were delicious soups and sandwiches and desserts all around, with enough for everyone to take home leftovers afterwards. It was an opportunity to appreciate how much our congregation has grown, and to thank those who contributed to the success of our many projects, both internal and external.

It was also an opportunity to talk about things that might be better done differently, both within our congregation and for the greater world outside our walls. There were discussions of potential new activities and the committees that would be needed to develop those activities. There was talk of budgets and budget shortfalls, and how to meet those challenges.

And, in the midst of all these “committee” and “action” discussions, one voice stood out to me with one very simple suggestion. If we want to grow our church — invite one person to come to church. If we have budget shortfalls, don’t wait until the plate offerings and pledges increase and we can afford more outreach — invite one person to come to church. If we want to glorify God — invite one person to come to church.

The more we invite — one-on-one and sincerely — the more our congregation will grow, the more our outreach will increase, and the more our budget will expand as our worshiping base increases. It seems kind of basic, doesn’t it? Just think: if we each invited one other person to come to church with us and hear the word of God, and even one fourth of those take us up on the invitation, our group will grow in love and enthusiasm.

Olivia reading the “Forward Day By Day” magazine to Pluto during today’s annual meeting.

Today our Sunday School kids made nets and fishing poles and talked about Jesus and the disciples, then made fishing poles and nets to illustrate Jesus’ call to make them “fishers of people”. It fit right into the context and meaning of our meeting.

Who will you invite to church today? Who invited you, and why? Let me know in the comments. 🙂

A kid-filled day

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basketball, birthday parties, roller skating, The Simpsons

Today has been filled with kid-filled activities. Olivia, especially, had a day of new experiences.

We were at Olivia’s basketball game somewhat less than bright and shiny at 8:30 this morning. As small as she is, I am still amazed at how much she has grown since she played last year. She is more confident, less afraid of being run over by the other kids or hit by the ball, than she was then. I wanted to show a picture, but they were all blurry because she was constantly moving!

Later we went to the local rink for a friend’s roller-skating birthday party. The smallest rental skates fit Olivia perfectly, and she was able to get around remarkably well for a four-year-old who had never worn skates before. She only took one really hard fall, and that was up on the carpet of the party area, almost exactly where I had my monumental one over thirty years ago. I didn’t let her go all the way around the rink, but she was able to hang on to the side wall and go part way, then go back on the carpet and back to the beginning again. Over and over and over again…she was stubborn and persistent and patient with herself. I was pretty impressed. Next time I think we will just go without it being a “party”; that will be way less distracting and they will be able to practice together.

Olivia skating at the edge of the rink, hanging onto the wall for dear life!

When it was time for a breather, Olivia found a “Simpsons” video game to play. It didn’t take her any time at all to figure out the controls. She looks so much like her mom in this picture.

The roller skates made her just tall enough to reach comfortably!

Taking the night off

I have declared January 23, 2015, a blogging holiday for Trigger’s Horse…it has been a busy day and I’ll be at work too late tonight to write after I get home. But if you miss me, check out an older post for the fun of it! See you tomorrow.

Support your local restaurant

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closing time, considerate guests, dining out, restaurants

When you go to your favorite restaurant, do you ever think about what goes on behind the scenes? Do you wonder how early the bartender comes in to set up his/her bar for the day, or how long he/she works to clean up afterwards? And what about the kitchen staff? They often spend hours getting food ready to be cooked fresh for you, just the way you like it.

Do you have a favorite server? Do you plan your restaurant visit so that there is plenty of time left to order your food and comfortably finish it before closing time? Or do you scuttle in at the last minute without even thinking about the cooks, servers, and bussers who will have to work past closing time to give you excellent service?

Here’s to all those guests who thoughtfully support their favorite local restaurant!