Sister Lunch

For more than a decade me and my sisters have been having sister lunch every Wednesday at noon at a little restaurant in town. It started with “hey let’s get together and have lunch.” I think it has always been on Wednesday. We have had to change the day a few times because of one sister or another being out of town. We sometimes do it on Friday. But for the most part it is always on Wednesday. The restaurant where we meet is a combination of American and Italian food. The Gondolier in Sweetwater. The owners know us and when we walk in we have a particular side of the restaurant and a table where we sit. Well this actually depends on how many people are coming to sister Lunch. I’ll explain more about that in a minute. The waitress knows our drink order and usually meets us at the table with our drinks.

When Sister Lunch first started it was me and my two sisters Sandy and Pat. My sister Carolyn lived in Georgia at the time and couldn’t often make it to sister lunch.

The three of us would get together and catch up on the weekly happenings in our lives. We would give encouragement, advice, listen to troubles and basically solve all the world’s problems. You would be amazed at what all we could discuss in an hour. We have been there through kids, grandkids, illness, breakups, jobs, retirement, death and just about anything you can imagine. Oh and we laugh and laugh.

When we leave the restaurant we stand in the parking lot and hug and yell I love you to each other like we won’t see each other for months. People sometimes look at us a little strangely. Most of the time we will be seeing each other in a day or two. But hey you never know.

After a few years my sister Carolyn retired from her job in Georgia and moved back to Tennessee. She became a regular at sister lunch.

My niece also came to lunch when she could and her two boys would join us when they weren’t in school. Then my nephew and his wife started meeting us when they had a free day. My cousin Cathy and her husband Carl came from Texas to visit their granddaughter in Tennessee and came to Sister Lunch.

My sister Carolyn passed away suddenly a couple of years ago. We didn’t go to sister lunch for a while because it was just too painful not having her there.

We soon returned to having Sister Lunch though because we knew she would want us to do that.

Me and my sisters and my niece Tammy also do a Sister Trip. We usually go somewhere close by like Gatlinburg Tennessee for a few days. Here is a recap of our Sister Trip last year.

After my sister passed away her daughter started joining us. At times we might have up to eight or nine people at Sister Lunch. If someone is having a birthday or getting close to their Birthday we put a balloon on their chair and bring a Birthday cake. We never miss a reason to celebrate and have cake.

The number of people who come to Sister Lunch goes up and down but it is almost always me and my sisters, Sandy and Pat.

We figure we have been to over 500 lunches and spent thousands of dollars and shared billions of laughs. I think that is time very well spent.

I wouldn’t give anything for our Sister Lunches. So if you are ever in Sweetwater on a Wednesday at noon. Join us at the Gondolier. The more the merrier.

This is a picture of several of us at Sister Lunch a couple of years ago. I think it was my birthday.

Remember always

Love your day your way

European Vacation Part lll

Hello friends. I promise this is the third and final post about my European trip in June. There was just so much to share I didn’t feel that I could squeeze it into one or two posts. If you would like to read parts I and II before this last one here they are. European Vacation Part I, European Vacation Part II. Anyway here we go:

We left Vienna on Sunday morning June 23rd headed to Salzburg. The distance from Vienna to Salzburg is about 211 miles. We drove for about an hour and then stopped and boarded a boat and took a ride on the Danube River. This was the most beautiful sight, Salzkammergut Lakeland.

We had coffee and cake on the boat. It looks delicious but it tasted just ok.

Also in Salzburg. The church from the movie “The Sound of Music. This is where the Von Trapp’s were married.

Can’t you just imagine Julie Andrews in this field singing.

See the Swiss Alps in the background.

After arriving at our hotel, we stayed at the Imlauer Hotel, and getting checked in we did a city tour. We visited Mirabell Gardens. I was so unprepared for the beauty of the gardens.

Isn’t it gorgeous!!!!!

Again bicycles are a main mode of transportation.

That big building on the top of the hill is a convent.

Salzburg is also the birthplace of Mozart. I am sure this building has been updated a few times.

This bridge is called Love Locks Bridge. You can bring a lock, put your name and your true loves’ name, and put it on this bridge. There are thousands of them on the bridge. It is really something to see.

The next morning we took off bright and early for Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. I soon discovered the reason we left so early was because the elevation being what it was, over 6000 feet, it caused clouds and fog to roll in quickly. The best chance to get a clear view of the mountains was first thing in the morning.

We took a bus to the beginning of the steep road leading up the mountain. We then had to switch to a smaller bus that could handle the curves. It was so steep. I know the bus drivers are trained well but I was cringing at every curve and would have preferred to spend the ride on the floor of the bus so that I wouldn’t have to see the sheer drop offs at every turn.

It was really creepy thinking about Hitler spending time at the same spot we were in. Although, Eagle’s Nest was his vacation get away and he never actually spent an entire night there. He did have several meetings and day trips there.

Once we arrived we took an elevator to a point higher on the mountain. It was beautiful. There was even snow in the shaded areas. The view was breathtaking. Tyler went ahead of me, and Mark was even farther behind me taking pictures. As I was coming around a bend I heard a lady say ” oh my goodness who is that on the ledge of that rock?” I was thinking to myself please don’t let it be Tyler. Well you guessed it. It was Tyler. When I saw him standing on that cliff, mountain top, sheer drop off or whatever you want to call it my heart stopped. He may be seventeen but he was my responsibility and I could just imagine what his mother and grandmother would say if they saw him. I yelled for him to get down but he was so far away I don’t even think he could hear me. I did add a few hand gestures as well.

Of course I had to take advantage of this photo opp. ha ha.

After leaving Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest we traveled back to Germany where we had started ten days before. Salzburg to Munich was 106 miles. We arrived in the early afternoon and went into Munich for dinner. We stopped at the famous Hofbrauhaus, Munich’s best known beer hall dating back to 1589.

Early on Tuesday morning we left for the airport and after a long morning finally boarded our flight for home. We were tired and so glad to be back home. It was a great trip and taking my nephew Tyler with us just added to the fun. Now on to the next adventure. Stay tuned.

Love your day your way!!!

A Few Of My Favorite Things & No Internet For Three Days

Hello how are you? I hope you have had a wonderful week and weekend are looking forward to a great week. It is hot here in the south with most days reaching 90 degrees with a heat index close to 100!!!!

It has been awhile since I shared some of my favorite things with you. You will have to disregard the beginning of this post however because these were not some of my favorite things.

This has been another crazy week for me. It started with me getting a bee sting. I am not totally, where I have to have an epipen, allergic but I do tend to swell pretty bad when I get a sting. The little bas$&@d got me on the side of my stomach through my shirt!!!! I was on my way to the land fill, dump, and had gone over to my father in law’s house to pick up some garbage. His house is next door to ours. He has a gate to get into his property and every year bees or wasps build a nest in the opening where the lock is. I checked and didn’t see anything but then when I put the key in, a red wasp flew out. I went on my way even though he was circling me. On my way back I again checked the lock and didn’t see anything but then when I put the lock back on he came out of nowhere and started circling again. I felt a pain like a hot coal on the side of my stomach. I knew immediately what it was. I went back to the house and got some wasp and hornet spray but I am not sure if I got him or not.

I went about my day and took some Benadryl which made me feel loopy and seemed to open my sinuses causing me to feel really horrible and have a sore throat. Anyway I felt bad all week. On Wednesday my internet went out. Because we live in the boonies we have satellite for our internet system. It is not great. We have Hughes Net. I guess they do the best they can but I have been less than satisfied with them. When I called them on Wednesday evening to report the problem they did several tests on the system and after an hour they told me they would have to send me a new modem. By this time it was 8:00 pm on Wednesday night. Day one without internet. Although the lady on the phone assured me the modem would arrive the next day I was skeptical. And with good reason.

On Thursday the modem did not arrive. I went home from work without internet. Day two without internet. Even though I may not seem like it. I am actually fine without having internet. It is more of an annoyance than anything. I like to read and do lots of other things. But there is just something about not being able to check email, or any other sites, that is just plain annoying. I think it’s more of a mind thing.

On Friday the UPS man arrived at work without the modem. I jumped up and down and begged him to check the truck again. Not really. I did ask him if he was absolutely positive he had nothing for me on his truck and he said he did not. He said all orders were arriving later than usual because of the Amazon Prime Days which were Monday and Tuesday. This did not make me feel better after all I was promised delivery Thursday.

I called Hughes Net, the thought of a weekend in the boonies without internet was less than pleasing. The young man I talked to assured me the modem would be here by the end of day today, Friday. I explained that our UPS driver had already made his delivery and had arrived without my modem. He still insisted it would arrive by 8:00 pm. Friday night. We will see. Anyway, on to some of my favorite things. I will make the best of it.

These are granny squares that I am crocheting. I have been working on them for several weeks. They are really big with ten rows each. It will take twenty of them to make the blanket I want. But I love making granny squares and these have been so much fun. I have eighteen now and I can’t wait to put them all together. I wanted to use mostly light colors with lots of white. I had a spring, summer throw in mind but if I don’t hurry it’s going to be fall.

129dacd5-b396-4932-8e5c-c3c94f36f44f

Hydrangeas. Are they not just the most beautiful flower you have ever seen. This photo is of a bush at work. I love the pink ones. I have a couple of bushes at home but they are not doing as well as these. These are also easy to dry and they last a long time. I dried some of them last year and I have them in some milk glass vases. I will show you those one day.

From crocheting to knitting. I recently finished two pairs of socks. This is one of them. I worked on these mostly while I was on the European trip. Lots of airplane time and waiting in the airport makes for lots of good knitting time.

I finished these purple ones after I got back home. I actually had these almost finished before my trip

I am not usually a reality TV fan but I came across this show a few weeks ago and I love it. It is called “Out Daughtered”. It is about a couple in Texas who had a young daughter maybe three years old. They were trying to have another baby and wound up with all girl quintuplets. So they now have six daughters and they say they are officially out daughtered. I don’t know why I love this show. The quints are four or five years old now and I have been binge watching all the episodes. They are adorable. They all have such unique personalities. The show deals with their day to day lives, which to me seems quite overwhelming. I guess not ever having any children of my own makes me think WOW!! How does anyone do this. Of course they have lots of help from their families. Check it out. You might like it. http://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/outdaughtered.

I just finished this book and I loved it!!!! I read it for book club last weekend. I finished it in about three days. Read it. I think you will enjoy it.

img_3923-2

I just have to tell you about this cream I have been using for a couple of months now. Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair, I saw the commercial on TV and decided to try it. If you are not used to using retinol it takes just a bit for your skin to adjust to it. I apply it around my eyes after I have put on my nighttime moisturizer. I only put it on a couple of spots. A little goes a long way. It really makes a difference. You can see a noticeable difference in the skin around your eyes or forehead, or wherever you choose to use it, in about a week. It really brightens your skin and softens the wrinkles.

Well back to the internet. Believe it or not the modem did arrive later in the day on Friday. A different UPS truck delivered it to my office about 3:30. I was overjoyed. I picked up the box and stroked it and cuddled it and called it George. (you have to be old to remember that cartoon lol)

Anyway the internet is back up and looking back I guess it wasn’t that bad. I had a couple of nights of going to bed really early and probably getting better sleep.

Have a great week and remember,

Love your day your way!!!!

4669C85C-694C-42DF-B9D2-C426714C8679

European Vacation Part II

Well I hope you enjoyed my post about my European vacation part I. If you haven’t seen it you can catch up here So here goes for part II.

When I last left you we were headed to Budapest. We arrived in Budapest late in the afternoon. We had a quick dinner at the hotel. We stayed at the Radisson Blu Beke Hotel and it was very nice. A wonderful buffet for breakfast and dinner was offered. There was also this amazing little gift shop in the lobby of the hotel. I can neither confirm nor deny that I did some damage on my credit card there. ha ha. We signed up for a city tour at night. Oh my goodness it was beautiful. It was just getting dark when we took off so the city had a glowing shimmer to it. We visited Heroes’ Square and had a drive through the city which was especially beautiful at night. Our driver took us to the top of Gellert Hill (Citadel) where we saw the most spectacular view of Budapest. Gellert Hill is 771 feet high. At about 9:00 PM buses and cars travel this winding road so that everyone can get the best view of the city at night. Budapest is often called ‘Paris of the East’. I can certainly see why. It is beautiful!!!

The second day we were in Budapest we left the hotel early in the morning and did some sight seeing in the city. Budapest is another beautiful city but I think so far Prague is still my favorite.

We visited the 13th-century MATTHIAS CORONATION CHURCH. That is the steeple from the church in the background. You may have noticed that some of the pictures I take are at an odd angle, that is because the buildings are soooo tall and I am trying to get all of the building in the picture. I actually went down the street a bit to get the shot of this steeple.
The pictures below are from inside the church. The church was packed. It was hard to get a clear shot without someone’s head in the way.

This picture of the city was taken from the towers of Fisherman’s Bastion, Fishermen’s Bastion is only 100 years old but it offers some of the most beautiful views of Budapest.

One of the seven towers you can view from Fisherman’s Bastion
After we did the city tour we did a boat ride on the Danube River. It was slow and lazy and cool and just what we needed after our hectic time in the city. We saw some amazing views of the city from the River.

After the boat ride we went to a wonderful Hungarian restaurant and had a Hungarian specialty dinner with all the trimmings, and lots of singing and dancing. I will tell you the Hungarian Goulash was not like the goulash my mama used to make.

When we got back to the hotel the streets were wet from a recent rain. The city looked dark and glittery and beautiful.

After a couple of days in Budapest we traveled to Vienna Austria. It is approximately 174 miles from Budapest to Vienna. The countryside was beautiful. We arrived in Vienna in the afternoon and did a city tour with a city guide. It was hot!!!! Vienna was experiencing some of the hottest temperatures in recorded history.

Tyler loves ice cream!!!!!

After our city tour we did a tour of the Schonbrunn Palace. It was huge!!! We only got to see a small part of it and we couldn’t take any photos inside.

In Vienna we stayed at Roomz Vienna Prater. It was probably one of my least favorites of the hotels that we stayed in. It was actually a newer hotel on the outskirts of town. The air conditioning didn’t seem to be working properly and they never came by to clean the room. We had to ask for towels just to get us by. Lots of people complained about the air but it didn’t change anything.

We had a wonderful dinner at this little restaurant

We were serenaded by this precious man playing the violin and when we told him we were from Tennessee he played the Tennessee Waltz.

Our last night in Vienna we went to one of the City’s concert halls. An opera house orchestra and soloists performed famous works by Johann Strauss, Lehar, Mozart, and more. It was a wonderful time and even Tyler liked it. That’s saying a lot for a seventeen year old.

We are now headed to Salzburg and I will share the rest of the trip with you there. There was just too much to put into this post. I have lots of exciting things to share with you in Part III. I promise it is the final post about my European Vacation. See you then.

In the meantime. Remember.

Love your day your way!!!!