7 Quick Takes Friday March 4, 2011

Technorati Tags: 7 Quick Takes

-1-

It’s been awhile since I’ve done the 7 quickies. I kept trying to make them quick, but it always seemed like I made  mountains out of molehills, and then it was too much time spent on something that was supposed to be simple. Good grief. Perfectionism always kicks my rear.  I’m trying again. I’m hoping for down and dirty, quick and cruddy. It will be good for me!

-2-

We just returned from our first visit to Hawaii (Maui), so I can check that off my list. Our daughter recently moved there, and we needed to attend her wedding, so it was a mandatory trip. She has married THE sweetest man, and he knows just how to deal with my headstrong but charming daughter. Her father has the same  talent. One of the young couple’s friends offered my new son-in-law the observation that, as far as he knew, no husband had ever been shot while doing the dishes. Good point.

-3-

Watching my daughter get married has made me feel a bit old and creaky, to say nothing of chubby and dowdy, so I will be starting a new diet and exercise regime (again) on Monday. Two of my sisters and a co-workers and I will be challenging each other for a gift card to Macy’s. We started a secret group on Facebook for our little weight-loss challenge, and delight in trash-talking each other most days, and offering real support on those days when we needs it. Wish me perseverance please!

-4-

I really think 7 Quick Takes needs to be changed to 5 Quick Takes because I’m already at the end of my Takes. The well is dry. Anyone else?

-5-

My sisters (who live far away) and I are always looking for any excuse to goof off and chat with each other, so we started an online book club (also on Facebook). Our selection for March is The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels To Tractor Wheels by Ree Drummond. Last April we met at my sister’s in Portland and attended Ree’s  signing for her first book – The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl. We had a blast cooking from the book and talking about old times from our childhood. My sisters and I grew up on a VERY isolated cattle ranch in eastern Oregon, and Ree’s books bring back so many great memories. We actually wax nostalgic about cow manure and old tractors and hay stacks, working cattle in the sage brush and isolation in the country. We are a bit kooky and I hope we never recover.

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Someone near and very dear to me has decided to end his marriage. There are children involved. This is just awful.  Please please, stop right this minute and say a little  prayer for this family, and for all of those struggling in marriage. I’m certain that other people’s prayers helped my husband and I make it for this long. We so need good solid marriages and stable families in this country. Thanks for your prayers.

-7-

Soon it will be tulip festival season in these parts. I hardly ever go except for that time when my mother was visiting. The traffic just ruins it for me, because I’m so busy trying to avoid being crashed into by someone who’s looking at the tulips instead of the road. But I did attend a tulip festival in the Portland area when I was there for a book signing last April (see #5 above). Here’s a pic of me and my three sisters. I’m the young looking one. 

 

That’s it for me. Get your weekend off on the right foot, and head on over to see Hallie at Betty Beguiles to soak up some great Quick Takes goodness!