I don’t know where or when he heard it and got it stuck in his head, but my husband was singing and humming a line from an old Irving Berlin song all weekend. The line is, “And you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings.” With Thanksgiving just a few days away, ‘tis the season for counting our blessings. Which we should do all year long – and many of us do, of course – but it’s more on our minds, and talked about out in the [...]
Our daughter-in-law gave birth on Friday night to their third child – and our third grandchild. We’re planning a trip to see them soon, and I’m hoping there won’t be any foul weather, new COVID variances or restrictions, or other issues that could get in the way of our plans. It wouldn’t be the first time. Their first child was born almost three years ago, in the middle of January. We gave them a bit of time to get settled into their new family dynamic [...]
Our last Toastmasters meeting had a theme of “Trick-or-Treat.” As the Table Topics Master at the meeting, I decided to have a costume party as the focus of my questions. The purpose of Table Topics is to help people learn to think on their feet and organize their thoughts quickly. The Table Topics Master will ask an open-ended, no-right-or-wrong-answer type of question, and then call on a member to respond. They have to talk for one to two minutes, and responses can range from serious [...]
NOTE: Due to a technology glitch during a design update, my blog post last week did not go out to my complete mailing list, so I am repeating it this week. Look for a brand new post next week. We’re back home, after several weeks on the road. Our first trip was to Florida, to spend some time with our daughter as she was having – and recovering from – oral surgery. Then we came home long enough to unpack, do laundry, and repack for [...]
We’re back home, after several weeks on the road. Our first trip was to Florida, to spend some time with our daughter as she was having – and recovering from – oral surgery. Then we came home long enough to unpack, do laundry, and repack for a trip to visit our son and his family in Minnesota, celebrating the 4th of July and our grandson’s first birthday. On our way there, we spent a few days touring a number of Civil War battle sites, and [...]
I spent part of this morning rereading some of the newspaper columns I wrote years ago in the days leading up to Memorial Day. Two in particular tugged at my heart. One of them was from when our son was in the Marines during the war in Iraq. That’s where he spent Memorial Day that year. The other was from a year later. The Iraq War was still going on, and our son was still in the Marines. But he was on leave, and would [...]
I want to wish a Happy Mother’s Day today to all the moms reading this, and also to everyone who’s done any “mothering” – especially over the past year. The need for caretakers has been astronomical during this extremely challenging year, and many people have taken on roles and responsibilities they never imagined themselves in. People I already considered to be unsung heroes – teachers and healthcare workers being high on the list – found their jobs becoming even more demanding. Many of them rose [...]
I still go back to my childhood when I think of Easter – both the religious and non-religious aspects of it. It takes me to memories of the bright colors of Easter eggs and Easter baskets, the wonderful smells coming from Grandma’s kitchen and our own as food was prepared and cooked, as cakes – in the shape of lambs – were baked and decorated, and as visions of chocolate bunnies danced in the heads of my sisters and me. Mass was early Sunday morning, [...]
I was on the phone with Aunt Vera, an amazing lady who possesses 101 years of wisdom and a mind that’s still sharp as a tack. After we wished each other a Merry Christmas, we talked about how different Christmas was this year and how sorry we were not to be able to see her in person, as we usually do over the holidays. We talked about how excited we were at the news about COVID vaccines, and how happy we will be to visit [...]
Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas, a Safe and Happy Holiday Season, and a Bright, Promising Start to the New Year! Love Always, December 25, 2020 ©Betty Liedtke, 2020 I welcome your comments, but please be aware that all comments will be moderated and approved before appearing on this blog. This is to protect all of us from unwanted spam.