by jphilo | Jul 1, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
Only a few days remain until we celebrate Independence Day with a back yard cook out, Fourth of July fireworks, and a whisper of thanks to our country’s founding fathers. Here are some of the reasons to be grateful for their efforts over two centuries ago:
10. They declared their independence in Philadelphia, which meant this former elementary teacher could ask her students to call it Philodelphia.
9. Our founding fathers provided courageous examples for future generations to emulate.
8. They are also an example of perseverance. When the Articles of Confederation went bust, they didn’t give up. Instead, they tried again and wrote our present Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
7. Four signers of the Declaration of Independence and members the Constitutional Congress later became president: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison.
6. Thanks to our founding fathers actions that led to the preservation of American Revolution uniforms, tricorner hats remain more than a passing fad.
5. The examples of these men remind us that we should not always be satisfied with the status quo.
4. Paintings of some founding fathers are further proof that very few people look good in skinny jeans.
3. Our founding fathers penned the stirring and familiar words in the Declaration of Independence. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. How can a heart not be stirred by those words?
2. These brave men had a vision for our country and the ability to preserve it in words.
1. Our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence smack dab in July…the perfect time to celebrate two of God’s great gifts: long, summer nights and a country that values individual freedom and common good.
Why are you thankful this Independence Day? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | Jun 24, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies are ammunition in my secret campaign to persuade the government to declare oatmeal as a food group.
9. Making chocolate chip cookies is a fun way to avoid writing a top ten list.
8. Costco makes dairy-free chocolate chips.
7. To avoid the disappointment of biting into heartless oatmeal raisin cookies masquerading as their chocolate chip oatmeal counterparts.
6. To bring back childhood memories of making chocolate chip cookies and going ballistic when Dad and my brother ate them as fast as I pulled them out of the oven.
5. I’m a grandma, and it’s a grandma’s job to make cookies. Never mind that the grandchild lives several hours away and is too young to eat cookies.
4. The aroma of fresh baked cookies makes a house into a home.
3. The only other item on the to do list is dusting. No. Contest.
2. They taste sooo good.
1. I deserve a treat after months, weeks, days, hours of healthy eating.
What are your top reasons for making chocolate chip oatmeal cookies? Leave a comment.
by jphilo | Jun 17, 2014 | Family, Top Ten Tuesday
This past Saturday, many of the descendents of my mother’s parents, Vernon and Josie Hess (pictured above) gathered for the annual Hess Cousins Reunion. These are ten of the top highlights of the day.
10. The potluck dessert to salad ratio was about 5 to 1, which shows the Hess cousins have their priorities right.
9. Within the dessert portion of that ratio, rhubarb figured prominently. Grandma Josie lives!
8. The cousins who hosted this year’s reunion shared a recently unearthed treasure trove of pictures and home movies from the 1940s and 50s.
7. The grainy movie footage was hard to see, but totally worth watching for the 5 second shot of Grandpa Hess snoring in the back seat of the car…footage my mother claims she shot.
6. One of the new photos was of my father looking directly into the camera with an expression identical to one my son wears often.
5. Other photos from the treasure trove show my parents in the late 1950s, their faces full of belief in a bright future, shortly before Dad’s diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.
4. Still other pictures show how beautiful the Hess cousins were as babies…something we were never told as our parents didn’t want any of us to get the big head, don’t you know?
3. Conversations with rellies revealed the beauty of our generation as we near retirement and concentrate on what really matters…maintaining relationships.
2. The love in the eyes of members of our generation when they greeted the three remaining members of our parents’ generation: Dorothy Hess Stratton, Donna Hoey Stratton, and her husband Jim Hoey.
1. The feeling that enveloped me during family gatherings during childhood and returns whenever our family gathers: I am home. I am safe. I am loved.
by jphilo | Jun 10, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. It’s too sunny.
9. It’s too cloudy.
8. It’s raining.
7. Windows don’t get all that dirty in one short decade.
6. The chiropractor says polishing is bad for the back.
5. A little dirt on the glass cuts down the glare of the sun.
4. If the the glass is too clean, the value of our house will fall because it will look like the windows don’t have glass.
3. If the glass is too clean, birds will clunk into it and die. Who wants birdicide on the conscience?
2. I’ve got an appointment for a root canal that I don’t want to miss.
1. If our windows are too clean, it might make the neighbors feel guilty about resorting to the excuses on this list instead of washing theirs.
Photo Credit: debspoons at www.freedigitalphotos.net
by jphilo | Jun 3, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. Sometimes Dry Clean Only tags are a lie.
9. Everything that happens before one is born is not necessarily ancient history.
8. On the other hand the day after graduation, high school cliques are immediately ancient history.
7. Green olives have a lot of calories.
6. Men and women really do think differently.
5. The stories in Weekly Reader Magazine from elementary school? They frequently left out some pretty important information.
4. Parents know what they’re talking about.
3. How to make cilantro-peanut pesto. (More on that in tomorrow’s post.)
2. Happy people give thanks more than they worry.
1. Love is a choice, not a feeling.
What do you wish you’d known sooner? Leave a comment.
Photo Credit: Serge Bertasius Photography at www.freedigitalphotos.net
by jphilo | May 27, 2014 | Top Ten Tuesday
10. OCD Detective Monk’s list of phobias.
9.
