Idol Thoughts

Loved:
Anoop
Kris
Matt

Liked:
Lil
Danny (he is still my favorite though)
Micheal
Allison
and in a weird way, Adam

Anoop really surprised me, as you know he is not in my top 5...but I think his was the best performance tonight. Kris came in a close second to me...and Matt did well, even though I would have picked something a little different for him. (Jim and I were thinking maybe a little George Jones.)

Lil may not have killed it tonight, but she did stay true to the Grand Ole Opry theme and I admired that. Danny was a little shaky on his verse, but pulled it out in the chorus. I thought that Micheal was true to his Texas roots, but it didn't show off his voice enough for me. (It was a song that was fun to watch being performed though.) Allison is just incredible to be soooo young. And Adam, well, I never thought I would hear a Johnny Cash song performed like that but somehow it suited him. (Though we did feel it was a little bit disrespectful to the theme of the night -- I'm just saying!)

So, it appears that I am the only one of us watching American Idol...but I will carry on this conversation with myself anyway!

A Few Quotes To Remember

Last night I began the final book in the Chronicles of Narnia series, "The Last Battle". Before I get too far into it, I wanted to record my favorite quotes from the last two books.

"The Voyage of the Dawn Treader"
"But do they dare to talk about you like that?" said Lucy. "They seemed to be so afraid of you yesterday. Don't they know you might be listening?"

"That's one of the funny things about the Duffers," said the Magician. "One minute they talk as if I ran everything and overheard everything and was extremely dangerous. The next they think they can take me in by tricks that a baby would see through - bless them!"

"The Silver Chair"
"...Prince Rilian was talking over the whole adventure with the older and wiser Beasts and Dwarfs. And now they all saw what it meant; how a wicked Witch (doubtless the same kind as that White Witch who had brought the Great Winter on Narnia long ago)had contrived the whole thing, first killing Rilian's mother and enchanting Rilian himself. And they saw how she had dug right under Narnia and was going to break out and rule it through Rilian: and how he had never dreamed that the country of which she would make him king (king in name, but really her slave) was his own country."

I didn't really get into Prince Caspian in print...but I loved the movie. A rare occurrence for me.

So, why these quotes?

The first one really caused my breath to catch in my throat upon first reading it. I went back to it over and over again. It reminded me of myself and my relationship with God. I tend to be much like the Duffers, talking of how He sees and knows everything, even what I only think in my heart...yet, when I want to do things my way and I know they are not his way? Well, I make excuses for myself or try to hide it behind tricks that even a small child could see through!

The quote from The Silver Chair reminds me of how I have already been given a wonderful inheritance through faith in Christ Jesus...and yet, I often look elsewhere to have my wants (I will not even try to fool you with the word 'needs') met in places that promise me the things I already possess and could never, ever deliver the riches that the Lord has laid up for me.

Children's literature that speaks to my soul...what a wonderful combination. I look forward to wrapping up the series with The Last Battle. And yet, at the same time I hate for it to come to an end.

Thanks for letting me share!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

...and wet too!

Jim and I are both at home today. Tomorrow afternoon we are expecting about 60 people for our Fourth Annual Crawfish Boil and we have a lot of work to do.

For the first time since beginning this event, we are expecting rain and cold temperatures.

Thankfully we knew about the rain in plenty of time to order a 30' X 40' tent...so at least we will be dry. Maybe not warm, but certainly dry!

Unfortunately, we have some outdoor chores that remain on the list and the rain just isn't letting up any. I can handle rain and I can handle cold...but I am not real keen on being wet and cold at the same time.

I know that the farmers in these parts have been praying for the rain...so we will try to be thankful as we brave the weather and prepare for our guests.

Hope you are all warm and dry today!

Before Idol Starts

...I wanted to post my Top Five:

Danny
Lil
Matt
Micheal
Kris

Now, off to watch the results. It never turns out like I wanted!

Edited to add:
Okay, for once I wasn't at all disappointed with the outcome. Though I did think that Jorge had a better performance than a few others that are still there...I haven't been a big fan and didn't understand how in the world he made the cut and Junot did not.

I have three television shows that are programmed (by me) into our DVR...Big Bang Theory (my favorite), Rules of Engagement (Jim's favorite) and American Idol. For the first two, everyone who still lives in our house gathers around the television. For American Idol, the boys disappear...all except Jim that is. And he sounds incredibly like Simon Cowell when he critiques. Bri and I often laugh when Simon repeats nearly the same thing that Jim just said.

All of that to say that my top 5 is also their top 5 (though we may have them in a different order) so we will see how well the Goode household does at choosing America's Next Idol!

Thanks for letting me share!

Books And Movies

Meagan, Bri and I went to see a movie on Saturday night. Kelli was unable to get away. We went to see 'Confessions of a Shopaholic'. I had watched a preview for the movie back before Christmas and thought it looked like a good Chick Flick for Girls Night. Since I had been seeing the book on the shelves for a couple of years, I decided to read it before the movie came out.

Books and movies are a strange combination. Oftentimes I prefer the book over the movie. Occasionally I enjoy the movie more (usually because it helps me visualize something that escaped me during the reading). For instance, in the Chronicles of Narnia series...'The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe' - by far the book was best; 'Prince Caspian' - the movie was easier to follow. Many movies lose some of the storyline from the books - like the Harry Potter movies, so much more in the books!

I remember watching the movie version of 'Little Women' with Meagan when she was in middle school. She explained the things that the movie left out as we watched...and I couldn't wait to read the book afterwards.

That is the normal progress of books to movies...but not 'Confessions'.

Honestly, about the only thing that was the same was the plot line of a journalist in debt! The setting, the characters, the circumstances...it was all different from the book. Don't get me wrong, the movie was fun...as was the book. Neither would be classified as deep, but then sometimes you just want a "easy" read to get lost in for a few hours of escape.

Having said that, I think I am going to head off to bed with my next installment of the Chronicles of Narnia. I am up to 'The Silver Chair'. I am not feeling 'Boundaries With Teens' tonight!

A Family Favorite

Sunday afternoon, Bri, Jessica and I spent some time in the kitchen while the guys were outside working on the siding. Bri took care of the spaghetti, Jessica put together the salad and I made the pies. I made Bri's favorite: Chocolate Pie.

Now, in my family you can't serve just any old chocolate pie. You see, my Grandma J. made the most amazing chocolate pies (and banana puddings and homemade biscuits with chocolate syrup). Rich and decadent, made from scratch and never from a recipe...she mixed up the ingredients according to feel.

After moving 400 miles away from my family, I stumbled upon a 'truck stop' chocolate pie recipe. It comes from an Arkansas community cookbook that I had received as a gift. It may not be Grandma's chocolate pie...but it is awfully close.

Now if only I could find something close to Grandma F.'s chocolate peanut butter frosting. MMMMM!

Chocolate Pie

1 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons flour

2 Tablespoons cocoa

Dash of salt

3 egg yolks

1-1/2 cup milk

1/2 stick butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

pie crust, homemade or frozen: prebaked

In saucepan, mix sugar and flour together. Add cocoa and salt. Mix well.

Add small amount of milk to dissolve lumps. Add egg yolks, rest of milk and margarine.

Cook over medium heat stirring often to prevent lumping. Add vanilla.

Pour into prebaked pie crust. Top with meringue. Bake until meringue is browned.

Meringue

3 egg whites beaten until stiff peak forms. Add 6 Tablespoons of sugar. Beat until sugar is no absorbed into egg whites.

Happy eating, ya'll!

A Friday Well Spent

I spent yesterday watching a number 1 seeded tennis player on the court and he even recognized me!
I actually had the privilege to watch two number 1 seeds play in a Mixed Doubles tournament.

That is Number One Son, Brian, and his girlfriend, Jessica, playing at a tournament in Montgomery yesterday. (I am so jealous of their tans!)

This was their first match of the day and the only one played near enough to the tall bleachers that I could snap a few photos above the chain link fence. He has a pretty powerful serve and an even better return when he is on top of the net. There were a few slams that reminded me of his basketball playing days when he would stuff a block back in a guy's face.

A quick water break and strategy planning.

This is one of the few pictures I have of him in action and actually facing me. I had more of Jessica than of him. I think it is because I can't watch the match and take pictures at the same time!

She has a pretty strong serve too.

After it was all said and done, they lost two out of their three matches. His face says it all!

I am glad I was able to share in the memories...even if it took me until the third match to remember the rules the of the game!

A Sunday Drive: Day Four

Saturday night brought howling winds and rain into the Bay Area.

Before we left Texas, the forecast was for rain every day except Sunday.

When we awoke on Sunday morning, the rain was still pouring. We had prepared for the possibility of rain by all packing our rain coats...but it still didn't look like it would be much fun to walk around in. Thankfully, we had scheduled a day trip down the coast for Sunday.

The car picked us up at around 10 AM. We headed south toward Monterrey. About an hour later, we had our first peek at the Pacific Ocean. I had to go down to the beach to see if the water was really as cold as I had heard. It is!

This picture is not blurry...it was just raining that hard.
I don't think I dried out completely for the rest of the day.

We made at stop at the Santa Cruz boardwalk...but it was mostly closed due to the inclemate weather. We did stop by and pay Gina the Gypsy a visit though.

She told me that I "have the luck and the love of a millionaire". I could have told you that already. I mean have you seen him. Come on now, that is some serious eye candy!

Okay, back to San Francisco...or actually, to Monterrey. This was the view from Monterrey's Fisherman's Wharf. The rain had subsided, so we took a quick stroll down the wharf. Besides the sailboats, we also saw a sea lion playing in the marina. Cool!

After another quick stop at Cannery Row, we headed on down to Carmel by the Sea. I didn't get any pictures there, but the other girls may have. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch at The Hog's Breath Inn before heading out for a scenic 17 mile drive.

I found it a little odd when we had to pay almost $10 to enter a gate for the 17 mile drive.

As we drove past huge homes and small mansions, it became evident that I was out of my element. But when the car pulled in front of a club house named "The Lodge at Pebble Beach", I was beside myself. The Girls couldn't believe how excited I was to be at "THE" Pebble Beach...but ya'll, I have literally watched hours and hours of golf tournaments being played at Pebble Beach.

Isn't it beautiful?

Needless to say, I spent a lot of time (and money) in the gift shop. The guys in the Pro Shop were nice enough to give us each a scorecard. I think Derrick may have his bronzed! He was almost as excited as I was.

On another of their golf courses we saw these deer. They don't look like Arkansas deer.

It took us a few hours to make our way back into the city. Once there, we had a few more souvenirs to pick up at Fisherman's Wharf. We made a quick stop at Ghiridelli, Chocolate Heaven, a place that had shells and another that had t'shirts. After all that shopping, I had to ask the driver to take me someplace that I could pick up another suitcase because there was no way I could get Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, Hard Rock Cafe, Chinatown and Pebble Beach in my already filled bag. It was worth the cost of an extra bag to be sure that everything made it home in one piece. But walking through the airport was an adventure all it's own.

We made it back to the flat, packed and then turned in for the night. The next morning found us straightening up the place and getting our carry on bags situated for the flight.

Our flight was delayed about an hour due to the weather, but all in all it was a good trip.

I hope you have enjoyed my version of Grandmas Gone Wild: Part Two. I am sure that Robin and Stacy have more to add. It is fun reading their posts and being reminded of something I had totally forgotten!

Grandmas Gone Wild: Part Three has yet to be decided. But I will keep you updated.