What makes a Good Friday a Great Friday?

 Good Friday!!!

Robb (or rather DQ) minted the phrase SEVERAL years ago...

What makes Good Friday, a GREAT Friday?

Besides Jesus sacrificing himself to take away our sins?

Chili dogs at the DQ!

So after church tonight, I'll pick up enough for whomever wants them and enjoy one myself.

Leon and I, and maybe one or two others, will decorate some eggs tomorrow morning. I found that Kwik Star has them for $3.99 per dozen!  Not sure if egg prices are actually coming down, as I haven't been in a grocery store for almost a week, or if K-S is just using them for a loss leader.  Either way, I'll take it!

The kids will all be here on Sunday for lunch and shenanigans. :)

Looking forward to it!

Leon and I hit K-S up every Thursday after school for their $1 off Fresh Blend smoothies.  They have two Fresh Blend machines right next to each other and we like to race.  Turns out the one on the left is a LOT faster than the right one.  consistently.

My favorite is the Lemon Creamsicle. mmmmm

Leon started seeing videos about the tv show The Rookie and asked that we make that our new together show.  I guess he was getting tired of The Middle, Dr. Who, The Office and another one that we abandoned along the way.  I found out where it was streaming and we're several episodes in now. He is loving it.  And he found out a friend from school is watching it too.  He thinks he'd make a good policeman!  In our town, it wouldn't be nearly as exciting as downtown L.A. and he wouldn't get a body cam.  But I'm guessing he wouldn't apply here. :)

I'm enjoying recognizing where they are in L.A.!  Hey!  That's the Hollywood sign!  Hey! That's Muscle beach near the Venice canals!!!

 And when you look it up in google maps, you can see the exact spot they sat and an identifying graffiti wall right behind them. Yep!  I was right.  

If only they'd go into the tiny fabric shops in the fashion district where they measure the yards by the arm's length for $1 per arm.  Because then I could say, "Hey!  I bought THAT fabric!!!"

I'll keep my eyes peeled.

Onto a beautiful weekend!  

Happy Easter!

Frandomly Friday

It's a Good Friday!  

So far anyway.  

Compared with one from a couple thousand years ago tho... Now THAT was a great Friday!

And unless I drink a couple cans of diet pop soon, it'll be a so-so Friday...

The fixings for chili dogs are in the house and I'm out in my office.  Work has been crazy busy lately.  Even with the virus, some of our customers (medical labs) are having to put most of their staffs on furlough due to the low traffic of the usual tests.  So additional help from my company is needed.

My MIL had a doctor's appointment by Zoom the other day. Maybe just to make sure she's still kicking.

She is.

Leon and I painted the front window yesterday.  From the inside, it looks cool, but we always have that shade down.  So we won't see it at all unless you go outside.

And from the outside it's all washed out.  I may hang some dark fabric behind it on the window so you can see the pic better...

 update: I just hung some black fabric behind it and it's even worse...  uggg.  Oh well.  It'll be fine.  Maybe we'll put another coat of paint on it today so it could stand out more.

Also yesterday, I dyed a jacket of mine that I've loved for years, but it's been sitting in my closet for about 20 of them because of a stain on the sleeve.  I wore it on our first trip to Ireland in 1998.

And now I see that there's paint on the pocket that didn't dye.  

Oh well.  I am loving this dark chocolate brown!

The house was so cold this morning that I turned the heat back on.    

I'm hoping to get some masks done for that neighbor today.  Sigh!  So many things come up when you least expect it!  I've got a few done, but I'm wondering if that's truly what they were looking for.  Oh well.  One of my sewing friends said they'll be happy to get anything given to them.  Yeah...  maybe.

So I'll carry on.

The people in the house are getting stir crazy and Leon's room is getting an overhaul.  Eh - it gives them something to do I guess.  However now our guest room solution needs an overhaul as well.

Not that anyone is coming to see us any time soon...

Well, back to work after I throw a few dozen eggs in the IP.

Have a wonderful Good Friday and Happy Easter!

Zooming thru the week

Leon had school this morning and got to see ALL his friends!!!

It was a ZOOM call with his teacher and classmates. 

YIKES!  What chaos!  But every kid got to tell what they've been up to and they were so happy to see each other, even from a distance.

And only at the END of the call while everyone was calling out goodbyes to everyone else, did Leon remember what he wanted to tell his teacher.  No one could hear him...

His baby sister and brother had been born yesterday!

Yep - Leon's mom had twins yesterday!

Aren't they cute?  

What relationship are they to me?  Absolutely nothing.

But they are Leon's half-brother and half-sister, so I'm not sure what his family tree will look like.  Probably pretty wide.

Anyway, everyone is working from home today so I'm cloistered out in my office now and trying to get some work done.

Over the last week, I've made a bunch of face masks and sent some off to a sister and now making some for a neighbor and us.  Whatever is left over, I'm sure will get used up somewhere.  I wonder if the food pantry would want them..?...  don't know.

The yard was cleaned up on the warm day this week and is ready for Easter eggs to be hidden.  The lilacs are starting to bud so too late to trim them down.  I guess I COULD but they'd look really ugly this year...  

Maddy and Matthew pulled out some bricks in some landscaping work they've done and relaid them more evenly.  They inspired me and this summer, I plan to do that too with some of the bricks from our front patio.  If you lay a bowling ball on it, the ball would roll around like a drunken sailor, every which way, until it hit the driveway, then roll into the gutter.

Long story short, there is no level spot in my patio anymore.  I blame the prolific sage.

Meri put the polyurethane on her dining room floor a couple days ago and hopefully it's ready to start moving furniture in again soon.  

Isn't it pretty? She said it went on like honey...  

The only thing I can think of with a description like that is, "lick those fingers baby!  It'll be delish!"

She can't wait to get her house back in order!  AND she misses everyone.  We'll have her over for lunch on Easter and everyone will wear masks and gloves and NOT touch their faces! or hug.

Robb and I went to "small" church last night and Robb recorded two sermons by our pastor.  One for Maundy Thursday and one for the Tennebrae service for Good Friday.

In the past, my girls were told by their dad that if they could play for an entire church service successfully, then they could quit taking piano lessons.  One heard that Good Friday was no liturgy and only one hymn with about 24 verses.  Usually 3 verses after each section of the sermon and a light going out somewhere in the church, but for an abbreviated service, it was just one verse per section, but still lights going out too.

So that was the service of choice to get out of piano lessons.  They both mastered the song and quit sometime during their sophomore or junior year of high school.

Last night, with no organist, I offered to play it.  I practiced for 5 minutes solid and got it down with two hands, but only with the notes on the top staff, soprano(right hand) and alto(left hand).  No cords with one hand at all...  It would have sounded too choppy.  

and I would have screwed up more.

I'm sure a piano teacher would frown on my style, but it did the trick.  I had tiny lights stuck on the piano so I could still see the notes as the lights went down and as the tiny congregation sang, not daring to sing along myself or I'd lose my place and make horrible mistakes.  

As it stands I made a few mistakes anyway but Robb didn't notice and said it sounded good.

Whew!

I can quit piano lessons now!  Actually I haven't taken lessons since college.  and even then, it wasn't really lessons, but accompaniment for some singing lessons.  

But my mom would have been proud.

Ok, it's Thursday.  Off to do some creative programming and creative sewing during my breaks from the computer.  Have a good one and don't breathe on anyone!

Doozy of a day

I really thought I'd have more time yesterday, like breaks and such...

Wow was it a doozy.

The morning wasn't so bad.  I even took a break when my sister and BIL stopped by!  They needed to drop some things off before heading to my parents for Easter weekend.  But as soon as the boy got on the bus is when all heck broke loose.

Every ten minutes, someone got in touch with me about a crisis.  Yikes!  Makes me feel kind of insecure about my programming!!  But it usually ended up a minor issue or someone else's.  I have a few leftover issues from yesterday that I need to iron out this morning, but hope today is a little quieter.

Anyone see Tucker & Dale vs Evil?  Hilarious...  The language is a little rough, but it's a favorite of ours.  Meri (yes SHE saw it) loves it.

So, you kids like to camp huh?  heh heh heh...

Sorry... ;)

SO anyway... it's Good Friday!  Who's going to church tonight?  

Have a wonderful Easter and the weekend it's a part of.

I want a chili dog.

And today is when we play one of my favorites scenes from the classic movie, Zoolander. 
RE-Entitled, "I want a chili dog!"

Now your Good Friday is a great Friday!  Looking forward to Tenebrae service tonight at church and then all the kids are going to scatter to their friends houses and I might get a chance to get to bed early.

Tomorrow we're going to try coloring Easter eggs with silk pieces and with lace bits.  I'll show my fails (Nailed it) on Monday.  We'll probably get mixed up on which eggs are which and end up hiding a few raw eggs...  Wouldn't THAT be a surprise? 

I also need to do a little shopping and pick up some Easter candy.  I think the only candy we have in the house right now are a couple Cadbury eggs that I hid a couple weeks ago and Maddy just discovered... 
I must go re-hide them in my desk...

I happened upon the leftover leeks from St. Patrick's Day in the garage fridge and mentioned them to Robb.  It takes so long for those to spoil, so they're still good.  He got them all prepared this morning and we have Leek Soup in the crock pot for supper.  

To be followed after church with a chili dog chaser of course!

Have a wonderful Easter Weekend!

Good Friday Tidbits

The Korean meal was postponed until Saturday.

One puppy found a home yesterday.  Willow - thanks for the advice!  Several calls from that ad!

Brother-in-law, wife and son arrived this morning around 1am.  I had gotten paged, so I was awake when they got in.  I just heard them.  They know their way around...  I had just gotten back to bed, so I was tired.

I hoped it was them.

Turns out it was.  My nephew, Josh, took a kissie faced pic with a puppy before he and his folks headed off this morning to get a campus tour nearby.  His sisters go to school there now, so this would be cool if he was close too!  He used to wear the Bieber hair do a few years back and really looked like him.  He actually had his hair that way before Bieber did...  But then everyone thought Josh was a copycat.  Not so!  He wears it different now and Bieber has attempted to make it look that way too, but Josh carries it off better.  

They brought their new puppy, Demon Spawn, as my brother-in-law calls her.  I think her name though is Willow.  That wouldn't have been my first choice for this dog...  I'll call it Deemo.  My BIL is probably right with that name.  We'll be dog sitting today while they're campus touring.

I posted the above photo on Facebook yesterday of my dad, along with photos of my grandma holding him.  This one drew the most attention.  I think I showed this to you guys a few years ago when I found it while helping my parents move.  Creepy huh?!  My sister asked me to scan it in again and send it to them to blow up.  We THINK my grandpa is hiding in the bushes.  I hope it's him!

Leon is home today with his daddy and aunt Maddy.  They're already watching cartoons, eating breakfast and talking about what to do today.  Leon is just happy he could show off his decision making skills with the 4 boxes of breakfast bars that were placed in front of him.  "ummmmmmm" then head butted the mixed berry box.  He'll take that one! 

Lots to do today.  I'd like to finish a project off my to do list at work today.  Just one...  and I'll be happy!  There are too many other work distractions most days and the to do list goes by the wayside.

Have a GOOD Friday folks!  We'll be attending the Tenabrae service tonight at our church along with chili dogs afterwards.  Because WHAT makes a Good Friday a Great Friday?  Chili dogs at DQ...

Chili Dog Friday!!!

Come on... who will admit it? Who sings the words "chili dogs" instead of "jitterbug" to this song besides us?


We had some excitement Friday night... Wanna hear about it? Here it goes...

Ok - so Ryan, wife and babe came to church with us that night for the Tenabrae service. Leon was hungry through most of it, so Tiffany had him in the nursery with Ryan checking in periodically whenever she texted him.

Maddy played the organ for most of the service except when the choir sang. After the service, everyone left very quietly as they made their ways to their cars.

It was arranged before hand to meet with Robb's brother and his family, who were getting into town right about that time, at the DQ for the annual chili dogs so Ryan and Tiff took off for the DQ and we followed. About a block from church, Robb called his brother to let him know we were on our way, but they wanted to go to Pizza Hut instead. We tried to call Ryan, no answer, Tiffany, straight to voicemail. We thought we saw them ahead of us, so Robb caught up and then we noticed that it was a girl from church who has a car just like Ryans... She now thinks we're weird. Caught up with Ryan about a half block from Pizza Hut and we all cut off some cars to make the turn in time.

Dinner with everyone was fun. I got to try and calm down Leon and ended up feeding him into a milked over state so that anyone could hold him and he wouldn't mind. After dinner, Tiffany was gathering up the baby things and suddenly noticed that her wedding ring was missing! I could have sworn that I saw her fiddling with it at one point during dinner, so we scoured under the tables and through everything remaining on the table. Got the waitresses involved and they were picking through trash in the kitchen. I volunteered to help with that but got a sour look as if I didn't trust them...

Ok fine. We left contact info and a description of the ring and led a distraught young mother out to the cars. Poor thing! She was upset. We all headed for home, praying that the ring would be found.

Robb's carload stopped at the DQ to get our chili dogs. We didn't have to eat them right away! Which was good because I was stuffed with pizza... But we were obligated to hold up tradition!

Everyone eventually got home.

As Robb and I enjoyed a late night snack of, as you guessed, chili dogs... Tiffany came downstairs holding up her left hand. She had found the ring in the bathroom upstairs! Apparently she had been washing up a couple bottles earlier in the day and took it off because it's been loose. She felt silly...

And who had to call Pizza Hut back to let them know? *me*

and I lied to them... They were glad that I called but against my unspoken wishes asked where we'd found it.

Um... on the ground next to the car!

Frandom Friday!

Got more done on Maddy's dress the other night. Maddy helped me clean like crazy so I'd have a couple hours to sew on Wednesday night. I got the outer two layers of the bodice done and am working on putting in the boning on the inner lining. Pinned it on her and may take out a little of one side seam so it's not so tight. I don't want her to breathe and have the zipper start popping like it did last year during a fitting! Then we pinned on the skirt. It's really looking great. We should be to the zipper by the end of the Easter weekend... I hope.
Got lots of smiles out of Leon this morning! Tiff asked me to take him for a little bit before I went to work so we snuggled. His crabs-a-lot attitude is changing and he's not so crabby anymore. Unless of course he's hungry or has a load in his pants...
Robb picked up five dozen eggs for us to color on Saturday! Perfect... Maddy has a friend coming over and we'll have 3 more teens in the house besides mine. I know it sounds like a lot of eggs, but if you break it down per kid, they don't get to color a lot... I'm looking forward to egg salad in everything for the next week.
I need to make an egg casserole for a church breakfast on Sunday. Anyone have any good recipes they can point me to?

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you wonder if this is what you're supposed to be doing? It's been a weird week at work. I'm so glad it's a Friday!

Tenabrae service at church tonight! Maddy is playing the organ and we'll be singing in the choir as the lights grow dimmer and dimmer and then we all walk out in total silence to get our chili dogs.

Have a great Good Friday!

Tenebrae

Maddy is playing the organ for tonight's Tenebrae Good Friday service at church. The deal over a year ago was that if she could play for an entire church service, we'd let her quit piano lessons... Of course she picked the one service where there is NO liturgy and only one hymn that has a billion verses... So I didn't think it counts. She wasn't happy.

She has been playing various hymns off and on for different services, and feels comfortable accompanying with the piano rather than the organ.
So tonight, we'll do that. Tenebrae service is a very sombre service with lights being extinguished after each section until there's hardly any lights on at the end. Then everyone walks out quietly contemplating what sacrifice was made on our behalf.

The first time we came to this service, it felt so weird not running over to a friend afterward and saying "Hi! I forgot what we were supposed to bring for the Easter breakfast!" But we've gotten used to it.

At the end of the service, our pastor uses an enormous Bible and slams it shut after he says, "It is finished." We typically jump a few inches above the pews when he does this, even tho we're expecting it. Meri sometimes brings her best friend and they LIVE for this part!

Robb, Meri & I are in the choir and are singing "Stricken, Smitten and Afflicted". Robb sings bass, Meri is one of the sopranos and me in the alto section. EVERY time we've practiced this, the organist starts to cry. She says because it's so beautiful... and it really is... but Robb reassures her we'll do better next time.

Then after we all quietly walk to our cars, we'll head to the Dairy Queen. We started this several years ago when DQ was having a special on chili dogs on Good Friday. "Know what makes a Good Friday a GREAT Friday?" Chili dogs!!! So we'll get a bunch and head on home.

Have a good Good Friday! and since I rarely blog on the weekends, have a Happy Glorious Easter too! Got Meri's Easter dress done and have to finish Maddy's tomorrow! Wish me luck!