IRISH Saturday Nine Meme

Saturday 9: I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover (2001)

Selected in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here.

1) This is one of the songs included in Willie Nelson's Rainbow Connection album. He named it after his daughter Amy's favorite song when she was a little girl. She'd been asking him to record "The Rainbow Connection" for 20 years and finally, in 2001, he came through for her. Think of something you had to wait for. Was it worth the wait?

My husband was definitely worth the wait!  I first met him when I was 27. We began to date when I was 29.  I was married at age 30.  I cannot imagine getting married any earlier as my 20s were a time of college, grad school/internship, starting my Special Ed Prek Teaching career. SO busy. So glad I waited! Plus..it was God's plan!

2) Willie can trace his family tree back to the Revolutionary War. Are you interested in genealogy?

Somewhat. My mom did a pretty good geneology of her side of the  family and I have the family tree from her research.  My husband is the great times eight grandson of a Turner who came over on the Mayflower. 

3) Today Willie is legendary performer, but as a child, he was very uncomfortable in front of crowds. He recalled that during his school days, reciting in front of his class made him so uncomfortable he suffered nose bleeds. When did you most recently have a bloody nose?

I never had a bloody nose in my entire life until I was in my 40s and going through Lyme Disease. For some reason, it caused my nose to bleed from time to time. I had a somewhat bloody nose in 2023 when I sneezed during the bout I had with Covid. My sinuses were so swollen! That's it! My sister Joy used to get them all the time when she was a child. 

4) During the 1990s, Willie had problems with the IRS. His management team set up illegal tax shelters and he ended up owing millions in back taxes and penalties. This year's IRS filing deadline is Wednesday, April 15. Will you be early, on time, or will you need an extension?

We already have our federal tax return deposited in the bank! Dave tends to do ours early online.  So easy! I'm sure it will be awhile before we get any money from NYS. 

5) In "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover," Willie sings about appreciating something he has previously overlooked. Is there anything positive in your life you feel you may take for granted? 

I tend to take certain friendships for granted as well as my marriage for granted.  I'm getting better at letting the friends and hubby know how much I appreciate them. 

6) Four leaf clovers and shamrocks are considered good luck. Do you have a lucky charm? 

I don't believe in luck...I believe God has a Hand in my life. However, as an Adirondack hiker, like many life-long hikers, I do have a talisman I carry that is just tradition.....I always have some kind of dragonfly on me whether it's one of my many necklaces, one of my 3 bracelets, or  a pair of earrings,  ( I have 3 different pairs of dragonfly earrings). And I always have a certain silver whistle around my neck. 

7) "The wearing o' the green" is one way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Will you wear something green in honor of the day?

Maybe? When I was teaching special ed PreK we always wore tee shirts or socks with shamrocks on them.  I do have one old cotton tee that has shamrocks on the front.  I also have a green long sweater to go with it since it most likely will be cold that day here in NYS. 

8) According to Irish folklore, if you catch a leprechaun he must either give you his pot o' gold or grant you three wishes. Would you choose the gold or the wishes?

Hm..the wishes because with each wish I can wish for more wishes! 

   

9) Traditional Irish stew is made with mutton or lamb, though here in the US beef is also very popular. What's your favorite soup/stew?

I don't eat beef, lamb/mutton or pork so my fave soup is my stuffed pepper soup made with bison or "beyond meat".  I also make a good chicken stew with apples and honey.  Both are here in the blog under "Faithfixes dinner" label (on sidebar). 

 

For those of you who were asking/emailing/texting:

Dave arrived home at 2 AM from Guatemala.  We are spending the day eating  cherry pie in honor of our oldest daughter who had as one of her  college majors, Math, and Pi Day.....we're also doing laundry and chattting about all the ways he served on this missions trip.  

HAPPY SATURDAY!! 

MARCH FAVES

 

It's time for sharing the Friday Fave Fives!  Head to Susanne's site to learn more and join in!

Five blessings from our past week that made us smile and thank God.  I'm thankful it's March, that it's been a mild week, weather-wise, and as I type this up on Thursday morning (  I usually do 1-2 faves on the morning before), there are several birds at the feeder and sitting along  the roofline of our shed!  Red-winged blackbirds are back, I saw 2 robins on the ground, and this morning we've had nuthatches, cardinals and jays at the feeder. Spring has sprung even though our temps today are only 36 right now, compared to 72 from yesterday! 

FIVE FAVES

Family Room 

• SPRING CLEANING:  Last Saturday,  I decided since it was so mild outside and windows were open, to spring clean the family room. This is the room that gets the most use in our home. It's where the television is located.  I like to have my morning coffee in this room and my Scripture time/meditation time is often in this room, especially when Dave's at work and in the colder months. Dave likes to read in this room. This room gets the morning sun. It faces east and I love it.  I had bought a new slipcover for our very worn and faded cottage couch. I like that I was able to shrink it a little bit as it was too long when it first arrived on Friday. I also bought new spring themed pillow covers to add a bit of "pop" to the couch.  I did a thorough dusting, vacuuming, re-arranging and Courtney and her bf Tyler popped over to help me lift the heavy coffee table that Dave insists on keeping (Even though I want something newer and lighter...this one is so scratched up, etc. sigh) onto the hooked rug. (not shown in photo). I'm so thankful for the help and that the room came out great! I'm also thankful it was warm enough to have the deck door open!

a gift from Courtney

• NEW MUG:  I truly do not need another mug. But Courtney had seen this in a local store and just had to buy it for me. (she knows I collect mugs, of course!).  She surprised me with it last Saturday and so I enjoyed my morning coffee last Sunday before church and took a pic of it per her request. I'm thankful for a thoughtful daughter and a fun new mug. 

l-r: Evelyn, me, Dar, Maggie
in back: Shawna, Jill 
The Game Tribe!

• GAME NIGHT:  Sunday evening I hosted a Girls Game Night with some of my closest friends from  church plus 3 of the women (Shawna, Maggie and Jill) are in my small group Bible Study this semester. Evelyn is becoming a good friend. She's in the hiking group I lead and is Tyler's mom (Courtney's boyfriend).  Dar and I have been friends for many years now. I first met her when she joined my book group about 10 years ago. Her husband and she have hung out with my husband and me over the years. They're a great couple.  We had so much fun.  I had a drinks station set up and everyone brought a different appetizer.  We had a blast! I'm so thankful for this tribe of friends and sisters in Christ. 

a yummy no calorie no sugar mocktail

Drinks Station

• MOVIE NIGHT:  My oldest  girl and I had made plans, while Dave is away in Guatemala, to have our fave pizza and a movie night on one of the nights she was free.  Courtney was finally free after work on Monday so I picked up two pizzas (she paid for hers) and she brought over a DVD that Claire had given her for Xmas. It's a Wes Anderson flick.  For those of you not familiar with his work, the movies are super fun, kind of "hipster" and have some great literary moments/themes. I had seen Grand Budapest and The Royal Tennebaums and enjoyed both of those. This one, The Darjeeling Limited, was....different. It was ok.  Not my fave movie, but the time spent with Courtney and talking/laughing and eating great pizza from our fave place was something I'm very thankful for. 

Courtney:  Arugula Chicken/Bacon Pesto
Mine:  Chicken Pesto with Roasted Red Peppers

• OUTDOOR WALKS:  I've been able to walk outside every single day this week except for yesterday when the temperature dropped down to a very windy and cold 37 with rain. Monday found me walking two different times in my neighborhood. The weather was so warm I just needed a cotton shirt. Tuesday, I headed up to this state park and although they still had snow on the  walkways and in the woods/fields and much more than we had had, it was still a lovely 1.8 mile walk in warm sunshine.  On Wednesday I did a more leisurely walk, earlier in the morning, with my travel coffee tumbler and I walked 2.8 miles in a nice warm sunshine with bright blue skies although it had started out overcast and chilly! I didn't get pics of Wednesday's walk along our town park bike path but here are some pics of my walk around the state park near the Gideon Putnam Hotel and tennis courts. I was so thankful for sunshine and warmer temps for walking outdoors. 

Beautiful bare pine needles
where the snow has melted

Walkway near the Gideon Putnam Hotel
was still snow and ice covered but quickly melting

the walkway past the Spa Park tennis courts
heading to the Gideon Putnam were bare!

That wraps up my week!

I'm thankful Dave called from Guatemala to tell me things were going great on the missions trip. Everyone was safe and healthy and they were serving over 320 children and families with good food, school supplies, etc. 

He is due to land around 1 AM tonight (Saturday, technically!) IF the flight out of Atlanta is on time. I'm pretty sure they won't have  trouble going from Guatay to Atlanta but with our government's ridiculous (again!!) partial shut down, they might have issues in Atlanta tonight.  At any rate, he comes home at some point early early early in the morning! And guess who gets to go  pick him up...........

HAPPY WEEKEND, EVERYONE!

Wednesday HodgePodge

I didn't participate in last week's Hodgepodge but I did like the questions for this week, so am joining in once again. Head here to learn how to join in. 

1. Are you a naturally trusting person? Is trust built on logic or 'gut instinct'? Does everyone deserve a second chance? Elaborate. 

I am more trusting now that I've gone through some emotional and spiritual healing than in my early adult years. No, trust is built on a deep relationship with someone who can empathize with you and not judge you.  Sometimes your "gut instinct" or knowledge of a person's character will lead you to either trust them or not. People are always worth a "second chance' in God's eyes so therefore I should extend that grace and mercy as well as a Christ follower.  However, there is also a time to put a boundary around toxic people or people who just haven't proven to be trustworthy. 

2. 'Beware the Ides of March'...March 15th on the ancient Roman calendar, these words were made famous by William Shakespeare in his play Julius Caesar.  Caesar was assassinated on March 15th 44 B.C. Have you read any Shakespeare? If so, do you have a favorite? Have you ever been to Rome? 

I took advanced English in high school and Drama Literature in my senior year of high school.  Yes, we read plenty of Shakespeare. My favorite is Romeo and Juliet but probably because I love the ballet depiction. 

Yes, we took our youngest daughter (Claire) to Rome as she chose a trip abroad vs a backyard bash when she graduated from high school in 2017.  We really enjoyed Rome! (but Paris was cleaner).  We also went to Florence one day, by train, while spending the week in Rome. We absolutely loved Florence and one day was not enough!

3. Do you like a Caesar salad? If given the choice between a garden/house salad or Caesar which do you order? Anchovies or no? What's your favorite salad dressing? 

I love a good Caesar salad and usualy choose that at a restaurant. I don't care for anchovies.  My fave salad dressing is Honey Mustard but due to the high caloric content I typically choose a lemon vinaigrette if a garden salad is ordered. Otherwise the Caesar dressing is fine. 

4. Where do you typically work (or blog if that's easier) at home? Do you have a dedicated home office space? Are you happy with that space? 

Well, I'm retired from special education preKindergarten teaching and absolutely loved my classroom. I had to work from the family room via google classroom (YUCK!) from mid-March-May 2020 due to covid shutdowns.  Now that I'm retired, I typically blog from the dining room table or my chaise lounge couch in the living room. I love my living room...it's "my" space while Dave's is more his home office upstairs in Claire's former bedroom or in the family room. He works from home on Mondays and Fridays so is upstairs  all day. We also have a small section of the basement that is set up like a home office of sorts although now that we are empty nesters, that space is more of a clutter zone with a ton of Dave's computer books and games lying on every surface. We need to clear that out soon. That's HIS job!! 

5. Snow drops, daffodils, lenten roses, crocus, hyacinth, or early tulips...what's your favorite early Spring flower? 

I love snow drops, crocuses and tulips are my fave but we don't get ours until the end of April, beginning of May which is more mid-Spring. We get crocuses and daffodils around the end of March.  Trillium is considered endangered in the mountains and I love hiking in April when it's first blooming.  Don't ever pick trillium  as then it won't grow back!!  

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

All the snow is gone from my yard!   We've had some wonderful weather so far this week. 

But not where I power-walked on Tuesday:

Saratoga Spa State Park
the walking path near the tennis courts
and the Gideon Putnam 

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

Goal Check-Up

As we are now into the month of March, and husband is away on a missions trip to Guatemala...the house is quiet, neat, and I have time to reflect on my 2026 goals I've set.  This year I'm using the "Smart" model:  specific goals, measurable ones, achievable ones, all are realistic to my life and all are timely, I think. 

Here's my first check up of the year since it's now been two months: 

PERSONAL PHYSICAL GOALS

• HIKE ON NEW-to-ME TRAILS: one in the Adirondacks, one in the Catskills, and one in Vermont:  Well, because it's been a real winter here in eastern NYS, this of course hasn't been worked on yet. But...for my hiking group, SoulSteps, I scheduled us to have a "First Day of Spring Hike" on March 20th and we are heading to a new-to-us trail system that is newly acquired by my fave state park just to the north of us by about 35 min. I'm excited to check out this 5.4 miles trail system. This goal isn't achieved yet. 

• WALK 2.5 MILES either Nordic style (new to me!) or brisk pace 4X WEEKLY:  Well I did try Nordic style and it's ok but cumbersome for me to get my heart rate up. So I've ditched the hiking poles for regular power walking and I'm averaging 3-5 days a week.  For several days in February, due to extreme bitter temps and wind chill of below 20, I've had to walk on the dreadtreadmill. So:  this goal is achieved but is also on-going.  Although some days...the  colder ones...I only got 1.5 miles in vs the 2.5

• COLLAGEN DAILY:  use 2 scoops of collagen daily in my morning coffee:  I've neglected this!  So, as I just got up, grabbed the collagen and added 2 scoops to my 2nd cup of  coffee this morning because I seriously need this added bonus for good health. Collagen also helps to repair discs in the spine besides all the other obvious benefits for our aging bodies.  This goal hasn't yet been achieved but it will be on-going anyways.          

RELATIONAL GOALS

• CONTINUE TO HAVE DATE NIGHTS WITH DAVE  once a month: so far we are doing great with this. Each weekend, we have chosen one night as a date night.  One weekend, we were in Massachusetts (January) so had two date nights in a row: one with Dave's mom who turns 91 the end of this month, and one with Dave's brother and his wife.  In February, we had a date night every week! We continue to do this so this is on-going. 

• MOM-DAUGHTER COFFEE/LUNCH/DINNER DATES:  Spring, Summer, Autumn:  This hasn't happened yet but on the March calendar, I have a brunch date with Claire for March 18th (she has every Wednesday and Sunday off from work as an optometric tech) and Courtney and I have an in-house dinner date night Monday evening at 7 pm! Oh and during the 2 church services tomorrow, Courtney and I will be meeting in the  church cafe for coffee. This goal is on-going. 

• MEET FRIENDS FOR COFFEE/LUNCH MORE OFTEN:  This goal has been achieved with my cousins and 2 friends so far this year.  In January, we had our younger friend Shawna over for Sunday lunch which was great fun as we ended up playing a couple of board games.  She really needed the fellowship. She's a single mom of two young adult sons and she's a relatively new Christian.I met my cousin Kenny for breakfast one morning in early January and I met my other cousin Trisha for brunch one morning in early February.  I also met my friend Lynn for coffee and conversation in January and I was so thankful this happened as we rarely get together anymore. I also have plans with my friend Monica for lunch in April.  This goal is on-going.

• PLAN AND HOST A GAME NIGHT this winter or spring:  Tomorrow evening, it's GIRLS GAME NIGHT with 5 of my closest friends. All of them except for one are in the hiking group and all of them have at some point been a part of my small group/book groups. We are a tight bunch. Everyone is bringing an app and I'm serving an app along with stuff for cocktails and mocktails. Dave and I are also planning a game night  for Evelyn and Mark (and Courtney and Tyler).  Evelyn and Mark are Tyler's parents. Evelyn will be at my girls game night as well.  This goal is achieved as of tomorrow evening. 😉

• PLAN a BEACH BASH BBQ for friends/family:  the plan is to have one the beginning of June although we have not made solid plans yet.  We do know who will be on the invite list but that's as far as we've got. This goal is on-going.  

SPIRITUAL/MENTAL/EMOTIONAL HEALTH GOALS

• CHRONOLOGICAL BIBLE READING  (this is a daily devotional Bible): this goal is one I've been enjoying each day.  I'm keeping up with it and so it's on-going as it ends on December 31st. (unless I read ahead which isn't likely). 

• GO iPHONE FREE for one full day a month (decided on the first Sunday of each month) : I am happy to report that I have been successful with this and so far I've done well.   In February, I did have to call back my youngest daughter as she had texted me a question that needed an answer right of way. This goal is on-going. 

• LEAD at least 2 women's small groups for 2026 (Sweeter than Honey plus one more):  We have 3 more weeks of the Sweeter than Honey Bible study and then I am hosting a book group from April to early June. So far there will be 5 of us for the book group with one of the ladies being my dear friend C who goes to a different church. This goal is on-going until June!

• MEDITATION/PRAYER/YOGA STRETCHES every morning: this goal has been met so far and is on-going. I am currently using the Lectio 365 free app for your phone and it's a Lenten meditation each day. there's one for morning, mid-day, and evening. I tend to do the morning one, sometimes the mid-dy one, and a few times a week, the evening one. It includes an anecdote, a couple of Scripture passages and a guided prayer.  I highly recommend the Lectio 365 app!  Some mornings, I skip some of the yoga but I always do my neck stretches and some leg pilates! 

So...I think I'm off to a good start with these goals. 

How are you doing so far this year? Did you make some goals for your self or do you have a "Word of the Year?" My word is Confidence. Scripture I'm basing it from is posted on the side bar. I've written a few devotional type posts centering around the word found in the SoulStuff label or the Word of the Year label, posted on the sidebar, if you're interested. 

HAPPY SATURDAY!