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Our Daily Thread 6-10-14

Good Morning!

On this day in 1776 the Continental Congress appointed a committee to write a Declaration of Independence. 

In 1854 the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, held its first graduation. 

In 1943 Laszlo Biro patented his ballpoint pen.

In 1943 the Allies began bombing Germany around the clock. 

And in 1985 the Israeli army pulled out of Lebanon after 1,099 days.

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Quote of the Day

“Just pray for a tough hide and a tender heart.”

Ruth Graham

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Since it’s her birthday… with Mel Torme, and Count Basie and his orchestra.  From TheManThatGetsAway

And it’s composer Heinrich von Herzogenberg’s too.

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Anyone have a QoD?

118 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 6-10-14”

  2. I just saved the picture above. it is so peaceful, you are welcome to leave it up as long as you like. I can understand wanting to go fishing in such a spot.

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  3. Thanx for the well wishes everyone.
    She says she just might keep me, doesn’t want to train another. 😉
    She chose Cracker Barrel for her dinner.
    We had thought we might get something different, but looking at the menu, we both decided on the selection we always get at Cracker Barrel. Country fried steak with vegetables.
    Which brings up a question. Serious question.
    I have noticed that when we go into a regular restaurant, we always order the same thing.
    Country fried steak at Cracker Barrel.
    Prime rib at Outback.
    7 oz.Steak for me and pasta salad for her at Applebys.
    Etc.

    Are we unusual there? Or does anyone else do that?
    We usually know wheat we will get when we go there.
    Sometimes we go there because a steak, or breakfast (Denny’s) is what we want.

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  7. Good evening, Jo. Good morning, Chas & Aj.

    Chas: I usually order the same thing at our favorite restaurants, too. But, I tend to eat the same foods over and over. Hubby, on the other hand, always gets something different. I’m not much for change of any kind, preferring routine and predictability. If I ever do order something new at a restaurant where I already have a favorite dish, I’m invariably disappointed, wishing I’d just gotten my usual. I also sit in the same chair in the living room and at the dining room table. I’m most definitely a “creature of habit.”

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  8. Jo likes to fish in trees?

    I may go to a restaurant in a couple of weeks. I hope not. It is not something I would ever want to do. That sort of thing really does not appeal to me. But, in the past, when I did have to go there, I usually found something typical. Like the time in Switzerland when I had horse. Or the frog legs in France. Or the time in Kamiah, when I had arroz con pollo. Maybe there is a reason I don’t go to restaurants.

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  9. Happy Birthday to Michelle! (At least I think it’s today.) 🙂

    I don’t go to restaurants often enough to remember what I ate the last time I was there. 😉

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  10. I had never thought of the QOD before two years ago when R-friend from third grade on, G-friend from 6th grade on and B- 11th grade friend and I had our reunion in Richmond. One night we were ordering take-out from the Chinese restaurant and I ordered Moo Goo Gai Pan. R laughed and said that is what I always ordered when we were children. She is the keeper of a lot of my childhood memories because I have whole sections that are blocked from my mind and I don’t remember things until she says something.

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  11. Kim, friends like that are useful because they help you connect.
    And, good or bad, it’s good to connect.
    I have never ordered take out.
    I have never had pizza, or anything else, delivered. Though Linda, Chuck’s wife, has ordered at our house.
    The only time I have been to a drive through window is in the back seat of another car.
    I am just an old fashioned old codger.

    At Cracker barrel, I considered the 12 oz T-bone. But the 7oz at Applebees is enough for me. I don’t know that I could 3/4 lb of steak. And the breaded shrimp. But breaded anything is mostly bread. So I went with my regular.

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  12. I’m having a fat stuffed burrito from Lepe’s for dinner tonight–the gol burrito with everything on it made with steak–because it’s my birthday! I get the same thing there all the time–why order anything else?

    Have disuaded the family from coming for dinner; just told Hillary to please not make me a birthday cake and once I get back from teaching on Mary and Martha today at Bible study (why, yes, I see the irony), I’m back to WWI.

    My deadline is June 30–it then goes to a professional editor I’m paying a lot of money to read and comment. Because I’m going to lose 10 days of the next 20 with college graduation, VBS and my daughter home, I can’t do anything but work this week. Have even thought about taking the laptop with me on the 6 hour each way drive to Santa Barbara, but we’re traveling with adorable granddaughters 2/3 and nearly 3, and that just isn’t sustainable in my mind, not to mention rude.

    I’m half done on the rewrite and am pretty sure I’m going to make the deadline–if I work like a crazed woman this week. My long suffering husband is reduced to watching Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime in the evening, but I can’t help that–the end really is in sight, I think. Unless I get major rewriting back in July. Sigh.

    This morning with the birds chattering and the cooler morning air (in the high 90s in the afternoon today), I’m grateful for many things in what has been a terrific life so far. Now, I’ve got to dance so I can sit here for 10 hours later today.

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  13. Chas, we are mostly like you and find our favorite at a restaurant and then stick with it. When we go to Folks we both get grilled trout and he gets cole slaw with baked potato and I think cornbread (could be biscuit) whereas I get fried okra and turnip greens with a peach muffin. Water for me and Coke for him. He does do variety sometimes between pork chop and salmon at some other restaurants depending on what else he has eaten during the week. If we get Mexican, it’s Speedy Gonzales for him and a chalupa for me with refried beans and rice. On vacation we usually go to our favorite seafood restaurant and he gets fried flounder and I get broiled seafood platter. We find what we like and are quite loyal until it goes off the menu. Funny thing is, it use to seem like if we found a new grocery store item we liked, usually sooner than later it would be removed from the shelf and no longer sold. We joke about being the kiss of death to such products and say their competitors should just hire us.
    🙂

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  14. H★A★P★P★Y 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
    B★I★R★T★H★D★A★ Y!!!!!!
    MICHELLE
    :buritto: s for everyone! No cake!

    (each star represents 5 star reviews. for your book!)

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  15. Chas, my wife and I do tend to get stuck in a rut, going to the same restaurants and ordering the same things. I don’t think that’s at all unusual.

    I am intentional, though about breaking out of that rut. My city (Buffalo) is blessed with large hispanic, Burmese, Viet Namese, and Ethiopian immigrant populations on our west side. As a result, there is alot of energy going into creating small businesses and restuarants. We have a favorite Burmese and Thai location, and have recently tried Ethiopian, and a *very* small Barbecue restaurant owned by a Liberian immigrant. Off the beaten path, you can find some really wonderful food!

    The only thing I haven’t gotten into yet is sushi. My wife is taking the lead there! 🙂

    As a bonus, we are introducing our kids to real food, and they order off the adult menus more often than not (although they do like their mac’n’cheese – what can you do?). Our oldest (11) wants to try the tacos de lengua at the new mexican restaurant, and is generally pretty adventursome on the food front. 🙂

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  16. We don’t go out to eat very often, but I do have a couple favorites at one of the local places we like. I used to get the same thing all the time, but my more food-adventurous husband picked on me about it. So I started trying new things, although I often go back to my favorites. (“Often” being a relative word in that we don’t go out to eat very often.)

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  17. As well as being the birthday of Judy Garland & one of our resident authors (Happy Birthday, Michelle!), today is the birthday of Ruth Bell Graham & Chrissy, my younger daughter, who turns 22 today.

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  18. Cheryl – I don’t know if you’ll see my comment on the end of yesterday’s thread, so I’ll post it here, too. . .

    I knew someone would quibble with that. 🙂

    Yes, Cheryl, that is certainly true. But it was too long to put on the banner. 😉

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  20. RoyClay,

    We have a fix whatever you want for supper deal here. Our big meal, dinner, is in the middle of the day. The olders can cook what they like as long as they are not in the kitchen between five and five thirty when I am fixing for the little folk. They can select from a wide assortment: hamburgers, steak, fish, pork, barbecued ribs, spaghetti, etc. Nearly always, one sixteen year old boy makes mac and cheese and often the girls do as well. One seventeen year old boy makes ramen. One sixteen year old girl, when she is not making mac and cheese, is making a baked potato. So much for our effort to get them independent…..

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  21. ¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Michelle! Or since your name is French: Joyeux Anniversaire!

    I like to try new things at restaurants. The ethnic restaurants around here have dozens of items on the menu, so it would take weeks to have everything. So, the few times a year we go out I try a new dish. Usually it turns out good. But on occasion (like at the Japanese restaurant last month) I am disappointed. I forget what it was I got, but it had little flavor and was not satisfying.

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  23. We usually order the same items at the restaurants we go to. This has a lot to do with food allergies, but before we developed the allergies the DQ in Golden, BC would see us driving in and have our order ready as we walked in the door! We lived 40 miles from town and when we made the trip, we always had to have a meal stop included. We drove a, um, distinctive old pick up truck so they “retired” couple that ran the DQ spotted us every time.

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  25. We tend to often order the same things at various restaurants. I have gotten more adventurous with age. I have found that the best time to try something new is when you are very hungry.

    Not every restaurant prepares all types of food well or like you prefer. I got a steak at one restaurant we frequent and found I would never do so again. Their breakfast and lunches are great, however. It is the same with seafood. Some restaurants do a good job and others do not.

    I have one daughter who is very adventurous in finding new restaurants and foods. She has helped us try new things. I enjoy it, even if the food is not what I would get again. The experience is good just for the knowledge. Of course, she lives in an area with far more variety than we have.

    I make it a point to never mock another person’s taste in food. It is just that–taste. I do not know why someone feels superior because they like certain foods or more variety.

    Children do need to be encouraged to try new things. Just because they turn them down once, does not mean they will forever. Sometimes, initially refusing to give them something makes them want it. Sometimes, a little tweaking makes them eat what they first refused. Raspberry vinaigrette made salad tolerable for one of my grandchildren. Dips can do that for vegies.

    Aren’t we so blessed to have such choices available to us?

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  27. I would never order steak in a restaurant unless it was one of the higher end ones that specialized in steak. I am spoiled in that regard. My grandfather owned a grocery store and my father grew up butchering meat. I can pick out and cook a better steak than most restaurants and for a whole lot less. I don’t care how much money I am I have, no $12 dollar piece of meat is worth $40 just because I am in a different environment and someone else is cooking it.
    I eat in restaurants what I am not likely to fix at home. Mostly I go to the Sugar Kettle and get vegetables. Being that it is Tuesday and IF I were going out, these would be my choices:

    http://www.sugarkettlecafe.com/menu.html

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  28. I can always find something on the menu I’ll eat no matter where we go. We like to each pick something the other will eat and share it. They way you can try 2 new things at one time.

    It’s also why I like buffets. I can eat all kinds of different stuff that way. 🙂

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  29. Someone at work likes to go out for lunch to nice restaurants so we do get to go out more than is my preference. But for years it seemed we did not go out much so going different places has been somewhat an adventure. There is a Thai restaurant near the office. I always get cashew chicken and husband gets chicken fried rice. At a Chinese restaurant we visit when son is in town we get dinner for three with garlic chicken, Mandarin beef and snowy chicken. Once in awhile we substitute moo shoo pork. So we have variety in where we go, but usually get the same things we like at each place.

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  30. I just finished reading The Brotherhood, America’s Next Great Enemy, By Erick Stakelbeck..

    His closing two paragraphs express my feelings about the present situation.

    “I am pessimistic about America’s future and the unchecked rise of global Islamism. But I have an unshakeable faith in the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It’s what keeps me going. All is not lost. Yet”

    “On the other hand, I’m also a brutal realist. And the way things are lining up, it appears that, before the spring and renewal, we maybe destined to suffer through a long, harsh Islamist Winter. It’s up to us.”

    My SS teacher thinks Christ may return first and rescue us from this.
    I suspect not. I believe that it was Bob Buckles who recommended God’s War on Terror by Walid Shoebat. He believes that a renewed caliphate is the feet of the statue Daniel saw. And that the 12th Imam is the Antichrist. The Bismillah is the mark.
    I haven’t bought into all of Shoebat’s theories, but I do believe that Christians will go through at least part of the great tribulation.
    Winter in on the way.
    As I said, I pray for my grandkids and greatgrands every day. That they will be protected. God know to do that. He is still in control.

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  32. Along with Kim’s comment about steak, I seldom order those (supposedly) home-cooked comfort-food type dishes like pot roast or meatloaf. They never live up to “home-cooked.” But, yeah, I also tend to order the same things at certain restaurants.

    At coffee shops I don’t like much (Denny’s etc.) I usually stick with a simple burger or breakfast. They can’t mess those up too much. But I never order proper dinners in those places.

    Buffets bother me because there are too many people hovering and poking and prodding — they don’t seem healthy to me. Last time I took a friend to one of those places (on her request) I wound up with I think just 2 pancakes, a little fresh fruit and a glass of juice. The whole setting just seemed to busy with too many hands.

    I’m very confused about when michelle’s birthday is/was.

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  33. Sweet story about our widow mallard duck who has taken up residence outside our office building (where we have a nice fountain & concrete pool with lots of tall native grass-landscaping nearby, perfect for nesting).

    Her mate was sadly hit by a car several weeks ago and badly injured. Animal control was called and they said they’d pass him off to a rehab if he was “savable.” Alas, he wasn’t, he died on the way to the shelter.

    So our widow duck has been by herself ever since, preening by the pool, swimming, just hanging around. She supposedly had eggs in a nest that someone saw once, but we’ve never seen any ducklings.

    So imagine our happiness when we all traipsed back to the office yesterday to see her sitting proudly with a new, very handsomely-marked mallard duck male. They’re so cute together, but we’ve all wondered how he found this lone little duck. (Although there is a nature preserve about a mile away that has lots of ducks, he may have just been flying over and spotted her all by herself).

    When I left work yesterday they were waddling through the tall grass, she was leading. They’re SO cute! 🙂 Maybe we’ll get ducklings after all, but I worry about survival. There are raccoons in the area at night.

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  36. I’m with Mumsee (and Kim) on the restaurant question. I am squeamish about eating out – you don’t know how the food’s been handled, touched, spit it, or whatever. That may be less true in a high-class place, but then you’re paying way too much for food that you could cook better, yourself, in the comfort of your own home (but then I’m a serious home-body).

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  37. Buffets are my least favorite. Neither I or my husband can eat enough to pay the price for them. The food is seldom as fresh as I would like or the right temperature. I can also easily over eat at them, which is MY problem–not the fault of buffets, of course. I am sometimes pleasantly surprised by one, though.

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  38. Re buffets: …I can also easily over eat at them…

    That and AJ’s use of the word “stuff” in reference to one is my problem. About the only buffet I like anymore is the one at a local Chinese restaurant.

    As for the comment about paying more for something we could make at home, well, let’s face it. There are some dishes that are way too difficult for the average home cook to make, so it is better to try them at a restaurant where the cook is trained to make that dish.

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  39. Chas- I couldn’t agree more that the Antichrist will be a Muslim leader of some sort. Have you read Joel Rosenberg’s trilogy that begins with The Twelfth Imam? Though it is supposed to be fiction, it reads like a current events account. I’ve read the first book, but haven’t started the other two yet.

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  41. I generally order seafood since I haven’t a clue of how to cook it well.

    I’ve been overridden and the whole family (save Stargazer and the graduate) will be here from 5-6. Hillary is baking a cake and I’m supposedly working–next. Bible study ladies sang happy birthday and gave me two pounds of M&Ms. I’m supposed to start the Daniel Plan tomorrow, but I may be too busy editing . . . .

    Thanks all. I’ve now hidden my birthday from FB so should be spared this agony next year! 🙂

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  42. Peter, I have read most of Rosenberg’s books. Including The Twelfth Imam. But it was Shoebat’s logical argument from scripture that convinced me. And the perception that Islam is gaining strength and Europe is weak, and likely will be forever.
    I spent most of my life believing that the Roman Empire would rise again, likely with the help of the Pope. But it wouldn’t matter because we would be raptured and be gone.
    All the Muslims in the area need is for the Sixth Fleet to leave the Mediterranean.

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  43. Happy Birthday, Michelle!!!

    I love eating out and never worry about the quality or cleanliness of the food–I’m just grateful I didn’t have to cook it! But, I agree with some of you about ordering food that is difficult to prepare. I rarely order steak out as Hubby makes it on the grill fairly frequently (and does a great job). When I was growing up, we raised cows and had them slaughtered. That was by far the best steak I’ve ever had. My mom would have them cut thick–absolutely delicious!

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  44. Back in the days when I ate out more frequently than I do now, I would almost always order fish. I especially loved batter-fried, but I can’t eat that anymore, or anything gluten-containing. Broiled fish is still good, or plain meat, vegetables and other naturally gluten-free foods. We also go out for gluten-free pizza occasionally, and I like that.

    Buffet restaurants — we haven’t gone to one in a long time, but they lose money on us. 😉 Those two sons of ours can really eat, and they’re skinny as a rail! Super fast metabolisms. First Arrow recently ate a whole pizza himself (I’m not sure what size) while he was on break at work, and told me that that was just one of the six meals he had eaten that day! We are thankful that he helps pay for a lot of the groceries here. 😉

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  46. We had several out-of-home activities today — hubby took 3rd Arrow to driver’s training and 5th Arrow to a dentist appointment, and I picked up 3rd Arrow after her class was done, then met hubby and 5th Arrow, and we all went home in one vehicle, and left the other one parked on a street in town with a “For Sale” sign in the window.

    4th Arrow (quiet 13-year-old daughter) stayed home with 6th Arrow (chatty 6-year-old daughter). Hubby commented on the way home, “I wonder how it went at home. I bet I know who did all the talking.” 😉

    He also remarked that 6th Arrow has probably said more in her short life than 4th Arrow has ever said. He’s probably right. 🙂

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  49. It’s a big deal Chas. That is a lot of mulch.

    Happy Birthday Michelle!! Enjoy your special day. Have it your way, though it is special for your family to overrule to celebrate you!

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  51. Beautiful day here…had coffee and breakfast with dear friend, then we hiked about 5 miles…the wildflowers in the forest are glorious! Happy Birthday Michelle and Chrissy!

    When Paul and I go out to eat we usually have the same thing…I’ll get the chicken salad or fish and chips, he will get the Philly cheesesteak or BLT at Rosie’s our favorite diner in Monument….we then share 🙂
    We like to go to LaBaguette for a nicer meal…and we both get Steak Dianne…melts in your mouth and the French chef always comes out to see how you like it…and says “bon appetite’ “as he walks away 🙂
    I won’t go to a buffet…too many people touching the same things there!

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  53. I will eat food from a buffet, but it is nice to get there early 🙂 . That is when you get the best choice and fewer people have had a chance to dabble and taste. I think children do that sort of thing sometimes against their parent’s instruction. Some of them just can’t help themselves, “Bless their hearts ” ❤ <3. <3. They want to do right in their hearts but their eyes and tummy can't resist!

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  54. Chas- I spread mulch every time I mow, as I have a mulching blade on the mower. Of course, with the moist grass this time of year I have to clean out the underside of the mower two or three times because it all gets stuck and clogs the blade.

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  55. When I go to a buffet, I get food that the servers have just brought out. That way I know it’s fresh and no one else has touched it.

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  56. I don’t like buffets except for the one at Danny’s Fried Chicken because it is local and I can see in the kitchen. Enough farmers and such eat lunch there that the food it fresh. It is only out from 11-2. I don’t go there much because as you can guess with FRIED in the name…it’s just a heart attack waiting to happen.

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  58. We sent out a survey today. One of my agents said I make them uncomfortable. I can’t figure out how. I have been stewing on this and hour now. I have been replaying every conversation I have had with agents.

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  61. We went to the Cheesecake Factory on Sunday afternoon to celebrate Chrissy’s birthday. She’s been wanting to go for a few years, but we’ve never gotten around to it until now.

    It is what is called “upscale”, & the decor was pretty fancy & ornate, with a few huge pillars here & there. The food was great, & of course, so was the cheesecake.

    I was wondering if the decor is the same in all their restaurants. Anyone know?

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  71. It was anonymous.
    The only thing I don’t like about the Cheesecake Factory is it used to be that their portions were HUGE and I was always in another city where I couldn’t take the leftovers home. I haven’t been there in a long long time.

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  73. Fairly? What? Where is the adventure? Well, fine. The real, you need to refund the money on those….well…you know which ones.

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  74. Kim, when they give you results like that, they are supposed to give you some firm info so you can improve what needs to be improved. Kind of worthless just to say something like that and leave it.

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  81. You may make them uncomfortable for something to do with them, not you. If they’re uncomfortable because you work harder than they do, or are always beautiful or together when they’re scattered, that’s not your issue. You can’t fix something, or apologize, for something you don’t know, so I’d ask the Lord to examine my heart, confess anything that needs confessing, and let it go.

    It’s a cheap shot to not explain.

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  85. I’d never heard of the Cheesecake Factory, and I can see from Donna’s link that we don’t have any around here. If we did, hubby and 2nd Arrow would love to check one out, as they’re big cheesecake fans.

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  86. I have been to the Cheesecake Factory once several years ago. I don’t remember what I had just that it was good. The decor seems like it was as you described. We knew an employee at the upscale location so we were treated very nicely.

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  88. I forget what it was called, but we used to go to an “upscale” ice cream shop that had huge servings. There was a sundae that if you ate it all in a certain amount of time you got it for free. You also ate about 3000 calories of ice cream and toppings in one serving (maybe that’s an exaggeration, maybe it’s a low estimate).

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  90. Peter, you made me go to the freezer and take out my Haagen-Dazs Gelato vanilla bean Italian style frozen dessert. “Fancy” ice cream, or something like that.

    Mmmm.

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  95. Peter, that may be the ice cream shop chain where we went as part of a wedding event for bridesmaids and groomsmen. They had a tremendously long sundae for the group. The bride had been my college roommate. Unfortunately the marriage later ended in divorce. But the giant sundae was quite memorable.

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  102. My birthday is Dec.12. Husband and I went for a nice late dinner at a steak place this past birthday. People at the office aren’t going out as much for birthdays lately.

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  106. notice, one of us stayed out of the way so yapamom could have the thrill of victory. So sorry yapamom. Oh wait, I already got one hundred at fifty two. So sorry six arrows.

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  109. I was out watering the beans and talking with the teens. I only said that because it rhymed. We don’t have teens here, only young adults. Though some times……..

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  112. Yes, that happened as well. They always like to tempt fate and I have to accomodate and then they have to act surprised. The beans do not talk back.

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  117. Wait, when I went to work this morning we were at 50! What happened?? Guess I will have to start reading to see how your day went.
    My van has a new battery and is running again.

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