Listenin' to the music...

Sam and I are on a road trip.

We've been driving around
our old stomping grounds
in Oklahoma.

All the while
we've been listening
to some great music:
The Eagles, Doobie Brothers,
Carly Simon, Carole King,
Darlene Zschech (Hillsong),
Creedence Clearwater Revival,
America, Bread, and many others.

It is so fun.

And when the weather hasn't been too warm, we've had the top down.
It is so fun.

I'll blog more about our trip soon.

(We drive home tomorrow.)
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Right now I want to talk about the music.
THIS Friday night (Sept. 30)
- from 6 to 9 -
you can go to Central Market
in Southlake and hear (and see) SOUL SHAKE... LIVE!
They do a lot of the songs
we've listened to on our road trip.
And they (SOUL SHAKE) are GREAT!!
And I know them!!! Very well!!!

I'm the mother of one of them!!! (The lead guitar player.) (You'll know which one is my son, because the other guys, well, they look like his uncles.)(And the gals look like his aunts.)

SOUL SHAKE is a great group. Not just musically, but personally.

And they are so fun.

So this Friday night at Central Market in Southlake (6-9) - go and hear some great music... and have a nice meal, too. (Out on the 'patio' on the east side.) (Order food inside.)
And then you can pick up some groceries.

Click HERE to go to their Facebook page.
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In closing, here's a quote I really like...

"A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself."
—Abraham Maslow

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(I put a new poll this morning.)

Monday Random...

Sam and I saw MONEYBALL Friday. Not being much of a baseball fan I wasn't too excited about seeing it. It was the only thing showing when we could go, so I thought, 'I have to spend my time somewhere, might as well be seeing this movie.'
(Life is rough.)

I used to like Brad Pitt more than I do now. His leaving his wife for Angelina Jolie just didn't sit well with me. And now he and Angelina are having all these children, and not getting married, and well, I just don't like it.
Call me old-fashioned.

But the movie was VERY good, I must say. At first it seemed slow, and not so good, but then it got VERY GOOD. I'd recommend it.
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On a completely different note, Sam bought a pre-owned convertible! We were going to take it on a trip last week, but it has been in 'the shop' (with wheel/tire problems) so we're doing the 'staycation' thing again.
(Though I think we're going somewhere soon (maybe this afternoon).)
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Well, our weekly suppers with family have kind of fallen by the wayside lately. I guess I need to make them more of a priority... because I do love them.

I especially love seeing these three little ones...

That's little Anna. She's 10 1/2 months old now. That tells you that she can get around! And usually she's smiling!

This next sweet girl is Anna's big sister, Caroline...

She won't be five until December, and she can already color like that! (I'm so impressed.)
She's also starting to read!

Their brother, Andrew, is three...

... and he likes to eat with his alligators and other lizards nearby.
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Finally, on this beautiful early fall day, here is a quote I like....

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.
~George Washington Carver

I don't know if Shiloh likes my Nook...

... but I know he likes me.

And I adore him.

For today, here are some dog-things...

Dogs lead a nice life. You never see a dog with a wristwatch.
--George Carlin

If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.
-- Harry S. Truman

"A boy can learn a lot from a dog: obedience, loyalty, and the importance of turning around three times before lying down."
- Robert Benchley

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
---Groucho Marx

Crunch... and Cap

As you may know, my current poll has do to with chips.

I heard a while back that you can enhance any vegetable casserole with a topping of crushed potato chips and drizzled melted butter.
And I found it to be true!

Well, I would bet that you could enhance any casserole with crushed potato chips AND Fritos with melted butter. (I like eating Fritos and potato chips together, don't you?)

And what about Cheetos? I'll bet they would make a good crust on any casserole.

('Course you might have to take some heavy-duty cholesterol medicine.)
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A few years ago I saw on one of the local news channels a segment on how to make a super easy cornbread dressing for Thanksgiving. It had Fritos in it!!!!
I (and Will and Laura) gave it a try.
It was FANTASTIC.
For the Fritos Cornbread Stuffing Recipe, click that. 
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I'm really thinking that ANY crunchy thing (crackers, tortilla chips, etc.) would make a good topping for a casserole.

And any crunchy sweet thing (like cookies, sweet cereal) would be good crushed and spread on, say, cheap vanilla ice cream.
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On this food note: I've known people who like to 'enhance' cheap pizza slices by dipping them in Worchestershire Sauce.... and/or Ranch dressing.
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I know my clever blog readers have some clever tips for enhancing all kinds of regular foods.
I'd love for you to share if you'd like!
Click 'Comment' and have at it.  (Or leave a comment on Facebook... whatever!)
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If you haven't taken my chip poll please do (upper right - totally anonymous).
It will be over soon.
Thanks.
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On a TOTALLY different note, the handsome fella in the right picture in my header (if you're reading this post the time it was posted), who is holding a dear little Andrew, has a birthday Friday.
Happy Birthday, Cap!!!!!!!!!!
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Here's another picture I like of him...
 

That's Cap with his dear Grandmother.

Again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CAP!!!
(His birthday is Friday, Sept. 23.)

Tuesday Tune Up...

This really is not a serious tune-up post... just some signs and stuff I thought were cute.
(I think they're worth a smile, anyway.)

What got me started on this was a little sign Will put up on Facebook. He took this picture today at Barnes and Noble...

Well, rats. I don't think you can read it.
It says "Self-Improvement has moved to the end of Romance".
(I thought that was funny.)
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I took these next pictures throughout the last year...

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Finally, I saw this next sentence on a truck the other day...

“Outdoor barbecues should have Fritos and Cheetos, but never Mosquitos.”

Speaking of that... please take my latest poll.
Thanks.

Sic 'Em...

Well, 'Sic 'Em' apologetically.

I feel bad for Stephen F. Austin University.

Baylor beat them last night 48-0.

And there was lightning in Waco, so the last 2 halves (halfs?) were shortened to 12 minutes each, AND half-time was completely cancelled!!
That meant that our nephew, Josh, wasn't going to play his trombone in the Baylor Golden Wave Marching Band!!!

'Course it was hard to be sad, since lightning meant possible much-needed RAIN!!!!!!
(Still I wanted to watch Josh in the band).

Here are some pictures...

The next morning (this morning) Pat served us a delicious breakfast...

Before breakfast was served I drove over to Carla's for a hug.
Here we are last June...

I also got a hug from her kids Kenzie and Dylan ... who were at the game last night...(this picture is from early August)....

Kenzie wore that green cowboy hat last night at the game. (I'd given it to her!)

We got home this afternoon... and as I type these very words, are enjoying the sound of thunder in our ears.
!!!!!

No IHOP?!

Some people eat to live and others live to eat.
As many of you know I fall into the latter category.

This Monday I went over to McKinney to take my dear cousin Audrey out to eat breakfast. We like to get together every now and then and since there's an IHOP which is just a skip and a HOP from her place, well, that was our destination. And we were both looking forward to it. Also Audrey's husband was looking forward to us bringing him some delicious pancakes.

We drive up ... and they're closed for remodeling! Rats. My taste buds were all set and everything.

I knew Audrey would know of a Plan B.
Sure enough.
But she warned me, "Nancy, this place is REALLY Far Right." Hmm. That intrigued me. Though I am pretty conservative I don't consider myself Far Right. And I've never considered Audrey Far Right.

Would we fit in?

I guess we did because they served us!
We both had the Texas Taco Omelette with biscuits and gravy. It wasn't IHOP pancakes, but it was DELICIOUS!! Oh my goodness.

Of course I had to take some pictures of this place...

This was our waitress's back...

All of the workers wore those T-shirts.

This is their bumper sticker...

This is an antique horoscope 'machine' that was behind me (yes, now you've seen everything)....

And here is Audrey...

The color on this picture is awful ... and she looks better than this. But I love her new hairdo!

We had a great visit together. We always do.

Click HERE to go to her blog.
She has been through some horrible stuff in the past several years... and you can read about it (thought not all of it) on her blog.... or you can ask me and I'll tell you the best I can!

"The most interesting person you'll ever meet"...

... that's how a friend described Sam to me back in 1977 when I started dating him.

Here are some interesting facts:

He took flying lessons when he was 16 and got his pilot's license when he was 18. Later he got his multi-engine commercial instrument license.

He started Baylor as a pre-med major, then switched to business, then his junior year (after a life-changing summer - which I'll tell you about someday) he became a religion major with a Greek minor. Soon he found out he had a knack for Greek so he made his major Greek and religion his minor.

While in college he got interested in magic. Not black magic, but magic tricks he could use to share the Gospel of Christ. He really got good at magic and became a member of a professional magicians group (I forget the name.) After we married I became his assistant at every magic show he did. (I dressed modestly, though.) (And yes, I know his tricks, but I'm sworn to secrecy.)

Other interesting stuff: he had the first computer of anybody at Southwestern Seminary. He got it in 1978. Ever since then he's kept up with all the latest stuff on computers... which is no small feat.

There's more... but I better stop. (If you're like me, when you see a long wordy blog-post you say, "I'll read that later." ... I rarely do.)

I'll leave you with some random pictures.
(Two notes on them: Sam is the littlest one in the first two pictures. ... and I think that is Alex Bargley in the picture of the person (Alex) that's getting ready to have his head cut off.)

(Alex survived, thank goodness.)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HONEY!!!!!!!!
(Sam's birthday is tomorrow - Sept. 15.)

Random Random...

Okay.
I've decided that for a while I'll keep that particular header thing up (that says in light green letters 'Welcome to Nancy's Nook').  I love it.  (If you need to know who those people are and just how I'm related to them you can ask.)  (One thing for sure: they're some of my most favorite people in the whole wide world.) 

Having a header with photographs is fun... but I don't know when to stop.  Do I change it every time I blog?  Clearly I decided this time not to ... but what about next time?  
You can see that blogging opens up a whole new set of decisions for a decision-making-challenged person such as myself.
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Now on to my next subject: Will's band!! EARLY MORNING CREATURES is their name. (That's kind of ironic since Will has never been known to be an 'early morning creature'. (I couldn't resist saying that.))

We went to Arlington Saturday night to watch him play.
It was a battle of the bands, but I just knew that EARLY MORNING CREATURES weren't going to win. It was a country band contest... and well, Will's band didn't even look country. (But, oh they looked and sounded GREAT.)

Here are some pictures....

Did you notice that in one of those pictures Will is playing the harmonica while playing the guitar?!
Yes... so that was country!

Sam and I thought we'd be the old folks in the crowd at that place. Turns out we weren't.
It was a saloon (really) and 'old country' was the type of songs mostly played (I gathered from the clientele).
Ah, but the agent there that set up the battle of the bands happens to set up all kinds of battles (classic rock, etc.) ... and he asked EARLY MORNING CREATURES if they could play for him again. !!!!!
Also, one of the judges wanted them to play for him again, too!!!

Of course, Sam and I weren't surprised.

They sounded AWESOME.

(You can 'like' them on facebook... just click HERE to go there.)
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So as not to leave you without any Treasure Tuesday, here's a picture Sam got one day. It's one of his treasures for sure...

Sam says, "It says it all."

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My next post will probably be about my most interesting breakfast with my dear cousin Audrey...
...unless I wait on that -till just the right time - and decide on another topic.
(Decisions, decisions!!)