Marvelous ladies bookclub

April 19, 2010

Two hours ago, I just got home from our monthly book club meeting and I'm always amazed at the in depth discussions we have on the books we have chosen to read for that particular month.

The book that we read for this month, April 2010 was "The Help." It was a very interesting story and we had a wonderful discussion. It was about black maids in the south that worked for white women. It was during the 50's and 60's, and for a northern girl like me, a "Yankee" I learned more than I thought I knew about that era.

I grew up in the 50's and 60's; however, being from Davenport, Iowa which is a Northern state, I was somewhat unaware of how the south still felt about integration/segregation and how the black and white people had to put up with these issues. I knew, of course, about Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks not being able to sit on the back of the bus and Brown vs. Board of Education simply from history since I lived in that era. I did go to Jr. High and High school with black kids and I remember an incident with the football players, one being black and the other being white and the fight they had that broke the trophy display case and how they were suspended for a day or two.

This novel was written by Kathryn Stockett who was raised in Jackson, Mississippi.

The novel took place in Jackson, MS. She told the story about 2 black women and 1 white woman. The white woman wanted to interview the black maids as to what it was like to work for a white family. The story has many characters and the author tells the story about what it was like to be in the south during the 60s as she is interviewing the 2 black maids.

It is a wonderful story that tells about what the black women had to go through to work for the white people and about their lives in general.

I recommend this book. It was educational for me as well as entertaining and a good read.

The ladies in my book club are just as entertaining and full of stories of their own and I always learn something when I go.

One of the reasons I started to go to the book club was so that I would pick up a book and read more as it never was a passion of mine. I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

The majority of the ladies are friends from the church I go to. Over the past few years since our group has started, we have added new ladies to our group which makes it very worthwhile.

I always learn something from almost every one of them and come home with knowledge of something I haven't known before. Isn't that what life is about?

We never leave the group without having a little chit chat and laughing about something someone says that strikes all of us as being funny.

We are a Great Group! Now, I am hooked.

I recommend joining a book club if you haven't already. I know you will like it.

Also, pick up the book, "The Help" at your library or you can purchase it at your local bookstore. Happy Reading. Good night.

Mark's Birthday

April 17, 2010

Our younger son, Mark, is 36 today! My, where does the time go. My mom always told me time flies by the older you get. I truly believe that now that I am older myself.

Mark was born at Stormont Vail Hospital at 1:55 p.m. in the afternoon. He was 8 lbs. and 4 oz. I'm sorry to say, without looking at his baby book, I can not remember how tall he was at birth. He is over 6 foot now. What joy there was at our home when we brought him home. In those days, you stayed in the hospital a few days before you had to come home. That was nice. You could bond with your baby a little while and enjoy him being with you.

Mark is a fun loving son and I like to think he takes after me quite a bit. He loves to laugh with me when we watch something funny together. He will laugh out loud where his Dad just chuckles to himself sometimes. We enjoy going to see Science Fiction type movies (Startrek, Starwars, Avatar). We also enjoy good movies that involve true life stories like Blind Side or Romantic comedies or some that are slapstick, silly and fun to watch.

Mark is an artist and loves to doodle with some fun pictures of art. I would call it somewhat modern art.

Today, we plan to go to the downtown area and view some art work by different folks and see what they have to offer. I know we will have a fun time meandering and enjoying the sites of the downtown area. Topekans are trying to revamp the downtown area and make it attractive for visitors to come and enjoy.

Myron and I will then take him out to the restaurant of his choice and have dinner. Then Myron has a surprise for him later.

Being pregnant with my two boys was the best time of my life. I never had morning sickness except maybe one time. I did have a bad backache though. The backache was the only thing that bothered me. I feel bad for some of the new moms now that have such morning sickness that they have to take medication to help keep their stomachs settled.

Have a great day everyone and enjoy the view wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

Sally's First Scriptural Blog

April 13, 2010

Scripture Verse for the Day:

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens Me.

For some of us, we tend to think that we can't do everything that Jesus wants us to do and we have negative attitudes about things and we whine that we can not do it. When we let Jesus enter our hearts and our minds, we can do anything through Him if we just ask.

We can plant flowers. We can climb mountains if we ask him. We can help our neighbor by being kind, by doing them a favor if they need it. We can feed the hungry by donating food to the local food pantry. We can visit the sick. We can even pray for others as well as ourselves in times of need.

These are things Jesus calls us to do.

Spring is the best time of the year for me along with the autumn season of the year.

There is a young couple in church that would like to start a community garden at church. I am thinking of being in this group. I might learn something new that I don't already know. Then, too, I may be able to use some of my wisdom and share that with the group.

I am an amateur gardener. There are still a lot of things I need to learn how to do and grow. I love to plant flowers and veggies for my garden. I love to walk with my friends at the Farmer's Market in downtown Topeka.

This weekend, my husband and two friends will be taking a road trip to Henry's Plant Farm which is a little bit west and south of us. We have never been there so we are looking forward to a fun little trip and time for friendship and conversation. We will be purchasing plants and maybe some veggies to put in the garden that will be ready to plant now.

I told my hubby (he is not a shopper) if he didn't want to look at plants that he could walk around the garden area they have there and enjoy the country air. Maybe he can read a book on a garden bench for a while.

Have a great weekend everyone. Smile, it is a healthy thing for you to do. You may make someone else's day and give them some of your sunshine!! :)

Things for which I am Thankful

The things I am truly thankful for are believing in a God who loves me and accepts me for who I am no matter what. He calls me to do things that call for action and commitment in my community and beyond.

I am thankful for a wonderful family of church friends who would be there for me if I needed any one of them at any given time.

I am thankful for a loving husband and funny person with whom I laugh with on a daily basis and someone who has shown me the scriptures and shared with me his faith.

I am truly thankful for a loving family, my sons, daughter-in-law and granddaughter.
For they bring me joy and love.

As you celebrate the simple holiday of Thanksgiving this week, remember how the pilgrims and the indians shared their harvest with each other and be an example to those in the community who need your love and support.

Remember to pray a prayer for the less fortunate and to help them out when you can this upcoming season.

Rejoice

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. This is one of my favorite verses. I try to be as positive as I can be but there are times I am reminded that I think in the negative sometimes and I need to pull myself out of that bad habit.

Jesus loves us just as we are and we can come to him as we are. That means that positive or not, happy or sad, he will love us and take care of us no matter what happens. When we come to him in solitude and prayer and we do it on a daily basis, he listens and will answer our needs.

So strong should our faith be that we have no doubts about being with him in eternity. After all, we are in this world, not of it. We are living, breathing and doing in Christ's kingdom.

We wish to do things for others because Jesus asked us to do that.

Have a great day everyone and please blog with us.

Sally gal

Olympic Gold

How many of us watch the Olympics? What great feats do we see? How many great athletes are there in this world? It's amazing! Every year the Olympics come on, I am intrigued by the strength and endurance of the athletes around the world. Their endurance, their strength, their incredibility, how much it takes for them to get there.

We are seeing a phenom this year in the swimmer of Michael Phelps. He is breaking all kinds of records and coming home with medal after medal.

Enjoy the day and the Olympics while they are on and we will dream of the day when our great nephew may be the next swimmer we see beat some records that have been established.