Third Monday

Today was Third Monday at the First United Methodist church; that's when all of the ladies Circles join together for their monthly meeting, then have lunch. I've always wondered if Third Monday is a local thing or a Methodist thing - but those ladies are serious about their third Monday of the month.

Anyhoo, I cooked lunch for the Third Monday ladies today and it's something that I truly enjoy doing, we had Chicken & Cornbread Casserole, Green Beans, Baked Apples and Rolls. They are always so sweet and complimentary, I think many of them live alone and no longer cook and particularly enjoy a "home cooked" meal.

It's Fall Break around these parts and I haven't been worth shooting; Rea has been gone on a church mission trip, Danny left me and went out of town for work and I've been home - completely ALONE. Sadly, they both found their way back and have returned with dirty laundry and have commenced to messing up my house again. I kid, I kid...I might have missed them just a tad.

I took the chance while they were gone to drive down to Chattanooga and visit with Syd and do a little shopping; we had a nice time though she doesn't appreciate my "feel your way around" method of getting from point A to B at.all. That girl is GPS dependent; and there is going to be hell to pay if that thing dies on her one day, cause she's not going to have a clue as to how to get home. I'm thinking we may have to wean her off of it...

You'd think after all these years that driving I-24 over Monteagle would get old, but I still get a little thrill out of it - guess I'll never grow up. And trust me, I would NEVER want to see anyone get hurt or be in the way of those big trucks, but is it just me or would somebody else like to see a truck run into one of those run-away truck lanes? Just sayin'.

Confessions from a Non-Hoarder

I don't know about you, but I've become more than a little intrigued with the reality shows about hoarders. I've got my Nameless DVR set to record both "Hoarding: Buried Alive" and "Hoarders" and watch them with equal parts of morbid fascination and repulsion – it's little like driving by a horrible car wreck, I just can't resist the temptation to look, then wonder why I'm totally mortified by the scene.

The homes and the people on those shows are seriously my worst nightmare and I catch myself holding my breath as I watch; I don't know how those family members don't manage go completely postal and rush in armed with corn scoops and a plethora of lawn sized trash bags and do a cleaning intervention.

I'll admit that watching those hoarding shows has compelled me to do a little house cleaning of my own – specifically closets and drawers. I like clean surfaces: kitchen counters, tables, washer & dryer and desks. The downside of this "need" of mine is that I often shove whatever offending clutter that is lying in my eyesight into the nearest drawer or closet and I'm here to tell you that it's not always an efficient system.

So, I've been taking a few minutes here and there and cleaning out some of the spaces that I'm the worst about shoving stuff into. Today, it was the laundry room closet. I bagged up some old towels to donate at church, organized all of the "fancy" shopping bags that get saved, refolded all of the cloth napkins and got all of the first aid items back into their basket home.

I'm guessing that I might also need to do something with the bank statements, bills and church newsletter from a month ago that I discovered amongst the cat food and the plastic grocery bags. Ahem.

And Rea, the strap to your trumpet case…I remember now where I put it.