Comfort? Style? Or Companions?

In the past 13 years the hubby has spent more time living in a hotel than time living in our Kansas home.  He has experienced every Starwood, Hilton and Marriott brand hotel known to man, and can give you detailed descriptions of them all.  

This man is simply the easiest person to please on the face of the earth when it comes to living conditions.  Side note:  he pretty much has to be to endure my slovenly habits.  All that being said, there was one Starwood hotel brand in Baltimore that he absolutely abhorred to the point of near anxiety.  (yes, calm Mr. Coffman.  yes, anxiety).  When driving recently on Oliver near 96 he caught a glimpse of a new hotel being built there and when he saw this same brand he said "I won't be able to drive near Oliver and 96 again".  He was serious!

Hard to believe his least favorite hotel was in the USA considering the accommodations we experienced across the pond in France and Germany.

France.  2008.  In the 12th district of Paris.  See the floor space in this picture?  That's all the floor space in this lovely room.  See that tallish piece of furniture?  It was a combination closet/mini-bar fridge.  So convenient. Room for hanging two items of clothing.  After only one sleepless night spent searching the internet for Marriott hotels in Paris ($$$$$), I marched myself down to the front desk. 

After explaining the difficulties of occupying a room with these minuscule parameters compared to the ample parameters of our bodies, the desk clerk took a look at me, had mercy, and gave us this room: 
Much better. Tiny balcony opened up from the bath.  Right across from the toilet. Odd, but hey the bedroom was considerably larger and way more comfy.  My hips no longer were bruised from hitting the walls trying to walk from the bedroom to the bathroom.  I spent a lot of time in this room while the hubby was working and really appreciated its quality.  Oddly enough one afternoon while waiting for the Mr to arrive after his workday there came a knock at the hotel room door.  I looked out the door's peephole and saw a hotel employee holding a tool box.  When I opened the door and greeted the man it was clear that we had a severe language barrier as he tried to explain why he needed to come into the room for a repair.  He finally was able to come up with 3 English words.  Animatedly waving his arms around he said "Fix your douche".  Hmmm.  That brought me very little comfort but since he was so desperate in his quest to work on SOMETHING, I let him in.  Come to find out, "douche" was our shower.  Who knew?  The shower head needed to be tightened up a bit but we hadn't reported it because to us it was no big deal.  Previous guest must have felt otherwise and complained.   

We found hotel rooms in Germany to be quite a bit larger and more comfortable.  Our first hotel room in Weisbaden was in an older building.  In the process of updating the old hotel to be modern, they needed to add bathrooms to each hotel room.  To do that, they simply put the toilet, shower and sink inside a glass enclosure close by the beds.  Yes.  If you were sharing a room with another person, or happened to have visitors in your room.... all bathroom activity was visible.  Granted, the glass was slightly frosted, but still.  To clarify, I am fully clothed in this picture as I stood in the shower to take my own picture:

Recently when going through old family pictures I came across pictures of a hotel room from the 1980's.  We were on a trip to Arkansas with DeWayne's parents, grandparents, and our two little girls.  His grandpa and grandma never left their Kansas farm to travel anywhere, so this was a big big deal to them. Grandpa in particular made sure everyone we met  knew that we had "four generations of family right here on this trip".  It was so much fun and a really precious memory maker.  Truly, it was a "big big deal" to all of us.

 This picture captures a typical scene in one of our rooms.  Playing Pinochle.  Every single night.  So very much fun.  

Probably our oldest daughter who was maybe 8-ish at the time took this picture.  She and her little sister, maybe 5-ish, spent their time in the hotel room playing "restaurant".  We were served the finest imaginary food known to mankind.  In a little bitty cramped hotel room.  Who knows, the "douche" might have even been in need of repair.  But we didn't care.  

I would have to think that the hotel we used on this Arkansas adventure back in the 1980's was nowhere near as nice as the hotel currently being built near Oliver and 96.  If I were given a choice of re-living any of the above experiences, I would undoubtedly choose the Arkansas trip from the 1980's. Clearly not because of the luxurious hotel accommodations.  Expensive hotel rooms?  No big deal. Spending time with those you love every chance you get?  Priceless.  

Go ahead. Live. Now. (and forever!!)

A few days ago I had lunch with a dear friend.  Over Panera deliciousness, we caught up on life and the goings-on in our individual families.  Always a blessing to hang out with Sandy.  

We both have new camping vehicles and part of our conversation involved our individual trips we have planned as soon as spring arrives. It seems that both of us and our husbands are almost fixated on the need to just go camping.  Just be in the great outdoors.  Breathe the fresh air and let our souls relax and our batteries recharge.  Quality time with our Creator.  

During our chat a random statement left my lips with little thought involved on my part: "I just want to live while I'm still alive."  We chatted a bit longer and then finished up our meals and headed back to work.

Since then I find myself thinking about those words a lot.  Not in a morbid, depressing way.  Just contemplating life's realities.  Never hurts to do that occasionally. The plain truth is, none of us are immune to the possibility of sudden changes that permanently alter life as we know it.   

Temporary.  Every thing your eyes can see.  Every precious possession you think you can't live without.  Every person you can wrap your arms around in a loving embrace.   Every person you can become hatefully angry with and perhaps inflict painful suffering upon without the chance to make it right.  All temporary. I am temporary. You are temporary.   Here today, and possibly gone tomorrow.  

Everything is temporary except.... our one true source of hope, the One who will not be here today and gone tomorrow.  

Jesus knew the meaning of temporary in regard to human life.   Age 33 his earthly life ended on the cross.

But he also defined the word eternal.  Nothing temporary about Jesus.  He conquered death and lives forever in the hearts of those who believe Him, invite Him into their life, and trust His word.  Because of Jesus, we can live. Now...and forever!  

I want to make the most of every day while I'm still alive.  Yes I do. My calendar is filled with upcoming plans that excite me.   At the same time,  my heart is filled with the hope that when the "mist of my life" vanishes, Jesus has my heavenly calendar planned out for all eternity.  With a life that will be far more amazing than anything I could dream or imagine here on planet Earth.  And oh, the indescribable joy of meeting up with my mom and dad, and so very many others.  Some whose lives ended quite unexpectedly and way too young.  Most recently, my sweet great niece Ella Grace, age 9, for one.   If you're reading this, I want you to know I really want to see you there, too,  when the mist of your life vanishes.  

Until then, this is my idea of heaven:  

And....yes.....visiting this lovely location is on my upcoming  calendar of events.  

64 days and counting.

We have reached that part of the year when the short days and long nights start to wear on me.  Just kind of mess with my psyche.  You, too?  

Mid-January every year, I will google "how many days until spring", and come up with stuff like you see in the above picture.  Brings me a bit of hope.

And I start dreaming of camping.  The man of my dreams and I love to go camping.  43 years of marriage has included many camping trips.  Which is kind of remarkable considering the first few years of camping included some challenging trips.  Let's be honest, we had some completely miserable experiences that sucked the fun right out of life.   It's kind of remarkable we're even still married, not to mention still camping.  

One of our first camping trips was at the Ottawa County Fishing Lake in 1976. We  borrowed my sister's old pop-up tent trailer for the weekend and took our precious 6 month old baby girl on her first camping trip.  It was pretty dog-gone exciting to be sleeping sort of indoors instead of on the floor of a leaky tent.  After setting it up a few feet from the lake shore, we tucked our baby into a cozy bed on one end of the pop-up,  and crawled into our own bed on the other side.  Probably no more than 4 feet away from her.  Tiny little tent trailer. Which eased my mind that we'd be close by if she cried. Practically arms length.  

Regardless of the local weather forecast, camping in Kansas often involves a little rain.  This particular trip was no exception.  The usual loud impressive display of lightning and thunder was accompanied by torrential rains and of course wind.  The storm woke us up and we were just so very happy to be inside a warm, dry pop-up trailer.  Shortly after the storm began we heard our little girl crying and as was our custom we let her cry for just a little bit thinking she'd go back to sleep.  Well that was not to happen so I got out of bed and reached over to her bed to comfort her.  But I couldn't seem to reach her.  She was screaming bloody murder by that time and I asked DeWayne if he could reach her.  

He couldn't reach her.   We couldn't see her when the lightning flashed enough to light up the trailer. (yes, a flashlight would have been a brilliant thing to have that night)  The baby continued to scream, from some unknown location. How do you lose a 6 month old baby inside a miniscule pop-up tent trailer?  I started to scream too.  One frightened mommy.

Not really knowing where else to look, and with panic setting in, we finally left the camper and went outside into the pouring torrential rain.  As we walked around to the side of the camper closest to the rising lakewater, there was our crying baby.  Somehow while in her bed she had rolled up against the canvas wall of the trailer and slid out between the bed and the canvas, dropping probably 3 feet onto the wet rainy ground.  No injuries, just wet and cold.  I can't describe the relief we felt to hold her close and know she was unharmed.  

My memory of the rest of that night is vague but I wouldn't be a bit surprised if we just packed up in the car and drove back home to sleep.  That's the perk of camping 8 miles from home.  There were probably more trips home to sleep than mornings when we woke up still at the lake in our early years of camping.  

And still....we camp.  Sometimes we even take a flashlight.

  

Are you wondering what this lovely picture is?  I took it last year while on a camping trip.  At a campground sewage dump station.  A few feet from this scene the hubby was emptying our holding tank.  Campers can find the beauty in just about anything.   And endure just about anything.  To quote the man of my dreams, "You just gotta have a sense of adventure."  And I might add.....an RV helps. 

Sixty four days.  In a few minutes the clock strikes midnight and it will be sixty three days.  I just want to go camping.  

Ebay lessons and Cabbage.

It's been a week of education for Simply B in the fine art of using Ebay to purchase stuff.  I'm a relative newby, just mainly buying stuff outright and not bidding on it.  But this week I decided to bid on Castillian plates to add to the 2 that were given to me from my mom's kitchen.   And I learned a vital lesson.   Once you place a bid on an Ebay item, you may well win that bid.  And once you win that bid....well....you pay for the item and it's yours.  It's a contract of sorts.  I guess I thought I'd win the bid then be able to decide if I really wanted them.  So far I have 10 Castillian plates.  There may be more on the way, who knows.  I kind of got carried away once the bidding started.  Wow.  No biggie.  I guess.  Haven't checked our bank account balance.  Perhaps I should.  😅

So anyway, today I find myself surrounded by dinner plates that remind me of my sweet mom.  Submerged in nostalgia thanks to an Ebay oops.  

For several years of our early married life we lived next door to my mom.  From the time our children were born until they were 9 and 6, we were neighbors. Mom was our babysitter while I worked at the local hospital, and it was just the best set up ever. Win/win for all of us. The girls formed a really close bond with Mom, and I know it was a blessing for  Mom to have them there.  She was widowed at 57 and I think my girls gave her a lot of needed love and laughter.  And she reciprocated.  

Those years were such a treasure.  It was a delight to live next door to her.  

Often I'd hear the phone ring and answer it to hear Mom say something like "You just have to come over here and taste this dish I made for my supper".  I didn't really have to ask the ingredients because always it was some sort of vegetable dish.   That woman loved her veggies.  One of her favorite sandwiches was two pieces of buttered bread with sliced onions between.  Yeah, I can't embrace that one, not at all.   

I'll admit that during my formative years, I wasn't always on the same page as my mom when it came to her taste in food.  Turnips, celery, radishes, cucumbers, onions.... just to name a few.  She really never met a vegetable she didn't like.  Kind of like I am with, uh, cookies.  

Mom also loved cabbage.  Dad did not love cabbage.  Dad did not even like cabbage. Let's get to the point, Dad detested cabbage.  Mom loved to just boil up wedges of cabbage and then top it with  butter and salt/pepper.  On days she did this, Dad would walk in the door, breathe in the scent of cooked cabbage, and say "Who died in here? Did someone get sick?".  Such a tender family moment.  😁


My taste buds have morphed over the years and I now find myself loving vegetables of all sorts.  As well as, uh, cookies.  

Cabbage and I have kissed and made up.  Last year sometime I came across a recipe on Pinterest for Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls.  Tweaked it a little and it has become a favorite for me and the hubby.  Seriously, he begs me to make it!!  So easy, so quick, and the leftovers are fabulous.  And, bonus, it's kind of healthy-ish.  It's kind of like comfort food and perfect for cold winter evenings.  So I thought I'd share it with you:

Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls

1 pound ground beef

1 pound sausage (like Jimmy Dean's regular) (or just use all ground beef if you like) (but it's tastier with sausage)

1 large onion, chopped

2 - 4 cloves of garlic, minced (mmmm good, you can never have too much garlic)

1 bag of shredded cole slaw mix (the kind with carrots in it) (16 oz, I think)

2 (14 oz) cans of diced tomatoes

1 (8 oz) can of tomato sauce

1/2 cup beef broth, or chicken broth, or veggie broth. (can add more if desired)

2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp Old Bay seasoning (or celery salt, paprika) (or any seasoning salt type stuff you might have on hand)

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Heat a Dutch oven or a large skillet.  Brown the beef and sausage together, with the garlic and onion added.  Drain the grease.  Add the cole slaw mix, tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, seasonings.  Bring it to a boil.  Put a lid on it and let it simmer 30 minutes or until the cabbage is cooked to suit you.  

I serve it over rice.  Not necessary to do so, but I like it that way.  

And it's really a meal in one pan.  Can't beat that!  Maybe just add, uh,  cookies for dessert and you're good to go.  

One recipe may or may not make 10 Castillian plates worth of food.  But I am so excited for my next big family meal to use these new treasures.  Who knows, there may be more plates by then.  Party at B's!!  

HGTV and contentment

Do you watch HGTV?  House Hunters, Flip or Flop, or my favorite Fixer Upper? I'm guessing you have watched at least one episode of these shows, as well as perhaps Property Brothers, HH International, etc.  I'll be honest, I love to watch this channel.  No real political undertones, no real drama, and no disgusting commercials that would make you hope your grandkids aren't watching, and make you wish you weren't watching.  Ick.  (talking about you, Sports Networks).  HGTV is just stuff about home.  Home is a precious topic for most everyone.  

House Hunters does kind of rattle my cage sometimes, though.  Do these folks walking through these homes ever stop to think that the same features and decor that are on their "must haves" list will soon, VERY soon, be seen as ghastly and outdated?  Someday someone may perhaps walk into their new beautiful home and gasp in horror at their outdated granite countertops and "open concept".  Like probably within 5 years of purchase if I'm a betting person.  Makes me shake my head.  

In 2006 we made a trip to Guatemala for a few days.  One of the days our group took a tour bus from Guatemala City to Antigua.  The driver did a great job of making sure we got a good picture of life in Guatemala.  It's a beautiful country with beautiful people, and the city of Antigua is fascinating.  Before we arrived in the historical area of Antigua we drove through a residential area.  The driver stopped in a couple places so we could see how the locals live.  

This picture depicts a typical neighborhood for the average Guatemalan family according to our driver.  We saw enough areas of similar living conditions that I believe him.  

I want to show you a picture of another home there:

Are you wondering where the home is?  It's the structure with corrugated metal walls and door, and a large gap between the wall and corrugated tin roof.  There was an electrical extension cord draped over the wall.  My picture taking didn't include the entire structure.  Because my eyes, and my heart, were drawn to this part of the scene:

A little boy opening the door to his home.  This is where he lives.  This is home. This is precious to him.  If you look closely you can see a gorgeous smile.  What a beautiful child.  The word "contentment" comes to mind.  Don't get me wrong, life in Guatemala is difficult and the living conditions are often tragic.  My heart broke many times during the days we were there.

But contentment shouldn't depend upon circumstances.  Or granite countertops. Or square feet of living space.  "....I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Phil 4:11.  (I would emphasize the word "learned")   

"For if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that."  1 Tim 6:8.  

My favorite scripture on the subject is found in Hebrews 13:5 "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said:  Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."  What more could we possibly need?  

Contentment is possible.  Might need to turn off HGTV to achieve it, though. 

Odd treasures & remarkable gadgetry

I'll start this post with the "remarkable gadgetry" section of the title.  

We moved into this house and found these toilet paper holders.  

 

These qualify as remarkable because you simply slide the toilet paper roll onto the rod.  No need to dislodge a spring loaded, annoying toilet paper holder rod, reload a new roll, and then struggle to push that spring loaded bar back over before the new roll flies off.  Quick, easy, and eliminates the need for ugly loud verbiage leaving your lips.  Possibly in the middle of the night when you're trying to just sleep through a trip to the bathroom.  

One could also say this gadget could be remarkable in eliminating the need for undue stress in relationships.   Even preventing marriage counseling, divorce court, possibly justifiable homicide.  See the pictures below:

 Everyone has their opinion on how the 
toilet paper should be placed on the rod, but here's mine.  And it's the right opinion.  😀  I'm not going to describe why I'm right because to me it seems obvious.  

How does this gadget save marriages?  Because before you have time to mumble "who put the toilet paper on wrong" under your breath you can just whip that roll off the rod and quickly turn it around.  You can even sleep through the whole process.  I can testify.  Bottom line:  It no longer matters how the toilet paper is placed on its holder!! Remarkable!!!

And now for the odd treasures section of this post:

At first glance this just seems like a random collection of insignificance.  Not so in B's simple world.  These are treasures handed down from my mother's kitchen to me after her death in 1993.  The plates are her last purchase from one of the dinnerware sales that Boogaarts had back in the day.  You know, you spent X amount of dollars on groceries and got a plate real cheap?  I love this plate pattern but she only was able to buy a couple plates before her health failed and she passed away.   I've found selections of this particular pattern of dinnerware (see the picture of the back of the plate for details)  on EBAY and someday I may choose to part with the coins required to purchase the rest of the set.  In the meantime, on special meals for me and my beloved I pull these two plates out.         The knives and fork were part of the free gifts you would get at the Citizen's National Bank when you deposited money in savings.  Clearly Mom didn't have a lot of money to deposit as these are the only gifts she received.  But these are awesome knives!  She probably got them back in the 1970's and they are still sharp and quite useful.  You can't underestimate the value of a good knife.  My favorite  one of my favorite sons-in-law and I were just discussing this fact when we were preparing the Christmas meal last week.  Yes, WE!!  He's an awesome cook!!

Next I give you this quirky treasure:

 The coolest, most useful pie spatula ever.  Note the subtle serrated edge for slicing the pie, and the sharp pokey-deals that are good for, well, mainly stabbing your fingers when you try to remove it from the dishwasher rack.  

But my favorite part of this treasure is the words engraved on the spatula:  FARMERS ELEVATOR CO.  Niles, Kansas.  Is there still an elevator in Niles, Kansas?  If there is, it's probably the last remaining business in that small stop in the road.  Back in the first decade or so of my parents' married life they resided just a couple miles down the road from Niles and bought groceries there.  Niles probably never qualified as a booming town of any sort, but it's sure enough just a stop in the road now.  Many folks belonging to my family heritage are buried in the cemetery there.  

Yesterday we spent the day with our youngest daughter and my favorite son in law one of my favorite sons-in-law.  Playing games.  And to  my sheer delight we used this, the most precious of my collection of quirky treasures:

My dad's old set of dominoes.  Circa 1960 or so.  Check out the red duct tape that holds the original packaging together and has held up for decades.  And we use a rubber band to close it as the original snap is history.   I can't even begin to tell you all the wonderful memories this set of dominoes generates.  So many hands have touched these dominoes.  If these dominoes could talk, they'd tell you about a lot of laughs and fun times.  And I might add, a lot of "you played that wrong" from my Dad. 

Before the days of more than 3 fuzzy-pictured TV stations to watch, we spent a lot, let me emphasize A LOT OF TIME playing dominoes.  It's a 4-person game and often I was the 5th person so the other 4 were subjected to listening to me play piano while they played.  

Or while they'd play dominoes, I'd lose myself in something like this:

This was my Mom's favorite way to pass time. ONLY Dell brand crosswords, no substitutes.   And let me tell you, that woman was flat out a word wizard.  Sure there were pages of solutions to the puzzle in the back of the book.  Believe me when I tell  you:  SHE DIDN'T NEED THEM!!!  The last time I walked into my Mom's house to visit her before she passed away, she was sitting as usual in her recliner doing a crossword puzzle.  She looked up from her puzzle book and her smiling face lit up at the sight of me coming through her door.   "Well Hi there Bunny it's so good to see  you".  That is a picture in my mind that I don't want to ever lose.  Wow, I miss her.  Little teary even right now as I write these words.  

Life's simple pleasures, handed down from my mom and dad.  Odd treasures. From quirky folks.  And I might add the remarkable gadgetry of the above toilet paper holder could have possibly eliminated an argument or two in my childhood home.   For the life of me I can't recall which way they wanted the toilet paper hung.  But the fact remains....my opinion on the subject is correct.  Period.  👍