Smoothies, Books and DAR

I have been a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) for a number of years.  I used to go regularly as the meetings are held at my church and they were in the morning so it all worked out well.  I was even the recording secretary for two years.  There were a dozen or so of us that met and it was a very rich and rewarding time.

Then Bean arrived and I began my time as a child care support person.  That eliminated the morning meetings for me.  I could have taken her but it is quite the distance from her house to church and I wasn't comfortable with it.  So, I gladly gave up the monthly meetings to care of the Bean.  Then Bean started school and I thought "oh, I can attend the morning meetings and still be done in time to get her from school".  Hmm.....they changed them to evening meetings timed right while I was driving home.  So, I haven't made much effort to get there.

Last night, however, a friend of mine from church was being installed and she asked that a number of us who are church/DAR members be there so I high tailed it back to this side of town to get there in time for her installation.  I made it, she got installed, and I realized that I actually missed those meetings.

In the seven years that I have been away, the member ship has grown from just a few to 134!  I don't know how many were there last night but Mitchell Hall was full to the rafters.  It was a much younger group than I remember and very lively.

The program was all about All Church Home -- a FW organization that started out as an orphanage and has become more of a foster care organization.  They do a lot of good work and it is something to be supported.  We also learned of a preservation project that one of our ladies has undertaken.  There is a small, hidden cemetery right around the corner from my house.  My husband discovered it one day and we have been watching it.  The property around it is being cleared for -- wait for it -- a parking lot.  (Sounds like a 60's song!) Apparently our DAR lady got involved, I assume because she feared it might be paved over, which it might have been, and has now saved the cemetery from destruction. We are going to be involved in a project to revitalize the area, cleaning up, doing some painting and planting.  My husband and I were trying to find out the name of the cemetery -- it seems it is Thompson Public Cemetery and quite a few members of the founding families of White Settlement, Texas are buried in this cemetery.  It is quite old, the most recent burial around 1949, and it is comprised of a couple of large families.  It is quite interesting and I will post some photos when my husband and I go poking around some Saturday morning.

I have decided I don't like breakfast.  When I was a youngster it was all my mother could do to get me to eat a piece of toast for breakfast.  Toast and tea -- true to my UK roots.  Then, when my kiddos came along I decided I needed to be a good example since breakfast is supposed to be the most important meal of the day.  Well, I started eating breakfast and I started gaining weight.  I have been reading "Thin Within" and realized that I am not hungry in the morning when I first get up but I eat anyway.  That is not good.  Even when I get hungry I am not ravenous and we eat our big meal at lunch so I don't want to eat a huge breakfast just to not be hungry at lunch.  So, I decided to revisit smoothies.  This morning I had one with yogurt, a little milk, frozen cherries, flax seed, wheat germ, a little cinnamon and some vanilla.  It was lovely.  I was up about an hour and it was just enough to satisfy what little appetite I had.  I think it will carry me through until lunch.

I have been reading a lot lately.  I just started another Agatha Raisin mystery and I just purchased the new Jan Karon offering the other night.  The Agatha Raisin title is "The Day the Floods Came" and the new Jan Karon book is "To Be Where You Are".  I borrowed the Agatha Raisin title from the public library on my kindle so I will be finishing it before I start Karon's novel but I own it and can take my time.  I think it is so clever how we can check out library books on a device.  It makes it so easy and you have them the same time as if you went into the library and checked out the physical book.  AND....you don't have to make the effort to return them.  They just automatically expire -- no rushing to the library to return, no late fees -- it is really nice.

So, that is what I have been up to this week.  I have no idea what the weekend holds -- we shall see.