Written for Natalie’s Weekend Coffee Share
HAPPY ALMOST VALENTINE’S DAY
Today is Vince and my 28th Anniversary of our First Date. Our date today – Cottonwood for lunch. Cottonwood’s old downtown has turned into a popular tourist area.
We ate at the Old Tavern Grill on Main Street. I had salad and chili with filet mignon (oooh la la) and Vince enjoyed a fish sandwich with spicy coleslaw.
Weather
It was 47 degrees this morning, a big improvement from 17 degrees a few weeks ago. YAY
Fitness & Exercise
Even though I forgot to wear my Fitbit after charging it yesterday, I’ve still managed to walk 10,000 steps (per Fitbit count) every day since returning to Arizona from my California trip. I haven’t done so well with yoga.
Reading
Books finished since my last Coffee Share
- Bookstore Sisters by Alice Hoffman,
- Above the Bay of Angles by Rhys Bowman.
- Have You Seen Luis Velez? by Cathey Ryan.
- This Place of Wonder by Barbara O’Neal,
- A Curve in the Road by Julianne MacLean,
- What Child is This? by Rhys Bowman, and
- Merciful Truth by Kendra Elliot. All of these books were free with Prime – not Kindle Prime, which costs extra every month. I enjoyed them all.
Yesterday I ordered the complete works of Charles Dickens on Kindle for $0.99. It includes the five novellas that we can choose for the #DickensChallenge that started February 7th (his birthday) and runs through June 9th (the anniversary of his death). I’m starting on a romance, The Battle of Life, once it loads. Right now my screen is white, which scares me a bit. It must have been too much data for my Kindle. I added it to my computer instead and removed it from my Kindle. Immediate relief!
I’ve also been reading a Chronological Bible and I’m almost caught up after my trip. Joseph’s trials of being sold into slavery and becoming the next in power under the Pharoh dominated February so far. Seamlessly 400 years passed and the entire clan became slaves.
As I read, I wondered why the sons of Joseph’s generation didn’t take his bones, like he asked them to, and move back to Canaan. It would have saved them and Moses a lot of headaches and heartaches. Even the brothers could have taken their tribes and moved back after the seven years of famine were over. Canaan must have been fairly unoccupied right after the famine.
Do you ever wonder why Biblical (and other) characters made the choices they did and wonder how history might have changed because of it? If so, then you are thinking like a historian.
I read a commentary on this which reminded me of the prophecy to Abraham, “God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.” That prophecy pretty much negated the move. I guess after 70 years when Joseph and Pharoh died, the twelve tribes of Israel were not motivated to head back to the unknown.
Double Dips This Week
CBWC – Statues
CMMC – Calypso (ocean colors)
Upcoming and Ongoing on Always Write
- WQ Page
- WQ #6 Red/Love
- WQ #7: February 15: GRID/GRIDLOCK/LINES
- WQ #8: February 22: BELOW/WRITER’S CHOICE/DOUBLE DIP CHALLENGES/WOTY
- #DICKENSCHALLENGE started February 7th. Join Yvette Prior, Trent McDonald, and me in reading ONE – not THREE Dickens’ novellas by June 9th.
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 
71 responses to “Coffee Pre-Superbowl-57”
Fun update marsha. I love that last car…the colors are awesome. I’m on week 5 of getting 10,000 steps a day, well, the goal is 70,000 steps a week so however it happens it doesn’t matter, but I find myself obsessed at getting 10,000 each day. Haha! It’s been hard sometimes, but I’ve managed. I’ll have to check out some of the books you listed.
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Congratulations, Kirstin, that’s awesome. You are a powerhouse!
I miss one day a week, often, but I am always nearly 60,000 per week. I am obsessed, too. I walk in the house until I get my 10,000 in unless I’m too exhausted. My calves are nice and tight. That’s about it!!! 🙂 I need to start walking on my stomach.
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Way to go on reaching 10k steps! Also I love the turquoise lamps.They’re so pretty!
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Thanks, Julie. They are made with real leaves. I don’t know how that works, but I thought they were really unique. 🙂
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Oh wow!! There are teal leaves?
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They dye them. They had lamps of many different colors. 🙂
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Happy Anniversary Marsha! Love that car and you are celebrating your love together. Wow it’s chilly but you are still getting those steps in. Good for you with all of your reading too!❣️
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I do most of my steps (and my reading) inside, so it’s pretty easy. My calves are nice and tight, the rest of me, not so much. 🙂
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Happy first date anniversary to you and your hubby – lovely to see a photo of you both enjoying celebrating the occasion. It’s our 40th wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks – I can’t believe how much time has passed since I was that 21 year old bride! Interesting thoughts about Joseph’s family and their choices – I sometimes wonder if God rolls his eyes when he looks at humanity and their choices….
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I’m sure He does. I think he’s seen it all by now! LOL! Happy almost anniversary! You’ve reached a milestone that few people today reach! Congratulations – and you are still young!
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How fun to celebrate the first date and I remember what my husband and I had on our first date
Clam chowder and chicken Caesar salads
Love that image if you two at lunch
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Thanks, Yvette. I had tortilla soup the first date and we split a chocolate brownie with ice cream. It was definitely the start of something big! 🙂
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🙂 truly blessed
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Hello again,
I was not able to leave a comment on Jo’s interview post – so wanted to leave a quick note here-
first, thanks again for sharing the link
second, I am reall glad that i did NOT read her interview ahead of time or it might have changed my approach –
third- I smile because we both went about our interviews in different ways and how cool to read all those little extras you covered – esp the part about her name “restless Jo” – which by the way – my spouse has always liked her “handle”
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I need to allow comments on that post only. I cut them off at 40 days to cut back on spam. I can’t wait to read your post. I love her handle, too.
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Hi – yes, I learned to cut the comments because of spam – and I did not realize we could go back in to allow for certain posts – but it makes sense – so thanks for mentioning that
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I will probably go back and turn them off again after a month for that reason. I had a great time updating it. 🙂
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☀️😊🙏
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Mmmm, your lunch looks delicious. But you are wearing your coats which makes me think it must be a little chilly, even inside. 🙂
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Yep! It’s supposed to snow this week!😩😩😩
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Brrrr. Stay warm and cosy. It’s very hot here, 37C yesterday and 33C today. Loving summer!
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Jealous here! 🙂
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Happy Almost Valentine’s Day to you too! We are currently watching the Super Bowl. Interesting fact about food consumption on this day!
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I just proved it right. I’m so full! Great game, isn’t it?
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Definitely great game!
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Exciting! Everyone in our party was happy. I didn’t have a favorite, but loved each play that was so well executed. Couldn’t help but love the brave KC quarterback and the focus on the two brothers.
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Hi Marsha,
I’ve been reading some of the Bible almost every day for several years not. I just finished the OT for what I think is my 10th full reading of the whole thing. Every time I go through it, I wonder why they made some of the decisions they made. I even catch myself thinking as I reread some stories that maybe this time, they’ll get it right and they always let me down.
Always a great read – even the prophets – which sometimes makes me nuts.
Great stuff each time I sit down.
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The proof of their humanity, right! All of history looks like that! If only!
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We are celebrating our anniversary this week too. Our marriage anniversary, but still a fun celebration.
The funny thing is we have Cottonwood on our list of places to visit…and probably soon. Maybe we will try that place,
XOOX
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
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We like it! They have a nice looking hotel there too! Check it out!
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It must have been just like sending back people born and raised in the U.S. to some “homeland” about which they know absolutely nothing and whose language no one speaks. Reality is always much more complicated than the simplistic answer we hear are willing to admit.
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Yes, I’m sure it was much more complex. And getting thousands of people to agree to move would not have been easy either. Hard enough for Vince and I to agree to move and then decide where – and I wasn’t in my 70s with kids, grandkids and great-grandkids. LOL
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I will DIE here. When I got back from Israel, I moved 7 times in two years. When we finally landed here, I said NEVER AGAIN!
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That’s a ton of moving! I’d love to go to Israel. You had quite a life of adventure when your husband was a reporter/photographer. I can’t even imagine what all you have experienced.
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I had a different husband in Israel. He was one of those terrible errors in judgment that even smart people make. Israel was exciting all by itself.
I’ve known Garry since college. He is my son’s godfather (in the religious sense — the Christian contingent) (Owen also had Jewish godparents, though they have all passed) and was my first husband’s best friend. Garry married me when I got back from Israel because he was afraid I’d find another husband if he didn’t marry me fast. I was getting tired of husbands by then, but it worked out.
Garry and I have had a great time together as married people and we had a 20-year long torrid romance before we got married, temporarily interrupted by my moving overseas. So Garry kept courting me by mail. He wrote me every single day for 9 years. I really should have kept those letters but in the madness of moving countries, many things were lost. The weird thing is, when we FINALLY got married, everyone who knew both of us — which was everyone we knew pretty much — thought it was about damned time.
Yes, we really did have a lot of fun. We were young together — I met him when I was 17 — and now we are old together. There was a lot of stuff in between.
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Your life is sounding more and more like a fabulous novel.
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Great calypso colors. 😀 😀
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Thanks, Cee, it was easy to find my favorite color. 🙂
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I’m not a cars person but this one grabbed me. The colour, I guess, and the shine. Congrats, happy pair! I don’t do Superbowl but I have a son who will be bleary eyed at work tomorrow. May the best team win!
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I’m not a Super Bowl person either, nor is Vince, but we usually watch it. Did you know that more food is consumed during Super Bowl than any other holiday besides Thanksgiving here in the US?
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No, but it doesn’t surprise me. Don’t laugh but I’ve ran out of cake!
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Oh no, better just go to bed! 🙂
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It’s not Valentine’s day yet!
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Almost , plenty of time to find cake!
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Happy first date anniversary! We’ve known out partners for about the same amount of time.
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Happy 28 years to you too! We should go on a celebration adventure together! 🙂
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That would be very fun!
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Agree!
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How cool to commemorate the first date–congrats on 28 years, Marsha and Vince! There you are sitting inside with your coats on! Congrats also on getting so many steps each day. I fall short with steps, but I do other types of exercise (like weight training which doesn’t give me many steps). I enjoyed reading about your reading challenges–in fact, one of yours popped up last night on Goodreads. I just finished Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. I first read it in high school, but so glad to read it again! Much more meaningful! I love your avatar/bitmoji! They are fun to mess around with! Enjoy your SuperBowl Sunday. We are heading to Spokane Valley early to hang with the family, eat and watch the commercials.
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Enjoy the commercials. I still don’t know what to fix to take to SB Sunday.
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I found a great beer cheese dip to make. I bought the pretzel knots to go with–too complicated to try!
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Cheese dip sounds great. Thanks, that sounds dooable.
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I just made it and doubled the batch. Turned out good, but this recipe needs more spunk. I refuse to add jalapeños.
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LOL I found a great looking recipe for rolls around the edges and cream cheese/mayo/moz. cheese in the middle. I layered in spinach, and it has pizza sauce and pepperoni on the top with more moz and Parm cheese on the top. The dip is the middle the bread is what you dip. I can’t wait till it’s done. 10 minutes if you use already baked rolls.
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Sounds delish and possibly the hit of the party 🥳
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It was great. SB Party!
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Marsha, Thank you for your weekend coffee share. Congrats to you and Vince! Great job on your walking and reading, too. I love your turquoise photos, especially the leaf-shaped lamp.
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Thank you, I thought the lamps were cool. They are actually made from leaves.
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A lovely few days thanks Marsha. Loved the sights 🙂
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So glad. BB! 🙂
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Yay, someone else celebrates first date anniversaries! Congrats to you both!
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Thanks, we had a great day. I went off my no sweets rule, but in keeping with the date, we had to share something chocolate. 🙂
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Great job on the steps, Marsha. It amazes me that you remember the date of your first date! 😮
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We always celebrate it, so it is easy. We weren’t able to go out on Valentine’s Day. Have a wonderful romantic day!!! 🙂
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A very happy anniversary Marsha. Great progress with walking.
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Thanks, Sadje. I still have quite a few steps to go today. But I’m taking a break.
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You’re most welcome. I replaced my Apple Watch with Fitbit because I think it’s better for tracking health stats.
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I like mine. I just reached my 10,000 goal, so I can get back to being comfortable and blogging. 🙂
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That’s the best feeling
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Yes! Goal reached. Time for bed.
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Yup 👍🏼🥰
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