Saturday, April 5, 2008

Sunday Dinner, April 6, 2008 & Giveaway Winner!

First the winner of the Steven Curtis Chapman CD giveaway:


Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

13

Timestamp: 2008-04-05 18:29:01 UTC


Not counting Jessica's and my comment, counting down from the top of the comments, the 13th comment belongs to MER@LIFE AT 7000 FEET!

So, MER, I'll email you and if you'll send me your snail mail information I'll mail out your Steven Curtis Chapman CD on Monday.

Congratulations, my dear bloggy friend!Now for Sunday Dinner.

It probably won't shock anybody that I'm not cooking this week. We'll eat out somewhere although I have no idea where it will be. It will be after midnight by the time I get this post finished and published and I'm TARD tonight. It's a good TARD, but I'm TARD nonetheless and I'm not staying up tonight to cook for Sunday Dinner this week.

What's for Sunday Dinner at your place? Just share your plans/menu in the comments if you'd like to participate this week.I've had Emmy all day today and I treasure my time with her, but she wears this old Grandma plumb out, especially when I have her for a full day. She's taking a few steps now from her Mama to her Daddy or pushing a little toy that Jessica and Jason got her. It's a little combination push/ride toy and Emmy is walking a little as she pushes it. She's having a little difficulty learning how much she can push on it without it rolling too fast and pulling her down with it, but she's catching on fast.

That's another reason why watching her now wears me out so much. Emmy is so active that she's not content in her playpen for very long periods of time. Grandmas still need to powder their nose even though babies are changing into toddlers right before their eyes and it doesn't set too well with said baby/toddler.

I'm not the type of Grandma to put everything out of reach of my grandbaby. I prefer to leave everything as it is and just teach Emmy to leave things alone that she doesn't need to play with or get into. My arthritic knees are about to make me reconsider that decision, but so far so good. It does make for a busy day though, and sometimes I just have to put Emmy in her playpen so I can take a break and tend to a few necessary things.

Most of the time Emmy plays contentedly in her playpen, but occasionally there's wailing and gnashing of teeth when I have to plop her down in the playpen and leave her for a few minutes. It won't be much longer before she can get out of it on her own because she climbs like a monkey and is absolutely fearless of heights and falling. Scares the spit out of me at times!I'm late getting this written and posted tonight because Jessica, Jason, Emmy, Lamar and I went to Southaven, Mississippi this evening to eat at Red*Lobster. It was a rare treat for me because I LOVE seafood and Red*Lobster in particular, although I've only had the opportunity to eat there about a half dozen times.

Memphis, Tennessee has a couple of Red*Lobsters and the Southaven Red*Lobster is less than 10 miles further on so we went there tonight. We were able to get there in about 1½ hours and it's easy to get in and get out, plus it's a newer restaurant than the ones in Memphis and we didn't have to deal with driving in Memphis city traffic.

We did have to wait about 30 minutes to get a table, but it was worth the wait. I got the fire grilled lobster tail and jumbo grilled shrimp with a baked potato and Caesar salad. It was delicious! Lamar had grilled salmon, Jason got Cajun chicken linguine and Jessica got Southern-fried catfish. As usual the cheddar bay biscuits were almost worth the price of the meal. I said, almost! But they were great, and so was the whole meal.

Thanks, Jason-Bob and Irma! I appreciate y'all taking us over there, and I had a great time. Mama loves y'all! :o)
We crossed the I-40 bridge over the mighty Mississippi River as we drove into Tennessee. It forms the state line for Arkansas and Tennessee. It would be a little difficult to find the center of the river right now because it's overflowing its banks in a big way.

I took some pictures but we were moving a little faster than the posted speed limit of 70 mph for that stretch of highway (*ahem, our pilot for the flight was Jessica!*) and my pictures didn't turn out very well. This was the best one, taken from the approach to the bridge on the Arkansas side.

If you click on the picture to enlarge it you might be able to tell that the tree line just under the bridge railing to the center left is actually tree TOPS just visible above the water line. Many roads are closed, both paved and gravel roads, that are close to the river and usually open to traffic. Some people who live in motor homes and travel trailers on land close to the river have had to move their trailers up next to the interstate on the side of the access road to escape the rising waters. The water is higher than I've seen it in years and the surface of the water is only about 1½ feet below the bottom of the railroad bridge on the approach to the actual railroad bridge across the Mississippi.

And we're forecast to get more rain at least 4 days next week! Lord, protect us from the rising waters...My bed is calling my name and I believe I've already mentioned that I'm TARD tonight. Sundays are also long, busy days for me, so I'll wish everyone a blessed Sunday. May God meet all your needs, and may you have enough to share.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Sunday to you, my friend! You certainly deserved a Red Lobster feast after an Emmy day, but did you have to talk about it in detail? ;) Our local Red Lobster closed down a few months ago, and I'm having serious withdrawal cravings. What I wouldn't do for a feed of shrimp right now!! Glad you enjoyed your feast, but dang, I'm jealous!!

No clue about Sunday dinner here. It'll probably be a grab whatever each of us feels like at the time kind of thing. We can all fend for ourselves easily and often do, thanks to everyone having different dietary needs or wants.

Hope the rain stops for a bit in your part of the world. That river is looking plenty swollen enough to me!!

Have a great week. Lots of love to you and yours.
Eleanor xxoo

Our Home Schooler and Jen said...

have a nice nights sleep Diane and a blessed Sunday
Jen

mer@lifeat7000feet said...

Well, who knew 13 was a lucky number?!? Thank you, Diane! I'm thrilled to have won this!

I have such good memories of growing up in your neck of the woods and driving over to Memphis to "eat out". My nana often took us to Red Lobster and it's still a favorite of mine (though I don't go very often).

I think I have a recipe for cheddar bay biscuits...do you have one? If not, I'll send you mine. They're easy to make and they're *almost* as good as the real thing!

Happy Sunday!

Mereidth

nancy said...

I loved hearing about your trip to Red Lobster! I can't imagine driving that far for it. I'm afraid I'd have to get a room! I'd be so sleepy after all the good food. It's one of my very favorites, too. One of my grandson's is a greeter at one here. He gave us a gift cert. so we had our anniversary dinner there! I love the lobster and the biscuit! You can buy those biscuits frozen from Schwann's (the ones that drive around in a truck and deliver to homes?)and I know I've seen a recipe for them on a "counterfeit" recipes site. May be the same one mer has.
I'm glad Emmy is keeping you busy, even though it's tiring. Like you said, it's a "good tard". And it's exercise!
We are not sure what we're doing for Sunday dinner. It'll be a pot luck for sure.
God bless you, my friend.
Love,
Nancy

Susie said...

Hi Diane,
Your post brought back memories of those days when "D" was tiny and we chased after him morning till night. Their energy knows no bounds! Those days are a good reminder why we aren't meant to be mothers at this age!!
Glad you had a wonderful meal at Red Lobster. We have one nearby and enjoy it now and then..
Dinner today is at our daughter's. I'm bringing dessert and she's making lasagna.
xoxo

Betty said...

Hi Diane,

Good for you for not cooking Sunday dinner. Ed and I may go out to eat tonight after church.

I like Red Lobster, but we rarely ever go there for some unknown reason.

Enjoy Emmy while she's little. Children grow up so fast.

Almost forgot. I tagged you today. Hop on over to my site to check it out.

Love and Hugs and Blessed Sunday to you,

Betty

Anonymous said...

Very nice.
I love to eat! :)

Just went up through Tenn yesterday on my way to Chicago for Monday morn. (I'm in Indiana now)

Love and Hugs :)
Gib

Dick said...

It seems to me that the South has needed precipitation but if you get too much too fast it just runs off and doesn't help a lot. We have had a wetter winter here in the NW than usual and the average temp has been lower than usual, not by a lot, but I guess it doesn't have to be a lot to make a difference.

We are going to one of the local Indian Casinos for what I usually call lunch but on Sunday it may well be our biggest meal of the day. This is one about 15 miles away that we have never visited but have heard good things about.

Jess said...

We had a great time too last night. I ate so much though.
And I have you know that if I hadn't went fast we would have been run over!!! lol
Love you

auntpearl said...

I don't think I could ever hold up against running after a baby these
days. Bless you for trying.
She will have the best memories of her time with grandma.
Hugs,

Linda said...

I love these sunday post Diane. It is always good to "chat" with you. I think you are just a wonderful grandma. I know how tiring it can be. You are so sweet to do all that you do.
RL is our favorite place to eat. We have one right near our church and every saturday, after service, we go there to eat. We've gone so often they're getting to know us by name. That does not, however, get us a table any faster. There's always a wait, but as you've said - worth it. I'm so glad you got to go.
I'll be praying you don't get any more rain. Actually, if you could send it to south Texas we would sure appreciate it. We are in the middle of a drought. Everything is so terribly dry. I don't know what the farmers will do. If we don't get rain soon, I don't think it will pay for them to plant anything. So....it seems to be either drought or flood (which we had last spring).
Have a blessed week Diane.

Girl Raised in the South said...

Diane, dinner tonight - nothing! We're both so full from a late lunch I voted for a bowl of ice cream at some point before bedtime and call it good. I have Landon all day Tuesday and imagine I'll be able to relate to the TARD thing. He's full of action, so by Tuesday evening I should be ready for an early bedtime! It's just not as easy as it was 25 years ago.

Rachel said...

I had a sausage and egg biscuit for my Sunday dinner. Real exciting huh?! It was quite tasty though. My husband has been on a breakfast food kick lately. That's fine with me since it's so easy to prepare!

I can only imagine what the Mississippi looks like!! I've seen it when it was flooding before and I thought it looked like an ocean....until I saw the ocean that is! :)

Jessica sounds like she drives like I do!

Lucy Stern said...

Alright Jess, how many tickets have you gotten in the last year? Hummmmmmm........

I will keep my fingers crossed that you don't get too much more rain. We don't want to see the Mississippi out of her banks.

Well, I had to baby sit my two grandkids yesterday too and they wore me out. I didn't make it to the grocery store till almost 8:00pm. I decide that we were going to have an easy dinner tonight and I made hot dogs...Simple as that. Bonnie was off with her study group studing Physics so I decided to keep it simple.

Emily is at that age that is sooooo hard. I always wondered how they lived thru the falls and bumping into everything. We had a rectangular coffee table and more than once my kids would hit a corner and come up crying. A friend of ours had a little boy that was 13 months old and he fell against the bricks on the fireplace and ended up with stitches in his chin......Are you the permanent baby sitter right now?

Red Lobster.....yummmmm......I love the chedder biscuits that they make. Last time we ate there though, the fish filets looked like they came out of a "Mrs. Pauls" box. TF and I like to eat at a place called Pappas. They make the best seafood platters.

Have a great week Diane.

Barb said...

I've had so little time this past week to catch up with my friends, Diane, but there's just no way I can wrap this day up without visiting you.

My word, that water is high. Honestly, until I met you, I never knew Arkansas has such crazy, scary weather, seemingly all the year round. Yes, praying the water levels off and everyone is safe.

I truly understand why you're tired. There's a huge difference between a "baby" and a "climbing toddler," isn't there?

But as crazy as our grandkids make our days and as tired as we get, my word, neither one of us would have it any other way.

I just wish I could shave about 30 years off my age - I used to be able to do this without blinking.

Not so much any more, for sure.

Hoping you have a really nice new week, that your weather settles down and you get to rest those knees a little.

I'm off to Red Lobster this week too! And yes ma'am. It's all about the Cheddar Bay biscuits!

xoxoxo

Brenda said...

Hi Diane, sounds like you have your hands full with the little one.
I haven't been to a Red L for several years. A couple of posts ago I mentioned saving money by not eating out...and guess what we did today...but it was good! Every gal deserves to eat out now and again right?!
Hope your week is blessed!
Brenda
P.S. We're enjoying the church the new church. I think that's where we'll park ourselves.

Dawn said...

Well, you've had a busy week-end. The trip to Red Lobster sounds wonderful. We don't go there too often because they've gotten a bit pricey, but DC loves seafood (more than I).

So - Miss Emmy is getting to be quite mobile. I totally know what you're talking about with those little walkie toys and how fast they can get going. Sounds fun and exhausting!

Unknown said...

Diane
I enjoyed your post. I know that Tard feeling to. My girls were only 16 mos apart. I went to bed Tard a lot.(But Thankful) The river pic was beautiful. I hope you have a great week. Lisa

MightyMom said...

I just keep thinking...

"Remember that DROUGHT we had?? Didn't we Pray and PRAY for rain???"

Karen H. said...

Good Morning Diane,
"CONGRATULATION'S" to Mer for winning the Steven Chapman CD you gave away. I know what you mean about not cooking. When it get's warmer outside, I tend to not want to cook either. I did fix breakfast for our supper on Saturday night. It sure was good too. I fried some bacon, had some jumbo biscuits, and made some white gravy and also fried everyone some eggs. The girls ate a microwavable beefaroni for their lunch yesterday and then last night for our supper I fried some Chicken Strips and French Fries. I love Red Lobster too, but I'm not going to drive over that way to eat there. LOL. I just hate driving in big cities. They drive way too fast for me. LOL. I'm a 55-60mph girl here. LOL. My DH had already told me what the Mississippi River looked like and I had seen on t.v. last week where the boats werer just barely making clearance under the bridges. With the rain we got this past week, I'm afraid they won't be able to get under there now. I sure do wish they would put in a Red Lobster in Jonesboro. Sounds like Miss Emmy is keeping Grandma on her toes. They do grow up fast. Way too fast for me. It seems like yesterday we were bringing our girls home. Where does the time go to? Our girls weren't able to play softball here on Friday night and both of their Pre-Season Tournaments that had been re-scheduled for this past Saturday were cancelled also. I don't know if or when they will finish them or not. Our youngest daughter has a softball game in your town tonight, but I'm not sure what time. She will bring home a note after School telling me what time. Take care my friend and have a great day. May God Bless You and Yours.

Love & Hugs,
Karen H.

Carole Burant said...

Dearest Diane,

It's taking me forever to get around to visiting everyone and getting caught up! Sheesh! Congratulations to your winner, I've no doubt she will enjoy the Steven Curtis Chapman CD:-)

I wonder where you ended up eating yesterday! I made some Tacos and they sure were yummy:-) Hadn't made those in a while so it was something different.

Hard to believe that Emmy is starting to walk already...wasn't she just born yesterday????? She's such a little sweetheart but I can understand how she'd wear you out...it's no wonder we have our children when we're much younger! lol After seeing all the fun you have with her, though, I get so thrilled knowing that soon I'll be able to do the same things with my own grandchild:-)

Take care of YOU!! Think of you often:-) xoxo

Unknown said...

Hey Kiddo......

Just wanted to give you a shout to let you know I was here. We had Seth Day Friday followed by a birthday celebration for me with all of my younguns. Came home totally beat. Then started spring cleaning and it isn't going real well. More on that later.

Big giant hugs girl.........

Mountain Mama said...

It sure doesn't seem possible that your Emmy and my Victoria are walking already, and I hear that my Ethan is at it too. Where does the time go?

We are having typical April weather here. A little sun a lot of rain, some wind, and Snow is low on the mountains so it's still pretty cold, but I have some pretty pink tulips blooming anyway.
I tried pulling some weeds this morning and my hands felt like popsicle's so I came in and got warmed up instead.
I Hope you are having a good week Diane

Meow (aka Connie) said...

Hey Diane, your dinner at Red Lobster sounds great, and the trip there would have been fun. Sounds like you have been getting your fair share of rain !! Send some here, please ... we sure do need some !!
Sounds like Emmy is keeping you busy ... she seems to be in that frustrating faze, where she thinks she can do more than she actually can (the time between crawling and real walking can be hard on the kids, can't it !)
I'm like you, I never moved anything when Chicky was little, and I have heaps of knick-knacks everywhere. Fortunately, she was a good girl, and never broke anything !! Hope you are as lucky with Emmy.
Sending luv and hugs to you and yours, dear Diane.
Take care, Meow xxx

Myrna said...

MMM! Some Red Lobster cheese biscuits. I'm droolin' now!

I am going to gain some lbs. if I keep eating out at the rate I have this past week. Some family and friends are determined I will eat@ Let's see--Craker B, Olive Garden, Outback, Macaroni Grill, Toot's, and Domino's delivery. I've got to stop this!!!

Karen H. said...

Good Morning Diane,
I just wanted to drop by and let you know that I did enjoy meeting you finally yesterday afternoon. "THANK YOU" for your hospitality. Miss Emmy is just precious and the pictures you have of her here on your blog just doesn't do any justice. She is one precious little girl and I know she keeps you on your toes. We didn't end up playing ball after all. Bay didn't have us on their schedule to play them last night. I was a little upset as gas prices aren't cheap, but it was still worth it just to meet you and your Family. I'm not sure when we will come back there to play, but the coaches will let us know. Take care my friend and have a great day. May God Bless You and Yours.

Love & Hugs,
Karen H.

Mary said...

Diane,

I have been across that bridge and that is really flooded. I had never seen the Mississippi until that day and I will never forget it. I saw more of it later in the trip at Hannibal, Missouri.

I can't remember what we had for Sunday dinner. Mmm! Let me think! Oh, beef stir fry and it was delicious with carrots, snow peas, lots of other veggies.

There's a little something for you on my Writing Nook on Tuesday's post. Please drop by and pick it up when you can.

I read Karen's post about stopping in to see you and Lamar and she said Emmy was there. Wonderful. I'm so glad you finally got to meet.

Take care and have a wonderful week.
Blessings,
Mary

Lib said...

Hi,
Your home sounds like a fun ,loving place to be.:o)
Hope you're having a great wk.
Blessins',Lib

Anonymous said...

Hi Diane!

Sounds like you all had a great time at Red Lobster. And what an interesting photo of such high water! Wow. (Jessica was the pilot for your flight--ha, ha!! That one made me laugh out loud!)

It's Tuesday now and I can't remember Sunday dinner, but I'm willing to bet it was cereal or rice. Ugh.

Have a wonderful week, Diane! Don't let Emmy wear you out too much! :-)

Anonymous said...

Your Sunday dinner post is always so refreshing! May I invite you over to a Norwegian Seafood feast?

Sister said...

Hi Diane,
Loved reading about your trip to Red LaLa.
Your bad weather is about to visit me, so I guess I'd better get ready!
Take care...

kansasrose said...

That Red Lobster sounds mighty good right now. I have been praying for you all in the path of all this bad weather and flooding. I hope you are high and dry. Missouri, Okla and Arkansas, SE Kansas has been hammered! We got lots of rain but nothing like that. Now it's cold and going to freeze. Winter is back again. YIKES..my wheat may take a hit. We have twin baby goats! They were born 2 days ago...girls named Sally and Callie. They is ADORABLE! You take care hon...you sure sound busy these days. Little Emmy could run a marathon champ ragged I'll bet. Bless you for watching her and being such a good granny for her. She has a big birthday coming up soon, right? This year has gone so fast! I will be dang glad when all this DD wedding biz is done in 7 weeks. Stressed out. wheeeew....Love, Jen

Hope said...

Just wanted to stop by and say "howdy" to you. I'm so sorry to hear that you are on your way to joining the diabetes club. If you can try and get it under control now with diet it will help. Getting adjusted to these meds is no fun so try to put that off as long as you can. Mine is running around 130 now when I can keep it leveled out. I was borderline for about a year, then all of a sudden it hit me full force. It had started to affect my kidneys because it was running so high that it was spilling into my kidneys. When I would check it with the finger prick it usually wasn't over 150. Then when I had the A1C test done it was around 300!!

We have redbud winter here then dogwood winter (they are just blooming now), then blackberry is last. By May the cold snaps are usually over. Thanks for the info my my weeds.:O) I never knew they were called skullcaps. Interesting!!

I was so jealous when I heard that Karen got to visit you!! :O( I was hoping that one of you got pictures of this event and would share them. Karen doesn't seem to be using her new camera very much!! LOL

Okay, gonna end this chapter of my book now! lol

Love and Hugs,
Hope

Sue Seibert said...

Wow, many the time we have been over that bridge...I hate to drive in Memphis, BTW, but I had no idea it had flooded to that extent! I love Arkansas and I love Tennessee, but Memphis traffic and streets/roads are the pits. Hope you've had a good week.