Mon Nouveau Chapeau

March 26, 2019March 26, 2019 - robin

Meditation Experience~Day two. All Good Things Bring Gratitude. People and things that I am grateful for, reinforce the feelings of love and joy in my heart. It is good to focus on that and not the negative. The good outweighs the negative in our lives and why do we sometimes focus on the bad? I will focus on the good.

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I bought a hat this week. It is the best hat I have ever owned. It is pack-able, reinforced with SPF and is comfortable, I found MY perfect hat!

I have had between 4-6 surgeries on my forehead and scalp for skin cancer. I have had many hats and hated them all and then, I do not wear them. Most hats feel like bee=keepers hats to me.

I wore my new hat last night to Matilda’s softball game. {her team won ten to zero} We sat on the bleachers in the sun and my head was protected. The best thing of all, I did not feel stupid wearing it!

Please remember to wear your hats in the sun. Having scalp surgery-excuse my French- sucks.

I found some fun facts about skin!

The average person’s skin covers an area of 2 square meters.
Skin accounts for about 15% of your body weight.
The average adult has approximately 21 square feet of skin, which weighs 9 lbs and contains more than 11 miles of blood vessels.
The average person has about 300 million skin cells. A single square inch of skin has about 19 million cells and up to 300 sweat glands.
Your skin is its thickest on your feet (1.4mm) and thinnest on your eyelids (0.2mm).
The skin renews itself every 28 days.
Your skin constantly sheds dead cells, about 30,000 to 40,000 cells every minute! That’s nearly 9 lbs. per year!
Some sources estimate that more than half of the dust in your home is actually dead skin.
Dead skin comprises about a billion tons of dust in the earth’s atmosphere.
Your skin is home to more than 1,000 species of bacteria.
Skin that is severely damaged may try to heal itself by forming scar tissue, which is different from normal skin tissue because it lacks hair and sweat glands.
Skin can form additional thickness and toughness — a callus — if exposed to repeated friction or pressure.

Do you have a perfect hat? Do you wear it in the sun? Please take care of your skin…

Love you.

Her Name Was Grace

March 25, 2019March 25, 2019 - robin

DAY ONE~Journal for Meditation Experience- I am late in posting today. Being late makes me anxious and this reason should not make me anxious. You know that I have been struggling a bit and today I started a free 21 day meditation program online. (Why not? I take ART classes online) My good friend Anne-Marie is a friend of Deepak and I like Oprah, so here I go.

The web site will not let me post a link here but you can google: Oprah & Deepak 21 Day Meditation Experience to see what I am attempting. I have been looking for a meditation guide/class/experience and I found this. For the next 21 days, the beginning of my posts will be my thoughts. I hope to be candid and positive……

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I had a good weekend. On Friday, Larry and I spent an hour at the archery range before dinner. I must admit that wearing a dress to shoot is not condusive to accuracy, but I did not have to go home to change before going into Dallas for dinner and that is a good thing. Our favorite waitress was not at the restaurant because her father in law had broken his hip.(Sandy Prayers are still being whispered) and we missed her very much. Dinner was as good as ever.

Saturday was a gloomy mess of a day. We headed out early driving one hour to Collinsville, TX. Matilda was playing softball at a field there. When we arrived, we saw Josh, Matilda’s dad….and Lauren texted, saying we were at the wrong field and the game was delayed. Larry and I had not eaten so we left in search of the sweet dinner we passed a few miles earlier. We found it, ate and decided to head home, so Lauren Matilda and Josh could have “family time”………..

Saturday evening found us in Town (Dallas) at a concert. Copland’s Appalachian Spring. It had become a lovely evening and the stroll in downtown was perfection not to mention the amazing music and friends we visited with.

Sunday. Sunday School and Church. After church, we went to Sherman Texas for the Highland Games. (Go Clan Stevenson!) We came home for Sunday dinner and movie. Dinner Rotisserie chicken, Mandarin orange salad and rice. Dessert was a cheese cake I made Mother when she was ill.

Here I am at Monday morning. I have meditated, washed two loads of laundry and will work on a painting after I post this.

I AM thankful for the joys in my life. So very thankful, that I sometimes find it offensive when people tell me that I should be more thankful or more grateful. But…..perhaps if I were more thankful or more grateful, I would not be anxious or blue sometimes?

Have a happy day. If anyone joins me in my meditation journey, I would love to hear from you. Perhaps we could compare notes.

Love you.

Crock Pot~Bacon Corn Chowder~Chef Valentine

March 22, 2019March 22, 2019 - robin

I had written down this recipe from the Internet months ago, leaving it out, reminding me to just try it!

I made the soup yesterday and was not disappointed. The taste profile in this soup is perfection if you follow the directions. It will become a “regular” at The Cottage.

Bacon Corn Chowder

Ingredients

1 pound of small red potatoes cut into 1″cubes

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 bags {12 oz each} frozen whole kernel corn

3 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 cups half and half

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 pound bacon-cooked crispy and crumbled

*** In a 4 quart Crock Pot, mix potatoes, onion, corn, broth, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours till potatoes are tender.

*** In a small bowl, beat half&half and cornstarch with a whisk till smooth, Stir half&half mixture and bacon into the corn mixture that is in the Crock Pot and cover. Cook another 15-30 min till slightly thickened.

We had turkey sandwiches and diet ginger ale with the Corn Chowder.

Hope you enjoy.

Till next time….

Chef Valentine

St Patrick’s Day Weekend

March 18, 2019 - robin

Photo: We Dashed Down Greenville! A traditional 5K

It was a good weekend. Larry had a busy week last week and did not even mention WORK over the weekend. It was kind of awesome.

We dashed down Greenville on Saturday, we grocery shopped, we exercised. On Sunday we went to church. After church we went to McKinney Trade days and walked….a lot!

We found a fun tablecloth for Sunday Dinner and Movie….$17.00. But, to be honest,there were dog breeders there. English Bulldogs, 2 Boston Terriers and other breeds I was not interested in. I will never own another dog, but if I ever happened to, it would be a rescue.

Larry stayed far from the dogs. He would not get near the cages. I did. I wanted to be near a puppy heart beating. That is what I miss about My Libby Girl. Feeling her little heart beat under her pug skin…..the puppies made Larry a bit sad. So we went to the antiquing side of the “Trade Days”.

When came home where I made Sunday dinner. The movie we wanted to watch was not available, so we watched …are you ready?

Photo: I made sausage and mushroom pizza

It was a good weekend and a beautiful Monday. Larry hopes to conclude a big business deal today and if all goes well, we will see Matilda play softball at 6:00! Fingers crossed and spit into the wind……

Love you.

Each And Every One Of Us

March 15, 2019March 15, 2019 - robin

It is Friday morning. The birds are singing and the sun is out. Larry is back in his home-office, slaving away. (He has 2 huge conference calls today) I am sitting at my work table, rather distracted.

I am not on Facebook much. I reopened my account so I could post a link here and there. My “feed” is almost never looked at and I miss a lot of great comments by good friends.

Last week, I kept getting notified that someone had left me a Facebook message. I logged on to look, I also looked through my “feed”…..and saw that someone whom I absolutely ADORE. Posted a video (animated) of an abortion. It was really awful. Awful. This person posts many political things. Not nice political things (in my opinion) but I just ignore them. We all have the right to our opinion. Each and every one of us has the right to feel a certain way. Even me. But at a weak moment, I commented on the persons abortion video. I said I wish you had not posted this. It is not appropriate. ( I was so sad that this amazing person was posting such graphic, violent content) It was MY opinion. I was wrong to say it out loud and I am sorry. Well, I did not expect what happened next. I was berated and bullied from many of her contacts. I guess I do not have the right to my opinion after all. Is an abortion video on FB appropriate and I did not know it?

When has tolerance been at such a low? Why do we judge and hate? Granted, if you treat me badly I will go far away but if you worship differently or belong to a different political party, it will never effect our relationship. Social media has given a voice to the voiceless and they want to convert us all.

I cannot control anyone but myself. I respect your opinion even if it is different than mine….Just because a person says something on Facebook, does NOT MAKE IT SO.

So….how is your day going? Share any opinions lately?

Love you.

And The Book For May Is……….The Southerners

March 13, 2019March 13, 2019 - robin

My book group meets every other month. Our next meeting will be in May and it was my turn to choose May’s book. I love when it is my turn to pick out the book, is there anything better than sharing a good book with a good friend?

I have chosen one of my all time favorite books, ever.

About 1970, my Grandmother gave me her copy of The Southerners. {I have read it numerous times and adore it} I still have it, although rather torn up. It was published in 1953 and is 65 years old this year. On my To Read List, The Southerners is in the top ten books for this year, because I will be 65 in June too.

So dear readers, I am sharing my birthday book with you.

I bought a used copy on Amazon for $1.99 plus $3.00 shipping.

ABE Books also has a few copies or check you local library.

If you have trouble finding or buying The Southerners, I would be glad to help.

Do you have a list of favorite books? Please share one or two of them?

Love you.

Team Believe Shirts, Donations and More

March 12, 2019March 12, 2019 - robin

Team Believe supports Komen Race For The Cure and early detection. Each year, our family participates in the North Texas race. I would not be alive if it were not for early detection.

I designed this years TEAM BELIEVE shirts and they have arrived! Matilda modeled hers for me this weekend.

Photo: Matilda modeling the 2019 Team Believe shirt

TEAM BELIEVE shirts were designed by me. You can purchase them at… Big Frog Custom T Shirts and More.

972-941-3641 or [email protected]

No proceeds from the purchase of the T- shirts goes to Komen or me.

Ask for The Robin Tolbert- Team Believe 2019 shirt. They run around $30.00 OR you can go to my Komen site and make a donation ….read more about the give away at the link below.

https://robintolbert.com/team-believe-year-five/

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to read this. If you are not interested in donations, t-shirts or give-aways, there is still something that you can do for me. Perhaps it is the most important thing of all. Please remind the loved ones in your life to have an annual mammogram. Early detection saves lives.

Love you.

Matilda, Sunday Dinner And Movie

March 11, 2019March 11, 2019 - robin

On Saturday, we picked Matilda up at her house and brought her to The Cottage for a sleep over. It was a wonderful day with her.

After a morning filled with breakfast, archery, and making a volcano, she put her bathing suit on and swam for an hour at the Rec Center in-door pool. She went down the indoor slide 36 times! {that means she went up the steps 36 times too.} We came home and dressed for dinner. Matilda requested P F Chang…….it was such a good day.

On Sunday Matilda and Larry played Ping Pong, tried to set off the volcano and the we had dinner and movie before we took her home….

Photo: Matilda drinks sprite in her special glass.

Photo: Sunday dinner and movie. Hot dogs, sprite and our movie was the new: Little Women.

I cannot tell you how wonderful having Matilda here was for me. For some reason, I have been struggling a lot. The flu did not help matters at all and I could not exercise last week. Matilda is so positive and happy. I adore my time with her. {did I tell you that we played Monopoly Cheaters in The Big Bed on Saturday night? We laughed so hard!!!}

I hope that you had a good weekend. I heard from so many of you and appreciate your kind words about my bad week last week. Thank you for sharing my moments….

Love you.

Moments At Barns and Noble

March 5, 2019March 5, 2019 - robin

The other day, I was coming down with the flu. I did not know it yet, but I felt crappy. Larry and I had to pick up a gift from Barnes and Noble, so we went out into the rainy day….and we went to the book store.

Larry said: I will drop you off at the door and go park.

I said: Thank you. I will be at the magazine department.

Larry said: Love you! See you in a minute.

I went inside. Feeling light headed, I went to the magazine department, looking for a particular ART magazine.

I looked around, not seeing anything that appealed….then I saw Larry outside headed for the door. As he came in, I expected him to come over to the magazine area, but no.

He headed straight for the 50%OFF NEW RELEASE books and a lady that was standing there looking at the books. Granted, he only saw her from the back. {And she was dumpy! Sorry lady but comb your hair} I watched as he went up behind her, kind of close and was talking to her.

I knew that he thought that she was me and I honestly hoped that he would not rub her back or anything like that and that she would not slap him.

After a moment, I walked closer.

I said: Hi Larry

He then realized that the other lady was not me. You should have seen his face. His red, blushing face.

{this same thing happened years ago at the library, but the lady was sitting with her back to him, he walked up and rubbed her shoulders}

Fast forward to today. I just told Larry that I was blogging about “The Other Woman.”

Larry said: I am glad that I could amuse you.

Oh don’t let him fool us, he is laughing too.

I love moments at the book store.

Love you.

The Flu, Sunday Dinner & Movie and Me

March 4, 2019March 4, 2019 - robin

It was a long weekend. I have the flu, my head was foggy and my body ached. Larry took good care of me. To be honest, I still feel really sick today.

We had Sunday dinner and movie. Larry pulled down spaghetti sauce from the freezer, bought raviolis at the market.

Photo: Larry loves Ravioli and meatballs in my homemade sauce.

I made garlic bread and salads.

Our movie was Dear Brigitte. A few weeks ago, Larry asked about this old favorite of ours. We watched it yesterday. It was awesome.

I am glad that the weekend is over but Sunday was really nice.

Have a happy, healthy day.

Love you.