Dilemma: Done Deal

In case you haven't involved yourself in my dilemma,

you may Click Here to do so!


I arrived at Pope with all four Connect 4's in my car.
I took one in.
My little guy was very proud as we unwrapped
our new game, and he insisted I write
"Kids Hope" on the box!
So...we played once, and he was on to another game!


When I left after our hour, I forgot about the
extra cargo in my back seat!
I couldn't decide where I needed to go--until I
got close to Target. 
Oh, yeah. I needed to bite that bullet.


Feeling pessimistic, I looked at my arrival time.
11:02 A.M.
When I got inside, I took this picture of the line:

But I was chill--even though it was long and there was
 only one single solitary person working returns!


Since I was trying to take pics, my load was awkward.
I put it down on a shelf,

until a kind store employee brought me a basket!

My turn actually came very quickly.
I explained that I had received these three extra games by mistake, and that I would like to pay for them.
Nothing to it!
He thanked me for my honesty, scanned the boxes,
and I paid!
I was back in my car at 11:15.


So that probably makes two inventories that are off,
but my conscience is not!
Kids Hope has four new Connect 4's.
And all's right with the world!


******************


I hope you know that the last thing in the world I am
trying to do is pat myself on the back over
this incident.
The mere fact that I rationalized reasons not to
do the perfectly right thing, shows my vulnerability.

My Ethical/Moral Dilemma

Every Monday I get to go to Pope Elementary and

for one hour be a friend/mentor to a 

fabulous fourth grade boy!

Last week he was excited to see that I had a game

from our game shelf for us to play--Connect 4.

But...an essential piece of the game was missing.

My little guy was able to make it work,

but I was afraid others might not be able to.

I decided to buy us a new game.

Did I want to go to Toys 'R Us or Target at

this time of year?

That would be a gigantic NO.

I wanted to get on my trusty computer and order!

Target had a great deal with free shipping.

So I ordered one.

This is what was delivered to me.

Not one but four Connect 4 games!

I was only charged for one, so let the rationalizing begin:

1. "It is not fair that I have to go stand in line at

Target to return 3 of these things I did not order.

Especially when I carefully made my plans so I

would not have to go there.

In the cold. When I'm oh so busy."

2. "My receipt does not even show 

how much I paid. My local Target is going to be

thrown completely for a loop if I try to return these!

And it will totally throw their inventory off!"

3. "I might get the warehouse person in trouble who

made this mistake if I return the extras."

4. "Our KidsHope program has other schools, so I

could just give each of them one of the games

as a benevolent gift from Target!"

5. "Can you even imagine the confusion on the poor

person's face at 'Returns and Exchanges'

when I say 'I wish to pay for these extra games

which were sent to me by mistake?'"

"Whaaat?

How do I ring that up?"

6. "I'm sure Target would be more than happy

 to support

Mission Arlington, so I'll just take the extras there."

Aye yai yai!

See what I mean about a dilemma?

Woe is me.

I think I should be able to sell myself on any 

one of the above plans of action.

Why can't I seem to do that?

Well, gotta get to bed.

Have to be at Pope at 9:30.

Then I guess I'll stop at Target on the way home.

Maybe I'll just walk in and leave them 

on the counter.

Now that's an idea!

-------------------------------------------

P. S. Our organization, KidsHope USA,

will have a training session again in January.

If you have one hour a week to give,

I guarantee you will receive blessings many

times over in return!

The Corn

I know everyone is anticipating an elaborate

corn casserole recipe.

You may be disappointed.

My corn is more about the container than the recipe.

(Well, my family may disagree.)

But, it all started with this Shawnee corn dish, 

given to us as a wedding shower gift in 1956.

I had chosen china and pottery, but a

member of Jack's church

branched out and gave us this unusual gift.

I began taking corn to our family gatherings, of course!

I loved this dish from the beginning.

I don't know where, but I saw a simple recipe

for corn casserole which turned out to be delicious.

It was 1 box of frozen cream style corn and

 1 box of frozen whole kernel corn

mixed and baked together (with butter, of course!)

You'd be amazed at how good it was.

After many years of taking this traditional dish to every

 family celebration, the cream style

was changed--not for the good.

It was more of a whole kernel with sauce.

I felt my casserole was not as good.

But then...  

Disaster befell in the first degree!

The cream style was discontinued!  Completely!

I drove to every store in creation.

I called the company (Green Giant, I think.)

I finally found frozen cream style corn at the

Super I on Forest Hill Drive.

It was not a well known brand, but it was cream style!
So for many years I have made at least a semi-annual
(Easter and Thanksgiving) trip to--Forest Hill,
ironically where the story began!


Oh...one important change to my "recipe."
Now I use only the cream style corn.
It contains plenty of whole kernels.


Do you think you can handle this?
1. Frozen cream style  corn
2. Butter (about a small hunk per box!)
3. Salt and pepper
4. Flour to thicken (T. or so per box)

Microwave the corn--about 4 minutes per box
Mix it all together.  Bake a spell.

I bought 8 boxes for Thanksgiving.
We were having 16 guests.
I have two corn dishes now.
There was not a lot left. The first dish is usually
emptied before all the first servings are completed!


How legendery is this corn in our family?
Well, the first of our younger generation just married.
Miss Emily Marie Oliver (Madeline and Susannah's
 beloved cousin) and Mr. John Deaso
are now the proud owners of their very own corn dish.



P.S.  Isn't it funny to think of all the changes since
we got that corn dish?
Who ever would have believed it would
have its own blog on something called
the internet.


***UPDATE - DECEMBER 2019***


When I last left you, I was getting my corn
at the Super 1 store in Forest Hill.
Shortly after, the store went bye bye.


I won't go through all the evolutions since then,
but I am now driving to Brookshire's in 
Midlothian and buying Pictsweet frozen cream
style corn in 1 pound rolls. 
I am back to mixing it with equal numbers (but 
smaller) whole kernel packages.
And butter. Not much thickening required.


I just hope Brookshire's stays in business
and keeps carrying my corn!
I don't mind the drive at all!

TSA Pre Check Report

As you dear readers may remember,

this, my bargain cruise, was my first trip

as a qualified TSA pre check enrollee.

As you may also remember, I was not my usual

exclamation point self about this benefit.

I flew before the crack of dawn from DFW to Miami.

The flight left on Saturday morning at 6:10 A.M.

When I got to the security area, my suspicions

began to play out.

The pre check line was not even open yet!

There were a few people waiting for it to open,

and I was directed to join them.

But I, Miss Smarty Pants, was too smart for that!

I said I was not going to wait and marched

myself into the fairly short regular line.

I hope it made me feel good, because it was

probably a mistake.

The pre check line opened almost immediately.

In this particular situation, it didn't make

much difference time wise.

But remember--it was the middle of the night!

I flew home from Miami at 11 something A.M.

They are in the pre check business 

big time there.

There is a serpentine line that looks like the

one for Space Mountain at Disney World.

However, there was no one in it!

I breezed right through.

So I'd have to say the outbound trip was a

Dud,

simply because the line wasn't open.

The inbound trip was a

Deal.

I continue to lean in the pessimistic direction, however,

cause what if all that line had been full of people

in Miami?

But...

I'm still not ready to turn in my membership!

In a generous spirit, I am giving them another chance.

My Bargain of all Bargains Cruise!

I'm back from a short cruise on Royal Caribbean's

oldest, smallest ship--

Empress of the Seas.

Why would I choose to do that, you ask?

Well...there was a very good reason.

It was FREE!

And I will say, I sure got my money's worth!

Here we are parked, ironically, beside the world's

largest ship, Royal Caribbean's

Allure of the Seas.
(This picture was taken on the third day of the
cruise, in Cozumel.)

Kinda pitiful, isn't it?

But did I care?  NO!  The Allure would not be FREE!

So, off we go from Miami!

Waiting to board!

My luggage tag says, "Life's a ride.

You've gotta buy a ticket, hang on tight

and keep going aroud 'til they kick ya off."

Not theologically very sound,

but amusing at my advanced youthful age.

Here I am waiting for my room to be ready!

My room was very adequate (but itsy bitsy.)

As you can see, it had an ocean view.
(Well, it's a land view right now.)

Not many balconies on this grand old dame.

The next thing I photographed...

Yippee!  Room service wakeup call!
There was one of these hanging on my door
every night before I turned in!

And the next...

Yikes!  But it's FREE!

First Stop!

My "wildlife" shot--a prerequisite for every trip!

I heard one of the shopowners say "Hello, Mama"

as she walked by!

This mama and her babes must be quite a fixture at the

port--maybe its most photographed!

A stranger took this for me.

It doesn't look so small when not next to a giant!

So, I did some shopping in Key West and decided

to go deposit my purchases in my room,

have lunch, and return.

But...this is what it looked like out my window
when I was ready to venture out again.

So after a delightful Cuban sandwich room service lunch,
(with Dr. Pepper I bought in Key West)

this is what I did instead!

I'm reading John Grisham's latest.

The Empress had recently been refurbished,
so it was very beautiful
(and decked out for Halloween!)

This area on the back is lovely for relaxing.
(Taken in Cozumel, so that's the Allure 
in the background.)

Our next and only other stop.

where I got: drum roll, please...

Mexican vanilla!


Before I knew it--time to disembark!
It was a fast, fun five days.


I hate to end with a sad story, but...
I had a window seat on the flight home.
The plane was fab--a 777 200.  I took some pics:

It was just like being in business class.
Miles of leg room--elaborately reclining seats!
Then I put my phone in my purse which
was on the floor.


It had occurred to me, and I had overheard
some conversations,

that the President might be in
Florida campaigning before the election.
All of a sudden...I saw Air Force One out my window
as we taxied out for takeoff.
Oh, yes...I could clearly read United States of America
on the side!!!
But remember?  My phone was stowed away!
By the time I dug it out, put in the wrong code 
SEVERAL times, and focused,
this is all I got.

But that's it!
You'll just have to take my word for it...again!
No do overs.


Thanks, Royal Caribbean!
This cruisin' fanatic had a great time!
I'll always be willing to help you fill up your ships!

What Was My Favorite Cruise?

That is not only very difficult for me to answer,

it is downright impossible.

But today I am reminiscing about one of my 

favorite-of-all-times-ever cruise moments!

Only people who really love cruising and the ship

itself love trans-Atlantic crossings.

That would be me.

So things fell into place for me to be able to be

on board when the Anthem of the Seas

moved from sailing out of London (Harwich)

to sailing out of the United States (New York).

That meant several days at (a very rough) sea

with no port stops, but that was fine with me!

All for this--just click on--

Anthem Arriving in New York

and this!

Passing Lady Liberty

I wish I could have do-overs on this experience,
but it was truly once in a lifetime.
This was all taking place at 5:00 A.M.
on November 4, 2015.
I had no idea that so many passengers would 
get up that early.
If I had, I would have been up at 4:30 so I
could snag a place by the rail, although
I love my picture of the flag waving on the
movie screen
and of the couple waving flags,
both obviously taken from my position in
the ship's crowded middle!


I will have more confidence next time in my
videotaping ability with my little iPhone.
I have searched YouTube today for videos
of this event, and mine are the best I found!


Be sure to see the helicopter circling over us
(first video).
There was also a ship or ships spraying 
streams of water for our arrival.
And the beautiful N is for the Northstar
which rises 330' above the ship!
I got to ride it up, but the seas were too
rocky for it to swing out over them
as it is able to do!

I have gotten so excited today remembering
this experience that I have spent hours
figuring out how to share it!


"So, what have you been doing today, Linda?"
"Wrestling my computer into submission!"
(Or it wrestled me.)

TSA Pre Enrollment: Deal or Dud?

I have been fingerprinted, submitted my passport,  
and have forked over my 85 bucks.
And now...I have a Known Traveler Number.
Will that make my travel less arduous?


Pardon me if I'm pessimistic.
It was standing room only at the TSA Pre Check
sign-up desk.
And I had an appointment!
They were collecting $85 from everybody
 and his/her dog.


It just so happened that Susan flew to New York
very early the same morning I signed up.
Even though she qualified for the TSA pre-check line,
it was so long that she got in the shorter regular line!


So, you may call me "Debbie Downer," 
but my prediction is this:  the TSA will collect
tons of fees from all of us,
then fail to put enough personnel in the
pre-check lines to truly expedite our travel.


There are some other advantages,
like being able to keep on shoes and light jackets.
My age qualified me for that anyway.
And you can leave your computer in your bag.
I never carry my computer.
And you don't have to put your 3 ounce bottles
in a separate plastic bag.
That one is okay!


I'll be happy to eat my words if I find myself wrong.
This is one time I hope to be.

I'm smilin' at the airport cause I
had survived the security line!