Utah Beach . . .

 

I think one of the most moving places we visited on our tour was Utah Beach. It is a beautiful beach and area. It was hard to imagine how it looked on the D-Day Invasion. An odd feeling to have seen old war photos of the beach and see my son standing alone in the same place on a calm and sunny day.

Utah Beach was the code name for the right flank, or westernmost, of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day invasion of Normandy, as part of Operation Overlord on 6 June 1944.

Don't chicken out!

There is something about coming into the kitchen and smelling chicken cooking. My family would probably welcome oven baked chicken five times a week. Sometimes the budget dictates chicken more than once a week! Once you realize the oven can do your work and save you time, there are other ways to cook that bird!

Ordinary Oven Chicken needs cut up chicken, one-half cup olive oil or vegetable oil, salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange chicken in a baking pan. Brush with oil and liberally pepper and conservatively salt the chicken. Bake for about 20 minutes and brush with oil again. Continue until golden, the skin is crisp and it is tender, approximately 25 minutes more. Serve hot, warm or cold.

Lemon Oven Chicken calls for juice of two lemons (limes are an interesting change), 1/4 cup (or more) olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic salt, paprika, dash of chili powder, if desired. Combine all the ingredients and bake chicken as outlined in previous recipe.

Barbequed Chicken in the Oven is good for days when you don’t want to light charcoal! All you need for this one is a bottle of your favorite barbeque sauce. You will be surprised to see the variety available at the supermarket today. Pick out something different but that still sounds appealing to your family. Proceed as instructed in Ordinary Oven Chicken. Don’t brush on the sauce until after the chicken has been in the oven twenty minutes. Great served hot and very good the next day for a cold picnic lunch.

Duct Tape or a Nail?

Duct Tape or a Nail?
A man dies and goes to heaven. St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates and says, 'Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in.'

'Okay,' the man says, 'I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart.'

'That's wonderful,' says St. Peter, 'that's worth two points!'

'Two points?!' he says.


'Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service.'
'Terrific!' says St. Peter.. 'That's certainly worth a point.'

'One point!?!!'


'I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans.'

'Fantastic, that's good for two more points,' he says.

'Two points!?!!’


'Exasperated, the man cries. 'At this rate the only way I'll get into heaven is by the grace of God.'

'Bingo! 100 points! Come on in!'

We often try to fix problems with WD-40 and duct tape.

God fixed our worst problem with a nail.
　
　
AMEN...

Good one in view of my college registration frustrations . . .

“Don't give in to discouragement... If you are discouraged it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own powers. Never bother about people's opinions. Be obedient to truth. For with humble obedience, you will never be disturbed.” ~Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

My youngest going to college this Fall - not!

My youngest is going on 18, finished with homeschooling, and excited about starting in at community college this Fall . . . only it isn't going to happen! First of all, in order to take some of the classes, the prospective student has to take an assessment test to determine if they are ready for the more difficult classes or they need some extra, preliminary classes. We went on-line, as directed, and indicated that any day of the week, any time of the day would be fine for taking the assessment test. We were informed that they had closed the testing because all the appointments were full. Huh? How were we to register my son for the classes he wanted if they wouldn't allow him in because they closed the testing? We then went through the class catalog and went to any and all classes that didn't require the assessment test. I figured that out of ten choices, at least one would be open. No. Even going with the late or early hour classes didn't bring up an empty place in the classroom. After an hour of trying every and any class he could take without having the assessment test, we have come up empty.  No college this Fall for my son and no one is happy.

I did e-mail the college to ask about this and they e-mailed back with a set reply telling me how to access the account with the assigned password.

Well, you can't wonder too much about why the rest of the world is passing the United States by in education when it is made difficult to even sign up for an education. Looks like I'm not done with homeschooling, after all, because I sure do not want to have my son spend the next six months on the computer every day.

Just have to pray that we can eventually get an appointment to take the assessment test and can actually put the results to use and get a class or two next year. At this rate, it might take my son eight years to get a two-year AA degree.