Yesterday had a few highlights. You'll laugh at this one. I was driving my neighbor to the airport. She asked if I'd stop by Kohl's because they left a security device on a dress she was taking. I asked how we'd get to the airport from Kohl's, and she said we'd be going to the one on 174. A Kohl's on 174? What Kohl's? So, we drive there. It's 5.8 miles from my house. Not only does it have Kohl's, a Lowes, Sam's Club, etc., but it has a Super Walmart. We have no Super Walmarts. I love Super Walmarts. With real grocery stores. I've only been to maybe 2 or 3 of them, and that's been out-of-state. I dropped Kelly at the airport and went back to shop. The store is new, and nice, and, well, when you don't have a Super Walmart it's special. I didn't do much after coming home. I thrive on doing a lot. I get depressed when I'm not doing anything. TV doesn't appeal then, neither does reading. I didn't feel like cleaning. I gathered myself up and went to the pool.


And I did something I've never done: I swam 17 laps. And I listened to my audio book. I had a total change in attitude.

Kit asked if I wanted to go to Sherwood after dinner to walk. I wanted to ride the golf car. Emily and JD came with me and the 4 of us spent a few hours outside. It was wonderful.





I really need to get my act together and get ready for work. I've been sitting out on the deck writing this. I'm going to repost my original post with the banana cream pie since the link didn't work the last time. Have a great day!

OK...here it is. Warning: if you're on a diet, make sure you give away the leftovers, or you'll be sneaking into your refrigerator every chance you get with a fork in your hand. You'll chip away at it till it's gone. Then you'll cry. Then you'll make it again to bring to Aunt Betty's house just so you can eat more.

Banana Pecan Cream Pie
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 8-oz pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 8-oz tub Cool Whip, thawed, divided
3 large firm bananas, sliced
1 package (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
1-1/3 cups cold milk
additional chopped pecans, optional

Combine flour, butter, and pecans. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9-inch pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool completely.
In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar. Fold in 1 cup Cool Whip. Spread over the crust. Arrange bananas on top. In a bowl, whisk pudding mix and milk. Immediately pour over bananas. Top with remaining Cool Whip. Garnish with pecans if desired. Refrigerate until serving.

Life is Good

Do you ever think, thank goodness for tomorrows? I just took this picture. I'm on my deck, the chimes are playing a melody, the birds are chirping, there's a nice little breeze, I'm in the shade, and I have my cup of coffee. I walked for an hour, listening to my audio book for part of the time, talking to my GA sister for the rest. Life is good. Life wasn't so good a few days ago. It was horrible. But, then there was a tomorrow. A new start. You really do need to take life one day at a time. It's the only way to stay optimistic. For whatever reason, I was blessed with being an optimistic person, and I'm so thankful for that. And that's about as deep as I get. LOL!

I've been waiting for weeks for my lilies to bloom. I knew I had Stargazers, but didn't know what these were:


The plant is neck high on me. The buds are at least 5" long. What would they look like when they opened? I thought they were some kind of Asian lily, but wasn't sure. On Thursday the first one opened. By Friday, two more. Here's what I got:


At first I was disappointed. White? All that anticipation and all I got were pure white lilies? But then, the smell. Captivating. It permeates at least a 10 foot radius. And the pureness of the color really is beautiful. Anyone know what kind of lily this is?

Here's the first Stargazer to open. How pretty is that?

I'm going to a party this afternoon for one of my book club friends. Time spent with them is guaranteed to be fun! I was asked to bring my 'famous' Banana Pecan Cream Pie. I wrote about it a while ago, and I know some of you have made it. If you haven't, and want to serve a dessert that everyone will rave about, this is it. Try it, you'll love it. I think I got the recipe from Gourmet magazine many years ago. I've made it a zillion times since then.

I suppose I should get up and do something. Or not.

So the something I did was upload this little video. It took forever! Have a great day!

OK...here it is. Warning: if you're on a diet, make sure you give away the leftovers, or you'll be sneaking into your refrigerator every chance you get with a fork in your hand. You'll chip away at it till it's gone. Then you'll cry. Then you'll make it again to bring to Aunt Betty's house just so you can eat more.

Banana Pecan Cream Pie
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 8-oz pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 8-oz tub Cool Whip, thawed, divided
3 large firm bananas, sliced
1 package (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding mix
1-1/3 cups cold milk
additional chopped pecans, optional

Combine flour, butter, and pecans. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a greased 9-inch pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool completely.
In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar. Fold in 1 cup Cool Whip. Spread over the crust. Arrange bananas on top. In a bowl, whisk pudding mix and milk. Immediately pour over bananas. Top with remaining Cool Whip. Garnish with pecans if desired. Refrigerate until serving.