DIMPLES DIARY – Week of 09-23-23

Happy Fall, Y’all! This is the BEST season of the year, in my opinion. There’s something good about each season, but AUTUMN – all the heart eyes!

I mean, cool crisp days, gorgeous fall colors, the sweet, fresh aroma of an orchard apple barn, apple cider, campfires, belly-warming soups…

Despite last week’s cool down, summer weather isn’t leaving us without a fight, but we know it won’t be long before we’ll pull out our sweaters for the long haul. I’m looking forward to it! But today, let’s look at what’s been happening around the Dimples household.

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A HIGH-EFFICIENCY RANT

Our 6-year-old LG French door refrigerator bit the dust on Monday night this week! There is a 10-year warranty on the compressor, and as of today, I’m still waiting to hear from the “higher-ups” at LG about how they will honor that warranty. But I’m finding out that this is a common problem with LG, and there are plenty of lawsuits against them for this issue. We’re sure hoping we don’t have to go that route.

Following this, I shared a rant about my frustration with high-efficiency appliances on my Instagram Stories, and I discovered I am not alone in this. As consumers, we want appliances that work, last and don’t get stinky. Is that too much to ask?!?!

WHAT I’M EATING

Since I had to move all my cold storage food to a much smaller fridge in the garage, I’m trying to use up the food we have out there and also things in the pantry. I had a partial box of lasagna noodles from when I was cooking for all our out-of-town guests and a container of cottage cheese in the fridge, so I made lasagna rollups.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about stretching our food budget our calorie budget, having less food waste, and creating more time in my day. So, I’m amping up to start doing more food prep cooking. I say “amping up” because currently, I don’t have enough fridge or freezer storage or enough containers for daily food prep.

But I did find these small food prep foil pans, which are perfect for cooking for two. They allowed me to split the lasagna roll-up recipe into two and put one in the freezer for another meal. This game-changer will save time and money in the long run.

WHAT I’M WATCHING

Oh my goodness, Friend, I found a new sick day movie – Pride and Prejudice. Like my other sick-day movie, Sense & Sensibility, it’s another Jane Austin adaptation. I had seen it years ago but didn’t give it much attention, but a couple of months ago, I watched it again, and I’m hooked.

WHAT I’M SLEEPING TO

You might think I’m crazy, but, I also listen to Pride and Prejudice every night. Okay, before you call and have me committed, here’s the story.

I have the app, Slumber on my phone; it’s an app with sleep meditations, sleep sounds, and sleep stories. I mostly listen to SLEEP STORIES since I find white noise annoying and don’t care for guided meditation. Well, they have also added audiobooks to the sleep story lineup. Each book is broken down into 45-60 minute segments and read in a tone that helps the listener go to sleep.

Some titles included are The Wizard of Oz, The Hounds of the Baskervilles, Alice in Wonderland, and Winnie the Pooh. But my favorites by far, because of the stories and the narrators, are Beauty and the Beast and, you guessed it, Pride and Prejudice. 😉

I FINALLY FOUND SNEAKERS

You might remember I purchased a pair of Hoka Sneakers and was testing them out around the house because they were too expensive not to be perfect. While they had a lot going for them, they were not perfect for me.

I returned to a tried and true brand for me, Brooks. I got the Glycerin 20 this time, and I’ve been happy with them.

GRANDKID CHRONICLES

The Locals

We’re in the football season with our local grandsons. Our oldest grandson plays 7th-grade football, and the younger two play for the local youth football league; one is in tackle, and the other plays flag football. Truth be told, I detest football, but I love these boys and am the grandma on the sidelines snapping pictures with my “fancy camera.” (I use this lens for most outdoor sports photos. I bought a used version of this lens, and although it’s very heavy, it is better for indoor sports.)

I’m constantly trying to improve my photography skills and admit that some days, I do better than others. A couple of weeks ago, I captured this picture of our little Mullet-Man as he grabbed a flag, and his hair flowed like a thoroughbred’s mane. 😉 Photo of the month!

Our oldest grandson turned 13 yesterday, and The Mister and I are wondering where the time went. It’s one thing to have grandbabies, but we never pictured ourselves with teenage (and beyond) grandkids. But this is one special kid, and he’s gonna be a leader one day.

The Winchestertonfieldville Boys

We’ve made several trips to see our Winchester kids this month, including last weekend when our 10-year-old grandson was baptized. He’s wanted to get baptized for a while now, but his mom and dad wanted to ensure he understood what he was doing.

Oh, my word, this kid’s testimony was EVERYTHING, and there was no doubt he understood the concept better than some adults I know.

My son, his pastor, 😉 asked each one getting baptized a series of questions. When he asked Ben why he wanted to make this statement of faith, he said, “I want to go through the narrow gate.”

How profoundly simple is that? Especially in a world, and even the church, trying to reach heaven on a four-lane highway.

When Ben was asked who was instrumental in his decision to follow Jesus, he said, his mom, dad, and Poppy (Mr. Dimples).

Matt, my son, then explained that a while back, Ben told him that he had asked Poppy to pray for him one Sunday. Ben said that when Poppy prayed, he (Ben) felt like “God just hit me.”

There’s so much I could say about that sweet moment, like how childlike yet accurate his explanation of feeling the touch of the Holy Spirit for the first time. I can’t even!

LET ME ENCOURAGE YOU

But I want to encourage you who are grandparents today:

Do not underestimate the impact you have on your grandchildren’s lives!

Sure, keep being the fun grandparent who lets them eat sweet treats before bed and stay up too late to watch movies.

But whether your grandchildren and their parents are churched or not, pray for them, pray with them, and live a Christ-like life before them.

Now, on that note, have a fantastic weekend.