Arm and arm
I had to go to Austin Tx with my sister about 10 years ago. Kind of a last-minute thing. We checked to see what it would cost to fly out of Memphis. $1500 each round trip... Yikes!!!!! That's $100 an hour each to drive.. I'm expensive, but not that expensive. My brother said to check flights out of Little Rock. I thought that deal had kinda gone away. But I was wrong..$400... That's a 2-hour drive to Little Rock, but now I'm at $30 an hour to drive the rest of the way, still a little high but with $4/gallon gas it's close to break even and a lot faster. People at the Little Rock airport are very nice. We had to park 300 yards from the building, but a nice lady in a bus stopped right behind our car and drove us to it. Then the guy at the sidewalk checked our bags. Even the security people were nice. We were flying on Southwest which seemed to fit the homey feel of the Little Rock Airport (I had never been on Southwest). The guy running the gate was a big guy that looked like a former football player. He had on a golf shirt and shorts and a radio that he was constantly talking on, but he was totally in charge. I felt good about getting on his plane. I saw a girl in a T-Shirt and jeans and a baseball cap get on early, turns out she was a flight attendant going back to Dallas, off duty, but during the flight, she handed out peanuts. Even the pilots stood on the ramp helping people get on the plane and saying "Hi". very informal … I Felt like I was at the Hope Airport … There were some newlyweds on the plane and they announced it on the intercom and everybody cheered for them... It was like family. But the coolest thing happened before we got on the plane. On Southwest, you can pay an extra $10 and you get to be "Business Select". We thought that was a bigger seat or something. IT's not. All the seats are the same, you get to sit any place you want. What it does do is put you first in line to get on the airplane, so you get to pick your seats first. While we were standing at the front of the line an older woman walked up with a much older woman who was her mother, looked to be in her 80's at least, maybe 90's. Her mother was flying to Dallas but she was a little scared about the whole thing. I heard the younger woman say "Mother it will be OK, it's only a couple of hours. Do you think you can walk down the ramp?" … "Well, I don't know, maybe I shouldn't go?" … Then this big guy that was running the gate, that looked like he had 15 things going on, 100+ people in line waiting to get on, stopped everything, leaned over to the mother and said very sweetly "Can I walk you down to the plane?" And like a father walking his daughter down the aisle at her wedding the two of them walked down the ramp arm and arm, his hand on hers, while he leaned down and talked to her the whole way as She was looking up and laughing. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. The guy standing next to me said "Only on Southwest.".
God's like that: Some people think they shouldn't pray for small things because God doesn't have time for that. Or, that bad things happen because God had more important things to do someplace else. That's not true. God is there with you every second of every day. He even watches you sleep! If bad things happen, he's there to go through it with you. He stops everything for you as if you were the only one… arm and arm...
==
Cooking 220 - 2 pans, 2 burners, 20 minutes:
This was so easy and great that I had to put it in. Plus you can use anything other than shrimp if you want, anything already cooked. Like steamed veg, salmon, baked chicken, fried egg.. or nothing.. just stir in some butter, salt, and pepper.. yum
Baked Shrimp Risotto
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
5 garlic cloves, sliced
1 cup Arborio rice
3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, plus more for garnish
20 cooked shelled large shrimp
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt
Pesto sauce, for serving
Preheat the oven to 400°. In an enameled medium cast-iron casserole, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and rice and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until very fragrant, 2 minutes. Stir in the broth and bring to a boil. Cover and bake for about 20 minutes, until the rice is tender. Stir in the 1/2 cup of cheese, the shrimp, butter, and lemon juice; season with salt. Serve drizzled with pesto and garnished with cheese.
==
How about saving a kid's life!!
When you give Platelets it's like giving St Jude $700 - $1000. If we don't give them, they have to buy them.
Giving Platelets is like giving blood, it just takes longer (1 1/2 hours) and you get all of your blood back (so you can do it every week if you want). I know it's a long trip to go all the way down to St Jude, but you may be saving a kid's life. plus you get to watch a movie while you're there. Call Kim at 901.595.2024 and she'll set up an appointment and treat you like family. Just tell her you're from Hope.
Directions: From Poplar, turn north on Third Street, then right on Lauderdale/Jackson Ave (first right after you go under the expressway). Enter through the north guard gate (you'll see the Danny Thomas Pavilion. Gold top).
Tell the guard at the gate that you are here to donate blood. The guard will instruct you where to park. You will then enter the hospital by the red side door closest to the blood donor parking lot. The Blood Donor Center is in the southwest corner of the hospital on the ground floor.
Appointment times are generally available Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 4:00pm. Except on Tuesdays, they start at 9:15am.
See you this weekend. Bring a friend. It's going to be great!!!
Mack