Birthday Fun: A Few Of My Favorite Things

I decided that for my birthday I wanted to do a bunch of my favorite things.  I was up and at it by 6 am.  I had to factor in a stop at the DMV to renew my driver’s license (opps!) but that process went quickly and I am happy with my photo too! 

In the days before I made a list of my favorite things that I could do on Firday.  From that I a plan for how to spend my day. 

Here’s my list and what I did:

Philanthropy

I am involved with many different charities trying to influence the world for the better.  The very first thing I did was to get on my laptop and fund into two loans thru Kiva.  I’m still using the capital from my year long investment several years ago. 

On the left is “Sal, age 55, lives in a village about twenty kilometers from Phnom Penh City. She is widowed with three married children: two live separately, and another one still lives in the family's home.   Sal is a rice farmer. She is applying for a loan in the amount of $1,000 to buy seeds, fertilizer and pesticide to maintain her rice farm. She will also use a part of the loan to build a restroom for her family to use.

And on the right is “Saliya is 52 years old; she is a widow and has six children. Saliya does animal husbandry which is the main source of income for her family. She started this business with the purchase of a milk cow. Through her hard work and perseverance Saliya now has four milk cows with calves and 0.43 hectares of land where she cultivates potatoes. Her monthly source of income from the sale of milk and dairy products is 12,000 som (KGS). With a goal to further grow her animal husbandry business Saliya has come to Bai Tushum and Partners for a loan in the amount of 60,000 KGS to buy milk cows. She plans to invest the income from the loan into growing of her business by building a large shed for the cattle.”

Junking

The ReStore is one of my favorite “junking” places.  (Himself calls all of my yard sales/charity stores/curb finds my “junking stops”.  However, he does like the stuff I make with my finds!)  I also made a stop at Goodwill.  I’d hoped to do a few yard sales too but the on and off rain canceled most of them.  I did find several things I needed to do or finish some projects so it was a good thing!

Shopping

I like shopping (mostly looking at) things to decorate or fix up my home.  Some of my favorite places to shop in Clarksville are Home Goods/TJ Maxx, Pier 1, and Lowes.  I made a visit to each one of them on Friday.  Got some good ideas but didn’t find much of anything I wanted to bring home (sadly, the Clarksville TJ Maxx is just a cluttered, pitiful mess).  

Produce Stands and Farmer’s Markets

We live in an area with a fairly large Amish and Mennonite population.  There are a lot of farm produce stands and at the end of this road is one of my favorites.  I have several in a circuit that I will visit when I want fresh produce. 

Eating Out

My breakfast treat of the day was donuts at Shipley’s where I had my favorites – a sugar yeast donut and a chocolate icing cake donut.  They are so good. 

And I ended the day with some sushi for dinner.  My favorite place in town is Fujiyama and they know me well there!  LOL This is the owner Tony finishing my platter (lobster roll and a veggie roll). 

Cooking

I had to come home for a bit I the middle of the day, and while I was home I cooked up a nice lunch with of some favorites.  I made pan seared scallops, baked sweet potato, asparagus, an artichoke, and a Caprese salad.  The cake I picked up at Publix. 

Photography

I brought my camera with me and while I was out in the country I was able to do some shooting.  This hopeful pony was at one of the Amish farms I stopped at. 

Spending Time With Friends

I ended the day enjoying a frozen yogurt with Best Friend and family (the youngest was out doing his own thing and will probably be irritated to hear he missed out on a trip to Berry Bear!).  

It was quite an excellent day… the only reason it wasn’t perfect is that Himself wasn’t here to share it with me.