I stole this post idea from a radio program I heard on the way home from work yesterday. They were talking about their favorite nonfood smells. The idea was that most of us love the smell of fresh baked cookies or bread but what about our favorite smells that aren’t food related.
Some of the ones mentioned on the program:
fresh-cut grass
the smell of gasoline
a crisp fall morning
your significant other
sunscreen
brand-new books
a grandparent’s basement
air conditioning right as it starts in the car.
A wide range. Some seemed weird to me until they explained. For example, gasoline reminded them of trips to the lake and filling up the boat for boat rides.
Here are a few of my favorites in no particular order.
Hot asphalt
Laundry fresh out of the dryer
Summer rain after a hot day (just summer, fall rain smell different)
Plants and flowers right after they’ve been watered (especially herbs)
Lavender, mint, and sage…
I think my answers have a theme: outside or clean. Hot asphalt is my odd one, I guess. It reminds me of working a few summers at a local amusement park, happy memories.
What are some of your favorite nonfood smells? And all this talk of smells made me think of another one of my favorite childhood books. Did anyone else ever have this wonderful story?
PS: Am I the only person left who actually listens to the regular car radio? Just wondering…
While technically, it’s still summer until September 21, the schools around here start back up next Monday. And so it feels as if summer is ending. It’s gone by in the blink of an eye over here.
I spent a lot of it working. In between, I did do a few fun summer things. Here’s a quick glimpse.
MAY
May? What happened in May? Doesn’t that feel like last year?
This is aptly named the Northland Fountain
J and I went to visit a local fountain in the “northland” part of Kansas City. I was telling him how this fountain runs all year. It really is fun to see frozen in the winter. Still also pretty in the summer.
Also, I found a feather from a barred owl in the backyard one weekend while mowing. I had fun sharing it with my preschool kids.
Other things that happened in May: Preschool graduation (I always help out), Mother’s Day (Thai food, yum!), and G’s birthday! Oh, and he started working (maybe before May?) at one of the local community colleges in the advising offices. He even has his own office.
JUNE
June was actually a fun month despite some minor (though at the time they seemed quite major) work frustrations. Suffice it to say I spent some time checking out my options for other employment for a bit. Ultimately, I decided to ride out the summer. Anyway, back to the fun stuff.
The second weekend in June, I went on a girlfriend weekend trip to Hermann, MO. So much fun. It’s a community rich with German heritage pretty much right on the Missouri River. And also known for all the local wineries.
And I discovered something called a wine slushie (though full disclosure I preferred the ones at a winery different from the one pictured above). We also had fun touring the historic homes in Hermann. And seeing their kitchen gardens. If only….
On the way home, we stopped for brunch at a cute outdoor cafe along the Katy Trail in Rocheport, MO. It’s mostly a biking trail though you can walk it. It runs for 239 miles along our state. Near Rocheport, it runs along the bluffs of the Missouri River.
Also in June, lots of random garage sales with friends (it was our Saturday thing for a while), Father’s Day (we took my husband to a local Mexican restaurant he likes), and the start of a fair amount of working for the summer for me.
JULY
I worked a lot in July! Somewhere in there I did get my hair permed though it’s mostly grown out. It worked well for our excessively hot days. We had a quiet family Fourth of July (J and I bought a lot of fireworks and our neighbors put on quite a show as well).
Always exciting to see what the kids find on the playground. This actually came from a little girl’s backyard. Google lens told us it was a woodpecker feather! I can’t remember the exact species anymore.
Later in July was the visit to the Rabbit HOle Museum. They’ve re-created the whole scene of Goodnight Moon. Smaller children can go inside the little toy house as well as climb up in the bed, not pictured below. Also, again not in my photo, you can pick up the red phone beside the bed to hear the story. It’s so fun!
My photo came out too blurry to share but the museum even had a section for my favorite children book series by Russell Hoban. I still have my Bread and Jam for Frances and Bedtime for Frances books.
I didn’t get to spend as much time in June or July or this month yet tending to my front porch flowers. One thing about brown-eyed Susans is they don’t demand much. Oh, and mine are apparently plotting to take over the world.
At least the pink petunias are behaved despite being a bit neglected.
I did spend some time during the weekend mornings/afternoons hawk watching. Have you ever seen a hawk laying down? A first for me!
(Excuse the terrible photo quality, zoom on a real camera beats zoom on the phone but my camera battery was dead. Paid the price for not touching my camera all summer, I suppose)
And finally, we closed out July with a trip to Saint Louis, Mo for the music festival J participates in annually. This year, he chose to only play with his brass band ensemble so it was a pretty relaxed trip. Other than, I forgot to schedule the weekend off and had to scramble to find someone to cover me half a day. Over all though, it was a nice weekend. Here’s my other photo of the Missouri River in Saint Charles, MO (the only 2 pictures I took that weekend).
August So Far…
If you made it this far in the post, then you are all caught up with my summer activities. Mostly work but a little bit of fun in there. I’ve already noted to myself that perhaps I overscheduled my summer work hours a bit. I worked more to start this month and am finally ready to slow things down enjoying the last few weeks of summer. Once I get over being sick, UGH. Currently, I’m downing vitamins and watching every Fast and Furious movie (I’d only ever seen X all the way through, enjoying these movies way more than I expected).
Perhaps I’ll make a list of the things I’d like to do to close out the summer season. I’ll share it in a different post. How has your summer been? What things do you still have on your summer list?
Well, I sort of took summer off of blogging! Didn’t exactly mean to do that but I was getting a bit burned out with things. Started working full time hours for the summer at the preschool. I love it but it’s a bit exhausting.
However, I’m winding down my last days of full time subbing in the next couple weeks. Sometime in mid to late August, I’ll return to this space.
I haven’t even had a lot of time for “plant rescue” from my local garden centers but I did pick up this hibiscus on clearance when I had a few days at the beginning of the month. So I’ll end this post with a phone picture of the blooms which just make me happy.
Hello, I haven’t fallen off the edge of the Earth or gone sailing around it (oh, that might be fun!). A few days of sickness gave way into a crazy working schedule. All the teachers had a turn being sick with either a stomach bug or a nasty respiratory virus, thankfully not Covid. And I’m glad to have not drawn the stomach bug card at least.
My amaryllis bloomed!
Not sure how many Happy Homemaker Mondays I’ve missed. The first one I missed because I favored sleep over Internet activities. The past few I’ve missed because of working. Quite a few more early (7:00 AM start) shifts than normal, after those…again, sleep over Internet activities).
Today, I get a bit of a break as I don’t need to go into work until noon before returning to an early start tomorrow and another full day on Friday. Spring break is next week for us. My list of things for next week is growing exponentially each day. Catching up with all my blogging friends is absolutely on the list!
Other Happenings and Random Things
Somehow, it’s gone from snow to crocus blooms to daffodils to tiny purple flowers covering the yard and more daffodils. Hopefully, better pictures coming soon. It’s been too long since I’ve properly picked up my good camera.
More daffodil pictures coming soon hopefully! Along with prettier purple flower pictures (squill/glory of the snow flowers)
G made dinner a couple nights while I was sick. Very helpful. French Toast and spaghetti, not at the same time! Once I felt better, J and I attempted spring rolls (his idea) to go with the Korean meatballs. They were semi-successful. Rice paper is a tad difficult. Trying again tonight as accompaniment to our pepper steak. Oh and last week, I tried avocado toast at work. Really liked it so we had it alongside taco salads for dinner last night.
This Week’s Menu
Monday: I grilled bbq chicken and garlic butter chicken (saved for later) that I picked up already marinated from the grocery store. *I worked 7 to 1*
TUESDAY: taco salads and avocado toast *I worked 7 to 3:45*
WEDNESDAY: pepper steak, rice, spring rolls *I work 12:30-3:45*
THURSDAY: Leftovers plus I picked up a cookies and cream pie for Pi day (3.14) *I work 7:15 to possibly 3:45, need to clarify* Mom’s Night Out! (If my work day is short, I might make a quiche for dinner instead to keep with the pie theme)
FRIDAY: fettuccine alfredo with garlic butter chicken, salad maybe? *I work 10:30-4:30*
Reading/TV watching
Didn’t do much reading while I was sick or I can’t recall much of what I read. Casually read an early 2 book series by V.E. Schwab, Vicious and Vengeful. They were just okay. Her later books are so much better. I’ve just started a promising book called The Secret Life of Flora Lee by Patti Callahan Henry.
So much yet so little tv watching. Since I felt a bit like a zombie, I rewatched the first season of The Walking Dead and part of the 2nd season as well. Watched the new Rick and Michonne series, need to catch up on the last episode. Can’t decide, any other fans out there…what do you think? For all the hype, I think to start the Daryl Dixon series is way better.
Husband and I watched The Voice, of course now that they have their teams I’m probably done.
And once I started feeling like a human again, I was happy to watch Next Level Chef and see that the Spring Baking Championship is back (hooray, one of my favorite shows!).
Movies? Hmmm…Oh, I rewatched the original Jurassic Park just because. And the last half of the Oscars ( I was at Target/waiting on J’s band practice to end for the first half). So, I’ll end this section with my Oscar look via my silly phone game.
What do you think of my red carpet look? Ha.
Winter Wednesday Weather
Did you know today is the last Wednesday for this season? Our winter weather to see out the season calls for a high in the 70’s (again, yesterday was the same) followed by a chance of thunderstorms. Oh, how I hope we get some rain. Last night the rain missed our local area. Such a strange winter we’ve had! Makes me wonder what’s in store for spring and summer.
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Stopping my not a quick post after all here. Thanks for reading my rather lengthy update if you’re still here.
Time for me to go get ready for work. Tell me what’s the weather look like where you are?
While it’s had its moments of happiness, it’s also been a bit of just a weary winter week around here. And no sunshine! Oh how I miss it!
Just thought I’d pop on here for a little week in review though not much to share. Taking a break from the aggravations of adding up tax numbers. The main aggravation coming from the local utility department insisting we have no account. Computer glitch probably but very annoying.
A few tidbits from my week and sadly, not many pictures as it’s been rainy and foggy so outside photos didn’t happen. Perhaps a sign to work on my indoor photos? Hmm. Something to ponder.
A hawk came to visit, doesn’t seem thrilled with the weather either
MONDAY and TUESDAY:
Everything started off icy this week. Thankfully, by Monday afternoon the temperature bumped up enough that I felt safe to go get a few things at the grocery store. And J got out to his band class as well. Always good to get out. He also shared with me what was going on so we started on fixing that (Just some college administration things that arrived last week. Somehow they were counting a dual credit class from 2 years ago into last semester’s grades causing all kinds of havoc with financial things.). Tuesday was another bit of an icy start so no classes for J again. I don’t know what I did, maybe some cleaning and clearing? Oh yes, that is it. I cleaned out our medicine cabinet. So far I’ve cleared the pantry, medicine cabinet, and a few things from our bedroom.
WEDNESDAY and THURSDAY:
Wednesday was a struggle. My solar battery started to wear down very fast. Had a bit of an argument with J. Went to the library and the power went out while I was there. However, they were very kind to write down my books so I could still take them. Had the things to drop off at the donation center in my trunk (still there) but the donation area was closed probably due to weather. My husband did make dinner Wednesday evening (pancakes and bacon) so that helped a bit as well.
Yesterday was much better even though it poured down rain the entire day! J went off to his classes and I spent most the morning making minestrone soup.
The beginning of minestrone
Treated myself to a much needed Starbucks chai latte when I had to run to the store for pasta (I’ve decided dinatale pasta is the best for minestrone even though my recipe calls for elbow macaroni).
Last night I went out with friends, never underestimate how much that can help with a down week. We went to the Nelson (how we refer to the main art gallery in town locally) to see a Monet exhibit as well as exhibit of the works of Evelyn Hofer (very interesting!). Our kind friend obtained tickets to the exhibit for us through her work.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
And then, we all went out to eat a bit of a Kansas City institution of hamburger restaurants, Winsteads. I’d not been there in years! We were at the original location but they used to have restaurants throughout the city including a couple close to us. Sadly, those restaurants are long gone.
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Today and the rest of the weekend: I’m wearing my lucky red sweater for red Friday today. Trying to remember to wash my lucky long-sleeved red Chiefs shirt so it’ll be dry in time for Sunday (it’s a no dryer item). Our weather is supposed to bump way up in temperature but I’m still going to wear it. J needs to go the college bookstore later.
I’d like to maybe visit a Hallmark store as I’m starting to think on my 2 focus words for February….love and friendship are calling to me. Think I’ve done a decent job with my cleaning and clearing for January–perhaps a blog post is in order. It’s another weekend where we have no big plans (outside of cheering on the Chiefs on Sunday afternoon) but I’m not mad about it. Maybe I’ll spend some time practicing on indoor photos.
If the sun shines, you know I’ll be chasing it. And if it doesn’t, I’m planning to get outside anyway (I can manage anything but ice and pouring rain, I think).
How has your week been? What big or small plans do you have for the weekend?
Just finished an entire week in review blog post and then, decided it was so boring I’m not publishing it. So, here we have try two with the photos I downloaded for the deleted post. (I’m also counting this as my winter Wednesday post even though it’s Friday.) I’m just going to list some random items from the week.
We missed trash day on Wednesday! The trash truck usually always comes around 9:30 in the morning but for some reason they came at 6:30 on Wednesday. Thankfully, we didn’t have too much trash this week and should be okay to make it until next week.
Sickness also found J on Wednesday so he missed the start of his college classes this semester. Shouldn’t be too bad as Tuesday was a snow day.
A blue jay for my blue Wednesday
Did you know blue Monday meant that it was supposedly the most depressing day of the year? I had more of a blue Wednesday but really haven’t been super depressed this winter (yet). Getting outside makes such a difference!
Snow flowers?
I watched Trolls and School of Rock on Wednesday afternoon, both older movies and yet somehow I’d never seen them. Go watch them if you’ve not seen them yet, worth your time. Light and fun as well.
Want to know something that works good for sifting powdered sugar onto things if you don’t want to break out the entire sifter? A slotted spoon! Probably one of those I’m the last person to know that kind of things but thought I’d share it in case I’m just the second to last person to think of it.
I went to the grocery store twice this week. Once on Monday and again yesterday, both times to prepare for cold and snow. Yesterday was more about getting birdseed and a few snack items for the weekend.
A Few More Items
My editing stuff says I need a subheading, so there you go.
Don’t discount the mental and physical benefits of a snowy hike. Not a snowy workout, just a walk on the snow covered trail admiring the season.
If you line your pan with foil to avoid a mess from a sticky sauce, clean said pan before the sauce cools and “glues” the foil to your pan. Ack! What a mess. SIGH.
Let myself say no to work a few times this week, why is it so hard to prioritize my own plans even if they aren’t “big”?
Excited for G who has a job interview coming up in a couple of weeks. He’d been a bit discouraged so this helps.
Started the week with laundry and here I am ending it with more laundry? How?
Weekend Plans
None really. More laundry, cleaning and clearing of clutter for today. And some paperwork. Ugh. Waiting to see how J feels when he wakes up and whether he’s going to his classes (they don’t start until 2).
Football watching on the agenda for the weekend mostly. Go Chiefs! Go Packers! (or am I supposed to say Pack? Carrie?) and Go Lions! Not sure on who I’ll cheer on for the fourth game. Maybe a walk on Sunday if it “warms” up a bit more.
How was your week? Any plans for the weekend that might be more exciting than mine?
As I was stepping into my rain/mud/snow boots this morning, I mentioned to my husband they were game changers for me. For the most part, until about 4 years ago, I never really owned boots that actually kept my feet dry and (this is important) were easy to get on and off. Boots that were also actually comfortable.
Thought I had a picture of them but can’t find it. However, here is a link to them.
These boots make me more willing to go outside in the rain, mud, and snow. They helped me go on more hikes this fall (and hopefully, this winter as well) since I wasn’t relying on just tennis shoes.
Anyway, then I started thinking about a few other things that were game changers for me in the past few years. And I thought it might be fun to share just a few of them in a post here.
ONE: Parchment Paper
Why did it take me so many years to embrace the idea of parchment paper? I finally started using it on the family chocolate birthday cake a few years ago. Only recently did I realize I could use it to keep things like my banana bread from sticking in the pan. And on cookie sheets instead of greasing them when recipes called for it.
TWO: Great Advice I Really Needed
Reading this little tidbit has helped me so much with not feeling guilty when I say no to work. It’s made me realize that my plans for just myself are also important. I’ve quit canceling on myself (and sometimes my family) to put someone else’s priorities above my own. And let me take a day to relax if I know I need one.
THREE: Warm Socks
This kind of fits up there with my thoughts about having a good and easy pair of boots. Warm socks make it so much easier and enjoyable to be outside in the winter. Who knew? Probably everyone but me.
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These are all just small things but they’ve made such a big difference for me. What do you consider some of your game changers?
Well, we’re in that weird state between Christmas and New Year’s over here. Please, tell me how it’s already Thursday?
Only photo I took this week
Silly hibiscus bloomed inside earlier this week. Wish all my plants were so happy. Sadly, that is not the case.
Weather’s not been cooperative for getting out and going on much needed walks either. Did see the sun briefly today but the only walk I managed was to grab the recycle bin from the curb.
Taxing Times
Not so fun fact about our state. Property taxes are due by December 31. Merry Christmas! This year’s taxes were crazy high (thankfully, not out of hand for us but many others were not so fortunate, city is actually suing the county over the assessment practices that were apparently unlawful). As I paid today, I noticed they left one of our vehicles off the bill so we’ll owe more money. Husband went up to the local courthouse to try and fix things but the line was so long, they were full before his turn. Told him to come back tomorrow at 7AM (they open at 8) and said that the line today had gone all the way around the block. UGH. We can wait but then, we’ll have more penalties and all over someone else’s mistake. UGH.
Waiting For Word Inspiration
My word for 2023 was wait. And so I continue to wait for inspiration on a word for 2024. Wait worked well for the year mostly. Though as an impatient person in a few areas, I did struggle at times. I’ve spent the last few years waiting on stressful things/conflicts to resolve (and I continue to wait on my stubborn self to accept that some things aren’t fixable nor are they mine to try and fix). The year of the pandemic and the following few have been stressful at times and this is the first year that felt like things were tilting back to a less hectic and worried pace.
Word candidates for 2024 that have popped into my mind the past few weeks: rest, slow, relax, reset, turn, green, nature, nurture…maybe breathe. Just saw recover on a random word generator. Hmmm… I’ll continue to ponder it through the weekend.
Not Much Love For A List of 23 Items
Um, I didn’t get very far with my 23 things for 2023 list. However, I don’t feel like I failed too much as I think I just had other priorities. And I’m okay with that, I can still do the things on the list as I move into 2024. Cleared a few bins from the basement, accomplished my tv and reading goals (always, ha!), and ordered the cases for the dvd storage. Also, I managed to talk to someone in Hobby Lobby about framing the photos and get a few questions answered. Thinking of taking a completely different approach to this list making stuff for next year.
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How’s your time between Christmas and the New Year going? Reflecting on any lists? Picked out a word for next year? Or are you just enjoying the quiet?
Hello, hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season! I’ve been busy over here with musical concerts, graduations, fun get-togethers with family and friends, and trying to squeeze in all the other have-to’s along the way.
I’ve worked a lot more this week than I planned. (If you would please pray for the families of two of my co-workers that are cousins, as one’s brother passed away unexpectedly last Friday)
However, Christmas break is officially here after work today, just a short 1-4 day for me.
Our holiday weekend plans include:
The symphony tonight (I cannot wait, super excited for this!)
A baking day with J tomorrow (our annual making of chocolate covered pretzels plus we’re trying out a pizza snack mix
I’ll probably get up early tomorrow for some last-minute shopping (or I’ll do it Christmas Eve morning)
The Christmas Eve candlelight service on Sunday night (J’s brass ensemble band plays some of the music!)
Christmas morning with just our family to open gifts (unknown if my bil/sil plan to come for breakfast, need to find out)
Christmas dinner at my brother’s house (he’s making spaghetti and I’m in charge of dessert, Thanksgiving repeat with chocolate and apple, I’ll probably take a few cookies as well)
Not sure I’ll be on here again until after the holiday so I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas full of love and happiness!
December is here at last or perhaps suddenly. Feels more like suddenly this year doesn’t it? We have lots on our December calendar and I’m excited for it.
However, first I think I’ll take a minute to look back at the whirlwind last week of November. Isn’t it weird how sometimes a week with nothing special on the calendar can speed by as fast as one that’s super busy?
MONDAY AND TUESDAY
Nothing too exciting happened on Monday except my usual grocery store trip. I guess I’m officially a “regular” as that’s how the lunchmeat counter manager referred to me. “I’m seeing all my regulars today.” HA. It’s true though, I typically shop on Mondays and get the same things from that counter.
Tuesday, J had his class and I took a snowy hike through some of the nature center trails. You can see the post about that here.
I worked for just a few hours on Tuesday afternoon. It was definitely a bit more chilly in the late afternoon on the playground than it had been on the nature center trails. And so muddy! Ugh. However, I still enjoyed seeing the kids. J didn’t have his evening class so our evening was fairly relaxed, I mostly read in my book and watched a bit of TV.
WEDNESDAY
With lots of sunshine and warmer weather, I opted to drive out to a nature center on the east side of town and do a bit of walking. I didn’t take my boots so mostly stayed on the paved trails. I had the best time seeing a new (to me) bird as well as some eagles flying over head! The eagle picture turned out blurry but here’s my new tiny bird friend:
Golden-crowned kinglet
A bit of real life: Unfortunately, the evening ended on a bit of a sour note as J and I came home starving from his class and my husband had not even bothered to start dinner. He’d been home a decent amount of time, saying “I didn’t know what you wanted.” I’d written two options on our menu board. My temper flared a bit as I made dinner (loudly) but everyone was fed. I ended up making sausage, orzo, & broccoli.
Maybe I’d come home in a bit of worse mood as I’d finished reading Holly by Stephen King and found myself quite disappointed in it.
Life and dinners go on…
red-bellied woodpecker
THURSDAY
Yesterday, I went hiking at the closer nature center trails again. Wore my boots and was glad I did as a lot of the snow melted into slippery leaves and mud.
So strange to see how the weather and trails can change in a matter of two days. This is the same spot 2 days apart:
I also finally managed to get to the library and pick up my on hold books (as well as return my overdue ones). Also picked up a few new cookbooks, not sure if I’ve mentioned it but the library is such a great place to grab cookbooks to preview. In my current collection, I have Trisha Yearwood’s cookbook as well as one by Chrissy Teigen plus a couple random ones.
Not from a cookbook but last night we made these banana pancakes for dinner. Whatever you’re planning for your next meal, change it and make these instead! So good. We added mini chocolate chips to ours. They really didn’t even need syrup. Next time, I think I’d like to add blueberries instead of the chocolate chips.
Ended my November watching, not a Christmas movie but an old dateline special about Jonestown. Why? And then, I turned on the football game but fell asleep.
Our Weekend Plans
And now it’s December! Ours is a bit busier than normal but after a few years of quiet holidays, I’m excited about it.
Prior to this post, I took a moment to enjoy a cup of hazelnut coffee as the Keurig is plugged in for the holiday season. It only comes out for hunting season/Christmas, the rest of the year is the regular coffee maker coffee which I also had a cup of earlier in the morning.
And read the first day of Simply Christmas, a favorite devotional for this month. While it’s geared to moms with younger children, I still find wisdom in the pages.
Tonight we have J’s college Christmas concert to attend. Tomorrow, our first of the month dinner/game night with friends. We’ve not had a proper game night in a while so I do hope we actually play a few games tomorrow. And then, Sunday night is the Chiefs game. Between all that fun, I am hoping to get the rest of the house decorated for Christmas, maybe do a bit of shopping or baking, and taking some time to enjoy the start of the Christmas season.
If the sun shines, you know I’ll be out taking a walk with my camera soaking it in while I can. I’ve told myself every time I can be out walking and enjoying the sunshine in the next few months, I’m going to do it.
