After yesterday’s very unproductive day, I did manage to get a few things accomplished today. Resting on and off all day yesterday and going to bed at 8PM helped. So did a mistaken coffee order.

This Morning

I started off the morning by checking on my daffodils. As much as I’d like to have a lovely vase of flowers in here, I just can’t bring myself to pick them.

(Should mention it was yet another cloudy, rainy day so the lighting for my photos was not the best.)

Despite the cold, rainy weather, it felt good to be outside getting a bit of fresh air. Discovered the little purple flowers in the yard (not planted by me, they come up all over the front yard each spring). I battled these purple flowers, scilla aka “glory of the snow,” for years before embracing them as a cheerful first sign of spring.

If it was a sunny, warm day, I’d have probably seen happy bees with them.

Anyway, besides being outside a bit, I also managed to fill the car with gas. And while I was running that errand, I ran to Tractor Supply to pick up some overpriced bird seed. Went there instead of Menards since it’s closer to home. And because I knew they’d have a good selection of seed starter trays, bought a few more of those as well.

And I was brave, for the first time ever, I went through one of those drive-through coffee shops. They kind of intimidate me so I’d never been despite having many choices around here. Ordered something called an Irish Blondie (Irish cream,vanilla, and caramel breve) and they accidentally gave me a large instead of a medium. Woohoo extra productivity!

This Afternoon

Had another day with some time home alone as J went work with my husband again. And G works every Saturday. So, I spent some time writing a much overdue letter to my penpal. And doing a little house cleaning. Of course, I never seem to get enough finished before everyone returns.

Lunch was up in the air but at the last minute, I made a “clean out the fridge” type of frittata. Used potatoes, orange and yellow peppers, onion, and cheese. Turned out pretty good. Wish I’d had fresh parsley or some other green component but alas nothing.

J and I agreed next time, we’ll add bacon and more cheese. And maybe spinach. Plus perhaps skip the potatoes. (My husband doesn’t eat eggs so had something else for lunch).

Then, my productivity kind of stopped. Had to pace myself after yesterday plus the cat found my lap again. So, I watched more baking shows. Decided I’m not a fan of the Easter Baking Championship, too much food waste. They were baking huge cakes and then the judges were only judging a tiny component.

This Evening

My husband and I spent some time looking at hotels (on-line) for our upcoming trip in August. We’re in the very early planning stages. Then he made waffles for dinner for J and himself (all day breakfast over here). G ate noodles, he made those himself. I’ve yet to eat, not really hungry. Finally, we spent some time watching his cooking show, Guy Fieri Tournament of Champions. I like it as well.

Guess I’ll end tonight’s fairly random post with a reminder that here in the US (except for a few lucky states), it’s time to spring forward an hour.

The cat’s face at another rainy day is pretty much how I feel about that. Not a fan. Can I even say it often enough that the days get naturally longer and shorter? Ugh.

Here, let me leave you with another shot of a cheerful daffodil instead of that unpleasant thought.

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Day 69/365

Are you excited for it to be almost the weekend? I know I’m excited over here. Not much going on this Thursday morning. It’s another cloudy sky and more rain is moving in for later. I’m listening to J practice euphonium as I type this. Such a nice sound.

Breakfast this morning was the current usual:

Coffee and oatmeal. Lower sugar maple flavor. I’ve started making my instant oatmeal with water instead of milk. One tiny change at a time, we’ll see if it helps with the shedding of the winter pounds.

Strawberry pie probably doesn’t help. I didn’t think the pie was a huge hit around here. However, it turns out I might have been wrong. My husband’s been taking it in his lunch for dessert and I did find this in the kitchen this morning:

Did I forget to take a picture of the actual pie after I made it? Possibly. I used this strawberry pie recipe from The Pioneer Woman.  I was slightly short on strawberries (like 1/4 cup) but it didn’t make a huge difference. However, if making it for company, I’d go big on the strawberries as well as adding some fresh sliced ones on top for garnish.

On Today’s Agenda

Pretty much everything from my to do list on Monday. The only thing I’ve managed this week is to wash all our bedding. And make the strawberry pie. Forgot to pick the daffodils but thankfully, the weather never turned super cold so I think they’ll be okay. Main item today is getting cat food as we’re now completely out of it.

The rest of the list waits for me. And now, there’s more to do. Go to the bank, pay bills,  and clear off the kitchen table. Also, work this afternoon and a fun mom’s night out planned for tonight.

Weekend Plans

We have no big weekend plans at the moment. Maybe another movie or G said something about playing Mario Party 2 (they’ve somehow downloaded the old Nintendo 64 games to the switch). I usually read my book while they do those things but I used to sometimes play the Mario games with them when the boys were younger.

As I bring this post to a close, J’s finished practicing and now I can hear the rain once again falling outside. Just makes me think of the how everything will soon be green and growing. Like these little tomato plants I started indoors:

These are actually from a Dollar Tree “tomato rocket” so we’ll see how they do this summer. I was excited to see them sprout.

Are you excited about any of your weekend plans?

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Day 67/365

I woke up in a much better mood than I was when I posted yesterday. No idea why. Just going to share yet another random post of some Saturday stuff. I do have a bit of a more serious post planned, probably on Tuesday.

However, I like to keep things lighter on the weekends. Normally, I wouldn’t even bother posting too much on the weekends. Maybe the bird-watching posts but even then, not every weekend. Now with the Blog 365 challenge, I have to find a few things to say even on Saturdays.

How about just a glimpse of a few things from this morning/afternoon?

I’d tell you this was my slightly indulgent breakfast but it wasn’t. I had this for a late lunch/afternoon snack. Move over cinnamon toast.

Cinnamon Croissant:

Want the recipe? It’s easy, split a croissant, add butter, and plenty of this:

Then, broil it. It’s worth it. Make yourself feel better about it by having it with some green tea. (Mine is always Stash Green Chai tea with a splash of milk.)

Let’s Blame The Candle!

This is the other candle I bought at Bath and Body Works on Wednesday (I figured out what day I went on my retail therapy trip.)

Small candle for the kitchen. Just to clarify, it smells nothing like a cinnamon sugar or a croissant. And I’m sure my cinnamon toasted croissant (from Aldi no less) tasted nothing like a croissant I might find in Paris if I ever get there.

Not sure how to transition from croissants and candles that supposedly smell like Paris to the rest of this post but…

A Cat!

I was reading my book a bit this morning until she thought perhaps my time should be spent doing her bidding instead. She’s now asleep on the daybed down here. It’s exhausting keeping us all inline.

Finally, last item for today…

Plants and Flowers

Still waiting on the second blooming of the Christmas cactus. Cat mentioned above thought she might take a bite of it yesterday. Good thing I caught her! Not like she doesn’t have an entire pot of cat grass pretty much right beside the window, just above this plant.

Don’t worry eventually, I’ll quit boring you with pictures of the Christmas cactus and indoor flower bouquets.

When, spring and summer finally arrive, I’ll bore you with lots of outdoor plants and flowers instead! I can hardly wait! Actually, that’s on my unwritten list for today. I might start some seeds and pop into the window.

Spring is coming. Unless you’re on a different side of the world, then autumn/winter will be there soon. Time to trade seasons and no take backs!

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Day 55/365

This is a bit of an overdue post on my Galentine’s Day dinner as well as our Valentine’s day. Wanted to share before the details faded any more from my mind. I’m going to work backwards and start with my Valentine’s Day. I’ll have a lot more to say about Galentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day

This was a work day for me and a pretty low key day. Our work party (for the preschool kids) was fun though the weather wasn’t cooperative. They keep this holiday very simple at my work. The kids decorate paper lunch bags with stickers,  have an ice cream party, and then exchange Valentines. It was tiring entertaining hyped up on sugar kids with no outside option but the kids had fun.

At home, we were very low-key. I’d started losing my voice on Monday night and working all day Tuesday didn’t improve things. We planned to order in from our favorite Chinese restaurant but they were closed for Valentine’s Day! So we made do with Hawaiian Bros which was very good and probably a little (a lot) cheaper than the Chinese restaurant. I just gave all the boys a package of Kit Kats and my husband a card. He gave me flowers and a card. The kids just gave me a card (which they actually forgot to give me until last night). It was a nice, relaxing night. Much needed since I worked the next day as well.

Galentine’s Dinner

This happened last week but today is the first day I’ve had time to share about it. We all met for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory on the Plaza. And we all exchanged “tokens of love and friendship” which stressed me a bit trying to figure that one out.

The Galentine’s Day Gifts I Put Together:

I opted to go simple by filling a gift bag with a few meaningful small gifts. Homemade chocolate chip cookies to start.

And, since the price of eggs lately is so high lately, I did this:

Not the best photos here. I took plastic Easter eggs, filled them with Hershey’s Kisses (strongly recommend the Lava Cake flavor if you can find it!), and added Fortune cookie sized strips of paper with the words “our friendship is priceless” printed on them.

Finally, I added small flower rockets and small Valentine’s day cards where I wrote “may our friendship continue to grow” as my message. I also gave everyone a heart necklace from the Dollar Tree just for fun (and wore one myself).

My Galentine’s Day Gifts From My Friends

Such wonderful, thoughtful, and fun gifts! A new plant, a homemade bracelet, a beautiful scarf, more flower seeds to plant, and of course, candy!

It all worked out great in the end. I’m very blessed to have so many wonderful friendships in my life. The Galentine’s Day dinner was with a group of my mom friends. We’ve been friends for over 20 years now as we met through our local Mom’s Club. We were actually the founding members of the group in this area.

A Few Funny Moments From The Night

Shall I just confess to you all that I’m a mess? See my lovely dinner pictured above? It was delicious by the way! And the Cosmopolitan drink back there? (Also delicious) I managed to spill my first one all over the table before our food even arrived!

Side note here: While the food was very good indeed, let me just say we were all a bit startled by our bills (drink prices mostly). Cheesecake Factory is definitely a special occasion location. Or maybe a lunch date place.

Then, at home, I look in the mirror and I have a red “rash” all over my neck. Start panicking thinking I’m having an allergic reaction to the drinks or something in the food. Until, I realize my allergic reaction is wiping off on my hands. Cheap plastic Dollar Tree necklace turned my neck red from the beads. SIGH. I know for sure it was the necklace because I wore it again on Valentine’s Day and had the same issue.

This was the first time we’ve ever had a Galentine’s Day celebration. Imagine it won’t be the last.

Have you ever celebrated Galentine’s Day? How was your Valentine’s Day and/or Galentine’s Day if you celebrated it?

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Day 47/365

What was I saying yesterday about the weather not cooperating for my winter appreciation project?

We went from beautiful weather for our Galentine’s dinner on the Country Club Plaza:

(I was excited the lights were still on, usually they turn them off in late January)

To waking up to 2 inches of snow and a snow day for the public schools:

(Chelsey’s little cat prints in the snow, silly cat went outside this morning. It’s not very cold though just a thick, wet snow falling after overnight rain)

Busy Week Just Gets Busier

My work hours increased this week. Yesterday morning, I covered for an early morning teacher who’d just lost her grandfather. Thankfully, another sub came in soon to relieve me so I could finish preparations for my husband’s birthday.

In the midst of baking his cake, I had to run to the grocery store as I’d run out of shortening. Usually just buy a small tub but of course, the store only had the large ones. Is it me or are stores out of the most random things ever since the COVID shortages? Oh well, as I told the other shopper, perhaps lots of pies in our future!  I typically only use shortening for this family birthday cake and pie crust. My mom used it to fry chicken if I recall correctly. Maybe I’ll be brave.

And moving on to today, no snow day for me and now I’m working starting at 9:30 instead of noon. Downside of working at a small private school, pretty much not going to get a snow day unless it’s a snow armageddon out there. Or maybe ice. Even then, the odds are slim.

Time to go see if the car fairies cleared my car of the snow. What car fairies, Jean? Exactly. Hope you all have a great Thursday!

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day 39/365

Yesterday, Billie Jo over at Afternoon Coffee And Evening Tea declared it Get To Know Your Blog Friends Week. And shared a few things, encouraging us to also share a few things most people probably don’t know about us.

So, for today’s post, I’m taking her idea and sharing a few random things about myself.

• As soon as someone says tell me about yourself or asks my favorite anything, I tend to go blank. Except for with my favorite color, green.
• I’m a college graduate with a B.A. in psychology but also hold a minor in economics. Not home economics but actual supply/demand/micro/macro economics. Please don’t quiz me, college was a long time ago!
• There are only 3 places I’ve ever lived all in this same citywide area: my childhood home (we never moved when I was a kid), my own apartment, and this house where I now live with my husband.
• With very few exceptions (covered strawberries or pretzels are okay but we usually do those things with almond bark around here), I think white chocolate is an abomination. It’s not even real chocolate, says so right here. Dark chocolate is my favorite but I also like milk chocolate just not as much.
• When I was about 11, I hid under the neighbor’s boat during a game of hide and seek with friends. The license plate hung down and I cut my back climbing out from under the boat after the game. Still have a slight scar from the 14 stitches it required. It was not a fun summer after that.
• Diet Coke used to be my go to drink. I won’t touch it or any other diet soda now. Artificial sweeteners with the exception of small amounts of Stevia give me bad headaches.
• I started college as an English major and strive for the green smiley face on my “readability score” on all my blog posts.
• Lily-of-the-Valley are my favorite flowers but I won’t grow them in the yard because they’re also highly poisonous.
• The color of my first “bought completely on my own” new car was fire engine red. It was a 1993 Pontiac sunbird. I cried when my husband said it was time to get something new (it was 7 years old by then)
• Ironic since I have a blog, however, I tend to be a fairly private person.

Bonus item: I always worry that I’m using the word ironic wrong.

Okay, now that I truly feel as if I’ve told you more than you ever wanted to know about me, it’s your turn. What are some things I might not know about you?

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day 37/365

I spent the morning doing a bit of shopping. It’s actually rare that I get in a full on shopping mood. And I had a lot of things I needed this morning.

I’ll share where I went, what I bought, and a few interesting things I saw/heard along the way.

Parking Lot Birds

Do you see the two geese up there on the roof? I didn’t actually go in Kohls but the geese caught my eye. At my first stop, I also saw giant gulls swooping around the lot. That parking lot was too busy for me to stand safely and grab a photo.

First stop: Menards

Their slogan is “save big money at Menards.” Somehow, I always seem to spend big money there.

My list for Menards: bird seed, a new welcome mat/rug for front door. Maybe some Valentine’s decorations if they have any.

Did I stick to my list? Uh, no.

Started off well enough finding a small rug to replace our front door welcome mat. Should I even confess that earlier this week I realized we were still using one saying “Seasons Greetings”? Oops.

Bird seed, let’s try safflower seed again. More suet. Check. And look, here’s a different kind of bird feeder. That gives me an idea. Into the cart it goes.

Go over where Christmas used to exist. They were not feeling the Valentine’s Day love. Nothing there. Well, except it’s now time for patio furniture apparently. And rugs. Oh, look at this:

Good price and I’ve been wanting an area rug for the living room. Three piece set. Did take a minute to text my husband, he didn’t care so into the cart it went.

Time to get out of Menards!

Target Time

It’d been a while since I went to my local Target. Didn’t really need too much: small trash bags, a few beauty essentials (mouthwash, makeup), cleaning supplies. Spent some time just browsing while in there.

Am I the only one who has to touch the cozy blankets? Just need to see how soft they truly are, right? I didn’t buy any, we don’t have a need. Pretty though.

Pondered this lamp for a moment (I have gift cards) but decided I didn’t want to settle. Holding out for a lamp I love.

Why did I not stop and think, picking up frozen items. (Auntie Anne’s frozen pretzels, weekend treat) Too warm to leave frozen items in the car today.

Need to go a few more places but first:

Pit Stop At Home

I left the area rug in the car until one of the boys could help me unload it. The blue stripes is the new welcome mat or it might go in the kitchen.

Hallmark and Joann

Unfortunately, I only managed two more stops before running out of time. And steam.

In Hallmark, I ended up only buying 3 cards. Good I guess since I needed the cards. However, I was hoping to find Galentine’s Day ideas there. All I really found was a headache as some man was talking super LOUD with the sale associate. I get that he was excited about his new “in like” relationship but geez, indoor voice, please! They weren’t going to be “in love” because that didn’t work with her previous relationship or something. I was glad when he left and it was quiet again.

Then, I debated going into Kohls but passed and decided to just go to Joann. If you don’t know, Joann is a fabric/craft kind of store. Think Hobby Lobby or Michaels but with more sewing stuff maybe?

Between Target and Joann, I managed the beginning of an idea for a simple Galentine’s Day gift for my friends:

And I decided maybe I wanted to give the whole diamond art thing a try, so I bought a small kit:

I thought it might make nice decor in March. We’ll see how I do with it.

Did I Get Everything I Needed?

Ha, not even close!

Did I get everything I didn’t need? Well, I really thought I needed chocolate and didn’t get that so I guess no again.

Did I go home and take a nap? Maybe.

Our new area rug: 

Do you like to shop or are you more like me and the mood has to hit just right?

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day 32/365

Know what happens when you throw a snow day right in the middle of a week? The next day feels like a big ol’ Monday. Again. Except the Monday to start this week wasn’t bad.

Today, however, it’s as if Monday said: Hi, remember me? I’m back from my vacay! Let’s have some “fun”

Somehow, I just imagine that Monday would say “vacay” in an annoying voice instead of vacation. Except we all know Monday’s idea of fun is not the same as our idea of fun.

How about a text message asking you to work that came through at 11:30 last night when you were already asleep. Can’t reply (won’t) at 5 in the morning. Need to kind of see what else unfolds this morning anyway.

Tired? Oh, I know what will wake you right up? How about after your shower, you grab your face cleanser and smear that all over your face instead of the moisturizer you thought you grabbed. A nice, super clean shiny face to start the day!

That son of yours? The one who has for some reason set a billion alarms this morning? The one your husband said he heard very late last night. Yeah, I think he needs a “fun” morning as well. A “can’t do it” morning where he goes back to bed. Been a while. (Reminding myself this is just a slip in a ton of progress we’ve had this year).

Here Comes The Guilt

And let’s throw in a heaping of guilt because technically now you could/should work but you also should stay here to keep your son on track for tomorrow. (Our agreement is he does school work from home on days like this).

You know you should call the school but you’re just so over this part of it all. Ignore them? Tell a white lie (yes, I know it’s wrong, a trade of one judgement to avoid another) and say J is physically sick with a headache or something? Guilt over considering those options.

Didn’t you want so spend a bit of today also disappointed that now cleaning the house (all alone) is out of the picture?

Talk To Me Thursday!

I picture Thursday coming in like a long lost much needed friend taking charge of things:  Okay, move it Monday! It’s my day and I tend to make everyone a bit happier because it’s almost the weekend! Go sulk or whatever it is you do until you arrive to spoil the weekend fun for most people.

Reminders here:

You don’t have to work today, even though you really like the teacher asking, it was short notice for you. And there are other substitute teachers. Your son is your priority here.

Just call the school. It’ll save the hassle of that annoying automatic message later. And lack of sleep causes headaches so there you go. It’s not like you want to wake him up and ask if he has a headache, I’m sure he’d have had a headache if he didn’t go back to bed.

You could clean the house now while they’re still all asleep. (Husband is at work).

Also, we’re just days of the week. Not really in charge. You know who’s in charge, another little prayer to get through today and the rest of the week even if we are near the end never hurts.

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Happy almost the weekend! Hope your day is off to a bit better start than mine!

day 26/365

Usually I try to make us another “mini” Christmas dinner and sometimes I give the boys an extra Christmas present. However, with working all week, I only had it in me to make a 3 Kings cake for tonight.

Using a funfetti cake mix. And a random frosting recipe found on-line (powdered sugar, condensed milk, and a teaspoon of lemon juice. I threw in a tablespoon or regular milk to get better consistency).

The praline pecan I used (our baby Jesus substitute…that sounds weird, maybe because it’s late on Thursday as I’m working on this post) fell out and I had to stick it back in the cake after I baked it.

May have been a bit thick with the frosting. Still had a bit of purple/yellow/green sugars left to sprinkle on top.

The dinner I have planned for tonight: ham steaks, turkey slices from the grocery store deli (no time to cook a frozen turkey breast), sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, salad, and of course, cake. Currently, just craving pizza.

After tonight, I’ll put the rest of Christmas away. That includes the Nativity, taking down the lighted greenery around the kitchen doorway, and switching to a simple winter wreath on the front door. Everything else is already in tubs (mostly though the tubs aren’t put away).

Other weekend plans include: Catching up with reading blogs and answering/leaving comments. Dinner out with friends on Saturday, possibly with a game night. Taking J to band practice on Sunday and a long overdue trip to Target. Other stuff as well, those were just the three things that came to mind.

What are your weekend plans?

Day 6/365