And I worked all four days. Thus the days of silence once again.
A teacher fell and broke her ankle (not at work, still yikes!) and so I’m helping out for the next two weeks. Except for on Tuesday when I have jury duty. So it may stay silent around here for a bit as my loveable preschool kids do take up a bit of time and mental space.
However, today is Good Friday and my school is off for the holiday. So, today I have time (not sure about mental space, ha) to link up with Cathy over at My Creative Life for a Friday Catch Up.
Easter Plans
I’m going to have to find an older photo for this category. Let’s see…
And with this photo, I realize I haven’t even put the Easter wreath on the front door this year. Oops. Well, that happens when you’re extremely busy, then super sick, then super busy again.
So far our Easter plans involve going to church on Sunday. J is playing in the band for the later service. Other than that, I have no idea. I did get a few Easter basket goodies for my sons. If you’re in this house, the Peter Cottontail hops down the bunny trail.
No Rest
allium getting closer to blooming
Me last night at 5PM: I’m going to do ALL the things tomorrow!
Me at noon today (now): I might do 2 of the things today!
Ever have those nights where you just can’t shut your mind off? That was me last night, needed to sleep but could not. And then, a bit of tummy troubles as well. Some of that might have been the Dutch Bros *medium* coffee at 1 in the afternoon followed by a mango Pepsi with dinner.
My plan to stay a bit on schedule for the long weekend is long gone. My work schedule for the next 2 weeks is 7:00AM to 3:30PM which really means getting there at 6:40ish and leaving closer to 4. Didn’t want to throw my early mornings too far off over the 3 day weekend but so much for that one.
Today’s super cloudy, rainy looking outside isn’t helping with the motivation either.
Stuff I Need To Buy
First Iris blooms of the season
Maybe want to buy? I can live without all these things but I need them in the sense of my personal and household comfort level.
Random things: new um, under layers, shoes, essential oils, socks, lotion, and this is truly more a want than need but I’d like a new dress for Easter and/or to wear to preschool graduation later in May.
These are just random things I tally in my head throughout the day/week. Do you do that or are you an organized list maker?
And what have I bought in the last 24 hours? A medium Dutch Bros iced coffee drink and a preschool book about respect (I did check the library first with no luck on the exact one I wanted).
The End
I have no idea how to end this rambling and random post. Here’s a last phone picture of some spring flowers from around the yard. I’m not 100% but I think this is Sweet William Phlox.
Did you notice the silence around here this week? That’s because I’ve been sick. What I thought might’ve been allergies late last week was um, not. Or maybe it was and then, the sickness found me? I don’t know. I do know that I felt BAD on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Never have I been so glad to have work cancel on me as I was on Monday!
Tuesday and Wednesday I felt better but not 100%. I actually felt pretty good on Wednesday but then did that thing we all (maybe?) do where I did too much. And then, I was tired again on Thursday but still felt so much better! I feel good today and ready to catch up on all the things I’ve let slide this week. Including this space.
Clearly this Friday Catch Up isn’t going to be overly exciting but I think I can find a few things to share. Don’t forget to hop over to My Creative Life, host of our weekly link up.
Coughing, Cough Drops, and Too Many Movies and Shows
Highly recommend the cough drops pictured. A teacher gave me a couple when I thought it was allergies last Friday. Texted the photo to my husband on Saturday as I was realizing it was not allergies. My combo most days of the week: cough drops, Emergen-C, Mucinex (as I told J, you know I’m feeling bad if I’m taking the serious medicines), Elderberry, and regular vitamins. Sometimes, I even grabbed the Vicks Vapor rub.
And oh, how many shows/movies I watched! To be fair, slept through a few. All of the Lord of The Rings, extended editions. Then, I started with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and watched all the rest. I hadn’t realized that Robert Pattinson played Cedric Diggory until recently so that’s what started that one. Then, just for fun: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Last movie I watched (yesterday actually) was The 5th Wave, hoping the book series was much better as I was tempted to start cheering on the aliens by the end.
Shows I watched/caught up with: finished White Lotus (not my favorite season by far, saw a comment somewhere that said the show should’ve drank the pina coladas and I concur), my re-watch of The Last of Us, Abbott Elementary, and then the usual cooking shows. And again, I was shocked to realize that one of the actors in White Lotus was the same actor who played Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter. What?!
Whew! Time to read a book or something, huh?
Important Errands
I did feel well enough on Tuesday to briefly get out to do this:
Just a couple local issues for me but still, voting matters! Two measures went the way I voted and one did not. Then, yesterday, I made a journey to the post office after reading somewhere the price of forever stamps is about to increase. Look at our new stamps!:
J and I also took a small ride so I could show him the back way to the church where his band practice is on Sunday. Road construction is everywhere in this city! How is it where you are?
Spring is for Noticing
Energy’s been low but I did manage to grab the camera and walk around the yard a bit. I’ve decided my favorite thing about spring is noticing the new blooms and flowers everywhere. And the bugs as well, look at what I didn’t notice on the dandylion until I downloaded the photo!
Grape hyacinths that pop up in our yard each year:
Orange tulips!
And I’ll end this with the dogwood tree blooms about to open:
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Weather is supposed to sunny, warm, and beautiful this weekend so I’m hoping to get out and enjoy it. Today, I need to do a general catch up of lots of not so fun things like paying bills and cleaning the house. Wait, I’m thinking cleaning the house caused me to get sick the first time. Maybe I’ll skip that part. If only.
Someday I’ll get back to publishing Friday catch up posts on Fridays. This week was a bit of a whirlwind over here. I mean when did this even happen? Walked out to feed the birds this morning and the bleeding heart plant is blooming!
You might have noticed I didn’t post all week long. Full work week with the exception of Wednesday. So for most of the week, it was this:
Wednesday, I had the cleaning bug and spent most of the day giving the house a good cleaning. The weather’s turned chilly again after a round of storms on Tuesday night that caused this:
Poor lemon tree! (It was in a ceramic pot on a small table.) I can save it but it’s been too cold outside to do much. It’s in another pot (not pictured) with a bit of dirt waiting right now. Also, just for clarification the green up there over the dirt is from a different plant (asparagus fern), the vines just fell into the dirt when I moved it.
So basically, spring around here moved from sunny and warm to rainy and cold (all tropical plants back inside as we’re supposed to dip down in the 30’s overnight. Brrr!). Pansies will be fine though.
Could Be Allergies…
After spending all day Wednesday cleaning, I started to get a tickle in my throat that evening. And woke up feeling a bit blah, scratchy throat, watery eyes. Sick or allergies?
Felt worse as Thursday progressed but made it through (left work a bit early) and then, did manage to make it through Friday. Thinking the answer might be sick. Moral of the story: Don’t clean, it’ll make you sick. Ha! HA! Could’ve also been all the stuff stirred up from Tuesday night’s storm. Or I picked up a virus somewhere at work. Job hazard.
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Still not feeling 100 percent this morning but thought I’d do a quick check in here on the blog. Probably going to put on a “sleeping movie” here in a bit and snuggle in for what appears to be another cold and rainy day over here.
Hopefully, I’ll do a bit better with posting and responding to comments next week! So far, not looking as busy.
Since it’s not Friday, I guess this is going to have to be a Saturday summary in lieu of a Friday catch up post. Could also be a sleepy Saturday summary thanks to a certain little gray cat. She seemed to think I wanted 5AM to be my new wake up time.
This week divided into home and work with 2 days at home and 3 days at work. Thankfully, I had beautiful weather no matter where or what I did. Not really much to share so I’ll just share some random bits.
buds on the dogwood tree
Spring is definitely here!
A Pretty Dinner
I thought the ham and potato stir fry looked pretty in the pan as it cooked on Monday night. Didn’t come out quite as well as my first attempt, thinking I cut the potatoes a bit too big this time.
Squirrel Food?
If you pop back to Wednesday’s post, you can see where I planted 3 hyacinth bulbs in my teacup planter. So imagine my shock at returning home from work on Thursday to find only 2 bulbs in the planter. My prime suspect is a squirrel. So far, thankfully, the other 2 bulbs remain.
Maybe because they’re starting to bloom?
Work Stuff
My work days weren’t bad at all. Getting to enjoy the wonderful weather with the kids is a great perk of working at a preschool. Fresh air and sunshine? A nature walk in the middle of the day? Sold! Also, in the class where I worked on Thursday and Friday, a parent brought us all amazing iced coffees from the local Dutch Bros not once but 2 days in a row! Much welcomed by me as I had to open the school both days which meant getting there around 6:45 in the morning.
Also, a sweet little girl gave me a dandelion and told me I should put in my hair. And then, another child gifted me more flowers. So I wound them in my ponytail holder. Nothing like getting home and realizing you have dead flowers in your hair, ha!
Tulip Time
I must’ve planted a very early blooming variety. Tulips usually don’t bloom quite so soon around here. This lovely little yellow tulip also randomly bloomed in the flower garden beside the front porch. It’s a solo tulip.
Happy Discovery
In addition to the lone yellow tulip, I finally found my peonies emerging in the front yard. I transplanted them a few years back and had thought that perhaps the long summer drought did them in last year. Glad to see these shoots coming up out of the ground.
Hibiscus Blooming Time
The silly hibiscus bloomed almost all winter and here it goes again. I actually have 2 tropical hibiscus purchased on clearance from Menards, this one though is 3 maybe 4 years old. I need to replant it but I’m a bit nervous. We’ll see how it goes. Clearance purchase or not, I’ll be sad if repotting this is what does it in.
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It’s another beautiful weather day once again so perhaps after I get a handle on the laundry (yikes, talk about a laundry monster!), I’ll get out there and enjoy it. We are supposed to possibly have severe storms tonight. Not much else going on. Hope everyone is out enjoying the weekend no matter the weather!
Joining in with Cathy over at My Creative Life for the Friday Catch Up although as I said, mine’s a Saturday summary this time.
Welcome to the Friday Catch Up, the new improved version of Five on Friday, hosted by Cathy over at My Creative Life.
I might still do five topics but this new version gives us a bit of flexibility. Today, I’m just going to look back at my week.
Daylight savings started on Sunday around here thus my title. Wondering if we’ve all adjusted or are feeling tired after a week of mixed up times.
Oh, and I did pick up my “real” camera yesterday so I’m randomly adding photos of outdoor flowers and such to each heading.
MONDAY
First day after the time change and I was dragging a bit but also busy with errands. Hair cut in the morning (had no idea, good thing she sends reminders and I got one on Sunday afternoon). Tried to keep my face neutral while my hairdresser informed me of her price increases. Not sure I succeeded. I understand but wowza. Reminding myself of the old adage: You get what you pay for.
Followed the hair cut appointment up with grocery shopping. Where you don’t always get what you pay for anymore. Trying to be very conscious of budget, using what we already have, and not wasting food so actually spent a little less than normal.
TUESDAY
Another sort of busy day although I did sneak in watching the first episode of Spring Baking Championship. Of all the cooking/baking shows, the baking championship shows are my favorite. Is it that the host, Jesse Palmer, is funny and not bad viewing for the eyes? Is it that everyone on the show is so nice and supportive to each other? Is it watching them bake things that I wouldn’t dream of attempting? I do have to armchair coach sometimes though. Or is it all of the above? Yes, that’s it.
I did break up my viewing into 2 parts as I also had to work a bit on Tuesday and had plans with friends in the evening. My evening out was just okay. I just felt kind of off, ever get like that?
WEDNESDAY
An unexpected work day. Bit of a long day as the kids were a bit crazy (full moon and a lunar eclipse incoming!) and we had an animal presentation. And, of course, the tornado sirens went off during that. It’s a Wednesday thing in this area. The first Wednesday of every month, they test storm sirens. Unless, like last Wednesday, there’s an actual storm (it was a snowstorm but…still, no sirens). Usually, we practice the drill. However, we told the kids, just stay seated and let’s keep watching the animals.
A few other crazy things happened (typical crazy things) so I was glad to get home and relax.
THURSDAY
Was that just yesterday? Why does it feel like it was a week ago? Not even sure what I did prior to working for a couple of hours that felt like an entire day. Well, I guess I did pick up the camera for a bit and walk around the yard. Trying to transition the indoor plants back to the outdoors so every day, out go the lemon tree and hibiscus and few others. Then, every night, back inside. Except today, we have high wind warnings starting at 11:00 AM and I can already hear the winds this morning.
A bit of weirdness from yesterday: I have to go check again but I have a little cup holder trash can and I swear the lid disappeared while I was at work, like someone stole just my lid. It’s not under my car seats and I am almost sure it was there when I drove to work. However, J did empty it for me on Sunday so I have to double check he didn’t accidentally throw it away. My laziness pays off here as the bag of trash (it’s just a Target sized bag) is still in the car.
FRIDAY (TODAY)
Sure sign of spring: my little purple flowers (scilla) are popping up in the yard.
I have the day off and next week is spring break at my school! So, I feel like I get to start my break a bit early. Very excited for that. Great weather predicted for next week also. Fairly certain the topic of next week’s Friday catch up is going to be spring break related.
Today, I’m spending my bonus day doing some spring cleaning in our bedroom. Debating a pie for pi day, local business partnered with a former bakery owner to sell them. Wondering if I can sneak in a walk before the wind makes me question it’s safety. And of course, lots of books to read and shows to watch (Moana 2 finally hit Disney+, my preschoolers keep me updated, LOL.)
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Whew! I was chatty today. How was your week? Big weekend plans?
Tagged this post with week in review as well as Five on Friday but I honestly can’t remember much about the past week. Ever have weeks like that? Where it just seems a bit like a blur? And I wasn’t even really all that busy.
Maybe I’ll blame it on Wednesday’s weather! Monday and Tuesday were just normal days at home (I think). I do know I stayed up too late watching tv on Tuesday night knowing I had to be at work at 7:30 in the morning on Wednesday. Possibly making a few jokes to the boys about our crazy winds being caused by a certain blowhard. You can read about Wednesday (mostly a work day) in the post I linked.
Yesterday was another working day. A long unplanned one where I worked 9:15 to 6. Mostly good until the end of the day. Kids were (mostly) fun anyway. The end of the day stuff was 100% not kid related. And I did feel loved starting my day as the teacher I work with a lot, called me in a panic as I pulled into the parking lot. She thought the shift I covered started at 9 and was worried because “you are never late!” Oh my, if she only knew the Jean from the 1990’s who was always late. Of course, that me had a very different job she didn’t like much. Lots of sweet hugs and hellos from the kids to start my day as well.
And now, we’ve made it to FriYAY! Here’s how I’m planning to spend this warmer weekend:
ONE: Outside Yard Work
Hey, look what I saw in the corner of the driveway this morning! I noticed the buds as I left for work yesterday and today, flowers! I pushed away the dead leaves to get a good photo of the flowers. And in doing so, saw lots of green shoots. Raking away the leaves from the flower beds is on the weekend agenda. I’ll give them another week before I mulch them up with mower (needs to dry up a bit anyway).
Not quite time to dig holes (unless you’re a mole, very happy in our yard, ugh) but some calendar wisdom here:
TWO: Finally, Take A Walk
Blue skies, not quite as windy, and better temperatures mean I definitely plan to get out there and go on a trail somewhere along with my “real” camera. I do have to consider the mud but I know some places with mostly paved trails.
THREE: Household Chores
Figuring out what to do with a panic buy of 10 pounds of sugar is on the list. We were out and I was worried about prices. I knew we’d use it (hummingbirds go through a lot of sugar water in the summer!) but didn’t think through the storage. SIGH. Or I could bake lots of batches of chocolate chip cookies? Hmmm…
Also, need to do the usual clean ups around the house and water plants. My poor plants in for the winter are barely hanging in there. So ready to move them outside where they thrive.
FOUR: Bookstore Visit and a Spring Break Planning
I finished this last night so my older son and I could go see the movie. It opens today. Of course, he’s busy all weekend so we’ll probably make plans to go see it during spring break (week after next). This weekend, I’d like to perhaps visit a bookstore and just browse, maybe pick up a couple books to add to our collections. Also, this book apparently has a sequel.
FIVE: A Few Random Things
First housekeeping: I tried a new hot chocolate this morning. Pretty basic but I like it.
For the record, I mixed it with my coffee and added a bit of milk. It’s not quite the same flavors as the Starbucks Caramel Macchiato but close enough for me.
Sadly, I think it may be time to call it on the day after Valentine’s Day flowers. Maybe I’ll keep these until the end of the weekend. Will I replace them? Not sure. Happy to have outdoor flowers again and a local garden center just opened back up for the season, so maybe I’ll see if they might have hanging baskets of pansies yet. Ending this post with a close-up of the cheerful yellow crocus:
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What are your weekend plans? Also, don’t forget to go check out The Friday Catch-Up (new name, I like it!) over at My Creative Life.
Thought for Five on Friday (er, Five on Saturday Morning), it might be fun to share things I didn’t do this week.
Just kind of random.
ONE: I Did Not Throw Away My Valentine’s Day Flowers
Not until this morning anyway. And I still have a few in a new arrangement going strong:
Do you like to do that as well, see how long you can keep the fresh flower arrangements before tossing them?
TWO: Quit My Job
Oh, I did think about it! And I did check out my options. I’m still thinking about it. It’s definitely (mostly) not the kids though this year’s group is a bit needier than years past. It’s all the other stuff. A certain lack of support when dealing with some of the kids. The passive-aggressive, micromanaging e-mails….ugh. And I’m a sub so really don’t even need to deal with it much. However, it’s also that grouchy time of year…things might improve with the weather. Who knows.
THREE: Cook Every Meal on the Grill
However, we did grill on on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday! The weather’s been so nice. Yesterday, I didn’t cook so everyone scrambled for their own dinners. By the way, the Spicy Korean chicken pictured up there is one of our favorite go-to recipes. Everyone likes it! Highly recommend. Usually just keep it simply and serve with rice. Sometimes though I’ll make spring rolls with it.
FOUR: Go on a Walk with the Real Camera
Decided to rest instead. After being sick all last weekend, I didn’t really want to push myself. So, I stuck close to home. We did have a hoot owl in our backyard one evening so I grabbed the real camera to try and grab a picture of it. It wasn’t really light enough but you can see the outline.
Also, I did go to the library! That outing kind of helped me decide to rest up a bit more before venturing off on a walk.
FIVE: Put Away Winter Sweaters and Clothing
I thought about putting away those winter sweaters this week with no jacket/short sleeve weather going strong. However, I made myself wait. Of course, yesterday I planned to wear a short sleeved sweater to work and changed my mind opting for a tee-shirt instead. So glad I did that as it was very warm in the afternoon!
Older photo above but this morning I did finally take down the Chiefs garden flag and replace it with the Spring one.
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We have dinner plans this evening but I’ll probably spend today not reading all those great library books (my e-book holds keep coming up as well) and instead cleaning/putting out spring decor.
How about two favorite Midwestern topics for today? Especially during the winter months, the main topics tend to be weather and food (also, television and sports but let’s save those for now).
So for my Five on Friday, a recap of our crazy weather week along with mostly pictures of what we ate for dinner each night. Before we begin though, a random picture of my Valentine’s Day flowers still going strong.
Okay, onto tidbits of the week, the weather, and what we ate. Oh, and by the way, I didn’t follow the menu plan from Monday at all.
ONE: Monday we ate tacos!
Monday was a holiday here but my husband and G still had to work. Honestly, I can’t remember much about the day but I know we had tacos for dinner. And we were watching the weather because of winter storm/extreme cold warnings. The time of the storm kept shifting.
TWO: Tuesday I tried new recipes. Pork Chops and rice plus applesauce bread!
With the storm starting and the cold temperatures, I knew I wanted to use the oven a lot this week. So I decided to give this Easy Baked Pork Chops and Rice recipe a try. Everyone seemed to enjoy and it was a nice cozy meal for a crazy cold, snowy evening.
As an added bonus, earlier in the day, I made this applesauce bread as well. I knew I was making pork chops but hadn’t decided on recipe yet. Apples always compliment pork.
Random fact about our family: We all with little exception hate applesauce. Apples are yes, applesauce is a NO. However, sometimes I have some in the pantry and found 3 containers on a pantry clear out. (probably leftover from when the husband had dental work and there are only so many soft foods…)
THREE: Wednesday was an unexpected working day for me so I put the husband in charge of dinner!
Hotdogs and onion rings were an odd meal on a freezing cold night. The real temperature was 8 degrees while he was out there grilling! And yes, without a coat. Welcome to living in the Midwest!
Since my work day was unexpected (I only said yes because a teacher had an unexpected loss in her family), I had put together a French Toast Casserole the night before planning to cook it for breakfast and freeze the leftovers for future quick heat and go breakfasts.
Also, unexpected, lunch at work on Wednesday: hot dogs! SIGH. Had no idea that’s what we’d end up with for dinner.
They have that meal too often at my work. I’m currently not scheduled again until next Friday and guess what’s on the menu for lunch? Yep, hot dogs! I’ll be taking my lunch but I do feel for the kids. It’s one of my current gripes, the menu has gone downhill in an effort to cut costs, I get food’s expensive but come on, do better!
All that to say, I ate French Toast Casserole for dinner on Wednesday evening as I didn’t want hot dogs twice in one day. G had some French Toast Casserole for dessert as well.
FOUR: Thursday was the coldest day yet and another (this one scheduled earlier) half-day of working for me. I settled on stuffed peppers for dinner.
I made sure to take a screenshot of the temperature when I woke up to show the crazy cold.
Oddly, I was actually warmer at work yesterday than on Wednesday. I think because I was in the other classroom with a smaller front door. It’s weird when you go outside to go home and 12 degrees feels warm! Once home, I debated on dinner for a bit before landing on stuffed peppers mainly because I remembered I’d bought peppers (on sale!) at the store on Sunday for that purpose.
Orange ones because the red ones didn’t look to be in great condition. Plus they reminded me of sunshine and warmth. Finished product, I was hungry yesterday and almost forgot to take a picture!
I just use the classic Betty Crocker recipe for stuffed peppers only changing it slightly. I like my peppers crisp so I don’t parboil them and also, I use colby-jack cheese as opposed to mozzarella. Did you know as a kid I was not a fan of this meal at all but now I like it.
FIVE: Better Weather, Spring Cleaning Bug, and No Idea About Dinner
Happy Friday! This morning a cat paw in the face woke me up right on time though I didn’t need to go to work. She used to just sit on the nightstand and purr but she’s figured out that pawing at my face works while purring loudly works really well to make a person get out of bed and do her bidding. Sometimes her bidding is she just wants me to sit in the living room while she looks out the windows. SIGH.
This is the downstairs bed/couch, not my bed! I’d never be able to sleep in all that cat hair, adding another cleaning item to the list.
So,cat paw until I got out of bed. Then, had to go to the downstairs for milk since we were out upstairs and oh, yay, stepped in cat puke on the steps. Was I barefoot? Yes. That really wakes a person up fast!
Perhaps, that’s what triggered my spring cleaning bug. Started a bit, as soon as I finish up this post, I’m back to that. Right now, some scented candles going in attempt to refresh things a bit.
And sticking with the food theme, still not sure about dinner but thought I should show a couple healthy things consumed around here. Just so you know it’s not all Oreo hot chocolate all the time.
I drink this almost every day.
Fresh Cantaloupe, out of season but still good
And of course, I still have no idea what we’ll end up with for dinner tonight.
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Whew! This turned into a long post! Thanks for making it this far if you’re still reading. Wanted to give a shoutout to Rachel over at Living Better One Day At A Time for inspiring this post with her pictures of what we ate this past week on her Monday posts. I always enjoy seeing the plates of food. And to Carrie over at Northwoods Scrapbook for her Wordless Wednesday post mentioning weather as a conversation topic and of course, for introducing me the amazing French Toast Casserole. Finally, I can’t leave out Cathy from My Creative Life for bringing back Five on Friday as well as her kitchen post from last week which also inspired this post.
Happy Valentine’s Day! We don’t do much for it around here. Today, it’s just a normal workday for most of us though the preschool kids have their “party,” a pretty understated affair at the school. A special treat and then an exchange of Valentine’s day cards using brown paper bags the kids decorate themselves mostly with stickers.
Here at home, I planned on a simple dinner of waffles (they vetoed the idea of chocolate waffles!) and bacon. However, my husband was mentioning something about pizza last night so who knows. I did pick up some slice and bake cookies on sale so probably going to make those into cookie sandwiches (Why do we have so much marshmallow creme in the pantry??) along with some chocolate covered pretzels I promised J. Maybe we’ll all watch a movie or have a game night, clearly our Valentine’s Day is not planned out very well.
What is usually somewhat planned out is the annual Galentine’s Day adventure with my close friends! So I thought I’d share about that for this week’s Five on Friday hosted by My Creative Life.
ONE: Friendship Gift
While the gift of having a group of amazing friends for almost 25 years is certainly enough, we usually exchange small token gifts of friendship at our annual Galentine’s Day dinner. Here’s a glance at what I gave:
What’s in the bag?
Chocolates (Of course!) and some photos, one of which I framed. Then, I wrapped the framed photo in some Valentine’s Day tissue paper before putting them in the cloth bags.
TWO: Outfit
I like to dress in something somewhat Valentine’s day related if only through the colors. I picked my red sweater (Chiefs fans tend to own lots of red, LOL!) and some black velvet pants.
THREE: Location
Since we’ve started celebrating Galentine’s Day, we’ve met at The Cheesecake Factory on the Country Club Plaza. It’s expensive, yes, but typically we only go once a year. J gave me a gift card for Christmas so that was nice. And it’s always been very good. I typically get the spicy vodka pasta, a cosmopolitan, and a slice of classic cheesecake with strawberry topping.
An added treat this year, they decided to leave the Plaza lights on until Valentine’s Day so we also got to see those.
(Dear Cheesecake Factory, you need to clean your windows!)
Thankfully as well, the weather held off until late Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning as a winter storm moved into our area.
FOUR: My Amazing Gifts
A funny thing happened this year as 3 of us had the exact same idea to do photo related gifts, framed photos and a picture coffee mug!
The other friends went a self-care route, we know each other well after almost 25 years! And some of us are very talented on top of that, look at the beautiful cardinal print my friend made for me.
FIVE: Thankful for Friendship
I’m thankful for all the friendships in my life whether they are new or life-long, work, in person or blogging friendships made over the Internet. I hope all of you reading this have many great friendships of all kinds as well!
We’ve made it to Friday! It’s a rainy dreary day here and I’m still a bit shocked to find myself with an unscheduled day. No complaints about it though. G’s under the weather and working from home so I’ve enjoyed a few “water cooler” chats with him and J. Ha, they probably wouldn’t even know what I meant by that. Going to have to ask in a bit.
Time for another Five on Friday. Don’t forget to go check it out over at My Creative Life!
After a few days of working (actually, I think I worked Tuesday, Wednesday, and yesterday), I really only have my Monday photos of the Fan Zone at Union Station to share so sorry (not really) to all the non-Chiefs fans out there. Don’t run away though, Union Station in Kansas City is a beautiful historical building (you can probably see it beyond the Chiefs pictures).
Here’s the backside of Union Station as viewed from the parking garage (they usually only show the front with the lights and flags on TV):
ONE: Fan Zone at Union Station
I mentioned in my Happy Homemaker Monday post how I talked my husband into going to the Fan Zone at Union Station with me. This is just inside the station entry where they put Chiefs signs and such for fan photo ops. It’s fun and free (not counting parking fees).
TWO: Photos My Husband Took
My husband took better photos really than I did of the Fan Zone. Also, you can see on the left edge there, the shirts hanging, a store inside the station where you bet I bought an AFC West Championship tee-shirt. And yes, that’s me on the right there. And sitting in the chair in the next photo.
THREE: Union Station Architecture
Here’s some for the non-sports fans (note: some Chiefs stuff may still show in these photos)
photo credit to my husband on this one as well
FOUR: Local Flavor
Our city goes all out for the Chiefs right down to the ice cream flavors!
This is from a local ice cream shop but they were selling it in the grocery store. A little (Okay, a lot) expensive but they’d marked it down so I picked it up to try. Wow, it was so good.
FIVE: Random Bits from the Week
A picture of “Taylor’s boyfriend” that has nothing to do with the rest of the text under this heading.
As I said, I worked on Tuesday, Wednesday, and yesterday this week. And if you don’t believe it, let me tell you preschooler conversations are the best for making you have hope for humanity (much needed lately!), laugh, and shake your head. Sometimes all at once!
Overheard lunchtime conversation: First kid: They had to slice my mom open and pull me out of her tummy! Second kid: WELL, my mom had to poop me out her *correct word that starts with V*
And then, they were on to a new topic, probably about the actual lunch or Bluey or who knows what.
My co-teacher and I looked at each other trying so hard not to give into fits of laughter!
A hopeful conversation: Little boy told me, did you know they used to not let people who looked different go to school?! That’s just not right. Cause we’re all the same on the inside.
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There’s happiness, laughter, and hope for the future out there. Hope you see a glimpse of it this weekend!
Oh, and one last thing: GO CHIEFS! COME ON 3-PEAT!
