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Category: Winter Wednesday

Quick Hello and Catch Up Post

Chitchat Winter Wednesday 6 Comments

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?

 

February Sunrise

Winter Wednesday 6 Comments

Sometimes it feels like February is the longest winter month. I know we all start getting a bit antsy for spring this month. And it doesn’t help with days of warmer spring like temperatures teasing. Then, the temperature likely plummets and here comes some cold. This is typically our coldest month. We’ll see what happens. And it always feels like the longest winter month to me as well.

However, we also get sunrises that look like this:

And there are things to do to keep the February blahs at bay. Though some do take intention.

Fun Things in February:

  1. Groundhog day! (He didn’t see his shadow, so early Spring. Of course, here it was a sunny day so hopefully all our groundhogs slept through and didn’t see any shadows that way)
  2. My husband’s birthday (Maybe you have family/friend birthdays to celebrate this month?)
  3. Galentine’s Day…this is tonight for me. Getting together with girlfriends at the Cheesecake Factory for a fun dinner and exchange of small tokens of friendship.
  4. Super Bowl Sunday! Go Chiefs! It’s more fun to watch when your team is playing but I still watched many years when neither of the teams wore red.
  5. Pancake Tuesday. I’m all about holidays involving food!
  6. Mardi gras
  7. Valentine’s Day. Just pass me the dark chocolate and we’ll be fine.
  8. President’s Day, a holiday is a holiday and a day off work for this one!
  9. Chinese New Year is Saturday, it’s the year of the dragon!
  10. And of course, there are 29 days in February this year as it’s a Leap Year.

 A Fun Photo:

I took this reflection of the sunrise in the window of my husband’s truck this morning. It captured the sunrise colors better than my proper photo. 

What do you plan to celebrate in February?

 

 

 

 

Walking in Sunshine

Winter Wednesday 4 Comments

After so much cold and rain, the clouds parted, the Chiefs won (again!), and the warm sunshine arrived. It’s been a busy start to the week (work-wise) over here so not much time to post. This post is going to be short as well. Hopefully, I’ll have a minute to catch up on Friday. Just two photos for today.

Walking in Sunshine

(And mud, I took a picture but the computer doesn’t want any muddy pictures. Not sure why it won’t load. I did enjoy squishing into the mud while wearing my boots though)

 

My Kind of Winter Day

 

We went from the arctic blast to cloudy and rainy to 62 and sunny today! Welcome to Midwest living. How’s your weather?

Fighting the January Blahs

Winter Wednesday 4 Comments

The January blahs or blues or whatever you want to call them hit hard today. We’re on day too many of not seeing the sun. It’s foggy, damp, and depressing outside. The snow is in the stage of no longer pretty and half-ice mounds and half-muddy mess. A few snowmen (not ours) are hanging on around town at least.

For my attempt at winter appreciation today: Earl gray tea and a slice of cinnamon bread for an afternoon snack. Maybe I’ll see if I can sneak in the latest Percy Jackson episode before we leave for J’s class.

Oh and in a that’s just the way the day is going: While I was in the library, someone crashed into the transformer (they were okay) outside cutting off power for a lot of that block. SIGH. So much for escaping the blahs that way.

How do you cope with the winter blues when it means being stuck inside?

(If you are wondering why I didn’t go for a walk, it’s because I’m thinking based on my last walk, it’s most likely an icy mess right now)

 

Random Items From This Week

Chitchat Week in Review Winter Wednesday 2 Comments

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?

 

 

Snow Covered Branches

Just Photos Winter Wednesday 4 Comments

Very briefly and early this morning, the sky showed blue and the sun lit up the snow covered tree branches.

Zooming in didn’t work quite as well as just opening the door, bracing from the cold, and taking a longer shot.

The middle two pictures were out the back door and the top and bottom ones are outside our front door.

They make me want to get my snow boots on bundle up and trek through the woods. However, no snow day today and it’s back to work for me later this afternoon. Perhaps tomorrow morning I’ll get my chance. The weather people predict more snow for us on Thursday afternoon into Friday.  They also predicted more snow for Sunday (along with very cold temperatures starting on Saturday or was it Friday?)

I’ll leave this post by asking only one question:

Do you want to build a snowman or sit inside and drink cocoa? Both is a valid answer.

Welcome Back to Winter Wednesdays

Just Photos Winter Wednesday No Comments

These posts helped me enjoy winter a little more last year so I thought I’d bring them back for this winter. Just a quick one tonight as I ended up working today. Photos from a walk I took on Tuesday. It wasn’t freezing cold but warm isn’t the adjective of choice from my walk either.

Some areas of water, some areas of mud, and some ice.

For reference, this is what the area above looked like in late October:

More ice from the stream:

Winter robins:

What’s the difference between a spring robin and a winter robin? The seasons, I guess. I don’t really know.

New year so I took a new trail:

And had a bit of a different view of the lakes.

We’re supposed to get some wintery weather over the weekend so perhaps next Wednesday’s views will be a bit more snowy but who knows. Either way, I’ve decided it’s good for me to be outside no matter the weather as well as chase the sun in the winter.

 

Final Winter Wednesday

Blog365 Winter Wednesday 4 Comments

Before we get to my final winter Wednesday thought, have you ever had an entire post just disappear? *POOF* Gone, not even a draft of it seems to exist. SIGH. Annoying.

And of course, I can’t remember exactly what I wrote.

The Weather

Maybe the wind blew my post away? It’s (don’t hate us) currently 62 degrees out there but I can hear the wind picking up. Also, cloudy though we had a decent amount of sunshine earlier. Tomorrow, however, we’re supposed to get rain that transitions to light snow by Friday morning.

My Goodbye Letter To Winter

 

Dear Winter, 

It’s been such a nice visit with you this year. Thank you for the snowflakes and especially for those surprisingly warm and sunny days. However, spring is on the way already having sent through some luggage covered in daffodils and tiny purple flowers. Please make sure you remember to pack up and take all your weather with you on your journey to the southern hemisphere. I’d really hate for you to have to turn around and collect a forgotten snow storm late in the spring. I’ll look forward to your return in December when you’ll perhaps bring us a white Christmas?

Wishing you snowy safe travels!

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I’ll skip trying to remember the rest of my post and just share this fun meme:

How are you spending your last Wednesday of winter?

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Day 72/365

 

Winter’s Winding Down

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This is the second to last Wednesday in winter and so my second to last post for the season. It’s definitely an indoor kind of late winter day. I’m cooked a roast in the crock pot and spent some time wrapped in my snuggly blanket watching television.

The Weather

It’s a pretty chilly day. Cloudy, rained on and off all day. Haven’t see the sun. Currently 43 degrees out there with a feels like of 36. Funny how that feels cold to me today but if we’d had a day like this in January, it would’ve just about qualified as no coat weather. (For the record, we had several light jacket only days in January this year)

Thoughts As This Winter Winds Down

Even though our weather’s been mild, I do still feel as though I’m coming out of a hibernation a bit. And I’m still angry that I’m not yet “shedding” my winter coat of fat. Ha. Probably work better if I stopped making strawberry pies and such.

I do wonder if the milder weather was a factor in fewer days of feeling depressed over here. Maybe I should have tracked if we had more days of sun than usual. I tend to get down a bit in the winter months and really, didn’t feel it as much. (I’ll have to ask my husband if he noticed, he might have a different opinion about it)

Seems that my allergy/sore throat stuff morphed into a touch of bronchitis/pneumonia. Been a while but I recognize it. Had a good run. All the dust from mowing up the dead leaves over the weekend didn’t help things. It’s not awful, just annoying. Need to make friends with my black elderberry syrup again.

Also, I wonder if they realize with the upcoming time change around here, they’re springing us forward while it’s still technically winter?

Finally, like the little spring plants pushing up from the ground, I’m starting to feel a bit hopeful for the future. If you’ve followed for a while, you know the past few years have been tough at times with my youngest. (Every time I mention it, I want to add what pops into my head: stupid Covid!) However, I’m starting to think spring and summer just might bring good things for all of us.

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Day 66/365

 

 

 

 

A Time Of Transitions

Blog365 Winter Wednesday 8 Comments

Happy March! It’s coming in like a lamb around here today. However, there is a lion hiding in the midst and a bit more winter weather arriving in the next two days. Let’s just start this post like I’ve started all the winter Wednesday posts with the weather.

The Weather 

Oh, how spring and summer are teasing us! It is, however, a bit of a chilly start this morning despite the bright sunshine. It’s currently 41 degrees with a feels like temperature of 34. It’s supposed to be in the upper 50’s by around 4 PM. Then, cooler tomorrow and the start of either rain or snow, they’re still deciding. One of the local meteorologist actually said on the news last night he’d tell us this afternoon whether we needed to buy up all the bread and milk. Ha!

So, moving on….this is one of my last 3 winter Wednesday posts. Time to transition out of winter and into spring.

Some Transitions Happening Around Here

Winter to Spring, of course.

I’m happy about that with the exception of Daylight Savings Time on March 12. Can I even say it often enough? The days already get longer and shorter! Leave the time alone, please.

Heavy to Healthy

I stepped on the scale this morning. Suffice it to say the number wasn’t a favorite. And was too high on the scale for me. Don’t you wish our winter weight would fall off as easily as all our beloved pets shed their winter coats? Of course, it doesn’t. So, instead I’m over here struggling with my desire to make Lucky Charms treats for March 1 versus the knowledge we should eat the rest of the clementines.

I’m probably going to transition my winter Wednesday posts over to wellness Wednesday posts with the start of spring. (Hopefully, the grocery store won’t mind me stealing their fancy phrase.) I know Rachel over at Living Better One Day At A Time does Weigh In Wednesdays. I’m afraid she’s so much braver than me to share her weight. I won’t be doing that on my Wednesdays. Just the healthy changes I’m implementing in hopes of shedding  losing some of my weight.

Did you know March used to be the start of the calendar year? So, I’m making my fresh start for a few things today.

(I’ll probably still make the Lucky Charms bars. It’s still winter and our pantry is in desperate need of a clear-out. Just perhaps eat only one instead of half the pan? That might work.)

Yet More School Changes For J

I’ve fallen back on the phrase my mom kept on her fridge so many times during these past few years:

What is it in the light of eternity?

While this is a good change (I hope), I am still a bit sad about all the things he missed. Amazing how two kids can have such different high school experiences. The high school diploma is always the end goal and he should get that in the end. Still, I think it’s okay to be sad that the path wasn’t the one we expected. (This is where I add: stupid pandemic!)

Transitions are tough even the good ones.

Still Winter

Despite all the transitions and talk of spring, I do keep reminding myself it’s still winter. So, I’ll still take time to sit under the warm fuzzy blanket on the cold days, watch a little too much television (occasionally), and have a hot chocolate if it snows. However, I am gambling and putting away all the super heavy sweaters away sometime in the next few weeks.

Are you anxious for the lighter, brighter days of spring? Or are you soaking in the last few weeks of winter? I think I’m somewhere in the middle, mainly because we’ve had such a mild winter. If it’d been a long, snow-filled one, my answer might differ.

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Day 59/365

 

 

 

 

 

 

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