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!
Super quick post while I wait for my husband’s birthday cake to cool this afternoon. Ended up working this morning so lots I still need to do.
First, let’s check….
The Weather
It’s cloudy and with a chill in the air but still warm enough that I could run outside coatless a minute ago without feeling terrible. Current temperature is 42. Supposed to rain later this afternoon/evening so it’s pretty cloudy outside right now as well.
Fevers
Two kinds of fevers currently sweeping across our city with our temperatures pretty warm for February. And no snow. So strange. I’m still cautious about a late season storm. Anyway, the first fever is of course, Super Bowl Fever with the Chiefs in the big game. As far as I can tell, the main symptoms of that one are almost everyone wearing Chiefs gear and being in a good mood. Spirit weeks a plenty at the schools.
The second kind of fever is more in line with this post: Spring Fever. I’ve tried pretty hard to appreciate winter this year. However, the weather really didn’t cooperate. And if the weather is going to be lovely and not cooperate, I just want to move on to Spring.
Thankfully, my friends last night did tell me it was too soon to uncover all my spring bulbs and to leave my mulched leaves on top for a few more weeks. So, I’ll just continue to enjoy my store-bought hyacinths instead. And go on dreaming of when I can start planting all this:
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?
Happy Monday! Pretty typical type Monday start over here. Woke up to find out we were out of milk. Ahh! My coffee without milk? Ugh. Tried it with some whipped cream and then some coffee ice cream but neither was really doing it for me. Sometimes I just want my regular coffee especially on a Monday.
However, I ran to the store right after dropping J at school. And now I feel much better thanks to my “regular” caramel macchiato from Starbucks. And a croissant for breakfast.
Time to join in with Sandra for Happy Homemaker Monday. Let’s just get right to the categories.
The Weather
Enjoyed watching the sky go from pink to this lavender shade this morning
Right now it’s beautiful, almost 50 degrees and partly cloudy. A bit blustery, glad I grabbed a light jacket to wear to the store. I did hear rumblings of a cold front moving into the area tonight or maybe tomorrow. I know it’s supposed to get chilly and rain on Wednesday. And maybe again on Friday. I see temps in the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s listed throughout this week.
As I Look Outside My Window
I saw a cardinal on the regular bird feeder and several sparrows protesting still. Who knew they were such foodies? Changed back to safflower seed and added a new bird feeder. They apparently don’t like it. That’s a good thing. The sparrows were emptying my feeders on a daily basis and I couldn’t keep up (too expensive). Now maybe my favorite little chickadees and cardinals might get to eat again.
Right Now
Working on this post while enjoying the coffee swirling through my system.
Thinking And Pondering
Nothing too serious at the moment, the timing of some baking I need to do this week (husband’s birthday on Wednesday), what plans to make (or not make) for the Super bowl.
On My Bedside Table
I keep it clear but should I confess my dresser is always a mess? And currently covered with sweaters that don’t quite fit in the drawers at the moment? Need to get that cleaned off soon.
On My TV Today
Local morning news earlier, not sure maybe my weekly episode of Dr. Who unless I save that until tomorrow. Mondays aren’t big tv days for me.
Listening To
The wind blowing outside, another noise I can’t quite identify..someone outside doing some sort of work. This morning I heard the call of an owl in the backyard.
On The Lunch Plate
Not sure yet. Perhaps scrambled eggs?
On The Dinner Plate
Leaning toward a very basic dinner of ham steaks and fried potatoes
On The Menu This Week
This is an oddly busy week where we’re going in different directions that makes menu planning a bit of a challenge.
MONDAY: ham steaks, fried potatoes, something green (maybe salads or some fruit) *I work 2-3:45ish* *J has a lesson at 6:30*
TUESDAY: Out for me, Out for G, husband and J on their own. I might make some taco meat during the day so they can just have tacos.
WEDNESDAY: OUT to a local steakhouse for husband’s birthday.
THURSDAY: Something in the crock pot, either a crock pot version of chicken and noodles or maybe white chicken chili *I work 12-6*
FRIDAY: Pizza, maybe, frozen, homemade, or out. *I work 8:30-5*
On My Reading Pile
Over the weekend, I read my Amazon First Reads choice of The Maid’s Diary by Loreth Anne White. Very well-written and intriguing. Always appreciate a mystery that I haven’t predicted 50% into the book. This one kept me guessing right up to the end. Plan to look for more books by the author.
Oh, and somewhere in there I read a memoir by Katy Tur called Rough Draft. It was okay, I didn’t really know who she was as we don’t have cable. Appreciated the insight into the world of journalism/tv. Her difficult relationship with her father/parents was compelling. Ended up skimming some of her recounting of covering the former president though.
Now, I’ve started on one of my library books that came up off my hold list: I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy. So far, this one is heartbreaking.
On My To Do List
The usual (bills, laundry, clean the house)
Get birthday presents for my husband’s birthday
Invite brother-in-law/sister-in-law to have dinner and cake with us for husband’s birthday
Bake cookies/cake for Galentine’s dinner/husbands birthday (not sure how these two things ended up back to back, sigh)
Give entry way a GOOD cleaning (and remove season’s greeting mat from under new mat)
Finish/renew physical library books about home stuff
Plans For This Week
Work, Dinner out with friends on Tuesday evening, Dinner out with family to celebrate husband’s birthday on Wednesday evening, Watch the Super Bowl (Go Chiefs!)
What I Am Creating
Haven’t yet started my diamond art kit. This week I’ll be creating chocolate chip cookies and homemade chocolate cake with white frosting.
My Simple Pleasure
Turning the calendar page over to a new month
Looking Around The House
I should be able to get it in decent shape by Wednesday. It’s really not even too bad this morning.
From The Camera
The full “snow” moon last night
Quote For The Week
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. (Exodus 14:14)
P.S.
I know the headings in red are super bright, I can see it. However, I can’t change it until the Chiefs win the Super Bowl. Not that I’m superstitious or anything….
I’ve needed this weekend to rest and recharge. So not too many photos today.
Take rest; a field that has rested gives a beautiful crop. (Ovid)
There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither. (Alan Cohen)
Life is all about balance. You don’t always need to be getting stuff done. Sometimes, it’s perfectly okay, and absolutely necessary, to shut down, kick back, and do nothing. (Lori Deschene)
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)
I’m finding Saturdays are the hardest day for me to post. Today is no exception. Not much going on around here. I’m just having a lazy Saturday so far. Too unmotivated to even bother taking a newer picture of the cat. Here’s one from February 2022.
Not much to share. A picture of Chelsey because I’ve yet to teach her the days of the week. So, a great big meow in my ear at 6:00am to start the day. Thankfully, this morning I did go back to sleep for a bit. Helped she gave up on rousing me and settled down on top of me with the purr motor going.
I did do a quick clean up in the kitchen to get that room back to an acceptable level of horror. And have a bit of laundry in progress. Mostly though I’ve been either reading my book or watching tv this morning.
Still need to shower and get set for the day. Or rather the afternoon at this point. Dinner out with friends this evening.
Hoping to come around and visit all the lovely blogs at some point tomorrow. Just wanted to do this quick post to stay on track with the whole 365 days of blogging.
Note: The kids hadn’t been able to go outside most of the week due to the cold temperatures. AND Sunday is a full moon. Plus, I’m a sub. The kids may know me and see me often but I’m still not their normal teacher.
I love my job and lots of days are full of sunshine, love, and light. And there was some of that today. However, in between you sometimes get:
High energy, unfocused, moving everywhere kids ignoring your redirection
Times of trying to do two (or more) jobs at once so a co-teacher can talk to a child/parent/deal with something pressing
Spills: food, drink, work items
Kids saying unkind words to you (Note: most the kids rarely say mean things to me and are super kind but sometimes….)
Picking up/touching items that shouldn’t be wet. Wet with what? Toilet water? Pee?
Dry hands that crack open and bleed from washing them so much (see item directly above this)
Bathroom clean up duty because that’s definitely not water all over the floor. SIGH.
Did I mention I’m exhausted tonight?
However, I do work again next week and am looking forward to it.
The sunshine, love, and light definitely outweigh the pure exhaustion of it. And managed to save me just enough brain cells for this post. That said, if you need me the rest of tonight, I’ll be watching mindless tv and perhaps having cereal for dinner.
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:
I bought the packaging first. More on how/what I end up putting together later.
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?
Happy February! A winter Wednesday post might be better tomorrow for Groundhog day. However, I’m sticking with today in case the little rodent sees his shadow.
Shadow equals six more weeks of winter. No shadow predicts early spring. Farmer’s Almanac daily newsletter says spring is 46 days away no matter what happens tomorrow.
What does any of that have to do with soup? Nothing. I do start each winter Wednesday post with the weather though. And our weather is better than a lot of those to the south of us.
Today’s Weather:
It’s currently sunny and 10 degrees with a windchill/feels like temperature of 1 degree out there. Honestly, didn’t think it felt that bad when I ran J to school earlier. By 3pm, it’s supposed to be 37 degrees.
Now Let’s Talk About Soup:
Sometimes, especially in the winter, I crave vegetables! More often than I should admit, this craving usually manifests in a strong desire for a spring roll from Panda Express. It’s a mixed blessing living in an urban area where grocery stores and restaurants are so readily available.
However, sometimes only soup will do. When I’m craving comfort soup loaded with vegetables, my favorite choice is minestrone. It’s such an adaptable soup. I use this recipe for my base. It comes together quick. This time I added in some zucchini. Whatever vegetables I have on hand typically get tossed into the soup.
Look at those vegetables!
This soup is a good one in the late summer/early fall with fresh vegetables and herbs from the garden as well.
Of course, I don’t get to make it very often as the picky family is not as fond. G flat out is not a fan of soup. He tolerates this because it has pasta but he’d never choose it. My husband adds hamburger to his portion which is okay but ruins the idea of a fresh vegetable based soup in my mind. J and I both like it though it’s not his favorite. (He’s more a chicken noodle or potato soup kind of person).
Winter Dinners
There is definitely a comfort in winter soups and dinners not to be found during the spring/summer months. My mom always made chili in the heat of summer (100 degrees, I know let’s have chili for dinner!) and I never understood.
Summer is for lighter fare.
Of course, I must confess that yesterday I stood outside in 25 degree weather and grilled pork chops so I guess I shouldn’t talk.
Anyway, I do find soup something to enjoy about winter. Minestrone, taco, chicken noodle, and potato are among my favorites. And of course, you definitely need some sort of crusty bread with the minestrone and potato soups!
January ends today. And I can’t help but think this January’s been kind to me. Usually, January begins with me in a bit of a funk. This year, I didn’t feel that.
Sure, I had a few not so great days here and there. However, they were just that. Days instead of a week or more of feeling blah, wanting to rearrange the house and my entire life.
Maybe it’s because the January months of 2021 and 2022 were not the best. We started the year of 2021 with COVID finally finding our household. And 2022 was yet another ongoing battle in trying to figure out J’s schooling. Both months, of course, had good points but I can’t look back on them and think they were pleasant starts to the year.
This morning as I tried to revive my grocery store flowers, I found myself thinking. I thought how kind this January of 2023 has been to me. Wondering what made the difference.
Thoughts that came to mind as reasons for my contentment in January:
A bit of credit to Tamy over at Chasing My Life as Blogmas kept me feeling a bit cheerier than usual during the holiday season of 2022.
And to Sandra for her wonderful Blog 365 challenge. I’ve so enjoyed connecting with the other bloggers doing the challenge, some I’ve “known” for a long while and others who newly discovered.
My decision to simply accept and try to enjoy winter more instead of longing every day for sunshine and spring/summer. (Note, I still do long for those things but I’ve found some positives this winter)
Working the whole first week of the year. You can’t help but feel joyous around the preschool kids (mostly) excited to return to school and share about their holidays.
And perhaps a bit of luck with us all having the blessing of good health and (mostly) good weather
And of course, all your lovely comments on my posts!
Will February be as friendly?
I’m hoping so. The Blog 365 challenge continues. I work a few days at the preschool, once again, to start the month.
Lots to look forward to:
monthly dinner out with our joint friends
Galentine’s night out with my mom friends
my husband’s birthday
The Super Bowl (Have I mentioned the Chiefs are in it this year??!!)
Valentine’s day
A long weekend (President’s day)
Was this January kind to you? What are you looking forward to in February?
