A Good Weekend

      It was a good weekend day with my sisters, though I  had a slap in the virtually face at breakfast. We have not eaten inside many restaurants yet, and since our local Perkins is temporarily shut down after a kitchen fire and now a remodel, It's been pre-pandemic since I was in one, likely our last sisters day two years ago. I think I've shared I really like going out for breakfasts (When I've had enough time for my meds to settle) and Happy Hour more than for other meals. As I eagerly looked over the menu, all the regular breakfasts combos looked like massive amounts of food, and with no place to put a take home box, I wasn't sure what I'd order. My sisters, the helpful B's they are, LOL,  were happy to point out that I can now order from the 55+menu! How did that happen? I tuned 55 over Covid, and most  "senior" menus don't start that young. I was able to order a smaller version of the eggs Benedict, and got the reality check that in some circles, I am now a senior citizen.

     We had all our usual stops, and being a beautiful Saturday in November, the little towns and villages we visit were full. One village markets this weekend, the hunting season opener, Women's Weekend, so there were extra treats and give away drawings at a few shops. We all donned masks inside stores despite all of us being vaccinated. I saw outside one store a perfect table for my porch, the ones above, but we were already packed tight to lug it home. I may talk DH into driving down with me, or as I have time off this week, might take myself. I have looked for ages, and the price was right for this. I didn't do a ton of buying, though found a few treats-cherry rhubarb jam, some vegan Swedish fish for DD1, locally made beef sticks for DH, and a Minnesota and Wisconsin cookie cutter. I've always wanted them to make for summers at the lake, to have fun with the Minnesota-Wisconsin connection, and for work functions. At the cidery/winery, I didn't buy any beverages to take home, but did find this insulated wine glass and napkins for one sister. It is very much a joke between the two of us, so as insulting as it seems to give her, I know she will get a kick out of it. 

     We met up then with  our cousin, my mom's one sisters daughter, and then four cousins who are actually the daughters of my mom's cousin, so does than make them my 3rd cousins?  Their mom and my mom were best friends as well as cousins, so these women grew up with my cousin and older sisters. The closest one to my age is 8 years older, so I didn't know them in the same way, but they very much are family. The one who hosting had just moved into a gorgeous townhome that overlooked the Mississippi river valley. She and her sisters put out quite a spread of  hors d'oeuvres  for our dinner, and we all brought lots of beverages to enjoy. Basically Happy Hour four multiple hours! We ate and laughed, and ate more' then we played four games of silly Bingo. Now my oldest sister, and her cousin  counterpart love to go to the Casino to play Bingo-serious Bingo, no chatter allowed. We all had fun joking that we'd be kicked out if we kept laughing. Both gave us all the stink eye, but of course that just made us chat it up more. The balls kept getting knocked off the counter and we used candy pieces for dobbers, which kept getting eaten. It was all just good fun. 

      My cousin even had prizes, but we also anti-upped $25 a game, so the big pot was a whole $3 if you won. I won the double postage stamp game and got some Dino-Snores slipper socks, but traded with my sister for this dish towel, as she doesn't drink coffee, and it just seemed like I should have the coffee towel. We were 13 women, ages 54 to 74 and we talked and laughed like we were teens at a girls sleep over. Yesterday morning the effect of too much snack food, a couple Truly's, and likely the fatigue from my booster caught up and I was happy for the extra hour of time to do nothing. Now I'm back to being the angel I usually am, as illustrated in the picture below, captured outside the wall of the cutest shop. I hope you had a good weekend, and if you are still reading, I didn't bore you. Happy Monday, gems. 

The camera adds, 50 pounds right?

Monday Morning Weekend Recap

 

     Did you do all things fall over the weekend? What about my friends on the southern part of the globe? Has spring arrived where you are? Did those of you in Canada celebrate Thanksgiving yesterday instead of today, letting yourself  relax on a rare Monday holiday? My weekend was a mixed bag of stuff. As I mentioned, DH was off work Saturday, so he got all sorts of things done on Saturday that normally would have been left to Sunday. I liked it-though how well we will get on once he is around 100% of the time is to be determined. 

     Despite having my Saturday morning become wide open, I was not nearly as productive as I would have liked. I was happy that I remembered where I had a few other fall items-this wall hanging we received from my mother-in-law about five years ago for our anniversary and four little scare crows. Two are here on the front porch, and the other are poked into a hanging basket that is still holding onto a few spring/summer flowers. I tackled the entry closet-it has become a closet of doom. With moving one thing, several balls-basketball and soccer variety, mostly massively underinflated, rolled off the shelf and onto my head. Luckily though, I found two air pumps in a box in the same closet, one even had a needle. I added "mesh ball bag" to the list of things we need for the next trip to a store with such things. My daughter will be glad. Back in August, she was looking for a basketball that wasn't deflated and for the life of me, couldn't figure out where the air pumps were. 

     The Blogger Zoom meet-up was a success-I hope the others feel the same. Say what you want about how technology has taken over our lives, but  who would have thought even a few decades ago that regular women from  two different parts of the US, France and Australia would be chatting for an hour on a Saturday afternoon, solving world problems, and getting to know each other beyond words on a computer screen? Joining me were The Hawaii Plan, Just Baggage Enough, and Random Thoughts, though Treader at Random Thoughts has her blog temporarily on private. Trolls and witches you know! We left with happy intentions of setting one up again in a month or so-maybe before the race of the US Holiday season kicks off at the end of November. Jan at Just Baggage Enough wins the prize for most committed virtual world traveler as she joined us at 5:00 a.m. her time in Australia. When we get ready to pick a new date, you're welcome to join in. 

     I'm turning into a lazy cook in the kitchen-wondering at times where it is in fact. We went out to eat Friday night, then DH just made a frozen pizza for lunch on Saturday. He had a text from a friend who knew somehow he was off work, to meet for early drinks and dinner so of course we couldn't say no. After our park clean-up on Sunday morning, my sister had us worker bee's over for  brunch. I stopped on route for fruit and coffee cake to go with her delicious cheese potatoes and egg bake. After the Vikings awful but winning game, we took a drive along the river and with the destination a BBQ restaurant we found by happenstance two years ago. We both got dry rubbed chicken and I have leftovers for today to either make into something, or eat for lunch. We need to give eating out a rest for the next two weeks as no doubt we'll go out when the college kid is home. 

     I have a busy work week, but fingers crossed, Friday will work for my flex day. I have two clean out projects I want done before the kid is home-then she can help me decide what can be donated and out of the house. I'll leave you  with a picture of the evening sky as we were driving home. Despite it being from the car, the colors were notable. 

Working for the Weekend

      I may need to work on the weekend-this weekend again. Yesterday was an odd day for work, poorly  planned, or not planned is better. We had a major application closing at 4:00, and while we only post questions and answers, we still respond to technical issues on a one to one basis. This time of year is also when we have  various proposals pop up, and we need people with expertise or depth of knowledge to weigh in. I am a point person on this-either to respond, or get it to the right person and gather their responses. Here's where the poor planning comes in. I had given approved vacation for the team member that leads this application process. She has done a stellar job all along, and really, it would be just technical glitches to watch for in the in-box. I hadn't connected the dates when a month ago another team member, our data base specialist, also requested this day off. While most messages can wait until Monday, I still needed to watch the box for any urgent problems. 

     Then another division supervisor, who is serving in the interim director role since our bosses promotion (but doesn't want it long term) also took vacation days Thursday and Friday, as did two of her direct reports, both of whom had content expertise on several of the proposals that might have landed. You guessed it-two proposals did come to my attention, one on Thursday and the other yesterday. All this is to say, with checking  four email boxes and responding, plus two urgent proposals to route and collect responses on, my "to do" list was barely touched, and I have a couple deadlines for early next week. Job security is how I am going to look at it and I know each of these folks needed and deserved a break. My  midweek day off last Thursday did me wonders.  

     I got a little preachy yesterday complaining about selfish Americans traveling on vacation. I  do feel that way, but I need to remember I can only do for me. I just get frustrated when I know my son's work has been so disrupted, and now with new faster spreading variants (though thankfully it seems the vaccine works for those as well), we still have many months before the people closest to me will benefit from the vaccine. Let it go Sam, breath, relax, and keep doing what I've been doing, is what I am trying to tell myself. 

     So besides putting in a few work hours, my weekend will look pretty much like past weekends. The moonlight hike is actually next month that my daughter signed us up for, with DD2 as well. We decided we are still going to do our own tonight. I have the book club pick to read and a new Guidepost came, though I thought my MIL was going to cancel my and one of the SIL's subscriptions as neither of us were really reading it, but maybe I should to get a little spiritual inspiration. I of course have laundry and  the weekly hosue upkeep that I let go until the weekend, but I don't have the stock pile of last week. I feel like I should bake something-maybe vegan oatmeal, chocolate chip cookies. That way my daughter will be able to enjoy. I'll freeze part of the dough as we just can't nor should we eat the whole batch and we both really enjoy the cookies when they're fresh baked anyway. I still have some TJ chocolate chips from Christmas baking though I'm tight on flour, so making them oatmeal chocolate chip, I should have just enough. 

     I guess my Saturday posts are just a rambling of whatever pops into my head. I'm playing around with a food, kitchen cooking blog-maybe to launch in March.  My hesitancy is how bad a food photographer that I am. I made DH some blueberry pancakes-the pictures prove my point. Who wants a food, kitchen, cooking blog with lousy photos! Whatever or where ever your Saturday takes you, and  I'm not judging (or maybe I am), make your weekend a good one. 

Weekend Count Down

I'm not feeling, Feeling Good Friday today. Nothing is going wrong and I'm not feeling depressed but not particularly perky either. I don't care to write about my weight gain, irregular sleeping pattern, or muscle soreness. I don't feel like writing about grinning and baring yet another predicted round of snow on Sunday. I want to think about my weekend, my first normal weekend in four weeks. I have no church breakfasts to organize or dinners to host. We have no travel plans.

 DD1 is coming home for a couple days to visit and I am looking forward to seeing her. We talk frequently, but it's not the same as having a cup of coffee and really talking. She was in Minnesota back in January for a couple days, so it has been a while. Hopefully we can get DS on the phone with us all on Sunday before she goes (unless the snow keeps her until Monday morning). While it is months away, I want us all to start weighing in on our priorities for our trip to France and Germany in August. For me, the planning is all part of the experience. 

While I hope to have a weekend that combines home based projects, regular household cleaning, and a bit of R&R, DD2 has a banner busy weekend ahead. She takes the ACT tomorrow. I don't think she is particularly prepared for it. She has done some review and practice tests, but I think until she actually takes it, she ill have no real way to gage her time, her biggest nemesis. She's already scheduled for another in June, and once September opens, she'll take a third then. I hate the system that one test makes such a huge difference in both where she might go and how much merit scholarship she might be offered, but that's how it is. Following the test, she has dress rehearsal for a jazz concert, followed by a 6:00 and 8:30 performance. We are really looking forward to attending. She also has to finalize her big decades project with her group, as they present Tuesday. No rest for the junior.

It's technically my flex day, but I'm working off an on to complete another project that had a couple hiccups. I can still get laundry done, run errands, and do some tidying throughout the day. With no specific plans, I don't mind tapping into my flex day to get caught up. I'll do this once in a while, but overall, I take the time off I've earned. I have to contact my former employer for a document to turn into my current HR to determine ow much more vacation accrual I'm eligible for. This is due to a change in our current contract that I am very pleased about. On the not so happy note, I'm trying to find out why my 2% raise only resulted in a .5% increase in take home pay. I was expecting my check to increase by 5X what it did. I hope it was an error in calculation that will be corrected. 

What's  up in your world this weekend? By the end, April will be half gone. I'd like to think the April snow and showers will truly result in May flowers, literally and figuratively. That is something to look forward to. 

Edit: 12:58
Apparently the bad weather that is coming is so bad both the ACT and the Night of Jazz event are cancelled. We will wait to hear of the ACT test make up options, but the Jazz night due to so manyy conflicts can't be rescheduled. The directors are looking at alternative performance options. This was supposed to be a fund raiser too, so not sure how that plays out. I am so done with winter!

Did I Make the Most of the Weekend?

Sunday night, and the weekend is over in what feels like a blink. Having a medical day has caused me to be woefully further behind at work, but I refuse to start that practice again of unpaid weekend work, yet it occupied part of my brain. I earn my benefits, in fact took a pay cut to get them, so should not feel guilty and like I neglected work for taking care of me, yet somehow I do a bit. I'm a recovering workaholic.

Did I make the most of my days off work? Health wise, yes, preventative and remedial. Socially? Not a bit. I ended up driving kids both ways (after 24 hour driving ban was up), a scheduling mix up at the first bowling alley sent us 30 miles in the opposite direction to one that had enough lanes. I had a lot of car seat time.


I  found a cute coffee shop, and over consumed fiscally and orally,
 caffeine and sugar. I don't know if it is a working fireplace, but there wasn't a fire going. I'd like ot think it is.  My fireplace is still not fixed, nor has the technician been rescheduled as DH wasn't available last Thursday. 

A music jam of older, quite good, musicians, was happening in a corner playing and singing a mix of country and bluegrass. Some older ladies at a table joined in, quite loudly and out of tune, for the chorus on one of the songs. It was quaint, and made me and the young guy at a table by me smile. Nothing is better than seeing people genuinely enjoying an experience. I posted a check in status and review on Facebook. Apparently the coffee shop is a little gem that a few of my friends and acquaintances know about. I received several messages to join me (but they closed at 5:00) or meet up there in the future. Not quite a day trip, but it was a new experience.

Today was the mundane splices of life. Meals, laundry, and cleaning fit in after and between church and a trip to the library. We are without a printer and DD2 needs a copy of her passport for a meeting Tuesday on her trip so paid 15 cents to use libraries. The NHL All Star Game weekend has been on in the back ground all day.  A couple Minnesota Wild made the team, the goalie and one of the wings, so kind of fun to see if they do well, but we didn't really watch intently. We ended up eating cinnamon rolls for breakfast, too good to wait I guess, so just had veggies and dressing with the pasta salad. We were all pretty hungry by the time we had the meat loaf supper. I'll go through ads yet and make a shopping list but will go tomorrow or Tuesday  though need to stop on way home for milk, fruit, bread, and hamburger buns to have Sloppy Joe's with hash browns tomorrow. DH bought and installed a new garbage disposal, but we still have the slow drain that is clogged way up the line, so need an expert. I said February would be expensive.

I picked up a movie at the library, the newish Startrek with Benedict Cumberbatch, and I'll pop some corn in a bit and settle in. Well, that was rather a quite a dull update on my weekend-I'm yawning typing it out. Who's to say what "the most" is for a weekend. I rested; I worked; I watched; I read; I played. Can't ask for more than that. Tell me about yours. Any grand adventures?

Going to Get My Colors Done

What normally would be a few days at the lake are going to be a home focused weekend for me. I'm taking advantage of the three days weekend with Monday off to try ad do some major decluttering, and if I can get what I want done today and Sunday, Monday I am going to try and spruce up the bathroom. Nothing major, though it needs it, but new paint, complete purge of cabinets, and fixing some yucky spots around the sink and shower that need attention. A few weeks back I found a couple hand towels on clearance at target and found some ceramic bath sets in the cupboard to give the bath a fresh new look, if not an overhaul. Bye, by white dingy walls; I refuse to paint it without some color, even if that is only a little blue and gray. I may drive up to the lake later morning for a few hours as DD2 is there, but then head back home and keep on puttering tonight. DH is going after work and staying over as there is more prep for the new cabin. 

feel a bit of guilt not helping more, but with my knees and other health spots, I know I need to pace what I can do, and my own home needs my focus. I didn't decide the timing on things, and it just isn't going to work for me to help there, and be able to get what I need here done. Plus, after a stressful week, the amount of people, and who the people are, would keep me on anxiety watch. There's also an issue between the shared cabin, that I am best to stay clear of. 

My sister has an annual gathering for the 4th, but is doing on Sunday so I may stop over there for a burger and a beer, but otherwise, I'm a homebody. I have lot's of provisions, but do need a Diet Coke supply. I bought a couple Brew Pub Lottza Mozzarella pizza's. That was dinner last night, but these are not ordinary frozen pizza's. Completely delicious-better than many pizza restaurants.  There are expensive at $10.99, but I had a buy one get one, plus a $1.00 coupon, so for $10, easily four people fed to stuffed. We were only three, but there is more than 1/2 left of one, and leftover pizza is the best. There's still food from last weekend, and snacks abound. 

While not the typical American 4th of July, it sounds like a pretty good weekend to me. First, I'm off to have coffee on the deck, and plan my course of action. Enjoy your weekend, whatever that might be. 

Pop over to Sluggy's site where she has her July Give Away. She has some pretty fantastic shops this week as well to talk about. 

Going to Get My Colors Done

What normally would be a few days at the lake are going to be a home focused weekend for me. I'm taking advantage of the three days weekend with Monday off to try ad do some major decluttering, and if I can get what I want done today and Sunday, Monday I am going to try and spruce up the bathroom. Nothing major, though it needs it, but new paint, complete purge of cabinets, and fixing some yucky spots around the sink and shower that need attention. A few weeks back I found a couple hand towels on clearance at target and found some ceramic bath sets in the cupboard to give the bath a fresh new look, if not an overhaul. Bye, by white dingy walls; I refuse to paint it without some color, even if that is only a little blue and gray. I may drive up to the lake later morning for a few hours as DD2 is there, but then head back home and keep on puttering tonight. DH is going after work and staying over as there is more prep for the new cabin. 

feel a bit of guilt not helping more, but with my knees and other health spots, I know I need to pace what I can do, and my own home needs my focus. I didn't decide the timing on things, and it just isn't going to work for me to help there, and be able to get what I need here done. Plus, after a stressful week, the amount of people, and who the people are, would keep me on anxiety watch. There's also an issue between the shared cabin, that I am best to stay clear of. 

My sister has an annual gathering for the 4th, but is doing on Sunday so I may stop over there for a burger and a beer, but otherwise, I'm a homebody. I have lot's of provisions, but do need a Diet Coke supply. I bought a couple Brew Pub Lottza Mozzarella pizza's. That was dinner last night, but these are not ordinary frozen pizza's. Completely delicious-better than many pizza restaurants.  There are expensive at $10.99, but I had a buy one get one, plus a $1.00 coupon, so for $10, easily four people fed to stuffed. We were only three, but there is more than 1/2 left of one, and leftover pizza is the best. There's still food from last weekend, and snacks abound. 

While not the typical American 4th of July, it sounds like a pretty good weekend to me. First, I'm off to have coffee on the deck, and plan my course of action. Enjoy your weekend, whatever that might be. 

Pop over to Sluggy's site where she has her July Give Away. She has some pretty fantastic shops this week as well to talk about. 

Bad Wine Morning

I wish I had an exciting story of a wild crazy Friday night party that left me with an awful hangover. I have the hangover signs though, but no good story. DH and I went to our little favorite wine bar and sampled a couple of the offerings from the free wine tasting they hold each Friday night-just a couple sips of two whites, and a red. I normally am a red wine lover, but this one did not do it for me, and I couldn't finish my taste. I called it quits and just ordered a shiraz, always safe, always appreciated. That was it-one glass, no more.  We nibbled on a flatbread pizza and a a cheese fondue plate, and called it  a night in the bar about 9:00. Holy Hannah did I wake up with a headache this morning. Maybe it was realizing I ordered the $9.00 glass, and it was just O.K. when I could have had their house version, which I like for only $6.00! I think I have drank enough water that I am slowly getting back to normal. 

We were early getting back into town before picking up DD and a friend from the movie theater, so popped into Target for a look. (You are so envious of my exciting Friday's by now, aren't you.) I found monogrammed towels for 50% clearance. I didn't want the bath towels, but did buy two of the hand towels, in our last name initial in a white with gray and blue trim-perfect for the bathroom when it gets redone on the cheap in two weekends. 

I'm going to my friends in St Paul for brunch later this morning. It includes a mimosa bar, but might stick to coffee and o.j.  My cousin the publicist invited me to a book talk and signing across the state border in Hudson, but the time overlaps with the brunch. I may catch the tail end, but not going to try and push things. With Father's Day tomorrow, later I am making a big batch of sloppy joe's for the lake along with some tortilla roll-up appetizers. I am going simple this time, and no salald, but bought some veggie's and already had humus. I'll bake something too, but am not sure what yet. My head is still pounding a bit  so I can't think what is in my cupboard right now. At Aldi's yesterday, I carefully counted every item, and spent $25.43, $.43 over the target for the week to stay on track with keeping to my $350 June budget.  It will be tight, but I am stubborn. What's on your agenda for Saturday?

Big, Big, Mother's Day News

Actually, just ordinary, Mother's Day news, but I'm told bloggers's need splashy titles to real them in. News on the Sam front though includes getting both a text first thing his time from my DS in Los Angelos wishing me  a Happy Mother's Day, followed by late afternoon an actual call from him on his break.  The happy news is he has been working pretty much non-stop in May, still in film and television, though not quite regular with the same contract. Two months ago he was all but ready to pack it in and road trip back to Minnesota. Now it looks at least like he is pushing any potential move to no earlier than the end of June, but if work stays steady, he might actually be getting on solid ground. While he's not making the masterpieces every budding film maker hopes to do, he sounds content with what he is doing, while continuing to cultivate leads that might help give him bigger opportunities.

DD#1 made it home two weekends in a row. Last week for a women's tea her grandma arranged months ago and this week probably more so for her little sisters play than Mother's Day. Since she started her job on February 29th, she has been on business trips to Columbus, Kansas City, Phoenix, and Orlando and will be going to Washington D.C. tomorrow for a few days. We don't expect she'll be home until fall unless to see friends in the area, but we'll see her weekends at the cabin as her schedule allows. As predicted, her gifts were very well chosen, a bar of dark sea salt and almond chocolat, new pens, and a trio of journals. 

DD#2 made her high school theatrical debut as a little sister in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. They had her paired up as a very tall bride's sister, so she looked even younger than she is. I was a groupie and attended all three shows, as I noticed most of the mom's did. All three went off without a hitch until yesterday when one of the freshman boys, in his role as Caleb, dropped his "bride" nearly on her head when the kidnapping scene went a bit awry. DH bought her a bouquet of tulips. I also got orange ones from him and some Jelly Belly Oops-the misshapen ones.

My hostas' finally got in the ground. My nephew and his wife had their fourth child on Friday, a little girl, and I managed a Sunday brunch with DH's entire family (minus the teenagers) without being super annoyed even once. I lost my third daughter to her real mom for a day and a half but now the girls are down stairs and  I hear some sort of Teen Beat quiz going on. This all M as DD isn't very up on teen pop culture. I can't wait to hear what her wardrobe says about her  future aspirations. I won't mention my anxiety attack-darn if I can't keep them at bay, but otherwise it was a good weekend. The rain is back along with the cold. what's in store with your week?

Serious with mom and dad.

Silly with her friends.

Weekend is Over

The three day holiday weekend is over and not a drop of rain until last night.  Oh how it rained and still is raining.  I'm waking up to news the roads are flooding all over the metro.  Crashes are slowing routes and it's only 6:00 a.m.  I'll be blogging more about the weekend but let's call it a good, but interesting, weekend.  I pinpointed, or more DH did,  why part of his family is anxiety inducing to me. I was able to maintain my space with some good regulation of timing. Lazy me crashed after the USA World Cup win without showering.  I better pay the piper and head in now with industrial soap and then brave the roads.  Let's hear about your weekend.

4th of July 2015

I wish I could say I took the picture last year, but credit goes to dreamstime.com.  I will be out of  wifi range for a few days enjoying family, friends, food, beer, sun, and freedom.  None of these are taken for granted.  For my fellow Americans, enjoy your holiday weekend.  Those beyond our borders and shores far and wide, I hope you have  a great weekend and start the week well rested and ready to roll.