The Week Behind: Did, too

Saturday:  I had wondered what on earth we'd do for our dinner today.  I didn't take a thing out of the freezer to thaw yesterday, didn't do any prep work, etc.  Well it was easy enough to decide.  We brought home half a steak each from our anniversary dinner out.  I had leftover tossed salad.  I had just enough frozen French Fries for two.  Normally I would put those in the oven to crisp but it was far too hot to consider that nonsense, so I fried them on top of the stove.  I don't deep fry anything very often, but I had added incentive:  That big bag of sweet Vidalia onions John brought home the other week.  I fried up a batch of onion rings and that all made a very good dinner...And I did end heating up the oven but not for very long, just long enough to warm our steaks through.

The Month Ahead: June Goals and Plans

I don't feel the month of May has flown but this past week sure seems to have been put on hyper-speed.  I mean, wasn't it just Thursday and me planning our anniversary day out?  Whoosh!  Here we are a week later with just one day left in May!

The Week Ahead: Hot Dog

Our weekend was warm enough to qualify as summer.  Anyone with pools in our area most certainly should have been happily floating about in cool water.  Poor Maddie, River and Rufus have all been  seeking out shade where they might find it.  I wish Maddie were still of a mind to lie in a swimming pool.  She did when she was a puppy but now she shies away from all water except nasty mud puddles when it's rained.

For a weekend that beacons the opening of summer grilling season it was a winner.  Naturally we didn't do a thing but stay home.  It suited me.

Happy 25th! How We Met

I thought in honor of my 25th anniversary I'd share our story of how we met.  I think it's rather romantic.  I don't think I've ever shared that story on this blog before so I hope you all enjoy it.

The Week Behind: Ambitions Realized and Fails

Saturday:  John and I have both been guilty of this: we refer to his job as a 'marriage', often using the terms 'bad' or 'broken' to describe it.  This past week, after prayer, he set a retirement date, not in stone but mentally, and he shared it with both me and his work partner.  It feels right, this ending date.  But when John told me later in the day that he felt like he was 'divorcing' the job and that it grieved him I was disturbed.  Not jealous, but just a deep gut feeling that he was wrong...and that I too had been wrong in our assigning the term "marriage" to this job of his in the first place.  Yes, it does take up roughly half our married life and has for 25 years, but still, something felt very off in his assessment of what the ending of this quarter century of life amounted to.

The Week Ahead: Inspiration and Ambition

I am inspired this morning as I type out this post.  Even though the front and back porch is not complete, the fresh coat of paint has inspired me and spurred me on.  Were it not Sabbath morning, I'd be out there with roller and brush in hand, putting the finishing touches on those two porches.  It's more than one morning's work though and I don't do work on Saturdays but today's inspiration will hopefully be tomorrow's ambition!

The Week Behind: Go Go Go!

Friday:  Adding this day into this week's post since I didn't post about it last week.    I knew John and I were going to travel out of town.  All of my children are foodies and love to cook.  Except Jd.  He and the children live on takeout and frozen or quick fix boxed foods.  John called me Wednesday while he was at work and asked if I could make a meal to take with us.  We  decided I'd make a pot roast in the crock pot and take that with us.  I got up at 5am and dumped the prepared vegetables and meat into the slow cooker, then crawled back into bed for a couple hours more of sleep.   I let it cook right up until the time we were ready to walk out the door, about 5 1/2 hours total.  I have the 'take and carry' crock with  the lid you can fasten and take the whole thing with you.  I wrapped the slow cooker in  towels and put in one of my big insulated bags from Aldi.   John put that bag in the big Igloo cooler in the trunk.   When we arrived at Jd's I took the bag into the house and unpacked it and that crockpot was still HOT!  It was about a 6 hour trip to his house.  All we had to do was heat the green beans.

Iced Tea Chat: Drifting through May

Hello lovelies.  Do come in and have a glass of tea with me.  Shall you have lemon?  Lime?  Ginger?  Mint?  All are quite delicious in a glass of iced tea.  I'd offer you sugar cubes to sweeten but Taylor, the little imp, took advantage of her Mama not waking from her nap when Taylor woke.  At that point she ate the last banana, an apple and all the sugar cubes in the sugar jar.  Fortunately those sugar cubes were nearly gone.  Gramma came in from her trip on the heels of the crime spree.  I figure it could have been worse.

The Week Ahead: Gramma Daze

What a fast paced weekend it was for us.  We headed to Kingsland to see the children there on Friday.  Saturday afternoon we headed home and found Taylor and Katie waiting on us here.  I'd seen Josh and Isaac on Wednesday of last week.  I've played and colored and loved on six of my grandchildren this week.  What a lovely way to spend time.  I won't lie though...I'm in a bit of a daze after our race through the days John had off but what a lovely daze it is!

Well the weekend is over and it's time now to get back to the daily work of life.

The Week Behind: Investment Living

Saturday:  John off to work this morning.  I'm sorry our Shabats have been interrupted by a work day twice a month but the least I can do for John is make it a peaceable transition from home to work.  I make sure that Friday evenings are pleasant and nice with a small treat in store for us.  This week it was a 'boughten' cookie, as Grandmama used to call them.  I purchased cookies on a buy one get one free sale at the grocery yesterday.  Pepperidge Farm "Maui" chocolate chip cookies are delicious, a blend of coconut, almonds and dark chocolate chunks.   Apparently Katie found them quite good too, as she finished off the package when she visited.  Not that we'd left her a great deal but Katie generally doesn't go for sweets.  She was quick to say "oh! Pepperidge Farm!" when she saw the package.  Apparently a favorite brand with her, too.

Favorite Finds for March and April

It's been a couple of months since my last Favorite Finds post.  I have a few items I'd like to share with you.

 Fridge drawer liners.

Our Home Project: Befores and Afters

The workmen cleared up their tools and picked up their small messes and left on Friday evening about an hour before Shabat began.  John and I knew the work we'd had done would be better than what we had but we didn't realize how very nice it was all going to look overall.  We agree that house seems quieter than it did, and we're convinced that the new work about the foundation of our home is going to give us an energy savings as well.

The Week Ahead: I Got Sunshine....and Rain!

Even though we had rain forecast for the past two days none has fallen.  I'll have to water the plants but it's pleasant and sunny outdoors.  No complaints over sunshine!  We had plenty of cloudy days through autumn and winter and I'm quite happy to see the sun. note:  We had about an inch of rain last night and hopefully will get a little more today.  It was very much needed.

The Week Behind: Spending Sunshine

Saturday:  I knew we'd be walking about in town this morning and I needed a more substantial breakfast under my belt than our usual toast or bagel for a Saturday morning.  I  opted to make those 'McBreakfast' sandwiches we've spoken of.  I used toast but it serves just as well as an English muffin and it's quite a filling little breakfast.