Sunday, July 30, 2023

Solving problems by creating new ones

I feel that is the way things are going in our house right now.  Every time we solve a problem, I feel as though we create a new one.  For instance, we bought our new hutch cabinet, which we absolutely love.  The problem was that we had to move our baker's rack out.  We found a place for it by deciding it could hold things on our porch and it would like fine there.  But it would mean finding a place for everything that was on the rack.  We did manage to do that for the most part, after some books were moved around, etc., etc.  I am excited that our house is going to be even more functional and livable in just a couple of days, but we aren't quite there yet!

Friday, July 28, 2023

Don't want to forget about last weekend

I certainly had intended to write about last weekend before we hit this weekend, but it is what it is.  I loved having a long weekend, and it was exactly what I wanted it to be.  We got so much done on Friday   I'm determined, more than I can even explain, to make our house as it works best.  We got a lot of things pitched and donated, and simply just put away in our garage and made some headway in our sunroom.  Saturday, Thomas had to work all day.  Andrew and I set out early in the morning to visit our former town to shop for some a new cabinet for our kitchen.  While they didn't really carry any of that, we did decide to purchase a recliner and a new loveseat.  We then headed south to visit another store, and also grabbed a quick lunch.  By the time we got home, it was time to go get Catherine from her apartment.  I've been offering to make the trips to get her, and she appreciates not spending her gas or putting the wear and tear on her vehicle.  Honestly, I appreciate the opportunity to chat just with her.  We made frozen pizzas for dinner, and just hung out.

Sunday was the best!  We went to church and Thomas even brought his girlfriend.  We then headed to one of our family's favorite restaurants.  Love those pub fries!  Thomas and Catherine spent some time doing some shopping.  That evening, we played a trivia game I found, and we all laugh so hard when we play.  We love it!  It's one of my favorite ways to spend an evening with my family.  When we got up Monday, Andrew made the kids a decent breakfast.  Thomas went off to work and I took Catherine back to her apartment.  Catherine had some drama that afternoon that made Monday challenging, but overall it was such a wonderful weekend.  I'm so grateful we had fun and made memories!

Monday, July 24, 2023

Our house

This summer, my goal has been to really make the house like I want it, at least as much as I can.  While I would love to gut the kitchen and rebuild it, that isn't happening.  Many things can be done though.  I settled on a new color for the front door, and it has been painted.  I've gone through many things in my bedroom and really made a difference in that room.  Same with the garage, and honestly in just about any room I've been working in.  I've gone through boxes, drawers, cabinets...and I've been happy getting ready of a lot of things.  For one thing, I finally feel that we are in a place financially where if I find I need something after a few years of not needing it, I'll be able to afford to purchase it.  I've also decided to purchase a new kitchen storage cabinet, and can't wait until it arrives, as well as some new furniture to replace old furniture that has seen better days.  Andrew and I work hard, we are going to be here for at least the next seven years, and I want to enjoy our days here and be comfortable.  We love our house, and I'm grateful we are able to to do this!

Thursday, July 20, 2023

Taking a long weekend

I am taking off work tomorrow and Monday, which gives me a four day weekend.  This is really my last laid-back weekend of the summer, and I'm grateful to have taken a couple of extra days.

I've really been using my time this summer to get our house organized.  I really want us to enjoy the space we have, and I want home to feel relaxing.  That means we don't just have piles of things everywhere.  Things have a place, and I want people to be able to come over and our house doesn't look like a storm just came through.

I am looking forward to having a fabulous long weekend!

Sunday, July 16, 2023

Summer weekends are fabulous

I really enjoyed this weekend.  The nicest thing about weekends in the summer is that Sundays aren't awful, because the weeks are lovely as well.  Our Friday evening was spent hanging out, and sadly, watching the Reds lose.  The Brewers have been rough on them.

Yesterday we did a few things around here, and then drove to our former town to spend the evening with friends.  Our dearest and closet friends were there, and I always appreciate the opportunity to get together.  We laugh so much, and these friends are so dear to us.  One has had a horrible year with some health issues, and after a couple of hospitalizations, I'm so grateful she can join us.

Today, Andrew, Thomas and I decided to drive a bit and visit some antique shops.  It was a shop that my parents and I visited frequently when I was a kid.  I hadn't been there in twenty years.  The last time I was there was Mother's Day of 2003, and my dad drove us over.  Lovely memories filled my heart today, and I enjoyed making a couple of more with Andrew and Thomas.  

It's been a fun weekend.  I"m so grateful.

Sunday, July 9, 2023

The wedding unexpectedly got to me

Last evening Andrew and I attended a wedding.  I had really been looking forward to it as it was a colleague of Andrew's, and I knew it would have a lot of people I would know and hadn't seen in a while.  It was a really lovely ceremony.  I was thrilled to see that we had been assigned to sit with exactly the people I would have chosen if I had been allowed to choose.  This was a younger colleague who was also a grad of the district about ten years ago, so there were truly many people of all ages that we knew in attendance.

I found myself being a little emotional about seeing all of the other teachers.  Andrew has awesome co-workers.  Part of my heart will always be at that school.  I love my job though, and I'm very grateful that it is MY job.  I'm not just filling in for someone else.

The end really got to me though.  Andrew and I were chatting with a classmate of Robert, and this young man had also joined the Navy.  This young man had not had an easy childhood.  Although his mother is a very nice person, she'd had drug issues and has been incarcerated on more than one occasion.  He recently finished his enlistment and is back in town and helping to coach a couple of sports.  As we were leaving, we chatted, and Andrew and I reminded him that if he ever needed anything, we'd be happy to help.  I walked outside and began to cry.  I couldn't help but be sad and emotional about the person my son is.  He is my son, and he always will be, but I also know (and I do accept) that he doesn't want to be.

The emotions caught me off guard, but I didn't let it ruin what had been a really fun evening.  We have four weddings this year, and they always make me grateful for my own wedding twenty years ago!

Saturday, July 8, 2023

This has been an amazing week

This week off has been absolutely amazing.  It feels like it has been a long stretch of absolute nothingness.  As I had suspected, in many ways I enjoyed this even more than our week of vacation, although I am incredibly grateful for that week as well!  It's especially nice that the office is closed so there is absolutely no obligation to go in or be doing anything.  I had almost nothing at all scheduled, and while I could have been more productive, the way I spent this week was exactly what I needed.  I feel so recharged and I'm so very grateful.  I'm even looking forward to heading to the office on Monday!

Tuesday, July 4, 2023

July 4, 2023

Today is the birthday of our country.  This has never been my favorite holiday.  I don't love crowds and loud noises.  Our friends decided last year that they would start spending the holiday with family since our kids couldn't get along at that point.  Our other friends had stopped celebrating years ago, and since last year I was busy getting ready for Thomas's graduation party, I was fine with it.  This year, it feels a little strange to not be doing anything, but I'm also completely fine with it.

I'm about half way through this week, and we are about half way through our summer (as of tomorrow).  It all goes so fast, but I'm grateful for this time!

Monday, July 3, 2023

2023 Vacation, part 2

Wednesday morning I awoke with a migraine and went back to bed after medicating.  Andrew and Thomas went back to the mainland and played some frisbee golf.  I love that they bond in that way.  I walked over to the nearby shops, but didn't even find any I wanted to go into.  We had visited the favorite bookstore Tuesday morning, and that was here I had decided to spend a bit of money.  That evening we decided to try a new restaurant on the sound front, and yet again, really good food!  We walked out to the sound but the wind was overwhelming.  When we returned to our rental, we convinced the kids to walk with us (and of course the sweet pup!) over to the ocean.  I took so many fabulous pictures.  Of course our TV watching continued that evening.

Thursday was the day I was most looking forward to.  We had decided to do our shopping in Duck.  I know the kids were a little disappointed that we didn't get to walk along the boardwalk as much as we would have liked, but with Andrew's mom joining us, it just wasn't an option.  We did get to a little bit though, and again, I took lots of fun pictures.  We also ate lunch out that day instead of dinner, and we visited a place from the TV show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.  It was 100% worth the stop!  That evening, Andrew and I walked to park across from where we were staying and walked along the sound.  It was gorgeous.

Friday Andrew took a bike ride (he had rented a bike down there) and I took the kids and did a bit of shopping.  We started our laundry process and got things organized.  Dinner was a fun place near-by.  Afterwards we took Andrew's mom over to the park on the sound and she was able to enjoy the views.  We got home just before a major storm came in.  Even dark clouds are prettier at the ocean though!

We were out the door by 6:30 the next morning, and home 14 hours later.  It was so nice to be able to have Andrew's mom and both kids with us.  It was also different though.  The kids are used to having their own space, and after dinner we didn't see them much.  They retreated to their rooms and hung out there the rest of the evening.  I understand, but I wished they had joined us a bit more.  It didn't really feel like we did as much this trip, and in many ways, we didn't.  We just sat and relaxed, and for that I am grateful!

Sunday, July 2, 2023

Vacation 2023

Although we've been home for two weeks, I'm finally writing about this year's vacation.  It was really, really wonderful.  My mother-in-law joined us again this year, and our sweet pup, Abby, was able to join us again this year.  We rented a minivan again for the trip, and we were on the road around 5AM on the 10th of June.  It took us 14 hours, and a great deal of that was spent just getting through the island traffic.  I slept through a significant portion of the trip, and I remember thinking that it was one of the few times we'd been on a specific portion of Virginia interstate without rain or some major accident!  When we got to the place we were staying, it was nearly 8:00 and we ordered some pizzas for dinner.  It was about a three minute walk to these little shops that included the pizza place.  It was fabulous.

On Sunday, we walked over to the ocean front pool.  The kids were at the arcade, but Andrew and I ordered some drinks and enjoyed the view.  The best part is that it was only about a six-minute walk to the pool, and then another minute down to the ocean.  In that regard, the location was absolutely wonderful.  We ended up eating at the restaurant at the pool that evening.  It wasn't the best food we had that week, but it was definitely the best view!  It also gave my mother-in-law an opportunity to see the ocean again.

Monday we did a bit of shopping and had some ice cream, but there was some afternoon rain.  Our dinner was at a restaurant that had changed since we'd been there last, but still had amazing food.  A bit of shopping after dinner, and our third evening of some walking, sitting outside, and then watching our favorite show with Andrew's mom.

Tuesday was more of the same.  We had beautiful weather the entire week.  That evening, we drove an hour to eat at our favorite restaurant.  It never disappoints.  My Filet Oscar was spectacular.  It's always an amazing dinner, and it's generally the one evening where we splurge for desserts.

I'll come back tomorrow and finish recapping our trip.  I'm so grateful we got to make these memories!

Saturday, July 1, 2023

I've been looking forward to this week for a long, long time

I can't tell you how excited I am about this coming week.  The school office is closed, and I have the entire week off!  The week of vacation (I still need to write about) is pretty awesome too, but there is something delightful about being home all week with pretty much no plans.  Last year during this week we were getting ready for Thomas's grad party, and the year before we took our trip to Michigan during this week.  I had wanted to do some painting, but I don't think that is going to happen.  However, I do think I'll be working on scanning old family photos, and I'm pretty delighted about that as well.  I ever got everything I needed done and was able to be off yesterday and shut everything down Thursday evening.  This is awesome!