Monday, July 20, 2020

How was your weekend? I had a very full week last week and a full weekend, too! I am linking up with Heather, Tanya, and more right here.

Are you ready for lots of food pictures? I’m not sure I am. I really only want to see salads and healthy foods this week!

So, back to Wednesday… our anniversary. I decided to pick up Outback because we hadn’t had it in a very long time and I thought it would be a treat and Tom said to surprise him. We did not do gifts because of the house stuff and we do hope to take a trip when we can. I got Nothing Bundt cakes and had my husband’s favorite drink – Ale 8 and Mason’s root beer and my pretty bottle of rose out. I didn’t have a special drink for Jack. Yes, we ate with our boys. I had a sundried tomato cheeseball but we ended up saving it.

We got a bloomin’ onion.

I got Alice Springs chicken to split with Tom and I also got him a small steak. The boys had fettucine with shrimp and chicken.

Thursday I did errands to get ready for the weekend.

Friday I got to have lunch with my two friends on a country club patio. We spaced out at the table more than we normally would have. It was a nice treat. I got a benedictine sandwich – it is a cream cheese cucumber mixture that is from Kentucky. I have talked about it before because I really like it. My cousin used to eat cream cheese sandwiches as a child.

Friday was a big day because I also went out that night. I made us reservations on a patio at a new restaurant and Tom came from work and I met him. We really like live music and this is one of our favorite local groups – they plan Van Morrison, Jimmy Buffet, and lots of good stuff.

We got hush puppies with pimento cheese and split a stacked meatloaf because that’s what Tom wanted. It was not good so I just ate the side salad.

I tried a fun blue drink. It was really strong.

The patio was so hot and there was no shade. The umbrellas served no purpose. I wore my fan necklace that I recently got and it helped a lot. Tom was really proud to be with me and he said it looked like a voice box. But, he did wear it the other day at work to get a laugh. Texas people, I don’t know how you do it.

Saturday was our very small graduation party for just my side of the family. We will celebrate with Tom’s at a later date if they want to. We decided to keep it really small but it still included 16 people. I debated if it was o.k. and we have all been pretty isolated. My sisters and one brother in law are teachers and have been at home and the other brother in law works for the state and they are at home now, too. So, I decided it would be o.k. but I was a bit nervous. We hadn’t all been together since Christmas.

I made a candy bar on the dining room table.

The party was strictly outside except to come in for the food. We came in just a couple at a time and most people wore masks when they came in to get food and use the bathroom. Out of the 16 people, 9 of them are kids so I think it’s important to model this behavior and to get them used to it. The littlest boys were proud of their masks.

Jack and Mason opened some presents.

Most of our back yard is shady and it really didn’t feel that bad. I brought out a bin of toys for the littlest boys.

We have these funny blow up chairs from Amazon and Tom tried one out.

We tried, but we ended up being closer than 6 feet away from each other. It’s really hard. This is my sister on the left and two nieces and then my other sister.

The menu:

My sister put her pretzel bites in individual bags.

Two of my nieces made cakes for the boys.

My sister made us masks. They are really pretty fabric and breathable. She is an art teacher so she knows what she’s doing!

We got a picture of all of the kids. Jack wore his mask. Top row: Jack and Mason, my kids, 17.

Next row down: Nora, 12 and Mia, 13.

Next row down: Samira, 14 and Miles, 13. (Mia and Miles are twins)

Bottom row: Lincoln, 5 and Silas, 6, and Lena, 9

Even though it’s been 1.5 years, my Dad should’ve been there! It will always be hard on occasions like this. He would’ve been so happy and so excited to be there.

My sister Molly got a pandemic puppy – a German shepherd named Felix.

Everyone left by 8 and I was pooped! I have not had that much activity since March 12!

Sunday was a day of rest and I spent some time reading this. It was a bit slow to start but now it’s really cute.

I also made a Costco run because we were out of coffee!

Then, in the afternoon, Tom and I watched two movies in the cold basement – Palm Springs on Hulu and Eurovision on Netflix. I liked Eurovision more. Anyone watch them?

We ate dinner together and then Mason and I read outside for a bit.

Hope you had a good one!

Amy