Monday, June 19, 2023

I am linking up today with Sarah and Holly for Hello Monday. Do you have your cup of coffee ready? Or, maybe your cup of tea? And, who am I to judge if it’s a cup of bourbon, right? Settle in for my tale of this weekend and what I am calling a comedy of errors. It’s not that dramatic, but it felt that way at times. You are going to see lots of food pictures, by the way!

Let’s go back to last Thursday. I picked my mom up from her girls’ trip (her two college friends get together with her every few months) and took her home. She had a really good time but was also happy to be home. My aunt had sent quilts for us and we each got to pick the colors that we wanted. I chose this brightly colored one. I’m seeing picnics with mason jars. What do we think?

I made it home for dinner and the fam had tacos and I had a taco salad.

For Tom’s birthday, I had planned to make this Heath ice cream cake, but I didn’t manage it on time, so it was a bit late. We enjoyed some of this after our tacos. Now, Tom does not like Cool Whip, so this time I subbed vanilla bean ice cream and let me say it was a stellar choice. This cake is just as good as a DQ cake in my opinion. You only need ice cream sandwiches, ice cream, and Heath topping (sold next to the chocolate chips). Click on the red font for the full “recipe”.

Friday, I met my niece Brooke at Parlour and forgot to get a photo of her. She just graduated from nursing school and had a birthday so we were celebrating two things. Also, she starts her job in the pediatric ICU this week!

We shared their amazing breadsticks and each got a salad.

I got a tropical salad. Yum!

Their cute patio:

The area where we sat:

I went home and was so tired I took a bit of a nap. Then, later in the afternoon, Jack and I were going to go to Target and the library, but we were stuck. Our garage door opener (the machine in the ceiling) was broken. My car was stuck in the garage. It’s very hard to manually open it because it’s a double door and Tom has to unhook it or something. So, our plans were thwarted, and Jack wanted to learn to make chicken alfredo, so all turned out good.

I had this:

Everyone in the family had kind of a hodgepodge of leftovers and random things. I like doing that on a Friday night sometimes.

I was reading this but it was moving slowly…

Saturday morning, I went to the farmer’s market for the first time this season.

I got a breakfast sandwich for the first time ever and it was really good.

My haul:

I got popcorn, kettle corn, Benedictine cucumber spread, one tomato, curly kale, and grape tomatoes.

I went to Target and got these:

and a couple of other things. Then, I went to the library and found this on the new release shelf. I have it on my request list, but there were many, many people in front of me.

Now that I am 3/4 of the way through, I would say it doesn’t match its cover. It’s slow and melancholy and I don’t really like the main character. I loved Beach Read, didn’t like Book Lovers, and now this… disappointing. Anyone else?

I roasted some sweet potato (you saw this meal on Friday night and it was so good I wanted to make more, but include kale).

I roasted the kale, too.

I had a weird lunch of salad, kale, sweet potatoes, and Benedictine, cucumbers, and bacon on an open-faced sandwich.

It’s the summer of hot pink, I guess! Hot pink Aerie shorts with hot pink Happy (Sad) Place.

We didn’t do a whole lot because we were going to a baseball game Saturday night with Tom’s work. Tom received a message in the afternoon saying, “We have been made aware of many activities going on downtown, so the baseball game will no longer be a corporate event. You are welcome to use your tickets on your own”. So, at first, we were still going to go because we had the tickets that were paid for, but as the afternoon went on, we decided that the main reason we were going was to be with his colleagues and Tom heard they were not going. So, we got Mexican takeout and watched the Netflix Tour de France documentary. Even I enjoyed it!

Sunday morning, I made this spread for Tom and we were going to go on the boat around 11.

Tom started heading to the boat ramp (he always goes first to get everything ready) and the next thing I know he has returned with a pretty serious car issue. His car was just in the shop for a week and then last week he had to take it in again for something minor. Now, this? He made three trips to the car parts store, watched a couple of YouTube videos, and 3 hours later he had fixed it himself. I felt so bad for him, though. I know that is not what he wanted to be doing. Oh, and I should mention he fixed someone else’s car Saturday morning as a favor.

We rallied and still went out.

I made him a sandwich and I had a wrap:

Yes, he deserved this boat nap:

And, we ended the day with the kids and I making a salad for dinner and…

This looks very bad, but it was good – chicken with honey mustard and bacon and cheese with corn and roasted potatoes.

So, the weekend was just a comedy of errors, I decided. I was trapped in the garage Friday, my plans were cancelled (and I could have planned something else on Saturday and there were other things I wanted to do), and yesterday was not quite the plan we had either. Now, this is all very first world problem stuff. I am grateful and blessed and realize that these are not real problems.

I was venting to my sister Kate and we both decided we had too high of expectations for summer. I need to keep my expectations lower, I guess (and I am working on my summer list blog post). Is that the right way to live? Kate thinks that teachers have such an unbalanced lifestyle and try to squeeze in all the projects, appointments, and fun that we don’t have time for during the school year. Now, Tom would say that he and everyone else who isn’t a teacher doesn’t get summers off, but Tom also doesn’t understand what we are talking about because he has never been a teacher. He can take an hour or more for lunch and go to a doctor or dentist appointment during the workday. I don’t know. I also have never had a corporate job.

Do you have unrealistic expectations for summer? I sure am glad I have other teachers in my life so we can talk about this!

Amy

30 thoughts on “Hello Monday – A Comedy of Errors Weekend”

  1. Good to hear that you still managed to do some fun things and eat yummy meals even though so many things didn’t go to plan. I know exactly what you mean about trying to squeeze in everything during the precious school holidays. I always have high expectations of all the things I want to get done that I just never get a chance to do during the term. But the days go by so fast! Anyway, I hope you keep enjoying your beautiful summer days.

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  2. It’s always a bummer when so many of your plans change in a short time. I experienced that one weekend and was so sad about it all, even though I had no right to be that way. I am the Queen of High Expectations and am constantly trying to lower them. I would always rather be pleasantly surprised than sorely disappointed, so I am always working on that. At least you had great food and it wasn’t all a bust! I am glad you got to go out on the boat and that Tom had a nap while out on the water. It was much earned! Your summer just hasn’t gotten off to the start you thought it would…maybe things will start turning around now.

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    1. I think I’m being taught some lessons here. I feel entitled to have a good summer but where does my entitlement come from. I don’t want to be a pessimistic person and it’s hard to find that balance. Some people let me down, too, and that is hard. Tom says I am always expecting people to act like I act or would act. You really did nail it – I had such high expectations coupled with getting out of school so late – June 2 – and things haven’t been as I thought. But, also, I am so blessed with how well my mom did. I have so much to be grateful for. It’s hard being a human! Thanks for your words, though!

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  3. So glad I read this because I needed the advice of you and your sister. The expectations thing? Yes. I need to learn how to go with the flow. Despite your inconveniences, it looks like a full and fun weekend as always XO

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    1. I think we just expect so much from summer! I go back and forth in my thoughts on striving for the perfect summer and just being happy with what I can get. Ha! i think I had some lessons to be learned at the start of summer this year. I feel entitled but I shouldn’t.

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  4. Funny thing, I actually had my cup of tea in hand when reading this! That quilt is beautiful! That is great about your niece being a pediatric ICU nurse. All the food pictures look good througout the weekend! My motto is to lower my expectations on almost everything these days. It is a hard balance though when time seems so short, especially as we are getting older. It is hard to believe we are mid-June already!

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    1. Ha! You are the prepared student! I loved the quilt. I am so proud of her. Now both she and her sister are working nurses.
      I know – you are right.

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  6. What a weekend, but you made the best of it. I love the quilt. I know what you mean about summer expectations. I’ve vented to Travis that so far this summer we’ve barely had a break and maybe mornings I barely have lazy time…& I have to tell him I realize many people work year round , but my head is never in that space.

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    1. We did. Tom was so calm and patient. And, yesterday he found out his hairdresser is out of commission for the next several months. Even though he has very little hair, this was devastating for him! lol! He is very particular!
      It’s so good that I have other teachers who can relate to this feeling of entitlement and high expectations of summer!

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  7. I’ve gotten stuck in our garage a few times; when we lose power I often can’t reach the release lever though I do not have a problem raising the garage door. Thankfully I usually have one of the “tall” boys on hand to pull it for me so I rarely get stuck inside the garage anymore. Lowering it once I’m outside is another issue as it’s waaay over my head. I’ve learned to grab a rake or a shovel with a hole in the end of the handle and fit it over the end of a bolt that sticks out on the side/bottom of the door and pull it down that way. I hate having to leave the house when we’re without power since it’s such a hard chore. I’ve had to learn over and over to lower my expectations (especially when away on vacation!) and just go with the flow taking the good and the bad with a grain of salt since the bad is rarely all that super bad in the grand scheme of things.

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    1. It’s not fun, but you have figured out how to do it! Our door is really, really wide and I don’t think I’m strong enough.
      Yes, I agree. I have also had to do that. I am feeling better after my pity party!

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  8. My high expectations for summer always involve trying to go to the beach house for longer then a few days and I have failed miserably the last 2 years but this summer I am actively marking off days as vacation and heading to the coast. Tony isn’t too happy about it as he is very spoiled and has his laundry done every day- towels miraculously appear on a hook beside the shower door. Milk, bread and other goodies are always at his disposal. So with me being gone- he will have to make his own lunches and figure out dinner. I think he will be fine as he is a 67 year old man. My daughters have told me that I have made him this way. Oh well. I enjoy taking care of him but everyone deserves a vacation right? Even when he is with me at the beach house, I do the laundry and cook and tidy up. So it’s never truly a vacation. I know, problems lol

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    1. I am proud of you for making that happend and Tony will be just fine. I pamper Tom too much, too, but isn’t that part of marriage? This will be good for both of you, though! I wondered why you didn’t stay there by yourself.

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      1. Yep! I used to go alone all the time and i hated that i stopped because he doesn’t like being here alone! But that is changing!!

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  9. I often give myself high expectations for summer and for life with small children. Like, I *expect* my car to be clean. I *expect my floors to be clean. I *expect* to get all these things done and it never works out that way.

    Thanks for the honest review of the Emily Henry book. I always want to like her books and I never do 🙂 This cover is so gorgeous and the premise sounds interesting. Hey, maybe I’ll like it if it’s not like her others lol.

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    1. I know – I am the same way. I hate to live my life with lower expectations but maybe I need to.
      I’m just dragging through the book. My student told me I need to finish it so that is why I am trying. I don’t know if I want you to try it or not. I would like to know if you feel the same, though!

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  12. Oh, that quilt, I love it! I think I told that my sil made one for us with Laura Ashley fabrics a couple of years ago? Love it!
    I didn’t like Book Lovers either… I thought I had picked up the wrong book, because everyone else was raving about it… No, it was bland.
    Do teachers have extra high summer expectations? What an interesting question! I don’t know… I do feel it’s such a luxury to have these eight weeks off when everyone else has like three in the summer… BUT: time goes by too fast!!! Stop it!

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    1. Thank you! Love her fabrics – yes, I think you did.
      ha – we have the same taste, then.
      Yes – I think American teachers do because we don’t have a healthy work/life balance as much as the Swedes do, I suppose. For example we wouldn’t be able to take a long maternity leave and we wouldn’t be able to do a 3/4 schedule ? like you do. Remember that we are workaholics in this country. So, that puts a lot of pressure on summer.
      Also, many jobs here only have 1-2 weeks off and 3 weeks off would be crazy long for most jobs.
      Yes, we are very lucky to “get summers off’ but also our pay reflects that and many teachers also have to work in the summer. I worked all the summers of my first 9 ish years of teaching.

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      1. You worked during summer? How come?
        Some high schools in Sweden practice the “normal Swedish system” with a total of five weeks off, but I would say that all elementary schools do the long summer breaks. There have been discussions to change this (from jealous people I guess…) but since we have a big lack of educated teachers today no-one mentions it any more… I guess everyone is just happy that we carry on with our low wages and heavy work load!
        I know that you Americans are workaholics! But it seems to make you happy somehow?

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      2. Because they were barely paying teachers to earn enough to live above the poverty line! I made 22,000 my first year in 1994. Exactly – low wages and heavy work load. Example. I have a four year degree and two Master’s degrees. In any other field, I would be making way more because of my high level of education. One Master’s was required of me by the time I had taught for 10 years. The other Master’s was so I could earn more money and because I wanted to be a principal at one time.
        I think Americans think working makes them happy but it just causes the love of money and spending and it becomes a vicious cycle.

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      3. I know! That vicious cycle! I guess you’ve heard the quote “You work a lot to buy things you don’t really want to impress people you don’t like”…
        OK, here is my example (I’ve also studied a lot, like you…). I became a teacher when I was 37, and I earned more at my old corporate job (in today’s money) twenty years ago than today! But, I enjoy it… I do!

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