Wednesday, May 6, 2026

Hi! I’m glad you’re here today! It’s the start of a fresh new month. Many refer to this month as “Maycember”. If you are a teacher or a parent of school age kids from kindergarten through college, it’s a busy, busy month. My sisters are super busy right now, one of my friends is moving her college grad daughter to a new city, one of my friends welcomed her daughter home from study abroad in Germany – all kinds of exciting transitional things happen this month.

It’s weird for me to have a May to myself! I am almost at my completion of a full school year as a retiree. It went by crazy fast – except for January and February! Ha!

My advice to you is to be organized, plan ahead, plan for easy meals, and then just take it one day or week at a time. Get up 15 minutes earlier each day and see how much you can get done. Take an hour to get your ducks in a row. Delegate! Also, say “no” to a few things. All this is easy for me to say now, isn’t it? But, seriously, you cannot do it all.

Link up with me at the bottom for Currently and read on to see my Hodgepodge answers with Joyce!

Digging – Literally or the 70s version meaning “loving”

I am digging this spring weather! I sometimes start my morning outside with my devotional and blog reading and writing but almost every day I eat lunch outside and then extend that into my reading time. I am so happy that Eddie Otis is finally growing up a bit. He comes out with me and then decides he’s done and goes back inside to nap and gives me some time to read. It turned cold on us again this weekend but I knew it wasn’t going to last long.

I am digging my spring clothing! I am really enjoying wearing my blouses and jeans. I am starting to pull out some shorts to wear out of the house, too. I think dresses will be coming soon, but I have only worn one to Churchill Downs and one out to dinner on Derby eve.

My new Aerie shorts and flip flops with an ON blouse:

Wearing a dress:

Weeding – Literally or “cleaning out”

I am weeding out my spring and summer clothing – I need to go through my dresses.

I’m also weeding out things from both of my kids’ old rooms and their basement area. For my Mother’s Day gift, they are coming to work on this with me!

Enjoying – foods, shows, books, clothing, people – whatever!

I am enjoying walking Eddie Otis more now that I have his “bra”. This keeps him from pulling too hard on the leash with me. I wish I had gone to the pet store sooner to do this! We are walking more and that benefits both of us.

I am enjoying so much right now: my outdoor spaces, reading outside, my flowers in wine bottles, my huge stack of library books.

I am enjoying my gold Birkenstocks again and they seem more comfortable? Weird, I know.

For food, I am enjoying simple things. A sandwich, an omelet, salad with protein, things like that.

For shows, all the Bravo shows and I am starting Running Point Season 1 so I can watch Season 2.

Eating/drinking – I found my favorite sourdough bread ever. It’s a thinly sliced half loaf from Whole Foods and I have been having a half of a sandwich with deli turkey, tomato, lettuce, and mayo. I still love my egg mixture for breakfast and have it with three Amylu chicken breakfast sausages. I am still drinking all the water I can, LMNT electrolytes, and coffee.

Shopping for – We are going to need a few house things soon so I am trying not to shop a lot right now. Tom wants to replace our porch ceiling fans, for one example.

I’m really trying not to do to any intentional clothing or shoe shopping now. If I see something I might get it, but I don’t need to go looking. I did see some adorable dresses on Nordstrom Rack and ordered a couple to try. I do feel that my dresses are lacking. I can return in person if they don’t work.

And, now, for Hodgepodge…

1. What’s something you may do this month?

Tom really needs to take some time off from work and we are trying to figure out a couple of weeknights away with our little boy Eddie Otis.

2. Hola! Hodgepodge Day lands just after Cinco de Mayo… how do you feel about Mexican food? What’s your favorite dish? Do you make it at home or is it a strictly dine out option? 

I love Mexican food! I like to order things I can’t make as well, like chilaquiles. I have made them, but they are probably best with homemade tortilla chips. I feel like some of my Mexican dishes are better than a restaurant’s. I think my white chicken enchiladas are really good. I like my guacamole more with a few exceptions. Now, we are probably talking more Tex-Mex than authentic Mexican food here. I can’t make white queso as well so that is something we enjoy getting at a restaurant.

Tom first called me his girlfriend at a Mexican restaurant so that is special! Ha!

3. When the children of today grow up what do you think they’ll say about this time period? What do you most hope they remember? 

My catty answer is screaming. The children of today like to scream. I live in front of a playground and I can hear screaming inside my house. Bloodcurdling, horror movie level screaming. And, yes, I am aware that I now sound like a cranky old woman.

My real answer is probably very close to what I remember – the friends and family they spent time with, shows and movies, trips, favorite foods and who made them.

I hope they remember it as a time of freedom from worries.

I remember Jack turning to Mason as a child and saying, “Come on, you need to play with me. Soon we will be adults and life will be no fun anymore”.

4. What advice would you give a new mother? 

Teach your children to only scream in the case of a true emergency. Buy earplugs.

Keep it simple. Have a structured routine. Your kids do not need technology, tons of toys, lavish trips and experiences yet. I just saw an acquaintance take her kid to NYC for a 4th or 5th birthday. My first thought is…”What will this kid expect for the subsequent birthdays?” In my day, we had some cupcakes in someone’s garage and called it a day. We are seeing and comparing others’ parenting on social media and it makes it really hard. Normalize a simple birthday. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Your kid needs a happy, healthy you.

5. What’s a phrase your mother often said to you? If you’re a mom do you say it to your own children? 

“It’s bedtime for Bonzo” and yes, I do, too!

Bedtime for Bonzo is a 1951 American comedy film directed by Frederick de Cordova and produced by Universal International Pictures, starring Ronald Reagan as psychology professor Peter Boyd, who raises a chimpanzee named Bonzo to demonstrate that environmental influences outweigh hereditary factors in shaping behavior.The film premiered on February 15, 1951, in Indianapolis, Indiana, with a wide U.S. release on April 5, 1951, and runs for 83 minutes.

This is actually the first time I have looked this up!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I have had my first serious thoughts about moving from this house. I don’t like that I am becoming grumpy. I love kids! Between the screaming kids and the next-door neighbor’s ex who uses a leaf blower almost every day, plus the fact that we have the school traffic, 500 new apartments being built across the main road to get to our house, a new VA hospital going in very, very close to our house, it’s something to think about. It’s just weird when you have been so contented and never given it a thought and then one day you do. I also don’t want to “cut off my nose despite my face”. I am home more now and I’m noticing it more now.

Let me know if you have experienced this and have any advice.

Link up here for Currently!

Amy