Monday, July 6, 2026

How was your holiday weekend? I was so glad for my hub to have a three-day weekend! He has been so busy at work and had to cancel a golf day in June along with a couple of planned days off in June a couple of weeks later. He didn’t complain but I did – for him! Ha!

Let’s link up with Sarah and Holly to share…

A really good cocktail! Look at that ice, baby!

Friday was my parents’ wedding anniversary. If I am correct, it would have been number 61. I love this photo of them!

I had a list of some festive foods I wanted to make and on Friday, I made fruit pizza. It’s just crescent rolls baked, some frosting after the dough cools, and fruit.

I took this to Mason’s work. I feel like they kind of look like eagle eyes and beaks, no?

Tom had an “appointment” at the belt bar at the leathergoods shop where Mason works.

The belt came with a drink from their bar. Tom gave it to me and I picked a strawberry aperol spritz.

It was fun to do and the belt is beautiful. Tom got his initials embossed in case anyone tries to steal his belt or he forgets his name.

It was so hot and I was sweating just from our little outing. We came home and I read while Tom watched tv.

We made a spur of the moment plan to go to dinner with our friends. The six of us had not been out since April maybe? It had been a long time. Everyone has been going this way and that and our schedules hadn’t aligned. The restaurant is called Harry’s and it’s in a shopping center called The Paddock so Heather and I both ordered the Pink Paddock Fizz and it was so good!

I got two fish sliders and a baked potato. The food is always good there.

Saturday morning the heat had finally taken a break. I can’t remember the last morning you could open the door and not feel like you were entering a sauna. It was so nice to be able to walk EO and do some morning time outside. Tom went on a bike ride and accidentally became part of a 4th of July parade across the bridge in Indiana.

Gotta be festive – even with your electrolytes!

There was a chance of storms and the heat did come back later in the day. We decided not to boat because of all the crazies that would be out so we had a really laid back 4th. It is so weird to be empty nesters on the holidays especially.

I read this on IG and thought I would try it!

My lemons:

I went to Kroger for bird seed, lemons, watermelon, and Metamucil. Weird!

OMG – I read this for a few hours on Friday and on Saturday I was close to finishing. I finished right before dinner and told Tom I would have a “book hangover” for quite a while.

Sooooooo good. This could be my favorite book of 2026. So far we have this, Mad Mabel, This Book Made Me Think of You, and Dolly all the Time in my running for my favorite books of 2026. All of these books are very different, of course.

I’m going to say two bold things:

I think this is better than The Help.

This is so much better than The Correspondent and Theo of Golden. Notice that those are not in my list of favorites.

This book was 650ish pages and I didn’t think it was too long in the least. I was never bored by it.

The dialogue was so funny at times. I read several quotes to Tom.

I made sheet pan sliders/burgers and homemade mac and cheese. Tom had baked beans but I’m not that excited about those.

We spent a lot of time with our only kid living in the house:

We watched this goofy movie:

And, finally Sunday we did go out on the boat!

Tom jumped in with Eddie Otis!

Our friends Heather and Eric were able to come, too. It was a nice couple of hours on the water!

Tell me about yours!

Amy

27 thoughts on “Hello Monday”

  1. That sounds like a real lovely weekend! I could not make it through that movie but we tried.. we didn’t make it very far just to the part where his car got destroyed. Tom’s new belt is perfect.

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  2. It looks like a great weekend! Lots of fun activities- I would love to get my guys good quality belts. Your meals out and boat ride looks fun, too. I’m with you on baked beans- pass! But mac and cheese- YUM! The ballpark on Thursday evening and the best mac and cheese that I’ve ever had out which was a bit surprising (but a wonderful surprise). Our weather was hot and steamy all weekend. Glad you had a bit of a break for a short time. Have a great Monday!

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    1. The belt is really beautiful. Luckily, Mason got his discount! Thank you! I like beans but baked beans don’t really do it for me. Wow – I appreciate a really good mac and cheese. You too!

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    1. It really was. It felt long and luxurious. I hope my husband feels refreshed but he doesn’t often say things like, “I feel refreshed”. Lol.

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  4. I have an Amazon gift card….do you think Calamity Club is worth purchasing? I don’t often purchase physical books anymore, but should I? I loved reading about your weekend…I’m glad you got out on the lake Sunday! I love seeing EO on the boat and in the water.

    My weekend was incredible! I really do feel like I had a mini vacation that I was paid to be on. The house was so nice and the pool and hot tub were chef’s kiss! The hot tub felt amazing at night, which I was surprised by since it has been so hot outside. That was the last thing we did each night, which I loved! I was back home by noon yesterday and unpacked.

    Happy Monday!

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    1. I think you should get it from the library if you can. There will be a waiting list but you might get lucky and walk in and find it on the new release shelf like I did?
      But, go for it if you want to!
      Eddie Otis had so much fun on the river. Our friend Eric loved on him so much and he loved that attention, too. It was nice to have more help with EO.
      I really think this pool sitting gig is smart! I love that you treated it like a vacay!

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  5. I’m always a bit suspicious about the Netflix produced movies… but they did a great job on “Remarkably bright creatures”!

    Fantastically cool that a business idea like “Make your own belt” exists! The belt was beautiful. How cool that Mason gets to learn this craftmanship!

    Me and hub went to the local sportsbar for nachos and beer and some soccer. Yeah, we’re turning American! 😀

    I saw The calamity club at Target but was to cheap to buy it… I look forward to reading it!

    EO is such a cutie! He seems to be extremely positive!

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  6. Hi Amy!
    We didnt do much, my husband is at Thebes of healing from knee surgery so walking for a long time is out of the question. The weather didn’t cooperate with being at the pool. I had my mom and her friend over for dinner last night.
    Very Very Boring!

    Cheers! Missy

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  8. I have a hold for Calamity Club and look forward to it. I had the audio, but just couldn’t do 28 hours of listening. It looks like such a nice weekend. Yes, empty nest holidays are so different!

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  9. What a fun weekend! Both of your cocktails look and sound amazing- totally up my alley. Glad you got some boat time in. EO looks like he was having a blast- even looks like he is smiling! We had a great weekend up at the lake- it was so hot so being in the water was just perfect 🙂

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  10. Looks like a lovely July 4th weekend. Tom’s belt is so nice and looks like it will last forever! When my kids were younger we spent July 4th at my parents house on the lake. Those were such fun times shooting water balloons with a sling shot off the boathouse at passing boats and watching fireworks from the boat. Our 4th this year was a nice one at home with hotdogs, watermelon and watching fireworks from my husband’s parking garage rooftop.

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  12. How great for Tom to have a three day weekend! What a gorgeous photo of your parents! That belt is beautiful and a fantastic gift! It looks like a lovely dinner out with friends. That is interesting about the lemons, I need to try that! It looks like a good trip out on the boat!

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      1. Our drakes is next to Malone’s
        There might be a Harry’s next to a different Malone’s in town …but near me, we used to have Malone’s , drakes and Harry’s because not anymore

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  14. We didn’t do anything for the Fourth, but I did two hours of Gallery Conversations at the art museum. That’s just wandering around the museum and talking to anyone who wants to hear about the art. I’m just the person for that! We did have burgers on the grill, though!

    I love the photos of Eddie Otis…he’s such a joyful dog! And, that belt is gorgeous…what a wonderful gift.

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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  17. This sounds like a lovely, laid back 4th of July!

    I am on hold for the Calamity Club…just checked and I’m 8th in line, so I’ll probably get my hands on it by the end of the month! I am currently reading Mad Mabel. I also read Theo of Golden and really liked it, but I’m not sure it will be in my top 10 of the year. My top book of the year so far is called “No One’s Coming”- I highly recommend it!!

    https:www.suzannehines.org

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