Friday, August 28, 2026
Gosh – what a week! I’ve shed some tears this week, but I’ve also been kind to myself and had some nice moments.
Linking up with Andrea and Erika to share some favorites…
What a life Dolly led! Here is my photo from our family trip to Nashville several years ago. We stayed at The Graduate and this is where I learned that “boutique hotel” means “small rooms” and that our family of four could no longer share one room. I also booked a red neck comedy bus tour, and my kids still tell me how horrible that was.
I enjoyed reading her famous quotes and watching clips of her giving interviews and telling jokes.
On Monday, Mason left for Santa Fe so maybe my Dolly deep dive was due to all the emotions I already had going on.
He flew from Louisville to Dallas (delayed but he had cushion). He missed his flight in Dallas because he was at the wrong gate and was very mad at himself. Luckily, he was able to get on standby for the last flight of the night to Santa Fe. He arrived at his hotel in Santa Fe finally at 1:35 am our time where he should have been checked in by 9:00 pm our time. It was a lot of FlightAware tracking for mama. Tom slept soundly.
We had some funny texts and yes I am a bit much sometimes…
I told him to eat dinner because of course, I still want to take care of him:
I didn’t sleep well the night before he left and the night of his flight, I didn’t get to sleep until about 2 am. I was thankful to sleep great the next two nights!
He wanted to go alone and didn’t want us to come with because he is 23, almost 24. He is going to be carless but get a bike. He managed to use space bags and pack a comforter, twin xl college sheets, towels, and most of his clothes. He had to stay in a hotel on night one but got into his dorm room the next day and placed a Target Instacart order for a new pillow, shower caddy, and other things. We shopped our house and still had college comforters, sheets, and towels. Mason is low maintenance and was fine with stuff we already had. I am working on decluttering, so this made me happy, too!
The next day I took myself to the discount day at the movie for a matinee! I saw:
It was silly but enjoyable! I paid $6.50 for my ticket and brought my own popcorn which I think is better. If I had bought my ticket online it would have been $9.50 with fees so I just bought it at the theater.
There were only a few other people in the theater, but three were also in my row and I realized very quickly that these three were going to be “talkers”. They talked through the trailers which I want to watch and they talked back to the actors in the trailers. The movie started and you guess it – more talking. Then, I heard a “buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz” and looked over and one homegirl had a fan in her face so I made the decision to pick a new seat several rows down. I can respect a woman needing a fan, but the theater was quite cool and that was just going to be too much for me.
I had to go to Walgreen’s and I admired their stash but it’s too early for me to participate:
Remember that Louisville got a Magnolia Bakery from NYC last week? My favorite polish has a collab with them:
I didn’t buy any but they make me hungry!
Eddie Otis and I branched out to walk in new places in our neighborhood this week. With cooler morning temperatures, we have been walking more. I like this wood statue and little garden we saw:
I finished this – it was a cute chick lit summer read but I found the author to be repetitive and repeat details that didn’t need to be repeated. Look at me being repetitive, too!
I started this:
I am loving this book written by a local businesswoman/speaker and mom of my former student and mom of Jack Harlow, rapper. Jack went to another high school but his younger brother Clay went to my school and I taught him in Spanish 3 one year and AP the next.
It’s very much in the vein of Fiona Ferris and I am also re-reading this book this week:
By the way, I mentioned the local author on Instagram, and she shared my post and I also mentioned Chobani and they responded to me! Call me, Chobani!
I had a fun outing this week with my friend Elizabeth:
I invited her to attend a “bourbon talk” given by my childhood neighbor and his distillery partner.
This is Denny:
We got to taste their blend called “Big Vat Liar” and enjoy some light bites.
I also so some hometown people at the event. It was really fun!
What was a favorite of yours this week?
Amy
Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa 
It sounds like a good week other than your child moving a thousand miles away… his getting there sounds stressful but at least he made it. I hope he likes it there- what a great place it will be to visit. Your Bourbon outing sounds fun- spending time with a friend, supporting another, seeing lots of people you know and eating/drinking good things. Not much more socially you could want…
LikeLike
Yes! I am doing better than I thought I would because he is being quite communicative. That’s what I thought. It was nice to have an evening out.
LikeLike
So glad Mason made it safely, even if a bit later than expected. I’m impressed he fit all that in his suitcase. It sounds like you had a pretty nice rest of the week. I’ve struggled to shake the sadness this week and have been feeling quite blah about everything. But I made sure to get out for a few nature walks and took lots of pictures to try and focus on something else for a bit.
LikeLike
Thank you! Whew! I can’t believe he packed so well. I am glad I had things planned. I think getting out the house helped. Nature always helps me, too. I hope you have a date night this weekend and something to look forward to.
LikeLike
Wow! What a week you’ve had! Amazing how much goes on even as empty-nesters, right? Love that you posted your real-time text messages – you have a fun relationship with him!! Kids call it like they see it, don’t they? I’m sure it was stressful not being there but he figured it out!! Our kids generally don’t tell us until AFTER the fact – I’m not sure if that’s good or bad? Glad you got to meet up with your friend and then run into people you’ve known “forever” – that’s always so much fun. And Dolly. Wow. You can imagine how it is here in East Tennessee. What a legend. Have a great weekend!
LikeLike
So true! It’s easy to fill the time. Our texts amuse me. They do. Many times I prefer not to know until after. Mason and a friend went to a concert 5 hours away last spring and didn’t spend the night like I had thought they would. They arrived home at 4 am and I am glad I didn’t know until after.
I can imagine how many tributes you have down there. What a life!
LikeLike
I chuckled when I read “Tom slept soundly” because isn’t that the way it always is??? I swear, I would have been doing the same thing you were doing and Brian would have had a great night’s sleep!
I’m sure you will be taking a trip to Santa Fe soon! This is such an exciting time for Mason.
The bourbon talk looks like fun! I swear we need to come to Louisville, you have so many cute spots!
xo,
Kellyann
LikeLike
Yes! I’ve always said I want to be reincarnated as my husband – lol.
I don’t want to pounce on Mason too soon so I will try to let him dictate when we visit and winter might be a good time to get away.
We really do! I think you can fly direct form Orlando to Lou.
LikeLike
Love your texts with Mason-they remind me of mine with Diana- so glad he got to Santa Fe that night! Ok I need to see that movie now- looks right up my alley- but I was howling at the fan- don’t blame you for moving at all! Oh my gosh 🙂
LikeLike
He really makes me laugh. You would like it! It would have been fun to go with friends but coordinating schedules right now with my best friends is exhausting so I had fun alone!
LikeLike
What a week. Whew! I’m sure part of you is glad that it’s past now. That was how I felt a few weeks ago. I love that you took yourself to a matinee and that you and Elizabeth enjoyed some friend time. I’m so glad that things worked out well for Mason! I know you were exhausted from not sleeping for two nights. Hopefully you’ll do some fun things this weekend, now that you’ve got your new normal in life. It’s good to be easy on yourself. My friend told me that…wink, wink…you’ve said that to me so many times. Have grace for yourself, cry, laugh, and then keep on living.
Let’s chat this weekend!
LikeLike
Yes! I am glad I planned some things both alone and with a friend. I hope you are continuing to be kind to yourself, too. I hope you have some fun plans, too!
LikeLike