Friday, April 25, 2025

Is it really true? Is it here? I am linking up with Andrea and Erika for Friday Favorites.

I am hoping for a pretty cocktail this weekend!

Here is a random assortment of things that made me smile this week..

I brought home my mom’s vintage mah jong set and my kids told me they knew how to play. But, as we started they said they knew Japanese and not Chinese style. What? Did you know there were different styles?

We took lots of time to set it up, read directions, and then we finally played on Easter afternoon and it was lovely.

I also admired my new highlighter yellow mani!

Tom worked really hard on the deck this weekend and it’s coming along!

Pretty after a little drizzle…

Then muddy and not so pretty…

It is back breaking work and Tom has already put in maybe 5 full days. He said that pulling up the old boards was harder than he thought it would be.

Blurry photo that I asked Tom to take of our Easter meal. I had a brisket in the crockpot all day, ham, roasted carrots, hasselback potatoes, and rolls.

It was fun to “announce” my retirement on Instagram this week. I had already done so on Facebook. Facebook is my family and friends and Instagram is mostly former students and some friends.

I had this photo of me with a clock and said, “it’s time”…

I was so touched by all the messages that came through and thought of each and every former student and what they mean to me.

As much negative as there is surrounding social media, it has helped me to stay in touch and there probably isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t engage with a former student – not in a creepy way. At least I hope not in a creepy way!

We replaced our shamrocks that told why we felt lucky with our suns which tell what we hope to do and will do this summer. We used the future and subjunctive tenses for any nerds out there.

Big boy tried out the leather couch for the first time this week and looks pretty proud. He has his emotional support chili pepper from Aunt Molly.

I ordered two sizes in these from Target and I really like them! I took the smaller size so I am glad that I had two to compare because I was leaning toward the larger size. They are like nerdy cool, no? They are Universal Thread that does good dupes for higher end brands. Target makes in person returns easy so I will return the other pair.

Wow – my twin niece and nephew tried on their cap and gown for their graduation invitation.

And, Mia had her AP art show. I wish we lived closer.

I feel like I need to add electrolytes on a regular basis – like every day. Do you have any brand/flavor recs? This strawberry is good and I mixed it with sparkling water.

Baby with his elephant…

The excitement is in the air for Derby week as it is only a week away now! Some events were cancelled due to the flood, sadly. The track is open for people to watch the warm ups and then there is racing all week leading up to Saturday, May 3rd – Derby day. I have been several times but only to the infield which is just a big old party! I have also been to Oaks dressed up and on some of the other racing days dressed up. I have been to night racing in the summer and I have been to the fall racing – which I really like. The ticket prices have gotten so outrageous!

Look how these ladies are dressed in 1910!

This weekend is also something you may have heard about in blog land. Jenn, Marilyn, Tanya, Joanne, Maria, and I will be hanging out in Louisville! They did this last year in Nashville, but Maria had her broken bone and I had my kids’ last college play. I have only met Jenn in person a couple of years ago when she visited my city. So, this is like a blind date with the other women!

What was a favorite of yours this week?

Happy Friday and Happy last weekend of April!

Amy

Thursday, April 24, 2025

It’s Thursday and link up day with Kellyann and Jill.

I know you all think I am good at purging and getting rid of clothing that no longer serves me, but I am struggling with my printed pants, my skirts (most of which have print), and my dresses. I am feeling a pull to more neutrals, simpler patterns, and I just feel like many of these items are dated and look dated.

One pair of pants that I probably will keep is these…

I love this print; they are very old from Loft and someone was returning them and I was eavesdropping and I swooned when I saw the pattern and asked the sales clerk if I could try them on. I am wearing my solid black Target blouse. I don’t love the fit or the fabric, but it will do until I can find a replacement. If it’s a school outfit, I am wearing sneakers. You can have a good day or a bad day as a teacher and it’s a lot about the shoes.

This looks frumpy – I think the jeans are looking too big – my normal Halaras. They are a little too long and just a little too big all over and that ups the frump factor. I wore my Aerie yellow stripe and sneakers and my Spain purse. This is what I wore to play tour guide with my Spanish visitors. My shirt is doing something very weird in the photo, too. So, I was comfortable, but when I look at the photos from that day I think I should have done a more fitted piece with the other piece – not too voluminous pieces. Oh well.

I decided to keep the cork! Keep the cork! They are surprisingly comfortable with the platform, they are different than anything I have, and I have recently been reminded for the need of neutral shoes by Susie Wright – my new Instagram stylist follow.

I wore this to go see Macbeth last Saturday night. My light Halaras fit much better than the medium denim from above and I wore them with my new Dr. Scholl’s sandals. I have on an old favorite boutique blouse – Entro is the brand – and sadly, I saw the little pin prick holes in the hem of the blouse so I think it’s time to say bye-bye. I love Entro and Umgee for blouses and dresses. Where do those little holes come from? Is it the button on jeans? Is it the dryer?

Susie Wright says to try not to wash your jeans. I feel like I have to wash mine every other wear and maybe she is talking about the more standard denim because this is a lighter material.

Keeping it real – this is what I wore during the day for spray tan and errands. I try to keep it all black. I broke out one of my gauzy tops. I also love this skort – I wouldn’t really wear these two pieces together normally.

For school one day this week I wore my cream Old Navy blouse new this season and my light blue gauzy pants. I look like a rectangle. Oh well.

So, this week was not a very fashionable week for me. Am I tired? Yes! I don’t know.

I’m starting to feel like my spring/summer shoe wardrobe is coming together and plan to do a post soon. I am also feeling like my clothes are coming together, but obviously not in these outfit photos. I have ordered a couple of things but nothing too crazy.

What looks dated to you this season?

What looks fresh and updated?

What are you enjoying?

Amy

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

It’s Wednesday and hodgepodge day with Joyce!

1. The Hodgepodge lands on National Picnic Day…will you celebrate? Do you enjoy picnics? Dining out of doors picnic or otherwise? What are three or four things I’d find in your picnic basket? 

Well, I did not even know! Now is the best time for picnics before the bugs get really bad. I love eating al fresco. I don’t know how much I enjoy sitting on a blanket anymore; I would prefer a table. I just love a sandwich! Make it fancy and even better – pickles and some unexpected element – brie? Maybe a bottle of wine, some chips, some fruit, some wipes and hand sanitizer!

2.  A time recently where you felt ‘antsy’? 

I feel antsy a lot and I think it’s a form of anxiety. I worry about certain deadlines. I feel like I have to be in charge in so many areas of my life. I have to check and make sure things have been done.

You would not believe all the little errors and annoyances from my mom’s estate business. People messed up little things and caused more work for us.

Tom even says to me, “remind me to _____” and I have started to tell him I already have enough stuff in my brain. Remind your own self!

3. As the saying goes…’when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.’  Do you like lemonade? When did you recently need to make lemonade out of lemons, figuratively speaking?

I think I do. I try to make the best of the situation. I have definitely gotten better at this as I have matured. I used to get very upset when things didn’t go as planned.

I like lemonade especially with vodka or in a cocktail! I will never choose lemonade over water for a non-alcoholic drink. I just love water.

I think my sisters and I made lemonade when we had to cancel our weekend in our hometown due to the flood. We shifted everything forward one week and it was a good call. We were so happy to see my mom’s gravestone done and maybe it wasn’t done the weekend before?

4. Recently five ‘celebrities’ made a brief (ll minute) foray into space aboard Jeff Bezos Blue Origin rocket. Did you hear about this? Your thoughts? If money were no object is this something you’d like to do someday? 

I have no interest in doing this myself. I think the money they paid was insane and could help so many people instead, but money don’t mean brains. There was no point to the trip other than to flex and say they did it. But, this did cause me to read up on it because I really didn’t know anything. Apparently they only went to the edge of space! I like bringing stuff like this up to my students to see what they think. Who am I going to talk to about all the stuff in my brain when I retire?

5. Favorite thing about the ‘space’ you’re sitting in right now? 

I guess that it’s mine and we have comfortable furniture. Tom sees to it that we buy quality things and he looks at details that I wouldn’t look at like the height of the couches – he made sure our outdoor sectional was high enough to be comfortable on the old back. I really appreciate that about him. He is thoughtful and detail oriented. I have a nice couch upstairs and one in the basement that is comfortable. I like my dining room chairs and my outdoor chairs. I do still want a reading chair in my bedroom. I need to put my feet up in all the spots!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I can’t believe we are already at the end of April! Time is really flying! I told my students that I was retiring at the end of last week. I am glad they know now and I think I did it at the right time. I have so much to do still- we are having food days in all classes, I have the AP Spanish exam coming up, we have final presentations in Spanish 3, and more. I found out they are not replacing my position which makes me feel better for some reason. We have 6 Spanish teachers and they will only have 5 next year. The language numbers are down which I think is due to the STEM and pathway (medical, engineering, media arts) opportunities but it makes me sad because Spanish has enriched my life so much and two years doesn’t cut it.

It’s starting to feel more real, but I don’t think it will hit me until next August. I think I should stand near the turn in to my school and yell “Suckers!” at all the teachers. Lol.

Thanks for reading!

Amy

Tuesday, April 22, 2025

After a year of a new puppy, winter, and just a busier than I’d like schedule, I haven’t hosted much. This past week reminded me of how much it fills my cup to have low maintenance friends over and to do what I think of as a low maintenance spread.

I have a better entertaining space for warmer weather, but I need to be reminded that people really don’t care what your space consists of. And, when we look at the much smaller spaces of Europe, it seems silly to not invite people over more.

For the last year I have been going to coffee shops, restaurants, and bars more than I have been having people over. And, I only have a couple of friends who host in their homes. It’s funny to me that my friends who have the biggest homes host the least. So, that is something to put in your pipe and smoke and ruminate on, no?

There are seasons in your life where you do it more and less, of course. Friends who work from home want to get out.

I like to always have some cute cocktail napkins and small plates on hand. I really need to update my glassware. All I had for our recent guests that matched were jam jars but they really liked them and said they use them in Vermont, too!

I want the pretty hobnail style! I can be really weird and take a long time deciding on something small like this but I want the right size – not too short and not too tall and I am thinking about going with a very light mulitcolor set. See? I haven’t found that exactly right one yet. If you click on the red font, you will see it comes close, but it’s not quite right.

These were what I had for my guests last week. I found the cute napkins at Marshall’s on spring break.

Sometimes simple is best, you know?

Our drink was tinto de verano which is red wine with lemon lime soda and a lemon slice. I used a Rioja Tempranillo that was around $10.

Ordering a pizza and making a salad is great if you are crunched for time.

It’s always been easy to come to my house for after school happy hours since I live so close. One time I did something unexpected for Erica and Elizabeth and make tater tot nachos in the air fryer.

You could even Door Dash some bar food and it would still maybe be cheaper than going out.

You can have people over for coffee or tea and cookies or cake. Who wouldn’t love that?

As I have an idea, I type it in my phone memo.

There are so many things you can do – have some girlfriends over (or just one friend) and make and decorate a summer bucket list. I think Erica and Elizabeth would love to do that! You could get some nice paper and markers and stickers – why should only kids get to do that?

I think you know this topic is close to my heart. I love feeding people and I love connecting with people.

Here are some posts I have written:

Entertaining at Home – Why you should even if your space isn’t perfect

Spanish Lunch

Summer Hospitality

Hodgepodge of Borrowing from Other Cultures

Mexican Homemade To Go – I need to do this again!

Sound off in the comments! What are your best hosting tips for any type of hosting?

Amy

Monday, April 21, 2025

It’s Monday and that means it’s time to link up with Sarah and Holly. Let’s go back to Thursday. I was off Friday so Thursday was like my Friday and I treated myself to an Egg McMuffin – no butter, no cheese, add an extra egg. I didn’t miss the cheese and butter as much as I thought I would.

We had houseguests coming and I snapped a picture of my baby. My hall bath has not been this uncluttered for some time so it deserved a moment of appreciation. I still love the stuff I chose. Oh, and I added a funeral plant after I took this photo.

I got home from work at 4:00 on Thursday and they were coming at 5:45. So, I decided to finish cleaning and do tapas instead of trying to cook a full dinner. I had strawberries, lemon slices for the drink, Easter kisses, jellybeans, manchego and havarti cheese, serrano ham from Spain, little crackers shaped like baguettes, olives, pistachios, potato chips, and stuff for pan con tomate. They have been living in Vermont this year so I think they appreciated the Spanish stuff and they ate it up!

Rafa and Pili are the parents and they are 43. Gabi is the little boy and he is 7 and in first grade.

We sat on the patio from 6:30 to 9:00 and it was lovely. When they first arrived we all walked around on the playground with Eddie Otis and they could stretch their legs from being in the car for a couple of hours. They drove from Vermont, but made stops to visit friends along the way.

While we were sitting at the table chatting, I ordered pizza for our dinner. They had not had pizza recently and love it so they were really happy.

Rafa taught Spanish at my school in 2007 with a special program from Spain and we instantly became friends. He is exactly 10 years younger than me. We kept in touch all these years and this is the first time he has visited since!

Friday morning we just ate breakfast at home. They were super easy houseguests. Then, we drove around, looked at the river, went to my sister in law’s boat business, saw waterfront park and talked about how high the flood had been and saw remnants, saw some places of interest in the downtown…

ate lunch at a hot chicken place in NULU and then shopped and looked around. Gabi couldn’t wait to get back to new best friend Eddie Otis (it was mutual!). We found out Eddie is good with kids.

We shared these and they loved them!

We visited Clayton & Crume because he also taught one of the founders!

We got a special tour of the upstairs which used to be Ali’s gym!

If you are a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fan, Clayton and Crume just visited Kemosabe in Aspen and are selling some goods there!

I talk about this a lot, but it’s such a cool story. Clay and his roommate from college started making those leather embroidery fraternity belts while in college and now it’s hit the big time!

We asked a passerby for a group photo!

We came home and Gabi got to play with EO again and then we walked to Ballard and it was time to say goodbye.

EO says, “don’t leave, new friend!”

It was time for me to put my feet up. For dinner we had leftover pizza and the salad I forgot to make for the company! Oops!

Saturday morning I started a new book. It’s kind of like Eleanor Oliphant if she were an air traffic controller.

I took my iced coffee with protein (proffee) out to do errands with me. I also took a baggie of Fiber One cereal. This was several hours after my breakfast and I think it’s good to be prepared in case you get hungry. I find it very hard to get my protein in without a 30 g shake.

One of my errands was Easter baskets!

Tom’s:

Mason’s:

My sister Molly said it looked like a basket for an 80 year old man. What can I say? Mason is an old soul.

Jack’s:

I filled my bird feeders and had lots of visitors when I sat outside in the afternoon. It was going to rain and the air was nice and cool. I spent a few hours reading.

Then, it was time for three of us to go see the other one in Macbeth! It was in a really cool old chapel and was BYOB so I brought red wine – communion vibes. But, Tom and I ate a baggie of jellybeans, too. I just don’t enjoy Shakespeare. There I said it.

We got home really late and I got up later than normal. We woke up to a beautiful Easter day. I had lots of thoughts of my mom.

I started a brisket. I also bought a ham.

One of my Saturday errands was a Kroger pick up.

I sent this to Tom Saturday – forgive me in advance.

Hope you had a nice weekend and a happy Easter if you celebrate!

Amy

P.S. – I think WordPress (my blog host) had a commenting problem on Friday. When I still had no comments by 8:30 a.m. I started thinking I had offended someone and I felt very unloved. I have my regulars that comment first and I started to be worried about them, too. Are they ok? Anyway, sorry about that! I think it is working again!

Friday, April 18, 2025

It’s Friday! I am linking up with Andrea and Erika to share some favorites. Today’s post is short and sweet because I just worked and got ready for my houseguests coming this weekend.

My first favorite is the comment section of my Tuesday post about cleaning out my mom’s house and the lessons I’m learning. Thank you for your kind words and your stories shared with me. I am going to go back and read them again this weekend.

Last weekend was a lot and then I went into a very busy week and I needed this…

One of our counselors sends a Wednesday Wellness slide show each week.

So, to do this for myself, I ordered take out for dinner one night and I decided my houseguests would rather me be relaxed and able to talk to them so I am making Spanish tapas when they arrive and a salad to go with pizza we will order. I am making the salad with romaine, goat cheese, sunflower seeds, strawberries and Brianna’s blush dressing. It’s delicious.

I brought home my mom’s vintage mah jong set and then I got a notice that an acquaintance that I have only met once or twice but I am Facebook friends with is now a certified mah jong instructor. I am going to learn how to play in a few weeks and then maybe that will become a new hobby if I like it.

I sent my niece some lip stuff and she and her boyfriend tried it – lol – and sent me a video review. I couldn’t figure out how to flip this around. I used to know how to edit in WordPress and now they have changed everything. It’s on my list to learn.

Aren’t they cute? It makes my day to get texts and videos from my nieces and nephews. Isn’t it great to be an aunt?

Speaking of aunts… my mom’s sister has been so helpful and we have called and talked to her several times about family furniture pieces and to get advice on the estate sale. Aunts are great!

I brought this for lunch one day and it was so good! Coleslaw mix, rotisserie chicken, Skinnygirl poppyseed dressing, blue cheese crumbles, apple pieces – the flavors are so good in my opinion!

The other day I brought “sub in a tub” using my snackle box. Erica had to to the other lunches – one was a salad with grilled chicken. We are really eating a lot of salads this year.

My best dinner this week involved three sheet pans. Easy! Roasted peeled Yukon gold potatoes – I boiled them a bit first, salmon, broccoli – all cooked on air fryer setting at 400. I need to get more 1/4 sheet pans. The size is great. I only have one right now.

I know it’s over, but this Master’s cocktail sounds good.

I bought another Fiona Ferris. This one is 10 years old and it’s not my favorite. Many of her points are repeated in the newer books I have. But, still – she has nice reminders of ways to live well.

I checked this out from the library and took some study hall time to read it this week. It’s a bit different than the title suggests – “Die with Zero” – you do need to read the subtitle. He talks about finding that balance between working just enough to have rich life experiences and not working too much for money you will never get to use. This is going on in my brain a lot as I prepare to retire and think about what work I will do next and as I clean out the possessions that my parents spent a lifetime accumulating.

So, what tops your list of favorites this week? I hope you had many! Thank you for being here! You are always a favorite of mine.

Amy

Thursday, April 17, 2025

It’s Thursday which means that it’s Fashion Files day with Kellyann and Jill.

My favorite thing to wear right now is Halara flare jeans and blouses. Still!

So, we are going to be a bit out of order, but here goes…

Saturday night in my hometown I wore my lighter Halara jeans (my fave right now) with this tropical blouse I bought maybe 3-4 years ago at TJ Maxx.

I was able to wear these and they are actually quite comfortable! I think they look good with flare jeans.

For school Monday I wore my older Dillard’s Westbound jeans, my J.Crew clearance $12 blouse from a few years ago and my J.Crew consignment cardigan. This is an easy Monday combo that I can throw on. Yes, the sneakers ruined it. Oh well. We can wear whatever we want to my school. We have no dress code. Many teachers wear jeans everyday. A lot of them wear them with our school logo shirts and sweatshirts so even though I am in jeans, my top half is usually more “dressed up” than many.

Tuesday I wore my blue gauzy pants and I let the dogs out in gold Birks. These are not that comfortable to teach in. Maybe they aren’t fully broken in? I have had them for several years, though! I wore an old blouse that is kind of scratchy and might need to go bye bye and my Old Navy cardigan.

After school Tuesday, my replacement Aerosoles arrived. They are surprisingly comfortable, but the straps are a little loose for the top one and fine for the second one. I will have to try them on at different times of day. Does anyone know if they stretch out? That might not be good.

I love the look of cork!

Look at these that showed up in my Facebook feed! Should I exchange again for these? Lol!

I found a new IG follow – a style guru named Susie Wright. She was talking about the need for neutral shoes and how black shoes can ruin an outfit. She showed maybe 5 outfits where she switched black to neutral. It’s shocking! So, you can see that I need more neutral shoes!

Want to see something funny from my mom’s house? This is my bestie and roommate Heather and I at college orientation. She is on the left with the impressive bangs. Oh to have those unfreckled un-sun damaged legs back.

I only had two days last week but I broke out my new dress for one of them. I bought this back in February. I bought this one and the one I wore to Erica’s bday dinner around the same time. They are both from Tunie’s outlet.

Tanya influenced me to buy this under $10 Amazon sweatshirt and I wore it the other school day last week.

School selfie with readers:

What have you been wearing? I am trying to be content now and not shop. Famous last words, no? But, when I am super busy like I am now I just really don’t have time to shop. I did realize I needed some jockey shorts to wear under dresses. I think I donated my two pairs in the last donation drop off. Oops. So, Amazon to the rescue.

Amy

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

It is Wednesday already! That means it’s time to link up with Joyce for Hodgepodge. Sorry for the salmon photo. It’s kind of gross!

1. Do you complete your own taxes? Besides actual taxes, what’s something you’ve found taxing lately?

Tom does our taxes using Turbo Tax. I guess if ours were more complicated we might have to hire someone. I am very appreciative to Tom for doing this. We always start at the end of January or whenever we have all of our documents. We don’t wait until the last minute.

Sometimes I forget how you can pay someone to do basically everything for you. We do most of our own stuff around here. It’s exhausting sometimes!

2.  What are three values you treasure most in a friendship? 

Communication – that you text me back when I text you, that you “check” on me from time to time, and that you can have a good conversation with me

Sense of humor – that you can laugh with me

Shared values/interests – I really don’t care who owns what or who knows who. I do have some friends that talk about this kind of stuff but it’s not the only thing we talk about

3. Do you meal plan or do you mostly wing it? Share your dinner menus for this week. 

I try to meal plan but it’s a lot – I plan dinners, my two to three lunches that I do with my meal prep partner, and my own weekly breakfast. This week it was rotisserie chicken, baked beans, taters for one dinner, salmon, roasted broccoli, roasted potatoes for one meal, and sub in a tub for one lunch. The other dinners will be thrown together from what needs to be used up. A dinner or lunch will be a Cobb salad. I also have stuff to make the rotisserie chicken, cole slaw mix, Skinny Girl poppyseeed dressing, blue cheese, and apple mixture. Breakfasts this week are three Amylu chicken sausages and a couple of eggs scrambled each morning. I threw the plan together while out of town so we will go with it!

4. Thomas Sowell is credited as saying, ‘‘There are no solutions, only trade-offs.’ Agree or disagree? Discuss.

I do think life is about choices. Sometimes I have my work life together but my home life suffers. Is that what this means? Life is a series of trade-offs. I can stay up later to watch this silly show or I can go to bed and have a better morning. I can sleep an extra 30 minutes or use that 30 minutes to tidy my house in the morning. This week I am choosing to go to bed and the benefits I am getting are worth it. One morning I did two loads of laundry before work. One morning I decluttered a few areas of the kitchen.

5. What’s the best perk you’ve enjoyed at a job?

There are literally no perks in teaching! Ha! I guess I have gotten into sporting events for free? I’m lucky if they throw a bag of Cheez-its at me every few years.

Don’t come at me and say I get “summers offs” because I also don’t get paid. They spread out my pay to make it seem like teachers get paid in the summer.

When I worked at Pizza Hut I got a free personal pan on my break.

When I worked at Talbot’s Surplus store I got a discount on clothing and I got to unpack it and see the clothing first. Hi Jennie! Remember my little stints there?

You realize that I am being satirical with this question to some extent I hope!

6.  Insert your own random thought here. 

I want to start wearing dresses but my legs are so cold in the mornings and in my classroom. The AC is on full blast. I also think it’s time to say goodbye to some of the dresses I wouldn’t buy today. I also have some several years old palazzo pants that I would no longer buy. They seem dated to me. So, I am having a hard time figuring out what to wear this week.

I wore this one day:

Yes, I know the sneakers ruin it. My feet and legs are barking when I am teaching full sail standing up all day.

What about you?

Do you have any hodgepodge thoughts for me?

Amy

Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Happy Tax Day!

I really didn’t know what to write about today so this idea came to me. Please know I mean it as no disrespect to my mom, but that I have a desire to learn something from every experience in my life.

My mom was pretty organized but had a lot of stuff. Her house is over 3000 square feet and it is a full house. My Dad was pretty minimalist and let my mom have control over the stuff for the most part. My Dad was an avid library goer and reader like me so he didn’t buy or keep books very often.

We filled two giant reusable shopping bags with OTC medicine, vitamins (never opened) and prescription medicine (not much). The OTC stuff had expiration dates as far back as 2005. I hear that was a good year for ibuprofen? I took them to the medicine drop off at CVS. This is a lesson to go through your meds once a year.

I found 8 curling irons!

We found the spices of our childhood. The realtor actually heard me say, “those spices were a big part of my childhood!” They came from a decorative spice cabinet and just never got replaced/changed out.

We found countless things with the tag still on them. I desire to use/wear anything I buy immediately and not keep tags in my closet. I feel like if I keep a tag on too long the purchase was a mistake.

We found scissors in almost every room of the house. We found emery boards in almost every room of the house. Marie Kondo says to put like things in the same place so you can see how much you have. It’s clear my mom had no idea how many of these items she had, like many of us. She had them in several drawers, bathrooms, the basement, desk drawers, little tiny drawers of stuff in various places.

Her freezers (one in the kitchen and one in the garage) were stuffed and many of the things were expired. The pantry items held many expired items as well.

We keep buying things when we have too much and can’t see what we have.

We found gifts we gave my mom that she never used. It hurt my feelings a little when I found a box of monogrammed notepads that I gave her. What do we save these things for?

We found bins of gifts that my mom planned to give us and other people. She loved buying and giving gifts. But, she had so much that it was clear she didn’t know what she had or remember for whom it was meant.

We also found boxes upon boxes of photos in addition to all the photo albums. My mom took photos and printed them out and labeled many of them. I am so grateful for all the photos that she took. It is so clear how much she loved us by all the things we found. We also have her Storyworth account and it will be such a blessing to have the words she has written and the photos attached to turn into books.

I wouldn’t change the two intense weekends my sisters and I have spent together remembering and honoring our parents by going through their things. But, also, I think it would be a missed opportunity if my sisters and I didn’t reflect on what we are learning.

Amy

Monday, April 14, 2025

It’s Monday already? It’s time to link up with Sarah and Holly to share our weekends!

We had a strange week last week due to the flooding. Monday through Wednesday were online and boy do I have a case of tech neck. I am not usually on my computer that much for my work. Thursday we had a two hour delay, and Friday was normal. So, Friday I came home from school with no plans. The weather was gorgeous and I sat outside and then I “doubled dashed”. Have you ever done this on Door Dash? We ordered our favorite Thai food and I got a wild hair to order the Kardashian Crumbls. Krumbls?

The cakes were for Saturday and just the perfect size.

I don’t get it. I don’t think Crumbl is that good. Anyone?

We have never had a dog that likes to “hug” so much. Don’t tell Tom I showed off his bald spot, ok? They were locked in an embrace when I came in the room Friday night.

Also, Tom told me that he had to stop to give EO hugs multiple times on Saturday while trying to do his backyard project. Lol.

So, Saturday I was up and at ’em bright and early for a hometown re-do. We canceled going to our mom’s house due to the flooding the Saturday before so we rinsed and repeated. My first job was to go sign my mom’s tax return and send in her money owed. Tell me that doesn’t suck to be deceased and still owe money. And, then, I feel like this was kind of full circle. I accepted my first teaching job in my hometown and I mailed my retirement docs in my hometown.

I’m getting really excited. I haven’t told my students yet. That is coming soon.

The view from my mom’s house…

Again, we worked and worked and found energy from somewhere. We took two trips to the dump and our biggest priority was to go through sentimental stuff. We stopped at 3:00 to talk to our realtor. This was not our childhood home but my Dad lived there for 13 years and my mom for 19 years and they really loved it. It feels wrong to sell it. It feels wrong to box up 76 and 82 years of life. So, when I tell you what we are doing please know that this isn’t easy. Those of you who have done it understand and most likely we will all have to do it.

After the realtor left we worked again for another hour and a half and then we revealed to Kate that we were celebrating her 50th birthday again but with sisters! We had a scavenger hunt with 5 clues. It was pretty silly and thrown together, but it turned out great.

The first stop was melancholy but we were so happy to see my parents’ gravestone back in place. So, the way it works in the veterans’ cemetery is that the service person is on the front and the spouse is on the back. We chose my mom’s quote to match my dad’s. My mom’s one big passion was art and learning about art through travel. So, “art is the journey of a free soul”. It encompasses art and travel.

My dad’s ended up with a small error. His passion was flying. He spent almost 56 years flying with the Air Force and then with a private local company. It says “The engine is the heart of a plane. The pilot is the soul.”

We liked that they both had the word “soul’.

Is it gauche to do a gravestone selfie? We toasted and talked to our mom and dad and it was really quite special. We told them what we were doing and we told them we were celebrating their 50 year old middle baby!

The clue had said, “Of you they were always in awe. Go to where you can toast your maw and paw.”

The next clue said “Go to where you can see the flood” and I can’t tell you all the parts of the clues – sorry.

The next one was a inside joke from our family European trip when we were 17, 20, and 23. And it told Kate we were going to the new duckpin bowling alley. But, we were just looking at it and instead going to the wine bar!

There is a basement speakeasy with a secret door.

There were no phones allowed in the speakeasy!

We decided to stay up top at the wine bar. Isn’t it gorgeous? We ended up in one of the round booths.

We then went to a live music venue for a bit and then we ended the night at this dive bar…

and had dinner!

We had plans to go through more stuff after we got home, but that didn’t happen. We had a little too much fun out and stayed out until 11!

We got up yesterday and worked, worked, worked again. We went and got breakfast of sandwiches and coffee.

Then, we got Culver’s grilled chicken sandwiches – yum!

I got home around 4:30 and Tom had made progress! Look at his assistant! He has a scrap of wood in his mouth.

I’d like to say I sat around when I got home but I had my work to do!

Maybe I’m glad to go to work today so I can rest? Just kidding!

How was your weekend? It was glorious to have no rain and 60 degrees!

Amy