Monday, February 24, 2025

Happy Monday! Happy 1st bday to Eddie Otis! What a year! He has brought so much fun and energy into the house. Sometimes he has brought too much energy!

He looks like he is in a police lineup here:

Let’s link up with Sarah and Holly to share our weekends, eh?

First off, I am staring down at 4 five day weeks and 4 days before Spring Break. That’s really only 24 school days and we really need to be in school! I have no travel plans yet but in light of what my year has looked like, I feel like I need a tiny beach trip. But, what about Eddie Otis? I will miss him. I don’t know if I have the energy to even plan anything. Advice is welcome! There’s also a part of me that would like to stay home and read!

My sweet co-worker Sarah brought my family dinner for Friday night and it was so cold outside that I was able to use my “red neck fridge”. No offense to any red necks.

Mason was available to be my happy hour person after school but he had just eaten leftovers for lunch at 3 so wasn’t too hungry.

Still, this is quality time and his love language so we had a nice time chatting – mostly about places we would like to travel to – and then we popped into Kroger next door for a couple of things.

Sarah’s dinner:

She made poppy seed chicken and cheesy bread. It was really good! I have been really taken care of. Food is always the answer when someone goes through a hard time. But, self care and pampering things are great, too.

I only had two in person days of school last week but I was tired and really emotional. I feel like I held it together for the school day and then crashed after school. I have found a hot shower and pajamas as early as I can to really help me. So, that is what I did.

But, I had nice days at school with my students. We are doing a unit about work and community and I had them ask me adulting questions if they wanted. We had just had a college and career fair, too, so it all kind of went hand in hand. They are so sweet. They are so stressed about college and money. They literally know nothing. We aren’t teaching the practical in schools today. Some of the questions (this could be a whole post):

How do you find your passion in life?

Do you find it stressful to be an adult?

How do you balance social life and studying in college?

Should I start a 401K now? (lol)

How do I work on my credit score?

How do I decide what to major in?

Sweet babies! I love them so much.

Sister Molly texted early Saturday morning and said two deer had set off our parents’ house motion detector during the night. We think it was our mom and dad! You can barely see them on the right.

We chatted for a bit and made a plan for meeting at the house to start the work. I’m not in a big hurry but they don’t want to wait until summer to begin. I’m super overwhelmed about the house contents but I am trying not to stress out before the day comes.

I finally gave up on this book. I just can’t with the weird underlines.

I did a few funeral related thank yous. I really underestimated how sad these would make me. I have to pace myself.

I went to the library and to Sun Tan City – I have a membership this month so I thought a little color would help.

I also needed a little color here. I had several gray hairs come in this month!

New hair – I need to start back on the neck cream!

I did laundry and read Saturday afternoon and then it was time for GNO!

Heather is so creative – she made espresso martini shots in little hollow bunnies:

And, then we had a reservation at Mesh.

Pomme frites and beet salad!

Chicken sandwich and grit cakes!

You guys – don’t get me wrong – it was a lovely evening with my Heather and Heather, but was it kiddie night? Mesh is a nice restaurant and we had 4 tables around us with loud kids. I love kids but not when I am trying to have a nice conversation. This ain’t Chilis! No offense to Chilis. The 6 or 7 year old girl at the next table was playing a very loud game on a phone. After 10 minutes of this game, I finally turned to the table and asked if it could be turned down a bit. Yes, I am a Karen. Also, just sayin’ – there are these things called headphones.

I finished this and really enjoyed it. I definitely learned something from hearing about the experiences Melanie had with her mother and that her daughter had to navigate with mean girls in high school.

Spoilers coming so scroll past if you want…

The part about mothering – yes!

And this…

It’s so hard to see our parents as people and not just our mother or our father. While my story is nothing like Melanie’s, it was good for me to read right now, I think. My mom could be very difficult, but there was no doubt that she loved me. I just think we didn’t always speak the same language, if that makes sense.

Reading some of my mom’s letters to her mom from college are helping me to see my mom as a real person maybe more than I did before. She had childhood trauma and a fractured home life.

I pre-ordered the book well before my mom passed away. Maybe coming to an understanding about someone after their death is better than never coming to one at all?

May your Monday bring happiness in a big or small way,

Amy

Friday, February 21, 2025

It’s been another weird week around here! I am linking up with Andrea and Erika and if you keep reading, I will tell you why!

Monday we were off for President’s Day and Tuesday was a teacher day to start off my week. On Tuesday I did a rare thing and got my breakfast from Starbuck’s with my gifted gift cards. I got the best brown sugar latte; I felt ridiculous ordering something into the speaker that was so complicated. I guess this is why people use the app? Maybe I should do that, too!

The Macrobarista shared this on IG. You should follow him even if you don’t like coffee. He’s easy on the eyes if you know what I mean.

And, these are better than my Thin Mints in the freezer! Why are these not in my freezer? Pause while I run and do that!

Excuse the nails; taking a press on break.

My school alum association got us a taco bar on Tuesday! Want to hear why Erica and I believe we cast a spell? And are possibly witches?

Erica said – and I quote – “I wonder what the lunch is. I hope it’s a taco bar”.

And, I said – “Why do I have so many meetings in the afternoon and so little time in my classroom to do my actual work for my actual job?”

The taco bar happened and while in line for the taco bar everyone got a text saying we got to telecommute starting at noon due to the snow moving in. Why did I not get the text? I didn’t sign up. I don’t need more texts. I also didn’t write my cell phone number down when all the admin asked for it. No, thank you. Somehow some admin and counselors still have my PERSONAL cell phone number. Guess what – one of the counselors texted me while I was planning my mom’s funeral. Are you kidding me? Call me old, call me old school. I really don’t care. By the way, we get an email each day saying who is absent, the secretary sent a separate email saying that I had experienced a loss, and when the obituary came out, she sent another email with that information. So, the counselor had two emails that she should have read and not texted me.

So, we went home after the taco bar – well, I stayed about an hour to do some planning. Then, my two meetings turned into Zoom meetings. Wah wah.

Who is watching The Bachelor? Yes, it’s soooo boring.

So, I split The Bachelor into two parts because who has time for 2 hours of listening to girls talk to Grant on couches? The first part was MY SCENE!

I had a permagrin during the first minutes because it was filmed on September 30, 2024. I was there! In Madrid! I recognized the gorgeous, sunny 70 degree weather! All the girls were sitting on a patio drinking sangria! I drank sangria on a patio! Grant arrives in the outfit I saw him in!

This is the outfit:

I’m right there! Pan to me! Pan to me and my family and my dear Madeleine my former student who is living in Spain!

I am 10 feet away! I swear!

Anyway, they didn’t pan to me and that’s ok. After that, they walked the streets of Madrid and did a couple of other activities. I guess I will stop talking about it now.

For those of you following Tom’s Christmas card seedling journey, we have an update…

It appears that Tom can grow seedlings better than hair!

I was told never to say anything behind someone’s back that you wouldn’t say to their face. So, I told him that joke, too.

I pre-ordered this book and it arrived and I’m halfway through.

Before it arrived, I was struggling to read this. I like it, but…

The entire book including the front book jacket and the acknowledgements in the back has this!

It is so crazy. Two lines were totally crossed out. I am trying to Nancy Drew it and figure out the method to what they are underlining and why. It’s really distracting me.

I braved Costco on Monday; always so many people. Annoying. This is me escaping people – trust me they are there in droves.

Officially official this time. I am done with snow! We have a lot going on around here. We have flooding and a high river, too.

Someone loves a virtual instruction day…

We hold hands.

If you have a Cheddar’s, have you heard of their family bundle? All of this food was $40. I got the chicken tender/salmon bundle and got to choose broccoli and carrots and it came with 6 croissants. We have another meal out of it, too. I don’t think you can feed a family of four at a fast food place for $40 anymore.

Someone very sweet and generous gave us a gift card and I am still not very motivated to cook so it was wonderful to pick this up after virtual instruction day.

What were your favorites this week?

Amy

Thursday, February 20, 2025

Hi guys! Winter is back! I am linking up with Kellyann and Jill to talk about my fashion as of late.

Last week, I only had school Wednesday through Friday and it was a good thing because I only have 3 items with hearts! Ha!

Wednesday I wore this…

Yes, I am a Spanish teacher and I had to tell my students I was wearing French on my t-shirt. I also have on my black Halaras, my old white New Balances that I can’t get dirty. They are magical. My sweater is an old Target cardigan that I have like 5 colors of. This was my first day back after my mom’s funeral and I wanted and needed to be comfortable. We had been at home online the two days before.

Why do I still like graphic tees so much? Is something wrong with me?

Thursday I wore this repeat. I think I wore it three times during the days leading up to V Day.

And, Friday I wore my new black TJ Maxx pants that were $8. They are pull on and stretchy. I got them with my sisters in my hometown. We had never seen TJ Maxx prices so low. Things were $1, $2 and I think the most anything was on the clearance was like $8. Sisters majorly scored for themselves and for their kids. We really thought it was my mom’s doing. My mom loved loved loved TJ Maxx and loved buying and returning. She had a return in her car that we did for her. Sorry if this kind of talk makes you sad. It makes me smile and keep her close.

They were going to be funeral visitation pants but then I pivoted to a dress because it was warm out. The sweater is old from Amazon. The ballet flats are new this year from Walmart – Scoop brand.

Saturday I wore this:

The jeans are “skinny” and I feel kinda odd in them now, but when it is rainy and you wear rain boots it’s kind necessary to not have hems of wide legs in puddles, you know?

I had this navy press on mani on for about 9 days before taking it off.

Tuesday was teacher day and it was also snowing! I wore my school sweatshirt, leggings, Koolaburras, and vest.

Monday I did a Target trip and found the best classic Rainbow flip flop dupe for like $12. The dogs were out. These are really well made! Eddie Otis ate most of my summer shoe wardrobe last summer. Yum!

And, wait for it… I found the best Rothy’s dupe I have ever seen and got them for $16. Sadly they are now $20 and I got a half size too big. With a pointy toe or sometimes just a flat, I am an 8.5. I need an 8 in these fyi.

I really think we are going to see a lot of Mary Janes.

I like to take pictures of looks I want to try. I’ve been drawn to putting my button down under things lately. One of my button downs/button ups is a no wrinkle material that is also very cool and great for the woman who gets hot. I have a striped Breton top, too. So we will see if I can do this. The top might not be big enough to make this work under.

How cute are these by Boden? Should I go for it and not think about what they would match? I also want color but go for the practical neutral shoe, I think.

I am still having trouble editing photos once they are in my blog post. I have to edit on my phone and sometimes I forget.

I haven’t shopped much this year, but boy the spring styles are going to tempt me something fierce!

I placed a small Old Navy order and we shall see what I keep.

I first need to see what still appeals in my closet from last season.

Are we over our winter clothes? Pretty much over here!

What have you been wearing?

Also, should I make a drastic change and get my hair cut to shoulder length? I have an appointment on Saturday.

Amy

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

1. Many of our earliest presidents created words or expressions widely used today. Teddy Roosevelt is credited with mollycoddle, pack rat, frazzle, and loose cannon…which of those words/phrases currently relates to your life in some way? 

Probably frazzled at the moment. But, most people probably wouldn’t think that about me. Some of it is of my own making. But, I will figure it out.

2. Have you visited many (or any) of the US Presidents homes, monuments, libraries or related sites? If so what’s been your favorite? Are there any you particularly want to see? Here’s a link to presidential sites listed by state which is kind of fun to read-Presidential Places by State. And since several bloggers who participate in the HP each week live outside the US, here’s a link to Presidential Places Outside the US. Have you seen any of those? 

I actually think I have visited a lot of them. My parents took us on so many trips and then Tom and I took our kids to some of the homes in Virginia. We did Colonial Williamsburg and DC trips with our kids. We went to Mount Vernon and Monticello. I made them a t-shirt quilt of all of our trips from the time they were born until they were 14 and we made sure to get a shirt from each trip. Most were road trips where we went to several places on each trip. Age 14 was their first plane trip to Germany!

I definitely appreciated the homes more as an adult.

In my city we have the home of Lucy Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame. She was the sister of William Clark. The home is very close to my house. I love picturing what places were like back in the day.

3. February 20th is National Cherry Pie Day…will you celebrate? Given your choice of cherry pie, cherry cobbler, cheesecake with a cherry topping, or black forest cake which would you choose? 

I did not know this! I probably would never pick cherry over another flavor. I like the flavor but not the skin of the cherries in my dessert. Does that make sense?

4. Last time you worked a puzzle of some kind? Something that had you puzzled recently? 

I hate puzzles. Why is that fun? Also, the box shows you what it is going to look like. What’s the mystery?

Now, solving crimes – yes!

Also, I just got a card signed by someone and I realized it wasn’t that person’s handwriting. I realized whose it was. This sounds very dark, but it really wasn’t. Tom calls me Nancy Drew. I love solving mysteries. Not big mysteries. Just little daily ones like where someone ate lunch that day based on their non-descript take out cup. I think I’m good at noticing little details and then banking that information to be used later.

5. Of the early blooming flowers (January-early March depending on your zone) which one’s your favorite? 

snowdrops, lenten roses, pansies, violets, snapdragons, reticulated iris, crocus, winter jasmine

I have no idea what any of these look like!

Do you have any of these in your own yard/garden? 

No, I don’t. I basically only have one giant periwinkle blue hydrangea.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

It’s Girl Scout cookie time. The Ghirardelli square is better than a Thin Mint. Even Tom loved it. He is the biggest Thin Mint fan I know. I heard them recommended by Melanie Shankle or else I never would have picked it on my own. By the way, my copy of Here Be Dragons arrives today. I’m excited to read it but I also think it could be very emotional for me.

Amy

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Are you doing The Happiness Project with me? I actually started this post at the end of January and read ahead for February. I look up and it’s already the 18th of the month!

The February Happiness Project Goals:

quit nagging, don’t expect praise or appreciation, fight right, no dumping, and give proofs of love

So, there is a big focus on marriage in this month. I think all of the above focus on your relationship with your partner.

This is all according to Gretchen Rubin.

I want to add – check on friends and plan friend activities in the month of February, plan to spend some time with kids, plan fun activities at school for the month of February, and plan a V Day dinner and small gifts. I also want to carry over the decluttering goals from January that I didn’t accomplish.

So, I wrote all of the above at the end of January and I still want to do the things I can. I wasn’t able to do as many activities in class but maybe that’s ok because some kids might not want to dwell on the holiday. As for my family, one kid worked on Valentine’s Day night and one kid went out. It was just Tom, Eddie Otis, and I. Tom came home with this for me:

I have lots of flowers right now and they are beautiful but sad, so I am glad he went with my favorite – dark chocolate with sea salt. The Sanders are to die for. He found them at Kroger. I only need one to be satisfied. They are decadent.

He took the dog for a walk in the cold and when he came back I told him this was our dinner:

He looked so relieved. He loves a Totino’s supreme and I was excited to try another Target Good and Gather. It was so good! I gathered this one and the goat cheese and spinach on my last Target trip and the kids had already eaten that one. Someone said this Target brand is pretty clean. We ate our pizza and watched Elspeth. A teacher had made me a cake and it was so delicious for dessert.

Originally I had thought we would go to Fresh Market and pick some fun stuff, but we were both just beat from the week.

So, I have not had a chance to show my love much. I have not been nagging, I have not expected praise, and I haven’t really been fighting. Since my mom passed away on January 28th until now, I have been on the receiving end of proofs of love! And, I guess I haven’t had the energy for the bad behaviors she mentioned.

Because of all the love shown to me, this only makes me want to show love more and to reciprocate. I invited a friend to a Galentine’s event Thursday and it was so good to get out! She is the one who made the beautiful cupcakes in the first photo.

Each year in February I start to see the light at the end of the tunnel of winter and I am ready to be more social. I hibernate most of January and February and it seems that school is the only place I go – and might I say I get plenty of socialization.

I still want to declutter. I am waiting for the motivation but I think I’m close. As The Lazy Genius says, I am going to have “big black trash bag energy”.

What are your goals this month? How have you done?

Amy

Monday, February 17, 2025

Hello and Happy Monday! I am linking up with Holly and Sarah today. I guess I am falling back into my normal posting routine. I appreciate what many of you said about comments. It feels like a lot to respond right now but I do read and appreciate each and every one of them.

I can’t believe that my mom has been gone for three weeks now. I am expecting grace and getting grace right now. I have my moments. I’m sad. I’m overwhelmed. This isn’t my first rodeo, unfortunately, with losing a parent. When my Dad passed away, though, my mom took care of most of the business of his passing without involving us. Now that I am doing it, I have respect for her strength and ability to do what she did.

There’s no way to transition to me drinking a sangria so I won’t even try! My friend Beth (I have multiple friends Beth – lol – and multiple Elizabeths!) and I started at Osteria for the Galentine’s event at a nearby shopping center. We both thought the sangria sounded good. We had about an hour to chat and eat this wonderful whipped goat cheese with jam…

before two of her friends arrived. I had met one of them before but quickly liked the other one, too.

Each store was having Valentine’s snacks or specials and Beth was most excited for the doggie bakery.

We got to hold 6 week old chow mix puppies!

We went into two boutiques and I found an Umgee dress that is new for spring.

I also found these earrings that can work for Derby events. I wore them on Friday, too.

It was fun to get out Thursday night!

Friday I wore this and got lots of compliments. People are being extra nice to me right now, though. Lol.

I brought a pan of buffalo chicken mac and cheese to school that Elizabeth made me to share with my department and the sweet PE teacher had left the most delicious chocolate chip butter cake on my desk. So we had quite the feast in my little wing.

I went home after school. Shortly after, Tom came home with some chocolate for me.

We were originally going to go to Fresh Market and pick some gourmet ready made foods, but when I told Tom we were going with Totino’s for him and Good and Gather for me he got that spark in his eyes just like when he first saw me.

The man loves a Totino’s pizza and staying home even more.

I woke up Saturday with a pit in my stomach. Tom and I had to go to my hometown to take care of some things. The weather was horrible but at least the rain held off for both the drive there and back. There was so much eerie fog, though. One sister lives 2 hours away and one lives 3.5 hours away and I volunteered to take care of stuff before we all meet again at my mom’s house.

We had a romantic day late Valentine’s date at the little burger shop called Hinkle’s…

I got through the trip with Tom’s help.

The rain started coming down when we got back around dinner time and it didn’t stop until yesterday morning when it turned into snow! It was big beautiful fluffy flakes, but I am over winter! That rodent who predicted 6 more weeks of winter can stick it where the sun don’t shine!

Ok, it’s kind of pretty and it gave me an excuse to not leave the house. Well, I did do a giant Kroger pick up because I think it had been since January 25 or so since I had gone.

I did my laundry and I thought I would show you my view of my three Halaras ready to go!

When I did the Kroger pick up, I saw those little devils pushing their product in the store lobby. I went to the ATM and got cash and went inside to get them for Tom. Now, that is love. They don’t really tempt me anymore.

Is it just me or are they really not as good as they used to be?

Tom and I watched Fly Me to the Moon and that’s about it for my day yesterday.

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Is it winter where you are?

Amy

Friday, February 14, 2025

Happy Valentine’s Day! I am linking up with Andrea and Erika. It doesn’t seem like Valentine’s Day. I’m in a weird head space regarding the calendar to be honest.

Normally I would have done a small gift for my kids and a card for Tom but this year I am probably doing nothing. It snuck up on me. We will do some sort of takeout and include anyone who is home with us. I also didn’t get to do the V Day activity in class that I normally do. With me being gone 6 days and the kids being at home 3 days, the time just got away from us.

This week I worked online from home on Monday and Tuesday and then we had in person school Wednesday through today.

Monday was a good day because I was productive and got some things done with my mom’s estate. I was also social. Tuesday I just fell into a funk. I did my job – had a Zoom meeting, made assignments, communicated with students – but I just felt overwhelmed and sad. I realize this is probably the way it will be – some good, some bad – giving myself lots of grace.

At then end of January, I put out my simple V Day decor. I didn’t buy anything new.

I am glad I didn’t buy any new V Day clothing. I did wear this to school this week and two other things with hearts on them. I wore the C’est la vie t-shirt I showed in Fashion Files Wednesday because it has a heart, this on Thursday, and today I am wearing the big red heart sweater I have had for a long time.

I got really excited when I heard this news! I do think 5 Star Weekend was my favorite Elin Hilderbrand book.

I would like to do my own 5 star weekend with girls I have known at different stages of my life. Wouldn’t that be kind of cool?

I watched this silly movie on one of my at home days this week and lol’ed a couple of times.

My mom loved this simple meal of macaroni noodles and tomato sauce. I made it for her when she stayed at my house during my Dad’s 7 week hospital stay and I made it for her at her house after her stroke. One of my sisters made it this weekend and sent a photo and then I made it Tuesday.

God knows what you need, isn’t that right? My school district closed on Friday and Monday for the flu and then closed on Tuesday for the snow. I needed those two days to get my life together. When my Dad passed I had the luxury of two weeks of winter break following his funeral. So, I wanted to get back to my students but at the same time I felt like it was a blessing to have a bit more time. Here was our little Tuesday snow. It didn’t amount to much and the roads were fine.

I finished this and highly recommend to anyone who has lost an important person in their life. It’s just $10 on Amazon.

Monday during my work from home day I went out to lunch with Erica and had a nice soup and salad combo.

And, after work Monday I went to happy hour with Heather and we discussed the book I mentioned above. She is the one who gave it to me and recently lost her father.

My sisters and I left my mom’s house in perfect order but they agreed that I should take the English cork bottom placemats I got my mom after our trip. I got her four and my mom loved them so much that she ordered four more. I was going to order a set for myself but never did. Right now I have too many on this table, but I will either give four to one sister or move half to my other table.

I think each of my sisters took a small decor item, too, but I can’t remember.

I decided my Sambas were just about half size too small and gave them to niece Mia who has small feet. She sent me a picture of her wearing them to school on Monday. I love that it made her happy.

My friend Beth brought over these gorgeous cupcakes before I left for the funeral.

She also made a card with two pennies. I was so touched.

I got this book from the library but I am not sure I can read it…

Someone did this to the entire book. It gets worse. They drew arrows on many of the pages, too. What on Earth is wrong with people?

We got a Christmas card that had a snowflake that said it was a plant or could be a plant. Tom’s little project:

He moves his little sproutlings around to find the sun and is quite determined. Weird dude. Just kidding!

I feel like this Friday Favorites post was all over the place and my emotions were, too.

I am struggling to respond to comments but just know I appreciate each and every one. And, thank you to my dear reader Sally! A more formal thank you is coming.

I hope you feel some type of love today – self-love, familial love, friend love, or partner love. That sounds weird. Oh well… I think you know what I mean!

Amy

Thursday, February 13, 2025

This post was originally going to be published January 30. I added to it for today’s post.

It’s Thursday and time to link up with Kellyann and Jill for Fashion Files.

I had been coveting and seeing this big scarf everywhere. I looked in multiple stores to no avail and finally just went to good old Amazon. I am super pleased! It’s so soft! I have been wearing it with my tan long sweater coat just like in this photo, too. Here is the link if you are interested and there are several patterns to choose from.

This was an impulse purchase! I clicked on a blogger’s link to her pair in black and tan and saw that the green was seriously discounted. I like green!

I wore them this past weekend with my old Loft green and white button up.

I am still on a big graphic tee kick. I was really into them last spring, summer, and fall. I bought a new “That’s Life” in French from Old Navy and wore it to dinner this weekend like this:

During the day for errands, I wore it with my corduroy Paris hat:

And, yes, I have on the Halaras in all of the above photos. I bought this style in medium wash denim, light denim, and charcoal black denim.

I had to “boots and bling’ for hub’s company party and I had everything already in my closet!

I wore old Target suede Western-ish boots that I bought in both tan and black, my Old Navy silver sequin skirt that I also bought in black, my Chico’s black silk button up, and an old fringey sweater vest from TJ Maxx. My earrings are sparkly bourbon bottles that have silver and black in them.

Forgot to take a full length photo but I wore my black sweater poncho with this cool necklace on Friday:

I love this necklace and have had it for years.

Monday for work I wore the black Halaras, Adidas Stan Smith with gold on the heel, and old blue Umgee blouse, and a Walmart lady sweater jacket. I really never had the sweater jacket on during the day because I would have been too hot.

And, the next day is when my world turned upside down. My sisters and I found out our mom had passed. We were in our hometown all day Wednesday and Thursday and my sisters wanted to look for a visitation and funeral outfit. I had plenty I could wear and here is where having a solid wardrobe comes in handy. I went shopping with them and helped them. When I was home over the weekend I went to a consignment store just to see what else I could find.

Here is what I ended up wearing for the visitation:

I had bought the dress at the warehouse sale recently for $15. The weather turned pretty warm and I switched last minute from my pants outfit. The dress was cool, flowy, and had pockets. The shoes were J.Jill from the consignment store and frankly they are sitting shoes. I had to swap out for my silk ballet flats after a bit.

I also stopped in Versona and picked up these pretty designer look earrings for only $12.

For the funeral, I wore another pair of consignment Bandolino heels I found, a Chico’s dressy coat, and an Umgee dress. My mom would have been thrilled at me finding all of this at a consignment store. She taught us to bargain shop!

I am laughing my head off about a new trend I heard about! Have you heard of “Fisherman Core”?

I love it!

What have you been wearing lately?

Amy

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

It’s Wednesday and that means Hodgepodge with Joyce day.

1. Did you watch the Super Bowl? Did your team win? What’s your favorite game day snack for  whatever sport is happening? 

I don’t know if I have ever cared less than I cared this year. I usually at least enjoy the halftime show and the commercials. I did like the red, white, and blue of the halftime show but I felt very old since I did not enjoy the music. My Facebook feed was blowing up with people talking about how bad the half time show was and other people saying they just didn’t get it.

2. What’s your ‘superpower’? 

Right now, according to my sisters, it’s talking on the phone and talking care of business. I reported to them what I got done on Monday and one sister said, “that’s what I would’ve taken a month to do”.

3. Will you do anything special on Valentine’s Day? If so do share. Any thoughts on/about this particular holiday? Share a favorite verse or quote relating to love.

Valentine’s decor on a rainy night in my hometown:

It’s too late to make a reservation so we will eat at home. I am thinking of picking up gourmet grocery items for Tom of things he enjoys. I think I will be fine to stay home. I don’t love being out on Valentine’s Day with all the people, anyway. With it falling on a Friday – even worse. I was originally going to cook and that might still happen. I am giving myself grace, for sure. We will not do gifts. I want us to buy each other a new set of nightstands for our bedroom that we finally agreed upon. We also found a console and we need a new flat screen. We have been looking and waiting since 2020! We moved into our bedroom and just lived with our old stuff.

4. Are you a fan of the rom-com genre? If so what’s one of your favorites? If you’re not a movie go-er then what about a book you love that features a great love story? How about a favorite love song? 

I love a rom-com! How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is a favorite!

My original fam sporting our 80s attire and hair:

5. Let’s get creative…write an acrostic using the word L-O-V-E. 

L – laughter that fills my cup. Tom is one of the funniest people I know and we share the same sense of humor.

0 – opportunities to show my love for the people in my life

V – velvet – red velvet – is a favorite Valentine’s Day flavor

E – Eddie Otis – my brain is blank. I bought him a new toy called “Moo Cow” – Tom named it and he can find it when we ask for Moo Cow. He looks so funny running around with the cows long legs dangling. I love that this dog loves his toys. He makes us laugh so much and he brings so much energy to our home. He can still be very naughty, though.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I might invite a friend to go to this on Thursday. I love finding little events around town. If I do this on Thursday, I will be even more content to stay home on Friday.

What about you? Any answers to these questions?

Amy

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

My sister Kate stopped at Starbuck’s on her way to work yesterday and look what was on her cup…

Is this a sign? Signs are all around us if we are open to receive them according to the book I’ve been reading.

Both Kate and Molly had to go back to their teaching jobs yesterday. I had the privilege of online school from home due to widespread illness. I hate that we have so many sick but it was a nice way to ease back in for me.

Both Kate and Molly have become disgruntled with teaching and they are both in the elementary setting. I get it and I agree with them – maybe it’s because I am an elective in a high school and because I have been teaching for longer, but I am much happier in my job than they are. We had so many former students of my mom’s talk about her at the visitation and the funeral and this was Kate’s quote:

“Maybe this will reinvigorate my teaching after hearing all the nice things said about mom”.

What if? Wouldn’t that be nice because both sisters have so many years of teaching left before they can retire.

I have a suspicion that all three of us just put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be more than average teachers. My Dad always said that our 50% was someone else’s 100%. Yes, he was biased. He was thrilled that we were all teachers. I’m not sure why but he really loved this. He wanted us to have families, too, and I think he thought it was family friendly. It’s very family friendly in the summer!

I sent this book to each of them and I hope they get the comfort I have gotten.

At the start of our preparations together from the day after my mom passed I was using the word “gauche” and my sisters made fun of it. So, after that everything became “gauche”. I was using it to mean “tacky”.

So, this may be gauche to tell you, but we had a meeting with my mom’s financial planner and we had been hearing about him for years. My mom always said, “Nicholas says” I can buy this, spend this”. So, during our meeting we told Nicholas this and said we needed to make t-shirts that said that. The most recent “Nicholas says” was about which pie to pick out for Thanksgiving. My mom would group text us while we were teaching or very late at night. It became a family joke. My mom would text, “Nicholas says he will give me pumpkin, pecan, apple, or cherry. I need to know right now so I can tell him'”. My mom also liked to say she needed things RIGHT NOW and we channeled her RIGHT NOW energy so often over the past two weeks. We didn’t care which pie she picked, but she wanted us to be the ones to decide.

Nicholas brought us a homemade cheesecake with homemade vanilla the day after our meeting and the day of the visitation:

Maybe this is why my mom loved and trusted Nicholas so much. Does your financial planner make homemade vanilla and homemade cheesecake?

Food is always appreciated. Please bring it in a disposable container as Nicholas did. We did have to return a couple of things to people but it was ok. We couldn’t believe the stuff people brought us. We didn’t have to think about food once.

I have a very funny family and our family has funny friends. I think I place too high of a value on humor but I was born this way. My Dad thought everything I said was either funny or brilliant. I can assure that is not the case. So, both of my parents were funny, my sisters and I laugh so much together, and we have a new generation of funny kids – my kids are super funny and especially the teen nieces are really becoming funny. We also try to find the humor in everything and we make fun of too many things, I am sure.

A couple of stories…

We displayed several pieces of my mom’s art in the funeral home. During the receiving line of the visitation, a lady we have never met before was trying to make us a deal on buying some art work we had displayed. Molly said she said, “How does one go about purchasing a piece?” This ain’t no art gallery, lady! Gauche.

A lady slipped me an envelope at the funeral – like right before the service in the church.. I read it about 24 hours later and it said, “I recently paid your mom money for a trip we were going to take so if you could call the travel company and get the money back and send it to___ that would be appreciated. I am sorry you have to deal with this and with your loss”. I said maybe she needed the money and Heather said to at least wait until the day after the funeral. Gauche.

A few people in the receiving line asked us for details of how exactly our mom passed away. Gauche.

We realize that some of these people are old and they just say whatever.

People have been really kind, though. People in our hometown and people on the phone have been so nice and helpful.

I generally still think there are good people in the world.

I was not really sure where this was going but come back tomorrow for non-funeral content. I promise.

Not trying to be gauche,

Amy