Monday, December 4, 2023

Well, it’s Monday again and one of the best parts is linking up with Sarah and Holly and reading about all of my blogger friends’ weekends!

I will be real honest with you – this was one of those weekends where I thought – do I even have enough to share? Ha!

Tom was under the weather and that did affect some of our plans.

Let’s go back to Friday – I taught the kids in a few of my classes to play Go Fish in Spanish after our quiz. Can you believe that a lot of the kids had never played? I reviewed numbers 2-10 – ha! – and gave them the words for Ace, Jack, King, and Queen.

They seemed to have so much fun! I put a sticker on all of them and told them if they spoke English during the game, they would lose their sticker. There were lots of laughs which warmed my heart. I like to do something loose at the end of class on Fridays.

I had Erica over for a glass of wine after school and she looked at my “packing practice”. I had all of the things I thought I was taking laid out. She gave me good advice and we realized I have too many bottoms and not enough tops.

I used my napkins I bought last year:

I walked Ernie and enjoyed the dusk:

Erica made a joke that she “knows I am saying no to all things Christmas this year”. That really isn’t true! I am wearing festive clothing and doing a few community things before our trip, I hope. I am also doing some holiday things in my classroom – not forgetting to include other holidays besides Christmas and also talking about winter in general. I am just choosing to do “Christmas light/lite” while in the US this year!

I wore my new Target.com Christmas tree sweater on Monday to school and then again out to eat on Friday night:

We met our friends for Mexican, sadly. We were trying to do a pizza place but it was too busy! Go figure – on a Friday night at 6:30!

Saturday morning was pretty mild and I was able to enjoy my breakfast on a holiday plate al fresco.

Errand time! I wore my Prosecc Ho Ho Ho to run errands. Erica told me I shouldn’t take this on the trip!

Aldi doesn’t open til 9:00 and I got there soon after and had the whole place to myself!

I had plans to do lunch and shopping with my friend after I put groceries away and did some chores. It was quite mild and I wore this:

We had a lovely little lunch at Steak and Bourbon and then did some browsing. Neither of us bought anything.

We split a gouda burger:

After we parted ways, I got to have a really nice FaceTime with Mason and I gave Tom the phone for a bit, too.

I finally finished The Burnout. It was cute and I liked it, but it just took me forever to read it! I do think it moved a bit too slowly.

Finally! I got to start The Christmas Wager and I am already finding it hard to put down! Also, I wasn’t hungry after a late lunch, so I made something for Tom and then sat on the patio, made a decaf coffee, lit a candle, and just savored this because I know I can’t do it much more!

Ernie gave me the side eye but stayed out there with me:

Sunday morning meal prep – my turn for 3 lunches and I am doing breakfast bowls, Big Mac bowls, and grilled chicken, potatoes, and broccoli this week.

And, this is what enough chicken for Ernie while we are gone looks like. I was practicing!

My black nails I had on last week lasted their full 7 days and could have gone longer, but I was bored with that color, so I took them off Saturday night and let them breathe. Yesterday I lined up a holiday set:

Before cutting and filing them down:

Kinda fun!

So, that’s about it for my weekend…see I told you. Don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Amy

Friday, December 1, 2023

Happy December 1st to all! Can you even believe it? I am happy to link up today with both Andrea and Erika for Friday Favorites.

This week really flew for me. Did it fly by for you?

So, here are some faves from my week!

First, it was fun to switch from fall colors to festive colors!

I didn’t do a Fashion Files this week, so here is what I wore:

New Chelsea boots from Nordstrom and new Target Christmas tree sweater:

Amazon Gucci-esque sweater, black pants, Madewell sneakers:

Spanx faux leather leggings, New Balances, Old Navy button up, black vest:

And, yesterday I wore my Wit and Wisdom Itty Bitty Bootcuts and my hot pink cougar blouse:

I am wearing different colors and also deciding what to keep and what has to go in my winter closet.

And, I can’t believe I’m on the internet in pajamas! I was influenced by by Jen and got the super soft Walmart Joyspun set but if one is good, three pairs are great! In my defense, I don’t have any winter pajamas. I wear shorts and tank tops to bed, so I wanted something to wear around the house. These run big. I would say size down one or two sizes. I could have gone down another in the pants but not the top and they do come as a set. I also got the pink polka dot ones and green plaid.

Jack walked in as I was wearing this around and said I looked like a Dr. Seuss character.

I really like this Maybelline Vinyl I picked up over Thanksgiving break. I was looking for a long wearing product.

We had some fun in one of my levels this week. We were learning future tense and they wrote fortunes for each other. I brought in fortune teller props. Some of them really got into it! It was really fun to see!

This has put me in a festive mood this week – yum!

And, that’s all I really have for my faves this week! All I did was work and come home!

What were your favorites?

Amy

Thursday, November 30. 2023

Well, this is an appropriate topic for the last day of November! I have all kinds of holiday events around town written in my calendar for this weekend if I feel up to them. Do you do that, too? I am pretty good about finding out about events and then writing them down so I don’t forget. I am linking up with the Monthly Musings gals here today.

1. Favorite Holiday Traditions – Decorating around Thanksgiving and keeping decor up until after NY Day, new pajamas on Christmas Eve, a family game on Christmas Eve, church on Eve, going to each side of the family, special foods on Eve and Day, a relaxed Christmas Day with our family
2. Favorite holiday fashion items or accessories – now, really excited to wear my prosecco earrings and my Prosecc Ho Ho Ho shirt!
3. Share your favorite holiday recipes – I like the idea of appetizers for one meal, breakfast casserole and monkey bread on Christmas morning, and we almost always splurge and buy a HoneyBaked ham to eat during the afternoon/evening. Tom makes his one meal a year with the ham bone – 17 bean soup.
4. How do you celebrate the holidays – Eve church, Day with immediate family, afternoon with Tom’s family most years, and day after with my family most years
5. Do you go see holiday lights – not really – I do like driving home from eating dinner or events and seeing the lights but we don’t do it as an event in and of itself and never really did
6. How do you decorate your house for the holidays – I am really minimal now but my theme is kind of woodsy and evergreen
7. Real or fake tree? – we have always had a really nice fake tree but now I am into my pencil tree
8. Favorite holiday treats – must have pink meringue cookies, usually buckeyes (peanut butter chocolate bon bons), sometimes the saltine cracker candy or the pretzel chocolate bark, sometimes the peanut butter with Hershey Kiss cookies
9. Do your pets get and give gifts – My Ernie gets gifts, but he does not have a credit card so we don’t expect anything from him except kisses
10. Best tips to make holiday less stressful – One of the best books I have read is Unplug the Christmas Machine and I read this when my kids were elementary age. I also started the “something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read”. I feel like both the book and the mantra set the tone for raising appreciative and non-entitled children, which was my aim. I was very scared of materialistic children!

Here are some posts from the past:

Christmas Traditions is here and Christmas cocktails here!

What about you?

What are your musings on Christmas?

Amy

Wednesday, November 29. 2023

Well, you guys, it’s the last Wednesday of the month and we only have one more day of November – “30 days have September, April, June, and November” – I chant this to my students. Can you believe they don’t know this?

It’s time for the fun monthly link up with Sheaffer Told Me To and Mix and Match Mama.

What I’m Wearing…

I have started wearing sweaters and trying to wear sweaters to school. I wore this on Monday:

I didn’t pass out. This is my new Christmas sweater from Target.com. Here it is! I can’t remember where I saw it, but I fell in love with it. I got mine on sale for $20 and it appears the price has gone up.

I also tried out my new Nordstrom chelsea boots:

They are very comfortable and supportive, but my feet got hot and I did change shoes halfway through the day.

I also wore this on Saturday to watch a basketball game:

This is another Target sweater I got a couple of months ago from the special collab with Rowing Blazers.

For Thanksgiving, I wore this wine color of Impress press ons:

Not sure what I did differently, but this set would not stay put:

I let my nails breathe for a few days and now I am wearing this color:

What I’m loving…

I went in Target on Sunday to make a return and saw…

this cute display and goodies:

Tom put up my Michael’s pencil trees. This one in the bedroom and…

this one in the living room. I am happy I decided to decorate minimally to enjoy it now and when we get back from our trip.

I can’t find my strands of white lights for the mantel and the banister! I think I put them in my January decor stash and I can’t find that either. I like to keep blue and white up in January with snowmen because teachers love snow and snow days! I guess I will look again this weekend. I hate being disorganized and I hate not being able to find things.

What I’m reading…

Still this. Ha!

This collection made me happy! I placed a Target order for the sweater, Mrs. Meyer’s peppermint hand soap and kitchen counter cleaner spray, these peppermint crunch Junior Mints, and then the other sweater that I didn’t keep. It was too cropped. Here it is if you want to try it. It’s very cute!

What We’re Eating…

I spent time Sunday getting 9 breakfasts ready to put in the freezer. I made 6 Amy McMuffins and 3 breakfast burritos.

My sister-in-law gave me a bit of turkey and this is my fave – the cold turkey mayo sandwich on white bread!

I did Soup Sunday and made my friend’s soup again but this time I added corn, bacon, diced potatoes and onions to make it more like a chicken, potato, corn chowder. I also used less cheese and less cream of chicken soup. I added chicken broth. It turned out great!

I am loving my new sugar free peppermint mocha, and I also used it to make an iced protein coffee – instant coffee grounds, a splash of this, ice, and a half of a premier chocolate protein.

And, we are enjoying eating off of my old Target plates!

What I’ve been up to…

At school, I am trying to be super organized and plan everything out until break and for the week after we come back.

At home, I am working on meal prepping and eating healthy. I am ordering things we need for travel.

What I’m dreading…

I am dreading the stress of travel and hoping for the best! Honestly, I’m not great at things not going according to plan, but I am working on it and I am better than I used to be.

What I’m excited about…

You know, this is going to make me sound like The Grinch, but I am excited to not be involved in the mad rush of the holiday season. At the end of Christmas last year, I just felt empty and depleted. It just hit me that the holiday didn’t have to be that way. It was not a deliberate plan at that time to be gone over Christmas, but then it just worked out that meeting Mason at the tail end of his semester made the most sense.

This year, I am not shopping, wrapping, stressing, buying food, hosting, cooking and it feels very freeing. Now, remember that I have done all of this and been in charge of making the season magical for many, many years. My kids are 21 so I’ve been through it all while also teaching full time.

Jack suggested we shop for each other on the trip, so we have something to open on Christmas Day, and I plan on bring back gifts for the grandparents. I also plan to surprise my kids with some stocking gifts, I think, and many of you said I should try to pack their stockings. Mason wants us to cook in the Airbnb on Christmas Day, so that should be interesting! It’s also high on my list to attend a church service in a beautiful old cathedral. I have asked our Airbnb host for suggestions.

I’m also fully aware that I may realize I don’t want to be gone for Christmas in the future.

So, that’s a little bit of What’s Up with me this Wednesday!

What about you?

Amy

Tuesday, November 28. 2023

Last fall my face became drier than I have ever experienced. It was painful! I would say I have always had combination skin where my cheeks were just normal but my t-zone was oily, so I have never really struggled with dry skin on my face. I think it might have been a bit of wind burn from a boat ride, but nevertheless, I struggled with painful dry skin last year until I could get it under control.

Confession – I am really lazy about lotion and a skin care routine. I get so tired that if i don’t do something before I get too tired in the evening, it probably isn’t happening.

So, here is my routine:

I eat dinner, clean up dinner, and then immediately jump in the shower where I wash my face. I wash my hair every other night, so this is a really quick shower on the off night. This is how I make sure that my makeup gets washed off thoroughly. But, I am also not wearing much makeup to school these days.

Here’s my dry skin prevention routine:

This is a must buy product for me in the winter. You turn off the shower, apply this lotion and then towel off. I also use my regular lotion – Cerave at night and Bath and Body Into the Night in the morning. Yes, I do take a quick body shower in the morning, too. I just feel weird going to school if I haven’t. This Jergens Wet Skin is great for the person who is lazy about lotion.

For my face, this has been a game changer. This makes your makeup “melt” off almost. I put a small spoonful in my hands and then rub on my face. If I have extra, I put it on my elbows. I try to keep it on my face for a bit before getting in the shower and rinsing it off and then using my facial cleanser – Cetaphil. Thank you to Jennifer for helping me to start this!

I can’t find a lotion I like better than this Trader Joe’s. It’s lightweight and doesn’t bother me. I just added Isle of Paradise face tanning drops to my routine. I started with 3 drops and now I am maintaining with just one drop.

I need to add a thicker nighttime face lotion and just use this for the morning. Any recs? I won’t spend a lot, so don’t give me any $100 recommendations! Ha!

Amy

Monday, November 27, 2023

Well, how was your holiday? I enjoyed 5 days off from work and I had a little bit of productivity and a little bit of fun!

I am linking up with Holly and Sarah for Hello Monday!

I was off on Wednesday – we have had this day off for several years. I do remember when we didn’t. It’s so nice to have Wednesday off! I ran a couple of errands, but I mostly just enjoyed my day off. One of the highlights was this walk with Ernie.

We walked by the middle school football field and saw a group of college boys – half in black and half in white – getting ready to play a game. They all turned toward the flag and put their hands on their hearts and sang the national anthem all the way through and then cheered and clapped. I found this heartwarming and had to sneak a photo.

I went to a little boutique and I went to Trader Joe’s. I call these fun errands and things I enjoy!

It was warm enough to sit outside before dinner and read – and for the first time I was trying Elin Hildebrand’s much mentioned wine – Sancerre. It was recommended as a good wine to go with Thanksgiving foods. Ok – new favorite! It’s so good!

I’m still working my way through this – I just haven’t sat down to read much.

Wednesday evening we got mediterranean takeout – I don’t think you should cook the night before!

Thanksgiving morning I made egg casserole and cinnamon rolls.

I also did my minimal Christmas decor! I have since added a few more touches but I’m happy.

I cooked for my sister in law’s while Tom went to pick up his parents.

I made traditional mashed potatoes and sweet potato casserole.

I made pumpkin pies on Wednesday and they turned out great!

I also made this salad for my sister in law’s and I enjoyed having a salad as part of the meal.

Her dining room table looks lovely!

We had a really nice day and the food was so good.

Friday morning we left for my mom’s house and we all arrived around the same time – 11:15 and had really good bagels and Chick Fil a with a couple of snacky type foods.

My Aldi in KY can’t sell wine in the store, so my sisters and I and Jack checked out my hometown’s Aldi and I bought one bottle of their store brand. I haven’t tried it yet.

Then, Jack and Tom went to a guitar store and my sisters and I and some of the nieces sat on the porch and chatted.

Then, for dinner, we had the pasta bar and it was even better than last time. We had bread, salad, bowtie alfredo, cavatappi mac and cheese, spaghetti, and lasagna.

My mom got a pretty bakery cake for dessert.

We had a really nice day Friday, too.

Saturday was the big UK and U of L game (in-state rivals) so we met our friends at Waldo’s Chicken and Beer.

We left after the first half and went back to their lovely home to watch the rest of the game. It was a really close game so it was fun to watch.

And, their cat may have gotten into the spirit of the holidays:

We left late afternoon and then ordered pizza for dinner because Jack wanted that. Jack and I watched an Outlander – we are really into it.

Sunday was a day of getting my act together. I have 17 school days until we leave and get to see Mason!

I did take advantage of some of the Black Friday deals on Amazon for stuff we need for the trip. Did you do any shopping? Are you planning to do any Cyber Monday shopping today?

How was your holiday? I hope it was good!

Amy

Friday, November 24, 2023

How was your holiday yesterday? Are you still full?

I’m not sure if the weekly link up is happening, but I still have some favorites!

Happy Black Friday if you celebrate – ha!

Here are some favorites from my week!

Sometimes a simple, perfectly cooked baked potato is all you need for dinner:

I microwaved this after poking holes, rubbing some olive oil and kosher salt on top. I put a bit of butter, bacon bits, cheese, and green onion on top.

I found the protein snacks at Aldi that Jen mentioned!

I also grabbed this, but the pretzels were stale and the cream cheese was a bit runny, so this probably won’t be a re-purchase for me. But, I will definitely get the protein packs again!

Last Saturday, Beth and I went downtown for a bourbon anniversary at Evan Wiliams and we were seriously like tourists in our own city. Beth was born and raised here, and this was always my closest big city to my hometown, so it feels comfortable to me. We walked several blocks of downtown and noticed so many new and revitalized spaces. We were super impressed with this new boutique hotel. How pretty! Those are pennies behind the signage.

Speaking of pennies, I laid out all of the things I needed to put in my small purse when attending my best friend’s dad’s funeral. I was careful to place them on a space on the table where nothing else was. I brought my small purse from my closet to the table and look what was there:

My dad has been leaving me pennies (I like to believe!) and he knew it would be hard that day. How cool is that? I shared the story with Heather and told her to also look for pennies.

My makeup situation is just sad. I have been trying to be frugal and use up what I have since last spring. I finally got rid of anything old or anything I was no longer using. Tom saw it in the trash/recycling and asked who threw away $500 worth of makeup. I seriously have had many of these lipsticks for 5-10 years. This is what I was left with below.

Also, I am debating whether to re-order Seint or try Merit. I want solids/creams and an easy 5-minute face. Can anyone speak about Merit? I also thought maybe I could find dupes for the 4 Merit products I want. I also want some of the new formula Lipsense lipstick.

I am at the point where I need new everything!

I went out Sunday early afternoon to Aldi and the traffic was crazy! I had all the Target toiletries I needed in my Target cart on the app – shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and the Mrs. Meyer’s peppermint hand soap and kitchen cleaner. I was going to go in and shop, but after seeing the traffic I was like – nope! I placed that order as quick as my little finger could perform. Yes, I will be relying on online ordering as much as possible, because people are everywhere!

On the way to Aldi, a car did something really stupid to me and went around me while I was patiently waiting for the car in front of me to turn. Then, I saw him do something even more dangerous to another car. The car was turning left but it wasn’t quick enough for him, so he went around and turned left in front of the car! He could have caused two accidents – one with me and one with the other car. And, guess where this car ended up turning – TJ Maxx! What did you save, idiot? Did you save one minute so you could get the maxx for the minimum? Are drivers also acting crazy in your neck of the woods? It really upsets me that people are so impatient and putting others at risk. Did I tell you that I confronted a guy at the gym who did a similar thing to me a couple of months ago? He passed me on a road going to the gym as I was getting into the left lane to turn. He could have caused a wreck. I pulled into my spot and watched him sit in his car (not in a hurry anymore?) then I went in. When he finally entered the gym, I said to him, “are you ok? I’m the car that you passed so I want to make sure you are ok and that you didn’t have an emergency”. He was stunned. Can you believe I did that?

So, I guess the favorite here would be staying in and ordering online to avoid people? Ha!

This is the view from my classroom window. I feel so lucky to have two windows. I have been in the same room for 20 years.

Tom got my umbrella out and had it ready like this for me to go to work in the rain on Tuesday:

I showed you Wednesday what I’ve been wearing but left out Tuesday and this is what I wore:

Some more Aldi favorites. This sliced cheese is like $1.89 a package.

A few teachers had kids write thank you notes and I was touched:

Another great Aldi find. These storage bags would be good for food gifts, too.

This is my first attempt at sharing a video on ye ol’ blog. I will leave you with this – Tom and I were walking Ernie and then he got excited at the end of our walk!

So thankful for him!

What were your favorites this week?

Amy

Wednesday, November 22, 2023

I’m off today! I thought since I am only posting today and Friday that I would do my own “What’s Up Wednesday” without the link up.

So what’ s up around here in regards to Thanksgiving tomorrow?

I finally put up my few Thanksgiving touches this past weekend. I will probably do my minimal Christmas decor today or Sunday or I might also have time in the morning tomorrow. It would be nice to come home from Thanksgiving dinner and feel like Christmas!

I found these cute plates napkins and I was assigned to bring dessert plates to my sister in law’s house tomorrow. I really agree with eating dessert off of a paper plate, but I really hate eating the main meal on paper. My sister-in-law uses her nice plates, so I like that. I appreciate that she hosts every year, too! She has a newly renovated kitchen and has the space.

I splurged and bought these cups last year from Cups on Cochran and still have some left. These bring me an insane amount of joy! Ha!

What I’ve been wearing…

Saturday I wore my fall/woodland blouse, dark straight Old Navy jeans, a very old Target sweater, and my Reeboks. It just looks frumpy. I missed the mark here. Also, how do the cool girls wear fashion sneakers and look cool?

I finally wore the dress I bought on my birthday. I wore it Friday to the funeral. I was super comfortable in it, so that made me happy that I think I made a good purchase. I came home and saw Jack and he questioned the appropriate-ness of it for a funeral. He said I was supposed to wear solid black. I said that there were black stripes, black plaids, and all types of patterns. Did I go too wild?

I hesitated showing this photo, because I ended up un-tucking and this looks bad. These are really old Umgee pants that I feel in love with. I never wear them because they are too long. Should I pay the money to get them hemmed? I wore this to the Thursday night funeral visitation.

I also wore the woodland shirt to school Friday.

And, here it is with my Walmart Free Assembly jacket over it.

This past Monday I wore this:

The boots stayed on until 6th period when my legs and feet got hot. I was pretty happy with that, though! The boots are pretty comfortable.

I have also been testing out my new carry on tote.

What I’m reading…

This had a really slow start, but now that I am about halfway through, I am having the classic Sophie Kinsella laugh out loud moments. After I finish this, I will start my two holiday themed library books waiting for me!

What I’m watching…

Bravo! I am watching Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and Miami, Below Deck, and Southern Charm. I really don’t like the Salt Lake City cast, so I wouldn’t say I’m watching that one. And, of course, the Watch What Crappens podcast continues to make my day. They are so funny!

I also watched The Golden Bachelor when he was in Costa Rica with the final two. So cute and sweet, in my opinion.

In school news…

I have a kid who has started recording what he says are my “funny quotes”. You might remember that a kid gifted me a typed list at the end of last school year. It is seriously one of the best gifts I have ever gotten as a teacher. The quotes are so out of context that it makes it even funnier, I think.

Here’s what my Monday looked like. I offered to do the two meals required this week and I brought it all on Monday.

Tom and I walking Ernie after Tom gets home from work…

I am also walking him when I get home from school. We just let him meander and sniff and do what he wants. He absolutely loves this cool weather!

So that’s what’s up with me this Wednesday! Are you stressed out? Hosting? Traveling? I hope you all are good!

I am so thankful for you and you brighten my day!

I will see you back here on Friday!

Amy

Monday, November 20, 2023

This week my plan is to blog on Wednesday and Friday only, but you never know!

I am happy to link up with Sarah and Holly for Hello Monday and I want to thank them for providing this link up!

How was your weekend?

Thursday night, Tom and I and Heather and Eric went to our other friend Heather’s Dad’s visitation. It was across the river in Indiana so the four of us rode together and afterwards, we went to Torchy’s for the first time. We don’t have one in Louisville, and we were impressed. It was late, we were hungry, and it was fast, too.

Friday, I took off work for the funeral. I will only show this photo of the fire trucks in front of the church. Heather’s dad was a career firefighter and had been retired for a number of years. After the funeral, there was a processional past the fire station with a truck parked outside and a line of firefighters saluting. The roads were blocked all through the Indiana town, across the bridge, and on the Kentucky side until we arrived at the cemetery for the burial service and burial.

It was a hard day. I was so sad for her and of course, I was remembering my own father’s funeral.

Friday night Jack played a role in Hansel and Gretel the opera at his college so Tom and I ate a quick dinner at home and then went to see him.

Dark green is still going strong 7 days later as I type this post. I used my 40% off coupon to order some holiday designs.

I chose not to do Saturday errands and had a plan with my friend Beth. The day was cool and crisp but very sunny and it was just what I needed.

We went to the 10th year anniversary of Evan Williams Bourbon in a repurposed space downtown. They had music, tastings, a free cocktail, and some food booths.

We also checked out some downtown urban bourbon trail distilleries/outlets. Bardstown Bourbon Company has a new and amazing space.

We left downtown and ended our day in this lovely little biergarten between two restaurants – Holy Grale and Gralehaus.

Beth insisted upon taking my photo for ye old blog!

We shared a salad and a pretzel, too!

After our fun day out, I did a Kroger pick up, an Aerie return, a Dollar Tree run, and put away groceries and made BLTS for dinner.

I enjoyed texting with Mason, too, and we talked on Facetime for quite awhile while I was cooking.

I think you all can tell how much enjoyment and amusement I get from his photos and texts. Jack is also super sweet but doesn’t share as much.

I know I will really miss Mason this weekend. Tom and I watched some tv and then I went to bed but couldn’t sleep so got up and then watched some Gilmore Girls which puts me to sleep because I’ve watched it so much and it’s comforting to me. That was such a run on sentence, and I don’t think I even care to fix it. Jack and Mason have a running joke with me because the Gilmore Girls ending music always wakes me up! It’s super aggressive and loud! So, I woke up and went to bed.

Sunday morning, I slept in until 7:00 which is super rare for me. I worked on some trip details. I am debating whether to pre-book the short regional train trips, but knowing me I will feel better having them booked.

I know some of you lucky folks are already out for Thanksgiving break and even some college kids are home! Jack has two days of class left, as do I. It’s kind of weird, but it’s ok, too.

I am motivated today to get stuff done at school for the week after break. I am freaking out mildly that I will have only a bit more than 3 weeks before we leave on our trip to the UK! I am so excited, but my brain has started the usual – Why am I doing this again? Would it have been better just to have Mason come home? Do I have everything planned? Did I schedule enough and leave enough time for spontaneous activity? What if the weather is bad on our flight days? What if we have flight delays? Will Ernie be ok? What if we lose our passports? Where are our passports? (Just kidding on that last one!)

Do you also do this? I hate this about myself, but it is the way I am built.

I bought a new carry-on tote for my personal item. We are going to use our carry-on wheeling bags that we bought in 2016 for Germany. I “auditioned” the new carry-on tote and continue to use it as my school bag to make sure I like it. I am also auditioning outfits – ha! I am also using the “teacher test” on the shoe choices I am making. You might as well use your job for something, right? Joking! My colors (I think) are black, camel, and some bright Christmas colors. I may do an entire post on it.

So, let’s talk about the upcoming weekend. I tried to get most everything done Saturday and yesterday so I could have Wednesday to have fun or do those last-minute things that sneak up – or to decorate for Christmas – minimally.

In other news, I pulled a “baller” move, I think. Thursday we go to Tom’s sister’s house in town for a traditional Thanksgiving meal in late afternoon. I am in charge of pie, potatoes, and a green salad. Friday, we go to my hometown an hour away and because everyone has already had the traditional with their in-laws (we have always done Thursday with in-laws and Friday with my side), we are having a pasta bar for an early dinner but needed a meal upon arrival around 11 – my sister is bringing good bagels and cream cheese, so we are having a brunch type meal around 11. I ordered a Chick Fil A nugget tray and a chicken mini tray to bring. The young kids say “baller” as a compliment and one meaning of the term can be someone who makes things happen by making smart decisions. Moms, we are all ballers! Right?

Pasta bar details:

Salad

Bread with olive oil to dip

Lasagna

Baked spaghetti

Alfredo sauce with a cool shape or two shapes of pasta

Thanksgiving decorated sheet cake

I pretty much took charge and bossed everyone around because my mom wanted to know the plan and Kate and Molly said they didn’t care and needed direction. I AM the oldest, so it’s only right.

Whew, you all are cheaper than therapy! Do you ever feel that I am using you for that?

If you are still here, thank you for that!

Amy

Friday, November 17, 2023

What a week! I say that every week, but for different reasons. This week was long and sad because of my best friend’s dad passing away. I am linking up with Andrea and Erika to share some favorites from the week.

My first favorite is you all…

I didn’t post on Tuesday and then I think you could tell by my Wednesday post Coffee Talk that I have been feeling down and letting self-doubt creep in. Am I doing enough at home? I’m having trouble meal planning, prepping, cooking, cleaning, and just keeping up. Am I good enough at school? I am so frustrated by some decisions and lack thereof at work. I have people who make my job harder than it needs to be. Am I bringing anything new to the blogging world? Sometimes I feel so boring and redundant. Anyway, I didn’t put all of this into words on Wednesday, but your comments (I swear I wasn’t fishing!) made me feel better. Thank you.

Another favorite was how happy I think I made my friend and her husband when I brought some things…

I made mini muffins, french toast casserole, and fruit salad, and was able to pick up their sweet pup from the groomers. It’s fun having a dog in your passenger seat!

And now some some Aldi finds…

Also, check out Jen’s post on her Aldi finds here! It’s kind of like a Trader Joe’s haul post because she bought all things I have never bought and some I didn’t even know about! I am starting there for my Thanksgiving shopping this weekend. I am in charge of pie (Costco), potatoes, and a green salad for Tom’s side and then for my side Friday we are having a pasta bar.

I was using flavored K cups and doing my fat free half and half frothing routine, but the pumpkin coffee was no longer available, and the holiday creamers started coming out, so now I am frothing up a bit of this or another holiday creamer…

and it’s really good!

I also bought some of this to put on top of a regular coffee. I bet this would also be good on pumpkin pie!

Tom and I both liked this, but I only used half of the cheese packet. It seemed like it would have been way too cheesy with all of it.

I placed an Impress press on nail order that arrived on my birthday – so fun –

After letting my nails stay naked for about 3 days this time to give them a break, I applied “Pine for You” and it’s a really dark green. I love it! As I am writing this post, I am on day 5. So, since I started my press on journey again, I have had grey that lasted 7 days, black that lasted 8 days, and aqua green that only lasted 4 days. I still don’t know why the aqua started popping off, but my theory is that the sticky was old because I applied them the same way. I think you have better outcomes with trimming them and keeping them shorter, too. I didn’t notice that the set on the right was wider fit, and I don’t really need that, so I gave those to Erica because she has a wider nail bed.

The dark green “pine for you”:

Sunday Funday this week was a trip to Costco with Tom (he goes through protein shakes like you wouldn’t believe) and after we went to a new location of one of Tom’s favorites, Diorio’s Pizza.

I like that you can get one slice of pizza and I could only eat about half of it!

We also got salads and Tom got lasagna.

We also visited the Mexican grocery because I needed to get some prizes for school.

It’s always interesting to go there!

Sometimes running errands with your spouse is a “date” these days!

I am so happy to have a freezer!

One night I made this, and I loved it!

I added some of these mushrooms, but I think I like the mushrooms better on their own. I think it was the mix of the gorgonzola and the mushroom seasoning that I didn’t like. I have also used the mushroom medley for an omelette!

Each year, I try to get one peppermint mocha milkshake from Chick Fil A. Have you had one? They are so good!

They are out now, but I usually wait until mid-December!

Ernie seems to love the leaves! He always gets to roll around at the end of the walk!

A couple of organizations at school treated us to a Thanksgiving meal on Wednesday..

It was so good, but I needed a turkey nap and still had 3 classes to teach!

Whew – my faves were crazy and all over the place this week!

What were your favorites this week? I hope you had many!

Amy