Thursday, January 1, 2026

2025 brought some big life changes for me and I plan to stop talking about them in 2026!

My mom passed away suddenly January 28th and I retired July 1st. I lost my last living parent and my beloved career of 31 years (by choice, but it’s still been an adjustment).

January brought so much snow and snow days! I got to work from home several times in January!

It was so fun to get to see The Bachelor that we had spotted being filmed while in Madrid in September! We saw him playing soccer with his date in a plaza in Madrid while we were eating!

And, then the wheels fell off. We had such a nice Christmas 2024 with my mom, and she was doing really well health-wise. She was living alone, driving, going to lunch, playing bridge, making her crafts, making plans for trips, and then she was gone.

So many people supported me through the loss of my mom at the end of January and into the spring and I am so grateful for the love and support that I was shown. Even a text meant so much to me. I then had friends continue to text me on significant days like Mother’s Day.

Look at these beautiful flower cupcakes from my friend Beth:

My sisters and I made several weekends happen to work together on my mom’s estate. We didn’t fight once. That is a testament to my parents. We looked at each of our strengths and divided the work accordingly. Then, I offered to do all the business of the house and the sale since I was retiring. I had known all year in the back of my mind it might be my last year but made the decision firm shortly after my mom’s passing. I cried when I told my principal. I was there 25 years; it would be weird if I didn’t cry! I made him super uncomfortable. Maybe that was payback for all of his Sunday morning emails.

While in my hometown working on my mom’s house, we always got coffee together (chai for one sister) and we developed a love for Culver’s grilled chicken sandwiches for lunch. We did a scavenger hunt one night that we were together for my sister’s 50th birthday and that was really fun! I will forever remember that time as a beautiful blessing to get to have with my sisters.

The surprising thing that happened during that time is that we re-opened the wound from our dad’s death, too. We weren’t just clearing out our mom’s things.

I am so proud of the work we did together and how we handled it. Maybe it’s wrong to be proud? I have learned so much about myself. I have learned that you can love or see someone more clearly after their death.

I was super busy at work and tried to do my best. My students were so sweet. I finally told them I would be retiring at the end of the year right after spring break. One boy said, “the other teachers who are retiring have been phoning it in all year. You aren’t acting like that at all!”

That made my day because I have always taken pride in my work. My Dad told my sisters and I that our 75% is other peoples’ 100% because we are not your average teachers. He was such a cheerleader and supporter of us. He loved that we all became teachers!

I got to host my friends from Spain in April, and it was really special! I hadn’t seen my buddy Rafa for 18 years! It was like no time had passed and his wife and I were instant friends, and his son became besties with Eddie Otis!

I really enjoy hosting on my patio!

I also enjoyed making things for the blog ladies. I brought wine and appetizers for Friday night and some breakfast items for Saturday.

My department celebrated me at the end of the school year with a surprise lunch! They should have told me to dress up a bit!

I had so much fun this summer seeing various friends! But it was a hot one! We didn’t boat as much as usual because of the crazy weather but I visited my share of pools.

I’ve had a really good reading year!

I think my favorite books were by Kristin Harmel…

and The Academy.

Goodness – I loved having time off in the fall when we have such gorgeous weather! I was on my patio or a patio and I soaked it all up!

I fell into a Love is Blind hole and loved Gilded Age for my tv viewing!

I’ve been learning to slow down, be thoughtful, figure out my new schedule, and more. Thanksgiving was hard but I got through it, and it helped me craft what I wanted and needed for Christmas, if that makes sense.

Most of the kids at Christmas:

I am definitely blessed. Thanks for being on this ride with me! I’ve really enjoyed my blogging life this year and that is because of you!

Amy

Wednesday, December 31, 2025

Well, it’s the last day of 2025 and I’m here with Joyce for Hodgepodge. Joyce comes up with great questions that are both thought provoking and fun!

1. Did you make resolutions or set goals for the year we’re waving goodbye? How did that work out for you? Will you set any goals for this new year, new season, or new month? Share one or two if you’d like to share. 

So, here is the thing… I have always lived my life on school year calendars and not traditional calendars! So, I generally set goals in August. I guess since I am no longer living by a school calendar that I could adapt. I do have a winter bucket list coming and I believe in making seasonal lists. I find it easier to look at smaller chunks of time.

2. When did you have the most fun this year? 

Well, this is a hard one. This year has been difficult. I found ways to make fun during the hard, for sure. Isn’t that life for you? There is always the beautiful in the ugly and the good among the bad.

My sisters and I laughed and cried while clearing out my parents’ house. We had so many laughs finding our videos!

That only scratches the surface! Boat outings, pool days, breakfasts, lunches, happy hours, and dinners with friends were so much fun this year!

3. What’s a song or song lyric you’ll associate with 2025? Tell us why. 

“Take this Job and Shove It” – bahahahahaha – self-explanatory!

4. Best (or a favorite) bite of something delicious you tasted this year? 

This queso with chorizo!

This salmon salad!

This goat cheese with strawberry jam!

5. What do you want to do more of in the new year? Less of? 

I want to say YES more if it’s a “heck yes”. I want to spend less time worrying, overanalyzing, and expending mental energy on stupid things and people that don’t exert that energy on me.

I had two big things happen this year – my mother’s death and my retirement and when big things happen you kind of see things clearly. I have let go of the fake work friendships and I also see my circle getting smaller in my real life. I am open to meeting new friends and hope to in 2026!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I want to slow down and take more careful and thoughtful photos in 2026. There’s a resolution! I love looking at my camera roll as a way to reflect and savor experiences and memories.

My sister has a newer iphone and took this beautiful photo out of our Airbnb window.

Look at the beams in the Airbnb!

I look naked, but I had on a tank top and shorts and got hot in my sweatshirt. Playing this game was so fun and one of the best memories I will keep. The youngest boy got so giggly when he picked a funny card. The oldest boy laughed a lot during this game.

My parents created this. How cool is that?

What would you say to any of the questions?

Amy

Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Hello! I feel like I am just stepping off a holiday marathon. I have been holidaying it up since December 24th and had something each day until I got home yesterday.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were just our family of four. For Eve I made chicken schnitzel with Rahm sauce, spaetzle, green beans, Sister Schubert’s rolls and au gratin potatoes in muffin cups.

We continued the pajama tradition on Eve along with our new as of last year Icelandic tradition of giving a book and chocolate.

Christmas Day was warm!

It was really nice with egg casserole, mini cinnamon rolls with green and red sprinkles, and gifts just with our family of four again.

In late afternoon, we went to a movie and saw…

I did not read the book, so I went in blindly. It was just ok in my opinion. We invited Jack’s roommate along, too, and Tom wanted to make sure we had enough popcorn – we did. Tom eyeing the butter machine to decide if he should add more…

The day after Christmas we went to Tom’s parents’ house and this is their sweet dog Watson.

He tried to teach his nephew Eddie Otis some manners.

I brought ham, buns, salad, egg casserole, and potato casserole.

The next day Tom and I left for my hometown (Mason came for the day the following day and Jack had to work).

We met both of my sisters and their kids at a little lunch place and then walked a bit downtown and went in a couple of stores. Our Airbnb wasn’t ready yet. Then, we had a really cool experience. My Dad was a pilot in the Air Force and when he retired, he flew a plane for a local company and had so much fun in his second career. The pilot that started flying when he lost his medical (they still let him co-pilot) had been in touch with me since my mom’s funeral because she had some of my dad’s flight logbooks and things from his desk. It turned out they would be landing from a holiday trip that the owner of the company had taken, and she invited us to watch them land, see the plane, and obtain the box of my dad’s belongings.

The little airport:

watching the plane land:

Sisters and I didn’t realize how emotional this would make us! The pilot let us all climb in the cockpit and showed us that they affixed my dad’s silver flight wings with his name to the dash. They told us stories and how they feel that he is with them. I think we stayed for an hour. What a truly meaningful experience.

The pilot handing nephew Miles the box:

How cool was that? My dad passed away in 2018 and my mom in January of this year but my mom didn’t want to talk much about my dad with us. Most of you all know that we sold their house a month ago and no longer have a home base in my hometown, so I found us an Airbnb right on Main Street.

We had the entire third floor loft of an old building that has been restored.

This is how you entered:

Our loft:

It was decorated for Christmas and we just had to add the presents!

It was perfect! It had 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms.

We got settled after the airport experience and started assembling some appetizers.

My brother-in-law loves my Mexican layer dip and it looks Christmasy!

We ordered from a local pizzeria and ate in the Airbnb the first night.

Sisters and I had some gifts for each other with some sentimental nods in memory of my mom that we did with just the three of us and then we did a silly White Elephant exchange with the whole group.

Then, many of us played a game from the White Elephant called Horrible Therapist. It caused lots of laughter.

I never sleep well the first night in a new place, but surprisingly I slept great and slept until 7:30! Molly and I are the early birds who like coffee and Kate likes to sleep late and doesn’t like coffee.

The view from the Airbnb:

We had a starter cup of coffee but then Molly and I walked to the coffee shop and the market.

It was nice to get out and walk first thing!

Then, we went back to the Airbnb and it is like herding cats with that many people! We laid out breakfast options – yogurt, bananas, crumpets, egg casserole, potato casserole – and then anyone that wanted to shop along Main Street could. It was nice that so many shops are open on Sundays but unfortunately many of the restaurants are not.

We took a break, and Molly made a Grinch mocktail:

Then we did a scavenger hunt of all Grandma’s favorites.

Mason had arrived so that was great!

Then, it happened to be my friend Dan’s mom’s 80th birthday party so Tom, Mason, Kate, and I crashed. Kate was a close friend of my friend’s brother! Small town, small town. We saw our realtor there and several other people we knew!

The weather was just wonderful for walking up and down Main Street. I clocked 10K steps this day!

Then, we had a reservation for duck pin bowling. You use a smaller ball with no holes and you don’t have to wear the fashionable bowling shoes.

It’s in the cutest little venue that has a wine bar, speakeasy, and rooftop bar.

It was really fun and the kids got into it!

Look how cute the town looked!

We ordered Mexican food and had it in the Airbnb and then played another game called Relative Insanity. I will say both games are pretty off color. I think we laughed even more at this game.

The kid ages range from 11-23 and the kids stayed in the main room with the adults most of the time. We did have two teen girls pining for boyfriends left at home and they would go lay on beds and moon from time to time. Lol.

It went better than expected and my heart is full but I am tired!

I gave a lot of details for my memories and I will be ok if you skimmed much of my text. I might test you on it, though. Just kidding!

Unfortunately, our Airbnb was not dog friendly so this guy had some friends come over and hang out with him when Mason was with us or otherwise busy:

Hosting my first link up ever –

Currently will be 1/7 so I would love you to join me as this will be my first time hosting! Jenn is passing the torch and I’m flattered that she asked me. It will be the first Wednesday of every month. Each month I will give you 5 present participles (-ings) for you to talk about. In January it will be loving, resolving, planning, eating/drinking, and watching/reading. I will open the link at 4:00 am EST.

I don’t know what I’m doing so bear with me!

Amy

Tuesday, December 23, 2025

I just want to say I am thinking about any of my blog world friends who are heading into a different or difficult holiday this season. Be kind to yourself. Go back and read my post if you need it! I wrote it before Thanksgiving and it’s about how to survive the holidays if you don’t feel festive.

My holiday at home will look different with one kid out of the house this year. I hope he spends the night Christmas Eve and I have asked him to, but I’m also keeping my expectations low, and it will be ok if he just comes for Eve and Day, too.

He requested chicken schnitzel for our dinner so I’m happy to do that!

I will be going to my hometown after Christmas with my sisters and their families and that will be a huge trigger as it will be the first year without my mom. She loved Christmas.

Did we use up our White Christmas with all of our early snow this year? I’m dreaming of a mild, balmy Christmas!

Tom proposed to me on Christmas morning 26 years ago! It was a pretty big surprise. I found out later he had talked to my dad the night before when we went to my hometown for Christmas Eve church.

I still love my ring. Ignore the old lady who modeled it for me.

The reason it was a pretty big surprise was that he had already given me ski pants for a Christmas present because we went skiing a couple of weeks before, so I thought that was it.

On Christmas morning, he told me his boss advised him that he couldn’t NOT give me something else on actual Christmas and that he had a little something else. He got down on one knee in my apartment and pulled a ring box out of a pocket and asked me to marry him. It was 1999 so we have no photos, no pop out of the bushes photographer, no video, no social media and I don’t even think anyone had their nails done in anticipation.

Christmas Eve 1999 – a week after getting engaged:

It was fun going to our family Christmas celebrations and showing everyone my new ring. And, that year was New Year’s Eve 1999 – remember the Y2K survival kits? We got to dance to Prince’s 1999! Tom and I haven’t changed much; we made it til midnight, but we partied like it was 1899, I’m sure.

We have had the tradition to put magazines in each other’s stockings and this year it was a challenge. I had to go to the back of Barnes & Noble to find some Tom would like.

If you are looking for a low-key fancy but super easy drink hack – get a jar of wild hibiscus in syrup and plop one in a glass of sparkling wine. I used to be able to find my jar at Fresh Market but they have been out. I found this at Total Wine.

I am taking a week off so I will sign off now and wish you peace, comfort, joy, and a merry Christmas.

Cheers,

Amy

Monday, December 22, 2025

Well, we are so close to the big day now…linking up with Sarah and Holly to share my weekend…

Thursday bright and early I went to Trader Joe’s for a few things. I loved the forest green of this tote and for only $3.99 it was a no brainer! I love having a tote for transporting things to my car like library books and what not. Did you know that Trader Joe’s totes are a fashion statement on the streets of London?

I had a happy hour/late birthday celebration with my friend Victoria at one of our favorite places – Red Hog. Her birthday was last week.

They have excellent fries with curry mayo and lavash with pimento cheese and red pepper jelly.

On the way to meet Victoria, I stopped at Sassy Fox consignment shop and picked up these pink pants for $7.

Friday morning, I got a much, much needed pedicure. I had been having so much trouble finding a time when it wasn’t icy, snowy, rainy, or cold.

I went with OPI Big Apple Red. Then I wore flip flops for several hours to make sure they were fully dry. I messed up my last two professional pedicures!

Friday night I wore this – Halaras, red/white stripe blouse from TJ Maxx a few months ago, and Amazon Essentials cardigan:

And, I wore my tree earrings!

We went to a little hole in the wall pizza place to hear our friend play and sing:

I had a really good raspberry Belgian beer:

The pizza was surprisingly good – very saucy and the sauce had good flavor:

Our passports already came in! It only took like a week! What the what? Again, we took our own horrible photos at home and did the whole renewal process from my phone. So easy. Highly recommend!

Saturday Tom got Eddie Otis out of the house and I did laundry, the floors, piddled, wrapped, and then I was done. Look how nice it was! It got up to about 50.

I finished this and I found it so cute!

Proof that Eddie Otis does everything with Tom – they were replacing batteries in the security camera.

Tom and I got dressed and went down to the river – well, the creek off the river:

We had fish and chips for dinner

Sunday I got a car wash to get all that nasty snow residue off my car.

It was a beautiful sunny day! I went to TJ Maxx and didn’t really find much. I was looking for a couple of last minute things.

After lunch, Tom and I went down to this little Christmas market and walked around.

There’s a little skating rink there.

We saw some cute sheep!

There is a new distillery in this area and we went inside to check it out. So pretty inside!

And, yesterday was our shortest day of the year. That gives me hope to get through winter – ha!

Blogging Break – I will be posting again tomorrow, and then I will take a break and be back 12/30.

Don’t forget…

Currently will be 1/7 so I would love you to join me as this will be my first time hosting a link up! Jenn is passing the torch, and I’m flattered that she asked me. It will be the first Wednesday of every month. Each month I will give you 5 present participles (-ings) for you to talk about. In January it will be loving, resolving, planning, eating/drinking, and watching/reading. If you also do Joyce’s Hodgepodge like me feel free to do them in the same post!

Amy

Friday, December 19, 2025

Ok, this is crazy! How are we so close to Christmas? I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika to share some favorites and some thoughts. I will post Monday and Tuesday and then I will take a bloggy break until Tuesday, December 30th.

Shoes – I have always loved shoes. Can’t help it. My mom told me that from the minute she put a pair of shoes on me that I was in love. A favorite this week is my new Dr. Scholl’s insoles. I wear an 8 or 8.5 in shoes. I ordered an 8.5 in these shoes and they were a little bit big. I went into Macy’s (where I ordered) and tried on the 8 and they were too tight. The helpful salesperson suggested that an insole might help.

Much better now! But, isn’t that weird that I am probably like an 8.25 in these shoes? Here are the insoles. I didn’t trim mine down at all. I just stuck them in and they worked.

Gym – It’s been hard to go to the gym at 6 am when there is snow and ice. I can do cold, but snow and ice in the dark as I’m trying to get out my back door – nope. By Wednesday it was gone and I was so happy. It’s such a great feeling to get it done and to see the Christmas lights in the dark as I am driving there and back.

My bestie doesn’t understand why I go first thing when I literally do have all day. I can find a million excuses not to go as the day goes on. I also think I get a better workout when I am fresh in the morning.

Reading life – I finished this and I liked it, but it did deal with some tough issues, and I wouldn’t say I really liked any of the family members. I always have trouble recommending books like this. I’m glad I read it and I couldn’t put it down because I wanted to see how it would play out. Anyone else read this?

I started this and it’s such a cute premise – a knitting retreat held at an inn along with a bachelor party. I needed something lighter. No Christmas themed book for me right now.

It got up to 56 and it was sunny on Wednesday and I’m on my patio reading! That was good for the soul! I’m just happy to have a stack of library books to choose from. I love my library so much.

Christmas Music – I have asked Alexa to play “soft classical Christmas music”, Michael Buble Christmas, Diana Krall Christmas, Josh Groban Christmas, and Tom has asked her to play Elvis and Bing Crosby Christmas. She picked a John Legend compilation that I really liked, too. I’m enjoying this music more than I have in many years! Send any other recs my way. We usually play this in the early morning and early evening.

Eddie Otis seems to really like the music. He lays beside me while I write my blog as shown in Example A:

I love his soft snoring and his contented lip licking sounds. I think the music drowns out the school commute noise for my baby. After I blog, we walk around 8:30 after his morning nap.

Spanish Tutoring – It’s going really well! I arrive at Starbuck’s a little early and treat myself to a drink. I tried an iced gingerbread chai this week and it was good.

My student has their midterm today and I’m nervous and hopeful! I hope that I have helped. I think we are continuing next semester, but it might depend on the results of today’s exam – lol. We have only met four times since November 24th.

Cooking/Eating – I’ve been trying to keep the sugar to the minimum and eat more protein and eat cleaner. Amylu chicken sausages from Costco and sweet potatoes are a favorite.

I made egg bites in a mini muffin tin with 6 eggs, 3/4 cup cottage cheese, bacon bits, chives, a bit of shredded cheese. You have to bake them with a 13×9 pan of water in the oven to give them some steam.

Mood/Attitude -Wednesday morning was mild and the sun was peeking out and I was so happy! If you read my Fashion Files post yesterday, the green Christmas tree sweater was the only festive piece I hadn’t worn yet so I put it on for a Trader Joe’s/library run. They are close by each other, so I try to do them at the same time if timing works out.

Still remaining in the TJ’s parking lot. Nasty black snow!

Ahh, the sun!

Current Events – I started getting a daily email of the news called 1440. It is called that because…

“In 1440, the printing press sparked a knowledge revolution. We carry that spirit forward, cutting through the noise and algorithm-driven feeds, to bring fact-driven knowledge to everyone”

I am enjoying getting my news this way because it is straight and to the point. It includes fun news, too, and isn’t only the dark and horrible stuff.

Blogging Break – I will be posting 12/22 and 12/23 (Monday and Tuesday), and then I will take a break and be back 12/30. As much as I love blogging, I do think I need to take a little break. I will miss you!

Hosting my first link up ever –

Currently will be 1/7 so I would love you to join me as this will be my first time hosting! Jenn is passing the torch and I’m flattered that she asked me. It will be the first Wednesday of every month. Each month I will give you 5 present participles (-ings) for you to talk about. In January it will be loving, resolving, planning, eating/drinking, and watching/reading.

Happy Friday,

Amy

Thursday, December 18. 2025

It’s Thursday and Fashion Files day with Kellyann and Jill.

This week was fresh hair day! I get a partial highlight with lowlights to hide my grays. I had a few grays showing up on each side of my head. I love my stylist Laura, and I always enjoy visiting with her!

When it’s super cold and snowy and icy, there is no fashion. Let’s just admit that. So, I have not been very fashionable as of late. I’ve been warm. Is it possible to be both – yes, of course!

Saturday night I wanted to dress up a little. I broke out my black velvet Matilda Janes and wore my no iron button up shirt from JCPenney – yes I said JCPenney. It’s a few years old. I paired it with my magenta velvet blazer from a consignment store last year or the year before. I bought the little polka dot socks at World Market last year. I wore my Walmart Scoop ballet flats that are satin. I also wore a little scarf that I ended up taking off when we got there.

I asked Mason if I looked like I was going to a job interview at a circus, and he said I had “Willy Wonka vibes”.

Look at Tom primping and Eddie Otis wondering if he was invited.

I wore my favorite black leggings and an old Walmart pullover for a Costco run.

The pointer fingers of my mani came loose and I replaced them with the little holly nails. I only want this mani to last a bit longer because I have a second Christmas press on mani that I intend to do.

I love my new New Balances. I have been wearing them almost everyday.

I have worn all of the Christmas clothing in my closet except for my tree sweater that I wore last year below. I have also worn my red and white striped button up and lots of plain green.

It’s pretty thick so I have to pick the right time to wear it. I have not bought anymore themed clothing or accessories you will be happy to know!

I am not sure what I will wear for the next several days leading up to Christmas, but you can bet your bottom dollar I will be cycling through:

Red Matilda Jane pants – a brighter red with ruffles and a darker red flares with tiered layers

Gucci-esque cardigan

Prosec Ho Ho Ho

North Pole Cocktail Club

We have 50s for a bit so I can break out my Santa tee

And my lots of little things tee

Christmas tree button cardigan

Merry & Bright Sweater

What about you? What have you been wearing?

Amy

Wednesday, December 17, 2025

It’s Hodgepodge Day with Joyce! Here we go! We will be on a Hodgepodge break until December 31st, by the way. I am also going to take a short bloggy break that I will tell you about.

1. What’s one thing on your to-do list that you want to get done, need to get done, or that must get done before the year ends? 

Nothing! I have a little more shopping to do but I am not stressed about it. I have to do the wrapping. Do you wrap stocking stuffers? I wrap some and leave some naked. I need to plan food and put it in my Kroger app. I realistically have two or three more Kroger pickups before it’s all said and done. I like to declutter before Christmas, and I have done ok with that. I could do more.

This is my first year NOT working in the crazy weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas and honestly, I am not sure how I did it all for so many years.

It’s been nice to be able to shop on a weekday morning. I almost always saved one personal day to do this when I was teaching or combined it with an appointment.

2.  December 17th is National Maple Syrup Day…are you a fan? Do you like maple flavor in other food items such as candy, cookies, donuts, oatmeal, hot toddies, coffee? 

I like it but I don’t go crazy about it. I actually like a bourbon drink called a Maple Leaf or Canadian Maple Leaf with bourbon, maple syrup, and a touch of lemon juice.

3. Time magazine names a person of the year every year.  The tradition started back in 1927 with a ‘man of the year’ but has since changed to recognize not only an individual, but also to consider the impact of a group, movement, or idea that most influenced the year. The selection is not always someone or something good (think Hitler in 1938 and Stalin twice). 

This year they’ve named The AI Architects as their ‘person of the year’. What say you? Is this a good choice, an obvious choice, a logical choice? Who do you think should have been named person of the year? 

I don’t know. I had to look up what that even means and I found “the creative force during the planning and implementation of AI initiatives”. I think AI is already so integrated into our daily lives and we probably don’t realize just to what extent it is at play. I had an idea to “live like the 90s” one day and see how I did.

4. What’s a city, state, or country you’ve visited that you never care to visit again? Tell us why. 

This is a hard one. I think I am glad for the opportunity to visit any place I’ve gone. I love Michigan in the summer. I think it’s underrated. I probably don’t care to go back to Panama City Beach. I probably don’t care to go back to Myrtle Beach. I feel like both of those places became too touristy and I could see airbrushed t-shirts everywhere I turned? No offense to anyone who likes airbrushing. Honestly, I would go to those places and not turn my nose up at putting my feet in the sand and water.

5. Next Sunday (December 21st) marks the first day of winter (or the opposite if you’re living down under). What’s one thing you love about this new season? 

I feel like it’s already been winter for so long already, so this is hard to answer! My favorite thing used to be a snow day! Now, I guess I would say the absence of lawn mower and leaf blower noise.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I feel like it was just Thanksgiving last week! Time has flown! How is it already December 17th?

Amy

Tuesday, December 16, 2025

I didn’t have a great idea for a post today so I thought I would just be random! This is just how I talk to my friends which YOU are!

I found these Boursin balls at Target – their Good and Gather food brand is supposed to be really clean and I find myself looking through their food selections sometimes. Some of their prices are really good and they carry different products than my Kroger.

They inspired me to make an omelet and then I repeated that for a few breakfasts.

I found the perfect ratio for me – two whole eggs and one egg white. I have the perfect sized pan for this omelet.

I did fresh chives, bacon bits, grape tomatoes cut up, and three Boursin balls crumbled up. I do spray some Pam. The secret is patience. Leave it alone. Fold it over with your spatula when it’s pretty done as you see here.

Voila! And, it’s red and green for Christmas – just sayin’! I can even flip it with my wrist and one hand. Bragging!

Fernando Mendoza – I loved how he thanked his abuelos in Spanish. I love how humble he was and how much credit he gave his mom. Yes, we moms are awesome. I hope all of my past sporty students thought of me. I would have started class with his speech. I liked to be of the moment with current things and relate Spanish to their real lives.

Broccoli soup a la Jenn – wow! It turned out great! I always feel like such a chef when I make a soup. The chopping and the stirring, you know?

I did carrot along with the onion instead of celery. I did two bags of broccoli. I added Tony’s Cachere’s cajun seasoning. I did not use an immersion blender, but I used my potato masher to make the broccoli a bit smaller.

I have done stocking stuffers by going to CVS, Walgreen’s, Dollar Tree ($1.25 Tree), World Market, and Kroger. Most everything is consumable or practical.

I have ordered from Amazon (can’t avoid it!), Quince, Target, and Banana Republic Factory. I am almost done.

Now, I need to plan an Eve meal, a Day meal, and the food I am taking to in-laws and to my extended family. That’s a lot of planning.

I thought this was so funny. Did you know you can totally renew your passport online now? Well, if you meet certain criteria. We first got passports for our kids in 2016 and renewed ours at that time because we hadn’t used ours in such a long time. Well, kids’ expire in 7 years so they had to get new ones in 2023 but Tom and I didn’t. Tom and I took the worst pictures of each other for the online renewal:

But they worked! I renewed our passports online and it took like 5 minutes and $130 each! Gone are the days of going to Walgreen’s to get your picture taken and standing in line at the post office. Now, I found this easier to do on my phone. Sometimes a laptop is the way to go and sometimes the phone is the way to go. Because the photos were on my phone, it was such an easy process to choose them from my camera roll. #Tip!

I have been asking Alexa to play quiet Christmas music for Eddie Otis. It drowns out the outside noises that put him on edge like car doors slamming and those pesky delivery people dropping things on our porch. He likes it when I dance to the music and he goes in circles. He likes the quiet carols and he falls asleep.

Did you like this random post?

What random thing would you tell me?

Are you stressed out or calm, cool, and collected regarding the holiday?

Amy

Monday, December 15, 2025

It’s Monday and that means linking up with Sarah and Holly to share our weekends in the rearview mirror.

Thursday night we had a winter weather advisory and Mason came down with a cold. He thought chili sounded good and it was!

I think we got almost 4 inches of snow! What a snowy year so far for us! We normally don’t get anything until January and sometimes not even until February. Tom left for work as usual and the schools in our district were online, so it was pretty quiet. I can’t say I hated a quiet morning!

It was a fluffy perfect snow to walk in and we stayed out quite a long time!

I’ve started receiving some Christmas cards and it makes me nostalgic. This photo turned out so good. I got a Groupon (remember those?) and the photographer did such a nice job. Do they look identical to you? They look so different to me. Jack is on the left, Mason is on the right.

This was a Spanish teacher turned photographer friend and she did such a nice job but Tom is smiling like a 19th century person – not. I was wearing a white bra – why Amy? – and it showed up under my knit consignment dress. She fixed it through the magic of photographer sorcery! Look at Ernie! He sat pretty. Remember those Kendra Scott necklaces? I had white, black, and maybe one more. I wore them ALL the time! Jack is on the left again; Mason is on the right again.

My Aunt Sally made a card with this great picture of my mom and her siblings and spouses and the first four cousins – she put more photos on the inside – so sweet!

My mom is in red with her eyes closed and my dad is in the plaid pants, and I have a shag haircut right in front of him! Eek!

Sorry for the bad photo, but it’s a good product! I picked this up while doing stocking stuffers. It’s a little hint of sparkle. Burt’s Bees champagne if you can’t read it very well.

I didn’t leave the house Friday or yesterday – that is some January level vibes for me – but I did shower and put on real clothes. I liked how the stripes look under my new sweater that is soooo soft and warm. It could have used an iron!

Cutie boy!

The snow melted quickly on Friday! We stayed home and had frozen pizza.

I’m really having trouble getting out the door in the cold to go to the gym at 6 am. Add snow to that and yeah, no… but I did make it to the gym later in the day on Saturday. I think this is my 12th week of going to the gym?

I cleaned and got some steps in while Tom had EO out of the house. I can get so much done when Tom takes him on his Saturday long walk. I leave all the doors open (what a luxury!) and smash the cleaning. They got home and we hung out until we had to get ready.

Mason was supposed to go, too, but was still sick. We went to an Argentinian restaurant that was hosting a special paella and flamenco night. They were making a chicken and chorizo paella and a seafood paella while you watched and then you ate while you watched the performance.

Sangria!

You could also order appetizers because you had about an hour to wait to eat. We got their pommes frites with dipping sauces. I asked Tom which sauce was his favorite and he replied “ketchup”. How American!

I got half seafood and half chicken and chorizo and it was so good. They were so sweet to box up a generous portion for us to take home to Mason since we had paid for him.

The performance was so good and rivaled the one we saw in Spain a year ago to be honest! Flamenco involves guitar, singing, dancing, and the rhythm of clapping, foot work, and in some types – castanets, which are the wooden things worn on your hands. They ended with three dancers using castanets. I was really too engrossed to take photos – sorry!

Tom really liked it, too, in surprising Tom news. He was missing the UK/IU basketball game for me.

It had started snowing while we were inside and I didn’t even notice! We had a pretty snowy drive home and my heart was full from “taking a trip to Spain”.

This weekend I got to pick up some library books:

Do you watch Southern Charm on Bravo? Ms. Pat is the matriarch of the show.

Do you know much about The Blue Zones? There are some really good recipes in here, but I like to check out cookbooks from the library for space saving reasons. Some foods that stick out to me that I want to eat more of are beans, kale, and sweet potatoes and they talk about drinking tea – They eat very little meat – in fact this cookbook has no meat – and very little dairy.

In NOT Blue Zone news…

An amazing new find – at Target – these are so awesome! You can spread one on a cracker, put it in your pasta, or use it in an omelet like I did.

And, oh my goodness. I used to order the regular Built bars and my mom did, too. They were so good – almost like eating a candy bar. But, this is even better. I am not a fan of any protein bar so for me to say this is something. I have only tried the cookie dough, and I was only going to have a bite to see what I thought for my something sweet after a meal. I ate the whole thing and ordered a whole box!

I made Jenn’s broccoli soup and it is so good! I didn’t have celery so I used carrot. I could have used more. I used up random cheeses and even put in some good old Velveeta.

I finished this – so cute and it did pick up for me after a brief stall:

And, I started this and I am into it:

It’s a good thing since I only have 7 days!

So, it looks like today we will be up to 30 degrees, and we even have 50s in the forecast this week!

Tell me something you did this weekend!

Amy