Wednesday, September 3, 2025

It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time to link up with Joyce for Hodgepodge – let’s do it!

1. Next Sunday is Grandparent’s Day. Share a favorite memory, photo, recipe, or something you learned from a grandparent. 

Sadly, my Dad’s dad passed before I was born and my mom was pretty much estranged from her Dad because her parents divorced when she was 8 and he got remarried and had another set of kids. I had a maternal grandma who passed when I was in 4th grade and a paternal grandmother who I saw a couple of times a year. Neither women remarried and I think they were pretty lonely. My Dad’s mom was a great southern cook. She taught me how to make mashed potatoes. I have memories of her laughing a lot. She would give us a giant candy bar and money for Christmas each year and we had fun shopping with that money.

I sometimes feel bad that I didn’t get to have a Grandpa relationship. That sounds bad, but I think you know what I mean.

2. What’s a quote from a book (besides The Bible) that has stayed with you? 

Oh gosh, I love quotes but I rarely remember where I heard them. I will quote Gretchen Rubin from The Happiness Project “Be Gretchen”. But, I will not be Gretchen; I will be Amy. It’s so important to not try to be anyone else. Sometimes I wonder why I want something. Is it because someone told me I should? Do I even like that something? It’s exhausting to try to be someone you’re not.

3. What’s your number one food pet peeve? 

I swear I’m not a snob, but I really appreciate nice glassware, plates, and cloth napkins. I hate syrofoam! Wasn’t that supposed to be banned? I rarely buy paper plates to use at my house. We use cloth napkins because I already go through so many paper towels cooking and cleaning. My mom thought it was weird that I didn’t buy napkins for everyday use. I do like little cute cocktail napkins.

4. What’s one thing about you that is still the same as it was when you were young? 

There’s a really cool book called The Artist’s Way which I guess you could say is a workbook about tapping into your creative side and the part that stuck with me was a question about what you enjoyed doing when you were 9 years old. So many people don’t let themselves enjoy beloved pastimes. We cram our schedules with non-important things and we miss out on the creative side of our personality.

I recently asked my super creative “little” cousin Curt in Michigan how he fills his creative side and he loved that question. Curt was born way later than the rest of the cousins and we loved him. He was like our little toy. He has a serious safety job now and didn’t go into a creative career. He told us that he designs the boat decor for the boat parade on the lake each summer and makes funny videos with his dog and the family’s dogs.

Back to me…

So, I always loved reading and my parents could hardly get my attention if I was reading. I still love reading.

I loved writing, directing, and acting in plays. You better believe teaching is a lot like acting, and stand up comedy.

I loved making up songs. I made up songs for teaching things.

I loved baking. I still do and I love cooking even more now.

And, this might come as a surprise, but I rap. I wrote and performed a divorce rap for my sister.

Hahahahaha!

No, I will not be sharing it here. You’re welcome, Kate. And, there’s too much that is inside joke material and it’s not rated G for all audiences.

5. September is National Preparedness Month…does your family have an emergency plan? Do you have some sort of preparedness kit you keep on hand? If so, tell us one thing that’s kept there. 

Um, no. I need to work on this. I mean – we have lots of things we could scrounge up, but not a dedicated kit unless Tom hasn’t told me about it.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Give me all the apple recipes! I bought this apple butter at Kroger this weekend. Apple butter always reminds me of my girl scout troop because we made it homemade one year! Also, I made it in my crockpot while I was teaching online during the pandemic. I forgot all about that. It smelled so good all day while it was cooking away.

Amy

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

It’s hard to believe I have been blogging for over 7 years now. Seven? 7? I never remember the rules about typing numbers.

The purpose of this post…

I realize I have some new readers around here and also I have some newish things in my life. I will try to pepper in some photos so you aren’t so bored.

My name is Amy. I am 53. Why lie? If I lie about my age, I’m only going up so people can say I look amazing – “Oh my gosh – you look so good for 73!”

I am married to Tom who is 4.5 years older than me. We have been married for 25 years. We have only ever lived in one home! We bought it a couple of months before the wedding. We have one more major renovation project to do and it’s the kitchen. I hate renovation commotion and mess but I love the results.

This is Tom:

He doesn’t normally smile for pictures but our friend got him to smile over his bowl of lit up ice he ordered for dinner recently.

Almost exactly two years after our wedding, we had identical twin boys! My kids are almost 23 and I don’t talk about them much on the blog because they are private and it’s not their blog. After graduating from college they moved home and it’s been a little over a year and one is getting ready to get an apartment here in town (moving out today, to be exact) and the other is working toward it. I seriously could not have done my last year of teaching without their help at home with our puppy.

I absolutely have loved being a mom to these two!

We have a 1.5 year old chocolate lab named Eddie Otis.

Tom and his new baby last summer:

The baby is now big:

He is a handful but sure does make us laugh and add lots of excitement to our home.

I just retired from 31 years as a high school Spanish teacher on July 1. It’s still surreal to me and I’m figuring out my new normal.

Tom is a construction estimator. It’s great that he never has to be exact.

I had some fun on the first day of school in my old district:

I love reading, cooking, being outside in nature, fashion, quality time with family and friends and I write about all of that here. Thank you for being here! I can’t believe how much joy this blog has brought to me.

Tom and I have a lot in common but we also have a lot of differences; I just wrote about our extrovert/introvert natures if you are interested.

We live in Louisville, Ky now but are both from small towns. I am from a small town in Indiana and Tom is from a small town in Eastern Kentucky. But, Tom was born in Germany and lived there until he was two years old. Tom’s sister and her family also live here in Louisville but I don’t have any family here.

My twins first Halloween costume made by Tom:

Look at those chubby legs and cute feet! My twins were born at 30 weeks weighing only 2.9 and 2.14 pounds so everything seemed amazing for a really long time. They spent 6 weeks in the NICU.

I am the oldest of three girls and I adore my sisters. They are both teachers – one in Indiana and one in Ohio.

My Dad passed away in 2018 after a brutal 7 week hospital stay here in Louisville. For anything pretty major, people get transferred to Indianapolis or Louisville from my small hometown. It was a blessing that he was in the hospital here because I got to see him every day, but it was also extremely hard rushing from school to the hospital and all the other things I had to do. My mom stayed at my house during that time and we helped her get to and from the hospital. He had a hernia and when they went to fix it they found cancer and the hernia was probably caused by the cancer.

My mom passed away suddenly last January. It’s been a rough year. I am lucky I have two sisters to share the load with. In this photo, we visited our parents’ graves together. We also cleaned out the house over several weekends, had an estate sale, and are now selling the house.

So, in addition to my new retirement status I am adjusting to life with no living parents.

I try to keep it real here on the blog. Tom hates that expression “keeping it real”…

I hope that I am mostly positive, but there are times when I share the negative.

I love blogging and I think it’s a more sincere connection than social media. I do try to respond to all my comments but sometimes I fall behind. Just know that I read and treasure each and every one of them.

Did you learn anything new about me?

Amy

Monday, September 1, 2025

It’s Labor Day here in the US which is our unofficial end of summer. The official end isn’t until September 22 when the autumnal equinox occurs. I always get a little sad just because I love the feeling of summer (not necessarily the heat of summer) and I know it will be a long time and a lot to endure (winter) before another one comes around.

I thought I would still post today and join the Hello Monday link up if they have it.

Also, I posted on Saturday in case you missed it!

Nothing happened and I am not trying to send a not so subtle message; I just liked this:

You go, girl! Yassss, queen!

Why am I so bad at selfies? We’ll never know. Let’s go back to Thursday Hair Day…

Before:

After:

We had some grays to cover up this time and did that with low lights and I was very pleased with the results.

Eddie Otis and I noticed all the leaves in this yard on our walk earlier in the day…

I got home late from my hair appointment so we ordered pizza for dinner. We hadn’t done this in quite a while.

Friday I stayed home all day and just read and did chores. It was really nice. But, at 4:00, I went to Grassa Gramma to meet my friend Elizabeth for happy hour. They have a new 4-6 happy hour with $5 cocktails and specially priced apps, too.

I had a margarita with a sugar rim:

We had Tuscan potatoes and focacia and that ended up being my dinner because it filled me up; I went home and made corn on the cob, okra, and bbq for the fam.

Saturday morning I got to pick up the remainder of my new glasses!

Prescription sunglasses:

Prescription reading glasses:

I spent several hours reading this on Friday because I couldn’t put it down and then I finished it Saturday morning. I really enjoyed this book. I don’t know what I expected but it wasn’t what I expected and I was also surprised that it interested me.

Then I started this:

At 5:00, we met our two couples friends at the boat (this was after the UK football game, of course!) I brought Heather, Heather, and I a giant Hugo spritz and used the last of the St. Germaine elderflower liqueur bottle. They loved it. We rode around and then parked at Captain’s Quarters in the last available boat parking spot for dinner. I think everyone had the same idea!

I ordered a mahi melt.

We rode around more after dinner…

Dudes in the back and chicas in the front!

Party cove was happening!

We don’t go out in the evening enough so this was really nice and the weather was amazing!

I had to make a normal grocery run Sunday and wore this:

Trying this out. Yes, I am kinda obsessed with brown sugar right now.

I read the Sunday paper on the porch, did some dinner prep, read my book, ate lunch…

Then, I made myself go work on bins in the basement. I have a huge holiday decor donation pile and I want to get that out so others can be enjoying it. I set a timer and worked for an hour and got a lot done.

And, that’s about it for the first couple of days of the weekend.

I hope you are having a good one!

Amy

Saturday, August 30, 2025

I’m coming to you on a rare Saturday to join in Share 4 Somethings with Jenn!

Things I’ve loved…

I live in front of an elementary school and it’s where my kids went from k-5. If I go out my back fence in the morning the grass is really wet, so sometimes I walk down to the path which is maybe 8 houses down from mine.

I love bamboo!

I love all this overgrown ivy (I think that is what it is) and I love to see this view in all four seasons. I am definitely a four season gal. It would be hard for me to live somewhere where you didn’t have those distinct seasons.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen this gate open. There is a house that runs a bonsai tree (and other types of trees) business – can you see them in the background of the photo?

It warmed my heart to see all the neighborhood kids that are biking to school in 2025.

“Ma’am you’re going to have to stop taking photos on the school grounds” – just kidding. I didn’t get called out.

Things I’ve learned…

Even when I just read chick lit, I feel like I learn something or get a new perspective. I now want to go to a local bookstore and support them. I almost went to an event this week but I had another obligation and it would have been tight to get there. Tidy Dad is from near Louisville and was speaking at Carmichael’s bookstore. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a book event. I did go hear Gretchen Rubin speak once but it was at a big venue.

Anyway, this book was so cute. I really enjoyed it.

And, then, I started this and oh my goodness…I am learning things about space!

Some things the went well…

I had a really good week. Was this a one off or am I learning a new routine? Is it the fact that the weather has been so good. It’s probably all of that. I loved being able to have a patio lunch this week with a friend. I think I would like to do lunch out once a week.

This is just such a novelty for someone who packed their lunch and scarfed it down in 12 minutes for 31 years. I had a 20 minute lunch but I had to talk to kids, go to the restroom, heat it up, etc. Lol.

Some things I’ve let go of…

Well, I am in the process of letting go of cookbooks. I don’t want this rack when I have a new kitchen. It’s a hot mess. I do have a cabinet where I can not have my favorite cookbooks out looking messy.

I love this moms’ group cookbook, my mom’s best friend gifted us her recipes one Christmas, and then the last one is a cookbook I made for my family!

I am sentimental about keeping recipes with loved ones’ handwriting. I have my mom’s recipe box. I need a way to share any of her recipes with my sisters and their families.

How do you feel about cookbooks and recipes these days?

And, a little off topic…

It’s so hard to see these photos sometimes. This was about this time of year when they were getting ready to walk to school. We almost always put Jack in red because that was his favorite color. Mason was usually blue or green. Look how tan these little squirts were.

And, another little bonus. I often have people say I do a lot or I know about a lot of things going on in my community. Well, I did a really bad job at that this summer, but I do want to share my strategy.

I see lots of things on Facebook or Instagram. I screenshot them on my phone and keep them in my camera roll until they have happened. I also pencil them in on my agenda. If I am able to go, great. If the weather isn’t conducive or I don’t feel like it, no big deal. I also sometimes ask someone that I think would enjoy that event.

Here are some possibilities coming up. It’s Oktoberfest season!

It looks like I cut off the details but I will look them up on their website.

Tom loves bluegrass so on a Sunday that we aren’t boating I thought this would be fun:

In addition, I keep a list on my phone in the memo of things I want to do or places I want to go:

I have not made an early fall bucket list, but I should do that soon.

It was fun to be with you on a Saturday!

Amy

Friday, August 29. 2025

Happy Friday to all! Not only is it Friday, but it’s Labor Day weekend Friday. Do you get a little sad when Labor Day rolls around? I do. I love fall but I have always dreaded winter. I am trying to work on that.

Let’s share some favorites from the week, ok? I am linking up with Andrea and Erika for their fun Friday link up!

I love my new glasses! I am anxiously awaiting the prescription sunglasses and reading glasses. They said they would take 2 weeks to come in – boo!

I bought this elderflower sparkling wine a few weeks ago at Trader Joe’s and finally tried it Sunday afternoon and it is good. It’s like a lazy man’s Hugo Spritz. I thought the bottle was beautiful.

I ordered pumpkin flavored Premier Protein last fall and didn’t use it all and it’s still not expired. I have several bottles left. It made a fun iced coffee this week. I added a splash of vanilla to it, too. Again, this Nescafe Gold is really good with a cold brew or made into a hot coffee.

I had a spur of the moment fun patio lunch Monday with my friend Beth. Sunday afternoon she texted and said she was free Monday or Thursday and I picked Monday. I love having the time in my schedule to be spontaneous.

I ordered a salmon taco and a chicken taco and they were so good for the price. I need to go here more. You order at the counter and they bring it out to you but the food is really good. I was super impressed.

I had more patio time this week. I love looking up at this tree.

I love when Tom turns the patio lights on in the dark. I rarely think to turn them on so it makes me happy when he does it.

I also had my first PSL on the first day of PSL at Starbuck’s. I got a tall and it was $6! I really do like my coffee better now, but this was a fun treat to celebrate the first day they had it on offering.

Then, I went to look at the fall stuff at Hobby Lobby and I was not impressed. Everything seemed really cheap looking and/or not my style. I left empty handed.

I was not prepared for how much Christmas stuff they had out.

I haven’t been this season, but I have been impressed with Michael’s holiday decor offerings lately. They used to be just a craft store but have gotten more decor. That is where my pencil trees came from, too. I still love them.

You might remember my coffee shop time a couple of weeks ago with my former student Madeleine. She taught in Madrid last year, is going back to Madrid in September for another year, and I met up with her when I was in Madrid last fall. Well, we had a goal to speak only Spanish the next time we met up and we made it happen this week.

We have a little tapas place called Mojito and we sat in this little area that tends to be quieter for dinner. We spoke only Spanish for two hours and it was wonderful! She is so good! We made the rule that we would correct each other if needed. There were a couple of vocabulary words that she didn’t know and I reviewed her on a couple of verb tenses but her accent is better than mine and she is just soooooo good! It was so fun!

When you are a Spanish teacher, you have to speak Spanish teacher Spanish to some degree – as clear as possible, verb tenses and constructions that they know, and vocabulary that they know. I was able to just speak as I would to a native speaker and it was really good practice for me. She is a doll and I am so proud of her! Also, Spanish is a hobby for me and I always want to try to improve and be better.

We had one margarita and it was good!

I let her pick the tapas since I can go anytime.

We had guac and plantain chips:

queso fundido with chorizo:

and not pictured and the star of the meal – dates stuffed with goat cheese wrapped in bacon.

I am pretty excited about football shaped chocolate chips:

It’s not because I love football, but I think the shape will be interesting in chocolate chip cookies! Also, maybe they will be bigger? I plan to look for them!

I like these salad kids and use them as a base for my lunch salads sometimes.

I caught a cute photo of Eddie Otis sleeping on his big lambie or as Tom named him “Lambie Gigante”. He also has a normal sized lambchop stuffie.

I love listening to Tom talk to Eddie Otis. It’s really cute.

What were your favorites this week?

Amy

Thursday, August 28, 2025

It’s Thursday and it’s fashion day with Kellyann and Jill! To me, this is a fun time to get dressed! We have had 70s, y’all! I apologize to my Florida and Texas friends who have asked that I not share the temps we are enjoying right now. I love mixing long sleeves with shorts and jeans with short sleeves. Also, I know that we will get more 90s before fall comes.

As always, I am keeping it real. I take one mirror photo as I’m heading out of my bathroom. Sometimes the lighting is really bad!

I wore this to happy hour Friday – this is my new Walmart denim skirt and this is a TJ Maxx blouse. It was a little hotter than anticipated and the blouse wasn’t very breathable for a patio situation.

This is a clearance TJ Maxx blouse from last winter and I love the teal/red combo. It’s fully lined and it was fine temp wise for a patio lunch with my friend, but the tag was driving me crazy and itching my neck. I cut it out when I got home and will see if that helps. It’s also very static inducing. I have on a pair of old jeans that I swear have the seam off center in the front. It bugs me. So, I may say goodbye to both of these pieces because who has time for things that make them uncomfortable?

This was a Sunday farmer’s market outfit. I ended up changing shoes because I walked in this first. I changed into my Adidas Sambas.

I mentioned that I ordered straight leg Halaras. I have wide leg in medium denim, light denim, and black.

These are the new straight legs:

I accidentally ordered regular instead of petite length so I had my tailor hem them for $20 which did make the jeans a little pricey. Look what a good job she did on the hem:

And, the length is just perfect for a variety of different footwear.

I tried this on:

I ended up wearing this to dinner with my former student:

So, I am thrilled.

Here is the wide leg for a side by side comparison. Also, my blog reader and friend Kim said that she knows a gal who had the wide legs made less wide by her tailor. That would be a bigger job and more expensive I’m sure. I do think these could stand to be hemmed a bit, as well.

Anyway, now I am the proud owner of 4 pairs of Halaras, soon to be 5 pairs…

Do you follow these 53 year old Michigan twins on IG? They were talking about sweat pant jeans and I was intrigued. Well, they were talking about $218 jeans from Rag and Bone!

Aren’t they cute? So, track pants are going to be big for fall and winter and I think we will also see track pant jeans.

I ordered these! Only certain colors came in petite so I had to go with one of those. Knowing myself, I will probably overthink the stripes and what they can be worn with, but I hope I made a good decision!

I am getting ready to inventory my fall clothing and I think these jeans make sense for me in this stage. I am shunning anything that looks or feels too teachery. I am putting together my retiree wardrobe!

What have you been wearing lately?

What are you excited about for fall?

Amy

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

It’s Wednesday and you know the drill. I’m linking up with Joyce for Hodgepodge. Thanks for being here!

1. When someone finds out what you do or where you’re from, what’s a question they always ask? 

Well, when people found out I was a high school Spanish teacher, I had to listen to some really bad Spanish. They would often just add an “o” to each word. I had to try to smile. I would often get a lot of “I don’t know how you do it”, too.

No one really bats an eye that I am from Indiana since it’s just across the river from where I live now.

2. Did you participate in ‘Greek Life’ when you were in college, or have children who did? If so what was your experience like? Taking another tack…have you ever been to Greece? If not, is that a destination on your bucket list? 

I did! I was a Kappa Delta. I went to a very small college with only three sororities. I am glad I didn’t join until my sophomore year so I got to know and be friends with lots of different people. But, at a small school you couldn’t help being friends with people in other sororities.

My kids – nope.

Can I just say that I think sorority rush has become crazy? Do you see the elaborate dance numbers they have to learn? The themes they have to come up with? The outfits they have to sport? And, the outfits that the girls going through rush have to wear with all the accessories?

I have not been to Greece but I would like to go. One of my best friends is Greek. She moved to the US when she was 19 I believe.

3. Do you like Greek food? If so what’s your favorite dish?  

I love Mediterranean food and sometimes that encompasses Greek food. Victoria introduced me to green beans with tomatoes. I love tzatziki sauce and have learned to make that with Greek yogurt, lemon juice, cucumbers, and Greek seasoning – oh and water! I love feta! Even better if it is whipped feta – see above!

4. What incredibly common thing have you never done? 

I have never been on a cruise.

5. What is a telltale sign that you’re upset? 

Oh, you know when I am upset. My face does not hide my emotions. I usually tell anyone and everyone that I am upset!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I can’t believe how fast my hair has grown out since the end of June.

My haircut end of June:

Now:

Not the best picture, but I feel like it’s grown quite a bit.

What say you to any of these questions?

Amy

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

I like to do these super random posts every now and again! Grab a coffee and let’s chat!

-I’m not interested in drinking much alcohol this summer and apparently drinking alcohol is at a low nationwide. I have noticed more mocktails and non-alcoholic beverages on restaurant menus. Sometimes I just want to feel fancy so I will put a drink in a wine glass or my pretty hob nail glasses. And, adding a slice of fruit makes it fancy, too.

-My credit card was compromised and I used it as an opportunity to put myself on an Amazon diet. I had been using Amazon too freely this summer, to be honest. So, my last order on my old credit card was August 6th and I didn’t place another one until Saturday, August 23rd when I finally loaded my new card on my Amazon account.

-Eddie Otis has been bothered by the morning school commute. We live in front of an elementary school, a block from a middle school, and then just a bit further is the high school (my former school). The elementary starts at 7:30 and the middle and high start at 8:40. He seems to bark the most at the voices just talking as they walk by! This is his morning nap time, by the way. He gets up around 6:00 and has a lot of activity until about 7:30 when he is ready to nap by his mom (me). So, I have started playing some white noise on either my phone or my laptop like this Youtube relaxing ocean sounds for my sensitive baby. Lol!

-I’m going through Rubbermaid totes of my mom’s baby book, yearbooks, photo albums, and different sentimental things. I would say my sisters and I divvied up 10 totes. I found one of my mom’s WWII ration books. Apparently they were numbered and each member of a family received one and then would get another one when it ran out or after a certain amount of time. This led me to do some light research about these ration books. I also read that women would pool their stamps to have enough for birthday cakes and to help each other out. I feel badly that I didn’t know much about this until now. My mom was born in 1942 and WWII ended in 1945. I am assuming her mother saved the ration book and my mom kept it all these years. I am way more interested in history now than when I was in high school. I didn’t hate history class, but it just seems more interesting to me now. I think this is normal.

-Do you think blogging is dying out? I only read about 20 now. I used to read more but I let go of the ones that became only “shopping blogs”. I want a little bit of everything in a blog – life, thoughts, fashion, product recommendations, books, tv, movies, recipes, memes, funny stuff, random stuff – you know. I can’t find many blogs that will give me what I want anymore. Any recs? I am not hating on blogs that have become shopping blogs – more power to them to be making this kind of money. Get it while the getting is good.

-Another thought that is really mostly for bloggers…I want to start a link up. I think I would like it to be re-styling a wardrobe piece or trying a fashion trend. Like one week could just be brown – brown is going to be big for fall. Shocking, I know! Or, what do you already have in your closet that can be a riff off of this catalog photo. I know this is nothing new to the fashion blogging world but I feel that it has been lost in the world of LTK and links for items. This would be you can’t buy something new.

Can you think of a link up idea that you would enjoy either participating in or reading about? I currently do Hello Monday, Tuesday Slices of Life, Wednesday Hodgepodge, Thursday Fashion Files, and Friday Favorites. Tuesday is very free/open to whatever you want to talk about thanks to Joanne. But, maybe running a link up is too much work – lol.

That was fun but my coffee is now cold! I really do appreciate you all showing up here day after day. Do you think my blog has changed since I’ve retired? I think I write longer posts. I know I could make it more professional looking but my son made my header and that’s special to me. I could get all the fancy side bar things but again, I don’t know how much I want to change around here.

Deep thoughts, right?

Amy

Monday, August 25, 2025

Can you even believe it’s the last week of August? And, that this coming weekend is Labor Day weekend? It is early this year if I’m not mistaken. Boy, did that sneak up on me! I am excited for Tom to have a long weekend. He has been so busy at work this summer and has hardly taken any time off.

Let’s link up with Sarah and Holly and recap the weekend which I like to say starts sometime on Thursday here on the ol’ blog!

Why is it just such a pleasure to shop at Trader Joe’s? I apologize again if you don’t have one, but maybe you have your own version of a smaller market that would give you joy?

Anyway… I went there on Thursday.

People keep asking me how I am liking retirement and first, I feel like it’s still summer for some reason so it hasn’t really hit me, and second, I would say I like not being in a hurry. I don’t feel like I am in a hurry right now.

They had these $3.99 bouquets at the front and I thought they were early fall colors.

Mason bought a bougie chocolate milk in a glass container a few weeks ago and I have been saving it for some flowers. Now, how cute is that? You better be sitting in your house saying “so cute”!

This was gone, gone, gone last time I was in TJ’s and I found it this time and it really is quite impressive! It’s 10 calories a squirt. I don’t like that word; it’s a little heavy on the onomatopoeia. I used to be able to spell that without checking, but I must admit that I copied and pasted.

I had a leftover Chick Fil A salad when I got home:

Also, can I say I felt like a different person when the heat broke? Look at this! I told Tom it felt like Michigan Thursday morning!

I made fish sticks, mac and cheese, and peas for dinner – one of Tom’s favorite meals and probably my least favorite.

Friday I did house work and then I met Erica for happy hour at a hole in the wall called Joe’s Older Than Dirt. The night I first met Tom we ended up there so that is a fun memory. Heather was dating his friend so a group of our girl friends met up with Heather’s friend and his posse and the rest is history.

I got a blackberry lemonade slushie. It was a little sweet and I couldn’t finish it all but it was good.

I got there early to avoid traffic and read my book and when Erica arrived we got some pretzels and queso. Their queso is surprisingly really good. She filled me in with school stuff and told me some sweet things people said about my absence. She told me some drama, too. I feel pretty neutral hearing about school. I don’t know if I am just blocking that or if I feel like that was another lifetime ago already!

Then, I went home and Tom picked me up and we met our friends at the Mexican place we like. I ordered what I thought was a skinny strawberry marg and this arrived. It was way too sweet and I couldn’t drink it.

I also had zero chips because I had the prezels and queso. Who even am I? Send ayuda! That’s just a little Spanish.

Saturday morning was another Michigan morning and it feels so good to be able to sit outside again! I forgot to say I had a fresh mini library haul on Thursday, too.

I picked up some interesting canned bevvies – as the young kids say. This lemon mojito was surprisingly good and not too sweet.

And, this can has my heart. And, it’s delish. I am going back for more of these.

I got to drive my favorite road Saturday. It’s been closed for work for quite some time but it’s open for a month break in the work. It runs right along the river.

We had a super chill boat day with my high school friends who are now also Tom’s friends. We looked at the downtown from the river and then pulled into Captain’s Quarters and sat in the shade, ordered lunch, ate the lunch, chewed the cud, and then tooled around a bit more. These people are called Dan, Mike, and Beth.

We saw the cutest little boat that had more dogs than people.

The water and the sun takes it out of you so I showered and then finished this book. So cute! I learned about some NYC landmarks while reading this. It’s like NYC is a character, too.

Then I decided to start this next..

I am pretty much done with books with “summer” in the title. I may have overdosed. Where are the fall books? Anyone?

Kristin mentioned watching Bad Teacher recently so when I saw it coming on the tv Saturday night (Youtube TV so much like the old normal tv/cable) I was able to watch the whole thing. It’s so silly/funny and there are lots of good actors in it. Do I use slashes too much? I like them.

This is what Eddie Otis thought about it:

I love when he has part of his cheek/mouth (I did it again) in his mouth like this. He’s the weirdest dog.

Another cool morning with another frothy coffee. You want to break up with Starbuck’s? Get you some fun coffeecessories like a frother, cute cups, cold foam, etc.

I walked, put laundry away, got a couple of things from Kroger, and then met one of my Heathers at a Sunday afternoon farmer’s market.

She specifically wanted to see this lady that paints gorgeous oyster shells and sells them for a reasonable price. Have you seen these?

We walked around and bought a couple of things and had a nice time.

Then, I got some patio time with my book – ahhhhh.

Saw this on IG this weekend. Isn’t this great? Limit your time with those who drain if you can, right? What if it’s your boss? Um, you just have to deal with that for now.

Tell me something that made you happy this weekend?

Did you also have cooler temps?

Amy

Friday, August 22, 2025

Happy Friday! I am linking up with Andrea and Erika for the most fun post of the week!

This week went by quickly for me! I did something I’ve been putting off which made me feel accomplished, I took something to the tailor, I did some adulting by meeting with our financial planner, and I took some things to a donation center. I didn’t shop for recreation in person or online! So, I had a good week I would say!

I knew my prescription was wrong. I only wear glasses now and I really only wear them to drive and watch tv. During the pandemic when I was teaching from home I just stopped putting in my contacts. I was nearsighted and I just didn’t really need them at home and they compromised my up close reading which I did need so I would have to wear readers. I never went back to contacts!

As you get older, nearsightedness improves but of course you do need the readers. So, I hadn’t been to the eye doctor in 4 years. My nearsightedness is better and my up close vision is still not that bad. I opted not to get bifocals or progressive lens but I did opt to get prescription readers.

Here are my new distance vision glasses and they were already ready the same day!

I have to wait two weeks or so for my readers to come in but this is what I chose:

And, prescription sunglasses are a game changer. I had mine stolen last summer from Tom’s car and just never replaced them. I will say it was fun to wear different pairs of cheap sunglasses but lately I had been wearing them over my regular glasses and it was just not a cool look.

I went with classics but these are a more updated aviator than the ones I had before:

This is what I wore – again finding things that work with my new red Free People espadrille Mary Janes! By the way, I ended up wearing these that day from 9 am until 7 pm without ever taking them off. They are that comfortable and breathable.

I should have done my hair because of all the glasses photos I was going to be taking..

I took off my white mani and replaced it with this fun highlighter yellow. I use Impress brand and they really work for me. Here is a more detailed post if you have been curious. I’m sorry I talk about them so much, but these are definitely a favorite.

I ran out of my coconut oil and got a replacement jar. I try to get organic since I’m using it on my face. I use this cute little wooden spoon to get it out of the jar and then the coconut oil melts a bit in your hands. I use this as a makeup remover and just put it on my face before every shower even if I didn’t wear makeup. I also put it on both elbows. I’m not kidding when I say this has been life changing for my skin. I never have dry skin anymore.

Sadly, I finished Gilded Age season 3! This is the season that it got so good but you had to have the back story of seasons 1 and 2, of course. I’m so sad I finished it. The clothes are stunning and it’s interesting to think of what life was like in NYC during the gilded age of our country. And, yes I did some reading about this time period and want to do more!

I’m so sad I finished this book this week, too! I really enjoyed this story!

She also wrote The Flatshare which I loved. I can’t remember if I tried to watch the show version of that book. I think I tried it and didn’t like it.

Now, I have started this and love it so far!

I guess my iphone photos used to be this bad, but I came across this middle school photo of my boys this week. The went to public school but wore uniforms from K-8 and I loved it! Jack is in the black and Mason is in the gold. You can see their silly personalities in this photo.

I came across this photo of Eddie Otis’ dad Terry and thought I would compare EO now that he is growing up. He won’t be two years old until February but I feel like he might be at his full grown size now.

Dad Terry:

Son Eddie Otis:

Do you think they look alike? Terry has a really interesting face. Do you give dogs voices? I feel like Terry has a real country accent and is maybe a red neck.

Did I tell you that I connected with Eddie Otis’ brother Rowdy on Facebook? Well, I connected with Rowdy’s mom. They really look alike. The kennel where we got EO has a Facebook page and that is how I get to see other pups.

This week Eddie Otis stole my bra and ran around the house with it. It was in my bathroom. He also found a nickel and chewed on it for awhile until I could get it. If we were to do an x-ray right now there’s no telling what would be in his stomach. Have I told you how many socks he’s eaten? This dog!

You all seemed to really enjoy talking about extroverts and introverts this week and that made me happy!

I came across this photo of Frida Kahlo with the headline about an “otrovert”. Oh no!

Isn’t that just a human emotion that we sometimes all feel? Come on now, we don’t need another classification.

I kind of forgot about this CFA drink but got it again this week. It’s the pineapple dragonfruit lemonade and I got the diet version. It’s super sweet. It’s limited so try it soon if that sounds like something you would like, too!

This was my mom’s favorite comfort food and I needed it this week. It’s just macaroni noodles and tomato sauce.

Erica is keeping me in the loop about school stuff (Erica is my former co-worker/Spanish teacher/bestie from work) and there has been some drama. I had an afternoon coffee this week and this mug seemed appropriate! She gave this to me, too – “It’s not my problem anymore!” And, we are talking about the other adults in the building causing the drama. The kids are great! There are power hungry people in schools, too. They want more meetings than is necessary and they forget what they are they for – the kids!

I made taco salad again this week and used this mini Doritos and I think they work great for a taco salad. They are so cute!

I thought this was interesting…

I think people are just struggling with how expensive eating out has become! I love that more people are cooking at home. I especially love how many of my twenty something former students are learning to meal prep and cook and my own kids are included in that. Many of my former students post their meals on Instagram!

If you have a Fresh Market near you, I found out they have $5 pizzas on Tuesdays that are 12 inches (so pretty big!) and they have some great flavors. They also have $5 sushi on Thursdays. These little deals are good to remember in this high priced food economy.

Isn’t this the truth?

Like I said, I took another load to donation this week. I decided it doesn’t have to be huge but that every load I take can bless someone else and help me manage my spaces.

Love this!

Are you suffering from “friendflation”? I was recently thinking about how expensive being a bridesmaid has gotten. There is almost always a bachelorette trip now.

It’s good to have friends that want to do cheaper activities.

I love this!

Many of you commented on me standing in line for a ham. It wasn’t just any ham. But, yes, it is kind of like Christmas with the Kranks movie! Honeybaked ham has a heavenly crust baked in and it really is the best ham you will ever have. You ordered it online or on the phone back then and had certain windows to pick it up, I think. I just felt that I had to explain that – lol.

Well, happy Friday to you! What was a favorite of yours this week?

Amy