with Sarah and Holly!

Monday, March 3, 2025

I had a really busy weekend and when you hear what I did you might think I’m really sad. I am, but I also feel peace.

Friday night we got a spur of the moment dinner invite so we took it. We met our couple friends at Drake’s where it was nosy and the table was tiny.

Tom and I both felt spent after that dinner. We do not like going out at prime time!

Saturday I knew I had a big day ahead of me. I headed to my hometown and they were having a girls’ shopping weekend with a Mardi Gras theme. I looked around a bit before meeting my sisters at our parents’ house.

We decided to just have the three of us this time to assess and make a timeline of clearing out their estate. Now this was not the house we grew up in…our parents moved when I was 33, Kate was 30, and Molly was 27. So, we were all married and out of the house.

Something weird…

We have never seen these photos of our parents and they were sitting side by side on the piano. We are going to ask the kids and anyone who was last at the house if they found them and placed them there.

First we sat at the kitchen table and I had made a list and a copy for each of us. We divided up the remaining thank yous and went through some paperwork. We decided how to start going through things.

We worked for about 5 hours. Then we stopped to get ready for dinner out and on the way we stopped to see if our mom’s gravestone was done. Our parents are buried in the Veteran’s cemetery so my mom will have hers on the back of our Dad’s – I didn’t realize this. As we were walking toward their spot I just snapped a quick photo without really looking and when I looked at it…

Pretty cool, right?

We had a little time to kill and stopped in a brewery and tried a couple of local beers…

Remember the hearts last month? Now the town has shamrocks on the street lights…

We had a lovely dinner downtown…

We split a few things and then went home and watched a silly video we had made in 1998 that was Kate’s idea. Kate had wanted to make future predictions in 1998. She had it converted to a DVD in 2018. It had been since 2018 that we had watched it. So, we laughed and laughed. In the video I am 26, Kate is 23, and Molly is almost 20.

And, in this part of the video we did a sorority girl skit in old formal dresses we found.

Our parents, aunt and uncle, cousin, and family friends were also in the video. Kate’s first husband and Tom were also in it! So, it was a lot of fun to see them 27 years ago. We also looked at a family photo album.

Sunday morning we got up and got coffee – of course. Then, we jumped back in to cleaning out a few more areas. We put post it notes on certain things we want certain people to have.

I got home around 2 on Sunday and the fam had picked up the groceries and put them away and I collapsed. I rallied and made spaghetti, though.

Anyway, I think it went better than I anticipated. I feel good about what we did and how we did it. There were so many good things in the 24 hours we were together. We found penny after penny in so many places – lol.

I’m going to need a lot of coffee today!

That sounds right!

I am so excited for it to stay lighter out later! Yay!

How was your weekend? It turned cold on us again after such a nice week. Darn it! March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. The weather very much had lion qualities this weekend. There was a nasty cold wind.

Hope your Monday isn’t too bad?

Amy

Friday, February 28, 2025

Ahhhhh….Friday! It’s time to link up with Andrea and Erika to share what made us smile this week.

How was your week? A highlight for me was definitely your comments and trying to get back into a routine of responding and interacting.

I knew it would be a long week. I can’t remember the last time I did a five day week. Maybe it was the second week of January? It wasn’t that bad, though, and our school board made the kids very happy. They forgave 4 or 5 snow days and the kids’ last day of school is earlier than I can remember – Friday, May 23rd. That is before Memorial Day. Now, they haven’t stated the teacher last day. I have a feeling we will be going a whole week after the kids because they aren’t going to pay us for not working. We had to do this once before and it was as bad as it sounds. We were so done and had to continue having meetings. Lol. Oh well… there is nothing I can do about it and no sense worrying about it now.

I was inspired by this and it’s so true. What is the tomorrow you want? Sometimes it’s hard to know the answer to that question.

Sunday afternoon Tom and I (and Eddie Otis) drove down to see how high the river had gotten. It had already gone down at this point but it was still a nice little drive and seeing the blue skies and the sun shining was a balm for the soul.

I found the best Rothy’s dupe I have seen. I think Rothy’s prices are ridiculous at full price. And, they really make your feet sweat in a weird way. Target had these and I wore them for a full day. They really have no support, but they are cute and great for a shorter time period.

I recommend if you are in the market for a black flat. I do think we will be seeing Mary Janes a lot this spring.

If you read my Fashion Files post yesterday, you know I showed this photo.

I am starting to get excited about a major closet purge. I will still love and wear my gauzy fabrics but might need to let go of an older white piece or two. White just doesn’t last as long.

I am getting rid of anything that doesn’t fit right now, has stains, is pilled, looks dingy, or that I am not excited to wear.

I know we aren’t done with winter weather, but I always start this process around this time of year.

I didn’t get a great picture, but Tom has taught Eddie Otis to give him a hug. He sits on the ottoman and Eddie Otis jumps up and wraps his arms/paws around him. It’s the cutest! I’m going to remind you of one of the most sweet and heartbreaking quotes of Tom…”I don’t like who I am without a dog”. He said this after Ernie passed away.

Tom is also watching Pitch Perfect in this photo. If Pitch Perfect is on the tv, Tom watches it. He knows every word and sometimes stands up and does the choreography. Tom doesn’t fit in any mold – let me tell you. But, neither do I. That man keeps me laughing.

Why is this so good? I kind of always thought Ina was a snob. I love watching the guy on IG who imitates her. I guess I was wrong. If her memoir is true, she is a scrappy, self-made woman. Her story is super interesting. I think her tone of voice is kinda snobby on her show so I think I am glad I’m reading it and not listening to her read it.

And, for my fiction, I am still reading Winter Wish. It’s so cute but right now Ina is taking the cake for me.

I am so proud of my 2025 reading! I’m doing way better than I have in the past. I’m choosing books over tv and it’s so much more satisfying.

This has been our forecast this week and I’ve managed to read outside each day for a bit.

I don’t have a photo, but Mason’s college roommate came over after work Wednesday night and they went to the playground behind our house and played basketball for like 2 hours. Then, they came back and I had made chicken teriyaki, rice, and broccoli and they sat on the patio and ate and talked. Jack got home and joined them. It was so nice to see them have fun. We are hoping they do this a lot as the weather warms up.

I have a huge thing of Good Culture cottage cheese from Costco. I used it to make my low carb egg casserole for the week – a carton of liquid egg whites, two real eggs, and a cup of cottage cheese. Mix all together and add whatever spices. Add green chilies if you have them (I didn’t this week) and bake for 350 for about 40 minutes. Holy fluffiness!

I also tried the high protein bagel recipe I saw Bethenny Frankel talk about on IG. Pretty darn good and one kid thought so, too!

She didn’t say how long to bake for so I tried 10 and then added 10 more I think.

Tom and I have made do with mismatched bedroom pieces for our whole marriage. I brought my armoire from my single gal days and two mismatched nightstands that I got from my mom and a consignment store, I think.

We finally purchased a console – is that what it is called. We will have a tv on the wall next to it. Don’t worry – I will change the photo frames. Tom did that.

And, I will be getting a new comforter/quilt and new lamps. Any suggestions on places to shop for bedding and lamps? Eventually we will get a new bedframe.

Baby steps.

Well, that’s about all I’ve got in me today.

Tell me a favorite of yours this week!

Amy

Thursday, February 27, 2025

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

But, first I am officially tired of my winter clothing! It’s a good thing it’s been so warm this week! It’s been wonderful! Everything is easier when it’s not so cold out.

I have dubbed this week…

Blouse week!

We are having temps of 50s-60s so I decided to do Halaras and blouses each day or blouses and other pants.

But, first here is what I wore to end last week. On Thursday it was snowing and icy and I wanted to wear my boots so I did my black dress pants, a stiff white button up, and my green sweater. Erica accused me of being dressed up. I wouldn’t call this dressed up.

For Saturday hair day, I wore this with my black vest. These are my medium blue Halaras and a top I got at TJ Maxx a couple of years ago.

Funny story – I was telling Laura, my hair stylist, about Halaras; she had heard of them but was scared to order without trying on. She didn’t think she could do wide legs. I went home and brought her a pair to try on. She is ordering them!

For girls dinner out, I wore the black Halaras, my black silk Chico’s button up blouse, and the black wrap I bought for $5 at Versona for the funeral.

You really can’t go wrong with all black. I love all black so much!

And, for Monday to start my blouse week, I wore this new $8 TJ Maxx blouse with the blue medium denim Halaras. I walked in and my co-worker Sarah had on her cargo Halaras.

I wore my Macy’s Softwalks.

And brought these velvet Mary Janes to change into if I felt like it.

For Tuesday, it was even warmer and it was super sunny, so why not go with florals?

This is a blouse by Umgee and my lighter Halaras with my Softwalks again.

Walmart trench coat as my topper…

I talked my friend Beth into getting some gauzy things a couple of weeks ago and I made a gauze section of my closet to see what I have! Good news – gauze is still popular and it’s a great material for those of us who need some temperature control. I have loved and worn my gauze a bunch.

I will continue on with my blouse week and show you the results!

What are you wearing lately?

Amy

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Linking up with Joyce today and I found this week’s questions to be hard to answer!

1. February 26th is National Tell A Fairy Tale Day…have you read a fairy tale lately? What’s your favorite fairy tale? Do you believe in ‘happily ever after’? 

I haven’t read one lately and I don’t have a favorite. I do believe in happily ever after. Happy means many different things to different people. Some people can be happy with a simple small life. I like to use the word content. I like when I feel content.

2. Complete one of the following sentences with a thought relating to your life currently-

• Once upon a time___________
• A long time ago________________
• In a place far far away________

Once upon a time there was a girl who moved to the cutest little southern Indiana town at the age of 5 from her birthplace on the other side of the state. She had to move there for her Dad’s new job. She lived there until she was 18 full time and then every summer until she was 22. But the people and the town are so special. She never forgot that. Today she is struggling with losing ties to that town, not having a home base or a house there anymore, and what that would mean. That town is Madison, Indiana and she just won an award.

3. Which of the following ‘fairy tale foods’ is your favorite? Which have you made/eaten most recently? 

porridge/oatmeal (Goldilocks and The Three Bears), an apple (Snow White), a gingerbread cookie (The Gingerbread Man), pumpkin soup/pie/bread (Cinderella), peas (The Princess and the Pea), beans (Jack and The Beanstalk) or a cup of tea (Alice in Wonderland) 

I have most recently had a cup of tea in the afternoon at school. It was a treat to drink from a real mug!

4. What’s your idea of fun? 

Fun these days is a pretty low bar -a show I am looking forward to, a dinner out, checking out a new place, or having great conversation with people I care about. And, laughing. Laughing is my favorite.

5. Next week’s Hodgepodge lands in March. Is that right? I guess so.  Give us one noun, one verb, and one adjective that tell us something about your February. To make you think a little harder, you cannot use the words cold or snowy. 

expressions of love in the form of food, flowers, presence (very long noun), to appreciate, difficult…

Sorry for my choices of parts of speech. My mom’s visitation was February 6, her funeral February 7, and really the whole month has been me being loved on and cared for and me trying to also love and care for my sisters and their kids and my kids and my husband. This month has been difficult juggling all of that, my job, and now the business of my mom’s estate. I’ve done hard things I wasn’t really ready to do.

But, I really, really felt loved in the month of February.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I can’t believe it will be March on Saturday. I haven’t even cracked open that section of The Happiness Project but I plan to do that soon. March seems like spring. Winter was hard this year. We have to have the hard to appreciate the easy – or the easier, though.

Amy

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

I guess all of my posts are chatty and coffee talk-ish, but let’s make it a dedicated coffee talk today!

Grab that coffee!

If you know me in real life, I’m a pretty open book. You know my emotions. When someone asks how I am I assume they want the truth and not just a “fine”. Are you an open book?

I got a surprise delivery of flowers Sunday night and I thought what in the world? Blonde Heather bestie was not happy with the flowers she sent to the funeral home and told me at least 5 times that is not what she ordered. She called them and they made it right. What a gorgeous arrangement. She cracks me up!

I am really enjoying looking at them!

My mom’s butterfly cork placemats are by pimpernel and she loved them when I gave them to her. She loved them so much she ordered another set for her long table. The cork bottom placemat was in every Airbnb in England. They are actually available on Amazon and I have linked them.

I have learned over the last several years to not save all the treats and good things for the weekend. Every single day should have some luxury and some things you enjoy and that make you happy. Get up earlier! Enjoy that morning quiet! I have come to really embrace not having to walk out the door until about 8:10.

I have also brought tea to school for the afternoon.

Mason loves Biscoff cookies and buys them himself. What a treat on a weekday to have tea and biscuits.

I have done really well with reading instead of scrolling this year. This is so cute so far! Don’t let the title Winter Wish keep you away because so far it has nothing to do with winter in my opinion.

Grab that sun when you can! This is such a funny picture. Look at the snow!

Why do men love Costco so much? Tom and I are buying a new bedroom tv and it made Tom happy to look at the options.

We got Sunday bagels from a new place. We didn’t love them but it was still fun to go do this.

Tom is super easy going most of the time. But, this dryer ball set him off.

My sister gave me a set of three for Christmas and I have been wanting to cut down on toxic stuff in the home. First off, Eddie Otis thinks they are his. When I open the dryer he steals one.

So, Tom says, “Can we please buy some dryer sheets? I have suffered in silence for too long. My towels smell disgusting. Those are disgusting. I can’t take it anymore.” Ok, Tom, tell us how you really feel about dryer balls.

I replied, “We have been married 25 years and I you have never shared how important dryer sheets were to you.”

He responded that it had never been an issue in 25 years but now it was.

Marriage.

What would you share today over a cup of coffee? Or, if you don’t drink coffee – why? What is wrong with you? Just kidding!

Amy

P.S. – My nails look bad. We are taking a press on break again.

Monday, February 24, 2025

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

He looks like he is in a police lineup here:

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

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

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

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

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

Sarah’s dinner:

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

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

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

How do you find your passion in life?

Do you find it stressful to be an adult?

How do you balance social life and studying in college?

Should I start a 401K now? (lol)

How do I work on my credit score?

How do I decide what to major in?

Sweet babies! I love them so much.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And, then we had a reservation at Mesh.

Pomme frites and beet salad!

Chicken sandwich and grit cakes!

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

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

Spoilers coming so scroll past if you want…

The part about mothering – yes!

And this…

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

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

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

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

Amy

Friday, February 21, 2025

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

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

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

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

Excuse the nails; taking a press on break.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is the outfit:

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

I am 10 feet away! I swear!

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

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

It appears that Tom can grow seedlings better than hair!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Someone loves a virtual instruction day…

We hold hands.

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

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

What were your favorites this week?

Amy

Thursday, February 20, 2025

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

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

Wednesday I wore this…

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday I wore this:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What have you been wearing?

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

Amy

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

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

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

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

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

I definitely appreciated the homes more as an adult.

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

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

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

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

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

Now, solving crimes – yes!

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

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

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

I have no idea what any of these look like!

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

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

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

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

Amy

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

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

The February Happiness Project Goals:

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

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

This is all according to Gretchen Rubin.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amy