Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa

Friday, August 25, 2023

Ok, it’s Friday and they hit differently now – all the teachers and parents probably agree with me! I think most of us are now in school at this point? I am linking up here for Friday Favorites.

I’m not sure everything I will talk about will be a favorite…

First, can we talk about a French 75? This is the drink I ordered at the outdoor concert Saturday night. Gin is nasty. I just can’t. I used to drink a gin and tonic in my 20s because I thought it was sophisticated. I wasted most of the drink Saturday night. I now firmly stand by the fact that I don’t like the taste of gin. It’s ok if you do!

We took the boat out on Sunday from about 10:30-2 and Tom’s sister came along, which was great! It was so nice to still have so much day left and we had McDonald’s bacon egg and cheese biscuits on the boat – breakfast on the boat was a summer list item! It was nice to be able to both have some fun and have time to prepare myself for the week ahead.

Serious boating face:

So, school did go off without a hitch on Monday and I forgot a full outfit pic, but this is me during my planning period. Everyone seemed glad to be back and it seemed like the bus situation was at least – better.

I love teaching! I just don’t love the admin stuff that has become more and more each year.

That first night after school I knew I wasn’t going to cook. Both kids were at work, but I like to leave a plate for them. I looked on the Door Dash app and looked for $0 delivery fees. Outback Steakhouse had one. I ordered two meals that the four of us were able to split and it came out to $47 with tip so I was ok with that.

We rarely use Door Dash, but Monday night it was a life saver.

Tuesday night, I turned on my oven from the app on my phone – woohoo!

It was 110 when I got in my car Tuesday! We had our hottest week of the summer this week – go figure! Next week it looks to be low to mid 80s!

The meal I made in the oven was Amylu chicken apple gouda sausage, onions, zucchini, little red potatoes, and mushrooms. This was also lunch for Erica and I the next day.

Erica grows tomatoes and eggplant and made us eggplant parmesan with whole wheat linguine one day. This had been her dinner the night before. The eggplant held up really well and this meal was delicious!

We are back to splitting the lunch prep and it’s great! She comes to my room on my days for lunch and I go to her room on her days for lunch.

I was happy with Aldi’s sparkling water. I have only tried blackberry so far. Did you see my Aldi post this week? Yup, I’m shocked, too.

This was my favorite outfit this week:

Bring on the jeans weather! Check out Fashion Files here.

Ok, so this is not a favorite…on Sunday evening when I had basically finished cooking dinner, there was a small puddle of water underneath my freezer – probably someone dropped ice and it melted. My barefoot found it and I slipped and did the splits going two different ways – both ways that I was not flexible enough to do – and I landed on the floor. I pulled my hamstring really badly. I iced it and rested it and then went to bed and woke up in pain. Monday was rough and even walking was painful. Tuesday was better. Wednesday was better, but I developed a huge bruise. I’m naturally pretty clumsy.

Look at the devotional I read Thursday morning:

Yes, my foot slipped, but I was so grateful it wasn’t worse, that standing felt better than sitting and I was able to start school again because that’s where I needed to be.

Resting the leg after school:

I really want to show you a photo of the bruise, but I won’t.

Apparently not eating a balanced meal for dinner is a trend:

Ha! We’ve all been trendy for a long time!

Ok, I hate to end like this, but Wednesday Ernie wasn’t acting like himself, and it was bascially a repeat of last January when we found out he had internal bleeding, which led to a diagnosis of cancer of the spleen.

He perked up after that vet visit and has been great since then – thankfully. I have done an update here. I am so grateful for the time we have had since January.

At our August vet visit, the vet warned us that this was coming but it was hard to see with our healthy acting 10-year-old dog. He stressed again that he didn’t advise any interventions.

Wednesday night he barely moved and wouldn’t eat. My prayer had been for my kids to get to have time with him after the spring semester ended in May and that Ernie would have a good quality of life up until the end. We have had a wonderful summer with him. He has been on so many walks, has been boating, and has swum in the river.

I was also prayerful about the timing of Ernie’s passing in regard to Mason’s time in England. As I am writing this on Thursday morning, my heart is heavy with Jack starting back and our German guests coming on Monday.

It might be quiet around here next week depending on what the next couple of days holds for us. “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul”.

Amy

Thursday, August 24, 2023

I don’t have a ton to share with you today, but I am happy to link up with Kellyann and Jill for Fashion Files.

Let’s go back to last week when the weather was unseasonably cool. I wore this to one of our teacher workdays. This outfit is sponsored by Old Navy – ha! The white gauzy blouse is a consignment find – Old Navy new with tags – you have seen it on here a bunch. The jeans are from my quest last fall to try a straight leg. They are button fly which surprised me in a good way! As you can see the length is perfect. As you can see, they are tight, so I am trying to get back to where they fit a bit looser.

So, straight legs…now skinny seems weird to me and like my legs are in sausage casings. I didn’t get rid of my skinnies, but I am definitely only wearing a straight leg now. I also have a flare and a semi wide leg style in my closet. My jeans are Target Universal Thread, Wit and Wisdom from Nordstrom, and new to me Westbound from Dillard’s.

I did a tan rattan headband and my coordinating slide sandals from Target.

I didn’t get any weekend outfit pics. I think I just wore my cut offs Saturday night with a blouse.

Monday was our first day back and I wore my Old Navy blue and white dress with sneakers:

Tuesday I was prepared for it to be super hot in my classroom and wore probably my coolest feeling dress – this dress is from my spring Walmart dress haul. A lot of the teachers are wearing dresses right now with our high 90s temps and not super strong AC.

And yesterday I wore my old purple skirt, new poncho blouse, and new Crocs sandals.

I have some early fall inspo. I have been finding inspo in the Instagram ads I get. I am trying to use these to see what I already have to create that look.

I have things in my closet that are similar to this:

I really don’t have much J.Jill. I did go in the store this month, but nothing was appealing – I think it can be great for staples, though. I have a chambray blouse and I have mustard Matilda Jane pants and I think I can re-create this. I was drawn to the color combo.

Still crushing on gold shoes, but this style and this darker tone appealed to me for fall:

I also liked this look – the chambray on cut offs appealed to me:

I don’t have a short sleeve chambray, but I have been looking for one this summer without the high neck. Maybe I will still find one before it gets too cool for short sleeves?

What are you wearing?

What styles are you wanting to try for early fall?

Amy

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

I always love it when blogger ‘updates” me on situations, favorite products, etc., so that is what I thought I would do today…

My mom –

is doing great! She is still a working artist (former art teacher) and just had her art work chosen to display in my hometown’s downtown area and also had her own gallery art show. She is getting ready to take a trip!

Lume –

So, I bought the Lume starter pack that had the stick deoderant, the cream, the wipes, and a small cream. The smells were simply horrible – toasted coconut, tangerine, and baby powder. The worst was baby powder. Every time I put it on my pits I felt like I had just changed a diaper. But, it worked. I then went to Target after I ran out and bought the above unscented for not a low, low price. This small tube costs $15. Either the Target formula is different or it no longer works on my body, or the summer is no match for it. I smelled horrible so I am back to Secret Invisible where you twist and the deoderant comes up in the little holes. Erica feels the same about Lume not working for her anymore, either.

TikTok – I took a break from Tik Tok videos (making my own Spanish instruction videos in a very amateur way) over the summer. I had a good-bye for now video recorded but my mom had the stroke and then it seemed like I had waited too long. I did make my first Tik Tok money over the summer based on views. I made $55! I really don’t know what I will do with it this year. Part of me thinks I have used up my best material.

Mason – Mason went and helped his now four year roomie Jakob move in Sunday. Mason will join him in the spring and had many of their shared items housed at our house. They have a private bathroom in the senior dorm! Mason is working a few more shifts but then taking about two weeks off before England in mid-September. He is doing fall semester in the north of England.

Jack – started moving into his solo room in the same senior dorm with private bathroom last night. Mason helped him and had asked off work to do so. I suspect Jack will be sleeping at home (on the weekends) more than normal to spend time with Mason before England.

German Cousins – Tom’s cousin, Tom’s cousin’s wife, and their middle son are arriving Monday afternoon. I will be at work until 4:00 so I thought I would have a pasta bake ready to put in the oven and serve bread and salad. Any other ideas? I also might have a small charcuterie ready if they are starving immediately after traveling. They will be traveling from Boston after spending a few days there, so they aren’t fresh off the plan from Germany. I have to be honest that I am sad that I have to work and can’t get home earlier, but I am taking one day off. I have had it planned since well before August 9th and I had to tell myself that it isn’t my fault that the school district wasn’t able to make school happen.

Groceries – This month has been an experiment with shopping at Kroger, Aldi, Trader Joe’s, and even Walmart for a few things. I am at around $700 for the month here on the 23rd.

School –

I forgot to get an outfit pic, but this is my face during my planning period. Yes, we got to start on Monday! It was such a good day and honestly, I felt like myself (my teacher self) again. The first day of school on August 9th really wrecked me, but I felt like I actually had energy after school Monday! I think the kids were glad to be back! I started my routine and taught new content. Now I have to learn 150 first names, last names, and Spanish names but I should have that soon!

What updates big or small do you have?

Amy

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

I’m low key shocked to be writing this post. When a teen says “low key” that just means “kind of”.

I have gone to Aldi twice now in my quest for grocery savings. You may remember that my Walmart Plus June was an epic fail where I spent over $1600 on groceries. I think it was the just having college kids home, stress, convenience of being able to have groceries on my doorstep, and maybe a few other things. I cancelled my 30 day trial, but I think it was more me than them. In July, I did much better and almost exclusively did Kroger pick up. I do not think Kroger is cheaper, but I was much more intentional.

Since August started, I have done a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Two of my shopping trips were at Aldi. I had not been there in about a year.

Yes, you still have to put your quarter in the cart to be able to use it, but I always have a bit of change in my car so that is no big deal.

I remembered my reusable bags once and the second time I didn’t. I am ok paying a few cents for each bag and they are nice with handles so I can re-use them:

It is all self-checkout now and you can bag as you are scanning – woohoo! I like this much better than taking all of my stuff over to a counter.

Aldi is about 10 minutes away as opposed to Kroger that is like a minute away. Aldi does do pickup so if I knew the products more or I decided to learn their system, that might be an option.

There are lots of brand name items. I would still have to go to Kroger once every couple of months for a few things, but during my Walmart experiment I realized we are way less brand name or Kroger brand dependent than I had thought.

All of this was $130:

It included lots of meat/protein and I feel like this would have been almost $200 at Kroger.

They have a good version of Laura’s Lean ground beef that is way cheaper. I have cooked this once and was very happy with it.

The salmon looks a lot like Trader Joe’s for less. Remember that Trader Joe’s and Aldi are owned by same company. We don’t have a Lidl, but a lot of people like that store, too. We like the tie to Germany that Aldi has and Tom’s cousin who is coming works for a frozen food company in Germany that works with Aldi.

This is good! I will buy more of this and I didn’t get a big southwestern profile, so I think I could use it in place of my Costco grilled chicken strips.

This was really good and made a quick dinner – there are several options like this that I would like to try.

We have not tried these yet, but I thought they would be good in the air fryer.

This is a good sub for my Land O’Lakes:

So, anyway…who am I? Also, if you are doing a charcuterie board, their cheeses are so tempting with about as many options as Trader Joe’s.

I think Aldi has made big improvements in the last year and I can see myself trying to shop here at least for half of my trips.

Do you have any thoughts on Aldi?

Amy

Monday, August 21, 2023

As you all are reading, I am getting ready for my second first day of school! I have not seen my students since August 9th! I have been having mostly teacher days and they have been long…please pray for a smooth second first day for our kids if you are the praying kind. I am happy to link up with Holly and Sarah for Hello Monday.

Also, Jack moves to campus on Tuesday and our German cousins are coming a week from today. Your girl will be adjusting to a five day week with students (if you are a teacher you know…), helping Jack pack if he accepts my help, cleaning for the Germans, and sprucing up the house a bit.

Mason is still at home for about three more weeks and will continue working for about another week. He will be a big help with the house, Ernie, and entertaining the Germans.

Here’s a quick recap of my very chill weekend…

At school, I learned to flip the top of the Stanley so I don’t need a straw. I am not interested in those wrinkles so I am very happy to match this switch – lol.

We also got a yearbook photo taken of the 8 OGs. I guess we aren’t really “original gangsters” but it sounds funny. We are the ones who have been at our school the longest and this photo represents 200 years combined! Oh my! I cropped out my school name but I’m not sure it really matters. You all could figure it out.

I treated myself to a pedicure after a long day and it was so nice. I didn’t plan to go so dark, but the color I picked turned out darker on. I was going for a grey/mauve. It got me in the mood for fall, though!

I made Tom breakfast for dinner and he was thrilled. J and M were out with friends so it was just us.

Friday I had a nice cold Michelob Ultra with Erica. We went to Boombozz and they have a fabulous happy hour everyday from 3-6. It was only $10 each for this and nachos.

Friday night I made a re-creation of the bibb and bleu salad we had last weekend.

After dinner, Jack and I went to Kroger for a few things and laughed hysterically at the eaten fried chicken in the chip aisle. What went on here?

I watched Happiness for Beginners and it’s so cute. It also has about five songs by my favorite singer – Bob Schneider from Austin, TX. Tom and I have seen him in concert about five times.

I woke up Saturday to this:

I ran a few errands:

I got my Pioneer Woman magazine in the mail. This is my last one I think. I don’t get any magazines anymore, sadly. I just don’t think they are as appealing as they used to be and especially not for the price.

I re-did my OPI Taupe-less Beach mani.

Mason had to work, but always eats my dinner after he gets off. I made mini bowtie alfredo. Jack loved it.

Tom and I went to grab carryout from Waldo’s chicken to take to the last concert of the season in the nearby neighborhood…

I got a salad. We only stayed for an hour or so because we didn’t love the music and we were both tired.

I went to bed at 9:45 and slept like a baby until 7:00 a.m., enjoyed the patio for reading, and then started my meal prep. I have enough breakfast for the week, but I made buffalo turkey meatballs with cauliflower rice, ranch, and celery for Monday’s lunch for Erica and I and roasted vegetables with apple gouda turkey sausage for Erica and I.

And, that’s where I ended as I wrote this post!

How was your weekend?

Amy

Friday, August 18, 2023

Thank you all so much for your support and kind words about my district bus mess and about my 30th year – if it ever gets off the ground! So, here’s the latest…

Friday there was a press conference where we were told that the goal was to go back to school mid-week this week. Saturday we were told that Monday would be a day off for teachers and students – which worked well for me after a busy weekend! Tuesday would be a teacher work day. Then, I think it was Monday that they announced that elementary and middle would start Friday (today) and high would start Monday and that the rest of the week (this past Wednesday through today) would be teacher work days. I had quite a bit of time in my room to continue planning/working ahead, but lot of meetings and busy work were manufactured.

Y’all my head is spinning! I’ve told a lot of people that I hope I haven’t lost momentum for my actual job when the students come Monday!

I will be watching the news today and tonight to see how the bus situation was improved for elementary and middle, but I pray for no more changes. You can look at it like August 21st is a much more acceptable date to start school than August 9th, right? Ha!

My post was messed up yesterday – sorry. I went back and finished writing and then it didn’t save.

So, let’s dive into some favorites, because in all of this, there have been many things!

First, I received this last week – wow! I can’t believe I have had that many words. It’s hard to explain how blogging has enriched my life. Not only have I learned so much from reading blogs and developing friendships, but I think writing a blog has helped me to make more of my weekends so I have things to talk about! Does that make sense?

I am notoriously bad with learning all the functions with my appliances and electronics. I have learned how amazing this feature is, though – do you have “Steam Fresh” on your dryer? You can put a super wrinkly item in and it comes out wrinkle free. For most things it takes about 3 minutes but I did put one garment in and it took 8 minutes? I think it has a way of determining the weight of the garment or some other voodoo. Try it if you have it!

You know how much I love popcorn and love making my own with raw kernels in my microwave popper and then adding my own butter spray and salt, right? The friend of my bestie’s daughter brought this on our road trip and it’s already in my next grocery order. Have you tried it?

We had our dining room rug from Pottery Barn for 23 years and it needed to go. I ordered this one and I am so happy with it. I just go to Savieh brand for rugs now because I love them. I think I now have 5 in my house. Ignore the computer mess and the tablecloth that is not on correctly. I also am still loving my new floral arrangement holder.

We had to get a new faucet this weekend and I love it. It makes me realize how bad our old one was. Tom can do everything. I helped him with some of the instructions.

I sadly finished this cute story. I think it is now my favorite Sarah Adams. If you want a well-written chick lit book that isn’t too risqué, check her out. I have another of hers on hold at the library.

I started this and it’s really cute already.

I had my nieces over once a week every summer and I often have Facebook memories pop up. I tried to always have a project and in this photo we are making slime.

They played so well together. I usually did a couple of activities or we baked something. We did the Mentos in the 2 liter Coke, make donuts out of biscuits, and other things like that. Then, I remember they started playing “post office” and had fun for hours with envelopes and stickers and stuff like that. The nieces are now both nurses. One is one year older than my twins and the other is three years older than my twins.

I thought this was so funny. I love talking to my stylist and I think have been going to her for over 10 years – maybe longer:

I met my sister in law (mom of the nieces above) for some sushi Monday night and it was fun!

I got a new polish at Walgreens – Taupe-less Beach:

Light colors are definitely more forgiving. My best tips are to do two really thin coats and not get too close to the cuticle. Then, use a top coat. Re-apply the top coat if you want to. Oh, and sit at a table where you can lay your hands flat.

And, my last favorite was getting to try a new place with my friend Beth. I discovered there was a plant shop/cocktail bar on my favorite street! It is called Pretty Decent Bar and they have reasonable plant prices, creative cocktails, and a few bar snacks.

It’s totally my vibe! The atmosphere and the company were perfect. Beth is one of my friends who sent a kid off to college, so we put this on the calendar for her to have lots of fun to look forward to.

What were your favorites this week?

Amy

Thursday, August 17, 2023

Well, I thought I would have even more “fashion” but my school year started and then abruptly stopped. But, we have a few things to look at here. I am linking up with Kellyann and Jill for Fashion Files.

This is what I wore to meet my friend for happy hour:

Boy, these MIA clog sandals have served me well. With this silhouette of jean, I think I need a heel. I want to try them with sneakers, too, but I am not sure…

This is my Walmart pj top and my new Dillard’s Westbound jeans.

To go to dinner at Mason’s work, I wore my buttah Wit and Wisdom pants, my fun poncho top from a local boutique and my new Eurosoft slides. My clutch is super old from a consignment shop and I have used it more times than I can count. Love that pop of gold.

Here I am Friday night in my Walmart Free Assembly dress and my Eurosoft gold slides again. I get so many compliments on this dress. I am really glad I got it!

So, for the comedy show Saturday night, I wore the Dillard’s Westbound jeans again with my Shein top (still debating how I think this fabric feels…) and my Cushionaire from Amazon MIA clog sandal dupes.

I went in J.Crew Factory on Monday when I was doing my Trader Joe’s run and went to the 70% additional clearance section and found myself some fun pants. They were $13! The top I am wearing is also J.Crew but from my consignment store. And, there are those Eurosofts again! Look at me in my J.Crew. I am having a lot of luck in my new store when I check the clearance section.

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Did you have a summer list of fun goals? I did here and I did pretty well with them! You can read my report card, too, if you wish!

I think it’s fun to make a list for each season and there really is no better time than fall to do this, right? If you live in a place where summer is really hot, you are like a Gilmore Girl waiting in anticipation. Why is it almost always fall in Stars Hollow?

My kids say food is not seasonal, but many of us wait for that first cool day to make our first batch of chili. Tom requires macaroni noodles in his and you must have Fritos, am I right?

So, here are the things I want to do in the second half of August and into September and October…

Support my friends who have kids leaving for college – So many are sending either their first or their youngest child

Provide a fun week for our German guests and enjoy it myself, along with them – they will be here in about a week and a half

Celebrate my kids’ 21st birthdays!

Walk to breakfast with Tom

Continue to use the boat as much as we can until we have to winterize it (usually end of October)

Go to Chatauqua by boat – arts festival in my hometown

Go to Oktoberfests – a couple of different ones are held around town

Use my Solo Stove when I can

Continue to read on the patio – go away mosquitoes!

Work on a nice fall capsule-ish wardrobe

Continue to declutter different spaces of the house

Start cooking fall foods – soups and chili!

Get out fall decor around September 1 – it will probably be a week later due to the German visit

Get out the fall candles

Buy my fave Mrs. Meyer’s Acorn Spice cleaner and handsoap

Walk – take advantage of the best time of the year to go on walks!

I am sure there are many more things I didn’t think of, but this gives me a good start to be intentional with my time.

What about you? What’s on your list?

Amy

Thursday, August 10, 2023

This is definitely not a teacher blog, but teaching is such a big part of my life that it gets talked about quite frequently here. So, yesterday was our first day of school.

photo of me as a beginning teacher

How is it that it is my 30th year? I am only 51! I guess there are advantages to starting your big girl job so young. I was 22 when I started and will turn 52 in November. I am starting to have lots of people shocked that I haven’t retired and asking me when I will retire. I really don’t know! I swear!

I don’t love the first day for the reason that I do too much talking. I love to get the first day out of the way so we can start my real teaching style which is that they do a lot of talking.

So much has changed since my first year – the 1994-1995 school year. We didn’t even have the internet yet in my school. I think it was two or three years later when our business department was like, “Hey ya’ll – look at this here thing called internet”. Some of my besties were in the business department at my first school and they loved showing us this new “tool”!

Also, the kids had “smoking passes”. If their parents signed a form, they could whip out a pass and go smoke between classes. I also remember the students telling me they could tell which teachers smoked by how they held their chalk – bahaha! I was never a smoker, by the way.

Here is a new trend I am noticing and I do not like it. So, we had 8 rotations with different information led by the admin team, counselors, and a few support staff like the “goal clarity” coach (I use quotes because what does that even mean?), the building assessment coordinator (yup, we have a position just for all the testing we are mandated to do), and a few other people. In all 8 of the sessions we were told to just text these people if we needed things because email would not be checked or would get lost. Say what? In one of the sessions, we were asked to put our personal cell phone number on a sheet. Last year I had non-emergency texts while I was teaching sent by one of these people. I do not want to give out my personal cell to anyone else. I just don’t. Sorry. I have also had a principal call me at 8:30 p.m. on my cell about a non-emergency thing. He is no longer at my school, but come on!

As my long-time readers know, I have worked really hard to have a work/life balance. Maybe this makes me that old, curmudgeonly teacher!

Promises/Goals for Myself:

-People before paper. If a student or fellow teacher comes in, they are more important than the task I was working on.

-Take care of my feet – comfy shoes!

-Leave work at work. I would rather come in early or stay late and keep my work/homelife separate.

-Do not check emails after hours unless I am expecting something or have something I need to look for specifically. Do not watch the principal’s memo on Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. Why? The information will still be there Monday morning.

-Walk and read after school (try to wait on tv until after my evening shower) and do not plan too much during the week. This will be even more important as I will get home an hour or more later. My new end time is 3:20 where it used to be 2:20 and I no longer have last period as my planning. Last year I was able to wrap things up and be ready to go very close to that time!

-Make plans with friends – but maybe only a couple times a month if it’s during the week or think outside the box like a weekend morning.

-Work smarter – Use grocery pickup and order things instead of wasting precious time and energy running around.

-Guard my exposure to negative content, news, people, etc.

You can also check out my Self-Care Syllabus here and I recommend that everyone have one – parents and teachers alike!

I hope that all of you have a wonderful school year – teachers, parents, wives, husbands, grandparents. I pray that our schools are safe places to foster the love of learning. I hope that all kids feel loved and special.

So, I wrote this before our news last Thursday morning – our school district cancelled for four days (so far) to get the bus situation fixed. Teachers had to work two of those days which is actually good so that we don’t have too many added to the end of the school year – we hope.

Amy

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Monday, August 14, 2023

Well, if you read my Friday Favorites you know what transpired last week. We had our first day of school on Wednesday and then school was cancelled for Thursday and Friday due to our bussing situation. Hey, you might have seen my district on the national news? It’s just so, so sad. I was stunned when I heard the news on Thursday morning and then I woke up Friday morning just incredibly sad.

I am linking up with Sarah and Holly to share my weekend…

Thursday Erica invited me to her pool and we had a lovely time from around 1:00 until about 4:00 when we got the text message that we were supposed to report to work on Friday after all – for just a teacher work day. Previously they had said no teachers were to report for either day. Just kidding!

The face of a woman in a toxic relationship with her employer:

Relationship status: “It’s complicated”

As a little more back story, my school was one of the schools “taking one for the team” by changing school start and end times to fix the bussing issues from last year and years past.

So, no one will ever call me spontaneous, but I in fact was on Friday…

After work, I joined in a road trip that my bestie was on. She got her daughter Morgan Wallen concert tickets in Columbus, OH for her birthday. Heather was only dropping her daughter and friend off and didn’t have a ticket, so I joined, and we met my sister who lives there. Columbus is cool! High Street was hopping. Of course, I had been many times, but it had been a long time since I had “gone out” rather than staying at my sister’s house.

First, we stopped at the hotel and the girls put on their concert ‘fits – so cute!

Then, my sister had made us a reservation and we had the best outdoor table…

The food and the conversation were great!

After dinner, we went back to my sister’s house where Ezra was waiting:

We chatted a bit more and then Heather picked up the girls and went back to the hotel and I stayed with Kate.

The next morning Kate took me to the hotel and we were on the road by 10 because the girls had an event to attend back at home. That was why I was able to go, too, because I already had plans to leave my house by 5:00 for dinner and the Eddie B Teachers Only comedy show with Erica, my teaching partner in crime.

We ate at 8 Up which is the rooftop resaurant at the downtown Hilton…

We split everything and got a bibb and bleu salad,

chicken sliders,

and potato puffs.

Rooftop photo opp:

It was really funny on the weekend after the bussing situation to have what appeared to be mostly my district’s teachers at this event.

He had added to his routine as I’m sure you can imagine and roasted some of our district’s leadership.

This was at The Brown Theatre and after we went in The Brown Hotel:

We found our French teacher there!

I woke up Sunday morning and realized I cannot do this much in a weekend! I had a slow morning until Tom realized we needed a new kitchen faucet and then I stucky by his side and helped me replace it.

After we plumbed, we went out on the boat and had the most relaxing time.

My mani matched my cup!

We went home and I made dinner, took a shower, and we did Sunday night things even though…

I got a message Saturday that we would not have school Monday and Tuesday would be another teacher day. The goal is to try to have students come on Wednesday – exactly a week after our ill-fated first day of school.

What about you? What did you do?

Amy