Life: It Goes On - June 1

Happy Sunday! The sun is back this week, which makes me very happy. But also, it's 86 degrees right now; and while I'd much rather it were summer than winter, it's quite a jolt to go from the upper 60's/low 70's to almost 90.  

We've had quite a week. Tuesday and Wednesday my brother and sister-in-law spent the night, Friday Big Guy drummed with his old band at a nearish winery, and yesterday we ran down to Kansas City to spend some time with Miss H before she gets too busy to see us all of June. This week will be much quieter. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I finished Black Woods, Blue Sky and started Great Expectations, which may turn into a read/listen combo. 

Watched: Friday evening I watched Wicked Little Letters, starring Olivia Coleman; last night I introduced Miss H to Practical Magic. 

Read: Amy Griffin's The Tell. Not sure what's up next. 

Made: Salads, charcuterie, nachos - summery food. This morning I taught Miss H how to blanch food; a very kind food Door Dashed her a lot of food and she was not going to get it all eaten before it spoiled. So we got spinach, carrots, broccoli into the freezer. We also frozen strawberries, grapes, and an entire bag of mandarin oranges. And now I'm thinking I should do the same at my house!

Enjoyed: Time with family - biological and family by choice. Miss H had dinner plans last night so BG and I joined the people we now call our Kansas City family as they celebrated the patriarch's birthday and Joe's of Kansas City. AND BG and I went to Barnes and Noble after dinner for some browsing and coffee, which we haven't done in far too long. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: Miss H is going to be moving into a temporary situation in a couple of months so we brought some things home that we'll store for her. That means I need to find a home for them in the basement which will almost certainly lead to some decluttering down there that will bloom into a much larger project than it needs to be. 

Thinking About: The countertops are ordered, the tile is ordered, the work will begin in a few weeks. But I'm still not certain which colors the cabinets and walls will be or whether or not to get new hardware. The idea of remodeling rooms sounds great, but for some reason I didn't really comprehend how stressful it would be and how many decisions would have to be made. 

Feeling: Tired. Miss H gave up her bed so we'd have a better place to sleep (we've previously brought an air mattress or used the hide-a-bed) but I never sleep as well in another bed, even if it is comfortable. 

Looking forward to: That empty calendar. As much as I enjoyed the things we did this past week, I need a quiet week this week because next week I have a new employee starting and I'm going to come home exhausted from that every night. 

Question of the week: Every time I have an evening to myself (and the t.v.!), I spend far too much time trying to figure out what to watch. What's something you've watched recently that you'd recommend, especially something that's more female centric (a.k.a. something that I wouldn't need to save to watch with BG)? 

Life: It Goes On - February 9

Happy Sunday! I'm finally sitting down to the computer after returning home midafternoon from a trip to K.C. exhausted. Splurged on a really nice hotel while we were there (and it really is a lovely place), but the bed was so uncomfortable for a woman with a bad back. It was really the only low point of an otherwise great weekend. 

I've gotten bored watching the Super Bowl, which is something you'll rarely hear me say, even when I don't care who wins the game. You know how much I love football and I usually watch to the bitter end, savoring every last minute of the last game of the season. Did you watch and did you care who won? 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: Myquillen Smith's Cozy Minimalist Home and Percival Everett's Erasure. I'm afraid that one's going to expire before I get it finished, though. Next up is Tana French's The Hunter. 

Watched: Some college basketball, some professional women's volleyball, and The Voice. 

Read: Thrity Umrigar's The Museum of Failure. Last night I started The Wedding People, by Alison Espach. 

Made: Creamy shrimp pasta with roasted tomatoes and spinach; the viral ditalini pasta recipe; and chipped beef on toast (one of the comfort foods we both grew up with). 

Enjoyed: To celebrate the Big Guy's milestone birthday, Mini-him, BG and I headed to K.C. for a celebratory weekend. Started with a brunch that Miss H made at her place (this is my girl who used to be a disaster in a kitchen!). Then we headed out - first stop was for coffee at The Roasterie, then on to Prospero's for some book shopping (all four of us left with at least one book), followed by chocolates at Christopher Elbow Chocolate, and then some record store shopping. Cleaned up for dinner at Third Street Social (delicious!) and then BG and I spent the night at The Raphael. This morning we met friends for brunch before heading home. It was a whirlwind but we had so much fun, so many laughs, and BG was completely surprised by it all.                                                                                                                                                        

This Week I’m:  

Planning: Last week's Cozy Minimalist community's room hushing was a bathroom. I did our primary bathroom (well, as much as I could without moving any of BG's things!); as has happened every time, this has resulted in me wanting to make some changes. This time I need to paint before I can make most of the changes I want to make. So that's up for this week first. 

Thinking About: How blessed I am. 

Feeling: So tired. 

Looking forward to: We do not go out to celebrate Valentine's Day. Instead we have a really good candlelit dinner at home and I pull out the china and the crystal. Haven't decided on the menu yet. 

Question of the week: The halftime show of the Super Bowl made me realize that while I am familiar with who Kendrick Lamar is, I don't know any of his music. That being the case, I have no opinion about the show. But, predictably, a lot of people who don't know his music did which brings to mind the old adage "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." There's no way to please everyone. If you got to make the decision about who should perform the halftime show, who would you choose? 

Life: It Goes On - September 8

Happy Sunday, late! We made a 24-hour trip to Kansas City this weekend to spend time with Miss H and help her with some things. It's always good for my soul to spend time with one of my kiddos, especially when I get to mother them. We got some things hung, some things repaired, some things reorganized and The Big Guy and I did some cleaning to help her get caught up. Meanwhile, let's don't talk about how so many of those things need to be done around here! How it is so much more fun to help out around other people's homes than our own? 

Miss H and I made a Trader Joe's run yesterday. She got actual groceries; besides picking up lunch, I came out looking like a 10-year-old who'd been let loose in the store with a hundred dollar bill. All. Of. The Snacks! Oh, and leave it to Trader Joe's to get me to finally start looking forward to fall - I picked up a half dozen small pumpkins and a couple of little mums. And now I want more pumpkins and more mums. But also I want it to still be summer. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I finished Trust by Hernan Diaz and started The Once and Future Witches, which I also have in print. It's a joke in my family that my sister is the wicked witch of the east, while I'm the wicked witch of the west. We're also both fierce feminists so this book seems like a fit for both of us. Which is why my dad pulled a fast one and tricked us into mailing a copy to each other. 

Watched: The Paralympics, a whole lot of football, and Shrek with Miss H (because we always watch an old favorite when we're together and BG wouldn't let us watch Hamilton, which was our first choice). 

Read: Rainbow Rowell's latest, Slow Dance. 

Made: BLTs, chicken salad, a tortellini casserole. 

Enjoyed: Dinner out in KC with Miss H's former roommate and the roommate's dad. We tend to do dinner with them almost every time we're in KC and we all just call it family dinner now. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: I'm hoping to finish Mini-him's dresser this week. We may be having company this weekend so I'll be doing that cleaning that I didn't get done this weekend. And at least one more load of stuff will be getting out of my house this week. 

Thinking About: Tired. Not sure why. While we did get a lot done at Miss H's, we also got in plenty of just hanging out, talking and relaxing. 

Feeling: I continue to feel inspired to get my house under control. And frustrated because I'm the only one in the house that seems to feel that way. 

Looking forward to: Another three-day weekend coming up. 

Question of the week: Are you a football fan? If so, college, pro or both? Favorite teams? 

**This weeks reviews are both nonfiction reads.**

Life: It Goes On - February 11

Three years. That's how long ago I realized that life really does go on. I can't believe it's been three years since I got the call that my mom had died.  It's been three years; the shock is gone, then pain is lessened. But I still think about her all of the time. This week, I saw a news story and thought that I needed to call her and make sure that she had seen it. She used to call me almost every day just after I sat down for my lunch break. Frequently, I was frustrated that I wasn't going to have some quiet time, some time to read. Occasionally, I let the call go to voice mail. One of the lessons I learned through her loss was to never, ever, let those phone calls go to voice mail. There is never anything that you're doing that is more important that taking the time to talk to the people you love. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I finished Anderson Cooper's Astor. 

Watched: Roman Holiday with Aubrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck - her first movie and only Oscar. I love this time of year when TCM is playing only movies that won Academy Awards in some way. 

Read: I finished After Annie and continued my re-read of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park for book club this month. 

Made: Honestly cannot remember a single meal we ate at home this week. Pretty sure The Big Guy prepared all of them. 

Enjoyed: A 24-ish hour visit to Kansas City to visit Miss H. It's the first time we've been to K.C. since the weekend she moved into her apartment three months ago. BG did all of the dad tasks that she needed done and I helped her hang some new shelves and picture frames. It was fun to just hang out and be with each other; but we did also manage to work in dinner at Waldo's Pizza. It may be my new favorite pizza place. 

This Week I’m:  

Planning: Wednesday is the first day of 40 Bags in 40 Days. The Go Simplified Challenge continues and February's focus is entertaining spaces so that's where I'll start with 40 Bags. 

I'm actually way behind in February as I had a vehicle full (and my Pilot holds quite a lot so that gives you an idea of how much I'm talking about) of stuff sitting in my dining room, waiting to be taken to the Goodwill. Realistically, I'd just have continued adding to the pile. But I just could not bear to put anything more in my dining room. Now that it's emptied out, I'll start filling that corner up again!

Thinking About: Spring. It's been so unseasonably warm here the past couple of weeks, with no end in sight, so garden planning has commenced. 

Feeling: Tired. We opted to sleep on an air mattress in Miss H's living room to give us more time to be together. Can someone please invent an air mattress that doesn't leak out air during the night? We weren't on the floor by this morning but we were only about 2/3 as high off the ground as we had been when we started and getting out of the bed was a challenge! 

Looking forward to: My uncle has to come to town this week so I'm looking forward to seeing him and enjoying dinner out together. 

Question of the week: Are you cheering for the Chiefs or 49'ers in the Super Bowl, just there for the ads, or couldn't care less? 

Life: It Goes On - September 6

Happy Sunday! Or as I like to call it on this three-day weekend, happy second Saturday! It's going to be hotter than the gates of hell today so I need to wrap this up quickly and get outside to do the things that need to be done out there before it gets too hot. Like figure out a way to drain out my giant fern plant that is drowning in its pot after then sprinklers somehow got set to go off every day. Can't tell you how much I'm not looking forward to doing that - it smells horrible and I'm going to be filthy before it gets done. So many things I'd rather be doing!

Last Week I: 

 Listened To: I'm finishing up Mikki Kendall's Hood Feminism today and it's such a good wake up call for white feminists.

Watched: Hamilton with Miss H. Again. The Big Guy doesn't get our want to do that despite the fact that he will watch Office Space every single time it is on t.v.

Read: I finished The Mirage Factory and am hoping to finish The Book of Two Ways this weekend. I think Joyce Carole Oates' latest, Night, Sleep, Death, and Stars will be up next.

Made: Lots of salads, cucumber dip, pasta caprese, and grilled burgers. We're still eating like it's summer here, although, looking at the forecast, we will probably be having soup later this week. 

Enjoyed: A day with Miss H yesterday. We got up early and headed to K.C. - we got somethings done around her house for her, went out for lunch (Banksia - highly, highly recommend them!), hit up the City Park Market (although we are second-guessing our choice to stand in line for spices), and made a late run to Ikea once there was no line to get inside. 

This Week I’m:

Those blue legs will give you an idea of 
where this piece started.

Planning: On finishing up this table I've been working on all week (today it will get its final finish), finishing the paperwork project I started a couple of weeks ago, and, hopefully, talking BG into cleaning out the garage. This time I'm really hoping to talk him into getting rid of a lot of stuff that's making it hard to even find things out there.

Thinking About: How happy I will be when I don't have to watch or read any more campaign ads. Every election seems to notch up the level of negativity but this time the fear mongering has reached new highs (or lows, I suppose). 

Feeling: Lazy. But the to-do list is too long for a day of rest. 

Looking forward to: Seeing my parents tomorrow. 

Question of the week: For those of you with kids, how are you handling the return to school?