Life: It Goes On - September 7

Happy Sunday! Going to make this short because I'm only finally getting it written just before bedtime. I can't say I've been too busy to do it; just wanted to get a pic of my new auction "win" in its new home and I had to get dressed before I could go outside to do that. If you've been reading this for very long, you know how much I like to spend weekend days in my pajamas and since I couldn't do that yesterday, I was determined to do it today. 

We've had a lovely, cool and dry weekend here so doors and windows have been thrown open and we spent a lot of time outdoors. Yesterday we went to Lincoln to pick up my auction item and to visit family. Because they live downtown, we also got to walk around downtown Lincoln, soaking up the excitement of the first home game of the season, even if it was six hours before it started.  Had to stop on our way home and pick up some Baker's chocolates at the factory store. Did we need two pounds of chocolates? No. Did we actually consider buying a third flavor? Yes. But like the grownups we are, we used restraint. 

Are you old enough to remember
when milk was delivered to your 
house and put in these boxes? I 
was so nostalgic about this when 
I say it on the auction. It even 
has the little clip where the wife
would put her order 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: Still listening to Harriet Constable's The Instrumentalist. I'm afraid it's a little repetitive but otherwise, it's an interesting story based on a real person. 

Watched: Lots of football (including our Husker's first shutout in 16 years), three volleyball matches, and some episodes of Only Murders In The Building. 

Read: Still reading Rachel Hawkin's The Woman in Suite 11. 

Made: We used the leftovers from the taco bar in a lot of ways, including old-school taco salad with Catalina dressing. Yesterday for game watching I made a cream cheese mixture with dried beef and chopped dill pickles that we spread on mini-bagels. Tonight I put together a ham, broccoli, and potato casserole we'll toss in the oven for dinner tomorrow. Later this week we'll have onion sandwich, based on a recommendation from BG's brother and SIL. I'd be as skeptical as you are right now if it had come so highly recommended by two people who know good food. 

Enjoyed: Dinner with friends Friday - I was jonesing for poutine and they all humored me. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: My office has once again become a dumping ground so I need to get up there and work on that. Then I'm hoping to get out to the garage now that's it's cool enough to work out there. 

Thinking About: A couple of long weekends we have coming up. I can't wait! 

Feeling: Tired. I never get sick when I get my Covid vaccine, but it always makes me really tired for a day or two. Got it yesterday so I'm hoping tomorrow is better. 

Looking forward to: Miss H is coming up for a cleaning job this week so we'll have her with us one night. The next night Mini-him and I are going to see Hamilton in the theater. Saturday we're going out to eat with friends to a new-to-most-of-us place as part of Omaha Restaurant Week. 

Question of the week: Do you go to auctions, estate sales, or garage sales? Have you ever done an online auction or bought something off of Facebook Marketplace? I'm a little addicted these days, even if I don't buy much (because it's kind of hard to justify it while at the same time trying to get rid of stuff). 

Life: It Goes On - August 24

Happy Sunday! It's a beautiful day in Omaha today - the sun is shining, it's only 65 degrees, and the windows are open. Yesterday I harvested a giant bowl of cherry tomatoes...to go along with the giant bowl that is already on my counter. This week's menu will definitely be cherry tomato focused, and I'm okay with that. Our other tomatoes? Not doing much so the Big Guy has gone off to the farmer's market to find a couple of tomatoes that will work for BLTs and an egg dish I want to try. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: Isabelle Allende's Ripper still. Almost half way through and we are still meeting new characters that we're getting a lot of background on. Please let all of the start coming together in a way that ties back to what I thought the book was about. 

Watched: Only Murders In The Building, the last episode of season 2 of Shrinking, football and the kickoff of the college volleyball season with our Huskers (ranked #1) defeating Pittsburgh (ranked #3). This season is going to be so much fun! 

Read: I finished Geraldine Brooks' Memorial Days and it's one of those books that I was said to finish. Today I'm headed over to the library to pick up Ruth Ware's latest, The Woman In Suite 11 and Clare Leslie Hall's Broken Country. 

Made: Lots of salads this week and last night I made caprese lasagna roll ups, which I'm excited to say we'll have for leftovers today. 

Enjoyed: I have a four-day weekend and it's been so nice to just leisurely work on things that need to get done but also have plenty of time to relax, read, and even take a couple of naps. Best yet is knowing that I don't have to go to work tomorrow so I can fully enjoy Sunday! 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: Trying to put together a couple of long weekend trips, since we haven't gone anywhere all summer. 

Thinking About: What a small world it is. Last night we went to a new-to-us place for a glass of wine. The place was empty so we struck up a conversation with the bartender, who told us that he used to live in Alaska. Of course, we said that's where our kids lived; and, of course, he asked where in Alaska they live. I told him the town and then started to tell him where that was in relation to Anchorage, but he cut me off exclaiming, "That's where I lived!" What are the chances?

Feeling: Rested and happy to know that I've reached the point with my PTO that I'm going to have to schedule more of these long weekends to make sure that I don't reach the point where I max out on PTO. 

Looking forward to: Another long weekend this coming weekend, although I know that BG will try to fill up all three days with activities. 

Question of the week: Next weekend marks the unofficial start of autumn. Are you looking forward to fall, or are you like me and wish that summer could hold on for a few more weeks?

Life: It Goes On - March 23

Happy Sunday! The sun is out but it's chilly and the wind is gusting - which I suppose is all fairly typical for March in Nebraska. As is the fact that Monday and Tuesday last week we ate dinner on the patio and then Wednesday we had a blizzard with 6" of snow. By this morning, all but the biggest piles of snow have completely melted. It's a strange month. But I can see spring from here so that's a good thing. Later this week, we'll get everything uncovered on the patio and begin moving things to their fair weather homes. Then I'll really be able to start envisioning my flower plan for the year. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: A couple of hours of Jennifer Niven's All The Bring Places, which has been on my TBR for a long time. But I quickly realized something that I've long suspected - I'm just generally not a fan of young adult books. Which is not to say they aren't great books; they just aren't books that appeal to me. So I moved on to Therese Anne Fowler's Z, which I'm loving. Next up is Kaliane Bradley's The Ministry of Time. 

Watched: So much basketball. I LOVE March Madness - both the men's and women's tournaments! We had four teams from Nebraska make it to the NCAA tournament; sadly all four have been knocked out, but we certainly had fun cheering for them and it won't stop our watching the rest of the tournaments. 

Read: I finished Ruth Reichl's The Paris Novel for book club and then got back to Colum McCann's Twist. Tomorrow I'm picking up five books from the library - time to get ready physical books! 

Made: We spent most of the week grazing on leftovers from last weekend's festivities. I did make potato soup from the mashed potato leftovers and yesterday we made a chicken soup from the leftover rotisserie chicken. 

Enjoyed: Book club on Tuesday and last night we went out for Ruebens and basketball with friends. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: The other day I realized that I had missed the kick off of this year's 40 Bags In 40 Days so I'm working to get caught up on that. Lord knows I have plenty of areas that I still want to work on, which is crazy with as much as I work to keep us from living in a hoarder house. 

Thinking About: Ways to use up all of the lettuce I bought for last weekend that didn't get used. 

Feeling: Like my back might finally be starting to get better. Still can't sit for an extended period without having pain but we're getting there. I need to be back up to speed before it's planting season!

Looking forward to: I have nothing on my calendar for this week (not that we usually have a busy schedule!). 

Question of the week: What's your favorite salad? 

Life: It Goes On - December 15

Happy Sunday! I can't believe how long it's been since I've posted! Tells you something about how the past couple of weeks have gone and where my priorities have been. The bug that the Big Guy and I had two weeks ago sapped both of us of all energy for about three weeks and I only just today feel like my voice is entirely back to normal. It's put me behind on everything...the only saving grace, as far as Christmas preparations go, is that I had a good jump start on it before this hit. Today I finally finished decorating (one day I will just do the same things I did the year before the whole process will go much faster!), got all of the presents wrapped, and am starting addressing Christmas cards tonight. I just haven't read a physical book in several weeks now. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: I started listening to Christmas music, but couldn't get in the mood for it. So I switched to Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker. Wow! 

Watched: Lots of volleyball (our Huskers are headed to the Final Four and our Bluejays are playing as we speak trying to do the same). Also, Christmas shows - The Family Stone, Love Actually, Rudolph, The Grinch, and The Holiday. 

Read: A Rosie Life In Italy by Rosie Melody. 

Made: Chicken Shepherd's pie, chicken and bean soup, and chicken salad - got our money's worth out of that rotisserie chicken! 

Enjoyed: Had our now annual dinner with BG's siblings and their spouses last night. With all of us busy right at Christmas, it's a nice chance to get together when no one has to cook and we can just relax and enjoy time together. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: This week's about getting the Christmas cards in the mail, the holiday goodies to get made, and meal prepping to get done for Christmas. 

Thinking About: I'm pretty excited to have a short work the next three weeks and trying to think of everything I can do now to make the days off as relaxing as possible. 

Feeling: Remarkably prepared. But also wondering if I've entirely forgotten something. 

Looking forward to: Book club this week - we always have a party in December with a book exchange and prizes. 

Question of the week: How are your Christmas preparations going? 

Life: It Goes On - September 15

Happy Sunday! It's another beautiful Sunday morning which finds me about to head outside to water, harvest and work on that dresser that seems to be the never ending project. There's a lot of potential for rain in our forecast this week so I need to get busy on that so I can finally get that piece out of my kitchen! Whenever I eventually get my basement decluttered entirely, I need to create some space where I can work on projects inside so I don't end up with half finished things sitting in my kitchen (or taking up space in my garage) for weeks on end. Work continues on that front - I'll be taking another load of stuff to Mini-him today and more stuff went off to charity this week. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: Alix E. Harrow's The Once and Future Witches, which I'll finish this morning. Next up is Griffin Dunne's The Friday Afternoon Club. 

Watched: Lots of volleyball and lots of football and as much of the debate as I could handle. 

Read: Timothy Schaffert's The Titanic Survivor's Book Club. I'm a little over half way finished with it and I would love to find the time this evening to just sit down and devour the rest of it. Not sure what's up next - I have four more library books checked out and several Netgalley books that need to be read soonish. I think this is going to be a quieter week so there should be more time for reading. 

Made: There was a lot of eating out this week and not much cooking, other than the ubiquitous BLTs. 

Enjoyed: Got my hair done, went out to a new place for dinner with friends, won some auction items that I picked up yesterday, and watched a lot of Husker wins. 

You may be wondering why I've posted a picture of the University of Northern Iowa Panthers instead, Nebraska's football opponent yesterday. See #5 right there in the middle? That's our great-nephew. It was so much fun to get to watch him play in Memorial Stadium last night and have a good game. So proud of him and all of his hard work. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: On getting that dresser finished, doing a lot of reading, and getting more stuff out of my house. My goal right now is to make a charity drop-off at least once a week until my house feels lighter. 

Thinking About: Campaign commercials are really heating up. It's not just the number of them increasing, but the lies and vitriol. I may have to convince The Big Guy to turn off the t.v. as much as possible in the next couple of months to avoid them. 

Feeling: A little disappointed. I was supposed to have tomorrow off, just because. I had been looking forward to using the day to get a lot done around here. Instead, I'll be going to work primarily for four meetings. I hate Monday meetings almost as much as I hate Friday meetings, especially when they mean I can't have a three-day weekend. 

Looking forward to: Book club on Tuesday. 

Question of the week: What are you reading? Anything you'd recommend? 

***This week's books are tied together by both being from Netgalley for review and both having a mystery/thriller element***

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 - July 28

Whew - that was the both the longest and shortest 3-day weekend ever! Friday I took the day to help Mini-him and Miss C move. Even with a moving company doing all of the heavy lifting, there was still so much to do. I put myself in charge of feeding everyone and keeping them hydrated.  In the middle of all of that, I found them the perfect shelf on Facebook Marketplace and made a run to pick that up. Got home Friday just in time to shower...for the second time that day...so that those two, The Big Guy, and Miss C's parents (can I just tell you how much we enjoyed getting to know them better!) could go out to dinner to celebrate Mini-him's birthday. Followed that up with drinks at a local brew pub. Both an exhausting and fun day! 

Today we hosted a cousin from Denmark and his wife for lunch at my dad's place. Did a lunch of typical middle America lunch, including Nebraska's own Runzas. They are lovely people and we enjoyed their visit. They gifted each of us with a wood pen that he had made which is something that we will all treasure. 

Last Week I: 

Listened To: The Paris Architect by Charles Belfoure. 

Watched: If you know me at all by now, you'll know that I have been watching as much of the Olympics as I can these past few days. I had really thought I'd take some time off of work to watch them - there's almost no sport I won't watch when it comes to the Olympics! 

Read: I'm bouncing guys. I keep opening Netgalley and and reading bits of different books. Just now I'm reading Liane Moriarty's latest, Here One Moment and Kate Atkinson's latest, Death At The Sign of the Rook. 

Made: I've been mostly about buying things that didn't require a lot of cooking this past week. Today I did make a BLT salad and a rhubarb crisp. 

Enjoyed: In addition to the above, we enjoyed dinner out with friends at a new place on Wednesday (delicious food!) and dessert with them last night on their deck. 

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This Week I’m:  

Planning: On getting more of Mini-him and Miss C's stuff out of my basement and over to them and on working on his dresser. 

Thinking About: Once again, someone's move has me rethinking everything we have in our house. Would we take these things if we were moving? If not, it's gonna have to be something we are really enjoying or find really useful in this moment if it's going to stay. 

Feeling: So tired!

Looking forward to: Hopefully a quieter week. Although I have yet to turn my calendar page so I'm not sure that's a reality. 

Question of the week: Did you watch the opening ceremonies? If so, what did you think?