Wednesday, May 31, 2023

What's Up Wednesday: May 2023 Edition

 

Here we are at the end of May, already. The days are getting longer and hotter and more enjoyable and I'm here for it! As always, I am capping off the month with another edition of What's Up Wednesday. Thanks to Sheaffer and Shay for hosting!


What I'm Eating

I've made it a point to try new (to me) restaurants in Hooterville, which is how Hugh and I ended up eating something called Bock Bock Fries at a new (to all of Hooterville) brewery. They were quite filling, which almost spoiled my appetite for the Mother Clucker, which is the chicken sandwich that I had ordered as my main course.


The food was pretty tasty, but Hugh was unimpressed with the beer, and I wasn't really a fan of the ambiance of the restaurant, so I don't think we'll make it a point to go back. I would do a pick-up order, however.

The second new (to me) restaurant that I tried was a taco joint on Main Street; I went with Erin and Kristi and we were all trying it for the first time. We started with the chips and queso, which is pretty hard to screw up, in my experience. No surprise; it was delicious. I had the taco salad, which was delish. Erin had a chopped salad and Kristi had the smoked pork tacos and neither was disappointed. We also got to sit outside, on their sidewalk seating and it was one of the first truly nice days of spring, so I may be grading on a slight curve, but, ten out of ten would recommend.




What I'm Reminiscing About

Six years ago this week, we hosted our last End-of-the-School-Year-Slip'n'Slide Party. We started the tradition at the end of Queen B's freshman year and continued it throughout both kids school careers. I don't think Hugh misses how messed up that plastic left his grass, but I have a suspicion that he misses having all of those kids over to the house. I know I do.









What I'm Loving

My garden is coming along nicely, which gives me hope for a better produce haul than last year. 




I've also been loving the flowers that are blooming locally, including the amazing variety of irises that Mom and I saw this past weekend at a local iris farm.





What I've Been Up To

Erin and Kristi are moving to the UK in September, so we have drafted a Bon Voyage Bucket List; things that we want to do before they leave. So far, we have a list of nine things that we want to accomplish, but the list could grow. We've already checked off the first item.

Hugh and I spent Memorial Day weekend with Shanti and the Man-Cub, 4-wheeling. It was a lot of fun and we made sure to get as dirty as possible. I love spending time with these two; they are a laugh a minute.




What I'm Working On

I am hosting several events this summer, including a bridal shower (Miss Mia's), a diamond anniversary party (Oscar and Emily), and a vintage-themed Bon Voyage party (Erin and Kristi). So, I am printing invitations, planning menus, buying decor, and working on special touches for each event. This includes refinishing an antique ironing board of my grandmother's; I rescued it from the garage when we moved Mom. It was a hot mess until I sanded it and Hugh brushed on a couple of coats of clear polyurethane. It turned out great, and, will be used for holding glass drink dispensers at both the shower and Bon Voyage party.




For Mia's shower, I decided to make rose ice cubes for the mimosa bar. They were pretty easy and turned out great. I can't wait for Mia to see them.




What I'm Dreading

Our first big fundraiser of the year takes place in seventeen days and things are not quite falling into place as they usually do. The band that we have coming in for the concert has been quite a bit more demanding than bands that have provided the entertainment before and it is driving our costs up to the point that we will be lucky to hit the lowest estimate of proceeds we anticipated (proceeds go to our non-profit as well as another organization in Hooterville). It's not the end of the world, but I'm left to wonder what else could possibly go wrong (I don't really want to know, Universe; I'm just saying).

 

What I'm Excited About

Queen B will be home in 22 days! She is the Maid of Honor when our Katie Girl gets hitched on the 23rd and will be my right-hand man the following day, when we have Oscar and Emily's anniversary party. I love doing events with that child of mine; she's the yin to my yang.


What I'm Watching

I binge watched the latest season of The Great. It was, well, great. Elle Fanning is an amazingly talented actress.


I also watched the final season of Firefly Lane. I may have cried.


I most definitely cried at Guardians of the Galaxy, but that doesn't count because I was crying on the inside.


What I'm Reading

I ordered this cookbook on Amazon, but it's so much more than a cookbook; it's a cultural guide to Italian cuisine, region by region, ingredient by ingredient. The recipes are almost a bonus.



What I'm Listening To

Birds are chirping outside my window. It's a sweet sound, until I remember that the little bastards have been snitching seeds out of my garden. I'm pretty sure I lost an entire row of lettuce to those assholes.


What I'm Wearing

It's finally nice enough for sandal wearing, which I have embraced (following the first pedicure of the season, naturally). I am also wearing this jaunty hat that I made at a DIY hat bar at a boutique in Hooterville. Hat making was #1 on Erin and Kristi's Bon Voyage Bucket List, so I was required to participate (I'm not mad about it).


I'm also "wearing" my gray as proudly as I can bring myself to. It's been a rough adjustment but I do not miss getting my roots dyed every four weeks, so, there's that.


What I'm Doing This Weekend

Assuming we don't get rained out, we will be having a yard sale. It is a necessary evil but that doesn't mean I have to like it.


What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month

Katie's wedding, Oscar and Emily's anniversary party, a gender reveal for Kaley (Jana is secretly hoping for a boy, since Darren and her daughter-in-law already have two girls), having the concert fundraiser behind us, and maybe carving out some time for laying in the sun with a beach read. That would be nice.


Favorite Amazon Find This Month

I bought these silicone ice cube trays for the rose ice cubes that I am making for Mia's shower. They worked well and the price was reasonable.



Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Memorial Day Weekend: Sunday Edition

Despite having gotten to bed quite late the night before; I was up with the sun to go 4-wheeling with Hugh and the kids. In this case, the "kids" were the Man-Cub and Shanti, but that still counts.


Also, Hugh acts like a kid, so, there's that.


Since I was on call, we only went as far as I was able without losing cellphone signal. That was plenty far enough for a decently long ride and a brief tunnel excursion.
 


Let me draw your attention to the matching shirts; Hugh got them on sale at Sam's Club and, oh my goodness, was he proud of himself.

Then, we stopped for a picnic lunch before turning back towards home, where a nice hot shower awaited. We were filthy and ready to grill up a few steaks for dinner with Mom, Oscar, and Emily.





This is Shanti, choking out the Cub while flashing gang signs. Just kidding! She loves him, she really loves him.

It was a great way to spend our Memorial Day weekend. On Memorial Day, itself, Hugh and I did a ton of yard work; he had sprinkler heads that needed to be changed out and I had flowerbeds that required my attention (in this case, said attention amounted to not much more than assessing the bindweed situation and determining that I am going to hire someone far younger and more energetic than myself to get the job done. We're not telling Hugh).

I hope your Memorial Day weekend was awesome.


Memorial Day Weekend 2023: Saturday Edition

For the first time in the past three years; I did not get an emergency call from Not So New Job over a long holiday weekend. It was a surprise and a welcome one, at that. It was also a good thing, because I had plans and I was not looking forward to having to change them for work.

What were those plans? Well, on Saturday, they included a trip to the farmer's market in Hooterville. Mom was on the hunt for rhubarb (no luck) and local honey (big score!), and I was just along for the ride. I did end up purchasing a box of compost bin bags, but that was a spontaneous purchase (Side note: when did I turn into an 80 year old?).




After the farmer's market, we headed to a local iris farm. I have followed the farm on social media since last fall and was very much looking forward to the fields being in bloom this spring. Mom has irises in her flowerbed and has been unhappy with the lack of blooms, so it was nice to speak with the owner of the farm, who offered to come to Mom's house this week to thin them out and see if she can't get them healthy for next year.



The variety of colors in the field was amazing. I picked out several varietals that I plan to purchase from the farm when they become available on the website; I have lots of space for them in the flowerbed in the berm under one of the trees in our front yard.




Later that night, we went to see the local community theater's production of The Sound of Music. It was very well done; the casting was especially good. The play lasted over three hours, so it was way past Mom's bedtime when I got her home, but I don't think she had any complaints.



Sunday morning did roll around awfully early, I will admit. But, that's a story for the next post.