The Weekend ReQap

Good Monday morning everyone. Hope your weekend was nice and you're ready for the week ahead. I'm still working my way through the alphabet in the April A-Z Blog Challenge, and will incorporate today's letter into my weekend recap. Here we go-

Hubs and I had a busy weekend on tap. He was working a booth for his real estate office at the local boat show and I had plans to meet up with my sister in the nearby city to shop for the last of the furnishings we need for my mom's new space. 

On Friday we wanted to hit the nursery and get started planting a few things around the yard. Hubs had to pick up a poster for the boat show so first stop was Walgreens. He thought he ordered a poster on a board but it was just a poster so we made a short hop over to Hobby Lobby who said they could fix it in 20 minutes. 

So we went back to the shopping center we'd just left to pick up the dry cleaning and to kill twenty minutes, then back to Hobby Lobby to get the poster.  Done. 

Next stop the nursery. I love a trip to the nursery, especially this time of year. 

Also, I want roses. 

We had a specific area we were trying to beautify on this trip, so we did not get roses. We did get some beautiful plants to put around a big rock that sits beside our cart path, and I made a couple of pots for the upper deck. 

We'll need more, but it's a start. 

I love this blue eyed grass which blooms with little purple star flowers and I especially love this plant, called lime ruffles for obvious reasons-

Insert today's letter...

Day 17-Q is for Quick Change Of Plans 

While we were browsing the plant life daughter2 phoned and asked if they could come for the weekend. Her hubs grandma lives somewhat near us and she's not well so they needed to make a trip our way. Of course we said yes but my brain immediately went into overdrive...are there clean sheets on the beds? are the bathrooms downstairs clean? is there something I can cobble together for dinner? 

Not without a stop at the market so that happened too. 

We got home and worked in the yard and daughter1 called and said the boys wanted to come paddle boarding if that's okay. It's fine. As long as they manage it because hubs is up to his elbows in dirt and I need to figure out dinner and food for the weekend and all the rest. She said they'd take the boat for a ride instead and would come to us after dinner to see the cousins. 

So I wrapped up my gardening and came in and showered and made sure everything was ready for people to sleep and stay for a few days and then about 4 daughter2 arrived with her littles. Her hubs went straight on to his grandparents, but we had dinner and then the cousin crew was all together again. There were popsicles all around and outdoor play in the beautiful evening weather. 

Saturday was a hot one, and after a breakfast of bacon and eggs everyone went their separate ways. Hubs went to the boat show, daughter2 took her kiddoes to her sister's house to play there, her hubs went back to his grandpa's, and I drove into the nearby city to meet my sister at a furniture store. 

We spent the whole day shopping and forgot to snap a picture, so here ya go-

This is us a few years ago, and we basically look the same. 

Saturday night hubs grilled steaks and after the kids went to bed the adults sat up and chatted for a while. We didn't make it to church on Sunday because hubs had to leave before lunchtime to go back to the boat show, and daughter1 and her hubs had spent the night in the nearby city so they could attend my son-in-law's high school reunion. Her kids were at the in-laws so we just had a morning at home...

Then after lunch we loaded up and went to check out the boat show. They had a bounce house which was a huge hit. Sugar has no fear and needs no help. All the little girls who were playing in there wanted to hold her hand and slide down the ginormous slide with her, but she was not having it. "I can do it myself!... her Nana's granddaughter for sure. 

There was a sweet little lemonade truck beside the booth hubs was manning and daughter2 tried the dill pickle lemonade which was pretty good (I love dill pickles) and I had Princess Peach which was a combo of strawberry, peach, and coconut...heavy on the strawberry, but very tasty. 

Hubs grilled burgers once the boat show wrapped up, and we relaxed afterwards before getting the kids settled in to bed and the adults not too far behind. 

We had a lot of plans this weekend and they mostly still happened but there was some shuffling too and that's the thing I want to keep. To hold plans loosely and be flexible when my grown kids call and say, 'Is it okay if we come last minute?'

I want to always say yes to my girls when they need us. One thing about this season of life is my priorities are crystal clear. I don't get to see my daughter2 as often as her sister due to geography and I want to seize the day when the day is offered. 

She is in a busy busy busy whew! season currently with a two year old and a three year old who are always in ON! mode and I want to be a soft place for her to land. Both my girls. Hubs and I have the opportunity to do a million and ten things here at the lake, but I want to hold on to the quick change of plans that can happen and know that above everything else, family gets top billing. 

Linking today with Holly and Sarah for their regular Hello Monday hop. So what were you up to this weekend? 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 650

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday (April 22) to share your answers. See you there!

1. April 22nd is Earth Day...what's the most 'out of this world' place on earth you've ever visited? Tell us something about it. 

2. A favorite quote, verse, or song lyric with the word earth in it? 

3. What's the most trivial thing about which you have a strong opinion? 

4. What's your most commonly used kitchen utensil or tool? What's the last thing you made using that tool? 

5. Marilyn (Memphis Bridges) gave me a great book of 3000 questions, and I'm going to try to use one in our Hodgepodge every week. Here is today's - 

What is your greatest extravagance? 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

A Peony For Your Thoughts

Saturday blogging is not my norm, but I'm rolling right along in the A-Z Blog Challenge and don't want to drop the ball now. Today's post will be short and sweet. I think. I'm enjoying my theme (The Things We Keep: Ordinary Objects From A-Z), and had to get a little creative today, but it works. You'll see. 

Day 16-P is for Peony

About six years ago I finally got a peony plant for our garden. My mom had quite the green thumb and grew gorgeous flowers of all shapes, size, and variety, but I don't think we ever had a peony. 

I fell in love with them in England because my next door neighbor there had a back garden full of them. So much beauty! He had many heirloom varieties and then the more familiar too and he would tell me about them on occasion. I was determined to have a peony in my own back garden someday. 

Fast forward, and we'd been in this house about four years when we finally purchased a small, but healthy looking plant. Hubs put it in a spot we thought was fine, but turns out it wasn't fine and by the  middle of the summer it looked deader than a doornail. 

Sidebar-did you know that expression deader than a doornail dates back to the 14th century? 

Anyway, the peony appeared to be dead but I could not let it go so hubs dutifully dug it up and moved it to another spot closer to the lake. Like my mama, hubs also has a very green thumb but he felt sure this was a lost cause. It was basically a little stub of a plant, scrawny and all stem, no leaves. 

Well don't you know the next year that little stub popped up! yay!, but then she just sat there. Boo. She didn't die but she didn't exactly live either. Didn't grow even a millimeter and of course didn't bloom. Hubs thought we should get rid of it, but I said it wasn't hurting anything so we left it. 

Year three same thing. Year four nothing. It became something of a joke between hubs and I, but for some reason, without actually saying it, we agreed to leave this six inch 'shrub' alone. 

Year five. It grew! What??? Now it didn't grow a lot, but it grew leaves and maybe an inch or two in height. We for sure didn't think it would ever bloom. 

Well guess what? 

Year six.

Still a tiny little thing, but today I saw TWO blooms ready to burst open on that plant and I cannot tell you how exciting it is. 

I'm viewing this as a testament to resilience, proving we can thrive even after a long dry season. When this tiny mighty beauty blooms I'll be sure to share. 

So glad we kept her! 

Merry April!

Still at that A-Z Blog Challenge thing...

Day 15-O is for Ornaments 

I didn't overthink this one, but went with something obvious. I was inspired by the attic cleanout we started at the end of March and will finish sometime soon. I have several bins of photo albums left to tackle still and will need a full couple of days to go through them. I know myself and know I'll get majorly sidetracked looking at old pictures, so the job will take longer than it should. 

But that's a post for another day. Today we're talking Christmas, or more specifically Christmas ornaments. 

I think the trend now is to have fancy trees or themed trees, but in our house we always like something more homespun. Our tree is filled with ornaments that mean something to us, and I feel sentimental about almost every one. They are in a way, the story of us. 

There's one from our 'first married Christmas'-

Babies born-

Places we've lived-

Beloved pets-

Cities we've traveled to-

hobbies-

and my favorite...those made by little hands-

I love pulling the boxes out every year and taking a stroll down memory lane. 

A Circle Of Names

We're a little more than halfway through the alphabet and this is usually the point where I start to run out of steam. I ask my family to help by giving me a word, and sometimes that works. Today I got nothin'. 

As in N is for Nothin'. 

When I really started thinking about things I've kept, or things I want to keep, that begin with the letter N I came up with one thing, and when I told hubs he said it was a little lame. 

But lame is better than nothin', right? Hubs and I agree the object isn't lame, it's just hard to make it a blog post, but of course that won't stop me. 

 Day 14-N is for Nana's Necklace 

My Nana necklace-

Rest assured I will not be posting a picture of my neck here because just because. 

Eight years ago I became a Nana, and for my birthday a couple of months later daughter1 bought me a necklace with two small charms. One was a bar with the word Nana engraved on it and the second was a round charm with the mancub's name engraved on it. I flipped the charms over in the photo because I try not to use their names on the blog. This necklace is such a treasure. 

Becoming a grandmother is just all around grand. 

When baby boy number two was born, aka Max, daughter1 gifted me another round charm with his name engraved there. His actual name, not Max which is his blog name. 

Then along came baby boy number three, and daughter1 shared the charm link with her sister and daughter2 added yet another round disc to the chain with her baby boy's name engraved there. 

A few months later Little Miss arrived and a fourth round charm was added, and then grandbaby number five joined the party and one more charm was added to the chain with her name on it. 

I've told my girls if there are any more babies I'll need a bigger chain. 

I love this necklace so much and wear it pretty much every day. I tend to handle it now and then too, and when I do I say a quiet prayer for these precious little people who have brought so much joy to my life. 

This necklace is a keeper. 

A Mostly Tax Free Hodgepodge

Welcome to this week's edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge, and bonus the letter M in the A-Z Blog Challenge. You'll find my entry for that in today's random thought. Scroll down to question #6.

If you've answered today's questions add you link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. It won't be taxing at all. Now here we go...

Wait. One more thing. Hodgepodge links only here today, please and thank you. And now here we go for real...

1. Big week in the US of A...do you do your own taxes? What's something you've found 'taxing' lately? 

We do not do our own taxes. Actually our accountant phoned us at 8:30 PM Sunday evening to discuss, so thank your CPA because this time of year is brutal for them. 

Something I've found taxing lately? Hmmm...how about blogging my way through the alphabet every day in the month of April? I really do enjoy it, but it's also a lot. 

2. When it comes to travel are you a last minute packer or a lay it all out a week in advance type? Do you struggle to pack light? Share a packing tip that has worked for you. 

I am not last minute except for those things that can only be added last minute. I am more of an overthinker when it comes to packing. I like options, and I like to have somewhat of a plan for what I will wear each day. If I'm flying I have more self-discipline, but with a car trip all bets are off. 

My packing tips? I have traveled a lot but still am not sure you want packing advice from me. Use the packing cubes. It keeps things organized in your suitcase and you can group items in whatever way works for you. 

3. April is National Grilled Cheese Month. Hmmm...who knew it got its own month? Do you like a grilled cheese sandwich? What ingredient do you add to take yours to the next level? 

In hosting the weekly Hodgepodge for many years I've learned there is a national day and/or month for everything under the sun. Not complaining though because it helps me come up with questions when my brain cannot. 

I love a grilled cheese sandwich, and it's even better with a side of tomato soup for dipping. I feel like grilled cheese is a winter lunchtime meal and rarely make one in the summer. I will order a fancy grilled cheese on occasion, but my favorite is the plain old fashioned kind with bread, butter and plenty of melted cheese. No need to doctor it up. 

4. There's a well known quote that says-

'A ship in the harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are built for." John A. Shedd  

Is constant growth necessary or do you think it's more important to prioritize stability and peace in your life? 

I've had seasons where I've been tucked safely in the harbor and that felt necessary. There have of course been many seasons where I've been tossed on the waves which, while unpleasant and confusing, were also likely very necessary. 

I'm not sure anyone's life is all smooth sailing. I think we can and do grow in rough water, but growth can also happen while in a place of stability and peace. Sometimes we need a more gentle environment to be able to look at our lives and see what's working and what's not. 

Ideally we need a balance of growing and rest. Think about the natural world where plants lie dormant in the winter and grow like wildfire in the spring. We humans need something similar. 

Now in terms of spiritual growth I want that to be ongoing. I want to always be growing more like Christ which I think is what we're made for. 

'Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.' Colossians 3:2 

5. Let's wrap this up with a fun spring this or that-

• daffodils or tulips tulips
• lemonade or iced tea half tea half lemonade is my favorite
• gardening or hiking both, but if I have to choose I'll say hiking 
• ladybugs or butterflies butterflies 
• umbrella or raincoat both, but I am partial to a cute umbrella 
• floral patterns or polka dots I like both...my answer would depend on where the pattern is going; is it a top? a dress? a pillow? my bedding?

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I'm using this space for today's letter in the A-Z Blog Challenge, continuing my theme which is The Things We Keep: An A-Z of Ordinary Objects. 

Day 13-M is for the MGB

Technically the MG is hubs baby but what's mine is his and all that jazz. Plus, I enjoy being a passenger in this little beauty who must have it's own garage bay in whatever home we own. 

We bought the MG in the UK and brought it back with us when we returned stateside. I will say we have more money in the car than the cost of the actual car but I think that's how it often goes with old vehicles.

The MG is a right hand drive vehicle which can freak people out when they pull up beside us at a traffic light. Hubs used to sometimes take our dog with him and the dog sits in what would be the driver's seat in the US so there are lots of double takes by people passing by. 

We drive it on country roads mostly, and try not to get into interstate traffic or super congested areas if possible. We never put the top up so we only drive it in good weather. It wreaks havoc on my hair but we don't get out in it every day so I deal. I am strictly a passenger because she's a tad fussy. 

The car is almost sixty years old, and we've owned her for more than twenty ourselves. I can't imagine getting rid of her, and hope maybe someday hubs can hand over the keys to a grandchild. None of them will be driving for years yet so it won't happen anytime soon, but maybe someday. 

For now...

...we cruise. 

For Keeps

Linking with Joanne for Talking About It Tuesdays 

As I mentioned in my post yesterday I've flip flopped letters K and L this week, which means that while it's L Day everywhere else in the A-Z Blog Challenge, I'm here blogging letter K. It's fine. Off we go-

 
Day 12-K is for Kids and Their Stuff and Also Their 'Stuff'

I have grown kids, and for the sake of keeping things simple I'm going to refer to them here as kids. In reality they are full grown responsible adults, but it's easier to say kids. 

Plus they're my kids. 

Hubs and I recently made a dent in the great attic clean out and much of what we have stored there belongs to our kids. Or it did at one time, when they were actual kids, and we their parents have hung on to things we thought they might want one day or that we couldn't bear to part with way back when. 

My granddaughters are going to love this glam Barbie who is fully clothed and still has a head full of beautifully coiffed hair. Such is not the case for all the Barbies I kept. 

Quite a few of the things in these attic boxes are mementos from our girl's childhood and teen years. There were yearbooks, ballet slippers, piggy banks, knick knacks and more. 

What do we do with it now? 

We went through a lot of this when we moved from the UK back to the states in 2009 and my girls were college students. The boxes had all been in storage for several years while we were overseas and it was fun to open them up and rediscover so many treasures.

Some junk too because one man's treasure is another man's junk, right? 

We re-boxed a lot of it because they were young and single and the future was way out there and who knows, maybe we'll want that kaboodle or the doll that was won at the fair?

Suddenly (not really) nearly twenty years have sailed by and my kids have kids which makes it a little bit easier to say keep this, toss that. 4th Grade report card? Toss. I mean it's fun to look over, but there's no real need to keep it beyond that. We've consolidated everything but the American Girl Dolls and all their furniture and accessories into one box for each daughter. They can decide for themselves what they deem worthy of keeping. 

The rest feels much easier to part with now than it did back then.  

But what about the other 'stuff' we parents love to hold on to when it comes to our kids? The things they deal with in life that we as their parents, the people who love them most, want to take on, fix, smooth, resolve...what about those things? 

I was brainstorming with my daughter2 about words I might match to the various letters in the challenge and I casually said something about how I might like to talk about grown kids and not taking on their stuff and she, a little too quickly I might add, started nodding her head, saying yes that. 

Hey now. I've come a long way in this department. A very long way, and that's the first thing I'd tell those who are a little bit behind me in the parenting game. It's a process. I have responsible, solid, well adjusted daughters and they manage their lives very well, but still sometimes my brain wants my mouth to chime in...

Have you figured out what to do about the dog while you're away? Your kids had the measles vaccine right? Measles are back ya know. Should you be traveling out of the country with the state of things as they are currently? Have you thought about this that the other?? 

Hubs and I are a good team in this department because we don't seem to be concerned about the same things at the same time. This allows us to keep one another in check. I tell him 'that's not our donut' and he tells me to 'let them figure it out'. 

We're parents. We'll never not care, right? Here are two things I remind myself of when I'm tempted to intervene...

1. I remind myself what it felt like to be a 35-year old mother of two. Did I want my mom piling on to my worries or telling me I should do A-B-C when I thought X-Y-Z was best? Or did I want my mom to say she was proud of how I was managing all the things there are to manage in any given season? 

2. I remind myself that as much as I love my girls God loves them more. That He has a plan for their lives and His ways are higher and better than my ways. I pray He opens doors, closes doors, protects, emboldens, and that they listen as He speaks into their lives. 

We all learn by doing, sometimes failing, but often succeeding beyond our wildest dreams. 

Once upon a time, I was a young mom who loved to cook, who dreamed of cooking alongside my girls. Tucked into one of those attic boxes I found an old cookbook-

Inside the cover was a love note, written in cursive to my three-year-old daughter who wasn't even old enough to read.

The note was written by a momma who somehow knew one far away day in the future, a box would be opened and that little girl, now a grown married woman with children of her own, would read those words and feel the love behind them.

That little girl cooks with her children now. 

I hope she adds her own note to the page.