The Weekend

Good Monday morning friends. How was your weekend? Ours was really nice and I hope yours was too. We celebrated our anniversary on Thursday, which is a little bit early but when your calendar looks like ours you grab the blank space and go for it. I'm going to write a separate post about that and just talk about the weekend today. 

Our anniversary celebration involved an out of town overnight but we were home by 11 Friday morning. I unpacked, started some laundry, and then sat on the porch and spent some time blogging. At some point hubs needed to pick up something from Daughter1's house and I tagged along for a ride in the MG. 

Once home we got ready for a neighborhood get together poolside and I made an appetizer to take along. I did not take a single picture but it's a yummy recipe.  A friend shared it with me, and it's easy and delicious. A water cracker topped with whipped cream cheese, smoked salmon, chopped hard boiled egg, chopped red onion, capers, and cracked pepper. We had a nice time catching up with neighbors and the food is always good. 

Saturday morning hubs and I took our coffee down to the lake and enjoyed the view. 

The dock guys finally came to do the staining (the weather created multiple delays) so hubs moved the boat to the neighbor's dock in case there was any mess. There was not and it looks almost new. 

The mancub made the All-Star team and they had a full weekend of games on tap. Game one was Thursday night and we missed that as we were away, but we made it to the first game on Saturday and it was fun to see him play. 

It was hot so after game number one hubs and I took Little Miss and Max back to our house to bake their momma a birthday cake, and the Mancub and his parents stayed to play the second game. 

We had lunch on the porch then got to baking. Their momma loves angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream on her birthday, but explaining a-why there's a hole in the middle of the cake, b-why there's no icing, c-why there's no sprinkles, and d-why we have to wait until tomorrow to eat it, was a whole conversation. 

It looks tastier with the whipped cream and berries, but someone forgot to snap a picture. Oops. 

They colored pictures for their mom and we watched a movie. Everyone was worn out from all the baseball, the heat, and the going going going so it was nice to chill for a while. 

Their parents picked them up then I made another appetizer to take to a neighbor's house that evening. We were invited with another couple to watch game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals, and it was a fun night. The host said bring a very light and easy appetizer so that's what I did. I had a jar of blueberry lemon thyme jam I'd bought when I was at my Daughter2's in Tennessee a couple of months ago, and poured it over a brick of cream cheese with crackers and pita chips for dipping. It's sooo good! 

My team didn't make the finals, but it was an exciting game nonetheless, with two overtime periods, and we didn't get home until after midnight. 

Sunday morning we went to church, then popped home for a quick lunch before taking the cake and the berries and the whipped cream, and the candles, and the gift over to Daughter1's house to celebrate the birthday girl. 

Okay so she's a few years older than this now, but whatever. Mommas gonna mom especially when a birthday rolls around. 

She had a lot of help opening her gifts and everyone loved the cake. We didn't stay too long because they were hosting a pizza party for the baseball team and we were pooped. We came home and I took care of some paperwork that needed taking care of for Monday, then worked on my blog and relaxed. 

We had an easy pizza dinner too, then watched a really sweet older movie I'd never seen-The Magic of Belle Isle. If you've never seen it I recommend. 

And that was pretty much the weekend. If you've chatted about yours on the blog today, hop over to add your link with Holly and Sarah. 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 657

Here are the questions to this week' s Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog then hop back here on Wednesday (June 10th) to add your link to the party. See you there! 

1.  How would you define 'the good life'? 

2.  What's the most used app on your phone (and are you proud of that)? 

3. 'Every rose has it's thorn', 'everything's coming up roses', 'looking through rose-colored glasses', 'it's no bed of roses' or 'stop and smell the roses'...which rose idiom best relates to something in your life currently. Explain. 

4. How do you feel about floral flavorings in food or drink (rose, hibiscus, elderflower, lavender)? 

5. Over the course of your life what have you probably spent more time pondering than anything else? 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

A Rather Nice Hodgepodge

Welcome to June and this week's edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Here we go-

1.What's something you find extremely difficult that most people would say is simple?

Directions. As in how to get from A-B and where in the world am I lol. I have absolutely no sense of direction. On the one hand I'm thankful for GPS, but it also makes me a little lazy.  I quite often rely on it, and don't worry too much about finding my way. 

Also, if you're telling me how to get somewhere don't give me any of that east west nonsense. Is there a McDonalds on the corner or a Texaco? I need a landmark. Sometimes when we're hiking and I'm unsure of which way to go hubs will say something insane like, 'How can you not know where you are??? You know where the sun is in the sky.' Huh?? 

2.  "And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow fast in movies I  had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer." 

~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Does the season of summer make you feel this way? Elaborate. 

September is when this feeling hits for me. Years of living life by the school calendar is likely the reason why, but September always feels like a fresh start. Technically September is the end of summer, although I tend to think of it more as the beginning of autumn. 

3. Pickles. Love 'em or no thank you? What's your favorite type of pickle? What's something you eat that definitely needs a pickle added?

I love them in all forms and I love cucumbers before they become pickles too. My favorite is probably a crisp dill pickle, but I also love bread and butter pickles. 

Something I eat that needs a pickle added? A burger needs a dill pickle slice, tuna salad needs some chopped pickle, a hot dog needs pickle relish, and while not a requirement I do like pickle on a deli sandwich. 

4. Tis the season...do you know any June brides? Are there any weddings on your summer calendar? What's your favorite movie wedding? 

I'm a June bride...

We don't have any weddings on our June calendar, but we do have a July wedding this year. It will be red, white, and HOT, but lots of fun too. I love a wedding. 

My favorite movie wedding? 

Maria and the Captain in The Sound of Music ranks right up there, but I also love the wedding scene in Crazy Rich Asians. 

5. June 1st is/was National Say Something Nice Day...say something nice here. 

I think the Hodgepodge is one of the nicest little corners of the Internet. Thanks for playing along each week!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Since we're talking nice...

A neighbor brought me some of her gorgeous hydrangeas. They're even prettier in person. We have hydrangeas in our yard too, but they're just starting to bloom, and none in this color. So pretty!! 

A reminder I'm hosting A Day In The Life link up here on Thursday, June 18th.  If you don't know what that is check out last week's Hodgepodge random thought for details. 

Hello Monday On Tuesday

Hi friends. It's June. Can you believe it? May was choc-a-block full and June will be the same. We have a daughter's birthday, a grandson's birthday, an anniversary, Father's Day, a week with daughter2 and her littles at the lake, Vacation Bible School, various appointments, my brother and sister-in-law in town for a visit, two wine dinners, and whew. It will be fun. 

Now if only the weather would get the message.

I didn't get my weekend recap written as we had company Sunday evening, then I had an appointment that required me to leave the house before 8 AM on Monday so here it is almost 3 PM and I'm finally sitting down to blog. 

Backing up to Thursday because it feels like the start of the weekend. I volunteer from about 9-1 every Thursday, then went to run a quick errand for a friend before heading to the salon for a mani/pedi. So nice. Hubs and I had already decided we'd go out for dinner which added to the enjoyment of the salon treatment. 

I got home and changed and we went to the local distillery for dinner and to hear some live music. I ordered a brisket sandwich and it was delicious but super rich. I only ate half and hubs helped with the rest. After we ate we went outside to hear a local band play. 

We ran into some friends there who introduced us to a couple they were with, neighbors of theirs, and in the course of chatting we discovered they're friends with some of our very best lifelong friends. We snapped a picture and texted our friends who live far from here and in the moment it all felt like such a small world. 

Friday hubs had an appointment to get his haircut in the nearby city and we decided to make a day of it. I tagged along so we could visit my mom afterwards, and we had the most delicious lunch in between these two events. We ate downtown at a small seafood restaurant where I could have ordered one of everything on the menu. 

We opted for a half order of their famous cheddar hushpuppies-

 A sampling of their fish dip which was so good I could have eaten as an entree...

A half dozen oysters from different east coast waters with varying salinity...

And then a lobster roll for good measure...

We got the Maine roll (cold) as opposed to the Connecticut roll (warm), but this place does both. We were full but we did get an order of their banana pudding to go so we could take that to my momma. She loved it. 

We left downtown and headed to her residence next, which is about 20 minutes from the city. We had a nice time chatting outside and hubs had her laughing which makes me smile too. These lilies in bloom in the garden there were beautiful. 

r

We made a couple of stops on the way home to drop off and pick up various things so didn't get home until about 4:30. We relaxed that evening and skipped dinner since we were still full from lunch. 

Saturday I ran to the store first thing to get a few last minute party items and hubs ran to the rock place to get filler for a spot beside the patio. I'm sure the place has a name but he bought two buckets of rocks there so I call it the rock shop. We were both home by 11 and then headed out to watch the boys play in a travel baseball game about 40 minutes from here. 

This is how it went down-

We drove forty minutes to a very nice sports field complex. I mean really nice. 

We paid $20 to get in. Yes. $10 per adult. Does anyone else think that's a lot? And y'all. There were hundreds of cars coming and going all day long as there were games played by kids of different ages on multiple fields. I wonder if there are families with a child playing where only one parent attends the three day tournament because they can't afford the entry fee? 

My daughter says probably not because these travel teams are a different level and parents are spending crazy sums on the bats and other gear so paying the $10 to get on the field is nothing. I saw a meme where a mom said 'here I am wearing the same bra I've owned since 2018 while my 8- year old is on the field with a $500 bat'.  Ha! But also kinda true. 

I will stop now because I sound old, plus the facilities are super nice so the money it seems is at least going back into that community. Also, most people don't have a husband who hits the snack bar and spends another $50 on junk food. Not naming names, but it does happen. ahem. 

We came home and worked on getting everything ready for the next day's festivities. 

I cleaned bathrooms and hubs got the outdoor dining furniture wiped down and back in place, the grill set up, the cornhole boards out, etc. 

Saturday night he prepped the pork butt and shoulder. Somehow I bought one of each which I didn't think was a huge deal, because they weighed about the same, but apparently it was a bit of a deal because one had a bone and one didn't and blah blah blah. 

It was all delicious. 

Hubs put them on the green egg sometime between 11 and midnight on Saturday and they smoked happily all night long. There's nothing like the scent of BBQ with your morning coffee.

I'm not joking. 

The weather on Sunday was nuts. It looked like it was going to pour rain all day but it never rained a drop. It was chilly. Then it was warm, then chilly again. But not raining so we'll take it. 

We had BBQ with beans and slaw and then all the other yummy sides plus two desserts people brought.

 We played cornhole and fun fact-we've owned boards for ten years and I still am not great at this game. 

Here we are trying to do math. If you play cornhole you get it. It's all friendly and we had a great time chatting, eating, tossing the bean bags, and celebrating the start of summer. 

Also, this turtle lives here now. What should we name him?

Linking today with Holly and Sarah's yesterday hop Hello Monday and Joanne's 

Talking About It Tuesday

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 656

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Hop back here on Wednesday (June 3rd) to share answers with the world wide webbers. See you there!

1.What's something you find extremely difficult that most people would say is simple?

2.  "And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow fast in movies I  had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer." 

~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Does the season of summer make you feel this way? Elaborate. 

3. Pickles. Love 'em or no thank you? What's your favorite type of pickle? What's something you eat that definitely needs a pickle added?

4. Tis the season...do you know any June brides? Are there any weddings on your summer calendar? What's your favorite movie wedding? 

5. June 1st is/was National Say Something Nice Day...say something nice here. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Nom de Hodgepodge

Welcome to the last Hodgepodge in this merry month of May. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Here we go-

1. Do you like your name? Are you named after someone (grandparent, etc)? If you have children how did you choose their names? 

I don't have a strong opinion about my name. I don't dislike it, and can't really imagine anything different.  That's who I've always been so yes, I guess I do like it. I'm not named after anyone. 

When we found out we were expecting daughter1 hubs and I immediately settled on her name. We were less sure of a boy's name, but no matter, because we were both certain baby was a girl and we were right. We just loved the name, both first and middle, and it suits her. 

There was just one other girl with her same name in her preschool and kindergarten class, but then all the way up through university we didn't know another. Fast forward to present day and we have three in our church besides her so maybe it's more of a SC thing? We still love it. 

Daughter2 has a name that belonged to one of hubs grandmothers and also one of my great grandmothers which is nice. The name definitely suits her. We gave her hubs other grandmother's name as a middle, and I knew and loved that grandmother so was happy to pass it on. 

My grandchildren have a combination of family names and names their parent's loved. They are all more traditional which I love. One has his dad and granddads' first name and then our surname as his middle. One has my dad's name as his middle. One has my mother's maiden name as his middle. Both grandgirls share middle names with their mommas which is sweet. 

2.  A piece of red velvet cake, a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a slice of blueberry pie? You can only have one...which will you choose? If you could pick any red, white, or blue dessert other than those listed here, what would you choose? 

I'll have the blueberry pie please. That's a favorite and I make at least one every summer. Hubs birthday is early September and I sometimes make him a blueberry pie instead of a cake for his birthday dessert. 

If I were picking something not listed it would be angel food cake topped with strawberries. Red and white. I'll make one of these soon as my daughter1 requests this for her birthday dessert every year and she has one coming up soon. 

Fun fact...she has a son turning the age she is in this photo but we won't time travel down that rabbit hole today. 

3.  What's a job you'd like to try for just one day? 

I'd like to check groceries at the supermarket for a day. I can't really explain why this appeals to me, but it's a job I think I'd enjoy. I like grocery shopping and am nosy about what people have in their carts. I'm also picky about the bagging-just ask my hubs.

4. Any patriotic decor in your home currently or coming up this summer? 

I've put out some patriotic decor because it's a big year for America and I want to celebrate that. I needed new cushions for my upper deck and went with a patriotic theme. I bought hand towels for the guest bath, patriotic soaps, and I've ordered a candle for my coffee table with a patriotic label. 

I mentioned my front door wreath in Monday's post, and I have a patriotic door mat there too. Of course the dock is decked out with a flag and a patriotic wind sock and in general the lake is full of flags flying and people celebrating the freedoms we enjoy. 

I'd post pictures of my new pillows, but it's been raining cats and dogs since Friday so we have the outdoor furniture covered and the pillows tucked away. They'll be out all summer so I'm sure they'll turn up on the blog eventually. 

5. It's the end of May, so let's exercise our brains. Sum up your month with an acrostic using the word MAY. We can do it!!  

Moved my momma early May

All the blooming beauty added brightness to the month

Yearning for sunshine as we turn the page to June

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I'd kind of forgotten I wanted to host another Day In The Life link up for anyone who'd like to join the fun. New season, new routines. 

Unless you're retired then it's same old same old. Ha! I kid. 

Anyway, let's say June 18th. It's a Thursday. Choose a day to keep track of that falls between now and the link up, then hop back here to add your post to the party. If you don't know what I'm talking about here's the 411-

Pick a day and give us the play by play of your life on that day. Some bloggers do their posts by the hour, some by chunks of time, whatever works for you. Most people add photos but that's up to you. If you're like me you need to set the timer on your phone to remind you to take pictures but again, you can do your post in whatever way you like. 

I wrote one back in November you can read if you want an idea of how mine looks-A Day In The Life, Autumn 2025

These posts are fun to read and I feel like they're great connectors. Hope to see you there! 

The Tender Middle

Linking today's post with Talking About It Tuesdays hosted by Joanne

We've recently moved my mom south, out of my sister's home in PA where she's lived for the past six years, and into an assisted living facility. Safety is paramount when you're in your ninth decade and that was the tipping point for all of us in making this hard decision. By all of us I mean myself and my three siblings. We've had a loose plan knowing this might someday become necessary but not going to lie, reality hits harder than you might imagine. 

I'm not going to talk too much about the process because every family has to do what's right for them. I will just say my younger sister did her homework and knew all the questions to ask. We looked at many places in two different states and between the four of us saw each one in person. 

There are so many factors to consider coupled with a lot of emotion, so if a move like this is on your radar start visiting and collecting information now. Just know that nowhere is perfect and settling in takes time. For everyone. 

I have a mishmash of thoughts I want to put into writing but the mishmash is real. Hubs has asked me a number of times this month, 'What are you thinking? I can see the wheels turning." 

Turning but not really getting anywhere. 

So what am I thinking? 

I'm thinking about how difficult it is to reach a point in life where your decisions are not your own. Not where you live or if you drive or sometimes even what you eat. 

I'm thinking about how every member of a family has feelings about how best to meet the needs of an elderly parent and how emotions run high where love, sadness, and exhaustion coexist. I'm thinking about how much grace is required in those moments. Grace given, and also grace accepted. 

How sometimes we have to do hard things we wish we didn't have to do. 

How giving an elderly parent as much independence as they can safely handle is a good thing, but knowing when too much is too much is maybe the more important thing. 

I think about everything our parents once did for us, and how that memory helps us now do for them. 

How often we frustrated them, tested their patience, wanted our own way, didn't want to be told what to do because we were certain we knew best. Suddenly that gets flipped on its head and now you're the one digging deep for patience and a gentle tone. The one trying to give in a little whenever giving in is possible. 

How you learn the parent you've known all your life is still there inside the person who now needs a walker and some help remembering the life they lived. 

There is also, somewhere in the middle of all this thinking, the unsettling realization that one day you might be that person too. The one needing all the things you're now being asked to give. 

How you will likely buck and dig in your heels because you still feel like yourself, an independent capable person who cannot imagine being anything but. 

Except now you kind of can. 

And it's a little bit frightening. 

I think about the term sandwich generation and how apt that moniker is. I'm the filling and sometimes I feel squished. 

And sometimes completely overwhelmed with love for those doing the squishing. 

I think about how I don't have the energy I had even a decade ago, yet I still have opinions and wisdom and things I want to contribute. I still want to matter. Everyone does. 

I think about how time shrinks and expands at the same time and  how I want my children to have big beautiful lives, but not forget mine as it gradually but naturally will grow smaller. 

Mostly I think about how God holds each one of our lives in the palm of His hand. How He knows the number of our days from beginning to end, and how He walks beside us through every season we encounter. 

We are never forgotten. 

Never unseen. 

We are known and loved by the One who made us.