Jammin'

As in jammin' a lot into a single post because I'm behind here. If you neglect your blog for a few weeks  days life just rolls right on by without comment. Still I'm going to go back and comment. We've had a busy couple of weeks here and I want to catch up. 

Am I always saying that, because it feels like it? 

Backing up to last Friday when we celebrated Mardi Gras with some neighbors. So fun! The hostess grew up in New Orleans and funnily enough the couple who not that long ago moved in next door to them also have roots there. 

The couple hosting made a wonderful New Orleans style meal of gumbo (delicious!), red beans and rice, and shrimp creole. Guests brought a spicy crab dip, a spicy sausage dip, and I made Emeril's creole relish tray with white cheddar crackers which I will definitely be making again. So good! 

Our hosts had a king cake for dessert because I think that's the Mardi Gras law. We ate all but two pieces and guess where the baby was? Not in one of the twelve pieces we cut. Is that considered unlucky? 

Another guest brought some bourbon balls topped with gold glitter and the next door neighbor from NOLA brought homemade pralines for everyone to take home. Si délicieux! We all had a cup of brandy milk punch too, which I'd never tried before, and it was so yummy. 

Hubs and I got up early Saturday morning to make the drive to daughter2's house in Tennessee for Sugar's birthday celebration. She's officially 2 and completely adorable. There was a sweet Minnie Mouse theme and everyone had 'ears' to wear. 

My son-in-law grilled a brisket, and his parents were in town for the weekend too. Friends came by with their little ones and the kids played while the adults chatted. There were of course cupcakes for the birthday girl made by her momma, baker extraordinaire. She even made the edible bows for the ears, which were mini Oreos.

It was low key and perfect for this age. Three dogs were also in attendance and they mostly behaved. 

It was a chilly weekend and we spent most of it indoors watching Olympics with a side of If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. Sunday the grandparents were left in charge while the parents had a little day date. We let the kids nap maybe a little too long, but everyone was partied out. The kids too lol. 

We watched the Superbowl Sunday night, but were not invested in the teams and overall the game wasn't very exciting. I finished my book club book while listening to the game and my book was much more interesting. 

We drove home Monday morning and were back at the lake by lunchtime. I unpacked, did laundry, then washed my hair to get ready for our monthly wine club dinner happening that evening. 

Never a dull moment. 

Tuesday hubs had his guitar lesson, I made some phone calls and did some paperwork, took a walk, then had book club that afternoon. We read The God Of The Woods and it received mostly positive reviews. I was home for an hour, then back to the clubhouse to play Mah Jong. 

Wednesday morning I was guess where? You guessed it. Back to the clubhouse to help with a Mah Jong lesson. Hubs and I had lunch then we headed to the store. I don't know if you've seen the ads for having a song personalized, but hubs had one written for me and he played it when we got in the car. It's a beautiful song and the lyrics are so so sweet. A truly thoughtful special gift I will treasure. 

After the shopping and errands were done I came home and made sugar cookie dough for Thursday. My granddaughter was coming over for a little while Thursday morning to spend some time with us while her momma ran an errand and I thought it would be fun to make some heart shaped cookies. 

With lots of sprinkles. 

Pink of course. 

After Little Miss and her momma went home hubs and I headed to a friend's house for a welcome home celebration. Our friend has been in the hospital for months following an accident and was finally able to come home on Thursday. Friends and neighbors lined the street, made signs, waved balloons and pompoms, and cheered as they pulled in. It was fabulous. 

There are so many good people in the world loving their neighbors well. Don't let the internet, the news, or the angry loud voices on social media tell you otherwise. 

Everyone left once they were in the driveway as it was a long day and I'm sure overwhelming on many levels. 

We got home and my daughter called and said the boys wanted to come by so we could see the Mancub's school project, and I'm gonna say we are here for it. Living a few miles apart is everything I hoped it would be. 

As soon as they left I showered and changed for a fun author event with a few women from my book club. It was billed as a conversation with two local writers, Shelley Burchfield and Carolyn Newton. Your ticket included light refreshments and a signed copy of one of their books. Both of these women were so engaging and they complemented one another well. 

I hadn't read anything by Carolyn so opted for her novel called Songs Of The Dead Road. It's described as a work of historical fiction about Jan Balik, a Polish composer who uses music to cope with the trauma of WWII, including the loss of family and his time in a Soviet orphanage and labor camp. 

And that brings us to Friday. Or Valentine's Day as we're calling it here. I'm headed out of town on Saturday leaving hubs here to man the fort, so we decided to celebrate a day early. 

By celebrate I mean cooking a nice dinner at home together which we haven't done in a while. 

I jammed a lot in here, but I think you know jammed posts are kinda my jam. Wishing you a weekend filled with the people and things you love. 

Linking today with Friday Favorites hosted by Erika and Andrea

A Week In The "Amazon"

Hello friends. TGIF. It's been a long week here for no real reason other than it's felt that way. We've had a lot of to-do's on the calendar and I feel like the Amazon delivery driver has been at my house on the daily. I took almost no pictures this week, but will share my Amazon goodies at the end because I do have snaps of those. 

Monday hubs had to take his new truck back to the dealer because when he picked it up the week before the cover for the bed hadn't arrived. Plus there was a small ding they needed to rub out, and since all of this couldn't be done on Monday he got a loaner and then had to return Wednesday for the pick up. The dealer is almost an hour away.

While he was out I dusted and cleaned bathrooms and made the fabulous peach bars I mentioned here on Tuesday. 

Friends came by later in the afternoon for a meeting about a book event we're organizing for all the book clubs around the lake. We had one event last year and it was a lot of fun. This year we're aiming for an author evening. 

Tuesday I had a hair appointment so my chauffeur (aka the hubs) dropped me off, went to his guitar lesson, then picked me up afterwards. We decided to stop for lunch at Five Guys and their burgers are always  good. I get the kid size and we get one order of fries to share because they overload the fries in a good way, but still you do not get out of there for under thirty bucks which feels like a lot for fast food. 

I came home and read and rested my foot, then played Mah Jong that evening. As we were wrapping up,  a crazy storm blew in with lightning that was absolutely nuts. Nonstop. We ended up staying in the clubhouse an extra hour because nobody wanted to risk a strike. We watched the radar and when we saw a small window there we all made a beeline for our cars. A friend had picked me up because again, not driving. When you can't drive you feel like a pest bumming rides everywhere, but it is what it is. 

Wednesday we had big plans. A trip to the DMV for our new license/real ID. We both have passports so haven't worried too much about getting the real ID, but since our licenses were expiring this month we decided to go ahead and bring all the docs for the ID. We arrived before they opened and there was already a fairly long line, but! Our little DMV is the most efficient, friendliest, DMV I've ever encountered. We've moved a lot so I've encountered many. Every single person we dealt with in this office was so pleasant and did their job well. 

A guy came outside before they opened and handed out forms to everyone so they would be ready to check in. They had many windows open and we sat less than a minute before we were called. In and out in less than an hour and not feeling irritated in the least. 

We hadn't eaten breakfast so stopped at a new Eggs Up Grill on the way home for 'brunch'.  It's a franchise, and there's another one in the next town over that we've eaten in before, but this was our first time to the one in our town. I had a Greek scrambler and it was yummy. 

Hubs dropped me at home then headed back to dealer town to get a haircut and then pick up the truck. I'd put a Mississippi roast in the crock pot that morning and made mashed potatoes, then loaded up my car to go to my daughter's house to watch the grands for the evening. She and her hubs had a work related event to attend so I brought dinner over and hubs met me there when he was through in town. We played for a bit, then had dinner and watched a movie. Everyone was tired so it was low key and nice. 

Thursday was a big day. Ortho day. I had my follow up and whoohoo!! FREEDOM!!

Well mostly freedom. He said I can come out of the boot, but not to go crazy. To wean myself out of it over the next couple of weeks and go easy on the activity but still, it's progress. And I won't be in a boot the entire beach trip which is really the main thing I was not looking forward to. 

I had a library book to return and one to pick up so hubs went with me and we got dinner at a cheesesteak place that's really good and is close to the library. He'd won a gift certificate there in a drawing so might as well use it up. 

And that was pretty much our week. I looked back at my Amazon account to see what I ordered and here's the 411-

Hubs has a new truck and you can never just buy a new truck. You need a bunch of new truck gear to go with. He got this cargo net thingamabog to keep cargo from rolling around in the truck bed. 

And of course the little brown dog needs to ride in style and since he's in the back seat now instead of the way back like he was in the Tahoe. We got a seat protector and comfy pad and something to keep him out of the front seat which I don't think he likes too much. 

He's riding around like a king, but still his favorite place to be in a car is in the front seat, which I've already called dibs on,  so the back seat it is-

Apparently we now need to buy steps too so he can more easily get in and out of the vehicle. This one has a higher entry for him than the vehicle we sold.

I bought a new coverup because I wear one every day here in the summer. It's cute and comfortable and comes in lots of colors. I got the navy. 

I take these fish oil tabs and have them on subscription through Amazon. My doc recommended them and I keep them in the freezer which helps them smell less fishy.

We have a spaniel and spaniel ears need constant attention so we got this which the vet recommends.

I bought these cute jams because I needed new jams. They're super soft and  come in many colors and several patterns too. I got the blue green and it's pretty.

A 'sock' for my ankle the ortho recommended. It's not here yet (I guess that will be today's delivery lol), but this is the one he said to get and I'll wear it when I'm back doing more walking in the form of exercise. Someday I'll stop talking about my ankle but today is not that day.

We also got this wine storage unit because we needed more storage. Plus three lego sets, three books, a streamer wand, and new pillows for one of my guest room beds. Whew. 

So what did you buy do this week? Hope your weekend is full of R&R!  

This post is linked with Erika and Andrea and their Friday Favorites hop. 

Friday Fragments and Favorites

Linking today with Andrea and Erika for their Friday Favorites hop. 

I'm out of sync with my blog these days mostly because I'm not doing a whole lot besides rest my foot. Hubs says I'm not doing great with that and gave me a talkin' to yesterday about how we're going to the beach and I'll be in this boot unable to keep up. Even if I'd done a solid nothing it's likely I'd be in the boot when we go to the beach. I have not driven one time and have spent most of the month with my leg propped up so I think I've done pretty great. There's been a day or two I've overdone it, but for the most part I feel like a slug. 

I volunteer on Thursdays making lunch in a soup kitchen, but after hubs said he thought it was too much  I called in last minute yesterday to say I wouldn't be there. Then he left for the day and I planted myself on the couch. Except he was suddenly buying a car and needed me to make four, yes four!!, separate trips to the office downstairs for information. I told him I'd have done far less walking and definitely no stairs had I gone to the soup kitchen. 

Anyway, I guess we have a new car lol. And it's been purchased in my favorite way. I wasn't there. I saw it online before he went to look, and honestly this is how I feel about a pick up. It's a truck. The end. Hubs is excited and even though he babies his vehicles his current truck has over 200K miles on it so it's time. Apparently there are a lot of variations, and he does his homework. Since it will be his mode of transportation if he's happy, then I'm happy. 

This particular new vehicle ticked 'our' must have list-the color both interior and exterior (those are my must haves-ha! ), something about the running boards and the tailgate, very low mileage (we never buy new) and price. No pictures because we won't get it until next week, but yay! We have a new ride.

We've spent very little time on the boat this summer so on Monday morning we spontaneously decided to pack up breakfast and go for a ride. 

Yes in my boot. Are you tired of hearing about it because I know I am. 

I made us a scrambled egg with cheese on a bagel to go. They were so good. 

It was a picture perfect day and we had the lake pretty much to ourselves. Weekends are busy, but weekdays it's like your own little slice of paradise. 

When my sister-in-law was here over the 4th she brought us these ginormous rubber bands (linked) which I think she said are made for patio furniture, etc but they are also perfect for keeping your towel from flying up on the boat. 

I ordered the most adorable little sundresses for my granddaughters to wear at the beach, matching because I like matching-

They're from Janie and Jack, which has so many cute things. 

Monday night we had plans to get sushi with some friends we haven't caught up with in a while. My roll was so pretty and just the right amount of heat. Hubs and I each ordered a roll and split an order of their Brazilian street tacos too. 

Our tomato tree. Y'all my hubs has the green thumb here. My daughter1's in-laws gave us a teeny tiny tomato plant back in the spring and hubs has cared for that thing so well that it's now what we call our tomato tree. And it's loaded! 

The in-laws were here over the 4th and they could not believe the size of this plant. Yesterday we picked our first tomato and I will probably make us BLT's for dinner. Hubs is golfing today and I'm sitting and it's hot so a BLT will be easy and won't require the stove. 

His lemon tree is also thriving.

We watched the grands on Wednesday evening while their parents had a middle-of-the-week date night. They had fun with these water guns which are more powerful than they look lol. 

Especially at close range. Nana got it in the face more than once and I wasn't even armed. 

Hubs made smash burgers on the griddle, and the boys put together new legos I'd purchased. We had fun just hanging out. 

Thursday morning's sunrise was a beauty. As are they all, but Thursday's was really pretty. 

My limelights are making me happy too. 

I spent the day on the couch when I wasn't running up and down the stairs to get hubs the paperwork he needed to buy the car. 

Also, I wasn't running. 

My next door neighbor invited us and two other friends over to float on Thursday afternoon so we went over there around 4:30 and floated for an hour. Afterwards we went for Thai food at a place we hadn't tried before, and it was really good, just very very slow. We weren't in a hurry so no biggie. 

Today I'm back for more sitting and reading and catching up on a few things blog wise. Hubs is on the golf course so won't be calling lol. 

Enjoy your weekend everyone! 

Friday Favorites Or Something Like It

Linking with Andrea and Erika today for their Friday Favorites hop. 

I've had a houseful this week and have been off my blog game. I always remind myself it's more important to live life than to write about it, but I do love to write about it too. Doing a little catch up here as we roll into the weekend.

With my ankle propped up on a cushion because it's still achy achy, hopefully not breaky. 

Here are a few snaps and snippets from the week that was...

Lake life. Hubs can spot a snake from the second floor deck. We don't see many, but occasionally one crosses the cart path and slithers over to the rip rap along the shore. I've been assured he's one of the good guys and since I've never seen a copperhead on our property I'm going to say that's true. 

I ordered new melamine dishes to keep in the outdoor dining space and I love them. My daughter2 had seen some really pretty ones at Walmart which I almost bought, but then I went down the rabbit hole that is the Internet and found these I liked better.  They're Pfaltzgraff and were also a great price, so I got a service for 8. 

Last Friday my daughter had to go to the DMV to sort out her new license and tags so we said we'd stay with the kiddos while she was out. The DMV is challenging enough without three little ones in tow. We brought donuts. 

So fun to be close enough to do little things like this. 

Friends we hadn't seen in a while came for dinner Friday night. We opted for heavy hors d'oeuvres and dessert and we sat outside and used the new dishes. I know the calendar says we've got another 28 days before summer is officially here, but they came by boat which means summer is officially here. 

Don't you think we should just declare Memorial Day weekend the start of summer and get on with it? 

Our butterfly bushes have started to bloom and we've seen quite a few butterflies too. 

Quick topic change...I had bananas that were a little too ripe so I did what everyone does and made banana bread with them. This recipe (linked here) is my absolute favorite-

It's got a little bit of coconut in the bread and a lime drizzle over the top which sounds odd but trust me it's delish. I don't add the optional coconut extract, just fyi. In other food related news I made the Ina Garten orzo salad one evening and it's a keeper.

 Orzo, red onion, cucumber, scallions, feta, fresh parsley, fresh dill, and a lemon vinaigrette. So good! 

The grands arrived. 

All of them I mean. Three live nearby but daughter2 came with her two to spend the week and it's been a fun sort of loud chaos. 

I have four chairs that rock and swivel in my keeping room and when the grands are here no two chairs face the same direction ever. 

Having both girls here is such a treat. You never get over that. 

Tuesday morning we went to Daughter1's house to play while she took her oldest (the mancub) to his new school for a reading assessment. He reads like a boss so it was basically just a box to be checked but they were out for an hour and the rest of us hung out in her play room. She's still getting that space organized so basically every single toy was fair game. 

Pretty sure we played with them all. 

Tuesday afternoon we took the kids to a park just a couple of miles from our house and spent the afternoon playing in the sand and sea. Technically the sea is a lake but you know what I mean. Also five kids along with sand toys, towels, sunscreen, hats, chairs, snacks, plus the kitchen sink but totally worth it. 

This park has shade and a playground right beside the beach too which is nice. I mentioned this in my Hodgepodge on Wednesday and someone asked if there were sandy beaches on our lake. The answer is yes. The sand on some is better than others and we have our favorites, but kids don't care as long as you give them a bucket and a shovel. 

On Wednesday we met for coffee and breakfast in a cute little shop one town over from ours. We love this little burg and spend a lot of time here. We did a little shopping afterwards and it was a fun outing. Maybe I'll call it an event, because with five under seven pretty much everything feels like an event. 

Daughter1 made dinner for us that night which was a treat. Course hubs and my son-in-law missed it because they were guess where? Baseball! Whoohoo! The season ended on Thursday evening and it will be nice for her family to be able to check out some of the other things there are to do in their new home town which is also our home town. 

My grandson is sad the season's over so that's something. It's not easy to be 'the new kid' and he really enjoyed playing on this team. 

Thursday we had big plans. Or another event if you will. Boating.

Our maiden voyage and everyone was along for the ride. 

Some enjoyed it more than others lol. The littlest grand is a mover and a shaker (pretty sure I've said that about all of mine) and she wanted to walk around as opposed to sitting while moving, which Nana and Pawpaw put the kibosh on, plus lifejackets and that age are just not great. 

I mean they're great in terms of doing what they're supposed to do, but they're designed for safety, not comfort. 

We got back to the dock and everyone had lunch and then the littlest three laid down for a rest and the oldest two hopped on the paddle boards. Hubs got a workout in terms of pulling out all the gear, but it's gotta happen sometime and I guess this was that sometime. 

Let me just add here that whoever came up with the swim shirts for kids was a genius. 

The mancub would stay on that board all the day long if we let him, he loves it so much. His momma got in the kayak in case anyone started floating out of the cove, but no worries. They had so much fun and I suspect will be over here a lot this summer doing this very thing. 

And that brings us to Friday which I'll save for next week's Monday recap happening on Tuesday due to the holiday. 

I never like to let this particular weekend go by without acknowledging the brave men and women who've given their very lives for the freedoms we continue to enjoy. On this Memorial Day holiday I not only want to honor them, but I want to live in a way that makes their sacrifices meaningful. 

My Dad was a career Marine and while he did not die in battle he did serve in three wars and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. I always think of that very special place on this very special day. Sitting beside row upon row of white crosses puts many things in perspective. 

May God bless America and may He pour out His wisdom on our leaders and citizens alike.