Weekending

Hey pumpkins. Here we are rolling in to the last week of October. Can you believe it? I'm kind of waiting on a Progressive commercial to air where the 'older adults' do nothing but talk about how fast time flies. 

Anyway time is flying. 

So how was your weekend? I actually had a weekend home alone, except for the fact that I was barely at home. No matter though, because other fun things happened instead. 

Let's discuss. 

We were out of town last week and I have plans to write more about that tomorrow, but for now suffice it to say we arrived home Thursday night around 11 PM and hubs needed to be dropped off at a neighbor's house at 8:30 AM Friday. Fortunately he'd packed before we left town, and had most of his mountain of stuff ready to go which helped. 

He went with a bunch of guys to Talladega. Nascar for those not in the know. It's a great Eric Church song, but also a big car race. They were camping hence all the gear. 

Camping in a trailer and a motor home, but still lots of stuff was needed. I dropped him off then went over to Daughter1's house to give Little Miss her birthday presents. Her birthday wasn't until Saturday, but I like to give the grands their presents away from the hullaballoo of a party. 

Pink paper, pink ribbon, pink card, and among other things a pink dress inside. 

I left their house after a game of one of my favorite little girl games, Pretty Pretty Princess, which Little Miss was given for her birthday. I haven't played in about three decades, but just know if you're not the one who gets to wear the crown it will take some getting used to lol. 

I spent the afternoon at a neighbor's house playing Mah Jong. Tiles with a view...

Saturday was party day. Whoohoo! 

Little Miss was celebrating her fourth birthday with the sweetest little tea party with friends, so I headed over to Daughter1's house to help with some of the prep. It was a simple at home party (my favorite kind) and daughter1 loves to add special touches to make the day extra.

She used the teapots my mother gave her and seeing them there made me tear up a little. She would have loved to know her granddaughter and great-granddaughter were enjoying them.  

There were real teacups (also my favorite) that belonged to my grandmother and my mother-in-law both.

Little girls sipping tea in porcelain cups is so precious. 

Homemade scones, tea sandwiches and strawberry cake with sprinkles made by her momma. 

After I left the party I ran a couple of errands before heading home, where I got into my PJs and climbed in to bed at the ridiculous but glorious hour of 8 PM. 

Sunday morning I had plans to meet friends for brunch about an hour away. It was an absolutely spectacular day for a country drive and I got caught up on a couple of podcasts I wanted to listen to that I have not had the time for. 

I didn't get home until mid-afternoon, when I got back into my comfy clothes, worked on my blog, and watched a couple of episodes of a show I stumbled across that I'd never heard of but am now hooked, Perception, with Eric McCormack, which aired way back in 2012. 

Lots going on here this week (isn't there always???) including one birthday dinner for a grandson, one birthday party for that same grandson, one costume party, and one all important hair appointment. I won't say which of those things I'm looking forward to the most-ha! 

So what did you get into this weekend? Were you out on the town or tucked in tight before the sun went down? No judgement either way. 

Linking with Holly (Pink Lady blog) and Sarah (Sunshine and Books) for their regular Monday morning hop. Have a wonderful week everyone! 

Friday Foto Dump

Pictures of random bits of life are piling up in my phone and while I'd love to think I might write whole entire too wordy posts about at least a handful of them I think we all know that's probably not going to happen. 

Let's do a little photo dump and see where it goes. 

I'm going to warn you where it goes is mostly the kitchen but that's okay. Somebody's gotta cook and I find baking therapeutic. I recently spent an afternoon baking cookies and it was lovely. 

It was actually two weeks ago, but recent enough. We'd been invited to dinner at our neighbor's house and she said not to bring anything, but I can't not bring anything so I baked cookies. Then we were invited to another friend's house the next day to watch the Ohio State - Texas game and I brought a tray of cookies there too. 

Snickerdoodles and a peanut butter jumble. 

It's been a long time since I had a leisurely few hours in the kitchen and baking cookies makes me think of my mama in a way that makes me smile. 

The pup went for a swim. It's pretty much his most favorite thing, but he's not in perfect health these days so doesn't happen as often as it used to. 

Hubs grilled the most delicious flank steak recently and we made a grilled romaine salad. Yum! So easy to do and definitely something we'll repeat. Raise your hand if you're happy we're back to eating lettuce. 

We're in our sports viewing era. 

Baseball and soccer and more baseball. 

We made Cubans with some left over pork tenderloin and they were delish. We use our panini maker which works great for these-

Sun coming up-

I take too many pictures of this every day phenomenon, but I can't help myself. 

I spent most of Tuesday in the kitchen and made a pot of pasta sauce, three kinds of quiche for the weekend, and some tortilla roll ups for hubs to take to a card night he had at a friends house this week. I love cooking when I can take my time. 

We went to a dockside concert on a random Monday afternoon because that's what you do when you're retired. There were four musicians on the dock and boaters pull up and people float and listen to music and chat with whoever happens to be floating nearby. The weather was perfection.

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Linking with Erika and Andrea for today's Friday Favorites 

Ready-Set-Hodgepodge

Welcome to 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. Or all the bloggers if you've got the time.  Here we go-

1. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?  On a scale of 1-10 how much of a fan are you? (10 is never miss a game and 1 is I'm just here for the snacks). Who's your team? If you're playing along today, but live outside the US feel free to sub your feelings about futbol for the more American sport of football. 

I'm a fan. Maybe not a 10 but more than a 5. More so college football, although that's changing by the day and not for the better in my opinion. My feelings about it might change too. 

Call me old but I miss the days when kids played for a team, fans got behind their team, a player or two might transfer once at some point if they weren't getting play time, but mostly your team was your team and that was that. 

I'll hush. Go Vols!! And if we're talking NFL then Go Eagles! 

When it comes to futbol my grands love Tottenham so I've declared them my team now too. 

2. What's something you currently have a game plan for managing? 

Honestly I could use a game plan for managing a few things right about now. 

3. Do you like chicken wings? Hot, mild, or some other flavor? What's a must have food for you on a tailgate menu? I know tailgating isn't as big of a thing outside the US of A as it is inside the US of A, but you can also answer the question this way-what's a must have food for you at a sporting event viewing party? 

I do like wings. Hubs makes them on the Big Green Egg and he's got it down pat. 

Wings are messy though so I need to be dressed appropriately. I like hot wings with some celery on the side to cool things down. I like a teriyaki wing too and some of the creative saucing restaurants do. 

A must have food at a sporting event? I'm not sure there's a 'must have' food for me, but I like to see sliders of some sort, chips and guac, and popcorn. 

4. Teams typically have strict playbooks they follow. What is one unwritten rule or piece of advice in your 'life playbook' you think everyone should know?

The Golden Rule would be one entry in my life's playbook-'Do unto others as you would have them do to you.' 

5. This is the week we remember and mourn all that was lost and changed on September 11, 2001. I always include a spot for bloggers to share anything they'd like to share about 9/11. Share as much or as little as you like. 

I've written about this in various ways over the years, and this year think I'll just say this -don't forget.

Don't forget the lives lost. Don't forget the families whose lives were divided into a world where there is a before and there's an after. Don't forget the firefighters, police officers, first responders, and ordinary citizens who ran into the danger while others were running out.  

We're a long way from that awful day and some of what is going on currently in our country is downright frightening in terms of what's become popular ideology. The notion that we won't label what happened that day as terrorism is ludicrous. 

We were living outside of D.C. on 9/11 and we knew people who worked in the Pentagon. We also had a lot of secret service members who made their home in our community. I was the Director of a church preschool and kindergarten and the husband of one of our aides was George Bush's number one guy. We've also lived and worked outside of NYC and I think those of us who knew people who worked in the Towers or at the Pentagon cannot forget. A bright blue September sky is a quick and vivid reminder of that tragic day. 

I pray for the families who lost so much, who continue to grieve, and for our nation, that we would turn our hearts toward Jesus.  

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The beauty of the sunrise reminds me the same power that paints the skies is not surprised by anything a day can bring. He goes before us into each new day. 

What a comfort. 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 670

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday (Sept 9) to share your answers. See you there! 

1. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?  On a scale of 1-10 how much of a fan are you? (10 is never miss a game and 1 is I'm just here for the snacks). Who's your team? If you're playing along today, but live outside the US feel free to sub your feelings about futbol for the more American sport of football. 

2. What's something you currently have a game plan for managing? 

3. Do you like chicken wings? Hot, mild, or some other flavor? What's a must have food for you on a tailgate menu? I know tailgating isn't as big of a thing outside the US of A as it is inside the US of A, but you can also answer the question this way-what's a must have food for you at a sporting event viewing party? 

4. Teams typically have strict playbooks they follow. What is one unwritten rule or piece of advice in your 'life playbook' you think everyone should know?

5. This is the week we remember and mourn all that was lost and changed on September 11, 2001. I always include a spot for bloggers to share anything they'd like to share about 9/11. Share as much or as little as you like. 

6.Insert your own random thought here. 

The Dog Days Of Blogging

The original saying is the 'dog days of summer' but blogging felt more appropos. I looked up the origin of the expression which has nothing to do with actual dogs and in short it means the hottest, most humid, lethargic weeks of summer, and hello mid-July. 

There's also a whole big thing about the stars and the constellation canis minor but we're too hot and lethargic to dive into that here today. 

We've been staying busy seeing friends, swimming with the grands, hosting dinner guests, and watching World Cup matches. I haven't spent a lot of writing or reading blogs either. I'll get back into a routine eventually but for now indolent feels like a very apt descriptor.

We had a nice weekend and I took almost no pictures. That's par for the course in the lazy hazy days of summer. 

Speaking of lazy...one or both of us had something every single night last week. Sometimes it just works out that way and we roll with it. For the record, hubs is better at rolling with it than me because he's a social creature and I need my pjs and 9PM  10 PM bedtime, but I rallied. 

We had our wine club dinner Monday evening, I played Mah Jongg Tuesday night, hubs was out Wednesday, clients he sold a house too took us out for a celebratory dinner Thursday night, friends invited us to their club for dinner Friday night and we had two couples here for dinner on Saturday night. We won't count the calories consumed but it's salads only this week. 

Except wait! We're not eating salad right now, are we? At least not any that contain lettuce. Bother. 

Hubs was grilling a Tri-tip on the Green Egg for our guests on Saturday and I had planned to make a salad, then thought I better shift gears. I ended up making a tomato-cucumber-avocado-red onion mix with a yummy vinaigrette dressing and that worked well. We have cherry tomatoes here and my daughter gave me cucumber from her garden so the produce felt safe. 

This is how crazy it is when you're retired. We wanted these two couples to come for dinner at our house and we had to sync our calendars way back in May if we hoped to get it somewhere on the July or August calendar. But we did it and it was a really nice evening. 

It stormed just as we were getting ready to eat and when I say stormed I mean the whole enchilada...a literal deluge with blowing winds, lightning, thunder, and just crazy. We've had a few of those this summer. 

I made the appetizer we had in a restaurant last week and it was good. My peaches were a little softer than I would have liked but still very tasty. It's simple-just peaches, proscuitto, olive oil, honey, chili flakes, chopped pistachios and a white balsamic drizzle over all. 

On Friday I was helping with a Mah Jongg lesson for some newbies and hubs took his best bud out paddleboarding. 

Where hubs goes, he goes. 

Friday night hubs and I shared these amzaing ahi tuna nachos. So good!! 

Sunday we went to church then I hit the couch. Hubs was showing a house and wanted to get in the lake after he wrapped that up, but thunder returned so we watched the World Cup final and ate leftovers for dinner. 

Nothing too exciting, but it's been nice to have time to catch up with friends. I know some people love great big gatherings, but my favorite are smaller more intimate dinners with just a handful of people at one time. Everyone can talk to everyone and it's just overall more low key. We're enjoying our outdoor space and hosting friends there and will definitely be doing more of that as we move in to August. 

So what were you up to this weekend? Something energetic or something more chill? We're always a little bit of both round here, which is how we like it. 

Linking with Holly and Sarah for their Hello Monday blog party. 

Hop over there to read more or add your own recap. 

Hodgepodge Fever

Welcome to 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. June 17th, 1994 was the day of the infamous O.J. Simpson car chase. What were you doing in 1994? I'm guessing somebody is going to tell me they weren't born yet but that's part of the fun of the Hodgepodge. Lots of generations are represented here. 

What a crazy day that was. Watching the super slow police chase of a former NFL standout. So sad for those families and all that was revealed after. 

In June of 1994 we were settling in to our new home in Maryland, having closed on our house there at the very end of May. Daughter1 had celebrated her 6th birthday a little bit early, with her NJ friends just before we moved and Daughter2 was not quite four. 

And now let's pause and give these neon track suits on tiny people their due. When my girls see photos of themselves in this sort of 'fashion' they always ask, 'But why were we wearing track suits?' 

Good question. I guess they were all the rage, they came in pretty colors, and they were comfy. Also swishy. Not a single natural fiber to be found but they do look awfully cute. 

2. What's your favorite summer salad that isn't the traditional tossed green lettuce kind of salad? Do you like fresh fruit in a salad (other than in a fruit salad of course)?

I love all salads, but one of my favorites is a Caprese-red ripe tomatoes, sliced mozzarella, and fresh basil  topped with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a splash of balsamic. 

I like fruit in salads and often add Craisins to a regular tossed salad. There's a salad I make that we all love that calls for apple and pear. I like a watermelon and feta salad, a spinach and strawberry salad, and a peach and burrata salad too. 

3. Is chivalry dead? Should it be? 

Is chivalry dead? Not quite. 

Should it be? I vote no. I mean technically it might be dead because I think the original definition of the word applied to a knight's code of conduct, and there aren't many knights around in 2026. The word has taken on a more commonly used meaning in modern times, and 'typically refers to an honorable and polite way of behaving, especially by men toward women' (Websters). 

If that's the definition we're using then it's not dead in my house and I'm grateful. My hubs is considerate, opens doors, brings the car to the curb when it's raining, holds the umbrella, carries heavy luggage and bags, kills creepy crawlies, investigates strange noises, and brews me afternoon tea. I appreciate these gestures. 

Am I helpless? Not at all. But I love feeling cared for and cherished and I'm glad there are areas of life I can trust he'll take care of and manage. I don't think men and women were designed to serve the same roles within marriage and I appreciate our different giftings.  

4. Would you rather spend a week of your summer vacation in Hawaii or Alaska? Have you ever been to either? Are they two places you really would like to see? How do you feel about 'Hawaiian pizza' aka pineapple on a pizza? Have you ever eaten Baked Alaska? 

Hawaii I think.

Maybe it's in my DNA? 

I've never been to Alaska, and it's become a really  popular tourist destination it seems. I'm sure I'd enjoy a trip there, but it's never been high on my bucket list. I'd rather have sun, sand, and the sea or ancient cities and beautiful architecture. 

As far as the 'state foods' go...I won't order a Hawaiian pizza, but will eat it if that's what the group wants. I don't hate it, but there are far better pizzas out there than one topped with pineapple. 

 I've never had Baked Alaska but would love to try it. 

5. World Cup play is happening now...are you interested? Watching any matches? Did you or your children play soccer/futbol? There are eleven US cities hosting matches-

-Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York with the stadium in NJ, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle

along with  three cities in Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey)

and two in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver)-

You get free tickets to one of these matches. Which city do you choose? Tell us why. 

We're watching. I love the patriotism on display by all the countries represented. I love that everyone is singing their nation's National Anthem with hands on their hearts. I love the enthusiasm for American culture that's had a light shone upon it thanks to the visiting spectators from around the world. I like the matches best where someone scores -ha! 

I never played soccer and my girls played only when they were very young. There were other sports/dance they'd rather be doing. 

If I have to pick a city from that list I guess maybe Toronto, mostly because I've never been. Also, I have a friend who lives not far from there, and I've heard it's a foodie city which appeals to me. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

A quick reminder I'm hosting A Day In The Life linkup tomorrow-June 18th for anyone interested in playing along. 

If you need details you'll find them in my random thought here (Nom de Hodgepodge). Feel free to screen shot the graphic. See you there! 

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. 

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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