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! 

Falling For The Hodgepodge

Welcome to fall's first 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. It's officially fall y'all. In the northern hemisphere anyway. Any signs of it where you are? What's your favorite thing about this time of year? 

There are a few signs of fall in our area, but for the most part it's still pretty summer-like here. Temps are cool in the early morning, but warm up to shorts-wearing weather by noon. We have more pine than hardwoods on our property, but we've seen small pops of red when we're out walking.  This tree says it all...

...a little bit of summer, a little bit o' fall. 

One of my favorite things about this time of year is the cozy feeling ushered in.... coffee by the fire, blue jeans, a pot of chili on the stove. I like the change in wardrobe, menu, and mindset. 

2. Have you visited any 'falls' in person? Tell us about one of your favorites? Of the following top ten famous falls (according to this site ) which would you most like to see in person-

Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe/Zambia), Igazu Falls (Argentina/Brazil), Niagara Falls (US/Canada), Angel Falls (Venezuela), Yosemite Falls (California), Dettifoss (Iceland) Kaieteur Falls (Guyana), Plitvice Waterfalls (Croatia), Gullfoss-Golden Falls (Iceland), or Sutherland Falls (New Zealand)

We live in an area known as the mountain lakes part of the state and there are more than 150 waterfalls in our county alone. Not all are huge, but every waterfall is beautiful in its own way. Hubs and I (and the little brown dog too of course, can't forget him!) enjoy hiking to a waterfall and we're slowly working our way through some of the ones in our area. We have a long way to go lol. 

There were some pretty falls not far from where we lived in North Jersey too (Bushkill Falls) and we used to visit fairly often. Of the falls listed I guess the one I'd most like to visit would be Victoria. A friend of ours went years ago and I still remember the photo he sent standing beside them. Absolutely breathtaking!

3. What's something you'll miss about summer? 

Daylight at 9 PM. 

4. A favorite fall recipe?

I made a big pot of vegetable beef soup the other day and that's definitely a favorite here. It was 52 degrees when I started cooking early morning, but by the time dinner rolled around it was more like 85. We still enjoyed it though. I make Paula Deen's recipe which calls for short ribs, and they make it extra extra. I don't use quite the amount of salt she does, but other than that I follow her instructions ( recipe here) It makes a lot! 

5. Something you enjoy but lately have allowed it to 'fall by the wayside'? 

I made a scrapbook for Daughter2 for her birthday, the first I'd done in a long long time. Putting it together was so much fun and made me realize how much I miss doing something creative. I used to really enjoy scrapbooking, but life and all that jazz meant it needed to fall by the wayside for a while. I'm determined to get back into more creative pursuits this year. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

My other favorite thing about this time of year is the morning sky...

Swoon! 

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Simply The Hodgepodge

I have much to catch up on here, but for now let's get back to Hodgepodging. If you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for your neighbor there. Here we go-

1. Is your life simple? Elaborate. 

Hmmm...yes and no. I strive for simplicity but sometimes life mucks it up. In terms of responsibility my life really is pretty simple. We live a mostly quiet life except when it's loud and chaotic-ha! We tend to have two speeds here-180 mph or parked. 

2. What simple pleasure are you are currently enjoying? 

Having a few quiet minutes to answer these questions. We have been busy busy busy since July rolled in and it's nice to be able to sit with my computer and think about what to say here.  

3. Travel by plane or go on a cruise? walk or ride a bike? swim or ski? ocean or mountains? 

I've never had a desire to cruise so travel by plane for sure. I love to walk and swim and I'll say mountains, although I love the ocean too. 

4. What's the last thing you bought online that you really loved? 

I've done a lot of Amazon-ing this month, mostly items we needed/wanted to have in the house for our grands. I've bought birthday presents, a new life jacket, two children's books, a baby float, a board game, pulleys to hang our ferns and more. I guess my favorite recent purchase would be some summer pajamas that are super soft and comfy. 

5. What’s your 'back in my day we__________' story? 

I use this expression every now and then, mostly when I'm writing here, reflecting on life now versus life 'back in the day'. 

'Back in the day' we learned to wait. 

For pretty much everything. The newest toy (Christmas is coming), new clothes (your birthday is almost here), Saturday morning only cartoons, holiday television specials, a turn to use the telephone, to get in  the bathroom shared with all your siblings, etc etc etc. 

Waiting is something of a lost art in 2023. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

We've had a jam packed couple of weeks, and I’m sure I’ll catch up on all of that here eventually. We're traveling home all day today (Wednesday) so for now let's just take a deep breath and exhale nice and easy...

Happy Wednesday everyone! 

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So What's New?

Besides the year I mean? Are you like me where it takes you about ten days in to find your rhythm post-holidays? I made peace with that years ago and honestly don't feel any pressure to have a long list of resolutions ready to go on Day 1. Nor do I feel any urgency to jump back into all the things or even to put up/clean up Christmas. 

Although as it happens, today I did do a bit of de-Christmasing. My plan was just to get all the ornaments off the inside tree, but one thing led to another and both trees are now un-decorated, the main tree is out of the house, Christmas dishes have been swapped out for the everyday ordinary (mostly...there's always a stray or two that hang out in the dishwasher), many many many towels have been washed, dried, and folded, and the furniture we rearranged to make room for our big Christmas crew is back where it resides the other eleven months of the year. 

Hubs and I had a mostly quiet New Year's Eve. We spent a couple of hours catching up with our neighbors, watched a lot of exciting college football, took some walks and some naps and did the tag-team thing we've almost perfected after nearly 40 years of marriage where he vacuums and I strip the beds and then I make him a BLT and he makes me popcorn and we talk about how cute our grandchildren are and how busy and how much we love having everyone here and how we also love just us. 

Yesterday I cleaned out my pantry which had gone totally rogue over the holidays and it makes me so happy to open the doors and see it all nicely organized. I was going to clean out my frig today, but I didn't have the energy for a full 'take it all apart' kind of clean. I settled for emptying all the bits of left overs and running the dishwasher. 

Tomorrow is another day filled with new mercies and enough grace to carry us through. 

I know some people like to charge into a new year as if it's something to be conquered, but I prefer a gentler approach. No big leaps, just do the next thing that needs doing while I contemplate what exactly I want this year to be and how I want to fill my days. 

I need to take some deep breaths at the start of a new year. Carve out time to pray and regroup here at home. I'll likely make a few plans and then remind myself not to hold them too tightly, and I'll let a few or maybe a hundred ideas bounce around my brain to see what sticks. 

Some people declare the first month of the year no-wine January. I'm declaring it no Hodgepodge January. I need some space right now to do all of the above so I'm taking a mini-break from the regularly scheduled random to make room for other kinds of random. The Hodgepodge will be back February 1st, which conveniently lands on a Wednesday. 

Wishing you a new year filled with lots of peace and joy...

 With pinky pink sunrise skies reminding us He's got the whole world in His hands. 

Morning Has Broken

You know it's hard to stay caught up in the April A-Z Blog Challenge when you start off two days behind. I'd like to think this weekend I'll write ahead a letter or two, but who am I kidding? We all know I'll be scrambling til we reach zee end. 

Which is a long time from now. 

 Day 4-D is for Dawn

Is anyone surprised? Certainly not hubs who likes to ask me why I take the same picture every morning-ha! He's a little bit right but not entirely. One amazing thing about the sunrise is that each one is unique. Some more pink than purple. Some more orange than red. Some a little bit of everything splashed across the sky. 

You miss it if you're not careful. You can run for one quick second to grab your camera only to return and find that sun shining high and bright, more risen now than rising. 

I've learned to be still. To not look away. 

I like to get up in the wee hours of the morning before the sun even thinks about coming up. I like to make my coffee and sit in the quiet stillness of a not-yet new day and watch color slowly seep into the world.  Sometimes the light is just right and not only is the sky a pastel paintbox, but it's reflection on the lake is too. 

It's a dreary rainy day here now, but this morning? This morning looked like this-

Even when storm clouds are brewing the sun still rises. Still fills me with gratitude. Still helps set my mind less on earthly things, and more on things above.  

It's a visual reminder we are loved. 

That His mercies are new every morning. 

And we are not forgotten.

Somewhat Current Events

I have a to-do list as long as my arm, but how 'bout let's blog instead? I want this space to catch up with my  real life space so I'm going to throw down some random words and pictures today in hopes of making that happen. 

Last Friday some 'NJ friends' vacationing in a neighboring state detoured to the lake and spent the night at our house. The Mrs. worked with hubs back in the day and we had not seen her in person since she came to visit us in England many moons ago. How many moons you ask? Well daughter1 celebrated her 16th birthday during that visit so very many. 

Let me not go down the England rabbit hole today, or the one where daughters turn sixteen and then get married, move away, and have babies either. Let's stick to the here and now and the absolute most picture perfect December weather in the history of weather. 

Our friends got to the lake just in time for us to boat over to lunch because that's what you do on a clear blue 77-degree December day. 

And because it was still spectacular after lunch we motored around a bit, showed them the nearby waterfall, and some of our favorite little coves before heading home. 

We then ventured into town (by car of course) for happy hour at a favorite local wine bar. We shared a charcuterie tray and talked and caught up and then went over to tiny town's little main street to see the Christmas lights.

We live in a sleepy little burg with not a lot going on other than the great outdoors, but let me just state for the record, the Christmas lights in this town are something else. They're set to music and it's fun to see people of all ages out enjoying holiday cheer. 

This year there were several fire tables set up in the street with a booth nearby selling s'more kits. We did not partake because we were headed to an Italian restaurant for a late supper, but maybe next time.  

Our friends caught the beauty of the early morning sunrise before heading home Saturday morning. Let's pause because I feel like we should. 

Photos do not do the winter skies here justice. 

Saturday evening was our neighborhood Christmas party which was a nice way to ring in the holiday season. I bought a pair of super sparkly pants for the occasion and it's impossible not to have fun when you're wearing sparkly pants. We had fun. 

Speaking of dressing for the holidays...this handsome boy had a haircut over the weekend and came back to us wearing a Christmas bow tie. 

He knows he's cute. 

In other completely unrelated-to-the-holidays-but-still exciting-to-us news, our carpenter came by on Monday and taped the stairwell wall where wood will be installed. 

Never mind that the wood's been at the house for a month, progress is progress and whoohoo for progress! They're supposed to start on my office wall on Monday, the electrician comes to wire for stair lighting on Tuesday, and then the rest of the pieces should magically fall into place to finally get this project done. I will update you with all the pieces once we're really and truly underway. 

In completely holiday-related news ours will be unexpectedly quiet. I know I want to write about how that looks or maybe I don't. 

Maybe today I'd rather just soak in the beauty of a lake that looks like glass and the beauty of a Christmas tree shining there.

If There's A Birthday There's Gonna Be A Birthday Recap

My brother phoned last night and asked how I'd celebrated and I told him it was ongoing- ha! Truly I feel like it started last Wednesday and carried on through Monday. I took almost no pictures the entire weekend (week???) but if I had you would likely be seeing a lot of food shots. 

Last Wednesday my neighbor took me out to lunch. We've been like ships passing this last month and it was so nice to sit and catch up on all the goings on in our lives. Thursday evening hubs and I drove into the nearby big small town for dinner with our builder and his wife. We have remained friends and she is currently helping me with a slow re-do of my office space (eventually there might be pictures) but mostly we just enjoy one another's company and have a lot in common so a fun night. 

Friday I went to lunch with some college friends who live in roughly the same geography as I do. We were all in the same sorority way back when and can sometimes still act like we're 20 years old when we get together. Except now we also lament our failing eyesight, share in the joys of retirement life, catch up on the well-being of our aging parents, and vow to get together more often. 

If you've read here for a while you know hubs always makes sure there's cake, a specific cake that I love which is chocolate with a raspberry filling and a chocolate ganache poured over all.  This year he asked the baker to decorate with books and so besides being delicious it was super cute too. We invited the next door neighbors over to share and hubs and I might still be enjoying it one small sliver at a time. 

We haven't even gotten to my actual birthdate yet. 

Saturday! My birthday! Both my girls phoned and we facetimed with the grandboys who were very excited about their card...Nana Nana Bo Bana, Banna Fanna Fo Fana, Nana...so cute, especially when sung by an almost 2-year old. Course the card did not arrive until Monday and Daughter2's gift is still out there floating from place to place up and down the east coast and what in the world is going on with the mail anymore???

No matter, because I like my birthday to last lol. 

Hubs and I took a short day trip to the neighboring state of North Carolina and the charming little town of Brevard. I'd never been and everyone here loves it and it's just about an hour from us so not a bad drive. We parked on Main Street and meandered in and out of shops, finally having lunch at Rocky's before heading back home. 

I'd say the only negative to the visit there was all the mask on/mask off as you go in and out of shops. Most required masks and we live in SC where most do not and it was a lot of on/off on/off and raise your hand if you're past ready for it all to miraculously go away. 

Some neighbors had invited us over for an at-home tailgate party to watch the hometown team play Georgia Tech. The hometown team should have walloped them but instead eeked out a win by the skin of their teeth. There was also a pesky two hour delay mid-game due to lightning so we left early and watched to the bitter, nail-biting end at home. 

With birthday cake so not complaining. 

Sunday we went to church, then it was my week to deliver the sanctuary flowers to some folks unable to attend, then hubs and I had brunch followed by a ridiculously fabulous nap on the couch. Sundays don't get much better than that! 

And then on Monday morning I woke up to this-

What a grand and glorious way to begin a brand new year, wouldn't you say? 

The Hurrier I Go

psa...there will not be a hodgepodge this week... I need a breather. 

The Hodgepodge will be back next week, July 28th. thanks! 

"The hurrier I go the behinder I get...."  Name that author. Besides me I mean-ha! Does anyone else feel as if July is whizzing by like a fast moving train? 

I'm not sad about it because we are trying not to count the days til our daughter and her family arrive stateside, except we are for sure counting the days. My daughter has post it squares on the side of her frig and when we Facetime with them,  the mancub likes to pull one down and tell me how many more days til we're on the same landmass. 

He does not actually say 'landmass' but that is what we're all waiting for. 

Also if I say landmass he will say, 'What's landmass' and I will explain it's a large area of land, a continent even, and then he will  say 'What's a continent?' and I'll explain there are seven and we live on North America and they live in Asia and he'll ask 'why do you live in North America?' and I'll tell him soon we'll all be together and that's the important thing to know. Whew! 

photo credit: Sincerely-Shannon

We are so ready for in person hugs and kisses and baby boys on Nana's lap and little men fishing off the dock with their Pawpaw and books read by their favorite aunt and all of us in the very same house at the very same time. Honestly I try to stay busy because if I think too hard and too much about it all I might burst. 

Company helps and thankfully we've had a steady stream of visitors to enjoy and share with, this place we now call home. We lived in Maryland for nine years and had wonderful friends and neighbors there. While we've seen these friends here and there through the years none had been to the lake house until this summer. Set number three arrives tonite and we can't wait.  

We have had the best time catching up with everyone, remembering the sweetness (and occasional saltiness) of raising tiny humans together, and now hearing about how all these once upon a time littles are full fledged adults nearly the age we parents were when we first met as young moms. Say what? 

Time is funny, isn't it?

And it's Lewis Carroll for anyone wondering about the quote up top.  

Besides our Maryland peeps we also had some college friends visit last weekend or I guess since it's Sunday it would be two weekends ago now, but as I said we've been busy and our calendar is so full I am on a day to day basis in terms of what's happening. 

Did I tell you my daughter and her family are moving to one of our favorite states in the US of A? She wrote a post about the transition and it's wonderful and moving and tender and if you've moved a lot or if you've ever had to leave a place behind that marked you deeply and for all time then you'll enjoy her words. The link is here-Preparing For The Next Goodbye

They will be about a six hour drive from us and while many of you are thinking wow-that's not all that close, we are jumping for joy because this is the closest they will have lived to us since they married almost seven years ago. 

And so we wait. And we enjoy the meantime. We feel so much gratitude for friends who knew us when... for neighbors we could call when we needed a cup of sugar, a helping hand, an adult conversation...

For sunlight that sparkles and a warm summer day...

For daughters who get married and move many states away, but who still come home to sip coffee on the porch...

For fire in the sky...

...and a God who cares about all the details of our lives.

Five Things Friday

Three posts in the same week-whoohoo! I haven't done that in a while. And there's not even a whole lot to say or maybe there's too much to say? but either way it feels good to try to get back into some sort of rhythm here. 

I say that a lot but maybe this time it will stick. 

Since it's Friday let's go with an old fashioned list of five unrelated things, which used to be a regular occurrence in the blog world on Fridays. Like most things online the blog world is also topsy turvy, but don't worry...today's post won't strain your brain.  

1. This bit of loveliness bloomed big on Wednesday and makes me so happy. 

2. Daughter2 teaches in a snowy state and y'all!!...her students tote their snowpants and boots to school and she helps her entire little flock of 7-year old cuties get into that gear and then outside for recess. Prior to moving to said snowy state the bride spent her entire teaching career in the sunny south so helping a classroom full of second graders into snow gear every day is something new for her. 

I'm so happy they are in person learning and also in person playing. And I guess if they didn't go outside when the playground was covered in snow they wouldn't go outside for a big chunk of the year, so hooray for parents who remember to send snow pants and hooray for teachers doing what needs to be done.  

3. Remember this? 

Three months later and the repair is almost complete. Crazy I know, but the windows for the dormer were backordered and didn't arrive in the shop until January. They couldn't finish the dormer rebuild without the windows and then there were a bunch of other things that needed to happen, but they're happening now and it's just about done. I've almost forgotten what my house looks like without the blue tarp front and center. 

The sky looks almost the same today as it did three months ago. 

Minus the hurricane thank goodness.  

This post is interesting so far, isn't it? Ha! 

4. Something else you'll find super interesting...the TV situation here. It's so annoying. Hubs would add the amount of time I've spent mentioning how annoying I find the whole thing is also annoying but whatever. 

In hindsight we are wishing we'd made a different choice, and probably if we'd been less distracted during the sales call we would have. The agent, who was perfectly nice, turned up at our front door at 6 PM on a chilly evening, three days before the wedding. We reluctantly listened to his entire lengthy spiel and conducted all the signing and account set up on our front porch, six feet apart, because we weren't letting anyone whose level of Covid exposure we didn't know inside the house two days before the wedding. It just seemed easier to say yes, plus the new option was quite a bit less expensive which at the time seemed worth it. Now not so much. 

We're not tech people. I just want to turn on the tv in a single step and have it work. Same for my computer, although the internet portion seems fine. Long story long, hubs called in the professionals and we have someone (not the cable company!) coming to sort everything out for us and I really hope I don't have to be present for the sorting. Ha! Just make it work please and thank you. 

5. Let's finish on a high note...the winter sunrise sky. Swoon! 

Happy Weekend Everyone...may your souls find rest and beauty there. 

Time Passages

In yesterday's Hodgepodge I asked readers what they were doing five years ago, and decided I'd make that more or less the subject of today's post. When not a lot is going on in your corner of the world you have to reach a little for blog content.

After I asked the question it occurred to me that we've been at this whole Corona mess for five long months (feels like years) so I started wondering what we were doing just prior, and decided to take a peek back at that too.

Five months ago...we were in the first few days of everybody stay home !!! Stay far and away from everybody else in the entire world including your own extended family !!! Now in our house we'd been discussing the virus for a solid two months prior as it hit South Korea hard in January. A friend reminded me yesterday how we'd had a conversation back then, so concerned about my daughter and her family, never imagining we'd be in the same boat just a short time later.

Five months ago hubs and I drove home after spending a long weekend with friends in Florida. Things were open when we headed down, but closed by the time we headed home. The shutdown happened almost overnight. We ate lunch at Chick-fil-a coming back and it was only their first or second day of strictly take out. Of course Chick-fil-a is awesome and handled the upheaval like it was no big deal.

I don't know if anyone imagined in March we'd still be slogging through this insanity five months later, yet here we are. Who's over it?

Five years ago...I wrote a post entitled Retirement Day 187. Currently we are in Retirement Day 2000 so I guess time really does fly when you're having fun. By the way, it's going swimmingly.

Except for the pandemic and the unrest across America and the general nastiness online and the no travel-no-houseguests-no making plans, but other than that it's going swimmingly.

Five years ago we took a fun trip up the East Coast to attend a friend's daughter's wedding.

We drove from New Jersey to Prince Edward Island Canada and thoroughly enjoyed eating our weight in lobster rolls, the staggering beauty of Maine and PEI, and in-person time spent with real life friends.

Also, five years ago I apparently still took pictures with a good camera and not just so-so pictures with a phone.

I would so love to jump in the car and take a road trip somewhere new and pretty and not give a thought to hotel cleanliness, gloving up to pump gas, masking up to get out of the car, or doing math to calculate how many gallons of hand sanitizer we'd need for the journey.

Five years ago we sold our house in New Jersey and spent six weeks living with my mama before heading south. I'm sure she was ready for us to take all our stuff and get on with things, but five years later would give anything to have us back in her house for six weeks.

Six days even.
I haven't seen my mom in person since January.

While we were living with my mom our old and beloved dog died. Five years later her name is still mentioned on a fairly regular basis with an ache in our hearts and smiles on our faces.

NJ winters could easily last into summer, but this photo wasn't actually taken in August. I like it though, and it is five years old. This beautiful pup was something else and when she was gone we said we'd never have another. Letting them go is too hard and we travel too much and have too much company and blah blah blah.

About that same time Daughter1 brought a puppy into her Washington State home and now that puppy is a five year old dock diver living his best life on a Carolina lake. Go figure. And his mama is raising our two favorite boys on the other side of the world, which is something else we didn't see coming five years back.

Five years ago we moved from New Jersey to South Carolina. Not to this house, but to a cozy apartment just across the parking lot from Daughter2's cozy apartment. Those were the days!

Well maybe not really 'the days' because it wasn't a huge amount of space, and we were so anxious and excited to get this house built, but also yes it kind of really was 'the days'. Apartment living meant we didn't have to think about home maintenance and repairs, dock maintenance and repairs, boat maintenance and repairs, catching beavers before they destroy the landscaping, and a host of other assorted bits and bobs that go hand in hand with home ownership.

Then again, there were no early morning lake sunrises where the sky turns pink before your very eyes, no magical light dancing on the water, no boating to dinner, no big porches for napping and reading and enduring this weird season that in 2015 we didn't know was coming, and for that I'm grateful.

Five months may have dragged, but five years have flown.
Time is funny like that.

"The best thing about the future is it comes one day at a time." 

attributed to various speakers...true for us all