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. 

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. 

Top O' The Mornin' To Ya

Happy St. Patty's Day friends. Are you dressed appropriately? Everyone's a little bit Irish today, right? 

'May the grace of God's protection

and His great love abide

Within your home and within the hearts

of all who dwell inside'...an Irish blessing 

I do have some Irish in me and wore my green sweatshirt yesterday. The sleeves have big hearts at the elbow. Hubs and I have matching T's we'll wear today. He might not know we're gonna match, but we are. We have a call with our financial planner this afternoon and when we booked the time slot his admin reminded me to wear green. It's just a fun little tradition that's easy to do. 

My daughter bought a box of Lucky Charms for the kids to have for breakfast today, which is definitely a treat. Nana might have to indulge too. I'll be making my traditional once a year corned beef dinner with cabbage and red potatoes that we all enjoy, hubs will likely have a Guiness, and that's about the extent of our celebration this year. 

Let's talk weekend. Plus a day or two extra because I'm all over the place on my blog these days. 

Wednesday hubs and I had an appointment with our attorney in the nearby small big city. We've redone our wills and trust and needed to make it all official with our signatures, so we made a day date of it. Nothing says romance like signing your will, but it's good to have it done. 

It was a gorgeous day so we went to lunch at one of my favorite places right after. This little restaurant sits at the edge of a park and we asked for a table outside so we could soak up the sun.  

I had a yummy tomato basil soup with crusty bread and a lightly dressed salad. Hubs had a croque monsieur. The menu is French, and dining here makes me feel a little bit like I'm sitting in a European cafe. 

We walked through the park after lunch and stopped at a little dessert spot for a cup of gelato. It was breezy...

I had a mix of half strawberry-half marscapone, which essentially tasted like strawberries and cream and was super deliziosa. 

How many countries can I reference in a single post? 

Thursday we had a real estate errand to run and that took most of the morning, but at least it was a fun real estate errand. Stay tuned. 

Also, we're not moving. Carry on. 

Ain't no procrastination like tax procrastination, but I finally sent our organizer off to the accountant. Even mailing it was a headache. I drove to the post office that's a little further away because I wanted to stop at Publix on the way home and that was the direction I needed to go. I arrived at the post office and stood in line for fifteen minutes, only to finally get to the counter and discover I did not have my wallet. Bother. 

My daughter asked why I didn't just use Apple Pay, but technology is never my first thought and I was silently a little bit panicked wondering where in the world my wallet might be. I flew out of there and raced home. 

Which is where I'd left my wallet, but ugh. I had to go back  to the post office and stand in yet another line and I never made it to Publix. Once I got home we all loaded up in the car to take the birthday boy for his celebratory cone. 

I told the grands he would probably eat the whole thing in a single bite, two at most, but nope. He licked that cone like it was his last meal, and savored every bite. 

In other news, the little boy grands are playing baseball and you forget how completely inconvenient kids sport practice times are. Let me remind you...dinner time is when they are. And two different teams with zero overlap in the days and times so meal planning and execution has become a little more challenging. Thursday night hubs grilled two pork tenderloins so we would have leftovers for Friday night and that worked out well. 

The weather was fabulous and he made us pork fried rice on the griddle with the leftover meat, which was so good. 

He loves the view from his grill station. 

Saturday we did some chores around the house, watched some Tennessee basketball, and then hubs and I went over to our friend's house for dinner. He's Italian and made his family's recipe for braciole, which I'd never tried. He sent us home with some of the secret sauce and I need to figure out how to duplicate it. I think the sauce is key. 

We were supposed to have storms here overnight on Saturday into Sunday, but they mostly missed us. We did get some rain, which I'm happy about because rain this time of year helps bring the pollen down. We're entering prime pollen season here, and it's not my favorite. 

So what were you up to this weekend? Anything fun or productive? 

I'm linking this post today with Holly and Sarah and their weekly Hello Monday blog party. Hop over to share your own recap and read what other bloggers have to say. Sláinte!

Beware the 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 your neighbor there. Here we go-

1. March 15th is known as The Ides of March, the date on which Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C....have you ever been to Rome? If so what did you love most about the city? If not, is this a place you'd like to visit? 

I have been to Rome, but it's been a while as evidenced by my short and naturally brunette hair. Also my teeny tiny teenagers who are now grown married women with children of their own. 

While I've been to other parts of Italy since, it's been 20 years since I set foot in Rome and I would not be opposed to going back. 

What did I love most? Well, pretty much everything...the food, the wine, the light, the history, the architecture, the fashion, the language...did I leave anything out? 

2. 'Rome wasn't built in a day.' What project/activity/improvement (of any kind) do you have going on right now to which this saying might be applied? 

We have some lingering bits and pieces to take care of in order for the outdoor space to be considered truly done. We still need the electrician to come out, still need to purchase and install a big fan, and add a couple of other decorative touches to make it feel complete.

3. Let's do a little this or that with some Italian foods...

• Caprese salad or Prosciuto with melon? Caprese salad
• Bruschetta or Antipasto? Antipasto
• lasagne or ravioli? Ravioli
• bolognese or Carbonara? Bolognese
• Risotto or gnocchi? Risotto
• tiramisu~gelato~cannoli? Tiramisu

4. Of the colors red, white, and green which would I find most prevalent in your home? Which one do you think is most flattering to you in terms of your wardrobe? Have you ever had your colors done? Is that something you'd be interested in doing? 

I have a rug in my main living space with a very dark shade of red in it along with some navy and golds. I live on a lake, so while there's not a lot of green in my home decor there are a lot of windows, so you see a lot of green. 

As far as my wardrobe goes...I love white pants, but it still feels too early to bring them out even though I don't think that 'Labor Day' rule applies anymore. Once it warms up here I'll be wearing a lot of white. I have never had my colors done but think it would be a fun thing to do. It was really popular to do this a few decades ago and it's true that with fashion everything eventually comes round again. 

5. Life would be boring without____________________? 

My hubs who still makes me laugh, nudges me to step out of my comfort zone, encourages me to write more, and is so sweet with the grands it makes my heart melt. 

6. Insert our own random thought here. 

This little guy turns ten on Friday, pictured here with his first love my Daughter1. He was hers before he was ours. 

Then she went and moved to South Korea so he came to live with us. He was four years old then, and full of mischief.  

And now he's ten, still full of mischief, living his best life beside the water. Never was a dog more attached to a human than this one is to the hubs. Where hubs goes, he goes. 

Happy birthday to the little brown dog! 

The smartest, most exasperating, handsomest, sweetest, most loved pup I know.

December. But First Thanksgiving.

Just doing my usual post Thanksgiving post. In December because that's how I roll. 

First things first...the little brown dog is doing very well. He celebrated Thanksgiving in the Animal Hospital following his belly surgery and is happy to finally be home with his person. 

fyi-his person is the hubs. Daughter1 is his second favorite, followed closely behind by my sister-in-law. I think I'm number 4 lol. 

This is his second time around with belly surgery, and hopefully his last!. This one has gone much more smoothly than the procedure two years ago, he's healing well, and the only real challenge is keeping him 'low-key' for a while. 

Because the pup had to stay in hospital for a few days we were able to travel to daughter1's more or less as planned. We left Tuesday morning and what should have been a seven hour drive max, ended up taking ten. It was raining which didn't help, and the traffic was insane. There's a part of the highway near Asheville that hubs and I swear has been under construction since my oldest started uni in 2006. True story. 

We finally arrived safe and sound sometime after dinner, but before the boys went to bed so there were hugs and squeals and whew, so glad to be here. We didn't see Little Miss until Wednesday morning as she'd already gone to sleep. 

Yes. I'm going to give an absurd level of detail because details help make the memory. 

Wednesday my son-in-law had to work, but the rest of us piled into the car around noon to grab lunch out. Let it be noted for the record that I climbed in and out of the third seat of a minivan at least eleventy million times during our visit, which is no small thing. Grandparenting is not for sissies. 

We went to lunch in a cute little place not far from their home, then ventured into the city to see the model train exhibit at Union Terminal. 

Later the Mancub and I kicked off a five day UNO tournament (the mancub came out on top), then daughter1 and I started prepping food for Thursday's feast. 

One of the things I most look forward to and enjoy about any holiday is spending time with my girls in the kitchen. We all like to cook and bake and it's always a sweet time of chatting and just being together. 

Thursday the men kept the littles entertained while we cooked and then we cooked some more and then there was more cooking. That's Thanksgiving, right? My daughter invited another couple and their children to join us for dinner and they arrived around 3 PM with the most delicious baked brie appetizer and a pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. 

The entire meal was wonderful, and we had so much fun that at the end of the night my daughter said, 'Mom! We didn't take a picture of us in the kitchen!' Or at the table either for that matter, so we grabbed the phone and recreated our pretty mimosas to snap one for the books.  

These were yummy-pomegranate juice with a small piece of orange, some cranberries and just a smidge of rosemary, frozen together in an ice cube tray, then topped with champagne when ready to serve. 

Friday we stayed close to home until my son-in-law got home from work. Then we bundled up and went to the Cincinatti Zoo to see Zoo Lights.

It was cold but lots of fun. We got there before dark so were able to see some of the animals, and enjoy the lights too. 

Little Miss just goes with the flow and is pure sugar. She has grown so much since last we saw her, and it was especially fun to have lots of time to get to know her better. 

On Saturday hubs, daughter1, Little Miss, and I left the boys home with Daddy so we could meet up with some friends from 'the Maryland years' who live in Cincy now. 

We had the best time catching up in person and again, Little Miss was good as gold. 

Sunday we went to church followed by brunch right after. Then it was home to decorate the Christmas tree, open new pj's and ornaments from Nana and Pawpaw, and start amping up all the excitement little ones bring to the month of December. 

After 34 hands of UNO it was time to go. We were up early Monday to make the trek home with just one quick pit stop at the Animal Hospital to collect the little brown dog. The drive home was thankfully a breeze and while it's always hard to leave it's nice to come home too. 

And now here we are. Advent. The season where we prepare our hearts for Christmas. Honestly the other day I had a moment of anxiety about all there is to do then caught myself when I realized it was still November. Everything starts so early and is so full on and so buy this!-don't miss that!-do all the everythings!-that it's easy to lose sight of what it is we're actually preparing for.

I saw a quote recently that said, 'Let's approach Christmas with an expectant hush, rather than a last-minute rush'. Not an easy thing in the times in which we live, but I know I want to try. 

Wishing all the weary souls in this world peace in this season of hope and Advent.