Monday Morning Musings

Hi Friends. I'm jumping right into the Hello Monday link party this morning, hosted by Holly and Sarah. This is where we chat about our weekends, and here's how ours looked. 

Fun. Fun is how it looked. 

Once upon a time I went to college and was part of a sorority and this weekend ten of those girls came to the lake for a reunion. 

We've gotten together at various times over the years, but were definitely overdue for another in person gathering. Four of us live within an hour of one another, and one of the girls has a house on the same lake as me, so we decided to invite everyone here. 

Three of us organized the food and we had half the group sleep at my house and half at the second lake house. Two of the girls flew in from a bit further away and arrived Thursday night. One  was a bridesmaid in my wedding and she's been to the lake before, and the other I hadn't seen in 40 years. 

We just picked right up like we'd all been together yesterday instead of yesteryear. 

Everyone convened at my house for breakfast Friday morning and the rest of the group rolled in throughout the day so the whole gang was together by late afternoon. 

The weather. Eh. Not the best, but then not the worst either. We didn't see the sun but it didn't rain us out either. We spent the entire day Friday sitting on my patio talking and catching up. Actually the clouds made it really pleasant for patio sitting and it was a super relaxed day. 

Hubs was a rock star all weekend long. He has also known these girls four decades, and enjoyed seeing us all together. He waited on us hand and foot, and cooked the most delicious pork BBQ for our Friday night dinner. We had pasta salad, baked beans, corn on the cob, and cole slaw too, and one of the girls aka another one of my bridesmaids, brought a scrumptious strawberry pound cake from a Tennessee bakery for dessert. 

We stayed up late and talked about all manner of things including old memories and our young(er) selves, new challenges, long ago mischief making, life in the third act, family, food, travels, work and not working, grandchildren, and in some cases what in the world we've been doing for the past forty years. There's nothing like a solid 48 hours spent with friends who knew you when you barely knew yourself. 

Saturday morning breakfast happened in whatever house you slept in, then my house loaded up on the boat and hubs motored us over to the other house. The weather wasn't ideal, but you can't come to the lake and not get out for a boat ride, can you? 

We spent the whole day Saturday at the other lake house. Some of us floated, some tried the paddle board, and some relaxed on the dock. There were lots of little conversations happening as everyone caught up with everyone. It was just a really lovely, special day. 

We all went back to my house for dinner. I'd made baked ziti earlier in the week and froze it before baking, so easy peasy and also super delicious. Another girl made a yummy salad and garlic bread and we sat outside under the twinkle lights and laughed ourselves silly. 

It was another late night, and then before you knew it the sun was up and it was time to say goodbye.

The last car load pulled away around 1 o'clock and I started some laundry, opened the weekend mail, we listened to our Bible recap, and hubs had a nap. He earned it after acting as the cabana boy-grillmaster-bartender-D.J., and chief 'could you bring us _______' guy all weekend long. 

He washed dishes, refilled glasses, ran up and down the stairs for whatever we left up or down the stairs, chauffeured us by boat, all without a single complaint, irritated tone of voice, or roll of the eye. He wanted the weekend to be fun for me and it absolutely was. 

He's a keeper. 

The last semi-large reunion we had was also lakeside. It was 2018 and we got up extra early that Saturday morning to watch Prince Harry marry Meghan Markle. Time flies, doesn't it? 

The world has changed a lot in four decades. When I was an 18-year old freshman phones were on the wall, we wrote checks when we needed money,  and computers were the size of a whole entire room that I had no need to enter since my major was not business. 

Our school was in a small town without a lot going on, but we made our own fun. We didn't take a lot of pictures so the memories live mostly in our heads. 

Today the students there have phones in their pockets, Apple Pay at their fingertips, and laptops with streaming services for their favorite shows they can watch any time of the day or night while typing a paper they'll email not print. The town has grown, the campus has grown...

...but we're still here making our own fun.

So what did you get up to this weekend? 

Video Killed The Radio Star

TGIV...we're on the home stretch in the April A-Z Blog Challenge with today's letter. 

V is for Velocity

'the speed of something in a given direction'

Let's talk tech. I know. Not my favorite subject either, but it's here to stay and we gotta deal. 

I'm of the generation who grew up with three channels on the family television set and now here we are posing questions to a genie in a bottle and getting entire essays written in response. Technology moves at the speed of something in a given direction alright, and that direction is forward. 

I want to keep up. 

Maybe want isn't the right word. It feels more true to say I need to keep up. I'm not going to be an early adopter to whatever the next new tech thing is, but I'll get there eventually. 

The generations behind mine have grown up unafraid to use technology, they've discovered ways tech can make some of our daily tasks easier (bill pay, online shopping, and grocery delivery to name just a few), and they get excited about the next new thing on the tech horizon. An unwillingness to acknowledge this marks you as 'old'. 

Now there's nothing wrong with old (it's all of us sooner or later me included), and I realize some of the above is generalizing, but I don't want to be discounted because of this whole glob of knowledge I'm oblivious to, or that I frown upon, or that I'm constantly criticizing.  

I have grandchildren who aren't going to know a world without technology at their fingertips and I want to understand that world. I want to be able to interact with them about the things they encounter on a daily basis and if I'm not keeping up with technology I won't know what in the world they're talking about. 

There's also the social aspect to technology that I can appreciate. And sometimes hate, but I'm thinking more here of what I enjoy about online interactions. I appreciate the real life friends I'm able to keep up with online, old friends I've reconnected with, and new friends I've made in this little space right here. 

While my kids are living nearer to us now in terms of geography, that hasn't always been the case. Facetime meant we could be face to face via the screen and I think of all we would have missed without that virtual connection. 

In a completely different vein...have you noticed how much of our health care is now managed via technology? I get my lab results before my doctor's even read them, and I can track my steps, my heart rate, even my sleep via the watch on my arm. I'm sure all of this will only continue to expand in scope and capability and I want to be able to access the tools I need to navigate my own medical records and care. 

Do you play word games or Sudoku or something along those lines on your phone or computer? Work online crossword puzzles? Read books via Kindle? These are all things we used to do with pen and paper (and still do of course), but now we can enjoy them and exercise our brains while waiting for an appointment, cleaning house, or taking a walk. Too much of anything is too much, and that includes screen time, but it has its place and I want to keep up with what's new and fun.

If you don't keep up the gap just continues to grow and then feels too daunting to tackle. 

Technology doesn't mean I can't continue to make in person time count. I can still write letters to my grandchildren that are thoughtful and worth holding on to. I can read them my favorite books and teach them the board games I grew up playing. I can tell them the stories of my childhood and I can wish the world were another way. 

And I can let them take me by the hand and teach me something new. 

Monthly mUsings

Onward in the A-Z Blog Challenge with today's letter. Today's post will also be linked with Holly and Patty's Monthly Musings party, and somehow I'm going to make it work. 

U is for Understanding

As in understanding and knowing your strengths, your limitations, your capabilities, 

and your healthy boundaries; self-awareness 

I know I should write something deep and introspective here, but instead I'm going to say I've nearly reached my limit in the A-Z Blog Challenge. And because I know myself I'm going to give myself some grace and participate in a fun monthly link up hosted by Holly and Patty (Monthly Musings) instead.

And that's okay. 

Blogging is fun for me, it serves as a stress-reliever, and a place to work things out on paper which often helps to bring clarity of mind. There's an awful lot going on here this week and because I know my limits and my capabilities,  I'm opting for something a little lighter today. 

Monthly Musings with Holly and Patty talking all things spring. Here we go...

  

1. Easter, Passover, or another holiday in the Spring? 

Easter. My favorite day of the year. We had a lovely one this year which I wrote about on Monday (The Weekend Replay).

2. Do you plant a garden? Any tips for those of us without a green thumb? 

Hubs has a green thumb, but we don't plant a garden. We have grown a few vegetables in pots, peppers mostly, but our property is wooded, pine straw-ed, and gently sloped to the lake. We don't have a nice sunny flat spot for planting a garden. 

Plus we're on the go a lot, and I feel like gardens require more daily attention in the summer months than we can give. Fortunately my daughter1's in-laws keep us supplied with fresh produce from their huge garden all summer long. 

3. How do you decorate for Spring? 

I wouldn't say I really decorate for Spring. I put out one or two things for Easter, add springtime hand towels to the bathrooms, and will usually have fresh flowers of some kind on my kitchen island. We haven't done any of our outdoor patio pots yet, but that will happen soon. Flowers on the porch say spring to me. 

We are all about the out of doors here and when you're inside your gaze naturally travels in that direction, so I'm careful not to compete. I don't add a lot of seasonal decor anytime other than Christmas. 

4. Desserts that just say spring to you? 

I think anything lemon makes a nice springtime dessert. 

I made mini carrot cakes for Easter and that felt appropriate for spring. 

A fruit tart or crumble of some kind is another favorite springtime dessert. 

5. Favorite spring flowers? 

Lilacs. But also tulips, pansies, and iris. 

6. Best tips for hosting spring events? 

I love a good theme so choosing to host around a springtime event like Easter, The Derby, Cinco de Mayo, or Mother's Day gives you a direction to run. 

I like outdoor gatherings whenever possible, but you need to plan for the weather and have both sun and shade options. And an indoor backup just in case. 

People want your company more than they want an exhausted distracted host, so let people bring something if they offer. Food doesn't have to be complicated. Light and fresh is the way to go in spring.

You can't go wrong with fresh flowers. 

7. Favorite beverage or cocktail that makes you think of Spring? 

I made my first pitcher of the sweet tea season on Easter Sunday. I live in the south and sweet tea is available everywhere here year round, but I typically don't make it at home until Easter. I'll keep a pitcher in the frig from now until probably Thanksgiving. 

Besides iced tea a glass of Rosé or Prosecco sipped on a sunny patio would be another springtime favorite. 

8. Vegetable garden, flower garden, both or neither? 

As in my own, or what do I enjoy? I love beautiful gardens and a day trip to a garden in bloom is one of my favorite kind of outings. I love to visit gardens when we travel somewhere new. I saw more than a few gardens when we lived in the UK, but there are many beautiful blooms here in the US too-

Tulip Town, Skagit Valley, Washington, 2017

9. Favorite Easter candy? 

Finally an easy one...jellybeans of course. They're my kryptonite. Been working my way through this jar for the past month. 

I won't say how many times I've topped it up. 

10. Marshmallow peeps? Gross or yes please? 

I'm somewhere in the middle on these. I like the way they look better than the way they taste, but I wouldn't say they're gross. 

I love the colors of spring, along with the flavors and scents of spring, but the pollen not so much. It makes me love spring just a little bit less than I would if we didn't have to deal with all that yellow dust. Thankfully the pollen season is nearing an end, and it's pouring rain as I type this which will help a lot. 

Happy Spring y'all! 

Life Lessons From the Window Seat

S is for Seven. After today that's how many letters remain in the April A-Z Blog Challenge. It's been fun and it's been a challenge. Blogging with a houseful of people requires a bit of finagling. Onward...

S is for Sunrise 

'the apparent rising of the sun above the horizon; 

also: the accompanying atmospheric effects'

If you've been reading here for a while then you know I have a small obsession with the sunrise. We have prime viewing out of any window on the backside of our house, but my favorite place to watch it happen is from the upper deck. 

And I like to snap a photo while I'm there. 

Or ten photos. 

Or possibly 365. 

Hubs teases and asks me why I take the same picture every morning but I assure him I do not. One sunrise is not like any other and my pictures are the proof. 

Recently Joanne (Slices of Life) shared some of her favorite sunrises and sunsets and it got me thinking about why it is I'm so drawn to the early morning skies. Why all the sunrises? And why now? 

One of the reasons I'm more tuned in to the sunrise in this house is because it's hard to miss. I step quietly out of my bedroom in the early hours of the morning and there it is. Sometimes soft and dreamy brushstrokes in a pastel painted sky...

...sometimes awash with all the colors of the rainbow. 

It can, quite literally, take my breath away. There are things about the sunrise that speak to me in this season that feel almost sacred. 

The sunrise tells me it's a new day, with no mistakes in it yet. A fresh start. Blank slate. No regrets. 

The sunrise fills me with hope. Anything is possible at the start of a brand new day. 

The sunrise says slow down. Breathe. Be present. 

It also tells me time moves fast. If you're not paying attention you'll miss it. Life is like that too. 

The sun rising fills me with awe for the One who made it, for the staggering beauty of this world, and the power so evident in nature.

 

The sunrise reminds me of the value of stillness and quiet, things I'm always looking for in this too noisy world.

The sunrise reminds me of the faithfulness of God. Every single day the sun rises. He never fails. 

My favorite verse, which is in my blog header but worth posting twice...

'The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; 

they are new every morning." Lamentations 3:22-23

Day 17 In The A-Z

Finishing out this week's letter in the A-Z Blog Challenge with my usual Saturday list of little things I love. Today's letter might be tricky so let's get to it...

Q is for A Quantity of Small Favorite Things 

quick thinking

questions answered

questions pondered

homemade quiche

quotes that inspire

Quilon (my England house)

quality time with my girls

quiet mornings

quarters won in Mah Jong

quarrels ended

queso 

fears quelled

quaint small towns 

decisions made without any qualms 

quirky roadside attractions

a bad habit quit

quintessential British speech

the music of Queen

no queue at the DMV

a cozy quilt 

Young At Heart

 Rolling right along with today's letter of the day...

O is for oxymoron

'a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction;

a self-contradicting word or group of words'

Let's talk about aging gracefully. Is that phrase an oxymoron? From the moment we're born we're all growing older, we just seem to remark on it in a more negative way after a certain point on the birthday timeline. 

So what does it mean to age gracefully? There are of course the obvious things we all know to do like eat right, drink lots of water, exercise, and get enough sleep, but what about the less obvious, but equally important habits we need to cultivate if we want to live a grace-ful life? 

There are traits I associate with the term, and also with women I know who I think are aging gracefully, that I want reflected in my own life as I lean into this third act. Here's some of what I've observed and also what I aspire to...

have a positive outlook

laugh a lot 

forgive easily

stay curious about the world around me 

be gentle in speech and action

live with an open heart and open hand 

stay grounded

be humble

self-aware

accepting of change

grateful 

Easier said than done some days, but I'm still a work in progress. 

I read somewhere the opposite of aging gracefully would be aging poorly or prematurely, which I don't think anyone aspires to yet many end up doing just that. I like having this list written down. It's a visual reminder every day is a gift and I get to choose how I live it. 

'Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.' Psalm 90:12 

HeLLo Monday

I'm still working my way through the alphabet this month with the April A-Z Blog Challenge, and my loose theme of life lessons learned. Today I'm doing my regular weekend recap because I missed it last week. 

I think something I've learned is to notice the little things that bring joy, the tough things that need grace and lots of prayer, and the everyday ordinary moments that make a life a life. These recaps are a good way to remember and record all of the above. 

L is for HeLLo Monday 

life lesson: 'something from which useful knowledge or principles can be learned;

a valuable piece of knowledge or wisdom gained from experience, 

often about how to live or make decisions'

There's always something happening here and we're just trying to keep up. We had a full week with our wine club dinner on Tuesday night, then a fundraiser on Wednesday night. I don't have pictures, but it was for the local hospital's cancer center so money was raised for a good cause. The event had a 1920's theme and almost everyone dressed up. 

Thursday evening hubs and I attended an event at the local university hosted by their chapter of Turning Point USA. Originally my daughter was going to go with me, but she had one child not feeling well and another going to baseball and it all just felt like a lot. 

So hubs tagged along and I think he enjoyed the event. We heard Allie Beth Stuckey speak, and if you've never heard her in person, she was exactly as you'd imagine. So articulate, and such clarity in her message. We arrived early and were lucky to get in. More than 100 people were turned away due to space limitations, and she did go outside and try to at least say hello and greet the people who didn't make it through the doors. 

I listen to her podcast (Relatable), and while hubs has heard an episode here and there, he wasn't as familiar with her as I am. She's so impressive both in her ability to communicate and her depth of knowledge about current events, today's culture, and theology. 

Friday was pretty much chaos here. We made the delightful discovery of what appeared to be a leak so the plumber came by to check it out which involved cutting a whole in a bedroom ceiling (ugh!).  The Terminix guy also showed up to do our yearly inspection, and the electrician arrived to install our fan and outdoor lighting in the new dining space. Trying to get a car out to go to the store was a real challenge. 

I had a cute helper though, which was fun. 

No leak so good news there,  and we now have a working fan and almost working lights in the outdoor space too. The bulbs are not dimming even though they're described as dimmable, so we've got replacements coming and hopefully that does the trick. We may have to switch out the dimmer, but honestly that's not in my need (or want)-to-know department, so I'm letting hubs sort out whatever needs sorting there.  

Both grandboys had baseball games on Saturday, and we were excited to attend. Definitely one of the perks to having them close. It's been a while since I've had kids in sports, and T-ball is still T-ball, but I can't believe how the 7 and 8 year olds play with the coach pitch! It feels intense to me, but maybe that's because I'm the Nana, or maybe it actually is a little intense? The boys have fun either way, and it was a great day to be outside. 

There was more baseball on Sunday and we had plans with a group of friends to go to the university game. Always such a fun day, and while they won the series they lost Sunday's game. The environment at these baseball games is so upbeat, the stadium is super nice, and we always have a great time.  

There are big screens in the stadium so when there were play breaks they'd put the Masters up so everyone could check out the score. We got home at the tail end of the match and had been rooting for Rory all weekend.  What an exciting finish! Even if you're not into golf at all, it was a moment of such raw emotion, which the commentators let happen without comment and the whole thing left you feeling good. 

And that's the weekend that was. Busy, beautiful weather, fun sporting events, friends, family, and one step closer to having the outdoor space (or the never ending project as I call it) complete. 

The kids (and their parents) are still here with us, but will be closing on their own house very soon. We're grateful for the time we've spent living under the same roof, but everyone is so excited to settle into their own space and call that new space home. 

Big thanks to Holly and Sarah for hosting this weekly Monday morning link party.

J is for Jumble

 Moving right along into Day 10 in the A-Z Blog Challenge...

J is for Jumble

'an untidy collection or pile of things; 

mix up or confused in an untidy way' 

I'm pretty sure I imagined when I reached the age I am now there would be more blank space everywhere. In my home, on my calendar, and most especially in my head. 

But guess what? There's not. 

I remember being a young mom and having just an endless jumble of thoughts running through my head nearly all the time. Most of those thoughts revolved around raising children, because mothers are the keeper of everything and it all just pings around your brain pretty much on a loop. 

We're just us now, so what sort of jumbled thoughts can possibly need untangling in this season of life? Here's a peek...

Why does my back hurt?

Is 7:30 too early to put on my pajamas?  

Call my mother. 

Call hubs mother.

Where did I put that card I bought? 

Did I sleep funny? 

Is that why my back hurts? 

Are we free the third Tuesday of next month?

Did he feed the dog? 

Was I supposed to feed the dog? 

Let's go somewhere. 

Let's stay home. 

Did I take my vitamins today? 

I've done something to my back. 

What was the name of that book I wanted to read? 

Show I wanted to watch? 

Movie I wanted to see? 

Where did I leave my keys? 

Are my roots showing? 

The grandchildren 💕

Why does my neck look like that? 

Does it always look like that? 

Does this dress make me look old? 

Is this dress too young for me? 

Why is it so hot in here? 

Didn't the guy say I need new tires? 

Are my girls getting enough sleep? 

My girls 💕

What in the world did I do to my back? 

We need to paint the house. 

Buy a car. 

We need to stop spending. 

Let's go to the islands. 

Is that spot on my face something to worry about? 

I don't like driving at night. 
I need new glasses. 

What am I wearing to that wedding next month? 

We'll need a leaf in the table for Easter dinner.

and...and...and...

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you."

Isaiah 26:3