Mini Vacay and Mini Monsoon

 I didn't get a TToT written last week, but I had a GOOD REASON - I was busy having fun! And I wasn't sure I was going to get one written for THIS week, but I had another good reason - we thought we were going to blow away! We were at my dad's for the weekend, as per our usual, and a storm blew in that surprised everyone, including meteorologists. It was some weird bow echo that brought 70-80 mph wind with it. We lost some small branches from our trees but nothing major. The most interesting phenomena from this storm was that our normally placid lake looked like the ocean. The following video gives you the idea but doesn't do the wave action justice:

The power went out as well, of course. Once the storm passed, we headed out for our two hour drive home. There were creepy cloud formations everywhere, but no tornadoes, so there's a thankful or two right there!

As for the rest of my list:

The week before last, my husband and I took a mini vacay and drove to Arkansas, stopping first at Fayetteville. We loved visiting there when our daughter was in college and have only been back once since she graduated four years ago. Thankfuls there included:

Visiting Rick's Bakery and treating myself to a tie dye cookie (my favorite item from there, although you can't go wrong with ANYTHING they make).

Finding some terrific deals thrift shopping at Potter's House.

Poked around at Fayetteville's Funky Flea Market.

Finally got the stupid parking app to work when we went to Dickson Street.

Ate gourmet grilled cheese for lunch at Hammontree's.

My sammich: ricotta, parmesan, mushrooms on
grilled parmesan-encrusted sourdough with 
marinara dipping sauce and homemade
potato chips

We then drove about halfway across the state to Greers Ferry Lake. No real reason to go there, other than I heard it was pretty, and it was! Some of my thankfuls:

My husband didn't get carsick on the winding mountain roads.

The bed in our hotel room was extremely comfy.

The lake IS pretty, but with all the flooding in Arkansas this spring and summer, the water was a little high at the beach area. But that was okay, because we just wanted to walk around and look at it and not get in.

Golden Hour at lakeside

We had a leisurely drive from there up to Branson, stopping at another flea market in Clinton, Arkansas, and eating pizza in Harrison, Arkansas, at a local place that also had the best dessert pizza I've ever eaten, and then still had the weekend to get in a little rest. Vacations don't have to be long and don't have to be expensive!

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The Week That Ended With Pride AND a Protest!

It's Ten Things of Thankful tiiiiiime! Let's do it!

The news has been anything but fun lately, but that was before Ed the Zebra escaped from a pasture southeast of Nashville and took off on a week-long adventure. There were Ed sightings all around the area until he was safely captured with the help of a helicopter and a net. Thanks, Ed, for giving us something fun to distract us from life for a few days!

Well, no one can say we're in a drought anymore.

I had to replace my bright green phone case this week, as the top right corner was so badly damaged by the phone repeatedly being dropped (who did that, anyway?!) that the case wouldn't even stay on. I wanted another one just like the one I had, but the manufacturer no longer offered it in bright green. This presented a problem, since I lose my phone several times a day and am alerted to its location with a combination of the find my phone feature on my Apple watch and the phone's color. It's going to be hard to get used to, but I now have a ridiculously bright PINK phone! Thank you for your service, green phone case!

Our school is part of a program meant to improve interactions between teachers and students, and each teacher will be assessed through an observation. Our assessments are scheduled for this month, and I volunteered to be first just so I could get it over with. The observer was in my classroom on Wednesday, and I am thankful that this step is completed.

The bad news: it was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, awful morning in my classroom, and I went in the bathroom and cried when it was over. The thankful here is for my co-workers, because I took one for the team and set the bar LOW for them!

I'm thankful for those same co-workers who tried to pump me up about my observation and tell me it couldn't have been that bad. Even though they were dead wrong, it was so kind of them to try to make me feel better! I have terrific co-workers!

My dad and I found out this week that putting bananas in the refrigerator stops them from further ripening, and he was able to make two weeks worth of bananas edible for the entire two weeks. I'd heard that was a thing, but since I don't eat bananas, I never tried it (to me, old bananas are just tomorrow's banana bread). Sometimes, internet tips are actually true!

Saturday, I participated in the No Kings protest in Springfield. There were 3,000 peaceful protesters, and the solidarity brought out all the feels in me. I am so thankful I was able to be a part of this nationwide protest. We are stronger together.

Immediately following the No Kings protest was the Springfield Pride parade. Instead of being a spectator, I was actually IN the parade, marching with the American Red Cross. Unlike last week, no rain on THIS parade; just a lot of sunshine and humidity! It was tremendous fun, except later that evening when I discovered I did a terrible job of applying sunscreen to my face, missing an inch strip along my hairline. I'm thankful that's all I missed, and that I ended up with a very mild sunburn there!

We followed this stunning Queen on the parade route

This evening, I had dinner with my friend Allison. Life gets in the way a lot, keeping us from getting together very often, but we plan to try harder to make time for each other where we can laugh and talk and eat nachos.

Onward and upward to a new week. What kind of thankfuls await me?

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The Week That Ended With Pride!

Blink! Week over. Time for another installment of Ten Things of Thankful! Woohooooo!!!

I ended my TToT last week with a thankful for four day work weeks in the summer, with Mondays being my day off for June and July and THAT has the added bonus of eliminating the Sunday Scaries for me, so that's where I start this week. It's Sunday. No Scaries!

I spent my day off this past week cleaning my room. As the Keeper of Photos and Other Family Treasures, I have boxes and tubs filled with photos and mementos, all in varying stages of disarray. I'm not going to say I TOTALLY organized everything (because I totally didn't), but I DID sort through several large boxes of items and organize them by person. That's progress!

I'm working on throwing away things that absolutely no one cares about but me (and I don't even care about a great deal of it, if I'm honest), so, after looking at each one of them first, I threw away all my elementary school report cards. Well, I kept the kindergarten one just so someday, a future grandkid can see an actual antiquated paper report card. Baby steps.

While I was busy being Nelly Neat, I took down the white lace curtains in my bedroom that I bought at the same time we bought our house in California, so 31 years ago. I don't know what kind of miracle fiber they are made from, but they don't show their age and they wash and dry beautifully.

In a When You Give A Mouse A Cookie kind of way, taking the curtains down to wash highlighted how dirty the windows were. I don't have any way to clean the outsides, but I washed the kitty nose prints and dust from the insides of each window. I also opened each one and got all the dirty and crud cleaned out from the window sill, which leads me to my next thankful:

When I opened the window next to my side of the bed, a GINORMOUS and VERY FAST brown recluse spider zipped INSIDE the room. Now, I am not a screamer, but I let out a blood curdling one through my open window as I swung at the spider with a paper towel before he disappeared among the books and clutter on my bedside table. BEDSIDE table. BEDSIDE. In the meantime, I hear my husband thudding across the kitchen and up the stairs, calling out to me. I'm still hopping around and shouting that a giant spider ran in and I can't find him and something about an immediate need to put the house up for sale. My husband reached the bedroom as I gingerly moved books and reading glasses until I uncovered a maimed but very much alive FAT VENOMOUS brown recluse spider. I screamed and squished it. My husband screamed like a little girl and put himself in reverse, and apparently no one on my street was concerned that I was being murdered, because the cops didn't show up. Guess that's a thankful!

Tuesday evening, I had dinner with a very sweet 6 year old former student and his mom at their house. He was beside himself with excitement that I was there! He gave me a tour of the house, particularly, his room, plus the backyard, where I got to see his garden. He showed me all his Pokemon cards and gifted me with several of them, and we ate a delicious dinner that included vegetables from the garden. It was delightful!

And four day work week? How 'bout THREE day work week! I also took Friday off to go to Kansas City for Pride! My husband and I hit thrift stores while our daughter was at work, and we ate a lot and talked a lot and laughed a lot.

We have had more than our fair share of severe weather this spring, including tornadoes, high winds, heavy rains, and flash flooding. The forecast for Saturday morning changed a dozen times over the week, waffling from no rain at parade time to heavy rain and lightning to something in between, but that actual morning, we had to assume it was definitely going to rain. I made a quick trip to Walmart (note: big city Walmarts DO NOT compare to SW Missouri/NW Arkansas Walmarts, and if you don't know this, then you need to come visit and I'll prove it to you) and bought rain ponchos and umbrellas. My daughter decided to sleep in rather than go to the parade (in fairness, she works 60+ hour weeks as an attorney), so my husband and I loaded up a bag with our rain gear and headed to the parade. Lo and behold, the first entries had just gone past when raindrops began to fall, and for the two hours of the parade, it alternated between barely a sprinkle to torrential downpour. In spite of the ponchos and umbrellas, we were pretty wet, but there was no lightning (super thankful) and it was warm, so we weren't standing around shivering. In fact, it was probably the most fun Pride parade I've attended! Everyone was dancing in the rain and laughing and it was a true delight! Bonus thankful: my friend David joined us to watch the parade. He and I met two years ago when we just happened to be standing next to each other at the parade and hit it off. It was a joy to visit with him!

Before the deluge

In spite of his precautions, he
still got soaked

More severe weather forecast this afternoon, so we left Kansas City right after lunch and headed towards home. When we were about an hour from home, we noticed dark, angry clouds building to the west, and sure enough, yet another storm was heading our way. We made it home shortly before it hit, and that was a HUGE thankful, as this storm included blinding rain, lightning, hail, and 70 mph winds (which are enough to make the tornado sirens blow, even though it wasn't a tornado). We seem to be good for a few more hours, before another band of showers thunderstorms move in during the night. We're used to it. Shoes by the bed.

How 'bout you? Got thankfuls? Write them. Post them. Link them. The TToT hop is open until Monday night!

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Back At It

Yeah, yeah, it's been awhile. 

Every time I take one of these long sabbaticals, I swear it won't happen again. I truly enjoy writing, so why I don't is way weirder to me than it possibly could be to you. 

The best place to restart my engine is always the Ten Things of Thankful. I suppose I could attempt to catch up on the last two and a half months, but let's not and just say there WERE thankfuls, many of them, and start anew. 

Here goes:

My pre-k class graduated on May 22. We had grown into the BEST class family, and I will miss them so much! I'm thankful for the dance parties, the hugs, the I love yous, the dog piles, the dandelion bouquets, the artwork, the oopsies and the chance they gave us to improve, the endless stories, kissing boo boos, and the opportunity to watch them learn and grow. Hey, that's 10. Done!

This is my why

Just kidding. Here are 9 more:

I'm thankful that my husband is willing to let me take an entire week off to visit my Person, Terri, in Nashville. Perhaps TOO willing. Hmmm,,,, 

I'm also thankful that he took on Dad duties for me, spending two weekends cooking and running errands for my dad while I was gone. I truly don't deserve him, but I'm for sure keeping him!

My dad gets a thankful for letting me drive his Tahoe to Nashville. My sweet ride is 2010 Toyota Sienna minivan with 230,000 miles on it, and while I did not doubt its loyalty to me to get me there and back, my husband was less trusting and felt better having me drive a newer vehicle. Not going to lie, I did enjoy the rear camera and the XM radio for the 8 hour trip.

I'm thankful I took my last trip over the Mississippi River on an extremely narrow, two-lane bridge. The bridge is terrifying to cross on at best, and when I approached it last Saturday, I saw a new sign that stated no tractor trailers could go over it. My first thought was Cool! I won't have to worry about meeting one when there's barely a hand's width between it and me (or that's the way it looks, anyway). Then halfway over the bridge, it occurred to me that the reason for no tractor trailers was because it wasn't SAFE to have that much weight on it, and it was there and then that I made the decision that I wouldn't be crossing it again. There's a perfectly boring but sturdy bridge a little upstream that will only add 15 minutes or so to the trip, and THAT is more than worth not plunging into the Mississippi River when the old bridge collapses.

The rest of the driving portion of the trip was uneventful, and that's a good thing.

I not only got to spend the week with my Person, but I got a lot of quality time with her daughter Mackenzie. She actually LIKES to hang out with us, and I sure enjoy it, too!

With Mackenzie

I first started going out to lunch with my friend Janice probably 35 years ago, and we have continued the tradition when I visit Nashville. We had a lovely lunch and got caught up on Life, and I'm thankful each and every time we are able to get together.

Lunch with Janice at The Farmstead

I'm also thankful that my buddy Steve makes time for a visit when I'm there. We've known each other for 40 years. Holy cow, I hadn't realized it was that long until I counted it up on my fingers just now! He is still an attorney at the law firm that I worked at when I first moved to Nashville. He shared photos of his completely adorable grandkids (yes, I'm a little jealous and ready to be a granny in the near future hopefully pretty please). 

I'm so very thankful to have had this whole week with Terri. We talked. We laughed. We ate. We ate some more. We spent time with Marianne and with Jeannie, went to Terri's grandson's baseball game (10 year olds and SO SERIOUS about the game!), shopped, watched jets take off from the rooftop bar at the airport Hilton, had dinner with our dear friend Larry, and did I mention we ate a lot? We ate a lot. It was a week of quality time together, and I cherished every moment.

With Terri at Ray Stevens' Caba Ray Theater

Dinner with our friend Larry. We learned things
about him we never knew until this night....

Garlic knots at Five Corners Pizza

Sunset at BNA

On top of the Hilton and I couldn't get any 
closer to that rail than maybe 6 feet....

My Person 

And lastly, I am thankful that the summer four-day week work schedule begins tomorrow, which means I have Monday off and don't have the Sunday Scaries tonight. Wheeeee!!!

It's not too late to join the Ten Things of Thankful. You've got until Monday night. Come on!

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Forever My Child

I didn't post a Ten Things of Thankful last weekend, because I didn't want to take a single moment away from a magnificent weekend. It was practically perfect, and I am more thankful than I can convey. Here is why:

My son and his wife moved to Washington, DC, last summer for my DIL's fellowship in pediatric infectious disease. We did get to see them briefly at the end of September when they flew back for a wedding, but that was simply AGES ago. My son is a hospitalist at a DC hospital, working the night shift, and his schedule is 7 days on, 7 days off. I asked him if there was a chance he could come home for a visit during one of his off weeks, and the answer was YES.

I'm extremely thankful for Lillian, my DIL, for booking the flights and for letting us have him for five whole days! We missed you and will see you next time!

He flew into the airport in Northwest Arkansas that largely services all the corporate travel for Walmart, and I'm thankful for GPS on my phone for getting us there! It is in the middle of NOWHERE, down winding, two-laned highways, through tiny towns, then right through a series of brand new subdivisions (with names like Oakwood and The Pines, apparently each named after the trees that were bulldozed to make room for the houses, as there wasn't a tree in sight within each raw, new neighborhood). 

It had just turned dark as we pulled up to the terminal (which is under construction). There were barricades (and construction equipment and no pavement) in front of the building, so cars parked in the left lane to wait for their weary travelers to come out of the building, wind their way around barricades, cross the street, and walk down a dark sidewalk, looking for their ride. I watched every shadow cross the street and either walk to a car or disappear into a parking garage, but there was no mistaking the shadow that was my son as he walked down the sidewalk. I felt like Melanie in Gone With the Wind when Ashley returned to Tara after being held in a northern prison camp and she saw him walking up the drive (IYKYK). My (29 year old) baby boy was HOME.

XNA airport pick up line.

I'm thankful to Nikki and Ceason for getting coverage for me in my classroom, so I could take three days off to be with my family. 

Our cats warmed right up to Kyle when we got home, and I don't think one of them hissed at him (this pissed off my daughter, because they always hiss at her, but in fairness, she brings HER cat when she comes home, and he walks in like he owns the place). Okay, Finn probably did, but since he hides most of the time, who would know?

Kyle, Lewis, and Nora

We spent a good part of Thursday with my husband's parents, where we played a not-so-fun game of Where's Grandad's Phone (answer: in Nana's purse, where it had been hiding for two days). My husband gets the thankful for finding it (he was motivated by not wanting to go phone shopping with his parents).

With Nana and Grandpa

Friday, we drove to Branson to spend the weekend with my dad. Up until Wednesday evening, we weren't sure the weekend trip was going to happen, as there had been many delays in getting new flooring put into my dad's house, but it was completed in the nick of time! Our daughter drove down on Saturday morning to spend the rest of the weekend with us, and we had an absolutely delightful family weekend. My kids shared a bedroom, like they always did at the lake house while growing up, and they didn't get into one fight! There were times when they were younger that I never thought I would see that day!

My kids and their Papa

Our boy

They crack themselves up

All too soon, it was Monday, and we had to return our boy to his grown-up life. We had five days of eating at all his favorite places and cooking his favorite meals, laughing, talking, hugging, crying, and planning future times together. Saying goodbye never gets easier. I love my children so much that it sometimes hurts, but they are both smart and accomplished and happy, and what more could a mama want?

Remember that little airport in Northwest Arkansas? When checking their website Monday afternoon, I discovered it was possible to park the car, accompany your loved one inside the airport, AND GO ALL THE WAY TO THE GATE WITH THEM. Have you heard of such a thing since 9/11?! You have to register when you get there, and you still have to go through TSA, but instead of dropping him off on the curb a few hours before his flight and driving home, we were able to stay with him until the moment he boarded, and we watched out the window until we saw his plane take off. 

My heart was both full and empty at the same time.

Parenting is hard.

And I wouldn't trade it for anything.

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An Eclectic List of Thankfuls

We went from temps that were below zero last week to several days of 70-80 degree weather. Now THAT'S the way to start out a thankful list!

I continue to be on the puzzle struggle bus, but I've got about 25% of the it completed now. Why, why, WHY did I buy a 1500 piece puzzle? 

The great horned owl that has taken up residence in the neighbor's tree is still keeping me company at night when I can't sleep. Is he bored? Looking for a wife? Is he even a HE? I sure enjoy hearing him hoot, whatever the reason.

I drank a diet coke in a restaurant this week, and it didn't make me crave more! After two months drinking only water, the bubbles kind of stung in a rather unpleasant way. I've lost a few more pounds and am still content with my no-ultra processed food life.

Next week, we are expecting severe storms with a pretty good possibility of tornadoes, so I felt it was okay to take the snowflakes off my walls in my pre-k classroom. I may well have jinxed spring by doing this so soon, but it was worth the chance of getting one more winter storm (and some snow days!).

I know it LOOKS like I've killed Flora the Peace Lily, but I have not. She is very dramatic and throws herself down when she thinks she hasn't been watered enough, but when I (or more likely, one of my students) notices she's got the droopies, a big drink of water perks her right back up again! She has faked death a number of times, and each time, she pops right back (so far, anyway). 

I used to amuse myself by taking (stealth mode) pictures of butt cracks, and I had a pretty good collections of them. Most were taken when my daughter played sports in high school, because sitting in bleachers all day at a volleyball tournament will give you plenty of opportunity to see someone lean forward and flash that crack. I haven't taken a butt crack picture in YEARS; that is, until this weekend. I couldn't resist and it made me happy:

I guess I'm thankful I have a zit, because that means I still have dewy skin and not dried-out, wrinkled, and leathery old lady skin. I'll take that as a win.

The flooring people finally made it to my dad's late this week, and the work has begun! It's going to look SOOOOOO pretty! Pictures when it's completed.

My son is coming home for a visit this week! He and his wife moved to Washington, DC, last summer, and we've only seen them once since then, when they came back for a wedding. We are beyond excited to spend some time with him. 

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Snow Days, Vacuums, and More

I said I wasn't going to let someone else steal my happy, yet I did.

No. More.

I've got Ten Things of Thankful:

My dad is getting new flooring throughout his house, and all the "stuff" everywhere had to be packed up and moved to the garage and basement (large furniture will be moved by the workers). Let me tell you, there is a lot of "stuff" (kindly called "senior clutter" by the contractor), but after working three weekends non-stop, we (my husband and I) got it all packed up and out of the house and cleaned the basement and set it up for my dad to live down there during the installation. 

Okay, so the flooring didn't get put on the truck for delivery in time to do the floors this week, but that turned out to be all right, since the weather was too bad for workers to get there anyway. The flooring has now arrived. The snow is gone. The workers should be there this week. Fingers crossed.

We got THREE SNOW DAYS this week! Snow days are a GIFT (and a necessity). We were supposed to get 9-13" of snow, but instead of big ol' wet snowflakes, we got tiny dry flakes and that cut our amount down considerably. But 5"+ is still a lot of snow for us, and coupled with temps below zero, the whole area pretty much shut down. 

I am thankful for my cheap but amazing snow boots. I bought them at Walmart probably seven or eight years ago. We don't get much snow, so I probably haven't worn them much more than a dozen times, but they are incredibly warm and have great traction.

I started a jigsaw puzzle on the second snow day. I found it in a cabinet and have zero recollection of buying it. It's a lovely picture of needlework, including pins and scissors and different projects and even has a cup of tea in it. It also has 1500 pieces. 1500. I worked two days solid on it and many hours since, and I STILL don't have the outer edge completed (still missing two pieces). But I have completed maybe 20-25% of it, in spite of every effort from Lewis to thwart me with a sweep of his magnificent tail.

I'm still on my healthful eating track, avoiding all ultra processed foods, as well as flour, sugar, and caffeine. I've lost about 15 pounds and feel terrific!

We have annual on-line trainings at work that must be completed by every employee. The links are usually released in August or so and we have until June 30 to complete them. Every year, I do them on June 29th. THIS year? February 19th! 

I am thankful for my vacuum cleaner. It's a Shark Navigator Lift-away, it's purple, and it is the only vacuum cleaner I have ever loved. I have two, one for each floor (they are not expensive), and I have put them both through the paces this weekend, doing some major housecleaning. 

I'm thankful for cheese.

And I'm thankful that I have this platform. It saves my sanity.

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