A Different Sort of Peach Days

It’s that time of year again: Peach Days. Friday night I met up with my family and we went to the Peach Days carnival. The kids still like going and it’s fun to hang out with the family, even if there are a bunch of other people. I think people are figuring out that Friday night is less crowded than Saturday. There were a lot of people. I hate to think what it looks like today. And then for the first time in quite a few years, I didn’t go up to Brigham at all for the Saturday part. My sister doesn’t have any kids in the parade this year and I just can’t see going up for any other reason. They did go up because my niece had to work at Peach City. I won’t say I’ll never go again, but the big parade doesn’t hold a lot of interest for me as an adult. I was only going to cheer on my nieces and nephew and be with family. I probably could have gone to the quilt show and a few other things and just missed the parade, but there is always next year. 

I slept in and did a little cleaning, then I drove to SL to hit up an indie bookstore I’ve been meaning to go to for a while. Lovebound Library is a romance bookstore, although they do have a little bit of general fiction. It’s a cute store and they do have a nice selection of books, though they are mostly contemporary and romantasy. I picked up 3 new books and spent some time rearranging some of my bookshelves to fit them in where I wanted them. 

It has been fun visiting indie bookstores this year. I still have more to go to than months left in the year but that’s ok. Most of those that are left are going to take some planning to get to. I’ve bought a lot of books I wouldn’t have bought if I weren’t trying to support them. And I’ve got some favorites to go back to. The biggest problem is that none of my favorites are really that close to me and it’s still easier to get my books from bookshop.org or Barnes and Noble. 

I have a little bit of cleaning left to do and I’ll be making a new soup for dinner tonight. But I’m in for the day and am planning on reading. LOL I’m having a bit of book anxiety again with all the shiny new books waiting for me to get to them, plus I keep adding to my KU list. I’ve just got to let it go. I have more books than I’ll ever possibly read and new ones come along constantly. This is just the way life is.

Anyway, it’s been a nice weekend so far. I’ll be seeing family again tomorrow for family dinner. The weekends are always too short. 

Mother’s Day

Hard to believe this is my 3rd Mother’s Day without my mom. Time has flown and yet it hasn’t. It’s going to be a beautiful day and we are having family dinner later and then we’ve got flowers to take to the cemetery. I made grandma’s rolls today. They are rising now and after church I will cook them and take them to dinner. 

I spent last week in Charlotte, NC for work and then took Friday off for a 3 day weekend. It’s been really nice. Very warm. I’m not quite ready for the heat, but I guess I don’t have any say in that. I’ve had my ceiling fan on at night, although it’s still cool in the morning. It won’t be long before I have another fan running all night just to keep me cool enough to sleep. It’s ok. I can have a good summer and then be happy about the fall. 

My flowers are doing well outside and I have a few projects for the inside and of course, there are always books to read. The pool is closed for maintenance or something for 2 weeks so no water aerobics. I need to see about the summer schedule. I’d like to keep going because it feels good, but I need to start walking outside as well. Take advantage of all the light in the evenings. 

Life is not without problems, but there are also a lot of good things. I’m so grateful for all that I have, especially for the parents who worked hard for our family. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. 

Peach Days 2025

It's been a nice weekend, and Brigham City's annual Peach Days. I met up with my family on Friday night and we all had dinner at Peach City since my niece works there. She wanted to wait on us ha ha. It was fun. Then we walked a couple blocks downtown to the carnival and other stuff set up in the street. The temperature was in the 80s so not as bad as some years. By the time we were walking back to the car, it was dark and very pleasant. 

Saturday I slept in and couldn't decide if I wanted to go back to the big parade. Then my sister told me she had bought a dozen donuts and got one for me. I couldn't pass that up ha ha. I stopped by their house and got a ride with my oldest nephew and we were late to the parade, so we didn't get to see my niece with the high school but that's ok. Also, seeing only part of the parade is not a bad thing, in my opinion. Then my sister and I went to the quilt show at the USU extension. It was fun to see all the different quilts. Not a talent I have, or truly want to have. I'll stick with embroidery. 

So yeah, it was fun. When I got home I did laundry. I also switched out my bedding for the fall bedspread and sheets. Peach days is kind of the last summer thing we do and now I'm most definitely ready for cooler temps and darker evenings. My brother gave me some more fresh peaches and now I need to freeze them so they don't go bad. That will be my evening activity, maybe tomorrow night. I'll eat a few more fresh ones and then freeze the rest. 

Cedar City - Part Two

So besides the house, we actually went down there for the theater. This year I saw 4 plays: As You Like It, MacBeth, The Importance of Being Ernest, and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.

All of them were well done, but I probably like Gentleman and MacBeth the best. The younger kids didn’t go to the theater but we did catch a Greenshow with everyone and we all got to wander around the grounds a bit. I love the whole setup they have there. 

Besides the theater, there were a couple other things that made the trip especially fun. We didn’t plan this because we didn’t know about it, but they have a Renaissance Festival every 3rd week of July and it’s free to go to. So we got to wander around that and see the booths and the kids played in some bounce houses and there was entertainment and food. It was a fun way to spend a couple hours one morning. 

Since we didn’t have a hotel pool this year, we checked and they have an aquatic center and we tried it out and we are never going back to hotel pools again. Ha ha in Cedar City, at least. It was so fun and not expensive for what you get. I think adults were $5 and kids were $4.50. The pool has a big kids playground and then a slide and a lazy river. Plus there is a hot tub and an outdoor pool. Kids and adults had a blast. The lazy river was my favorite part, but the kids playground with the buckets that dump water every so often was also pretty fun. 

The weather was also great. I had thought it would be super hot down south, but it was actually cooler than home. They had some monsoon rainstorms a few of the afternoons, but it never interfered with our plans and it was so nice to see some rain and have the cooler temperatures. 

Since this year was a big year with the house and all the kids and 4 plays, I thought maybe I would take next year off… but then I saw what’s going to be on and have to think about it. I can probably be talked into doing a trip like this again, maybe with even more of the family. But I could also just go down by myself and see a few plays and go home.  So I won’t rule anything out. We for sure want to do this again though. It was truly a great vacation.  

Christmas Eve

It's hard to believe that we're to the end of the year again. I had my family over on Sunday for cookies and we played games. Later today we will be getting together for our family Christmas celebration. I'm looking forward to it. Tomorrow I plan to spend the day in my pajamas, watching movies and reading. My brother invited me to his house and I thanked him because it was nice of him, but the being alone part doesn't bother me. Christmas has been quiet for years with just me and mom and Amy, and then me and mom after the twins came. I even have a couple presents under the tree (and I don't know what all of them are!) so I'll get to open a present or two. Funny how that isn't important to me as I'm getting older. But on the other hand, I wanted something for myself under the tree since mom isn't around to give me things I don't need. :) I found another silly kitchen timer in the back of a kitchen drawer. I'm keeping it, even though I never use the things. 

My sister made popcorn cake this year. She didn't have the Bundt pan so she put them in muffin tins, which is a fantastic idea. They didn't taste quite like mom's but the flavor is definitely there and eating one kind of made the day for me. I have 2 more wrapped up waiting for tomorrow. 

I miss mom and it's still going to be a good holiday with the family. 

Happy Thanksgiving 2024

It has been a really nice week. I definitely needed the break from work. I had thought I would check my email once but I haven’t so far. It’s been so relaxing.

I survived Thanksgiving and even had fun with the family in my space. It wasn’t fancy and was kind of weird though. The turkey was done early, but it actually tasted really good and wasn’t dry. My brother ended up with some kind of food poisoning before the actual Thanksgiving dinner so he stayed in the car for an hour or so just sleeping, I guess. We made him up a plate, but he didn’t eat anything at my house. And I had made sure we had plenty of mashed potatoes because he can really put them away. So lots of those leftover. Plus, the turkey came from work so I didn’t get to choose the size and it was 19 lbs. Even dividing it up, I have a lot of turkey meat. I’ve got 3 recipes I’m going to use it in fairly quickly, I think. 

Plus my niece and nephew and one of their friends showed up after they ate dinner at the other grandma’s house and ate some more here. It’s fun to have them old enough to do that and I love having them here. 

I’ve got most of my Christmas shopping done. Just have 2 boys left to do. Today we made candy at my sister’s house so by the time I got everybody back home and made it home myself, it was 4:00. The day went fast. I took a little nap because I had a headache and I’ve been cleaning and putting stuff back and making room for the Christmas tree, which I’ll put up tomorrow. 

So we managed Thanksgiving and candy making without mom but I think she’d be proud of how we did. She taught us well and I’m really blessed that we all live close and more importantly, that we all get along and enjoy spending time with each other. For all our faults and imperfections, my parents did an excellent job and really did create a forever family. 

Finally, October

Our cold front came in and it finally feels like fall. It’s 66 degrees in my house so I’m baking a frozen pot pie for dinner. LOL I don’t know why but the first time it gets cold in the house, I don’t like to turn the heat on. I’m wrapped up in blankets and having the oven on will warm it up. I slept really well last night with the window cracked and I was buried under the blankets. I love it. 

I went to my uncle’s funeral on Wednesday and it just got me sad again. So I’ve been feeling a little bit down and getting teary at odd moments. Today was a good day though. My sister and I took the twins to the Treehouse Museum to play for a couple hours this morning. Then we went to lunch. We tried a new Thai place on 25th street that serves pho. It was a good pho so now we have a good place in town to get it again.  Then we drove out to a fruit stand on the highway to buy pumpkins. I figured it was kind of like going to a pumpkin patch? LOL But the kids had fun and got to choose their own this year. So now I’ve got my pumpkin. 

So all in all a good fall break and I’ve still got the weekend ahead. And now it’s starting to get dark so I’ve got some comfort lighting on and a fake fireplace on the tv. I’m just going to have a cozy night tonight. I’ve been waiting for this weather all month so I’m going to enjoy all I can. 

Peach Days Weekend

It was Peach Days this weekend and my last big summer weekend of the year. I know I said I was going to try to not wish my life away, but I’m tired of the heat and want it to be dark and cold. LOL 

I did have a good weekend. I met up with some family on Friday right after work and we managed to snag an outdoor table at the Maddox drive in so I got a turkey burger, fries and a Dr. Pepper - my go to meal at the drive in. I haven’t had one since mom died because that was something we liked to do together. So it was fun to do with family. Then we went to the carnival and the kids got to go on rides. I didn’t stay long but I got my bag of cotton candy to share. That stuff is kind of gross, but I love to have a couple bites of it every year anyway. 

Saturday I stopped at a new donut place in town and got a dozen donuts to take up to my sister’s house. We met up there to go to the parade. Since none of us live in Brigham any more, hers is the closest to park and carpool. The parade was fine and was only just over an hour, I think. My niece was in it this year so we had to cheer for her when she passed by and she pretended she didn’t hear us. Ha ha.

Then we wandered around a bit before we had to get back to Anna’s so we could go to a family reunion. My aunt June missed mom’s funeral because of a surgery and her and my uncle Sonny were out here. It was nice to see family when we were not at a funeral. 

So a long day, even though it was fun. I was thoroughly hot and sweaty most of the day and felt nasty when I finally made it home. I took a shower and watched movies on my couch last night. And today it’s just been church and maybe later some food prep and dishes. Taking it easy for the most part. 

So a really good weekend with some family time. I’m just really ready for some cooler temperatures and to start feeling like it’s fall. And this year I’ve kind of said whatever and I think I’m just going to do fall earlier than normal. I’ve seen people with pumpkins and fall decorations up and I might be getting some of mine out early as well. I’m going to start my fall reading and movie watching as well. I’ll just have an extra couple weeks of it and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not like I have that many decorations to begin with. 

Labor Day 2024

I had a really nice Labor Day weekend. I spent some time with my sister and the twins on Saturday. We went to the park and the the little zoo in Logan and then to Gossner's cheese factory. I like to buy some discount cheese for soups for the winter.  

We moved our family dinner to Monday and had a BBQ for lunch. Amy and I did Dutch oven cobber and cherry chocolate cake and they turned out very yummy. The kids played outside on a blow up water slide and it was just a really nice day. Too hot, but otherwise very nice. Very summery. :)

Another Fun Vacation

This week I did a quick trip to Cedar City and the Utah Shakespeare Festival. I didn’t go last year so it was fun to go back. It was a little bit different this year because mom wasn't with us. The day we left I did let myself have my moment to feel sad. She would have had fun with all of us. This year my sisters wanted to come so I had Anna and her girls and my other niece Katya for the theater. My other sister came with her 5 year old twins as well. They just did other things while we were in the theater but they had fun sitting on the grass with us to watch the Greenshow.

This year we went to The Winter’s Tale, Much Ado About Nothing, and The 39 Steps. I didn’t know much about The Winter’s Tale, but they did a great job and I understood what was going on. It’s kind of a crazy story and it’s labeled as a “Romance” but you wouldn’t know it from the first act. I knew I would love Much Ado About Nothing, and I did. It was fun to see it on stage. The 39 Steps just sounded fun and it was probably my favorite because I laughed almost all the way through.  

All 3 of my nieces want to go back next year and the season has been announced and they are doing some good ones, so I will probably be planning out that trip as well. 

While I have been on some really great trips, this is probably my favorite vacation. I get to spend time with my favorite people and go to the theater. 

And now, I'm out of things to look forward to. Except for autumn coming. But all this year during the hard stuff, I've had my Canada trip, this trip, and a day at the Uintah's with family as the things that I was looking forward to this summer. I still have some time off coming, but nothing planned for it. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about the holidays this year, but I do love autumn and now that school is back it's the one thing I'm anticipating...even as it's still 90 degrees outside. Ah well...

Memorial Day 2024

It’s been a nice holiday weekend. I was really lazy on Saturday and staying in bed reading for a while before I finally got up. It was raining so I was at peace with that decision.  Yesterday we had family dinner  at my brother’s house and I sat on the grass blowing bubbles for a bit. I don’t care how old I get, I’m always happy to blow bubbles. Before that I drove up to the Wellsville cemetery to drop some flowers off at my grandma’s grave. It’s such a beautiful drive right now. The green mountains and snow still on the peaks. 

Today we met up at the Brigham cemetery as a family and walked around putting the flowers down. We had promised my mom long before she was gone that we would continue the tradition for her. I got a new phone and the list was one thing I forgot to back up so I had to make it again from memory and I swear I missed someone, but as we walked around I didn’t notice anyone that we didn’t have flowers for. We arrived at almost the same time as some other family and it was nice to see them there. It’s really a glorious day. If summer stayed like this, I wouldn’t mind it so much. I guess it’s technically still spring but most of the kids are out of school and Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer. 

I’m inside now for some housework but may run an errand and go for a walk later this evening when the sun is a little lower. Forgot to put sunscreen on my part and my head is a tiny bit red. I just sunburn so easily. 

Roadtrip!

I spent the weekend on a mini road trip with my sister and her 4 year old twins. And her dog. 

We drove down south and stayed at a hotel in Richfield. It wasn't expensive and had an indoor swimming pool. I'm not a -sit by the pool- type of person. For one thing, I don't like to sit in the sun because I burn so easily. And I'd rather read indoors. But I do find it very relaxing to play in the pool once in a while. So we took the twins to the pool both Friday and Saturday nights and it was a lot of fun. 

On Saturday, we spent the day at Capitol Reef National Park. It wasn't too crowded and I had not been there since I was a kid. I loved it. 

Plus, I really love looking at the wildflowers. 

We managed a small hike before the rain started. We were going to tough out the rain, but it lightening and thundered once and the kids were kind of done and I don't blame them. It was still such a nice little hike. 

We stopped at Fish Lake and Pando on the way back to the hotel so that's another bucket list item checked off - Pando, not Fish Lake. 

Of course, the drive home took forever and we had to stop a bunch of times for bathroom breaks but I still had a great time, even if I was happy to sleep in my own bed again. 

Easter

I had a nice Easter weekend. On Saturday, a lot of my family went with me to see Clue at the Hale Center Theater. It was fun and the play was really good. Because I had an extra ticket that was my mom's, my brother came with his whole family. 

We had Easter dinner at my sister's house. She cooked the ham I got from my company at Christmas. That's usually mom's job but my sister did a great job. It was really good. Guess that's her job from now on. :)  We are still trying to figure out how much food we all need to bring. I'm realizing that it was a big job for mom to do dinner for the whole family. We also got the kids to play spoons. They never had before. We actually had to Google just to make sure we remembered how to play it. We had fun. 

I am still really feeling mom's death when we do family dinner. We have a big empty spot where she should be.  

Sale

Well, we had the estate sale at my mom’s house today. It was a really long day. I can’t say we had a great turnout, but we had people there. Ha ha ha probably half of them were related to us. And then another bunch were mom’s neighbors. 

We posted it on FB marketplace and had a bunch of people ask questions but my sister wasn’t interested in answering all of them and it looks like most weren’t willing to drive out and see for themselves. Plus, the rules in the neighborhood said no garage sales and we got away with it because it was mostly indoors and we didn’t stick signs out all over the road. I think if we could have had a sign out, it would have got the casual people in. In hindsight, we probably should have posted a sign and then just taken it down if someone complained. Oh well. 

We really did get rid of a lot of things. The only really large items left are a dresser and the washer/dryer. Plus a few small things like side tables. What we didn’t get rid of is glassware (and we did get rid of some of it, but there was a lot) and a lot of the holiday decorations. She had so many decorations. So many. My sisters are still posting a few things for free on FB in case anybody is willing to take them. I just don’t care and am kind of done with it, at least for today for sure. 

So now we empty and clean it up a bit. LOL I’m not thinking about that for a few days, at least. 

One Week Back

So I went back to work this week and it was nice to be on a schedule. Helps things feel a little more normal, even though there’s a big, gaping hole in my life. It was good to work. Still not sure how I’m really feeling. I think I’m finally starting to actually miss her. Not that I wasn’t before, but I didn’t see or talk to her every day so it’s normal to go for a few days without talking to her. Then it hits me again. And our family chat is silent now. I miss all her silly comments. 

We had a call with an estate lawyer today and I have an appointment set up to go into his office next week.  So the ball is rolling on that one. Tomorrow we will do some more cleaning out of the house. This is life now and how most of my weekends will be for a little bit until the house is empty. 

Road Trip UT-CO

I’ve had the week off. I went on a road trip with my sister and her 3 year old twins. My sister is my favorite travel buddy and we haven’t been on any trips like this since the twins were born. She’s been a few places, and I’ve been a few places but not together. It was really fun. We did have to cater to the kids a bit but it wasn’t a problem. And if they had a few hard spots, she got to deal with them. I only got impatient a few times when I was tired or hungry, and I didn’t get tired of being with them, which made it even better. 

We started by dropping the dog off at my other sister’s house (Thanks Anna!) and headed south. 

By the time dinner came we were in Moab and found a food truck park. The kids had corn dogs and Amy and I split a falafel wrap and a gyro. Both were excellent and it was a nice break. 

We spent the night in Monticello and in the morning headed to Mesa Verde National Park. I had reserved tickets for the guided tour to Cliff Palace 2 weeks earlier and we had the 2 pm tour so we had time to get there and explore a bit beforehand. 

Spruce House

Cliff Palace

We didn’t walk/hike too far since we needed the kids to be able to do the stairs and ladders on the tour, but still had fun looking at the sights.  The Cliff Palace tour was good and I’m glad we were able to do it. The kids thought the stairs and ladders were an adventure. They got antsy as we listed to the ranger but after we got to a certain spot, we were able to leave when we needed to. Strangely enough, I thought the ladders and stairs would be in the “palace” itself, but you don’t get to do anything but walk by it, which makes perfect sense because it is a sacred place to the people and their ancestors. But there are very steep stone stairs and a few ladders to get in and out of the place. 

After Mesa Verde we headed to Durango, CO. The kids fell asleep in the car and didn’t wake up until we got to the hotel. We had a great time in Durango. Again, we did things the kids would enjoy as well as checking out the town. We spent some time every day at a park so the kids could play. It was just so nice to be outside. Plus, we had fun in the hotel swimming pool. And we got to see the Silverton train leave the station. We had already decided that even the shorter train ride would be too much for the kids at their age but they had fun watching it leave. 

Then when we left to drive home, we went up the mountains to Silverton. The San Juan mountain range is really beautiful. They still have snow and we saw a bunch of “waterfalls” as the snow was melting and running off the cliffs. 

Storefronts in Silverton

Of course after the fun in the morning, the rest of the drive home felt super long. I got home just before 10 pm and got to sleep in my own bed again. But it’s been a great week and I got to mark another place off my travel list. We would totally love to do it again one day when the kids are older. 

Earth Day

It’s been a very nice day. I’m not sure that I actually saw any sun or blue sky. It’s been overcast and a little drizzly in spots. That didn’t stop us though. I started the day meeting my mom and sisters and a few of their kids at the library where they were giving out packets of lady bugs for Earth Day. We’ve gotten lady bugs a few years now and it’s always fun for the kids. This year they gave them to the adults as well. Mine got donated to another niece who couldn’t come which I’m cool with.

Then we all headed down to a huge nursery for plants and flowers. I was trying so hard not to go overboard (and succeeded!) that I actually have quite a bit of space in my flower garden still. However, it’s still a little cool and I’m not sure how many of them will survive so we’ll see how that plays out. My biggest score was that I found a gargoyle for my garden. I’m very happy about that. I’ve wanted one for years but only ever saw them online so it was hard to tell size and stuff on some. I’m not putting it out yet because spring is barely here and I want the trees and bushes to actually have leaves on them, but it will go out maybe next month. 

It’s been fun. While I do enjoy winter, I’m glad spring is finally here. 

Merry Christmas

Just a nice relaxing day for me. Going to church with my mom and sister and the twins and then hanging out at mom’s house. 

Happy Late Thanksgiving 2022

Well, my “staycation” week is almost over. I was off work and didn’t really even think about it, which is really nice. I had a low key and uneventful Thanksgiving day, which is probably something else to be grateful for. LOL I did a little shopping and am almost finished, and we even made a little candy yesterday. That day was probably the most stressful and chaotic with kids running around and making messes and that kind of stuff. But we survived that also. 

I put up my Christmas tree and decorated a little bit this week as well. And it’s finally trying to snow again. It’s just making everything wet and not sticking but I’ll take it. It put me in the mood for soup so I’m currently making leftover turkey soup that I will eat with some leftover rolls. Can’t wait! 

So happy thanksgiving and here comes Christmas right around the corner. Can’t believe it’s the holidays again already. 

July 4th Weekend

These last few days have really felt like summer. I had a few days off from work and spent the first one on shopping and errands and lunch with a friend. Yesterday, I met my sisters and mom and all the younger kids (i.e. the ones without summer jobs) at the river to play in the water. We probably looked crazy sitting there under the trees in our camp chairs but I don’t even care. It feels good to sit next to the water and we can eat our snacks or get in and play and cool off. 

After we got tired of the river, we went for snow cones. After the snow cones, we decided to stop at the new Asian grocery store not far from my house. The kids had eaten all of the Pocky Sticks and we needed more. Plus that store is just fun and I see tons of things from Korean web comics in there. LOL Then we decided we needed Chinese for dinner so we all went to my mom’s house. We had food from the grocery store to cook up and then ordered a small amount of takeout to supplement what we cooked. I took my giant outdoor connect four game (covid purchase) and we played outside some more and had dinner. We were trying to wait for it to get dark to get out the glow sticks but instead around 7:30 we shut the blinds in a room and got them out anyway. 

This morning we met up at the farmer’s market. I got fresh cherries and peas. Plus, we have been wanting to try the donut truck and it did not disappoint. Fresh (and still warm!) glazed sourdough donuts that were the perfect mix of doughy but completely cooked. So, so good! No wonder I’ve been seeing a line at that truck. 

Now I’m finally home relaxing with a cold drink and my air conditioning. It’s hot and dry and a bit windy outside. It’s been a great couple of days and the holiday weekend is just getting started. It’s crazy how fast the days go by when I’m not at work. Happy 4th of July.