Labor Day

I made plans with my sister to get out of the house on Monday for the holiday, then while I was waiting for them to pick me up, I wondered if I wouldn't rather stay home. I'm really glad I got out. We ended up at Tony Grove and walked around the lake. Perfect temperature and when the wind blew, I was very grateful for my hoodie. 

There are very few things that smell better than the mountains. It was a lovely day.

4th of July

Happy July 4th!

I don’t consider myself unpatriotic, but I also don’t think romanticizing the past and future are helpful. But I can celebrate our unique constitution, the values and ideals of freedom, while also knowing that not all are free or found refuge here. Other people have said it better than I can, but we can celebrate and grieve.

I have no plans for the rest of the day. The governor declared a ban on fireworks, with cities being able to make their own plans, and my city banned them city wide. They don’t even do a 4th of July fireworks show because they do July 24th in a big way. But the last few nights have been blissfully free of fireworks noises. I do expect to hear a little bit tonight from neighboring cities, and I’m sure somebody will be letting them off illegally. But seriously, we are still on fire and nobody needs more of that. 

I got up early this morning and was at the farmer’s market a little after 8. They have some fun stuff going on for the 4th and I wanted to do something to be part of it. Weird, how as I’m getting older, I’m craving more community. Funny thing, I ran into 2 people from my water aerobics class, which I started going to for the people. I’m seriously considering seeing if I can volunteer at the booth next year. I wouldn’t want to do it every week, but I could do it a couple times. 

Anyway, I got myself a bunch of berries (blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry) and had to walk those back to my car so I didn’t smash them. The flat didn’t fit into the bag I took. And then I also got some fresh peas and potatoes, and an onion. I had seen a fun fizzy pop on Instagram that the lemonade stand was doing and there wasn’t a line so I got one. It was basically Sprite with strawberry and blueberry flavoring but the way they stacked it made it red, white, and blue. 😉 Then I bought myself a cilantro chicken empanada to go with it. It was a delicious breakfast. As I was headed to the shade to sit and eat, I saw the flyover from the jets from the Air Force base. Honestly, I think those are pretty cool. 

And one of the local indie bookstores I haven’t been to was supposed to open early so I was heading in that direction and not watching my feet and I totally tripped over a big construction sign and went down. I was fine and got right back up again (I can do that thanks to the muscles I’m working at water aerobics) but it was in front of a lot of people and quite embarrassing. A lady came over to make sure I was ok, which was really nice. So I crossed the street and walked down the block to find that the bookstore didn’t open as early as they had posted. But then I didn’t want to walk back where I fell, so I took the long way back to my car. I got 2 miles in, so there is that. I am fine, except I did bang up my knee and it’s sore. I put a bag of frozen peas on it for a bit. 

So I’ve washed my berries and shelled my peas for later. Before I left for the market, I put some chicken in the slow cooker with a homemade bbq sauce. I’ll be having a nice dinner later. I don’t really want to do anything else. I’m doing laundry, but my knee hurts so I’m not doing any more cleaning (I did half yesterday) right now. I guess I’ll finish my book and take a nap? I’ve got a puzzle on the table I can work on as well. I did my people-ing so I guess I’m good for the day. 

Long Weekend

Thursday was a bit of a rough day. I had some peri-menopause emotions going strong and everything was making me upset. After work, I picked up 2 mums from Smiths and my first stop was the Wellsville cemetery. The canyon is stunning right now and the drive was so beautiful. Plus, once you get to Wellsville, the mountains on that side are also simply gorgeous. The cemetery was empty on Thursday early evening so that was also nice. Then I drove back home and before I went home I stopped at the Ogden cemetery. Not many people there either. I put some flowers on the grave of my great, great grandfather: Roy Ernest Hull. His headstone is almost entirely covered by a huge bush and I’m not sure if anything can be done about it. I mean, I didn’t even know he was buried there until a few years ago. It’s just an extra thing I like to do now.

On Friday I used a day of vacation so I didn’t have to work. I got up and went for a 3 mile walk. Then I got ready for the day. I picked up Ollie and we got lunch and then picked up Rosie from her last day of school and we went to the park so they could play and eat lunch. Then I ran some errands and did the grocery shopping. I met up with my sister and the twins again at the pool. It’s open again after a 2 week closure so I’m going to be going back to water aerobics this week and that makes me happy. 

Saturday I got up and went to the church to help with the weekly cleaning. I got to vacuum a lot of classrooms and hallway. Then the fun started ha ha. I had in mind to do some deep cleaning and rearrange my bedroom and office, mostly to give the carpet a break and get the groves in other places for a while. Man, that was a project. I got it done though. I can move everything by myself as long as the dresser drawers are taken out and the desk and cedar chest are mostly empty before I do it. The one thing I really had a problem with was my mattress. That sucker is heavy and doesn’t have good handles. I was very sweaty when I finished. It feels good to have that done though. I also put together a slow cooker meal in the morning and then made a loaf of peasant bread as well as doing laundry. I spent the evening reading and watching tv. I was tired. LOL

Today was church and then family dinner. We ate at Anna’s and went to the Brigham cemetery after. It was a very nice evening. The temperature was perfect for a walk around the cemetery. If summer stayed like this, I would like it a lot better. We tried to tell the kids a few things that we know about the really old graves we leave flowers at. It’s a little hard sometimes since we didn’t know some of them ourselves. But I guess that’s what family history is for. 

Tomorrow I want to take another walk and then do a few more small projects around the house. One of the projects may require a quick trip to Hobby Lobby. ;) I’d also like to clean out my car and go through the car wash. Other than that, I have no big plans for the day but it sounds perfect to me. 

Holidays

It's that in-between time of Christmas and New Years. Lots of people off work, if they work in an office. I went into the office today and there are actually more people than I expected. But most of them are here because they are moving around offices so there's a lot of activity. And its weird to walk into the office when the plant isn't running. They are on a maintenance shutdown and you don't realize how much noise the production building generates until there isn't any. 

I spent the morning cleaning off my desk and rearranging a few things and getting out my new calendars. I'm not super busy, but I work this week because I feel like I have to. I can do some testing for others on my team though so that's what I will spend my afternoon on. It's not like I have anything to do at home. The reason I'm at work is so I can get out of my house. I'll be working from home on Wednesday and Friday anyway.

I'm trying to finish up one more book before the year closes out. For some reason, my brain doesn't like to be in the middle of a book when we change years, so I always finish and then start new. Usually, I'm finished before now and just re-reading, but this year I started a nonfiction book I'd like to finish up, even if it means 100 pages a night. I can do it. 

No real new year's eve plans. I never do anything and I'm happy that way. My nephew may come over for some anime watching and I'm happy with that idea. Ha ha... I might be trying to finish a book. 

Merry Christmas

Here we are at the end of the year. Hard to believe it’s another Christmas. I woke up this morning at 5:00 am with a lot of rain and wind. I didn’t mind it. I listened for a bit and went back to sleep for a few hours. It’s going to be a cloudy, but mild day. It’s ok. At least we are getting some rain. 

Spent yesterday evening at my brother’s house and we ate and played games and did presents. It was a really nice time. I was doing ok yesterday until I put on my mom’s apron to cook and then I really missed her. We are doing ok, but it’s a weird life with both parents gone. 

The rest of the day I’m taking it easy. Last year I did a movie marathon and so I decided to make it a tradition and continue this year. This year I’m doing unrelated musicals. I’m starting with White Christmas because I haven’t watched it yet this year. Then I’m moving to Thoroughly Modern Millie, Summer Stock, and Summer Magic. We’ll see how far that takes me. I have a few others picked out as well. 

I’m going to make soup a little later, do a puzzle, read some books. It will be a nice, relaxing day. I’ve been very blessed in my life with my family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. I’m truly grateful for my abundant life. 

Smells Cozy

I made up a simmer pot today and my house smells so delicious right now. 

We had a little rain last night, but the clouds have moved on and it’s a sunny, blue sky. Not even truly coat weather. I put my coat on to go to the grocery store and was way too warm. We will be having record warmth this week and it’s definitely not going to be a white Christmas. I’m kind of bummed about the mild winter, so I’m making up for it by making my house cozy. Spicy smells, lights, candles, fireplace on my tv…whatever it takes. I’m enjoying lighting up the dark as we get to the shortest day of the year. 

I did what is hopefully my last grocery shopping before the holidays and picked up some books from the library. I will be going to work on Monday and Tuesday and then I’m off for 2 days for Christmas. Then I’m working from home the last week of the year. I don’t know why I think I’m going to have time to read, but that’s kind of what I’m planning when I’m not with my family. A little readathon by myself. Plus, I have puzzles and plans to make soup. And I’d like to take some time on the 26th and 27th to clean out my closets and bookshelves. Just seems like a good thing to do at the end of the year. Ha ha ok, I may not get as much reading done as I tell myself I want to do. But that’s ok. 

Done!

I got up early this morning and went shopping. I was at Target at 7:11 am. I hate going to that section of town during the holidays, but there was very little traffic that early. I finished all my Christmas shopping and then picked up groceries on my way home. 

It’s now 11: 00 am and all the gifts are wrapped, the cards are filled out, and everything is under the tree. I am ready for Christmas. I also took a family name from Utah Kids Foundation this year and their presents are purchased (most of it was done before my trip) and I’ll be dropping them off to the mom tomorrow after church. I’m praying that they like the toys and the clothes and shoes fit. It was a fun thing to do this year. 

I’ve started my laundry and need to do some dishes and practice the hymns for church tomorrow. I’ve done a lot already today. LOL I feel a nap might be in my future. 

I’m still deciding what to do for neighbor gifts this year. I’ve been cutting out a lot of the sugar I was eating and so I haven’t bought any of the Christmas junk food from the grocery store. I’m not sure I want to make cookies this year. I guess if I give most or all of them away, it won’t be a big deal. I just didn’t want to stuff myself on them. Although, I’ve been doing pretty good with the sugar for the most part. I’ve got some treats and a Dr. Pepper planned for Christmas Day, but I’ve been trying not to go overboard. I suppose one other day of eating a few cookies won’t kill me in the long run, but still. So still deciding about that one. If the neighbors don’t get something from me this year, they just don’t. 

Here It Comes

It’s been such a nice day. Today was the day my sister and I picked out our poinsettias at a local greenhouse. Even though I already had 2 small ones from our trip to the bigger nursery last weekend, I bought 6 more. Ha ha I’m not keeping all of them, but they are such beautiful plants and there are so many varieties. I also love the original deep red ones, so I just decide not to choose between the different ones. Much. :)  Truly, this is when the holiday season begins for me: when I have poinsettias in my home. 

I also ran some errands and picked up some groceries. I had a gift card to See’s Candies so I stopped by and spent it. My contribution to Thanksgiving dinner is rolls and chocolate!  Next week is my staycation and Monday is my big shopping trip with my sisters. I’ll see if I can’t get most of my presents bought on that day. Plus, I picked up a family from Utah Kids Foundation and I’m getting some gifts for them as well. My sisters are pitching in with that, which is nice of them. I just felt like I needed to do a little more this year. 

I haven’t exactly decided when to put up my tree, and I keep thinking I should just get it out and set it up so at least it’s ready to be decorated. Knowing me, that’s what I’ll be doing at bedtime tonight. 

Now if only it would rain and snow! We’ve got some snow in the mountains but I’d like to have a white Christmas. 

And Now, September

Yay! It's finally September and my favorite 4 months of the year are upon us. I know it's still hot but most of this week should be in the 80s and barely hit 90. Finger's crossed yucky heat is gone. 

My plans for Labor Day fell apart and I'm ok with that. I'm doing some things around the house, taking care of my plants, little things. I might go to a movie with the twins this afternoon. It will just be a relaxing day. 

I'll be getting out my fall bedspread and switching to fall scents in my wax warmer and then waiting until the official autumn equinox before I try and get cozy and in hibernation mode. Some of the leaves are already changing because we haven't had enough water, so I don't feel bad getting into fall mode starting today.  

We went to the farmer's market on Saturday and I've been eating fresh watermelon, berries and have a bunch more peaches in the fridge. And a neighbor gave me a little jar of fresh salsa and I've been eating that on taco salad. While I don't want to grow a garden myself, it's really nice to live in a place where I can easily get fresh fruit and vegetables. 

Holiday Weekend

It’s been a nice 3 day holiday weekend. It could have been much hotter so that was a win as well. I didn’t do much on the 4th. Just puttered around the house and cleaned and organized a few things. Saturday, I started with the farmer’s market and then met up with my sisters and all the younger kids to play in the river. It was nice and cold and felt great. Then in the evening, some people from church who are my ministering family dropped by with a vase of roses. I do love flowers. That was really nice of them. And today just church and family dinner.

Happy Memorial Day

I’ve had a 4 day weekend because I took Friday off work. It’s been really nice. It’s getting hot and summer is on the horizon. My 5 year old nephew needed surgery on his hip and is in a cast and wheelchair for 5 weeks. On Friday I took the kids Happy Meals while my sister and I had Chipotle. Then on Saturday I invited them to Wellsville with me to take flowers to Grandma Walters’ grave. We did a micro-adventure with the wheelchair. It turned out pretty well. A lot of in and out when we stopped. 

One of the stops was a nursery/greenhouse in Logan that I had never been to. I was only going to buy 1 plant. It’s a beautiful little thing that looks similar to a shamrock plant, but the leaves are purple and it has little white flowers on it. But then I saw these pre-made floral baskets and they were on sale. Ha ha ha 

Mine is a moss “purse” with grapevine handles and flowers growing out of it. I put it outside in my flower garden. I love it. 

We did our cemetery visit yesterday. My brother is out of town this weekend and some of the kids worked today. It was nice and not so crowded, which was good for the wheelchair. But then today I was at the grocery store and bought one more mum. We discovered that great-great grandpa Hull is buried in the Ogden cemetery, which is not far from my house. I just felt like I should take the mums to him. He died in 1965 so I don’t really know much about him. But this is the big day to celebrate ancestors (and yes, I know it’s actually to celebrate our service men and women) so I figured it would be the thing to do.

I think I’ll spend the rest of the day reading and doing laundry and things around the house. Then I’ll be ready and relaxed and can go back to work tomorrow. 

Good Friday

It’s Good Friday and Easter weekend. My company used to give this day as a holiday and until last year, my office still did. This year they gave us a floating holiday so I’m working, but it’s really, really slow. Lots of people are off. And oddly enough, I’m taking my holiday on Monday instead. We’ve just wrapped up a big project and a month of extra support after the go-live. I had originally planned on Monday off because I needed a break. I’m not as stressed about work right now, but decided to keep the day off. I should celebrate and recalibrate. 

I’ve been reading books from the library lately. It’s kind of nice. The library had a few of the books on my buy list so I borrowed them instead. Or put them on hold. If I love them, I can consider buying later. Checking the library first is a habit I need to work on, but I’m getting better at it. I have spent a little money lately on a few products that I already love. And I just bought myself 2 small bottles of perfume. I’m calling that my reward for making it through go-live. 

Actually, I’ve spent a bunch of money recently, but some of it will be repaid to me. My sisters and I have a trip planned to Cedar City this summer. We are going back to the Shakespeare Festival, but this year we’re taking an extra day and having some fun. Plus, with the amount of people going, we decided to rent an Airbnb. It’s going to be fun. I’m pretty excited about it. But I just bought the theater tickets. With the amount of people going to the theater, this year I bought the cheaper seats. We will still be able to see everything just fine. LOL I’m slowly learning to be frugal. I haven’t had to be frugal for so long that it’s a bit of a change. But just because I don’t have to be doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try to be. 

I still miss mom a lot on the holidays but I’m learning that they can still be good, just not like they used to be.

 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! 

I didn’t mean to be up early, but I’ve had this cough that makes sleeping hard. Some mornings are worth getting up for. I watched it rain for a minute then went to take a shower. Then I opened my blinds to find the snow coming down. It’s one of my favorite things. It’s turned into a “wintery mix” so probably won’t lay much more, but I’ll take it. 

I turned on my Christmas tree lights and put a fireplace on the tv and opened my presents. I don’t truly mind being alone and had fun with my family last night. It’s going to be a rest day watching movies and reading. Truly I’m grateful for my blessings, including this beautiful Christmas day. 

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. 

Done!

It’s 2:20 on Saturday afternoon and my house is clean and all back together and all my Christmas decorations are out. The tree is up. I’m finished. And I’m tired. LOL I cleaned last night and mopped my floors right before I went to bed. It was so nice to sleep in and get up to a clean house. So today I’ve decorated and done laundry. 

I was debating even putting up the tree this year, but then decided that the lights make me happy and I don’t need to make myself feel worse than I already do. I even hung lights in my front window. I’ve got another string of lights on my bakers rack. Basically, I went all out this year. I’m all light up for the holiday. 

I’m going to read for a while and then I’ll make some dinner. The first of my leftover turkey recipes. I might even make up a batch of homemade hot chocolate a little later. I feel like being cozy for the rest of the day.

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. 

Another One

Today was another rough day, brought on by getting frustrated at work. I’ve been feeling a little bit like I needed a good cry, so maybe it’s not that bad. But I’ve been weepy all day. By the time Thanksgiving actually comes, I’ll be fine. I will miss mom of course, but we’ll get through it. Anyway, I’ve been missing mom and staring at this turkey in my fridge and realizing I have to figure out how to cook it. Ha ha it’s fine. Everything is fine. Thanksgiving is actually going to be at my house this year, because it’s only going to be 8 of us. Anna’s family will be with the in-laws this year. I think I’ve got a pretty good plan in place to keep my sanity, but also enjoy the time with family.

There are some good things. I managed to straighten my hair without frizz today. It’s not quite as sleek as when it gets done professionally, but looks a lot better than the last time I tried it and the ends weren’t all nasty frizzed. Yay!

We did solve our problem at work. Well, we got the test to work. It’s still a lot of work to get everything resolved, but we’ll get there. 

I have all next week off and now that we got that test to work, I don’t feel bad about actually taking it off. I’ll be able to relax and enjoy it a bit, I hope, in spite of everything. 

I had to work late last night so I actually took off early and got a walk in before it got dark, and noticed this thing on the parkway that I have never seen before. My sister and I have been trying to figure out how long it’s been there. LOL  Crunching through all the leaves felt fantastic. Walking is a sanity saver, for sure.

Happy Halloween

It's kind of gloomy and cold outside so it's kind of a great day for Halloween. It's not my favorite holiday, but I don't mind it. I stay away from the scary parts and have fun with the cozy parts. I think tonight I'm going to bake something with pumpkin while I read and watch old movies. I don't get tons of trick or treaters but I do get some and I don't mind giving out candy either. I have a pumpkin on my t-shirt and come candy corn earrings in and that's as dressed up as I ever get. We carved pumpkins the other night. Mine is the skeleton in jail. I kept it simple this year. LOL  I'm ready for the cozy part of fall and so happy that it's finally here. 

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. :)

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.