Weekending

June 18, 2018 By Carole

I had a fun weekend, how about you? First of all, the weather was terrific. Hot but not too humid with abundant sunshine. I love summer and these long warm days are a big part of why I enjoy it so much.

On Friday I had Jack all day and it was great. Dale and I took him with us to the bench dedication that was part of our family being honored last November. It was such fun to show him off and he behaved perfectly. We came home and had Friday Night Snacks . . . with a slight modification.

On Saturday we had a full day at home, doing yard work and catching up on the general stuff of life. We spontaneously invited Sean over for dinner and enjoyed some snacks and cocktails on the deck first.

After dinner we had a fire and I posted this photo on Facebook mentioning that we had empty chairs if anyone wanted to come over. Next thing I knew we had 2 couples join us – good friends who we don’t hang out with nearly often enough. It was totally spontaneous and a really fun evening.

Sunday was Father’s Day so the kids came over. Jack, of course, was a big hit and I think he likes the new sunglasses I got him! We hung out all afternoon, drinking sangria and eating chicken wings and burgers. It was low key and perfect and just a great way to end the weekend.

What did you do this weekend?

Eye Candy Friday

June 15, 2018 By Carole

The lavender is just gorgeous right now and it smells just heavenly. I have a big container of it right next to where I sit on the deck and I love reaching over and running my fingers over the blossoms and picking up that lovely scent.

Speaking of lovely . . . have a lovely weekend!

Three On Thursday: 21 Years!

June 14, 2018 By Carole

Dale and I have been married 21 years today! I guess this makes our marriage a legal adult with all the fun things that come along with that, namely voting and drinking. I’d like to think it means we deserve a twenty-one gun salute, too, but I don’t see that happening. What I do see happening, though, is breakfast out (I’m taking the day off) and perhaps a walk somewhere pretty. There won’t be a dinner out (tonight, anyway) because he’s playing with his band on our town common tonight. I’m okay with sharing our anniversary in this manner, though, particularly since June 14th is also the day our town was founded. How ’bout that?

I’ve been blogging for a long time now and writing about our anniversary pretty much every year. What that means is that it’s tricky to come up with new ways to talk about our anniversary and how happy Dale makes me. So, instead of writing something new this year, I’m going to share three anniversary posts from the past – the ones that are my favorites, the ones that really describe how this marriage works and the happiness and joy it brings into my life.

First: This one from last year.

Second: This one from our 10th anniversary in 2007. I still get verklempt when I read that post.

Third: This one from 2005, the very first year I wrote about our anniversary on the blog.

If you took the time to go back and read those three posts I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I think they sum up this whole anniversary thing pretty perfectly.

Don’t forget to include your link below if you wrote a post for this week!

An InLinkz Link-up

Summer Book Bingo Update

June 13, 2018 By Carole

Last week I shared my Summer Book Bingo card but told you I didn’t have a plan for how I was going to track my reading. After some searching on Instagram and Pinterest, I came up with an idea of how I wanted the 2 page spread to look.

Wa-la:

It’s fun and functional and organized. In other words, it suits me perfectly!

And, as you can see, I’m already tracking books. In fact, I took this photo last week and I have filled in 3 more Bingo squares since that time. For now, though, here are my first three:

Square #4, Originally Published in the 21st Century: Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin
A fast read and one I expected to be lighthearted and humorous. It was – at times – but it was also so much more. It turned out to be a thought provoking read on feminism, politics, and the double standard that women face over and over again.

Square #9, Latest Book by an Author You Love: The Flight Attendant by Chris Bohjalian
I’m a big fan of Bohjalian’s writing and I love that his novels are all pretty different from each other. This one, while certainly not his best in my opinion, has a good story and it’s a quick read. I thought the ending was a little far fetched but overall I enjoyed the book.

Square #14, Set In More Than One Time Period: An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon
Jamie and Claire never disappoint, I love their love story.

It’s going to be a great summer of reading!

And We’re BUSY

June 12, 2018 By Carole

Isn’t summer supposed to be when things slow down? Long, lazy days? Relaxed schedules? Well. Someone around here hasn’t gotten that memo because we’ve got a week that is absolutely FULL.

Last night we had a Kiwanis planning meeting related to September. Ugh. I hate that it’s June and we have to think about September but calendars and schedules fill up and we’re trying to get the word out about how awesome our club is and how much we actually do for the community and these things have to be planned in advance.

Tonight I have a work meeting and Dale has his monthly Civil War Roundtable group.

Wednesday night we have to go to a wake. This is not my story to tell but a good friend of mine lost her husband unexpectedly on Saturday. He was 51. In light of that I do feel the need to take a moment and say this: every day is precious, my friends, and tomorrow is not a guarantee. Do the things that make you happy right now.

Thursday night is the annual concert on our town common by Dale’s band. It’s one of my favorite shows of the year because I love seeing our entire town come out and enjoy the music and being together. Plus, it will be Jack’s first time hearing Grampa’s band and that’s very exciting for all of us!

Finally, on Friday night, there is a bench dedication that’s part of the Legends and Legacies event that honored our family last November. I’m quite sure, like everything else this committee does, that it will be a wonderful time.

Reading that over, I’m grateful for our active and busy social lives. I mean, really, only one of those evening activities is work related, everything else is about our community and the people that are part of it.

It’s a good problem to have, I think.

Gratuitous selfie with Jackie because every blog post needs a photo.