Ready for three random things I’m thinking today? Good, because that’s what I’ve got.

1. Like a lot of you, we’ve had some pretty high heat around here lately. It’s hot and humid and feels more like August than early July. This means that the vegetable garden and flower beds and containers need to be watered. A lot. I’m so grateful to Sean for taking care of this when we were away last week because it’s time consuming! The good news is that the basil is exploding and the other vegetables (tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, cucumbers, summer squash and zucchini) are really taking off. The flowers are holding their own – some love the heat and others not so much but plenty of water is helping them out.
2. Baby food has come a long way in the last 25 years. When I had Hannah I breastfed for 13 months (she weaned herself at that point and, while it was the right thing for her at the time I was terribly sad) and I made my own baby food. I did this mostly because it was cheaper but also because the stuff in the jars just looked terrible to me. Now, though? The jarred stuff is pretty good and I’ve been keeping a supply on hand for when Jack is here. This is not a commercial or endorsement but I do have to say that the Beech Nut Naturals are good. Jack likes just about everything but so far his favorites have been Sweet Corn & Green Beans, Carrot, Corn & Pumpkin, and Pears & Blueberry.
3. The Fourth of July around here is never very exciting. Dale works pretty much all day with the band and, while I sometimes join him at those events, this year I chose to stay home. Jessica came over in the early evening but for the most part I was on my own. The best part of that was that I finally finished Beach Music.  I’ll tell you, I enjoyed the hell out of that book but I felt like I had been reading it forever and I’m glad to be done and moving on!

What’s going on with you today?

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I saw this picture on social media the other day and thought . . . hmmmm . . . 3 questions! Perfect for Thursday!

And then I realized, if I’m being truthful, that my answer for all 3 would be the same and that answer would be Dale’s band, Dale and the Duds. Yep. I saw them first when I was about 10, I think. I realize that might sound a little creepy but I can assure you it was not, they were just hitting their stride and getting pretty popular at that time and played a lot of outdoor venues. Oh, and my mom loved them. That might actually be a little creepy. My last concert was last night when Jess and Jack and I went to see them in a neighboring town. And my next concert will be them on the 4th of July. So, yeah . . . kinda boring answers.

For the sake of interest I’m just going to eliminate them from the equation and I’ll go with . . . band I don’t know personally.

1. My first concert was Rush. I was 15 and went with my high school boyfriend, who (incidentally) wound up being my first husband and was hugely into this Canadian trio and we saw them together in 1980. It was super loud and pretty fun and also a little overwhelming. I distinctly remember a kid a few rows over barfing his brains out all over himself and then passing out. I spent most of the concert worrying that he was dead. I was decidedly not a party-er in those days.
2. My last concert was Jimmy Buffett although that was a couple of summers ago. We went faithfully every year and then for the last two years we’ve had weddings on the same day as the concert. And this year Jimmy is playing Fenway Park instead of our local venue and we decided to skip the show. I’m sure it would be pretty cool to see him at Fenway and the tickets were actually cheaper than we usually pay but there’s no tailgating and Jimmy Buffett without tailgating is like a burger without cheese. It’s simply not done.
3. My next concert will be the Avett Brothers. Hannah and I are going (unbelievably, we’ve never been to a concert together!) on July 14th. They are playing with Gov’t Mule, who I’m pretty unfamiliar with, but I’m super excited to see the Avett Brothers as I really love their music.

And there you have it. My concert history in a nutshell! I’d love to have you answer these 3 questions in the comments if you’re so inclined.

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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!

I’m really good at sharing my monthly photo mosaic with you all but when it comes to the monthly one second videos? I tend to forget. This may be my subconscious taking over because I just don’t think my video skills are all that great but still, if I’m going to the work and effort to take a daily video and then compile the 1.5 second clips I should share them with you.

And so . . . not surprisingly since it’s Thursday . . . I have three to show you today.

March 2018

April 2018

May 2018

Even when the videos are lame and the quality isn’t that great . . . it’s still a pretty fun way to look back over a month . . . or three. The fun of watching them is what keeps me engaged, at least.

If you wrote a post for this Thursday please share your link below. Thanks for playing along!

I was listening to the podcast Happier yesterday and Gretchen and Elizabeth were talking about how we need to question our limiting beliefs. A limiting belief is the idea that you can’t do something . . . or the world doesn’t work a certain way. You can read a better explanation of them here.

It got me to thinking . . . what are my personal limiting beliefs. Since it’s Thursday I’m sure you won’t be shocked to know that I came up with THREE.

1. I can’t sing. I’ve always been told that I can’t carry a tune. I know I’m not tone deaf, I can hear the music, but my voice is . . .  flat. Or not on pitch. Or whatever. The sad thing is that I love to sing along to my favorite songs! I’m learning, as I get older, that I can just go ahead and do this and no one will be harmed. But still. It’s a belief I’ve held about myself since I was a kid and it’s tricky.
2. I can’t parallel park. You know who is a great parallel parker? My friend Jo-Ann. I’ve been with her on more than one occasion where she has nailed it. Perhaps I can get her to teach me because this is a belief I can get fixed.
3. I can’t draw. I used to love art class in school. And then one day in third grade the art teacher told me my drawing wasn’t good. She suggested that I look around at the other drawings and see how they were better. And voila. A belief is born. This is one I have actually worked at fixing myself for the last couple of years. I now have a new teacher who has told me that anyone . . . even me . . . can draw. So I’m learning and practicing and working hard on being non judgmental about the stuff I create. Notice how I didn’t call it art? Yeah. Limiting beliefs are really hard to change.

Writing about these beliefs has reminded me of something Dale said to me back when we were first falling in love. Everything was new and exciting and overwhelming and, for me at least, terrifying. I’d been hurt badly and it took a while before I could really trust that Dale loved me and wouldn’t let me down. So many times, when I was doubting that things were real and permanent he would look me right in the eye and say, “you need to get your believer fixed.” And he was right and I did and here we are nearly 22 years later.

So that’s my story for today. 3 beliefs I have about myself and one sappy story. What have you got for me today? If you wrote a post for this week please include your link below!