Weekend Rewind 2/21/16

It’s time for Weekend Rewind – my weekly casual post to chat and catch up. No prompts, no rules – anything goes.

Let’s get random…

Nothing like a little Monday morning edition of Weekend Rewind (i.e. my weekend was too busy and went too quickly).

First I want to say happy 12th birthday to my daughter, Kiera! She had a great birthday weekend. I took her shopping and we had cake and ice cream with the family. She picked up some crafty things – a giant wooden “K” to paint and put on her wall, a small chest to stain and some fabric. She is also the proud new owner of a Betta fish. His (or her? Who knows?) name is Peacock, since his coloring is reminiscent of peacock feathers. We got the fish along with a small easy-cleaning tank system that is staying in her bedroom. This will be the first pet that is completely hers that she is 100% responsible for. God speed, Peacock.

Now I just have to plan her “friend party.” She doesn’t ask for much, she just wants to invite her couple closest friends and go into the city to a pizza/gaming center and have a sleepover. It just means that I have to talk to parents. I try really hard not to let my social anxiety affect my kids, but the more social they get, the harder it gets for me. I’ve been meaning to call one particular mom for a couple of weeks and I just keep putting it off.

On a more somber note, my chiropractor died over the weekend. He went into the city Friday and he was to spend the night at a friend’s house and then attend a medical conference on Saturday. He didn’t make it to either engagement. I found out on Saturday that he was missing and obsessively played out all kinds of foul play scenarios in my head. He was found on Sunday in his car (in a store parking lot) dead of an apparent heart attack. He wasn’t particularly old (in his 50s) and he was in pretty good shape so this was unexpected. I have been so sad about this since I found out. He was a gentle and personable man. When I threw my back out last spring and hobbled into his office scared and in awful pain, he was so kind and helpful. He has been treating my dad for years. You will be greatly missed, Dr. Bert.

Look what I found right after Valentine’s Day (!):

Finally! And then this weekend, I found these:

“What are these?!” I said incredulously as I plucked them off the shelf. WHITE mini-eggs. These are new! So, of course, I had to try them. They are filled with white chocolate so you must like that type of chocolate to enjoy these. I was both excited and apprehensive to try these newbies because my mini-egg addiction is bordering on out of control and I was hesitant to make it worse. They are… okay. I find the white chocolate to be richer and therefore I couldn’t eat as many in a sitting (which is not necessarily a bad thing). While I do like these, I don’t think I will buy them again. I am a mini-egg purist, so I prefer the originals (to the dismay of my waistline). Note to the Cadbury people: Nice try. I appreciate the attempt to branch out, but stick with what works. My original advice stands: expand the original product to more holidays!

Tomorrow is Girl Scout cookie delivery day. I am taking the day off work to sort and organize hundreds of cases of cookies. Wish me luck.

Have a great week, everyone!

 

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Weekend Rewind 2/14/16

It’s time for Weekend Rewind – my weekly casual post to chat and catch up. No prompts, no rules – anything goes.

Let’s get random…

First things first… THE WALKING DEAD! GAH! OK, I will post no spoilers here but if you are a fan and haven’t seen tonight’s episode then run to your dvr and watch it NOW. It is seriously one of the best episodes of the series. It is intense, amazing, inspiring. Daryl is a total badass, Rick goes bat shit crazy, people die, our favorites band together to take a stand. Ah, just go watch.

Second… happy Valentine’s Day! Like with most holidays, I count my blessings today. I realized today, as I scrolled through my facebook feed, how many of my friends were in pain today due to divorce, loss or loneliness. My husband and I are not big celebrators of V-Day, but we did watch The Walking Dead together (seriously, go watch that episode!). My children, though, poured their little hearts out in homemade valentines and cards and drawings. They are just so full of love. I happily soak in every ounce of it (and thank my lucky stars).

Unfortunately, winter arrived this week. We have had more snow in the past seven days than we have had all winter. We didn’t get much at a time, but just enough to mess up the commute. Several days. Then this morning we woke up to several inches again. As stressed out as I have been, I have managed to get back and forth safely all week. By the end of this coming week we are supposed to be back in the 60’s so *fingers crossed* I am hoping winter is almost over.

My older daughter turns 12 in eight days. Eight days. Wow. I remember bringing a tiny six-pound bundle from the hospital all those years ago. I was just worried about keeping her alive then. Now she is a tween and I worry about so much more. I worry about helping her navigate the crazy world of middle school and hormones to become a good person who will grow into a happy, well-adjusted adult. She is an awesome kid but I wish she wasn’t growing up so fast.

The girls and I had a movie night last night and we watched Maleficent (at Caitlin’s request). We’ve seen it before, it is one of our favorites. I love how it shows that there are two sides to every story and not all villains are as evil as they seem.

Have a great upcoming week, everyone!

Weekend Rewind 2/7/16

It’s time for Weekend Rewind – my weekly casual post to chat and catch up. No prompts, no rules – anything goes.

Let’s get random…

Happy Superbowl Sunday!

It has been a long, hard week here. The stomach flu virus slowly made it’s way through our entire family. My husband got sick Monday morning and I got sick Monday afternoon. We were puking twinsies. We spent the day at home Tuesday recuperating. Tuesday morning at 1 am, my younger daughter got sick. She missed two days of school. My older daughter was the final holdout. Friday morning at 3 am, it struck her, too. Since my kids spend so much time at my parents’ house, I worried for them also. My mom got sick last night.

It has definitely been one of those weeks where the only goal is survival. My house is kind of a wreck and only minimal tasks have gotten done.

Then, on Thursday a wonderful thing happened. I got a box in the mail from my good friend, Violet (less stuff, more living). I opened it up and saw..

Yes! Cadbury mini-eggs! She was able to find some locally and sent some to me. What an awesome friend.

So far today has been about the Superbowl. We are getting lots of food ready: chilli, chilli dip, dill dip, meatballs, subs, wings, potato salad. My kids are making cookies right now. But it’s not just about food. It should be an interesting game. Go Broncos!

Have a great upcoming week, everyone!

Best Winter Day Ever

Once upon a time, in the middle of the Midwestern winter, the people were blessed with a beautiful sunny 60 degree day. The warmth was like magic, lifting people’s spirits and bringing them out of their hibernation spots. The people knew the warmth would not last long, so they took advantage of every last glorious moment. This is how my little family spent that day.

First, we went to one of my favorite places: The Seminary. It was one of the first Catholic Seminaries built this side of the Mississippi River. The church, an old European cathedral style, still holds one Mass per weekend. The Seminary no longer trains students but serves as a retirement home for Catholic priests. The grounds are pure serenity.

The church:

On the way to the walking/running path, we passed by the cemetery. This is where the priests are buried (I’ve always found it a bit ironic that the windows of the retirement home look out over the cemetery). I love walking through here and looking at the tombstones. I like to imagine all of the stories they could tell.

On the path (those are the kiddos). Image how beautiful this is in the spring and summer when the trees are green and everything is blooming. I actually ran a little… just a little since my back can’t take a lot.

At the Grotto, about halfway through the path.

After completing our walk around the Seminary grounds, we went to the lake. There is something so medicinal about standing on the waterfront, breeze blowing your hair and sunshine warming your face. There were people fishing, boating and riding ATV’s. If I didn’t know better, I would have sworn that some time warp had picked us up and tossed us into spring.

In the woods by the lake there is a shooting range where Caitlin shot her bow and arrow. She’s getting pretty good. We also walked on the trails and the girls looked for sticks and rocks. My girls are country girls! On the way home, we took bets on whether there would be anyone golfing on the golf course. There were several.

This day was truly a gift from the heavens. A cold front is supposed to move in and we will get some severe storms in the next couple of days. February is predicted to be snowy. Today none of that mattered. Today was a promise of what awaits on the other side of winter.