2026 Project 365 – Week Thirty-four

You’ll be relieved to hear that this week isn’t a selfie extravaganza. It’s actually mostly flowers and pizza (with a side of Grim Reaper). Enjoy!
Sunday, August 16^th
My Finch Selfcare app has a prompt where you pick an area you want to work on each week (remember the candle fiasco?). Anyway, this week I chose Take a Photo of Something You Love. Today’s photo was a zinnia with a butterfly (a Silver Spotted Skipper, according to The Google) and an azalea blossom. Happy sigh.

Monday, August 17^th                 
Look who I got behind today! I would love to know the story behind this. It’s a little early for Halloween, right?
 

Tuesday, August 18^th    
I was washing my hands in the bathroom and caught sight of my hair in the mirror. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but as far as I know, it had been that way for a while.
 

I love these morning glories – they drape over the rocks behind our house and brighten up that corner.
 

Dr. M got pizza this week as he often does, and I’m sharing it because I ALSO got pizza this week, so we were twinning. Sort of.
 

Wednesday, August 19^th                   
Deck flowers! Ms. Pinky looking prehistoric, and the little buttonhole zinnias looking lovely. (Yes, Ms. Pinky, you’re lovely too.)
 

Thursday, August 20^th        
LOOK OH MY GOSH I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!!! This isn’t a great photo, but the bridge on the road that I like to take to work has been fixed! It was damaged during Hurricane Helene (October 2024) and it has felt like forever. This was small potatoes compared to the damage in the mountains, but it really made my day when I drove by & the Road Closed sign was gone.
 

Friday, August 21^st     
Peaches is blooming up a storm!
 

And here is MY pizza. I didn’t have a salad, but I think the salad was actually on the pizza. Spinach, mushrooms, & tomatoes on cauliflower crust – SO TASTY.
 

Saturday, August 22^nd       
This is my Photo of Something I Love from today. He has been working SO HARD to take care of his dad lately. He’s been the only person in charge of his dad’s care for 7 years now, and just recently that care has ramped up to an every day visit situation with the introduction of insulin into the mix. It’s been exhausting – physically and emotionally – and I’m so proud of how well Dr. M has handled things. He just works to figure things out and do what is in the best interest of his father.
 

We had a Church Council meeting after church today & here is a dirty little secret: they were talking about events happening this fall that I would most certainly ordinarily be participating in, & I kept thinking, “Can’t do that – I’ll be recovering from shoulder surgery!” This withdrawing Enneagram 9 Mostly Introvert is now trying to decide if I scheduled my surgery for September for just this purpose. Hmmm.

What are you trying to get out of doing?

2026 Project 365 – Week Thirty-three

I just reviewed this week’s pictures and they’re all ME ME ME. Sorry. I’ll try to do better next week!
Sunday, August 9^th
But before we get to me, here are Dad & Sue, trying to start a revival at Sue’s church! I had a lovely time, but by the end I decided that my exposure to evangelicalism had hit critical mass. Ha! P.S. Sorry for the crazy lady (me) singing on the chorus. 

Monday, August 10^th                 
I texted this to Dr. M. Something seemed to have gone awry with my “updo.” Made me laugh. But I had a good walk at the mall with my bestie, so that part was ok.
 

Tuesday, August 11^th    
It looks JUST LIKE the picture, right? Ugly, but tasty. We usually get the one that has four peppers and add extra rice, but I couldn’t resist the terribly cute little box of one.
 

Wednesday, August 12^th                   
We actually walked twice this week! Click on the photo to embiggen it so you can read this week’s sermon (“millennial” made me laugh).
 

Thursday, August 13^th        
I was trying to get a photo of this really cool shirt my coworker gave me. It’s longer in the back than the front. It looks better in person. 
 

Friday, August 14^th    
When they say sour they mean sour! I like all the flavors except for pink grapefruit & yet I still eat the pink grapefruit & then I look like this.
 

Saturday, August 15^th      
I was influenced to get this weird lipstick stain where you put it on & then peel it off. I like the color pretty well – we’ll see if it’s actually long lasting or not. It reminds me of the lipstick I used to get years ago that went on blue or purple & then changed to pink or red. No peeling necessary!
 

It’s Sunday afternoon, I’m full of pizza (from my lunch with Dad & Sue), I’ve almost finished this post, and I’m midway through laundry. I think I might spend some quality time mulling over a crochet conundrum. I was planning to turn that failed octopus underbelly into a starfish, but ran out of yarn last night with two starfish arms to go. Dang it. I could probably find the yarn and buy it, but the whole purpose of this was to use up what I have in my stash. I wonder if there’s something creative I can do about this? We shall see. I’ll report back!

How was your week?

2026 Project 365 – Week Thirty-two

This week was all Octopus, all the time. I made him for my best friend’s daughter’s baby shower and fortunately for you and everyone around me, the shower was on Saturday.
Sunday, August 2^nd
Here is the alternate underbelly, which I have to say is much cuter than the other one I made. I started crocheting it to the main body, but had to take several days because the ball that I used was slightly too large and I had to really muscle the two pieces together. I took many breaks!

Monday, August 3^rd                 
Crazy busy day at work. No photo.
 
Tuesday, August 4^th    
No photo today either. What the heck!

Wednesday, August 5^th                   
My walking buddy couldn’t make it for our mall walk, but I made good use of my time in the Dillard's bra department. Ha!
 

Thursday, August 6^th        
Photo shoot! I think Mr. Otis Spunkmeyer Octopus turned out to be pretty cute!
 

Friday, August 7^th    
The theme of the baby shower was “under construction,” so I ordered some fun construction ribbon and “made” my boss make the bow for the box. She did a great job!
 

Saturday, August 8^th      
Shower day! A good time was had by all. There were a lot of folks there (of course I didn’t capture any crowd shots) and they got a lot of good stuff. Fun!
 

I’m writing this post between social engagements (my church, and then a musical event at Sue’s church – she & daddy are singing!).  I think I might have to go into my office tomorrow and just shut the door for the day.

Dr. M is at his dad’s house administering his first dose of insulin. We’ve been expecting this day would come and now it’s here. Dr. M will go to his dad’s every day for now – we may look into getting some assistance in the future. His dad is 94 and has been a diabetic for a long time – it’s pretty amazing that he made it this far without insulin injections!

Now, I have some plans for that other underbelly that didn’t work on Otis. We’ll see how that goes! How was your week? Octopus free, I hope!

2026 Project 365 – Week Thirty-one

Apparently, Dr. M & I were too busy to take photos this week. It rained, and we were having to go hither & yon to Take Care of Stuff. Hopefully this coming week will be a little less crazypants.
Sunday, July 26^th                   
I had a nice time at Uncle Bill’s 90^th birthday celebration. I should have gotten a cousin photo (most of us were there), but alas. Apparently it was more important to take photos of what I ate!

Monday, July 27^th                
No photo.
 
Tuesday, July 28^th    
Meetings outside the office today. No photo, but I was out & about during my lunch hour & decided to have ramen for the first time in forever. It was tasty, and now that’s out of my system for a while.
 
Wednesday, July 29^th                   
Lunch! I was out and about again during my lunch hour & could not decide what I wanted to eat.
 

Thursday, July 30^th        
Goats! Dr. M was telling someone that they had allowed the neighbors to fence in part of his dad’s yard, but that sometimes they staged a jail break. Makes me laugh.
 

Friday, July 31^st   
Dr. M mowed! Our yard had gotten quite shaggy because of rain and obligations on days when he could have mowed. Also, our neighbors’ crepe myrtles are just lovely.
 

Saturday, August 1^st     
Progress on my super secret project (yes, it seems like I’ve been working on it forever). This is actually NOT a progress photo because I figured out that the underbelly is too small. I used a smaller gauge yarn, and even though I doubled it, it did not work. I went back to the drawing board & have a new underbelly crocheted. Today (Sunday) I’ve been adding the suckers & will join it to the body AND THEN I WILL BE DONE HALLELUJAH. Also, what do you think of me using the too small underbelly for hair? Ha!
 

I skipped church today and have spent my day crocheting and playing games and doing laundry and watching baseball and writing this post. After the baseball is over I hope to vacuum, but only if I’m done with the octopus because that baby yarn is VERY FUZZY and it’s getting everywhere. I sure hope it calms down for the recipient! I’m sure it will – it’s because I’m using scissors on it. What has your day looked like?

2026 Project 365 – Week Thirty

Well, I’m officially declaring Open Enrollment complete. There are still some odds and ends hanging out there, but for the most part the big scary things are done. Whew!
Sunday, July 19^th                   
Everywhere I went, I gathered food to bring home (eggs from our Associate Pastor’s chickens, tomatoes from Dad & Sue’s garden).

Monday, July 20^th                
From the socials Monday evening: So I had a hair miracle this morning & couldn’t wait to get on here & share. I was supposed to wash my hair yesterday morning (it had been a week since my last wash) but I decided to have Unselfcare Sunday & just not mess with it. I pulled it up, put on a shower cap, & took my shower. When I got out I decided I was cute & just put a clip on it & wore it to church. I never took it down & when I got up this morning it was STILL CUTE. So I wore it this way to work. People, I have still not taken it down. Dare I go for day 3?
 

Tuesday, July 21^st   
I did NOT go for day 3. I actually think I could have pulled it off, but my head was VERY TIRED of the hairband.
 

Your weekly zinnias (plus a Two Toned Pinky sighting). These are from the planters on the deck.
 

Wednesday, July 22^nd                  
I do not like carrots. 
 

Thursday, July 23^rd       
Dr. M had rice and gravy with his tomatoes & eggs (plus livermush – they were still frying it when he took the photo). 
 

That evening I had dinner with friends and got this pizza that was called The Fruit of the Woods. It had mushrooms and asparagus, but all I could taste was garlic. I mean, I like garlic, but… Also it was pouring rain when we left the restaurant. My box worked pretty well as an umbrella.
 

Friday, July 24^th   
Sign in the bathroom at my audiologist’s office. Made me laugh. 
 

Saturday, July 25^th   
Progress on my super secret project.
 

I found a rogue rudbeckia in the yard! So cute!
 

I tried adding chopped up home grown tomatoes to the “garlic clove disguised as pizza” but it only helped a little bit.
 

Today I drove to church through a thunderstorm and torrential rain. It felt a little Biblical. When the service was over the sun had come out and we had a sauna situation. But none of those things will keep me from going to my Uncle Bill’s 90^th birthday celebration here in a little bit. And in honor of that, here is a snippet from a dream I had in 2010:

I’m thankful that in my dream last night my mother seemed to be handling her incarceration in the federal pen rather well. My uncle Bill was there too. I don’t know what they did – but I suspect it has something to do with the Brookford Mafia (this is an inside joke) and I want to know where my share of the dirty money is!

Have you had any weird dreams lately? Do tell!