2023 Project 365 – Week Forty-nine

I’m still feeling the disconnect of world events (& events here at home), & all the perky “Reason for the Season” in the air right now. Ya know?
Sunday, December 3^rd       
Went to Dad & Sue’s after church where he made CHOCOLATE waffles with pecans & blueberries. Pretty tasty! Plus bonus gorgeous amaryllis content.
 

Monday, December 4^th
My view just before I left work.
 

Tuesday, December 5^th                       
I ONCE AGAIN binder clipped my skirt to keep from rolling over it in my office chair, & then forgot & wore it around the office like that.
 

Wednesday, December 6^th                               
Got my hair trimmed (once again taking care of any potential mullet situation).
 

Thursday, December 7^th                             
Dr. M making Christmas for his dad (with a poinsettia) & his mom (with a flower for her grave), & then finding Christmas out & about.
 

Friday, December 8^th                         
I MADE A SORT OF CANDY SITUATION! It was pretty good!
 

Saturday, December 9^th                      
Yes, I did actually go out to the mailbox in my robe with my hair in a towel so that I could get my new Black Santa toppers to wear to the ornament swap my friend Jenny invited me to (at Viewmont Baptist for local folks).
 

Here are some random photos of the day. I didn’t take the table photos until after we’d eaten, and my pictures aren’t great in any case, but here you go anyway. Oh! The terribly cute infant was there last year too, but hadn’t been born yet.
 

Last week I mentioned my Advent resolutions. One week in, I’m happy to report that I have actually mostly stuck to them. That makes me happy. What’s making you happy these days?

2023 Project 365 – Week Forty-eight

We had a ceasefire, and then resumption of firing, and it feels like the whole world is on one side or the other. I myself am on the side of children. And not just in Israel and Gaza! Now, with that out of the way, let’s check out the week.
Sunday, November 26^th       
I skipped church, but did go to my dad’s to have lunch with him (and work a puzzle). He had the genius idea to put honey mustard pretzels on our ham sandwiches. Delicious!
 

We’ve been talking about getting a larger TV because we were having trouble reading the scores for our baseball & hockey games. Dr. M finally took the plunge & used some of his birthday money to get this one. It’s huge! (To us anyway.) And SUCH an improvement in technology. We can use his Amazon Prime account to watch movies, air drop from our phones if we want to, and of course actually see the hockey score. Amazing! I also like how it looks like our fireplace mantel is a fancy frame for the TV.
 

Monday, November 27^th
Dr. M’s brunch was a holey affair.
 

Tuesday, November 28^th                       
Matchy matchy!
 

Wednesday, November 29^th                               
Getting ready to leave the office (this was at 5:30).
 

Thursday, November 30^th                             
I was making a sort of tostada with refried beans & cheese & I tried to put an egg on top, but it slid to the side & then the tortilla was getting overdone, but the egg wasn’t nearly done, so I shifted the pan to the side of the burner & that’s how you know that I’m a great cook. The end.
 

Friday, December 1^st                         
I put my wooden calendar together & then took a terrible photo of it, so I’m just sharing this small detail. It’s the square for our anniversary, with our wedding cake painted on it. We’ll have been married 33 years on the 15^th!
 

Saturday, December 2^nd                      
It was foggy all day, but did I get a nice atmospheric photo with maybe a ghostly squirrel out in the yard? No I did not. Instead, you get this shot from my Be Real moment of the day – Laundry O’Clock!
 

Today was the first Sunday in Advent & we had a lovely service at church. It’s the beginning of the church year & I’ve made a few resolutions for myself. We’ll see how that goes. How about you – I think a lot of my readers aren’t religious, but do you think of certain times of the year as “clean the slate” opportunities?

2023 Project 365 – Week Forty-seven

Thanksgiving! It turns out that it’s my favorite holiday because I get to see my family, eat, & then spend two (or three if I’m extra slack like this year) glorious days doing diddly and squat. I mean, I did do laundry & some cleaning, but mostly I sat on my butt and read, crocheted, and played on my iPad. Happy sigh.
Sunday, November 19^th       
I saw this license plate in the drive-through and at first I thought heck yeah I’ll buy Snark Yarn, but then I realized that it was a snarky nurse driving the car and I guess that’s ok too.          
 

I was taking green bean casserole to work on Monday for our holiday meal & I told Dr. M I was afraid I would forget it so he put this helpful hint on the counter.
 

Monday, November 20^th
In addition to our holiday meal, we had a little mini bridal shower for one of our assistants who was getting married on Friday.
 

Tuesday, November 21^st                      
We watched one of my favorite “comfort food” movies. It makes me smile that it has a baby Rihanna in it (she was 23 or 24 here).
 

Wednesday, November 22^nd                                
A dog in a car will never fail to make me smile. And if I can get a photo I will always text it to Dr. M.
 

Dr. M says Happy Thanksgiving from down in the holler!
 

Thursday, November 23^rd - Thanksgiving!                     

Lots of photos from today. We have our group photo, some candids, and proof that I didn’t eat by myself this year (even though I tried).
 

Also, here I am trying to show folks how to do my craft – a little ‘zine with some of my poems. They were really good sports about it!
 

Dr. M wasn’t able to attend (he took lunch to his father so he wouldn’t be alone – unfortunately bringing his dad to our gathering was not a good idea for many reasons) – but I made sure he got his Thanksgiving feast anyway!
 

Friday, November 24^th                          
No matter how many videos I watch I can never get the seeds out of a pomegranate without it looking like a murder scene. Someone on Instagram said that the cutting board & knife photo looks like the cover of a cozy murder mystery. Ha!
 

Sue gave us this amaryllis. The bulb has wax on it & it’s supposed to not need watering. I’m intrigued to see how it does!
 

Saturday, November 25^th                     
Dr. M says: If those metal patio chairs could talk, what tales they’d tell! Pretty sure they are almost as old as me. That picnic table has some age on it, too, but it’s still strong enough to support a catnap. The wood shop is quiet, the tools covered in dust. My 91 year old loves sitting out there in the sunshine, petting his guard cat and glaring at the falling leaves. Some days he is present, asking significant questions and trying to understand my answers. Today he was lost in memories from well over 70 years ago. And the guard cat slept on.
 

I made a sleeve for my iPad and then decided to frog it. I really liked it, but it was a smidge too small. Unfortunately I think adding a couple of stitches to the width is going to make me lose that excellent accidental color pooling (it will look more like that middle section). We shall see!
 

I ate persimmon pudding, banana pudding, corn pudding – ALL THE PUDDINGS! Also, my family is pretty cool. Did you enjoy your holiday?

2023 Project 365 – Week Forty-six

There was a lot of celebrating this week!
Sunday, November 12^th       
We had a baby shower at church for a young couple. This is their first baby & they had a LOT of questions about how things were going to work. Fortunately we have a lot of mommas in our congregation who can help them (including the one who made the quilt and the little elephant – so talented!). Also, that Tres Leches cake was so good!
 

Monday, November 13^th – Dr. M’s Birthday!!
I gave him a card that had a little pelican Lego kit in it. It was so cute!
 

That evening we went out to eat with family. We had a lovely time – and I got to hold Elliott for a while (not pictured: how quickly I handed him back to his dad when he started squalling. Ha!).
 

This sequence is called My Dad Says Something Outrageous and My Nephew Shoots Right Back with Something MORE Outrageous. Note Sue’s side-eye in that middle photo.
 

Tuesday, November 14^th                     
Dr. M went to his dad’s and did a little leaf photo shoot. I love this one with Mr. Squirrel.
 

Wednesday, November 15^th                               
It’s giving Librarian. Which was my dream job until I almost flunked Library Science in high school. Damn that Dewey Decimal System! (Note: I have an accounting degree that I don’t use so I guess I did ok.)
 

It’s soup & hockey season!  
 

Thursday, November 16^th                            
Dr. M’s breakfast burrito. I love the artful placement of cherry tomatoes.
 

Dillards had an interesting sort of princess display & I had to have my photo taken in front of it. Ha!
 

Friday, November 17^th                          
No photo.
 
Saturday, November 18^th                     
Is it ironic that I had a sandwich for lunch and then found this old poem about making sandwiches?
 

Next week is Thanksgiving. We’ve had a minor turkey crisis (resolved now), but I have a pecan pie on my table ready to go so that’s all I really need. What are you looking forward to eating?

2023 Project 365 – Week Forty-five

In which I post three photos of myself where I am wearing three different glasses toppers (not at the same time – but I could!).
Sunday, November 5^th       
These are not the buttons I chose. I printed these off of Etsy & cut them out to see what I thought, and I picked the larger ones, but when I went to check out they were going to cost more than $50 (they were coming from the UK). It’s ok – the ones I ended up getting were a much better match.
 

Monday, November 6^th                  
I took the day off of work so my best friend & I could watch the Evolving Faith conference. It was a lovely day.
 

Tuesday, November 7^th                     
Dad & Sue were at the beach (insert jealous face here), so I went by their house a couple of times during lunch to make it look occupied work the puzzle.
 

Wednesday, November 8^th                               
My car was FILTHY. I meant to take a before & after picture.
 

Thursday, November 9^th                            
Ms. Pinky bloom. Happy happy.
 

Friday, November 10^th                          
I sewed on the buttons Thursday night & wore my new cardigan to work on Friday. Fast fashion! (That took me three months to make – ha!). I love it & I’m already plotting the next one with different colors.  

Saturday, November 11^th                     
Dr. M took so many lovely photos of Lincoln and Catawba Counties today that I just couldn’t pick. So you’re getting them all.
 

<Insert my annual gripe session about the time change here> What are you griping about these days?