2025 Project 365 – Week Twenty-seven

This week, in addition to the potential collapse of democracy, I have a lot of food & selfie photos! Yay! 

Sunday, June 29th 

Dr. M says: We are definitely seeing more bumblebees on our bee balm, along with a few pretty little butterflies, but the star of the show right now is the bumblebee moth! Hemaris diffinis, the bumblebee moth, is also called the snowberry clearwing in reference to the plant on which its caterpiller feeds. Hemaris diffinis is much smaller than hemaris thysbe, the hummingbird moth. You can see in my pics how the bumblebee moth blends in with our bumbles. So much fun to be able to capture this little cutie!

Monday, June 30th

I got a new topper! Just what I needed - I have so few (that was sarcasm). 

Tuesday, July 1st 

When I saw this travesty in my dad’s bowl I said, “have you no decency, sir?” (Chicken salad, potato salad, & BLUEBERRIES 😲)

Wednesday, July 2nd

I misread this company quote (mission statement?) & thought YES WE ARE APPARENTLY DONE WITH INTEGRITY IN THIS COUNTRY.

Meanwhile, Dr. M saw an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. A bit battered but still lovely.

Thursday, July 3rd  

I was aggressively patriotic at work today because dammit it’s my country too. But I mostly felt like a lie. I wanted to be carrying a sign that said I don’t approve of the evil things this administration is doing but all I did was wear my Black Lives Matter bracelet. Tiny concession to who I am as a person.

Friday, July 4th      

We decided to have veggie burgers for the 4th & they were really good! I like how they’re sort of daisy shaped in the pan. Ha!

Saturday, July 5th

I woke up very early (for me on a Saturday) & took a little ramble around the yard. These photos are the result of me trying to get a photo of a bumblebee, and me giving up & doing a rudbeckia selfie instead. 

My caption to the photo on the left: When someone asks an Enneagram 9 to decide what to have for dinner. And then other people ask the same Enneagram 9 what to have for lunch the next day. Food. I would like food please. The food I decided to eat for dinner was a chicken and potato salad sandwich. Yum!

Finally, here’s my caption for this photo: I don’t know man. A project that uses 29 stitch markers (SO FAR) might be a smidge more complicated than I bargained for😂.

This coming week is the first payroll of the new fiscal year so all of the benefit changes I’ve been entering will go out into the world. Hopefully there aren’t very many issues with them. The payroll after that is a little more scary for me - fingers crossed! THEN my several months of stress will be over & I can concentrate on other aspects of my job (to be clear, this year has been a walk in the park compared to last year). ANYWAY, I know you’ll be glad to stop having to read about it. My next thing to obsess over (personally, because “the politics” is ever in my mind) is my hair. I’m thinking of coloring it because I AM BORED with it. Thoughts? Suggestions? Other things you’d rather talk about? Tell me all!

2023 Project 365 – Week Thirty-four

This week Dr. M and I are slightly obsessed with our hair.
Sunday, August 20^th      
We had an ice cream social at church and it was a blast! One of our members is so creative & everything was very cute. I got new glasses and matched the décor quite well. Ha!
 

Monday, August 21^st                
Yesterday’s hair was a bit much, so I tried to tame it.
 

Tuesday, August 22^nd                     
Dr. M says: Six months ago my labs showed that in the last 18 months my A1c had risen from 5.9 to 6.9, and I had gained a significant amount of weight. It was time to act. I started taking metformin to lower my A1c. It was effective, in that 3 months later my number was 6.7, but it was not a pleasant 3 months for my digestive system. Also, I only managed to lose 7 pounds…less than half my goal. On May 15, my PCP handed me a free month supply of low dose Jardiance. After a month I felt a lot better and had lost 5 pounds or more. So I bit the substantive bullet and bought another month’s worth, and then another after that. As of today I am down 19 pounds from what I weighed on May 15 [Note from the Bug – that’s a total of 26 pounds!]! And my A1c is 6.5! So I’m having some Utz honey barbecue potato chips.
 

Wednesday, August 23^rd                               
No photo.
 
Thursday, August 24^th                        
Dr. M never wears his hair down so it’s easy to forget how much he’s got. I’m pretty jealous of the curls. Also, aren’t his dimples adorable?
 

Friday, August 25^th                         
I was working on the border & started feeling like someone was watching me. Ha!
 

Saturday, August 26^th               
Dr. M found a happy little field in his Saturday travels.
  

Our church was canceled today because the AC wasn’t working – it was 91 degrees in the sanctuary last night. So I’m hanging out at home this morning before I leave to pick up Sunday lunch for the fam. When I get back I’m finishing that blanket! So there! Anything you’re looking forward to finishing?
 

2023 Project 365 – Week Twenty-five

While folks in Texas have been baking, we’ve had lots of rain and high temps in the 60s. Frankly, it was rude (although I think we needed the rain).
Sunday, June 18^th   
Father’s Day! I went mall walking with this dude & we talked about all the important things.
 

Monday, June 19^th             
Dr. M spent some time doing a photo shoot with the wildflower bed. Makes my heart happy.
 

Tuesday, June 20^th                   
I was intrigued by these little flips in my hair today. I kind of like them, but will I be able to create this look again? Magic Eight Ball says not likely. Ha!
 

Wednesday, June 21^st                             
Today at lunch I got to hang out with this squishmallow! He is so tiny and adorable. And his older brother is still the cutest thing ever. Smooches for everyone!
 

Thursday, June 22^nd                    
Dr. M & I bought this calendar at Dollywood AGES ago. Twenty years? I can’t remember, but I know we had it when we lived in our first home in Ohio. Dr. M painted squares and scenes to use in it & I loved it, but I got tired of switching it over to the new month, so it’s been packed away for a long time. Anyway, I thought it might be fun to have in my office at work. I used the Valentine square to mark the anniversary of our first kiss. Ha!
 

Friday, June 23^rd                      
A coworker complimented me on my terrible parking job (he knows about my hashtag #thebugparkingbadly). I didn’t believe him, so I looked out the bathroom window and well… I did go & move it later.
 

Dr. M got a last photo of the phoebe babies before they fledged. Also, Rita and Ms. Pinky had a little photo shoot, but the neighborhood cat was disinclined.
 

Saturday, June 24^th           
Dr. M picked blueberries at his dad’s house. This has been a weird weather year, so this might be all we get.
 

Progress so far on a woodland animals blanket for the squishmallow up there (yes I know I’m stretching the definition of “woodland” by including a penguin). I’m terrible at embroidering so you probably can’t tell, but the fox is labeled Nean. That was my mom’s grandma name, and her maiden name was Fox, so I had to, right?
 

This week was really quiet at work, but the next four weeks in a row are going to be BUSY again. Lots of data entry in compressed amounts of time. Should be fun! Wait – I just remembered that the fifth week will involve four days of training on our new software system. Yay for July? How about you – is your summer going to be nice and meandering as it should be?

2023 Project 365 – Week Ten

This week was lovely! And maybe not so great. But then lovely again. And now it’s raining and 40 degrees & I had to pull out my winter coat again (the nerve!) so I’m having trouble remembering how nice the rest of the week was. OK, done talking about the weather now.
Sunday, March 5^th               
Dr. M & I went to my dad & Sue’s house. My sister-in-law got lunch for us all & I ate a salad as big as my bum (I was going to say head, but actually, my head isn’t that big in terms of large salads). I took no photos of the meal, so here are a couple of jonquils from my dad’s yard.
 

Monday, March 6^th          
Since I took the day off on my birthday, my coworkers celebrated me today. One of them found a gift that most accurately reflects my personality. Ha!
 

Tuesday, March 7^th                 
Stayed home from work sick. Not a happy camper! But I looked great, so there’s that.
 

Wednesday, March 8^th                         
Went by dad & Sue’s where they had left a little part of the latest puzzle for me to complete. Done!
 

Thursday, March 9^th                  
Birthday gift from my best friend. I'm looking forward to reading it.
 

Friday, March 10^th                
I’ve already got the growing my hair out blues. Guess I need to stock back up on hair pins & such.
 

Saturday, March 11^th        
I had a pretty low key day – spent most of it reading my book and watching March Madness. Ate one of my “special” sandwiches for lunch (PB&J, Banana, Ham & Cheese).
 

Meanwhile, Dr. M spent some time with his Pop, and his Pop’s pet cat.
 

So the time changed last night. I’m firmly in the camp of hallelujah because I like more light later in the day. I feel like most of my readers are the opposite of me, because you guys actually get up and do things outside in the mornings. In any case, even though I accounted for the lost hour & went to bed early, I still missed church because I forgot to set my second alarm & so I fell back sound asleep after the first one. I had quite the stress dream after I fell back asleep, which I guess I deserved (I had somehow walked 100s of miles – hahahaha – & was trying to get back home, but I didn’t have a phone or a vehicle). ANYWAY, how has your day been?

2023 Project 365 – Week Two

We didn’t take very many pictures this week. I guess we were just busy doing life. Or some such.    
Sunday, January 8^th               
No photo. I went to church and then had lunch with Dad & Sue. Sue made a fabulous roast beef.
 
Monday, January 9^th       
The outside of our house transitioned to “winter” from Christmas. The inside remains quite festive – but I’m feeling the nudge in my heart to take the tree down. Soon. Ish.
 

Tuesday, January 10^th             
Dr. M says, “In a Mayberryesque plot twist, Pop and I drove Floyd (the Ford) to the barbershop. Pop got shorn…I abstained, courteously.”
 

Meanwhile, I finally took an almost decent photo of that hat I made a few weeks ago.
 

Wednesday, January 11^th                     
I was in the kitchen packing my lunch Wednesday morning & saw this sight out of the window. I had to grab my phone and go outside – such lovely colors.
 

I had a dentist appointment (uneventful!) and then saw a smile of a different kind at work.
 

Thursday, January 12^th               
No photo.
 
Friday, January 13^th            
I took the day off and thought I’d spend some time at Dad & Sue’s working the puzzle. They weren’t there, but I got up to some shenanigans anyway. Ha!
 

Saturday, January 14^th       
Went out to dump the recycle bin and saw spring in the making!
 

I cooked again! Our asparagus was so big that I was worried it wouldn’t be edible the usual way we cook it, so I tried something new. This was so good!
 

I have the day off from work tomorrow in observance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. And recently another black man – a schoolteacher – was killed by police for what seems like no reason at all. Is there hope for the future? Nearly 55 years after Dr. King’s death I just don’t know. Do you?

2022 Project 365 – Week Thirty-five

Last week I was sleepy from being full from my church potluck. This week I’ve waited so late to write this that it’s practically my bedtime (however, I have tomorrow off, so I’m sure I’ll stay up later than usual). What I’m saying is that I’m STILL SLEEPY. Proceed with caution.

Sunday, August 28^th           
Food from the aforementioned potluck at church. I got what I thought was quiche only to find out it was tomato pie. DELICIOUS! And yes, my dessert plate had as much food as my dinner plate.
 

Meanwhile, Dr. M rushed out of the house to take butterfly photos & had to wait on his camera lens to unfog.
 

Monday, August 29^th  
No photo.
 
Tuesday, August 30^th       
I arrived at work to find my lunch bag entwined with my purse. I am not at ALL sure how that happened – I had to go through some gyrations to get them separated. This was also the day that I moved into my new office, but did I take any photos of that? Reader, I did not. Maybe after I get my wall hangings up.
 

Wednesday, August 31^st               
No photo.
 
Thursday, September 1^st          
My evening hair situation.
 

Friday, September 2^nd         
My hair doesn’t look too bad in the first photo; however, it flopped in my face & made me a little crazy (I really do have a ridiculous amount of hair). Anyway, I got all that chopped off. This is the shortest it’s been for a while! These are terrible photos – maybe I’ll do a dual new office new hair photo shoot next week.
 

Flowers from the deck, looking a little bedraggled.
 

Saturday, September 3^rd          
Dr. M did some porch sitting with his dad.
 

I took a not very good picture of our spider friend.
 

And then when Dr. M came home he had a visitor! It’s always fun to see Free Range Roy. It doesn’t happen as often as it used to – he’s getting older like the rest of us.
 

So, let’s talk about how it’s September and how the heck did that happen? As usual, I’m a little salty about it (more on that on Wednesday). And I think not only do I talk about this every fall, but we discussed it on this very blog already this year! What can I say? At least I’m consistent. Or a broken record. Something like that.