A Post that Looks Like Project 365 But Isn't

We are home from NC & life is shifting back to normal (whatever that is for us). Amy's service was really good, with great music & great stories about her sassy self. I had a moment when I saw her choir robe draped across a chair at the front of the church. She loved singing alto in the choir...

I was going to to a series of posts about things that have happened around here, but I've decided to just dump everything in one post - it'll be like old P365 times! Except not sorted by date.

First up, Crochet Land, which includes my latest afghan squares, a temperature blanket update (as of tonight!), and a cowl that I made by request.

Next, I made five more Hello Fresh meals, with varying degrees of success. I'll put them in order here by tastiest. The Jamie Oliver spaghetti one was way too worky for me, but did taste ok. I have to say that I don't enjoy spending all evening in the kitchen, but it's been fun to try these different things. I think I might actually cook real food more often!

Next, here is something that caught my eye in the grocery store in NC. Um, just no. Okay?

Finally, from Facebook last night: I've been trying to walk at least 10,000 steps every day during the week, but I was a thousand steps short this evening. So I marched in place while I brushed & flossed my teeth (tricky!), & washed & moisturized my face (trickier!). That got me 300 steps. Then I trotted through the house for 7 laps* & hit my goal. Whew! 

*note: I did not actually trot.

So, what's up with you?

Rest in Peace...

Amy left us on Friday. She was a beautiful woman and I was so grateful for the joy that she gave my Dad during their decade together. Here are some excerpts from her obituary:

Amy was an inspiration to those who knew her. With an ailing husband who required care and while raising four children, she attended Lenoir-Rhyne College where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a double major in education and in speech and hearing impaired. She taught exceptional children at N.C. School for the Deaf in Morganton for 23 years. During her teaching career, Amy continued her education and earned a masters degree in human development and learning from UNC-Charlotte. 

Amy laughed often and loved much. She had many friends of all ages whom she loved dearly. She was a faithful member of the First Baptist Church of Hildebran for 74 years, participating in many activities including singing in the choir, teaching Sunday School classes, working in Vacation Bible School and training union for youth mission groups. She loved her church, her choir and all activities of the church. Amy also loved the students she taught at N.C. School for the Deaf. She had a love for teaching whether in school, church, or life. 

Amy lived life to the fullest and was never daunted by a challenge. She participated in the Unifour Senior Games and won medals in sporting, performing arts and literary events. Over the years, she participated on the local as well as state level. She was a member of the East Burke Kiwanis Club. Most of all, Amy loved her family and created many great memorable times with them. She was a strong independent role model who wasn't afraid to live and love. 

Fly High Amy!

(Not Quite - or Maybe More Than) 10 on 10

It depends on how you count the pictures - maybe I have 9, or maybe I have 13... But I definitely do NOT have exactly 10.

Thanks for all of your lovely comments on my last post. These are hard days, but we're muddling through.

The 10th was on a Sunday this month, so the pictures are extra exciting. Well, perhaps not. But you're getting them anyway!

The first thing I do each morning is open the blinds for Ms. Pinky (and her verbena). One more month & we can put her outside! (Maybe sooner if we're feeling brave.)

I downloaded an app for my phone that's supposed to help me remember to drink more water during the day. It's called Plant Nanny, and apparently my plant will die if I don't water it regularly. We'll see how well this works.

Meet Dandy the Dandelion!

Almost ready for church. Seems like there might be one more thing for me to do?

Oh yes - hair! I was going to see if you wanted to take a guess as to how long I managed to spend the day without using a barrette (my bangs are so close to being long enough to stay tucked behind my ear!), but I actually made it for most of the day. Good hairspray!

After church we had a Vestry Meeting. As Senior Warden I try to pay close attention to everything. Just kidding - I pay close attention to my crochet. Ha!

Look!! I watered Dandy & she grew! I thought it was appropriate that her sprouts looked like golf clubs since the Masters was going on.

After lunch (leftover pizza), I went to the grocery store and had two terrible things happen. I forgot to get my cloth bags out of the trunk AND I forgot that my trunk was full of yarn. Oops. I would have noticed the giant bins ahead of time if I'd remember to grab my bags. Oh well, I had Ben & Jerry's Phish Food to console me after I got home.

I captured a screen shot of the temperature at 7:00 - for my temperature blanket. After getting SNOW on Saturday, it was nice to be back up into the green row range :)

I spent the rest of the afternoon playing on my computer, crocheting, and forgetting to take pictures. Then I actually cooked real food for dinner. I had a coupon to get a good deal on my first shipment of Hello Fresh (a meal delivery company). I decided to try their vegetarian option & had three meals for two delivered on Saturday. I made the first one - Sweet Potato & Quinoa Salad. It was really good! The only problem was that the avocado was hard as a rock. a non-novice cook would have noticed in time to put it aside to use later after it ripened. But no, I kept sawing at the thing until I realized that it was pretty much inedible. Nance will be so upset to hear about this! Ah well, lesson learned!

How was your Sunday? Can you remember that far back?

Absent Minded...

I've had a rough week or so.

• Last weekend I got a new crockpot & decided to cook oatmeal in it, overnight. The oatmeal was fine, but it turns out that it really only needed to cook about 4 hours instead of the 8 hours I gave it. I've spent this week alternately scraping, and dousing with vinegar & baking soda. Because, oh yeah, I forgot to spray the pot with cooking spray. I think today I'll make one last assault on the baked on crud & it will finally be good as new. And VERY clean.
• The other day, trying to be helpful, I nuked Dr. M's breakfast sandwich. Except that I must have put it on 12 minutes instead of 1 minute 20 seconds. It didn't catch fire, exactly, but it did produce a prodigious amount of smoke. The house still reeks, just a bit. Just today I decided to nuke some cinnamon & vanilla in water, then I added some peppermint, and I think that's helped a lot.
• Yesterday, I did my usual routine of carrying my purse, lunch bag, & crochet bag out to my car & then coming back in for my breakfast sandwich & beverage. Only, I somehow bumped the lock on the car door. So my keys, cell phone, reading glasses, and my crochet project were locked in the car. Fortunately I wasn't locked out of the house, so I just came inside & ate my breakfast while waiting on AAA. And plotted to get a second key to my car. It's one of those "smart" keys & the cost just seemed prohibitive. But, really, it would have been a 30 second delay to get to work instead of an hour delay. That's worth it, right?

I had my annual physical yesterday & my doctor said that I was borderline hypothyroid. And one of the symptoms is impaired memory. At first I thought, well, that explains things! But, well, I've been this way my whole life. I don't pay attention - I never have. I'm in my head & ignoring cues all around me. So I don't think my thyroid is really the problem. I think that maybe practicing mindfulness would help me a lot more! Sigh.

And running along in the back of my mind, and the front of my mind, is that my father is once again watching the woman he loves waste away. Amy has been admitted to hospice because her heart is only working at about 10% capacity and she's just too weak for daddy to care for her now. Barring a miracle, she'll probably not get to go back home. 

Fen Rambling...

In my last post I promised a surprise & then completely forgot about it. Last Sunday, Dr. M & I went to Siebenthaler Fen for a walk. It was such a beautiful day! And there was plenty to see. I took a few pictures, but luckily for you, Dr. M brought along the "real" camera.

Tree swallow

Red-winged blackbird

Turkey vulture

Red-bellied woodpecker

Marsh marigolds

Pussy willow (and bee)

Skunk cabbage (isn't it the most bizarre thing?)

Wild cherry

Till next time...

Tuesdays are now Mondays...

I have a heavy heart today. I found out yesterday that my boss's boss, who was just recently diagnosed with a brain tumor, passed away on Friday. He was such a good man, a great boss, and leaves behind four high school/college age children & his beloved wife.

I'm also sad about Daddy's wife, Amy. She's been ill for some time and this week found out some more hard news about her heart. It's hard watching people you love suffer.

On the other end of the spectrum, Dr. M's father is doing well - he did have a bit of skin cancer on his scalp, but his surgeon removed all of it and told him to start wearing a hat when he was outdoors.

I'm apparently having trouble getting it together to post on Mondays. Especially this week after the Holy Week Marathon. There was Wednesday night choir practice, Maundy Thursday (soup meal and foot washing), Good Friday, spending a couple of hours on Saturday setting up the altar for Easter, and then Easter. I tried to take a nap Sunday afternoon, but I kept waking myself up snoring. What the heck! Anyway, here are some pictures, plus there will be a surprise later this week.

Good Friday

Easter Sunday

My poor trashed bracket. And now I'm in the uncomfortable position of either pulling for UNC (remember, I'm ABC - anyone but Carolina) or Notre Dame - which is just wrong!

G-Man had a rough night...

I mowed for the first time this season!

Miss Pinky's verbena started blooming - she's such a good mom :)

Dr. M caught Papa Cardinal mid-song.

My latest afghan squares & a progress update. I didn't care all that much for this particular pattern, but mixed in with the other squares, it's not too bad.

Now I'm off to respond to your comments on my last two posts. I'm sorry I haven't gotten around to read posts in a few days, but I'll get there eventually! How are you guys doing?

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

I had a crazy busy weekend and just couldn't get it together to post anything. And, really, I'd like to be snoozing right now, so it's anyone's guess as to how coherent this will be. But, for you, I will trudge on & see what happens.

First of all, I made good on my threat. Ha! We've named him G-man (for Gnome Man). It's highly entertaining.

Next, look at this travesty of an NCAA tournament bracket. It's kind of hard to tell in the picture, but the east is dead to me now. I picked the wrong underdogs to win. Ah well, it makes the tournament more interesting.

On the crochet front, here's my latest square - #3 of pattern #5:

Finally, here's a temperature blanket update. Frankly, I think it's the weirdest thing. And adding red & orange this summer will only make it weirder. I kind of like it though - and I'm certainly paying more attention to the weather than I usually do!

How have YOU been doing?