Post-Holiday Celebration

After our Friday Christmas celebration with all the Austins, our holiday celebration continued on Saturday morning with the three boys and their special ladies.

I'm not ashamed to brag but I made a very tasty egg and spicy sausage egg bake.

And grandpup Rey was the most well-behaved and well-loved girl in the house! Love days like that.

After the house was empty, I did some yarn shopping in Point for a special project. And today was church in the morning and a different kind of celebration this afternoon.

Hubby has developed quite the cough so I went by myself to give our friend (and 20 years' former newspaper coworker) condolences since she just lost her husband to cancer. Naturally, I arrive crying and saying I totally meant to be strong for HER! Ooof. I did see a few other newspaper coworkers so that was nice to catch up, too.

Wasn't long after that our predicted snow storm made it self known. We'll see what it dumps on us tonight. Since I'm on vacation and neither one of us has any place to go on Monday, I think we'll be just fine.

If you're traveling, though, be safe out there!

How Sweet It Is!

How ironic that today when I was sharing photos with a friend about a candy shop in Gatlinburg, TN (from a trip 2 years ago) that it turns out to be National Candy Month.

According to my Robyn-pedia... you should get ready to satisfy your sweet tooth all month long because June is National Candy Month! "This delicious holiday was created in 1974 to celebrate the wide variety of candies available and the joy they bring to our lives. From chocolate bars to gummy bears, there's a candy for everyone's taste buds. Did you know that the first candy ever made was a form of honeycomb in ancient Egypt? And now, we have countless options and flavors to choose from. So go ahead and indulge in your favorite treats guilt-free this month!"

The Gummy Chandelier image up top is from a candy shop in Gatlinburg. They are about to head in that Smoky Mountains area and I told her there are plenty of things to see and do in Gatlinburg for a family with teenage kiddos. My candy shop photos from a store on the "main drag that I don't recall the name of" came to mind first.

The wall of ceiling-high candy dispensers caught my eye first! (Especially while I'm chewy on spicy jelly beans from Easter as I type this.)

Then there were the store's obviously sugar-laden breakfast cereals on display – that we never EVER would've been allowed to have in our childhood. I think Kellogg's Sugar Smacks and Corn Pops were the extent of that. Unless we could sneak a few chocolate chips to melt in our lumpy oatmeal!

On that note, don't judge my parenthood skills, but it just happens that Carter's fave cereal is Cinnamon Toast Crunch and his girlfriend's is Fruity Pebbles. Where did we go wrong?

I guess we all need that sugar rush.

Of course, as the maintainer of our team candy dish at work, I can tell you my peanut butter M&M's dispenser is the most popular. Followed by ... I'm not sure. Some love Snickers. Others love Hershey Toffee. And still another finds York Peppermint Patties to be the ultimate treat. 

So I buy them all and wait anxiously for my Yelp reviews.

And often think, "It's free. Don't complain to me if your favorite isn't there!"

But in the end realize we all need that little boost of sugar at some point in our day. 

Thankfully for you, I'm just so sweet by nature. 😁

Today's Dress Code :: Thanksgiving Pants

Today was a FULL-FILL-ing day! Thankfully I didn't base my attitude on the images from the first light of day.

Yup. Our first measurable snowfall and Mr. Deck Chair and I were not happy. But there was no way I was going to work from home today. Our Marketing Department was having our "Progressive Thanksgiving."

No, thoughts weren't necessarily progressive. But like a "progressive dinner" you may have heard of, we wandered from area to area within Marketing to eat all day. And I mean ALL DAY.

Breakfast was provided by our digital team – those who do the behind the scenes work on our websites, e-newsletters, SEO, and social media. Since I've been on the stomach mend, I just had a half bagel with cinnamon-brown sugar cream cheese. Oh, and a slice of bacon. Because it was there.

Starting at 10 a.m. our creative team of graphic designers and videographers plus our customer experience team (who do all kinds of surveys) provided appetizers. I volunteered to bring home a deviled egg for hubby, but he declined. I don't like them so I couldn't even enjoy one for him. But I did have some meatballs and surprise Pumpkin Pie-looking snack.

If it's not really miniature pumpkin pie slices, what is it?

Turns out it's sliced cheese on top of a triangular cracker with some cream cheese dip that was a Cool Whip look-a-like on the edges and top. My mind was blown! Just the perfect putzy type of snack I'd try to make! Cool.

Lunch time was on our team of writers. The turkey sandwiches were provided and we were in charge of the sides. Thus the reason I had to drive slowly and carefully to work to protect my crockpot of cheesy potatoes. Yes, it arrived safely. And no, there isn't any leftover for me to show you a picture! (I take that as a win.)

Around 2 p.m., our brand management team and events team provided dessert. Are you full yet? We sure were. And wishing we all wore our "Thanksgiving Pants."

But I managed a pumpkin spice cupcake and piece of cheesecake. The sacrifices we make for work!

After that I had to stop at our clinic at work and get my previously scheduled COVID shot. Not a fun way to end a FULL and FILLING day at the office for sure. Especially after just getting over being sick. I'm feeling a little "off" this evening but hopefully the reaction doesn't develop into anything more than that.

Just going to take it easy and pray I'm back to my version of normal by tomorrow so I can do hunter's widow shopping this weekend. And no, my husband doesn't hunt. But I can pretend for certain circum$tance$.

Mother's Day Treats

A summer day like this is a treat any day, but on Mother's Day it feels like maybe Mother Nature was catering to us moms who love sunshine and warmth! 

Of course, Mother's Day is always special because hubby makes me homemade Eggs Benedict for breakfast.

A delightful meal at Cafe el James with country fresh egg a la Trevor (our neighbor). Perfect!

Since we didn't have any offspring visiting, Jim also treated me to golf at Northern Bay. It's located in Adams County and going to be the next big thing until Sand Valley stole the spotlight. We've played there a few times but it's been a few years.

Their claim to fame is several "replica" holes closely mimicking famous golf courses. 

Some were a bit of a stretch, if you ask me.

But the Sawgrass island green was definitely one I recognized.

And just like the pros do (sometimes), both our drives took a swim! Still, it was fun.

Only downside was lots of mosquitoes, high winds, and like the top weather picture mentions – poor air quality. My eyes were so full of sand and pollen that they were itchy and bloodshot by the time our round was done. The price we pay for fun, I guess. 

All that fresh air – and my first 18-hole round of the season – and I'm sure to sleep good tonight. Thank goodness it's cloudy so I won't be tempted to view the remains of the Northern Lights.

Hope all you mothers had a wonderful day and were spoiled like you deserve!

Winning. Sort of.

So Assumption volleyball had their "Spike it to Cancer" pink night and that included a bunch of raflle baskets. As a supporter of the Royals and cancer research, I think I put a ticket in just about all of their 35 raffle baskets.

And I won one!

It's like a cereal and customized kitchen towel package. I 100% can't argue with this first towel. Neither can my son. Cereal for supper is a close second to popcorn. That's all I'm saying.

I love this one. But that's when it dawned on me that this special prize might be suited for someone else.

Then the clincher. No, not the towel, but the two snack cups for children 12 months old and older. 

I kind of feel guilty for winning is now. Leave a comment if you want to be in a drawing for my basket! Do it soon before the cereal expires!

Or I could just give you the snack cups and eat the cereal during a "time without a kitchen."

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day for all you special ladies who have made the world a better place by being in it! It's fun to celebrate how awesome we are, isn't it?

My day was a little centered around food! I'll comfort food since my baby texted at 6:30 a.m. that they were officially leaving Wisconsin on their way home to Raleigh. 

Jim's usual tradition is to make me Eggs Benedict for Mother's Day. This year, since we saw a commercial that iHop had a variety of Benedicts, we figured we'd give that a try. We both ended up getting the "classic" anyway. And honestly, Mr. Austin makes it even better! 

And although we were full, it just so happened that after a stop at Menard's, King Cone was open!

Hello, Blueberry "Yes, Please" Cake ice cream! Good stuff. I was super full and couldn't finish it.

But Sylvester helped me lick the bowl clean later!

My other Mother's Day treat was going to be golfing. We had a tee time and it just kept raining all day. It stopped now but it's only in the 50s so I sent Jim along with a buddy. It's not a "treat" for me to be cold and miserable.

Plus, this way, since I'm done with Queen Charlotte, I can jump into season 2 of Firefly Lane on Netflix and all that mushy stuff! 

Hope you all had a relaxing day and were treated like the queens we all are!

Happy Mom's Day

Happy Mother's Day! I found a card with the above sentiment and sent it to my mom. I knew I'd get one of two reactions. She'd either think it was funny or she'd apologize for making me split the beaters with my twin – and only after scraping off as much batter as possible.

I got both reactions. She found it hilarious and apologized for not letting us lick the bowl more when we were kids. I'm like, "Mom, we're all old, fat and sassy so we turned out just fine." She did appreciate the humor. And she had time with a handful of her nearby kids between yesterday and today.

My brother even took some "senior photos" of Mom at a park when it was so nice yesterday. Thanks, Ron!

Today was not nearly as nice. Cloudy, a bit rainy and windy. So I declined hubby's offer to take me golfing for Mother's Day.

I did, however, let him make me Eggs Benedict for breakfast. (His Mother's Day tradition for me.)

And let him gift me with some gorgeous orange-red roses!

And, after eating pizza at his parents' house with his sister and brother-in-law, I let him buy me a small Thin Mint Blizzard on the way home.

So yes, it was a happy Mother's Day for me! 

We also finished watching the final final episodes for Ozark. I did not like parts of the ending, but I won't spoil it for anyone still watching. And tonight, we'll just chill out before our busy week. 

I should say, busy SPRING week. It's going to warm back up with temps in the 80s even. I'll have no excuse but to get back out in the backyard and finish digging my roots and stumps. Unless Mr. Deck Chair calls, of course. Ha. It's already a great week and it's only Sunday.

Hope you had a joyful Mom's Day, too!

Silly Goals

My new goal in life is to be as excited about eating my bowl of Fiber One cereal as Sylvester is waiting for me to finish – and leave her a few drops of milk in the bowl. You'll notice I threw in some Pumpkin Spice Cheerios in the bowl to add a bit of flavor to my cardboard.

It helps a bit. Healthy eating sucks sometimes.

My other new goal is to solve the Wordle puzzle each day. If you haven't heard of it yet, no worries. I apparently was living under a rock for the first few months it existed. 

Wordle is an online 5-letter word game that was invented by somebody in the U.K. It's actually only accessible by visiting the website here – it's not an app for your phone.

Each day a new word is released and you have six attempts to guess what the word of the day is. No clues, just guess a 5-letter word. If you're a Wheel of Fortune fan, you probably know the common letters to guess. After your guess, the tiles will change color to yellow if the letter is correct and green if the letter is correct AND in the right place in the word. Then you guess again and hope you get close enough you get the word in 6 tries. Word nerds like me love this.

And word nerds love getting it in 2 guesses and bragging about it! Yup. That won't happen again but it sure is fun to try! (Oh and the 230 is the puzzle number, not any type of score. You just get bragging rights.) My only advice for newbies is to pay attention to your "used letter board" so you don't waste guesses. 

Anyway, that's my random fun. Not like I'm setting Olympic goals here, people. Just normal middle-aged lady attainable ones!

Have a safe and fun weekend – whatever your version of fun is!

Merry Brown Christmas

While we had a gorgeous sunset tonight that was sort of a pinkish Christmas red, we could see more brown than Christmas green in our grass. And certainly very little in the makings of a white Christmas! 

Glad we had the pretty ending of the day because it reminded me to snap a photo of the current status of the yard at Christmas. You know. For the scrapbook.

Plus, we didn't do photos this morning. Jim and I opened our stockings and gifts PS (pre-shower) and that's not as cute when we're not little kids. Ha. Anyway, he's got some Cincinnati Reds and golf gear and we both share a couple's membership for next summer at our favorite local golf course. We must have been very good this year!!

For our Christmas morning breakfast, I cooked up some SPAM and eggs – thanks, Secret Santa – and they weren't bad. I'm not sure we'll make it a tradition, but we do have half the can to use up in the next week.

After lunch, we delivered a few gifts, including to son #2 and his girlfriend.

Clay and Becca have four maine coon cats that are huge. I could not lift one up! But they were friendly! Had a short but sweet visit.

They liked the blanket I made them (Just a hint of Vikings colors). And by the time we were home...

had already staked a claim to it! Praying all those crochet stitches hold!

The rest of the day was a relaxing, low-key holiday. Jim visiting an ailing aunt and then it was lots of recliner time for us both. I'm acclimating to Christmas vacation just fine. Thanks for asking.

Oh and since we didn't mail cards to everyone on the planet, here's our holiday greetings for you...

Merry Christmas to you and yours from me and mine! 

Taking it EEEE-Z

Our alphabetical gratitude month continues today with the letter E, which means I'm ecstatic to share some of my blessings.

A = Autumn, Austins, Assumption
B = Ballots, Books, Book Club, Bible
C = Casey, Clay, Carter, Church, Creativity, Camera
D = Dad, Daughters, Deck Chair, Dar, Design

Eggs: What makes these eggs so good? First, they are paired with the most excellent pork links we've ever had, courtesy of the half pig we bought. Secondly, because hubby prepared them and made breakfast for us this morning! The song Easy like Sunday morning should be Easy like Saturday morning from now on!

Election: Finally today, four days post-Election Day 2020, we have a winner declared – or at least 99% projected. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris will take office in January. Wow. A pretty historic win considering Harris will be the first woman, Black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president. It's long overdue, but it's empowering, nonetheless! No matter who you voted for, let's all focus on positive changes and moving forward!

Energy: Like the energized E above, I have been energized with the beautiful weather. All week in the 60s and yesterday and today tipping 70+ degrees and sunny. Love, love, love it! 

So I used that energy to exercise this afternoon, taking a gorgeous walk around Lake Wazeecha and enjoying Mother Earth. We are so blessed to have this lake and walking path nearby!

Empty Nest: As much as I miss our baby, I am grateful for an empty nest because that means he's furthering his education – in fact, graduating from college next month. Of course, with employment not secured just yet, we can only say we are projecting to keep the nest empty. We just can't officially declare that yet. 

In the meantime, we going to visit him tomorrow. So I'm pretty elated!!

#gratitudemonth #gratitudealphabet