Blessings Abound!

It is that time of the week where I try and update with all the latest happenings in my bubble.   

Sunday, we started out by going to church. I personally had not been in a church building for close to two years.  I have been watching online at home. My son went with me.

We stopped for coffee before going inside.  (He is a little camera shy in this pic)

Before we left the house, I tried to snap a pic. I love him so much! 

After church we stopped by Publix for a sub and saw this dog.  He was on the back of the truck all by himself along with his pal.  How funny, he was huge! 

 I love this Sunday tradition of Publix subs.  This week any sub was $7.99 so we got the chicken tender. 

Saturday started with waking up to clouds, although the weather forecast predicted zero rain. I took a look outside and was glad that I already had my day planned to clean so it did not dampen my plans a bit.  I just needed a little extra encouragement to get the cleaning inside taken care of.  I took a 5-hour energy along with an Arizona RX energy drink and I was ready to go. 

We did end up with a tiny amount of rain on Saturday.  A very tiny, tiny bit but the clouds were numerous. 

And began the cleaning marathon.....living room, main bathroom and kitchen.

The floors were the last to be cleaned because I wanted them to dry while I was out of the house....I love clean floors.  And this brought me extreme joy! 

Is it just me or does having certain supplies make cleaning even more fun.  I bought this ocedar mop and I enjoy it.  On one side of the container/bucket it is filled with your soap and water and then the other is a wringer.  So, you put your foot on the pedal, and it spins out the water from your mop.  Also, the head of the mop is microfiber with a triangle head to get in the corners of the room better.  Obviously, the picture below was upside down.  Overall, I am happy with this mop.  O-Cedar EasyWring RinseClean Spin Mop and Bucket System, Hands-Free System - Walmart.com

This dress was so comfortable during cleaning and then I went to the movies in it.  I should have changed and worn something nicer but this was so comfortable.  It is from Walmart.  Time and Tru Women's Sleeveless Knit Dress, Sizes XS-3XL - Walmart.com

After cleaning, I immediately went to the opening weekend of Unsung Hero.  This is a movie about the music group For King and Country.  All about how they moved from Australia and formed a life around music.  There sister is Rebecca St James, who is also a Christian artist, which I never realized until this movie came out. 

Candice Cameron Bure advertised on social media that she would pay for a limited number of seats if you bought the tickets through Atom.com.  Well, I immediately signed up and received two tickets for free!  So, my tickets to see a music group I loved were entirely free.  That was amazing! 

Update on the working out has not been going well.  I have tried to keep the walking in my daily routine, but I am putting on a few pounds, so I need to step it up.  I allowed myself to start eating more junk food and now I cannot stop (pizza on Fridays, chips, donuts on Sat mornings).  That leads to wanting chocolate (especially the after Easter clearance sales).  It is snowballing.  Help! 

And last but not least...a few things on my want list.  I would love to have any of these in my backyard. 

Which one would you choose?

Either one looks great to me.  Well, that is all for now.  Have a great week!  

Friday Ramblings

 TGIF!!  Fridays are the best.  My Friday morning ritual used to be an iced latte from DD, sometimes avocado toast.  Then that changed to Chik fil a breakfast, Just a little internal acknowledgement to celebrate that the end of the week has come.  

Well, now we have the Friday Wine Tradition!  Nothing starts the weekend off right than a glass of wine and sleeping in on Saturday.  I typically don't drink wine during the week unless it has been unusually stressful. I save that for a Friday treat. 

This is a new wine I am trying today for the first time.  I tend to stick to the cheap wines; I don't even know what expensive wines taste like.  Are they good, is it worth the $20.00 or more spend?  How will I ever get these questions answered?  I would hate to pay the $20.00 and be disappointed.  

This was an unusually stressful week.  I am in customer service and all day I take inbound calls from customers about their accounts.  Which I love to talk about credit cards because I personally get so much use out of mine being a single person.  It is nice to have these cards available when I need access.  But the customers that call in, are so ill prepared to talk about their accounts.  Did they just decide right before they were about to parachute off a plane, that they wanted to call and talk about their credit card accounts?  Do we not have the credit card number?  Do we not have the correct phone number updated on the account? I am sorry I should look at it like it is a public service and I should be ready to have that response.  But I am so surprised when customers call me and they just over the phone give a blank stare because they have no information available about their account.  Sorry had to vent for a minute.  That solves nothing other than getting off my chest.  And also, the person I sit next to at work has bronchitis which I found out today that this is contagious.  I started having some phlegm come up that was different than normal, so it almost felt like I was coming down with something.  After I had covid in 2021, I have not had a cold.  My immune system has been built up a bit and also, I take turmeric daily.  Turmeric is an anti- inflammatory supplement. it is also an anti-oxidant that can help increase immunity, treat inflammation and reduce nausea. 

When I had covid, I drank the immunity shots of ginger and turmeric in the produce section daily along with 8 glasses of water. I truly think that was a big part of my healing process.  If I know someone around me has a cold, I usually try to pop in an extra Tylenol to ward off the virus as well.  So, I hope that this does not go any further than a little more phlegm increase and an occasional cough. 

Another exciting piece of news!  I found out now that two of my tires need to be replaced.  They both have slow leaks and the steel is showing through the rubber.  Why do I never take a vacation?  It is because of these things. Either I need to replace my brakes, which recently cost me $900.00, and now two of my tires need to be replaced.  No vacation at the Hyatt for me in the future.  LOL.  oh well, such is life.

 

A sense of humor helps!  

I saw this and thought this was funny! 

How funny!  Right, can we relate?!

I pray that your Friday is amazing.  Whomever that may read this, I pray that your day was good and your weekend is even better! I plan to try and get in a walk or two this weekend. I bought a 5 hour energy to get me motivated to clean the house tomorrow.  I need to do a thorough spring cleaning.  I mean dusting, mopping, all the above! I do not want to stay inside but I know my house needs my attention!  My tile floors are nasty and my carpets need vaccuming.  My house is in dire straights.  So, I will break out all the cleaning supplies and turn up the tunes and try to turn it into something fun.  

Have a great Weekend!  

No matter how bad it gets, it could always be worse.  

Sunday.

Sundays.    I love all that Sundays stand for.  Family, Church, Food and Rest!  On the Sabbath day we rest, Amen! 

This week was a productive week. Our Chairman and CEO of the company, Jamie Dimon was in town, Orlando from New York talking about the company and the projections for the upcoming year.  I was invited to go but did not feel well, I regret that I didn't make it but hopefully the opportunity will arise again in the future. I did not realize he went to Harvard.  I really enjoyed hearing all the leaders on the platform.  I was able to listen from home on zoom.

Can we talk about the heat?

Definitely heating up here in Florida with temps in the 90's.  Some of my flowers are wilting a bit in the heat so I need to do some rearranging.  Where they have been placed as far as sun exposure for the past 4 months will not hold up in the summer.  

Saturday started out with watering the lawn.  Front and Back. 

On Friday, I had bought a few flowers at the Walmart Gardenshop. 

Notice they were both only $2.00 at Walmart gardenshop.  Let's see what we can do with these babies!  I am not sure if this is a fail or not because I am not even sure what type of plant they are, but they were on clearance.  That is all I have to say about that.  Challenge is on to make these look beautiful and healthy!

I planted them on each end of the wall.  

This wall is a new place that I am going to start working on.  The center part of the wall/bed has drainage issues, so I am going to need to put plants in a pot not the actual ground.  My washer is draining in this area, and it just fills with suds (not like flooding draining but it is damp after the washer has drained).  So, until I can get a plumber, I will keep plants in the pots. I am thinking maybe garden statues can fill the middle part along with rocks.  We'll see. 

These are a few of other clearance plants I bought, and they are thriving.  

The grass like flowers were each $2.00.  They were being sold during winter so they weren't in the best condition to sell at full price.  I bought four but I should have bought them all. Now they are doing great. In the picture is also geraniums.  Some of the smaller geraniums were being sold for $2.00.  And some were from last year.   Those are also doing well.

I made a TJMaxx trip on Saturday.   My goal was to find decorative pots for my Walmart flowers.

This plain t shirt with stripes was glaring at me on the rack for 12.99 I could not resist.  I wore with my black yoga pants and was comfy on Saturday! Sometimes you just need a good basic t shirt.  It is very comfortable.

 I needed a crossbody bag to put my keys and iphone in when I walk.  Normally I would put them in my pockets (and they were so heavy) and sometimes I wear pants without pockets.  So, this was perfect!

This is a dryer pad that will go under my drying rack for my dishes. 

I really enjoy the bumblebee theme.  Here is the pad laid out. Love this! 💛

It was a great trip!  Found a lot of beautiful pots but not in the price range that I wanted to pay today, so I left empty handed in that area.  But I did stop by Big Lots and found some inexpensive pots.

Yard of the Month Goals and Tips

I am trying to lay some grass feed in hopes of filling up the bare spots in the yard. 

  I told my son I am going to put a yard of the month sign in my yard when I am done.  I have always wanted to do that.  Ha!  

Also, I finally printed out my sister's wedding pictures (from 2020) that included a few pics of my mom and dad.  I am really looking forward to getting those up on the wall.  I plan to put them on shelves, so I need to buy frames that stand not hang.  That will be fun to organize and fill some bare spaces on the dining and living room walls. 

On another note.....

Do you want to laugh? Look at these I found, they have kept me in stitches. 

Right?!  Could it be age?  Of course! 

This made me think of my son who has been sneezing a lot lately (sometimes beyond 10X, I lose count).  I totally relate to this!  

Who can relate?!  This was hilarious!  

Pearls of Wisdom 

Numbers 6: 24-26

"The Lord Bless you and keep you; 

the Lord make his face shine on you:

the Lord turn his face toward you 

and give you peace"

Have a Great Week! 

Random Musings

 First, I cannot rave enough about the Florida Sunshine this weekend.  It was in the 80's again during the day and in the 50's at night.  Perfect sleeping weather and in the daytime, it is hard to stay inside.  I just finished my 1-mile walk hoping to get some Vitamin D and tan up my skin a bit. Even though sometimes I do not feel like taking the walk I know it is good for me.  

Today on my walk I listed to a new podcast about grief.  Typically, I will listen to music that I have downloaded from Apple Tunes, but I wanted something different for my mind to listen to instead of just music.  This podcast was from Dr Alison Cook and she had a guest host.  He was a priest but also a therapist. They referred to him as a thera-priest.  He had a lot of insightful thoughts and could totally relate to loss due to his own personal experience at a young age.  Normally her podcasts are devoted to Mental health. You know this morning I was listening to a church broadcast, and they had a guest on giving the statistics on Mental Health. A lot more people have been facing mental health issues in this day in age than any other. Or maybe you just hear about it more.  I am just glad that people follow their calling so that they can share their knowledge to others that may not know what to classify their "state of mind".  or how to fix it.  There are answers people, pursue the answers.  

But I also know that grief is a totally separate category and should be treated as such. I remember hearing someone who had lost a loved one to say that sometimes just out of the blue she would start tearing up.  She said it felt like little pockets of love that she could not give.  Because the person had passed away.  And that is so true.  Grieving is hard, I have never had to deal with grief before losing my parents.  I never truly knew what it meant to experience loss.  But when you take people out of your life that walked this journey alongside you for so many years, it is an out of body experience.   Nothing that I would ever want someone to go through.  It makes you question your existence.  You know that God has a master plan and that is what keeps you pursuing the journey.  Because somewhere along the way God will show you that joy comes in the morning.  Psalm 30:5.  Keep your eyes on God, if you keep them on yourself, you will keep feeling sorry for yourself and doubting.  God wants us to remember to lean on him during times of despair.  Isaiah 43:2-3 When you walk through the waters I will be there, and through the flames.  I remember singing this hymn as a child.  

All that being said, it is okay to continue to mourn.  You loved somebody deeply and they are missing.  God knows.  He knows everything.  

Well, it is Sunday evening and that means my days of vacation are over (mini-vacay).  Back to work.

Something quick that I wanted to share, I read this blog every day, her name is mixandmatchmama.com.  I love reading her blog because it allows me to just take my eyes off of my own life for just a brief moment and be happy for her.  I am careful not to idolize and think wow she has it all because I know she doesn't post all the details of her personal life.  It is a fun blog to read and just follow along and get to hear about all the good in the world. She is a travel agent so she does travel extensively.  If you don't follow her, you should.  She is a real live person, and she lives in Mckinney, TX.  God says not to covet so I don't but wow she is one blessed lady!  

Also, this is an article I just read today.  How inspiring is this lady?  She is 65 and looks amazing!  She has been lifting weights and is really putting her best foot forward to get in the best shape of her life.  

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/i-m-a-65-year-old-bodybuilder-i-ve-never-been-more-confident/ar-BB1lBNAG?ocid=socialshare&pc=HCTS&cvid=3ab166bc10544d87a5a99c784bb6d7aa&ei=20

My Sunday night regimen is about to take place.  First, bath time.  Second, face mask for 20 minutes. And then a few minutes of screen time.   Tonight, I also had a glass of wine.  That helps too to unwind.  

Have a great week!  I hope that you take a few minutes and just take intentional time for yourself this week.  Or just dream about taking intentional time for yourself. ha!   Sirius XM has a spa channel.  Perhaps play it inside or in the car! It used to be number one on my presets in the car.  Very soothing.  

Peace, Love and all Good things! 

Friday Faves!

This post was stored in my drafts and was originally from 2011.  Great Memories at Gemini Springs in Debary.   Gemini Springs was a place you used to be able to swim at the park but now it is officially closed for swimming due to bacteria.  Can you even imagine?  It is still a great place to picnic, canoe and take pictures.  We have had several birthday parties at Gemini because of the expanse of lawns.  It really is a great place to just take a picnic and chill.  Also, they have a walking path that goes for miles. 

These pictures were taken after I had bought my new Canon Camera.  I loved having my kids be the victims of my new hobby.  James was 8 and Susan was 11.  Also my sister and my niece joined us.  What great memories to share!  Seeing the smiles on my kids' faces are definitely a Friday Favorite for me!  

Just hours away from the weekend and I am looking forward to it.  Have a great day!  

Spring is in the Air

 I hope you enjoyed the previous recipe for Lasagna!  I loved it and nearly ate every bite of it.  Well, this blog all started about 14 years ago, I actually started on a different website and lost my password, so I was unable to log in any longer. And the email address is no longer valid.  I then created this blog picking it up in the year 2012.

This page was originally started to document all the years of my kids' lives and everything in between in life that happens.  It was mainly geared for my family as the audience, just a way to keep everyone updated with family holidays and being able to have a place to upload pictures and stories of the day.  

Well one thing happened, two of my biggest fans are no longer here to update (they are now keeping the angel's company), so I have kinda slacked off, but I do feel led to update even still.  

Here is to you mom for the memory that still lives on.  

I recently bought a home! (well, actually in Dec 2022)  My first home to own alone.  I absolutely love it!  And I love the neighborhood that it is in.  There is so much work to be done; it will be an ongoing project for sure.  

One of the first big differences in the home is the living room.  The woman that lived here before me with her daughter was renting and they allowed her to paint the walls all black. (my realtor said it looked Navy to her)  I mean it was dreary! but I could see the potential even still.  here is a before pic.

Here is what several coats (more like 4 coats per wall) of paint did.  I love the way it turned out. The color is Sashay Sand by Sherwin Williams.

And here is my most fav thing to do. Curl up to the fireplace with a movie and a blanket.

I'll show you more pictures of the house soon.  Trying to make it pretty!  In time it will be all done.  But in the meantime, it keeps me busy on pinterest researching inexpensive ways to fix it up. 

Right now, since it is Spring, I have been focusing more on the outdoors and I have all the pins from pinterest.  Hoping to check them off one by one. 

Here are just a few ideas and wishes of how I would like my outdoor space to look.  

I just love pink and since I have been divorced I tend to lean towards pink a lot.  I guess I do because I can!  

I love the squared floor.  You could most certainly do this with a stencil so this is on the pinned list.

I just love the flowers and wicker furniture. So refreshing to look at.

 Sunday is the day to unwind, relax and plan for the week ahead.  I am planning to get back on track with eating right (after the week of lasagna) and hopefully being consistent and get back to walking at least 10000 steps a day.  That really helps with my energy.  The weather sure has not been disappointing this weekend. I did manage to get in over 8000 steps today. Tomorrow it is supposed to be in the 80's.  How can you not be in just the greatest of moods with that weather?

I always start my day with prayer, reading my bible study and an energy drink plus coffee.  Caffeine wakes me up, Jesus keeps me going.