Tuesday, June 30, 2020

When I Am Overwhelmed It Can Cause Creative Paralysis


During the late morning hours yesterday, I made a homemade Lemon Tart. I don't usually make these because it's very time consuming, but it's one of Lisa's favorite desserts. I wanted to surprise her because she totally deserves it. I also needed a little distraction.

Monday, June 29, 2020

More Changes On The Horizon. But. We've Got This.


In February, life drastically changed for our entire family. On February 19th, we bought a house. On February 22nd, we moved. On February 23rd, we turned in the keys to the apartment we rented for almost 8 years. Then, less than a month later, our state began shutting down because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Saturday, June 27, 2020

A Request For An Iced Coffee


I'm not going to lie. I am not a fan of "chain" restaurant iced coffees. I used to be about 20 years ago. I couldn't get enough of it. But now. No. It has all changed. And, recently I realized it changed for Lisa too.

Friday, June 26, 2020

I Never Get Photos Like This, But...


It's Friday. Finally. What a long and busy week. I'm currently working on several projects for our home in the Bodacious DIY Dog Mom Project Workshop. Lisa is drafting out the plans for a DIY entertainment stand for our main living room. We want to purchase more flowers for our front yard. And, we need to get a bigger planting pot for our indoor lemon tree. 

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Happy Gotcha Days. Happy Birthdays.


Every year, we celebrate our kid's Gotcha Days. I take a ton of photos. We buy and/or make them gifts. I take tons of photos. It's always a big deal. This year, something different happened. 

Monday, June 22, 2020

The Baby Tufted Titmouse That Could. And, It Did.


Lisa took a couple of vacation days last week. Yep. A 4 day weekend. Early Thursday morning she ventured out to do grocery shopping. After we put the groceries away, she relaxed for a bit before heading outdoors to mow the lawn and add more flowers to our front yard. While she tackled outdoor work, I prepped a gourmet meal and dessert for Carol's visit the following day

Sunday, June 21, 2020

I Do It For The Kids


When I shop online at Kohls for needed items, the first thing Lisa says to me is, "We don't need anymore throw blankets or pillows." Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic when we occasionally shopped in-store, I'd run my fingers over plush throw blankets while Lisa gave me the look and said, "We have more than enough." It's a standing joke and has been for many years.

Saturday, June 20, 2020

I'll Stick With The Marketplace For Now


I have mentioned many, many times that Lisa and I love to frequent yard sales and flea markets during the late Spring, Summer, and Fall seasons. We are always on the lookout for unique pieces to fix, restore, and give new life to. Some pieces we offer up for grabs. The rest, we keep. This year, it's been a little wonky because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Friday, June 19, 2020

We Finally Had A "Lunch And Tour Date" With Carol


In April of 2019, we finally met Carol. We had her over for dinner. She's a very special lady that I had corresponded with for a while. She's a friend of a friend. An elder. Wise. Funny. A vibrant personality. Honest. Candid. All of our kids adored her too. 

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

We Are Hunkering Down For Our 3 Day Fourth of July Weekend


If you're just tuning in, in February we bought a house. We moved a few days after the closing date. Prior to buying a house, we rented the bottom unit of a 2 family home for almost 8 years. We were settled and had close friendships with a lot of our neighbors. One of the many great things about that is we could walk across the street either way to enjoy gatherings and festivities. Our home was always within eyesight.

Tuesday, June 16, 2020

Try Something New. Challenge Yourself.


On Saturday, I made homemade berry turnovers using puff pastry. I used fresh berries. When cooled, I topped them with my vanilla buttercream drizzle. This was kind of a big deal because up until Saturday if we had a hankering for puff pastry turnovers, we bought them. Pepperidge Farm. Bake and serve. There was a reason for this. 

Monday, June 15, 2020

We Finally Have The End Tables That We Have Wanted


At our old home that we rented for almost 8 years, we never had matching end tables in the living room. That was okay because our end tables were pieces that Lisa and I had bought at yardsales and refinished. They were gorgeous and still are. When we moved into the house we bought in February, we continued to use them as end tables in one of our two living rooms. However. I had something else in mind. 

Saturday, June 13, 2020

Once Upon A Cherry Tree


Shortly after buying our house back in February, I was chatting with one of the old owners. We were discussing the yards and the landscape and the abundance of fruit trees and bushes. That's when we learned that one of the fruit trees was a cherry tree. It's located in one of our backyards. The small one. Rather close to our screened-in back porch. As in less than 2 feet away. It is taller than our house and quite large.

Thursday, June 11, 2020

What You Will And Will Not See Us Doing


Our state is heading into phase 2 of reopening after closing down in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There are a lot of restrictions still and masks are mandatory at a lot of locations, but people will finally be able to get their nails done and eat a meal inside of a restaurant. Most people are excited and lining up, however, Lisa and I will continue to live as we have over the past few months with a few exceptions.

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Our Store Bought List Got A Little Shorter Today...


If you've kept up with this blog or you're a friend on my personal Facebook page, you are well aware that I've been spending a lot more time in the kitchen over the past few years. My goal has been to cross more items off our "store-bought" list such as bread, pizza crust, pie crust, spaghetti sauce, ice cream, salad dressing, marinades, tortillas, etc. So far, it has been a success. However, I'm still working on it.

Sunday, June 7, 2020

We Never Planted Our Strawberries Last Year. That Was A Good Thing.


We all love strawberries. Lisa. Our kids. Myself. Last Spring, we purchased quite a few strawberry plants. We had every intention of creating a small strawberry patch on the side lawn. We had permission from our "landlord." We knew we would not get strawberries that year. That was fine. We just wanted to create a patch for the following Spring/Summer. 

Saturday, June 6, 2020

We No Longer Take The Simple Pleasure Of Stocking Up On Our Favorite Snacks For Granted


I am a Work at Home Dog Mom. I get up at 4 a.m. Monday through Friday to make Lisa breakfast and her work lunch. I don't eat breakfast. I only eat breakfast on the weekends when Lisa is home, or when she's on vacation, and that consists of a tiny portion of what I make and Lisa eats. And, we sit at the table and play Yahtzee. It's all about tradition.

Friday, June 5, 2020

I Lost 10 Years Worth Of Work, But...


I took this selfie during the Summer of 2010. I was living out of state. At the time, I was working from home. A remote employee for a large media company. I had been working from home for well over a year for a smaller company before the large media company bought it out.

Thursday, June 4, 2020

Our Birdbath Is Faded, Chipped, And Cracked. That's Okay. We Still Love It.


We had a massive heatwave back in July of 2013. Hazy. Hot. Humid. The heat index was over 100. It was disgusting and swampy. We had both of our air conditioners blasting. Dinners consisted of sandwiches and salads because I wasn't going to turn the oven on. One afternoon during this heatwave, Lisa sent me a text when she arrived home from work. 

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Sometimes You Have To Let Go In Order To Move On...


One of the hardest things about buying a house and moving out of your neighborhood is realizing the authenticity of friendships. Or, the lack of. We moved into the home we rented back in July of 2012. We made friends with quite a few of our neighbors. Over the years, we became close friends. Some of those friends became like family to us. 

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

The Raw Moments Can Distract You From The Madness In The World


Lisa had to work an oddball schedule yesterday and today. That meant not having to be to work until 10 a.m. We got to sleep in until 7 a.m. We were pretty much on a weekend schedule. I made Lisa's breakfast while Lisa made our kids their breakfast. After everyone was fed, I snuck into our home office to check emails and such. 

Monday, June 1, 2020

Appearance! Content! Photos! Oh My!


Last month I wrote a blog column addressing an email that an old friend of mine had sent me. It was an email that got my brain spinning light a hamster wheel. It kept me awake at night. Even after I published the blog column, it's been at the forefront of my brain. I have reflected. I talked about it with Lisa. I have made some decisions. I am focused. I have a direction. All in all, I'm quite excited about all of this.