The Weekend at the End of February

 

Friday afternoon, I got home from school a little early.  I rested and then Charly and I walked outside.  It was gray and cloudy and colder on Friday than it had been all work.

It was also breezier than it had been other days this week.  

Friday night after dinner, I got online and got our flights booked for our summer vacation in Washington D.C..  We also have our time-share condo booked for  the trip. Now we just need to get Charly and Josh vaccinated and hope that things are good enough with Covid that we can go through with our plans.  The trip is planned for the end of summer so we have hoping everything will be OK by then.  We decided to go to Washington D.C. because we all enjoy history and there is a lot of important history there to see and experience.  

Saturday it was gray and cloudy and snowed off and on all day until late afternoon when the sun came out.  

First thing Saturday morning, I called the hair salon I like and made an appointment.  I was able to get right in, so went over and got my hair cut.  I hadn't had a haircut since I went back to school in August and I was feeling really shaggy.  I decided not to go super short again.  The stylist I had used before had left the salon, but I was very pleased with the haircut I got from the new stylist.  I think he did a good job and I was happy to get my haircut and lose my shaggy look. 

After I got home from my haircut, Charly and I went for our walk. It was snowing all during our walk.  Later, I walked again with Josh.  It was snowing even harder then. Josh had an assignment for one of his college classes that was he had to take his heart rate before exercise, then again after exercise and he chose a walk as his exercise.  He is taller than me and he walks fast, so I really have to work to keep up with him.  Although it snowed most of the day, it didn't stick to the roads and sidewalks. 

Charly and I had our usual Saturday lunch date to McDonalds.  We also had free drink coupons to Swig, which is a soda shop.  Charly got a soda. I got a hot chocolate to go with my lunch. 

For Saturday dinner, I made a taco casserole. 

We had French bread and green salad with the Taco bake and it was all delicious. 

After dinner, Charly and I went to Big Lots and Dollar Tree to get a few things.  Back home, we watched little TV and then read before bed.  

Saturday night, I finished my fifth book for February. That is a new one month record for me.  It was an excellent little nonfiction book, called Tears to Triumph by Marianne Williamson. These are all of the books I finished in February - three nonfiction and two fiction books. 

Sunday morning, after breakfast, Josh went off to church in person and Charly and I watch our church service on Zoom.  It was truly a "day of rest" for us. I spent the afternoon indexing, reading, and napping.  

Charly and I took our walk in the late afternoon.  Although we had a light coating of snow when we woke up, by Sunday afternoon the sun was out and the sky was blue, with a few clouds. 

Sunday dinner was meatloaf, mashed potatoes, asparagus and French bread.  After dinner, Charly and I watched a little TV, and an episode of The Chosen as I finished this post.  It was a relaxing end to a relaxing day.  

Coming up this week:

• Tomorrow is a new month - the month of spring!! Temperatures will be spring-like too with highs in the 50s most day and up to 60 by the weekend.  No rain or snow is expected.  
• Charly will (hopefully) be getting his first Covid vaccine on Tuesday.  
• We have three family birthdays this week - my brother-in-law and son-in-law both celebrate birthdays on March 5 and my little granddaughter, Ashley, will be three on March 6.  Unfortunately, we won't be able to celebrate with any of these people, but they will be in our thoughts. 
• Other than that, we expect (and hope for) a pretty normal week.

Thanks for stopping by for visit. Come back again soon. Enjoy the coming week.  

~Deb💗

Favorites of the Last Week of February

It's already the end of February.  Sounds cliche, I know, but the weeks do seem to fly by. Here we are at the end of another one.  It is time to link again with Susanne and other grateful and positive bloggers of at Living to Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five. 

Sick day - I did not sleep well Sunday night - in fact pretty much did no sleep at all.  Very early in the morning, I decided to just take a sick day, got up and put in for a sub.  Later in the morning, Josh had a flat tire, Charly wasn't home, and Josh had to borrow my car to get to school. If I had not been at home sick, he would have had no way to get to school, and might have missed his class.  I am grateful I had the sick time so I could take a day off, and Josh had a car at home to borrow so he could get to class. 

Covid vaccine appointment take 2 - Yes, Charly had an appointment to get his first Covid Vaccine on Monday of this week.  Our Governor, made a big fan fair last week of saying that people 65 and older could get their vaccines as of Feb. 17.  On that day, right after his press conference, I jumped online and made an appointment for Charly. Three days later, the health department of our country changed the rules and said that appointments would only be made based on birth year  - so 1951 birth year could make appointments one day, 1952 the next, 1953 the next and so on.  Charly's birth year's appointment day was Monday, but Charly already had an appointment for Monday, so we thought, that's great.  No so. When Charly got to the vaccine venue, he was turned away because while Monday was his APPOINTMENT DAY, the VACCINE DAY could not be before Tuesday! His confirmed appointment was not honored and he was told to go home and make another appointment.  If this sounds confusing, it was and SO FRUSTRATING!! Charly came home Monday without his first vaccine. We were able to reschedule, but he could not get another appointment until next Tuesday, March 2. Again, frustrating.  At least he is rescheduled and should be good to go this time, if the rules don't change again.  We are grateful he could get another appointment and are praying that he will not be turned away a second time. 

More flowers from my guy - because he knows how much I love fresh flowers, Charly came home from the store a couple of days ago with these beautiful, long-lasting carnations. I do love having fresh flowers in my home.  They make me so happy. 

Resting time - when my children were little, we always had "resting time" in the afternoon.  It was a time that we snuggled and read stories and took a few minutes to catch our breath after a busy morning. Of course, the kids are all grown, but the past few days, I have been taking a little "resting time" myself, in the afternoon when I get home - just  few minutes to put my feet up and close my eyes, or read a few pages, before I start dinner and the other evening chores. I think I will make this part of my  daily routine. 

A good book recommended by a good friend - I finished this excellent thriller this week.  It was recommended by my friend Faith over at Gold in the Clouds.  If you want a riveting, page-turner of a  read that will keep you up late because you will just have to finish it, this is the book for you.  Thanks for the excellent book recommendations, Faith.

Getting ready for summer travel - We are taking a leap of faith that the pandemic will be under control enough by summer that we can do a little traveling.  Our go-to airline is having an airfare sale this week, so we are planning to get our tickets booked. Even though vacation is still months off, it feels so good to think about getting away for a bit.

There you have it - my favorite things about this past week.  Thanks for stopping by to share a bit about my life and week.  Enjoy your weekend!  I will leave you with these wise words from a book I am currently reading - Tears to Triumph by Marianne Williamson.

"If a person we're talking about wouldn't be glad to hear what we're saying about them, then we probably shouldn't be saying it."

~Deb💜

Take Time Tuesday

 

It's Take Time Tuesday and I am joining with Faith over at Gold in Clouds to intentionally slow down and take time to notice the simple pleasures in my day.

This morning, on my way into school, I noticed that there was beautiful sunrise in the east, so I stopped just a moment, took a picture and took time to enjoy God's handiwork. 

Later, after an exhausting school day, I took time to put my feet up and read a couple of chapters in a really good book.  I did actually put my head back and I took time for a short nap, too, which felt wonderful and refreshing.  

After dinner, I took time to take care of my health by working out. 

I walked both outside and inside and achieved all of my exercise goals for today, as measured by my Apple Watch.  

I hope you are also taking the time to care for yourself physically, mentally and spiritually.  Thanks for stopping by.  See you again soon.

~Deb💛

Busy Weekend

Friday was online learning day, so I worked all day in my classroom by myself, grading, planning, answering emails and posting lessons. 

I  do like having Fridays for grading and planning with students at home learning online. 

In the afternoon, I finished writing and mailed. some political action postcards I have been working on.  A friend of mine, who is retired and works on a lot of political action projects, got me interested in doing this.  This is my second batch of postcards,  the purpose of which is to keep people informed about what their congressional representatives are doing and how they are voting.  

Friday was a gray and cloudy day, but Charly and I did our usual walk after I got home from school.

On Saturday morning, Josh and I went to a local urban park, Memory Grove, Where there is a stream, City Creek,  that runs by a lovely hiking trail we have hiked before.  We weren't there to hike, but for Josh to do a homework assignment for his science class.  

I wanted to hike a bit, but Josh had other things on his to-do list, and needed to leave as soon as he got the pictures he needed for his science assignment.  It started to snow a bit just as we were leaving.

The park is near the Utah State Capitol.  There are a couple of nearby hiking trails that we enjoy, so I am sure we will return there soon.

The rest of Saturday was very busy. Charly and I had do some shopping, and errand running.  We drove out to the Mountain America Expo Center, which is where Charly is supposed to go get his Covid vaccine on Monday. Charly wanted to make sure he knew exactly where he is supposed to go.

Another thing on my Saturday to-do list was cleaning out our back coat closet.  I have needed to clean out this closet for a while, so it really feels good to have it done. 

I also reorganized our shoes in this shoe rack. We take our shoes off when we come in the house, and they were usually left on the floor by the back door.  When I cleaned out the closed, I took this shoe rack out and put it by the door so we can take our shoes off, but also keep them neater and off of the floor. It looks better and makes me feel more organized.  

I made hamburger stew for Saturday evening dinner.

I got the recipe from my blog friend Kathy's Youtube Vlog, Kathy's Happy Home. It was excellent and there were leftovers! Win-win!

Sunday morning, I got up and read my scriptures and did my Come Follow Me study.  

Charly and I watched church on Zoom.   Josh attended church in person.  He likes attending church in person.  After church, I watched Sunday School on Zoom while I indexed military records from the 1930s. I surpassed my indexing goal for the month.

Charly and I enjoyed another walk Sunday afternoon.  It was a beautiful sunny day. 

Sunday dinner was baked chicken and fried rice with fresh steam broccoli.  The fried rice is another recipe from Kathy's Happy Home vlog.  It was excellent.  

I did some reading this weekend, in these three excellent books.  Tears to Triumph and All Things New are both nonfiction and The New Husband is a creepy mystery/thriller.  I am enjoying all three.  

That was our weekend.  Hope yours was good. Thanks for stopping by.  See you again soon.  Have a great week!

~Deb 💚

 

Friday's Best of the Week

Time once again to look at some of the best things this week brought.  Joining with Susanne and friends over at Living to Tell the Story for this week's Friday's Fave Five.

Unexpected Snail Mail - unexpected mail is always a treat.  I got this sweet Valentine with a scripture card inside (my new favorite bookmark) from my good blogging friend Faith over at Gold in the Clouds.  

Snow and Safe Travels - We finally got some snow! The mountains around here got up to four feet over two days and roads were closed to some ski resorts due to avalanche danger.  We are grateful for the snow, because we need the water, but boy the roads were icy and slick Wednesday morning.   I was actually about an hour late getting work because the roads were so bad.  It took about 30 minutes to make the usually 12 minute drive, but I got there safely.  Josh also got to work safely and Charly was able to stay put in the warm house for the day. I am grateful for the snow and also for safe travels. 

Clearing Skies - With all that snow in the morning, Skies cleared up in the afternoon and we saw had sunshine and blue skies in time to walk. Thursday was also clear, but more rain and snow is expected tomorrow and over the weekend.

Vaccine Appointment for Charly - Yesterday, our new governor here in Utah, Spencer Cox, announced that vaccinations are going so well that the age for vaccine eligibility has now been lowered from over 70 to over 65.  When I got the alert on my phone at school, I immediately got online, and after several attempts, was able to get an appointment for Charly to  have his first vaccine this coming Monday, February 22.  I am so far kind of impressed with our new governor.  Just since he took office, and through his efforts, Utah has gone from 39th in the nation on vaccine distribution to 4th in the nation.  Pretty good.  

Our Grandson the Eagle Scout - Thursday night, our oldest grandson, Miles, got his Eagle Scout award in a Zoom Court of Honor.  We were happy to be able to participate, and we are very proud of our grandson.  He is the third Eagle Scout in our family.  Both of our sons - Alex and Josh are also Eagle Scouts. This Court of Honor brought back lots of memories.  

Lent - I am not Catholic, and the church I belong to doesn't officially celebrate Lent, but I am Christian and I like the idea of giving something up for Lent to focus on spiritual, physical and mental well-being. In the spirit of Lent, I have decided to give up Facebook for a while. I am not deleting my account, but I am taking some time off.

A Sad Note (Not a Favorite) - I am ending this post on a very sad note. The man in this picture is the bishop (pastor) of the church congregation I attend.  We found out Wednesday that he died Tuesday night.  We are in shock! So sad!  He was only 62 and seemed to be in good health. As of last night, the cause of death had not been determined. He conducted our church service on Sunday and on Tuesday night he passed.  He was such a nice, gentle, kind, compassionate man and, like I said, we are in complete shock and disbelief that he is gone.  He was so good to our family since we have been attending his congregation.  He made a special connection with our son Josh because they both attended the same small Christian College in Salt Lake City.  We will truly miss having this man as our bishop and our friend and thank God that we were able to know him.  Prayers for his wife and family - children and grandchildren.  Life is so fragile and so precious.

With that I will say so long for now.  Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe and well. 

~Deb 💙

 

Take Time Tuesday

 It's a busy Tuesday, but I am not too busy to join with my good friend Faith, over at Gold in the Clouds for Take Time Tuesday. 

After getting home from work this afternoon, I took the time to walk in a snowstorm.  It was quiet and lovely and really quite enjoyable.  

Later, after a warm and tasty dinner, I plan to take time to do some reading.  

I am right in the middle of these two excellent and interesting books. 

Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope you are taking some time to relax and enjoy this day. Be good to yourself. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

~Deb 💙