October 1st Favorites

 

It has been a very busy week here, but now that it is over, it's time to look back and count the positive things that took place, and join with Susanne over at Living to Tell the Story for gratitude and Friday's Fave Five.

Parent - Teacher conferences are finished!  Monday and Tuesday were parent teacher conferences. The first night, we had to stay at school late and meet with parents in person, but the second night, we were able to meet with parents via Zoom from our homes.  In the picture, I am getting reading for the first parent meeting on Tuesday evening.  Of course the Zoom conferences were not without their technology glitches, which were stressful, and I am glad that parent - teacher conferences for fall are finished.  

New tables for my classroom - the new tables were delivered to my classroom this week.  It will be nice to have tables with wheels so that I can move them around in the room if I need to. 

New shower door - the bathroom remodel is officially finished now that our cool new shower door has been installed.  I love how this new custom European style door.  It looks great. 

Clean carpet - We don't have carpet in the upstairs of our home - only hardwood floors in the living areas and bedrooms and tile in the kitchen and bathrooms. Our basement level, however, has a lot of carpet, which hadn't been cleaned for a while.  It was on our to-do list for this summer, but we wanted to finished all of the bathroom remodeling and other renovations first. Finally, with the bathroom shower door being installed, the bathroom remodel was officially finished and Charly scheduled the downstairs carpet cleaning. We are pleased with the results and that is one more thing checked off the to-do list. 

Dental visits over - I had my six-month dental visit last week. Everything was fine except one small spot where my gums have receded that the dentist thought I was a good candidate for a small preventative filling, so the root did not get exposed. I returned the day after my check-up visit to get the filling done, and now I am good for another six months. 

More beautiful fall weather - this week was a little cloudy in spots, but overall it was a lovely, cool week of fall weather. The mornings and evenings are getting pretty chilly and fall leaves are turning the trees around here vibrant orange and gold. You can see that "my mountain" is much more orange with fall foliage than it was just a week ago. 

Long weekend - because we work two twelve hour days in a row for parent-teacher conferences, our school district gives us a "comp day" the Friday of conference week, so no school tomorrow! Charly and I have plans for a little "bonus time" together, so I will share more about that next time.  

That's all for now.  Enjoy this fall weekend and do something you love!

😊Deb💖

"Gratitude can transform common days into Thanksgivings,

turn routine jobs into joy, 

and change ordinary opportunities into blessings."

~William Arthur Ward

Fall Weekend

The weekend was a simply beautiful fall weekend.  Charly and I went out for a morning walk and it was just perfect.  This is one of the trees on our route that is beginning to turn.  

After our walk, Charly and I had quite a long "to-do" list that included putting fall fertilizer on the lawn over at our rental property. That didn't take long, so we did some other errands, including a stop to get a birthday card and gift card for our son-in-law (2nd oldest daughter's husband).  His birthday is next week.  We also got birthday cards for our  oldest son and his wife. They both have early October birthdays as well.   I got the airline tickets for our upcoming winter trip purchased, and lined up an appointment for Charly to get the recently approved Covid booster shot later in the day.  I was grateful to be able to get an appointment for Charly's booster on the first day it was available to his age group. Josh and I went along, and we both got our annual flu shots at the same pharmacy.  I got the Moderna Covid shot, so boosters for my shot have not yet been approved. Josh is too young, and he is not a front-line worker - so no booster shot for him yet.  

Josh had been wanting to try a new pizza place that he passes when he drives to and from school every day, and that sounded good to Charly and I, so we got take-out pizza from the new place called Wild Pepper Pizza. 

Pizza and green salad is my favorite Saturday night dinner.  For me it's like a treat to celebrate the weekend.  

I woke up Sunday feeling a little achy - probably from the flu shot I had on Saturday.  I also had a headache that I just couldn't seem to get rid of.  Charly had a super sore arm, from his Covid booster, and he was also taking cold chills and feeling achy.  The plan was the we would both stay home from church and listen to the service online. When I told Josh, he didn't want to go to church by himself, so I told him I was feeling well enough that I could go, and Charly could stay home and rest.  I was so glad I decided to go to church. The messages in our main service (Sacrament Meeting) were sooo good today.  Josh helped with the sacrament (communion) and it always makes my mom heart happy to see my son stepping up to help at church.  After the main service, I went to the women's class (Relief Society) and there was a wonderful lesson and discussion there as well, so I left church after the meetings with my heart and spirit full.  Josh had a meeting after church, so I left the car with him and walked the block and a half to our home.  It was a beautiful fall afternoon.

Once I was home from church, I had a little lunch, then I was so tired that I decided to lay down on my bed for a little Sunday afternoon nap.  I napped longer than I usually do, but it was exactly what I needed. 

Sunday dinner was slow-cooker fajitas, which were pretty good.  The meat in mine fell apart so my fajita isn't a pretty as the one shown in the cookbook. 

Here is the recipe.  I would definitely make these again. 

The recipe came from this cookbook that I got at a thrift store some years back.   I've used quite a few of the recipes in it because I'm all about quick and easy in the kitchen. 

I went for a shorter-than-usual walk by myself after dinner, since Charly was still not feeling 100%. This flower garden is just down the street from my house and it looked so beautiful tonight.  The flowers like the cooler fall weather. 

This  Sunday was a truly beautiful fall day.  This is "my mountain" tonight as seen during my evening walk. If you look close, you can see the orange of fall leaves on the mountain.  Tonight, the plan is to read and relax, because the week ahead is going to be a busy one. 

Coming up this week:

Monday - Parent - Teacher Conferences - in person at school, so I won't get home until after 7 p.m..

Tuesday - Virtual Parent - Teacher Conferences - we can use our laptops at home for these, but again, my day won't be finished until at least 7 p.m..

Tuesday - Basement carpet being cleaned in the afternoon.

Wednesday - Dentist appointment - check - up and cleaning - after school.

Friday - Comp. day - so no school.  The plan is to do something fun and interesting with Charly.  More on that later.  

Meal plan this week - I have no meal plan for this week.  I told Charly and Josh that because of parent-teacher conferences and a late afternoon dentist appointment, dinner will be "serve yourself."  Anything in the freezer, refrigerator or on pantry shelves is fair game.  Josh will probably get DoorDash.  

That's all for now.  Have a good week.  

😊Deb💙

"Keep your face toward sunshine 

and the shadows will fall behind you."

~Walt Whitman

 

Simple September Gratitude

It's Friday of another week filled with simple blessings and goodness.  Here are some of things I am most thankful for when I look back at the past few days.  I am linking once again with Susanne and other simply thankful bloggers over at Living to Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five. 

A new battery - after my car wouldn't start a few weeks ago, and I had to call AAA, I had the feeling that the battery was going out or something else was wrong. The car always started, but it just didn't sound or feel right when it did.  After school on Monday, I told Charly that we really needed to have the car checked so I didn't end up stranded after school again. We took it to our neighborhood mechanic (aptly called Jones Complete Car Care) and found out that yes, the battery was going out (even though the AAA tow truck driver said it wasn't). I am grateful that we were able to get the battery replaced quickly and I avoided having the car not start when I really need it to. 

New pantry doors - This is the pantry closet by my back door.  When we moved in here, it had one bi-fold door, which I didn't like. Not only to bi-fold doors pinch fingers, this one was always coming off the track.  The hinges would also loosen with use, and then the door would literally fall apart.  Last time the door fell off, Charly got the great idea of taking the old bi-fold door, removing the hinges and attaching each side of the dorr separately so that the door opened in the middle.  That's just what we did, with a lot of help from the contractor who did our bathroom, who is a skilled carpenter.  These are my "new" pantry doors which the contractor repainted and brought back and hung today.  They look and work great and no more pinched fingers! He did the same for the bi-fold doors on our back coat closet.  I love it!

 

Fall - It's officially fall, which is the season of my birthday, and probably my favorite season of all! The temperatures have cooled and there is crispness in the air.  The leaves are starting to turn.  This is tree near my home and you can see that some of the leaves near the top are starting to turn orange.  We have a lot of trees in our neighborhood, and I look forward to seeing their bright and lovely fall colors!

Flannel jammies - With fall comes cooler temperatures, which, after living for 16 years in Arizona heat, I don't mind at all.  Our temperatures dropped significantly at the first part of the week, so I got out my flannel jammies for the first time in months.  I have found that I don't sleep well when I am cold, so I was grateful for the extra warmth, and softness these jammies provided.

Walking weather - early fall also brings lovely walking weather. This week, Charly and I had blue skies,  temperatures in the 70s,  and light pleasant breezes for our walks late afternoon and evening evening walks. 

Another class - I started two more online classes.   I am working on one at school during my prep period and the other one, an online course from Hillsdale College, I am doing at home. Charly has been listening to the lectures with me every night, and it is so enjoyable to learn something new and discuss it with my husband. The Hillsdale class I am taking is on philosophy and theology - so interesting and so deep.  I love learning!

Another good book - I found this mystery/thriller on the shelf outside of our city library where donated and weeded books are sold for 50 cents.  I started this book late last week, so I am not reading it super fast (and it has been a busy week) but the story has started to pick up and get good and my plan is to finish it before the end of the month (so it will be included in my month-end review).  I am grateful that I have multiple libraries close to my home, where I can check out and buy books (cheap). 

Those are some of the things on my gratitude list this week.  Thanks for stopping by to visit and say hello.  Have a great weekend!

😊Deb💛

"Autumn is the season to find contentment at home

by paying attention to what we already have."

~Anon.

 

Mid-September Weekend

Friday was a teacher professional development day, and students were not at school.  We had meetings and training all morning, then in the afternoon we had planning time in our classrooms.  Behavior of students in my classes was somewhat improved last week, but overall, the school was dealing with lots of craziness including theft and vandalism as part the "Devious Licks" challenge on TikTok.  If you don't know what "Devious Licks" or TikTok is, you can read about it here.  We all hope that this destructive fad runs its course and disappears soon. 

The weather and temperatures on Friday were just beautiful.  Charly and I took an evening walk, and the almost full moon was rising over the eastern mountains. If you it wasn't yet dark, but if you look closely, you can see the moon.  It was a lovely evening. 

Charly and I have been listening to the audiobook of Still Life by Louise Penny, when we walk or drive. We finished it Friday night.  Overall, I liked the book, although it did drag and was confusing in parts.  I will have a more detailed review when I do my end of the month reading round-up.  

Saturday morning dawned cloudy and rainy.  So much for the hike I had hoped to do. Muddy trails with puddles do not make hiking fun. Rain is always good around here though, and you can see how green the lawn is.

The flowers and plants like rainy days.  The flowers in front of our house are still bright and beautiful as fall approaches. 

I started a new online class - this one is called "Introduction to Western Philosophy."  I listen to the lectures on my computer, then take a quiz about each lecture.  I know that Charly is quite interested in philosophy so I asked him if he wanted to listen to the lectures of this class with me, and he said he did, so Saturday morning we sat together on the couch and and listened to the first lecture together. 

I met up with my friend, Lara, for lunch on Saturday.  It was her birthday last month, and I totally spaced it out, so lunch was my birthday treat for her.  I had a steak and cheese sandwich and Southwest potato and green chili soup  - all of which was delicious.  

I also baked banana bread Saturday afternoon, something that I haven't done for a while.  This was a new-to-me recipe that using maple syrup instead of sugar or honey.  It sounded good and it was good.

Sunday morning, I got up and put our Sunday dinner (Easy Beef Stroganoff - see recipe below) in the slower cooker. It was a cloudy morning that turned into a sunny, yet windy afternoon. Our church was a conference of several congregations, so Josh went to the meeting in person and Charly and I set up my laptop on the piano stool and watched the service online.  After church, Charly and I took our daily walk.  When we got back, I did some indexing of records from Toronto, Canada and the states of Georgia and Wisconsin.  Later, Charly and I listened to another lesson from the online philosophy class I am taking. 

Sunday dinner was beef stroganoff over white rice, roasted butternut squash, steamed broccoli and Italian bread.  It was good and even after seconds, there was enough leftover for Monday's dinner as well. 

Here's the super easy, slow-cooker recipe. 

After dinner, I went for another little walk, by myself, around our neighborhood. You can see how grey and cloudy the day had become.  I liked how the light was still shining on the mountain in this picture though.  The temperatures had fallen so much that I needed to wear a jacket on my evening walk.

I am back now from my walk.  My shower is done and my jammies are on.  As soon as post this, I plan to spend the rest of the evenings with these two books - a Christian nonfiction and another suspense mystery book.  

Goals for this Week:

• weekly house cleaning - finished by Tuesday
• turn in paperwork to HR verifying completion of another online class toward salary increase
• do at least five more lessons in the current online class
• to a better job of planning meals and keeping the grocery list current
• read at least 20 minutes every day

Meal Plan for this Week:

• Monday - leftovers of Sunday's Beef Stroganoff
• Tuesday - Tacos
• Wednesday - P.F. Chang's Chicken Lo Mein bowls (the frozen kind - I have no idea if they are any good, but they were on sale at the store and Charly wanted to give them a try. 
• Thursday - Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
• Friday - Fish sticks and macaroni and cheese

That's all for now. Have a great week!

😊Deb💙

 

Good Things of Another Week

It's the end of another week and time to look back and remember the good things that took place.  Thanks to Susanne over at Living to Tell the Story for once again hosting Friday's Fave Five. 

A new semester - Josh started his fall semester classes on Monday.  After this semester, he will only have one more class remaining before he can graduate from Ensign College with his Associates degree.  This little college has literally been a Godsend for our son. He plans to transfer to a four-year-university to compete his Bachelor's degree.  

Church barbeque - we attended our annual church barbeque.  There was plenty of good food and it was a nice evening of fellowship. 

Another book - I finished this mystery/suspense/thriller. It's a good one. I will review it in my monthly reading wrap-up. 

Good counsel - after last Saturday's email from my son-in-law about he and my daughter divorcing, Charly and I decided to talk to a our family counselor about the situation and how to best handle things - especially with my daughter's distance.  I am grateful for a good, Christian, licensed marriage and family therapist who can give us the perspective and advice needed in difficult family situations.  Navigating life with adult children and grandchildren can be much more complicated than I ever dreamed it would be.  I don't think that seeking good counsel is in any way a sign of weakness.  On the contrary, it is often a wise thing to do. 

Kind friends - I have struggled a bit this week since hearing the news about my oldest daughter, but I appreciate the kindness of friends near and far.  I have received kind comments on my blog and emails and texts from blog friends, and a lovely bouquet of pink carnations from a friend here in my neighborhood (the rose came from Charly).  It is so great to have people who care reach out and let me know that I am not alone. Thank you so much for all of your kindness to me!  As I always say, bloggers are the kindest people and best friends anywhere, and I feel blessed to be a part of this community!

Those are some of  the good things from this week.  Hope your week has been a good one as well. 

😊Deb💙

"Friendship is the comfort of knowing that even when you feel alone, you aren't."

~ Anon.

 

"Mixed Bag" September Weekend

This was an up and down weekend. The weather was nice, and we had some needed rain, but read on and you will see that for so many reasons, this was not my favorite weekend ever. 

Friday was NOT a good day at school.  The students were restless, rude and not well behaved or on-task.  Many teachers are experiencing the same things.  Covid dismissals and online learning was not good for student behavior. I was exhausted at the end of the school day.  I decided that a "comfort food" dinner would be just right, so for me that was red beans and rice, green salad and fresh peaches.  

Saturday morning, I woke up to an email from my son-in-law, husband of my oldest daughter and father of these five beautiful grandkids of mine.  His email contained some very sad and troubling news that my daughter had not told me about.  This daughter, very sadly decided to distance herself from my husband and I a couple of year ago.  We don't know why she made this decision, but it has broken our hearts.  Still we love her and our grandchildren and will keep reaching out.  God's got this!  The good news is that everyone in the family is in good health.  I had been so worried about these grandchildren during Covid, especially since my grandson survived brain cancer five years ago when he was six.  The sad news is that my son-in-law told me that he and my daughter are divorcing after sixteen years of marriage.  This wasn't completely unexpected, but still very sad.  We are praying hard for this little family - that God will watch over them, give them what they need and bring them through this. 

With the news about my daughter, my spirit felt as cloudy and gray as the sky when Charly and I started out on our two-mile, morning walk.  We had not gone more than half a mile when the rain started. 

This is our patio garden during Saturday morning's rain.  The rain last well into the afternoon. 

Although Charly had finished out main grocery shopping during the week, we had to pick up a few things at another store.  

We were home most of the day Saturday, which suited me just fine.  We had lasagna with spinach salad and garlic bread for dinner.  It was good. 

Charly and I finally got our full two-mile walk in after dinner on Saturday.  It was a cool and lovely evening. The flag in our community was flying at half-staff in honor of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2021.  I did not watch any news or 9/11 commemoration shows this weekend.  I couldn't.  I was nowhere near New York City, Washington D.C. or Shanksville, Pennsylvania that day, but the attack our nation suffered that day still seems real and raw to me.  It is a national wound and heartbreak that will never heal completely.  I will never forget.

Sunday morning, I was happy to see a hummingbird at the feeder in the backyard.  I hadn't seen many hummingbirds since we got home from Colorado, and I thought that perhaps they had flown south for the winter already, but at least a few, like this one, is still around.  Hummingbirds make my day when I see them and hear their tiny squeaky chirps.

Charly and I took our walk in the morning because our church services don't begin until 11:30 a.m.. We have been listening to the audiobook of Still Life by Louise Penny as we walk.  We also listened to it in the car while we were driving home from Colorado last week.  It's a good mystery. We are enjoying it. 

We went to church as usual. I chose to walk home from church after the service because it was such a beautiful, peaceful afternoon.  We only live about a block and a half from our church building, and it was a perfect day.  

After getting home from church, I took a nap, because I have been so tired since we got home from Colorado. The nap helped. When I got up, I did some indexing of military and tax records - some records as old as 1886. 

Sunday dinner was country fried steak, steamed broccoli, sauteed asparagus and mashed potatoes with country gravy.  Again, comfort food was just what I needed this weekend. 

I was pleased to see a hummingbird at the feeder again in the evening, so I refilled the feeder with fresh nectar. 

Walking helps me think and usually lifts my spirits, so I asked Josh to go for an evening walk with to me the temple grounds.  We weren't the only ones enjoying the park-like grounds of the temple this Sunday evening.  It was a beautiful evening to walk, and we had a nice conversation.  My youngest son is wise beyond his years and a blessing to our family. 

Now, as I post this, I am winding up the day and getting ready for tomorrow.  Here's what is coming up for us this week:

Monday - Josh starts fall semester in college.  

Monday - Glass company coming do final measure for the custom shower door which will be the finishing touch on our bathroom remodel. 

Monday - My birth mom's 82nd birthday.  I have already sent a card and gift and called to wish her a happy birthday.

Tuesday - Our church barbeque.  We are planning to attend.  

Friday - Professional development day at school.  No students in attendance.  Meetings and classes for teachers all day.  

Saturday - Lunch with a friend. 

That's all for now.  

😔Deb💔

"When sore trials come upon us, it's time to deepen our faith in God, to work hard, and to serve others.  Then He will heal our broken hearts.  He will bestow upon us personal peace and comfort."

~Russell M. Nelson