Memorial Day Weekend

How was your weekend?  Here is a recap of our Memorial Day Weekend, minus Memorial Day. 

Friday was our usual "online day" at school.  After taking Thursday off as a sick day, I was back as usual on Friday.  I worked alone in my room most of the day, grading all the student work which had been turned in on Thursday, which was the deadline for students to turn in assignments.  It was a productive Friday at work.  I also got more of my classroom cabinets packed up and ready for the move to the new building. All that is really left to pack up are the things in my desk drawers. 

Saturday was our "visit the graves" day. Charly and I started this tradition when we moved back to Utah and actually had family graves in the area to visit.  We started out with my maternal grandparents graves, which is in a town to the north of here.  We then went to the cemetery where my parents and paternal grandmother are buried and took flowers and flags to their graves.  I also discovered, quite by accident, that my aunt and uncle (my dad's sister and her husband) were buried very near to my parents.  I am not sure how I didn't know this before happening on their grave yesterday.  Charly's parents and uncle are buried in a different part of the same cemetery, so we visited and took flowers to them as well.  Later in the afternoon, I went alone to yet another cemetery to take flowers and a flag to the graves of my dad's younger brother and his wife.  I have such good memories of this uncle and aunt. They were so good to me when I was a child, so I was grateful to finally be able to visit their grave. My dad, all three of his brothers, and both of his sister's husbands, as well as Charly's dad all served in World War II.  I am grateful for their willingness to serve and defend our freedom. 

Saturday evening, we got take-out pizza for dinner.  We ended up with three different pizzas from two different pizza places.  The explanation for that could be a blog post all on its own, so suffice it to say we will have pizza leftovers for a couple of days to come.  That's fine with me. We all like leftover pizza. 

Pizza and salad  - hands-down my favorite weekend meal. 

After dinner on Saturday,  Josh and I went on a four-mile hike along the Jordan River Trail, which runs along the Jordan River, right through the center of the Salt Lake Valley.  The entire Jordan River Trail is almost 48 miles long, and Josh and I decided to try to hike the entire thing, one section at a time.  Saturday's hike was nice - it was a lovely cool evening - perfect hiking weather.  I enjoyed being with my son.  Josh has a big stride and walks/hikes fast, so hiking with him always gives me a great workout. 

Sunday morning before church, I spent some time out in my garden.  Another peony bloomed and I love how it is light pink in the middle surrounded by white petals. My peony blossoms are so big and full and they smell wonderful.  

There were more ripe strawberries in the garden Sunday morning, so I picked them and gave them to Charly to eat with his breakfast. 

I also discovered little green plumbs on our dwarf plum tree.  There are about six little green plums, and I will be watching and waiting for them to grow and ripen as the summer progresses.  

We went off to church as usual, and Charly wore his new suit.  I thought he looked very handsome.  Josh didn't wear his new suit. He said it was too warm to wear a suit today.  Church was good and uplifting. Josh helped with the Sacrament (communion) portion of the service.  It always makes me so happy and proud when Josh helps out at church.  As the scripture says, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. (3 John 1:4).

After church and a quick lunch (of leftover pizza) I did some indexing of handwritten Virginia death records from 1893.  I listened to podcasts and Youtubes while indexing.  It is enjoyable and relaxing, and I like helping to preserve important historic records.  

For Sunday dinner, I made a Jones family favorite - country fried steak with mashed potatoes and country gravy, fresh steamed broccoli and green beans. We had buttered French bread on the side.  It was a good dinner - one we all enjoyed.

After I finish this post, Charly and I will go on an evening walk, then I hope to relax and do some reading to finish off the evening.  

Coming up this week:

Monday (Memorial Day) - No school! I have a morning hike with a friend planned. 

Tuesday - Back to school for the last week of school.  

Wednesday - After school, I will be going to the St. Vincent de Paul kitchen in downtown Salt Lake City to help prepare the nightly dinner for the homeless and those in need. 

Thursday - Graduation for seniors at school.  It will take place during the morning at an outside venue.  I have been put on the committee to stay at the school building during graduation to "hold down the fort" (whatever that means).  No other students will be at school, and all of my grades will have been posted, so I  may have some time to read and listen to podcasts, while finishing packing up my classroom for the move. 

Friday - Last day of school for teachers.  Finally this crazy school year will be over!

I will close this post by wishing you a Happy Memorial Day, from our home to yours.  Thank God for those men and women who have given their all for our liberty. 

Thanks for stopping by. Have a good Memorial Day and a great week! Remember to thank and honor the veterans in your life.

😊Deb💙

Mid-May Weekend

Friday afternoon, as I was leaving school, I noticed that the school greenhouse was open.  The botany teacher was selling the plants the students had raised as part of the class.  I couldn't resist getting some lovely healthy plants for a good price.  I purchased tomato plants, petunias, marigolds, a lily and some moss rose, and some other plants.  This was the plant haul I brought home from school Friday. 

Friday night's dinner was simple and delicious - Cheese burgers and seasoned fries. 

Friday night when I sent out on my walk, I met these little fellows on the lawn near my home.  We think they might have come from a pond at a nearby golf course. 

Saturday morning, I visited my new favorite plant nursery again and got a few more plants.  I got a Peony bush and a Clematis vine.  I sent most of the day planting, and Charly spent some time working on our lattice work project, so this is what our patio courtyard looked like most of the day Saturday. 

I got my new Dwarf Lilac planted in my Mother's Day present (the whiskey barrel planter) and surrounded it with bright pink petunias.

By evening, most all of the plants were planted.  I still have some petunias and marigolds to get into small pots which will be put on family graves on Memorial Day.  

I used the Home Depot gift card Josh gave me for  Mother's Day to buy the shepherd's crook that the hummingbird feeders are now hanging on. I will be moving everything around and positing the pots just where I want them, once Charly finishes with the lattice work project.   Overall, I enjoyed working in our little outside space and making it more beautiful with plants of all kinds.  

After all that planting, I was tired, so we got a couple of pizzas for dinner. 

Take-out pizza and salad is one of my favorite weekend meals. 

Saturday after dinner, Charly and I headed out to our local Ikea to get some light bulbs for an Ikea lamp we have.  We found what we needed and on the way out, I remembered how delicious these dark chocolate Ikea candy bars are, so I got some.  Almost immediately, upon arriving home, Josh spied the candy bars and asked if he could have one, so we may be going out to Ikea again before long to restock.  ;-)

Sunday morning, after eating my own breakfast, and getting Charly' breakfast out (he eats only cereal and fruit) I made breakfast for Josh.  Making a big breakfast for my son is a little weekend tradition I have acquired.  Josh usually gets a fast food breakfast on his way to work or school and because he doesn't do that on Sunday, I always try to make sure he goes off to church having had  a good breakfast.  Josh is a "meat and potatoes" kind of guy and his Sunday breakfasts reflect that. 

We went to church in person for the first time in several months.  This is a picture of the chapel right before the service started, with members of our congregation greeting each other and visiting quietly.  Most of the people were still wearing masks, and we did as well. We have a very nice and friendly congregation, which is a blessing. After our main service, we all stayed for the Sunday School scripture study. 

After church, I indexed some birth certificates from babies born in Chicago in the 1940s.  Some of these people could still be alive, so I marked the names out. When I index, I put the information from the original historic document (in this case a birth certificate) into a database (like at Ancestry.com) so that people searching for their ancestors and family members can access it.  It is volunteer work that I do to help preserve historic family and individual records and I find it quite fascinating. I surpassed my indexing goal for the month of May Sunday afternoon.

Sunday dinner was Lasagna, salad and black bread.  After dinner, the  rain we had off and on throughout the day stopped long enough to allow me to take a walk outside.   Charly and I then watched Atlantic Crossing on PBS.   It's been a busy, but good, weekend, and I am tired, so I will finish this post, read a bit, and then go off to bed.   I have a busy week coming up which includes an eye doctor visit, shopping for a new "Sunday Suit" for Charly,  and volunteering Tuesday evening and Saturday morning to help set up and run the Share-a-thon for refugees and others in need.  

Thanks for stopping by.

😊Deb💖

"Be happy not because everything is good, but because it is possible to see the good side of everything."

~Anonymous

 

 

Cold January Weekend

 

Friday was online learning only at school  We had a staff meeting and English Department Meeting, and I spent the rest of the school day grading and posting lessons online.  

We were supposed to get a big snow storm here on Friday night, but by Saturday morning, the roads were only wet and there was no snow on the ground.  We did get snow flurries most of Saturday but nothing seemed to stick. You can see that that there was snow in the mountains, which is where it is most needed.  

Sad news came Saturday, when I got word of the death of my aunt due to Covid. She has been in a hospital in Southern California for several days. She was only 69 - and the youngest of 12 children in my birth mother's family. She is the only family member I know of so far who has not survived Covid. Very sad. 

We were home almost all of Saturday.  I did some chores, like two loads of laundry (keeping it real).  Yes, this laundry is now all folded and put away.  It always seems like there is laundry to be done...

Saturday night's dinner was a garden vegetable pizza from our new favorite pizza place - Marco's. 

One of my very favorite dinners is pizza coupled with a fresh green salad with a bit of blue cheese dressing.  Yum!

In the evening, after dinner, Charly and I watched the final episode of Season 4 of The Crown.  I did some crocheting while I watched. We have sure enjoyed watching that series and look forward to season 5 coming out (hopefully) next year.  We started watching The Last Czars.  Charly wanted to watch Bridgerton but it was a bit racey for my tastes.  

Sunday I got up before 7 a.m. and got a roast in the slow cooker for dinner.  I ate my own breakfast (oatmeal and fruit) then fried some bacon for Josh, who is a bacon guy who needs his morning protein.  I try to make Sunday morning breakfast a bit special for him.  After that, I read scriptures and my Come Follow Me study.  

Later, we went to church. Our church doesn't begin until 11 a.m. this year, so as soon as we got home, I ate lunch, then laid down for a short nap of about 30 minutes.  I don't think I really fell to sleep, but it was nice to just relax and rest for a few minutes. When I got up, I did some indexing of tax records from Ontario, Canada.  I surpassed my indexing goal for the month! Later, Charly and I went for our walk in the late afternoon just before dinner. 

Sunday dinner was pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy with green salad.  The pot roast gravy was inspired by a recipe I got from Mari's Cooking Thursday post over at her blog, My Little Corner of the World.  It was delicious!  Thank you, Mari!

I made bread pudding for dessert.  My mother used to make bread pudding when I was growing up. I do not have her recipe, but I did find an excellent recipe and demonstration at Kathy's Vlog, Kathy's Happy Home.  The bread pudding was also a hit with the family.  We all liked it a lot and I will be making it again.  

After my second exercise session downstairs, Charly and I watched a little TV while I finished this blog post. 

No big plans for the coming week - just usual stuff.  I am hoping to finish another book.   Thanks for stopping by.  Have a good week and I will see you again soon.