AuburnChick's Adventures

Happy Wednesday!

I’m just over here answering the fun questions that Joyce has for us this week.

If you want to participate, post the questions and your answers on your blog and link up with her.

Let’s get to it!

1. What’s a characteristic you admire in others? Elaborate. 

I admire people who have a knack for putting others at ease. I’m a bit socially awkward and overthink so much, so when I observe someone who exudes warmth and kindness, I am drawn to that person.

2. Do you have a favorite mug? Let’s see it. Why is this one your favorite? 

I love this mug. I got it at a boutique in our local mall, and it’s my go-to on the weekends.

3. July 15th is/was National Give Something Away Day…will you (or did you, depending on what day you answer these questions) give something away? If so what? Do you regularly give away or do you tend to  ‘accumulate’? 

I’m typing my answers Sunday evening, so I’m going to predict that there’s a high likelihood that I’ll give someone in my office an Aleve or a bandaid. I am known as the person who has a little of everything in my work bag, and I don’t mind sharing.

I’d like to say I’m not a pack rat. As I get older, the thought of having too much weighs heavily on me. I’d rather not accumulate but pare down a bit. If that means I give stuff away, all the better!

4. You’re planning a trip. Do you prefer exploring big cities or smaller, more off the grid towns? World Atlas lists these 12 ‘off the grid’ towns to see in 2025. How many on the list have you seen? Of those listed which one would you most like to visit? Tell us why? 

Boothbay Harbor Maine, Middlebury Vermont, New Hope Pennsylvania, Rehoboth Beach Delaware, Brevard North Carolina, Saugatuck Michigan, Medora North Dakota, Ouray Colorado, Lamoille Nevada, Neah Bay Washington, Hood River Oregon, or Cambria California

*You can read more about each destination by clicking the link above. 

I like places that are off the grid because I’ve found that they are full of treasures waiting to be discovered, whether it’s a local restaurant or a gift shop filled with merchandise made by local artisans. Such places aren’t usually overrun with tourists either, which satisfies my introverted personality.

From the list provided in the link, I think Booth Bay, Maine would be fun to visit. I love anything close to the coast, and it would be a short skip, hop, and a jump to pop over to Newfoundland, where I was born (and want to visit some day).

I’d also like to visit Ouray, Colorado. Fun fact: I lived in Colorado until I was nine (that’s when I moved to Alabama). Now, don’t be expecting me to hike any trails. I’m not about that, but I’d love some hot springs to help ease the pain from my achy shoulders.

5. Have you ever…ridden a motorcycle? been to a Disney park? met a celebrity? won a contest? Tell us something about whatever you answered yes to on this list. 

I think I rode a motorcycle one time when I was a teenager. I got on the back behind a good friend but didn’t enjoy the ride much because I was petrified my mom would find out. She had eyes everywhere.

I’ve been to Disney more times than I can count. We recently spent a long weekend there with our kids and grandchildren, but we only did Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom. The crowds at Magic Kingdom were insane. I’m over all of that at this point in my life. I would like to go back to Epcot though. I love the side with the countries.

I’ve met a few celebrities. I met Eric Estrada when I was a teenager and flew to France to visit my grandparents on my dad’s side. Eric and his wife were on our plane. CHiPS was big back then. I was thrilled.

We ran into Doug Flutie many years ago at Disney Wide World of Sports when my daughter was playing in a soccer tournament. His son was playing in a baseball tournament, I think. He kindly posed for a picture with our group.

I also met Dameyune Craig, a former Auburn player who became a coach years later. I posted about it here.

He went to the high school I taught at and was recruiting one of my students. When my student showed up to class late (I was a stickler for being on time), he told me that an Auburn coach had kept him past the bell. I asked him to get the coach, and he did! I stupidly said, “Can I hug you?” when Dameyung walked into my room.

I told you that I’m socially awkward. 🤣

As far as contests go, I’m not usually very lucky, but I did once win VIP tickets to a concert series featuring several well-known Christian artists.

That was back in 2011. It was a two-day affair and one I wrote starting with the post here.

My local Christian radio station had one of those brainy questions you had to be a certain caller with the correct answer, and I was the one!

I’ve never had VIP tickets to anything before, so getting the royal treatment and seeing the bands close and personal was incredible!

Over the course of two days, I got to see Third Day, Jamie Grace, Matthew West, and Toby Mac. It was a really neat experience.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

My office is starting to look like something from a sci-fi novel.

Old paint is getting scraped off of the outside windowsills. To prevent a mess inside, the workers taped plastic around the edges.

I don’t have a window at my desk, but everyone else does. Doesn’t this look depressing? There’s no telling how long this task will take.

This is the entrance that I use every day. The window is going to be covered up too.

All of the joy, y’all. I’ll be chuckling every time I see it.

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Did you take advantage of any of the Prime Day sales last week?

I might have . . .

The Mr. was not amused.

What was in those boxes? Let’s take a look.

I happened to check to see if the sheets we wanted were on sale, and they were! I grabbed a set for two bedrooms.

More tea pods . . .

Eye masks (I’m trying to figure out how to get rid of the dark circles under my eyes) and another tub of my favorite intense hair conditioner . . .

I can’t find this cocoa in my local stores, so it’s Amazon for the win . . .

Generic descaling solution for my Keurig at home and the office one (this is a set of two, and each bottle is good for two cleaning sessions) . . .

That was it, y’all!

I placed one more big order Friday but haven’t received those items yet.

Stay tuned!

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Happy Monday, y’all!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend.

I like to start recapping mine by talking about Friday because it’s always a much-anticipated lead in.

Friday

Friday, one of my coworkers was out most of the day, so I covered for her. Then, my boss left after lunch, so I was the main person on deck up front.

The phones were a little busier than normal with people asking about their bills and not seeing stuff that they thought was supposed to be on there. It’s the season for those types of questions, so I was ready!

I have a TV screen on the wall by my desk, so I was able to watch the men’s semifinal Wimbledon matches.

The guys I was rooting for didn’t make it to the finals, but I like the ones who did, so I wasn’t overly disappointed.

I was whooped when I got home, but I caught a second wind and pulled weeds from the back flower bed. They’d gotten out of hand since last Fall when I started having all of my shoulder issues.

After I’d had my fill of outside time (and the gnats that started bothering me), I let the Mr. wait on me. My shoulder had done really well once I got past Tuesday, but my plan for the weekend was lots of rest.

A bath was in order before settling down to watch the final episode in The Terminal List, which is a series based on the book.

I read most of the book series a few years ago, so when the Prime series came out shortly afterward, I wasn’t impressed and didn’t make it past the first couple of episodes. I’m a purist and need my movies or TV series to match the books. When they don’t, I get annoyed. However, because it had been awhile since I’d read the books, I was able to overlook the differences. There’s a prequel series coming out in the next few weeks, which is why we rewatched Season 1.

Then, I did some reading on my Kindle and shut off the light.

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Saturday

Because I’d drank a cup of tea late the night before, I woke up at 4am Saturday. Ugh.

I let Gambit sleep while I played my favorite word games on my phone.

Then, I got myself set up for the women’s Wimbledon final.

But first, some puppy snuggling.

He’s starting to look old, and my heart can’t take it.

Wimbledon – I was so glad to see an American in the final! It’s been a fun tournament to watch this year – except for the missed calls by supposedly “smart” AI, which I cannot stand and am actually leery of (a rant for another day).

The match wound up being completely one-sided, with my girl putting up very little fight.

Her post-match, courtside interview was heartbreaking. She was devastated but explained that she’d run out of gas. Her words about her mother made me tear up – words every mother wants her daughter to say.

After the match, I made the mistake of walking out front and discovering one of my flower beds getting choked out by grass that had made its way past my stone barriers.

I should have taken pictures when I got started. Here are after photos.

I couldn’t even see the plants before I got started.

In the next picture, you’ll see the huge weed that was trying to hide beside one of my hostas.

I was out quite a while before the Mr. ordered me back in. He was super salty with me.

That’s a chunk of dirt on my neck, so don’t be worrying, y’all.

I wore my sling the whole time I was outside; it was soaking wet when I came inside. So gross!

I had to give it a chance to dry out. Unfortunately, my bicep was a hot mess afterward, and I had to ice it.

Lesson learned.

I promised the hubby that I would take it easy the rest of the weekend.

While scrolling on Facebook, I saw a Big Brother post and did some googling to see when the series started back.

It was the 10th.

Sigh.

I’m not keeping up with some things very well and had forgotten.

While the hubby ran errands, I got into my Paramount Plus app and watched the 90-minute episode.

It did not disappoint, let me tell you. I’ve already got some favorites, and some of the new twists had my jaw on the floor.

Do you watch Big Brother?

Late Saturday, the Mr. helped me wash my hair. It’s still an ordeal, but it was a task that had to be done. I dried it afterward.

I texted a friend, who’s having the same procedures done to fix her labrum and rotator cuff on Friday, to see if she was ready. We had communicated back and forth a week or two ago when she found out she had wrecked her shoulder. I offered a lot of advice. She’s been overwhelmed, but armed with the tidbits I gave her feels a little more prepared.

Then, the Mr. and I started watching a new show, Ballard, which is an offshoot of Bosch, which we’d watched all of the seasons of.

We are really enjoying it so far!

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Sunday

I woke up before 6am (why can’t I sleep in on the weekends 😭) and got a few of my games out of the way.

I really wanted a smoothie, but I had not frozen the bananas the Mr. bought Friday, so I made do with a bagel. I got the bananas chopped and in the freezer, so I’d be ready Monday morning.

I put on my eye patches and let them do their thing.

This is something I wasn’t prepared for as an adult. These little patches are slimy and thin, so they are difficult to apply.

Look how flimsy this is.

I think the trick is putting them on the side of your eye and stretching them underneath and across.

Then, after sending a few texts to check on my tribe, I put my makeup on. Gambit was less than amused.

I got dressed for church – all by myself!! Yes, it’s the same outfit I wore to work on Friday, but beggars can’t be choosy when they’ve had shoulder surgery, and everything was clean since the hubby did laundry the day before.

I love the wider yoke of this shirt and ordered another one in black.

We hadn’t been to church in person for a couple of weeks, so it was nice to be back.

This song hit me hard – it’s just so powerful!

After church, we headed home to watch the men’s Wimbledon final. I’d set my TV to record it, so we started from the beginning even though it was already an hour into play by the time we got home.

It was a very good match, y’all.

The guys are rivals on the court, and Alcaraz had edged out Sinner in the French Open. However, Sinner got the upper hand yesterday and pulled out the victory.

Let’s be real. I was all about the princess. She is one classy lady.

After the match was over, I headed to the kitchen to prep my lunch for the week.

I had made One Pot Vegan Taco Soup two or three weeks ago and enjoyed it so much that I wanted more of it. Plus, it’s only got a couple of ingredients the Mr. has to prep, so there’s that. I made it in the Instant Pot this time, doubled the amount of veggie broth, and cooked it for eight minutes instead of four.

It started storming late afternoon which made it perfect for watching more Ballard.

Then, it was time to plan out my outfits in preparation for a new week.

I hope you all had a great weekend, and that your week is productive!

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Y’all, this heat is something else, is it not?

Tuesday afternoon, the Mr. picked me up early from work, took me to my hair appointment, drove us to grab our weekly meal of sushi (I eat veggie sushi), and then got us back home.

My shoulder was a hot mess (no pun intended) after an especially busy day at work, so I quickly got into a hot bubble bath to get some relief.

After donning my pajamas, I couldn’t figure out why I was still so hot, so I glanced at my thermostat . . .

Oh my gosh!

We knew it felt warm inside, but we thought it was because our evening’s comfort setting hadn’t kicked in yet, but nope, something was wrong.

I checked all of the things, including the breaker – praying for an easy fix.

We heard something running, but it wasn’t the part that pushes out cold air.

The unit outside was going, and the one in the attic was as well.

I quickly called the company we have a contract with and requested after-hours (aka $$) support.

The technician arrived within an hour and, after tinkering around a bit, told us that our unit was frozen and wouldn’t defrost until the morning. Until then, we were out of luck.

How does this happen?

I don’t have a lot of know-how with regard to air conditioners, but I heard the words “coil” and “capacitor.”

The bad thing? We just had our unit serviced in May.

We had been told that we had some big repairs to make, but nobody would respond to the Mr.’s multiple requests for an adjusted estimate. The coil and capacitor are still under warranty, which will save us many dollars because there are some other things that need to be fixed at the same time.

We were a little salty, but we didn’t let the technician know that (we are a nice people). We did tell her that we would have had the repairs done a month ago if someone had followed up with the Mr.

The technician left with only the assurance that she would make haste on the situation in the morning. She didn’t have access to a portable unit to make us comfortable while they figure out what to do.

Most of our rooms don’t have ceiling fans. In fact, the only rooms that do are two guest rooms. We bought the model home in our neighborhood; lighting had been selected primarily for aesthetics – not necessarily function in the Southern heat – so there aren’t any fans in the living room or dining room.

With me still stuck sleeping in my recliner or on my couch, all I had was a small fan to ease my woes, which were compounded by a sling that is super hot in these high temperatures.

I got an email from the air conditioning company around 9pm that evening. It had a bill attached.

The technician had waived the fee for her visit, thank heavens, and our faith was restored a bit.

This was the situation as I got myself ready to go to sleep . . .

Poor Gambit. He was so hot, but he did better with the fan closer to him.

We woke up the next morning to this temperature reading . . .

The technician had left the fan running to prevent the air from getting stagnant. I’m reading dreading my electric bill next month.

My homemade toothpaste, which consists of coconut oil and baking soda, was halfway melted when I went o brush my teeth. It’s normally solid at room temperature.

I reached out to the company mid-morning. I grew a little frustrated and asked the representative if she had a call log. I wanted her to see that we had called – twice.

Yep. Not to say I told you so, but I kind of did.

Of course I didn’t say this out loud. The representative really was very nice.

Then, she asked me questions I didn’t know the answers to, so I added the Mr. to the call.

We finally got things straight, and I received an email with the adjusted estimate while we were on the phone. Coincidence?

I wanted to faint.

Not from the heat but from all of the dollars.

Sheesh.

The Mr. clicked the accept button, and a technician was dispatched to the house to put some refrigerant in the unit to get us by until the required parts come in.

It was refreshing to walk into a cool house after physical therapy and see this on the thermostat.

I heard the Mr. say, “Brrrr, I’m cold” midway through the evening.

Um, sir, which would you prefer – Alaska or the Sahara?

Sheesh.

We take so much for granted, do we not? It doesn’t take much to remind us how truly blessed we are.

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Last week, my local social media groups began posting about a temporary change that’s being made to the traffic patterns at our famous intersection, Toomer’s Corner.

It’s an incredibly busy corner that gets a lot of motorized and pedestrian traffic during football season.

In fact, our campus is fairly small, so people walk everywhere.

The local powers that be decided to test out an X-crossing, also known as a pedestrian scramble.

I’m slightly terrified.

Here are the rules, in a nutshell.

Basically, each cross street’s vehicular traffic (including bikes and scooters) will get its own turn to pass through.

Then, if someone has pressed the walk signal, lights will go red for all motorized traffic to allow pedestrians to cross.

The kicker is that people can move diagonally rather than crossing the street twice. That’s always been a pain – waiting each time to cross twice.

I drive through this intersection a minimum of twice a day, and sometimes I walk through a couple of times if I decide to snag a fresh cookie down the street or grab lemonade from Toomer’s Drugs.

Here’s a link to an article that explains the do’s and don’t’s of this experiment.

One of my main concerns, as a driver, is someone who decides to jaywalk. I hope law enforcement will be present to gently remind/warn these people.

I’m also concerned about people who habitually turn right on red.

It’s these cars that often back up traffic because they get stuck waiting for walkers to cross the street.

It’s a mess, y’all between 4:45 and 5:00, when the college closes for the day.

Monday, I worked Tiger Tables, which is part of Camp War Eagle, Auburn’s orientation for incoming freshmen. I rode with a couple of other people from my building, and on the way back, we drove through Toomer’s Corner.

There was confusion.

The lights weren’t working properly.

People were jaywalking.

Thank goodness I can’t drive right now.

Over the course of the week, we’ve driven through almost daily, and I think people are starting to get the hang of it.

Football season is coming though, and we will have a lot of visitors here every weekend.

Heck, with Fall semester quickly approaching, our population is about to increase exponentially, which means a lot of new-to-us drivers trying to learn all of the things.

I am hopeful that people will embrace the new procedures that the new traffic flow will be more efficient. I pray that nobody gets hurt while we are all adjusting to the new rules.

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Time flies when you’re recovering from shoulder surgery!

It’s hard to believe that four weeks ago, I was beginning this journey anew. I’m also 29 weeks post-surgery on my left shoulder.

Y’all!!!!! That’s crazy!!

Life is still challenging, but I’m pretty stubborn and fiercely live out the motto, “Where’s there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Rather than giving in, I am finding alternative ways of doing the things that need doing.

One of the things I’m struggling with is my hair.

Last week, I couldn’t get in with my hair dresser, so the Mr. and I had to wash it ourselves.

Thank heavens for a detachable shower nozzle, but it was still hard because my left shoulder still isn’t moving properly, so reaching across my head to scrub the right side was impossible. Cue the Mr., who took care of the places I couldn’t reach.

Then, I had to dry my hair. Ugh.

Here’s what I looked like.

Straightening it was equally difficult. I could straighten the left side of my head, but trying to get to the right side was a situation. The Mr. is scared of hot things and refused to help. Ha!

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One thing I’ve talked a lot to people about when they inquire about my shoulder is how much less pain I’ve had with this one.

While it definitely has hurt and continues to ache, it’s not as bad as the left shoulder was. I don’t wake up in the middle of the night with horrible pain either.

Sleep has been frustrating for almost a year now, and post-surgery rest has been challenging. After sleeping on the couch at my son’s house during the recent holiday weekend, I decided to try to move back to the bed at home.

I was unsuccessful at keeping myself propped up and woke up to find myself leaning on my right shoulder. One of my pillows fell off of the bed midway through the night.

I wound up returning to the couch the next night.

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Mornings still look like this, with my makeup and matcha on a small table by my recliner. It’s difficult for me to lean across the bathroom sink to look in the big mirror and apply makeup.

I had Tiger Tables Monday. This was me after I got ready but before I put on my sling.

One of the parents I talked to asked if I’d been in a car accident. 😬🫣

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The work load in my office increased exponentially this week.

Tuesday afternoon, my bicep and shoulder hurt pretty badly. I had entered a lot of information on the computer and had started using my right hand a little (with my arm still in the sling), so I assumed that was what probably triggered the intense pain. The same thing happened after my left shoulder surgery.

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I got my hair cut Tuesday after work, which was absolutely wonderful. My hairdresser is simply the best!

I had my fourth physical therapy session yesterday afternoon, and it went so much better than last week’s. I mentioned the stabbing pains I’d had the afternoon before, and my therapist commiserated with me but agreed that it was most likely the micro movements waking up all of my nerves from all the typing I did that day.

He added a few new exercises to my regimen. I was allowed to do tricep reps with a band, and although I was scared, I did two sets of twenty! It’s moments like that when I feel hopeful that I’ll recover well. He did tell me not to include the new exercises at home though. He doesn’t want me to overwork my shoulder.

My therapist always stretches out my arm during each PT session, and yesterday’s was rough. I have a lot more pain in the back of my shoulder this time around. He reminded me that I’d had a lot of pain in the back of my left shoulder but had forgotten. Ha! The memory is a funny thing.

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I’ve recently noticed that the skin on my biceps is loose and stretchy and resembles old lady skin – wrinkly and such. First, I saw this on my right bicep, but at physical therapy yesterday, I noticed it on my left one as well. 😭

I thought it was due to dry skin – maybe from the summer heat or the ibuprofen 800 I’ve been taking for inflammation since December.

I bemoaned about it to my therapist yesterday, and he chuckled a little as he told me that having back to back surgeries was to blame. Not being able to move my arms much made me lose muscle mass in both biceps, so the loose, wrinkly skin is from that. He assured me that I’d get back to where I was as soon as I can start building muscle again.

Y’all!!!!! I just cannot sometimes.

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All things considered, I’m doing extremely well. My physical therapist was pleased with the way my arm was moving (despite the pain his stretching brought on), and he applied a heating pad (my favorite) and stem treatment at the end of the session.

He told me that I still need to baby my arm – that there’s still a lot of healing happening.

So, I’m trying to do follow orders with the knowledge that it won’t be long before I’ll be able to do more.

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Oh, and let me update you on my left shoulder.

So, I had that surgery the week before Christmas. You’ll remember that there was a ton of damage in there, and the recovery has been very long and painful.

I can honestly say that I’ve made a lot of headway with the range of motion in that shoulder the last week or two.

Undergoing back-to-back shoulder surgeries made me quite nervous; concerns about overusing the left arm as it compensates for the right one have plagued me the last few weeks.

I think, though, that it’s because I’ve had to do everything one-armed that I’m doing better than I expected.

Well, that plus God’s healing touch. 🙌🏻

I’m able to reach my left arm halfway behind my back now. It’s not quite far enough to scratch an itch, but it’s getting there!

I can stretch my arm over my head with my elbow pointed out to the side without as much pain, although I don’t have full range of motion when I raise it straight up.

I’m not actively doing PT exercises on that side, but as I’m able to do more on the right side, I’ll be reincorporating them into my routine.

So, seven months in, and I’m making much-longed-for strides, and this gives me great joy because this journey has been h-a-r-d.

I very much appreciate your continued prayers and offer up my own for the struggles you are going through.

God is so very good. I’m thankful for this community where we lift one another up and celebrate one another’s wins.

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Happy Hodgepodge Day (otherwise known as Wednesday), y’all!

If you know me, you probably won’t be surprised how excited I am with the theme of a few of the questions that Joyce has ready for us this week.

With that said, let’s proceed!

1. What’s an adult problem nobody prepared you for? 

I’m not so sure this is a problem as much as it is something that comes with age, but watching friends walk through hard experiences – the loss of a parent, a cancer diagnosis and treatment, the loss of a spouse – is something I wasn’t prepared for.

Figuring out what to say and how to help is a learn-as-I-go experience heavily supported by lots and lots of prayers and guidance from the Holy Spirit.

2. How tuned in are you to all the recent food related health news? Have you gotten rid of your scratched cookware? Did you pay attention to food additives before they made the news? What’s one healthy eating/cooking/food shopping habit you need to adopt? 

I’m very happy to see so many health/food related issues making the news these days.

I have always been very health conscious. If I had a do-over, I’d tell my younger self to major in holistic medicine and nutrition because the science of both fascinate me.

I was the weird person who didn’t let her kiddos have artificial sweeteners, use deodorant with aluminum, get dental treatments with fluoride, or wash their hair with shampoo that contained sodium lauryl sulfate.

I haven’t used cookware that scratches in years and years. In fact, one of my first big Christmas presents from my in-laws was a set of stainless steel Revere Ware pots and pans. It’s the only set of cookware I own after all of these years.

I’m not sure that there are additional cooking or food/shopping habits I need to adopt. I cook as much as I can from scratch because I’m very suspicious of prepackaged stuff. We have closely read labels for many years because of my milk allergies.

I feel as though the journey continues as I learn more. I try not to be overwhelmed by the amount of information that the internet and social media pushes out.

3. What’s getting worse and worse as you get older? How about better and better? 

My eyes and other body parts are wearing out. I know I have cataracts, and I can’t wait for them to worsen enough to get surgery. My memory is also starting to get a tiny bit tired – or maybe it’s just overwhelmed with the sheer volume of stuff in my head.

On the flip side, I think that my patience is getting better as I age. I despise drama and try to avoid it. Life is just too short. I choose those whom I love with great care, and I’m loyal to my tribe. Being an empty nester means I have more time and focus to invest in relationships, and they mean the absolute world to me.

4. Are you more of an indoor person or an outdoor person? Elaborate. 

I don’t mind being outside – especially if it’s at the beach or a football game – but I’m not about to go hiking or camping. No thank you!

I’m a quiet indoorsy gal who prefers my books, fiber projects, and word games – all within a climate-controlled environment.

5. If you had an expert personal assistant today, what would you have them do? 

If I had an expert personal assistant, I’d ask the person to schedule a biweekly hair appointment to wash and style my hair, to clean out and reorganize the closet in my guest bedroom, and to scan the boxes of photographs I’ve collected over the years.

I need some help, y’all!

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The flooding that happened in Texas over the weekend was devastating, and the loss of all of those lives even more so. I am praying for comfort for everyone as they attempt to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives.

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I think I’ve made mention of Amazon’s monthly First Reads offerings. I have a reminder on my phone for the first day of each month to pop over and snag mine.

Most of the books on my Kindle are from these giveaways. In fact, all but one of the books I read during June were First Reads selections. A Woman of No Importance was a hardback book I borrowed from my local library.

Usually, readers get to select one book from the First Reads list, but this month, we get two!!

To access the list, go into Amazon and click on the search bar.

Type First Reads and click on the result that pops up.

To view a book’s synopsis, click on it and scroll down to the description.

My favorite genre is historical fiction.

Raise your hand 🙋‍♀️ if you knew this about me already (Rebecca, I’m looking at you 👀).

I do enjoy suspense and fantasy, though, so it was a tough choice this month.

I happened to notice that the fantasy book offered this month is the first in a series.

Nope. No thanks. I don’t want to be stuck waiting for the second one to be offered through Libby or at my library. That made for an easy pass.

I wound up getting The Women of Arlington Hall (I started reading this one Sunday evening) and Out of the Woods.

Which of this month’s books pique your interest?

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Happy Monday, y’all!

I hope your weekend was full of fireworks, family, and fun!

Thursday

We kicked the weekend off mid-afternoon Thursday with a little trip to visit our son and his family.

Gambit tends to be a nervous rider, but he also doesn’t like to be left behind, so it’s quite the quandary for him.

I put a pillow on the middle console, but he didn’t climb up to us until nearly the end of the drive. He was over the stop and go traffic, as were we. Holiday weekends and traffic go together like peanut butter and jelly.

We saw this interesting car on the way . . .

My sweet E greeted me in the driveway with an exuberant, “NatNat, you’re here!”

Be still my heart. ❤️

She immediately asked me if I wanted to play – music to my ears.

We ate dinner at home and chilled until bedtime.

Friday

Friday morning, everyone slept in a bit. Then, the race was on to get dressed before Rooster’s in-laws arrived.

E and I played a lot.

The Mr. and Rooster grilled hamburgers for our noontime meal.

E was in her element with both sets of grandparents doting on her.

Her verbal skills are improving rapidly, and her sense of humor made us laugh constantly.

The other grandparents left shortly after lunch, and E had her rest time.

I dozed awhile in the couch too. My shoulder was aching from all of the extra playing I was doing.

We ate leftovers for dinner, while E kept talking about the fireworks we were going to watch. She was most excited about being able to stay up past her bedtime.

The afternoon rain shower that arrived unexpectedly didn’t worry E. She continued to talk about fireworks throughout the day and dinner time.

Then, it was finally time to go outside. Rooster and my Mr. had purchased a few little firecrackers and sparklers. E is very afraid of loud noises, so this was an experiment. She covered her ears for the bottle rockets but worked up the courage to hold a sparkler.

We were in the perfect spot to see fireworks from neighborhoods close by. I wish I had gotten photos of them, but we could only spy them between houses, so our view wasn’t ideal for picture taking.

We saw a tiny little frog who apparently wasn’t afraid of anything.

E was so cute as she held it.

E got her fill of fireworks fairly quickly, so we took her in and put her to bed.

We adults were a little tired, so we spent the rest of the evening talking quietly.

Rooster showed us how to get to some new games he’s been playing.

If you have an iPhone, you can go to the News app.

Then, click Following.

Then click Puzzles.

I love word puzzles, so these little gems were my jam!

A new-to-me game was Quartiles, where you make words from tiles. The goal is to put together five four-tile words.

I helped the Mr. navigate to the games on his phone, and it got quiet real quick as our brain cells were fried from all of the thinking we were doing.

It was a low-key way to end a busy day.

Saturday

Gambit let me sleep in until 7:15 Saturday morning. I tuned in to some Wimbledon while the rest of my crew dozed.

E girl hit the ground running shortly after 8.

We had a snuggle party on the couch for quite a while. It was delightful.

Gambit has loved this girl since the first time he saw her when she was a tiny little thing and has always been gentle with her.

As soon as the Mr. got up, Gambit sidled up to him for Daddy Time.

E helped me brush my hair before we headed upstairs to play.

While we played, the Mr. and Rooster ran manly errands to pick up blinds from Lowe’s and meat to grill for dinner.

When they returned, they got to work.

My daughter-in-law usually has a honey-do list of special projects when we visit because the guys work well together.

Putting up blinds is so much easier when you have a partner.

With one set installed, they headed upstairs to the playroom to take care of the other set.

They did a great job!

Lunch consisted of leftovers, and then E headed to her room for her rest time.

I took advantage of the time to relax on the couch. Rooster’s fur baby snoozled with me.

We spent the rest of afternoon playing while the Mr. and Rooster grilled steaks for the meat eaters. Mrs. Rooster prepped the side dishes.

We spent a quiet evening winding down until E went to bed.

We are a sports-loving family, so ending the day with a soccer match was in order.

The game was crazy, went into stoppage time, and was won with a penalty kick. Sheesh!

Sunday

Sunday morning was almost a repeat of the day before. I turned the TV to Wimbledon and watched until Little Miss got up.

She is seriously one of the most precious little gals ever. I might be biased.

She says the cutest things, loves generously, and lives life by her many of her own rules.

We played bouncy ball first thing – after she retrieved it from under the couch.

Her parents were raised right (aka Star Wars fans), so a light saber was the tool of choice to retrieve said bouncy ball.

We ate breakfast and piddled around awhile. We usually attend church, but we decided not to ask the kids because Mrs. Rooster was savoring every last minute with her precious pup. Tuesday will be a difficult day for their sweet family.

My sweet E kept telling me that she didn’t want me to go back home. I love this girl so much and assured her that we could FaceTime whenever she wanted.

She gave me this little keepsake to take home.

She’s been into rainbows ever since we drew them during our Easter visit, when I showed her a Bible cartoon about Noah and the flood.

We ate lunch, and then we headed out after a couple of selfies and lots of kisses and hugs.

I read most of the way home and finished my 30th book of the year. It was so good!

When we got home, I took a look at my strawberry plants and saw these little cuties.

We unpacked very quickly – weekend trips are good for light packing – and watched the USA team play Mexico’s in the Concacaf Gold Cup final.

Unfortunately, the USA couldn’t pull off a win in the end after going ahead early in the opening minutes. Bummer.

I’m hitting the ground running even as you read this.

Monday waited for no one.

How was your weekend?

Did you visit family or have family visit you?

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I have one more day of tabling for Camp War Eagle, and this is the dress I’m planning on wearing:

I always try to wear something Auburn-themed since Camp War Eagle is orientation for incoming Freshman.

I don’t have many (any, really) options because of my limited shoulder mobility.

So, this dress is it.

The Mr. always says it’s purple.

I say it’s blue.

Here’s another picture of it.

I’ve had this dress for probably 15 years, so it most likely has faded a bit, but I’ve always considered it to be blue and wear jewelry to that effect as well.

What say you? Can you help settle out little debate?

Filed under: This-n-That | 6 Comments »