Yawn Inducing Weekend Recap

This weekend was about as slug-like as it gets.  I placed a few pick up orders and going to pick them up along with takeout was the extent of our outdoor life. Friday we got a free trial subscription to Shudder and basically crammed as much of it into our brains as we could.   Friday, throughout the day we watched the 7+ hour documentary Crystal Lake Memories.  It was interesting to see all of the behind the scenes stuff and see what some of the people look like now.  It always makes me shake my head when the few people who got their big starts in movies like that (Kevin Bacon, Tony Goldwyn) don't participate.  Oh, too big of a star for that, eh?  *shaking head*  It was a good one for any Friday the 13th fans. 

The Mr took his second (and last) practice test Saturday morning and passed but has some studying to bone up on before his real test in a few weeks.  I will be glad when that crap is over with because for basically a year by the time this is done, he will have been studying for tests in some form.  Once he gets his certification, he can actually start doing his job which will make him feel better.  Hopefully he can stop worrying if the boss is worried he made the wrong decision since he hasn't really felt part of the team these past months due to studying.

We watched this series called Cursed Films that was super interesting and heart wrenching.  I am a huge fan of The Crow and seeing all of that and reliving the story of Brandon Lee's death was hard.  There were a whole slew of things we didn't know about The Omen and The Exorcist that were so creepy.  Worth the watch if you're a behind the scenes kind of person.  We also watched the Kane Hodder documentary which was the guy who played Jason multiple times and wow, his life story is truly amazing.  He's such a survivor and teddy bear.  The things he has overcome and still has to deal with from a traumatic stunt gone wrong is just so heartbreaking but he ended up having a fulfilling career from it that is still going strong.  I'd recommend the free trial of Shudder for the documentary alone whether you're an 80's horror fan or not but quite a few good ones. 

(Source   The breathing is how you know it's Kane playing Jason)

Sunday was basically more of the same with some laundry sprinkled in for good measure.  We got in everything on the watch list from Shudder.  We finally saw Prom Night but my God, the other ones were AWFUL.  Pieces (which the Mr used in a media violence piece back in high school- one of the worst horror films ever), Mausoleum (which was one of those ones we always saw in high school at the video store but never rented and now I know why), and rounded things out with The Changeling with George C. Scott.   We'll cancel the trial before it ends since it doesn't look like they add much on the regular.  I don't have a problem with 80's slasher films and love the mid-90's ones but once you got into the whole Saw, Hostel and crap like that, I'm out.

I know, that sounds like a snoozefest of a weekend and it was.  Next weekend is 4th of July and we'll break out our Portillo's from the freezer and we're picking up some cookout food tonight so that we don't have to go out the rest of the week. 

(Source)

How was your weekend?


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What I'm Reading This Week #26

Y'all...we are officially halfway through 2020.  😲

I remember when this year started that I said "before you know it, I'll be doing #26 for the halfway point" and who knew then the clusterf**k we'd all have to endure to get to the halfway point!!  

Yeesh!  I'm praying for a better second half for all of us.

Now let's endure...

What they don’t tell you about surviving COVID-19   (This is what "recovery" looks like)

Family shaken after 18 relatives test positive for COVID-19 after birthday party  

Is It Safe to Stay in an Airbnb Right Now?  (Stock up on gloves and wipes and be ready to clean first, which we usually do anyway thanks to pretty lax cleaning crews in our experience.)

How Toxic Is Your Family?  (Someone commented 'does someone really need a list to know if their family is toxic?'  When it's written out in black and white and they are subtle toxicities, absolutely.)

There's a reason we procrastinate and it's not laziness  (Sure feels like it)

Why Does It Take Longer to Go There Than to Come Back?  (Every. Time.)

How to Remove Titles From Netflix's 'Continue Watching' Category  (SO nice to have those crap shows/specials I gave up on a few minutes in off of the list!)

Looney Tunes’ slapstick violence and gender-bending rabbits, explained by a 4.75-year-old  (As a Gen X-er, the answers from the kid are highly satisfying.  Just as in our time...kids know better!)

From Walkman to Your Phone: 40 Years of Portable Music  (Ahh, the "anti-skip" CD Discman...lies.  Hey Mr, remember the Zune!?)

“Reality” is constructed by your brain. Here’s what that means, and why it matters.   (The next three are courtesy of The Mr)

A teenager had some hilarious 'additional instructions' for his Amazon delivery woman, and she followed them to a tee  (I'm so doing this.)

ORIGINAL Ghostbusters Cast - Reunited Apart  (Great bit o' nostalgia and stories!)

It's supposed to be a sauna this weekend so who knows if we'll get outside at all.  I'm going a little stir crazy but that's nothing new.  I could clean the house but that's no fun.  We're pretty much a clear slate so who knows what we'll do to fill this final weekend of June.

Anything on your end?

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One Step I Took to Improve My Sleep

(Source)

If you've been here any length of time, you know I have sleep issues.  When something is bothering me or even stuff that seems kind of minor can keep me up at night.  Then if I get up to go wee in the middle of the night,  I usually don't have a problem getting back to sleep but sometimes all I do is sit there thinking of all I have to (or since the pandemic, should) get done for the day.  Then I go into the next day completely exhausted, sore because my body has no actual restorative sleep and my will for getting stuff done wanes due to feeling so drained.  Then I get stuck in a wheel of procrastination because the pattern repeats.

One of my biggest problems, when I laid awake at night, was clock watching.  I'd turn on my side, lay there waiting for sleep to come, get irritated when I feel like I've been laying there for thirty minutes and it's only been five or ten.  So begins a habit of constantly checking the clock figuring out how long I've been in bed and how long I have until my alarm goes off, how tired am I going to be, why can't I sleep like I did when I was a teenager, why did I watch that B horror movie before bed, etc. 

The days of going to bed at 1 am and sleeping until 11 am on the weekends are long gone.  Usually, I go to bed at midnight- 1 am, get to sleep around 1:15-2 am depending on what I've got going on in the noggin, alarm goes off at 7 am, I assess how crappy I feel and feel ridiculously frustrated with the cycle.

(Source)

In one of my Friday links, I read that something that could help you sleep is, obviously, not getting on your phone to "wind down" because we all know blue light is bad but also covering your clock.  I have an old school digital clock and when I mean old school, I mean the one in this meme.

(Source)

Yep.  It still works, so why would I get rid of it just because it's old?  But yeah, that red display is what I'd squint to focus on in the middle of the night to see how much sleep I wasn't getting.

I took the advice of the article and covered the clock display.  The first few days I did feel a like trepidation because I'm so used to checking it.  It's not like I didn't have my phone beside me if I absolutely needed to see what time it was but the point was to not check the time.  While I haven't magically started sleeping 8 hours, it has helped not obsessing over the amount of time I have until the alarm.  I have done really well resisting the urge to check my phone for a time check because I know that will defeat the purpose. 

I hope to continue taking other steps like limiting myself to no liquid after dinner to attempt to get longer stretches of sleep.   (Bye bye evening decaf tea though I had some last night so...)  But this is a good first one to help not be consumed with numbers because calculating how long you've been in bed or have left will wake up your brain which is bad at 3 am.

Are you a middle of the night clock watcher?

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Hump Day Poll: Fire in the Sky?

I remember being a kid and taking lightning bugs for granted.  Whether we lived in the city or the country (and I lived in both until 5th grade moving almost every year, sometimes twice in one school year), I just took for granted they would always light up my summer nights.  I remember when we lived in the country, the backyard would be ablaze with them and I could watch the show for hours.  They're the one bug I still talk to like it's a puppy if it lands on me rather than swat it away or scream.  If you're a child of the 90's or before, we all probably have some lightning bug "sins" we need forgiven for but it's part of what made them so magical.  Your own summertime night light with a few holes poked in the top for air with some grass.

When we moved in here when we were married 24 years ago, we could look out back and see at least 30 and would watch like kids.  That, of course, is when there was nothing in our area but our homes and fields.  Now, after all of the development has stripped us of our fields?  We have one.  Like literally one.   His little light flashing in the night hoping some other firefly will catch his signal and ask "your place or mine?"  For now, we just enjoy watching our little lightning bug whom I secretly call Sir Patrick Stewart flit above our heads in the tree, trying to guess where he'll light up next.

If you want to help do your part to help the lightning bug survive, this can show you a few easy things.

Do you have a lot of lightning bugs or have you noticed a severe drop off since your childhood?

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First Weekend of Summer Recap

I know you long term folks won't be surprised I'm keeping track...

(via Pinterest)

Saturday we got out of the house for the aimless driving around I spoke of.  We grabbed lunch at a burger place that we immediately regretted but we were getting hangry and it was going to have to do.  Thankfully, we found a remote area of a park to eat it which kind of made it taste better.  (Not really.)

We went through a bigger town and just kept heading north with no destination in mind.  Anywhere but home was our motto for the daylight hours.  We passed a lot of countryside we've never seen before or at least not in a long time.  Traffic and burb living is so confining so I am always glad to see long stretches of green still exist somewhere out there.  (Beneath the pale moonliiiiight.)  The Mr crossed his chest and hung his head at this sight.

One one likes to see their first car sitting in a heap for mother nature to consume.

Then every now and then, you'd drive by some beautiful house of a bygone era.

Man, I hope those people appreciate that house.  Because I go through salvage shops, I immediately see all of the things the salvage vultures would pick at if they ever tore this place down for the land.  About $2500 in corbels alone at the top.  Those window trims and door gable for sure.  I hope these people never sell or are never booted out by greedy developers.  Some of us would love to be in a house like that in the middle of nowhere with no neighbors and an historic home.  Le sigh.

We headed home and got on a kick of some truly bad 80's horror movies.  We watched House and both of us remember it differently.  It was SOOOO bad.  We tried to watch House 2 which we both saw and we didn't remember any of it and it was so bad we actually turned it off.  I saw this movie Deadtime Stories was free on Amazon Prime so we watched that because I saw Nick from Family Ties was in it.  (Bootie shot!  SCORE!)  That was the only good thing about it it was so bad it was funny and it was a fun way to end the night before both of us conked out on the couches.

Sunday I slept in longer than usual since the couch naps had me up for 3 hours in the middle of the night.  It was another scorcher so no desire to be outside.  I did an order for late pickup and I made lunch.  We sat around talking about the worlds problems, family issues and then decided it was time for a workout so we did Leslie's Firm 30, ate dinner which consisted of Food Saved beef and noodles and I threw together some mashed potatoes.  Then it was time for grocery pickup and headed home.  Another Sunday sucked down the time warp.

(via Giphy.com)

What did you get into this weekend?


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What I'm Reading This Week #25

It's Friday!  Just in case you needed to know what day it was!  I could've used that reminder yesterday when I thought it was Friday all day.  😫  It's surprisingly been a somewhat pleasant weather week given what the forecast was a week ago but it looks like it's going to cram in a weekend of misery to make up for it.  

Now let's cram in...

The #1 Worst Thing You Can Do at a Reopened Restaurant  (Just hold it.)

Seniors are becoming COVID-19 collateral damage. They're dying because of it, not of it  (So sad)

5 Ways The Pandemic Wrecked Your Weight Loss Efforts  (Yes to all but #5 for us)

8 Strategies to Manage Overwhelming Feelings  (Where is throwing water balloons at people on this list??)

10 Things You Should Never Store in Your Basement  (So, basically nothing?)

Do Certain Sounds Enrage You? Neurologists May Know Why  (I love jazz but repeated notes usually heard in a trumpet or drum solo after about 4x will make me want to hurl an armoire.   The same with chewing on period week (this week) when my hearing goes from supersonic to "did a flea just fart?"  Last night I wanted to throw a plate across the room.)

How to Delete 99 Percent of Your Digital Footprint   (Good info.)

Meet the 6-year-old drummer getting university attention  (OMG, the sweetest lil face ever and such talent!)

The History Behind 8 Famous Tongue Twisters  (Pretty cool info to whip out on virtual trivia night.)

Being Bill Murray  (We have a pic of him in the basement that says WWBMD.)

It's too hot to paddle so I assume at some point we'll drive around aimlessly for hours to get out of the house.  I've got some homemade ice cream on tap to use up the ingredients I had from last weekend and that could be the highlight until I go back to the highlight being what the delivery drivers take out of the snack box.  Sigh.

You got anything going on this weekend?

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Keepin' It Green

I would love to have more exciting things to chat about but pretty much the only things I have to jazz up my days are the flowers I planted and keeping them alive.  I get it if it's boring for you though.  😄

My roses have been blooming quite a lot this week and I love to just give the full blooms a big ol' sniff as I water them.

As you can see, the morning glories have climbed their way to the top of the trellis and I'm anxiously awaiting any blooms.  I will probably explode confetti when that happens and the Mr is so proud to see me having raised them from seed to this vine.  It's the first time I've ever done that and won't likely be the last.

The Tahitian Bridal Veil (aka Wandering Jew) cuttings I got from Etsy are really starting to grow well and spread.

When I was in third grade, we had one of those hanging by the window and I used to water it.  Same with the morning glories.  I guess I'm going back to my childhood this year in times of uncertainty.

The ones in the back are growing well too. 

They're about boob height on me on the arbor and I'm hoping for a good push the next two weeks to get them crawling across the top.  I'm so happy my idea for that is coming to life.  I've wanted an arbor similar to that for two years and it's especially satisfying to see it this year.

(This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.  If you buy through them, I may receive a few cents commission for blog expenses at no cost to you.)

I did order some 20' fairy lights the other day and strung them up just to see what they'd look like.

It's good for a fun vibe and have several different settings to create whatever mood you're going for.  They were cheap and are waterproof so score!

Our romaine supply finally bumped back up and the arugula got taller too since I moved the light up on the Aerogarden.

So it was time to cut it all down and get our salad on.

My friend said "happy hump day...whatever that means anymore."  So I thought I'd make hump day a little more special with a bacon wrapped filet, baked potato and brussels.

I'm always super nervous doing delicate cuts on the grill so I seared them on both sides with the metal smoker pucks and some applewood chips.  Then I brought them inside to finish them off in the oven.

(Teenage me who ordered her steaks "burnt" is barfing in a bucket over that pic!)

Then we watched Jo Koy: Comin' in Hot from Hawaii on Netflix and all was right with the world again.  Any mainlanders watching that would be clutching their pearls but that's how it is out there and no one cares and they laugh.   I miss that place so much.

You growing anything?  Grilling anything?

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Hump Day Poll: Pranksters

I'm not a huge prankster anymore because I know what comes around goes around.  There was a website brought to my attention by my then boss called Mac Pranks or something like that back in the late 1990's.  I came back after lunch and when I threw away something, this came on. 

So you know dang well I kept that in my arsenal and when Y2K rolled around a year later, I struck with this dick I worked with.  When he left before the new year about an hour early, I installed a Mac prank on his computer and everyone saw me do it and agreed not to tell.  When we all came back for the new year we were told to restart our computers.  When he did, the computer flashed black and white, made this horrible screeching noise and the CD player ejected in and out over and over and the Mac "screen of death" came up.  He FREAKED OUT and was blood red embarrassed and asked me what was going on since I was the computer savvy one while people were snickering.  I said "I know there's some porn virus with Y2K, what have you been looking at?  You'd better report this to your boss, they said to let them know if there are any problems."  As he's leaving he's asking everyone else if they had problems and everyone said no.  He leaves.  I run over and uninstall it.  His supervisor comes over and tells him to restart his computer and it came up fine.  His boss asked if anyone else had a problem and they all shook their heads no and he looked at him like he was nuts.  When he left, we all busted out laughing.  Dude finally learned to password protect his computer before leaving after I warned him repeatedly.   That one was fun...he was an ass.

What's a funny prank you've played on someone?

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Am I Dreaming? Weekend Recap

Happy Monday you sexy beasts!

This weekend we did something that didn't require masks, we didn't have to worry about social distancing and finally got to exhale by doing something NORMAL after three months.

Despite the forecast literally changing to rain overnight, we were already packed and ready to roll.  We changed an early morning paddle into an early afternoon road trip paddle.  Although it was cool out, when the sun broke through the clouds, our black paddling pants retained so much heat it felt like our legs were going to catch fire.  But it was a small price to pay for the peace it brought. 

My usual lily pad patch looked like a mower had ripped through it.  We're a month earlier than we usually go so I don't know if they haven't bloomed in that section or not but I was happy to find a pretty patch toward the back with flowers just coming up. 

We paddled around a bend where I saw a heron and began to creep up on it.  They can spook easy so I try to stay quiet.  They eventually fly away and some are fine and others screech at you with an aviary version of "eff you" that makes me crack up laughing.  (Don't worry, I'm not harassing them.)  we have to enjoy this section while we can.  When we first started paddling, we used to be able to paddle back to the arrow.

I suspect we only have 1-3 years before the patch around the island looks completely like this and will be a pain in the butt to try to navigate.  But lily pad patches are my happy place and the paddles don't hurt them so I'm sure I'll still put in the effort.  The Mr enjoyed it too.

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He suggested we break out the pic-a-nic basket and have our lunch there among the green, so we did.

It was heavenly; I felt like I was dreaming.  For a few hours, we weren't worried about masks, diseases that could kill us, or staying a minimum of 6' away from everyone whose not in our own household.  Cool breezes, fresh air and just feeling like we could truly breathe for the first time in months.   Though note to selves, remember to put sunscreen in those gaps between your pant bottoms and water shoes because we've both got front of the ankle sunburns.  Whoops.

We took a drive past another lake that my chiro talked about during some visits and while it was gorgeous, it was WAY too busy.  We couldn't discern any no wake zones which is what we need to paddle peacefully.  The public launches were overcrowded and no one was staying away from each other.  Not for us so we headed home.

Our mint plant looked like I finally had enough product to make mint chocolate chip ice cream. 

When we got home, I grabbed my ice cream cookbook and made the base for it and put it into the fridge to steep for 12 hours. 

We unloaded the gear, got dinner then took blankets out to sit on the patio in the cool night air.  We belly laughed about some stuff, which as an adult, seems harder and harder to do.  Eventually, I got cold and covered up completely.

(Yes, those are reindeer...like you're surprised.)

The next morning I grabbed the frozen container for my ice cream maker and strained the mint.  It definitely wasn't going to cut it.  Thankfully, I had this Frontier organic peppermint extract so I could flavor it properly.  I also added a drop of this Kelly Green gel food coloring because I need my mint chocolate chip to be a wee bit green.

Churn baby churn!  Minty inferno!!

I used 2 ounces of Ghiradelli 60% chips and 2 1/2 ounces of Trader Joe's 72% Dark Chocolate bar melted down to make the chips.  A few hours later, we were ready for a scoopy scoop.

It was so yummy!  It actually reminded me of Baskin Robbins back in the day when it was good and full of chocolate flecks.  It brought back a lot of good memories.  Mom and I would swing by there and get a scoop of that and a scoop of chocolate. 

We got in a good bit of the last season of Dexter before grabbing our grocery order for the night and that was about it.

How was your weekend?

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What I'm Reading This Week #24

Happy Friday all!  I hope you had an awesome week and are ready for an even better weekend.  

I didn't post much this week because there's only so many ways you can say we exercised and watched seasons six and seven of Dexter.  It was butt crack hot most of the week and we were supposed to get severe weather but never did.  I am quite happy that our first rose is starting to open up outside.

I never thought I could successfully grow a rose bush but this cute older couple who was at the rose part of the nursery the same time we were looked like they knew what they were doing.  I asked if she grew roses and she said yes and asked if they were hard to grow and she said yes.  She said to look for something that is disease resistant and treat it like a newborn baby.  I've been doing that and making sure to water at the root only to keep powdery mildew at bay and so far so good.   That's been my big excitement of the week.

Now let's root into...

Why therapists say you may feel more selfish because of the Coronavirus—and what to do about it   (Compassion fatigue is real y'all)

How to Stop Overeating After the Pandemic  (This week has been about trying to slay the snack demon, getting in more formal exercise to increase stamina again and increasing water which basically any I drink is more than I did before.)

What You Watch Matters  (Yeah it does!  I took Morissey's advice a few years ago and stopped watching the news.   Now if only I could stop reading it the past few months.  😕)

5 Natural Ways to Improve Your Memory  (Definitely good habits to get into!)

7 Serious Health Benefits of Laughter (Now those are some good reasons to watch some stand up!)

7 Best Food Pairings That Fight Inflammation  (Load up!)

Study Finds Link Between Chronic Negative Thoughts & Dementia  (Great)

50 easy kitchen updates you can do on a budget  (Some cute ideas)

The Latest Trend In Charcuterie Boards? Pancakes, of Course  (Uhhh, yes please!)

Koala and Wombat Become 'Best of Friends' While in Isolation at Australian Zoo   (Aww, dem sweet eyes)

Couple Wakes Up To Find A Moose Going For A Swim In Their Backyard   (*runs to build swimming pool*)

9 times at-home dog grooming resulted in hilarious haircut fails   (OMG, this is hilarious!)

We are hoping to get out and have a picnic this weekend since it's going to be amazing weather.  I know that you have to take these good weather weekends when you can from this point on.

Any plans for the weekend?

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Hump Day Poll: A bear and a rabbit...

...are taking a sh*t in the woods.  The bear looks at the rabbit and says "excuse me, do you have problems with sh*t sticking to your fur?"  The rabbit says "no."  So the bear wiped his butt with the rabbit.  Thanks Eddie Murphy for a joke I told from age 11 on.

So that brings me to today's hump day poll: Where is the strangest place you’ve peed or pooped?

The one that comes to mind for me is in 2nd or 3rd grade and my mom and I were waiting for fireworks in our small town.  We couldn't find a restroom and all of the roads were blocked.  We were parked in a bank parking lot trying to figure out if a place was open for restrooms I could get to in time.  Mom's like "just squat behind the car."  I was in too dire of a place to argue so I ran behind the car, whining how gross it was the whole time.  (No, no one was around, this wasn't near the fireworks.)  Then my mom yells "hurry up!  Someone's coming!!!" and I screamed dribbled as I rushed to drip dry and pull up my pants.  As I got in the car, she was busting a gut laughing and no one in the area.   Yeah...wonder why I have trust issues.  😐

So...where is the strangest place you’ve peed or pooped?

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A Mixed Bag Weekend Recap

Howdy all!  I hope you had a good weekend and are ready for a new week. 

We had our first salads with our hydroponic crop:

It was nice but it only filled the bowl up 2/3 of the way and it's been around 4 days since and I'm betting it's going to take another week before I'm able to get them back to the previous height so it definitely can't replace our grocery runs which is a bummer.  I did adjust the grow light yesterday so I could hopefully get them to grow taller this round and we'll see what we can do.

Lots of binge watching for us over the weekend.  We finished the last two episodes of Dexter season five so we could start watching 13 Reasons Why, which we finished the next evening since there were only 10 episodes.  We were not a fan which really sucks given how much we loved the first season, the second was less great and at least it wasn't as bad as the third. 

I know I said I wasn't going to go to the store of the lady who was reopening but we decided to drive by on their last day open to see if it was empty enough for us to be comfortable enough going.  There were about six cars there so we took a peek in.  We had our own masks and Air Tamers but she had PPE's and gloves available to those who didn't come prepared which we thought was really nice of her.  It was nice to have 15 minutes of perceived normalcy to peruse.

I'm not going to lie though, it wasn't the same.  I have zero problem shopping in a mask however, people refuse to keep their distance and I don't like people as close as some got under normal circumstances.  I bought a few things to help support her and based on something she said, I emailed her and asked if she had an issue and she said she had two challenging people.  One screaming about their civil liberties and the other bitching about not being able to pay cash so they could maintain contactless payment.  She had her social media plastered with their rules for weeks as well as signs before you even go in so people knew what they were in for.  It's HER business, her rules.  Shop somewhere else if your panties are in that big of a knot. 

(This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.  Should you buy through them, I may receive a few cents commission at no cost to you.)

We hung up these lanterns I got after I spray painted them all black to match the rest of the accents on the patio.  They have an LED light inside that simulates fire pretty well so it's nice to have going at dusk and into the night as everything cools off.

We grabbed our portable campfire and did some s'mores once it got dark.

After we put a lid on it, it got a little cool so he grabbed my reindeer blanket and I wrapped up and we looked at the stars until midnight.

The next morning I woke up early and did a grocery order and fell back to sleep.  We got up and I made brunch.  I got the flowers watered and told the Mr it was time to go to the landscapers so we could pick through some rocks.

Since I wanted a nice side yard, I decided we should replace the blah top row of retaining brick with some moss rock. 

We weren't sure how much to get or the price so I'm sure well go back at some point and get more moss rock to replace the bottom row too now that we have a better idea of how much we need but we need to give it time.  The ones that are left are a purple color and I don't want that and they won't open a new pallet so probably mid-summer.

Then we took out our pithy patch of grass and put in mulch and a few river rock stepping stones after pruning the out of control bush by the spigot.  That was quite the job in the hot sun and we were beat.  We chugged some Gatorade to cool off then had to go get our grocery order and basically conked out for the rest of the night.

What did you guys get into this weekend?

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What I'm Reading This Week #23

Happy Friday everyone!  I hope the week has treated you well and you've got a little mischief planned for the weekend.  We made it to Trader Joe's for the first time in over a month since we were running low on some stuff that is TJ specific.  We spent about $300 so that we wouldn't have to go back for 4-6 weeks if we don't have to.  In addition to a few supps and hand sanitizer spray that we don't usually get that jacked up the price, I threw in $30 in some good lookin' filet mignons because, why not?  I also grabbed some peonies and we got like six jars of peanut butter between smooth and crunchy and 3 bottles of the Mr's favorite low cal lemonade.  I just hate going there because it's so small but thankfully 30 minutes before they close on a Wednesday seems to be a good time to go. 

But enough of our TJ's adventures, let's get into...

“Pandemic Fatigue” Takes a Toll on Relationships  (#1 is basically me staring off into space when we're on the patio because I'm just tired of talking about things that have no immediate solution.)

32 Mental Health Resources to Help You Get Through Stressful Times  (Good places to start.)

32 Inspiring Quotes to Help You Stay Motivated When You’re Feeling ‘Meh’   (I wonder if even 20% of these are attributed to the right people.)

15 Castile Soap Uses You've Never Thought of Before  (Never thought about the sinus thing.)

7 Simple Storage Hacks That Cost $0  (A few slick ideas!)

11 Ways to Create Shade for Your Deck or Patio   (We all need a little shelter.)

How to Clean Throw Pillows Because Yours Could Use Some TLC  (I think it's time to steam clean ours and break out the ticking pillows that came with the couches.)

Guy Finds A Brilliant Yet Simple Way To Prevent His Girlfriend’s Panic Attacks  (I'll have to remember this the next time I get one.)

Here’s What Happens to Your Dog’s Brain When You’re Home All the Time  (For the most part, it's a squee-fest in there.)

'The Empire Strikes Back' at 40: What the 'Star Wars' sequel's iconic special effects owe to Ray Harryhausen  (For the Mr.)

35 Fox Pics That Show What Wonderful Creatures They Are   (Mr....birthday idea.  Start saving up.  All of them but particularly #3 and 6 please.)

Pac-Man at 40: How the little yellow fellow inspired one of the greatest novelty songs of all time  (Still have the album)

We don't really have anything planned for the weekend.  One of my favorite stores is re-opening but I'm going to give her two weeks because I know she's really scared because she's immune compromised and I don't want to contribute in overwhelming her.  She's taking a ton of precautions and I can't wait to get a small taste of normalcy.  (Plus I'm hoping waiting a few weeks means her pup will be back in the shop for snuggles.)   I'm pretty sure some patio time is on tap.

Whatchu up to this weekend?

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Gone Walkabout

I don't even know what to write so I'm just going to share a few pics from our walk the other night.  

The moon was making an appearance in the light orange clouds.

By the time we were finishing our last lap, the clouds were fiery streaks.

Sadly the last two nights have been way too hot to enjoy so we did Turbo Fire Sculpt and T25 to work back into a regular exercise routine which we've abandoned over the past month.  I'm pretty sure the downturn in my mental state can be traced back to our downturn of regular exercise.  Now our endurance is way down and we need to build it back up because as I'm sure you know, a workout a day helps keep Covid away.  (Or at least your lungs in better shape to deal with it.)

Have you been enjoying the late spring weather lately or is it too hot?

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Hump Day Poll

I keep seeing this come up and I never thought about it but figured I'd get your thoughts too. 

Is a hot dog a sandwich?

I've never considered a hot dog a sandwich because 1) I don't care and 2) think of how weird it would be if you said "yeah, I'll have the hot dog sandwich."  People would look at you like a ninny. 

I get where people who say it is a sandwich are coming from because it has bread with something in between but I still wouldn't consider it a sandwich myself...hot dogs stand on their own in my eyes.

So how about you?

Is a hot dog a sandwich? Why or why not?

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Last Weekend of May Weekend Recap

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend.  It was glorious temperature wise and so nice to not walk into a wall of humidity when we walked outside. 

We got the window box put up under our picture on the patio and it looks so good.  We had to take back the second bluebell that died out front and got lavender just like we had to get the previous week.  I got 7 geraniums that match the colors of the other flowers on the patio and some ivy and bridal veil plants I'd been rooting from cuttings to hopefully have some nice draping going in a month or so.  I don't like geraniums but they pull in from a pic beside it so I'll give them a go this year and see if I like them enough for a second chance next year.

(Crossing my fingers for some good drape in a few weeks.)

I was tending to my morning glory vines when I came up full force into the arbor and saw stars.  That was fun.  I had a headache the rest of the night and into the next day.  I hate that feeling you get after you whap your head like that.  It's like this radiating heartbeat from the impact zone that makes you feel slightly off kilter.  I'm just thrilled it didn't hurt and have pressure like the time I fell out of the hot tub on vacation.  I'm getting a little worried about how many times I've cracked my head over the years.  It's not good for the mush between my ears.

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Something that's doing relatively well is my indoor "victory garden" thanks to my Aerogarden pandemic purchase 45 days ago.  We're now on the lettuce phase and the romaine is doing well.

The arugula has some catching up to do.

The first 30 days, I was able to grow my herb garden and transplant them to these containers and onto the side of the fridge with these magnetic shelves by the window. 

Saturday we went to this crappy BBQ place because we've been to every restaurant we like in our area.  I knew there was a reason we hadn't been there in 8 years so I thought I'd let the Mr get reminded too.  It was awful and there is nothing more irritating than wasting a weekend meal on something that lays regretfully in your gut for hours.  (Not even that I got much meat either because everything was fat...retch)  We drove around for a while and I silently cried as I saw some of my favorite stores open but too small to be able to distance properly and only 20% of people masking up.  Not worth it.   We ended up driving downtown and thankfully we got out before the protests turned ugly as the area we'd just to been a few hours earlier was now engulfed in throngs of police presence.  It breaks my heart all around and you layer this horrible situation onto the crap show of the pandemic and it's not going to bode well for anyone.  I can't read about one more bad thing.  I'm mentally so beaten down.  I really needed some retail therapy but we had to choose very wisely. 

We went to a local candy store that also sells cards and I was able to replenish my supply of birthday and 'just because' cards.  I also found the perfect Father's Day card which is awesome for those of us who need one somewhere between "thanks for the sperm" and have a great Father's Day because the 90% talking about how you were always there for us and your sacrifice don't apply.  We haven't been to Target in a month and I needed a few things I could only get there so we went around 6:30pm and thankfully it wasn't full at all and 95% of people were all masked up.  I almost felt naughty looking at things that weren't groceries and bolting out of there like a real life version of Pac Man but we were surrounded by more employees than customers.  It's what I needed for sure even if only for a small bit of "normalcy." 

We grabbed dinner and about 10pm, we headed out to the patio to enjoy the cool, Spring evening. 

We sat out there for about 90 minutes. We even cuddled under blankets for a while since it was chilly which felt like a little bit of heaven compared to the 90+ degree armpit we've got waiting for us.

We headed back in around 11:30pm and at 2am finished season 4 of Dexter...the most traumatic one before it went off the rails into the shitter for 4 more seasons.  (Or as Michael C. Hall politely puts it "lost it's torque.")

Sunday we slept in and it was another beautiful weather day to send off May and the Mr had to cover under the blankie it was so chilly even at 2pm.  We had lunch and listened to the birds sing a bit before opening my box o' Beekman 1802 goodies from their warehouse sale.   I've been waiting TWO YEARS to get my hands on their chipotle honey which I assumed they flat out discontinued so I've been hoarding my final teaspoon.  When they popped up, you can bet your buns I bought six of those babies.  You can always tell when something ships from the HSN warehouse in Florida like my soap I got or from the home base in Sharon Springs by the invoice...

And in case you didn't know...

I'm hoping they get a few extra hives if that's what it takes to get chipotle back in stock but I have a bad feeling I'd better savor my 6 jars over the next year.  😔

That was about it for us.

What did you do this weekend?

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