April 30 2018

Stuck (Five Minute Friday)

My husband went out of town for the weekend with his sister to compete in a road rally. He invited me to come along but I knew it would be more enjoyable for all of us if I stayed home. Road rallying is hubby’s hobby, not mine. It just isn’t fun for me. He probably feels like I would be stuck at home if I didn’t go with him, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I LOVE being “stuck” at home. As we go through the process of reclaiming our home as our own after the kids moved out, I enjoy it even more than ever before.

I had a list of things I wanted to get done. Nothing overly taxing. But there were a couple of errands and a meeting I needed to attend, so I was fine with staying home. I got a project mostly done off my list of goals for the year. I watched a couple of movies on NetFlix on Saturday night (my version of date night). I didn’t cook but decided to make myself Green Smoothies for two meals each day, and in this way, I knew I would be eating healthier and spend much less time fooling with food than normal.

I listened to some podcasts and read some more in the book I am reading. I even finished listening to an audiobook. It turns out it is much easier to listen to an audiobook or podcast when there is nobody else home to interrupt you or start talking to you and not realize you are listening to something. So, there is that.

On Friday night, I actually went to bed much earlier than I had been so I was ready to get up early and get those errands done on Saturday morning. It was kind of a nice change to be “stuck” at home alone and be completely free to order my day the way I wanted to and not have to answer to anyone for where I went or what I wanted to eat and when. I wouldn’t choose to live alone all of the time by any means and I honestly hope it never comes to that. However, I am perfectly capable of entertaining myself, getting plenty of sleep and feeding myself when I am home alone for the weekend. I’ve never lived alone in my entire life, so having the occasional weekend to try it out is kind of fun.

I would have felt much more “stuck” if I had gone along on the trip and been stuck for six-plus hours in the car each way, then hanging out in the hotel room Saturday while they did their rally and stuck in the car on Sunday because they had to check out before they left to rally again that day too.

Umm, no thanks. I think I will just stay home. No sense spending the extra money to feed another person in a restaurant all weekend. You go have fun, I’m sure I can find something to pass the time while you are away. Yeah, I’m sure, really.

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Stuck
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Category: Five Minute Friday | 2 Comments on Stuck (Five Minute Friday)
April 26 2018

Review: Local Goat Restaurant

 As you can see from the texts they sent, the wait was less than estimated. I may indeed be culturally deprived as hubby always said, but this is the first time a restaurant has asked for my phone number so they can text me when our table is ready. The system seemed to work flawlessly, so bravo for technology!

Continue reading

Category: Review, Travel | 2 Comments on Review: Local Goat Restaurant
April 21 2018

Turn (Five Minute Friday)

Turn is the word prompt for this week’s Five Minute Friday Challenge. I often have to turn these words over and over in my mind until what I want to write about that word comes to me. Often it starts with thinking of all the ways the word can be used. Turn here, you missed your turn, turn around, take your turn, turn something old into something new, turn over a new leaf, turn the page, a turn for the worse, turn around and go back, turnover, turnip, turntable, everything will turn out fine, you get the idea. So many ways this could go, really. I deliberately try not to read any of the other writers’ take on the word so it won’t influence what I write.

Then, I remembered this cool photo I took while a trip with my hubby a while back. It was such a cool road we were driving on that we decided to turn into the scenic overlook parking area and get out an try to capture the wonder of what we were seeing. I discovered the coolness that is the panoramic mode on my cell phone camera and was able to capture the shot used above. Being able to take cool pictures is half the fun of these travel adventures. An additional perk is being able to turn the photos we take into graphics for this blog.

These days, hubby and I are concentrating our efforts on reclaiming our home one room or area at a time. The first area we decided to tackle was turning our adult daughter’s old bedroom into our reading room. I took before and after photos and plan to share that with you very soon. We were thrilled with how it turned out and hubby decided he wanted to tackle the basement next. That project is much more involved as it has three rooms full of stuff and is in need of some serious decluttering, cleaning, and rearranging. Those posts will also be coming in the not so distant future. We are finding that this reclaiming of our home has become addictive and instead of dreading it we are marveling at how much we have already accomplished and planning the next steps in the process. Exciting posts are coming, so please be sure to sign up for the email list so you won’t miss anything. If you have any trouble, just use the contact form to have me add your email address to the list. Trust me, the before and after pics are dramatic, you do not want to miss the transformations! We are turning our family home into the home we want to spend our retirement in and making it into the oasis we deserve to spend our time in between now and our golden years. What turns have you taken lately?

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Turn
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Category: Five Minute Friday, Reclaiming Our Home | 2 Comments on Turn (Five Minute Friday)
April 19 2018

Review: Chocolate Monkey

We wanted to get ice cream late on Sunday night, and this place was the winner.

As you walk in, you are offered the healthy apple a day…

Then there are the cherries and strawberries…

Next to the ice cream counter, hubby spotted these lovelies.

They had some interesting flavors of ice cream to choose from, like Michigan Pot Hole and Jacked Up Tennessee Toffee, we thought both of these were worth the calories. Continue reading

Category: Review, Travel | Comments Off on Review: Chocolate Monkey
April 13 2018

Other (Five Minute Friday)

Remember when you were growing up and you felt you just had to have that particular something? You asked your parents for it and they wanted to know why you wanted it. Because all the other kids have them, you’d say. Then Mom would come back with “If all the other kids were jumping off a cliff, would you do that too?” Of course not, that would be stupid.

How often do we compare ourselves to all the other mothers, other people working out at the gym, other people shopping for clothing? All the other girls are thin, so I should be thin, we think. The other moms are driving minivans, so I should get a minivan. There are so many ways we compare ourselves to others, always thinking the others have it right and their life is perfect. Really? Who are we to judge the level of perfection in another person’s life. We see what they want us to see. Their reality may be completely different once they are behind closed doors.

Nevermind what the other people are doing, saying, wearing or driving. You have to do YOU. Be the best YOU that you can be and leave the others out of it. For all you know, those others are looking at you and coveting your life, your clothes, your car, your trim figure, your job, your house, your spouse. Little do they know, right?

Do you choose what to wear by what others will think of you? Do you do things or maybe not do them because of what others will think? There is only One who is qualified to judge us and He already knows what you think and why you do the things you do. It doesn’t matter what the neighbors will think, they will get over it. Be true to yourself and do what is asked of you by the One true judge. No other’s opinion matters, just His.

This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
The prompt this week is: Other
The assignment: Write for five minutes on the word of the week. This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. Just write.

Category: Five Minute Friday | 3 Comments on Other (Five Minute Friday)