Things I ponder, remember and oversay

What will it be like to wear a real bra again?

I’m dreading that because sports bras are now my life and my preference.

Can we ban underwires for eternity? 

***

As I’m writing this there is a set of cardinals frolicking in and around the oak tree outside my office window. Chatting, eating worms. (better not be my butterfly caterpillars!)

One morning, a few weeks ago I was out walking the yard with the dogs while sipping a cup of coffee; the sun had come up and was kind of blinding me as I looked towards the back of our property.

Up in a cypress tree, there was a LOT of chirping and movement; I could see the outline of about 25-30 birds.

Since the sun was in my eyes, at first I couldn’t tell what flavor they were.

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Said tree minus birds and blinding sun because I didn’t have my phone on me.

It took me a minute or two and I realized they were ALL cardinals. A whole conclave of them congregating before they started their day.

swoon

I always have several around the yard, but I’ve never seen this many at once.

You know how people like to say that Cardinals represent your loved ones who’ve passed?

Well, that morning a large portion of my Ancestry DNA was visiting me; the whole fam-damily.

*I looked it up after first writing this today and a group of Cardinals is referred to as a college, conclave, radiance or Vatican; when I first wrote this I referred to them as a SLEW of cardinals. I’m so slewpid.* 

 

***

I refer to my critters as ‘pumpkin’ and ‘pumpkin pie’ way too much.

Max, Callie, newly eclosed butterflies.

My mom used to refer to me as her pumpkin when I was a kid; I never got it.

Apparently, now, I’ve GOT IT.

My other overused love phrases are sweetheart, boo-bear, sugar britches, sweet cheeks,

What phrase do you oversay?

XO

The one where I was content to drink dirt, witness a reptile romance, and still be a good human.

I had an (almost) surprise visitor on Friday morning.

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Linds decided to drive to our neck of the woods and pick up some juice from an open juice bar. She brought me a few, picked up a puzzle, and loved on Max for a few minutes.

Even though Max was adopted by Lolo, he lived with both girls for many years and he absolutely LOVES Lindsay. He was so happy he was whining/crying/moaning; it was cute and weird. But, he’s cute and weird.

Anyhoo… she brought me two fresh-cold-pressed juices of my choosing; one of them contained beet juice. There’s nothing better than drinking something that tastes like dirt; it was reminiscent of my childhood.

****

Saturday morning I opened the door to go outside and I found two snakes ‘gettin’ jiggy wit it’ on my sidewalk.

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They’re common blacksnakes; we have a lot of them and they are essential.

Like healthcare workers for my yard.

I felt bad that I interrupted them, but I suppose I didn’t really interrupt because they kept doing what they were doing, like what my eyes saw didn’t matter.

I stepped back inside and then I wondered if I really saw what I thought I saw.

The next step, of course, was to google: Do snakes have sex? 

The answer was YES and it can take hours or a whole day. I surely hope I didn’t mess up their day; plus, that poor girl!

My life has been so exciting that I actually pondered this for a while.

***

We had a really nice weekend. Our event on Friday night was more fun than we should be having on our couch.

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Aside from the musicians playing some tunes, there is constant chatting on the side with some awesome people from all over the world. (85-90 people were with us)

It was fun ‘talking’ with our friends who we’ve not been able to see while listening to the music and raising funds for Liberty Manor.

***

A lot of you have asked about how I like wordpress.com compared to blogger; so far I really do like it.

I’m going to work on a post about the pros/cons as soon as I feel like I’m a semi-pro.

I hope everyone had an equally pleasant weekend; whether on your couch or on your porch swing.

XOXO

 

Peer pressure at home, you can refer to me as Mother Nature and Doing some good while sitting on the couch.

Can I just tell you all, that your sweet comments really make my day?

I love when someone takes the time to visit my little corner of the world and then leave me a nice note. YOU.ROCK.

It’s like you were on your way home from the store, I just so happened to be at my mailbox when you drive by and we catch up for a few minutes.

{{virtual hugs}}

I was face-timing with the girls earlier this week, as I’ve been doing a lot.

Mostly Linds and I; she’s alone 24/7 and has in the past struggled with some health-anxiety issues; I’m proud to say, she’s killing it during this quarantine. Cooking, cleaning, working on a movie list and calling her Mom whenever she feels like it.

I’m so proud of her.

HI, LINDS!

Sometimes during our face-timing, we can drag Lolo away from her dog and school work.

I distinctly remember when they were little and when one wanted to talk to me, then the other would too.

My head would spin trying to hear both and give equal attention.

Well, that part has not changed.

They both stated that they were waiting for me to update the blog with a new post; but how can I do that if I’m face-timing for hours at a time?

What say you? There are 22 more hours in a day?  

Honestly, I’ll never complain about my girls wanting to talk with me.

During one of our extra-long face time sessions, Lolo began preparing her dinner in the crockpot. Linds was giving directions and then they began to make deviled eggs together.

They asked me to make some too, but I only had 3 eggs.

Later, they sent pics of their deviled eggs via our family chat.

A minute later, the Coach asked for some deviled eggs for when he got home.

I texted that we ONLY HAVE 3 because PANDEMIC.

Being a man of simplicity, he said, that sounds like 6 halves. 

I succumbed to deviled egg peer pressure.

I’m much easier than I appear.

***

Last week I attempted to switch over to WordPress as opposed to blogger.

Why you say? Because I’ve not had a reason to bang my head against a wall until I can’t feel anything for quite a while.

It’s a task that will take me some time, and I hope I don’t give up and succumb to google/blogger for the duration of my blogging life.

The rumor mill around town is that WordPress is not as limiting as the blogger platform and I dream of NOT being limited.

***

Thursday morning we woke up to a nice heavy rain. My first thoughts were we’ve been needing rain and my second thought was: “My garden caterpillars are going to drown.”

I exclaimed this to Coach and he said: it’s nature, they’re used to it.

I don’t know who he is or who he thinks he’s dealing with because I AM NATURE.

**

This morning I woke up and apparently we’ve gone back in time…back to January.

The Coach has all the doors and windows open, it’s 61* and I had to put a sweatshirt on over my PJ’s. THAT Is glorious as it’s been in the high 90’s daily.

We actually have some plans this weekend! *suz shouts from the rooftop*

Do you remember all the events/fundraising we do for our disabled veterans?

Well, it’s mostly the Coach, but by default, I get to be a part of it too.

He’s got two events planned for August and September on the East and West coast of Florida with our beloved songwriters.

Tonight, he’s arranged an at-home event with songwriters via Stageit.com. It’s a ‘pay what you can’ concert with 100% of the proceeds going directly to Liberty Manor.

The mission of Liberty Manor for Veterans, Inc. is to promote the developmental and social needs of disabled, honorably discharged veterans who have fallen victim to homelessness by providing them transitional, supported housing and establishing objectives designed to attribute to self-sufficiency.

Liberty Manor is doing SO much good for our veterans who have served our country and then have through various reasons, become homeless.

Reading the success stories hit my heart in a big way.

So, if you’re not doing anything tonight, tune in. 7:30. We personally know all of the songwriters and you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you hear the stories behind the songs that you hear on the radio.

**

So, that’s all from me. This was longer than I had planned, but what else do you, me, us have to do?

SADLY, NOTHING.

Have a great weekend and thank you again for being my friends who live inside the computer.

XO

Can you tell me how to get, how to get out of Funky Town?

Can you hear the opening song to Sesame Street and NOT smile?
No. You can’t.



The Coach and I were able to see the sunset via the boat this past weekend.

 

The beaches are closed, but luckily the Gulf of Mexico is still open.
For now. 

I’ve been in a bit of a funk. Not sad; just feeling funky.

I’m itching to get some garden work done; updating my veggie garden. I have a plan but need to execute it and finding a day where my arm isn’t bothering me is a problem.

Also, I’m itching to get to my happy place; my local nursery.
They’re open, but I’m not going because it’s really unnecessary.

I’d like to be acknowledged for actually following the rules.

Should I wait by the mailbox for my acknowledgment gifts?  

If you say I need something for my itching, you’re not wrong.

I started rereading this book this week; It’s been about 20 years since I read it last.

 

I don’t remember the details of the story, but if I kept the book this long, I must’ve really loved it.

 
 
I am staying busy with daily household chores and my butterfly raising. 
Our yard is a flurry of butterflies; lots of different flavors; not just monarchs. 
 
I found a slew of zebra longwing and gulf fritillary larvae in my bed of plumbago the other day and I was so excited I might have had to change my outfit. 
 
 
Their host plant is Passion vine…so, apparently, passion vine found it’s way into this bed without even asking me.
 
THAT fills my little funky heart to the brim. 
 
How are my people on this fine Monday?
Wait, Tuesday?
Yeah, Tuesday.

 

XOXO

 

The one where I thought I had nothing to say. Also, Bev’s birthday.

Do you ever have those days, weeks, or months where you have nothing to say?

Me neither.

But this week I’ve been quiet.
It’s been a weird week. I’ve had some things come up; some distractions.

Can I say that I miss doing my puzzle?

Lord. I’m hopeless.

Things I also miss:

*Hugging people; mostly my girls. But also my friends.

*My gym, my fitness coach, and my gym people. (I may be the youngest at our gym and it’s literally like Cheers, where everybody knows your name)

{Am I the Norm of our Gym? Maybe}

*Marshalls, Home Goods, TJ Maxx. I know. It’s petty, but I do enjoy my outings.

*Publix. I miss just running in for one or two things. I know, I will NEVER take grocery shopping for granted again. Never.

*Dining out. The Coach and I have had a standing Friday night date night for many years; I miss going out for dinner. But, we’ve been ordering in (or picking up) at least one night a week.

Listen, this is my petty little list and really, I’m NOT complaining. It’s just things that I miss.

Can I count my blessing? Oh HELL yes.

*My people are healthy.
*Our business is still in motion.
*I have money in the bank to pay bills.

We are fortunate.
I wish everyone was as fortunate.

***

Tomorrow would be my Mom’s 77th birthday. For the past few years, one or two of my favorite people (when available) join me for two of my Mom’s three favorite things:
Mexican food and a margarita.

Her third favorite thing? Latin men.

We, being married women and all we generally skip those.

Plus, she was known to be a bad pecker picker; starting with my Dad and she went downhill from there. I’m not badmouthing her; she knew it too.

So, tomorrow we are going to attempt to have margaritas together via Zoom; it will be my first time.
For the zoom, not the margarita.
Now I’m wondering how I can get some Mexican food too.

{Suz and Bev at her 72nd birthday. Guess what we were eating and drinking?}

My mom LOVED my blog. She would call me and say: YOU are so funny.
OR she’d say: Who were you referring to in that post?
Or she would complain that I didn’t blog enough.

Now that I write all that, she sounded demanding.

For someone who had nothing to say, I found some words to share today.

Wishing you all a good weekend and if you have the ingredients, have a margarita in Beverly’s honor on Saturday. She was the best Mom I ever had and I miss her terribly.

If you are fortunate enough to have one or both parents, call them this weekend, it’s the least you can do.

I’m not even a Jewish mom, but I can make y’all feel guilty, can’t I?

XO

Captains Log: Day 28 or 399? Garden vlog, puzzle upgrade and a plethora of smokers.

Friday morning I did a little garden vlog. Hold onto your seats, it’s riveting.

Excuse the noise; pool equipment, pool fountain, and air conditioner because Florida.

***

We had a nice, quiet and productive weekend.
Saturday we got our first delivery (insta-cart) from Costco; it went well.
The funny thing is they won’t deliver to our house, but they will deliver to our rental condo.
(zip code snobs)
So, I set up the delivery time and we chilled and waited: (our big outing for the weekend) our delivery guy was right on time.

The Coach was watching a fishing show (also riveting) on TV when I said I was ready to go home with our goods.

He said, “what do you need to get home for?”

I replied slightly embarrassed: “I have a new puzzle.”

Good lord. Send help ASAP. 

We got everything on our list aside from

*ONE THING*

Can you guess what we couldn’t get? 

***

Speaking of puzzles, because apparently, I can’t NOT speak of them. The new one that Linds stumbled upon in Target while getting her essentials is THE. BOMB.COM.

The one I had been struggling with for many weeks, and finally finished, well, it turns out it might have been from the bargain bin at Wally World.

The one Linds picked up? Ummmm…it’s top freaking shelf. Like Nordstroms top shelf.
Wait, does top shelf mean liquor? Well, then it’s way better than Albertsons Vodka; that sort of top-shelf.

I didn’t even know there was a hierarchy in the land of puzzles, but I’m here to tell you, there is one.

The pieces feel different; like they’re made from the remnants of a baby bird’s feathers that have been mixed with the recycling goods from the Taj Mahal.

Wait. That sounds kind of gross. WHO AM I? 

I’m just a girl. Standing in front of a puzzle. Hoping it will help me to solve it. 

 

*ahem, almost a quote from Notting Hill which I watched a few weeks ago and It’s one movie Ernie
can quote*

Such a good RomCom.

***

On Sunday I pressure washed the pool lanai and outside furniture while the Coach put together his newest smoker.

Not only is he a Goldilocks with his chairs/office, but he’s also Goldilocks with his smokers.

He has the HUGE tow-behind one that requires a big azz truck and a small smoker/box but needed a medium-sized one too.

{Small and Medium side by side; the new one looks like a time machine. I suppose it IS a time machine for meat.}

He doesn’t complain about my shoes/plants/garden/skincare addictions, so, would I ever complain about his smoker issue? 
Hell.to.the.no.

So, it’s Monday. Let me check my calendar and see what’s happening this week.

Well, it looks like I’m TOTALLY open if anyone wants to get together.

Or not.

Have a good one my people.
XO