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Father’s Day Weekend

Father’s Day weekend was busy around these parts. It was a good weekend. Although it would have been better if the Panthers had won Saturday night instead of embarrassing themselves, but oh well. The Mayor and Hubby are going to game five tomorrow, so they’re not upset about the loss. My superstitious ass will be home wearing the same sandals and shirt I wore the last time they won.

We had a barbecue on Saturday and Sunday at our friend’s house. Saturday for the game and Sunday for Father’s Day. While the guys discussed the hockey game both before and after, I played dollies with Ava. I think it’s been over 35 years since I’ve played with dollies. She was so excited to show me the new bunkbeds she got for Rapunzel and Elsa. It was a nice change of pace from what I am used to with my boys.

We also played duck, duck goose both nights. First of all, where we grew up, it was duck, duck gray duck. There was none of this goose nonsense. Apparently, this gray duck thing is uniquely Minnesotan. It’s also very hard to play with only two people, but who is going to argue with an adorable four-year-old. Not me! We did try to recruit the dogs, but they were having none of it. Saturday night we had much better participation. Ava was giggling through the entire game. Oh to be four and carefree again.

As for baking, I baked a key lime pie Saturday and some cheese bread Sunday. I used a new recipe for the crust, which I didn’t love. The actual recipe for the filling was amazing. Fortunately, the limes I bought at Target were fresh and extra juicy. As for the cheese bread, I ended up with jumbo flat biscuits instead of nice round ones. Unfortunately, I don’t think the recipe’s proportion of liquid to flour was right. Although I’m sure the humidity didn’t help. Next time I’ll try a different recipe. The flat cheese bread, however, was very tasty.

My favorite thing about myself is that I’m resilient and persistent. I don’t give up on my goals and I always keep fighting no matter what.

What’s your favorite thing about yourself?

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Bridal Shower

Yesterday we celebrated Melly at her bridal shower. Her aunt Cathy threw the shower and it was magnificent. I felt a little bit older as the shower progressed. It feels like just yesterday I was celebrating at my bridal shower. It’s almost incomprehensible that my son is now the oldest to be marrying the woman of his dreams. She’s also the kind woman that we hoped and prayed our boys would marry.

For the shower, they served brunch, which I love. I baked some caramel rolls, especially for the occasion. They were so decadent and tasty. I can’t make those too often or everyone I know would be diabetic. Meanwhile, Cathy and Kylie had prepared a buffet of incredible brunch food to accompany the rolls. Both also served as brewmasters mixing up a signature strawberry Bellini cocktail for the event. It was mighty tasty and mighty strong.

It was a lot of fun celebrating Melody. I was so excited to be able to give her a shower gift finally. I bought her and Jake matching bride and groom aprons. Additionally, I made her a family cookbook with pictures of them and our family together, it was my favorite gift. It’s very similar to the cookbook I made for my family earlier in the year. I plan to customize a cookbook for each of the kids and my nieces and nephews when they get married. This way, we will preserve our family baking traditions.

The bridal shower was the marquis event of the weekend, but there was something else we had to celebrate. The Panthers are going back to the Stanley Cup!!!! Hopefully, the boys can get it down this year and bring Lord Stanley home to Sunrise. The cup starts on Saturday. I’d love to go, but the fees on these tickets are utterly ridiculous. The actual ticket prices are reasonable, I think, but the fees are something else.

List three books that have had an impact on you. Why?

Three books that impacted me are The Alchemist, by Paolo Coelho, Resurrection, by Leo Tolstoy and Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo. I found each of these books inspired me to by my best, to choose forgiveness, and live without regret.

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Ambivalent

I’ve been a bit ambivalent about blogging lately. I enjoy writing, but life has become a bit mundane. While mundane often has negative connotations, I find it a bit refreshing. For the last twenty-five years, we’ve been moving at light speed all day every day. It’s nice to have some slow moments where we have little to nothing going on. I quite enjoy that our excitement as of late has come from the bird feeder.

It’s been magnificent having two teams in their respective league’s conference finals. Unfortunately, the Timberwolves were eliminated yesterday. Meanwhile, the Panthers now lead the series after beating the Rangers last night. Us hockey people are quite superstitious, so true to form I watched the game at home and went to bed after period one. The boys, however, went and watched the games at our friends’ house. One mustn’t mess with the mojo.

This weekend I’ll be busy baking. I’m making caramel rolls for Melody’s bridal shower on Sunday. I also found a delectable-looking cheesecake recipe that I want to try. Fortunately, the hubby is willing to take one for the team and try whatever cheesecake I may bake. Additionally, I got stuff to make cream cheese wontons. Last weekend I made some pork sausage wontons that were a big hit. Hopefully, the cream cheese wontons turn out just as good.

How do you know when it’s time to unplug? What do you do to make it happen?

I know I need to unplug daily to keep myself mentally sane. I do that by putting my phone away at least an hour before bed. Once the phone is up, I get snuggled up in my bed with Anakin, his ducks, and a good book. I usually read until I can’t keep my eye open anymore. It’s the perfect way to unplug and unwind from the day.

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Four Day

I’m so excited about my four-day weekend that I can barely stand it. Work has not been the best place to be this week, so I’m looking forward to a nice, long weekend. Fortunately, I have no plans outside of watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Timberwolves in the NBA playoffs. Outside of watching the playoffs, I plan on watching Netflix and chilling on the couch.

Speaking for four days, I have four days left on my four-week Apple Fitness + plan. I missed a couple of workouts yesterday and today due to a pinched nerve in my shoulder. I also had to cut my spin class short due to sharp knee pain, which was great. Outside of the last few days, the plan has been working fantastically. The yoga and Pilates are helping quite a bit. I love lighting some incense or palo santo for my practice.

The fitness plan ends on Sunday, so I’ll be starting a new one. One thing I don’t love about the plan is its lack of flexibility to change or move workouts once set. Consequently, I’ll be setting a weekly plan from here out. This way I can make sure the plan aligns with my schedule. Otherwise, managing the plan and my schedule is a bit stressful.

What personal belongings do you hold most dear?

The personal belongings I treasure most are the picture books I’ve made over the years. I made books for each of our Utah trips. When the boys are older and have their own place, I’ll make sure they each have a copy. One of my favorite Utah books is the book I made for Jake and I of our trip through the Mighty Five. It’s nice, thick, and great documentation of an epic trip across southern Utah.

Perhaps my favorite book is the cookbook I’ve made for my family. I compiled all the family recipes and put them into a beautiful book with family photos. Each of the grandkids will get one when they get married. It’s beautiful! Also, I’ve made some of the recipes so many times that the recipes are no longer legible. With the book, I can now easily read all of the recipes.

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Big Night

It’s a big night! The Cats kick off the Eastern Conference Finals against the Rangers. It should be a banger of a series. I can’t wait to see how these two teams match up. Truly, it should be a really exciting series. Meanwhile, on the other coast, the Timberwolves kick off their first Western Conference Final series since 2004. Coincidentally, 2004 was the last time I went to a Wolves game. I still can’t believe they came back and won game 7.

The only problem with this big night is the Panthers’ game starts at 8:00 pm and the Wolves game at 8:30. Do they not realize I need to be in bed by 9:30? Are they seriously trying to disrupt my bedtime routine? It will be midway through the second period when my Apple Watch will start judging me for not being in bed. For once I’ll be headed to bed long after the stars start twinkling. Honestly, though an earlier start time for these games would be great.

Do you have any collections?

I have several collections. I still have my baseball and hockey card collections that started in my youth. My favorite collection is my collection of books. My hubby has already built me two bookshelves. Unsurprisingly, he will probably need to build me another one soon as my book collection continues to grow.

Speaking of bangers, you’ll want to turn up the volume for this one.

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Cleaning update

Well here’s the spring cleaning update. I have a lot of stuff and not enough places to store it. While cleaning out the closet, it struck me that I had a ton of old jerseys and concert t-shirts lying around. They’re not just lying around. Currently, I have them all organized in tubs on my closet floor. Since we’re at the end of the hockey parent journey, I think it’s time to make the boys each a quilt of their old jerseys. As for the concert T-shirts, I might make those into a quilt for myself.

The other big update from my spring cleaning is that I desperately needed a step stool. I can’t easily reach the top of my closets, cabinets, or bird feeders. Also, I don’t want to be climbing on top of the new washing machine to put things away. Consequently, I got myself a new step stool via Amazon. This way I can put things up high without putting myself in peril. Now I need to focus on improving the storage options in our closets and bedrooms. This way our space looks organized and not like a place where someone is dorming.

What is the legacy you want to leave behind?

My kids will be my legacy. I hope they approach life with kindness, love, and a sense of adventure. Moreover, I hope they make a conscious choice to make this world a better place by the way they interact with people they meet.

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Cold Weather

How do you feel about cold weather?

How do I feel about cold weather? Well, I moved to South Florida in 2005 from Minnesota and haven’t looked back. To be fair, however, I would love for the heat index to be lower than 100 today. That said, I prefer the steadiness of Florida’s heat to Minnesota’s rollercoaster weather.

Ironically, I couldn’t tolerate the cold when I lived in Minnesota. Now that I live in Florida and have been diagnosed with Graves, I can’t tolerate the heat. Thank god my kids play hockey! One of the nice things about a warmer climate is your old injuries don’t hurt as much. Those old injuries resurface as soon as I travel north into the cold.

Enough about the cold weather though, we had an awesome weekend. We played games, ate pizza, and watched the Panthers beat the Bruins with Jake, Melly, and Company on Friday night. It was an awesome hockey game and fun to share the experience with our expanded family. Saturday we headed to Fort Lauderdale for a birthday party. We had the best time. It was nice to actually leave the house.

I spent yesterday trying to shake off the sinus headache that had started Saturday. It took all day and several Aleve, but I did feel better by the end of the day. I did, however, manage to make some bread and get the laundry done. Unfortunately, I didn’t get around to making the cookies our graduate wanted. The hubby and I started watching the Timberwolves game last night. It was game 7 of the series. Sadly, it didn’t start well. Consequently, our superstitions from hockey left us to turn off the game. It was a happy surprise waking up to see the Wolves win.

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Friday Eve

I’m so glad it’s Friday eve. It’s been quite a long week at work. It’s amazing that on one hand, it feels like the year is flying by, while this week feels like it’s taking a century. The week started with my manager leaving the company, which is a bit unmooring. Up until today, the volume has been passable. Today, however, it seems to be a ghost town.

Happy Friday Eve!

Nonetheless, I am looking forward to dinner with my PanCan crew. We’re meeting up to celebrate the success of our PurpleStride event last month. We killed our goal! Also, the event had an incredible vibe and energy. I’m so glad that I could be there for the event this year. Hopefully, the stars align next year and I’ll be able to attend again. I’m also hoping to see Jake and Melly afterward since they’re still in town. Now if I could only cheat and make today Friday instead of Friday eve.

What’s the oldest things you’re wearing today?

Everything I’m wearing, for once, is relatively new. The oldest thing I’m probably wearing is my tank Fabletics tank top. Or maybe it’s the ankle braces I wear as a badge of my clumsiness.

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It’s Hot

It’s hot in here. The lack of working AC downstairs is killing me. Our room has been a balmy 83 degrees since the AC died Monday morning. Ironically, I became heat intolerant after moving to Florida. Consequently, I ended up sleeping on the couch as it was significantly cooler than our room. Both puppies kept me company and miraculously I slept pretty well. Nevertheless, it’s miserable in here.

My office is in my room, so I’ve been working in the heat all day. Did I mention it’s hot? It’s quite uncomfortable. Amazon just delivered the part that needs to be replaced, at least the one we think needs replacement. The Hubby is going to tackle that one as soon as he gets home. Hopefully, we’ll have working AC units both upstairs and downstairs. Otherwise, it will be another night on the couch for me and the puppies.

Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often?

There are several quotes or idioms I hold near and dear. Carpe Diem is one of them as it’s a reminder to live every day to its fullest. The other one is from Victor Hugo. “Even the darkest will end and the sun will rise.” It’s a poignant reminder that even when things are bleak, things will always get better.

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Let’s Go!

Let’s go! Less than 24 hours until I check into my flight for Momcation!! Honestly, pretty soon I’ll be counting down the minutes. I cannot wait to spend a week relaxing and doing nothing with some of my favorite people. I’ve completed my packing list, so now I have to start packing. Well, first I should probably finish my laundry. Since I’m packing light, I’ve decided to bring no makeup. This is a big step even though I wore no makeup last year. I had it if I needed it.

Speaking of laundry, I love my new washing machine. It’s so quiet! Our old washer sounded like it was about to take off or vibrate through the wall. It was so loud that Athena would start barking back at it. Apparently, the loud washer presented a threat to all of our safety. It wasn’t a safety threat, but it was an annoyance. We would have to turn up the TV every time we did the wash. Now you can’t hear it all from the family room.

Speaking of things that need replacing, I’ve decided to hold off on replacing the broken bird feeder. Once I get back from vacation, I’m going to buy a feeder that includes a camera. Right now I can’t watch the birds unless I’m sitting in my living room. If I get a feeder that has a camera, I’ll be able to watch it from anywhere. Additionally, it will help us identify all the birds and animals that have become a part of our menagerie.

Idiom of the day: every path has its puddles.

Describe a random encounter with a stranger that stuck out positively to you.

When the boys were small, we would go grocery shopping at Target every Saturday morning. This particular trip had been particularly difficult with not one child cooperating. By the time I made it to the cash register, I was exasperated. I paid for my groceries and was about to leave when I realized I had forgotten to put the milk on the conveyor. By this time, the cashier was ready to move on to the next customer.

This beautiful older woman behind me in line must have seen the fatigue and exasperation on my face. Consequently, she immediately offered to put the milk on her ticket, so I didn’t have to get back in line. It was a small gesture and the milk cost a little over $2.00, but her kindness has stuck with me. Little acts of kindness go a long way.