Monday, November 21, 2022

weekending/Hello Monday

 


Happy Monday, friends! And happy Thanksgiving week! I can't believe the big day is almost here...I want time to just hover and move very slowly from now until Christmas day. I have #allthethings I want to talk about between now and then. 


How was your weekend? Mine was really good. It all kicked off with Dad on Friday—I went and picked him up and we came back to my house for lunch. I had made some taco soup, so we ate that and enjoyed the afternoon together. After I took him home, I went and picked up a pizza and some cheesy bread for the guys who were here, took an early shower and watched some episodes of the Gilmore Girls. Todd worked, and the others were in and out, but I went to bed early because I was so tired. I was also cold, which makes me super sleepy. I don't know if this is happening where you live, but it's been unseasonably cold here for two weeks now. I'm not complaining, I promise! Most of you know I love this time of year, even the short days and the wintry temps. It'll be warming up slightly this week, just five or so degrees, but I have enjoyed wearing sweaters, scarves, coats, vests and all the layers. I especially love it to be this cold during the holidays, because it makes everything feel more festive. 


One of my favorite things to do on weekends is to spend part of mornings getting caught up on my quiet time routines. I really try to not get behind, but it does happen occasionally. This was me either Friday or Saturday morning catching up on my daily chronological Bible reading. I'm loving reading Paul's letters! I love that little portion that I underlined about God knowing the intention of our hearts. I've been thinking of that a lot lately. 



I watched a Hallmark movie when I woke up early on Saturday.



This one was cute....not my favorite, but still pretty cute. I do like how the actors in the movie sort of made fun of Hallmark Christmas movies in this one. It was a clever story line, another one that's different from the usual. After this, I had my quiet time and then started on laundry. I spend half my life playing catch up it seems, but I don't mind. I actually really enjoy folding clothes! I got dressed for the day, then came downstairs to read as I waited on my mom and sister to come pick me up.



I know I just talked about how cold it is here, and it is, but I still sat outside for about ten minutes and read while I let the dogs roam around the backyard. It's good for my lungs to breathe in that cold fresh air! That's why I love cold weather—I breathe so much easier when it's like this. I have seasonal or situational asthma and do sometimes use inhalers to help me, if I need to. Mom and Trish picked me up soon after this, so we did our usual Saturday thing and ran errands together. We needed to go to Barnes and Noble, then we had lunch at a Mexican restaurant near there, and ended the day after a Target run. 



Lunch was just okay, even though it's a beautiful restaurant. Have you noticed that some restaurants now charge a fee for using a credit card? And they sometimes add a service fee, even if there are less than four of you? I do not love this and it makes me not want to return to this one in particular, especially because both Mom and Trish had to wait on their drinks to be refilled. I have such an issue with that and I think they do too. I feel like I'm going to choke if I eat food while not having a drink...I know that's probably psychological, but still. It wasn't even crowded and they had lots of staff there to work. I digress. (This is why it's best if I only go to places I know and love...I'm picky about service in the restaurant industry and prefer small and local restaurants. Also, I like a guarantee of good food.)


My hubby worked again that night when someone asked him to, so I stayed home and had leftovers for dinner. I finished my book, then I watched this adorable Lifetime movie. 



I love Sarah Drew! I highly recommend this one and it made me schedule more Lifetime movies to record. While I was doing that, Todd was doing this at work.



Nobody was harmed in this picture and because some of the woods also caught fire, he got to dust off his old firefighting skills and helped get it under control. (Did you know he used to be a volunteer firefighter? He went away to school for it and everything!) 


I had church on Sunday, and it was so good! I love it when our Pastor shares a Thanksgiving message. It's always very inspirational and thought provoking. At the risk of sounding vain, I really love what I wore to church, something I've never paired together before. *Please excuse the mirror that needs cleaning!





The cardigan thing (I have no idea what this is called) is wool and so warm and comfy. I paired it with that tan long sleeved shirt, black pants and my casual shoes, since I was just singing in the choir loft and not on stage. I felt warm and cozy, but also comfy. I love the necklace I wore with it too—it's big and clunky and worked great with the colors I had on. 


And, before church, I watched this movie.



Three Wise Men and a Baby. I loved that they played three brothers! It gave me all the warm fuzzies. 


After church, I ate lunch and read the best book, which I later finished that afternoon. Have you read anything from this author, Susan May Warren? She was new to me, but I think this book would make an excellent choice for a holiday book club. 



While I read, we had Cops on in the background and Todd cuddled with the pups.



It was an excellent weekend! I'm looking forward to a nice long break this week as well. I love lazy mornings at home, when I don't have to rush out the door. I anticipate lots of movie watching and lots of reading during the time off from work. I'm also looking forward to seeing my sister Lisa (she's the one whose house flooded while we were in the Cape Cod area this fall) who is here from Colorado, and my nephews and niece and her hubby and their four precious girls. We're going with them to our town tree lighting service on Tuesday, so I'll share about that on Wednesday. I hope you have a great day, friends! Thanks for reading my blog! Love to all. 




Linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's blog post.

17 comments:

  1. Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend. It's funny that you mention how unusually cold it's been where you are. It's the same here and we are supposed to be in spring! I'm still wearing a jacket in the preschool playground and sitting in the sun as much as possible. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family xxx

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  2. Ruth, is it usually warm there at this time of year? I know everyone's spring can look different here for us, from state to state, which is why I ask about yours. We've had it snow during spring here! I've had to cancel birthday parties for my boys because of it, and sometimes even into May here, it can be freezing. It usually doesn't happen, but I remember sitting at baseball games in winter gear, as we experienced what we refer to as "blackberry winter". Thank you for that! I hope you have a great week!

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  3. I love the picture of Todd and your dog- such nice expressions on both of their faces ;). Our town had its Christmas festival over the weekend (hope to write about it soon...) and the cold weather made it unenjoyable in the evenings ;(. But it did help to make the festival more festive while the temps were bearable, lol. I did not know that Lifetime had Christmas movies. I will have to check them out. (Though I'm not 100% sure we get that channel.) I'm happy for you that you get five slow mornings this week. I get them too because for first time, ever, I believe, our school district has the entire week of Thanksgiving off. What a blessing! I hope you have a great Monday!

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  4. Thanks, Maria, I love that one too! Chip does this thing where he sits like a person when Todd picks him up from behind. It's the cutest. That festival sounds fun, but I hate that you couldn't enjoy it for the cold! I knew about the Lifetime movies, but I always forget about them! I get that channel through Frndly tv. I'm not sure where else you can get it. I hope you have a wonderful week off! I think I'm going to work today for a couple of hours and return some phone calls to people, then I'm going to grocery shop, have lunch and get my nails done. Well, I may wait for that until Tuesday...

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  5. You are making me even more excited about this week! So much anticipation and rest mixed in for sure! Love that pic of your hubby and pup- so sweet! :)

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  6. Your weekend sounds really nice. As far as I know, I have never read a book by Susan May Warren, but I just found that one was available through the Libby Ap, so I have it now to read. Thanks for telling us about it.

    We watched the 3 Wisemen and a Baby last night. What I saw of it was really good, unfortunately I missed some of the middle of it because I fell asleep. Hubby filled me in and so I didn't feel like I missed too much. I'm not sure I've seen the others you listed yet. We are mostly watching 2 movies a day to try to half-way keep up. lol

    Have a great day!

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  7. I am with you on the restaurants! I just wish they would have a sign to inform customers of their policies if they are going to implement those.
    Your outfit does look cozy and I love how that necklace brought it all together!
    I also watched the Three Wise Men movie this weekend and it is a favorite so far.
    Enjoy the town lighting! We went a few years ago to that.
    Have fun with the family and Happy Thanksgiving to you!

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  8. Sounds like another good weekend! So much holiday spirit at your house:) I had no idea that restaurants are charging to use cards. Really?! Eventually, I will just stop eating out. The meals are more often than not very mediocre anyways. Sigh. I will have to keep a check out for that...thanks for the heads up. Hope you are having a great Monday!

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  9. I hope you have a wonderful time with your family! My son has the opposite problem... the cold weather induces his asthma and we have to take a bit easy with hiking this time of year because of it.

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  10. Debbie- that's crazy about your bill! I can sympathize with her because my eyes do crazy things when I don't wear my glasses. Ha! I wish I had some tips about Frndly tv- I didn't realize you had to have a device. Maybe a Roku stick? I think our tv has one built in...or then again, maybe not. I'm not all that technologically advanced! I will say, though some are really good, they're not the quality of the Hallmark ones, so truthfully, you're not missing all that much. I do love the Lifetime ones! Maybe it will become more mainstream in the new year. I hope you survived the store! I did that today and it was crazy!

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  11. Thanks, Holly! I hope you have a wonderful time of celebration with your loved ones. I am excited to read about the big opening night!

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  12. Cathy, I think you'll enjoy her! I can't wait to hear what you think about her. I borrowed my copy through Libby as well, so hopefully you'll be able to get that soon. I will say, it is also good enough to purchase. The story immediately draws you in.

    I totally understand- there are SO MANY movies to watch and so little time. I know you're glad to be home!

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  13. Marilyn, that would be so helpful if restaurants would do that. I will just keep frequenting my favorites because of this. Thanks for the outfit love! I am so excited to see everyone tomorrow and for the lighting tomorrow night. I know it'll be packed!

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  14. Thanks, Jennifer! I sometimes wonder if my family minds, but they don't seem to. ;) I didn't know that either until recently! I am with you- usually the food isn't all that great and the quality of that and the bill never go together. I'm better off staying home to eat! Or just going for an appetizer or dessert...

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  15. Thanks, Joanne! I hope the same for you, my friend. My sister is the same way! She lives near Denver and struggles terribly all winter long. I hate that about your son- I know he loves to hike, so I'm sure that's disappointing to have to cut back on those times.

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  16. What a great weekend. You are giving me so many good movie ideas. I need to make a list. I hope you have a wonderful holiday with your sister and family. Happy Thanksgiving.

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  17. Jen, it was! I hope you were able to watch some this weekend. There are so many, it is impossible to keep up. I'll end up recording a ton and deleting half of them. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving!

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