A Bucket Full of Hodgepodge

Joyce asks the questions, and we provide the answers. See how others answered at From This Side of the Pond.

1. When did you last have cancelled plans? Were you happy about that or disappointed? 

Last September I had to modify my plans for the annual Sister Weekend since CH was recuperating from his emergency colostomy. I definitely couldn't leave him overnight and tried not to leave him for more than a couple of hours. I was really disappointed but knew what I needed to do.

2. On a scale of 1-10 how much of a planner are you? 

1= I go where the wind takes me  

10=I've got a power point on it, no matter what it is

I'm usually a HUGE planner. I'm trying to be better about just going with the flow, but it's so hard!

3. Do you have a menu plan for the week? If so tell us one or two things that are on it. If not, what's your plan for not having a plan lol? 

I used to write out a bi-weekly menu plan and then build my grocery list from that. Over that past year that changed and we would decide at the last minute what we were going to have. Both of us had reduced appetites so it was hard to plan. Now, I'm finding that I have a hard time figuring out what I'm going to eat. It's really hard to cook for one. I'm trying out Hello, Fresh for the first time so I'll have to report back. 

4. The Hodgepodge lands on National Bucket List Day. Do you have a bucket list? Is it written down or just in your head? What is one thing on your bucket list? If you don't have a list, what is one thing you'd add to a list if you did? Yes I'm going to make you think about it. 

I have a list in my head but I really need to write it down! I definitely want to make it to Fatima, Portugal. My home parish is Our Lady of Fatima; it's the same parish where I grew up so it has major significance in my life.

5. Rain buckets, a drop in the bucket, couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, sweat buckets, cry buckets...which 'bucket' idiom applies to your life in some way currently? 

I don't know that any of those apply to my life right now. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

I did want to "cry buckets" last Saturday. I went through Border Control in Dublin and the agent said, "Welcome home, Mary". I wanted to cry and yell, "No! I don't want to go!" I had an amazing 2-weeks in Ireland; each time I go it seems it's better than the last. Now I have to figure out how I'm going to recap everything so stay tuned!

Friday Fotos 2024 #2

Friday Fotos is a post where I can dump some photos from the previous week. The goal is to make me more aware of the beauty and fun in my everyday life. 

There's nothing like running into your sister when you go out to eat lunch! It was completely unplanned, but so nice!

I captured this rainbow one evening. It was just stunning!

The Lenten Roses are blooming in the park.

Gurl Dogg enjoys her daily walks, even when it's windy.

My lone daffodil in my yard. Every year I look at it and think I need to plant more. 

We had a couple of very windy days. This tree (and the bridge) in the park were casualties.

Look what I heard in the park one evening! I heard a couple of owls that evening and a few days before I heard one that sounded like he was very close to the house. Owls & Hawks are just the coolest birds! I think this was the first time I heard a Kinglet around my house. The Merlin app is so interesting!

Until next time! 

{Friday Foto Friends} Sisters & Porches

I'm linking up with Deb at Breathing in Grace for Friday Foto Friends.

I spent last weekend with my sisters; I shared those pictures here. So, the pictures this week were few since I was on Fall Break and I didn't do much. I have to share 1 more picture of my sisters:

I keep saying this, but I love the mountains in the fall.  Well, I love them anytime, but specifically Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg in the fall with the decorations.

I haven't decorated much the past few years, but I had some inspiration and decided to do something with my front porch (after I cleared off the spider webs!):

Another Fall Break is in the books...1/4 of the way through the school year!

Thankful Thursday: It's Fall, Y'all!

Rebecca at Knit by God's Hand is a great encourager of finding gratitude in the little things every day.

This week I’m thankful for:

…Cool weather...FINALLY!

...Fall break. Even though it's going by way too fast.

...Sisters. Don't know what I'd do without them!

...Brothers. My oldest brother has been a rock through the past month. Daddy has had some issues, but we think he's on the mend. I don't know how I would have handled everything if I was an only child. 

#bigfamiliesrock 

...Being home. After living away for 20 years, 12 years ago I decided enough was enough and told CH I wanted to move home. My parents were getting older, and I wanted to be around to help if they needed me. I cherish the 10 years I had living up the street from my mom, and this past month helping out my dad reminded me of why I wanted to move back. 

What are the little things you're thankful for this week?

Sisters, Mountains, and a Hail Mary

This past weekend was just amazing! The only bad thing was that it ended too soon.  It was our annual Sisters' Weekend, the weekend where we let our hair down and just be ourselves. We eat, we drink, we laugh, we gossip.  Last year, we started our weekend on Thursday evening, so we decided to try it again this year. It worked. :)

After everybody was picked up, we ran by the grocery store, then it was on to the cabin in Pigeon Forge. We tried Vacation Rentals by Owner this time. The cabin was close to town, but far enough out. The view from the balcony wasn't the best that we've had, but it was pretty decent.

Friday morning, as we were eating breakfast, a female cardinal hung out just outside the door for a little bit.  Mom was definitely there in spirit! 

After we ate and had showers, we decided to go to The Island. 

We walked around, went into a couple of stores, and rode "The Wheel" (courtesy of my big brother!).

There were some beautiful views at the top:

My BIL paid for our lunch: 

(The man in the picture is NOT my BIL...just a restaurant employee!)
I love going to the mountains this time of year. Everything is so festive and "fallish".

My hero: She kicked breast cancer's butt!

The cabin was awesome.  3 floors with a bedroom and bathroom on the top & bottom floors, and 2 bedrooms and a bathroom in the basement.  

 A game room that we didn't think we'd use:

And a theater in the basement.

We watched a couple of movies:

And watched the UT game on Saturday afternoon:

We're "yellers" during ballgames. Especially when the commentators are idiots. I wish I had my phone turned on and videoed the end of the game when Dobbs threw the "Hail Mary" and Jennings caught it to win the game as time ran out. We were all screaming and yelling! Just amazing. 

Pre-game Dreamsicles:

And then the sad day: Sunday. One last "hurrah" at our traditional Sunday morning, end of the weekend breakfast spot. 

Checking out the light for a selfie.  Apparently it had us stumped.

 We brought a sister & SIL (who couldn't attend the weekend) along.

 We loved the cabin (except for some "critters"...we couldn't figure out where they were, though.) and may try to get that same one next year. We need to go back to The Island and do The Escape; that sounds like an awful lot of fun!
After I got home from Sisters' Weekend, I had an hour before I had to be at church for preparation for the "Sing of Mercy" concert.  (No pictures yet, though.) After that, we had a quick dinner consisting of Chinese take-out...I was in bed by 8:00. It was an exhausting weekend, but it was so good to spend it with my sisters!

Vacation 2016 Part 1: Sister Time!

What an awesome vacation we had! I had never been further west than Texas (except for a quick weekend to Phoenix for my nephew's wedding), so I was really looking forward to seeing a different part of the country. 

We started off our vacation with a 2-day visit with one of my sisters. I hadn't been to her current house, so I was really excited to see it...oh, and her! I can't believe I didn't get a picture of the 2 of us. (Bad blogger....very bad blogger!) 

I got to see the St. Louis Arch for the first time. The Small Town's high school band participated in their St. Patrick's Day Parade when YS was a junior, so he has actually been to the top.

As we went over the bridge (which apparently had been built since the last time CH went through St. Louis...he talked about how horrible it was to go through that city but was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was this time), I was busy taking pictures. when we got to the other side, I asked CH when we got into Missouri; he looked at me kind of funny & said we hit the state line When we went over the bridge. I was too busy taking pictures to notice the sign!

The drive up was somewhat uneventful, except for the horrendous rain we drove through Saturday night. If Google maps hadn't frozen, we wouldn't have missed the exit that would have taken us around Kansas City, and we would have missed the rain. We ended up getting a hotel room that night...we were only about 1 1/2 hours from my sister's. 

We drove the rest of the way in on Sunday morning, and arrived to see my sister standing at the end of the sidewalk with a huge smile on her face. My BIL was standing on the porch. He doesn't ever show much excitement, but I know he was secretly excited to see us!

She gave us a tour of their beautiful home; we were standing on the balcony looking out at the backyard, and she caught sight of a cardinal. She grabbed my hand & told me to look. No doubt Mama was looking down on us in approval.

My sister is an absolutely marvelous cook: we ate really well while we were there! We originally had visions of us sitting around the pool, talking, but y'all, it was cold! YS (who went with us) and CH got in the pool; I stuck my feet in, but that was as far as I got. It was cold enough for us to have a fire in the firepit one night.

I even got to see one of my nephews! (That's  him on the left, YS in the middle and my BIL on the right.)

We did a bit of sight-seeing while we were there. My sister lives near the town where the Pony Express started.

 Very interesting history there. It was very much worth the $6 admission.

We also went by the house where Jesse James died. We didn't go in; my sister said that the only thing really of interest is the wall that has the hole from the bullet that killed him in it. We saw a picture of it & saved the $4. (The house isn't at the original location.)

Just a couple more pictures of my sister's yard. They have a sweet little fish pond with a bridge over it and some lilypads in it.

My sister was a little concerned that YS would get bored, but he got in there and the boys did their thing.

The only bad thing about the first leg of the trip was that it was over too soon and we had to leave. But we had more adventures to come!