WEDNESDAY HODGEPODGE MEME

1.What's something you find extremely difficult that most people would say is simple?

Subtraction.  I honestly struggle with it. I have to add backwards to subtract....in fact that's how I learned.  For example: 40-18= I have to say 8 plus what makes 10? Oh.  2 so the number on the right in the answer is 2.  Then 1 + what makes 4. Oh, 3! so the answer is 32. I hated math after 5th grade. I barely made it through Geometry and Algebra I passed ok but ended up with a C on the Regents so a C+ in the class. after that, I was done! Thank God both daughters take after Dave and excelled and homework was super easy for them AND they both got Level 5 on their AP Calc.  One daughter  went on to major in math "for fun" along with her Art major. My dad was great at math and my mom was ok. Not sure what happened to me. 

2.  "And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow fast in movies I  had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer." 

~F. Scott Fitzgerald~

Does the season of summer make you feel this way? Elaborate. 

Not really.  It's more like a pause. My life...especially now that I'm retired from Special Ed Prek teaching, pauses in the summer so to speak. Slower paced life style, way more time in the mountains and hikes, kayaking, no ministry duties other than planning and leading the hikes, more personal time for Bible study vs working on a specific book for the small group I lead Sept-June.  As a teacher from 1987-2023, my life beginning again was with September.  I still think this way and it's been almost 3 years since I officially retired! 

3. Pickles. Love 'em or no thank you? What's your favorite type of pickle? What's something you eat that definitely needs a pickle added?

My fave is the kind that the Amish make ( I found them in Lancaster Co PA when my youngest and I were down there several years ago and sometimes I can find them in a central NY Amish farm) which taste just like the ones my paternal grandmother made.  They're "bread and butter" pickles and I LOVE them on my vegan burgers or chopped fine in potato salad. I also, every once in a while, love a good, crisp, ice cold dill pickle with fish n chips like on Cape Cod. 

4. Tis the season...do you know any June brides? Are there any weddings on your summer calendar? What's your favorite movie wedding? 

I'm a last day of June bride as is my senior pastor's wife! We were married on the same day/same year (1990) and didn't know each other until 2005. We exchange greetings back and forth on that day or sometimes the night before. A friend of mine from college also got married in June. 

Me on June 30th, 1990 before heading to the church
my organist also made my gown....look how 90s it is!
Big puffy sleeves with the ribbons/bows and instead of a veil
which to me was so old fashioned, I chose for her to make me a lace headband.
The teal flowers in the basket match the bridesmaids dresses and they carried similar baskets but smaller

No June weddings this year. Last one we went to was at a large flower garden in the Catskills about 3 years ago. 

My favorite wedding movie. Hm...well i LOVE the scene of Maria's and the Captain's wedding in Sound of Music but that's mainly due to the music. I also love My Best Friend's Wedding.  Dave and I just loved that one!  

5. June 1st is/was National Say Something Nice Day...say something nice here. 

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

TUESDAY 4 MEME

 

A great way to meet other bloggers, is to participate once in awhile, in these weekly memes.  I enjoyed today's questions and am procrastinating from finishing the dusting so....here we go! 

Head to this blog to join in and learn more! 

Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4...

Let's talk about your week okay?

1. Is anything interesting on TV this week?  What will you be watching?

No idea  as I don't watch TV other than Law and Order: SVU and that's done for the season.   I do watch the first 15-20 min of The Today Show Monday through Friday (unless leaving early for a hike) and I watch our local news about 6:45 AM for 15 min. I use my Macbook to watch Netflix and right now I'm in the middle of the series Legends about England's drug trade, based on a true event. I typically watch while cooking/chopping veggies or folding laundry, or shredding papers, etc.  

2. Any books on your horizon right now? What will you be reading?

I always have a fiction book from the library going.  Right now I'm reading one of Europe's best sellers that has finally made its way to the States:  Mona's Eyes.  Highly recommend, especially if you enjoy Art and family drama. I'm also trying to read through the Bible chronologically which is taking a long time. I was doing well until mid-April.  I'll get back to reading a little bit each evening. I also have Northwoods by Amy Pease on my coffee table as I made it to  chapter 6 when the library alerted me that Mona's Eyes were ready for my turn. (There's a wait list  so I only get it for 2 weeks).  I'll go back to Northwoods once  this European book is complete. 

3. What's been on the menu lately?  Any new recipes caught your eye?

I actually tried a new-to-us recipe last week: Beef Ramen bowls.  I used ground vegan/plant based "beef" called Beyond Meat. It was delicious. I tweaked the recipe a bit and added in chopped broccoli besides the onions and peppers. 

For last evening's dinner I made "Pulled Pork" with jackfruit to replace the pork and served it in sesame buns with broccoli slaw, steamed carrots/peas/cauliflower, and quinoa-flaxseed chips. Easy Monday menu! 

Tomorrow evening I'm making stuffed peppers with the Beyond Meat.  My husband really likes those.  

Thursday I'll be at a catered dinner for all small  group leaders at church, so Dave will  be on his own. 

Tonight's menu is potato salad, grilled pork for Dave, grilled chicken for me, and steamed green beans. 

4. Who will you spend time with this week?

Besides my husband in the evenings, I have my last book group discussion here tonight; tomorrow I will be with other hikers who signed up for a local hike I'm leading in the morning; Thursday will be spent with my youngest daughter at a local lake for our first official 2026 Beach Day (she has Thursdays and Sundays off), Sunday was spent with oldest daughter as her boyfriend had a family thing; Saturday I will be out in my hometown area with a couple of  childhood friends. 

What does your week look like??  Any plans? 

Monday Musings on the first June day

Monday afternoon 1 pm

Outside my window…it's a gorgeous first day of June! Blue skies with puffy white clouds, sunshines, temps in the mid 60s I love it!

I am thinking....about a conversation my oldest daughter and I had last evening in regards to her future plans 

I am thankful for.....this beautiful weather, my husband's hard work of mowing and trimming the lawn yesterday, for both of my daughters who live not too far away from us, and for their jobs and health. 

From the kitchen....for dinner tonight: bbq jackfruit sandwiches (think pulled pork sandwiches minus the fat and cholesterol), broccoli slaw with coleslaw dressing, quinoa-flaxseed chips, a pitcher of iced tea

I am creating....the July hiking schedule for the group I run (SoulSteps Hiking)

I am going....on a walk as soon as my housework is complete for the day 

I am wearing....sunwashed denim skinny jeans, a black tunic tee, a jade green  flannel hooded shirt, barefeet with magenta toe polish, pewter hoop earrings, my wedding band/diamond, my birthstone and a jade cross necklace. For my walk, I'll put on my black yoga pants and walking sneakers and take off the flannel shirt 

I am hoping....it is in the low 80s for Thursday when my youngest girl and I plan on going to a lake for a "beach day" on her day off. 

I am hearing....the sounds of a bluejay, cardinal and crow in the backyard maple trees and  a nuthatch at the feeder; someone's lawn mower, cars on the main road whizzing by; the wind in the trees 

Around the house....the groceries for the week are shopped for and put away, bed is made and fresh towels have been put out in the bathrooms; I still need to vacuum the dining room and the kitchen after this post is done, and then I will power walk for 2 miles and then finish my small group prep for our last discussion tomorrow evening.  Hubby is working from home, since it's a Monday, in the upstairs office so no housework takes place up there on Mondays or Fridays. 

One of my favorite things....st*rbucks hot coffee with a splash of almond milk and one pump of raspberry syrup. 

I am reading...Mona's Eyes, and an article from the latest Adirondack Explorer magazine about a hike in the deep woods 

A Few Plans for the rest of the week.....tomorrow I have some paper shredding to do, a trip to Ace Hardware or Tractor Supply, and my last small group discussion with my Book Group/Bible Study; Wednesday morning I have to lead a woods hike in a new to me trail system about 40 minutes east of my home; Thursday is a lake day for Claire and I followed by a dinner I need to attend for all small group leaders that the church is having catered; Friday is open but I'm thinking of heading out to my hometown area to place some things on my parents' graves, do some clean up there, and have lunch with an old friend along with shopping at a fave antique store. Saturday, we are hoping to get the kayaks in one of the local lakes and having a bonfire to burn some brush in the evening after a picnic. 

Here's a quote I am sharing with you: 

Get outside!  your body, mind, and spirit will thank you. 

How is your Monday going?? 

Saturday Nine

 

I've  heard of this singer and only knew the title of the song cause it was popular a couple years ago but I'm not a fan of the singer or the song really.  He reminds me of a "wannabe Elton John or Freddy Mercury" and there aint' no way he ever will be.  I'm just so not impressed with this singer although I liked the questions for the meme!

If you want to join in, head over to this blog hosted by Sam!

Saturday 9: Mystical Magical (2025)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1. This week's song is about a new love affair, and Benson Boone bounces between frustation and optimism when he thinks about it.  Does anything inspire your mixed emotions these days? 

Yup.  the way our nation is going. Super concerned about these politiicans/"leaders" and their ineptness and unwillingness to stop this  narcisstic bully of a president yet at the same time I'm proud of some of us who are trying to stand up for what's right, to just love our neighbors as ourselves and be kind. I'm frustrated with the economy yet content with how my husband and I are living and the things we are involved in. It makes us lean into prayer a bit more asking God to have mercy on this nation and remove this "leader". sigh.We get very concerned with the whole Christiain Nationalism movement/far right movement whatever you wanna call it. Yet we are proud of our heritage and what the Constitution stands for. Sadly, too many people don't even know what it truly says including this current buffoon.  And there ya have it. those are my feelings and I'm sticking to them.😂

2) The lyrics mention "moonbeam ice cream," which is something Benson just made up. Last summer, when this week's song became popular, ice cream shops were inspired to create flavors with that name. What's your favorite ice cream flavor, and will you take that in a cup or cone?

One of my faves is called Mounds...from a soft serve place in the southern Adirondacks (Chocolate coconut) and I have it in a dish, size small, which is more ice cream than in a cone. My other fave flavor is anything coffee based...coffee chocolate chunk, mocha, coffee chocolate swirl....you get the idea. I almost always get ice cream in a dish, especially if super hot out but maybe once a summer I'll order a cone. Hubby's fave is waffle cone and he likes just about any flavor except coffee based. 

 

3) He sings that "once you know" about a love like this, "you know." Tell us about something you had to experience to fully understand.

 Birthing two babies, all natural (no drugs) and then parenthood. 

Also: Advocating for a special needs prek little girl in family court. I had heard special education teachers sometimes have to do this, but i couldn't grasp just how difficult it would be emotionally to see the biological mother sign over her rights to her daughter in order to stay with her abuser. Thankfully, the little student was placed, with her older sister, into a wonderful adoptive family. 

4) He composed this song at the piano. Do you play piano?

I was classically trained from age 7-33. I was a piano major in college!  And I took lessons from a local college here in the Albany area during grad school and into my marriage. I stopped when I was 8 months pregnant and then taught piano to a few students for about 4 years after teaching all day with special ed prek children. It got to be too much so bye bye piano studio. I do play pretty often now that I'm retired. 

5) He first sang in public at a high school talent show, which he only entered on a dare. Can you recall any dares from your junior high or high school days? 

Oh absolutely.  My friends dared me to walk the railroad tracks over this ridiculously high bridge.  Two of us did it. Never again. We also dared each other  to call our elementary principal and say silly things like "If you sing the Campbell's Soup song in the next 30 seconds, you will win some cans of soup delivered to your door." she did and we placed a cardboard box of empty soup cans on her porch!  My friend Ellen dared me to hitchhike when we were about to be seniors. I did and said never again. The guy was nice but yikes.....I can't imagine my daughters doing this. Hey...it was 1977...we did stuff like that! I was born and raised in a super small village in central NY far  from any major metro area....we did crazy things for entertainment and no I never smoked pot, cigarettes or drank in high school.  It just wasn't what I wanted to put into my body. My first glass of wine was at our senior year cast party cause the drinking age was 18 and older in 1978. 

6) Benson was a good high school athlete and competed in diving at the state level. Can you execute a dive off the diving board?

nope. I'm not a good enough swimmer but both daughters can and passed their diving lessons when they were 11. My husband is a very good, strong swimmer and sometimes used to dive. 

7) When he was 18, Boone auditioned for American Idol. What were you up to when you were 18?  

Well, I turned 18 in Dec of my senior year of high school, so I was busy auditioning that winter for college placements in piano and music education. I also was busy acting as stage manager for our  high school  spring musical and involved in All County Chorus and NYSSMA  for piano and voice.  I was also very busy being the VP of our Youth Group at church and just doing all the things seniors do. 

  

8) Benson has a dog named Max. He's not alone in this. "Max" is one of the most popular pet names in the US today. Have you ever known anyone (furry or otherwise) named Max?

I have had two students named Max! 

 

9) Random question: If we knocked on your door on one of your lazy, stay-at-home days, what would we likely find you wearing?

in winter: black leggings, and an oversized sweatshirt or flannel shirt over a tee  (or thick cozy  oversized sweater) and cozy thick socks

rest of the year: jeans, barefeet, long or short sleeved casual shirt/tee  or shorts, comfy, soft tee and barefeet. 

That's it for the Saturday Nine!

Happy Weekend, Everyone!