This Weekend - This and That

Currently, on this January weekend...

Weather -  It was sunny but not too warm this weekend.  Our highs were in the high 30s and 40s.  We got a very small amount of snow Thursday night and the storm cleaned out our horrible air inversion a bit, but the snow is all gone and no more is in the forecast until possibly February.  

I went out for a couple of walks on Saturday and by time I went to the second walk, all of the clouds were gone and the sky was brilliant blue, but it was still cold. 

Reading - After starting to "test read"  two mystery/suspense novels, I decided not to continue with them, and decided instead on this non-mystery oldie from my "to-read" shelf - Home to Harmony by Philip Gulley.  I have heard his Harmony books are similar to Garrison Keillor or Jan Karon's Mitford series, so this sounded good to me right now. I am only about 30 pages into this book, but I am already thoroughly enjoying it and I have plans to get the other books in this Harmony series.  On the nonfiction front, I finished listening to the audiobook of Daring Greatly by Brene Brown on Friday.  

Watching - Friday night, I watched a Dateline episode.  It was about a rape victim who eventually got justice and helped a lot of other rape victims, but it was kind of upsetting to watch.  Some Dateline episodes have an interesting storyline and some are horribly disturbing, sad and depressing.   I think I need to find something else to watch on Friday nights. 

Saturday night, we watched Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the classic 1953 movie. We turned on the TV to watch something else on Saturday night, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes had just started on our local classic movie channel, so we decided to watch it because I had never seen it.  We enjoyed it.  Later, we watched a little of The Seven Year Itch.   I had never seen that movie either. 

After that, we watched Lucy's Really Lost Moments on Amazon Prime.  Watching old movies and retro TV was ever so much more fun and uplifting than watching Dateline. 

Sunday, we watched church on Zoom, and then I watched a lecture for the a Hillsdale College on the Supreme Court classes I am currently working to complete. 

 

Work - I go back to in-person learning Monday after a week at home doing online school.  Honestly, I am not looking forward to going back to the classroom.  Our Utah state legislature cancelled our mask mandate so I will be going back into a classroom with no masks, no social distancing and a lot of Covid positive teenagers and teachers.  In addition, the students have become a lot more rude, entitled and unmotivated in the past couple of years.  Covid hasn't done anyone any good.  Teaching is not the enjoyable, fulfilling profession that it used to be for me.

Cooking - I made some chicken salad, so we enjoyed some chicken salad sandwiches.  I make mine with white chicken meat, mayonnaise, green onions, dill pickles, a bit of chopped up broccoli florets and chopped walnuts.   I had chips and a nice green salad with my chicken salad sandwich.  

I decided to make some homemade pizza Saturday night.  It was good. I plan to make pizza at home more often. 

Sunday was Chicken Cordon Bleu/Stuffed Chicken Breast, which I did not make from scratch but it was still good.  We had broccoli cheese rice, steamed broccoli and green salad with it. 

Thinking  -  I am thinking about going to back to  in-person learning tomorrow.  It will be our first in-person classes of the new semester.  Parent-Teacher conferences are also coming up in a couple of weeks.  The school year is passing quickly.

I am also thinking about some conversations that Charly and I have had about the possibility of moving from Utah once I retire. That is a ways off because I am planning to work for four more years after this school year. Charly wants to move back to California.  I am not so keen on California and would rather go somewhere in Colorado. We shall see.  Who knows if we will actually go anywhere.  The Salt Lake Valley has horrible air pollution, which is very unhealthy.  The mountains on all sides are beautiful, but they also act as a bowl to keep the bad air in.  Of course, there are other reasons to leave here, as well some reasons to stay.  Josh loves living in Utah, and he does not want us to move away. In some ways, things have worked out very well here, but in other ways, not so much.  I guess it's that way with everything in life. I am not even sure where I am going with this except that it is something that has been on my mind.  It is nice to think about making a fresh start in retirement, but I also believe this quote which I came across in the book I am currently reading:

"There is a danger in thinking joy is a matter of location.  If we can't find joy where we are, we probably won't find it anywhere."  

(Gully, Home to Harmony, 27).

Other things about this weekend - 

I worked on writing and mailing some postcards to voters, (through an organization I volunteer with) because, it is an election year. These postcards are to encourage voters to register for mail-in ballots. 

I got a package in the mail Saturday from my younger sister in Colorado with these nice enlargements of my sisters, birth mom and I when we were in Denver in December.  It was so nice of her to print the enlargements and send them.  I treasure these pictures. 

Charly and I went to a couple of thrift stores Saturday afternoon and I found this nice, large mug from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, which we visited just last year.  Of course, I had to get it because the Grand Canyon is one of my favorite places.  I had my Pero/chocolate in it Sunday morning. 

Here are the lovely pictures we received this weekend of 4/5 of my beautiful Virginia grandkids.  

Weekend Gratitude - 

• Josh finished his first week at his new job, and is very pleased with his decision to take the job. 
• Josh continues to do well in his college studies.
• Sunshine.
• Zoom church.
• Messages and phone calls to and from friends and family members.
• Pictures of the grandkids.
• Walks.
• Future possibilities. 
• Good books to read. 
• Time spent with this guy:

He was reading the Old Testament of the Bible on his phone in this picture.  I am blessed to have a good husband who also believes in and tries to live in a Godly manner. 

Coming up this week - 

Monday - Back to school in person

Wednesday  - Tile contractor coming to repair a broken tile in the our bathroom and give us a bid on redoing our downstairs bathroom. 

Wednesday - Charly goes to the dentist for a check-up. 

Friday - Teacher planning day at school.  No students will be there.

Goals for the week:

• Cleaning finished by Tuesday
• Finish the  Hillsdale College classes I am currently enrolled in
• Finish voter postcards
• Finish another book by the end of January

That's all for this weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.  Have an awesome week, and God bless!

😊Deb💖

"Have the courage to be truly happy."

~Pope Francis