Do you ever do that thing where you look at the clock and always seem to see it at a specific time? Like your brain just says ‘what time is it?’ and when you look, you are constantly seeing the same numbers.
Mine is always 10:17, which is my birthday. But the weird number thing has happened to me for years. Well, this weekend 10/17 rolled around again and I had another birthday. Woo-hoo! Why aren’t they as exciting as they were when we were young?
A challenging week
The main part of this week was not as exciting. I spent the better part of it sidetracked by setting up things to get our pole barn closed up for the winter. It has been a struggle getting workers back, and getting the right doors in, but it is finally happening. (For context; when it was built, we wanted different garage doors than what the steel company offered and so we had to order them after market. Who knew everything would take this long.)
Progress on the house has been a bit slow lately because I needed to get some boxes taken out to the barn, and just haven’t been able to with no doors. That will finally be changing tomorrow! To say that I am excited for “garage doors” sounds ridiculous, but I really consider it a “happy birthday to me” moment.
Heaven knows, I don’t need Kevin and his friends camping out in the barn for the winter. No thanks! It would probably end up like a furry frat party in there.
The landscapers also came and cleaned some ugly red rock out of the beds and added mulch so everything can just look decent for the winter. We will start more exciting changes in the spring. You know you are old when you get excited about new mulch.
Past birthdays
I have been thinking about my Mom a lot lately because it was the 3rd anniversary of her passing like a week and a half ago. She is never far from my mind, but she has been in my dreams a lot lately too.
I was thinking about all the parties we had growing up, and how that influenced me to plan fun parties for my kids when they were younger. I used to go all out, but now, once we all get older, it isn’t as exciting. And personally, I am just happy to have another year on this beautiful planet.
So I am happy when birthdays are simple, but I did have a bit of fun up north this year (which I will tell you about in a minute). But after returning home, the weekend was extended and my fabulous daughter-in-law/son made dinner and dessert was this gorgeous banana pudding, trifle style. Can you say YUM?
My granddaughter put this beautiful bouquet together for me, and that rounded out the perfect weekend.
Wait, was this a gift?
Like about 20 years ago (where DOES the time go?) my son was in college. He was doing stupid stuff like buying a dog he couldn’t take care of. You know where this story is going don’t you? He named her Roxy. She was a brindle boxer.
When he told me he had gotten a dog, in college, while he was away in another state, I was like “what were you thinking?” And this is the story I got. That charming son of mine, who clearly inherited his father’s salesmanship said, “Mom, I saw her in the pet store and she was the cutest little thing I had ever seen. And just when I thought I could walk away, I noticed that her birthday was the same as yours. And then I thought, it would be like having a little bit of you with me everyday.” (Insert the biggest eye roll here that you could imagine.)
And then you know what that son of mine did? A year later, he begged me to take that dog. Because he couldn’t take care of her. No duh, dude. And years later, when we were having a discussion about something like… he needed to pull his weight or some sort of important topic like that, he had the nerve to say “but I gave you my pooch!” like it was a gift. Hahahaha. It was not.
Needless to say, she was adorable. And I loved her so much. She was the only dog we’ve ever had that I was her person. All our other dogs have preferred my hubby. Roxy was my girl. But she hated the mailman, and that presented problems for us. He would not bring boxes to the door. I swear, we had to move from that house just to get packages delivered, even after she died.
She also terrorized Otis (our puggle). And when she passed away, he was not even sad. Not one little bit. I think he even had a little party of his own. But birthdays have never been the same since she’s been gone, which has been well over 10 years. Here is one of my fave pics of her up north. Well, part of her.
An amazing birth-day
I went up to close the cottage for the season, this past weekend. The colors were showing off, and it was a beautiful fall leaf show in northern Michigan.
The day started with two estate sales! Yay! I love a day where I just get to do whatever I want. One of the things I got made me swoon a little bit. Well, a lot. Like, I almost peed my pants, I was so excited. I got this brass bar cart for just $5! Yes, it has its glass, I just need to clean it. And no, I do not drink alcohol. But I will be setting up a little (non-alcoholic) bar in the sunroom, nevertheless.
I also got a huge box of books for like $1 a book, because I have been saving/hoarding some for awhile for a sort of ‘art project’ I have coming up. Can’t wait to tell you all about it!
There was a fun brunch at a favorite little bistro, relaxing at the cottage, and a wonderful dinner out at a lovely bougie restaurant in Traverse City. I did a little brainstorming with a friend for some blog changes in the future, and went to sleep pondering the upcoming years and things I want to learn. The day was a success, and I do not feel one year older at all.
Retail therapy
Since I got some coupons in the mail for my birthday, giving me a discount for my day, so ultimately I will go spend money at their store, I am on the hunt. Well, you don’t have to ask me twice. Here is what I am looking at.
I’m loving lots of plaid right now, so I think this will be a keeper.
This is a pretty one at a great price. You can never have too many!
Okay, that’s it for now. Just a bit of thinking about the past, looking toward the future, and a few things checked off the ol’ list. Hopefully a lot more to come, because at some point, I will need to drag out Christmas decor soon. That seems like a scary thought.
Here’s hoping y’all have a great week, and more coming next time. xo
