Anna: (paraphrasing) I got this awesome bathing suit at Torrid today.
Me: If it is the same one I got yesterday I would laugh my ass off.
We exchange photos at the same time.
Anna: Oh my F’ing God! So you got that in the store and tried it on? We have the same goddamn bathing suit.
Me: Yep.
Anna: As a friend unit, we are so goddamn extra. 😂
That we are, friend, that we are.
Saw this tonight in Milwaukee. Highly HIGHLY recommend.
They are getting more used to Jules.
Plus this is what we’d look like with three Bostons!
Anna and I went to Ikea and she took Jules…so I got a cuddle buddy on the way there!
She stayed in her crate while we shopped and she just snoozed.
A friend asked me to recommend some non-thinker books for the long weekend!
I have lots, and thought I’d share here, too! All the ones with a hear are actually the first in a series and they’re all good!
Since Lin only lives an hour away, she came and picked me up so we could hang out before heading to the airport! We went to Disney Springs where we wandered, shopped, and had lunch!
Then I ran into a SeneSister at the airport!
And it was good to get home to everyone…
We found out that a friend of ours (TJ Wharry) was going to be performing at the Laugh Factory in Chicago, so we checked Vettix and they had free tickets so we went! ? We sat with his wife Janelle and then all went out to dinner after. (We met them way back when we lived in Troy and have kept in Facebook contact over the years!)
Pre-concert dinner at Kura Revolving Sushi Bar! I’ve always wanted to do one of these and we definitely had fun! Our drinks were even delivered via robot!
Amazing seats (third row!) for Branford Marsalis at North Shore Center for Performing Arts. Thank you Vettix!
Olive and Ivy were very aggressive when Jules came in the house…but they did finally settle down.
We loved Whose Line is it Anyway? so when we had a chance to see Colin locally, we jumped at it—and it was indeed hilarious!
We love the show Big Mouth so when I saw this personalized artwork on Etsy I had to get it. So we all now have a framed copy.
Anna has gotten really good at crocheting and gave me this for Christmas!
Since we missed going to Grayling for Christmas since Katie had Covid, we surprised them in Lansing for the Schwalm Christmas! We decided at about 10am that we could make it…and walked in to Beth and Jim’s as they were finishing dinner! SURPRISE!
If you’ve been following along this year, you know I’ve read a ton (I’m at 175 and I’d like to finish at least five more in the next 13 days—I passed my original goal of 125 in August). I still have hundreds on my list, but I enjoyed all of the recommendations I got last year—so I did it again! Here are the 12 books recommended to me by 12 friends!
Friends of ours—Scott and Wendy—also joined us this year as she was visiting from Seattle and they didn’t have other plans! She loves Thanksgiving and cooking so she brought most of the sides to go with Tom’s smoked turkey and smoked ham!
Thanksgiving tip? Gravy in an insulated pitcher! Pourable plus it stays warm!
The evening was spent watching football, playing cards, puzzling, and visiting!
Everyone was coming for Thanksgiving again this year! So Day 1 dinner prep—smoked ribs—started early!
Yay! Gramma and grandpa are here early for Thanksgiving! So we put Gramma to work sewing up a hole in the beanbag!! Olive thought it was a perfect spot to nap.
Owen got his first deer! In one perfect shot! Needless to say Tom was a proud papa.
Owen got to drive the 4-wheeler (and deer) back to camp!
And while he didn’t take a bite of the raw heart (apparently a first-deer tradition?!) they did eat it cooked with onions with dinner!
My cousins Kevin and Greg invited Tom and Owen to go deer hunting. Tom hadn’t been hunting since we met (!) and he was very eager to go and take Owen for his first time. Ammunition for his old gun was exorbitantly expensive so he “had” to buy a new gun and everything!
I was busy when my Friday reminder went off and I thought I snoozed it but here we are.
I grew up an only child so was thrilled when I gained three new stepsiblings when my mom remarried! We don’t get to see each other that often, so when we do, I love it!
Last week, these two were able to join us in Maine so we enjoyed some time on the beach at our cottage just catching up!
Our last fresh lobster dinner—2+ pounders! We couldn’t even finish them so we have leftovers for lobster quiche in the morning before heading to the airport and back to real life!
Today’s adventure in Maine…So happy it was sunny today! We started at Marshall Point Lighthouse in Point Clyde, ME. This is where the Forrest Gump scene of Tom Hanks running was filmed.
Read the book? Check!
Visited the lighthouse? Check!
It started out rainy and overcast but eventually the sun came out. We went out for lobster rolls for dinner.
I sat across the couch from Owen and read a book.
Everyone else played many hands of Buck Euchre (Katie learned it and loved it), Tonk, Kings Corners and others I’m surely forgetting. Katie was a card-playin fiend.
I’m in Maine so that means FRESH LOBSTER!
There’s a dock just a few miles from where we’re staying that we visit every other day. If you saw my reel yesterday, that’s the place.
Honestly if I had my choice I’d probably choose a lobster roll, but there’s something about cracking open your own personal lobster!
Last night we had asked Owen to take out the lobster waste and set the bucket inside the garbage bins (because it was too dark to go too the beach and dump in the water—but it couldn’t stay in the house or be left out where animals could get it.
Never underestimate the non-listening power of a teen brain. This is what we found in the morning. He somehow missed that we said to put the lobster shells IN the garbage bin and just left it on the porch. So then he got the glorious job of cleaning it all up! We all had a good laugh.
Then it was off on another adventure—to my mom’s favorite spot: Pemaquid Point!
You’ve seen the lobster dinner, now see our dessert! Everyone loves strawberry shortcake!
When in Rome…
When vacationing in Maine, fresh lobsters straight from the dock are mandatory. You’re looking at nine lobsters coming in at 18-ish pounds!
