Hello Friends!
I hope this Monday has begun beautifully for you. Happy almost April, almost Easter and happy holy week for those that participate.
I love how April means we are hurdling that much closer to true Spring weather here in the northwoods! Today it's gray, cold, and in the 30's and still quite late winter feeling rather than spring-like. But the Easter forecast looks promising of 40's and ☀️, so here's hoping!
Did you have a nice weekend? We had such a productive one and it brings me such joy!! My wonderful Hubby helped me tackle a giant job. This house doesn't have a basement. Just a lower level that is our media room. And even though we have a 2 stall garage there is actually not a lot of storage space when you have vehicles in there. We are fortunate with some bigger closets. And the biggest extra storage space/closet we have is in our lower level room. There have been so many decorations, bins of things from my past life with my ex, an old hope chest among many other things in there. We pulled EVERYTHING out. It was a chore as part of it is in a crawl space that is not easy to deal with when you have old joints and arthritis. Lol But we got it all out in the light of day. We sorted it all into stuff to get to my ex, stuff for Goodwill, stuff for the kids, and stuff to re-organize. It was a massive job I have wanted to do for a decade and Matt was an absolute dreamboat and helped me so much and we got it all done! Now there is so much more storage there for his world too. He moved into this house with me 3-4 years ago and packed a lot of his stuff away from his old place. I have been living here for 20 years now). So it was another win knowing I could give him storage for some of his collections and things now. Plus his office is down on that level too. Now it makes me want to tackle every other closet in this house. I'm going to go through each one by one. Starting actually first with our dining room built-in hutch. I feel positively lighter in my soul getting that done! 😊
We also went to church this weekend and it was Palm Sunday and they read the passion. I love sharing that with Matt who is learning about Catholicism. We have such great discussions after mass like that and he asks such great questions. I just love that man SO much! We also went out for a nice dinner one night and ran a few errands.
Now on to Easter planning week ahead...
THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:
ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:
coffee (fasting)
ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:
more Goodwill trips, dinner with my Mom and step Dad, errands, groceries, clean out hutch, Easter cleaning and getting ready to host this weekend, hospice work
THINKING ABOUT:
That even though it's going to be a colder gray week - I was thrilled to see my first robin recently and that I keep hearing geese as they're all flying back for Spring. I know they can't wait for the bay to be rid of ice so they have a lovely landing strip again. :)
THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:
Listening to praise and worship music and devoting quiet time to prayer.
CURRENTLY READING
Coming Home to the Comfort Food Cafe by Debbie Johnson (the next book in that series I had been reading)
ON THE TV TODAY:
Jeopardy, old seasons of big brother & the office, the Pitt, Survivor, Outlander, Virgin River, Call the Midwife, The Forsytes, Best Medicine, Shark Tank
ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:
MONDAY - dinner at Mom and step Dad's
TUESDAY - leftover creamy potato soup from the weekend, salad
WEDNESDAY - tacos
THURSDAY - maybe egg bake to use up veggies? and I have some breakfast chicken sausage I could throw in there too
FRIDAY - ? not sure, mostly fasting for Good Friday
*We will be hosting the Easter meal Sunday with our relatives over after Easter mass. I plan to do:
Appetizers of orange peppers sliced and filled with whipped cream cheese & dill to look like little carrots, deviled eggs, crab dip with veggies & crackers. Main dishes of glazed ham, cheesy potatoes, green veggie salad with raspberry balsamic dressing, fresh fruit salad, Matt's family recipe spring jello, corn, crudite of pickles and cheese, fresh baked dinner rolls, homemade lemon bars, easy fruit pizza cookies (they are tradition), and a strawberry rhubarb sauce over ice cream for my gluten-free Bro. Also, soda, iced tea and coffee
TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:
read, watch shows with Matt, work on some shutterfly projects
TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:
Summer thoughts too soon? 😂
FROM THE CAMERA:
Isn't this insane? And there were still several bins that were pulled out not even in the pic yet 🙈 It's crazy how much stuff one accumulates over 20 years. I am not holding on to far less. I keep telling myself it will be easier when we move from this house one day if I get rid of more stuff now!
More Easter around the house:
Some new recipes I made last week - caprese chicken pasta with balsamic glaze, and filet-o-fish sliders with homemade tarter sauce. Both turned out great and were so tasty! I will share the recipes soon. 😋
PRAYER LIST:
For an end to the conflicts all over the world and anyone living in war & fear, especially everything going on in the middle east right now. For peace and unity in this country, especially from hate and shootings or violence. For anyone sick, suffering, in pain, fear, loneliness etc ... that God bring them comfort and peace. For everyone to have a safe and blessed Easter.
For the Lord's love and peace to fill 2026. ❤️
For Christ's Light and Love to cast out the darkness everywhere and help the world find its way to loving our neighbors as ourselves. 🙏🏻