We're officially halfway through 2024. Can you believe it? On Fridays I take a few moments to join with Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story to slow down and be thankful for the good things of the past week.
1. Guys' camping trip. Jim, Jason, and Timothy went camping for a few days about an hour from here. I drove up on Friday for a few hours and ate dinner with them. Jim made what his mom used to call hobo packets: a burger patty (we used turkey burgers) with potatoes and vegetables seasoned and wrapped with foil, that could be given out, and these men would cook them over their campfires. Jim put frozen French fries in his, which I thought might get soggy. But they didn't, probably because the turkey burgers were less greasy than ground beef. It was a good meal and a nice time to visit outdoors. Then I got to come home to my own bed and AC. 🙂 (Mittu didn't come because she wasn't feeling well.)
I passed a Dunkin Donuts on the way there and decided to stop and get a box of Munchkins on the way back. I don't actually like their donuts much, but I like the Munchkins. Plus their box triggers special memories for me: when my mother's father used to come visit us, he always brought a box of Dunkin Donuts. I can hardly see their logo without thinking of him.
2. Easy meals. Monday, Jim said he had a couple of his uncooked "hobo packets" still in the RV refrigerator and asked if I wanted to use them for dinner. Sure! Then Tuesday night, I came into the kitchen to start dinner and saw that he already had. Wednesday night, I used a package of frozen shredded chicken to make chicken tacos.
3. Lunch with a friend. Melanie and I used some accumulated gift cards for lunch at Red Lobster. Thankfully, most restaurants that we go to don't mind if we hang around and talk for an hour or more after we finish eating (and the places aren't crowded at lunch time, so we're not keeping anyone else from being seated). We even thought to take a picture this time.
4. A love note with a newly-bloomed wildflower. We planted wildflowers from seeds this year, though we probably started them a little late. This one was one of the first flowers to show up.
5. Independence Day. Our country is not perfect and has its share of problems, but I am immensely glad that I was born here. We enjoyed burgers and sides with the family and played games. They brought over sparklers and "Pop-its." We saw a few bigger fireworks displays, but most were obscured by trees.
Bonus: Catching up on housework. With the last several weeks being extra busy, I had gotten behind on things that didn't absolutely have to be done. Housework is not my favorite thing to do, but I do like the results. And dusting gave me a chance to listen to my Dickens audiobook.
Another bonus. A literal empty nest. I've shown pictures over the last few weeks of a bird's nest, then eggs, then baby birds in our front flower arrangement. I think they were house finches. They are gone already! That was quick. They left quite a mess. I thought I could salvage some of the flowers, but I ended up throwing them all away. Even though we enjoyed having them, it will be nice to use our front door normally without fear of startling the mama bird.
That's our first week of July. How was yours?
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