Monday, July 24, 2023

weekending

 


Happy Monday, friends! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's blog post. How was your weekend? Mine was really good! 


As usual, I got the weekend kicked off with my sweet Dad. It was a really good day with him! He was relaxed, we laughed, we talked, we listened to music, we talked and caught up, and he got in some cuddle time with Chloe. I had the thought while he was here, and particularly since he doesn't remember much these days, that something good for us to do would be to watch old videos of the choir singing at my church.  And then I remembered that even if he has heard me sing before, it had been a while, so I played the video of me singing solo in a song we did at church about a year ago. (I got this picture off the video the church shared on our YouTube page.) 





He heard it in person later that fall, but even so, he probably doesn't remember. He really enjoyed seeing me on the tv and hearing me sing, and at one point he closed his eyes and just listened. He said the sweetest thing to me, though—that he wished his mom was alive to hear me sing in church. I immediately had tears in my eyes when he said that, because my grandmother was one of the most godly women I've ever known. Actually, I can say that of both my grandmothers! My mom's mom was the same and she knew Scripture and would quote it or pray it out loud effortlessly. How fortunate am I to be able to say that? 


Meanwhile, it's officially time to start taking pictures of Dad every single week. I never know when it'll be our last Friday, so I document each one these days. I've been doing this since the end of May, but I don't always share the pictures. This one below was worth sharing this week. I really should get more pictures of us together. He gets a kick out of this and always willingly smiles for me. 💙



Also, look at him with little Chloe! I love this picture of him holding her. This didn't last very long, because she jumped down right after this.




Right before we left to go to his house, I found out that Tony Bennett had died. I love jazz music, and  actually went to see him in concert with my dad as a young girl. It was at The Orpheum here in downtown Memphis, and it was a Christmas concert. Needless to say, I've been listening to his music all weekend long, starting with the drive to Dad's house on Friday.
 




I always take Dad home each week, and this one was no different. I stayed and visited for a bit, then left to come home. I took this picture at the end of their driveway, because I thought everything looked so beautiful and green. Don't you love the way things look after it rains? It had rained that afternoon, so everything looked so healthy and vibrant. 




On Saturday, I dropped Jonah off at a tire place and had Chloe with me. Look at how she rides in a vehicle! She is absolutely ridiculous and loves to ride behind your back and on your shoulders like this. 




I came home and got dressed and met Mom to run a few errands. It was such a beautiful day on Saturday! I had to buy a couple of birthday gifts for friends, and I needed to make an Ulta run for a new lip pencil sharpener. The day called for a dress, one I haven't worn since last summer, with a kimono thrown over it for added color.  




And then we ate lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant, for this delicious tortilla soup. I dream about this stuff at night it's so good! 




At one of our stops where I bought the birthday gifts for a couple of my friends, I bought this cute little bracelet stack. I had plans that night and had picked out my outfit, and I knew these would be a great way to top if off. 💖😍





Someone else likes my chair as much as I do.




My friend Christa (in the middle of the picture below) had a birthday this week, so to celebrate her, we met at her parents house and rode together to see Barbie. Have you seen it yet? Do you not want to and are sick over the fact that I did go see it this weekend? It's pretty controversial, according to all the things I read about it, but I will say, it wasn't anything like I'd thought it would be. I hated one thing in the entire movie, and it was the fact that they made men sound like incompetent and sexist human beings. As a boy mom, you know this subject gets me fired up! That is just not the case, and you will never read or hear of me bashing men. Anyway, other than that, the rest of the movie was squeaky clean, and there wasn't anything blatantly wrong, other than what I already said. I am glad I saw the movie, but I really did not love it. Even so, it was a fun night. How fun to dress up for a night and to wear all the pink?




Left to right: Shelby, Melissa, Christa, me, Charli. We're all similar in age, with the exception of Charli who is a mature 33 years of age. They all have kids in 4-6th grades. After the movie, we ate Mexican food for dinner. Mine was delicious! It was marinated chicken breast with sauteed veggies and corn tortillas.




My sweet friend and prayer warrior Christa. I adore her! I'm a few years older than her, but we've been best friends for about fifteen years. We met at my old church and sang Alto in choir together. We used to always laugh during rehearsal at the most unfortunate time, and it was usually highly inappropriate laughter. Isn't that the best kind? We also bonded over a weekend women's conference, when we shared a hotel room, and we've been fast friends ever since. She and I are similar in that we both love to sing, we love music and musical movies, we love reality tv shows and used to watch The Bachelor together every single week, we love makeup, and we love to get dressed up for a fun night out. 




And this tells you how long we've been friends.




Jonah and Noah were five in this picture! Drew was eight, and Graham was nine. I remember this night like it was yesterday. She had come over to watch our show, and the boys made her homemade cookies to celebrate her birthday. She had probably eaten dinner with us, as well, but right after this picture, they all surrounded her and one of them braided her hair. She was always such a good sport about this and has always loved having people play with her hair. 


After dinner, we went back to her parents' house for a surprise dessert party. It was such a fun night with her and the other ladies.


I love this book, and have added it to my quiet time routine each day. Do any of you have this? It's called this because there is a devotion for each day and night. I love Charles Spurgeon! I'm adding it here in case anyone wants to check it out.




I was at church yesterday morning to run the screens for our worship pastor and choir in the tech room. I love being up there and I really love running lyrics for them. It's way less pressure than running the front of house screens. It's always fun up in the A/V room! (A/V stands for Audio/Visual.) 




Drew and his girlfriend Caitlyn came to church, then back here after lunch. It was good seeing him, and her again. She's leaving for a couple of weeks before her school starts mid-August, so I know he is going to miss her while she's gone. She plans on coming home most weekends, and I figured that when she doesn't come here, he'll go to her. 


For the rest of Sunday, I scheduled blog posts for the week, I talked to one of my sisters and my best friend, I cleaned a little and folded laundry, then I ate dinner and watched movies. All the Tony Bennett music I listened to this weekend had me wanting to watch an old favorite, so my first one of the night was Sleepless in Seattle. 


I'm ending this post with the question below. My pastor preached a great message yesterday and started and ended it with this question from Sean McDowell.




This is me asking you the same question; how would you spend your remaining time? I could not stop thinking about this question after the sermon! For me, I would keep things similar to what I do now. I would keep having my time with Jesus each morning, but it would probably be even more. I'd spend all the time I could with family while I was able to be on earth with them, because some of them are not believers. How would you spend your time? I would love to hear your answers to this.


Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all! 


14 comments:

  1. You ladies look so amazing in all of your pink! How was the movie? I am hearing great things :) Love your precious time with your Dad as always and so appreciate how you are taking pics every week0- you will always cherish these memories!

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  2. That is such a good question to think about (the one about three days left). Love the pictures of you and your dad! It sounds like you had a great time with family and friends this weekend. The girls and I saw the Barbie movie... all the thoughts on that one!! Building one gender up does not necessitate tearing one down. It's not a zero sum game. But it was fun to go to the movies with my girls like I know it was fun for you to be with your friends at the movie. I hope you have a great Monday!

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  3. Yes to pictures with your Dad each Friday. I wish I had more photos of just my Dad and I. Also, I bet Chloe is good for him. He looks super dapper in his Polo shirt.
    Great idea to play you singing for him.
    I felt the same way about Barbie. It was silly and cheesy and I was a bit bored in parts. It was all over the place. I said the same thing about the man bashing and Tom (who also went and hated it - he was coerced by my friend's hub) said that was the parody, so I don't know.

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  4. Thank you, Holly! Overall, the movie was okay and clean. It was just the man bashing that I hated, and at one point, I was falling asleep and having to play on my phone to stay awake. In a way, I'm annoyed that I spent $17 over hard earned money seeing it, but on the other hand, I'm glad I saw the movie. Despite all that I said, I think you should see it with your girls, keeping that in perspective.

    Thanks, my friend! Isn't my dad so handsome?

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  5. Maria, I thought so too! I posted it on social media yesterday, and have had some great answers to it from my friends. I really love thought provoking questions, and am always so interested in what other people think. I thought about you in the movie, believe it or not, and wondered if you would see it eventually. It sounds like we all thought the same thing, and amen to what you said about how building up on gender does not mean it's okay to tear down another.

    UGH. I get fired up on this, as a boy mom! On a lighter note, thank you for the love on the picture of my dad and me. I just know I will love having those types of pictures someday.

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  6. Thanks, Amy! I think Chloe is good for him too, as well as the other dogs, believe it or not. Our German Shepherd Callie adores him and always follows him around while he's here. She lays at his feet and if he moves to another room, she is right behind him, watching out for him. Isn't that sweet?

    I'm not surprised that you and I thought the same things about the Barbie movie. As I said to Maria, on one hand I'm mad that I spent $17 on a dumb movie, but on the other hand, I never go to movies and I am glad that I saw it. I would always wonder if I hadn't seen the movie, if I should have. I hope your day is good, my friend!

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  7. So sweet to document your time with your dad. What cherished memories.

    I am going to eat Mexican tonight with some friends I haven't seen in a while & they invited me to go see the Barbie movie with them afterwards. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have gone to see it in the theater, but since I was invited by friends, I am doing it more for the social aspect than the movie. I am glad to have a heads up about it!

    Such a good question asked at church. I would probably spend time with family and soak that in as much as I could.

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  8. I'm not sure what I would do. I do know I would want to spend every minute of that time with my husband and I would want time with my girls and grandson. I'd want time with my sisters and brother and my mother-in-law and church family. I would also need time to be alone and talking and listening to God.

    Interesting question to think about.

    Hope you have a great week and I think you are very wise to be taking pictures of your dad each week and even more importantly you are spending time just being with him. I imagine this is very good for both of you.

    Have a great day.

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  9. Thanks for the tip on the movie...we will probably see it next weekend. Y'all look great in pink!

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  10. I LOVE those photos of your dad and the one of all you lovely ladies in your hot pink. I have zero desire to see the movie but have nothing against it either. Being a mom of all boys I often get fired up at those depictions too because I know I (like you!) have the sweetest boys who were taught respect and kindness to everyone.

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  11. Thank you, Marilyn! I know what you mean about the movie and actually feel the exact same. I wouldn't have gone, if not for the social aspect. I'd have definitely watched it at some point, I just wouldn't have paid so much money to see it in the theater! 🤣

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  12. I love that, Cathy! And thank you for that, my friend. I hope you've had a great day!

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  13. Thanks, Tanya! Are you going with friends, or with Grace? I'm just curious. I hope you've had a great day!

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  14. Thank you, Joanne! I totally feel you on that one, and your boys sound exactly like mine. They were raised very well, and they were all taught to respect women and to always walk with integrity. Not that they don't ever do dumb things, but you get my drift. 🤣

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