CVS had one job

CVS had a special - 100 4x6 prints for 12 cents each. That's a pretty good price especially since I don't end up using them all when I'm scrapbooking. Of course, one of the three CVS stores near me weren't available to print them so I sent them to a fairly close store in Cicero. We picked them up the other night and I come across these ...

10 pictures of strangers that obviously weren't part of my order ...

and doubles of 12 of my photos. At least the 100 I wanted were all included in my order so I guess there's not much to complain about? I was annoyed from the start when I was trying to upload the pictures to the CVS app. It wouldn't work and my phone or iPad so I had to sign in on the desktop and it took me an hour to go through the photos and place the order. It was nearly impossible to enter the coupon code too. I think I'll be sticking to Walgreens for my photo-printing needs.

Colorado Monument

I'm loving that L is sending me pictures of her trip. She said this was today on their way to the Colorado Monument. I had no idea what she was talking about but a quick google search and I found out it's a national park.

And a pretty one at that.

Picture taken by W's mom.

They drove through the park. She said it was too hot to hike.

Not sure if this was on the drive to the park or in the park but what a neat picture going through a mountain.

So pretty.

Be careful! That first step is a doozie!

Close-up.

In Munich?

I'm still in the process of figuring out all of the things Canva can do. The other day I was playing with its photo editor. I took this picture of us, stripped the background and set us in Munich. Andy and I have been trying to travel to Germany since 2020 (you know why that didn't work out) so I sent him this and said I just saved him $10,000. Maybe 2027 will be our year to go.

L and W in Colorado

L and W left Orlando early this morning to fly to Colorado where they're staying in Grand Junction, with his mom.

She wasn't able to join us in 2024 for Cousin S's wedding in Colorado so I'm pretty sure this is her first time seeing mountains ... except in Japan maybe.

Their first stop was apparently a Mexican restaurant for dinner. More to come.

Delayed b-day card

This card went through it. Darla never mentioned receiving the birthday card I sent her and I was telling her some of our mail mishaps. She did receive it so when this arrived at my door yesterday, I thought she sent me one just because I had sent her one. Then I noticed the July 3 postmark in St. Louis. It took 10 days to travel 300 miles? I had to send her a picture so she'd understand my mail concerns.

Always nice to get a card from my oldest (in years as friends, not age) friend. Looking forward to a short road trip we're planning!

Sunday gardening

We bought these two pots of Black-eyed Susans at Costco on Thursday. Got around to planting them on Sunday.

While Andy was digging, I was weeding the hostas. They do so well. Hopefully in the spring I can divide them again and bring more from outside the fence into the yard.

My clematis seem to be done blooming but now the side of the garage has coneflowers!

Family check-in

I got a texted picture from each kid Saturday so let's do a family check-in.

Being on the East Coast, L was first with a picture of Sully at the vet. Uh oh. He ended up with some nauseau medicine and allergy meds so he stops scratching himself. L and W leave for Colorado to visit his mom on Tuesday and wanted Sully in better shape before their roommate, T, is left to watch him. Probably a good idea.

Then B texted a picture of a waffle he made in the waffle maker we gave him for his birthday. Looks delicious. In addition to the waffle maker we gave him vegetable oil and waffle mix so he was all set to make breakfast whenever he got around to it.

E and D have been getting some work done on the condo so she sent a picture of the backsplash tile they had installed. They also got new can lighting in the kitchen (no more fluorescent lights) and will have the cabinets resurfaced next. I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product.

It was Saturday so Andy was golfing. Here's a picture of the group at the 19th hole. He shot an 84 - his best of the year at Old Oak - so he was happy.

And, since it was Saturday, Allison and I hit a few yard sales. I got nine Waterford napkins (they make napkins?) that are a nice fall color for $2 and these red Crate & Barrel Westerly plates were a quarter each. I thought there were only 11, but Allison found the twelfth! And the woman only asked for $2.50 for them. Either she couldn't do math or she wanted to give me a deal. She even had me to take a free plastic Christmas platter. She really wanted to get rid of her stuff. I plan to use them for my candy cane-themed family Christmas dinner this year. (Red plates, white tablecloth and the opposite for the "kids" table. It's all coming together.) I know these plates would have been at least $2 each at Goodwill and saw them online for $10 a plate. Yikes.

On the way home I saw this truck with plates that said "Weldgod" which made me think of W who's a welder. At least that's how I interpreted them. Sometimes you just don't know. If the person is a welder, though, they must think pretty highly of themself.

More flowers

I mistakenly pulled out a lot of our phlox a year or so ago, thinking they were weeds. Luckily, a few survived.

I planted marigold seeds and are surprised they're blooming. Seems early to me, but maybe not. I'm not a gardener so I don't know. The potted plant was nearly dead when I moved it from the basement this spring. It's recovered nicely.

We seem to have a lot of daylilies this year. At least more than usual.

I went outside to get a picture of a Monarch that was on the milkweed but it flew away before I was ready. I did get a picture of a busy bee though. No Monarch caterpillars yet.

Three mahjong wins

On Monday at Allison's mah jong night, I won three out of four games we played (pictured is my final win of the night) and got three more ducks for my collection. My strategy was to pick a line and stick with it; no pivoting. It worked surprisingly well - that night at least.

Simultaneous Declaration reading

Not sure how I got to be the one organizing the Simultaneous Reading of the Declaration of Independence to mark the country's 250th anniversary, but I was. I've been in contact with local governments and organizations since late May and managed to line up 17 readers. I divided the Declaration into speaking parts and emailed everyone their assignment, secured the park permit, ordered stickers to give away and pocket Declaration books, had a poster printed of all the particpants' organizations, and publicized the event. I even had to talk to a local reporter. (I prefer being the intereviewer rather than the interviewee.)

We had people sign a Declaration with feather pens and ink. Fun but messy.

Here I am checking readers in and making sure everyone has their assigned reading part.

The reading started at 5 p.m. yesterday to coincide with communities across the United States and its territorities, marking when in the Declaration when it was first read in public on July 8, 1776. How cute are these Girl Scouts?

Me and Uncle Sam, one of our volunteers.

Laughing with Uncle Sam. I swear this volunteer is always smiling. Andy worked from home and took pictures while I was busy working. It went surprisingly well and there were probably 100 people in the audience.

Uncle Sam, me and my coworkers after the event. Aren't we a festive bunch?