Slow July Fouth

This sign welcomed me back to the Farmers Market Saturday morning for my second donut shift of the season.

I was the outside coffee server, working 6:30 to 9:30 a.m. and this was my breakfast. It was a holiday so it was a pretty light day. Regardless, I was a bit achy after standing for three hours. Andy was the first donut captain then left to play golf. Needless to say, he gets home, falls asleep and there, again, our day is shot.

Meanwhile in Florida, L sent a video and pictures of the Air Force doing a fly-over at Epcot. They flew over Magic Kingdom too, but she was working in the Members' Lounge at Epcot.

A closer look.

I had planned to grill out Italian sausages for dinner but it was raining with no chance of letting up for two hours. Good thing our local pizza shop was open!

Dad’s Day at Disney

Andy and I started out Father's Day at Magic Kingdom.

We went on the newly refurbished mine train roller coaster (not sure what's new about it but it felt a bit smoother), then waited 10 minutes for Tiana's water ride. We also went on Haunted Mansion with no wait, about 30 minutes on Snow White's roller coaster and 40 minutes for Tron. This queue at Tiana's is usually full of people. Where is everyone?

We saw Pinocchio and Geppetto. Not sure I've seen them in the parks before.

We went back to the resort and hopped in the pool but it started raining ... really hard ... and we weren't sure when it would let up so we went back to our room to watch the U.S. Open.

Allison went to the house to feed the cats and to pull in a delivery for Andy from the front porch. Turns out it was his Father's Day present from the Seattle kids - a hot sauce making kit. Guess we'll be making hot sauce soon.

We dropped off L's beloved bear at her apartment on our way to dinner so he got a Father's Day hug.

We went to Celebration Brewery. We asked L and W to go with us but W wasn't feeling well and had to work early Monday.

Andy got a cigar for being one of the first 100 dads to be there.

Even with most of the TVs tuned into the World Cup soccer matches, Andy was happy to see one showing the end of the U.S. Open. after dinner we drove around Celebration. Such a cute community. From google: Celebration, Florida, is a master-planned community near Walt Disney World, developed by the Walt Disney Company as a nostalgic vision of a classic American town with a modern twist. It features a charming, walkable Town Center with shops, restaurants, and cafes, surrounded by residential areas with parks, trails, and community events like farmers' markets and parades. The community is known for its picturesque architecture, tree-lined streets, and a strong sense of community, with amenities like pools, playgrounds, and a hospital.

Mahjong Memorial Day

Memorial Day was the perfect opportunity to try out my new mahjong set!

Allison and Pat came over for mahjong and dinner. Even Andy played. I'm trying to become more familiar with the game so I can go to Allison's mahjong gatherings starting next month at her church. Later in June, we're hoping to host a basic mahjong lesson for my friends who are interested. We played two games and Allison won both.

Belated Mom’s Day lunch

Andy and I picked up B yesterday and went to for my belated Mother's Day lunch. I chose a restaurant in his neighborhood by searching online and we ended up at George Street Pub.

It was a beautiful day so we sat on their patio. B had a burger, I had a grilled chicken sandwich and Andy had a ham and Swiss sandwich. We enjoyed it.

Our close-up.

I'm always surprised when we're driving around and - boom - there's Wrigley Field smack dab in a neighborhood.

Oof. These gas prices are crazy. It's always higher in the city proper.

Mother’s Day flowers

Andy came home from work yesterday with a huge bouquet of flowers (and a cute ribbon). Apparently, his office decided to buy a bunch of bulk flowers and let employees take home what they wanted. Andy took enough that they filled not one of my vases ...

but two! Hopefully the cats leave them alone.

He also brought home this cupcake that suffered a bit on the commute.

Early Mother’s Day gift

I never know what to tell the kids I'd like for Mother's Day but this year I asked for a mahjong set. I had the one lesson at Allison's church (and won my first time playing, beginner's luck) but maybe with this I can practice and start going to meet-ups. I do have several friends who are interested in learning how to play.

Snowman napkin rings

How cute are these? They were marked 99 cents each but I had a half-off coupon, so 50 cents. I found them online for $19.99 for four so I think it's a deal as long as they get used at least once. Surprisingly, they had even more than the 12 I needed (wanted) so I was able to find a dozen in good condition. Have to say I was a little taken aback when the cashier asked what they were. Really? What else could they be?

New dish challenge

Just to make things different and interesting, I asked the sisters-in-law to bring a new dish they've been wanting to try for Easter dinner. My contribution was the Pioneer Woman's Pea Salad. It was ok but similar to the broccoli salad I make and apparently I like broccoli more than peas.

This is Allison's cold carrot salad.

Julie brought a pierogi sauerkraut dish.

Cousin C played along too and brought a spring pasta salad ...

and these fancy deviled eggs.

Easter Sunday

Soon after I woke up on Easter Sunday L sent me a photo of a cardinal she saw while working at Wilderness Lodge. They say seeing a cardinal is a spritual sign which seems even a bit more intriguing on Easter. It is spring, though.

Andy went to church early to make pancakes with our friend, N, for the Easter breakfast.

I made a casserole.

That's a lot of pancakes!

A picture of the Easter egg hunt. These kids were fast!

The sanctuary looked really pretty with the white draping and all of the spring flowers. This was the end of the service when everyone is invited to the choir loft to sing "Hallelujah Chorus."

I went home while Andy went to pick up B. The table is set.

Piper welcoming B home.

Let's eat.

Easter prep

Good thing I have a clean napkin I will put in this bread basket.

Yesterday I pulled out all of the dishes I'll need for Easter dinner, put together the hashbrown casserole, made a breakfast casserole for church, and cleaned (Andy helped). He even made deviled eggs for the church breakfast and since we were running low on refrigerator space, we took them to church and put them in the refrigerator there. I thought it would be fun to have everyone bring a new recipe to dinner tomorrow. I settled on a pea salad so I tossed that together too.

Fellowship Hall is ready for the breakfast and it looks like they found the tablecloths I donated from E's rehearsal dinner. I wanted to borrow one for Christmas and they couldn't find them ... thought they may have been mistakenly tossed out after the Thankoffering Dinner. Yikes. It was good to see them found and being used.

L sent this picture of the Easter basket W made for her.

Here's the picture of Sully upclose. I thought W had that taken as a surprise when he took Sully to the vet last week for his shots (pic below) but L said the groomer did it. I'm sure her cats are looking at him like he's silly but it's a cute picture.

We had to have everything done so we could eat dinner while watching the Illini in the Final Four (!!!) play Connecticut. I rooted for the Illini but I have Connecticut winning it all in Andy's office pool. The Illini lost but I've moved up in the office pool.

Yes, I’ll wash it

The problem with getting the linens out early for a holiday is that the cats think I've given them a new place to rest.

Corned beef lunch

Andy and I were invited to our friends M and T's house after church Sunday for a corned beef, early St. Pat's Day lunch. Our assignment was to bring Irish beer and Irish soda bread. We also grabbed a bottle of Green River - because it's green, of course - and some daffodils for the hostess.

A lovely table and my daffodils. We had corned beef, rye bread for sandwiches, shepherd's pie, potatoes, carrots and sauerkraut.

Dessert was delicious - mint chocolate chip ice cream and whiskey-soaked cake with a cream cheese layer.

A bit of a bonus, when Andy bought the beer, he received a free Guiness "I (harp) Chi" pint glass.