the Weekender

Happy hellos from an overcast and rainy Saturday!

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Miscellany:

1. It’s school supplies season. I (literally) have to control myself at this time of the year. I love notebooks, cute pencil cases, etc. The other night, we made a quick stop at Walmart, and I said that I wanted to take a quick stroll through the notebook aisle.

Per usual, my husband said, “You don’t need any more notebooks.”

I believe my reply was, “whatever.” 😂 I can always use another notebook. Duh!

2. I think there’s a nostalgia attached to school supplies, too. Buying three-ring binders, filler paper, and folders.

I saw this on Facebook recently, making me miss the good old days. I’m so incredibly grateful that I was raised before cell phones, K-mart layaways, memorizing phone numbers, Kickball, and Saturday morning cartoons.

Your clothes came from Kmart and they stayed on layaway until school started. Eating out at a restaurant was a thing every now & then!! Fast food was leftovers at home. Eating popsicles was a treat on a hot day. We had fake cigs for candy and you only needed $1 or less. School was mandatory. You took your school clothes off as soon as you got home and put on your play clothes. If no one was home after school, you went to the neighbors. Nobody paid for daycare because we had a key to the house to get in when we got home.

We ate dinner at the table. Our house phone wasn’t always being used. We played Cops and Robbers, 1-2-3 Not It, Red Light Green Light, Hide & Seek, Truth or Dare, Tag, Kickball, Dodgeball & we rode bikes. Girls and Boys played in the street. We came home when the street lights came on.

Children were seen & not heard. Staying in the house was a punishment and the only thing we knew about being “bored”, “You better find something to do before I find it for you!” We ate what Mom made for dinner or we ate nothing at all. There was no bottled water; we drank from the tap or the water hose!

Phone numbers and address’s were either memorized or written on a folded piece of paper which was kept with you at all times!

What were Cell phones? We watched cartoons on Saturday mornings and rode our bikes for hours. We ran around in the streets until dark and came in before the street lights came on.

We were AFRAID OF NOTHING.

We watched our mouths around our Elders. If we acted up we got beat with a wooden paddle, switch or belt!

These were the good old days.

Kids today will never know how it feels to be a real kid, they will never understand my childhood!!!

#GrowingUpInThe80s90s

3. We’re hitting the road soon for North Carolina, with a pit stop in Nashville. Our road trip must-haves are Twizzlers, snack-size Payday or Butterfingers, Cheetos for me, and chips for Steve. I also like to have high-protein granola bars and bottles of water with us.

Other necessities include napkins, gallon and quart-size snack bags, and empty grocery bags for trash. I like to have hand wipes in the glove box, too.

How about you? What are your road trip must-haves?

4. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I was organizing and purging in our master bathroom. Our drawers in our vanities are deep, so I was thrilled to find these stackable trays to use and make the most of the space. They look like glass, but they’re plastic.

I was so impressed that I bought another set to use in more of our drawers. You can’t beat the $14 price point either (as of 7/26/24).

5. August is right around the corner, and since I’m heading out of town, I have started working on my next project for the Hand Crafted Society. I like all of my projects to be authentic to me, including my aesthetic. So, stay tuned! That project will go up on August 13th.

6. This past Tuesday night, my sister, Steve, and I had dinner with friends at Bricktown Brewery. Paul and Audra have been dear friends, and it’s been too long since we caught up. I remember celebrating birthdays with them when Kristine (my twin) and I were still single and roommates — ahem, twenty-some years ago.

It was a great night, and we laughed a lot. Bricktown also has a yummy Blueberry Beer.

7. Could you hustle like this to make $11K in 100 days? It’s a great example of determination, and I loved that she was doing this to save up for a downpayment on a home.