Weekend Coffee Share, Favorite Places

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer . It’s a gray, rainy day, but I’m still having a chilled chai latte, as I’ll be on the go. Our weather is in the sixties, and the clouds are rolling. It’s fun to watch.

This last week was my Spring Break. Of course, Chris and I attended the St. Augustine Celtic Fest. I’m only a tad Scottish, with a lot of other things, but bagpipes seem to speak to me. We enjoyed the music and atmosphere!

Kilts, bagpipes, drums, and Albannach in the background!

I love an outdoor music festival on a Spring day!

There were many restful days, and Tuesday I met with other teacher friends for lunch at the cafe in the Avonlea Antiques store. We enjoyed it and spent probably two hours catching up. It’s interesting walking past some of the memorabilia, to include old black and white photos of long forgotten people. Does anyone print out photos anymore?

Friday,Chris was off and we planned an outing to the Jacksonville zoo. I spent the morning gathering tax documents and creating a series page for Detours in Time, as KDP stated there wasn’t one. Not sure how that happened. I felt a little stressed, since I left that for the last minute. However, the zoo was relaxing and fun. Chris is like a kid at the zoo, always in wonder of what the animals are doing. We now both have a membership, and it is so worth it!

Don’t you just love penguins?

Going to the zoo was a great staycation activity!

Today, I’m running a few errands, getting on the bike at the gym, and getting a massage. Work starts again Monday. We’ll see just how acclimated I might be to Daylight Savings time. What are your thoughts on Daylight Savings? I wrote a post on my thoughts this week, if you’d like to visit: Time Change Drudgery or Satiating Sunshine

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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Weekend Coffee Share, Spring Forward!

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. Today is a Zen green tea day. Is it coffee for you? The sun is shining; I drank half of my tea before leaving, but now I’m back four virtual chat, as I finish my second half of my green tea. It’s honestly good at any temperature. Don’t judge!

This week seemed like such a busy one. I was trying to get grades done, motivating students to finish things, and trying to keep them busy and out of trouble with all of their excitement for the upcoming Spring break. Not always easy. I was very proud of some students, but others just disappointed me. I went to the chiropractor Thursday and got the manual adjustment again. It relaxed me as usual, and I woke up Friday, ready for the day.

At nine this morning, my mom and I went to my church for the meeting of Bag Ladies, a group that gathers monthly to assemble bags for children whose parent left an abusive situation and are entering into temporary residence at Hubbard House. Frequently, they leave home quickly without packing a suitcase. It’s such a good mission, and those who run it are such nice people!

Bag Ladies is a mission of our church I always wanted to join. They pack these care bags with a children’s book, stuffed animal, toothbrush and other necessities a family might forget when leaving in a hurry. Hubbard House keeps their shelter location secret. You can find out more about their organization here: https://www.domesticshelters.org/help/fl/jacksonville/32201/hubbard-house

So, it’s been a nice morning so far. I usually am just lazy Saturday mornings. I feel I’ve earned it after a week teaching middle school. However, the Bag Ladies mission happens once monthly, and I can certainly give that much. Mom agreed for some of her beanie baby collection to be donated today for the Bag Ladies group, so that clears out a little bit of stuff from our garage. Now, I have to decide what sort of cardio I’ll do today.

Beanie babies sure are cute…

I’m planning to get a pedicure later, and tomorrow, I’ll go to the Celtic Fest with Chris to see my favorite Scottish band, Albannach. While I am only 7 percent Scottish, drums and bagpipes really do energize me! It’s also a great way to welcome Spring in coinciding with the start of my Spring Break!

Albannach!

That’s what I have going on these days. How do you plan to welcome Spring in? Are you in an area that is currently still snow covered? If so, have a second cup of hot coffee for me! I look forward to some relaxation this week, time with friends, and time with Bixby, of course! Have a wonderful weekend, all!

Weekend Coffee Share, 3/19/22

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee ☕ Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. I’m sitting in my garage having Tazo green tea, though it may be a little too warm for that. The morning started out around 60 degrees, but it will be upwards of 80 degrees later.

I’m helping my mother with a yard sale today, though I admit we got started a little late. She had some buyers when I went to walk the dog, so there’s that! Bixby enjoyed our walk, and I always enjoy the view of some of our beautiful trees. I’ve taken him on a few extra walks this week!

Spanish moss is common here, but I love this tree!

This past week has been Spring break for me, and I’ve slept in every day. Catching up on my test is one goal I have met! I went to the Celtic Fest with my boyfriend Sunday as planned, and it was enjoyable as always! The temp was below 60, but our Florida sun emboldened all of us to dance around and enjoy ourselves. I don’t know about you, but I consider 60 to be chilly if the sun’s not out.

Wednesday evening I had an interview on Meet the Author podcast, and it was exciting! I think I found a few new readers, something every author wants. I need to get over ‘imposter syndrome’ and things like this sure help! The playback of the interview is available if you’re interested: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCjn4IXRvc7AhhDXTVeqp5DQ

There were some appointments I took care of this week, but Thursday was friend’s day at Another Broken Egg, where I had a huge waffle with fruit, eggs, and bacon. Sometimes it’s fun to break the rules, and it was great to catch up. There were 6 of us, all who at one time were co-workers in the public education system. Now, my Spring break is winding down. One day I sat in the sun and did some writing. I don’t really celebrate too hard anymore. 🙂

In my world, the state has been against enforcing masks for a while. Our school board no longer requires it. I rarely wear one anymore, though I always have one with me. Talking and teaching in a mask made my jaw feel sore. Hopefully the numbers don’t get scary again, but it’s not surprising if they do. It’s amazing that my mom got through COVID 6 weeks ago, and I didn’t get it from her.

Buying gas at 4.09 a gallon the other day was a treat. In my side of town, it is 4.29 to 4.39, though I should check because they seem to increase the price on the weekends. I feel for the people in Ukraine, but I rarely watch the news, as it doesn’t help my anxiety level. I do read online sometimes.

That’s about all there is going on until I go back to work teaching on Monday. Have a great weekend, everyone!

To join the Weekend Coffee Share, read Natalie’s Coffee Share post at https://natalietheexplorer.home.blog/2022/03/18/these-b-w-murals-revive-history/and include your post link after clicking the In-links bar.

Weekend Coffee Share, Spring Forward

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. Green Tazo tea with ginger is my wakeup elixir for this morning. How about you?

Bixby and I are on the porch in mild temperatures. However, the wind is quite gusty, and I read that it’s going to usher in some quite cooler temperatures. They say March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. It was raining throughout the day yesterday. Thus started my Spring Break.

I will say this, the rain certainly inspires our greenery to be even greener!

Muddy grass won’t stop Bixby! 🐾

I wasn’t bothered by the weather, though. I left work yesterday and headed to the mall, where I bought some super comfortable shoes. They are also cute, though you can’t tell they have zippers on the sides.

I’d wear sneakers every day, if I could.

They are sort of a sneaker style, but the material kind of dresses them up. Work wear, in my opinion.

After the mall, I went to meet my boyfriend. We spent some time together and had excellent barbecue for dinner! We also watched Curb Your Enthusiasm and laughed out heads off. We are both Seinfeld fans and have an odd sense of humor. 😆

So, I get to rest and blow off steam for a week. I really need that. I’m not sure what’s up today, but I’m sure I’ll have some family time. I hope to get some writing done for Ellie’s story in the upcoming days. Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be going with my boyfriend and some friends to the Celtic Fest, my favorite activity to ring in the spring!

Never mind that I’ll have to be layered up for Celtic Fest. It was cancelled two years in a row due to COVID-19. I’m so excited to go again. I’ll soak up the laughter and great music. Who says there can’t be a Springtime of the soul in the midst of chilly, gray weather?

Wearing the green 🍏

Have a great weekend all, and a happy week to follow!

*Currently rereading Wuthering Heights

*Currently writing Ellie, the Time Traveler

*Currently loving the music of Albannach and playing Wordle or Blokudoko

Weekend Coffee Share, Lounging Around

Welcome to my Weekend Coffee Share, Spring break edition! It’s a beautiful Spring day, my porch foor is wide open, and birds are regaling me with their song. My dog even slept late today! I must confess, my Spring Break has been more Emily Dickinson-like than Kerouac inspired.

Allergies have kept me indoors for much of the week. Being off work has allowed me a lot of time to nap, thank goodness. Being an educator, I am pretty careful and got a COVID test Tuesday. The results were negative, so of course, I am just having an allergic reaction to the exuberance and re-birth of nature. It is getting better, otherwise my porch door would not be open. Still, I’m sort of regretful that I could not get out and enjoy nature much. I won’t let it weigh on me too heavily. I’ve had coffee with honey several days this week, knowing that it would not overtake my lethargy, and I was right!

Yesterday, I sat out in my yard, half in the sun, half in the garage, with my loyal dog at my side. He loves to sniff the smells of nature, and today, he is listening to the birds on alert mode. Maybe he can interpret their song?

I did do some reading this week for a book club I participate in; the book was Of Mice and Men, a re-read for me. It’s fairly short, a plus for someone whose focus is challenged like mine is; it’s rough when I’m juggling the teaching requirements, and it’s rough when my sinuses are affecting my brain. At any rate, I love Steinbeck’s descriptions of the countryside, and it is interesting how a dream and a goal could keep an easily agitated man (Lennie) focused. This book could be interpreted so many ways, and I recall how the ending bothered me when I read it as a teen. Steinbeck threw quite a punch; he is an excellent writer.

It has been about a week since I worked on the Ellie novel. You can imagine how unfocused I have felt all week. Still, I am not out of sorts. All things must take their time: allergic rhinitis, writing a novel, pollination of our naturescape. I have a photographer friend who takes marvelous photos of bees, flowers, and landscapes, so I’ve been enjoying those sights from afar. I did write a short poem mid-week in response to the #RDP word prompt: Pursuit. I chose a minimalist approach. You can view the poem here: https://pamelascanepa.wordpress.com/2021/03/08/in-pursuit-of/

Upon feeling a little better yesterday, I made an appointment and will get my COVID vaccine shot today; I just have to drive a little further. My voice is still raspy, but I do not feel feverish, congested, and lethargic like I did days ago. Hopefully, the after-effects won’t be so bad, but I am sure more rest will be in order.

Once I am fully vaccinated, I plan to participate more actively in the world around me, which seems to be in full swing here in Florida. For now, I am drinking juice and getting my rest so I can be back to work next week with a voice that commands respect, authority, and, yes, understanding.