Top 'O The Morning To Ya!

 Hello! And Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

I hope you have a fun, festive day today! It is quiet around here as we wrap up our week of the systemic surrender to the virus that was kind enough to stagger its onset so that we each had a turn to be miserable. I can't complain, though, because, in the overall scheme, this was more of an inconvenience and resulted in a thorough cleaning of my bedroom and bathroom with open windows and a lingering scent of Lysol throughout.

Fortunately, we are well enough to celebrate this festive day with a cozy Shepherd's Pie and a chocolate Guinness cake dinner. Madison has planned the meal, and I will assist with the chopping and grating. Other plans today include more of this...

Because recovering from a cold is a process, right? I mean, rest is essential, so they say. We are not watching The Bachelor tonight because we plan on this after dinner...

This came out last year, but we haven't seen it yet. I am a Lindsay Lohan fan and am happy to see her back. And that is the plan for today. We will have to wait until tomorrow to see which woman Grant the Bachelor sends home before the "Most Dramatic Finale Ever" next week. I hope I can take it! 

What are your plans today, my friends?

Whatever they are, may the Luck and the Blessings of the Irish be with you!

Billie Jo

In Her Own Words

We celebrated my Mom's life with a beautiful Catholic Mass of Christian Burial on a snowy, frigid Monday in January. My Mom's remaining sibling, my awesome Uncle Jim, planned on giving the eulogy. He lives more than two hours away from my hometown, and the weather that day was horrible. My Aunt Bev texted me and said they had started on their way, but the roads were treacherous. Thankfully, they decided to turn around. I am so thankful they arrived home safe and sound. 

The next decision was who would give the eulogy? And I knew right away. Who better than my sweet Momma herself? Years ago, my Mom gave me a little black notebook in which she had written some thoughts. She asked me to keep it for her. I put it in a safe place and moved it from house to house through the years. A few months before she passed, I dug that little black notebook out and read again the beautiful words my Mom had written so many years ago.

I had those words with me that day, and although I couldn't possibly read them, I knew that Mom's own words would be the very best thing to share on the day celebrating her beautiful life. Madison offered to read them at the conclusion of mass, and she did a lovely job. I am so proud of her. I thought I would share Mom's writing with you here today. Here are those words my Mom wrote to her daughters over twenty-two years ago.

Girls, when I go from this life to our Lord, please remember some things I will write here:

Follow the commandments and you will have peace of mind and no regrets!!!

Keep close to one another. We are all separate individuals but with the same blood.

I want you all to know that I loved you and raising you was the highest and most wonderful part of my life. 

Thank you for my grandchildren. They are your gifts to me.

Try hard to have patience. Hold your tongue. You all have wonderful husbands. Treat them such as you would like to be treated!

Everyone makes mistakes in life! Chalk it up to a learning experience. The mistake will always be with you but you must not be hard on yourself. Remember Christ came to forgive us all. Put it all behind you. Go on with your life and do good!

This is to be a celebration of my life! Please be thankful you were here to bid me goodbye and I will hear it all!

Billie Jo

Things I Appreciate And Things I Don't

 

I appreciate:

• People who take the time to write reviews for online shopping items
• Getting into a bed with freshly washed sheets
• Unexpected pieces of happy mail mixed in with all the rest
• People who stay home when they are sick 
• The fact that every time I go to mass, a priest is there to celebrate it 
• Adult children who enjoy baking
• The sounds and sights of nature outside my window

But I really don't appreciate:

• The fashion industry's insistence that every woman wants to wear crop tops
• People who immediately call you after you text them 
• People who don't stay home when they are coughing, sneezing, and running a fever
• Sticky tabletops in restaurants
• Colds that refuse to respond to hot lemon water with honey
• Hot, sunny places with no sign of shade
• Celebrities who think I care about anything more than their ability to entertain me

Well, there you go. Anything you would like to add? 

Happy Wednesday, my friends.

Billie Jo

Monday Morning Coffee

Good morning! I trust you are adjusting to the time change as well as I am. I really only had a hard time with it when the kids were babies. I had them on a good schedule, and I spent a week completely confused about when I should put the baby down for a nap twice a year! After trying to explain it to me yet again, Steve finally announced that whatever time the clock said was the time it was. Problem solved!

 

I miss those days of babies and naps. When I think about the simplicity of life with my littles at home, cozy as can be, the big world outside was far away, my heart is filled with such sweet nostalgia for those days gone by. Our world was sippy cups and Blue's Clues, naps and snuggles, swingsets and warm baths followed by Baby Magic lotion from head to toe and freshly washed pajamas. We were safe and sound, and my kids belonged to me.

Of course, they really didn't, did they? My beautiful mother told me the most beautiful thing that I have never forgotten. One day I was telling her how my kids were growing up. She smiled and reminded me that, " Yes, they are. And that is their job!" And she was right. They are supposed to grow and change and become the people God intended them to be. The days spent together snuggled on the couch watching Little Bear, sitting on the floor playing Strawberry Shortcake Memory, and baking brownies are memories that will remain as they create their own lives and I take tremendous comfort in that. 

Not to mention, adult children are awesome! I love the people my children have become and am blessed by them daily. For example, Madison made these delicious banana muffins this weekend. They literally just appeared in my kitchen! And I am telling you, they are THE BEST Banana Muffins I have ever tasted. I will link the recipe below. 

(She followed the recipe exactly and added chocolate chips for Flynn.)

Have a cozy March day, my friends!

Enjoy your life whatever chapter you are in.

The next one will be just as good in its own way!

Billie Jo

BANANA MUFFINS

Google for the poem.

Once Upon A Time...

... There was a young girl who wanted a dog. (Her family had cats, and she did indeed love cats, so much so that when she got married she got a tiny kitten named Chelsea. But, I digress.) This little girl used to check out the same book about puppies every week from the school library, and spent the weekends looking at and reading about puppies. That little girl grew up, married, and had four beautiful children. After the third little one went to kindergarten, the mommy spent three months organizing her house from top to bottom, read every book she had been meaning to, cooked and baked until she couldn't cook and bake anymore, and then realized she was lonely. So she told her husband the words he had been waiting to hear. We should get a dog. 

That was on a Tuesday. On Sunday, the entire family drove hours to pick up their first puppy, Kirby. He made the whole family so very happy for years and years. It should be noted that shortly after Kirby's arrival, the family was thrilled with the birth of the fourth sweet baby!

Because Kirby was such a wonderful dog, he made the family realize that they loved having pups in their family. And that is the story of how a little girl who wanted a puppy but never had one, grew up to have many sweet, adorable, loving dogs in her home and in her heart.

This post brought to you by Mocha, Cosmo, Marty, Draper, Jenny, and Tundra. And in memory of the one that started it all, Kirby.

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

Thanks for visiting.

Billie Jo

Lent Today, But Mardi Gras Yesterday!

Well, here we are. Today is Ash Wednesday for those who commemorate it. For Catholics, Ash Wednesday begins the season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Today is a day of fasting, which means that, although most days, I don't eat until noon, and eat just two meals and a small snack between them with no problem whatsoever, today I cannot eat between meals, making me unbearably hungry. That's how the cookie crumbles. And...there I go already!

Last night, we celebrated Mardi Gras, a celebration of yummy food and fun before the solemn season of Lent begins. 

 

I set the table with perhaps the best holiday purchase I ever made: the Mardi Gras necklaces and coins! I bought those necklaces and coins years ago when the kids were little; we use them yearly to celebrate. Madison and I made a delicious jambalaya with chicken, kielbasa, shrimp, rice, vegetables, and all the seasonings. Madison made some cornbread, and we were all set! After we ate, the kids indulged me in some of my Mardi Gras games, and then we enjoyed Madison and Flynn's monkeybread with cream cheese icing. Rhett found the baby in his piece, and was declared Mardi Gras King!!! This means nothing except that you have to wear the hat and take your picture, but they all seemed to enjoy it. After that, we watched the Mardi Gras episode of The Twilight Zone before calling it a night.

Today will be quiet inside, but supposedly windy and rainy with thunderstorms outside. I hope you have a cozy day, my friends. See you back here Friday!

Billie Jo

Monday Morning Coffee

 Good Monday morning, my friends. Care to watch yesterday's sunrise with me?

We spent the weekend at the condo, and I am always happy to be an early riser when I can wake up to that.

This is the view from the bridge when we head to the condo.

This is the view when I get off the couch and go swimming for some exercise! Now, this is only in the off-season. In the summer months, it is a bit more crowded!

There is quite a bit of this during the weekends at the beach. We also go to mass, watch movies, play games, and get takeout. Soon, it will be warm enough to sit in the sand. Until then, however, I am cozy and content. I think contentment is underrated and underappreciated these days. With the addition of so much outside noise invading our minds through various social media platforms, we are constantly being exposed to more things we need to buy, more places we have to go, more ways to make our lives better. I happily opt out of all that. What I embrace is peace and routine and ordinary days. 

Speaking of, today is an ordinary day around here. We are home at the house. There will be coffee, prayers, puppies and blankets. Then homeschool, coffee, dinner, shower, jammies, and Bachelor. A happy day at home.

Have a cozy day, my friends. Tuesday is Mardi Gras, so Madison and I are planning a delicious, fun meal to celebrate that. And then Wednesday begins Lent. Easter will be here before we know it! Thanks for visiting. I am always happy you do!

Billie Jo