Thankful Monday (!), Busy life edition!

 So I completely forgot to post last weekend, whoops! Here's a catchup with lots to be thankful for!

1. I got to check out the Virginia Renaissance Festival on June 6th. It was very sunny but I hid in the shade a lot. I saw some friends, heard lots of good music, got a lesson on chanter and Irish Whistle from a friend, and had a long conversation with someone at the Knightwings with lots of cool raptors. It's a bit of a different vibe than MD Ren Faire, but I really liked it. Less crowded, and different music groups. 

2. My church had our booth at Rockville Pride again. I'm so glad to be part of a church that values going to Pride and reaching out to people. 

3. I'm re-certified for CPR for another 2 years. There was some registration drama a couple of months ago that delayed my signing up for the class, but I did my test out with no issue. I laughed that they said use whatever you had available as a mannequin (it was via zoom), so I used Luna's stuffed sheep.

4. I got to catch up with my friend Kat from high school- we literally haven't seen each other in 20 years. 

5. My best friend Babs. Noff said :)

6. I checked out another festival this past Saturday, Carroll County Celtic Festival. I saw 2 bands I like, Pohemia and Piper Jones, and got to see Albannach for the first time. I've never heard bagpipes with a Didgeridoo and it was really cool.

7. I got to hang with my cousins yesterday, including Stephanie who was in town.  

8. I'm really enjoying playing (squeaking a lot) my new Irish whistle. 

9. Some nice thunderstorms to cool things off, it's starting to get summer hot around here. 

Thankful Friday, Summer Edition!

 It's been a fun week. 

I'm thankful for: 

1. Summer!

2. Hanging out with friends at Sonja's birthday celebration on Saturday. 

3. My Girl Scouts award and bridging ceremony on Sunday. No photos because they aren't my kiddos, but we now have 3 Cadettes and 6 Juniors! 

4. A successful bell concert Sunday night, complete with moving looooots of furniture.

5. I got to help facilitate some interesting discussions at my church on race and mortgage lending through our racial justice group.

6. More things checked off my to-do list, woohoo!

7. Scouts, bells, and to some extent the racial justice group are winding down for the summer, so I get a nice break for a few months.

8. I squeezed in a hike at the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge this morning before it got really hot.

Summer Bucket List

My Summer 2026 Bucket List:

1. Go kayaking 2-3 times

2. Virginia Renaissance Faire

3. Go swimming 

4. See a movie

5. Eat down my freezer

6. Take a writing class

7. Read 5 books

8. Read in my hammock

9. Eat a giant ice cream sandwich

10. Go to an outdoor concert

11. Go white water rafting

12. Wander a museum I haven't been to before

13. Hike 2-3 times

14. Host a game night with friends

15. Grill burgers

16. Do an escape room

17. Catch a firefly

18. Eat a popsicle

19. Back up my photos on my computer

20. See fireworks

Thankful Thursday, Wet Week Edition

 We got some much needed rain this past week- 2-3 inches worth! It was a bummer that it was over Memorial Day weekend, but I'm glad we aren't going into the summer quite as crispy.

This week I'm thankful for:

1. I got my CPAP machine working again. New mask + correct settings = Yay good sleep!

2.  I took a lovely 5-mile hike at Great Falls after work today in gorgeous weather. Saw a Pileated Woodpecker, lots of turtles, blue herons and a beaver!

3. A fun game night with my cousins on Monday. Ella found Diagnose This, which is sort of like Cards Against Humanity. 

4. Got more things knocked off the to-do list, which is satisfying.

5. Honestly just chilling a lot over the long rainy weekend.

6. The national Memorial Day concert that I can watch on PBS.

Thankful Thursday, Average week edition

 This week I'm thankful for:

1. The Gaithersburg book festival! It's a favorite of mine- such a great festival so close to home. I got to meet an author that I really like, Stephanie Dray, and got her newest book about Abigal Adams signed! I also picked up a signed copy of Milo Todd's 'The Lilac People'. I got to hear both of them talk about their books (separate sessions) and also went to a session about books on two different shipwreck stories. Yummy food, bumped into a lot of friends, great weather.

Me with Stephanie Dray

2. Catching up with old friends. Caught up with DJ, a friend I hadn't seen in almost 20 years, at the book festival and we spent 2 hours catching up.

3. Flexible work hours so I can take mom to doctors appointments every now and then.

And sometimes to breakfast afterwards :)

4. A lovely thunderstorm last night.

5. Fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

Thankful Thursday, Productive Week Edition

 Here's to a week not trying to eat me (much) so I remember to post on a Thursday, huzzah!

I'm thankful for:

1. A productive week. I knocked a good handful of things off my personal to-do list, which feels really good. It also gives me motivation to keep working on the rest of things on the list.

2. It's also been a busy but good week at work. A lot done, good conversations, and I went into the office for the first time since that week in January where we all froze haha.

3. Luna is feeling much better! I'll spare the internet the details, but she's had a very unhappy tummy for about a month as we've been sorting out her pain meds, so I'm glad she is feeling better. I won't even complain that she's back to grabbing dishes out of my sink, because that actually IS a sign she's feeling better lol.

This is Luna feeling better haha

4. Some cool May temps. It's about to get hot I think, but having some 60s and 70s in May has been delightful for walking with Luna and driving with the windows down.

5. Spontaneous dinner with Ilana on Monday :o) We had a great time catching up over Panera; I was so glad she reached out. 

Thankful Saturday, good week edition

 I guess we know it's a good week when I don't remember to post until Saturday, rather than Thursday? 

This week I'm thankful for, in no particular order:

1. My friend Kate told me about Fanta 0, and it's great. Yay soda snack with no calories!

2. I went on a lovely hike yesterday in Patapsco State Park near Daniel's dam. It's always nice to hike a new trail, and this one was pretty easy to find, although not well marked.

3. I'm thankful for the AllTrails app on my phone. It made my hike stress-free instead of stress-ful.

4. I'm thankful for my house. She isn't fancy, but she's mine, and it's so nice to have my own space to flop.

5. I'm thankful I can pay my neighbor to mow my lawn. He's got a great business and I can spend my time doing other things!

6. I'm thankful for the TV show Top Chef. I don't watch a lot of TV, but this is one of my favs, and its fun to watch over chat with Meghan so we can livechat our thoughts.