Hello Monday ~ February 9, 2026

 Well, my Hello Monday is now a Hello Tuesday!  Better late than never, but here is a re-cap of my weekend.  Hope you all have a great day and thanks for reading!

After visiting my daughter, I proceeded to drive to North Carolina for the weekend.  I saw some dustings of snow on the mountains.  It was a pretty drive and thankfully, the roads were clear.

The first stop was meeting up with one of my best friends who drove over from Charlotte.  We started with dinner...appetizer was these macaroni and cheese balls!  Oh my!

That was followed with a burger topped with cheese, bacon and onions on lettuce with a side of grilled veggies.

We also enjoyed their specialty cocktail drink.

After a full and delicious meal, we walked on the treadmill at the hotel for an hour and it was good to catch up while walking!

The next morning, we went to Biscuit Head, a great place to eat breakfast in Asheville. I had fruit, scrambled eggs, maple bacon and of course tried the biscuit.

We did a little shopping.

Of course, found frozen yogurt!

We picked up a friend from the airport and went back to the same burger place.  I had more burgers last week than I think I had all year in 2025!  This time, I got the burger with gouda on lettuce with a side of onion rings.

Downtown Waynesville, NC is a darling place!

This was the AirBNB where I stayed the next 2 nights.

Enchiladas were a delicious dinner cooked at the cabin.

It was great to catch up with this old friend we've known for the last 20 years.

I had a pretty drive home.  Western NC is one my favorite areas of the country.

And being at a Buc-ees before 11am is wonderful so I can enjoy an egg brisket taco.  So good.

It was great to spend time with friends over the weekend!

Happy Tuesday!

Hello Monday ~ February 2, 2026

 Good morning my blog friends and officially happy February!  Let's hope due to the cold weather and snow/sleet mixture over a huge part of the country, that darn groundhog will NOT see his shadow today.

Today's blog is brought to you by the letter "C"!

Cold

Until today, it has been below freezing for 9 days straight, with the exception of one afternoon.  This is a portion of my street still on Sunday afternoon.

And this is my house 8 days later after the first sign of precipitation.

But it's never too cold for frozen yogurt!

Cinema

I didn't go to the cinema, but I did watch this movie Friday night. It is a modern day story of Ruth and Boaz.  I was in tears at the end.

Sunday night, I watched Nonnas.  This has been on my Netflix forever it seems and it was a heartwarming movie. Y'all know I love a movie based on a true story!

Cut

I have officially got to the end of my things to do list around the house when I began cutting my bangs Saturday morning.  They turned out okay!  This is me on Sunday when I ran into Jenn at a restaurant after church. You can't really see my bangs here though!

Chili

I made some chili for lunch on this cold weekend day. No beans were harmed.

Cry

Now to take a hard left turn, I had quite the cry session Saturday afternoon.  Yes, I did okay overall, but after 9 days of being completely alone with the exception of a few hours on 2 days, it all caught up with me.  The loneliness & grief was real.  I laid down in bed at 3 Saturday and didn't get up until Sunday morning. I think my reality is sometimes really hard between the financial situation I have been left with (or without I should say) and being the victim of an unwanted ending to a marriage. I miss having someone to do stuff with and who wants to spend time with me.  It sometimes feels like I am all alone when everyone else has someone.  I know that sounds pitiful.  I know the Lord is always with me.  The grief I experience is on so many levels.  That is what divorce does.  I could share so much, but I will leave this with a few things I read:

China

I did a little retail therapy to help and placed my first order from Shein! If anything works, I will post it here.  

Church/Community

I was so thankful my church was meeting Sunday.  If it wasn't, I was going somewhere.  Granted, the parking lot was an icy mess, but I made it there safely and it was so good to see humans I know.  I hadn't seen anyone since Thursday. After church, a huge group went out to eat and it was a delight.  I even ran into Jenn and Chris there!

Car

I went through the car wash to get the first layer of snow off my car.  Every time I drive down my road and driveway, I track more snow/dirt on my car, but I had to get my car a little clean. I was thankful to see the car wash open since it barely reached 32 degrees.

Concert

I spent my Sunday afternoon watching a Duran Duran concert on tv while I worked on blogs. I was a huge Duran Duran fan in Jr. High and thought I would marry Simon LeBon (the lead singer) some day, ha!  I am still a big fan of them and love their music. I finally saw them in concert a few times once I was an adult.

Creativity

Sunday night, I did a little water color while I watched tv.  This was a sweet gift from Joyce last fall and I picked it back over the weekend.

Conclusion

This concludes my "C" blog and thank you for reading!

Have a great Monday!

Hello Monday ~ January 26, 2026

Good morning!  No surprise, the topic today is snow as it has affected so much of the country this past weekend.  Here is a glimpse of my snowed in weekend in the south!

Friday after work, I had lunch with a friend then went to my parents house to bring them food and make sure they were okay to be inside the next few days.  I also stopped by my niece's house to see her girls and hung out with another friend that night before coming home.  I knew it would be several days before I would see humans again! Life is funny. The weekend prior, I was saying I would do something this weekend.  Well then the snow came.  Just another reminder life is out my control and a bummer to have another weekend alone.  However, I had time to mentally prepare, so I am doing pretty well so far.  By this afternoon or tomorrow, I may need to get out and see someone though!

I started strong Saturday by organizing my makeup, washing makeup brushes and going through my pantry and kitchen cabinets.  I didn't have too much to go through there since I just moved 2 months ago, but it was still a good time to see what I brought to this house.

I made breakfast....scrambled eggs with crumbled turkey and cheese added, along with sourdough and strawberries. 

Snow and some sleet fell throughout the day. I stayed inside.

For lunch, I had leftovers from Friday's lunch which was a crusted pork loin with mashed sweet potatoes and salad.

I watched tv and had a few sips of this drink. I also talked to Jenn multiple times during the day! I never opened my computer the whole day and it was nice to have a break from it.

I also made some brownies.  It was from an old mix and honestly weren't that great.  It took me eating 2 to decide that :).

I basically spent the rest of the afternoon and well, until close to midnight finishing this puzzle.  This is for you Amy!

Sunday morning felt nothing like a Sunday, but we got more snow overnight and through midday Sunday. Day 2....I can do this. Since I spent the most part of yesterday afternoon sitting working on the puzzle, I started my day with a quick walk on the treadmill.  

For breakfast, I made bacon and had sourdough with it.

Lunch was a frozen pizza.  This is my favorite brand of frozen pizza. They also sell a plain cheese version and a veggie pizza.  I have only seen the veggie version at Costco, but it is sold in a 2 pack and then I usually add pepperoni to it at home. I bought this pepperoni version from Kroger.

I folded clothes, went through a closet, did some computer stuff and then did a little travel planning for a spring trip. Another quiet day and night.

How are you holding up in this cold weather?  I am thankful to have not lost power, for little projects and plenty of food. 

Thanks for reading and stay warm on this Monday! Is it Monday??? Ha!