Snickerdoodle Saturday

It's Saturday morning. I woke up around 5:30 and laid there until about 6:15, Steve getting up for work in the process. I enjoy the idea of a leisurely Saturday morning, and sipping coffee while he gets ready for work and chatting about what the day and weekend can hold. In so many ways it feels like we are in our twenties again and childless, but we have only to try to remember anything, or stay up terribly late to realize we are indeed not still in our twenties. ;-)

We have had an unusual spring it seems. It's April 11 and here I haven't had one Saturday morning warm enough to sit on the back patio and have coffee. I did try to get out there about 2 weeks ago, and could only stand it for about half a cup before heading back indoors. {It's 50 degrees as I type this.} Truman is ready for it to warm up, too. Grass is still coming in and not yet fully green. It seems Mother Earth is sluggish this year with her shift. We are looking at cloudy today with a high of 77, and we get quite a breeze at our house, so I know that won't really feel warm to me. 

We have had another fast week it seems. Where do they go? Work has been crazy because the auditors are in for year-end work, and we are working of course on closing the first month of the new year. Our new system at work continues to be problematic for many, and since I hadn't worked with the old one that long, and since I can tend toward being a techie, I have developed a little finesse with the new system...which means I get all the "How do I..." questions and it can be four or five times a day when I am called to the rescue to assist someone with something. Even people outside my department come to me. 

It's a compliment to be sure {I think!}, but it sure does pull away from the time I have to do my own deeds. Two nights I worked past 6:00 and one night I worked until 8:20. We have one more week on the audit...but we won't get anywhere soon on the new system. I did change up my workspace at work and have more zen, and I can't ever complain about coming home for lunch, or dis my 3 mile commute. Work is good overall and that means life is good. I finished up my work week by leaving at 4:15 on Friday afternoon, and heading straight to my Pedi appointment. Nothing like a fresh coat of OPI's Lunch at the Delhi to kick off the weekend.

Steve and I didn't do any running around this week, other than heading to the pond to walk. We are in countdown mode to family vacation and so we are of course hunkered down on our fitness regimen and trying to look our best. We absolutely hate our metabolisms that seem to be at direct opposition to our foodie tendencies. ;-) I have been working, off and on, in a concerted effort toward health and fitness now for three years. I have made headway, but I am not yet where I want to be, so I press on. I am truly, truly hoping that 2015 is the year that I can CREATE a new way of managing my foodie/metabolism imbalance. It has been humorous to eat every meal at home this work week and we knew when we made it through "Friday night" that we had survived - for one week! - our cravings for date night dinners at our favorite dives. We had crab cakes here last night and watched the Masters tournament replay on ESPN. I just love watching that tournament each year. I plan to turn it on today and can't wait to see what unfolds.

Philip turned 21 yesterday. Hard to believe. I told someone at work that I had him when I was 18, and then winked. No matter how old you feel, or how young you look, an adult child definitely dates you. ;-) I am so proud of both of my sons and how well they are adapting to adulthood and managing college. I miss them every day, but it is exciting to see them mold into men and I am blessed to have a virtual front row seat to that. I did talk to Philip twice yesterday on the phone and was placated in my missing his big day by Andrew's presence there in Music City with him. They have all day together today and then tomorrow evening Andrew will head back to Rocky Mountain country. These boys of mine are living the high life. I did whip out a card for Philip this week, but I'll have to share that later as the USPS didn't do very well on delivery time. 

Today I am piddling around in Scrap Central. I just perked my second cup of my beloved Snickerdoodle coffee, Truman is camped out on the floor, and I am going to make a list of everything I have to get finished before family vacation. {Which is going to be INCREDIBLE! We will be in Florida for five days and then on a boat to the Bahamas for four days. I can't wait!} Thirty-six days to go!! 

On the top of my list is working on my February Month in Review (MIR) layout. This year I have been blessed to be part of a weekly challenge with my Scrap 'n Yap peeps, whereby each week I have to start and finish one page. Of course, since I dabble mostly in two-pagers, that means I have to finish two pages. And today finds me at the end of the challenge week, and I have yet to begin my layout. It just hasn't been a scrappity-doo-dah week. 

I have iPhoto up and running and need to pick my pictures to print. Man, oh, man, is this when my little Epson Charm comes in handy or what?! Seriously adore that little printer! I am convinced that the photos I get off of it surpass the quality I loved from scrapbookpictures.com. I will take these pictures above and cull them down to eleven to feature on my February layout, that will resemble the design of my January layout below. You may remember I posted about my 2014 Month in Review album here. For 2015, I selected a new Scrapbook Generation sketch and am using Simple Stories Homespun paper, and I just love how my first month turned out. I now need to move on to finish up February before I get too terribly behind in the year. I keep all of my supplies for my MIR project in one Iris case, so grabbing that and getting this layout done today shouldn't be any problem. 

Okay, the coffee cup is empty, the sun is trying to break through the clouds, a mower is going somewhere and I think that's a wrap for my first installment of a new blog post I plan to do. Thanks for reading today's post on my weekly recap and musings on what life has been like, and a peek into what is perking in Scrap Central on any given Snickerdoodle Saturday. What's going on in your world today? Are you scrapping today? Are you with me? 

P.S. "LIKE" my penny{scraps} FaceBook page {the coral "f" button above} to follow me for blog updates!

Month in Review ~ January 2015

Sketch Credit: Scrapbook Generation

Paper: Simple Stories

Title Font: Ballerina Script (which is new to me, and I just adore it!)

Every Day Together is Wonderful

There is a saying in Texas. There are those that live here that were born here. And there are those that live here that got here as fast as they could. I fall into the first category. And my darling husband falls into the second. I am a proud 5th generation Texan, and when we talk about retiring, I consider other states, but it is really hard for me to contemplate ever leaving my beloved Lone Star State.

Steve has lived here with me now for 27 years, and has come to love my state as much as anyone can. If you were to meet him, you'd never guess him to be a native New Yorker. One of the reasons that he loves Texas so much, I believe, is because of all that the state has to offer in the many regions it has, the warmer climate it offers, and the many types of food you can savor. From the gulf shores to the piney woods to the northern plains to the hill country, there is more to see and do than you can take in.

We first discovered the Texas Hill Country together when we were in our first or second year of marriage. I have pictures of us traveling to Brenham to see the bluebonnets, bearing our little Cocker Spaniel puppy, and I know that was 1988 or 1989. What I don't know is if we had traveled to the hills before that trip. As a child, I am certain I traveled to the area with Girl Scouts, with a grade school friend Trisha to her grandparents' house, and almost certainly with my own family. 

When Steve and I lived in Houston, the Hill Country was a fun 2-3 hour getaway. When the four of us moved to San Antonio, we were blessed to be living in the Hill Country. {These remain some of my favorite years.} When we moved to McAllen, we were 3-4 hours south of the Hill Country, and now, from our home, we are about 4-5 hours. It seems we move farther and farther away from an area we grow to love more and more. I guess that makes visiting it all the richer, and we have always tried to visit it every chance we get.

In 2014, with just one son still at home, who was working most evenings and weekends, it seemed like Steve and I could plan a little getaway for two. We set a date and secured my mom to come babysit Truman, and be on hand in case of any emergency, and set about to find a place to escape. The Hill Country seemed like a natural place to consider, and I was focusing on the Wimberley area. A Google search and some reviews on Trip Advisor led us to the Sage Hill Inn. 

Even though it had rave online reviews, until we stepped onto the property, we couldn't imagine how much we would fall in love with this simple property tucked into the live oaks among the hills south of Austin. It seemed like the misty, fog-wrapped weekend was conspiring with us, inviting us to unwind and relax. The chilly weather kept us indoors, camping out near the fireplace in our room, or the fireplace in the common library. We read, we watched movies, we each had a massage, we sat on the porch and watched rain fall, we had superb meals, we went to bed early, we slept in.

We unwound. We reconnected. We escaped from the tough, in the middle moments between our two back to back graduating seniors. Just looking at these pictures I can remember so many little moments about the trip. While we have been adapting to sending our boys off to college, and adjusting to them not being in our every day lives, it is moments like this that remind me how much Steve and I enjoy each other. How every day together is wonderful. 

I am hopeful that we have at least another twenty years together. I'd really love to beg for thirty. Or even forty. Whatever time we have together is enough. Whatever time we have together is never enough. But, no matter how busy or stressful work can be, or what lies around the corner of life, we are committed to taking each day as it comes, making the most of our story, looking for beauty around us, working to make each one a happy day, knowing that we are adored by the other, reveling in the richness of our love.

Yes, a hill country weekend is wonderful. But, every day is wonderful when you are married to your best friend. We've had 27 wonderful years. Here's hoping for another 27 years, full of wonderful weeks and weekends, be they at home or away. 

Hill Country Weekend ~ Sage Hill Inn, Wimberley, TX ~ March 2014

Sketch Credit: Scrapbook Generation

Paper: Echo Park

Title Font: Ballerina Script