The Weakly Tribune Vol. 1 Issue 8

 

THE WEAKLY TRIBUNE

Monday 8.08.22

Felt more tired than I should feel it seemed! Little Debbie apple pie, cheese, and coffee made me feel more ready to slay the day! But even though I wanted to leave around 9, it was around 10 before Danielle and I headed to Pensacola! Argh. My life is like that saying, “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get!” I need to redo the Jordan Page course and get back on track with Time Management! Our first stop was Teen Challenge Thrift Store where I scored a pair of white heels for my book club Diner en Blanc. Also a macrame belt (Do I really like macrame or do I just think I should like it?!) a peach T-shirt dress, and 3 more coffee mugs for the Teachers House! On to the Goodwill next door where I found a pretty bright white dress, black sandals, (which I’ve since decided I don’t love) a wooden owl and a tree votive for the library. Danielle got a free book, a stuffed wiener dog and a stuffed dinosaur, and a Dabble Lab marble engineering game! Fun finds. Tjmaxx for macarons and French butter cookies for the White Dinner. Then Chick-fil-A for a kids meal for Danielle and a peach milkshake and grilled chicken wrap with avocado dressing for me! Finally over the bridge and to the Beach Ball parking lot where Tommi and Karma picked us up! Absolutely surreal to see Tommi and her family after so many years! Headed down to the beach after a quick condo tour. It’s the most beautiful classy beach condo I’ve ever seen! Disappointingly, the surf was not at all beautiful. Nasty bits of seaweed everywhere in the water. We soon moved back up to the condo pool. Then later, back out to the beach! Catching up on quality girl time while seeing our kids happily playing together in the sand with the brooding thunderheads in the distance will be a treasured memory. Way too soon it was time for us to head back home. Danielle begged to stop at the Ice Cream Shoppe. I was asked if we were from England? In my dreams lol. Danielle got scoops of mint and birthday cake, while I settled for one small scoop of lemon sorbet since I had already had a peach milkshake! Danl had already made himself steak and eggs with the leftover steak from yesterday since it was after 7:00 by the time we got home. Danielle wasn’t hungry which wasn’t surprising! I made myself a bowl of Public Goods ramen. 

Tuesday 8.09.22

Scrambled to come up with Plan B since Plan A location for the White Dinner had fallen through! Scouted out a second location on the north side of the old hay barn on the Smith property, which actually seemed much better than the corner of our backyard anyway since we could be under the wing of the hay barn if it decided to rain. Danl did get our mower working then and got it all mowed up so nicely for me! He puts up with and helps me so much with all my far out ideas! Had to reminisce about him helping me chop up loads of parsley to make homemade tabbouleh for my last Book Club meal! Borrowed some items from folks, dropped Danielle at Mel’s, washed the car at Waves, shopped Walmart, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Piggly, and Family Dollar to finally get everything on my list! Cut out and spray painted a gold cardboard Eiffel Tower and wrapped it in fairy lights. Made chicken salad, got dressed all in white, loaded my picnic basket, and went to set up the Eiffel Tower and tiki torches before meeting at Nes’s place. Everyone looked amazing and so classy in their white outfits! We took two white vehicles, Danl’s truck and Stacia’s SUV, crossed the “River Seine,” aka the small runoff stream, and walked the short distance to the Le Diner en Blanc location, where we proceeded to set up our little tables and chairs for dining in high style! Real dishes, candles, white cloth tablecloths, and gourmet foods! It really did feel magical! We began with the iconic Napkin Wave and ended with the Sparkler Wave! We also sent up Chinese lanterns which had been done at the White Dinner in the book. Life is truly what you make it! And we definitely put forth the effort to make it magical and momentous this night! 

Wednesday 8.10.22

Started my day the French way, with leftover croissants, chocolate, havarti cheese, macarons, and butter cookies with my Eleanor Espresso. Had a very low gear morning, relishing the fact that I got to be home all day. Kicked it into high gear after lunch and did a thorough House Tidy Up, payroll, and loads of laundry. Started Thursday Cleaning since it had been rolled over from last week and I’ll be gone working at school tomorrow. Decided I had just enough chicken wings to have Larisa join us for them and loaded French fries. Finished vacuuming and mopping after supper. Danielle set up a drum set with little pots and pans and proceeded to make Beautiful Music. In her opinion. All of us except Danl downed some Blue Ribbon chocolate & vanilla ice cream. Prayed hard for Neil since Wade’s were taking him to the ER due to him being confused and vomiting profusely. 

Thursday 8.11.22

Woke up to the news that Neil had been diagnosed with a severe migraine. Took Danielle up to Mel’s for the day, then took myself to school. Met the new teachers, cut and painted both sides of the Hobbit Door, and brainstormed more decor with Tina and Gloria. Jalisco’s for amazing pineapple pork tacos, Dirt Cheap for a $.50 frog, Dollar Tree for more moss etc., and WeCare for adorable spectacles! Back at school, I hung one of the doors, took more mugs and a laundry hamper to the teachers house, and then it was time to go get Danielle. A crazy man with a big stick close to our house detained Danl for awhile, so I cut out Danielle’s sparkly unicorn First Day of School Dress. Since I had only been to Atmore 3 times, decided to go the 4th for pizza and cheese sticks. Can’t beat free cheese sticks redeemed with Hut Rewards, and a large thin ‘n crispy extra cheese for only $11.85 using code 8326. Jace’s stopped by for the evening on their way home from town. Felt great to catch up with them again! 

Friday 8.12.22

August is speeding by! Another breakfast of all the French stuff before making up a Borax solution to crystallize an old book for display in the Li’bry. Met Karma at Dixie Heart’s Merc; Danielle went home with her and I went to school to work in the library again. Tina and I made superb progress overall I thought! It’s starting to feel pretty magical in there! Danielle had had the best day playing with the Swarey kids and their new pets; two long-suffering parakeets and the softest little grey bunny! For supper, I browned a ham steak in butter, made a box of shells ‘n cheese, and fixed individual butter lettuce salads. Danl and I both went out to mow. It almost feels like it’s growing as you’re mowing! 

Saturday 8.13.22

I think I’ve had croissants, chocolate, and Havarti cheese with my coffee for breakfast every morning since Tuesday! Tidied up, then welcomed Justin, Tommi, & kiddos, and Tommi’s mom Leslie here for a quick visit shortly after 11:00. Once Danl got in from work, we all journeyed up to David’s Catfish where we met Gene’s for a delightful lunch. The guys headed off to drive around and we girls went to Karma’s house. Wedged a quick trip to Dirt Cheap in amidst visiting, looking after the kids, and snacking on fresh chocolate chip cookies. Danielle and I said our sad goodbyes and dashed into WeCare for another pair of spectacles for Li’bry decor. We had way too many ideal places for the only pair we had nabbed the other day! Lazed around for awhile; finally decided to get Chinese takeout for supper since I needed to get out and get our fresh dairy milk anyway. Stayed up too late sipping on hot chamomile tea with honey while reading Picnic in Provence. 

Sunday 8.14.22

Kept falling back asleep after I thought I really WAS awake! Still managed to walk into church on the first verse of the first song. Danielle was so excited to meet her new teacher, Miss Hailey Koehn from Macon, MS! Galen preached on Discipline, how it’s so needful but painful for us. Fried homemade tater chips and venison back-strap, and steamed some spinach for lunch. I sewed Danielle’s First Day of School dress, getting it all done except adding the brads, which me being late to the brad game, have never yet done. I don’t usually sew on Sunday, or at all for that matter lol, but it felt like my ox was in the well due to putting time in at the Li’bry of late. Danl tried unsuccessfully to nap, and Danielle worked on her “Gem by Number” art she got from Dirt Cheap yesterday. Fixed us fish tacos for supper and went to my folks “new” house to see the remodeling progress. It’s looking so good!