I blinked, and somehow August is already half over. Anyone else feeling that way? I’m not complaining — just… observing!
This past week was a mixed bag: a blend of relaxed time at home (translation: the kids watched a lot of movies), visits with friends, and some prep for our final summer adventures. The kids are officially bored, which is frustrating given how many fun things have filled our days. There are just… a lot of hours to fill. But the next couple of weeks bring a bit more structure, and I’m honestly relieved.
On a less fun note, my sleep has been garbage lately, and I’m completely stumped. I only drink one cup of coffee in the morning. I practice decent sleep hygiene. And yet, here I am — wide awake at 3 a.m. Is this perimenopausal insomnia? Or just regular insomnia? (When my kids were little, I blamed everything on teething. Now, I seem to be throwing my aging uterus under the same bus and blaming all unpleasant things on perimenopause.)
Once or twice a year, I hit a patch of prolonged sleep issues, but this round is really testing my patience.
Anyway! On to happier things: John’s best friend (who was also the best man at our wedding) is arriving later today for a whirlwind 2-day visit. Before I jump into that with both feet, let’s take a look back at the week that was…
HAMMOCK TIME
I haven’t made much time to go in the hammock this summer, but Sunday afternoon I found my way there and it was lovely. Even though the weather was oppressive, the shade of the tree meant I felt a bit chilly! What a difference shade makes.
The kids often go out here to hang with friends and talk. It’s very sweet to be in the kitchen and glance out to see a set (or two) of legs dangling down.
Another morning, Indy took my phone to listen to music and sang his heart out. He serenaded me from the hammock while I worked on some weeding projects. Eventually I went over and we snuggled together and rocked and listened to music and looked up at the leaves. While he was listening to the Zombies soundtrack (*sigh* — I will admit they are earwormy), I couldn’t stop thinking about the chorus of the Macklemore song Good Old Days.
I wish somebody would have told me, babe
That someday, these will be the good old days…
‘Cause someday soon, your whole life’s gonna change
You’ll miss the magic of the good old days
This could be the last summer he’ll cuddle with me in the hammock. And while there are moments of INTENSE parenting frustration, I suppose these moments are little signs from God that I am indeed living in the “good old days.”
JUMPING!
For years I’ve seen people jumping off a bridge into a local canal but never went myself. The kids were a little on the young side and I just…never got around to it.
But Belle spent the day with a friend on Wednesday and they ended up at the bridge to go jumping. We rendezvoused in the afternoon so Indy could join in on the fun and the kids had a BLAST!
It’s deep, warm, and there is easy access to exit points from the canal so they jumped over…and over…and over!
FISHING
Indy loves fishing. He has loved fishing for years and the older he gets the more he loves it. No matter where he is, he either wants to fish or talk about fishing.
Thanks to his optimism and persistence, and some very kind local fishermen (and women), Indy is all rigged out with what’s needed to do some local ocean fishing for striped bass. It’s catch and release below 27″ but he’s holding out hope he can land something that he can bring home and prepare for supper!
It’s really fun to watch your kids enjoy something, though I am quite happy to stay home (and stay clean) while they go fishing.
I’m also thankful we have a great fishing spot just a 10-minute drive from home. It took time (and work on John’s part) to get the right gear but now they have all the stuff and just LOOK AT THAT SMILE.
HAPPY THINGS IN BLOGLAND
- Patreon! Friends. I am sincerely humbled and so thankful for the love and support with this new little project of mine. I am excited to keep writing in this space, and equally excited to spread my wings a bit and try new things somewhere else! Thanks to everyone who has signed up to be a Lighthouse Keeper or sent me personal messages of support. <3
- Sarah and Ben just celebrated twenty years of marriage. Do your day a giant favour and click over to see Sarah (and both her daughters) trying on her GORGEOUS WEDDING DRESS.
- Sophie’s taking a blog break (okay, that part’s not happy) to focus more on her fiction writing. Let’s cheer her on!
- I received the sweetest post card from Michelle (the cute little snail in the bottom right)! Michelle is also taking a bloggy break!
- I started to notice frequent use of the word ‘Alas’ toward the end of the book Isola, and asked someone to take count for me. A huge thanks to reader Jacquie for the following summary: I finished Isola last night and wanted to give you the count on Alas. It appears 9 times starting on page 199 through 250. I didn’t see it before or after those pages, which is interesting. Why did she use that word so much, and only in a small section of the book. Who knows? Anyway, I really enjoyed the story and what a great character!
- Jana had an art reception complete with a live piano player. I loved seeing the photo of her chatting with her drawing students…and her beautiful dress really caught my eye as well!
- Rebecca and her family recently returned from an epic trip to South Africa; she writes such wonderful travel recaps of all their adventures.
- Speaking of travel, Noemi posted stunning pictures from their trip to Maui. I cannot get over how many underwater shots she captured of sea turtles!
- Jenny celebrated the first day of school with an Earl Grey at Starbucks. Woot, woot! I know that was a VERY happy thing for her.
- I had to smile when I saw the BBC article titled: The lost art of hitchhiking: What we can still learn from travel’s most radical mode? after my Never Have I Ever post from Monday.
- I think I could look at wedding photos all day, every day. They’re just so happy and beautiful. Obviously, I gobbled up Suz’s wedding recap for her daughter Lindsay.
BONUS HAPPY THINGS
- Salads. I always like a good salad, but my cholesterol issues have renewed my spark of creating delicious salads. Yum. The key (for me) is almost always to have a low ratio of lettuce to other fixings.
- Parenting is a job where you don’t often get a lot of positive feedback — from your kids or even from others. So it was sweet to get an encouraging text from someone working at the summer camp both kids attended (and where Belle is a leader at various points).
- Air conditioning.
- Air conditioning.
- Cold water after a walk outside in the heat.
- Air conditioning.
- Coffee on the deck. I realize this is showing up every week but it’s because it is one of my absolute FAVOURITE things about the summer. We started this little ritual when both kids were away at sleepaway camp and now it’s a “thing.” Belle is usually still sleeping, but Indy will come out in PJs and bundled up in a fluffy blanket and eat breakfast/drink hot chocolate while I sip my coffee. Some mornings it doesn’t work (John’s schedule is variable and sometimes he starts calls at 6 AM). But it has been an unexpected highlight.
- Cheap day at the movies. I took the kids and two close friends to see The Fantastic Four: First Steps. It was entertaining. Nothing amazing, but it was also tame (read: no sexual content or much profanity) so it was relaxing viewing and I loved the 1970’s vibe of all the decor and clothing. I told Indy he could spend $5 of his allowance money on the arcade. I suppose the point of an allowance is to have free reign on the money but he does not get the concept of delayed gratification and I could see him spending every last penny on arcade tokens. He shared his tokens with friends and a good time was had by all.
- Belle had a bracket fall off her braces while at camp and then by the time she got back home the dental office was closed for summer vacation. I didn’t have high hopes of getting a quick fit-in. Lo and behold, I was able to get her in 24 hours of the office reopening. And (double Happy Things), it means that I don’t have to go back in September for her checkup because they did adjustments early. AND my view of the waiting room has a definite end in sight. She should be done with braces in the next six months or so (maybe less). Woot, woot.
- On the braces front, I really should give credit to Belle — she has so rarely complained about the braces (a handful of times in 2 years) and she dutifully brushes and waterpiks every single day. When I fret my kids aren’t grateful enough, I too often gloss over how amazing they are in so many ways. I have a feeling I’d complain a lot more about braces than she does!
Happy Weekending, friends!
P.S. You might have noticed (if you’re not using an ad blocker or reading through Feedly) that the layout of my blog has changed a bit. A few months ago, Kristen from The Frugal Girl encouraged me to consider running ads to help offset some of the costs of blogging — especially as my site traffic grows and hosting gets more expensive.
I ended up applying to Mediavine’s Journey/Grow program, not expecting much since it’s a competitive process. To my surprise, I found out this week that I’d been accepted! So…I’m giving it a try. I know ads can be distracting/annoying, and I truly appreciate your patience while I figure out the best way to balance reader experience with the realities of running a site.
If anything feels off or clunky, I’m open to feedback and will be making tweaks as needed — this is very much a trial run.
Now it’s your turn.
- Would you jump off that bridge into the canal?
- What’s brought you joy this week, big or small?
- What’s one hobby or interest a friend or loved one enjoys that you don’t “get”…but love watching them enjoy?
- When you hear “the good old days,” what time in your life comes to mind?
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That’s such a lovely photo of you and Indy in the hammock! There’s a quote about how we rarely know when it’s the last time we do something – but you caught the moment and tucked it away as a future treasure.
My own “good old days” were our early marriage years. I was just looking at photos yesterday… we looked so young!
And congrats on Mediavine! I’d actually been meaning to suggest ads to you – they’re subtle, and such a smart way to monetise your blog. You’ve created something beautiful here, and it’s clear how much time and heart you put into it.
I am really starting to notice how “young” I look back in photos from when we were newly married. I don’t feel like I’ve aged that much but then I see pictures and realize…I have!
Thanks for the support and kind words <3
Heck yeah you got accepted into Mediavine! They want to make money!!!
August has gone fast for me, but that’s because I spent the first half of it binging on mountains and the ocean in BC.
While I was away Hubs got a new 3D printer, so that’s a prime example of something that everyone else in the house is into except me;-) I appreciate the joy that it brings them.
You’ve had such an eventful August and I can’t wait to read all the recaps. You’ve left my on a cliffhanger about to meet up with Nicole.
A 3D printer doesn’t sound interesting to me in the least, but I know a few people in my family would definitely enjoy one!
Ah, yes – the good ole’ days. No time like the present, and all that. We’re having fun revisiting our kids’ growing-up days through their kids – things sure have changed during that generation! And the ads are all at the bottom, so not too distracting. Hope the final days of summer will go very sloooowly for you and yours!
That is part of grandparenting that really excites me – getting to explore things through the wonder of young eyes again (without having to get up for middle-of-the-night feedings.
Jana’s dress is gorgeous and she looks radiant in it! Plus it has pockets!?! The perfect dress!
Glad you’re finding g happiness in the doldrums of August.
My good old days would be either when I was about 8 yrs old and having fun and oblivious to the world. Or about 35 yrs old – lots of energy, lots of babies- I really miss those days.
Isn’t it the perfect dress! I’d wear it in every single colour of the rainbow, I think.
I don’t feel like I ever had energy when I had a baby in the house!
In spring of 2023, just before we moved and Mark left home and Jake graduated and Rob retired, I was driving to teach yoga and Carly Simon’s Anticipation came on the radio. The line “These are the good old days” almost killed me. What an emotional time that was. I think about that line a lot though.
I DO feel like I blinked and it was mid-August! Ah time, it flies.
This summer is just flying by; time definitely seems to pass by much faster as the kids get older.
When I read the beginning of this post I was startled to realize that yes, August is half over! That went FAST.
I wrote in my blog today that I feel an existential crisis looming- i’m looking ahead two years to an empty nest. I’m hyper aware that the days I’m living right now are a time I’ll look back on and miss. So yes- these are definitely the “good old days!”
You have a lot of happy things! And don’t worry- it’s good for the kids to be bored for a while (although- annoying for you to have to hear about it). It sounds like they’re still having plenty of fun!
Oh, I KNOW it’s good for them to be bored. They just don’t know it’s good for them 😉
I think I mentioned on the blog once that I recently told Belle “That builds character” about something she wasn’t keen to do. She didn’t miss a beat and turned to me and said: “Mom, I already have plenty of character.” Haha. I had to laugh.
Thanks for the link! I’ve been revisiting that post this past week, trying to recapture the wonder of swimming with sea turtles and the rest of the slow days under the palm trees. I’d go back in a second if I could.
I would DEFINITELY jump off that bridge. I grew up jumping off all manner of rocks and cliffs into bodies of water. The summer my cousin and I took our kids to a shut ins we loved as kids and when we got to the cliffs where we used to jump we couldn’t believe how tall they were. We spent thirty minutes convincing ourselves we had jumped off them (we must have, there are no other cliffs we could have jumped off of and our parents assured us we jumped all day long).The fact that our parents happily let us jump from that height is another story (80s kids!)
Your post was delightful and the pictures are incredible. I loved visiting such a beautiful place vicariously.
Ha. Yes, I jumped off some high things as a kid that I don’t think I’d be comfortable let my own offspring tackle. It was a different era of parenting!
Hammock time is such a treasure – I haven’t gotten any this summer, but I’m hoping to score some as the temps continue to moderate.
After 2 weeks of rain, the sun is back today. My chickens are happy, haha
I managed to walk with Mr every day this week! Woo!! As much as I grumble when it’s time to get started, it does feel so good once I’m done (and have gotten the sweat off, and a drink) 🙂
I’m jealous of your rain. We desperately need some here. I didn’t think I’d ever wish for rain in the summer because I do love seeing the sun.
I have such a hard time motivating myself to exercise but then when I do I’m always glad I did. I know future me will be glad to have done it, but why is it so hard to convince present me to do it?
@MBmom, thank you! It had been so long since I wore it that I completely forgot about the pockets. Worked out great to put my car key in during the reception. It’s often the littlest things that just make one’s day.
Every dress is improved by having pockets!
Hi Elisabeth, in a bit of a rush this a.m. so just a couple of things:
1. Did YOU jump off the bridge?? (Never would I ever… think of Joni Eareckson Tada)
2. “Whednesday” appeared in the sign behind Indy’s head while eating ice cream. Now I can’t find that photo on your Patreon site!
3. Thanks for the link to my blog.
4. Good luck in the advertising realm. . . with only tens of readers, I don’t expect to ever try “monetizing” (why do I dislike that word so intensely?)
I didn’t jump off the bridge, but I will! It’s a dug canal, so there are no rocks beneath it and I only let the kids jump in feet first.
The Whednesday sign is likely alluding to Whopper Days at Burger King? I THINK this time it was a typo on purpose? But good eagle eyes. I never noticed the spelling error in that photo (or when I was sitting across from him staring at the poster).
I don’t *love* ads. But since I use Feedly and an ad blocker I’m genuinely unaware of most people that use them. I want to make sure user experience doesn’t dip so I’ll keep an eye on things. But hosting costs are…not cheap and while I love doing this as a hobby, I’d also love to carve out a way to at least recoup my costs.
The hammock pictures are so sweet! We have one of those portable hammocks but we don’t have any trees in our yard to string it between. We should go down to the creek area more that is about a block from our house and use it there – well, when the mosquito season is over…
I am NOT a jump off bridges/platforms type of person. But I could be convinced to jump off that bridge, especially if the water isn’t really cold!
Something that brought me joy this week was finding out my trip during the last week of August can be canceled. 2/3 sales people are away that week so it doesn’t make sense for me to go. So that means I’ll be home with Phil while the kids are away at my parents. Hurrah!
I do not understand pokemon cards at all. Paul loves them but it doesn’t seem like they are used for anything besides collecting them – or at least he doesn’t do anything productive with them.
Hmmm, the good old days for me is a time before social media. I loathe social media and think it has been terrible for our society. I wish I could wave a wand and do away with it. It’s further entrenched people in their views and some get swayed by fake news/headlines, and given that we are in a loneliness epidemic, it doesn’t appear to connect people in a meaningful way. Yes, I sound like an old person saying that, but so be it!
I have LOVED our hammock. It was less than $30 from Amazon and it has been just the best.
The water is like bathwater, or so the kids told me.
That’s wonderful news that you don’t have to travel, and even better news since you’ll have some solo time with Phil when the boys are away. I’m so glad, Lisa!
Pokemon was a huge thing in our house for a year and I would nod along and pretend to be interested but I could never keep things straight and didn’t really care if I was being honest…
Social media is a net negative, IMO. John has been saying that since the earliest days of Facebook. He never got on any social media and when we got together as a couple he let me know he hated social media. I had Facebook for a few years, but when I started dating him I eased off and deleted it entirely. It was hard at first, but then I didn’t look back. I haven’t had a Facebook account in over 17 years! I can’t believe it’s been around that long…
I think you used a real name in here, in the fishing section. In case you want to swap it out.
You’re so right. Oops. I did. Corrected now and thanks so much for pointing this out so I could fix it <3
I always find summer goes in quickly, especially August. I don’t mind because my favourite season is fall. I’ve enjoyed the summer and am looking forward to “all things fall”. Love the changing of the seasons!
Favourite thing this week was a revisit to Maan Farms with my daughter (the place with the pumpkin spice ice cream inside a tiny pumpkin) to see and feed highland cows! The farm had 3 of them, 2 adults and a younger one, and they had such gentle lips lapping up the feed off our hands. We had hoped to enjoy the massive strawberry ice cream concoction that included berry compote and cheesecake pieces, but the ice cream machine was broken. It didn’t matter. The cows were enough.
I hope you get more morning quiet time with a coffee on your deck through the rest of the summer.
Fall is my favourite season and I can’t wait for crisp mornings and school routines.
That ice cream looked picture perfect and I remember it well! Too bad about the ice cream, but glad that everything else was so much fun.
I’m hoping for many more mornings with coffee, well into the fall if I’m lucky?!
I must be doing something wrong because all i can see are messages asking me to sign up to Grow, which are peppered throughout the whole thing and I have to say I do find them very distracting and annoying, though I understand your wish to make money out of all your efforts. Any ideas how to get rid of these, other than sign up for Grow obviously!? Love the content as always and thinking of my own Happy Things.
Oh no. I’m so sorry, Katherine. That sounds very annoying indeed. I can’t seem to recreate the issue on my end (I wonder if you’re using a laptop or phone or desktop?)
If you use Chrome, there is a free extension you can use (called AdBlocker). It will get rid of all the ads!! Or, if you read my posts in something like Feedly or Old Reader there will be no ads. Or, if you subscribe to get my posts via e-mail, you can read them inside your e-mail account and that also should be free of ads.
Keep me posted. I definitely don’t want the ads to be overly distracting.
When I started reading about bridge jumping, I was so excited … and then you didn’t jump. You must do it next time. Take John with you and do it together. I went to Kakadu with my parents and Sara (Long story, but making up for a trip she missed when she broke her leg), and we went to a waterhole with a big rock to jump off, and I did it with Sara. Great fun. I think we underestimate how good doing childish things like this feel—a bit like lying in a hammock, I guess. That does look like fun, although the rocking would not be good for me, because of my vestibular migraines.
I always think of my days at university when I think of the good old days, although these days are pretty neat too.
“I think we underestimate how good doing childish things like this feel.”
Yes! I always think of this when I run and slide down a smooth hallway in my socks. It feels so carefree and juvenile.
So many of these activities are available to me in adulthood but I rarely take them.
I plan to jump the next time. I didn’t go in a bathing suit because we weren’t planning on staying. But it was really fun to watch the kids and take some pictures and next time I can go fully immersive in the experience.
sorry to hear about the sleeping issues, I’ve been waking up before 4am this week too (but I fall asleep before 9pm) mainly because there are so many things in my mind and PMS week. I plan to take the weekend afternoon/evening chill to get better sleep which I really need by now.
I wouldn’t jump for sure but I know the girls love!
I love seeing my husband playing golf, so focused and happy.
I wish I had a hammock!!!
The hammock was about $25 and it has been such a great purchase.
I’ve taken a sleep aid the last few nights to try to get back on the right track with sleeping. I think some of it is the heat. We have AC but it’s an artificial temperature regulation and I think it might contribute to my sleep issues?
That salad looks YUM! The good old days for me were when my kids were all under the age of 18 and all lived at home. Your movie theatre photo reminded me of when I would take my kids to a matinee and we’d often have the theatre to ourselves (or just a handful of others). Those were good times! I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
There weren’t many people in the theatre. It was a fun outing on a very hot day. And on cheap day it’s fairly inexpensive relatively speaking.
The salad was so good. I’m excited to get back into a routine (after all the summer mayhem is over) and I think salads will feature prominently!
I love these posts, Elisabeth, love reading about your week and adventures. The Good Ol Days for me were when my son was old enough not to be getting into everything but not so old he didn’t still want to cuddle. I miss that so much 🙁
The cuddle stage is precious.
I miss when the kids fell asleep early and I could go in and watch them sleep. That somehow sounds creepy, but after being so exhausted chasing after and caring for them all day, I needed that time to be reminded how calm and sweet and lovely they were! I loved just watching their little facial features twitch in sleep and the way they’d snuggle with their favourite blankie. I do miss those days. BUT I have no desire to go back to those days. The little years were exhausting. I have many treasured memories but am happy to have older, more independent children now!
When my husband’s grandparents were alive their family would rent a big cottage somewhere near us for Canada Day weekend and the kids would spend most of the time fishing – a couple of his cousins and one aunt were big into it and were so helpful. Such a great memory.
We make a point of trying to go to movie theatres when they’re likely to be empty – Thursday night we were in one that was much busier than usual and it felt kind of weird.
I felt like July was lovely and long and expansive and yeah, now August has been rocketing by. Sad about my daughter moving back to southern Ontario soon, but we’ve had an amazing summer and I’m grateful.
I like just enough people in the theatre that there are other people to laugh along with the funny parts but not so many they impact my view of the screen. And of course I don’t want anyone that whispers or uses their phone. I’m picky 😉
We lucked in and got that.
You’ll miss Eve, but how wonderful to watch her spread her wings and so confidently move onto the next stage of life!!
Congrats on getting accepted for the ad program! I had no idea that more site traffic means more hosting costs. Huh. Makes sense when I think of it, but having always used a free site it has never occurred to me!
I will say I find the ads significantly detract from your lovely pictures as they seem to be mostly interspersed with the pictures, so I see ad (sometimes a video ad) then your pictures then an ad and then text again and it doesn’t do good things for the pictures! The video ads are particularly bad. It also breaks up the flow of the post and it feels really disjointed. I don’t know if you have any control over the placement or number of ads, but in case you do, I thought I’d mention it!
I’m really impressed with Indy’s sea fishing skills! It’s a great hobby to have.
How’s your smoke situation with the wildfires? I’m not at home right now but I heard it’s bad because the wind is blowing smoke across the Bay to NB, so I am hoping you’re not being smoked out!
I really appreciate the feedback. Sigh. Yes, I’m discovering ads aren’t the best combo with photo-heavy posts. I HAVE turned down the number of ads that are supposed to show up in each post, but I’ll continue to monitor things and try to better balance user experience with the opportunity to have some ads.
The smoke was fine until this morning. Other than seeing some haze at sunset, I wouldn’t have known there were wildfires. But this morning it was both visible and it smelled like someone was having a campfire in our backyard. Thankfully the fire is still some distance away, but it’s so scary and sad. We so desperately need rain…
We have to do mid-year reviews (yes, in August) at my company, and this week, we got an email that was all, “Mid-year reviews are due by Tuesday!” And I was like, “No, they’re not. They’re due on the 19th.” TUESDAY IS THE 19TH!!! What happened to August?!?! (Also, I have not done a single review so next week should be fun!)
Anyway, that bridge looks like so much fun! I would have jumped!
What brought me joy this week… doing some more planning for London, finishing some really good books, and my cats, of course!
What happened to August, indeed. I feel like I say it every single month and risk being a broken record but my goodness time really does seem to fly.
I can’t wait to read all about your trip to London. It’s a city I’ve always wanted to visit, but haven’t made it there yet so will live vicariously through you.
I would not jump off that bridge, but I’m glad your people seem to enjoy it. Your hammock time looks so relaxing and cozy. I cannot get over what a huge fish Indy caught. Whoa Nelly. Things that brought me joy this week: my overnight trip with Mini and Curly to a resort town in Wisconsin. Parts of the drop off process when taking Reg to college – Coach and I had a lot of down time when Reg was busy with his activities. Tank pitching in at home while we were away – he did stuff around the house (planted something for me) and spent 3 hours visiting with my folks.
What happy things, indeed. And I’m glad the drop-off process went smoothly!
I’ve realized that the Good Ole Days are ALL THE DAYS BEHIND US. Right? I mean, in hindsight, it’s all lovely and it’s enjoyable to reminisce. Time is fleeting, yada yada…you know the drill. Kari and I were just commenting about how fun it would be to revisit one of those days, even for just an hour.
This is such a lovely post, so much to be thankful for, to be happy for. I love your hammock time, especially with Indy. What a sweet young man. Yes, seeing him so happy with his catch is worth all the effort to gather his tools, and the time to take him fishing. I know he will catch a prize fish soon, and Mama will create a lovely meal from it.
I’ve not jumped off a bridge in a long time! And in reality, down here, I probably won’t because all bodies of water (unless it’s the gulf) contain alligators. HA. That’s not cool, right?
Having someone note how lovely your child (children) are is always such a feeling of joy. You did good!
Thanks for noting my happy post. I’m off to check out more of your links.
Oh, yes, I noticed the ads, but it’s not bothersome for me to work around them. XOXO
Yes, I think you’re so right. That any moment in the past can be classified as the good old days! Time is fleeting, that much is certain.
I will NOT be filleting a fish. That is his father’s responsibility entirely!
Alligators terrify me.
At first I thought you are up there on the bridge also jumping.
You answered my previous questions with the ads. Apparently I don’t use an add blocker right now.
Congrats on being approved for the service.
Oh, a hammock is still on my summer wish list. I am glad you are having such a lovely summer. Time spent outside is just so wonderful (I love that coffee on the deck shows up in your happy thing list every week!)
Coffee on the deck has been a consistent highlight all summer. I need to find a way to carve out an equally satisfying ritual for cooler months…