Lauren

Whenever we attend a get-together, Beth always brings a veggie tray. She has the divided Tupperware tray that has seven spots for different things. It’s always nice to have vegetables around, and this is a good way to do it. She says she keeps in in her fridge all the time for handy munching.

When the Peperkorns came for graduation, I thought it would be nice to do the same. Our local thrift store had a round option, but with no dividers. It works great when it’s full, but when it’s empty it’s a little weird.

I looked online for a loooooong time for a rectangular option. There’s a cool one for traveling because the lid is level with the tops of the sections, but that’s not very useful for heaping stuff. Plus, it’s small. I wanted bigger with a taller lid.

So, I bit the bullet and bought it. It takes up less real estate in the fridge, and I’ve gone through three rounds of vegetables with the old one (that is on it’s way back to the thrift store) and one full cycle with the new one.

(The round one had just been washed – it’s not really that spotty.)

Let’s see how long I keep this up!

Anyone who reads this thing knows that we are not big spenders. I can be incredibly cheap and later have regrets, but we’re also frugal. For instance, I spend the big money on Smartwool socks, but they last For-Ev-Er. The cost per wear is pennies. Maybe ha’pennies.

The current problem, though, is that Lloyd has developed some sort of sock vanity. “My socks are pilling,” he whined said. “I want one of those things that shaves sweaters.”

Good grief. 1) Nobody is looking at his socks, and 2) he knows how Amazon works.

I later realized that this was a hint to buy a present for him. That is, I think it was. I don’t pick up on hints and I’m really bad at presents. Anyway, I went to Amazon and found the second-cheapest shaver they had. Battery operated or USB and it came with two extra blades.

Now, in the cool of the evening, Lloyd shaves the pair of socks he’s wearing and I don’t make fun of him at all.

Huh. They do look better. Can you tell the finished one? (Different night from the first photo.)

My Dad is a very thoughtful person. He knows that Lloyd’s favorite kind of pie is blackberry, and he listened to me complain about how incredibly expensive blackberries are (fresh and/or frozen)….

…… so he sent us some blackberry bushes.

Four, to be precise. He told me about a week ago about his surprise, so I was expecting some sort of large-ish box with some little pots/small sprouts. They were delivered yesterday in what I can only describe as….. a pencil box.

They’re so little! Little, but incredibly healthy!

We sent some ‘thank you’ photos to my Dad and Lloyd immediately started looking up what these little guys need in terms of soil and sunshine, yadda yadda yadda. Dad sent several articles, too. I just laughed, grabbed a spoon to dig some holes and plonked those babies in the only spot we’ve ever actually grown anything: the corner of the house where my miracle tomatoes did so well last year.

They’re as tall as a paintbrush now, and I can’t wait to document their growth! Bonus surprise: Dad ordered four plants, but they sent five!!

(Please don’t die, plants. Please don’t die.)

Hi.- remember me?

Lots and lots has been going on this month. A few weeks ago our pastor spoke about ‘May’hem – all the things that May has going on. I’m not even doing a bunch of things that other people are doing, but man, this treadmill is never ending. End-of year/start of summer/ ‘goodbye’ to college staff/ ‘hello’ and training for new summer staff/ ‘goodbye’ to some children and ‘hello’ to new/Concordia’s early childhood conference is this weekend and our center is helping / a project I’m helping a friend with. I realize that none of this is overwhelming, but each day I feel like I can’t get to the long list until after I’ve been in my room 9 hours. It will be fine, it will be fine……

There have been some bright spots, though. Last weekend Sam asked Lloyd and I for some help with some artwork he was making for his end-of-year stuff. (Talk about May-hem.) It was exactly what I needed. I’d already told Lloyd that I had a little apprehension about getting through Memorial Day weekend. (There was the Perfect Day in Omaha that ended with the phone call about my brother Phil.) Hanging out with Sam and helping was the perfect combination of goofing around and also being productive. Thanks, Sam.

Sam is an amazing artist. I am always amazed to see what he does and how he brings his vision to fruition. He’s made some crucifixes out of rebar, which are cool on their own, but for this one he carved wood pieces and epoxied them onto the ends. Short sentences make this sound like an easy process. It wasn’t.

He also worked with his students to make a twisted wire tree and we worked on the base. These were both gifts for a couple at his school who just retired. Nice work, Sam.

Ok. Off to spray some wasps, paint a corner of the hallway, clean my classroom, print some stuff, then hopefully a trip to Costco.

I know, I know, it’s been forever. For the memory archive, so much has happened: My uncle Norman died; Deborah’s dad, also; there was a big accident at the center but God was merciful and good; I’ve been diagnosed with osteoporosis and osteopenia (I have an appointment on Thursday to come up with a plan); but the big problem right now…?

There’s a preschooler who sits at my lunch table and nearly every day he says, “I’m going to be a teacher when I grow up.” I always tell him that he’ll make a very fine teacher. Today, I found out his reason. It’s not because I’m such a glowing example of the educational world….. it’s because I get more lunch than he does.

Dang.

I don’t often put gas in my truck (since I only drive it 1 1/2 miles a day), but when I get to put gas in the Prius on the weekend, it’s exciting – because it means a trip to Costco! The Lincoln store always has gas that is cheap (around $2.50-$2.70 is a good price), but the Omaha location is CHEAP. I often text Lloyd about my conquest.

Lloyd likes cheap gas, too. He has the app Gas Buddy that tells you what the gas prices are around you, and he also has a Phillips 66 app that gives him 15 – 25 cents off per gallon.

Well on our way out to Colorado, we stopped in Denver for the night. (This time we stayed at a swanky hotel that had a barn door to the bathroom…. with a window, riddle me that.)

Anyway, the next morning we stopped at the Phillips 66 in Idaho Springs, just a couple of miles west of Denver. The regular price was something like $3.45 a gallon. Lloyd did the app thing….. and it was $2.12. I want to make sure you read that right: TWO DOLLARS AND TWELVE CENTS. I would have been more excited but I was already pretty heavily medicated due to the prospect of hitting icy roads in the mountains.

On the way back to Nebraska, Lloyd was calculating how much gas he needed to put in at the start of the trip so we’d have an empty tank in Idaho Springs. Same situation, and I felt like a criminal as we left the station. So cheap!!

I told my friend about it, and she also has the app and thinks it was a Thanksgiving promotion. Well, if it took $1.30 off each gallon – totally worth it.