It’s time to sit down once again with a beverage of your choice and chat – I’ll remind you that I don’t like coffee or tea so my drink of choice today will be water. Let’s chat about things other than just running, cycling, training, and complaining about our most recent injuries. Sound good? I’ll go first…
If we were having coffee…..
I’d tell you that I have the absolute best news to share! Our oldest son and daughter-in-law are expecting a baby in late July! That’s right, I’m going to be a GiGi! ☺️ They shared their wonderful news on Christmas Day and we have been in heaven ever since! My future daughter-in-law and I threw the mom-to-be a small family shower a couple of weeks ago and now it’s getting real.
My future d-i-l took charge of the decorations and did a fabulous job. She’s so creative and even made this adorable diaper cake!
If we were having coffee…..
I’d tell you that we had a wonderful time in Florida putting the final touches on the planning of our youngest son and his fiancée’s wedding – in our case, the rehearsal dinner. It was great to finally get away albeit for a whirlwind weekend.
If we were having coffee…..
I’d tell you that I mentioned last fall that I was completely redoing the perennial garden on the side of our house. What didn’t burn from the summer sun, the deer ate. I set out with three goals in my makeover: 1. each plant must be deer resistant 2. each bloom would be pink, yellow, blue, or white 3. each plant would tolerate morning to mid-day sun.
October 2020 before I started the makeover…
November 2020 with most new plants in place (stakes are where peonies from my mom’s garden would go), but the flowers I kept were not yet cutback for the winter…
May 2021 with some of the new flowers blooming… Next year they will fill in and the garden will look complete!
If we were having coffee…..
I’d tell you that I’m getting closer to finishing my basement wall collage. I’ve started working on the wooden Virginia plaque on the far right. I’m considering doing it myself now that I’ve learned the steps from taking the two workshops at Board & Brush.
I found a wooden plaque at Holly Lobby that I like so perhaps next month I’ll have a picture of the finished product…
If we were having coffee…..
I’d mention that less than a week after attending the workshop where I made the wooden sign with the “C” in the above picture, I attended another workshop and made this plaque for our master bath. I LOVE how it turned out!
If we were having coffee…..
I’d ask if things are opening up where you live. Virginia is slowly but surely getting back to normal and it feels so good! Last week I went out to dinner with my friend Craig and a mutual friend (he reads my blog and I love giving him a shoutout), yesterday I was able to return to the 55+ community gym to train clients for the first time since March 12, 2020, and finally if we’re fully vaccinated, we’re able to shop in most stores without our masks.
And finally, if we were having coffee…..
I’d ask if you have any real or virtual races coming up, and if you do, I’d wish you good luck and remind you to have fun!
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Today I’m joining Deborah at Confessions Of A Mother Runner and Coco at Running With Perseverance for their monthly Ultimate Coffee Date linkup which goes live the first Friday of every month. Be sure to stop by their blogs for a cup of coffee and to say hello; and while you’re there, be sure to check out some of the other bloggers who are participating in the linkup.
- Questions:
- • Any other Grandmas out there? If so, what’s your grandma name? My mom is GaGa so I’m leaning toward GiGi…
- • Do you have a perennial garden?
- • If we were having coffee, what would you tell me?
Congrats on being a GiGi to be! Such exciting news. Do they live near you?
I was just planting my annuals yesterday and feeling overwhelmed about all the work my backyard needs. My perennial garden is full of weeds. Right now, our streets are torn up as they replace the sewers and everything is covered with dust, so anything we do feels kind of futile!
Thank you, and yes, they live about 20 minutes away (they’re the ones who lived in Chicago while my son was getting his MBA at Booth).
Hope they get your street finished soon so you can get back to normal.
So much happy news in this post, Deb, congrats all around!
Love the look of your new garden. In our case it’s the rabbits, not the deer, that chow down on things. I’m not sure what gets at my strawberries & blueberries but I wish I could figure out a way to deter them!
Everything you made for the home looks great.
Thanks, Judy!
Have you tried deer netting to cover your strawberries and blueberries to keep the hungry theft out?
Congrats. Great news about the grand baby and wedding.
So fun to get away to Florida.
Same on my garden. It was beautiful at one point last summer. Deer ate many plants. Then some did not return. I bought a few more. Fingers crossed.
Good that you can back to gym coaching I’m anxious for mine to open. Not sure if and when. Hopefully before I have to go back to the office since it’s near my home.
Thanks, Darlene! Here’s hoping the deer don’t like the new plants you planted.
Huge congrats on becoming a grandma to be! Very exciting! What will happen to Pablo’s status?? lol. Very impressed w your home crafting I am so not good at that. Thanks for stopping by for coffee!
Thanks, Deborah, and LOL about Pablo’s status. 😀
Ooooh, that’s so exciting! I see a lot of blue on that cake- is it a boy? My kids are way too young (way, WAY too young) but I’m starting to look forward to grandchildren!
Yes, things are opening up here and it feels amazing! I just read that Covid cases have continued to drop in the three weeks since the new CDC guidelines, so I’ve been comfortable not wearing my mask. The air feels so cool and refreshing! I love it.
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They chose to wait until the baby is born to find out if it’s a little boy or girl so we don’t know yet.
Yep, while we were in Florida I took my mask off as soon as I stepped out of the airport and didn’t put it back on until I stepped back in to fly home. And you’re correct, it felt amazing!
Bummer we don’t live closer to each other ;-( We could go biking, crafting, (maybe some running), and I could have helped with the baby shower 😉 You’re gonna have such an amazing summer…good thing you got your garden all done! (Oh, and we could share perennials, too #IfOnly).
Yes, if only!
That news is so exciting! As is the gym opening! I’m sure your clients are thrilled. I’m not quite ready for pre-pandemic public life, but I’m getting there.
Thanks, Coco!
So much good news to share, Deb! One son is getting married, the other having a baby. That is wonderful. I am so happy for you and your expanding family. We are getting closer to normal in PA too. My hubby and I have even started going out to restaurants again, although our preference is for outdoor dining.
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Congrats on all the good things happening! Your garden is coming along nicely. And that bathroom sign came out beautiful.
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Aww, so happy for you!! Congrats to your whole family! :] Those decorations are super cute.
I’m in CA and we’re pretty short on water since it’s raining less and less, so we switched to a whole lotta rocks + drought-friendly plants for our yard last summer. Your garden looks nice!
Thanks, Farrah!
Great news! Congrats to the whole family!! You are doing an awesome job on your collage. Very creative.
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[…] • Friday – Catching Up Over Coffee: Perennial Gardens, Wooden Wall Signs, and a Baby On the Way […]