Unexpected blog trip down memory lane

I had sat down with my meal plan, getting ready to work on the new one for the next two weeks, when I decided to come on my blog and take some inspiration from previous menus of years gone by.

One of the first posts I opened was a Happy Homemaker Monday from 2009, and quickly realized that the HHM picture was not working.  So, as a blogger what do you do?  You go and update that post and fix the problem.

As I scrolled down to the photo from the camera, it was one of my favorites of me and my baby Lola.  It made me miss her so so much.  Again, the photo was not working properly and I quickly realized that it was due to the fact that it was still uploaded on Photobucket.

{ Burnt Toast }

There are moments in life, that immediately take us back to another time.  Maybe it's a memory from adulthood, or as most often it occurs, our childhood.

Burnt Toast!!!

I was making some breakfast for myself this morning, and I used a bread roll in the toaster.  Because it was thicker than the usual sliced bread, some of it caught and burned.

I pulled it from the toaster, grabbed the butter knife and instinctively started scraping the burned edges.  Without even realizing, I was transported back to my childhood.

Standing at the kitchen door, I see my greatgrandmother making toast, and scraping off the burned edges with a butter knife.  The scraping sound and the smell of burning was deeply ingrained in my memory and I hadn't even thought of it until this very moment.

Take for example this cereal above.  When I visited the Portuguese store in San Diego, one thing my eyes caught on was this cereal that I remember eating as a child, in Portugal.

I could almost taste it.

Yesterday for breakfast, I made a bowl and as soon as I took a bite, I knew that this was it.  I closed my eyes and again, was back in Portugal, eating a bowl at the kitchen table, getting ready to head to school.  Mind you, I was 5 years old, so to be able to still remember exactly where I was and what I felt, is a blessing.

Funny enough, I had this conversation with my Nicholas yesterday.  He always comes out of his bedroom and chats with me when I'm preparing dinner.  It's such a small gesture, but it's something I absolutely love and will treasure for many many years to come.  I'm quite certain that in years to come, he will find himself transported back in time to this kitchen too.

The past two days I've been homemaking at full speed.  One of the things I've been catching up on, is laundry, and since it's been so incredibly hot here in Texas, I've been making full use of the wash line to hang the clothes out to dry.

And when the homemaking is done, I always take an hour or two to sit on the couch, catch up on some shows and crochet.

I've completely caught up on Call the Midwife, and am almost done catching up with Poldark, next on the list is When Calls the Heart.  After that, I think I may start watching Anne with an E on Netflix.  I know there have been mixed reviews on it, but I always prefer to watch for myself and make my own opinion, so I'll give it a go.

Life is made of little moments.  Every single thing we do is a potential memory maker not only for us, but for those around us.  Choose wisely how you spend your time and influence those around you.

You could be someone's fond memory, or worst nightmare.  Just think about that for a second.

I had never really thought of it like that, and then realized that just as I have such wonderful memories that take me back in time to my childhood, I could have easily had awful things to block out.  So with that in mind, I'm determined to give my children nothing but wonderful moments to reflect back on when they leave home.

I'll close this with a question because I am quite curious.....do you ever have those moments where you're also taken back in time?  I would love to know :)

{ Not the typical Sunday }

The day started like any other, up early for me, started the dishes and a load of laundry and then sat down on the couch to watch some Vlogs and my Portuguese Soap.

Once the hubby was up, we made breakfast together and then sat down to enjoy it, while chatting about the week ahead and things we have coming up.

{ Quiet Sunday }

Good afternoon friends, come on in and sit with me a bit.  I have coffee and a delicious Date and Nut Loaf we can share :)

It's been a very quiet Sunday, actually one of reminiscing and looking back through the years.

I have a few boxes that contain office stuff, paperwork, old picture, kid's school stuff etc.  They've been sitting in the office, unpacked, since we moved to Texas.  Normally I would never do that, but let's just chuck it all up to the past two years being a blur, shall we?

One of the thing on my to do list this week, is to get all my paperwork together, filed and in order, and yes I'll do a post on that so you can follow me along.

As I started pulling through the boxes, I was met with so many things that brought back amazing memories, things I didn't even know I still had but for which I'm so grateful to have held on to.

I vividly remember sitting at the kitchen table with my greatgrandma.  We chose the recipes, I cut them out, and she helped me tie a piece of kitchen twine around them.  It was one of my most treasured possessions.

I smile when I look at the handwriting, my 13 year old self all proud of it.  When we made this together, we were talking about homemaking and cooking and being a good wife.  She talked about what to do, what not to do, when to have dinner ready, how to clean this and that and what meals to cook, what to do when I had children and how to dress them, what to give them if they were sick and so on.

I listened intently, this was a woman who everyone looked up to, the family matriarch, what she said was golden and to be followed.

For a while I couldn't find these recipes and my heart was broken, I couldn't believe that I had been so careless as to lose something so important to me.  Little did I realize that I had them in a folder neatly packed away in a box.  If *only* I had opened those boxes earlier.

Along with those much looked for recipes, I also found pictures from my children's days in public school, I found pictures they drew, old school worksheets with their little handwriting all crooked and curved.  It made me want to cry.

I also came across the copy of my medical records when my husband retired.  I sifted through every page, a huge stack about 2 inches wide.  Every hospital visitation, my miscarriages including sonograms, my blood work, the notes from the doctor referring to my D&C, and my abnormal pap and the coloscopy etc.

There were notes from my deliveries, my weight, my babies weights, pediatrician appointments and so on.  Now those made me cry.  There is a lifetime recorded on those pages, the good, the bad, the heartbreaking and the moments that brought me the most joy in my life.

All right there, in black and white.  Some of those memories brought back hurt, but overall it made me so happy to have a record of all these things and it reminded me again that time is so precious, so fleeting, and that it's never guaranteed.

I'm sorry, I am feeling a little nostalgic today, partly due to those old mementos, and partly because I just had a conversation with my daughter about when she's moving out, UHAUL trucks, when she is going to college and what she is doing in the meantime. 

It's all coming at me so fast, and I almost find myself grasping around me, trying to just slow it all down, to make life give me more time with her.  This year is going to be so hard, but I plan on blogging all through it, every moment, so that one day I can go back and read it to my grandchildren. 

But right now I'm going to get cracking on my planner and the upcoming week, I need to make sure I don't forget anything.

 
And I'll drown my sorrows in some sour gummy worms.

Don't you just love the Happy Planners?  The little hearts on the binder are adorable :)

This little mister is 5 months old today.  He has brought us so much joy over the past few months and he's helped me deal with the loss of my Lola, though I miss her so much still, I can't look at a photo of her without crying.  I don't know if I'll ever get to that point where I can think of her and not get a lump in my throat, but for now, it's still very fresh for me. 

Marley though, he is the polar opposite of Lola, in every sense of the word, and he's kept us on our toes, amazed us with some of his quirky personality traits and filled our hearts with love.

A couple of you asked about Bella the other day, she is still around, though very old and spends most of her days in the Office, sleeping.  She is still walking, albeit slowly, still chugging along at 16 years old.  She amazes us constantly.

And that my friends, has been my Sunday.  I finally have more yarn in and can get back on track with my Mandala Madness, I'm itching to keep going, so that's what I have planned for this afternoon.....well....in between laundry, and cooking.

I'm making a right on Sunday Roast for dinner, including Yorkshire puddings and all that shebang.  Can't wait :)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and I'll see you bright and early tomorrow for a Happy Homemaker Monday :)