Lydia, Easter, Aurora Borealis, Mother's Day, Etc.

I've been a little neglectful of my blog lately. I usually like to post once a month, but I just didn't feel like writing last month. There's quite a bit to catch up on. I'll try not to be too wordy though.

 

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Tuesday, March 26th, Lydia came home from the hospital. She had finally got the hang of eating (something the nurses said takes preemies a little longer to learn) and was putting weight back on after losing a little.

They had detected a heart murmur when she was still in the hospital and they could still hear it in the weeks after she went home. On April 29th, she had to go to the cardiologist to have that checked and they said there's nothing to worry about. At that doctor visit, she weighed 10 lbs. 11 oz.

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Easter was March 31st. I wore the yellow Talbots dress I had bought from someone on Poshmark back in February. I wore nude heels with it, a white shrug, and carried a light blue straw Talbots tote that I had bought from someone on Poshmark in May 2021. I really liked the outfit and got compliments.

I don't remember much from that day as far as what church was like because I waited too long to post about it. lol We had a good crowd though and the weather was beautiful. Sunny and in the 70s.

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Sean's birthday was April 9th. He's 27 years old now. Seems crazy to have an almost 30-year-old. I had remembered that he had said something a few weeks before his birthday about needing new church shirts, so I met him, Ashley, and Lydia at Belk on Saturday the 13th and bought him a couple dress shirts.

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Saturday, April 13th, Charlie bought a flamethrower redbud tree for our front yard. He couldn't find an eastern redbud at Lowe's or the nursery that's near our house, but the nursery had a few other kinds of redbuds. He texted me about it while I was getting groceries at Walmart asking me which one I wanted. I looked them up and chose the flamethrower. The other two were called hearts of gold and ruby falls.

I'd like to get a dogwood in the fall. Our yard has looked so sad since we lost our trees in a storm on August 15th. But I don't want anything big enough to crush our car again.

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Monday, April 15th, I got our taxes done. I went to the same lady I've been going to for the past few years. We're not getting a big refund, but enough to get a new mattress (it's time).

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Our pastor announced at church on April 21st that his daughter Savannah and her husband Jonathan are expecting their third child! Exciting news! Their oldest (Vincent) is almost 3 years old and their youngest (Valentina, soon to be middle child) is several months old. A friend of mine told me that Savannah wants five children. I wonder if they'll all have V names.

 

Our youth leaders (Jerry and Jessalyn) announced a month or so ago that they're expecting a baby girl. I didn't even know she was pregnant. Also exciting news! They have a boy (not even a year old, I don't think) named Ronin.

 

Jessalyn is Savannah's husband Jonathan's sister. She has a twin sister named Joelle. Joelle is married to a man named Ross. They have a baby boy named Abram.

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Friday, April 26th, I went to urgent care because my right arm, which I hurt on October 18th, was hurting really badly and the arm braces didn't seem to be helping. The pain was getting worse. The doctor told me that it seems like I hurt it in multiple places (wrist to shoulder) and gave me the number of an orthopedic doctor to see. I need to call them this week. I had to put off calling because I didn't know exactly when AF would start and didn't want to schedule an appointment only to have to reschedule. And then I got sick and have been sick all this past week. :-\

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This past Friday night, the aurora borealis was visible for much of the US. Including North Carolina. Well, not that visible to the naked eye, though I could see it a little bit, but if you put your phone camera on night mode, the colors show up. It was beautiful! And at times, we could see this white pulsating - like streaks or streams of pulsating white light - with our naked eye! It was so cool! I was bouncing with excitement every time that happened. lol

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Yesterday, Sunday, May 12th, was Mother's Day. I slept maybe 15 minutes Saturday night and couldn't make it to church. I hate missing church! :-( I was so sad about that. I finally fell asleep around 8:30 in the morning and slept off and on until about 2:20 in the afternoon. I also wasn't feeling well still. But it was such a beautiful day - Carolina blue skies, a few clouds, and temperatures in the 70s.

Sean, Ashley, and Lydia came over this past Saturday and brought me flowers and a card. I wish I could've held Lydia (I love that sweet baby so much!), but I don't know if what I have is contagious (I'm thinking sinus cold), so I didn't.

I also got flowers and a card from Charlie, a card and money from my mom (we gave her a card and a purple orchid - her favorite color is purple), and I bought a couple dresses. We gave Ashley a card and money to buy a new dress. (Charlie transferred the money to her account.) She had said to me a few weeks back that she needs new dresses.

 

Flowers from Sean and Ashley.

Flowers from Charlie.

 

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Purchases since my last blog entry:

Boden dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their picture.) Originally $198. I paid $71.52 after shipping and tax. More than I normally pay for dresses these days, but I had been looking for this dress in my size for at least a year.

 

Modcloth dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. Originally $150. I paid $36.24 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Modcloth dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their picture.) Probably also originally $150. I paid $46.94 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Calvin Klein shirt dress. One of the dresses I bought for Mother's Day. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. Originally over $100. (Could be between $120 and $135.) I paid $40.54 after shipping and tax.

 

Tommy Hilfiger dress. The other dress I bought for Mother's Day. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. I don't know the original price. I paid $35.20 after shipping and tax.

Car Trouble, Easter, A/C Quit, One Thing After Another

I haven't felt like writing in awhile, so I'm a little behind. I'll try to keep this entry from being too long.

 

On March 18th (I think that was a Saturday), Charlie noticed my car making a squeaking/chirping sound. I'd actually heard it now and then for months, but Charlie couldn't hear it because he's a little deaf and he said he couldn't fix it if he couldn't hear it because he wouldn't know what to check. Well, finally he could hear it. He started with the cheapest possibility (I don't remember what that was) and finally on Easter Sunday (April 9th), he got it fixed. He had changed a few parts by then (the last one being the power steering pump) and did something with a belt and the squeaking/chirping finally stopped.

 

My car's a 2007, so I reckon it's going to start showing its age now.

 

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Sean's birthday was April 9th. He's 26 years old now. Charlie gave him some money towards getting a telescope that he wanted.

 

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Easter Sunday was April 9th. It wasn't quite as warm as I would've liked (I think it was in the mid 60s), but it wasn't bad. The dress I wore for Easter was one I bought from someone on Poshmark. A Kate Spade dress that was originally $398 (I think it's from between 2015 and 2018), but I paid $35.22 after shipping and tax. 

 

There's a blue Tahari dress with little white dots and flowers that I really wanted (and still want), but I couldn't find it in my size. It's so beautiful. I hope I can find it eventually.

 

Kate Spade dress for Easter. This is Kate Spade's picture.

 
 

Tahari dress I really want. I would've worn this for Easter if I had found it in my size. Enlarge to get a better look at it. (Not my pictures, obviously. They belong to someone who was selling it in a smaller size.)

 

 

Church was really good and we had a pretty good sized crowd. I never did see or hear how many we had. We sang Name Above All  Names (Eddie James), Rattle (eh), and I think either Said and Done or So Will I. Possibly both.

 

Pastor preached a great message (Seeing Through Your Tears) and there was a lot of fellowship and treats for the kids after service.

 

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April 15th-16th, Sean, Ashley, and Alyssa (Ashley's sister) went to Southport for the weekend. Alyssa had never been. They had a really good time. I'm glad they had a safe trip.

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Saturday, April 29th, the a/c in our house quit working. (Actually the unit itself. We've had cold mornings with no heat in the house.) Charlie changed some part that was showing it wasn't getting or didn't have any power, but the a/c still wouldn't work. So he called someone and they came to look at it this past Wednesday. They said they had to order a couple parts for it. We don't know how long that's going to take. Thankfully the weather has been a little on the cool side, so we've been able to keep the house mostly comfortable. (The front of the house faces south and is hard to get cool.) But it's supposed to be close to 80° today and tomorrow and into the 80s on Monday and Tuesday. It'll be much harder to cool the house on those days.

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It's been a difficult couple months for us - car repairs, a/c repairs, dryer needs fixing (waiting on the part), our house payment went up by almost $200 a month because county taxes went up, and a health issue we don't have answers for yet - I'll blog about that when we know something. Plus, a few other little things. But it's little things on top of these other things.

So when I post after this the clothes I've bought since my last entry, they are items purchased between early March and early April.

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And now, clothing purchases I've made since my last entry.

DKNY dress. Bought from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) Originally $130, I paid less than $30 after shipping and tax.

 

Ann Taylor dress. Bought from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) Originally $114, I paid $35.22 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Calvin Klein dress. Bought from someone on eBay. (This is their photo.) Originally $134, I paid $52.31 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Tommy Hilfiger dress. Bought from someone on eBay. Originally $129.50, I paid $32.01 after shipping and tax.

Talbot's dress. Bought from someone on Poshmark. Originally $148, I paid $50.14 after shipping and tax.

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Songs bought since my last entry:

 

 

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*~*Nocturnal Queen*~*

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Taxes Done, Ancestry Stuff, Easter, Etc.

I had an appointment to get our taxes done on Wednesday, April 13th, at an older woman's home in Asheboro. (Almost 20 minutes from my house.) My mom somehow knew her or found out about her, had her do her taxes, and recommended her to me and Charlie. When I got to her place and she started going through our papers she told me that Charlie's W2 was not in the folder. *sigh* So I had to go back the next day. Everything she needed was in the folder this time and she was able to do our taxes.

Charlie did our taxes last year and we owed federal. We were supposed to get a refund from state and we were going to use that towards what we owe federal (it would cover most of it), but we never got the refund. When Charlie contacted whoever, they told him to re-file. So hopefully now we'll get our refund from state so that we can pay federal. I think we'll end up with a little bit of money after all that. (From this year's taxes.) I expect Charlie will put it in savings - he's trying to save up for a truck.

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The 1950 census was released a couple weeks ago. So far I've only been able to find my mom's dad's parents and a few of his siblings. I haven't spent a whole lot of time searching because the number of pages is overwhelming. Hopefully I'll find some more relatives soon. In 1950 my grandparents and great-grandparents lived in North Carolina, Massachusetts, and California.

 

Charlie's parents and grandparents lived in North Carolina, Tennessee, and California.

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Sean's birthday was Saturday, April 9th. He's 25 now. Hard to believe. Charlie took him to a drag race in Dunn for his birthday (a couple friends went with them) and bought him a racing (NHRA?) jacket. I got him a card. Ashley made him a cake. I don't know what she got him.

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Ancestry DNA recently had another update. I lost Norway again. Dang it! lol Here are our (me, Charlie, my mom) new results:

Mine.

 

Sardinia was a surprise. We haven't seen that one in Charlie's DNA before.

Mom's.

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Easter was Sunday, April 17th. It was a beautiful day - sunshine, about 71°. I would've preferred a couple degrees warmer, but it's better than the low to mid 60s they had been predicting about a week earlier. I kept praying for it to get into the 70s and I would cheer every time I checked my phone app and saw that the forecasted temperature had gone up.

I wore the green floral dress that I posted a picture of a couple blog entries ago. I was going to wear the pink floral Jessica Howard, but since everyone wears pink (or white, purple, light blue) on Easter, I decided to wear the green one. Plus, green is my favorite color. 

 

I wore my blush (so light they're almost a nude color) patent sandals/heels (Dream Pairs; I bought them on Amazon), a white Talbot's shrug with lace trim down the front (along the part where it's open), wore my hair up (as I always do on Sundays), and carried my Etienne Aigner straw purse. All but the shoes were bought from either eBay (the dress) or Poshmark (shrug, purse).

 

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Church was awesome! It was basically just a worship service. Celebrating the Resurrection! Pastor did speak for about 10-15 minutes after we had sung several songs. And then we sang a few of them again after he was done.

I can't remember what all we sang, but some of them were Awakening by Eddie James, Take This City by The Pentecostals of Katy, This Means War by Charles Jenkins, Name Above All Names by Eddie James, Something Happens by James Wilson and Cortt Chavis. I think we may have also sung a couple others, including I Won't Let The Rocks Cry Out for Me. Each song flowed into the next with little to no break between songs. They did a pretty good job of keeping it moving. Most in the congregation were really into the worship.

I don't think we've ever had an Easter service like that (there's usually skits and/or songs that are all about Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection), but man did I love it! lol

After service, there were some give aways, a cook out (it was a nice day for eating outside), and candy for the kids. (Kelly had filled a lot of the plastic Easter eggs when we'd gone to clean the church on Saturday afternoon/evening.) We didn't stay for any of that though. We went on home and I made French toast and bacon.

I don't know how many people we had at church, but it looked nearly full to me. The most people we've had at church since covid.

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The last time I posted about new songs on my iPod was in November. Here are the songs I've purchased since then.

Click on the picture so you can see it better.

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I think it was this past Monday that Kelly's TV cut off and wouldn't come back on. So Charlie took her to Walmart yesterday after he got off work and bought her a new one. I don't know how much he spent. (Probably not much.) I forgot to ask. Using her PS4, she uses her TV for YouTube, Netflix, and Disney+, as well as video games.

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Sean was sick with a stomach virus Thursday, April 14th until this past Tuesday. He was also running a fever. I don't remember how high he said it got. I think the fever part was done by Sunday. He felt pretty awful and weak. I'm glad he's doing better now.

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Speaking of Sean, I haven't been to his and Ashley's place at all yet. They moved into their place this past December, but I've yet to make it over there. They work during the day and by the time they get home, I'm cooking supper (or about to) and then we eat and by then it's kind of late to be hanging out at someone's house. They're hardly home on the weekends during the day. I reckon I'll make it over there someday. lol

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Since my last blog entry, I've bought a couple skirts.

Ralph Lauren (Polo Jeans Company). I bought this from someone on eBay. Less than $30 after shipping and tax. (This is their picture. I take no credit for it.) I bought this because it's 100% cotton. The vast majority of modern jean skirts have stretch in them and it can be unflattering if you're not skinny. They hug you in places you don't want hugged. lol

 

 

Banana Republic leopard print skirt. I bought this from someone on eBay. I paid less than $22 after shipping and tax. (This is their picture. I take no credit for it.) Green is my favorite color and it can sometimes be difficult to find cute green clothes.

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Well, I reckon that's it for now. :-)

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*~*Nocturnal Queen*~*

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Easter, Surgery, Special Days for Sean

Sean and Ashley celebrated their first wedding anniversary on March 21st. They left for Southport on Friday, March 19th, and came back on Tuesday, March 23rd. It was a little cool (60s) and rained or drizzled a few times, but they enjoyed their time away. I'm glad they did, but I'm more glad that they were safe. As a mother, I always worry.

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Easter was April 4th. Possibly my favorite holiday. I feel like the older I get, the more I love it. Thankfully, the weather was gorgeous. Temperatures in the low to mid 70s and clear, Carolina blue skies. I went to church (as did my mom, Sean, and Ashley), but Charlie stayed home to avoid the possibility of being exposed to covid (which would delay his surgery) and Kelly stayed home with him. I was sad not to have them with me. Easter would've been perfect if they had been.

As for what I wore, this was probably the cheapest Easter ever. lol (Except for the year when I didn't buy anything.) I paid $17, before shipping and tax, for an Anne Klein dress off of eBay, around $20, give or take before shipping and tax, for a pair of heels from Amazon, and about $20 before tax for a straw purse from TJ Maxx. The purse I wanted was about $40 at DSW, but they were sold out. :-/ I wore an ivory/beige Calvin Klein shrug that I've had for about 10 years or so. So I spent probably less than $75 total. That's less than what I've paid for just a dress. lol Poshmark, eBay, and Mercari have made me kind of cheap now when it comes to what I pay for clothes and shoes. lol

 

I love this dress!

 

 

 

This ended up being too small. I struggled to fit the absolute necessities in it - driver's license, debit card, a little cash, my little iPod, a bottle of medicine, Tic Tacs, a pen, my cell phone, and my keys.

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Charlie went to Wesley Long on Monday, April 5th, for his covid test. Which was negative. Then his surgery was on Thursday, April 8th, at Moses Cone. It was supposed to start at 2:00 and take 3 hours, but they didn't start until almost 3:00 and were done between 4:30 and 4:45. 

 

I was in the waiting area on the 2nd floor/main entrance floor from about noon (we arrived shortly before that) until around 4:00. It was a noisy waiting room. It's open to the main hall/concourse that goes from the main entrance to several rooms, elevators, stairways, and branches/hallways. So there was a lot of foot traffic and some people were pushing carts and things. Plus, every couple minutes someone's cell phone would go off. (I had my phone on silent.) And a few people in the waiting area were having conversations. I felt like my brain was being assaulted.

 

I had passed the time reading a book (Days of Danger by Jack Hunt), getting on Facebook on my phone, dozing off, and just looking around. When my stomach started growling around 4:00, I went down to the first floor to get something from Panera. I ordered a pepperoni flatbread pizza (it was alright) and a bottle of water.

That area of the hospital was much quieter. I sat at a table near the windows across from Panera and enjoyed this more peaceful area. I was about halfway through eating my food when I got a text (they had been keeping me informed this way throughout the day) after 4:30 telling me that Charlie was out of surgery and was being taken to recovery. The doctor called shortly after that and left a message saying that everything went really well. He removed the bad part of Charlie's intestines and the rest looked great.

A few minutes later, I went back up to the waiting area where I had been. They said they were going to move him to a room in about an hour, but that didn't happen. I may have dozed off a time or two while I waited. 

 

Sometime after 6:00, they said that they should be moving Charlie to a room soon and that I could go to the waiting area on the 6th floor. I was there for about an hour when they texted me again and said that he didn't have a room yet, but that I could come to recovery to see him since visiting hours would be over in less than an hour. So, back to the second floor I went.

A nurse named Mackenzie (don't know how she spelled her name) met me outside the doors near the bigger waiting area where I'd spent most of the day and walked me to recovery to see Charlie. I spent less than 30 minutes with him before I had to leave.

Charlie was in the hospital until this past Sunday. Of course, I went to see him every day. He was in quite a bit of pain (he said an 8 out of 10) and had some periods of nausea every day. Sean came to see him once or twice and our pastor spent a few minutes with him.

The day Charlie came home, he had texted me late that morning saying he expected to get out some time after 1:00. I got in the shower shortly after that text and while I was in the shower he texted again saying he could leave right then. He then texted Sean (since I didn't respond) in a group text with me and Sean went to get him. I had just stepped out of the shower when I saw that Sean was leaving to get him.

Charlie has been sleeping in a recliner in the living room since getting home. He tried to sleep in our bed his first night home, but it was too painful to lie flat. He wasn't in the bed a minute before I had to help him up so he could sleep in a recliner. He tried again tonight/last night, but it's still a bit too painful. I told him it hasn't even been a week yet since his surgery and not to rush things.

He can go back to work in 2 weeks as long as he doesn't do any heavy lifting. 

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Sean's 24th birthday was April 9th. I hate that we couldn't spend the day with him since Charlie was in the hospital and of course I was with Charlie. Charlie had taken Sean to play golf a couple times before his surgery, so I guess that was Sean's birthday gift from us. I gave him a birthday card from us. Actually, Sean came to the hospital on his birthday for a few minutes, so I sang "happy birthday" to him in Charlie's hospital room. I'm pretty sure Ashley made him a cake.

 

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On Monday, Charlie wanted to go with me to get groceries so that he could do some walking. I also had to go to Petsmart to get filters for Loki's cat fountain. (The one on Wendover didn't have it and neither did Petco on Wendover. I found it at the Petsmart on Lawndale.) I told him that if it got to be too much that he should go sit in the car. He did fine though. We went to the pet supply stores first and then to Cugino Forno for pizza (we were the only ones there) before getting groceries at Food Lion and Walmart.

He wants to go tomorrow to buy new flooring for the house from Home Depot. We had decided on which one we wanted before his surgery, but they were sold out. I filled in my email address on the website and they emailed me a few days later saying that it's back in stock. Hopefully it still will be when we go tomorrow.

We also have to go to the vet to get one of Milo's medicines and the pet pharmacy to get his other medicine.

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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~

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Easter, Music, Books, School Update

We had a beautiful Easter. Church was awesome. We had about 450 people there for our Easter service. There was great music (Risen, The Great I Am, Shine on Us, Clean), an awesome skit by the youth, a song in sign language (Alabaster Box), another drama/skit/sticks thing (a song about the blood), and then our pastor preached with the Spanish pastor interpreting like they do on the missions field in other countries. Our Spanish church was combined with our English church.




I think our church does it better. More "mmph"and power. :-)


Not really crazy about this song.


Not a favorite of mine, but it's okay.


Not our church, but this is the skit our youth did.

After service (which we didn't stay for), there was hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill (multiple grills), a bounce house for the kids, a petting zoo, candy rain from the roof of our building, an Easter egg hunt on the back lawn, a mini iPad giveaway, and I don't remember what else.

My family and I came on home. I made French toast and bacon. After eating, I went to bed for a few hours because I'd only slept about 3½ hours or so the night before. Thankfully, I didn't feel tired at all during church, but it hit me after eating.

My kids didn't get Easter outfits this year for maybe the first time ever. They weren't really interested. Which kind of makes me sad, but it's fine. Sean wore a black suit with a pink shirt and black tie. Kelly wore a turquoise top, black pencil skirt, long multi-colored cardigan (turquoise, off-white, black southwestern style print), and black heels. Charlie wore black pants and a purple shirt. I wore my new pink dress with a short-sleeved white shrug, new white heels with pink flowers on them (scroll down two entries to see the dress and shoes), and a purse I got at JC Penney this past Friday or Saturday.

Originally $50, I paid $17.50

 

The weather Easter Sunday was absolutely perfect! Sunny and temperatures in the low 70s. I can't remember the last time we had such pretty weather on Easter. Most Easters over the past several years have been cloudy and chilly and sometimes rainy. I'm so glad this Easter was what it should be. Growing up, that's what I remember Easter being like - sunny and warm. It's one of the things I always loved about Easter when I was a kid. I'm sure there were probably some not so nice Easters, but I must have blocked them out. lol

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A day or two before Easter, I did a little shopping and got some pretty good deals.

I got these at Stein Mart. Brand is Amelia Grace. Original price is $59, but I paid about $40.

Dress by Pappagallo. Purchased at Stein Mart. Original price is $99, but I paid $50. I have a weakness for white dresses. And black dresses. :-)

LLoraine shoes from Shoe Carnival. Originally about $50, I got them for about $40. Color: Rose Gold.

Alyx brand dress purchased at JC Penney. Originally $74, I paid $30.

Because I'm short, all dresses go below my knees.

When Easter Sunday came, I was leaning toward the pink dress that I ended up wearing, but had the shrug or the shoes (floral or nude) not looked right with it, I may have had a hard time deciding between the white one, the black floral, or the white with black piping I bought a couple months ago.

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Since my last entry, I've read A Court of Mist and Fury and A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas and High Voltage (10th book in a series) by Karen Marie Moning. I loved the two Court books and would've given them 4½-5 stars at GoodReads if it wasn't for the fact that these sexually explicit books are being sold as teen/young adult books. They are very adult! The thought of teens reading them and some idiot thinking, "Yeah, these are good for teens" and deciding to sell them as such shocks me and kind of makes me sick. So that took away from the enjoyment a little bit. I gave them each 4 stars. Not a huge deduction, I know, but giving them less than 4 stars wouldn't really be accurate as the story itself is really good. I cried several times reading ACOWAR.

High Voltage was a real page turner and I was really enjoying it until the last few chapters. I really didn't like what the author decided to do with the main character. I would say more, but I don't want to spoil it. I gave it 3 stars at GoodReads.

I started reading After You (2nd book in a trilogy) by Jojo Moyes a few days ago. I'm not too crazy about what happened to the main character early on in the book (not because it's a terrible thing to have happen to a person, which it is, but because it just seems a bit much to me and I couldn't help but roll my eyes a bit), but other than that, I'm liking it so far.

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Sean had been wanting to talk to the class assignment people and financial aid people at his school for sometime and finally got to speak to them a few days ago. (They weren't returning calls or emails.) Apparently, and I'm not sure I completely understand this, all but the math course he's taking are not necessary for his major. The reason they put him in English and Public Speaking and Humanities(?) and Psychology and whatever else he might have been taking is because they thought he was going for some kind of degree (he's not; he's going for a certificate in airplane mechanics/power plants/whatever) and to keep him from losing his financial aid.

I think he said that in May he'll be done or get to drop all the other classes and just do the math. (I forget what kind of math it is.) And then in the fall he'll start with the actual airplane mechanics stuff. And I think he said something about having to pay $200+ for something that I guess either financial aid won't cover or there won't be enough left over to cover or something. I'm not sure of the details.

So all this time he's been taking classes he doesn't need for his major because they thought he needed the credits and the knowledge for whatever degree they thought he was trying to get. I mean, sure it helped to keep the financial aid, but other than that it was a waste of time. And I can't help but wonder if he'd have been able to use the financial aid and just do math and go right into airplane mechanics. Would he already be learning the mechanics part right now with the financial aid covering it? Whatever. I reckon there's nothing that can be done about that. I just hope he has enough aid left to cover the mechanics course. I'm going to be kind of angry if it runs out because the school got it wrong.


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~*~Nocturnal Queen~*~
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The Zoo, Easter, Books, and Other Things

I've been meaning to write a new blog entry for a few weeks now, but kept putting it off because it takes about an hour to write a blog entry; especially if there are photos to upload.

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Charlie's birthday was February 21st, but he was still in Atlanta. He finally came home on Sunday, March 13th. I made him a cake (his favorite - yellow with chocolate frosting) and made the meal of his choosing - tacos, enchiladas, and refried beans.

It's so great having him home. He took the week off, as he typically does if he's been gone for a month or more, and I enjoyed having him here during the day. I missed him today (yesterday/Monday) when he went back to work. I happily made him a delicious supper when he got home - sage and rosemary chicken, chicken rice (Uncle Ben's Country Inn rice), green beans, and blackeyed peas.

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Tuesday, March 8th, I took the kids and Sean's girlfriend Ashley to the zoo. It was a warm day (75°) that turned out to be a little too warm after we'd been walking in the sun for awhile, but we still enjoyed it. Though our legs were hurting after awhile. I forgot how hilly the zoo is. It was a combination zoo trip/hiking trip.

I didn't want to carry my big camera around the zoo for 3+ hours, so I took pictures with my phone. Not the best quality, but here are a few of them.

Bison on a hill.

Gorilla.

Grizzly. Funny bear. :-)

Lemurs.

Sand cat. So cute!

Seals playing.

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Friday, March 13th, I went to Southpoint Mall in Durham to meet an online friend in person for the first time. She's from Maryland and came down because her youngest daughter had a volleyball tournament in Raleigh. We've been friends online for about 12 or 13 years. Two other friends who live in the same area of NC that I do (the towns of Eden and Graham), who I've met a couple times before, also went to Durham to meet her. We had a good time hanging out and talking.

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A friend of mine recently told me that she likes when I post pictures of my clothes and shoes (recent purchases) on my blog. So, here are the ones I've gotten (all on sale; I usually don't pay full price for anything) since my last blog entry.

I had looked for red heels for a few years before finding these at Belk. Originally $50, I paid $25.

I loved the red ones so much, I bought them in black (paid about $30) and ...

white.

Close-up so you can see the snakeskin detail.

I've had a black shrug for years that I wear with casual outfits, but it doesn't fit quite right and I finally found a replacement at JC Penney a few nights ago. About $20.

I had seen this at Dress Barn a few times and thought it would probably be too long for me. I tried it on a couple weeks ago and liked it, so I bought it. I wore it to church (with a white shrug and my new white heels) Sunday before last.

Bought this at JC Penney a few nights ago. Paid about $20 for it.

 Got this at Belk a couple weeks ago. I paid either $22 or $24. It also comes in a navy color (dark denim, I think it's called), but I already have a navy lace skirt, so I resisted temptation. lol

I ordered this dress from Kohl's (on sale for $48, had $20 Kohl's cash, paid $39 after tax and shipping), but they sent a different dress. The info on the website wasn't correct. I returned the dress to the store rather than shipping it back and found the one I wanted in the store, despite the fact that the website said they didn't have it in the store. I was given a store credit ($10+) and got the dress for about $40.

I got this at Kohl's a few weeks ago for less than $50 after tax. I had wanted a denim jacket for years, but never could find exactly what I wanted. This one is practically perfect for me. :-)

I got this at Kohl's 3-4 weeks ago, on sale for $48 before tax. Pretty and comfortable. I wear it with a white shrug.

I got this at Kohl's a few weeks ago. It was on sale, but I can't remember how much I paid. I plan on wearing my red heels with it.

I got this at Belk a couple weeks ago. I paid either $22 or $24 for it. I love the starfish design.

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Easter/Resurrection Sunday is one of my favorite holidays and I can't wait till church this Sunday. I hope the weather will be nice. Seems like the last few years it's been chilly and rainy or cloudy.

There's just something about a warm Easter. A few things probably, but one of those is that it always reminds me of Easters in Southport when I was a kid. My memories of Easter in Southport are of warm, sunny days and wearing a pretty new floral, pastel, or white dress. Going to church, of course. Having an Easter egg hunt in the sunshine with a nice coastal breeze blowing. Getting an Easter basket from my mom with a new toy in it (usually a Barbie doll; one year it was Pretty in Pink Barbie) and filled with candy. I loved seeing crosses and empty tomb pictures and lilies and colorful eggs (which are Easter and not Resurrection, but I loved the colors) and bunnies everywhere.

I loved going to church on Easter with my family (minus my dad, who didn't go :-/ ). Even though going to church was an every Sunday thing, Easter was just a little more special to me.

Anyway, Easter preparations, in terms of outfits, is something I'm still working on. Kelly and I are set, but I still need to get something for Charlie and Sean. I bought a lavender dress shirt for Sean, but it turned out to be a little too big. I'm going to bring it back (and the grey shirt I'd also gotten him) and get him something a little smaller.

My Easter dress. I got it at Dillard's. It was originally $169. It was marked down to $101 and change when I got it. I'm going to wear a black shrug and black heels.

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Books: Currently reading Brooklyn, as you can see in the margin. I like it, but it's taking me much longer to read than I expected, despite the fact that it's only 262 pages. Just 33 more pages to go though. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to read after I'm done with Brooklyn (I usually wait to decide until after I've finished a book), but I'm leaning towards probably science fiction or fantasy. Or maybe something dystopian.

Brief comments on the books I've read so far this year:

An Ember in the Ashes - pretty good. The sequel (A Torch Against the Night) comes out in August.

One Thousand White Women - Sad at times. Brutal at times. But I liked it.

Time Salvager - I don't read a lot of time travel stories or stories that take place in outer space or hundreds of years in the future, but I thought it was a good book. The sequel (Time Siege) comes out July 12th.

Me Before You - so many tears. I have the sequel (After You) waiting on my nightstand.

Salt to the Sea - historical fiction is my favorite genre. It's a young adult book, but really good. I learned about something I'd never heard of before - the tragic sinking of a German ship full of refugees (more than 10,000) by a Russian submarine.


I mentioned two sequels that are coming out this summer. There are a couple others I'm really looking forward to.

The Last Star by Rick Yancey. It comes out May 24th and is the 3rd book in the The 5th Wave trilogy.

The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin. Comes out June 16th and is the 3rd book in The Passage trilogy. I love The Passage and The Twelve. I can't wait for The City of Mirrors!

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The kids have a dentist appointment tomorrow (today). This may be the last one for Sean until he can get a job and get his own dental insurance. He'll be 19 in just a few weeks.

After we leave the dentist office, we have to return the shirts I got for Sean that were too big and get him a couple that do fit. I also want to check a couple stores for white sandals. (Or flip flops without the piece between the toes.) The pair I've had for a few years now (and love) are starting to peel on the inside, of all things, and need to be replaced. I've checked several stores (Dillard's, Macy's, Belk, Shoe Carnival, Shoe Dept., Aldo's, JC Penney, DSW, etc.) and can't find any that are what I'm looking for or that are comfortable. Really annoying. I'm going to check Stein Mart and Rack Room tomorrow.

We're also probably going to go to Barnes and Noble because there's a book Kelly wants that came out almost a week ago. It's the third book in a trilogy.

And when we finally get home, I'm going to make chili for supper. :-)

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Until the next time I post a new blog entry. I'll try not to let more than a month go by this time. :-)