weekending and Prime Purchases

 Happy Monday, friends! I'm linking up with Holly and Sarah for today's post. 

How was your weekend? Mine was much better than last weekend, since this weekend I was back to normal after being sick last week. I'll take that any day of the week over the opposite! I'll jump right in with mine. 

I had to work for a little while on Friday, since there was a funeral taking place. I barely had the bookstore open for an hour, but I got a few things done while I was there to tie up loose ends from this week, so that was nice. I took care of a coffee order that had come in for me on Thursday, I cleaned up in the kitchen area since it had been used for the funeral luncheon, and I got some things ready for Sunday while I was there. After all of that, I went in and sat with Todd for the duration of the funeral. 

He ran the sound for it, so I just sat with him in the booth since I came in late. This was the funeral of my old friend who passed away. I'd mentioned here how I was dreading it, because I'm a sympathetic crier, but it wasn't sad at all. My friend lived a very sad life and I am glad that he is no longer suffering from his many problems. It's sad for his family, but I think in some ways, they're relieved that he's not suffering anymore either. It's so sad how one's life can take such a turn like that. It makes me thankful for this wonderful man of mine that is my husband. 

After the funeral, I met him back at home. We fed the dogs, then went to eat Mexican food for dinner. It was delicious, as usual! We ended our night out at Walmart, where I got the cutest Christmas sweatshirt.

I love this and cannot wait to wear it during the holidays. 

Saturday morning I was up early as usual, and I watched a Hallmark Christmas movie. I got dressed and met my sister Trish out at my dad's house to hang their outdoor Christmas lights. This is a labor of love, but we had the perfect, most beautiful day to do this, so I was thankful for that. 

I'm so sad that the leaves never really changed colors. I don't know why, except for maybe it's that we've had little to no rain? His lake is extremely low, for the same reason. It was a bit warmer than we would have liked, but it was a beautiful day. Our Christmas lights crew is pretty slim these days! It used to be Trish, my four boys, Dad, and me, then one by one the boys started trickling off the list as they got older and got jobs. Now it's just Trish and me, and I will tell you that we miss Dad's engineering brain doing this these days. It's a job and a half to figure out all the power sources, cords, timers, and strands of lights per power source. I confess that I do not have the brain for this kind of thing, but my sister does. While she was talking it through out loud, I was making notes on my phone. Poor Dad! I hate that he doesn't remember any of this anymore. Dementia sucks! We weren't able to finish, since we ran out of lights, so I'm meeting her there again tomorrow afternoon when I get off work. We'll finish with doing a Christmas tree on his flag pole, and we'll put some lights at the very end of his driveway. 

When we finished, I came home and showered the little spiders off of me, then I sat down for a bit before going to Mom's and Bill's for dinner. He made chicken kabobs and fried rice, and it was delicious! I oohed and aahed over Mom's Christmas decorations this year. She outdid herself! 

Can you believe how amazing this is? I grew up going with Mom to homes to decorate for the holidays. I loved watching her work! I love to do the same thing, though we have vastly different tastes, but I could not stop gazing at her tree last night. This is what I love about seeing people's homes: I think each home is beautiful in its own way! Mom gave me some of the ornaments that she had leftover, so I will be using them tonight or tomorrow night when our tree goes up. I'm working on my own home today, and I am so excited to be able to be here to do that. I have a process: I gather everything fall related to the dining room table, then I thoroughly clean the house before replacing all that I took down with Christmas. The boys that were home took everything out of the attic for me last night so that I could do this during the day today. 

Back to the weekend...I was at church by 7:30 on Sunday, then back home for a while by 12:30. I ate lunch, sat down for a few minutes, then left again for a baby shower. When I got back home, I showered and got comfy, and by that time Todd was back home. We enjoyed some leftovers for dinner, and had a quiet evening at home. I did some laundry, gathered up more of the fall decorations, got ready for Monday, and read my book. It was a nice night, even with it getting dark by 5:30. 

How do you feel about the time change each fall and spring? I actually don't mind either one. Someone asked this question on social media the other day and asked how we deal with it and whether or not we suffer from seasonal depression. I don't suffer with that, but I know many who do. I treat it like any other time of year: we eat dinner, clean up, and get comfy. I feel like that I take this time of year for what it is, which is a season of rest. I don't mind being at home earlier in the evening, and I actually kind of look forward to it each year. I know most people disagree on this, though. Do you not do anything different? Even though I am usually at home at night, I certainly don't let this keep me from doing fun things out. The dark does not bother me in the least.

Tell me something good from your weekend!  

And now onto party two of today's blog post...

I'm linking up with Tanya for this one. Click on each picture to be redirected to an Amazon link. 

I bought these last month as a gift, but I'm including them again today in case you want to use them as a gift idea. I have had this same pair for two years, and they are amazing! The charge on these last forever, and the sound quality is excellent. I even use them for talking on the phone as I cook dinner, and everyone always says how clear I sound to them. 

These come in other colors, but I like this pink color, since they blend in with my skin tone. 

Have I mentioned this hair product?

I love it! It drenches my curls with a seemingly water-based mousse that is very hydrating. I have a whole process to my hair, and in case you're a curly girl, I'll share about that on Wednesday. You should come back! 

I started using this sunscreen under my makeup, and I love it so much that I've let it replace my foundation. I don't know how long this will last, but I've been getting compliments on my makeup, so I guess it's working to my advantage. 

I love Cerave, so when I found this online, I knew I wanted to give it a try. I add a dime sized amount of this to my palm, mix in a few drops of my facial oil, and apply it together to my face using my hands. I love that it makes my skin glow, and that it also feels like moisturizer. I sometimes even do this on top of the Cerave moisturizer that I use in the mornings. I have super dry skin, and I do sometimes apply moisturizer two times each day. 

I ordered these miniature lights to use in my Christmas decorating this year. 

I'll keep you posted!

Lastly, I ordered a new Christmas popsocket for my phone. 

I have a neutral phone case, so I went with this bright red popsocket for Christmas. Do you use those on your phone? It helps me grip my phone better, and I love that I can use it to prop my phone off when I'm looking at something. 

I can't wait to hear about your Prime Purchases! Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all!