Rewind 04.2026

 

Welcome, sweet friends!!  Thank you for being here today for my 04.2026 Rewind post.

Once upon a time, with my old blog, I had a series called Sentence a Day.  It was a long-winded review of my month's activities and adventures. Each month, I would start my SaD post with a confession that I never expected anyone to read all of the boring details of my day-to-day life!!  But the posts were fun to write, kind of like keeping a daily bullet journal.  And many times, I would return to my SaD posts to find out when I did what.  Doctor appointments, substitute teaching commitments, even when I last fixed a meatloaf for dinner.  Riveting things like that.  

The SaD series also kept me accountable for exercising, getting my steps, tracking my Weight Watcher points, and accomplishing my seasonal goals and the activities on my bucket list.  

But just about every month as I sat down to finalize my SaD post, I would wonder if it wasn't just a little bit self-obsessed, narcissistic for me to blog at all, and especially to write these monthly posts all about ME!  When I made the decision to close down my WordPress blog, I tried to save as many of my blog posts as I could but there were hundreds of them.  Among the posts I saved were my SaD posts.  That's how much they meant to me.  

Fast Forward

Here I am, back at blogging.  Kinda.  And I have decided to get back to writing my month-in-review posts.  But I am going to try a different format.  One similar to what my friend Deb at Deb's World uses for her Taking Stock posts.  You can find her most recent Taking Stock post, here.  

Instead of writing an entry for each day of the month, Deb responds to 26 prompts - one for each letter of the alphabet - to summarize her life lately.  I spent some time today coming up with my own ABC of prompts and will try using them to share the ups and downs of my April.

Here we go...

Rewind 04.2026

Amusing - something funny:  one of my all-time favorite picture books is an oldie but goodie called Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina, first published in 1938. When I read it with my students, we would act the book out together and always had a good laugh.  The other day, Lauren sent me this picture of Cami and asked if I could guess what she was doing.  I knew immediately - Cami was acting out Caps for Sale. 

             

Balancing:  our time between London and Edinburgh on our trip.  We spent 6 days in each city.  I just loved every minute.

Crafting:  attended a mosaic class with a local artist Terry Wright the first week in April.  We made garden saints.  Here are a few pictures from that evening.  It was great fun and I have put my little saint, Santa Lluvia, under my magnolia tree that has struggled over the last year or two.  Happy to report that my tree has many new buds about to bloom.

Dating my PC:  all over London and Edinburgh.  

Eating:  haggis!  Oh, yes, I did.  I ate haggis and nibbled on a bit of blood pudding.  The haggis tasted a little like meatloaf.  I didn't find it particularly delicious but it was edible.  The blood pudding was pretty tasty but I couldn't get beyond what it was made of to eat more than a bite.  The haggis is on my fork in the picture below.

Flowing - this is my word of the year so will share a way I went with the flow during the month:  this month, I have been enjoying Melani Sanders' book The Official We Do Not Care Handbook.  It is funny but poignant and so accurately describes the seasons of perimenopause, menopause and beyond that women battle through.  Today I read a couple of lines that reminded me of my WOTY.  

"So the challenge becomes less about actually getting everything done, and more about being okay with the fact that we won't.  After years of Checking things off our to-do list, in peri/menopause (*and beyond, for me) we have to start normalizing that our lives will be different.  Our output will be different."  pg. 127

As for me, I've realized that I can't be every woman anymore.  I don't want to be every woman anymore.  Forget that.  It used to be wash, dry, fold.  Now it's wash OR dry OR fold.  I've stopped asking myself, "Can I have it all?" and started wondering, "Can I do it all?" pg. 127

"I do believe we walk around a lot lighter when we take off our superwoman capes.  And we get extra power knowing we have Sisters walking beside us."  pg. 128 

I am not sure how I used to get it all done but I know it wasn't a good look on me.  These days there is never a day when everything is in its place, the house is clean, laundry done, all the to-dos are checked off my list and I am having a good hair day, too.  Not gonna happen.  And I am finally getting okay with that.  Finally going with the flow.   

Glimmerings - little miracles:  so many glimmers in my life.  I wrote a post a day for the A - Z Blogging Challenge about all the glimmers in my life beginning with this post.  And they continued throughout our trip, with great weather, good health, safe travels.  Found 3 pennies all together in the airport before we boarded for our trip.  So heartwarming and reassuring when God sends me those little messages.

Home sweet home:  another of my A - Z Blogging Challenge posts was about the heart rocks PC and I find each time we go hiking.  They are another example of a glimmer in my life.  I have most of our findings in a small corner of one of our rock gardens.  Do you see the hearts? 

Interesting - something that piqued my interest:  all kinds of things on our trip.  We had some very interesting, knowledgeable tour guides for our tours to Loch Ness; Fife and St. Andrews; the Cotswolds; Stonehenge and Windsor Castle.  It was interesting to hear their perspectives on the Monarchy and the Royal family.  One guide encouraged everyone on the tour to check out a video on YouTube about Princess Diana.  It was eye-opening and apparently supported his opinion about her death.

Joyfulness:  Lauren and the girls came over the night before we left for our trip.  When they got ready to leave, Cami began to cry saying she was going to miss us so much.  Then Lucia got a little teary-eyed and both girls climbed on my lap for a family hug.  Cami slipped off my lap and went over to Paul and snuggled him.  Lucia did the same thing.  Although it was an emotional time, my heart was filled with joy knowing that the girls would miss us while we were gone.

Kudos:  to my little sister for representing Putnam County so well in the Ms. Tennessee Senior America Pageant.  I wanted to be there for her and with her but a number of things made that difficult.  So I watched the live feed at home and cheered her on.  Valerie was beautiful in her 2-piece suit for the interview, her green formal for the pageant and so feisty and fun in a Shania Twain look for her talent.

Loving:  the family portrait Cami drew.  She included me with her mom, dad, sister and puppies.  That's me on the far right with the long eyelashes - if only!

Making:  trying to use my bread machine again with very little luck.  Not ready to give up yet, though.  My loaves have been kind of lopsided and dense.  Any suggestions as to what I am doing wrong?

Needing:  there were a couple of things I ordered for my trip.  Jeans, which I think I mentioned last month.  

Organizing:  I got my spring cleaning done early this season and in the garage we have compiled an assortment of things we need to try to sell in a yard sale.  So in the next few weeks, we will be cleaning and organizing the garage and finally having that sale.

Planning: to open our pool maybe in the next week or so.  June and summer will be here before we know it.  Would like to have the kids come over to swim and have ribs on the grill.  Our temperatures are going to be in the 90s all week so it is time to think about swimming.

Quoting:  my favorite April read, This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page.  This is the sweetest story woven around some pretty amazing adult fiction.  Here is just one of quotes from the book that spoke to me.

“The right book in the hands of the right person at exactly the right moment can change their life forever.”  ~Libby Page, This Book Made Me Think of You

Reading:  an assortment of things.  My online book club selected Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth for our May book of the month.  So, there's that.  Then on my own I am reading several other things.  

Just finished reading This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum - would give it ⭐⭐⭐.  And absolutely LOVED the book club's April read, This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page (mentioned above for Q is for Quote) which earned ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ .  

Last night I started reading my blogger friend's book The Enchantment of Midlife:  Awakening the Witchy, Wise and Wonderful You by Suzy Turner, who blogs at SuzyTurner.com.  My BFF recommended the book Now That's She's Gone:  A daughter's reflections loss, love and a mother's legacy - A grief and healing book for women by Chelsea Ohlemiller.  We  have both lost our moms and this book brought Sharon comfort so she suggested I read it. Reading both of these books on my Kindle.  I am listening to Mad Mabel on Audible and to Nobody's Girl:  A memoir of surviving abuse and fighting for justice by Virginia Roberts Giuffre.  

Thank goodness, these books are all very different so I am not having trouble keeping them straight...YET.  

Styling:  nothing new, really.  I did wear my embroidered jeans recently.  Paired them with a green tee shirt and a white crocheted cardigan.  

Tackling:  the eternal question, 'what do I pack to wear on vacation?'  I worried all month about what to take.  Originally, I set out lots of layers, but more wintry clothes than springy.  Consulted the weather forecast for both London and Edinburgh for days before our trip.  Finally, after packing, unpacking, repacking...I pulled everything out and started all over again.  And I am happy to report I got it right...wore almost everything I packed and was comfortable every day of our vacation.  

Untangling:  PC did a fantastic job navigating us around London and Edinburgh. The maps for the Tube and bus routes looked like a tangled jess to me but he was able to untangle them and get us everywhere we wanted to go. Public transport in both cities was seamless once PC figured out which line we needed to use. 

Viewing:  the IG dance videos by Ralph Beaubrun and thinking about purchasing the online choreography lessons for one of his routines and then trying to learn it with my El Paso granddaughters.  Check them out, here.

Writing:   well, this blog post, for one!  And the A - Z Blogging Challenge all the month of April, which wore me slick! Have also been working on the memoir questions in To Our Children's Children by Bob Greene.  And writing my way through "A Year of Writing to Uncover the Authentic Self" online at DailyOm.com.

Xercising:  have mercy!!  On our trip, we walked our little tootsies off!  We averaged about 17K steps everyday, walking over 20K steps on several days.  

Yardening - a combination of yardwork and gardening:  the veggies we've planted in our raised garden beds are still alive!!  They survived 2 weeks without us.  Of course, we had the sprinklers running.  Plus, the girls and Lauren came over to water twice, too.  Now to get the plants to survive the upcoming hot summer.

Zhooshing - adding a bit of sparkle:  PC bought me not 1 but 2 rings in the UK.  One in Scotland and one in England.  The Scottish ring has a Gaelic old world look with a wide braided-looking silver band with an round, Iona Green Marble stone.  The ring from England has a delicate beaded silver band with an oval, purple set.  We aren't sure what the stone is in this ring but it looks something like purple copper turquoise - which I have never heard of before - but it sure is pretty.  Love my new sparkle.

And with that, you have the ABCs of my April.  Let's wind this thing up with a video review of April courtesy of 1 Second Everyday.

Your Turn

Settled back into real life with 3 kindergarten sub jobs this week.  What was I thinking?  Twenty-two 5-year-olds and jet lag.  Not the best combo!

How was your April?  On a scale of 1-10, what would you rate it?  I think I would give ours a 10, or real darn close!

Sure appreciate you spending a few minutes here with me today.  Thank you.

Hugs and kisses,