Tag Cinco de Mayo

It’s May!

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It’s IMPOSSIBLE to land on May 1 and not think of the song from Camelot – the Lusty Month of May (as evidenced by two blog posts in my history referencing the song!). So go ahead, take a minute and have Alexa play it for you or find it on YouTube…

Ok. So I’ll forever think of that and sing it often – in my head and aloud – throughout the month.

Since it’s May, that means it’s TIME FOR A WEDDING!  Last March (2016) Marissa got engaged and dreamed of a destination wedding – so here we go!  She and Adam are celebrating their marriage on Cinco de Mayo in Cancun! How fun. We are all looking forward to warm weather (upper 80s during the day! 70s at night!), family time (every Grimsrud child and grandchild will be there!), and fiestas galore!  I’m hoping I’m not a blubbering fool because it’s going to be a joyous day – so I will do my best not to blubber! I worry about finding words of wisdom or having an eloquent speech, but actually there is lots of life ahead to share wisdom, so I’ll try not to stress about that.

More about the wedding when we get back… it will be a memorable time!

Haven’t done a post in a while, so I’ll just blather on here a bit about what’s been making me happy in these last few months.  So much to be thankful for (always!).

  • We have been searching – first casually and then more seriously – for a new home. It all started with wanting a gas stove.  We tried to see if it would be possible to update the kitchen in our townhome. And then we started dreaming about aspects of our dream homes.  Me, I wanted big windows, lots of light, an open floor plan, not too big but big enough to be able to host gatherings. Chris wanted a fabulous bathroom with tile shower and a glass door and granite countertops. We both wanted that elusive gas stove.  Well, we found it. It’s just big enough for us but with that open floor plan that will make it fun and possible to host Christmas and Thanksgiving and singalongs and game nights and backyard BBQs.  But it’s small enough that we won’t have to spend all our free time taking care of it. It’s just perfect. More on that later, as well!  We will close in June, so this summer will be filled with changes!
  • Movies – not as many of those lately, but we did get to one movie during the International Film Festival. We saw a Romanian film called Two Lottery Tickets. It was a funny little film.  So glad the festival is here in Rochester and so glad that I got to at least one movie.
  • Books – I’m on a bit of a reading streak, so that is fun!  Book Club is meeting MONTHLY so that helps!  Recently we read “The Light Between Oceans,” “Euphoria,”  “Big Little Lies” and “Thirty Rooms to Hide In.”  Next is “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat.” I’m also reading “When Breath Becomes Air” for a book club at work. Looking forward to beach book time in Mexico!
  • Food – We haven’t been going to as many restaurants because we are cooking at home! We have now tried Marley Spoon, Hello Fresh, and Blue Apron in the past few months. We are going to stick with Marley Spoon, because all the meals were so very tasty, although the most challenging to make, and you have control over the meals you get (unlike Blue Apron) and have an option for 2 meals in a week rather than 3 (unlike either of the other two).  We find it hard to cook at home 3 days out of a week and most need to be eaten within that time frame. So we have had some really good food at home recently – today we had a spicy rigatoni with lemon ricotta.  Looking forward to cooking on our gas stove in the new house! I do love having the house smell like good food!
  • Wedding Wedding Wedding! – There have been showers, bachelorette parties, a USA wedding, too-many-to-count Mother of the Bride dresses tried on and returned, and the various ablutions that come with a fancy to-do. So that has taken up quite a bit of time recently!  The day-long mermaid themed bachelorette was an incredible time on a beautiful April day (April 1!). We had mimosas in the morning with a Beyonce drag show, failed an Escape Room in the afternoon, had a patio party at Betty Danger’s in the evening and then went clubbing into the wee hours. Oh my. So fun! Looking forward to more such shenanigans in Mexico!

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Be of love (a little) more careful than of anything.
— E. E. Cummings

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May you find many things to be happy about in this Lusty Month of May!

It’s May! Tra La!

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It’s crazy how fast the days and weeks go.  I’ve had the goal to post weekly for the past few months, but I have not been successful for many weeks in a row!  It’s good to have a goal, right?

Here is a list of a few things that have made me happy in the past month or so…

  • The first Friday in May I finished my class!  That meant that in April I wrote four papers, participated in online discussions, and read books and journal articles to prepare.  I’m glad that’s behind me and now only wait (with bated breath) for the grade.
  • For that class I read the book “The Boy that was Raised as a Dog,” which is a good book about the research that Dr. Bruce Perry has done on the brains of children who have been affected by traumas.  It was good and I recommend it to people who want to know more about trauma and children.  We’re going to read it for work, which is going to be fun.  Always better to discuss books!
  • After that last class, I stayed at Deadra’s and we had a good chat, with good wine, followed by good sleep and good donuts (Glam Doll Donuts!) for breakfast.  That weekend was also filled with basketball, choir practices and performance at St. Mary’s University, and the Kentucky Derby at a Mexican bar.  Gotta fit a lot in when I have the weekend off!
  • Not a single movie in the theatre in the last month!  Lots of meals out and ordering in and DVDs, though!  I’ve watched all three Iron Man movies, August: Osage County (really good!), 10 Years (Channing Tatum, why not?!), Blazing Saddles (classic comedy with crazy racist storyline – meh – don’t think I’d recommend it!), and tonight I watched What’s Up, Doc? (Babs and Ryan O’Neal – comedic genius? “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” “Corniest thing I’ve ever heard!”).  Marissa and I rented Labor Day (just ok – sad life, she had) and Chris and I are slowly watching House of Cards (I hate politics – why am I watching?? It’s good!).
  • I’ve read Divergent, Insurgent, and am currently reading Allegiant.  Looking forward to finishing and discussing with the 12 year old who told me this last book “would hurt me.”  Also ripped through Where’d You Go, Bernadette? which was so quirky and good!  Next (or soon) I’ll read The Fault in Our Stars so that the 12 year old and I can discuss that!  So many books.. have some catching up to do!
  • World Book Night happened!  My peeps and I met after we got done with work that night and we book-bombed the hospital downtown and went out for cocktails afterwards.  It was a nice night – and giving people free books is harder than it seems!  Maybe I’ll blog more about it later.
  • I had to work overnight for Cinco de Mayo, so I just had to reminisce about celebrations of the past… see photos below. 🙂
  • Mother’s Day was relaxing and busy – more basketball, girl time with Marissa, cookie making, toes polished up and a meal or two out.  Can’t believe it came and went.  Time does fly!
  • This weekend brings more singing in Rushford at the Expo Culinaria!  Looking forward to that event with my peeps!

Well, it’s been busy and wonderful – and I hope that your May is the same!  Enjoy the few Cinco de Mayo pics from the past below!

Off to read!

 

The fixings for a good Margarita…
Cinco de Mayo meets Kentucky Derby day! Juleps before Margaritas!

 

Mid-May Melange’

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It’s so cliche, but where does the time go?  Thought I’d do a quick update on what I’ve been up to.  I hope you will let me know what you’ve been up to, too!

Good stuff Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby from Spineless Classics

What I’ve Been Reading:

“Sick Girl“ by Amy Silverstein – we read this for group supervision at work and will be discussing it on Friday.  It is a powerful memoir about a young woman who quickly becomes sick and within 8 months has a heart transplant.  It was interesting to read about her relationships with her physicians, with her family, with her fiance/husband, and with her new heart.  She is angry and that’s not always easy to read, but it’s her story.

“Elizabeth the First Wife” by Lian Dolan – and on a lighter note, the second novel by my Satellite Sister, Lian. 🙂  Her debut novel, “Helen of Pasadena,” was a fun little book, but this one ramps up the smarts in a big way!  The story-within-a-story of All’s Fair, a book using Shakespearean philosophy to give modern advice for couples, is smart and fun.  The chemistry that Elizabeth has with the men in the book is well-written and the fleshed-out personalities of her family members round out the smarter-than-average fun read.  Good stuff.

What’ I’ve Been Watching: 

  • Got my Al Pacino fix by watching Frankie and Johnny on Instant Netflix and Scent of a Woman on DVD.  I love love love Frankie and Johnny… good stuff.
  • The Kentucky Derby was fun to watch at the 4th (?) Annual Party hosted by Sarah!  Orb was the big winner, and someone else at the party won the big money.  We had a good time wearing our hats, drinking mint juleps, and watching the spectacle around the one-minute race.  There was still snow on the ground  (May 4, 2013) but the air was warm, especially in front of the garage heater!
  • Finally got to watch a few of Gunnar’s baseball games in the sunshine!  April was a soggy and cold month, so they’ve been playing catch-up and we sat in the 90 degree weather on Tuesday and watched the games.  Felt good to have warm sunshine on my shoulders!
  • We went to The Great Gatsby in 3D on opening night (10pm show!)!  It was a good time and I will see it again in 2D.  It was a good time and the movie was beautiful and fun.  I love Luhrman movies and this didn’t disappoint.
  • Still faithful to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and the Daily Show.
  • Anticipating some tears tonight with the series finale of The Office.

What I’ve been Celebrating :

  • A fun evening with the gals eating a Greek meal at Gary’s house.
  • A fun evening with the gals drinking margaritas and eating Qdoba deliciousness while celebrating Cinco de Mayo at Beth’s house.
  • A fun evening celebrating Sarah’s birthday at Cannon River Winery for a wine tasting.
  • A delicious dinner at Lynndon Bridge celebrating Mother’s Day with my mama.

I guess this is why time is going so fast!  It’s so full!  Love it!

What is keeping your life full?

Stories

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May 5 was the Kentucky Derby, and my friend (and fellow Walkie Talkie), Sarah, hosted her 3rd annual Derby party!  This year was a bonus event, as it turned into a Cinco de Mayo party, as well.  Cinco de Mayo is always fun to celebrate with my friend, Beth, so we made plans to attend the Cinco de Mayo Derby party together!  And there were stories…

First, the horse race is such fun!  Sarah informs us about the horses and the odds and the jockeys and the owners. I downloaded the iPad app for the Kentucky Derby and could read about the horses and the odds and the jockeys and the owners.  You can even place bets, if desired!  We placed bets at Sarah’s – shouting out the horses we wanted to bet upon – and the two minutes of the race are so exciting!  I chose two horses, because there weren’t enough of us to take all the horses.

Cover of "Daddy Long Legs"

Cover of Daddy Long Legs

I chose Daddy Long Legs (in honor of Fred Astaire), and he was disqualified, and I also chose Dullahan, and he came in 3rd!  I’ll Have Another came in first, and the host’s husband, Bennie, chose him.  More about Bennie later… Beth chose the 2nd place horse – Bodemeister.  We cheered, screamed, watched the replay, and then stopped drinking our Mint Juleps and moved on to Margaritas and Sangria!

We kept the hats on, because the hat-hair would have been horrendous!

Thankfully the rain cleared and we were able to move outside to enjoy some spring weather.  We had tacos and Sangria, there was a pinata filled with candy, and a firepit to sit around while enjoying all of the above.  We saw fireballs in the sky (yes, I read about them later!  It wasn’t fireworks that I saw after all!) and got a glimpse of the Super Moon later in the evening.  And we laughed.

We laughed at stories about the neighbors, about Super Bennie who is called upon to do the strangest things and goes without any questions, about the pizza and pineapple that were given as thanks for the help that Bennie gave, and it was a great time.

Can’t wait until next year.

Off to read!

What a high!

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Microphones

Ah, the power of a microphone! Image by Rusty Sheriff via Flickr

Found this blog post in the drafts!  Never got published!  Written on May 13… oops! Better late than never, right? Or totally out of context and boring? Oh well…

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Just home and winding down from our “Over the Back Fence” radio show premiere!  Take Note!, our singing group, performed three songs, and the whole thing was such a blast!  We sounded great at sound-check and in the little room we practiced in and during the singalongs and during our songs.  And there were many laughs at the expense of Norwegians everywhere!  Tonight’s show paid tribute to both Cinco de Mayo and Syttende Mai.  What a great little show.  I must try to get there again – and for sure try to listen more faithfully.  I naively thought it would be broadcast live but it is simply recorded live – played later.  It was a great night leading into a great week of music ahead!

On the other hand, I haven’t been getting as much reading done!  Book reading, anyway.  I’m so far behind in my magazine reading but I’m feeling better about that, so I started reading “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” this week.  I finally made some headway today.  I am really liking it!  I thought it would be all heavy and sad and ominous, but it isn’t.  It’s about children.  So I imagine there will be sadness and heartbreak ahead, but it doesn’t seem like it will tear my heart out, so that’s a good thing.

Well, as I said, a music-filled week ahead!  Our big spring concert (with my solo!) coming up on Wednesday, Thursday a performance for a church family night, and Saturday we are performing at Minnesota City days!  It’s been such a great spring with the choir.  Can’t wait for the next adventure!

Well, off to read!  Happy weekend all!