May 2021

 

May was full of travel, family, and friends - my favorite things!

Plus, the sun is out (usually) so I'm pretty happy these days.

We are definitely enjoying our new pergola and table.  David did a great job.  It's nice to eat outside or even work outside some!

Hiking with the boys in Brown County.  Two little white dogs and we found a big rattlesnake!  Ack!

Thomas headed up to Purdue for brunch with Brennan as they finished their years strong.  Brennan is home for the summer, working at YES Cinema and relaxing.  Thomas is in classes and is doing Door Dash so they are staying busy enough.

We attended Neil's 21st birthday dinner (cap on the left), one of Thomas's best friends from high school who also lives in Indy.  It was great to see all the guys and Neil's parents.

These 3 goofballs got the chance to recreate their recreated photo from Junior Prom.

Thomas and I went to Starkville for a quick weekend trip, but first we stopped at Kentucky Down Under to feed some kangaroos!  It was pretty awesome!

We had so much fun with family and friends!  Including some great meals.  

I ate ALL the fried oysters.

We got to see Joe play in Sugar High during dinner.  So much fun!

For our May book club, the Litwits, we chose Chef Gregory's cookbook from 1972 and we each made a dish from this incredible entertaining and fine dining tome.  He has so many great stories including working for NATO where he cooked for the Queen when he was 21, going to Le Cordon Bleu with Julia Child, and cooking for so many families, corporate executives, and dignitaries over his 70 year career.

Chef's Beef Wellington

Another example of a great idea Laura and I had a month prior and then the day of, after a 9 hour workday, we text each other and say "what were we thinking?"  It came off without a hitch and was actually a highlight of our year!

We were all decked out in Chef's signature red aprons.  What a night!

Summer cuts!

Our friends Mike and Mary have sold everything they own and they are moving to Portugal!  We helped host their going away party at Bob and Karen's home.  Mike and Mary brought gifts for each of us from their homes - thoughtful, funny, and a really cool spin for a going away!  Because we could not give them tangible gifts, we all donated to a local charity in their names and included the info in our cards to them.  It was a wonderful evening!

Jayne had a birthday that night so we had to celebrate her too!

Karen, Mary, Bonnie

I finished another virtual walk, this time the 90 miles of Hadrian's Wall.  I really enjoy these virtual events!

And finally, David and I headed to Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio for a couple of days over Memorial Day weekend.  I had off a couple of days (finally!) and the boys took care of the dogs for us.

Hocking Hills is filled with caves, gorges, waterfalls, and cliffs.  We explored 5 of the 7 trails and had some great meals out too in Athens, Ohio.

A wonderful month!