May Coffee Chat

 Whitney over at Polka Dotty Place does a cute feature every month that she calls Coffee Chat. I thought I'd copy her because imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, after all!

1. Watching all the leaves unfurl on the trees over the past week has been so wonderful. I just love observing the passing of the seasons. Seeing our beautiful neighborhood come back to life and green-up has been especially beautiful this year. There are all these pretty pink and purple flowering trees on our street. Do you love seeing all the green appear too?

2. Our lawn is a mess. Between a patch on the north side of the house that just refuses to grow (no sunlight) and the "meadow" on the south side of the house - I can't keep up. The dog has worn some paths down around the backyard too, which makes it look, well, weird. The front yard has a lot of sand mixed in the soil, so the grass is patchy. Mr. Amen talks about ripping it up and getting fresh sod, but that is really expensive and a lot of work to water and maintain. Anyone else dealt with sandy soil and gotten a lawn to look half-decent?

3. Speaking of the yard - I need to put down a fresh weed barrier this year and replace all the mulch. I do not love mulch, but if it keeps me from having to spend so much time weeding, I'll do it. I don't want to do stones/rocks. I do love the look of just dark soil, but I just end up with weeds. So many weeds. I have a lot of perennials planted and I don't really do annuals except in a pot or two on the porch. Are you an annual or perennial kind of house?

Centerpiece flowers I "won" at the
Mom's Club luncheon at my son's school

4. Summer schedule. Ya'll, I'm crying. We have such a busy summer already. Drivers Ed, soccer, gymnastics, space camp, summer homework, VBS. My 15yo wants to get a job and wants to do a bunch of volunteer work too. And I wanted to go back to work. I don't know how I would shoehorn a regular job into the mix. And I really feel like I worked hard not to commit to anything this summer. I didn't even entertain the idea of camps or other activities and our calendar is still madness.

5. Summer salads anyone? Do you have a summer salad you love? I'm looking for some summer salad inspiration! I've got a list going of several I want to make for the summer but am always up for a delicious summer salad recipe!

6. I saw a reel on one of the socials that was talking about decluttering and instead of asking "Do I need this?" the person asked, "Can I live without this?" I thought that was a clever way of reframing it in my mind. I think I could let go of a lot more thinking about it in this way. It seems like I can always find a use for everything, or I might need it one day.

7. I spend a lot of time driving. Like 3-6 hours a day. I'd love to listen to books or podcasts while I'm driving, but I need something family friendly. Any suggestions? I find that my books aren't really things my kids want to listen to in the car and we haven't really tried podcasts. I did try one with my son on a soccer road trip, and the first episode we listened to was funny & good, but the next one was so inappropriate, we turned it off. I had found it on a list of best podcasts for teens, but it was so sex-obsessed, no thank you.) Podcast suggestions please? Also, how do you listen to books in the car? Do you have a specific app? Do you use your library's app for that or something else?

8. Our dog, HRH Skye Pickle, Duchess of Cliffside is so cute. I'm obsessed with her. That is all.