Tag: summer | Kimberussell.com

May 2019

May 27 2019

(subtitle: where the hell have you been?)

Hi there! Heck of a month, eh? I can’t quite explain WHY I haven’t been blogging, I just haven’t. Things have been great though! See?

Nephew A’s 5th birthday party was at a local farm, which offered stunning views…

It’s hard to stick to my “don’t show the kids” rule because they’re quite cute.

Mom and I went to the Phillies annual Mother’s Day tribute game. It was in the 50s with a cold, cold rain. The Phils won and neither of us caught pneumonia though so all’s well that ends well.

Mom: this was the best time! Me: (develops chilblains)

After years being buried in stacks of books, this handsome face received his Master’s Degree!

I’m simultaneously proud of him and wondering what to do with him around the house all the time.

Snapchat turned me into a fairly attractive dude.

Speaking of date-able dudes, this weekend WM and I celebrated twelve years of cohabitation. He arrived the Friday before Memorial Day in 2007 and the very next day we went to Collingswood Mayfair.

He built me a potting table in the garage out of an old door.

The garden is doing well. The tomatoes are so tall I had to stake them this weekend. And I should have my first radish in a week or so.

I’ve been spending my evenings outside when the weather is nice. Our two goobers are all too happy to join me. Even Ollie, who is as good as he was 2 years ago (minus half his teeth and some functioning in his face) and it makes my heart swell with happiness.

Twelve years ago WM arrived to me, Max, Misty, and Charlie. Ollie was the dog that began to blend us into the family we are now. Including this also-happy dude.

I went to a Memorial Day barbecue where I only knew one person (the organizer) and ended up with new friends! No pictures because I didn’t want to be that person.

Which brings me to today, Memorial Day. We went to Iron Hill for lunch and I’ve been outside since we returned, with no concerns except my Apple Watch which keeps telling me to get up (nah, I’m good) and the children behind us who have been outside screaming from 7:58am to 6:55pm since Saturday morning. I’d LOVE for them to discover Fortnite or join the swim club or a sport or watch JoJo Siwa vids inside for a few hours each night.

This is my very favorite time of year. The entire summer is yawning ahead of us. My first Summer Friday is this week and I think I’m going to head to Margate for the day. Happy summer!

Friday 5: Regionalism

Aug 17 2018

Happy Friday! This is my last Summer Friday of the summer (weeps, gnashes teeth) so I spent it the way I tried to spend every Summer Friday – down the shore.

via GIPHY

I made that animated gif! It’s 1994 all over again!

basic beach … collage

We got home around 3. I took a shower, had some fast food for dinner and parked myself outside with a stack of magazines to let my hair dry naturally to give it some beachy waves.

Left: What I think my hair looks like when I let my it air-dry.
Right: What my hair actually looks like when I let it air-dry.

***

Time for the Friday 5! This week’s theme is regionalism, which looks to be interesting. Let’s get to it!

1. What regional colloquialism in your area would baffle people from elsewhere?

For anyone new, I live in Southern New Jersey, a quick 20 minute train ride from Fluffya — I mean Philadelphia. The big regional word lately is jawn. It’s a word you can drop in for any noun you’d like. I’m all up in this jawn. I gotta get some of that jawn. That jawn I linked explains more.

2. What’s something you call by a name that differs from what most people in your region call it?

The train I take to work is called the PATCO High Speedline. When I was a kid it was called the Speedline. Today, most riders call it PATCO, like they’d refer to SEPTA in Philly or BART in San Francisco. I still call it the Speedline though, because old habits die hard.

3. What’s a normal food in your region that people in other regions might be weirded out by?

People from elsewhere seem to be weirded out by Jersey’s pork roll and the region’s scrapple. I think every region has their own weird meat product, though.

4. What’s something in your area with an official name almost nobody refers to it by?
Many people still call ATMs MAC machines, because the first version of it here was called the Money Access Center.

5. What are the names of some convenience stores in your area?
7-11 has always been around. Royal Farms is staking a claim. But South Jersey’s heart is already taken by one. Wawa. Home of Hoagiefest (which sadly ended two weeks ago). Where the area’s rich and poor rub shoulders as they pour themselves delicious coffee every morning.

I love Wawa.

***
This is day one of a four-day weekend. It’s going to be great, and I am going to be a hurting pup in September when I end up having to work five-day weeks again.

Currently, summer night edition

Aug 12 2018

Relaxing out in the yard. I feel like we did a lot of outdoor work early in the summer, such as planting grass and ripping out 10,000 dandelions and setting up herb gardens, so it would be a shame to miss out on enjoying it.

I wanna sit under my own vine and fig treeA moment alone in the shade

Remembering all the time I spent with family this weekend. Yesterday my cousin had a big ol’ BBQ at his place, replete with food and beer and a firepit and strands of outdoor lights. I am a sucker for outdoor lights. The only factor stopping me from having outdoor lights is that we don’t have outdoor outlets. Otherwise, I’d have my yard lit like a Hallmark movie Christmas Tree Farm, and would never go inside.

I kicked a giant watermelon ball around with Nephew A.

Today, Nephew B was baptized, almost exactly 4 years worth of Sundays after Nephew A. B is a happy and easygoing chap. He has one of those deep husky laughs that seem like they shouldn’t come out of something so small and is instantly delightful.

With the minister, feeling skeptical about that water.

The party afterwards was held in one of the church’s rooms. The lovely Kristen and her husband-who-doesn’t-read-my-blog made sure it was filled with food and plenty of room for the kids to run and play.

Manic Pixie Dream Aunt at your service.

Apparently one of my hidden talents is blowing bubbles for packs of small children. Who knew?

Enjoying another 3-day weekend, because I’m off tomorrow. I was considering taking a ride to Atsion Lake because I haven’t been there since I was a kid. The weather forecast for tomorrow looks crummy. Never fear. I’m also off this Friday (fingers crossed for a beach day) AND next Monday. I’m so glad it’s this summer and not last summer!

Debating a trip to Sonic for a shake. It would require leaving my chair.

Watching Miz and Mrs and Making It this summer. Both shows are funny and warm. Perfect light fare for summer.

I've been blogging for over 16 years and I'm apparently one of the few over-40 female bloggers who haven't sold out to THE MAN yet; hence this blog remains quirky, homespun and unprofitable. No big.

~~Wife. Dog lover. Slob.~~ I live in Southern New Jersey with my husband WM, and our dogs Ollie and Murphy. I work a fun (really!) office job in Philadelphia. So if you're looking for a childless, slightly round, marginally boring GenX woman's blog to follow, you've come to the right place! :)

Kimberly's bookshelf: read

The Awakening

by Kate Chopin

Welp, that ended abruptly. The version I have includes additional short stories, which I thought were part of the book, so when this story ended, I thought the second half of the book would be the others' responses to ... the events that...

tagged: fiction, women, and own-ebook

We Should All Be Feminists

by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

So very good. Beautifully written, and really hits home. It was refreshing to read about feminism in a viewpoint other than that of my white, middle-aged, ladyfriends. :) Every middleschooler should be issued a copy of it. It was supe...

tagged: nonfiction, borrowed-from-library, and women

Hidden Figures

by Margot Lee Shetterly

tagged: nonfiction, history, and women

Tag - summer