Random 5 for June 25, 2023 – Anniversary, s’mores, brain fog, more brain fog, family

Gallery

Posted on by

The beloved husband in his much younger days!

Happy anniversary to the beloved husband! – We celebrated 16 years this week. Woo-hoo! Seems like just yesterday. (I say that about a lot of stuff!)

Well, that didn’t work – I’ve been yearning for a s’mores. It’s been decades since I’ve had one. We don’t do campfires, which you need to toast the marshmallow. I found an oven recipe so I thought I’d try it. If it worked, I could use as a dessert option. I bought the necessary items (graham crackers, chocolate bar and marshmallows) and toasted the marshmallow on the graham cracker in the oven. Then I slapped a piece of chocolate and another graham cracker on it to make the sandwich. Holy yuk! Either the oven didn’t give the right flavor (maybe you need a burned part on the marshmallow) or my memory isn’t right but I did not enjoy it. It was way too sweet! Won’t do that again!

Gave me a giggle – I was at Starbucks picking up my mocha. A young woman was on her cell. She was saying to someone, “just a heads up, I ordered at the wrong Starbucks so I’ll be late.” I laughed. We have three but they are at least 15 minutes apart (driving time) in different directions. Not sure if she drove to the one where she ordered or gave up and ordered at the one she was at. Brain fog happens at every age.

That reminded me – When I was a young woman (seems like just last week!), my mom asked me to pick up a prescription for her. She told me it was at the drugstore on the highway. I went to the wrong drugstore and had them do cartwheels because I was sure they lost it. (This was in the days before cell phones. We used smoke signals back then.) They called my mom who told them I was at the wrong store. I slinked out of there!

Family – Our family reunion is next Saturday. I’m hosting so I will be stressed. Everyone brings something and pitches in. It’s fun but the time goes so fast. Many of my relatives I only see once a year. The “kids” are in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. When I was a kid all the relatives lived in the same neighborhood or a very short drive away. I could walk to my aunt’s house easily. My cousin’s house was a short bike trip away. The nearness in living fostered a closer relationship that I miss. Times change.

So how was your week?

51 thoughts on “Random 5 for June 25, 2023 – Anniversary, s’mores, brain fog, more brain fog, family”

  1. I never liked s’mores. I did enjoy toasting marshmallows to the perfect, some might say obsessive golden brown. Then I passed them off to someone else to squish and consume. I don’t like commercial marshmallows, you see, though I didn’t know that then. Making your own marshmallows is a bit dangerous, rather messy and ever so much tastier. I just don’t go to the trouble without good reason.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Generally, marshmallow is too sweet for me all around — both the fluff and the puffs. Starbucks made a s’mores latte a few years back and I loved it. It wasn’t overly sweet so I thought I’d give these a try. Nope, nope, nope.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Hope your anniversary was amazing and the the reunion is super fun. I love your writing. Your smoke signals comment cracked me up. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • The technology difference between when I grew up and now is dramatic. I got a small portable transistor radio when I was in high school and it was cutting edge. In contrast my mom didn’t have a home phone when she was a young girl. Yup, smoke signals.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Happy Anniversary to you two kids! As for s’mores, the last time I had one I found it too sweet, too. I don’t know if it’s my tastebuds OR that the ingredients have more sugar in them now?

    Liked by 1 person

  6. People sure don’t socialize like they used to. I guess back in those days when we only had one or two TV channels and no internet, we needed each others’ company more. We got together with neighbours and extended family; we made our own music; the kids were happy to play together. It was a different time. -Fairweather

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Somehow summer is when I think of those days of lazy low key days of family during childhood. We, are spread so wide now – email and FaceTime is nice, but face to face is so much better
    Go for easy reunion preps – all that matters is the people anyway (If we had only realized that earlier, right?)
    Congrats on the anniversary!

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Happy Anniversary, Kate. I relate all too well to your comment about “it seems like only yesterday,” which comes to my mind more and more frequently. I feel like life is flying at warp speed. 🙀 I’m sure your family reunion will be a wonderful time for all who attend. I’ll look forward to hearing more about it.

    Liked by 1 person

    • The reunion is always fun for me. Since I’m hosting, I’ll be flitting around and time will fly at warp speed. Before I know it, all that will be left are the empty plates and cups!

      Like

  9. If we had leftovers from making s’mores around the campfire, I would use the rest of the bag of marshmallows by toasting them over a candle ~ preferably one with 3 wicks. It worked, but the ambiance was lacking.

    Hope your Family Reunion is fun for all. Just remember where you ordered any party supplies. Go to the RIGHT store. 😀

    And Happy 16th. We just celebrated #39 this month with a few small treats.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. You may have read on some of my blog posts about how I used to ride my bike to my grandmothers’ house. One lived a mile away, the other 3/4 of a mile away. My cousins lived a few blocks away, and we all went to the same school.

    Yes, I miss the closeness of those days very much.

    Good luck with prepping for the reunion. It’ll be great fun once it arrives. It’ll be over before you know it, and you’ll be wishing they were nearby again.

    Liked by 1 person

  12. We tried s’mores on Memorial Day at my daughter’s house. She had the wrong chocolate, and–of course–we didn’t have a bonfire. So I think we agreed that it was unsuccessful. S’mores used to be such a wonderful treat! Didn’t you love to roast those marshmallows!? Everyone was proud of the way they roasted their own (or at least they pretended to be). “Oh, I like them black.” And then there was the slow and careful person who got it just right, totally melted inside.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Happy Anniversary Kate! I am always envious of your annual family reunions, since I’ve never been to one of my own and I have told Anne Mehrling that many times with her family get-togethers. Growing up, my mom would tell me they went to her grandmother’s farm for all the holidays and since my grandmother was one of nine kids, there were lots of family members and cousins all around the same age as she was. She said it was a lot of fun. So I definitely missed out on these family events.

    Who says you can’t go back and enjoy food like you did as a kid – well you say s’mores fell short of your expectations and I had a similar experience. I once saw Marshmallow Fluff on the store shelf and pictured having a delicious “Fluffernutter” like I enjoyed well into young adulthood. If you’ve never had one, it is peanut butter on bread or toast and you dip a hot spoon into the marshmallow cream and spread it thick onto the peanut butter – yummy, right? I took a few bites and thought “I can’t eat this – it is way too sweet, just gooey and sickening sweet.” I am not one to waste food, but that was it for that bottle of marshmallow cream. They had a commercial and a song about “Fluffernutters” back in the day – all the kids ate them.

    Liked by 1 person

      • I think I only had s’mores once at Summer Camp and I found them sweet as well. Heck, I used to dump a lot of mini-marshmallows into hot chocolate and would find that sickening sweet now.

        Liked by 1 person

  14. Happy Anniversary. We had only one family reunion when I was a kid. It was at a lake, but I was maybe 5, so I don’t remember much. Most of the family is gone now. I have my brother, niece and nephews and their children. We all live in the same area now which is nice because I can see my great nieces and nephews grow up.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. Happy Anniversary! My husband’s family always had a June family reunion – great conversation, good food, and some mighty welcome hugs. His parents passed, then he and his eight siblings kept it going, but then everyone got older. Now, we are on the east coast, one is on the west coast, and one is in the middle. I’m glad I have those very good memories, and I hope you make more memories next weekend.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I have memories like that from the childhood reunions. It included my parents’ siblings. In total I had 50 cousins. People died. People broke into their own family groups which is what we did. Now I have memories of my brothers’ families. I’d love to have one more reunion with my aunts and uncles (all gone!).

      Like

  16. Happy Anniversary you two!
    We just passed on a reunion in Missouri. I am very happy we did. That kind of togetherness wears me out. Too peopley. Brain fog… yep, I have it.
    It’s nice you are looking forward to your reunion. I know it will be fun for you. I would tell you not to stress because I know you will handle it with fun, food and laughter.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Today I finished cleaning the basement. We have a walk-out with a patio so we are going to do it there. This is the first time in the 2-1/2 years we’ve been here that we are using it. The spider residents were not happy with me! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  18. I haven’t seen anyone in my family in years. My brother and his family live in Ohio (where I grew up) and my cousins live in Arizona and California…I think.

    Liked by 1 person

  19. Happy anniversary! We saw advertised yesterday this tiny (and I mean tiny) fire pit to sit on a porch/patio table. I think it was mostly meant for ambience, but they actually showed people taking turns to roast marshmallows. We had to laugh because it looked like a total failure. So don’t beat yourself up with your own creation. 😆

    Liked by 1 person

  20. We used to have family picnics in the New Forest and everyone took something for the table. It was other brother’s 40th and the family was pretty wide spread (I was 70 miles away, and turned up with a gallon of homemade coleslaw). We’d have treasure hunts and ball games, hide and seek and Dad set up a zip line on the truck for the younger kids. They were all having fun then we noticed some kids that didn’t belong to any of us joining the queue and strange adults looking around for someone in charge. They had the idea we were a mobile cafe (we even had washing up bowls and soapy water) and wanted to know where they paid for their sandwiches and cake! The more the merrier and we all had a great time, the final game being a sweet scrabble (all individually wrapped) and the older kids were helping the younger ones fill their goody bags. I think that was actually the last one we had, so 41 years ago now. Happy days! Enjoy your get together next week.

    Liked by 1 person

  22. My husband has repeatedly placed orders at the wrong Chipotle or Jersey Mike’s. And then we wait! My cousins all lived far away and I don’t have much of a relationship with them. I’ve spent a lot of vacations with my family and their kids in an effort to give Baby D more of a connection with his cousins, but COVID years ended that. We’re heading back to DC/ VA/ MD in a few days, though, so he will get a chance to see some of them again then, and hopefully at Thanksgiving.

    Liked by 1 person

    • It’s hard to get a strong connection when you see them so frequently. Some of my cousins who I would only see at the reunion (when I was a child) I haven’t seen or heard from or about in 40 years.

      Liked by 1 person

  23. Brain fog happens at any age…..it’s just more FREQUENT at “a certain age” ! Funny story about your Mom’s meds though. I grew up in a military family so we never were in any one place long enough to make “close” friends – nor did we have a lot of relatives anywhere hence no family reunions. It kind of set me up for a lifetime of feeling like a very small fish in a very huge pond at big gatherings. I sort of got over that when I used to do book signings back in my writing days but the thought of a family reunion now gives me chills. You, however, will have a wonderful reunion – I’m sure of it…..especially if you miss them !

    Hugs, Pam

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.