Five Finds Friday (touring college and of course – boots & tea)
This week was fasssst.
And pretty lovely and pretty regular and there was a golden conversation with the most wonderful of humans and there were long hard stares directed at me from teens and there were jobs that got checked off to the to do list and a major frustration financially and a car battery that died but a dad who bought a portable recharger and it was the kind of week we all lived – up and down like the ocean waves.
And here we are – FRIDAY!
funny
I like teenagers. And I like raising them and being around them.
And I like laughing about them.
And you will too.
This Instagram feed is the actual best thing I’ve read on the interwebs in forever.
I spent way too long reading these out loud to my children. Teenagers. Who did not laugh with me. Probably because they felt attacked.
But WE know this is hilarious.
fashionable
Remember how I love boots?
Ha – that’s rhetorical. Everyone who knows me in any capacity knows I have a deep affection for the boots of the world.
And remember how I was looking at all the beautiful Frye boot options?
A few weeks ago, after that post, a thoughtful friend sent me a text.
“Hey, I think I found the Frye boots you wanted.
At TJ Maxx.
For waaaaaay less.”
We texted back and forth.
She searched for the size that was closest to basically being my size.
“I’m hiding these under the shoe shelf in the back.”
And then she sent me a photo of where they were hidden.
How amazing was that?
I included a trip to TJ Maxx in my afternoon plans.
Searched the aisle. Found the hiding place.
Tried them on.
Sat down and contemplated and contemplated.
For more time than was reasonable. They are technically a half size larger than I usually wear.
But they still felt great.
In that long span of waiting and staring into space thinking about this purchase, two men walked by and looked at the shoes in my hands.
“Those are good shoes. Are you going to buy them? What size are those? My wife wears that size.”
Reader, I bought the Frye boots.
flavorful
You know I love tea. Like you know I love boots.
Everyone knows everything about me. Fine.
At our local Vietnamese restaurant – Tru Broth – you can buy an Oohlong Milk Bubble Tea (minus the bubbles for me).
It’s nearly perfect.
And if you need to fake it at home for NOT the $6 price tag, this is the golden ticket right here from Target:
It’s SO easy and it’s too delicious and it tastes like the real deal.
And it’s only about $3 and it lasts for a lot more drinks than you’d realize.
Also – apparently I have been drinking it too often late in the day and all that caffeine is keeping me awake. Oops!
faithful
It’s so much better to learn at this parenting gig with fellow parents – comrades.
A couple of fellow Big Kid parents and I have a little club where we commiserate or encourage or complain, you know how it goes.
At the end of one of our text threads, Judy Kay suggested I purchase the following book:
I’m not very good at praying specific prayers for my kids and I wish I was.
This book is a lovely little tool.
There are prayers For Humility and prayers For Facing Fears and For Finding the Long View and For Practicing Justice and For Wisdom in Cyberspace and so much more.
And they’re beautiful and I read them out loud and name my kids and pray for these qualities and traits and guidance and hope.
I know my own mother prayed for me diligently and daily. I don’t think I ever realized while she alive what a gift and a kindness that was.
feels
These kids of mine.
The same teenagers who steal my phone charger, make the kitchen filthy on the nightly and pick the silliest music videos for us to watch are the exact same kids I adore and would run into moving traffic for.
I love when good things happen to them.
This week Mosely and Bergen and I toured Anderson University and it was a lovely day of future dreaming and hope planning.
It is a sweet privilege to walk beside them in this season.
This week London and Mosely also both had streaks of color put in their hair.
They are just so cute and it’s a fun job to cheer them on!
And also – yeah – I don’t have a photo of London and her cute pink highlights.
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