5 o'clock in February

I don't have many good ideas for blog posts but, for some reason, on the 1st of February it hit me that instead of trying to capture a "Picture of the Day" each day, I would set my phone alarm and, when it rang at 5 p.m. each day of the month, snap a picture.  It ended up working pretty well :)

Tom, of course, wasn't sure about this - "why would anyone care about what you are doing at 5 p.m. each day?" was his question but I decided not to let him deter me.  I don't know if "anyone" will care or not, but now I have a diary/record of it for myself!  This is "me" in this season of life, getting another year older with the guy I married 30 years ago and the parents given to me then as well as the ones who I have called "Mom & Dad" for over 50 years and the kids that have called ME "Mom" for over 20 years.  This is life.  

Here we go...the longest shortest month of the year:

Feb. 1st:

And the puzzle is still not done.  Sigh.  It's a tough one!! 

Feb. 2nd:

John Mark did a reel about some artificial ferns he got for a client he was decorating for.  Obviously I'm not going to spend hundreds of dollars for something like that, but it was a great idea so I picked these up and they are a great "green" for this time of the year when hardly anything is green.  I never even put anything in that planter at Christmas this year for some reason - I had been pulling up to a dead mum by my garage all this time :(

Feb. 3rd:  

I happen to know another one of these is coming up because I just snapped it last week -ha!  

Feb. 4th:  

This was actually taken at almost 6 p.m. - I was meeting a friend for dinner at the mall so must have been driving over there at 5 and then forgot to snap when I got there.  And then didn't get a picture of "us" either. . .I'm telling you, without an alarm I am really off my game.

Feb 5th:  

Oops!  I forgot on this day. . .but captured this one earlier in the day. . .these lazy doggies are always very happy when someone is home with them during the day.  That's such a great thing about my new job - I can usually be home at least 2 days during the week.  Chelsea (in the bed - 13 years old) has never been allowed on the furniture but Radar (adopted by Erin in May last year) somehow easily won us over for "this" spot.  He's not allowed anyplace else but as long as he stays on that blanket we like having him there with us :). It's true about kids and grandkids (or granddogs??) - restrictions really do lift!!

Feb. 6th:

I was with my girlie in Cookeville!  I visited our locations there that day and since my birthday was that weekend and I wasn't going to get to see her she drove two hours to meet me there :). 

Feb. 7th:

This was my actual 5 o'clock picture (finishing up my workday from my mom's office at her house in Ohio) but the below captures the highlight of February 7, 2025 - my mom took me out for a birthday dinner!  

We went to Kitchen Social  and that was my delicious birthday treat.

Feb. 8th:  

Looking back through my photos I don't have a "5:00 p.m." picture but I was probably driving. . .here is a collection from that day - gas prices (and drizzly cold rain) in Ohio, my visit with Tom Harrison, my dad and I taking his wife to Homegoods for the first time (!!!!), my sister was in Tahoe skiing with her daughter and husband and she sent this picture to me and then Mom's and my dinner from Dorothy Lane Market.  It was a great day :)

Feb. 9th:  This day was documented here where I took a picture every hour :). This was my actual 5 p.m. picture though:  

Tom got me a new pickleball bag for my birthday!

 Other highlights from that day are 

Eating lunch with my family at Super Chix after driving home from Cincinnati that morning, getting the dogs out (sunshine!!!), Laura's Cookies from DLM, enjoying my new blanket (the gift I hadn't opened yet from the girls and Radar) while Tom watched the Super Bowl and I read a book.  A perfect way to spend a birthday!

Feb. 10th:  

Apparently this was another day I didn't get a picture at 5 p.m. (but the point was to start taking a Picture of the Day and the timer was just reminding me to do so) - I worked from home and snapped this picture about 2 p.m. to let Erin know how well we take care of her doggie when she is out working hard during tax season :)

Feb. 11th:  

This truly was my sole picture that day - obviously working until the 5 o'clock hour at my desk at the office.

Feb. 12th - once again my only POTD (so the timer was working to get at least one picture daily!)Yes, I was probably bribing them with a treat to get them to sit for a pic :)

Feb. 13th - the lilies in my birthday bouquet were blooming!  And I love the way they smell.

Feb. 14th - Tom and I tried a new-to-us place for Valentine's Day - we went early so these were all before 5 o'clock :) 

Feb. 15th - I was preparing a charcuterie tray for dinner with Rachel's parents at 5 p.m. - the second picture is the finished product on the counter at their house :). 

Feb. 16th - I only took two pictures this day also - the first is my actual "5 p.m." picture and the second is the meal itself that I snapped at 6:01.  Tom and Stephen had smoked some ribs for us that were delicious.

Feb. 17th - 

Looks like we were headed to the park at 5 p.m.!

Feb. 18th - 

Looks like this was a good day to have a timer or the day would be forever forgotten (because, as we say in the banking industry, if it's not documented it didn't happen ;)).  Leaving work.

Feb. 19th - looks like it was a snowy day - got a picture at 7:30 in the morning and, it appears, as a result of this snow and cold temperatures, I have the screenshot later in the day to record a cause-and-effect example in my life - ha!!  

Feb. 20th - snow, snow, snow. . .looks like the sun was out though!

Feb. 21st - but look!  By 5 p.m. the following day there was very little left. . .

And, just in case I haven't mentioned 100 times how grateful I am for that beautiful new fence for the doggies - here is Thanks #101.

Feb. 22nd - 

This is what I was doing at 5 p.m. but apparently I took a few other pictures on this particular Saturday - toes and progress on the puzzle!

Feb. 23rd - 

Another day I was glad I had an alarm because this is literally the only picture I took that day - we went to an information night at the church we are considering joining.

Feb. 24th - Robert happened to be at our house when my alarm rang on the 24th - lucky me!!!  Then, I headed out to mine and Gabrielle's February birthday dinner - can you believe how generous this group is?!?  

I had so.much.fun visiting with these ladies and then "showing off" my loot :)

Feb. 25th - 

How much more unglamorous can "5 o'clock in February" get?!?

Feb. 26th - Truth be told, this was a little before 5 p.m. because I was probably on the road by then.  Most weeks I make out our blocktime schedule so everyone gets fairly even playing time and not play the same people over-and-over.  It's a great group!

Feb. 27th - 

5 p.m. Stephen was taking us to the airport. . .by 6:30 we were boarded and ready to go!

Feb. 28th - my brother's birthday!!!

This was my actual 5 p.m. picture - I could happily be in this spot at 5 p.m. every day of the year :). I blogged about this trip here.

And that's a wrap of 5 o'clock in February from me.  Now I know it takes me 15-ish days to complete so will start March earlier. I decided on a different time of the day and it's not working out as well, but I'm going to persevere and see what happens.

And, if, like Tom you "don't care", no biggie!!  I have always dated all kinds of things throughout my life and enjoy seeing the normal and extraordinary in each day if I can.

Since it happens to be a link-up Monday with Holly and Sarah I'll join them in Hello Monday :)

Head over to their blogs to see what is going on with others in Blogland :)

Love,

Jenni

P. S. Laura was home this weekend and finished the puzzle!!  Yay!  Can't wait to glue it together and hang it :)