On the Road Again

Perhaps I should say that we are STILL on the road! Sometimes I wonder if we'll ever be home long enough to get all moved in to our new house. Hubby and I left last week for Nashville to visit our son and granddaughter. Son didn't have vacation time, so it is our "job" to keep Sweetie Pie entertained while he is at work. Or, maybe I should say that she keeps us entertained while he is at work.

She turns six next week. Where did the time go? Most of our time is spent playing "Peter Pan" or "Rapunzel". There is a Civil War statue nearby, which we walk to at least once a day. At the statue, there are also long, cement benches, which turn into a ship's plank. "Wendy" bravely walks the plank, while "Cap'n Hook" (Pappy) urges her on. Meanwhile, "Peter" (for once, I'm not the witch!) waits to swoop in and rescue her before she splashes into the water. After playing that for 500 times, we go to the park and switch to Rapunzel. This time Pappy gets to be Prince Eugene and I'm Mother Gothal. Pappy tries to hurry the story along and wants to cut Rapunzel's hair, but he is quickly reminded that "it's not time for that, Pappy!".

We did have one mishap, as we usually do, in the middle of the week, as usual, when there is not enough time for complete healing. Sometimes I have to double as Cap'n Hook and Peter Pan. Cap'n Hook was chasing Wendy, she fell, nose first, right on the concrete. OUCH!! Took the skin right off her cute little nose. There wasn't much blood, but we had to put a bandaid on every little spot, which was not easy on a little nose. And then, we have to send her back home with a scabbed up nose. Her mom probably wonders what in the world we do that she always comes home with some kind of boo-boo. (We have fun and play hard, that's what we do!)

After our week was up, we drove out to Little Rock, AR to visit some friends, since we were half-way there. We had a nice time and ate some great food. Then we left on Monday morning for Indiana, so Hubby could work with BIL for a few days. I did a little painting for SIL, but now I have the day to myself. Tomorrow, I may be helping her strip wallpaper. The fun never ends!

We have been having all this beautiful weather, but can't be home to start getting our garden ready, and bush-hogging the "yard". Oh, there's so much to do! We have a water purifier system coming on Friday, so we have to get home before that is delivered. The plan is to get the water purifier set up, and get my kitchen sink installed. It will seem like pure luxury to have a working sink again. Maybe we'll even get the dishwasher hooked up. That will seem like heaven!

I have a bunch of pictures to show you, but, can't be home long enough to get them downloaded. (Good news! I found my camera cable wire!) I wonder if life will ever get back to normal. I wonder if I'll ever be able to get all moved in. I wonder if life will ever slow down enough for us to enjoy it. It seems the harder we try to slow down and simplify, the more we hear "not yet".

But, we'll keep doing the things we need to do, in order to accomplish the things we want to accomplish, even if it kills us! heehee 

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A - You're Adorable

The other day, I mentioned to Amazing Daughter with a great sigh, "Oh my, April is coming way too fast."  She looked at me the way daughters look at mothers when they think their mother has completely lost all sense.


"Mom." she said, rather patiently, "It's still February."


"Oh yeah. You're right. Whew! What a relief."


I have once again signed up for the A-Z Blogfest in April. And, almost immediately, I start obsessing about what in the world I will blog about. I had great fun with it last year, and believe it or not, did blog all the way through the alphabet. 


This song always comes to my mind. Heehee. This video is very cheesy. Remember Lawrence Welk?? Haha! I was cracking up the entire time. Hope you get a chuckle out of it. And when you finish laughing, click on the A-Z Blog button on the right and join in the fun!

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First Make a Mess

The dust is flying, the drills are drilling, Hubby is vacuuming the walls and floors, and I have been ordered out of the kitchen. Ahh, sweet music to my ears.


Today's project is putting more light in the kitchen. Our electrician friend is here helping Hubby put can lights in the header. The kitchen is so shadowy that I feel like I need a light attached to my forehead while making supper in order to see what I'm doing.


So far, all is going well. I have been assured that the hard work is finished, so the chances for a catastrophe happening have been considerably diminished. However, I am waiting for lightening to strike, causing the aforementioned catastrophe. It's not that I'm a pessimist, it's just that I know how things usually work around here. That being said, it does seem like things are going remarkably well. All the holes were drilled with no mistakes, no "oops! wrong spot", no unseen surprises.


I don't have any pictures to post because, although we are making progress with the unpacking, I still have not located the wires that connect my camera to the computer. I'm fairly certain that I will find what I need in one of the dozen boxes that are still packed up.


If all goes well (fingers and toes crossed) I should have a well-lit kitchen tonight.

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Will Wonders Never Cease, and When it Rains, it Floods, and as a bonus, Bra Shopping

That is a ridiculously long title, but a fitting one!


When I last left you, I believe that Hubby was riding atop the gazebo as it was being moved to its new permanent place. I guess he wanted to get the bird's eye view of our estate. 


Anyway, his next crucial job was to work on plumbing, so that I would have a place to wash the dishes, which for now is in the basement utility sink. (Every day is like camping! I wish I liked camping.)  Plumbing has never been a joyful experience. It usually consists of a lot of frustration and @#$%  and *&^%$^&*% and other various and asundry words. At the outset of a plumbing project, he tries very hard not to swear, and some of his phrases can be quite comical, but as time goes on and drips keep appearing, and he has to re-do the process, the words flow quite profusely. So, as the plumbing time grew nearer, I did what any wife would do, I started praying, and stayed as far away as I could from the plumbing area. He worked. I prayed. He worked some more. I prayed. It seemed very quiet in the basement. I thought about going down to see how things were progressing, but thought better of it. Better to leave well enough alone. Finally, the moment we had been dreading waiting for arrived. Hubby came upstairs and announced that it was time to pray, because he was going to turn on the water and see if he had to re-do the whole thing. "Not to worry", I said, "I've been praying." Then I uttered a last, desperate plea. 


He turned on the water.


I waited for the spewing of words, signaling the dreaded "drip". 


It was quiet.


I waited some more.


Still quiet.


Finally, Hubby came upstairs, announcing, "I can't believe it! The first time in my ENTIRE LIFE that I haven't had a drip!" He was quite pleased with himself, and I uttered a prayer of thanks, and gave Hubby a congratulatory hug. 


So, now I am able to lug all our dirty dishes down to the basement, wash them and bring them back up. 


In case you are wondering, we have been using styrofoam plates, and "red solo cup!" and plastic forks. But, the only thing we burn (yay! we live in the country, so we can burn our trash) is the plates. The cups and forks are too nice to throw away! Crazy isn't it? Oh, and there's also the pots and pans that need washed. 


Someday, maybe next week, I will have my kitchen all put back together. Hubby is currently in Florida for a few days visiting his H.S. friend and best man. He's on Hospice, due to hardening of the lungs - I can't remember the actual name of it - but, death comes from suffocation. It's a terrible way to go. There are some things more important than a kitchen sink.


Also, while Hubby was gone, we had a big rain storm. Before he left, he said to me, "Make sure you listen for the sump pump, that it keeps running." So the next morning when I awoke, I was happy to hear the sump pump running. I didn't worry, nor did I go down to check the basement. However, when Amazing Daughter went down to shower, she informed me that we did indeed have water in the basement.


Thankfully, due to the first flooding, we made sure that everything in the basement was put on a shelf, and anything on the floor was in plastic tubs. We have a solid and quality built home, but there is one thing that wasn't done correctly. And, that is the basement floor. It wasn't made to drain into to sump pump. No. It's higher in the middle, so all the water goes to the side opposite the sump pump. I spent most of the morning sweeping the water to the sump pump area, only to have it continually coming back. I felt like the widow whose oil container never emptied. (l Kings 17:12-16) After the first hour, I decided to go down every hour and sweep away, and finally, after several sweepings, I decided to take a longer break and go bra shopping.
(Due to losing 40 pounds, my cups no longer runneth over, and in fact, there's quite a bit of wiggle room. And, when I say "wiggle", I mean, ohhh, that might be too much information....Never mind.)


That little adventure took a good three hours, because first I had to figure out my new size, then I had to find that size on the 70% off rack at Kohl's. Compared to my old size, the new size looks like a training bra! But, at least I no longer have to worry about the dreaded "gap". It is kind of weird to button a blouse without having to pull and tug.


Well, that has been my week in a nutshell. Now, I must get back to the fun-filled job of unpacking and putting away of "stuff".

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Project 52 Update

Well, glory be, believe it or not, I'm finally getting around to Project 52. Here it is, closing in on March, and this is only the second or third update. Oh well, the year is still young.


For some reason, setting goals seems to be much more difficult blah uninteresting uninspired unimportant ...as you can see, I'm having a difficult time just coming up with the right word. Not sure what it is exactly, maybe it's just all due to moving, and my goal list has been put on the back-burner.


With that being said however, there are a few goals which can be crossed off the list! And, after all, that is the whole point of making a goal, being able to cross it off the list, and being able to look back on the year's accomplishments.


#1. Find my (rough draft) list. It has been found. I thought it might have been  lost forever during the move, but it appeared almost out of nowhere. 


#2. Finish the list - as you can clearly see, this has not been accomplished!


#3. Reach my goal weight. This has been accomplished, for the first time in my life. I finished my second round of the Hcg diet in mid-January, so now the test   will be to keep it off.


#7. Move into a new house. This has been accomplished, although it is far from being completed. We are making progress, and the rooms are actually starting to look like rooms and not a storage warehouse. The washer and dryer are hooked up and running. We have a working toilet and a small sink. And we have access to a shower in the basement. Hubby is diligintly working on plumbing today so we will have water in the utility sink in the basement. (Please God, let this be true!) There aren't too many things that he hates working on more than plumbing. Currently, I don't have water or a sink in the kitchen. Let me correct myself, I do have a sink in the kitchen, but it is not hooked up. Hubby bought me a farmhouse-style sink, but it can't be installed or hooked up until the rest of the lower cupboards have all been installed. Oh, it's all quite a frustrating mess, and we find ourselves going round and round in a vicious cycle, trying to get the top priority things finished first, but there's always something else that needs to be completed before that one thing can be done. And, on top of all that, there is the usual "where the heck is _______? I know I saw it somewhere, but where that is, I do not know!" I hope that I will still have my sanity when all is said and done! If you are wondering why we have moved into this sad state of affairs, the short explanation is that we were forced into it. It was not our plan. 


I will be posting some pictures soon, (or later!), but first I have to locate the camera wires for downloading onto the computer. Actually, I may have already downloaded some pictures. Hold on while I check... 

Living room - Before

Living Room - After

Other end of Living Room. I ended up painting the
bookshelves brown. They look much better.

Dining Room - After
I always have to have a yellow room somewhere!

Our Bedroom - After
Blue and planning to have yellow accents.
My favorite color combination.

Jennee's room

Kitchen - It looks much more put together now.
The cupboards are actually against the walls
and not in the middle of the room!

Shared office space with Hubby.
(Hopefully, he won't regret it!)
My area is in the back by the window. He gave
me all the extra kitchen cupboards for my crap
craft and card making supplies.

When everything is put in its place, I'll give you another update. And, now I must get back to work, and start putting things away! Have a happy Monday.

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If Things Go As Planned?

I believe that those were the famous last words of my last blog. Really and truly I need to strike those words from my vocabulary, because things never, ever, no matter how hard we try, ev-er go as planned.


We had planned to have a nice, stress-free, organized move. However, that was not to be the case. I'm going to try not to turn this into a rant, but, we have just gone through a week of ...well, "hell" is the only word to describe it.


Without going into all the gory details, my niece and "gracious" SIL unleashed a tsunami of hateful words on us for not having the house in spotless condition two days before a supposed showing of the house, in the midst of moving. The showing did not happen until yesterday. So, we have spent the last week, getting everything out of her house, and piling it into ours. We are ever so slowly finding a place for everything, but most of our stuff is piled up on both sides of a pathway throughout the house. We do know where our underwear and toothbrushes are located, so it's not all bad!


But the thing that is so bothersome through all this is that now we know what my SIL (Hubby's Sis) really thinks of us. The things that spilled out of her mouth came so fast and furious that we know she had been keeping them bottled up. I know some of it had to do with the stress of getting her house sold. And, I can forgive her for that. But her low opinion of us, will take longer to forget. Hubby kept asking if the house was worth the cost of a friendship. Apparently it was, because she did not even stop to consider. I'm pretty sure she will eventually feel bad for the things she said, because I have never in all my life seen her act this way. But, the damage has been done, and I don't know how long it will take to repair.


I'm sorry that this is kind of a downer-blog, but I wanted to explain that it may be a little while longer until I get back to blogging. Thank you for all your lovely comments, most of which I haven't had time to respond to! I have signed up for the A-Z blogging in April, so I really hope that things will be back to normal (LOL!) by then.


The good news is that Papa Smurf has been found! Sweetie Pie stashed him away in Jennee's clost, and forgot about him. And, I did find my Project 52 list.  Sadly, there weren't as many things on my list as I thought, so I still have to come up with more! 


P.S. Don't be too hard on SIL in your comments. Oh, my gosh! You should see Hubby right now! He is sitting on top of the gazebo while it is being moved to its new location! I wish I had my camera to show you!!! 


Life can be a chairful of bowlies!

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Origins Blogfest

Welcome to "Origins" blog hop. Today's post is to be about how we became writers. I have to say, I feel like I'm crashing the party, and someone will be asking me to leave very shortly. I don't consider myself a "Writer" at all, but here's the story of how I got here.


Way back in 1955 I was born, and there was no pencil in my hand. (Don't worry, this won't be a long story!) Fast forward to the 70's and high school English and expository writing classes. Yuck. Pure torture. We would be given a topic and told to start writing. Pencils flying on papers all around me, while I stared at a blank sheet of paper, trying to conjure up one creative thought.


However, I did like to journal, or as we used to call it, write in our diary...Dear Diary, and I was an avid letter writer. People always enjoyed my letters because "you write like you talk". Ohh Kay. But doesn't everybody? My mom tried to encourage me to write, and used to say that I could be the next Erma Bombeck. Blush. Thank you, Mom. But, I always brushed it off saying, there was nothing to write about.


Then, maybe 15 or 20 years ago (my gosh does time fly!!) I started writing  Christmas letters. The recipients always seemed to love them. I almost gave it up because of the bad press of the dreaded Christmas letter. But, I was assured that my letters were "fun".


Now, here I am blogging about this pitiful little journey. My Amazing Daughter sat me down at the computer two years ago (or was it three?) no, I think it was two, and said, "You are going to blog."  
"What's there to blog about? And, why do I want to?"


"Just do it. It's like writing a diary. And, since your memory is so bad, it might help you to remember things that happen." 


So, here I am, just plugging away, attempting to find and share humor in our little hum-drum lives.  An added plus is all the wonderful friends I have made through blogging. Yes, I am talking about YOU! 


Next week, I promise (fingers crossed & if things go according to plan!) to give a Project 52 report. I've been a terrible slacker so far this year, as far as blogging and goals go, but my excuse is that we are getting ready to move.

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