SHEs Organized

Booksaver: we'll find out on Thursday about the renovations! The awful cabinet in the dining room was gone as were the horrible medallions on the doors. The ensuite bathroom door can't be rehung the opposite way so we'll probably end up taking it off the hinges (it isn't necessary for privacy since it is in the dressing area of the bedroom and not visible from the bedroom door or most places in the bedroom itself.) The new kitchen sink and faucet are gorgeous.

Still to do is swap the washer and dryer and add a counter next to the kitchen sink. We can swap the washer/dryer ourselves and will if they won't because they are ergonomically incorrect now. The counter is a biggie that got missed. We have a backup plan but would rather have exactly what we wanted and were promised. Our backup plan has us putting one of our chrome rolling shelves in the space and lining up one of the shelves exactly with the existing counter and putting the next shelf up very high up. In a way, I'm interested in trying this solution because it opens up the option of using the shelves above and below counter level for pots & pans.

I've decided to buy myself new Corelle plates in the new colour scheme I want for the new place (black/white/chrome/touch of pine.) The Urban Black pattern will do (I wanted all black, square, plates but they don't make them. My old plates I bought in 1998 or 1999, after joining the SHE boards. There was a discussion about having nice things that all matched and I could afford to buy something new that I loved. Well, the dang things are still going strong but I don't love them anymore! Neither do the kids but I'm sure I can sell them online easily (set of 12 for $20 sounds like a quick sale to me!) My current kitchen is blue (with floral knobs, country accents and tons of wood) so I'm looking forward to picking up new accents and going for something completely different!

Choir went well. Had a nice chat after with CM and CF. Phone my senior friend to make sure she was ok (I'm worried she feels left out with us moving.) Her kidney stone has settled so she isn't in pain while she waits for the specialist to follow up. I'm glad about that.

My tummy is a bit settled but still twitchy. I just had a large serving of cut veggies and hummus.

I replied to 2 emails, from my 2 favorite people: my Dsis & Dcousin-in-law. Dcousin-friend (we've decided we are now) just had her bfriend she's dated, gone on trips with, camped with, is her roommate now. I'm happy for her. Dsis started out as a partners relationship, too, so when her partner had open heart surgery, they decided, "Why haven't we gotten married? It's about time, isn't it? So why not?" so they did. Now I have the dearest BIL, he looks like DH, is built like him, has his sense of humor & I know Dsis will has a good marriage with him. Anyway, it was nice to reply to their emails.

I feel so slow today. I printed up a medications list for the dentist along with a list explaining my symptoms & how long they've been acting up. I hate to go, but want to feel better, so must go. It's just "Life". Right?

I ate lunch, it was healthy, but my stomach was acting up, so used Pepto Bismol for that. I gave up on my bad hair day, which I'd shampooed last p.m., so put in short pigtails. There's not enough laundry to do, DH is watching the Mariners game & that movie "National Treasure," starring Nicolas Cage. So he flips back & forth, but what's new. Men are funny that way. Are there other SHE wives married to DH-channel flippers? Just curious.

I'm so glad I emptied the DW this morning. And happily, there's not enough laundry to do. I need to write in my journal & DH might take me to Walmart tomorrow, if I'm up to it. We're looking for white Peaches 'n' Cream OR Sugar 'n' Creme yarns for kitchen crochet. I'd love to find a new color for kitchen mats again, too. When we get a color with white in it with pretty solid colors with the white, they crochet out so nice & pretty. Our black 12" square granite kitchen tiles get water marks on them easily, so they're hard to keep up, to dry in time before they mark, etc.. DH had this idea. To make kitchen mats. I make a long 1 for beneath the window beside the corner sink, for soap, lotion, recycle glass, etc.. Then, to the left of that, there's a mat for recycle, but we keep it cleared quickly, always putting things into recycle promptly. The only days we get more stuff on that mat is because of bad weather. There's a mat next to the back of the dish drainer mat for dishes which are awaiting to go into the DW because the DW needs to be emptied &/or loaded. Then there is another mat, long & narrow above the DW, where small bowls, etc. go before the DW loading. Oddly, the mats don't add to a cluttered look, they're pretty, & add charm & a hominess to the kitchen. I love to keep the dishes up, so we can see our pretty mats without anything on them. So on-line, Walmart has this 1 cone with white & a pretty apple to olive green in it & 1 other color, which would make nice mats. If I only end up with white, I'll be happy, for it's for gifts & I have cones here at home, in darker colors, for Autumn & winter, to make up, too. I just found my index card with the mat measurements on it. It's so nice to put something into place & have it be there when I go to use it! I hate losing items in the house. It's like there's a black hole someplace here. My late MIL called it "the gremlin came to visit in the night and...." She was so funny. Cute, too. I miss her.

Kathryn, Good luck on the renovations.

Booksaver, My DH & I are having a Monday like you two, too!

OKay, Do you have a ham hock in your pinto beans?

CathyS, I'll go over to MO to read what you said.

Helia, You're so productive!

Trip to 3 cemeteries was solemn. AFterwards LO and I went to the local spray park so he could run and laugh. Then a quick trip to the grocery store for milk.

Pinto beans are rarely seasoned the same way. Today I put some chucks of Easter ham (has been in freezer), a splash of BBQ sauce, rinsed out a almost empty ketchup bottle adding probably 1/4 cup of ketchup, a handful of finely chopped onion and a handful of date sugar. Everyone gave the final product a thumbs-up. I use a muffin top pan to bake the cornbread because we like it crusty. Dinner was made with about 10 minutes of hands on time....about 5 minutes to start the instant pot after lunch then about 5 minutes to mix cornbread and put into oven. My kinda meal Quick & easy.....and OH so good!

After dinner LO and I spend 15 minutes on Math activities. We spend most of it working on recognizing coins (quarter, dime, nickel & pennies) and their value. Then we used flash cards to drill on shapes. He hasn't got these down pat so we will be working on it a few minutes every day for awhile.

About 20 days ago I decided to focus on one raised bed garden a day. I put each raised bed on calendar as a reocurring event. Putting all my focus just on one garden bed is bringing the Joy of Gardening back. I love it!! Now if I could only get rid of the dratted moles!! I have lost count how many plants that have just went *POOF*. Especially the flower bulbs and onions. It is kinda fascinating in a horrible way.....Each morning I check to see which plant/s disappeared overnight. Thankfully they don't seem to like tomato or pepper plants.

I managed to get 7 boxes done tonight. Finished off the dining room, I think. Got the knick-knacks in the sitting room boxed up too. Dh worked on cuttings from the maple tree with our friend from church who will try transplanting them for us. Ds was on Skype with me and heard our friend's voice so we told him what we were up to. Poor ds pictured Daddy tapping the trees. I had to explain it will be 30 years before the trees can be tapped! Ds has already found a couple of pieces of land to look at more closely when he gets home. He's really serious about this idea of settling down and living in a garage, then building a home, room by room (possibly starting with converting shipping containers.)

Off to bed now.