SHEs Organized

Hello to everyone!!!

I am pleasantly surprised to be at home today. However, I'm on granny-duty and I just now got dgs to * reluctantly * agree to take a nap!
DS called about 15 minutes before our alarm went off this morning to see if I preferred to keep dgs and let him go to the ballgame w/dh. It didn't take me long to agree to that! He said ddil had agreed to work tonight b/c she knew he would be home, but she certainly didn't mind him going to college town if I would keep dgs. So... I was glad to have a day to myself, even if I am sharing it with someone else.

And I have not made a total waste of the day, either.
I had s/s guest bath, and was s2s, including using facial mask, when they arrived, and w/dgs looking on, I finished my make-up, painted my toenails, & s/s master bathroom, including weekly Mr. Clean swipe of dh's shower floor.

Since then, we have played in the floor, watched Big Valley & The Rifleman, and had a jar of mixed fruit.
I have also washed two loads of clothes and I am HOPING I did not leave my pants in the dryer too long!!! I am really afraid I may have shrunk my two very favorite pairs of pants. The buzzer on the dryer does not work, and if I don't set my own timer, it is sooo sooo easy for me to forget I put a load in. But they were only there about 20 minutes -- however, that was long enough that those two pairs are pretty much completely dry!

I need to call dparents, dmil, and finish ironing. Still haven't watched last week's episode of Downton Abbey, either.
House needs vacuuming VERY badly, also, but I don't think that will happen today.

Hmmm... Kathryn, your bosom buddy sounds a little like me --

(she hates to leave home if she can avoid it.)

WTG on the hiking!!! I am impressed. I can't seem to make myself go out to walk when it is less than 55 degrees! Of course, if it is MORE than 55 degrees, I have other excuses, unrelated to the weather.

Oh -- satisfaction index here... I'd have to say I am extremely satsified w/my life. We are very blessed; our house & cars are paid for & we have some savings. I hope we don't "outlive" our savings! But of course, we both will have a fairly good retirement, plus Soc. Sec., as long as that lasts... I'm sure a lot of people would say we spend waaay too much on entertainment and eating out, but we don't spend a lot on anything else. Neither of us shop for clothes or other things for ourselves very often at all.
We're really sorta dreading changing phones, but we kinda do want a smart phone and it looks like my little flip phone is not long for this world. I'm afraid it's going to take me FOREVER to get used to the touch screen of an iPhone... but I think if I'm going to go with the change, then I want to go all the way and get one. I hope I won't hate it. The other reason we dread changing is b/c right now, our cell phone bill is less than $50 per month. So we know that will probably double when we switch.
Otherwise, in the matters that are really most important, we have so much to be thankful for. Our marriage is strong; we are both healthy; ds, ddil, dgs are all healthy and happy; our relationships with our parents and extended family are good; yes, my parents have a boatload of health concerns right now and dmil is elderly, but God is taking care of them all and things are going amazingly well, all things considered.
So -- it may sound boastful to say I am satisfied, but I am just saying all that to say I am sooo thankful that God IS taking care of us right now and giving me a measure of peace with all this re: dparents.
There is a lot that I would like to see happen -- you know -- perfect health for my parents and for them and dh to outlive me! -- an amazing career for ds -- a degree for ddil -- financial security for them forever! -- the ability to spend whatever I like on a new phone and not give it a second thought -- the ability to trade cars more often than every ten years! -- I'm not trying to say my life is perfect!!! But I do realize we are blessed, and I do give thanks to God and I pray that He will continue to give me peace and faith through the tough times and the worries and stresses that may lie ahead for us.

Waving to helia... Nancy... blessed...

Hmmm... Great Gatsby. I'm not even going to enter into that discussion. I don't teach it, and I am embarrassed to say, I have never read it -- unless it was in college, and if I did, I've forgotten all about it. Dfriend teaches it to 12th graders so I hear her talk about it a lot, but we've never discussed the use of "cataracts" in that context.
Now... if y'all want to talk about Great Expectations... I'm your girl.

Waving to Twins... scattered... and EVERYONE ELSE that I have been missing lately!

[url]cataract[/url] of foam...
n. A large or high waterfall.
n. A large waterfall; steep rapids in a river.

Hey, sisters!

It's a satisfying day here. DH and I went out for lunch and made a couple of other stops. He usually hates shopping, but needed underwear! I had good luck finding 2 pairs of shoes on clearance--just can't wear them until spring. We were intending to look at a furniture store, but couldn't find it. Will go back tomorrow now that I have verified the address.

We also live debt-free and paid cash for the kids' college. Bought them each a new car when they started their careers. We also let them know that their next car is on them. We are natural born penny pinchers. I love a bargain and get my cheap thrills at the thrift store. One thing I will say, our tithe goes to our church and we have never lacked for anything since making that commitment. DH was unemployed for a year during which we had to pay our own health insurance. He had been downsized out of his job, then got another job with an atrocious commute, which he did for over a year, but then had to quit as he physically couldn't do it anymore. There were no unemployment payments for him. So we have had trials, but I am here to say, the Lord does provide. We were also blessed to provide housing for a family member for 12 years. Not telling this to brag, except to say that God is good!

Colors of Gatsby...
http://www.lesekost.de/amlit/hhl252c.htm

http://www.utdallas.edu/geosciences/rem ... racts.html

The teacher in me made me play....

Lucylee: it was 14*F when we were hiking so not near as cold as it has been this week (we stayed below 0*F almost all week.) Again, being properly dressed is the key.

Dinner was nice and easy. Basically shake&Bake except I did my chicken in fine chopped almonds and garlic oil because I'm avoiding gluten. Baked 2.5 doz cookies while the oven was hot and made up rice krispy treats (both for tomorrow at church since the lady hosting coffee hour won't be there due to a sick kid.) I'll do some cheese and crackers too. All these items (except the cheese) were leftovers from Christmas pantry supplies so need to be used up.

The oven is on self clean now so I made excellent use of the heat (dinner/cookies/self-clean) and am proud of myself for planning ahead. Dishwasher is running too, so in the "Meanwhile" column I'm washing dishes, cleaning my oven and mindlessly surfing the internet. I should improve on that last item by something productive to do. Plus that will get me out of the stinky kitchen.

thank you thank you!! I love cowinkies:

The teacher in me made me play..

thanks for all the links too.

today while dd younger was at volunteer work I read a couple more chapters. I have really enjoyed reading it.

Right now I am listening to dd younger learning to play "Do you Hear" from Les Miserables - makes me feel like I am back at the movie. I will co-op in a bit . wishing you all a wonderful evening.

Lucy I haven't read great expectations (I have seen it on PBS) maybe that will be next book.
Love Elly's hey sisters!

Hello, villagers ~
I just started to cuop and I feel so disconnected from everyone here. I had to use tunnel vision, dig in and just keep forging ahead to get ready for today's fund-raising event at the library. I'm not used to working so many long days out of the house in a row any more! Also not used to working on concrete floors. #ow#

Thankfully there were enough other volunteers popping in this week to help set up so everything looked very pretty. Also someone else handled putting up the whole exhibit, and we had enough hands today to run the sale with me and clean up at the end.

I still need to count the money and do the bookkeeping, but I can't think straight enough tonight to do those. We had steady business but I know we didn't sell as much as last time. And I will vote against doing this type of sale again before our annual book sale in the summer. I have too many other big projects on my calendar!

DH took me out for supper, which tasted good but I was so tired that I asked for a box to bring home half. I'll finish it in a little while.

I had been planning to drive out of town tomorrow to a really big fabric sale in a store that buys ads in my sewing group's newsletter. Not that I need any more fabric, but I want to support their business. However, I just read the forecast which says freezing rain and sleet tomorrow, with possibility of being upgraded to an ice storm. In cuop I see that several of you have been fighting that the past few days. No, thank you, I'll stay in the house and sleep! Maybe the store will postpone their sale to another weekend.

oh d book please don't feel disconnected. Actually every time I see your name - I am so happy for you to be here. It's hard when our lives get so busy that we can't chat with each other like we want. So happy your here!