Talk on a Tuesday

The Chairman is burning some late-night oil at the workplace and I don't feel like going to bed yet, so will do a late-night chat fest with you!

Have you seen those memes that say that someone is just done with 'adulting'.  That's kind of how I felt this past week.  Last week I noticed our water softener didn't seem to be working.  I went and kicked the tank a few times to see if that would help.  Then Googled it and it seemed like we had a salt dome issue.  So the Chairman and I dug through the salt and brine in the tank and discovered what Google said would be the issue.  But as I turned around I asked the Chairman, 'why is there a big puddle under the water heater?'.  Oh no.  A call to our plumber and some pictures and texts were exchanged and two days and nearly $2000 later we have hot water again.

Then the HVAC guy had to come to figure out why we were having condensation problems in certain rooms.  That was fixed and thankfully it was a little less than $2000.

So I've relished in the new stove/oven.  I've been literally cooking on all four burners.  I've been keeping the oven humming along.  Today's fare included three loaves of pumpkin bread, hamburger buns for at least two meals and also some dinner rolls.  I feel like I just gained a pound by typing that sentence.

A friend of mine just made this cute sign for me.  I really am happy with it.  And the saying is mostly true.

I have this spatula that I absolutely love that came with my Bosch mixer.  I tried to find a replacement for it to no avail.  In desperation I contacted Bosch via email my predicament and within ten minutes a lady responded saying she knew exactly what I was talking about and they just happened to have one sitting in her office so she sent it to me FOR FREE!!!  It is already safely nestled in my kitchen drawer just three days later.  Talk about service!

So I've been cleaning out kitchen cupboards and that led me to the basement and I started to go through boxes and tubs and looked in scary-dark corners of the "dirty room" and ended up with four huge bags of trash, a mid-sized SUV filled with treasures for Goodwill and then some other things we may use later or to sell.

 I was so glad to run across this again.  When our little premature baby died back in 1996, someone gave this to us just a few days after she had passed away.  For some reason, having her name etched on this little china box made her seem more real.  It was way more comforting to me than some flowers that were fading.  I'll always be thankful for their thoughtfulness.

Tonight I posted a picture of our old living room area rug.  Immediately there were people clamoring for it.  One lady that seemed the most interested and willing to pay full price said she'd meet me this week.  So I looked up her FB profile and I see it was a nice family.  Then I see some more details and I realize she has a little girl fighting a horrible cancer battle with her eyes!  She's blind in one eye now and may lose the sign in the other despite being cared for at Sloan-Kettering.  After we had agreed upon the price, I contacted her sheepishly and said I had been doing some FB stalking and saw what they were up against and to please leave the wallet at home.  She was incredibly gracious and we continued our 'chat' online.  I can't wait to meet her.  And I hope she brings little Julia along so I can tell her how brave I think she is.

Life is truly not for the faint of heart.  I think being aware of other's struggles is such a positive thing really.  It makes us feel less alone when we are going through them or makes us thankful that at present, we are healthy, happy, and hopeful.

So this is enough.  This week promises to be full of special privileges and visits.  I don't want to be looking sleepy so I better go catch a few winks.  Thanks for listening and for your cyber friendship!

Feeling hot hot hot...

Hello there!  I was busy this morning clearing out cupboards.  There's some in the garbage pile.  Some in the Goodwill pile.  Some going downstairs to the 'dirty room' as the MYP call it to wait and see if I need it again.  I'm sick of filtering through stuff I don't use all the time.

Why am I doing this?  Spring cleaning?  Well it is spring and I like things tidy.  But no.  The catalyst is because I got a new stove/oven this past week.  It's kind of like getting a new throw pillow in the living room and suddenly drywallers and paint experts are coming in to redo half of the house.

Last week I had a lot of bread orders.  And part-way through one day the oven just chirped and shut down for the second time in a month.  I texted the Chairman and may or may not have used the word "HATE" and yes in all caps.  He was home about three hours later and we both had come up with the same oven choice of all that is on the internet!  I took that as a good sign and whipped out the credit card and bought it sight unseen.  It was delivered and so far it has churned out many a delicacy from dense, whole grain bread to fluffy-white dinner rolls to molasses cookies to brownies to baked pork chops with dressing.  You get the idea.  I'm so very happy so far.

My mom texted me that I was more happy with this new oven than I would be with a car.  She knows me well.

So!  Lets get out of the kitchen.  I was quite unwell a week ago.  All signs pointed to a possible peptic ulcer.  Then I realized I was drinking a bit too much apple cider vinegar every day and probably was causing my own misery.  Lesson learned.

I was driving by this guy yesterday and he was driving a bit too slow in the left lane and seemed kind of zoned out.  I started making the assumption that he was probably on some form of a drug and that's why he was driving so sluggish.  I get to a place I can pass him and there he was with one of those dollar-store wooden back scratchers in his right hand and he was basically giving himself a nice, relaxing back scratch in the left lane.  Take it home boy and do it on your La-Z-Boy!

We got a packet about graduation this week.  There was a waiver to sign for the parents so that they would behave at the graduation properly.  Really?  If I refuse to sign it can I get all crazy during the pomp and circumstance?  I have a hunch the Chairman wouldn't allow me to get too wild.  The one thought that came to mind though as soon as I was reading all the material was that truly the days are long and the years are short.  We missed the first nine months of this child's life but I don't think that is the reason why the time has felt so short.  Sniff.  Waah.  Blubber.  Snort.

Well this is enough for now.  See you next time!

Monday Musings

Well hello there!  It's Monday and I'm going to Muse!

We are getting some serious snowfall today.  I was out running a bunch of errands like any non-sane person would do on a very snowy day.  I got to wondering what people do for small talk when you live in an area where the weather never changes.  At each and every stop, everyone I talked to mentioned the weather - for good or bad.  The roads.  The beauty or awfulness of snow in March.

One of the stops was taking Lisi to the vet.  She's had this weird lump on her side that is slowly growing and I was suspicious of cancer.  Well the initial report came back that there are no cancer cells.  Hurray!  And the secondary report from the vet was that she thought Lisi was incredibly loved and gets plenty of attention.  I think someone should tell Lisi that when she gives me the stink eye for not walking her the moment she thinks it is time.

I'm very talented.  I hope you were aware of that.  The past week I cut myself pretty bad not once - but twice on the same finger.  Lets just say as soon as I said 'oh no!' as I stood by the kitchen sink, two of the MYP took off at break-neck speed for a bandage and cream and the other ran for the stairs and simply yelled back, 'do you need to go to the ER?  I'll drive if you do.'.  Just a hunch but I don't think she should look into nursing as a career.

We had friends over yesterday for a meal.  It always makes my heart glad to share our home and meals with those we care about.  However, right after everyone left I realized there were mouse guts on the rug of the door they all walked through.  It's slightly horrifying but I'm glad that the cat caught another mouse.  And I'm glad no one stepped on it and walked through the house with mouse guts on their shoes.

Linda's Luscious Loaves has been a busy business the past weeks.  I had to go to the health food store today to buy rye flour, molasses,  and caraway seed in bulk.  I'm glad people think it's tasty anyway.

I have a half of a pig coming to me within a week.  Well actually, it's been to market and will be coming home jiggety-jig.  So it will be in white butcher paper.  I digress.  Anyway, I have one big chest freezer that is almost full and two refrigerator freezers stuffed to the gills.  So I need to be disciplined and stop going to the store and bringing more food into the house so I have room for Porky.

Last year I very randomly filled out a NCAA bracket and the word last night was that I tied first place with my brother.  I had no intention of doing it again but when I'm tied for first place and my brother is involved... I'll be filling out another one this year for sure.  Sibling rivalry is alive and well!

This is enough.  Lets look for a few pictures.  Have a good week!

Lisi is glad she doesn't have to wear a back-less gown waiting for the doctor

Trying to look up

How are you?  It's been awhile since I sat down for a little chat.  I hope you are doing ok!

How am I you ask? (well that's presumptuous of me to say that)  I'm just kind of melancholy.  Blue.  Sad.

Maybe it has to do with the fact that my stomach has been rumbly for a couple days and I feel a bit achy.  But it more so has to do with the sad news of several untimely deaths.  More sickness.  And other little bits of news that don't cheer the spirit.

My family is not very large.  I never had 1st cousins.  And so my aunts/uncles were quite limited.  Recently, we had a wonderful privilege of having someone special come to the area for just a few days.  It was as wonderful as we anticipated.  But then when someone you love is near after being away for years, you really miss them.  I know that sounds strange, but the sadness was genuine and real after he left.  But he's not just my uncle, he is an uncle to many, many others.  I saw him hug my mama goodbye and I keenly realized again he's not just her brother - he's a brother to many, many others.  It is a dear privilege to have him in our family.  But with all that privilege there's a sense of loss too.

I think of so many that are in 'distant lands'.  I think of them but I also try to remember the mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and nieces and nephews.  There's a tremendous cost, but thankfully beyond that there's bountiful blessing beyond my understanding.

So as Eeyore said in one book, "I was so upset I forgot to be happy".   So once my belly stops rumbling and my body stops aching I want to look beyond myself.  I want to avail myself of the Comforter.  I want to count my blessings.  I want to be thankful for health.  I want to be thankful for my dear family and dear friends.  And I want to think about how maybe I could cheer or encourage another through a note or a visit.  That's the best way to get out of the doldrums - to think of others before yourself.

So here's a few pictures from my camera roll.

So that's enough from here.  I've got some 'funnies' that I'll share next time!  By then I won't have my head so deep in the sand.