Sunday Night

I had a busy day today with church and our annual business meeting.  My son-in-law came to my rescue this afternoon and uninstalled my defunct hot water heater and returned it to the store for the warranty replacement.  I have a call into the plumber to install it.  Of course, taking the old one out necessitated a good scrubbing of the corner it sits in.  I tried kneeling down on my padded garden kneeler to scrub the dirty baseboards.  It is the first time I've tried kneeling since my knee surgery.  I didn't put my full weight on it and my other bad knee protested, but I managed to get the area scrubbed clean. 

Since my husband is out of town, I had to feed the chickens and collect the eggs.  Poor dears, they were hungry.  Apparently I haven't been feeding them as much as my husband does.  Then my other chore was to empty all the garbage cans and the recycling and roll them out to the road.  I washed dishes by heating water on the stove to wash and rinse.  I will be so happy when I have hot water again.

The new season of Call the Midwife started tonight.  I just love that show.  I watched it and knit on my shawl.  Now I need to go and bake a lemon cake for a co-worker to take to work tomorrow.  I also had some soup bones cooking all last night and today and I need to strain the broth and put it in the refrigerator for a little while to solidify some of the fat.  Then tomorrow I will add vegetables and have a nice beef vegetable soup for dinner.

~Jane

No Blogging

I don't know why I haven't been blogging much.  It started when my old camera started acting up and adding pictures became difficult.  I have a new camera now and finally installed the software to get pictures off it.  So maybe I'll be better about posting.  I do think a blog without pictures is boring.

I read a lot of blogs.  I find I like the ones best that tell what that person is doing each day.  Are they feeling well?  Are they working on a project?  What's happening in their life?  I'm thinking of maybe moving that direction although I fear I have nothing interesting to mention on most days.  My life is mostly going to work each day.  I am fortunate that I have a job where there are crazy, busy 60-hour weeks for a time and then much calmer, quieter period of seven-hour days where after what work I have to do that day is done, I can bring in a book to read or a knitting project to work on while I wait for someone to need me.

This week has been a trying one.  My husband is in Arizona visiting his brother and, of course, the hot heater chose this week to die.  It has been stressful figuring out everything to do on my own since it involves warranties and uninstalling and finding someone to reinstall a new one, etc.  I still have a trip to the hardware store to make to verify they will replace it.  My husband usually deals with these things as they send me into a panic.  Taking it one step at a time has helped.  I just am pretending I am on Alaska the Last Frontier.  I remember the episode when Eve finally got running water.  If she can survive, so can I.

The weather is nasty and rainy and makes you not want to go anywhere.  I'd like to just spend the day in front of the TV, but I have lots of projects to do. 

~Jane - who again cannot seem to upload a picture to this blog.

Resolutions for 2014

After looking at 2013's resolutions and seeing how many of them I didn't accomplish, I'm a little hesitant to make them again.  :)  But they are all things I either would like to do, or need to do.  I am going to try easing into them in 2014 and not attempt them all at once.

Some thing I did do this year was that I was much better at finishing projects that I started.  I've been good about the following through.  I still have lots of projects that are unfinished hanging around from previous years and I'm going to work on finishing up those also.

I chose a random number of books to read, 104, or two a week.  That was a little ambitious.  I am rather surprised that I didn't hit my goal.  The reason is probably that when I had my knee surgery I couldn't focus on reading anything while I was on the pain meds.  Even TV was difficult.  So I lost about a month there.  104 is still probably a doable goal for me.  Since I got my Kindle, I always have a book going.  I love my Kindle!

When I had my knee surgery, I had to go to bed early as I needed help getting there.  It was amazing the effect it had on my blood sugar and my energy levels.  Of course, now I am back to my previous bad habits.  With the legislative session looming, I really need to get back into good habits of getting to bed earlier.  So my January goals to work on are getting to bed earlier and no computer after 10.

Jane

And time just keeps flying by..............

It's that time of the year again - resolution time.  The pastor asked how many people in the congregation make resolutions and there weren't many hands raised.  I didn't raise my hand either, but looking back at the past couple year-end blogs, I guess I do.  Here was last year's list:

1.  Get to bed at a decent time.  I've read all the information about how most Americans are sleep deprived and the toll it takes on your body.  I'm going to attempt to get to bed by 11 at the latest and hopefully more like 10:30 p.m.

2.  Turn off the computer by 10 p.m.  I get stuck reading something at the last minutes or playing a game and then the next time I look, it's way past my bedtime.

3.  Read 104 books.  This is a totally doable goal.  I read at least 2 books a week all this year.

4.  Work on my menu planning.  Some months I've done well, some weeks I have no clue what's for dinner.  This will incorporate even more freezer meals as I go along.  However, some of this will depend upon.....

5.  Start eating better.  I eat very few vegetables, too much cheese, and too many carbs.  It's been causing me to have elevated blood sugar levels and I need to get them under control.

6.  Start exercising some a couple times a week.  I'm limited in what I can do because of my knees, but I still have my gym routine for my upper body and the equipment to do it.

7.  Continue to destash.  I managed to get rid of 12 boxes of unused/uneeded stuff  in 2012.  I'm aiming for double that this year.

8.  Sew a couple of french fashion/other doll dresses this year.  I have all the supplies, just need to take the time.

9.  Paint and wallpaper the little bedroom.  It still has wallpaper from when Elsie was a baby.  :)

10.  Get my samplers framed and hung.  It's no good having them stuck away in drawers.

11.  Have a garden this year and really utilize what we grow.

12.  Continue to organize my stuff, finish projects that are started, and go through what I drug home from my mom's.  I want to sell the stuff I planned on selling, and fix what I planned on fixing, and just generally organize everything.

All of these are still relevant.  I did manage to get my mother's house finished and sold.  I got rid of about 15 boxes of stuff to either the Goodwill or to Elsie.  I have lots more to go.  Really, they are all still on my list.  Maybe I can do better this year.

Happy 2014!

~Jane

Wednesday

Work this morning, babysitting this afternoon.  No knitting today.  I strained my turkey broth and ended up with 4 quarts and a pint.  I think I'll make some turkey soup this weekend.  I did sew one bib this evening, finished reading The Book Thief and washed all the dishes needed to set our table tomorrow at Holiday Extravaganza.  I also added ribbons to the packages Elsie wrapped and made our little hostess gifts.  Just need to cart it all to the church tomorrow.  :)

~Jane

Tuesday

Today I spent babysitting my little guys.  I knew I had to get up an hour earlier than normal to get over there on time, with time to pick up some lattes, so couldn't get to sleep until 1:30 a.m. even though I went to bed at a decent time.  I hate when that happens.  Luckily, the boys were content to laze around today with me.  Elsie and I went shopping a little after she got off work.  We needed some centerpiece components for our dinner table on Friday.  I also wanted to get Zach a winter coat since the temps are supposed to be no higher than freezing for a week or so.  I have been bugging Elsie to look for Malachi's jacket from when he was that size, but to no avail.  While in the store tonight I remembered what happened to it...he stood too close to the stove one afternoon and the outer shell melted.  He was fine, but the jacket was toast.  Zach had had it with shopping by the time Grandma wanted to try a coat on him, but Grandma insisted.  It is really cold out right now with a wind.  With the wind chill figured in, it is only in the teens.  Don't want my little guy to be cold.

Tonight I spent the evening deboning Sunday night's turkey.  It is so not my favorite job.  I threw the carcass and all the odds and ends into a pot on the stove for a while to make turkey stock.  Then I transferred it to the crockpot to cook over night.  Meanwhile I made two turkey pot pies for the freezer.  I am really trying to build up my freezer meals before session starts.  We still have lots of turkey leftovers so will be able to have turkey and cranberry sandwiches for a while.

I've been working on Malachi's sweater.  I'm knitting the neck ribbing and then just the body to do.  I've finished up three more bibs.  I need to get another boy set of fabrics to finish up all the baby gifts I have in process.  Onto the girl bibs  now.  There will be no temptation to share them with Zach!

~Jane

Thanksgiving Weekend Sunday

Today was church and then I came home and made our Thanksgiving turkey.  Cranberries, mashed potatoes, squash, rolls, stuffing and gravy.  It was a good dinner, despite the fact that I figured out my stove's oven is not working.  Having to make everything in the smaller wall oven or on the stovetop was a bit challenging, but we made it. 

I spent the evening sewing more bibs.  I have some ready to take to work tomorrow and a couple more boy bibs to finish before starting the girl bibs.  I also  have to get the dishes ready for Holiday Extravaganza on Friday.  I'm bringing the dishes and glassware for a table of 8.  My daughter is working on the table centerpiece.  It is always a lot of fun.

After my daughter left for home, I tried calling her this evening.  No answer for several hours.  Then my son-in-law called to see if she was here.  Apparently he had been calling her also.  At that point, I got worried and drove across town to see that she and the boys were okay.  Apparently she left her phone in her car and hadn't received our 18 calls.  I helped her with her turkey that she was baking this evening and we talked some and then I headed home since I knew she was okay.  I guess she will always be my baby.  :)

~Jane