Month: February 2011 (Page 1 of 2)

My favorite fruit.

Above left: Bread board my mom painted for my Grandma McCrea.

My mom’s piano teacher gave them dogs for prizes when they were good. This is a set that she let me have.

Saturday morning used to be housecleaning day. I’ve moved away from that a bit, just waiting until the house looked like it needed cleaning. Do you know how much work it is to clean a house that actually looks bad? A lot. So, even though we just cleaned last Saturday, I cleaned again today and the house looks great and it only took me about an hour. So I made a list of exactly what I did and in what order, and I plan to use it each week. One difference is that when you clean every week, you can just wipe surfaces with a disinfectant wipe, rather than having to scrub it with cleanser and rinse, because it just doesn’t get dirty in one week. Same with the toilet. Not very dirty in one week, so it only takes a few seconds to clean. Hopefully this has all been a lesson to me and I will have my house always in the shape that it could be nice and clean in just an hour. (Less if Don helps!)

So now I have the rest of the day. I think I’m going to sort Christmas decorations and box up some stuff that I haven’t used for a few years and take it to Goodwill. I have some of it in boxes marked “big house” but now I’m not sure I’ll ever have a big house, so I think I’ll just get rid of it and not have to move it again or sort through it again next Christmas.

It is still pretty cold, so it is definitely an inside day. I’ll probably practice piano some, too, but mostly just sort and sort. I could do that for days and not be done!

Yes, it has rolled around again — Friday.

Bits of news:

I got my hair cut today. It looks nice, but soooo expensive to get it cut these days.

I worked 26 1/2 hours on Tuesday through Friday, so only had to count 1 hour of vacation for Monday’s snow day. Yay!

Our neighbors with the nice play set moved out last weekend, and so far no one has moved in yet. There is a sold sign up now, though, so someone has been there.

We have no plans whatsoever for the weekend. We’re not even working on the house because Gary put on a thick coat of mud and we are waiting for it to dry.

After an awful start to the week, food-wise, I’ve been pretty under control for the past 3 days. There is hope….

Our choir is dwindling (up at the college). Wish you all lived close enough to help us out. It would be an awesome choir with all of you mixed in, helping out each section. As it is, we are really struggling with the difficult music we have this season.

Have a great weekend. Maybe I’ll post some pictures tomorrow.

For those of you who were aware of the ongoing saga of the non-paying renter, we got paid yesterday. For December, January, February, and even March. I cannot say what a relief it was to not only get the money, but be able to stop worrying about what we should do, could afford to do, could not afford not to do, etc, etc. She has decided to move out, however. But a couple people mentioned a while back that they or someone they knew would be interested in that apartment when it became available, so we’ve started with notifying them.  Please pray that we get a renter by mid-April when the current one moves out.

You could also pray about Dad’s job situation. He knows he should be looking, since it seems his job might be phased out (well, actually the whole plant phased out) and it would be better to have something lined up before that happens. But he is busy with other stuff and not really following up on any leads he gets. I’d feel better if some action was being taken on this front, rather than just talking about it.

Did you believe winter was over? Hope not. It certainly is back. Cold and snowy again. But spring and grass and dandelions and mosquitoes and all the rest are not far off. We just have to be patient, I guess.

I got a lot done yesterday, particularly on the piano practicing front. I also got a nice long letter written to my mom. It was great to have a totally unscheduled day to do with what I pleased. But we can’t live that way forever (or we would starve), so it was back to the normal routine today.

Just a few of the pictures that turned out.  Unfortunately I didn’t get one of Ethan.

Happy birthday to our first daughter! What a joy it was when we found we had a girl — exactly what we wanted. That was the only child we really wanted to be a certain sex, and God blessed us with our heart’s desire. I’m also so tickled that Kylene looks so much like me. That is very special, because you want people to know who your kids are (unless they are in trouble) and no one ever has any doubt who Kylene belongs to!

And who could have asked for a girl to turn out any better? She is smart and witty and kind and empathetic and creative and energetic and she loves to organize, as do I. She is a blessing to everyone she works with and serves with and a role model for gals young and old.

Happy 31st birthday, Princess!

….yay, it’s Friday!!

We are looking at a little farm that may be for sale (someone I know from work, so it isn’t officially listed yet) today at 5:00. It costs more than we can afford, but not by much. I’m excited, because I really, really, really, really, really, really want to move back into the country.

Yesterday (Thursday) I had a meeting in Stevens Point at 9:30. The drive over was foggy all the way and, worse yet, so was the drive back. I didn’t drive slow, for fear of getting rear-ended on the freeway, but it was a harrowing trip both ways. There were a couple accidents along the way and a really long detour that had all the looks of being because of a bad accident – road blocks with people manning them, etc.

But we had a great choir rehearsal last night. The director has picked insanely difficult music this semester, so it should be interesting. I already got the practice c.d.’s recorded for the altos, tenors and basses, so if they use them, they should help. And my piano part is crazy, too. Lots of practicing to do before the end of April!

Gary Mohr has been working here the last couple days and we almost have the big upstairs room sheetrocked, as well as the new window. I’m not sure when he is going to start mudding. I guess I need to decide on a paint color! And carpet! So exciting!!

So, here is a picture of the new big window in the new big bedroom where everyone will sleep when they are visiting!

And here is a picture of the closet, taken standing to the east of the new window. You can see our bedroom door outside the smaller doorway (to the hall, not the closet!) Way on the right is the little doorway to the attic area. (Full of lots of junk)

And here is what my bedroom door looks like right now. I think I need to do some work before bedtime!