Musing Mondays  29 August 2011


Musing Mondays this week is a meme! Here are my answers to this question --


What was the last book you --

1.  borrowed from the library?  "Sleepy Time"

2  bought?  "Return to Sullivan's Island"

3.  cried over?  "The Memory Keepers Daughter"

4  disliked and couldn't finish?  I haven't had one of these in a while.  The last book that I really disliked but did finish was "Bramwell Valley".

5.  read and loved?  This is hard.  I guess it was "In the Company of Others" but I am really enjoying the Aunt Dimity series as well. 

6.  got for a review?  Never had the privilege.

7.  gave to somebody else?  "Aunt Dimity's Death". 

8.  stayed up too late reading?  I never stay up too late reading -- reading makes me sleepy regardless of how fantastic the book is.


There you go -- my Musing Mondays!

The Greening of Me --

It has been a long time coming.  I have been thinking a great deal about all things ecological for some time and have been working toward becoming a little more green, a little more frugal and a little more self-sufficient.  I have done a few things, here and there but nothing I could really "see" until now.

I love to read blogs and have really been having a go at reading frugal, simple living blogs.  That is how I discovered two of my favorite blogs -- That British Woman and The Maple Syrup Mob.  These blogs are written by two lovely ladies with lots of interesting posts, great photos and really useful tips.  Their blogs have gone a long way to nudging me into the world of green.

Them and this utterly deplorable weather we have been having.

It is no surprise that Texas summers are hot, miserable and real energy expenders.  So, I decided that my goal this summer was to reduce our electric bill.  I had been mentally working up to this all spring, trying to figure out where I could make changes without turning off the air conditioning which wasn't going to happen.  Since the a/c wasn't an option, I decided to run the fans more and adjust the thermostat which I did.  I have also been making a HUGE concerted effort to turn off lights and unplug unnecessary appliances and chargers and things.  That hasn't been going too badly except that I have learned that my husband has a huge tendency to leave all the lights on in any room that he has even just walked through but that is another post -- the care, feeding and education of newly retired husbands.  Ugh.

I digress.  So I looked at what I do use around here that are major energy suckers and the two elephants in the room are the dryer (electric) and the dishwasher.  So.......I bought this--

and started drying my clothes on a line rather than in the dryer.  My mother-in-law declared me certifiable. Then, one day at Home Depot I discovered a close-out on a dryer like this --

so I bought it.  It was marked down from $30 to $6! My towels fit on it very well because it expands and it fits in the bathtub beautifully.  After drying  several different brands of towels -- seems I have an obsessive thing about buying towels -- I learned that some really soft, organic cotton towels that I bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond dry incredibly fast and are really soft when I use some sort of fabric softening agent -- usually vinegar.  I learned something else, as well.  I prefer hanging the clothes to dry.  I suddenly don't feel like a slave to the laundry -- I do some each day, nothing is piling up, it gets dry without me having to stand over it and hang it up.  Yes, I have to iron but I did that anyway so nothing is new there.  I was really surprised to find out that I was actually enjoying myself.

The next thing that I tackled was the dishwasher.  I hate hand washing dishes but decided to give it a go.  I mean, not everything went into the dishwasher anyway, something always had to be handwashed so why not just throw a few more things in the sink and be done.  My technique goes something like this --- scrape the dishes, stack them in the sink, squirt some soap in with them and fill the sink with the hottest water you can get out of the tap, turn off the light and go watch a movie.  When the movie is over, the water has cooled down enough to be manageable, do a quick wash and rinse (sometimes I fill the other side of the sink and sometimes I don't, depends on how much I have to rinse), place in the dishdrainer, cover with the dishtowel, turn off the light and watch Leno.  Much to my surprise, I am actually getting my entire kitchen cleaned each night.  Nothing piling up, nothing soaking over night, no mess to look at in the morning because it didn't all fit in the dishwasher.  Again, and very oddly, I am enjoying it.

I think the reason I am enjoying it is because something is actually getting accomplished that I can actually see.  The laundry gets DONE -- completely! The dishes get DONE -- completely!  It feels good to see, at the end of the day, that something is finished.

There is something else that I can see as well.  Today our electric bill came.  In the hottest part of the summer in what has to be the hottest state in the whole US, my electric bill was $20 less than it was last month! Not much, I realize, but to me it was.  I was validated! All my effort was rewarded with that little $20!  I was so pleased I was doing the happy dance! The Hubs sort of thought I was crazy -- for the dance, not the bill.  Little does he know that all it has done is make me want to do more, save more, be more self-sufficient. 

Thanks Jane and Gill! Now I am off to make more laundry soap! 

Friday Fill-ins

Ok, by now I figure my blog friends figure I have "left the building".  Not so -- we have just been unbelievably busy trying to sell an extra house, get all the financial dealing involved with retirement settled and trying to adjust to a new normal.  I will say that retirement is not for the impatient!!! Or inflexible! So, in an effort to get back to MY usual routine, I am going to do a Friday Fill-in!

1.  How in the world did I get this old?

2.  I couldn't find the magazine that was right in front of me.

3.  Life's great!

4.  Let's pack a picnic  lunch and head for the park.

5.  HEB Grocery Store -- that was where we met.

6.  There isn't one place that I think of as "our place".

7.  And as for the weekend, tonight I am looking forward to nothing, tomorrow my plans include housecleaning and on Sunday I want to go to church and just relax.

So, there it is -- this week is going to be a more consistent blog week -- I am not going to play Farmville or Cityville.  I am beginning to realize that I need a course in time management.  Have a wonderful weekend.


 

Don't You Just Love Days Like Today?


Don't you just love days like today?  I used to not.  When I was young I always dreaded "perfect days" because I knew that it couldn't last -- it was the calm before the storm, so to speak. I knew the "high" was going to be, inevitably, followed by a low so I would prefer to not have the "high".  As I have gotten older, I have learned to enjoy these sorts of days -- to savor them gives me something to get through the not so perfect days.

It all began this morning.  I have typically always thought of Sunday as the end of the week rather than the beginning.  I have always felt like it was the end of the weekend, which of course it is, but I have always looked at it as the end of something instead of the beginning.  Today was different, though.  As I sat in church listening to an excellent sermon by our senior priest, it occurred to me that I was seeing things all wrong.  Sunday is the beginning of the  week,  a new beginning.  As Sunday goes, so goes the week.  It was an epiphany.  As I listened I looked around and realized how secure I feel in church.  I have always loved church and I have always needed church.   Today as I sat there soaking up all that was  going on around me -- the wiggly kids, the choir singing, the clergy in their robes and berettas -- the one thing that stuck with me was one line out of Father's message -- "nothing is impossible with God".  I needed to hear that.  The last few weeks have been jolting, mind boggling and emotion wrenching.  I needed to hear that sentence.  I am always amazed when the message seems to be intended just for me. 

Have a wonderful week!

Larry the Lion

For those of you who witnessed, in a previous post, the creation of Larry the Lion, you might be wondering what became of the Weeble-like fleece thing.  Well, he hung out in my sewing room for a few days, just chillin' and getting used to life and  then came moving day! He was off to his new home!

Nobody said anything about being wrapped up!

Help! I can't breathe! Oh wait, yes I can!

So, after being wrapped lightly in tissue paper -- you can see the dubious look on his face in the first photo -- he was put into a secure gift bag --- big and roomy -- for his trip to his new home.  He got to ride in the car seat cradle in the back seat with Granny. 

Larry didn't realize that he was going to a party although he sort of got the idea as he listened to all the talking and laughing as he sat patiently waiting to be let out of his bag. 

The moment finally came and this is what he saw when he was introduced to his new home! And his new person!

This is funny!

Now for a big, Beanie kiss -- she loves him!

Larry is quite content in his new digs -- you can find him all over the house -- and he doesn't seem to mind being dragged about by his mane -- he is a happy little lion!

Do Any of My Canadian Blog Friends---


live near Alliston, Ontario?

The End of an Era


Hmm..sounds fancy for getting rid of an extra house.  I think today will be the last day at the old house before it becomes somebody else's new house.  It will make me a little sad but it definitely needs to go.  It is the house we moved into when we came to this town and I was glad to have it.  It is almost twice as big as our first house and worked well for two growing kids.  We would still be in the house if it wasn't for the deterioration of the neighborhood and the increased crime activity.  Every time I go there I think about what I would do to change things up -- a perpetual "project" -- no, I don't think I am into "projects" anymore -- we have done many.  So, I am spending the day there, picking up the last few bits of our "stuff" that I have no where to put and really no need for and do the last vacuuming before the realtor comes.  I think I am ready.

There are a couple of reasons why I am ready -- the first is that I am tired of dealing with, worrying about and feeling guilty over this other house.  It takes up too much time and thought.   The second reason is  that I am ready to get on with our new "retired" routine.  I don't really think it is going to affect my routine too much in the long run but for the last three weeks it certainly has.  What with trying to keep the hubs busy so he doesn't sit and stew and trying to get the other house finished, it is like we are on perpetual vacation and we all know what coming home from vacation is like -- piles of laundry and feeling completely out of kilter.  I am ready to be on a regular routine so things feel right again, I think that will go a long way to making me feel like this "retirement" is a bit less of a disaster.  I am also ready to be rid of the other house because I am planning a bit of a weekend getaway.  I am not sure when but I would like it to be as spontaneous as possible and I want to go to my favorite place in the Texas hill country -- Fredericksburg.  Fredericksburg is a neat little town and one that a lot of my family came from -- well, around that area anyway.  Just down the road is an even smaller town called Harper which is where my family really came from and it is just a short drive from Fredericksburg and a neat place to visit if you are into genealogy.  I am hoping to take a lot of photos, maybe eat some good German food and spend the night in a nice little B&B -- maybe even a Sunday House.  More on it later -- if we actually get there.

So, on that note, I am off to bring this latest project to a close and get it done before the 104 degrees kicks in.  More later!

Still here!

It has been a week since my last post -- things have been hectic here! After our abrupt change in status, we have been making a huge effort to pull things together -- i.e. get rid of the "other" house.  We have been sitting on this "other house" for six years.  It has been really convenient to not get on with the business of getting rid of the "other house".  However, now the push is on because we just need to consolidate so we can relax in our new retirement -- yuck.

So, anyway, we have been working on that for a week now and are pretty nearly done and ready to call in one of the investors that have been contacting us about it.  Hopefully the "other house" will be somebody else's home pretty soon. 

In the midst of all of this I have been able to come to terms with the retirement issue reasonably well.  It isn't half bad having the Hubs around, no long traveling assignments, no iron-clad schedule dictated by the powers that be -- uh, were.  All in all, I think he is doing pretty good and that is making me feel better about  it.  I have just this minute been told that we are taking a day off and going out and doing something "fun".  What that is I have no clue but in our 100+degree weather I hope it is indoors -- and not Lowe's or Home Depot.  Shhh -- I didn't say that out loud, did I?

Anyway, I don't have much going on here but packing things and vacuuming a vacant house.  I am still reading "Franny and Zooey"  -- only because I haven't had time to read in the last couple of weeks.  Hopefully it will be done soon because I am behind on my reading challenge and I am really wanting to enjoy another Aunt Dimity book -- they are such fun!

So, since I don't have any neat photos of my own (maybe that is what we should do -- go on a photo taking venture) I will direct you to my daughter's blog so you can see photos of my granddaughter and her own personal library.  Feel free to visit http://thewilcoxfamily.wordpress.com for some really cute photos -- no prejudice here at all!

I Won't Lie

but I am a bit more than down in the dumps.  The last week has been monumentally challenging.  A week ago at this time, we were dealing with the realization that my husband was newly retired.  Then we took the car in for routine maintenance only to have to buy a new battery since the old one died in the parking lot at the shop! I guess I could look at that as providence -- it could have died in the grocery store parking lot.  I am trying for the half full glass here. I was also dealing with the fact that in one weeks time I would be doing more major dental work. So, the rest of the week was spent as I usually spend it -- laundry, cleaning, sewing -- nothing new here except trying to deal with all the drama that descended upon  me rather quickly.

Well, here I am a week later.  The Hubs seems to be doing quite well -- he has been doing some yard work -- good exercise for him.  I looked at him today and he looked really good -- his face was lineless and he didn't have that tense, stressed look about him that had become the norm.  He was surveying all his gardening and he seemed ok -- no, more than ok.

The car is in good working order and seems to like her new brakes and new battery.  Yes, my car is a girl.  If she had a name it would be -- well, I don't know what it would be -- so many possibilities.  Maybe Giselle.  Hm...I have to think about that.

I, on the other hand, am not too happy.  I sat in the dentist chair for two hours as he drilled away a brand new crown, destroyed a relatively new crown and removed the tooth with the fractured root.  It was difficult.  I thought it would be easier but I was wrong.  It is sore and will be more so tomorrow but the thing that is really hurting is my tongue! Don't have a clue why but it is killing me and I am just not feeling well.  It makes me wish it was autumn and I could curl up in a nice, warm robe, dose myself up with something painkilling which I could do anyway but it isn't quite a nice without the nice, warm robe.  I would put a fire in the fireplace and just sit.  However, it is 103 outside so no fire and no robe.  A cup of tea would be nice but ice water is more appropriate.  So, here I sit -- not at all happy but I am sure things will get better.  The last time I did all this dental work -- about six weeks ago -- I lived off chocolate malts but I am going to try to do better this time.  Chocolate malts don't really fill you up, just out.

On a different note, however, there is much news out of Texas this week.  Glenn Beck is moving here and starting a new television station.   I know, I know, but I like Glenn Beck.  I don't always agree with him and don't always listen to his radio program but I find him to be entertaining.  Who knows, I might even run into him say at Home Depot or someplace.  After all, he is moving close to my daughters neighborhood.   In more disturbing news, rumor has it that Casey Anthony might move to Texas.  Disturbing.  Very Disturbing.  And...Texas is fighting for the lowly incandescent light bulbs.  Actually, Texas is fighting against what it sees as too much Federal Government intervention into our lives.  We will see how that works out.  Could create jobs if we open up a bunch of light bulb factories.  Who knows what turn it could take. 

So, with that I am going to make that cup of tea, put on a nice, summer duster and curl up with my book "Franny and Zooey" and read.  After another dose of Advil and a good night's sleep I think I might be ready to get back into the business of life.

Yes, Dear, It Is Saturday

Yes, it is Saturday, the only day this week I actually recognize.  The past week is sort of a blur -- it seemed to whiz by and yet stand still.  It was confusing from the beginning and no, I am not getting senile.  So for today, Saturday, to look normal is a huge blessing and relief to me.

It all began on Monday, July  4th.  A Monday holiday throws the whole week off from the beginning in my opinion although it was a lovely day.  Some of the kids came over for hot dogs and we had a lovely time.  Missed the ones who couldn't be there but we understand.  Unfortunately, we couldn't see any fireworks.

I was still dealing with the toothache and got up Tuesday morning, which felt like Monday, and headed to the dentist.  He discovered that I have a fractured tooth root -- very strange, probably broke it on a popcorn kernel.  Ok, so I scheduled an extraction (there is nothing that can be done -- I mean, you just don't amputate a root!) and prep for a bridge.  Yay -- just did this last month on another tooth.  I went to the  desk to make the appointment,  they gave me the estimate and told me that I had maxed out my insurance.  I said I really wanted to get all this done before my husband retires -- haha -- LOL!

Wednesday rolls around, the tooth is still hurting and hubs came home and said they offered him early retirement and he took it.  Major reorganization, it seems and I just don't think he wanted to be a part of that.  Well, I can understand that but let's see, just how quickly can we throw Melissa into a tailspin?  Pretty darn quickly, actually.

So, Thursday and Friday have been spent getting things in order, had a little bit of banking to do and was actually waiting for a day when he would be home because he needed to be able to go with mee so we got that done.  The car maintenance was due so we scheduled that for Friday.  Took it into the shop, got the necessary stuff done, we were told that the factory battery was about the give up the ghost but we said we would look into that later.  Well, later came sooner than we expected because when we went to pick up the completed car, the battery wouldn't turn over so we spent another 20 minutes of our life waiting for them to put in a new battery.  So far, Friday wasn't looking so good.  We spent the rest of the day at our former abode getting things ready to sell it.  We got a lot done but it seemed like a comedy of errors, for sure.

That brings us up to today -- the only normal day this week.  I spent my morning cup of tea time out on the patio just trying to take stock of all that happened this week  -- trying to figure out a new routine -- trying to convince myself that retirement is not just another word for old age.  Of course, I do need to remember that the Hubs is the one retired -- so far my job description hasn't changed one whit.  Considering that I am not a flexible person this is probably a good thing.

NOT HAPPY

I was fine Friday.  I woke up with a slight toothache on Saturday that just continued to get worse.  I went to the dentist today and learned that I have a fractured root on one of my molars.  This will result in the loss of the tooth and another bridge.  The tooth is currently crowned with the second crown of its life and this crown is only about five months old.  I usually have a very high pain tolerance but not doing so well with this one.  I have seven days of antibiotic to take and then the .... well, I will spare you. Ok, taking a nap now.