Quote of the Day

Mississippi River divides this land in two,

Like the way we tend to think of things;

Black and white, red and blue.

If they can keep us fighting about marriage and God,

There’ll be no one left to notice if the leaders do their jobs.

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People Look Around

by Catie Curtis

Ten Things

well, I wasn't tagged, but I read Andrea's, and she was tagged by someone who just tagged everyone who read her site, so I figured I would just do it.


TEN THINGS

1. I take daily baths. Sometimes two. Only in extreme circumstances do I go a day without one.
2. I just started a teapot collection. So far I have 3. Soon I will have 4.
3. Sometimes I drink half and half instead of milk. I rarely drink less than whole milk.
4. I hate stopping to fill my car with gas. Will avoid it if at all possible, until I really need to.
5. I hate wearing things that show my knees. I think my knees look deformed.
6. When we move in a year, the only thing I will be really upset about is not living near Andrea anymore. It's been awesome living so close to her.
7. I will never smoke another cigarette, even just in a social situation. I have promised my daughter I wouldn't.
8. I hardly ever wear lipstick. I feel uncomfortable with it on, it seems to accentuate my mustache.
9. I love naps, but only if they are an hour or longer. Any shorter and I get grumpy.
10. I have just recently decided to decorate my future kitchen in mostly red.

the butterflies must SHOW!

Here we have another look at Kaia's...unique....style... of dressing. You can't get the full picture, as her sweater is covering up her shirt. For the most part this outfit is nondescript. On other days, she chooses more interesting choices. She goes for what she likes, regardless of whether it matches in color or style. I hope she never loses her absolute certainty she looks beautiful.

This outfit wouldn't normally be shown off as an example of her style, which can go WAY beyond what this shows, except for one notable aspect....

If you look at her boots (close up pic to follow) you will see she has cunningly folded one sock over the top of her boot. This is a cool sock, you must understand, and it would be a shame to hide it under the pants. It has dangling butterflies, people. Unfortunately, she long ago lost it's sister, and so must pair it with a less fancy sock.

The Done

But! On a brighter note! Here's what I've done today.....

cleaned the ENTIRE living room, vacuumed, dusted, organized and de-cluttered.

Put DVDs in little white envelopes to protect them.

dishes

laundry

more dishes

made cinnamon rolls, with spelt flour. they turned out a little odd, but all right....the spelt is a little .....a little....harsh? maybe? not sure...Mike was happy though.

refrained from going crazy with three kids here. (actually, overall, they've been fine. a little LOUD, but fine. minor squabbles are to be expected and were dealt with.)

started tomato seeds in my little peat pots. only enough for two plants, gonna experiment with my new tomato coats I got....if it works, I'll have tomatoes for a much longer time, since I'll be able to stagger plantings.

PUT MY CHRISTMAS TREE AWAY. I don't want to talk about it. :-)

Had an enjoyable, though busy, morning with my family and friends about.

Later, Andrea and John are coming over for dinner. I'm making curried chicken and corn chowder, which is DELICIOUS. Even Kaia loves it.

Gotta go start some spelt bread and another load of laundry! Have a wonderful Sunday, folks.....and hug someone today.

The Undone.

SO MUCH TO DO. my gosh. I have plans, people! plans! and ideas! and so little time and money to do them with....here are a few of the things I want to do....

Get a smaller desk so that we can move the table so we can move the bookshelf so we can move Kaia's kitchen to a spot that is out of the way of Mike's toes and knees. I have not stubbed or bumped anything on it in months, but Mike just takes up more room than me I guess....

Replace the bookshelf in my room that is about to crash down...or at least, it looks that way...here's hoping I'm wrong....

Get a garden shed, and a garden shelf, and get all my gardening stuff organized out back, removing it all from the dining room.

Get more of my scrap booking done. This is more something that will take years, if it's ever done (as I keep taking pictures) but I'd like to get a bit more caught up.

Get a couple more little wood things to keep DVDs in. They are at Michael's for like two bucks each...and then decide...should I paint them? stain them? lacquer them? I have a feeling what will happen at first is I just put the damn DVDs in them. which will be a good thing, anyway.

Get a new file cabinet, and consolidate all my files into one place, making copies of really important stuff and putting it in a safety deposit box.

Get Kaia's desk sanded and repainted so she can start using it. Right now it's at John and Andrea's, sitting forlornly out in the cold, waiting for me to come show it some love.

Then set up said desk in an easily accessible yet out of the way spot for Kaia to do her homework on.

so any of you interested in being my unpaid assistant and constantly reminding me of these things? possibly even helping carry them out? no? really? there are cinnamon rolls in it for you......still no? alright, that's okay. They WILL get done.

Motivation

I have very little will power. Unless I have a good reason to do something that isn't fun, I can talk myself out of it easily. It doesn't even require talking!

This is why the first 3 times I tried college it didn't work. I hadn't figured out what I really wanted to DO. However, since I decided that, I've gotten A's and B's in all my classes, and I'm looking forward to going when we move.

If no one is going to see my house, it takes me all weekend to clean it......if someone is coming over, and they are someone I wish to not see the Sty, it takes me only the time that I think it will take them to get here....for instance, if they are coming at 3, and it's 11, my house will be spotless at 2:50. If it's 11, and they are on their way, and they live half an hour away....my house will be spotless 20 minutes later...

I cannot trick myself. I've tried. "self....." I've told myself..."self! someone is on their way! they will be here SOON! they are clean freaks! they will look down upon your unvacuumed carpets! your unmopped floors! they will peer in at your clean laundry, so heaped upon your closet floor!"

doesn't work. I say back, "no, self, no one is coming...." and I sit back down at the computer....or with a book....

people write about motivation. Give yourself a goal, they say. and a reward! two weeks of working out! then, and only then, can you have a chocolate orange!!

Why? I say. and pick up the chocolate orange. No one is stopping me from eating it NOW. see?!?! I HAVE IT. and I am EATING IT. NOW. so why work out for two weeks, did you say? what's in it for me? oh....health? better abs...hmmm..yes, that sounds good....but this chocolate, man, it's good....and I have a book I'm really into...oh, and I haven't blogged for awhile...and did I mention how I love sleep?!


oh....I should get back to cleaning....

only one more night and day to do it....

so that means I don't have to tonight, right? I mean, hey, I can get it all done in a day...a whole DAY, I mean, that's a LONG time......

awww...she made a friend!

Making friends is not easy for me. It's not that I'm not friendly, it's not that I don't try. I just don't seem to have that...thing...that some people have, that thing that lets them bond with other people easily. I've usually been odd one out at the workplace, and was at school, too. Nobody disliked me, really, and I was included in conversations at work, but I was never invited to out of work activities that other co-workers went to. When my sister got a job at the restaurant I had worked at for 2 years already, she immediately made fast friends and fit right in. She was invited to the nights out, the parties, and in on all gossip. I still wasn't there when I left two years later.

I've finally made peace with it, the not making friends easily bit. Partly because where I live now is temporary, and it would suck to make a really good new friend then have to leave, but partly because I've realized I have some really good friends already, and honestly? don't really have time for more.

Then a few weeks ago at work, a woman walked in with her daughters. (she also has two sons at home)

We hit it off right away! She's very funny, and we have the same sense of humor. We decided to get together sometime. Today we did! We went to lunch, she brought her 6 year old son, then to a movie. I really enjoyed my time with her. And yes, in a year, I'll be leaving. We'll see how things go then. I've kept in touch with Andrea for 20 years, while only living in the same town for 2 of them. And I could do that again, if I found someone I wanted to make the effort for. Even if that doesn't work, having another mom to hang out with will be fun in the meantime.