Name three things - 2017

[Winchester]

I think about that day, too, micknsnicks2mom , only in my case, it's hiring out to plow the driveway in the winter, open the pool in the spring and then close it in the fall. Things like that. As I get older, I tend to think about things like that. I'm glad the infection seems to be going away.

I slept so well last night! I think I cuddled around Mollipop and dropped off around 9:00 or so. And slept straight through the night until Pepe started meowing at 4:15 this morning. And I feel really well this morning....the headache is pretty much gone at this point and I feel well.

• Breakfast for the kids, 2.25 miles on the treadmill, made the bed, scooped the boxes, general clean-up in the kitchen, sorted three piles of laundry on the hallway floor, and grabbed a quick shower
• We are going to Lowes tonight after work to pick up our new grill. I've been wanting a new grill for quite a while now and they were on sale at 25% off. So we get our Char-Broil six burner grill tonight. It's huge, compared to the Char-Broil we have now, and I'll be able to do so much more with this one. I'm excited to try it out! (It's the little things, I guess.) This particular grill was not supposed to be included in the 25% off sale, but a Lowes associate told us twice that we could get it for the sale price. When I tried to buy it, though, it wouldn't come through at the lower price. I talked to a manager there and he agreed to let me have it for the 25% off. We are to go down tonight.
• Laundry tonight
• Trash tonight

 

[AbbysMom]

There's plenty I could do, but I won't get to it all. I'm expecting packages today that I need to sign for, so I'm stuck here.

A few things that are on the list are -

laundry
pot up some of the flowers I bought a while back
pay bills

 

[debbila]

Washed and changed the sheets on the beds
Emptied the dishwasher
Made seafood salad for sandwhiches ( mmm good lunch tomorrow )

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

I think about that day, too, micknsnicks2mom , only in my case, it's hiring out to plow the driveway in the winter, open the pool in the spring and then close it in the fall. Things like that. As I get older, I tend to think about things like that. I'm glad the infection seems to be going away.

<snip>

ahhh, i've done that! you might remember me mentioning a couple years ago that i bought a new lawn tractor with snow blower attachment. well, this is the year i'm using the lawn tractor to mow my lawn (instead of the push mower), and will be using the snow blower attachment to deal with almost all of my snow removal starting this coming winter. i also decided that it's worth the money to have the Deere dude come out and do the spring and fall switches -- snow blower to mower deck, and vice-versa. i'm slowly moving towards hiring out, cutting back on things i do myself. i'll be 56 this year, and by starting to cut back now i'm hoping this will allow me to continue doing some things for longer.

good news! the infection in my leg is gone now. also, a minor scratch from yesterday's firewood moving is not infected.



today i'll make some mac'n'cheese (will use up the rest of the brick of velveeta -- generic brand), wash the dishes, and scoop the litter boxes. i'll also pay the mortgage, and make a phone call. oh! and i'll also move a pack of hot dogs to the fridge to thaw shortly -- otherwise, they won't be thawed to have a couple as part of my lunch today.

 

[Mother Dragon]

Y'all just need to move to my area of Texas. No firewood (unless you want to build a small "romance" fire in the fireplace), no snow to shovel, no icy roads, grass cut by rent-a-kid or rent-a guy for not much money, a natural sauna in the summer. And everything is air conditioned. You run from the air conditioned house to the car, do the burning seat squirm, turn the AC onto sub-zero, get where you're going, and dash into more AC.

We have a micro-cut shredder that reduces paper to pieces the size of a staple. Then we mix the used cat litter from the four pans into the shreds. If anyone wants our information badly enough to go through all that, they can have it. And they still won't find anything exciting or useful.

Saturday is Robert's (my other half) birthday, so he's going to go to the IMAX in Tomball, just up the road about 4 miles, to see Wonder Woman today (Friday). I'm not a movie buff (I fall asleep no matter how good the movie is and I resent paying to snooze in a noisy theatre) so he'll go by himself. He's decided that Saturday he wants a prime ribeye steak, well, actually, two of them so I ge tone, too, he found in the freezer, with sautéed fresh mushrooms, loaded baked potato, garlic bread, and wine. He's trying to decide whether to have strawberry shortcake later. Fortunately, the chairs have rollers on them so afterward I'll just wheel him into the bedroom and dump him on the bed.

I'm going to spend the time he's gone designing a birthday card for him.

I also need to shovel off the area around my laptop before it permanently disappears.

Like Winchester said of her part of the country, it's supposed to monsoon through next Thursday so I guess we better harvest what we can from the garden before it floats away. We were supposed to spray for those @##$%!! leaf-footed bugs today, but it didn't make sense to spray $25 worth of leaf-foot killer only to have it immediately washed off before it could even get to the monsters. They can reduce a full-grown tomato plant to twigs overnight. Imagine a bad-tempered, aggressive stink bug on steroids. I just hope they don't decimate the garden before we can get to them. I lost everything to them two years ago.

Right now the plan for Saturday is to go up to Huntsville, where the biggest state prison is, to tour the prison museum, and then visit a museum dedicated to veterans. We went to the prison museum when it was smaller and got to step into a cell without being locked up. We also sat in "Old Sparky", the state's electric chair. On the other side of the law were shivs made out of anything you can think of - plastic spoons, toothbrushes, toenail clippings, you name it. It made us glad we were good guys.

That should be enough excitement for the week.

 

[Winchester]

Yesterday (Thursday) I gave up. I just gave up. Took a sick day; my head was pretty much throbbing and my leg hurt like the dickens. I spent most of the day on the couch (sucking down ice cold Coke for the sugar and the caffeine), although I did get some vacuuming done and I made dinner. But that was it. I was a mess. Mollipop and Muffin stayed right with me pretty much all day; they didn't even argue with each other, I think even they knew it would not have gone over well, not the mood I was in.

I am at work this morning and I feel pretty good overall. Headache is still here (sixth day), but it's a very low roar now. Leg is feeling pretty good, knee not too bad and foot achy, but I can deal with it.

• Breakfast for the kids, emptied the dishwasher, scooped the boxes, made the bed, straightened up a bit, grabbed my shower and stopped for gas on my way into work this morning
• We may be having friends in for dinner on Saturday, so I need to run over to the grocery store during lunch today. Mother Dragon , we will be doing ribeyes on Saturday, too. Twice-baked potatoes, grilled Caesar salad, garlic cheesy Semolina bread (also on the grill) and a lemonade party cake for dessert. Wish fresh strawberries. Gosh I wish we lived closer! Give Robert a Happy Birthday hug from me!
• Must run over to the winery right after work tonight. If we don't make it til they close, I'll run over tomorrow morning while Rick is working OT.

And I think that's it for my day today.

 

[LTS3]

Laundry. Maybe when I put the next load in, I'll take a quick trip across the street to get milk and admire the flowers and other plants for sale in the area in front of the market. If my back isn't bothering me too much later, I'll head to the fitness center and plod on the treadmill for awhile. I need to get my steps in for the walk challenge at work. I'm not getting as many steps in this time as I did the previous two times I participated in the walk challenge

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

well, i didn't get the mac'n'cheese made yesterday. my plan for today is to bake a batch of burger buns in the (large size) toaster oven, then (hopefully) get that mac'n'cheese made. i'll wash the dishes and scoop the litter boxes.

 

[Winchester]

Rick had to get up at 3:30 this morning for work. Which meant that I had to get up at 3:30 this morning. The good news was that I could go back to bed after he left. The bad news was that the M & Ms were in extremely rare form this morning and I was constantly stopping their arguments. After the third time, I got up, chased Muffin into the computer room and shut the door. So there she stayed. Molli stayed on the kitty couch in the bedroom. Just as I was finally falling asleep, my phone rang; wrong number. At that point, it was 5:30 and so I stayed up.

• Breakfast for the kids, emptied the dishwasher, scooped the boxes, made the bed, vacuumed and Swiffered, wiped the kitchen down.
• Made the lemonade party cake (getting ready to frost it now), threw together some broccoli salad, and made some mint tea. Took the loaf of semolina bread and a quart of crock pot beans out of the freezer. Made the garlic-herb butter for the bread.
• Ran into the butcher for 4 nice rib eye steaks, 4 pounds of chicken wings, and a ring of garlic bologna
• Rick came home from work and hit the couch for a short snooze-fest and I still need to wipe down the bathroom. I could use a nap myself.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

i got the burger buns made yesterday -- was a better day for it, as it was raining and damp so could use the wood stove briefly to make for a good dough rising room temperature. they turned out perfect! the best batch i've made. was only the third time i've made the recipe, but i've now got the buns of equal size and nicely round shaped.



today i've got a couple phone calls to make, then will wash the dishes, scoop the litter boxes, and take out the trash and recycling.

 

[Winchester]

micknsnicks2mom , a big congratulations on your homemade burger buns! Kudos!

I didn't want to get out of bed this morning, but the furkids had other ideas! Rick took a vacation day today; he's hoping to work on the yard before the next round of rain hits us. I don't know why, but it feels more like a Tuesday than a Monday.

• Breakfast for the kids, made the bed, grabbed my shower for work (since Rick is off today, he on dishwasher duty and scooping duty) As for the treadmill, I give up.
• Grab a few groceries and also stop at the store for meds
• If it doesn't rain (and that's a pretty big IF), I'm going to mow tonight

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

thank you, Winchester ! the homemade burger buns mean a lot to me, because i had been having to 'time' anything needing burger buns to just following my shopping trips (which are usually spaced between 4 and 8 weeks apart) -- i never liked previously frozen store bought burger buns. now i have much more flexibility.

of course, my cats were quite interested in the baking sheet with the buns, covered in a lightweight dish cloth and set on a step stool near the wood stove. in fact, our Dude was loving the smell of the dough, so much so that at one point he had his head under the dish cloth and at another point he'd stepped on one bun (through the dish cloth, but it 'recovered' it's rise).



today i'll wash the dishes, scoop the litter boxes, and later in the afternoon i'll work on some budgeting and planning.

 

[Mother Dragon]

My word, micknsnicks2mom , you must live in the suburbs of the boonies if you only go shopping every 4-8 weeks. Is the wood stove your only source of heat and do you cook with wood, too?

I'll bet the whole house smelled divine with the dough rising. How many buns did you make?

There are some scents that are just wonderful by themselves. Rising yeast dough, bacon frying, coffee, and freshly popped popcorn come to mind. I don't know why they don't make air fresheners in those scents. I know I'd buy them all. Maybe they're afraid we'd inhale them.

Cats always want to "help" don't they? Dude was just punching down the dough for you. I'll bet he would knead it for you, too.

Budgeting and planning. Bleaugh!

Enjoy those wonderful yeasty morsels!

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

My word, micknsnicks2mom , you must live in the suburbs of the boonies if you only go shopping every 4-8 weeks. Is the wood stove your only source of heat and do you cook with wood, too?

I'll bet the whole house smelled divine with the dough rising. How many buns did you make?

There are some scents that are just wonderful by themselves. Rising yeast dough, bacon frying, coffee, and freshly popped popcorn come to mind. I don't know why they don't make air fresheners in those scents. I know I'd buy them all. Maybe they're afraid we'd inhale them.

Cats always want to "help" don't they? Dude was just punching down the dough for you. I'll bet he would knead it for you, too.

Budgeting and planning. Bleaugh!

Enjoy those wonderful yeasty morsels!

i live in a little hamlet in a rural agricultural area. i don't drive so arrange my transportation, but also really don't feel the need to go through the whole big 'to do' of shopping more often than i do now.

wood/the wood stove could be my sole source of heat, but it works out to be in the range of 45% to 55%. i simply won't get up (any more) through the night to add more wood to the stove during the winter months -- if the house temp drops to 60 degrees F or lower, the pipes can freeze during the winter months. i can cook on my current wood stove, it has a cook top and two grates that swivel out. i've never used it to cook, but should there be a power outage during the winter months i have the ability to do so.

yes! my whole house smelled wonderful, from the dough rising through baking the burger buns. the recipe i use makes the dough using a bread machine, then the dough is formed into buns, let rise, and baked in the oven. one batch makes 9 burger buns.

very true! and i'd add cakes, pies, brownies, blondies, and etc baking to the list of scents that are just wonderful by themselves.

yes, cats always do want to 'help'!

not my favorite thing to do, the budgeting and planning. but i'm very careful with it, and have peace of mind that everything is 'running smoothly'.

thank you! i'm using the current batch of burger buns for my cold cut sandwiches.



i'll also be working on an online order today, possibly placing the order today.

 

[Mother Dragon]

You must live up north like Winchester. Our pipes are probably a lot more exposed than yours since it rarely freezes here and if it does, it usually gets down to about 25. That's plenty cold, though. If a freeze is predicted, we're all like ants, running to the lumber store to buy pipe cover or wrapping faucets in rage secured with duct tape. Then we let the inside faucets drip.

We bought an all-electric house back in 1973 when electricity was cheap. We've since regretted it. We've gotten humongous electric bills in February and March, up to $800! We have balanced billing now, so it's not so bad. We have everything high-efficiency and keep the thermostat as low or high as is tolerable. Everything is air conditioned here. It has to be. It's already in the low 90s here. We put our gardens in around the last of February or the first of March. I've been harvesting tomatoes and peppers for the last three weeks.

Driving is a must here. We have no mass transportation where we live and the city is about 65 miles across. Fortunately, some of it has come to us and we're about 2 miles from a Kroger and a Walmart. I'm definitely a city mouse and I don't do cold at all!

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

You must live up north like Winchester. Our pipes are probably a lot more exposed than yours since it rarely freezes here and if it does, it usually gets down to about 25. That's plenty cold, though. If a freeze is predicted, we're all like ants, running to the lumber store to buy pipe cover or wrapping faucets in rage secured with duct tape. Then we let the inside faucets drip.

We bought an all-electric house back in 1973 when electricity was cheap. We've since regretted it. We've gotten humongous electric bills in February and March, up to $800! We have balanced billing now, so it's not so bad. We have everything high-efficiency and keep the thermostat as low or high as is tolerable. Everything is air conditioned here. It has to be. It's already in the low 90s here. We put our gardens in around the last of February or the first of March. I've been harvesting tomatoes and peppers for the last three weeks.

Driving is a must here. We have no mass transportation where we live and the city is about 65 miles across. Fortunately, some of it has come to us and we're about 2 miles from a Kroger and a Walmart. I'm definitely a city mouse and I don't do cold at all!

yes, i live in northern NY State. i understand the concerns people have when living in areas where it doesn't usually freeze...or snow/get significant accumulation of snow. i've lived in quite a few areas of the US. i wouldn't say that those of us here where i live enjoy the cold and snow in the winter time, but we're more or less used to dealing with it.

at this point, my house is pretty energy efficient for the winters. i plan on working towards better energy efficiency for the summer time next; there are a few things i could do to increase efficiency, and reduce my summer energy bills a bit.

here, we don't usually put in our gardens until sometime in june -- and even then, there can be a risk of a frost here and there some years.

driving is really a must here too, but i get by...i've found ways that work for me.

i get cold very easily during the cool/cold/winter months and get overheated very easily during the warm/hot summer months. so for me, i'm better off in a climate that has both extremes and a spring/fall that are 'moderate'. or, ideally in a climate that is closer to spring/fall pretty much all year round -- and there are a couple places i know of that are actually like that...



well, i completed working on that online order, and placed the order. that took 4-5 days of working on it, but well worth the effort.

 

[Winchester]

I love the smell of rising yeast. Add some cinnamon and brown sugar (for cinnamon buns) and it's even better. There's something so comfortable, so homey about rising yeast dough.

Did I mention that my MIL called me yesterday? She needed a few things from the grocery store and she knew that Monday nights were our grocery nights. But then she got to the real reason she called .....it had been a while since I made cookies and was I planning on making cookies anytime soon? Preferably some snickerdoodles and some macadamia and white chocolate chip cookies, although any cookies would do. Because it's been a while. I told her that I'd try to get some cookies done over the weekend. And we bought some macadamia nuts last night at the store. Mothers!

• Breakfast for the kids, emptied the dishwasher, made the bed, scooped the boxes, and grabbed a quick shower
• Taking a few personal care items over to Rick's mom today over lunch
• A quick spin with the vacuum tonight

And I think that will be pretty much it.

 

[AbbysMom]

The list of errands is huge, and there is no way I'll accomplish it all!

- Grocery store
- Home Depot and a garden center
- Drop the truck off for service

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

Make chicken salad for our meal tonight.
Spend the afternoon catching up on the ironing. Yuck.
Try to take a few pictures of Snoop.

 

[artiemom]

regular morning stuff.
Medicated Artie.
Sub-q's to Artie
Washed down Bathroom
doing a load of laundry now
phone call
Make a salad for supper
and not much else.



I did a lot yesterday. It is a terribly cold, windy, rainy day. I even had to put the heat on!! In June!!! later this week~ AC...stupid weather.