Yucky Week

I came down with a raging sore throat on Sunday night and it pretty much wiped me out for the week. Today is day 4 on antibiotics and I think I might live. I am so tired of winter I could scream.
Today for our brief period of sunshine I went out and toured my yard. I'm getting ready to show my house so I'm seeing it's every flaw. Why is it you can live with imperfection but feel you have to show your very best to a total stranger? I think I'm going to tell prospective buyers that they have to pay extra for shower scum and toilet rings. It's also an extra charge for my neighbors leaves I have stored in my flower beds all winter.
Our new house is coming along fine. However Gene did manage to stop the painters before they put the second coat of paint on the trim. They had the wrong color and were just happy as clams they were almost finished. I bet they were not happy to see him. Ooops!!
I am also trying to purge my house of clutter and crap. I surprise myself with the stuff I hang onto. I ran across a box that was unfamiliar. When I opened it I took an hour going through it. It contained school things from my kids. Man do I feel old.
One of the things I saved out was a letter Warren wrote in second grade. His assignment was , Cinderellas letter to her stepmother, written a week after her marriage to the prince.
Dear Stepmother,
I'm happy to leave your house. And now I'm a princess. I'm going to hire someone to clean the palace. Maybe your daughters want to.
He is still just as blunt today. Gotta love honesty.
Well in my cleaning and purging I feel like a pack rat. My new goal is to pare down. Natalie ...where are you?? Help!!

WARNING!! WARNING!!

This picture may be too graphic for small children or wimpy adults.

This is one of my childhood favorite meals. The mass of shredded stuff at 12 o'clock is sauerkraut. The hunk directly to it's left is pork ribs which has simmered in that kraut all day. The gray sphere at the bottom of the plate is a potato dumpling. That dumpling cooked probably weighs in at about 1.5 lbs. To eat this properly you need to cut up the dumpling into bite size pieces. Next slather soft butter all over the pieces allowing it to run all over the plate. Next spear a piece of dumpling well up on the tines of the fork. Then with exposed tines scoop some sauerkraut onto the end. With your free hand grab onto an exposed end of a rib and alternately bite pork and dumpling mixture. Continue until satisfied or gacked out whichever comes first. Finish off the meal with stories about how weird and goofy your parents were. My kids were never too pleased when this was served at my house. Usually was chorused by lots of gross innuendos. Well tonight I fixed this and ate it all by myself. The only part missing was the stories, but trust me when I call all my sisters later we will no doubt have a few good ones to share. By the way my other ethnic friends whom eat menudo, haggis, rocky mountain oysters and such, don't be making fun of my German food!!

JEROME??

Picking up Mrs. Gabe at noon tomorrow and heading to Jerome for a church meeting. I'm not sure I have been to Jerome. I map quested it and got a big heehaw from my family about that."You can't get lost in Jerome honey".. I say, wanna bet? He would be singin another tune if he had to come and rescue me out in the desert somewhere. TTFN off to get ready for my next adventure.

MONDAY MADNESS

Hey sisters , I'm rockin!! Got up early this a.m. feeling a little out of sorts. I had lots to do so I just decided to suck it up. I went to the show room to pick out my light fixtures which was fairly painless. I already had a good idea of what I wanted so I just made a decision. I told the design lady not to give me too many choices , so based on what I wanted she showed me 2 lines. BINGO , choice made.

Gene went off to work (AKA snowmobiling) and I decided to tear into work. Well as I sat in my sewing room eating my lunch , watching noon news I was just not motivated to do any WORK ,WORK. So instead of berating myself I decided to just stay up there and do whatever I felt like.

• I finished a really cute apron
• mended JuJu's belly dancing skirt
• almost finished a dress I started in September
• sorted and pitched magazines
• went through some pictures
• looked through a couple scrapbooking idea books
• enjoyed the sun coming in the window
• looked through furniture catalogs

Just enjoyed doing nothing. I think I could like this. I really did accomplish some things. I wrapped up my evening with a bowl of cereal for dinner and now I'm going to take a hot bath. See you tommorow.

MY DAY OF REST

I have this thing about Sundays. No matter how much rest I have gotten I still feel the need to rest on Sunday afternoons. Now normally I am not a take a nap person , but this mysterious force overtakes me after lunch on Sundays. My eyes get heavy , I yawn until my whole face hurts and I'm just out of the zone. I preface my nap with a comment like "I'm going to go lie down and read awhile". Everyone at my house knows what that really means. I will go upstairs , change into sweats or jammies and crawl into my nice warm bed . Sometimes I will actually pick up the most recent book I am reading and open it to the page I last left off. I will promptly fall into a death like sleep , drooling and all , for a good 2 hours. Then I act surprised when I wake up. My comment is such , "Man I must have been tired , I didn't even know I fell asleep". Gee I wonder if I'm still foolin em?

Happy Valentines Day!!

My husband is not big on holidays of any sort. Now don't get me wrong , he is very generous and loves me very much but when it comes to gift giving it just plain stresses him out. So what happens is I usually buy something I want and tell him how thoughtful he is to pay for it. It sounds lame but it works for both of us. A few years ago he totally forgot Valentines Day. Not that big of a deal , but you at least want a card or a pinch on the behind or something of recognition. Well a few days later he left a small box in the living room. Sarah brought it to my attention and I thought it was for her. When I figured it was mine I was in awe. It was a big fat diamond ring. He said Valentines Day was for all the other people , but I deserved a day all my own. SWOON... That's the biggest crock I ever heard ,but I swallowed it hook , line , and sinker. In fact he's still riding that wave this Valentines Day. I love you dear.

SPRING IS IN THE AIR

I am lovin the sunshine!! I know it gives me a false sense of warmth , but I am going to embrace that. I am truly a spring and summer person.
I have been having difficulty the last couple of days getting anything accomplished. I feel distracted and unorganized. I would like to take a whole week off by myself , at home. I would work until I dropped. I would not answer the phone . I would not cook . I would not get dressed or comb my hair. I would eat whatever , whenever I felt like it. I would do every crazy project that has been plauging my mind.

• organize all my random boxes of pictures
• fill up all my empty frames
• sort and organize my thread
• sort and organize all my fabric
• clean every damn drawer in this house and throw away most of their contents
• finish my new , cool recipe book
• finish the quilts that have been waiting since 1988 ( yes Sarah, the ice cream cone one)
• throw all the clothes out of my closet and start again
• finish my window project
• write and mail all the notes I have bouncing around in my head
• clean all the things that creep me out ie window tracks , edges of carpet , light fixture the list goes on and on.

In reality I think I will take my craziness to bed with a book. Get a good nights sleep and thank God for all the good things in my life. I'm sure when I wake up all my projects will have waited for me and I will chip away at them one by one.

BLESS THIS HOUSE

February 3 , some friends and family went out to the house to write scriptures on the wood before it wa covered with insulation and sheet rock. We had a good time and everyone placed their favorite scriptures in various places .

Fran was so brave , we got her a ladder so she could place hers over the entry way.
Melissa and Gabe wrote all over the place , and Joanne was putting hers around too.
Thank you to my friends and family who came to bless the very foundations of our home. I pray it will be a welcome place for all who know us. That we can provide comfort and friendship to all who enter. If you know us at all there will be lots of breaking of bread too. Thank you again.

The projects never end!

The work on the house is progressing very quickly. The weather has had little effect. I am excited and stressed at the same time. How can appliances cost so much? How much better will my food taste coming out of a refridgerator that cost more than my used car? Will my food taste better cooked on a high tech range? It has not been that long since I bought new appliances yet I swear the prices have doubled in 5 years. I was keeping my washer and dryer because it is only 7 years old , but the washer conked out while I was gone on vacation and it could not be recesitated. So add new washer and dryer to the budget. I desperatly needed to do laundry before my new set was deliversd , so I went to a laundry mat. OMG that was a scary experience. It was 10 p.m. on a Saturday night and there were a couple of scary characters there. I made Gene go with me , thank God. I love washing clothes in the safety of my own little basement.
The girls have been excited and want to go to the house as often as we will take them. They walk through telling me where everything is. They are so cute. We went out last Thursday and had a bon fire and snowball fight. Tons of fun.
Hope somebody cleans this pile of rubble up before I move in.
Staying warm by the fire.