As the children grew

As the family grew there is a wall in the kitchen that was used to measure their growth. Before these marks are painted over I captured them on my cell phone camera.  Not the best, but they do show some of the markings. The children being who they are, constantly competed and started doing their own measurements. The last photo is of the ceiling, across the room, where one of them had to have the last word.  Sorry to see them go, they always made me smile but time moves on.

I Love It but I Hate It

Restoration - I love it but I hate it too.  We'll be spending time getting our home into shape to put on the market, but the process is so messy.  I hate messy.  Today my favorite handyman started patching the cracks in the kitchen ceiling and walls.  Our home is made of plaster - so that means layer after layer of new plaster needs to be applied with sanding in between.  Everything in the house has a layer of plaster dust on it - can't be avoided!  Hopefully the kitchen mess will be done this weekend so we can move on to the fun part - making it look fabulous!  Unfortunately, there will be more messy stuff when we move to the living room - more cracks to be re-plastered! UGH!

I love my handyman: 

Being Frugal

Need versus Want:   If frugality is the end goal, I need to recognize before the purchase if it is a need or a want. A need typically can't wait but a want can.

I notice several blogs focusing on being frugal or thrifty. I believe in the concept as long as quality isn't compromised in the process.  An example is purchasing a new pair of winter boots. I could purchase a new pair and pay very little money for them, but did I purchase something that will not last the season? Perhaps they are not waterproof or warm, and I end up with wet, cold feet that make me miserable. Better to have paid extra for the quality boots that will last several seasons and keep me warm and dry.

Store Coupons:  There is a marketing gimmick attached to all coupons. How often do I go to the store only because they sent me a 20 or 30 percent off coupon?  Over the years I find myself not being sucked into this gimmick.

Item Coupons:   Another way to be thrifty is checking the flyers for item coupons, but only if I intend to purchase the item in the first place. Buying something just because the coupon caught my eye isn't good enough. I will continue to clip item coupons and carry them to the store, but will wait until I'm in line to pay before checking to see if any actually apply to my purchases.

Do me a favor and answer the pole "Why do you shop at a particular store?"  I'm interested in the results.

Eagles

Yesterday, sweetie found a website that shows a live video of a Eagles nest.  Now is when they are building the nest and perhaps mating.  Eggs typically come end of February so this will be fun to watch. There are interesting "chats" on this webpage too.

Occupied for now

The first half of January, 2012 is behind.  Now that the holidays are over I find myself with time to spend on some projects and hobbies previously put on the back burner.

PHOTOGRAPHY: The photo in this post is one of my new hobbies.  In honor of my retirement, and because we really need one, I received a new camera.  I took some photos over the holidays with it, but didn't pick up the book until January 1st.  This particular photo was taken while waiting in a Doctor's waiting office.  So far it is my favorite.  For more January photos go to my Shutterfly page. 

Unfortunately, the camera is malfunctioning - it will be shipped back for repairs.  I hope it doesn't take too long - I've been enjoying the creativity.

COOKING: I continue to enjoy planning and cooking meals that in the past I'd push off due to lack of energy or time.  Some of my favorite recipes come from Cook's Country: Recipes that Work and America's Test Kitchen: Cook's Kitchen.  Both of these sites tease you with a few free recipes, but require a paid membership to get all.  I've decided to get a year's subscription to both for a year.  The absolutely best recipe so far was Skillet-Roasted Fish Fillets.  This recipe is free, but you do have to register.  It was melt in your mouth heaven.  I used Sea Bass and would do it again.

 

FACEBOOK:  Yes, I'm back and this time am more careful with the privacy settings.  New for me is playing Words With Friends and Lexulous-Word Game.  Both are Scrabble type games that requires someone to play with.  Let me know if you want to give it a try. I'm really close to beating Nic in my first attempt.  (He's really good)

 

READING:  I love books and enjoy digging into a wonderful story - the time flys!  Right now I'm enjoying "The Power of One".  I highly recommend it.  It is lengthy, but does keep your interest. It is NOT a self-help book!!!

 

KITCHEN/BATHROOM PROJECTS:  Continuing to make some changes to these two rooms.  Thank goodness I have Pete the Plumber.  I love my plumber! 

 

ROAD TRIP? I cut out an article from a magazine to show Pete  "Where Eagles Soar".  Later this month is when migrating bald eagles flock to the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers.  We may just take a road trip.

 

Keeping busy...hope you are too :)

 

Why do I feel so crummy - I had a flu shot!

Was it something I ate?  Or perhaps just the common flu?  In any case I'm sticking to the BRAT diet until things settle down.

B = Bananas
R = Rice
A = Applesauce
T = Toast/Tea

Glad to have no plans for the next few days.

My father's traits

My daughter-in-law recently mentioned having traits much like her father.  I believe that, which caused me to research what my father's traits were.  Based on his profession - here are the traits that made him successful.  I do believe I am also much like my father.

• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
• Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

My father was a Maintenance Engineer for the Pressed Steel Company. Perhaps not a noble profession, but provided his family a comfortable standard of living, but most important he was a wonderful, compassionate and trusting human being.  I am proud to be his daughter and truly miss him.

How long will this retirement last

Honest!  I only intended to clean out the refrigerator.  How was I to know that when I pulled the refrigerator away from the wall I'd cause a "kink" in the copper tubing causing a leak in the water supply to the ice maker? And how was I to know that when I tried to vaccuum the dust bunnies from the back of the refrigerator the roller/wheel would fall apart?  Really???  I only wanted to keep busy and out of your way today.  Fortunately the copper tubing was fixed with a 15 cent part; and the wheel replaced with a wooden shim.  Can't wait until timorrow :)