My Weblog

The Good, the Bad, and the I don't know what to do next.....

Well, there has just been a big fight between Max and Parker.  Poor Parker is bloody--his paw has a bite with wounds on opposing sites, he's bloody around both of his ears.  I have no clue what set them off but it was just awful.  Parker is in the bedroom now.  I took him in there to clean him up and he doesn't want to come out.  I can't blame him--Max is out here.  Anyway, the little guy is limping and looking pitiful and miserable and I'm so angry at Max I don't dare touch him. 

I went to work today and was met with yet another version of the office.  Everytime Matt gets bored, he "cleans".  Primarily he moves the furniture around; the world would stop spinning on its axis if anyone actually vacuumed.  I think it's about as well laid out now as it can get.  The biggest surprise of all was when I stepped into the bathroom.  It is actually almost clean.  Now, understand, if it were your bathroom or mine, we'd still be scrubbing.  But this the cleanest I've seen that bathroom in the year and a half I've worked there.  Shortly after I started there, I bought chemicals and equipment to clean it.  I'd go to the bathroom and clean the mirror before I left.  Next day I'd go to the bathroom and clean the sink before I left.  And, so on........  I gave the floor one shot and never tried again.  I couldn't make a dent in the concrete that was adhered to the linoleum floor and I hurt my back in the process.  But, at least the surfaces I had to touch with my skin were clean.  Then I was forbidden to clean anymore because Matthew decided it was too expensive.  So the bathroom has not been cleaned since May or June.  And with construction guys in and out, use your imagination.  I don't think you can imagine it as bad as it was, but, thank God, it's better. 

As I mentioned, I've had a lot of "digestive upset" and using that bathroom was just the icing on the cake so to speak.  First, it's in the unheated shop.  So, it's a bit like using the two-holer at the back of the property in January--very cold in there.  Second, you're sick and you don't want to be and you're marooned in a room that is unimaginably filthy.  So filthy you get the hebegebees because when you sit, your pant legs touch that filthy floor.  And, third, when you go to wash your hands, you don't want to touch the sink and there's no hot water and no soap.  You're even afraid to touch the door knob to leave the room and you have to bring your own toilet paper because there is never any supplied.  We've been out for weeks and weeks on end and no one has bought more.  Poor Joe.  I know he could write a book by now full of my complaints about that bathroom so I'm sure he'll be relieved to not have to listen to that anymore........for a while. 

So, it's not quite 7PM and I've got a long to do list for things here in the house.  I've shared my "news" for the day and now it's back to work for me.

On the Mend

With four doses of meds in my system, I am on the mend.  I still sound congested.  My nose is still like raw meat, inside and out.  My right cheekbone area and eye are still a bit swollen.  But, the fever is pretty much down and the running nose has stopped.  There's still an occasional sneeze, but at one point on Sunday, I counted 17 sneezes in an hour.  Nothing like that now, thank goodness.  So, all in all, it's improving.

I've had a lot of "digestive upset" to put it politely the last couple of days.  I did some research and found out that erythromycin is related to zithromax.  AND, it shares the same side effects.  So, I suppose diarrhea is just normal for now.  I don't like the "new" normal, but it will pass soon enough, LOL.

It's been a productive day in the house.  Significant cleaning has occurred in the kitchen.  I've about got all the Tupperware washed and put away.  I have two boxes, one filled with Tupperware bottoms, one filled with Tupperware tops.  The tops don't fit any of the bottoms I own.  The bottoms don't fit any of the tops I own.  My primary question is what the heck happened to the missing pieces??  Some of them are really large.  I can't imagine they could possibly be "misplaced".  Anyway, with this Tupperware thing behind me, I've found room for several items that were homeless and sitting out on the counter so the kitchen looks a bit less cluttered.  That's hard to maintain because of the small size of the kitchen, but I'm working at it. 

The kids went out in the backyard and played while I was at work yesterday.  I don't know what they drug in but bits and pieces of whatever it was were all over the living room carpet.  So, I've vacuumed the living room and dining room and started sorting the crap that has come to the surface since Joe did his thing in there over the weekend. 

And, all the laundry is caught up, always a blessing.  I have some things to put away, but nowhere near enough to make a load to wash.

In between the house stuff and trying to get a couple of extra hours of sleep so this body would mend, I've been working on the hard drive again.  I downloaded 96 gigabytes of stuff from Mozy.  I have to do the web download because nothing else works.  Anyway, I unzipped 25 files today and eliminated a bunch of obvious duplicates, adding more files than I want to count to my files that need to be unzipped and processed.  Now, I've started the endless process of going through the files, one by one, determining if it duplicates something I've already unzipped and moved elsewhere or if it's something I actually "lost" in the crash. 

Jennifer went back to work yesterday for the first time since Elizabeth arrived.  I guess that getting the troops organized and in the cars together with all their miscellaneous belongings is a major assignment.  She started out from home only to realize she'd forgotten something and had to go back.  By the time she got all the children deposited in the proper places, she didn't arrive at work until about 9:30.  At 10:30, the day care called and told her Atticus had just thrown up all over everywhere and she'd have to come get him and take him home.  I think she managed, all in all to get a couple of hours worth of work done, but that was it.  And, when she arrived to get Atts, he gave her a long lecture on how he was going to go home to HIS house and play with HIS play-do, and watch HIS movies on TV and so on and so forth.  Of course, once he'd had a nap, everything was right as rain with him.  So, tomorrow she'll try again.  I guess I'll start praying about that tonight..........sounds like she could use a bit of supernatural help with all this.

Okay, I've got scazillion more files to deal with and I want to get those clean clothes put away.  Talk more later..........

Tomorrow will be a better day!

So, yes, I am still sick.  But, I had my second dose of Zithromax today and I can honestly say I 've had about two hours where I didn't feel like dog dung.  The constant running of my nose has backed off some.  Thank Goodness.  I was beginning to look like a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer wanna be.  Blood pressure punched its way to up there where the big ones fly, but succumbed to a blood pressure pill and is now down in the normal range, though still high enough for me to feel it at the back of my head.  And, I'm coughing a bit more, but it's not that deep, rip-a-lung-out cough, so I can handle it.  But, all in all, it's a better day than yesterday.  And by tomorrow morning, I will swallow my 3rd dose of antibiotic and that should help a lot. 

Needless to say, it hasn't exactly been a productive day.  So far, my accomplishments in the house are limited to unloading and reloading the dishwasher and throwing one load of clothes into the washer.  Wow, I had hoped to accomplish so much this weekend, but I just haven't felt up to it.  Mostly I've sat here at the computer and tried to work on my poor hard drive.  I have multiples of multiples of all sorts of things on my hard drive.  I think I can safely say that at this point my losses from the crash in early November are limited to about 10% but I wonder if I'll have the energy to go through what it will take to restore that 10%.  My biggest loss, so far, is some of my working files for my kits.  I grabbed all my kits back off the server at one of my stores.  But, it's things like layered files and preview files that I don't have.  But, while I may be missing all the layered files and preview files for kit A, I have 4 copies for Kit B.  It's a general mess.  Thank God this external hard drive is large enough to handle the volume!  But, bit by bit I get parts of it cleaned out and more parts recovered. 

Joe got a wild hair over the weekend and decided to finish painting the first coat on the part of the living room ceiling that wasn't painted.  Then he decided to "turn the room back into a room".  Except..........  The ceiling has only 1 coat of primer/sealer on it.  Now it needs paint which means tearing everything up again.  2) the walls have 2 coats of sealer and are ready for paint which means tearing everything up again.  3) I had just finished going through the crap I could reach that had been dumped in the living room along the way and throwing some away, putting some away.  Now there's another whole load of crap to go through, pretty much piled on every available flat surface.  4) I had moved everything off the entry way floor.  I wasn't particular about where it went as long as it wasn't where I need to mop the floor.  Now it's all back there again.  I wonder if there's really any hope of recovery anytime in my lifetime.........  I'll just dig in and start again, but since nothing is finished the wall unit is still in the garage so there's no place to put anything away.  I'm not sure if there's a point to trying to sort through stuff when you have no place to put it.  5)  I wonder if there will ever come a time when he will allow me to be involved in a meaningful way in projects like this.  If he would have let me be involved yesterday, I wouldn't be trying to figure out what all I had to undo today.........  He is SUCH a flipping control freak.

I forgot to mention that Jennifer and Jason got a "new to them" couch, loveseat, and Dining Room table and chairs.  The table is much larger than their old one which is nice since the family keeps growing.  I think the couch and loveseat may also be larger as well.  Their old couch was showing a fair amount of wear from 5 years of kids jumping/climbing/reclining/sitting/playing on it and from the cat.  So it's nice they could replace all that.  Apparently one of Jennifer's students was moving and couldn't take this stuff with her so Jen got a deal on it.  They had hoped Joe would be able to help them move it all, but Joe had worked the night before the big move.  Somehow, they got it all done. 

I was watching Elizabeth in her little bouncy thing Friday and made the remark to Jennifer that the way she was working at it, it wouldn't be long before she rolled over.  Sure enough, Jen called a little while ago to tell me that Elizabeth had rolled over.  I remember having Jennifer in for a checkup at 4 months and the doctor cautioning me that she would be rolling over any day.  So, I think Miss Elizabeth is a bit ahead of herself at two months. 

Cute story from Christmas.  Jennifer baked cookies and then corralled the boys into helping her decorate them.  Atticus was willing but significantly lacking in skills.  Will had the skills but didn't want to.....  Anyway, they got them all decorated and she fixed up a plate of cookies for one of their neighbors and she and Atticus went off to deliver them.  They knocked on the door and no one answered right away.  Atticus said "Open up.  Us-es baked you tookies".  There's nothing like learning a whole new version of English from a 3 year old!

Well, that's all I have for now.  I'm going back to hard drive maintenance.  Later........

Well, that didn't take long.....

Last night I predicted that I would end up with either a sinus infection or bronchitis.  I got up this morning and was barely vertical when it was necessary to RUN to the office for Kleenex.  Blew my nose and there was the incontrovertible evidence that this is now a sinus infection.  The right side of my nose is red and swollen, but the left side doesn't match it yet, so I guess that tells us the infection is on the right side only.  I've switched to a stronger antibiotic and should be doing better in a day or two.

We figured out the "no cash" thing last night.  The bank account we are using right now is one I opened for myself.  So the debit card is in my name only.  And a guy named Joe has a hard time passing for "Marcia" at the checkstand.  Well, he went to Albertson's last night and just used the card at the self-checkout stand.  Came home with Kleenex (my hero), milk, and a few other necessities. 

Sometime before it gets much later, I have to get dressed and go with him to the hardware store.  He's decided he can get the rest of the living room ceiling painted today (he didn't work last night).  Only problem is that we're out of paint.  So, I have to go along and offer up the credit card for sacrifice to get more paint.  I don't feel like going anywhere except, maybe, back to bed, but I don't have a choice in the matter.

Okay, it's going to take pretty much all the energy I can muster to get dressed, so I'm signing off for now.  Maybe I'll feel like "saying" more later.......

Marci

It seemed impossible, but

For years, I teased my daughter about bringing home a good case of the flu every year.  It seemed she'd be sick for a few days and then I'd get sick and stay that way for a couple of weeks, generally right at or before Christmas.  Well, now she lives in a separate house, 4 miles away, and yet, somehow she's done it again.  I know of no one but her who has had a cold.  But, I slept very badly last night and woke up with a clogged nose, a face that literally hurts over the sinuses, a runny nose, ears that hurt, etc.  I've had some ibuprofen and I've started antibiotics.  I know antibiotics don't work on colds, but for more years than I can remember, a good solid cold has invariably turned into a sinus infection, bronchitis, or both.  So, I can't see why I'd think this time would be any different.  Anyway, I am completely miserable--headache, runny nose, face ache, ear ache, yadada yadada.  But, still I wonder, how did she do it from 4 miles away?

Here's the fun part.  Joe has almost no cash.  I literally have no cash.  We're one day into this and almost out of Kleenex, Ibuprofen--in short we are totally unprepared for fighting the symptoms of a cold and we have no money to go get anything.  We have checks that could be deposited somewhere but we wouldn't be able to draw against them til Monday at the earliest.  I guess it will be toilet tissue for blowing and hot showers for decongesting and I have no idea where we go from there........

So yesterday was a good day.  We got up early and made it to Jennifer's by 7:30 or so.  They had been up really late finishing up the Christmas preparations and then up again around 5AM when William decided he was sick.  I'm sure they were just thrilled at our arrival, right?  Well, at least they no longer had to talk two anxious boys out of attacking the goodies under the tree once we arrived.  Jason made coffee and we started on the task that is Christmas.

It's not so much that there are so many gifts, though there were a lot, as it is that the little guys just don't hold up their end of the deal.  Elizabeth had only a few presents under the tree, but of course, at two months, there's not much chance she's going to open gifts.  So, someone else had to stop and open hers.  Atticus, much like his mother at the same age, wanted to play with everything he opened.  He didn't care that there were more presents with undisclosed goodies.  He was definitely operating under the "bird in the hand" principle. 

As is her usual practice, Aunt JoAnne sent many gifts.  Books and clothes mostly.  I'm very proud of the boys in that they are both very happy with the receipt of books.  That means Mom and Dad are doing a good job teaching them a love of reading and that's a very good thing.  And she always finds beautiful clothes for them.  She told me once she shops the sales all year long so it's not as expensive as it looks.  I'll tell you, she sends so much it does look pretty expensive.  Both boys got jackets, 5 or so shirts and 3 or more pairs of pants as well as books.  That's another surprising thing--they love getting the packages of clothes.  Many kids turn up their noses at anything but toys, but not these guys.  Will stopped right in the middle of everything and put on a set of his new clothes (dressing right there in the living room) which he wore all day!

So, finally, the gifts were opened and the carnage cleared by around 10AM.  Joe had had about 2 hours of sleep before I woke him to go to Jen's so it was important to get him home quickly.  We talked about trying to find someplace that was open and serving breakfast but decided we couldn't spare the time for more than a drive through.  So, we went to Del Taco where I got a bacon and egg Quesadilla and Joe got a breakfast burrito.  Then he went to bed and I fooled around with e-mail and such for a while.  Finally, I crawled in bed for a little while then got up and headed to Jen's so I could start dinner.  He joined us about two hours later.  We had beef stroganoff, noodles, broccoli with cheese sauce, a green bean casserole, a yummy salad with roasted walnuts, bleu cheese, and pears in it, and some very nice honey wheat rolls.  By the time we finished eating, I felt like crap.  I'd like to say it was the beginning of this cold, but it could just as easily be that I ate too much.  You have to remember that I am alone 6 nights out of 7 at dinnertime.  I'm sure I don't have to tell you that dinner is whatever I find when I dig around in the fridge--sometimes it's toast with peanut butter or a bowl of cereal.  So, eating even a few bites of each item we served was way more food than I'm used to.

That led to a lousy night, and by 2AM, I knew this cold was upon me. 

Jennifer and Jason were very generous, giving us a number of gifts as well as a gift card for my favorite food market.  We've also been blessed with checks from Joe's mom and my mom for Christmas and our birthdays.  Without these gifts, I'm not sure how we'd make it through this month.  Joe has determinedly gone to work night after night and has made minimum wage at most, night after night.  How can anyone pay their bills on $5 an hour these days?  I did call a few weeks ago to see about food stamps.  I was told we make too much??????  How is that possible?  Oh well, we're going to be okay and hopefully sometime from mid-January on, Joe's job should pick up a little.  And, then tax season will start and that will add a bit more help.  So, I think we're going to make it through til April.  Remains to be seen what happens after that. 

So, today there is a Band of Brothers marathon on TV.  I really think that is one of the best made for TV series ever.  Only problem is that it's too short.  It seems to me they could have done more than one episode on the jump into land for Operation Market Garden........  Perhaps if they had known what a hit the series would be........

And, I've been sitting here between nose blowings, unzipping files.  I'm pretty sure I'll be around 80 when I'm caught up, but it's worth trying.  I also have downloads incoming to restore more of my losses from the EHD crash.  So, I'm pretty busy.  And, now, I'm going to get back to it.  Just pray the ibuprofen holds out til morning.........

2 days and counting

Just two days to Christmas.  Normally, I'd be stressed, engulfed in last minute package wrapping and cooking and baking up a storm.  But there's no money for presents for anyone this year and no money for extra flour or sugar or shortening or nuts or chocolate chips or.......well you get the picture.  What this means is there's a WHOLE LOT less pressure on me this year than is "normal".  So, this morning I am babysitting all three grandkids--THAT should be a challenge--and I'll be trying to design and clean in the meantime. 

I've done plenty of babysitting with the boys.  But this morning I will have Miss Elizabeth thrown into the mix.  That will be all new and different.  We'll see how that goes. 

I have continued to look at the blogs of other designers who are giving out freebies.  Mostly, I've decided, they're giving away things their Creative Teams have made.  Well, I don't have a Creative Team.  Or, they're giving away 2 pieces of paper and a frame and calling it a freebie.  Now, I admit it's been a good while since I've done a freebie, but when I do, it's a goood bit more than 2 pieces of paper and a frame.  So, I don't feel so bad anymore.

I've decided a bunch of folks are wimpy bloggers.  Some of the blogs I read on a regular basis haven't been posted to in days and days.  I'm sure it's the busyness of the Christmas season and my blog would be neglected too if I had all that Christmas stuff to do.

Well, Jennifer has arrived and departed again and I've got a 10 year old, a 3 year old and a 2 month old to watch over.  I just had the privilege of rocking the baby to sleep.  Is there any sweeter task? 

With Joe's agreement, I did buy one gift.  It is not a Christmas gift, but I just felt I HAD to do it.  My daughter has given me 3 beautiful grandchildren and they are the three best gifts anyone could ever have given me.  Months ago, I saw a necklace on someone's blog with itty bitty little dog-tag shaped things onto which the names of children could be stamped.  But, at the time, we weren't sure what the baby's name would be.  But, I saw something very similar again and I loved it.  I gave it to Jennifer this morning, just my way of saying thanks for all the joy she's given me.  It looks like this except, of course, with the names "William", "Atticus", and "Elizabeth".   You can get it at Tiny Belles Boutique on Etsy.

So that's my news for today.  I need to get going on my day.  Have a great one!

 

What a day!

Well, today was another of Joe's "goal oriented" days.  These are the kinds of days when I'd prefer to hide under the bed.  He becomes totally single-minded and anything or anyone who gets in his way is bound for an earful.  So much hubbub and commotion on his side of the office.  It is NOT fun to be around.  And, he is constantly needing this or that or something else from me when he does this stuff.  I just want to be left alone in peace and quiet sometimes......... 

In October, we submitted all the documentation necessary for a loan modification application for our first mortgage--55 faxed pages.  In November, when we called to check on the application, we were told there were certain items that were required that we failed to submit.  So, we submitted them.  Today we were told there were certain items that were required that we failed to submit.  So, we submitted them.  We are starting to wonder how many times we have to move our game pieces around the board before we get to buy a hotel!  Sooner or later, surely they will tell us what ALL the required pieces of paper are so we can be sure they're all submitted, right?  DH, of course, was a loan officer and you can just imagine how irate he becomes when asked to play another round of this same game.  He was meticulous about being sure to send them everything they asked for in the first package so we know they haven't asked for this other stuff in a timely manner.  I don't blame him for being angry, but, when it's a company 2000 miles away with which you're angry, the anger is just a waste of precious energy. 

Well, I got that freebie for ACOT finished up today except for adding in the terms of use and the piracy notice and zipping it.  As it turned out, I elected to make something fresh as opposed to trying to dig through my hard drive looking for something.  I HATE digging through my hard drive.  It is just a wreck since the crash in November and makes me frustrated and sad to look at it closely.  Anyway, I put together 4 solid papers, 2 print papers, and some miscellaneous Christmassy elements and that's my freebie.

I did NOT get that preview fixed.  I should do it now instead of this, but I'm about all used up for the day.  So, I'll try to get that done in the morning. 

I'm still working on those shelves in the kitchen.  One to go and a few containers to get back on the first two shelves.  I'll be glad when this is over, but it HAD to be done.  I don't think I could have eaten anything cooked in this kitchen if I'd known about the dirt and hadn't cleaned it. 

I've managed to get the dust ruffle and the bottom sheet washed and dried from our bed and the duvet is in the washer.  I'll move it to the dryer before I crash.  Tomorrow, I think I will try to get to the mattress cover.  In the meantime, I will sleep with whatever is left on the bed and just not worry about it.  It's not like I can do much better.  I usually get up about the time Joe comes to bed.  Then, when he gets up, it's a mad rush to figure out something for lunch, time to eat lunch, and time to get ready for work and out the door.  Then I come home around 7-8PM and try to wash some part of the bed clothes.  It's a challenge.  Our bed is always, it seems, in the process of becoming clean........  But, for the moment, I'm fairly well caught up on the rest of the laundry, so that's always a good thing. 

I pretty much managed to go through the living room and get rid of the dust.  I even washed the windows on the french doors between there and the office.  With the dogs around, they'll stay clean for about a nano-second, but for the moment they're clean. 

I broke down and bought some cleaning "equipment" recently.  If I have to do the job, I need some tools that work for me.  A while back, I bought a mop from Flylady.net.  I don't know if she's still selling them, but they're great.  They have a set of microfiber cloths that are attached to the business end of the mop.  When you're done with them, they go in the washer and can be reused.  The microfiber cloth does a great job of capturing dog hair, a constant challenge in this house.  And, once it's given a good shake, I just grab the Windex bottle and start squirting the floors and take that mop over all the wet areas.  It does a great job wet or dry.  I also bought some "royal rags".  They're called "royal" because they're purple.  They're oversized microfiber cleaning clothes.  They do a great job on glass--no lint--and again because they're microfiber, they do a good job of capturing dust.  I tried one out in the living room and was really pleased with how well it worked. 

I also bought a "rubba scrubba".  Folks seem to be buying these things 3 or 4 at a time, but I only bought one.  They're supposed to be dynamite on dog hair.  My plan is first to try it out on the chair Max, the German Shepherd, sleeps in all the time.  Next, I want to go around next to the baseboards and clean that area.  Too close to the baseboard for the beater bars of the vacuum and the tools just don't have the oomph to grab the hair.  So we'll see what this little baby can do.  They are getting rave reviews for all sorts of uses, particularly pet hair and scrubbing things you have to scrub but don't want to scratch.  Anyway, if this little item works as well as the mop and the "royal" rags, I'll be one happy camper.  I'm also happy not to be Swiffering and paying a high price for the pads and then contributing them to a land fill.  And, I think I'm too darned old to be doing floors on my knees!

I still have not scrapped anything.  I did download a couple of kits from Bella Gypsy.  I'll get something done with them, though technically that "something" should have been by today.  Oh, well........ 

Now for the juiciest bit of this blog post.  The one where I'm being taught to "expect a miracle".  (Hard to believe Oral Roberts, who coined that phrase, has gone to Heaven.  He'll be missed here on earth, that's for sure.)  Anyway, anyone who reads this blog on even a semi-regular basis likely knows that I have a part-time job doing the books for a company of which my stepson is General Manager.  And, he has been a whole lot less than sweet to me over the year and a half I've worked there.  He's yelled at me, he's picked at me, he's tried to fire me, he's lied about me to the company owner, and so on.  Well, last week he announced via e-mail that he wanted to talk to me.  That's cause for an immediate case of diarrhea.  I abhor going into the office because of the unpleasantness I encounter there when he is there.  But, I had to face the music.........  Imagine my total shock when he began apologizing for the way he has treated me.  He said he knows he makes me cry and he's sorry about that.  He said he gets in a bad mood and then it spills out on me.  He apologized for being mean and angry and screaming at me and ...........  Well, I had to choke real hard to keep the tears down.  It had to be God.  There is no other possible explanation for such a complete reversal of attitudes.  I told him that I had not understood his attitude.  That he may have excellent reasons not to like his last stepmother but I'm not her.  I told him that I'm his father's wife and I know that if he and I can't get along, his father will stand with me.  Joe may tell me I'm wrong, but he'll stand with me.  And the last thing I want ever is to be a wedge between my husband and his son.  Anyway, the air is cleared between us.  I hope it can stay that way.  And I am most grateful to God for this miraculous change.  I was disappointed in myself in that I was SO shocked; after all, I'd prayed and prayed for a resolution to the problem.  I'd prayed and prayed for God to help me love Matthew even though he has been so totally unloveable.  And, yet, I was shocked when God actually did what I asked him to do.  Oh, me, what little faith I have..........

Well, I've been dealing with a headache of varying intensity for about 7 hours now.  I'm going to call my husband and say good night, take a mega ibuprofen, and go to bed.  Have a good night!

I've slept therefore I'm more sensible.......

Wow, what a difference a few hours of sleep can make.  I'm fresher and ready to tackle more cleaning, more unzipping, more e-mail sorting, more designing, more whatever. 

I don't think I mentioned that I stopped by the Franklin Covey store and bought the refill for my planner for 2010.  I was pretty proud of myself.  I could "shop" in that store for a while and if I did, I'd surely emerge with more than I went for.  However, I stayed on track, bought only what I had to have and ran out of the store, looking neither right nor left.  That's one way to save money!

And my credit card worked again--I got the van registered for the year!  Broke my heart to use that card as they just lowered the interest, and thus the payment, on it and I've had to charge a good bit on it with more still to come........I still haven't ordered the tax software......

So, today what will I tackle?  I've still got more work to do on that open shelving in the kitchen.  Right now the kitchen is in chaos due to a bunch of tupperware with no lids as I've taken them all off to be washed.  Also, I dug in the freezer last night, looking for something to eat and came out with a container of pork and sauerkraut.  I make a mean pot of pork and sauerkraut, if I do say so myself, but this just did not sit well.  I really didn't even want to see it again, much less get close enough to smell it.  So, it' sitting on the counter and shortly I'll have to go out there and get rid of it.  I have a load of clothes waiting to be dried and put away so that's high on the list.  I really need to wash the bedclothes but since Joe and I sleep on opposite schedules these days, I almost have to make an appointment to launder bed clothes.  I need to do some dusting in parts of the living room.  I can't do a whole lot in there because the whole room is in disarray with the 13 month old painting project, but I try to keep the dust down on the surfaces I can reach.  And, it's time to work in the office again.  I'll be plenty busy.

I also have a snow kit I'm working on.  All the papers are done and many of the elements.  I need to do a few more elements and get the previews finished up, etc.  I also have to upload the New Year's kit to NDISB.  Apparently I've got a winner with the New Year's kit as I've already sold one of those at ACOT and I haven't even done an "official" announcement.  AND, at the last minute, the designers at ACOT decided it would be good to do some sort of Holiday promotion.  I guess we're going to do a freebie a day of some sort.  I'm hoping I can find something gift-able on my hard drive so I don't have to start from scratch.  But, given that I'm STILL in hard drive recovery, even if I do find something, I wonder if all the pieces will be there? 

So, that will be my day.  My evening will be much the same.  The last performance of the big holiday production will take place tonight at our church.  We discussed going, but it will be a total mob scene and neither of us is up for that.  If we want, we can watch it live on the internet.  Besides, it's best if I don't think too much about Christmas.  For the second year in a row, Christmas is a non-event at our house this year.

Joe has a job offer.  It's not real firm and it's a new company, not even set up yet, but we know the owner well and it looks like a sale-able product.  Joe was the first guy he contacted; he plans on having 7 to 8 guys selling.  And, if it's a go, I'll be doing the accounting work.  It is the kind of thing that can be done from anywhere, so, God help me, Joe may be working from home.  Although we've been poorer than church mice, I've enjoyed the QUIET that comes with Joe being gone at this "job" of his.  I am SO MUCH MORE productive on all fronts when he's not around.  But if this thing is a go and he starts making enough money that we can buy more than one thing a day at the grocery store, I'll be happy.  Maybe I can work in another room or something........Please pray with us about this.  These 12 hour nights with so little earned are really taking a toll on my husband.

He sent an e-mail to the bankruptcy attorney.  We've been getting hammered by the second mortgage company with threatening mail, phone calls, etc.  It looks as though the second mortgage may go away in the bankruptcy since it "over-encumbers" the house.  We had approached them for a loan modification quite some time ago and were turned down.  Then, just the other day, we received a call from someone who called herself our "personal account representative".  She put Joe on hold for about 30 seconds and came back with the news that suddenly we DO qualify for a loan modification IF we make a payment.  We were both very wary of that conversation........  We think she was just your regular old debt collector lying to us to get some money (which we don't have) out of us........But, the facts are that the house is mortgaged up to about $234,000 and is only worth about $150,000, if you stretch it.  About half that mortgage amount is the second.  So, they're really not in a position to be threatening us.......

I was going to show off the New Year's kit, but I've decided I want to "fix" the preview first.  At the last minute I added an element to the kit and it's a great addition.  But it's not featured in the preview.  So, before I start showing off, I think I'll fix that.  So, maybe I'll pop back on here later today with that all tended to.  Gotta run now though.  I want to get as much done in the house as I can before Joe wakes up.

When last we spoke.........

I was a year younger.  Yup, I've had a birthday between then and now.  I don't feel any older, but then I feel pretty old sometimes anyway.  It was a quiet birthday.  Joe worked.  I stayed home alone.  In the evening, after dinner, Jennifer, Jason, and the boys called and sang Happy Birthday.  I really appreciated that.  Of course Atticus is a little confused.  Since he just had his birthday party and his birthday and his birthday presents, he was not willing to conisder the possibility that someone other than him could possibly be having a birthday! 

I've kind of laid off the designing today.  I did finish up the New Years kit and put it into two stores.  I think I'll wait til tomorrow to put it into the third store.  Mostly I unzipped scazillion files, cleaned out my e-mail just a bit, and worked around the house.  I am still scraping things a degree or two cleaner in the kitchen.  I've finally just about gotten the Tupperware sorting completed.  So, I have to figure out what major area I will start on next.  There are many areas that need a lot of work.  I'm still finding myself shocked at how dirty things are, things I've paid to have cleaned.  I moved the toaster the other day and was astounded at the size of the pile of crumbs under it.  Obviously, it hasn't been moved in forever (we really don't have toast very often) even though I've paid to have the kitchen cleaned. 

My cupboard space is so limited in this tiny kitchen of mine that shortly after moving into the house, I installed three 5' shelves on the wall.  I'm not thrilled with the open shelving, but it gives me a place to put flour, sugar, etc. so it's good.  It's in matching Tupperware containers, so it's not an eyesore or anything.  It's good, that is, until you decide to check it for filth.  And then, again, even though you've diligently paid someone to clean it, you find it hasn't been cleaned in so long only God can remember the last time.  I got one shelf down and had to go after it with straight dishwashing soap and the scratchy side of the sponge and a LOT of hot water before I was willing to call it clean.  I've also been washing all the lids for the containers that sit up there.  It's a slow process, but I'm making progress so I guess that counts for something.  When I finish these shelves, I will have worked my away around the kitchen clearing and cleaning pretty much every conceivable surface.  It's been quite a job.  Now, I'll start on cupboards, though I've done some of those fairly recently. 

I was back in the Hall Bath the other night, scouring at the tiles in there.  I know they're cleaner than they were, but I still don't like the looks of them much.  But, they'll improve from week to week as they're cleaned on a regular basis and cleaned THOROUGHLY.  I've pretty well made my way through that room scouring, scraping and cleaning.  I still need to clean the inside of the window and the window sill, but there's a bug there.........  I'm waiting for Joe to get rid of the dead bug.  Maybe tomorrow.......

Let's see.  I've also made a good bit of progress in the Master Bath.  Again, the crud I've cleaned off the counter top in there is disgusting and embarrassing.  I ask you, when you're being paid to do it, how much trouble is it to move everything, clean, and then replace everything.  My stuff was constantly being moved around, and I assumed it was being moved around for the purpose of cleaning.  What a silly person I must be to think such a thing! 

But, I work some in each room on a kind of round robin system.  So there are pockets that are clean in each living area.  Soon I'll have the Hall Bath and Kitchen cleaned to the point that it's just maintenance, not excavating that's needed in those rooms and I can spend a bit more time on other rooms and the rate of improvement will escalate.

Well, I should say more, but I'm tired.  I think I'm going to go to bed before I crash and burn and fall asleep here at the computer.  More tomorrow.

Atty's Christmas

This is on the order of a drive-by posting.  Don't fret, there's a post from earlier this morning just below.  I really just wanted to sign on and show off what I hope will be the last of my Christmas kits for the year.  After three Christmas kits, I think I'm Christmased out, LOL! 

I did this as a mini-kit last year in honor of my grandson's love of trains.  Atty is actually Atticus and he's 3 years old, cute as a button and the most lovable little boy I know.  And he STILL loves trains.  I looked at this kit on my hard drive and just knew I had to do something with it.  But, my style has changed a good bit in the last year.  So, the kit got a complete revamp.  Double the print papers.  Lots of new elements.  New previews, etc.  Hope you like it!

Isn't it cute?  And I love the texture I was able to achieve on those solid papers.  Looks just like cardstock to me.......

Anyway, it's up in all three stores and on sale for 20% off til December 26. 

See ya'

Marci

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