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Are you sure it's not Sunday?

I ended up listening to some broadcasts from my favorite ministry for the last three hours. Each broadcast is about 20 minutes long. In between, I ran around and did something in the house. I HOPE I now have reasonably clean windows in the french doors on the far side of the room. I won't know for sure until daylight hits them tomorrow morning. I cleaned the inside windows of both doors and the outside windows of the door on the right. By the time I got done with that, it was dark and cold outside so I'll have to catch the outside of the other door tomorrow.

I also ran around with the feather duster while listening and managed to cover a bit more than 1/4 of the room. I'll try to continue that tomorrow. I think I am finally getting the idea behind this feather duster thing. It doesn't replace in depth dusting; rather it delays it and makes it easier. It won't pick up all the dust, particularly if it's heavy, but it picks up some. And the next time I go over the same surface it'll pick up some more. And, if I missed a spot last time, chances are I'll catch it this time and eventually it will all look reasonably clean. At least that's my current theory, LOL. One neat thing about it is that I can reach things with the feather duster that I'd have to climb around on top of chairs or other pieces of furniture to reach with a cloth.

I've had some fun today putting various kits on sale. I think I ended up putting 4 on sale at various times throughout the day. I didn't sell a whole lot, but I "stirred the pot". I have a very good friend who is in real estate. He used to claim it was important to "stir the pot". Meaning, keep your name out there--stay in front of people's faces. So, I advertised my little sales here on the blog, in the ACOT forum, on my FB account, on the HotFlashDesigns FB account, and on the ACOT FB account. So, maybe a few people saw some things they liked and they'll remember my name next time!

There is a saying or a story about a woman who was such a powerful pray-er that when she woke up in the morning and put her feet on the floor, Satan groaned and told all his little demonic friends "Oh, no, she's up again." Well, I used to pray that I could be like that. I think with my 3 hours of listening to broadcasts this afternoon, my prayer life just went up a few notches. I don't know if Satan will run and hide, but I do think he might take notice when I get up tomorrow morning, LOL. This is the second sermon/series of sermons I've wandered into in the last couple of weeks on the authority of the believer. I expect I'll have an opportunity to show what I've learned soon........... That's usually the way it works. God teaches the lesson, then He gives me a chance to show if I was paying attention. I was! And I plan to listen to that series again--starting tomorrow.

Do you remember I bought some jarred pesto sauce the last time I went to Costco?  I was concerned that perhaps I should not have spent the money. It cost $7.99. Well, I had pasta with pesto sauce tonight for dinner. I've lost count, but I think I can safely say this was at least the 5th meal out of that jar. And, it is still half full. Tonight was the first time I haven't gotten too much sauce in my little bowl. It is really rich stuff and too much can get to you pretty fast. It was good to have just a little and I enjoyed it.

While the pasta was cooking, I used the "little minutes" to work some more on that countertop hot spot in the kitchen. It's starting to look pretty good..... I didn't want to leave the kitchen to put anything in another room for fear I'd forget I had pasta cooking and wander back into the kitchen half an hour later to find boiled mush or burnt up pot. So, a few trips moving things to other rooms and it'll be done.

I did bring some books in and sort through them. Some of what I found I've been throwing away. Joe taught an adult Sunday School class in his church in CA for YEARS. Some of what I am finding are his study notes on various books of the Bible that they worked their way through. I'm afraid, in that they are HIS notes, they wouldn't mean much to me so I am pitching those. Truthfully, sometimes my own notes don't make much sense to me later on, so I think it is best to get rid of these notebooks.

Well, I've had it for today. Tomorrow I'll get up and start all over again. Goodnight!

Mid-day report.......

The kitchen is all shiny now. Still need to work on that hot spot some more, but it's coming along. Someday, I will have a kitchen where there is room in the cupboards for what I own. Particularly since I don't own that much, LOL. I think every water bottle in the house has either been refilled or replaced so far today. I am working on my second 20 oz bottle. The dogs are into their 3 gallon bottle. And there's a new bottle on the water cooler.

I have spent a goodly amount of time on design. This kit is closer than I thought to being done! Yay! That means I'll have something finished to show the CT on Friday.

That's it. It's time for me to brave the chilly wind and carry that bag of clothes to the van.

Random..........

In honor of Leap Year, I've been grabbing random kits from my store at A Cherry on Top and putting them on special for $2.90. The special only lasts til I get the urge to put something different up, LOL. Here's the current special, Bloomers.

The preview is linked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It goes faster every week..........

When I sat down to do a post last week on Wednesday, it seemed as though I'd just done one. Today is the same. Same whirlwind.

It is COLD in my house this morning. I cannot wait for the heat to get going! It's only 44 outside right now but we're headed for a high in the 60's.

Well, where are we this morning? I did strip that duvet and wash it. I need to throw it in the dryer this morning. Got the spare one on as well. Got that box of moisturizing products put away and picked at the countertop a bit. Did some minimal clean up in the kitchen. Assembled a bunch of tax returns and jammed up my fax machine......

Design

I'm betting I still have a good two days to go on this kit....... I still need strings and bows and journalers and lord knows what else. I'll work on that some today. I've been trying to get into the habit of unzipping and organizing at least 10 files each day. So far I'm only one day for two so I'd better get on that today to increase my %.

Around Tara

I am going back into the kitchen this morning. I did some basic cleanup last night--loaded the dishwasher, etc. Today I need to wipe things down and see about that countertop I'm still mucking with.

I need to sort through more books and get them packed up. Trouble is, I need LITTLE books (small paperbacks) to fill up the two keeper boxes I'm messing with. I also want to get that black bag of clothes to the van before I'm tempted to put more into it and it becomes a real struggle to get it moved.

Out here, I'm going to work on windows. I'm tired of looking at streaky windows. Some of them I can't do a thing about but I want to work on the ones I can make look better. And I need to vacuum.

Living room--Feather dust and then wash the entryway floor. I am quite sure my client yesterday did not notice the entryway floor, but I was embarrassed by it. So, I will get it cleaned up.

In the guest room, I'm finally in a position to stash that last box of clothes. Darn it, it occurs to me I started weeding through the hanging clothes and then got distracted. So, I guess I'd better pick up there. Forget stashing the box.........Later..........

"Junk" room--the search for the ironing board continues........

Not going to write one more plan for the interior of this house........

If I have any extra time today and it's still daylight, I'm going after the entrance to the house. The desert spiders have been busy! If you didn't know better, you might get the impression this is an old abandoned haunted house. Hah! Sometimes I think it is.......

I did pay some bills last night. I sent the check for the VERY LAST PAYMENT ON THE VAN! That was an exciting moment. I would have loved having someone to share it with. Some music and dancing, some giggling, something....... Couldn't get the dogs into it. I paid a few other bills as well. Still more to pay.

My shredding pile is now down to about 27 inches. It was around 40 inches when I started. Slow progress but now that I've eliminated one 12 inch pile, at least there's room on the tabletop to work. One does need some sort of surface for the staple pulling part...... I'll work on shredding today.

I have managed to empty the water bottle in the kitchen--last night. Unfortunately, it was water day yesterday! Oh, well, I have two spare bottles. I just have to drag one in and get it on the machine.

I have got to do some tax research for my client from last night. I have to see if there's a way past this $30,000 tax bill........ There is income from forgiveness of indebtedness on a short sale. But there was a huge loss on the short sale. Somehow, this income should be offsetting against that loss and it isn't. Makes no sense. And there is still one completed tax return to print and assemble and two to work on......

I wish I could tell you I had some great project in mind to fix up this place. But I don't have any money to allocate to buying the supplies. I wish I could tell you I had a hot date for Friday night with a good looking guy, but my only date for Friday is during the day and it's to do a tax return for a guy I wouldn't date for all the tea in China. I wish I could tell you about my upcoming cruise or even a trip to Mexico. But, no, I'm not doing that either. Most likely, I'll manage to walk enough miles on the treadmill to get to Mexico before I can actually go there, LOL. So there is no exciting news to share with you. All I can say is that I hope you can make your own excitement!

I have a great page to share with you this morning. Nancy just posted this and I think it's gorgeous.

It's a beautiful page and I love all the layering behind the photo. I also love that she chose to show off one of the alphas from the kit which I don't think too many people did this week. But what grabs me about this page is the journaling. She tells the story of how her nephew, a military man, and his family were having dinner in a restaurant. When they asked for their bill, they were told someone had already paid it. This touches my heart because it's something Joe and I did on numerous occasions. We occasionally had breakfast at a place that's fairly close to the Air Force Base. Often we'd see Air Force personnel in there and we'd look at each other and smile and dig out another $20 from somewhere to pay for their meals. In monetary terms, it wasn't much; sometimes it was more than we could truly afford; I just hope they understood and appreciated the sentiment behind it. The fact that Nancy's nephew shared this story with family members makes me think maybe they did..... Thank you to all our military families for all they do to serve and protect us.

That's it for this morning. I am going to get an early start (for a change) on the day. YOU be BLESSED today!

 

 

 

 

Walking on clouds.........

My new shoes came today. They are amazing. I tried hard to convince myself I could just keep wearing the ones I've been wearing every day for a year and that they'd be alright. I got just one of these shoes on one foot and I knew I'd been lying to myself. I think the toe box in the new pair is a bit wider and that feels good. The shock absorption in these as compared to the old ones is SO much better. I am looking forward to fewer days with a sore back, at least for a while! And they feel so good I don't even mind the hot pink and yellow decoration on them, LOL. I am blessed!

The key rack came today as well. I was pleased to see it even came with mollies so I don't have to risk my neck trying to find the stud finder in the garage. It SHOULD be in one of the tool boxes, but only heaven knows where it really is! I think this idea of Jen's is really going to be a real help to me. I hope I have the time SOON to get the thing installed.

I've been trying to fax a tax return tonight. I might as well have tied it to a balloon and hoped it would end up on the moon. I am very frustrated. It did not go through when I tried to fax it so I tried to cancel it. It has been "cancelling" for an hour and a half. i've tried turning off the machine. I've tried pulling the power cord. I've even tried pulling the phone cord. It's still "cancelling".........

I've done some designing this evening. I still feel like I have a long way to go on this kit. My fault for messing with my "project" so long this morning.....

I am willing to give up about now. I'm tired. Goodnight.

 

I don't know what you're going to do this evening.........

but I'm going to spend the next little while banging my forehead on a wall. There are several reasons for this.........

1) I have a BP headache at the base of my skull. I am thinking that if my forehead hurts, I won't notice the BP headache as much.

2) My last client has driven me to the edge. This man has been my client for more than 20 years. Personally, he is a sweetie and I like him. As a client, oh my goodness........ Some part of this may be physical. Several years ago, he was in an elevator and was sprayed from head to toe (also breathing) with a fire extinguisher powdery substance. His skin received chemical burns as did all his mucus membranes, his lungs, etc. He hasn't been the same mentally since. There are moments when talking to him is like talking to a person with Alzheimers. He's been coming to this house once or twice a year for 20 years; he got lost today. Part of it, I think, is that he just rabidly doesn't want to pay taxes. I used to get intimidated because he would come in here every year demanding that he get all of his withholding back. Yeah, right, we can all do that every year, right? I think that when I tell him he owes, he just plain doesn't WANT to understand. It's denial to the utmost.

Well, last year he had a short sale on a property and lost a lot of money. After the sale has already been reported at a loss on his return for 2010, he received, in 2011, a statement from his bank indicating he had income from forgiveness of indebtedness. So, unless I can find a loophole, he owes. He owes big time. All I can say is "pray for me".

By the way, in case you wanted to know, this is another reason why I'd like to be out of the tax business. Imagine you had the inestimable "pleasure" of telling someone like this that he may owe $30,000. It is no fun. In fact, it is highly stressful!

I am going to go forage for food. Maybe that will help make the world look like a better place????

It's a struggle........

I've been printing and assembling tax returns for what feels like hours. I did take a little break and go to the bank. But, I have to tell you that the printing and sorting and stapling part of doing tax is not fun for me. It tweaks my ADD side something fierce. And it's even worse when there are state returns involved. But, I've made progress. Just one to go....

I continued to struggle with my "project" design-wise. It's a crazy maker. Of course, you know I have to make it more difficult that it ought to be.......... That's the OCD part of me.

I have a family plan with AT&T so that I can call my mother frequently without incurring extra costs. Not too long ago, she got a new phone. Ever since, I can only understand about half of what she says. Yes, I was in my car today, but I was able to hear clearly a sentence or two and then it would be all muffled for a sentence or two and then we'd be back to clear and then back to muffled. She doesn't know what it could be and at 91 is probably less familiar with cell phones than I am. However, she doesn't want to accept my explanation. She got a call on her land line while we were talking and she laid her cellphone down and walked away from it. Yet, I could hear clearly everything she was saying while she wasn't touching the phone. Shortly after she picked it up again we were back to gobblety-gook. She says the phone is little. I haven't seen it. But I think she presses the microphone part up against her cheek and that muffles the sound. Sometimes I can decode it, most times I can't. No, she says, she is holding it away from her body. It's no use arguing about it. I look at my phone and I can't imagine getting it close to my "body". I'm so confused.......

So everyone has been raving about Downton Abbey. I had to watch it and I mentioned the other day that I found it really enjoyable. I remembered that there was a show set in a similar time frame that was on years ago about which everyone raved. It was called Upstairs Downstairs. I think it was created in the late 70's. I decided to watch Upstairs Downstairs on Netflix just to see how similar the two shows might be. Honestly, if this thought occurs to you, put it out of your mind. Frankly, I skipped the last episode of U/D entirely. I found the character development to be much thinner and Upstairs Downstairs to be more prone to stereotypes. Many of the episodes are partially or entirely in black and white. That's a little hard to take--doesn't do as much to keep my interest. The sets DO NOT compare. In Upstairs Downstairs, we are supposedly peeking in on the home of a member of Parliament who happens to be married to a very wealthy lady, Lady Marjorie. It is true that the home in Upstairs Downstairs is in London, not out in the country. But, it appears to be more the home of an upper middle class family than a family of great wealth. Rooms are smaller and decorations much less rich. All in all, if you are going to choose one of these to watch, skip Upstairs Downstairs and go straight to Downton Abbey. And that's all I have to say about that.

By the way, I actually paid good money to watch Season 2 of Downton Abbey on Amazon Prime. However it is available on www.pbs.org for free for 6 more days........... just sayin'.

I do have a comment on the series. I have seen postings on FB comparing this character with another from the Downton Abbey series. I found all three of the male "heroes" to be admirable men of character and integrity. No situational ethics there........ I am wondering if that is what might be the attraction for us. Are we perhaps tired of ethics that are only ethics when it's convenient? Oh, I hope so!

I have to get back to tax. Ugh!

 

Are you ready for a brand new day?

Here we all are--ready to take on Tuesday. I was up til around midnight, but then finally went back to bed and did alright for the rest of the night. So, it's gonna be an okay day here!

So, high on my priority list today is a trip to the bank. Time to start paying next month's bills. Better make a deposit, or else.

I also have tax returns to assemble. That's a high priority too.

Design

I am playing around with some stuff for a special project. It's kind of a brain teaser and an interesting challenge. But, for sure, what I'm working on right now is off the beaten trail for me! I have done 3 of these odd things and I would like to do quite a few more. Then I need to give them to a member of my CT to "test". I may have to break down and buy a few things as "research" too....... While what I'm working on is new to me, a few other designers have taken on something similar and I just might have to see what they've done to make sure I'm on the right track.

Around Tara

I'm starting in the master bedroom today. I want to strip off that duvet and wash it and, meanwhile, replace it with the extra one I unearthed in the guest room. I also want to pack up more of those layering pieces and get that box stashed til next winter. This is the time of year I really don't like because you need cold weather clothes in the morning and evening and warm weather clothes midday. That makes for a lot of laundry compared to my usual........

I have finally made my way around to the master bath today. That means I find a place to stash that box of oil based moisturizing products. And I chip away at the items that are left on the countertop from when I unloaded the under the sink storage. I knew this would take a while, given the other demands on my time, but I'm ready to be finished with that now. After all, there's still another cupboard........

Kitchen--I'll need to do some general cleanup/wipe down work in there. Then maybe I can get back to decluttering that one counter top. The recipe box has bitten the dust and I am left with a very few recipes that I just might actually use instead of an accumulation over decades, most of which I was just storing forever.

Dining room--I moved that black bag of clothes the other day when I was vacuuming. It is heavy enough I need to declare it "full" and take it to the van. I have two partially packed keeper boxes with books in them. I need to find more "small" books to fill those up. That's a crap shoot. I'll just have to fill them as I find books that work......

Then it's the office. It's time to work on more dusting and on vacuuming out here. There is quite an accumulation of dog hair over by the pet door. I promised myself I'd start on the drawers of the desk on that side of the office this round. NOT looking forward to that......

Of course, there's still a mountain of shredding to do as well.

I am not typing out anything more than that because I don't seem to be able to get more than that done anyway!

Today was/is trash day but I totally spaced that yesterday. No trash went to the curb. Fortunately, there's not a lot of accumulation so we can wait a day or two on that.

I talked to Jen about arranging a Costco trip. She doesn't want to do that for two more weeks. I can promise you, the dogfood will not last that long. I'm also getting low on laundry detergent........If I wait for her, I will have to visit el cheapo for supplies to tide me over. Remembering that my last trip to el cheapo for a $5 jar of instant coffee cost me $45, I am naturally hesitant to do that!!!!!! But, I guess I don't have a choice unless I want to do the Costco thing on my own. I don't often get to look at my daughter. She is so busy. So, I hate to give up our joint Costco excursions........

We need some eye candy.  Here is a layout done by Jennifer, aka SarahWhithers. It's a cute layout of her cats.

The two cats have similar coloring so it's hard to see, but one cat has its paw wrapped around the other. I like the way she used the bling and that cute little cluster to draw attention to the photo! You can leave her some love here.

I need to work on accomplishing some of the goals above, so I'm outta here. YOU be blessed today!

 

 

 

 

I really think it's possible.........

that I could feel worse, but it might take some effort on my part. I have no idea what is up but I feel like I am so full I might blow up. And that might be pleasant......... I am nauseated and strongly tempted to help things along. This is no way to end a reasonably successful way. I even went to bed early thinking I could possibly sleep it off. Here I am, an hour and a half later, having decided that was a fantasy. And what did I have for dinner that has me feeling this way? Macaroni and cheese.........

So, I'm hoping that being up will work out better than lying down. We'll see about that, I suppose.

Anyway, I did get some design work done today though not a lot. The kit I've been working on has about 27 elements now. Obviously, I still have a long way to go.

I did unzip and organize about 30 files today. That was good. And I kept picking away at my e-mail all day long. It's down about 50 from its high for the day.

I did the vacuuming in the living room. I still didn't get those boxes put away in the guest room because I found I had some additional items that needed to go in them. But, in theory, next time I'm in the guest room I can get that taken care of since I've folded up and packed up all those remaining items. I ironed a silk shirt so that is one more layer off the ironing board. I swished the toilet in the hall bath. And, I cleaned off the top of the dryer and wiped it down and then wiped the front all the way to the floor.

I also completed my daughter's tax return. Nothing left to do on it now but print it. I have had fits over that thing. I've put the data in and taken the data out and put the data in again repeatedly. There was one issue I just couldn't get resolved. However, I've used this software for 23 years and in all that time only ever once found an error in the software. So, I was pretty well convinced it wasn't the software. The problem was located somewhere between the software and two information documents she had received. The result I was getting did not make sense. Finally, I sat and read and reread and reread the input sheets. I found a box that, once checked, made the problem disappear and the results were logical. So, I am celebrating that that is taken care of.

I did talk to Jen tonight. It seems the munchkins all have some sort of cold/flu. I think she was home all day playing nurse, but I can't be sure of that.

That's all the "news" I have for today. I'm going to watch a movie or something. Goodnight.

 

Mid day report.........

Well, things are not going all that well here at Tara.

I crawled around and picked up all those videotapes and put them away, then vacuumed the part of the living room I hadn't done and got that small strip of the dining room too. I need so desperately to move that love seat and vacuum under it, but it really pretty much means moving most of the living room furniture. I just don't think I am up for that physically. From the looks of it, it would have to be pulled about 6 feet into the room for me to vacuum under it. That would entail moving the coffee table and two chairs. Yeah.......

I am now completely dust covered and filthy. This is such a treat--NOT!

I have done some design stuff--The newest kit currently has about 17 elements. So there is some progress.

I just checked my functional cell phone to see if it needed a charge. Indeed it does. However, my daughter called at 9:21AM this morning while I was in the bedroom. This phone gives me NO indication of incoming calls unless I flip it open. I didn't find that she'd called until about half an hour ago. Of course, I immediately called her back but got her voicemail. Now I'm afraid to charge my phone for fear she'll call back while it's charging in the other room.

That's it for today so far. I'm off to dig in the guest room, taking my cell phone with me. I hope the charge it has left holds.........