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Boxes, boxes, boxes............

That is the first few paragraphs of the book about my garage. I have been holding onto boxes. Silly me. Primarily there are 2 kinds of boxes.

The first is the boxes that canning jars come in. My idea was that this would be a convenient way to store my canned goods. Well, yes, it would. However, here's the problem as I see it with further thought: I really can't use them the way I'd like to. I tend to can in small quantities. Partially, that's because I can't afford to buy massive quantities of anything to can. Also, canning jars are not cheap. And, partly, that's because I just don't have the physical stamina to do the work involved in canning massive quantities. Some ladies will grow or purchase at a good price lots of items to can. Truly, my yard is now a barren desert of heavily alkaline, rocky, clay-based soil. I can't grow in that without amendments. In NV, to have a decent garden you have to be in a position to water what you've planted. I don't have the system in place, nor do I really have the extra $$$ needed to put it into place for watering any large amount of produce. IF I were going to store canned goods in these boxes, I'd want to have a box of this and a different box of that. Mixed boxes would make my brain spin. A box holds 12 jars. I have 12 jars of chicken and 12 jars of ground beef. Other than that, it's a 5 or 6 pints of this and 7 or 8 of that. So, these boxes aren't going to work for me, at least not now. But, as I buy more jars, I'll get more boxes. I can give up the ones I have for now.

The second type of boxes that I have are the boxes in which my k-cups are sold. These boxes are nice sturdy boxes. They're not as big as copy paper boxes. My idea was to use these to group and store small items on shelves in the garage. Well, considering the state of my garage, I'm pretty sure that being able to group small items is a LONG way off. And I'm gonna have to wade through a lot of "stuff" before I get there. Meanwhile, I get a new box just about every month. And right now, these boxes are part of what I have to wade through to get to the "stuff" that would be going into these boxes.

SO, these boxes have to go. Both types. Another big barrier to working in the garage is the 2 boxes in which the insulation for my garage door was shipped. One is filled with bits and pieces of trimmings from the insulation. The other is empty. I had visions of using these as a weed barrier under raised beds. However, right now I really can't afford another raised bed, though that makes my heart hurt. But, I recently discovered that Parker has been digging holes in the one raised bed I do have. That means I'm going to have to buy more soil and I'll also have to buy fencing. By the time I do that, another raised bed seems far into the future............. I guess these boxes have to go too.............

My garage time yesterday went into trying to make a plan of attack. I've decided that I have to find a way to get rid of boxes before I can even start. Ugh. I can fit some of the smaller boxes into the recycle bin. The big boxes will have to wait for the next "bulk" garbage day which is 2 weeks away. Ugh again! These boxes are really large. They were used to ship stuff that measured 4' x 8'. Honestly, you could put a dead body in them and no one would be the wiser. Somehow, I think my neighbors would object to me piling those out by the curb 2 weeks ahead of time. My house is already "the shack" on the block. I hate to make it worse..............

I work a late shift tomorrow, so maybe I can manage to drag some of the smaller boxes out to the recycle bin in the morning.

My "round robin" cleaning thing is going well except for one thing: I am not going to be outside dealing with trash, recycling, car cleaning, or garden or any other thing you can think of in the dark. Today, for example, I will be coming home in the dark. Tomorrow, same thing. So, I guess "outside" is going to have to be reserved for days off.

So, tonight I'll work in the dining room again, BUT, I won't haul donation stuff to the van in the dark. But, I can finish making the dining room table look "pretty", and maybe I can pile some of the donation stuff on the front porch..........That will make the neighbors happy, dontcha think? Probably not, but it will make ME happy!

Last night, I finally found a way to get my software paid for. The big problem now is that I couldn't get it downloaded to save my soul. Thankfully, my soul's salvation is not dependent on "proconnect". Jesus took care of my salvation centuries ago. Thursday  when their helplines are available (daylight hours only, I'll call and get them to talk me through the process. It hurt to give them that money, let me tell you. But, I guess it had to be done and I needed to do it now so I could work with the program so I would be familiar with what changes they've made to the program this year beyond the Trump tax act. It would be helpful, I'm sure, to know where to enter whatever on the entry forms.............

I also ran Roomie last night and then took her apart and went after the roller brush again. It is almost back to the original color as opposed to grayish from matted dog hair. Nasty job but someone's gotta do it. As usual, Parker just stood around and looked helpless.

Well, that's it. I need to make a couple of stops between here and work, so I'm about to blast off. YOU be BLESSED today!

 

SO congested..............

I keep taking my vitamins (and I do take a lot of them, or so it seems to me) and hoping my body will beat this sinus infection into the ground. So far, the symptoms are not going away. This is not your typical sinus infection. It is an infection in the membranes that line the sinus cavity. This causes swelling and then the crud in my head doesn't drain properly. Right now the discharge is not yellow, but it IS red. Every now and then I see a clump of pure red, but mostly it's just red streaked. So, the continuous sinus headache........

Today, for starters, I'm going after the master bath. I don't know what I can get done in 20 minutes. Quite a lot, I suspect. Next is the garage. I know that 20 minutes is not going to take me far at all out there, but it's better than nothing. Then, it's back around to the front of the house. The kitchen is within striking distance of looking like a sane person lives here. The dining room, if you don't look in the corners will be okay too, after the next round. Out here, well, it will at least improve somewhat. And on and on..........

Worked last night. Six hours of standing at the refrigerator register. It turns out that it is only the refrigerator register in the warmer months. Lumber this time of year is so chilly I am really wishing for some gloves. And, if it's a windy day, you don't want to be "in the middle". Every time the exit doors open, the chill wind blows straight in on those "middle" registers. So, the refrigerator register is an okay place to be.

It was pretty busy yesterday til about 7 PM. Then it slowed down considerably.

I was shocked when I went outside around 5PM and it had really clouded over. Blue skies when I went in to work. But, it's cloudy again today and we have cloudy days in the forecast for the next several days. Who knows, maybe we'll get a little rain. In any case, our high is still expected to hit 65 and not much wind to speak of. Compared to the East Coast and the Midwest, it's a pretty good place to be.

I got some work done on the van yesterday. I did a thorough inspection of the van. The upshot is that I was "robbed". The store had a "buy 6 items, get $3.00 off" deal the last time I was there. I was going to buy 2 loaves of Hawaiian bread, 1 bottle of Tide liquid, and 3 loaves of the bread I normally buy. Well, I searched high and low for the Hawaiian bread, and if there was any in the store, I couldn't find it. I swear, I amused myself, walking that bread aisle 4 times (at least) looking for it. It simply was not there. So, I picked up 5 loaves of bread and the Tide and I was set. Except, when I went to wrap the bread for the freezer, I found only 4 loaves of bread. My natural conclusion was that one loaf had simply come out of the bag and was somewhere in the van. I figured that since I unloaded the van partially after dark, I had just missed it. Not so! However, I checked my receipt and they did give me the special price anyway. So, I'm thinking I paid for a loaf of bread that didn't even make it to the van.............

Well, that's it for now. More later, most likely.

 

Jumping in...........

First, I have to say PTL. I tackled that bed and, to be honest, I'd have been happy if all I managed to get back on was the fitted sheet. When I get tough jobs ahead of me, I have learned to ask for help. If Joe were still alive, I'd have asked him for help making the bed, but Joe is gone. All the bending, tugging, pulling, walking around and around--wears me out and makes my back hurt. However, the Bible says God is my husband now, so I ask HIM for help. Wow, did He help me! I had the easiest time of reassembling the bed. It was easy enough I was kinda shocked. I guess I didn't REALLY expect Him to help.............Shame on me. Why did I bother praying if I didn't expect it to make a difference?

I got up this AM and kicked off the day by dealing with something I've been avoiding for days. Most of the time, I don't really wash the inside of the canner. Nothing goes in there ever but water. Anything else that goes in there is enclosed in jars. And, it's aluminum, so it's not gonna look pretty no matter what I do. BUT, somewhere in canning the chicken and the chicken broth, something siphoned into the canning water. So, there was a layer of chicken grease in there. Why do I avoid it? Because it's very large and it's heavy. Definitely a challenge for me to handle. But, first thing this AM I tackled it. At least now, I know that my next canner load will NOT come out covered in chicken grease.

Some ladies keep their canning tools in their kitchen drawers. I really don't have room for that. AND, I use the jar lifter when I can. Same with the de-bubbler tool, etc. So I just store it all inside the canner. As long as I can remember which canner (pressure or water bath) I used last, I know where all my tools are. So, now that the canner is clean, I can gather all those tools off the counter, drop them inside and move the canner to the garage for temporary storage.

Next up, master bath. I REALLY need to hit the floor in there with the steam mop. The mirror will be cleaned and so will the toilet. To the extent there's time left, I'll work on the counter and whatever other niceties I have time for.

Whether it's next up or not, I have to go outside and do a little something. I won't get home tonight til well after dark. It will be chilly as well. But at the crack of dawn tomorrow, the trash guys come. SO, I have to get the trash and recycling to the curb. I've also promised myself to drag some more stuff out of the car. I do kinda live in the car, but still I don't want it to look like I do! Besides, I think there might still be a loaf of bread in there! If so, I need to find it, triple wrap it and get it into the freezer before it's no longer worth eating!

By 2:30 I have to be fully dressed, have my food prepped, and be on my way out the door. Let's see what I can get done............

Home again............

So, another day off. My intention was to work on the back of the house and I have done so, somewhat. However, this sinus headache saps my motivation and it's not a good thing when I have something the least bit strenuous to do. I finally broke down and took some ibuprofen. I hope that will numb it down to the point that I can get more done. It does help with the pain, I'm sure, but it also reduces the swelling in the membranes of the sinus cavities which allows them to drain. And, I'm going to sit here for just a little while longer before I go work on putting clean sheets on the bed. That is difficult for me anyway, but I'm afraid it is worse when I have a headache.

I decided to spend part of the money I got for Christmas from my friend in California on ibuprofen. Around here, I am getting 100 pills for about $6. On Amazon, I can get 1000 for $11. That seems like a deal to me! 10 X as much medication for 2 X the money!

I've done a lot of "little jobs" today. For example, I realized that I hadn't cleaned the roller brush on Roomie in a long while. That is a particularly dumb thing to do with all the dog hair in this place. She cannot "suck up" the dog hair because her suction is not that strong, and if the brush is matted down with dog hair, that makes using her somewhat pointless. I worked on that brush for at least 45 minutes and I don't feel like I came close to getting it "clean". I do have a spare brush and I think I will install that and continue to work on the one that's in there now...........

So, more stuff has been carried to the garage and more stuff has gone out to the recycling bin and the trash can. I work tomorrow, later in the day, and then I have the next day off. Then I work the next two days and have the 1st, 2nd and 3rd off.

So, until the pain dies down, that's all I can think of to say..........

 

I've earned my sleeptime today............

I've worked hard around here today. I won't tell you that it looks substantially better, but it IS better. I've lugged trash and recycling out. I've carried stuff from room to room and put A LOT of stuff away. I've washed the kitchen floor and scrubbed down the counters. I've unloaded the dishwasher and just generally waded through lots of things that needed to be dealt with. I hand washed a lot of things that don't belong in the dishwasher. I've worked on the desk. I pulled out the Dyson and vacuumed the living room and the hall. I've done laundry. I've dusted the living room, including the wall units (inside and out). And lots of little detail things as well, like dealing with that big jug of Tide I bought the other day.

So, it's certainly not enough, but it was a good start. Tomorrow I want to dig in and go for it again. And now, I'm headed to bed.

My goofy life.............

I worked today (Friday) but I have Saturday and Sunday off. The schedule came out yesterday for the second week of February. I can't believe it, but I'm scheduled to work the following days: 2/4, 2/6, 2/8, 2/10, 2/12, and 2/14. (And darn it all, the 4th, 6th, and the 8th I'm supposed to be there at 6AM.)

So, no increase in hours for me. So much for "it'll increase after the beginning of the fiscal year".

I spent my first hour today in Lumber and I was slammed. It was so bad I had to recruit one of the "pro service" guys to help out. And, we both had lines.........The rest of the day I was "in the middle" on 3 different machines. The weird thing is I'm getting no additional hours and there sure were a lot of bodies around. I am not at all sure what that means. Does it mean others are getting a bump in hours and I am not? I'll just have to watch and see............

So, I am off tomorrow and the next day. I am trying to lay out some plans for getting this place cleaned up in case a client wants to come right away.

Saturday Morning

Most days including today, in the mornings, I am concerned that there is not enough Kleenex in the world! I blow and blow and then I sneeze and then I blow some more. For the last few days, the discharge has been bloody. No wonder I have had a headache--the sinuses are infected again.........And the drainage down the back of my throat is no fun either. I finally gave up and took a decongestant this morning..........

So, anyway, I have planned a housekeeping extravaganza for today and tomorrow. LOTS and LOTS to do. I will be sticking in and around the house today unless I decide I've found the perfect opportunity to go to the gas station. I had originally planned on just concentrating on the rooms in which I might have to entertain a client. But, I've decided I really don't want to live that way, with the public rooms straightened and my own space still in an uproar. So, I'm going after it all. It is going to require self discipline, but I'm gonna give it the old college try.

That's it for now. HAVE A BLESSED DAY!

Bargains, bargains, bargains.............

I am home from the store. I have not yet unloaded everything, but, of course, I have to keep at it.

Smith's had blueberries for $.88 for each little 5.6 oz container. I got 4, smoothie ingredients.......... I also picked up greens and some sweet potatoes for use in the smoothies.

They had a buy 6, save $3 deal on bread and tide. I planned to get 3 loaves of just regular bread, 2 loaves of Hawaiian bread, and one small Tide. I could not find a single loaf of the Hawaiian bread so I ended up with 5 loaves of regular bread which I'll double or triple wrap and stash in the freezer. My heart is broken but life must go on. I have been buying the smaller size of Tide primarily for the containers. I have these drawers under the washer & dryer. I am NOT fond of them because they are pretty much too shallow to be useful. However, I can actually store the smaller bottles in them. Eventually, I'll be buying large bottles and transferring the contents to the smaller bottles (assuming I see a "deal" on the larger containers).

Butter was $.50 a pound off the regular price. I got 10 pounds. Look out freezer, here it comes! When I did the freezer inventory a few weeks ago, I realized I was down to 3 pounds. All one has to do is bake one or two things and the butter supply is in danger. Well, I took care of that! I think I should be set for the rest of the year.

They also had some fruit pies for $2.99 in the bakery. I'd have loved to bring home more, but I settled for 2. One I'll keep out and I'll freeze the other.

I got some seedless red grapes for snacks at work. I also picked up some cheap candy for the same purpose. I got some cough drops as well. I thought they might come in handy when I have one of my coughing attacks.

I found some very nice stew meat in the Manager's Special area (where they put meat with short dates). I'm going to freeze it for now, but later I will can up some beef stew. That was the only meat I bought.

I bought some half & half.

And really, I think that's about it. Now to get it put away. I am not planning an excursion to the garage tonight. Rather, I will be home tomorrow before the sun goes down when it's likely to be warmer and I'll take the bread and the butter outside then.

I managed to get a heavy box of books to the van. These will be donated, but in the meantime, I want them out of the dining room. I try to make it a habit, when I'm dragging stuff in from the van, to take something out with me when I go out to get a load. Cuts down on the trips........

Tonight I'm feeling "arthritic" for want of a better description. Right ankle and right wrist. The difference is that, while the pain is absolutely right IN the joints, it's fleeting and not recurring all the time. Another mystery............

Anyway, I have run out of things to say. Catch you later, probably tomorrow...............

Rotten night's sleep..........

I try. I really do. I know my body needs sleep. So, I've really been working at getting to bed earlier. BUT, for some reason last night, I was up and in the restroom AT LEAST five times. I stayed in the bedroom the required # of hours, but with getting up so often, I surely did not get the required # of hours of sleep.

Part of it was peeing and peeing. But, the real culprit, I think, is that my sinuses (on the left side) have some infection going on. And, there is a lot of drainage down the back of my throat.

I know I'm alive this morning because the muscles in my buttocks hurt. Don't ask me why. These things are just part of the mystery of my life.

So, yesterday I worked on budget stuff. And I had a stack of mail to go through (sadly a lot of it was bills). I washed a load of laundry and worked on my humongous pile of filing. I did run one errand and go to the bank as well.

I know I need to work on the dining room table. But, somehow, I keep heading into the kitchen (which is still a mess) and doing what I can there. I got all the smoothie stuff put away. I had a little kale left and I put that on the dehydrator. I am constantly looking for ways to get more veggies and fruit into this crazy life of mine. So, I will be turning my leftover spinach and kale into "green powder". I will be dehydrating it and then putting it through the spice grinder. Once I have it in powder form, I can add it to just about anything I make. I can put it into scrambled eggs or into meatloaf or use it as a garnish (instead of paprika) on potato salad. And wherever else I can sprinkle some in. It won't be enough to really make a difference, but it also won't be enough to change the taste of anything. And, a little at a time--well, whether you're talking money or clutter or the vitamins in green powder, they do mount up.

I guess the last thing worth noting that I did yesterday was the grocery list. I did NOT want to buy more than just half and half and some bread, but the deals are too good to pass up. Even if I go with the intention to stock up, I should still come in under budget (I hope, LOL).

Is this the answer?

So simple, and yet it has taken so long for it to pop into my head............

I have felt for a long time that it would be very good for me to have a smoothie each day for breakfast. Yet, the logistics failed me. I made a smoothie and it was HUGE. I couldn't possibly handle all that in one day. My blender container seemed always to be at least partially full of leftover smoothie. And so, it lived in the fridge and was very inconvenient to use for anything else.

Finally, I just kind of gave up on the smoothie thing because of the inconvenience.

Just last week I was desolate because QVC put one of the "dream" blenders on sale as a today's special value. And, really, I think it really was SPECIAL. But, I didn't have the money even for the "special" price. And then I had a flash.

Today I've premade a bunch of smoothies and poured a serving each into some pint canning jars. Right now I have 6 servings in jars. I have two in the fridge and 4 up above in the freezer. When I drink one, I still have one that is thawed as a spare. And, after removing one from the fridge, I can just bring one down from the freezer to thaw for another "breakfast" 2 days hence. I actually think this may work. I'll just make up a batch or two on my days off and I'll be set for days. I'm loving this idea. We'll see how it all works out.

I have been eating garbage, garbage, and more garbage at work. It's hard to find anything that's even marginally "healthy" that can be eaten as "finger food". One thing that makes it difficult is that I need to keep it safely out of sight of customers, most likely in my vest pocket. So, anything that's going to melt from being exposed to body heat is out of the question. It also cannot be "juicy". So, yes, maybe I could put some bites of cantaloupe in a baggie and put it into my pocket. However, it would be sticky and subject to dripping onto my hands or clothes. Also, it has to be something I can chew (yes, I am still having trouble with my "teeth"). And, for sure, it cannot be something I can bite because very lightly toasted bread is about as far as I can go with "biting". I've thought long and hard about what I can eat. I'm able to eat a few dehydrated items. For example, I can eat bananas that I dehydrate here at home. I've found some freeze dried apples that I can eat as well as some freeze dried grapes. Grapes are a possibility (fresh), but I really don't want to fork out what organic grapes go for and the non-organic grapes scare me!

I am hoping that having these smoothies may compensate for some of the garbage and make me less hungry so I won't want to eat that sort of stuff.

I made two batches today. One is mainly raspberries. The other is mainly cherries. Both of these items were purchased frozen. In addition, there is carrot juice and organic V8 juice from TJs, oatmeal and flax meal for protein and Omega vitamins, kale, orange and banana. I had a glass of the raspberry and it was very tasty. I also tasted the cherry version and it passed the taste test as well. Next up: blueberry. I certainly hope this works as well as I think it will. We shall see..........

Oh, Glory Be!

I'm home today. I just went in and checked my bank account. The Social Security "benefit" hit and I'm happy. At last I can see what I'll be receiving this year. Now, really, I had it figured pretty close. I was pleasantly surprised to get about $6 more than I expected. Will it solve my problems? Not hardly, LOL. Will it help? Of course. I am grateful for every last nickel I get, whether it be from Social Security, from my employer, from clients, from friends used as the instruments of God, or found on the sidewalk or rained from the sky.

Darn Smith's. I had planned to make a quick trip to Trader Joe's to grab some half and half and be done with it (and maybe a frozen pot pie--I really like the brand they sell). But, Smiths has some deals I can't pass up. Most of what is on my list is stuff I use anyway, so it only makes sense to go take advantage of Smith's sales. Butter is $.50 cheaper per pound. Every now and then I see $1.00 off, but it's rare, and in this age of increasing prices, one wonders whether it will come again EVER or if it is better to save less but still save something. I have fallen in love with Sara Lee's Artesano bread. That is also $.50 off. I will buy enough butter and bread to stock the freezer. They also have laundry detergent on sale. There is a deal: up to 5 fruit pies from the bakery for $2.99 each. I might buy one or two--one to eat now and one to freeze. One thing I have always loved for breakfast is toast made with King's Hawaiian Bread. That stuff has been HARD to find. I can find the little rolls (which a lot of folks use for sliders), but the bread, I don't usually see it in the stores. However, this week Smith's has it and it's on sale. I have not had grapes to take in my bag to work for weeks and weeks. I plan to buy some of those just to cut down on the sugary substitutes. I also want to get back on my smoothies and Smith's has their blueberries at a killer price. That about does it but for milk and half & half.

Most of that stuff will find a home in the freezer, but having dealt with those chickens, there is room. I do need to can some roast beef in some form or another, but that can wait

In the meantime, there are 4 rooms that are visible to anyone who comes to the house. The living room is in good shape. So is the hall bath. However, there is the hot spot on the dining room table to be dealt with and the entire office is a hot spot! I guess I'll see what I can do in these two rooms in the next few days.

So, I need to get my rusty butt in gear and see what kind of progress I can make................Be BLESSED today!