The REAL Sunday Post

Well...today it looks as though Spring has finally Sprung. I came home today and noticed that the buds on the trees are emerging. I LOVE Springtime. Of course I had to grab my camera and take a couple pics.


This is our Christmas Tree. DH finally got it planted properly. Nice to see it not covered in snow.



I'm not sure what kind of flowers these are but they are growing all over the side of our garden. I think they are very pretty and as someone without a green thumb I enjoy seeing them.



Buds on bushes! Can you say yeah!!!!

Saturday post...on Sunday :)

This was actually written on Saturday, but our Internet connection cut out before I could write or post. Grrr…. Sad to say I always feel lost when I have no Internet. Even if I wasn’t planning on going online, just the thought that I can’t makes my heart pound faster. I wonder what that says about me.

Busy Saturday. Got up earlier than I wanted to. DD had volunteered to take photographs of sports events at her High School so I had to get up to take her to school. She enlisted the help of a friend who we had to go pick up.

I cleaned, did laundry, sorted out some more stuff, and watched some Hoarders on Netflix (before outage). Watching Hoarders makes me feel like cleaning. Oh and watched a couple episodes of Extreme Couponing that I had on DVR. Can you say OMG?????? One of the ladies I understood. She purchased what she needed and used coupons to get really good deals. The other people had stockpiles of products in their houses. It was like watching Hoarders but for organised shoppers. Those people had more than anybody could use in one lifetime. They may pay next to nothing, but they are still wasting money if they don’t end up using the product. I must add that one guy who seemed a little obsessive did actually donate some product to charity.

I am trying to be better and get our budget under control. I know times are tough but for our family we’ve never had it better. For a long time DH was the only one working and he wasn’t earning much so budgeting was really, really important. I had more time on my hands and could coupon (not to the extreme) and cook a lot more home cooked meals. Now we are both working full time and DH’s job pays more than double what it did when the kids were little. I have a lot less time and it’s worth way more to me now. I tend not to care so much about budget and am tired a lot more of the time.

My longtime goal is to go to part time and concentrate on what is important in our lives. All sorts of things are getting out of control. Sadly part time will have to wait until the kids are done with Uni and all my dental work is done (I carry all the insurance for us all). Keeping my eye on the goal and trying to stay positive…..Have to toddle off to bed, 2.45am looms large.

Friday...oh happy Friday...

Been quite a busy week so this week. Got my permanent crown put on - wish I'd been numbed up for it. Thought I was being brave, but now wish I had caved in and been numbed. The less said the better.

On Tuesday I came home from work and made some Cheese and Onion pasties. They are my favourite thing to eat when I go home. Mum always laughs and asks me if I've had enough as I eat one every other day when I'm home. Can't find anything like them over here. DH and DD being nice decided to make me some a few months back. They were pretty good but I decided to try out a new recipe.

CAN YOU SAY YUMMY???

They don't look that appealing but yum, they were good. Family liked them too - added bonus.



I also got LOADS of stuff posted to Ebay. Not sure whether I can post link or not. Anyway - been busy and hopefully posting more next week.

Cross Stitch sort out.

So, books aren’t my only collection. I used to stitch a LOT more and bought LOTS of patterns and fabric. I realise that it isn’t only time to sort out books but cross-stitch too.

Wow, I sorted through quite a lot and have a whole stack to list on Ebay. These are things I know that I’ll never stitch and I have little ambition to do so. There are a ton more that I know I’ll never stitch but I have to think before I let go of them. The cross-stitch mags will be next. I have a whole lot of British ones.

I will work on listing them tomorrow. I had to work today. Groan. Found out that both my back-ups are leaving right around the time I'm going on holiday. I don't care. I have booked the trip and am leaving. I'm letting the bad feelings go - I won't feel bad about taking vacation. I'm not going to worry about it. They have two months to find appropriate people to do my job while I am gone on a much needed (and if I do say so myself - well deserved) holiday.

Challenge for Today - BOOKS,BOOKS, BOOKS

Challenge for Today

I want to get rid of 30 books – this can be either donating, Paperbackswap.com or Ebay. I just need to get them off the bookshelves. Not sure how I’ll do. It’s hard to let go of a good story sometimes. Some of the books I haven’t read, but when I pick them up and read the backs they sound really interesting and I can’t let them go. Sigh. I have to be stronger. I am having trouble not buying new books or ordering books from Paperbackswap.com. It’s an addiction of mine and while, admittedly, there are worse addictions it is really frustrating when things are piling up. There are books everywhere in our house. It isn’t just me either. I seem to have passed this on to my 17 yr old DD and my 21 yr old DS. Will write more as I go.

So far of the 12 books I’ve easily picked out I have

4 for donation (these are books that have LOTS of copies on Paperbackswap.com and are likely to sit around the house for a whilte)
5 are on Paperbackswap.com
2 I decided I couldn’t let go ot
1 is on Half.com

Okay I’m going to keep going.

About thirty minutes later and here’s another update. Just keep moving along. Now I have to find somewhere to keep these books while in ‘transit’.

14 donation
12 Paperbackswap.com
2 hold on to
1 Half.com
6 auction/sell unsure as to where

I feel so productive! 35 books! Ya-hoo! I am still going….

Below is the pile after the second update. Also included a pic of one bookcase that is three books deep.

Another Update...

Spring finally looks as though it has sprung. I LOVE the warmer weather and the chance to have the windows open. I'm trying to decide whether to attempt planting a garden or just support the local small farmers by visiting the local Farmers' market. It makes me sound very nice, but the fact is I don't have a green thumb. I am not so good at growing things. I might just go with the herb garden again. I would love to have Lavender growing again. The plant last year didn't turn out too well.

I've been trying out some new recipes. I'm actually doing pretty well with it. I like the feel of accomplishment when I cook using fresh ingredients. Tonight's new recipe was quick and easy - not lots of fresh veggies though. I did serve fresh vegetables and dip on the side. This one was a recipe from the latest Taste of Home mag. It is one of my favourite magazines as these are tried and true recipes from regular people trying to feed a family.

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

Time Flies when you have an Uneventful Life...

Can't believe it's been a while since I posted. Updates - had another dentist appointment. Yuck. Had to have some fillings and a crown. I did okay. Certainly helps that they prescribe me Xanax before I go. Work - is work. Okay I suppose. Spring Break for DD this week. Didn't end up doing a lot. She said some of her friends were going out of town. I felt kind of bad but she is coming with me to England this summer and that trip is expensive enough. I booked our tickets - can't wait. It's something to look forward to and it helps motivate me to get up for work every morning. Been sick with tummy bug since Sunday - finally feeling better today - that doesn't help when having to get up for work every day. Royal Wedding - why is it when someone is English everyone assumes you are interested in the royal wedding? Ultimate question - are you going back for it? NO!!! There are lots of reasons for me to go home, but the Royal Wedding isn't one of them lol. Will write more tomorrow. Got a sudden urge to write. Also going to check out Pagan Blog Prompts and see what's up there.

Lazy Saturday...

Added new question/answer to Pagan Blog Prompt Page.

It's sunny outside but really, really cold. It's quite deceiving. It's also the perfect day to stay inside. This is the first day I haven't been out anywhere in a long, long time. It felt lazy but nice.

I stuck on some Wire in the Blood Season 5 on the Netflix and stitched. The little piece I picked out last week is finished! I sound really excited but it's been the first piece I've stitched in a while. When I picked it up last week almost everyone in the house said 'wow, you're stitching' - yes, it's been that long.

The little piece is called Chocolate is the Answer and is by Designs By Lisa (website http://www.xstitchdesignsbylisa.com/index.html)

It's Friday, Friday...

Got that song stuck in my head! You know the one - the Youtube sensation - worst song ever (so it's called!). Been listening to Scott Mills on BBC Radio One (check out his podcast - hilariously funny). They were pulling apart the song.

Anyway... Friday... not my favourite day of the week. It's Payday for those in our store who still have cheque cheques - which means basically cashing cheques from before we're open. MegaMillions jackpot really high - lots of people buying - majority happy, but there is always the one or two - one of whom I got about 6.30 this morning.

Day didn't start off well -

* Couldn't find debit card. Knew it was home, using it last night on the net but could I find it this am? Nope.
* Got up to work and my car door wouldn't close or lock. Managed to get it just shut so inside light not on but not locked. Took anything valuable out. Apparently lock frozen - darn cold at 3.30am. We've been playing musical cars and because I'm the first out I no longer have the garage.
* Hurt my finger last Sunday and hurting this morning. Starting to get infected. Woke up couple times last night as hurting.
* Got shouted at by some idiot at the lottery machine.
* Bookkeeping not going well and people nashing at the bit wanted cheques cashed.

And all this before 7am. I was glad when the work day was done!

:)

Getting Crafty...

Well I did some stitching Saturday and...well, that was it. Hope to get more done by end of week. Sunday I had to go to work and it was my FIL's b'day so went over for cake and ice cream. My MIL outdid herself with three...yes three, cakes. There were only seven of us there. Yikes. We brought cake back with us and are still eating it!!!

On Saturday Morning my DD and I actually did something crafty. She had picked out a lotion and bubble bath kit. We made some up. Tried out the bubble bath and it was surprisingly good. See pics below.

We used approximately half of each so containers are not quite full. It was a fun thing to do, picking scents and colours. The small tin I ended up taking to work. This project got me somewhat energised and I pulled out some of my candle-making things.

I used to make some creams and lip balms from scratch. I'm trying to get DD to try it out but she wants to stick to the kits for now!