In the heat of the moment

I really don't want you to get the wrong idea about me, friends.

In one of my last posts I referred to the term "expletives". And that fact that I used them. Repeatedly.

I just want to make it clear that I am not a swearer. When I was a little girl, about 8 years old, I remember being angry at someone. I think it was my mother (sorry mommy!!) I was so angry I went out on the lawn and started kicking grass. Well, as best I could. I think we had the kind of grass that never required mowing, it grew very slowly. Maybe it was the intense Arizona heat.

ANYWAY . . .

I was mad. Mad, mad, mad. And in that heat of the moment that only an 8 year old can feel, I said a bad word. It wasn't the worst of the bad words, but bad enough.

I know. Shocking, isn't it?

Well, seconds later, I felt bad. REALLY bad. Guilty. Sad. Ashamed. I couldn't believe I would ever be mad enough to say that word, let alone think it. I prayed and promised I would NEVER do that again.

E V E R.

And I have been pretty good about that promise.

So, let me reassure you that the extent of my expletives is usually "dang", "fetch" " or my favorite "dagnabit". LOVE that one!

Notice I said usually. Hey, nobody's perfect!

HAPPY V DAY!

Here's a Happy Valentine's Day shout out to my favorite man

I LOVE YOU HONEY!!

THANKS FOR 27 1/2 WONDERFUL YEARS!

Lessons in Frustration

Do you ever have days . . . weeks. . . . or years (heaven forbid!) where everything seems to go wrong? Where you give your best effort but in the end it doesn't matter anyway? Where you think you know what you are doing, but you really don't. You just can't connect A and B together to make it work?

I had a day like that. Thank goodness it was only a day. Actually it was more like a week.

Lesson #1

My 8 year old microwave decided it didn't want to heat food anymore. It would do everything else--light up, spin around, beep--but not cook. I called the repairman, and after a long conversation he patiently explained to me that it was more expensive to fix my machine than to buy a new one.

Not what I wanted to hear.

No problem, I said to myself, I'll just go buy a new one, put it up myself, and that will be that! I'm pretty handy, I CAN do this.

So off I went, checking prices and settling on a new little number that had less power and features than my old one, but by gum it was cheaper than fixin' it!

I brought it home and it sat in the middle of the kitchen floor for a week. DH and I couldn't remember how to take the old one down, and we could never seem to find a time where we were both home at the same time to figure it out together. Figuring out things together seems to take a lot longer than it used to.

But I digress. Long story short, several more days and expletives later, I had attached it to the wall and it actually worked!! Sing Hallelujah! Did I mention that the new bracket to hold the dad gum thing up didn't match the old bracket? Did I mention that I now have 10 more holes in the wall? Didn't think so. Anyway, here she is:

Here's Lesson #2

Remember this?

If you look closely at the wall, you will see several holes (now I know you noticed this yesterday, didn't you? You were just to polite to mention it.)

In case you missed it, here's a closeup:

Awful, isn't it? Looks like a woodpecker got into the house. Actually it was me in action. I really did know better--really! I knew those dinky little screws and plastic anchors that came with this device weren't going to work! I have attached thingeys to the wall before. I KNOW BETTER.

But I had faith. I had faith that the people who put this thing together would know what would work best. They had tried and tested it, right? Right???

Well, wrong, obviously. As I learned after several hours and expletives later, trips to the garage to find the anchors I knew would work, and lovely large holes in my wall. At least there aren't 10 of them. There's 11.

Livin' Conservatively

There are some things I love about winter.

Conversely, there are some things I hate about winter.

This fits into both categories:

I love my wood burning stove.

I hate my wood burning stove.

It keeps me warm, sometimes hot.

It doesn't keep me warm enough when it is -6 outside.

It makes a mess.

It is alot of work.

However, with all that being said, there is nothing like a warm, crackling stove on a cold winter's night.

I got the idea in my head that I wanted to try to save energy this winter. I figured, "hey, I have this great stove that puts out lots of heat, I should put it to better use, like, hmm, using it as a clothes dryer."

Absolute brilliance, no?

First, I needed to figure out a way to hang the clothes. After countless hours on the internet, I discovered this nifty little gadget:

VOILA! Clothes are up!

Add a little breeze:

And you are in business, baby!

I figured this would add moisture to our dry basement, keep it smelling fresh, and save me $$$$!

And it did, for about a week. Until I discovered my large capacity washer holds much more than my clothesline. And my clothesline tends to have major droop with more than 20 lbs. on the line. And my family didn't appreciate walking into wet clothing as they passed through the room. And sometimes it took HOURS to dry. And somehow it made the room feel colder. . .

Back to the dryer I go!

Farewell Friend

The last few weeks I have been busy with my friend, DG.

I have been her visiting teacher for many years. She lived alone as a widow with no children, no relatives in the same state, or even in adjacent states. She was a tough lady who "didn't want to bother anyone." I was blessed to have shared the last 10 years with her, and the last few weeks of her life.

Goodbye, DG. You will be missed.

5 things that make me happy

1. The temperature is almost 30. Hurrah! The snow is actually melting a bit. Grab your bathing suits, we're having a heat wave!

2. Each day we get 2 more minutes of light. I am emerging from the cave. Spring will come.

3. LOST begins tonight. Finally.

4. Sales at JCPenneys.

5. A teenager that still likes to snuggle.

Those are mine for today. What are yours?

A New Blog to check out

Family and friends, here is a cool website to check out. Don't thank me, thank my big sis!