You know what I hate?

So, "hate" might be a strong word, so maybe I should use "extremely annoying" instead--but, it takes too long to type....

So, we're doing this new floor thing, which has turned into a major renovation of practically the whole interior of the house (and some eventually on the outside, too!). The knee walls (kind of like separator half-walls) had to go, therefore, the drywall had to be repaired, thus, painting a 4 x 8 slab of wall ensued. Except that this small portion of wall is connected (without breaks) to the long hallway and, going the opposite direction, into the living and dining rooms. :p

Of course, it's been five years since I painted it last, so there's many dirt spots along this entire wall. Painting is such a tedious job. You get all the materials out, get them all covered in paint, and it takes ten minutes to do the job, only to have to then clean up all the materials once again. :P With any luck the computer did it's job well, and I have an EXACT match to the color already on the wall, and won't have to do any trim or touch ups. But, of course, we won't know that until a few hours from now, when the paint actually dries completely. So I seal everything in plastic while I wait, because I'm not going to clean the mess twice!

In the meantime, I think I will sit in my recliner and read, or crochet, while I admire my new hardwood floors. :D On the other hand, maybe I should take a shower and go shopping for a new rug to cover up---er, I mean, accent--my new hardwood floor! LOL

Stuff...and more stuff. :p

My spare bedroom is a catch-all room, and it's been collecting things since last summer, when my mother passed away. It's the place where I store crap on the floor, in boxes or bags, to take to Goodwill. It's the bed I throw stuff on to go through on another day when I "have more time".

Everytime I go in there lately, I cringe, because I can't even see the top of the bed anymore--or the floor, for that matter. These last couple of days, I've dared to go in there for short spurts to try and sort things out, but I've just spent an hour in there, and although I can now see half the bed, and most of the floor, I still have to find a place to put the rest of the stuff that's on the bed. Three quarters of it is bags of yarn I brought home from my friend Annie's place (the one who passed away last summer). I thought I collected yarn--she's got me beat by country mile!

I'd like to put it in the closet...but, the closet is full. I think I'm going to go buy some of those plastic milk crates and stack them in the closet (after I pull out all the other crap and toss it LOL). Then, it will be out of the way, but I'll still be able to see the inventory to make things. Or, maybe, I should just get busy and start making various blankets and donate them to the VA or a nursing home for lap blankets.

And, get this...there is a ton of yarn in these bags--not to mention the leftovers that I already have. But, do you think I have enough of the colors I need to finish this one blanket I'm already making?! NO!!! So, I have to go and buy yet MORE yarn. It's a vicious cycle, I tell ya...a vicious, vicious cycle. :p

You know you're getting older when...

...you trip and fall flat on your face in the gravel driveway when trying to rescue your older sister after she fell flat on her back in the gravel driveway. :( This is the day after you trip on the door sill trying to get into the house, carrying a large cooler of food! And, NO--at neither time was there alcohol involved in these incidents. Pity, as at least there could've been an excuse, instead of just plain clumsiness. :p

So, there's "road rash" on the palm of my left hand, as well as on my right knee and lower leg. But, to make me feel better, my sister has matching abrasions on her hand and leg. ;)

We never claimed we were graceful. LOL

Happy Easter!

Spending the weekend with my sisters and a few family members. I've got the egg hunt eggs all filled and in the car, along with M's Easter basket (hidden in a box, of course). :) I wasn't going to dye eggs this year, but M wanted to, so I hurried and cooked them up last night, cooling them quickly in the frig. M happily dyed the eggs, and then disaster happened. :(

Instead of putting the eggs in a sturdy container, I thought I could just leave them on the cardboard "tray" and put them in the frig. Well, when I took my hand off the tray to open the door, it got top-heavy and tilted, tumbling all but two eggs onto the floor! Now, the eggs are "texturized", with a gazillion smash cracks in them. :p I've dubbed it "Humpty's family reunion in the fridge".

M's bedrrom

Got the bedroom painted, and the loft bed in place. Now, all we need to do is put the shelving back up and some pictures on the wall, and we're set. :) Whew! Another project finished!

Last weekend, I stopped by my friend's house to help him try and clean out some of his dead wife's stuff....what a collection! We only made a tiny dent, when I collected all the yarn and pattern books, and took them home. I really don't know what else to do with the rest of the stuff, other than advising him to have an estate dealer come in, or a huge garage sale. :(

So, my next project is to go through all this yarn, etc., and sort out what I want to keep and what I want to give away I've sorted the patterns, now it's just a matter of going through the yarn...four large garbage bags of it! :o I suppose that should be my afternoon project, but I'm procrastinating!! :D

Work projects

Hmmmm...how did I get roped into this, anyway???

My last post mentioned buying paint for M's bedroom. Spent a whole weekend on that project, and it turned out well. :) That same Sunday, DH cut the lumber for the loft bed. He brought it home that evening and set it up in the garage and said (paraphrasing) "Okay, it's all ready for you two to sand and stain". :O Huh? I thought you said that morning, that you were going to do all that at the farm so it wouldn't be so messy at the house!

So, guess who ended up sanding and staining--AND varnishing--the damn bed (with a little help from the boy)?! I slapped the varnish on Thursday evening, and it got the opportunity to dry really well all weekend, since we were all gone out of town. Then, this morning, DH says, "There's some pretty rough spots on that bed--it should probably have a swipe of some steel wool done to it" (hint, hint). So I told to have at it, cuz I had to go to work today. :p

Guess who had to go out and buy some steel wool and brought it home this afternoon. And, guess who is conveniently out of town today, doing a "rainy-day" project?! Uhhh, yeah--that would be ME who's now been elected to fine sand the damn bed. Good thing I got little hands to help me as soon as I'm done writing this. Hey, if he wants to sleep in it tonight, he better get out there and help! ;)

What they say about taking a list to the store...

...is SO true!

Okay, so I forgot my list. I had about a whole 5 items listed--all odds and ends that are located in every separate department of that store, of course. Matthew and I put our heads together, and come up with the basics that we thought were on the list; pantyliners for me...litter for the cat...yarn for me....okay, what else? M says, how about new curtains for my room? Well, as long as that particular aisle is right in front of us....Two sets of curtains and rods later....

Hey, the paint department is right here, too! Let's look at paint for M's room. One gallon of green, and a quart of rusty yellow/orange later (pretty much the same shades as on my blog page)--along with masking tape--we head towards ladies' socks department. Whattaya know, aren't these new vacuum cleaners pretty? yeah, you guessed it, a new Bissell ends up in the cart.

We finally get to the yarn and throw that in the cart...finally get to the socks and throw them in the cart. Let's see, I think we just need a few groceries....(M says) Mom, I need new tennis shoes. I don't know what they have against kids, but this store's selection of shoes are baby, toddler, and then jump to adults. But, we do manage to find a pair for him--ONE in his size.

By this time, I'm pretty much shopped out, and I have to go to the bathroom really bad. Off to the grocery section and throw in a few items, and we're outta there with over $100.00 more spent than originally planned. Good thing it was payday yesterday.

Of course, now that I have the paint, I need to actually be productive and USE it! :o Egads, I can hardly walk in that room much less empty it out enough to get to the walls and paint them. :p

From so much going on...

...to not much going on. Which is probably part of the reason I've not written anything for so long. :( It's just the ho-hum blahs of the middle of winter--holiday rush is over, and nothing to do but wait for Spring to show up.

Which we got a taste of recently, as temps climbed into the 50's for a few days and melted most of the snow. But, Old Man Winter isn't done with us yet, as we just got another few inches of snow again, during the night. :) Predictions were for up to eight inches, but I only see about two or three out there right now, and it's stopped snowing already. I haven't actually gone outside yet, to shovel, so I can't be certain. ;)

In the meantime, DH and M are earning their keep, plowing snow today, while I'm here at home plowing through the clutter of toys and laundry. :p The laundry I can deal with, as that's a normal occurance. But, I'm so sick of the clutter of toys around the house! No matter where you step, there's another toy--or piece of one--on the floor, or tabletop. I've given M 5 chances this week (once every day) to clear it up and put it away. He made a small attempt one day, but it was only for his own benefit, as he was doing something new in his bedroom--making a "hidey-hole" out of his closet. LOL Actually, it's pretty cool, but it did nothing for the livingroom. ~~rolling my eyes~~ So, this morning, I piled everything that was laying around onto his bed, so he will HAVE to deal with it, if he wants to sleep tonight. :p

The other day, I had this really profound subject that I was going to blog about. But, of course, it came to me while I was in the middle of making dinner, and by the time that was done, the thought totally disappeared. Therefore, all you're reading about now is the usual crap that occurs in my life. LOL

Oh, did you notice the new picture at the top of the page? This is our somewhat new acquisition to the family. Cuter than a button, but such a.......ahh........cat! LOL This is her favorite spot to sit, when she wants some attention. Currently, she's laying half on the desk, and the other (front) half is laying across my right hand, as I'm trying to type, with her teeth gently gripping my left thumb! Ummm, excuse me, but can't you see I'm busy here?! Apparently, she thinks she's more important than me trying to blog. LOL

Let's see...what else has been going on?

FIL is home now. He has to have 24-hour supervision, so BIL--who's currently laid off from work--is the primary caregiver. From vague reports, the guy might have found his true calling! FIL has a physical therapist come in twice a week--which sounds like it may end, as BIL keeps Dad working at it all day long. LOL He's even devised a new therapy, with a fishing pole, to help with Dad's left hand. Apparently, the therapist thought that was quite the novel idea, and is now using it with his other patients. :) I think, if things aren't too bad with FIL by then, come Spring I'll suggest going up to Dale's for a weekend (if he has any cabin rentals open), so FIL and BIL, DH and M, can go fishing for real. :) Dale is a friend and former neighbor who has a resort designed specifically for the disabled. There's enough room in the cabins for all of us to go, too.

I also managed a night out with a girlfriend, one evening! We had drinks and dinner, and nice long conversation to catch up with each other. I enjoyed myself, completely, and hope to do it again soon. :)

The evenings have been spent watching my usual television shows--Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters on Sunday; The Bachelor (for lack of anything better) on Mondays; American Idol on Tues/Wed; and Gray's Anatomy on Thursdays. :) In order to not seem like the ultimate couch potato, I've also been working on new blankets for the new couches. I just finished one the other night, and immediately started on the 2nd one. :) The first one is pretty, but I think I went too dark--oh well, too late now. LOL

Well, I heard the buzzer go off on my washer--or was it the dryer?--so it's time to get back to the drudgery. Just call me Rindercella today! :D

So MUCH going on!

...and, none of it very good, I'm afraid. :p I haven't been in the mood to write much lately, because there's just not been much good to write about, and I haven't had much time to do it, anyway. :(

Starting with the day after Christmas, Dh and his brother took their father into the doctor, at my insistence. Turns out, he's had a couple of small strokes, and there's some dementia setting in, as well as his cancer is back--in his bones. :( He's been in the rehab unit since then, and was getting ready to come home, until he had another stroke yesterday. So, now who knows when he'll be able to come home--IF he'll be able to come home. DH is insistent that he DOES come home, but I'm not sure that's really what's best for him, as he'll have to have 24 hour supervision. MY opinion is that he have trained supervision, but DH's opinion is that family and friends can do it, and save some money. And, with this last episode, I'm even more certain that I'm right, but they will have to learn for themselves, I guess. :(

Then, DH's brother panicked when FIL was first put into the hospital, and he called his daughters-who came up with their whole entourage of family members--from Texas for about a week. It was good that they came, as it may be the last time they see their grandfather in any sort of "good" condition, but it was rather hectic while they were here.

Now, we're back to work and school, and the normal routine--as normal as it can be, with FIL in his situation and the weather being colder than a witch's hoo-ha. :p

Speaking of cold....It's currently -21F at 9:00 p.m. tonight!! It "warmed up" to almost zero today, and this is supposed to last until sometime tomorrow afternoon before the temps start to rise again--back to seasonal temperatures.

Oh yeah....I bought a new vehicle. :) I've had it a whole 17 days before someone rearended it!! :o Stupid me, thought the highway would be a better route to go to work one day this week, because they said on tv that there was plenty of blowing and drifting. Well, traffic is heavy at that time of the morning, and no one realized that the road was slippery--because it looked perfectly normal. :( Fortunately, I avoided the person in front of me, but the poor high school girl did everything right, trying not to hit me, but just caught my rear bumper on her way into the deep ditch . :( Had it not been so cold, it's possible that the plastic bumper may not have busted, but so it is, along with the taillight covering. Since her car was pretty much buried in the snow, I didn't notice the damage to her vehicle, but the policeman said she dented her left rear door from the impact--mot to mention that I could drive away, but she had to be winched out. ;) On a brighter note, at least we weren't the only vehicles to hit the ditch that morning, as there was another one way off in the ditch about 100 yards in front of us, and an SUV ended up parked on top the utility boxes across the road from that--two completely different incidences. Not to mention tracks in the snow on any given road, from other vehicles who ditched themselves, too! Ahhh, winter in Wisconsin--gotta love it! LOL