An Excuse to Stay Home From Work?

Wow, I need to clean my desk. Problem is, when I do, it looks like this again within two days. I think that means I spend to much time here!

There's No Place Like Home

We made it home Wednesday afternoon, a day ahead of schedule. The original plan was to spend the day in Denver at the hospital because both my brother and sister-in-law needed to go into work for awhile, so we were going to take the shift. But. My niece had a bad night Monday and into Tuesday morning, so tests were ordered and my sister-in-law called and told work she wouldn't be there. We spent the morning at the hospital, but with the weather reports coming in, we decided it might be best to head home. It was hard on Mom. I know she wanted to stay. But she has back trouble and this trip was not kind to her. My niece's recovery is going to be long--there is no way Mom could stay the whole time. Maybe 10 years ago, but her health just isn't up to it anymore. There have been times in the past when they were going through rough times and Mom went and stayed and helped around the house and took care of the other kids, but she just can't, anymore. The spirit is willing, but the body just can't do it. It hurts to see her like this. She was always so strong and active. I almost think it's harder for my brother to see her like this because he only sees her once or twice a year, whereas I have seen her gradually going down-hill.

Anyway, the whole point of this, before I got off track, was that we left just a few hours ahead of "Winter Storm Q". We stopped for the night in the middle of Kansas, got up early (with some nudging from me) and got back on the road. If we had stuck to our original plan to leave Wednesday we would probably just be getting started. As much as I wanted to be there, it's good to be home!

Reptiles!

Since my daughter is still home we went to the Zoo last Sunday. It was a little cool, in the low 40s, but clear with no wind. We don't normally go in January--actually I'm not sure we ever have. But it was nice. The crowd was minimal at best. There were more animals out moving around than I expected. And we could actually spend time in some of the buildings without hordes of people. I want to "redo" some of my walls and since I'm not much of a decorator my plan is to take some of our Zoo pictures, blow them up and frame them. I didn't have any reptile photos because the reptile house is always so crowded I can't get close enough to take pictures. This time we were able to take the time to get some good pictures. I want to get my frames out this week and see what sizes I have and how many so I can decide which pictures to use. I have so many good ones now, it's going to be hard to decide!

Taking a Breather

Hormones make me crazy--literally! Even though I'm no longer on Strike, I don't do as much housework as I used to do. Mainly because I work full time now and weekends seem totally booked. Housework time is limited. But, as I said, hormones make me crazy and sometimes I get a bit manic. It's happening this morning. I'm running in circles because there is so much that needs done--that never gets done. I start one thing and then see something else that needs done, so I start on that. And repeat. Until a little is done but nothing is finished. Circle. Circle. Circle. Even my thoughts. So I'm taking a moment here to hopefully settle down enough to go start again. I would love to take a week off just to clean. Of course, the problem with that is, I'm never alone and I can't seem to accomplish much with other people in the house. I'm sure the fact that I've got some where to be at noon isn't helping. If it wasn't a family thing, I think I would skip it. But that's not really an option.

Gone Batty

Several years ago we noticed bat houses at the zoo. My husband found a pattern for them and built one and put it on the garage. Further research said it could take 4 or 5 years to actually attract bats. I think it's probably been 7 and I had given up. But I noticed droppings this week and upon further investigation it looks like we have three! I'm guessing that losing a big part of the tree that is between the house and the garage is the reason we finally have bats. I imagine the tree was simply in the way. Too cool!

Home Upkeep

I bought our house at auction 11 years ago. It's a big house, 10 rooms, 3 full bathrooms, nice sized utility room, and a mudroom. Plus a double lot with two garages. It was an older house that had been added onto in 1995. It was a spur of the moment thing, the buying of the house. And right now I can't afford it. The utilities are high, and alot of the remodeling was apparently done by amateurs. We had to have the plumbers come this week to run a snake to the sewer, except there was no clean-out, and they couldn't find where the line left the house. It turned into an all-day thing. $500 and a torn up flower bed later our drains work and we have a clean-out, but I suspect this is only the beginning. Things are probably going to start falling apart. Part of me knows we need to unload it, but the other part of me really likes it here and wants to stay. I've been planting stuff since we first moved in and I don't want to leave my plants! The food producers, like the rhubarb, gooseberries and asparagus, are just now really going strong. If we move, I'll have to start all over! And what if the new owners don't want to mess with it and dig it all up? Oh, the horror! I think it would physically hurt me! Plus, there is my burning bush, butterfly bush, peonies, lilies, iris beds and other miscellaneous plants. I'm hoping the money problem resolves itself soon and I can stay here. In the mean time, I'm just glad I don't have to go to the laundromat any more!

The Modern Use of the Encyclopedia

The previous owners of our house had off-white carpet in every room. Every! Room! That's just wrong. Carpet should not be in bathrooms, mudrooms and kitchens, and especially not off-white carpet! We tore up the rugs in the bathrooms several years ago, but we just recently replaced the carpet in the kitchen with linoleum tiles. A little extra glue and the weight of the encyclopedia made sure they are good and flat! I think we have used my encyclopedia to hold things down more often than to look things up!