Dull, lazy Saturday

Today has been a very lazy Saturday. 

There were several things that I had in mind to do, but none of them got done.  Eler Beth had a friend over to spend the night, and I think they were up until about 3 a.m.  This was the first Saturday in a long time that Thomas didn't have to get up early, so we lazed around in bed until about 9:30.  Then I got up and made bacon and eggs, hash browns and biscuits.  That got the kiddoes up.  I don't know where the time has gone, but here it is 6:19, and except for the three hour nap I had this afternoon I couldn't tell you what else I did today.  I guess we all need days like that.

Last Saturday I did my grocery shopping very carefully.  I checked all the store sales and ads, clipped coupons and bought in bulk --  Martha would be proud of me.  And I made up several meals and put them in the freezer.  I fixed stuffed peppers last Saturday, but made up enough of the ingredients for a couple more batches and froze them.  And I prepped veggies for lots of other dishes and froze them.  So I didn't really need much in the way of groceries today, just milk and bread and snacks for the kids.

I used to cook like that all the time, but then when I went back to work full time I got out of the habit.  It was fun last week spending most of my day in the kitchen, and it's great knowing that I can pull out prepped ingredients and fix something quick.  I bought a lot of big family packs of meats, like ground beef, ground turkey, chops and chicken, then re-packaged them for meals.  I even pre-made hamburger patties.  Yes, last Saturday was a very productive day.  This Saturday?  Not so much!

Andrew is on the phone in his room, and Thomas took the girls out for ice cream, so now here I sit with some time to myself and there is absolutely nothing that I want to do.  Can you tell?  I can't even put my mind to any good stories to write about.  Dull, dull, dull.  Don't want to read, don't want to garden, don't want to play on the computer.  Oh well.  Maybe there's a good movie on?

Still Counting Down

I Got Another One...........

Well, it happened again...........

That darn Sprig "Muslim"..............

Georgette Heyer - Sprig Muslim - HB/DJ/1st U.S. Ed.
$4.10 (0 bids)
Time Left: 6d 11h 52m
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The Year of the Mice

When we were cleaning out our shed Sunday afternoon we found a couple of boxes that had been invaded by  mice at one time.  And that reminded me of the "Year of the Mice" and our cat, Freedom.

We bought our house five years ago, and we inherited a pregnant cat when we moved in.  We kept her and all four of her babies until we finally found homes for them all except for one, Freedom, who is still here, ruling the roost as Queen; she takes nothing off of no one, especially the dogs!

Our neighbor on one side decided during the late summer of our second year in our house to tear down the storage shed in her back yard and immediately after that we started getting mice in our house.  She had once mentioned to me that she had mice in her shed, so I assumed they had decided to move in with us next door.

Well, first of all Thomas set lots of traps, then he crawled under the house to check out all of the duct work, made repairs, checked up in the attic, closets, behind appliances and so on, and basically made sure there were no access points that he could detect.  We caught a few mice in the traps and gave them (already deceased) to Freedom.  She was very appreciative.  Before I go on, let me say that Freedom prefers to be outside.  She only comes in occasionally, and although she is fed catfood daily she used to supplement by hunting.  I once watched her run up a tree after a squirrel, jump from the trunk of the tree when the squirrel leapt from a branch, turn a somersault and catch the squirrel in mid-air!

Well, one morning before I started working full time I got up, got Andrew off to school and then decided to go back to bed for a while, since my half-day kindergartner, Eler Beth, was still asleep.   I let Freedom in, thinking that she could sniff around and maybe find one particularly elusive mouse, and sure enough almost as soon as I had laid back down I heard her meowing.  The meow sounded muffled and not like her at all.  I stepped out of our bedroom and there she was at the end of the hall with a mouse hanging out of her mouth, her green eyes huge.

"Hey, Lady, did you know you have mice?"

Excitedly I said, "Oh Freedom, good girl, you caught it!"  I must have said it too excitedly because she promptly dropped it.  The poor mouse ran in circles for a few seconds, then Freedom calmly stepped on it and picked it back up,  holding it securely in her mouth.

"Well?  What do you want me to do with it?"

"Okay, Free, let's get it outside." 

I walked to the front door, forgetting that Freedom won't go out the front door, she'll only come in the front door (that's a story for another entry).  She started walking toward the kitchen.  I followed, mentally smacking myself in the forehead, "Duh! How could I be so stupid!  Sorry, Free."

Just as I passed by her in the kitchen, heading toward the utility room (which has the acceptable door for Her Majesty to pass through to go outside), she dropped the mouse again. 

The mouse and I both ran in circles for a few seconds before Freedom calmly once again picked it back up.  I swear she had a wicked gleam in her eyes.

"This is getting tiresome, Lady.  Amusing, but tiresome, nonetheless."

"You're telling me!"

I made it to the utility room door to the back yard, opened it, and Freedom stopped on the threshhold, looking up at me one more time.

"Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Oh no, by all means!  Enjoy!"

I watched through the kitchen window for a few minutes while she played with the poor mouse, then, picking it up she marched offwith it to some unknown destination. 

More Mouse Stories Later.

May's 30-day Challenge

Okay, I need to update on how my personal challenge went for May -- The 30-day Challenge :  I started on the 5th of May, so the third was the 30th day.  But I missed two days, so yesterday was my last day. 

I did at least 20 minutes a day of clearing out junk or organizing an area of my home.  Many days more than 20 minutes were spent, but quite often I found myself rushing through my day and then at bedtime remembering that I hadn't done anything that day.  So, when that happened, except for those two days I found myself 20 minutes of work to do.  Once I even got back up out of bed.

On Sunday afternoon Thomas and I cleaned out our shed in the backyard --  a chore that took several hours.  But our shed is now neat and clean and a lot of "junk" has been discarded.  Every drawer and closet in my house is de-junked and organized, and my kitchen cabinets have had a once-over.

I'd like to continue the habit of taking a few minutes a day just to "maintain" an area of the house; or maybe once a week just give a quick look into drawers and closets to straighten and de-junk.  And if I do that I need to resist the urge to look into the kids' drawers and closets, but instead get them into the habit of doing it.  I think the habit may be strong enough to keep me from letting everything get too terribly cluttered again.........maybe.  No promises.  I do have a sense of accomplishment, though.

Now for this month's challenge.  I'm starting today, which is late again, but oh well.  I think I'll do the crunches every day like Jae did.  I may add something to it later on this week.  The first week's for modifying, right Jae?  I have been walking and bike riding with Eler Beth a lot lately, so the crunches will go nicely with that, and although because of the weather and my schedule I can't commit to walking or bike riding every day I can do the crunches!  Wish me luck!

News Clipping

The Daily Countdown

The week wore down and so did the Document Management employees of (company name here).  During this, the fifth week prior to the department being dissolved and the work out-sourced to "L", associates dug in and concentrated on getting the work done. 

 

Members of the OCR Team on the 7th and 8th floors were subdued and uncharacteristically quiet.  One group of ladies from this team decided to get out of the office at lunchtime and met at the nearby Ichiban Japanese Steakhouse where a tasty lunch and animated conversation was enjoyed.  

 

A semi-sarcastic discussion took place regarding the "upbeat", moral-building message board on the 8th floor.  It seems some well-meaning but misguided member of middle management did a beautiful job decorating the board with billowing clouds, multi-hued bouquets of flowers, blue skies and a serene countryside.  The message reads "Make June A Month For New Beginnings", and below the message are various quotes extolling the virtues of "embracing change."  One member of the lunch group was heard asking, "Hasn't the company already made June a month of change *FOR* us?  We have no choice but to embrace it."  Several snorts and muttered curses were heard in between bites of shrimp, steamed rice and Miso soup.

 

Then a discussion followed as to the plans of each member of the group for the weeks immediately following June 30.  Plans ranged from taking several weeks off to enjoy severance benefits to immediately taking positions with other companies.  Some members of the group had made plans to return to school to pursue a degree.

 

Regardless of the various plans everyone was in agreement that it was a relief that the end was in sight.  ONLY FOUR MORE WEEKS TO GO!!!

Just A Hello!

Just stopping by to say hello.  Been working hard.  The kids are sliding into their summertime routine of staying up late and sleeping till 10 or 11 each morning.  I'm only letting them stay up late this week, though.  Starting next week they'll go on a schedule closer to their school-time schedule.  I don't like them to be off-schedule that much on a regular basis, and besides........Momma needs her quiet time at night after the kiddies are in bed!  Bye for now!

                                                  Lori