THOUGHTS FOR TODAY

[The WE2's]

Did doggie duty by myself today, and things worked out pretty good really! I set the crate of "Penny" at the front door and she exited very quickly, to join the older terrior "Sassy" and they both a good jaunt in the big yard and did their business. When time came to go back, I let "Sassy" into the house and then "Penny" only had one option...into the crate! LOL Which she did excellently. BUT...when I tried to put her water bowl inside, she darted right past me, so it was a few minutes of the remote saying "I know where you're hiding, come out little dog". When she finally figured the crate was a safe place, she went inside! I didn't even try to touch her but did let her come "sniff" my hand as I was petting Sassy. If she wants some affection she's going to have to show it to me first! MM is working on a local church's sheetrock job and then will be home. He's got another project for a client but it's rainy and he can't caulk and/or paint with this kind of weather. Got 4.5 lbs. of poultry seasoning that was given to me, staring at me on my prep table...seems to be saying..."find some little containers for me to be stored in! LOL I'm thinking I'll just store them in small mylar bags since I already have poultry seasoning in my spice cabinet. I figured out I could take the larger mylar bags, resize them by cutting them with scissors, sealing them with my food saver for smaller bags. Excellent! Sometimes I just can't have enough of the smaller sizes. I've also been saving all of our little "chip" or "cookie" bags that are the mylar-foil and they re-seal also for things I don't need for long term storage etc.

[The WE2's]

Tuesday...still doing "doggie duty" but it's a whole lot easier with the electronic collar. If all goes well, Mom should be out of hospital tomorrow, just in time for Thanksgiving! Baked banana nut pan bread yesterday and put some peanut butter icing on it. Also have some "mini" mincemeat (I call them pie-ettes!) that we'll enjoy Thanksgiving. Since we won't be going on our annual camping trip, we're planning to just eat at home and then take a picnic basket to a nearby state park for "left-overs" and take Abby on a 3 mile hike (we love it and she did extremely well for her first hike...only on her electronic collar!) after we eat our picnic lunches. Boiled some chicken gizzards etc., and then froze them for her treats. MM is working on a sheetrock project for a church, caulking & painting a window project for a client, and then was blessed with another new client yesterday. God is good! I'm reminded of the scripture that says "God will restore what the cancor worm destroyed". When MM and fI irst met (after 1st husbands death) he was a bit sceptical but God's sure turned his head these past 4 years! He had lost sooooo much and had been living the previous 20+ years as a batchelor, just getting by because home building had pretty much dried up. Everything he'd lost, God has restored it with something even better...including a wife that adores him! LOL I think it's wonderful that we serve such a living and loving Savior, that's mindful of every little thing that touches our lives and we can cling to those promises no matter what! May not see that "bowl of prayers tipped over" as soon as we'd like but I keep turning to that promise (along with many others!). Hugs to all!

[The WE2's]

Wednesday...the doctors are releasing mom from hospital sometime today, but I didn't know until yesterday that they had worked on some fungus toenails so she's hobbling around and said "MM may have to carry me up my steps"...I said "No way...we'll use your walker or something...he is strong, but he's not packing you up 4 steps". She's been trying to manipulate us into building a ramp (which isn't necessary right now) over her existing front steps. Son called and he's got the flu. I'm almost afraid to answer the silly phones! So...Philbe will be cooking for 4 tomorrow instead of 2...will put son's plate on back porch grill and take a plate to mom (can't risk being around flu and being a carrier) also. Sure will miss our annual camp out, but it's good that we didn't or we wouldn't have been in town for all this "stuff". Still planning to take a picnic leftover lunch to a nearby state park and hiking in the woods again with Abby. It would be a blessing for the weather to stay nice for it. Got all the desserts made this week so I don't have to do any of that. We're like several others here...having chicken breast and some ham, rather than turkey. Menu says green bean casserole, roasted potatoes with garlic, parmesan & other goodies, salad, cranberry sauce, wheat hot roll bread, with desserts being banana bread with peanut butter icing, peanut butter nut fudge, peppermint ice cream, and probably a few other things I will think up...like a nice glass of wine! MM's finishing up some small jobs he had going and then will have a couple to start him out next week. Figured out how to download e-books from our local libraries to my computer (Acer Notebook)...Good! Wish I could figure out how to download them to my Literati (similar to a Kindle) so I could just read them like that...but, alas...guess I'll have to do the best I can and not complain. Oh...son did get approved for state medical assistance for his medical/medicines....diabetes, ruptured (inoperable) back disks, and PTSD...now if his disability would just come on through..."hear my prayer Lord?" We're carrying a BIG financial load right now and we've got taxes on real estate coming like a freight train at the end of the year. Got the homestead with two apts., two occupants and neither paying a dimes worth of rent! Keep reminding myself that this is what alot of people are going to see when stuff hits the fan...and they find themselves taking care of those who can't care for themselves. Sure glad mom's prepped grocery wise, but son's got nothing...with a big N! It's very sobering to know that there are people you love...who's health is the pits...and will not have access to health care for serious medical conditions.

[The WE2's]

Hint, hint, hint...Philbe wishes she knew how to download free kindle e-books to her computer...

[The WE2's]

Thanksgiving Day...hugs to each of you! Chicken breasts are in the oven, one for us and one to split between mom and son. Will start the accompaniments later when their closer to done. Also going to honey grill some ham slices. Son called early and needed MM's help loading and unloading a hutch that somebody had left on the curb side...figure!? Anyway...he's got a decent piece of furniture to put his dishes in now. Apartment has very limited cabinetry (no overheads) since the sink and counter run the whole width of the kitchen, with widows along the same width. Nice view outside, but no overheads. Anyway...he's got something now that will work for him. MM cleaned out his "stash" on, under and around his chair end table! Yeah!!!! Abby's in her outside kennel basking in the sun. Yesterday was blessed to find a couple of "traveling festival vendors" that were retiring, and bought 25 heavy duty totes w/lids for $100. That will let us pack up and store ALOT of stuff from our "little house" a few miles away, and put them in the storage shed there, giving us much needed room to start the work we need to get done. Removing a divider wall between kitchen and livingroom (Philbe's idea!) to sort of "open" things up since it's a small ranch-bungalow style house; take the old kitchen cabinets into the enclosed porch and put them there for pantry storage etc., install the new kitchen cabinetry, install new vanity in bathroom & finish tile work; re-finish and paint all walls & ceilings; install new woodwork runs; install new kitchen flooring and then new counter & sink; install a "newer" frig & stove (will have room in porch for deep freezer(s); build small pantry off kitchen for immediate use; build & install new gas fireplace in livingroom; install new carpeting in bedrooms; install new laminate flooring in livingroom and hallway. Not alot of $$$ but very labor intense. Anyway...having the totes will help us sooo much in being able to store things away that we plan to sell this spring. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day my friends...and I'm a very thankful momma, daughter, sister and wife today...all are alive and hanging in there!

[The WE2's]

Friday...delivered the TD picnic baskets to Mom and son yesterday for Thanksgiving...and then we loaded Abby up and went for a hike in a nearby state park (got a bit wet because it started raining!) and it felt sooo good! Abby refound her new game of playing in dead and fallen leaves (she used to do it when she was a tiny puppy) as we kicked them around and she chased them! Today we loaded up and went to Bass Pro, they were having a certain air rifle on sale and they'll make pretty cheap target practice...yep, we got two. Chilly and windy so we had to wear our fleece lined vest under our fleece jackets! Had breakfast out which suited me just fine! Don't get to do that too often. Then came home and had left-overs! Yum, yum. We'll probably have another bowl of peppermint ice cream with the banana bread I baked before the nights over...smile! Gotta keep the hikes up to walk off this food! Oh...found a graniteware coffee pot, brand spankin' new...on a local sale site, for $5! Howsa bout that!!! MM doesn't drink coffee but like I told him, if needed I can make soup or keep hot water on an open fire without burning handles off the pot. He had never thought about it having that use...smile again!

[The WE2's]

Saturday...OH HOW I LOVE THANKSGIVING! It's the 3 or 4 days afterwards that are so pleasant for us. We'll be heading out for the Little House to start packing up some tote boxes for storage and since it's only about 3 miles from a state park, I'm sure we'll find some time to take Abby for a hike! We've had good weather, even though today is cold. We'll have our cold weather gear with us and can layer up when we're ready to go. Even if it were snowy, we still have our boots and snow shoes if we wanted to play "snow bunnies"! LOL Here's some pics of 2009!

Edited November 24, 2012 by Philbe

[The WE2's]

Drove to the Little House & we took a very long, nice (and very chilly!) walk through the woods, but didn't do the regular hike (which requires quite a bit of climbing) because we knew we had work to do (filling up tote boxes) and didn't want to get overly tired. Did accomplish several totebox's full and put them in the storage shed. While walking, working and driving home, we've pretty much decided to stay here in the city where we're at and not re-locate to the Little House, and just sell it as we originally planned. Why? The Lord has truly bless MM in restoring his carpentry/repair business and it would be too far to drive to the homestead's garage where the tools of his trade are located as well as all his clients are here in this town. We also live in a town that is sized to contain any kind of shopping we'd need and not have to drive to any "metro-type" cities...the Little House has nothing but a local, privately owned market, and a few private businesses. We'd have to drive 20+ miles one way or the other just to get to a WM etc. With MM reducing his rates, it's just not a good decision, we've decided. So...we'll stay put for the time being, and try to reduce the utility bills here by "tightening" things up around windows etc. All of our friends and family are here also (except those in other cities) and the "homestead" is here. We seem to always "figure things out" when we're out walking, hiking or driving...or sometimes during pillow-talk! LOL Clearer heads? Local businesses sent MM an envelope with several birthday coupons so we used one to eat out "again"...Gotta stop it or both of us will have to climb, not walk, 3 miles a day! Tomorrow we'll drive westward ho! again and get some more walking and working done!

[lumabean]

Today's been the sort of day with lots and lots of reflection -- if i had a time machine, boy oh boy would there be many things I'd do differently. One of my recent regrets was moving to this town, to this apartment. It's a cute little apartment, and works in ways, but the area, and the neighbors are not the best. Last night we had the upstairs lady blaring her music to all hours (which I suppose was an improvement from her doing that in conjunction with threatening to beat the daylights out of her roommate). It was about 3am before she quieted, and she's back to it again this evening. Yipee That's the least of our worries, but as I've noticed, I tend to hone in on the smaller things when the larger issues are too overwhelming -- soooo very true right now.

 

Something seems to be going around, we're all sick in some manner, my husband even lost his voice. I guess it's the season for this sort of thing though.

 

On a less negative note LOL .... we had our first snowflakes this season earlier today -- just a brief moment, reminding us of the time of year I suppose. Nothing stuck, they just blew on through. They were so pretty - big,light,fluffy.

[The WE2's]

Sunday...we hiked today, the 3 miles. What a beautiful day! Thoroughly tuckered us all out, especially after we went to the little house and packed up some more totes. Sort of funny...one of our neighbors was dressing out a deer in his back yard...LOL when we came in last night (it was after dark) and was using a work light. Wonder why he'd do that!? LOL Anyway he had a mess to clean up tonight when every dog or cat within 5 miles visited his trash barrels! Gave him a call to alert him 'cause the city might decide they didn't want to clean it up and turn him in? We're seeing sooooo many things these days that ring our bell saying "this is just a teensy picture" if our lives changed abruptly for the worse. We're even decided to not move to the little house. Just sell it and take the money (it's paid for) to do something else. This house is paid for also so we'll sell it and add to the pot. MM's machine barn and all his tools are in this city (at the homestead) and he'd have to drive the miles back and forth for his business...and couldn't work for the price he's currently charging. God has blessed him with "new business" after we both lost our incomes, so I feel like it would be almost sinful to just walk away from it. We'll know when it's time for him to totally retire...we're trusting God to show us when that time comes. Hmmm...still missed our annual Thanksgiving campout though! Thought you all would enjoy these pics from today. As you can see, the leaves have fallen, and the timber is still pretty! Howdoya like Abby in her shades! She absolutely loves it when MM kicks the leaves and she dive bombs them!

[Jeepers]

Loved the pictures. Abby looks 'mah vuh lus' in her new doggles.

[The WE2's]

Jeepers...I told her to "pose for Jeepers"...and when I asked for her to "grin for Jeepers" I got this one!

[The WE2's]

Monday...busy, busy day...inside! The "wifey things" that have accumulated these past 4 days. Spent nearly all of our time hiking & working to sort & pack totes at the Little House. MM's working on another project for a client, and still has two other's that are patiently waiting for him to address their needs. He's slower than alot of carpenter's but he's meticulous and word gets around...plus he's cheap! Mom's doing good, son's pretty much over the flu (with some help from Momma's supply of Zicam!). It's very cold today...we've had such a variable this past 2 weeks. We have a saying around our state..."if you don't like the weather, just hang around a day or 2 and it'll change!" Won't be driving to the state park for our hike so we'll take Abby on a trail walk that runs through several counties...how ever far you want to walk. We'll see how she does off leash, but may have to keep her leashed, we'll see. A tired Abby is a good Abby!

[Jeepers]

Jeepers...I told her to "pose for Jeepers"...and when I asked for her to "grin for Jeepers" I got this one!

 

Only a face Auntie Jeepers could love!

[The WE2's]

Tuesday...Brrrrrrr...."hey, it's cold outside!" Snow much further north so not going to complain at all. We don't usually see any really frigid weather or snow until late December, Jan & Feb. Did slip into my "sweat pants" with a T-shirt this morning instead of jeans etc., since I'm still playing catch up to the "wifey" things that got ignored during the Thanksgiving holiday. Mom's doing great...took an excursion to the grocery store etc. yesterday. She's been wanting a "church key" type opener and found sometimes they're hard to locate! Guess that may be a heads up for me? I have 2, but maybe I'd better find me a couple more to keep around! Seems like everywhere one looks, they can find instances to say to themselves "hey, I don't have that and would probably need it!" Just emptied out a large potato chip foil bag last night and it's on the counter to be washed & dried for re-cycling. The small ones are great for storing small bags of other items that are in plastic that haven't been opened, or ? The large ones I find are great for storing bags of cereal that I haven't opened. Crackers, oatmeal, grits, etc. Using oxygen absorbers of course. Saves on my regular more expensive mylar bags. Foil is foil, and if you haven't opened the other bags why not re-use foil bags you've already bought and used? Same for the regular mylar...I re-use them also, cutting them down to a smaller size etc. If they're too big for my food saver then I use my hair flat iron. Watched on the news this morning the mass traffic mess in a large city quite a distance from us, but turned to Mountain Man and said "we're watching a preview of the hoards?" I once worked and drove in those messes and opted for the small town life, making less money on the job, and could (if needed) walk from one end of town to the next in a little amount of time. I'm so spoiled now that I need a GPS to navigate around large cities! LOL With all the signs it's hard to read them & be where you're supposed to be.

[fishermanwife]

I need a GPS to navigate around large cities! LOL With all the signs it's hard to read them & be where you're supposed to be. That is so me! My husband just turned down a job in kansas city mo even though it was good pay (I know kind of stupid)but oh my gosh it made me so sick trying to drive around my stomach was upset and horrible headaches from trying to concentrate on those dang signs lol. We even had a little talk about how it would be good for the kids to grow up around the city for the culture and not end up nervous wrecks like us then two weeks after we get back we went on vacation and bought a mobile home and land on the outskirts of a lake and the Ouachita mountains in south eastern oklahoma lol talk about culture shock they dont even have a Walmart! lol but I cant wait to buy the kids a dog and take them on walks like the ones you write about.

On a side note why do I need to save Unopened food (cereal) in mylar bags with oxygen obsorbers? is this for extended storage like after 6 months? thanks

[The WE2's]

Fishermanwife...regarding cereals, most of them are in waxed paper-type bags and if stored for any length of time could be subject to tasting stale or being attacked by critters etc. I just do it...because I'm thinking I might enjoy a bowl of cereal sometime down the line, further into tomorrows. As for KCMo...or KCKs for that matter...been there done that! Lived in StL also and they can have the swarms...LOL We travel to OK alot, and were married in Miami and spent alot of our honeymoon time in our travel trailer, roaming around OK. Have gone back many times and seem to always find a way through OK when we travel west! LOL Last year we spent our Thanksgiving campout (4 days) at Robbers Cave before heading on out to the gulf of Texas...Corpus etc. Didn't get to go campouting this Thanksgiving due to family matters...which I've posted elsewhere. Anyway...OK is an okay state! Mountain Man and his parents lived in Durant, and he's got mineral rights on some land there somewhere that his parents didn't sell when they retained when they sold the land many, many years ago. One of our "dreams" is to go full-time RVing for a few years before we settle on our little "homestead" place here in this small city.

[fishermanwife]

thanks for the info, we live in northwest ok right now but we dont love it enough to call home so when we get taxes back we will move into our new home cant wait to not be paying a house payment and rent lol, our new place is about 45 mins east of robbers cave we went there spring 2011 loved it except we stayed in a cabin and hubby didnt like that the lake was down the entrance road and across the main road so he couldnt just walk out and go fishing cant please them all the time now can we lol

[The WE2's]

Thursday...what a surprise! Don't know how we managed to do it, but we both woke up thinking today was Wednesday...surprise, surprise, surprise! LOL We somehow both lost a day...figure? Had me running to the carport to drag the trash barrels to the alley in my pj's...I'm quicker at that than MM...LOL Anyway...MM ran onto this web site and I snuck into it this morning and WOW...it's got lots of good stuff! Want to share it with ya's (tho lots of ya's probably already knew of it) since it's got such good stuff on several different venues, so don't be fooled by it's title.

http://artofmanliness.com/

As members of Moose, we're planning to meet some friends for a dinner-dance party they're having so that will be fun. We love to dance but haven't had time to do it for a couple of months. We met on a ballroom dance floor because MM had come to learn how to waltz and knew it was a no drinking, no smoking environment; and the instructor asked me to be his learning partner...LOL A year later we were married! LOL We partnered up for sure! Neither of us had planned on meeting somebody. I was a widow after 42 years of marriage and he was a batchelor of 20+ years...and neither of us was interested in any romance. LOL...guess God knows more than us? Mom said "it's a match made in heaven". Sho Nuff! Met 4 years ago, married 3 years ago, as of this past July. Everybody had a nice day...hugs!

[lumabean]

I've got to stop watching so much tv -- between the news and 'reality' shows, I am nervous a good part of the day. I had Border Wars on in the background while I was cleaning, and goodness, is that show heartbreaking. I started off thinking it was just criminals and drug smugglers working their way across the border -- the families and women are heart-breaking. Then to hear how they're taken advantage of before they leave Mexico (one woman said she mortgaged her home and paid $3500 to the guide to come across), and en route (agents mentioned how some women are violated, even left for dead in the desert after the assaults), there I was in tears dusting the furniture. My son thought I had lost my mind (what else is new though, he's a teen and thinks I am hokey anyway). No, I am not advocating open borders or anything insane, just that it's heart-breaking that there are people who are suffering so much and take drastic measures and end up abused further. Been doing a lot of praying for people today, and will continue.

 

On a less depressing note, I need to start recording myself when I speak, because at times I am convinced that when I speak my husband, son, and extended family simply hear a series of whistles and squeaks instead of words when I speak.

 

Christmas tree is up, not decorated yet, but it's up at least ... slightly tilted, but I'll get that taken care of here soon. Lovely fresh tree aroma in the apartment, so that's nice to have I wanted those big old fashioned bulb lights grandma had when I was little, but apparently they don't make those anymore, but we found something sort of close at Wal-Mart.

Edited November 29, 2012 by lumabean

[The WE2's]

Friday...got our shopping finished tonight to replenish the pantry items I've "borrowed"...LOL Listening to K-Love's Christmas music...so soothing! Today was a pretty lazy day...I usually try to get all my wifey things done early in the week so we're free to go do other things on the weekends. Got a call from a new client last night, so MM's got another job he's going to go take a look at tomorrow. Finishing up on one, so he'll be ready to start a new project. Again, thank you Lord for the work!

[Andrea]

I've got to stop watching so much tv -- between the news and 'reality' shows, I am nervous a good part of the day. I had Border Wars on in the background while I was cleaning, and goodness, is that show heartbreaking. I started off thinking it was just criminals and drug smugglers working their way across the border -- the families and women are heart-breaking. Then to hear how they're taken advantage of before they leave Mexico (one woman said she mortgaged her home and paid $3500 to the guide to come across), and en route (agents mentioned how some women are violated, even left for dead in the desert after the assaults), there I was in tears dusting the furniture. My son thought I had lost my mind (what else is new though, he's a teen and thinks I am hokey anyway). No, I am not advocating open borders or anything insane, just that it's heart-breaking that there are people who are suffering so much and take drastic measures and end up abused further. Been doing a lot of praying for people today, and will continue.

 

On a less depressing note, I need to start recording myself when I speak, because at times I am convinced that when I speak my husband, son, and extended family simply hear a series of whistles and squeaks instead of words when I speak.

 

Christmas tree is up, not decorated yet, but it's up at least ... slightly tilted, but I'll get that taken care of here soon. Lovely fresh tree aroma in the apartment, so that's nice to have I wanted those big old fashioned bulb lights grandma had when I was little, but apparently they don't make those anymore, but we found something sort of close at Wal-Mart.

 

:rofl: It's not you Luma! It's a guy thing. I can go on and on about something to my DH but if the tv or radio is on, he won't hear a single word!

[The WE2's]

Saturday...my baby sis (only one I've got) is having some serious back surgery today...docs say she'll be pretty much bedridden for about 3 months...so her husband and a close friend of hers will have to take care of her when she gets home. They've already moved the hospital bed into her living room. She was in a near fatal traffic accident about 30 years ago, and it's catching up with her. The settlement she got doesn't even start to pay for what she's gone through and will now go through. Docs say it's surgery or wheelchair, her spine has "sprung" outward about 6" from it's normal position. She didn't want family hanging around the hospital (it's out of town) because it's an all day procedure, so guess I'll just have to wait this one out. We're headed for the Little House...going to take Abby for a hike in the woods and MM's supposed to meet a new client in that community, to look at some remodeling work he wants done in his basement. Then we'll sort & pack some more tote bins. Beautiful day forecast but perhaps some rain later this evening...but we'll enjoy the hike early and then work later in the day. Off me goes to pack our picnic lunch! Hiya's to each of you!!!

[fishermanwife]

have a great day Philbe will be praying for your sis

[Jeepers]

For Philbe's sister