HAPPY THANKSGIVING

 Yes it has been awhile since I posted.  No particular reason other than ennui.  Not much exciting is happening nor have I gotten much done.  

Husband had a tooth pulled 2 weeks ago and was given medication to avoid an infection – so last week we had to run to our doctor as he was allergic to the medication the dentist had given him.  Which of course meant that he spent last week taking meds to offset the allergy problems from the first med.  He is feeling better now.  

Bought our Thanksgiving turkey last week – a lot of turkey for 2 people!  Went out later in the week after I wrote a list, of course) to buy the other items needed for Thanksgiving dinner and fill in a few items we were low on in general.  

Now I have to clear out our dining room so we can have dinner there next week.  It is filled with our excess food storage due to still being concerned about Covid and its coming back now that it is getting fcold again and people will be inside more.  I will say this is always a problem since it is the least used room (other than general walking through to the rest of the house from the kitchen/den/basement and getting/storing excess food items in it) in the house.  

What are your Thanksgiving customs?    My husband and his family used to go out for Thanksgiving dinner, while my family ate same at home or at one pair of my grandparents.  It used to be “our holiday” - the one when we had both families come to us for dinner.  (This stopped as did most of our normal activities when we had bed bugs.)  Being of mixed religions we picked Thanksgiving to make as “our holiday to have everyone over” as it is the only one which both families celebrate.  


Thought of the week -
Do you have people in for Thanksgiving or other holidays or do you eat out?  Come on – someone must be reading this as I see the number of people who have done so rising all the time – answer me and let me who is out there!

No matter whether you do or don't, a Happy Thanksgiving next week.

WEATHER OR NOT YOU ARE READY - WEATHER HAPPENS - PLAN AHEAD -BIG STORM HERE

 Well, at least I made it back here in when I am suppose to do so.

Our area got hit with a huge rain storm the end of last week.  We do live on an island – though it is so large we sort of tend to forget that it is an island from day to day.  (How big?  There are 4 counties on the Island – two of them are part of New York City – which is almost half the counties in same as there are 5 counties which make up NYC.)  We live in a county which is not part of NYC.

We live on a fairly main road.  We knew a large rain storm was coming and we made plans to stay in the house for the day.  During the day we looked outside a number of times and all we saw was a good sized rain storm.  At dinner time we put on the local news while we ate.  We were surprised to see/hear about how much flooding there had been on the Island from the storm.  Where I grew up was close to the south shore of the Island and we did get a flooded basement there from time to time (two worst cases were Hurricane Ida in the early 1960s a couple of years after we moved in and Superstorm Sandy recently shortly before mom moved out).  But our house here is about halfway between the north and south shores and in the all decades we have lived here – we have not had water in the basement and the only time we saw flooding in the street was Sandy.  Husband grew up nearby and we had an apartment nearby before our house so we are talking about somehere over 60 memories of storms in this area.  

I still have memories of when I was maybe 7 years old and the basement in my parents was flooded from Donna – I remember looking down the stairs (too deep water for me to be allowed down in the flood) and watching my toys float past.  When we took mom to see the house after Sandy we opened the door to the basement and seeing the items floating in the basement – major memories from Donna came “floating” past.  

Since we don't get flooding in our house it did not occur that us to even check for same.  On the TV, we were seeing flooding in the streets and houses near where I used to live and other places along the north and south shores of the Island.  Late in the evening I went down to take up the laundry I had washed and dried the night before and forgotten to take up and fold and I saw a rivulet of water from the wall of the basement to almost husband's work table along the wall of that room in the basement.  I quickly checked the spots in both rooms which might have flooded or be wet and all was okay.  I was trying to figure out where the water came from – AHA!  We have a small (about 4”x 4”) door in the wall of the basement behind the chimney which is used to clean out and check the chimney behind it.  The water had come in around the bottom of the door and dripped down.  We dropped pieces of paper towels over the wet spots to soak up the water and left the basement.  

On TV news the next day we found out that there had been flooding in our area.  Pictures of streets filled with water deeper then the curb – people showing their flooded basements – with more water coming in.  The next main road of the size of our street was flooded – we are often on that street and we saw the property around the library there (recently expanded and redone over several year) and at the gas station we go to, as well as the areas around these places – we were shocked that such a short distance had made such a bid difference in the amount of water on the street. We have wondered if the sewer drains there were backed up for some reason.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

One never knows when Mother Nature will reek havoc somewhere.  After the first hurricane had hit my family's home nothing of value was kept low to the basement floor – in case of flooding again.  My parents also found out that there was connection to the sewer in the basement which should have opened before the storm to help get rid of any water that came in.  

Always know where you are suppose to go if there is an emergency such as this.  Around here it tends to be the school buildings.  If you do have to leave your house in a flood or other emergency – bring what you might need for a few days – food, medications, clothing – well charged cell phones, etc. Something to read or for children to play with (that special toy especially) to keep busy.  Hopefully you will get the all clear and be able to return to an intact home – but as is said – better safe than sorry.  When you leave your house for an emergency such as this make sure that your lights and gas are off also.  

Hopefully you will never have this problem, but better to be prepared than not.  (How the heck can I get a few hundred stuffed and other teddy bears into our vehicles to take with us in an emergency?)

SORTING THROUGH ONE'S HISTORY - WHAT TO DO WITH DECADES OF MY EMBROIDERIES

 I don't intend to post monthly instead of weekly it just has been happening lately.  My apologies.

We had a reenactment event a week or so ago and having not done an event in awhile it took a bit of work to remember what we needed and to get everything we had to bring together to do so.  

We have two other events coming up in October.  For one of the events I need to put together a talk on period (18th century) needlework as we are each being given a set time for our demonstrations – my work is so close that while people can watch – a crowd cannot do so all at once.  So I will be stitching all day as is normal for me at these events and will be able to show work and talk about needlework “back then”.  

In the past at some other events (which were for a later period) I had a bag of various types of embroidery and other stitching to show.  (I finish stitching pieces, but – especially when I did the project primarily to learn the technique – I often do nothing with the piece after the stitching is finished, which makes it easier to take the pieces to demonstrations.) I could not find the bag in our studio.  

In the past the studio was much better organized, but since the start of Covid it – and especially my work table – has become the storage area for excess canned goods and such.  Add into this the fact that we had taken apart my family home when mom moved elsewhere and I have a number of bags – similar to the bag I used to bring to events – with embroidered pieces – finished and unfinished – back to when I was a young girl.  So gathered together all of these bags and took them to the living room.  I sorted through them – finished or unfinished being one of main sorting criteria.  While I never the bag with items I expected to find together I did get to see a history of my (and my husband's) needlework.  

The pieces are now sorted – mine or his, mine by year of work or type of stitching.  Unfortunately they are still taking up much of our living room in stacks.  I will sort through for what is usable for this event and then figure out how to better store them.   I have not really been able to work with them as our living room also serves as husband's “loom room” for his, well, loom which is setup in the room for him to work on a piece.  (Yes, our house has very unusual purposes to many of the rooms.)

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK (OK, MONTH) -
When one has an assortment of old, beloved items to work through it is not easy and will often be put off.  First step is to sort the items in some fashion so one can see what they have and decide what to do with them.  Obviously in this case donating the pieces is not really a viable solution and the pieces will all be kept – and will serve as history of my and in general needlework of the 1950s/60s onward.  

Do you have anything similar – of no value except to you, and possibly posterity?

SORRY I HAVE BEEN MISSING - DOUBLE POST - CANCELED CAR PURCHASE/BANK LOAN PROBLEM AND LAUNDRY BAG CORD AROUND AGITATOR

 A bit of a followup to my post of (can it really be this long) over a month ago.  

Two weeks after we went to the car dealer and then decided  - while at the dealer – not to buy the car and canceled the transaction, we received a letter from a bank denying our car loan.  This shocked us for two different things.  

First, we know what our credit rating is and it is about as high as one can have.  

Second – We had canceled the car purchase – without signing any paperwork for a loan – though the “finance manager” had told us she as entering our info that we had the loan.  

We wrote a rather extensive letter to the bank which had turned us down.  (One reason given my credit report was locked – something I had done with all of our credit reports long and ago and forgotten about  - which makes me wonder why husband's was not locked.)  And we told about all that went on that day and we had NOT applied for the loan!  Waiting to hear from back from same.  


NEXT– LAUNDRY FUN.  

I do three loads of laundry most weeks -clothes, towels, and bedding.  Dirty clothing, bedding and upstairs towels go in a large laundry bag in our upstairs hall closet.  Dirty towels from the kitchen and downstairs bathroom go in a smaller laundry bag which hangs on the basement side of the door to same in the kitchen.  I throw the laundry bags into the towels load to be washed weekly.  Something I always wondered about happening – happened.  The string from the downstairs laundry bag wrapped around the agitator in the washing machine and would not release from it – even after I cut the cord and only left a short piece in the washer.  Husband and I finally gave up on getting it released.  With much trepidation about the mechanisms in the washer getting the piece of the cord wrapped further around the agitator and breaking the washer completely I kept doing the laundry in the washer.  Two weeks later – MAGIC -  I found the piece of cord loose in the bottom of the washer – relief!

To prevent this from happening again – even before the piece came loose – I now take the cords out of the bag before throwing the bags in the washer.  Yes, it is a bit more work each week – but stops me from worrying about a repeat.

I no longer put the cord in the downstairs bag at all.  It is short now (since I had cut off the piece which was stuck) and I knotted the ends together.  Short of it being there having been a holiday that week and having used fabric tablecloth/napkins, there is not much put into the bag and the kitchen/bathroom hand towels are relatively small.  I have a medium sized safety pin which I use to attach the remaining small, knotted piece of cord to the bag so I can hang up the bag on the hook on the back of the basement door during the week to collect the laundry in it.  

I have a large safety pin which I use to push the cord through the channel of the larger, upstairs bag so I can hang the bag on the 3 hooks in the closet which hold the bag open to make it easier to throw the dirty laundry in the bag.  

Yes, it is more work than before – but having worried for 2 weeks about the possibility of having to repair our washer if the cord wrapped further around the agitator or needing to buy a new one and the cost and mess involved in doing so.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

If it is not one problem – it is another problem!   While both of these problems wasted time, caused great annoyance – they are minor compared to what can happen in life.

Any one have a problem like either one of these – what did you do?

TRYING TO BUY A MUCH NEEDED NEW CAR

 Here's another kind of organizing.  We need to buy a new car.  Our old car has a problem that develops with this model car and we want to get rid of it before it is too late.  We keep looking at what is available.  Problem is that cars have changed too much for us since we bought our current car and we want to avoid as much as we can of the changes – such as – we would really like a REAL KEY to the car.  

Husband has it down to one particular car and we keep hemming and hawing over it.  In addition to not being comfortable with the new cars and the changes in them (our most current car was purchased in early 2013 and the car world has, apparently changed since then) we also have financial limitations on the purchase.  In the past when we were both working this was not a problem – as matter of fact we customarily paid for our new cars in full when we purchased them – did not take out a loan.  But with our current car and this new car (and our RV) a loan has been needed for convenience of not needing to get out of other assets the money to pay for the car as it would result in income taxes being due on the money taken from same.   (Not wealthy, just very prudent at socking away savings from our incomes over the decades before spending was done.)   

We had figured that between our trade in (based on values husband saw online) and what we could manage to take out of the bank we would owe about half of the cost of the car.  

Since when this model year is over there will be no more key – we went today to a dealer who had the car we wanted.  We had a test drive – well husband did, I just rode along with him and the salesman.  He liked how it drove – I was a bit concerned that hood sat too high for him, but he said it did not.  So we moved along to the messy part – negotiating for the car.  

Actually same was rather simple – Dealer employee “This is the cost.”  Husband “Okay, how much can you lower that price  - it is the full price.”  Dealer employee “That is the price – we are  “only” charging the MSRP  not charging you more than it – charging over same has apparently become the norm (well, it is a suggested retail price from the manufacturer I guess).  “Discussion” went on.  He can't give us anything lower in price  - and the US$1000 plus in extras we don't can't be removed from the car/price.  Oh, and our current car which husband had looked up the value of – is only worth half according to them.  Price now too high for us.   I should explain that we have not technically had “a car” in several decades as we have had what are considered “light trucks”.  

The manager came over and would not give us anything at all.  We DID not buy the car and will be checking out some of the other local dealers to see what their story is.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
One can plan all one wants – but that does not mean that when one needs to buy something – it will be anything like it was in the past or that the process today will make ANY sense at all.  I wonder if we were paying all cash it would be less expensive and an easier process.  

JULY 4TH - REMINDS ME OF THE ORGANIZING IT TOOK TO RUN A HOUSEHOLD - ALMOST 250 YEARS AGO

 While this post circles around an American colonial event of 1776, it is also a general post. I do hope everyone related to same had a good July 4^{th .}

As 18^th century reenactors the holiday has a second meaning for my husband and myself. When one spends part of their time “living” in a different time period that time period and participating in events related to it, it take on additional meaning.

Communication being what it was in 1776 the Declaration of Independence most people had no idea that the Declaration had been signed for a week or maybe more. Could you imagine something that momentous today not being instantly available – in great detail – to everyone within minutes today? And it took weeks for England to know about it – even longer for other countries.

Most things took longer then. A housewife and anyone helping her cook (including enslaved people, free servants, and family members) would be awake as early as possible to start cooking – possibly before dawn depending on the time of year. In a most cases the kitchen was a separate building. A fire – in all seasons – as it would need to be started so the wood could burn down to charcoal for use. If the housewife was good at what she did the breakfast would be leftovers from the day before. It was common to cook a meal for “dinner” (at about the time we have lunch). Leftovers from dinner would be eaten for supper that evening. And if the housewife had planned correctly – the food still leftover would be reheated and served for breakfast the following morning. Leftover food could not be stored for anywhere near the time we do so today as it would go bad without refrigeration – depending on location winter would help some with keeping food cold in season. Of course there was no running water so someone was carrying water for cooking and washing – people and things.

A good deal of the food was raised by the individual families – animals for meat, planting in the spring, fishing in nearby water – again it all had to planned out in advance how much would be needed, such as how much wheat would the family need to last until next year's wheat was ready to harvest? What if something happened to the crops and they were lost or bad? How much bread to bake at a time so it would last long enough – but none would go bad? We have been thorough periods in the 20^th/21st centuries where we had to go food shopping every day as we had not been planning out what we need for food as the easy and constant availability of same spoiled us. It was much easier for me before husband retired/quit his job a decade or two ago as I could plan my list and plan my time to get shopping done once a week, with an extra run on Friday to fill in if needed – before the weekend and husband was around all day. Since Covid we have been back to figuring out how much food to buy to go out and food shopping the least number of times – and shopping list matching the aisles the items are in to be able to find things as quickly as possible. We tried to keep the food shopping to every 2 months in 2020 – storage of the food a major organizing job on its own. (We are edging back to food shopping much more often as fill in shopping these days.)

When my husband was still working he thought what I did if a bad storm – snow or rain - was mentioned on the news – I would make sure we had a week's food in the house – especially food that did not need to be refrigerated and also food that did not need to be cooked - and all our prescriptions were up to date so we had enough medications for a week or so at the least. I would fill the gas tank in my car. I would do the laundry – even if early – so I knew we would have clean clothing, towels, bedding, etc. Since he has been home all the time and even more so since Covid, he understands what I was doing all along.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Survival in earlier times depended on the family – especially the wife – planning what foods would be needed when, as well as how to keep the food safely edible and not running out of food. In cold weather the husband and sons would have to make sure there was enough wood to burn for heat and for cooking.

At the start of Covid a bit of all this need for planning came back. As the need for the planning has been disappearing again (though even now, many times food shelves are still partially empty in the supermarket and they are out of foods we planned to buy) we are losing the idea of planning ahead to make sure we are ready for the next emergency – and there will ALWAYS be a next emergency.

Are you planning ahead so that when the next emergency comes – you and your family are prepared? (I am not talking about going to the extent that so called “preppers” do – just that you have food in the house for a short period of time to get started if something happens.)

SETTING UP A NEW COMPUTER AND UPDATING AN OLD COMPUTER - OYYY!

 Computers – can't live without them and can't live with them!!

And they DO need to be kept organized!

Computers are important to keep organized also.  In addition to each having a desktop computer, we each have laptop computers (and I keep my old ones so I have 2 Windows XP latptop computers, a Windows 7 desktop computer, and my latest – a Windows 10 laptop.  (I am using the latter as I post.)  My Win 7 and my Win 10 computers each have a virtual Windows XP machine in them.  (This allows me to run old XP software in them – mostly my Lotus Organizer.)

My husband I do not keep our data on our hard drives.  We keep them on thumb drives (originally on 5.25” floppy drives, followed by3.5 inch floppy drives, then zip drives, and in the years since – thumb drives (aka stick drives).  This does several things  - most importantly if our hard drives die we still have our data and it is easy to move the data from one computer to another.  We also each frequently back up our hard drives to external hard drives to prevent loss of data on same.  

This all comes to mind as my husband has just bought a new laptop computer.  He has vision problems from when he had cataracts despite having had surgery for same – mostly problems seeing to read small print.  He has been struggling more recently to read items on his laptop as it is a small one, so we discussed it and he bought a 17.5 inch laptop.

He bought it Monday.  Yesterday (Tuesday) he took it out of the box and started setting it up.  First, of course getting rid of some of the newer features which he did not want and finding features which no longer come with them which he DOES want.  

In doing of all this (so far) he noticed that the hard drive on our network did not show up on his new laptop – he checked my laptop and it was missing there also.  So tonight he dealt with this problem and got the hard drive to show on his laptop.  He then moved to my laptop to fix it also.  Why?  Because he needs to do so, so mine will be able to access that hard drive.  Have I used it?  Maybe – once – or twice.  

In fixing this on my laptop the computer decided that “Whoopee! She is letting me do things!”  “I am going to update – whether she likes it or not!”  So I lost over half an hour of my “me time” on my laptop (which I get in the evening as opposed to using using my computers for work related work or house related work).  

Understand – I am not against computers.  My first use of a computer was a main frame IBM computer back when programing and answers were by punch card (programming in Fortran) in high school.  That was followed by a main frame computer which used various stations around our college campus to enter things (programming in Basic).  But each version of the software to run current computers seems to make more and more problems.  And they do help to keep one organized and cut down on paper clutter.

NEW PILLOWS FOR HUSBAND - AND WHERE TO STORE THE OLD ONES

 Two weeks again – sorry no post last week. Then again – is anyone other than me actually reading these posts? (If you are a “hi” would be nice so I know someone is out there.)

My husband decided he needed new pillows for when we (hopefully soon) start traveling again in our tiny RV. (Think Chevy van conversion, not the RVs you see in movies and on TV.)

He had recently been having sleeping at home and bought a new pillow to use at home. He had me bring in his pillows from the RV and he tried them and they were not comfortable. (It has been since 2019 since we used the RV and the pillows.) So we went out and bought him a new pillow – same as the one he bought for the house. I put pillow covers on that pillow and one of his old pillows (he picked which one) and he tried using them at home for a few nights and said it was fine. I also bought him 2 new pillow cases – why I am not sure as I will be using the old pillowcases for me, but he insisted.

Do we throw out the old pillows? No, of course not! “We might need them.” Now the problem becomes where to store them. I have mentioned that our house is on the small side (though much larger than our RV) and storage is limited.

Our house has 3 bedrooms – the largest one is, of course ours. We had planned for the remaining two bedrooms to be used for our children – who were not to be. So, the middle sized bedroom serves as our office – we sit at desks facing each other – and our main library space for our books. The small bedroom was setup as a guest room in case one of our moms or a niece or nephew needed to stay with us. It has been used 3 times – once my niece and nephew (brother and sister) used the single bed together when they were very young and stayed overnight. Same niece used the room again twice on two different occasions when doing something with us. Other than that it has not be used a bedroom. The bed is covered with a blanket and there are stuffed bears (and a few of their friends sitting on it) and the room has become known as the Teddie's room as there are also shelves in the room holding stuffed and other types of Teddies and their friends in it. (We use the closet for husband's out of season clothing and some other storage.)

Among the other storage for the room are the bed pillows for the room which are kept in pillowcases and stand against the walls waiting for someone to stay and use them. (I would change the pillowcases if someone used them as they have been on the pillows for years – some of them have Teddy bear designs on them.) So I put the extra pillows in pillowcases and stood them on top of the ones already in place.

At least with this resolved and the extra and RV pillows out of our bedroom I again have back the place I put the laundry basket when I bring up the clean laundry to fold and store. The extra pillows had been sitting there while he decided which pillows worked for him.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

Think outside "the box" when looking for places to store things – often storing them in some way which makes sense or looks decorative (or you can make look decorative) is the best place to store them – especially larger items which need “a home”.

JUNE - ALREADY????!!!! SPRING CLEANING? - I JUST FINISHED STORING AWAY CHRISTMAS - LAST WEEK!!!!

 JUNE – ALREADY?!

I guess it well into “spring cleaning” time?  Anyone doing any?

Well ….  I have mentioned that I have a small “village” of small bears  - figurines, toys and such (about  ½ inch to maybe 6 inches tall each) in our upstairs hall.  If you have missed this – it started as a Christmas village populated by bears and grew to a year round village which is changed (more or less) monthly to match the month.  It is a terribly silly thing, but husband and like it and it gives us smiles – and during the worst of Covid it gave us someplace “to go” when we stuck in the house.

It gets overdone for Christmas – like a small village which is over crowded for the holidays with shoppers, a parade, carolers, Santas, skiers, skaters, booth selling hot beverages and renting out skis and sleds, bears finishing decorating the large tree at the center of the village…  The rest of the year the setup is much is less.  

I have mentioned that I am accountant.  I had an extremely odd and bad tax season this year so the bears have been having Christmas all the way into May (and the mom bears were upset at no Mother's Day) as I have not had a chance to store the Christmas part away.  I finally had a chance last Sunday to start taking it down.  Christmas in the village is almost done being stored now.  I should finish this Sunday and will jump ahead to wedding and later in the month graduation in the village.  (Same young bear couple get married every year.)

Sooo, who is doing spring cleaning – not the bears they are too tired from celebrating this long.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Things need to be done.  Sometimes something suddenly takes up a continuing huge amount of time and it needs to done and other less essential things put aside.  That is life and we have to take it as it comes and then catch up when we can.  

TIME FLIES - DOESN'T IT? GETTING OUR RV READY TO USE THIS YEAR

 Wow another week already?  

We started dewinterizing our tiny RV yesterday and finished today.  For those who might not know about this (I had no idea until we bought it) in the fall one has to remove all the water in the tanks and pipes in the RV and put in special anti-freeze to keep the pipes, tanks, etc from freezing and possibly splitting open.  

Comes the spring one has to get the antifreeze out of the pipes and tanks.  This is done by draining the liquid in the pipes and tanks out. (The antifreeze is a special one used in RVs and boats; it is not what is put in the engine of vehicles.)  One then replaces same with water and bleach and drives back and forth, stopping short to mix it throughout the pipes and tanks.  It sits awhile.  Then it is then drained out of the RV and the RV tanks and pipes are filled with plain water – several times – and drained again each time to the get the bleach and any remaining anti-freeze out of the RV.  We have spent the last two days doing this several times to our RV.  Now the water system is usable for this year's season.  

Understand, this RV is a van converted (commercially) to an RV – NOT one of those large things you see on the road and in movies.  It is very, ummm, “cozy”.  The entire inside space is something like 20 feet by 6 feet.  Think about a room that size and living in it – toilet, kitchen, living room and bedroom – all in that space.  

So it is now prepared for any traveling we do in it this summer. Husband has plans.

Think about living with your significant other in a space this small.  You have to be very close friends!

ANOTHER WEEK AND AT LEAST WHAT HAS TO BE DONE IS ......DONE!

 Goodness – another week again – seems like I just posted yesterday!!

Have you found that time moves differently since Covid started? I find this. I think I did something a couple of weeks ago and when checking on something about it in my computer organizer – I see that it has been a month and a half!! Things I do by rote, suddenly I forget to do. File on my computer drive are not in the order they should be.

I am trying hard right now to get everything back to where it belongs and how it should be. One problem is that husband was miserable staying home all the time and is now trying to make up for it – I pray for rain so we will stay in the house and I will get things done. Even as I writing and posting this (at 1:30 am) I have just moved the first load of laundry to the dryer and put the second load in to wash.

REALLY need to clean the house. Husband had started vacuuming the floors out of boredom – but no longer does. (I prefer to “Swiffer” them, sound of a vacuum has scared me since I was a child.

Four things I have extremely cautious to do on time – clients tax returns, pay our bills, the laundry, and cook meals/wash the dishes.

Does anyone else use the toe of their “fuzzy” slippers (while wearing them) to gather dust bunnies together and then pick them up and throw them out with their hand?

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

I try to keep doing the little things which HAVE to be done to help me keep going. We are fed. We have clean clothing and towels/bed linens. We have our medications and take them as we should.

What do you ALWAYS do as it so important to be done?

MUST BE ABLE TO THINK QUICKLY OF WHAT TO DO OR SUBSITUTE WHEN SOMETHING IS NOT WORKING

 Sorry I haven't posted. Life has been a bit crazy. I even still have one tax return to prepare – for a business.

I am guessing that I have posted before around 2010 we had bed bugs and that has shaped a good part of our life since then. Husband decided he needed a new bed pillow. (None of the spare, un - or rarely – used ones could even be tried.) He thinks his head/face hurts due to his pillows. Today we were at Walmart and he bought a new pillow.

After we had the bedbugs we bought a device called a Pack-tite. One is suppose to put their suitcase(s) in it after traveling and heat the suitcases and contents so that if one has brought back any bed bugs they will die from the heat. We no longer travel using suitcases as we dealt with this problem by buying a tiny Class B RV (think Chevy van, not big RV lumbering down the road or in a movie). So when he bought a pillow today I had to put it in the Packtite to heat it – just in case.

I do laundry on Wednesday nights and so it was no problem to heat the pillow at the same time as the Pack-tite is in the same room in the basement. Or so I thought. The remote read thermometer I use to monitor the temperature in the Packtite stopped reading while the Packtite was still heating to temperature. I have to make sure the air in it does not go over 120F. It uses one of those “button” batteries – we have all different sizes of them in a bag in our bedroom. Up two flights of stairs. Thought I found the correct size battery. Back down 2 flights. No, it was the wrong size. Back up 2 flights. We do not have this size battery! Heating already started and husband wants to use the pillow tonight – what to do?

We have two double read thermometers in the kitchen – both read the temperature in the kitchen. One also reads the temperature outside the house. The other one reads the temperature in our refrigerator in right near husband's insulin. Which to take? Well, it was just after midnight so the temperature outside does not matter and I took that thermometer. Since I do not have the remote read – I have been running down and up the stairs every 5 -10 minutes. There is a maximum temperature and it has to be shut off when same is reached. On last trip down – that occurred.

For some reason these past few years life seems to get crazier and crazier.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

We all have to learn to think “outside the box”. When something does not work or is missing one has to think of alternative methods or items to use.

HAPPY HOLIDAY

 To you and your families - 

I wish a good holiday of whichever spring holiday is yours.

TAX SEASON IS HERE - THE FUN OF FILING OF INCOME TAXES THIS YEAR

 Got some tax returns out to clients.  It has not been easy this year.  In addition to the usual problems – missing papers that clients have to get to me after the sending the rest of the papers, etc.  I have been having unusual problems this year.

A business client was ill and needed surgery – so had to get an extension for her business as the returns for same were due March 15.  Then sales tax was due March 20 – luckily she was back at work part time by then and was able to mail me (she does not use a computer at all) a list of her sales so that was out on time.  

I keep a copy of last year's returns for clients on paper and scan all returns (and many other papers) into the computer to be able to store them in much less space and it is much easier to find and access what is needed.  I have been using 2 different software programs which make pdf files to do this.  We had to get a new “all in one” (printer, scanner, fax) during the past year – this is the second one we have bought – returned the first one due to scanner peculiarities and bought this one, a different unit from a different manufacture, which seemed to work fine.  But it has developed peculiarities also – I cannot add pages to a saved pdf file.  So I was making different files and copying the pages into the older one from the newer one.  Did that on a return recently and suddenly – all the pages are there, but I can only print the pages from the original file.  Husband found software to combine files – it took over my computer making itself the default not only for scanning, but also for printing (and we did not even know it printed.  Husband took it out today, but it still seems to be default for scanning and printing – I will have to have him reset the default programs for me.  (Yes, I could do it myself – in college he would copy my computer programs, but it gives him something to do and if anything goes awry, at least I will not get blamed while he repairs the problem.)
    

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Tax time is here (in the USA) – don't forget to file on time or get an extension.  Don't give Uncle Sam (or his friends the states) a reason to charge you penalties and interest – you KNOW you pay them too much to begin with.  Only 19 days left to file (due April 18 this year Federally and in most states).

PREPARING TAX RETURNS FOR CLIENTS TO FILE - APRIL 15 IS COMING

 Still working on tax returns for clients. I managed to get all of the ones for certain types of businesses out by March 15, while at the same time dealt with getting out sales tax returns by March 20 when they were due.

Now I am working on individual tax returns and our business's return which are all due for April 15. I have returns for two clients in house to work on. I have another client who is late with her returns – how late? Well I just did her 2019 – if she does not file it this year she will lose a sizable refund. I am hoping to get her to send me the information for 2020, 2021 as well as for 2022 so I can get her caught up and get her all of those refunds.

So hopefully all three of these returns will be done and out in the mail this weekend. I have one other client (it is a very small practice – actually the tail end of two practices) who I have not yet heard from, but she is local so I do not need to have weeks of lead time to make sure she gets her return in time.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

You know that you have to file your taxes. Don't put it off if you have all the info you need. If you don't have all the info you need – GET THE INFO and get it done.

Most people get a refund – why let the government keep YOUR money any longer than needed? If you owe money – okay, you can wait until April 15 – but make sure it is in and if you are mailing it make sure that the mailing is postmarked that day, even if you need to stand in that LONG line at the Post office to make sure. If you can't file on time – send in an extension – but make sure that you pay with the extension what you think you will owe - Penalties and interest on money you owe can add up quickly and an extension does not give you more time to pay – only to file the return.

TAXES, EYE DOCTOR, FOOD SHOPPING - SO MUCH TO GET DONE!

 Started working on income taxes, corporation taxes and sales taxes this past couple of weeks as mentioned last week.  Depending on the type of the corporation the taxes (companies which use a calendar year as their tax year) is either March 15 or April 15.  I have one corporation to do with each due date.  I also have a partnership return which is also due by March 15.  Partnership is done and out.   The corporation return due March 15 is the one which needs the extension – and still working on getting the paperwork to do same (for our state – Federal and city extensions are filed).  The corporation return due April 15 is at least started.  Sales tax return for the partnership is completed and mailed.  That leaves the other two sales tax returns – at least I have until the 20th for them.  

Then I have the regular individual returns which are due – as all of you in the US know – is due by April 15th.  Started working on one of them also.  

There seems to be plenty of time for the April 15 returns, but they need to be done and mailed to the clients for them to sign, mail and maybe write a check – for each return – Federal and state – and I know from past years (decades) that the time passes in an instant.  

Then, today, we went to our eye doctor (which took up the entire day so no work done).  He is in the next county so it is a bit of drive and worst of all, driving home we are driving into the setting sun – with drops in our eyes so the sun is all the worse to have in front of us.  At least we had good exams with no problems and very little change in vision – don't need new glasses unless we want.  

After I post this I will go back to the supermarket shopping list I started last night as we will go food shopping tomorrow – it is our once a month trip to the (Walmart) Neighborhood Market two communities away to do a full shopping trip. In between we go to one of the two Walmarts nearer to us.  Normally we go to the bigger of the two as it has a larger assortment of items, but two days ago we went to the smaller of the two as an item husband needed is carried at the smaller store, but not at the larger store.  

After I post this to you I will go back and add a few more items to the shopping list, I will then go over the list with husband when he comes down later for before bed snack in case he wants something else or doesn't want something I have on the list.  I will then print it.  The list is in an Excel spreadsheet file.  I have a list of what we normally buy and which aisles the items are in, as well as a more complete list of what is in which aisle.  By scanning down the list of what we normally buy I can make sure that I have not forgotten anything.  Hoping we will find foods we are looking for.  Store shelves/cold cases are still partially empty around here – though much better than earlier in the pandemic.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK-
 Don't put things you need to do off until the last minute.  Had I done that with the business tax returns they would not be out on time.  If I don't do that with the food we will run out of food.  

What have you put off that you really need to?

STILL WORKING ON STORING CHRISTMAS STUFF AWAY - BUT ALMOST THERE AND WOULD BE IF NOT FOR A RUBIK'S CUBE

 My goodness – where did January and February go?!!!

I finished a partnership tax return which is due by March 15. I still have to get back the power of attorney form from client – signed – so I can prepare her business's state exemption form. And – I have to prepare sales tax returns for all 3 businesses by March 20!

I am actually almost finished actually storing away the inside Christmas decorations. I had 2 large filled plastic boxes of inside decorations (as opposed to the tree decorations which were already put away). Being lazy I hate to make down the stairs and up again trips so they were sitting in the dining room. As I go down to change down to change laundry loads I have taken the two boxes down – last one just went down. Also took down the last couple of small fabric decorations which had been missed when the box they are stored in was filled. I do have a box left with a glass domed beaded tree (which I had made some years ago) in it and a smallish plastic Santa of Robert's from when he was a buy both of which I will take downstairs on later trips down for the laundry.

That leaves 3 decorative boxes which have to go to the closet in the Teddys' room with items I don't want stored in the basement as wax (would melt in basement) or otherwise need better care than the basement. Of course this is not easy this year. I have our suitcases which store in the bottom of the same closet out in the middle of that room. We no longer use them as we travel in our small RV, but have kept them as we like them, just in case we need suitcases in the future. (For example if one of us, God forbid, had to go to the hospital.) I took the suitcases out to solve a storage problem in our bedroom. Husband has more clothes than should go in his dresser than he can fit in same. Most of them he does not wear and a good percentage of them do not fit him (no, too big – not too small) but he does not want to get rid of them. The clothes he actually wears – such as his pjs – are sitting on top of his dresser. I came up the idea of storing the clothing he is not wearing and wants to keep in – yes – the suitcases. I got the suitcases out, but he needs me to help back them so they are in the middle of the Teddys' room until we get a chance to pack the clothes away – so there is no easy access to the closet. Oh, add in, part of the Teddy Village blocks the door to that room into the open position and the closet is, of course, behind that door – so I have to be able to move that section of the room into the room where the suitcases are to be able to put the suitcases and these Christmas boxes back. It is all sort of like a room sized Rubik's cube! But every step I take in all of this gets us that closer to being finished.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

It is amazing what a puzzle storage can be and what needs to be moved to get this or that to store it away or take it out.

NO MATTER THAT ONE THINKS ALL IS UNDER CONTROL - SOMETHING WILL GO WRONG

 Well another week gone past – how could it be?

I put away more of the Christmas decorations during the week.  I have a couple of boxes left to go downstairs and plan to take them down tonight when I go down on trips to washer and dryer for laundry.  I also have my teddy village Christmas on the second floor (boxes are up there to store the Christmas bears in), but have held back on putting it away as there is not much I put out for Valentine's Day – which is now in the past anyway – so I figure this year I will jump right to March.

Now I am getting started doing tax returns for clients.  Some business income returns are due March 15.  I have a partnership which owned by husband and myself and the return is almost finished – but it does no business so that it is easy to do.  

I do have a problem with one client.  The business returns are due by March 15.  Client has not been well and I need all of the information from all of 2022 to prepare client's returns.  So while neither client nor I like extensions, the business returns have to go on extension.  

Federal extension – no problem – I filled in the form and it does not even need to be signed so I will mail it to IRS.  Client's business is in a large city in our state – I prepared the extension form for the business's city income tax return and included the minimum tax payment as client generally has a loss lately, wrote up instructions and it will also be on its way to client tomorrow with other tax related papers for client to write a check, sign the form and mail out.

Problem is client's corporation return.  If it was a regular corporation or a partnership or even a business which Somehow they have the wrong address for the business, sent the papers to that address, and cannot send it to another address! If it was owned as “a sole proprietor” it would also be no problem. Somehow they have the wrong address for the business, sent the papers to that address, and cannot send it to another address! The business is, as are lots of other businesses, what is a called “an S corporation”.  This is a sort of a cross between a corporation and a partnership (to keep it simple).  For some reason this type of extension and ONLY this type of extension has to be filed online.  I cannot file it for client as I am not the owner of the business.  Client cannot file it as does NOT use a computer at all.  Client has been ill and in the hospital so cannot send me the info I need to prepare the return!  I managed to get someone at the state tax office to agree that due to the circumstances of client's age and illness they would mail an extension form for us to use.  Client never received it.  Remember client is not at work due to illness and they can only mail the form to the business address!  Someone checked her business mail for her and the form is not there!

I telephoned the state again and found out that somehow they have the wrong address on file for her business – and they can ONLY send the extension form to the address they have on file!  I pointed out that they have her returns from past years and can see on same that it is the wrong address, no did not help.  

What we apparently have to do – client has to give me a power of attorney for the business.  I will then call the state tax office and get them same so they can let me do things and talk to me.  I then will change the business's mailing address to my house – they can then mail ME the extension and I can sign it for client.  After a month or so I will then again file a change of address form for the business and change it back to the correct business address!  

Why this type of business has this problem in our state and ONLY this type of business I have no idea.  This is something new as in past years if an extension was needed it was not a problem.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK  -

It is amazing how many odd things happen to make life harder no matter how organized one is.

STORED AWAY (MOSTLY) INSIDE CHRISTMAS DECORATONS FINALLY

 Well, over the last couple of weekends we have taken down all of the inside Christmas decorations (except one small beaded tree which still has to be put into its box) and stored most of what we took down in the basement.  

It was the most disorganized take down of decorations I have ever done!  Things are not in the correct storage boxes – so decorating next year will be a MESS!  But everything other than that tree is in its box.  

After the stuff was boxed I took the decoration boxes to the basement – stored in the finished half of same in a corner where the boxes fit EXACTLY in their space (so tight, husband could not get them out as they cannot be on any angle when being moved).  I stored my Christmas soft figures (teddy bears, large Mrs. Rudolph Reindeer I made etc.) and Christmas stockings in the box they all go in – also on that side of the basement, but in a different spot.  

The main tree gets carried downstairs section by section as they are heavy – and between same and the stairs I have to rest between the 9 sections.  I stacked them in the box in the order they have go into the box and added the pole, tree skirt and other similar items which fit into the box.  Doing well at this point.  

Then I made a big error which I did not realize until too late.  I had stored the assortment of various sized Santas and elves (varying up to about 3 ½ feet in height – some made by me, some were bought by us and a number of them were Christmas gifts from someone husband worked with) in their individual plastic bags on top of the big tree box where they go and put the basement back together again in front of the box and figures. The box stores under the stairs to upstairs so it is not at all easily accessible when everything else which stores in front of it is back in place.

We have two smaller trees (one goes in the dining room and one in our studio).  They each store in a box.  They also store on top of the Christmas tree box – but are suppose to be UNDER the figures to keep the figures from being squashed or damaged!  So now I have to move at least enough of what is front of the box to be able to reach the figures and remove them from where they are, put the boxes in places, get the figures on top of the boxes, and then put it all back together again.  I cannot do this until I get the laundry done as what is in front of the tree box has to be moved onto the washer and dryer to get them out of the way!!  

And my Teddy Bear Village upstairs remains as Christmas until I have a chance to put away the Christmas items and set it up for ?  Will be a bit late for Valentines Day – which is set up as bears in pairs kissing or holding paws and going to the Asian restaurant and the honey restaurant in the Village.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Always check twice  - and then check again and again – before storing seasonal items away to make sure they are stored in the correct order so they will fit where they need to be without damaging anything and so that what is needed the following year will come out in the correct order.

SO MANY PROBLEMS TO RESOLVE AT THE SAME TIME - WHICH TO DO FIRST?

 Did not get to do much yesterday.  It was nasty weather and I was looking forward to being in the house and getting caught up – HA!  I had two major projects to deal with – each of which needed me to telephone a different tax agency - which would, of course involve sitting while on hold with each of them.  

I have a client who is in her 80s and does not use a computer.  The alarm company for her business will only bill by email.  (Businesses should really not presume that EVERYONE uses a computer or a cell phone – even more so a  smart phone as not every one does.)   Since I used to go in to her business every month and I would usually end up writing the check for this bill when I came anyway, with her permission I opened  yet another email account – this one solely for her business – and we set up with the alarm company to sent the bills to this email address.  Before I would go to her on the quarter months (alarm company bills quarterly) I would print out the out the bill at home, bring it, and write the check for it for her.  

When I checked my email yesterday there was a bill from her alarm company saying she had not payed the new amount due on the last billing and owed them $40 more.  Since the other two matters involved one matter due by March 15 and the other due by May 15, this moved to the top of the list to call.  The woman at the alarm company was very nice, but could not talk to me (though in the past when I went to the client's business they had been given permission to talk to me), especially since I did not know “the code number”.  The employee told me to have client call her and nothing would happen in the interim (last thing client needs is the alarm on her business shut off).  

I telephoned her on her cell phone as she had planned to be away during January and I did not know where to call her.  She is not well and needs surgery – more complications.  She told me that she would have a family member call me back as I could fax the bill to her.  No one called.  

I then went on to a problem involving the same client.  I was concerned before finding out she was not well about getting her state business return filed on time due to her having to mail the info as I am NOT going into NYC yet due to Covid concerns.  But, now knowing her situation of being not well, it is was even more important to have an extension form for the state return.  For some reason this type of business – and seemingly ONLY this sort of business – can only file a state extension online!  Now normally this would be not be a problem – as accountant's software for business filing would take of it – but since my practice is sooo small (this is my only business return to do) I don't have the software.   I could have the taxpayer go online and file the form – but, remember, she does not use a computer and in any case would be terribly confused trying to do so.  So I had to call the state department and sit on hold for about half an hour (which is actually much less time than I thought it would take). I got a very nice lady there.  I apologized for the problem and explained the odd situation and that the client was ill and there was a decent chance that the return would have to go on extension.  She actually had to take all the info and then go and GET PERMISSION to mail an extension.  But, just for the fun of it, she can only mail the form to the client's business – where neither she nor I will be!  I called the client back and explained and told her when someone goes in to get the mail for her to let me know so I can get the form – or a fax or an email of it in case we need it.  

Next stop – IRS.  (You can see what a fun day this was.)  I have to file an annual form for our reenactment unit (which is a non-profit).  It is a “postcard” form, meaning there are only something like 5 questions after identification information to be filled in.  I have been trying to file this form since the second week in January.  They have changed the filing and the sign in this year.  I tried using the web address from the past – when I do I get a message that the system is “under maintenance”.  I found an online booklet about the changes and tried using the filing web address in the booklet.  That site when I try to sign in was resulting in a “error 404” message.  I figured maybe it would not work until after the opening of the regular filing system on January 23.  Tried it again since then and again yesterday.  This time husband tried also to sign in (he is also an officer in the unit) for me using a different browser.  Same problem.  So back on the telephone.  I reached someone in that department – they are not open yet for filing!  So I will wait awhile before trying again.  

This morning I get a telephone call from the client – she spoke to her alarm company and there is no problem, she can pay the difference when she pays for the next quarter.  Thank goodness, her alarm will remain on.  I explained to her that I got NYS to mail the extension form – but it is going to her business.  So when next she or a family member goes there for mail, let me know that she has the form and we will figure out if it should be sent to me by mail or if she should have a family member fax or email the extension to me.  I also noted in my “todo” list for when her next bill for same should come by email about this to remind me.  

So most of the day yesterday was taken up with these problems!  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

One has to know how to prioritize.  Originally I had placed getting the NYS extension form for client as the more important thing as the IRS matter involving our reenactment unit is due much later than the NYS form for her – plus if that is late, as long as the 2 years are filed as they should be, would not result in a fee being charged or other problem.  

While each of the problems was rather important, once it arose as a problem, I had to move the alarm company to the first thing to do as the alarm company was expecting to be paid right away as they had not been paid the correct amount – and we don't want them to stop monitoring her business, especially if she not going every day, so it automatically took precedence.    

When overwhelmed do you stop and figure out which HAS to be done first and what can wait until last and what order the other things have to be/can be done so everything is done on time.

CATCHING UP FROM CHRISTMAS AND LEARNING NOT TO ASSUME ALL CLEANING PRODUCTS FOR A PURPOSE ARE THE SAME - WHAT AN ODOR!

 Ah, the swift passage of time.  Three weeks have passed since I last posted.  So much for doing better in the new year.  

Well, I did get all of the reenacting clothing washed and stored away – though I still have his neck cloth which needs to ironed – it is sitting on the dining room table as reminder to do so.

On Monday, the sixteenth, I set my desktop computer to start its monthly backup and I went to start taking down the ornaments from our Christmas trees. Our agreement is that husband gets the room to use for weaving (called his “loom room”) from mid January to mid December and I get it for Christmas for the other month.  He was at his desk and I told him what I was about to do.  “NO, NO! I am not ready yet for Christmas to be over and packed away!”  So our indoor Christmas decorations are still in place.  (We did take down the outside lights that weekend so neighbors would not think us crazy.)  

We have figured out how to deal with the window candle lights I like for Christmas (goes well with the house which is colonial in style) for the future.  I figured out that if we pulled the hope chest shaped DVD chest out from under the TV table I could carefully climb under and reach the windowsill as well as the electric outlet under the window and we can use the plug in candle lights we have from years ago  (in recent years before the current one we had switched to battery operated ones).  If I do this once next year and plug them into a timer which can be controlled from a cellphone, we can leave the lights in place permanently and husband can turn them off after Christmas.  We can continue to use the battery lights upstairs and turn them off after the holiday by hand.  

I am not the best at cleaning to begin with – and since Covid and being in the house most of the time, even worse. (So bad, husband has started helping me, though he says he does out of boredom.) Last Saturday night I was in the kitchen and decided to clean the bathroom immediately next to the kitchen – and I do mean immediately next to.  As I sit here at our kitchen table the wall in front of me is the shared wall with the bathroom which is a small “cozy room” and the kitchen wraps around it – the door to the bathroom is on the side of it and faces the “pantry” closet in the kitchen.  This was while I was waiting for husband to be ready to order take out for dinner our “Saturday night substitute for date night dinner out”  

BIG MISTAKE!  I had not been able to find my normal toilet bowl cleaner and the one we had bought had a LOT of bleach in it.  The kitchen reeked of bleach – especially by the kitchen table where we would eat dinner.  I closed the bathroom door to keep the smell in it, figuring that later when we were in the living room watching a movie (for Saturday night date night movie substitute) I would open the door and let the odor dissipate.  First thing husband does when he comes down to go out and pick up dinner as I say “NO, DON'T!” is open the bathroom door and let the bleach odor overwhelm us.  The odor did dissipate later that night.  And, yes, while out on a shopping run this past week I bought a bottle of the non-bleach toilet bowl cleaner I normally use – though it seemed to be the last and the company has changed it – but time enough to worry about that in the future.  

At the same time, while the cleaner had sat in the toilet bowl, I also “Swiffered” the kitchen floor – which I had done in the bathroom as well as I could (bathroom is too tight to easily use the Swiffer, a broom or mop in it) – the floors really NEED a washing – but we are always here and using the kitchen so washing it and letting it dry is not easy.  I also cleaned the sink in the bathroom.  

One semi clean place in the house.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Two of them really, first, watch what your cleaning products have in them and second, it is not THAT hard to find a small amount of time to do something about cleaning.

NEW YEAR AHEAD OF US - A FRESH START

 Well, here it is – another new year. A clean year ahead of us – a fresh start.

Let's put behind us what we have done wrong in the past and start the new year fresh.

I have posted in the past that a new year actually starts every day – so if you missed January 1, pick another day, it starts a new year also – Lunar (Asian) New Year starts on January 22 this year, you can use it as a second chance for a new year's start. I don't make resolutions as they are never kept. I do try (yet another time) to do everything I do a bit better – less putting off of things, less “a lick and a promise”, less “I'll do next it next week”. As I said “I try” it generally does not work, but I do try.

Right now our bedroom is a mess. We did several days of a reenactment event over 2 weeks and clothes and accessories tended to be dropped each night when we got home all over our bedroom. I collected the clothes which need to be washed. As usual on Wednesday nights while I am posting I am also doing our laundry for the week. First load – regular clothes - is in the washer as I write. I will fitting in one or two loads of reenacting clothes depending on how many white items and how many color items there are. If I can fit all in one load – fine with me. If not I will do one load of white items and one of color items. I will also do a load of towels for the week. I know I will not finish tonight and will be continuing tomorrow night. When I go to bed tonight I will bring up the dried load of clothing and fold it while husband gets ready for bed (he takes longer than I do). I will put away the “goes in drawers” part of it away afterward and the hang up items will be put away tomorrow, when I will also fold the towels from a later load at night, as well as any other laundered items which need to be folded or hung and put away.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

As we go into the new year try to use same as a chance for fresh start catching up and keeping up with what needs to be done. If not remember – tomorrow is always a new, fresh day ready for one to make a start for the future. After all, I did not finish putting out Christmas decorations inside the house this year until January 2!