MORE THINGS TO DO - AS ALWAYS INCLUDING NEW SETUP FOR CHRISTMAS TREE AND DECORATIONS

 To pick up where I left off – 2 weeks ago – I finished my class and exams in 3 days.

We were way behind in decorating inside the house for Christmas. I used to do almost all of it, but in more recent years husband has been helping me. (“Don't climb up on that step stool, I'll put it on the tree for you.)

Our living room has changed over the past year. Back in my April 6 post I wrote about husband buying a small “big screen” TV. I was not happy about (and still am not). This involved rearranging our living room. We were careful to figure out how we would deal with our Christmas tree and decorations both in the living room and also in our dining room as a piece of furniture which used to pushed (it is on wheels) from the living room to the dining room to make room for the tree in the living room and holds a smaller tree in the living room – but could not longer be saved moved as it would be under the tree.

Moving a coffee table from the back of the living room to the dining room instead of the chest that cannot no longer be pushed there went fine. The tree went up in the new space at the back of the living room – doing well, it's working. Then we started putting the ornaments on the tree. I usually put them in a groupings – all the angels at the top of the tree, bear ornaments in one area, TV/movie characters in another area, souvenir ornaments in yet another area and so on. This was not working and we ended up just putting ornaments on the tree. We had a number of ornaments we did not put on the tree as we gave up – not enough room? A couple of days later I realized the problem – in its old location the tree used to have two “fronts”. Huh? Well the tree faced into the living room – a “front” of the tree. The side of the tree faced our entry way – another “front” of the tree. In the back of the living room it faced into the room – one “front” but two of the other sides faced side walls with no easy view of them and the last side faced the windows. Aha! There is less space for ornaments to be featured!

I have all sorts of Christmas decorations I put around the living room, kitchen and dining room – and a few I put in our entry hall. They hang from things, sit on things, etc. I started putting them out. I did okay in the kitchen – changed the decorations sitting on our window sill to the Christmas ones which belong there. Changed out some mugs from our travel mug collection for Christmas mugs.

I moved on to the dining room. I did not have the energy to put fake greens on the light fixture – so I just hung the “kissing ball” from the bottom of same. I set up the small Christmas tree we setup in there. We belong to Colonial Williamsburg and get an annual ornament from them – these go on this tree. Our dining room is decorated as a 18^th century tavern room so a tree is not really correct in there – but they are ornaments of 18^th century things. Normally this tree would go on the box wheeled from the living room, but the new plan was for it to go on the coffee table from there the main tree is now, moved into the dining room instead of the box. This went okay.

But now I started getting to figurines, stuffed animals, Christmas Lego pieces and such which would get setup in the living room – I did not have enough space for them. WHY? I realized that in the past we had two large flat surfaces for them – the coffee table (which would have been in the living room and without a tree on it) and the box pushed into the dining room (and would have the tree on it, with empty space around it). I was missing the equivalent space of the top of the box! I got most of the items out and setup on “something”. The stuffed Christmas bears still fit well on the sofa in the living room. Some large figurines (Santa, elves…) was a tight fit, but went in the area they normally do by the entrance into the living room – they stick out a bit further into “traffic” which worried my husband, but seem to be okay and have not caused any trips or falls by either of us. The Legos actually got to go on the table the TV is on – they are small enough to sit along the ends of the table and not affect watching TV.

Well, decorations are what they are for now. I will think over the problems for next year to see what/how I can improve where decorations and cut down on being upset at the changes his TV has brought.

I did not get a chance to decorate my “Teddy Bear Village” in the upstairs hall. Poor bears are still celebrating Easter! But I plan to do so during the coming weekend.

We leave our decorations for a while to enjoy them. The big items in the living room – such as the tree – will come down in mid January. I have an agreement with my husband. From mid December to mid January we decorate for Christmas. From mid January to mid December he has the room setup his loom and weave. Around then – or perhaps a little later the other Christmas will also get stored away.

For now we can sit and enjoy looking them.

Oh, I forgot our studio tree! We have a craft studio in what should be our “family room/den”. I put a small tree in the front corner of the room on a dresser (for storage) with some of the various ornaments we have made over the decades.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

I do hope that all have/are having a good holiday season!

TRYING TO FIT THINGS INTO SMALL SPACES OR LITTLE TIME

 Have you ever had to fit more in a space than fits?  Yes, I know – that is what is organizer is about, not having to do this, but sometimes…

Back in the normal times before Covid husband and I would go to the movies just about every week.  There was (is?) an independent theater in a nearby community that we would go to. While it had become a multiscreen theater it had not changed over to the terrible lounge seats – still had old style movie theater seats (same type as in school auditoriums, Broadway theaters, etc) and having once sat in lounge seats at movie theater, we vowed never to do so again.  It is currently still “temporarily closed”.  We went to “late showings” - which at this theater means the movie starts 9:30 to 10:30 pm, as opposed to when we used to go to midnight movies in the old days.  While it has some theaters which are rather small, it does have just about full size theaters.   And it was reasonably priced (even for so for seniors) and had a very nice staff.

This is something we have missed – last time we went to a movie was in late February/early March 2020.  We have instead been having our movie night at home watching movies on TV – which is not the same, not only due to small screen, but missing in the atmosphere of a movie theater.  

Husband has recently got into his head to buy a large screen TV for our living room.  I was shocked.  Husband spent a good deal of time decorating our living room in – more or less – colonial style – which is why I was shocked that he would put a big screen TV in it.  (The TV which is in there – not digital – is in a period looking piece of furniture to hide it.  It does not have a cable hookup as we tend to only watch TV in the living room while putting up and taking down our Christmas tree  - when we watch specific Christmas DVDs and New Year's Eve – when, most years we watch “the ball drop” in NYC through Roku – though one year we watched Animal Crossing's New Year Party instead – I actually liked that better. )  

Between this and the price, the idea of a big screen TV in our living room to watch Saturday night movies shocked me.  This discussion has been going on for about a month or so.  He has decided that the theater we used to go to will never reopen and we are too uncomfortable in the lounger seats in other theaters.  (Though we have found one other theater with “real theater seats”, but it is not near us.)

He has been going back and forth with ideas on what to do – then deciding they are no good, then a new idea and then back again.  Just when I thought he had given up – it is becoming reality.  He has bought one for his birthday which is coming up in a while.  

In doing this we had to figure out a lot of things.  His first idea was to have the TV hung on the wall.  Only wall possible was where the TV set furniture is now.  BUT – that is too close to the heat, would have to be hung off center on the wall, and he found out that one has to help the installer hang the TV – if we could do that, we would not need the installer.  

His second idea was to stand it on something.  An obvious choice to me was a large wooden chest he built – it looks like a hope chest – top lifts, lock on front – but on this one, the key in front is the handle to pull down the front and drawers come out with DVDs in it – so the top is stationary and can have (and does have) things put on it.  That is too low for what he wants – he want to “look up at the TV like one looks up at the movie screen in a theater”.  He went looking for a stand to put the TV on – either one that stands on the floor or one that stands on a piece of furniture.  

He found a stand that he liked how it held the TV at a chain computer store's website.  Problem is that the dimensions are obviously wrong – how could something 4 inches tall hold a TV which is so much longer than that?  We drove to the local location of the store – none on display.  We asked a manager about the dimensions – he went to his computer and looked it up – on their website and read the numbers off to husband.  Husband, a bit impatient, pointed out that he had read the same on his computer and how could the stand be 4 inches tall?  Manager agreed that had to be wrong (both he and husband decided it had to be the shipping box dimensions) – but when husband if the boxes “in the back” could be checked for the dimensions – he was told no, “It is a brown box with no writing on it” - then how do they know which item is in the box.  We left.  

He started thinking again – the TV comes with feet, if we got the smaller size than he was looking at (65 inch instead of 70) and we could figure out what to put over the chest of DVDs to make it longer for the feet – it should work.  

We looked at an assortment of ideas of what we could put the TV on.  (In this entire process since it started we have, in our minds, rearranged the furniture in the living room end wall to end wall, side wall to side wall, end wall to side wall and so on.)  

He finally had an  idea and in his words “went back to works” - Ikea.  We bought today a table from Ikea.  It should fit over and around the chest of DVDs – box stays in place and is usable.  Table is extremely modern in design, of course – but if it makes him happy…

We then drove to Costco to buy the TV and have it delivered – believe me, he has done extensive research on where to buy the TV, warranties, service contracts, setup etc.  Problem is that one cannot buy it at the store and have it delivered – it can only be delivered if it is bought online – we hate to order things and have them delivered, but that is what we had to do – after wasting about an hour and a half driving there and home – even worse these days – the gasoline that was used for the drive there and back!  He has ordered the TV.  The table will sit in our van until early next week when we bring it in and assemble it.  

In addition to this mess we had a “discussion” with our cable company over a 20% increase in price (which they lowered for us), the cold water started dripping in our downstairs bathroom sink – after an hour and a half on hold – they could not help us as they no record of our faucet model and were the Canadian office of the company (reached through the US 800 number) and transferred me to their US office – I hung up as I did not have another hour to wait.  And it is tax season and getting closer to when I have to finish returns for clients – and us.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK – Doing anything today has become hard to do – nothing seems to be easy to do any longer and not just do to Covid and limitations arising from it.  Who ever thought buying a TV would take weeks – maybe even months – of planning, needing to change the plan several times including buying the TV?

MISSED LAST WEEK'S POST TO DUE TO EXAMS AND LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS DECORATING

 I hope that all had a good Christmas.  

Sorry I missed posting last week.  Having managed to get the paperwork (per my last post) to the county for our senior real estate exemption the day I posted last, I started on taking the courses I need to take – and pass tests about – 20 hours of classes and 10 hours of tests done online.  I passed all of them and can continue working in 2022.  I took them over the week and had planned to take the biggest of the tests on last Wednesday (12/22) evening but husband had something that had to be done – so I did not get it to it until last Thursday evening.  

I had managed to work at putting out our indoor Christmas decorations over the several evenings before last Thursday – small items which are put out in our kitchen, dining room, front hall and living room.  I skipped many of the decorations such as hanging (fake) greens along our staircase banister and small items due to time limitations.  I also had brought up all three of our Christmas trees (large living room, small dining room and small studio trees) and set them up earlier in last week – also in the evening.  One problem is that since it all kept in the basement and, in particular the big tree sections, much of it is rather heavy, so I have to carry up one of the 9 tree sections (plus lighter tree pole to hang them on) at a time and rest before going back down for the next section.  Then, of course they have to be arranged on the pole, extension cords setup to bring electricity to the tree (and of course the extension which runs up the tree with outlets in 3 different spots -  decided to fall off this year when I set up the pole and I had to wire that back onto the pole).  I did not get to work on the ornaments until the following day – Christmas Eve– and each of the 4 boxes also has to be carried up from the basement with a rest in between – though at least I can hang ornaments while resting.  Again, for the first time since we were married 40+ years ago, not all of the ornaments went on the tree.  Around the equivalent of a box of “lesser” ornaments (plain balls and such) did not make it onto the tree due to time limitations.  

December 26 (Boxing Day to those of you in the UK, Canada, and related countries) I went to work on my Teddy Bear Village.  Yes, I managed to get it set up.  I did some sections differently than in year's past to spread the bears around the 4 sections of the Village a bit more and leave some “breathing” room for the bears in the main section.  Husband guesses that there are 300 bears – I am pretty sure there are a lot less – maybe I will count them when I put them away.  Yes, that is the problem with having fun decorating – in a couple of weeks I will have to take down the tree and decorations downstairs and store them back in the basement (with many trips down and breaks between them again) and store away the decorations from downstairs.  The Teddy Village will stay set up until into early February and then it's residents also have to be stored away to make way for the Valentine Bears (much, much less of them).  

So, all of this diverted my mind from visiting all of you.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -
Sometimes work comes first – such as my classes and exams.   Sometimes what one enjoys has to take precedence over work which can be postponed.  One has to know the difference between the two.  

As I sit here is it December 29 – I wish a good New Year to all.  Keep in mind that small changes and specific ideas are more likely to continue to be done throughout the coming year, as opposed to making resolutions which are too big or non-specific to be kept.   

THANKSGIVING IN A YEAR WHICH IS NOT NORMAL

 First, a big OOOPS – and an apology.  For the first time since I started this blog in October 2015, I missed posting last week.  I may have otherwise posted a day (maybe 2 days once) late, I have not missed any other full week.  Even worse, I did not realize that I did so.  I was starting to write this post and since it about Thanksgiving last week, I looked to see what I posted about our holiday last week – and there was no post for last week.

I have mentioned before that husband and I used to have both our families for Thanksgiving dinner from 1984 through 2008.  I have probably mentioned that since we are of different religions Thanksgiving was the only family type holiday that both families wanted us to come to them for dinner.  (Meaning his family for Christmas, mine for Chanukah, his family for Easter, mine for Passover – plus mine for other Jewish holidays which are big family meal occasions.)  The first several years we generally ended up with husband's family for Thanksgiving.  

But in 1984 we decided to try something different – both families would come to us for dinner.  My husband thought the idea was crazy.  We lived in a small 3 room apartment and between the 2 families (including grandparents)  and us there were  about a dozen people (his sister and brother in law were on their honeymoon).  I had thought it all out.  His parents had 2 large folding tables – we could set up the 2 tables as one running the length of the living room.   My good china, glasses, silverplateware served 14.  (The china pattern was discontinued after we started buying it and we bought 2 extra settings in case anything broke.)  It could work if we borrowed some extra folding chairs in addition to the tables.

But the menu?  Surveys taken in the U.S. of what people have for Thanksgiving dinner all sounded the same - “turkey and all the fixings” until people were pressed in later surveys about which “fixings” they have.  It was then discovered that while turkey was generally a given (short of vegetarians or such) the side dishes varied greatly by the part of the country people were from, as well as their ethnic backgrounds – some even had chicken instead of turkey.  While my in-laws had been going out for Thanksgiving dinner for a number of years, when they had the dinner at home of course there was a macaroni with tomato sauce course and Italian pastries for dinner.  My family when Thanksgiving was at home would have chicken soup and then turkey, vegetables, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pies... My family though, for some time had been going out to a kosher deli for Thanksgiving dinner as an aunt was kosher.  Since mom would make a turkey for dinner (with lots of leftovers for other meals) a couple of times a year, when confronted with dinner in a kosher deli – my sisters and I went for corned beef sandwiches as we did not get them as often as turkey.  So compromise was needed in the dinner menu.  We settled on a traditional menu – turkey, corn, green beans, stuffing – I think the first year was the year I tried to make my own stuffing which included chestnuts which I had never cooked before – mashed potatoes, and I baked pies for dessert.  Somehow it all worked and worked well, so we continued making the Thanksgiving dinner.  We moved into our house during October – finishing up October 31 and still made Thanksgiving dinner in our newly bought house.  There were adjustments – dining room would not hold the two long tables end to end or next to each other, so we built a setup of plywood which clamped to our old kitchen table (which was in the dining room as it was too large for our small kitchen) to make a large, square table.  (Eventually we bought a dining room table which fit 14 if we squeezed in.)  Nieces and a nephew joined our number along the way.  Once or twice husband's best friend from high school joined us.  Husband's sister's mother-in-law joined us.

The annual dinner came to an end the year we had bed bugs.  Of course that year we could not have anyone as the house had been recently treated for the bugs and was in disarray (real disarray – sofa cushions and such all over the floor clothing, towels and fabric out – all due to the treatment) and we did not have the families in for Thanksgiving and we went to an inexpensive restaurant for our dinner.  Since then we have not felt comfortable having people in the house as we cannot deal with having bedbugs ever again and terrified of getting them.  After a few years of going out for Thanksgiving dinner, we started cooking dinner for ourselves.  

This year was a challenge.  Our dining room table was covered with the excess canned, bottled, jarred, and packaged foods we have due to the pandemic.  Husband suggested we eat at the kitchen table this year.  I pointed out to him (and after the holiday he agreed) that we needed the kitchen table for carving, filling bowls, storing items waiting to be used as we have very little counters pace and only 1/3 of it (about 30 inches long) would be available to use.

So I had to clear off my work table in our studio (dining room is on one of the kitchen – studio on the other side) and move all the food there.  Two evenings work – but everything was going well.  I even managed to put out my Thanksgiving decorations (not all of them are bears) including paper ones my niece made for me decades ago (she is 30 now).  

By now the setup is repetitive – I know which bowls and platters I will use for serving which food.  I know I need to add one board to our dining room so it is large enough to hold the bowls and platters.  I baked the pies the night before.  I got up early (well, for us) on Thanksgiving and took the turkey out of the refrigerator and turned on the oven to preheat.  Back to sleep for an hour and then down again to put the turkey in the oven and then back to bed again.  Everything was going according to plan – as it always does.  Each item being cooked at the time it needed to be – or so I thought.  

The turkey had come out and cooled off.  We were almost ready to eat.  Husband asked me where the mashed potatoes were – uh oh!  Normally I make mashed potatoes from scratch and use boxed stuffing mix.  This year as we are avoiding buying fresh produce due to the corona virus and not wanting to get items which were unwrapped when purchased and had been touched by others we had decided to go with instant mashed potatoes.  Well, at least they and the boxed stuffing were quick to make when we realized I had not made them – and while we were waiting for the water for each to boil – husband noticed that we had not heated up the (canned) gravy.  Yes, there is a reason I was so disorganized this year – actually 2 reasons – I had not bothered to periodically check my list of what I was making.  (I keep the list each year for each holiday dinner I make in a spiral notebook – I filled it front to back and am now using it back to front – the list was there, I just did not look.) The other reason – while this year husband is bored from staying in so that we don't get Covid-19 and decided to help. In telling him what I needed him to do, I lost track of what I was doing.  

Of course it was a great meal anyway.  So far we have leftovers for dinner 3 times and he had a turkey sandwich once.  2 people, one turkey is a lot of leftovers including turkey broth made with the carcass late Thanksgiving dinner.  

Every item used was washed that night & air dried in 3 groupings, some help with drying on the first 2 groupings.  The dining room was back to its prior state by the next day.  The good china, etc, was put away by then also.  

I have spent the week since clearing up what was around in the dining room before we started – reenacting items not stored in their box benches, stuff from my family house sitting on extra chairs as we did not know where to put it.  Small amount of stuff to go back out to our RV as we brought them to use them in the house in the past year.  Excess pans and racks which had been removed from the oven over the past year.  Dented food cans that husband still not will get rid of and we want to keep away from the ones in the studio that are okay to use are in a line under one of the box benches in the dining room.  3 large boxes of food still in dining room – I will try to move them to the studio, but need to move things from the living room there first or we will not be able to put the tree and other decorations in the living room.  If worse comes to worse, the food boxes can stay in the dining room (perhaps a table cloth over them?)  Yes, the dining room is back in better organization than it was before the holiday so that I can decorate it for Christmas.  

Next I start on the living room.  Husband has until the middle of December to use it as his “loom room” for his weaving (our agreement is he gets it from mid January to mid December as his loom room and I get the other month for Christmas decorating), but I can get started moving out his inventory and the large DVD chest (latter stores in the dining room for the holiday against the side wall and he made it on wheels so it is relatively easy to move) in the interim.  Since last year we did not get around to decorating in the house – I know if we don't this year, we may never do so again.  

Outdoor lights went up the day after Thanksgiving.  We found ourselves short 4 strands of lights  - they had expired last year or in the interim – one set only half the bulbs lit.  We did not want to the store (as we go out rarely these months for health safety) so decided to work with what we had.  Our the trees on each end each have only 2 strands not 3, the bush next to one tree has only the lights from that tree traveling over its top on its way to the electric outlet.  On the other end – we normally wrap red lights (with white wires) around the white post of our mail box – this year instead those lights are on the bush in front of the mail box.  On the other side of the front steps (back towards that first tree) are the remaining set of lights.  Not bad considering.  Our door wreath lights with batteries and is up on its magnetic hook (left from last year) and is lit up.  The battery candle lights are in the front windows on their timers.  

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

This year we need the holidays – whichever holiday or holidays one celebrates this time of year – more than ever to try to spark some joy (and a bit of almost normalcy) in our lives.  If one can not put up/set up everything one normally does, we must do our best with what we can setup.  It is a year like no other in the memory of most of us.  We must try to do what we can to make our holidays as normal as we can while staying distant and safe so we will be here for next year's holidays and celebrations.  

NOTE -

When I went to publish this post – I found  I had written a post last week – but since it duplicates part of this weeks post – I have deleted it. 

CHRISTMAS AND OTHER HOLIDAYS - AND GETTING READY

Another week gone already?

Are you ready for Christmas or Chanukah or Winter Solstice or Kwanzaa or whatever holiday)s) you celebrate?

Me, I have not packed away Thanksgiving yet.  Well, the dishes, pots, silverware etc were put away, but my decorations are still out.  I don't put out as many for Thanksgiving as I do for Christmas (maybe 1/20th as much as for Christmas or less), but I have the decorations from when we used to have the families here for Thanksgiving dinner and I still put them out – I need to. 

I have to get them packed away and get the indoor Christmas decorations put out – at least most of them.  I generally don't get to my bear village until Christmas Eve or even Christmas night so they “know” they will be put out late.

We still have a lot of stuff in the house that has to go back into our RV from when we cleared it out in October to take it in for the extended service time.  The larger pieces – the bed assembly and such – are back in it.  I have several fabric shopping bags with stuff from it, including the plastic containers that we use for food (snacks) storage when we travel.  It has been bad weather most days around here the last week or so since I realized I had to get all that out to the RV.  Oh, and the vacuum cleaner – we keep a hand held – plug in vacuum in the RV in case we make a mess and need to clean it up.  (Lots of vents in the RV for air to move in and out so animals can smell food in it – hence the plastic containers and concern requiring a vacuum cleaner.)  It is on my dining room table – not a good place for it to be.

We  (and by we, I meant I) also have to store reenacting stuff in the box benches in the dining room that we store it in.  We had the last event of the year that we needed our stuff for last Saturday – more on that later, if I remember – the only remaining events are the 6 days – this coming weekend and next – that we will be doing the candlelight night event at the local restoration village and we need little for that other than our period clothing. 

Husband has to move his weaving stuff to our studio – won't be able to get to my side of same after he does, but the “loom room” will again be the living room when he does. 

After all that I can start putting up the decorations and the trees. 

We have been busy the last week since I spoke to all of you.  I went to Manhattan to a client on Thursday, which took most of the day especially the travel back and forth.  When I got home husband was waiting to pack our van for the reenactment event that was coming up on (now last) Saturday. 

It was at a historic home that one of our members works at and was a colonial crafts event that we were allowed (encouraged) to sell our work at.  The local community had their tree lighting and other events that day so crowds were expected in the community.  Husband had been weaving scarves to sell.  It was to rain on Friday – and maybe Saturday – so when I arrived home on Thursday husband suggested that we pack the van while it was not raining, though dark.  He was concerned about the tables and racks getting wet on Saturday if it was still raining, so we put everything in very large plastic bags – some items needed two bags – one on each end, overlapping, to cover them.  He had put two tables in the back of the van before I came home.  We needed to put most of what we were bringing in the main section of the van (where we have a back seat and the middle seat is out & permanently in our storage shed to make an open space).  It was a cold night and damp in advance of the rain.  He went to slide the side door open and it did not budge.  He tried again – and again.  He then went in the front door and climbed through to the main section and went to open the door – which is pushing instead of pulling it open from outside as we thought that somehow it had frozen closed and needed to be forced open. 

Ha ha!  He get the door open and the overhead rubber gasket that keeps water from going into the van fell down – on me.  It would not fit back into place.  I called our mechanic – if I have not mentioned it is a local shop and 4 blocks from our house – it was almost 5:30 and I thought they closed at same.  His newest mechanic answered (there are 3 including the owner) and he knows us by name from all of our crazy car problems.  I explained and he told me we should bring it over – if we left it sitting it would flood in the coming rain, at the very least they would have it indoors and fix it the next day.  We drove over hoping the side door would not roll open – it did not.  He got the gasket back in place and we were set again.  We went home and loaded the van.  Friday we ran normal errands and picked up deli turkey to make sandwiches for the next day. 

Saturday it was misty more than raining and we were able to get everything inside to set up dry.  We had a nice room in the museum – the exhibition was on 19th century needlework so it went well with his weaving and my embroidery demonstration.  We fit in the room perfectly.  The event had people there most of the day – estimate is 75-100 people and since it was raining on and off and nasty the rest of the day, that was pretty good. 

Still no chance to pack away Thanksgiving decorations and start on Christmas though.  Each day has had new things to waste the day.  I did manage to fit in taking most of the smaller exams I need to take to prepare income taxes next year for pay.  They are online classes from an approved company and I use them every year.  Two more small classes and tests and then the large 3 hour timed test – 6 hours of class time to do.  That last one is always the one that scares me.  I know that someway I will fit them in  before the end of the month as I always do.

I hope to get the stuff out to the RV and pack away the Thanksgiving – at least the downstairs stuff, if not the Teddy Village Thanksgiving stuff tomorrow and hopefully start with the dining room decorations.  I need to push a large linen style looking chest from the living room to the dining room before I start the dining room.  It holds a small sized tree in the dining room and the large tree in the living room goes where the chest is the rest of the year.  (It looks like a linen or hope chest, but instead of the top lifting the front drops down and there are drawers in it for DVDs – husband made it.)

The front hall and the living have decorations also and then the 3 downstairs trees – big one in the living room, small ones in the dining room and studio and beaded one that I made in the living room also – on the coffee table.  I was going to change the bear figurines (separate from the teddy village) that are in a corner shelf unit in the living room – but his big loom is in front of the corner unit. 

I did put up the wire hanging piece we bought a few years ago to hold Christmas/holiday cards.  It is a long piece with little wire spots to clip papers – in this the cards – to and I hang it from our mug rack near the ceiling in the kitchen with red ribbons.  I had figured a better way to hang it last year when I took it down and clipped a note into one of the wire spots to remind me – good idea it worked perfectly and I clipped the note back in for next year.

We did finish our shopping – we bought books for his two nieces – the only gifts we buy.  I send my adult niblings (that is actually a work – I made it up and then found it already existed – it means nieces and nephews combined) checks for gifts.  He has bought some DVDs and such – which he would have bought anyway – and given it to me to wrap for Christmas – I actually stick them in recycled Christmas gift bags – why waste paper.  At some point we have to figure out what we are going to do for Christmas Eve dinner – maybe the Asian buffet we go to will be open?  We are also figuring we will go there for dinner tomorrow as we won't be able to eat out this or next weekend due to the reenactment, so it will break the meals at home up a bit. 

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Whatever holiday you celebrate – take time to enjoy it.  In the future it will generally be the good times that are remembered – if the problems and misadventures are remembered they will become humorous in retrospect - “Hey remember the year that Susan and Carl got into the box of chocolates when they were little and took a bite out of each and then put them back?”   “Remember the year we forgot to bring Ellen's gift and we all had to get together again the next week for her to get it?”  Trust me, these things are terrible in the moment, but hilarious in the future.

It is the memories of the time together - even if you are just two like us  - that matter in the end.  If the decorations are not finished – they will be by new year's.  If you will be alone try to find someplace where there are other people, I know that there are community holiday dinners even around here  - where no one would think that they exist.

Oh, and as I learned at home growing up – there is always a room to throw all the stuff I you can't figure out what to do with in so the house will look nice for any family or friends who come by.  :-)

THE REFRIGERATOR SAGA CONTINES -

Well,, they delivered the new refrigerator on Friday. We had to set up the inside of the fridge “we don’t do that”.  I asked to have it leveled as it was to the eye extremely out of level.  When I put a small jar in it, it rolled quickly to the back of the fridge.  “It cannot be leveled.  The only way to do so is to remove the feet and then it will be sitting only on it’s wheels and when you try to open the door, it will roll instead of opening.  Husband leveled it after the crew left.    I telephoned the store shortly after the delivery crew left - we had found 3 big black lines on the front of it - not the door, the fridge itself.  The delivery manager was not there - apparently he left for the day before 3 pm - and I was told that he would telephone me back - “first thing in the morning”. 

During the evening and overnight we were checking the temperature in the fridge with a remote read thermometer.  It would suddenly jump to 45 degrees Farenheit, then drop to 32 (freezing) in the fridge.  There seemed to be no way to adjust this huge variance in temperature to below what husband’s insulin can be stored at and to over the maximum temperature food can safely be stored at. 

I waited until 9:30 am the next day and then called the manager as he had not called me.  He did not seem to know anything about my call.  He apologized as I explained the original problem, our dissatisfaction with the delivery, and that the temperature varied so greatly - continually.  Husband had checked and this - and most - refrigerators are suppose to have a temperature range of 34 to 44 degrees F.  He also told me that the delivery crew is only suppose to bring in the fridge, put on the doors, plug it in, turn it on - and level it.  Anything else we had to do.  Nice of them to tell us this when we bought it - if my 90 year old mom had it delivered she would not be able to deal with setting up the inside and would not be able to use the fridge until one of us came over and set it up for her - I am sure many other people would have similar problems.  I told him that they refused to level it - and the story about how it could not be leveled.  As to the problems with the refrigerator itself, he would exchange it, but they were out of that model.  I asked why they could not get one from one of the local locations of their store (a major national chain) - “it doesn’t work like that” was his reply.  I could have another one of this model delivered in a week - a week?!  He checked with his appliance manager and she had the other two models (from other companies) in stock and we could get one of those delivered.  Since neither of them had been acceptable - which is how we picked this one - we had to go in and remind ourselves of what we found to be problematic with the others.  We dressed and went in to the store.  After looking at the other 2 models again - neither would work (including that one of them was too tall).  So, we have to deal with this one for a week. We left the RV plugged in and its refrigerator running.  Coincidentally, we were going away this week, so we were only home until Tuesday morning, making dealing with this fridge a little easier.   

Monday night we emptied the RV fridge and unplugged the RV.  Biggest problem was husband’s insulin.  He gets them in what are called pens - they look like big pens.  He puts a new needle on the pen each time he uses it.  The insulin pens cannot go below 36 or above 46 in temperature when they have not yet been used.  Once they are used they do not go back in the fridge and can go to a higher temperature.  They can be at the higher temperature for 42 days maximum.  I figured that 2 pens left in the box plus the one already in use would be used in less than 39 days - so the pens are out of the fridge.  We then packed the RV with everything needed for the trip.


Tuesday we added the last items, turned on the RV battery and started the RV fridge.  Problem was that the light that shows that there is enough electricity in the battery showed that there was not enough.  After debate about canceling the trip - and we would be out the amount paid for the RV park site - I suggested that we go ahead going on the trip.  It was Tuesday and we were going to a farmer’s market during the day and we had planned to go a local major crafts festival that we go to annually on Wednesday. I pointed out to him that we could drive down, stay overnight and if the batteries were still not charging, come home on Wednesday and we would have gone to 2 places we were looking forward.  With the RV battery off we started on our trip.  When we were in NJ we stopped at the first rest area and checked that the batteries were being charged.  They were. 
                                           
Why did we have this problem?  First, the batteries are beyond the normal life - they need to be replaced  - between buying them and having them installed it will cost over $1000 and we keep putting it off.  Second - apparently running the RV’s electrical system on our home electric system at 20 amps does not have enough “juice” to recharge the batteries and to also run the RV fridge. 

We kept the fridge off until after we plugged in to the electricity (30 amp) at the RV park at night - warm soda.  Today when we out we again shut off the fridge to let it keep charging.  On our return tonight we again turned it on after plugging in.  Since tomorrow we will be in and driving around, we will live the fridge on and probably do so again on Friday when we go to a different farmer’s market and then drive home.

Yes, we will get home extremely late Friday night - really extremely early Saturday am - and then have the new fridge for the house delivered on Saturday - with the possibility of a very early am delivery.

So, early last week we were getting up, going down, and checking the temperature in the RV overnight after going to bed.  Wednesday night I had 3 hours sleep as I woke up early for work.  Thursday night we kept waking up in anticipation of the delivery coming.  Friday night I was up all night checking the temperature of the fridge - I slept an hour and a half in 3 separate half hour naps.  I was up early in the morning waiting for the call from the delivery manager and then making the call to him instead. Saturday night we continued to wake up all night to check the temperature in the fridge.  Sunday night I went to bed and had trouble falling asleep.  Monday night we went to bed after finishing packing and the woke up 3 hours after I fell asleep to go on the trip.  Today, Wednesday, we woke early to go to the crafts festival - so 4 hours sleep for me.  Friday we have to again wake early (for us) as we have to dump the dirty water tanks and be out of the site we are in by 11 am.  Then, anticipating the delivery on Saturday I probably won’t sleep - plus we have to unload at least part of the stuff from the RV when we get home, and possibly need to wake up as early 7 am for the new delivery.  This all works out to about 2 full nights of sleep over the week and a half that this is going on.  I hope husband plans to sleep in a bit tomorrow.

In addition our house is in a state of disarray. In order to clear room for the refrigerator to be brought in and placed in placed, we had to move things in our front hall (into the living room) the dining room, and the kitchen.  Part of this went into our studio behind the kitchen.  I have not been able to find even a pen and paper at times as nothing is where it belongs.         

Oh, and I tripped and turned my foot on my way home from work last Thursday - luckily that was the only injury from the fall and the foot felt better the next day.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

Some matters take much more time to resolve due to the problems that arise in dealing with it - and with life.   If needed a quick cry - and then hopefully a hug from one’s significant other - then same cries and you hug them.  That is life. 

Hopefully the new refrigerator will work properly.

For those in the US  - Happy 4th of July.THE REFIR

NO VACATION

In this part of the U.S. this week is the winter school vacation.  This dates back to the 1970s when there was an energy shortage and closing the schools this week saved a week of expensive heating of the schools.  For those of you not in the U.S. the third Monday in February is an annual Monday holiday related to George Washington’s (our first President back in the 1780s) birthday which is February 22.  It is still officially called “George Washington’s Birthday”, but since the purpose of it is to celebrate all of our Presidents, it is commonly called “President’s Day”.  So, around here the 3 day weekend resulting from this Monday holiday was extended to a week of no school.

While many to most people are off from work on Monday, only those working at schools have the week off.  The only connection that others have with the week off is what to do with their children while the children are off from school and they are working.  Husband worked at an agency for children with mental health problems which followed a school year as it was also a school program for the children so he is used to this week being a vacation week.  While he was still working and I was working full time for myself (back when we still stayed at hotels when traveling) we would go away this week to Lancaster, PA.  It would be nice and quiet as was/is not a school vacation in Pennsylvania and in many other adjacent states so not many people were traveling mid week.

Husband had planned to go there for the day this coming Friday - but it is suppose to rain, so he moved it back to Tuesday (yesterday) which was suppose to be and was nice.  At the last minute he changed his mind and we did not go.

Okay you are thinking - What does this have to do with organizing?

Well, a lot actually.  If we are going away - even for a day - I have to plan around the trip to get done what regularly needs to be done in the house plus have everything ready for the trip.  Even a day trip seems to take a bit of packing these days.  I bring my work laptop, which has to be charged.  I bring a small case with a spare wallet, just in case we were robbed while traveling or one of us lost their wallet and the credit cards had to be canceled.  There is a credit card for me that he does have and a credit card for him that I do not have, there is extra cash, and there are assorted store cards and such which are for stores out of the area.  We used to carry Travelers checks in also, but found out that no one takes them any longer so we (with much trouble) cashed them in a couple of years ago.  I bring a spare set of one day’s medications - just in case.  I might also have some craft business related papers so if we buy materials (fabric, wood, yarn) that will go into something we are making for sale, we will not have to pay sales tax - different forms for different states.  If we are looking for something specific to buy while away we might bring something to match it to for size, color, etc. Depending on the weather we might bring warmer - or cooler coats/sweaters than we plan to wear - maybe even a rain coat when it is warmer weather if rain is possible.  We also might bring a spare pair of shoes each - again depending on the weather.  So much for the carefree easy travel of our younger years.

This year we have been traveling on these one day trips to Lancaster in our RV.  Not that we plan to stay, but the RV is not driven enough - especially off RV season (late fall to early spring) and the engine needs the exercise.  Last year we did not so this and we went to have our annual state inspection for the RV, it had not been driven enough for the tests to work, so we had to drive it locally for a few hours just to put enough mileage on it.  Waste of time, waste of gas and we had to work it out so we went and came back between rush hours.  So we take the RV when we go to Lancaster for day trips - well, this would have been the second time we did so.  The other advantage to taking the RV is that the refrigerator can be turned on in it when we leave in the morning and will be cold by the time we are there.  A can of soda for lunch will still be cold (especially if it is cold outside) when we have it and we can buy food items we like that are local to Lancaster and not available at home that need to be refrigerated and bring them home safely.  (Last year when we went with the car husband bought chicken salad - he likes the type they make there and not what they make here) without the fridge and it got too hot in the cold bag in the back of the car, even with ice blocks in it and it had to be tossed.

So Monday I pointed out that if we were going away on Tuesday, we should get extra cash at the bank and did so.  When we came home I packed what papers and such we would bring with us and had the laptop ready to charge.  I then paid bills which were due out today so they would be ready to go out today even though we would not have been home yesterday. 

Then Monday night - after not doing things I planned to do Monday so we could go away, he decided we were not going.  It was a question I asked - “Do we need to take the stuff we stored in the RV out of it?”  There is all sorts of stuff for the RV that we keep in the house when traveling (in the dining room) and then put in it for the off season so we have a nice dining room for the holidays.  He thought about it and the fact it was raining and decided not to go. 

So I got a day to work at home that I had not planned on. 

I managed to finish filling the corporation tax forms for a client - due March 15.  I still have to proofread it (and check the numbers and math) and print it all out, but the hard part is done. 

I have been working on storing the Christmas stuff.  I took the ornaments off the dining room tree and took the tree apart to store.  It goes in a cardboard octagonal box (opens down the length of the box) which then “slides” into a carry bag (opens on one end).  It has never been easy to get it into the box  - much squeezing and many hand scratches and packing tape to hold the box together and then hard to get the box into the bag.  This year the entire setup exploded - okay, part was my fault.  I thought there were 3 sections to the tree (in height) and there are four.  I was so confused that the tree section was longer than the box that the box got ripped apart on one end from my attempts.  Even after I figured it out and took the 2 sections apart - the box was far gone.  I then tried to tie each of the tree sections together so the branches would be compacted into place for storage - did not work either.  I finally sort of got the box together - much packing tape - and still it only fit partway into the bag as the box was not as compact as it should be.  I gave up - the entire thing was put downstairs on the box the main tree is stored in, as is. 

I packed up the large figures we have in the living room.  Someone husband worked with would give him these figures as a Christmas gift.  Somehow they grew on us and we kept them even though we would not have bought them - well...  It started with a Santa who is about 3 or 4 feet tall.  He was joined by a wooden elf a bit shorter.  Then a Santa who is a bear with toys and a bird in a cage.  I had made separately and unrelated an elf who is making a doll - he joined the others instead of sitting standoffishly across the room.  We found a small plastic Santa from when husband was a boy.  I liked a girl elf figure that finally came down cheaper enough (well below 50% off) who joined them.  Add 2 angel bears and it is a friendly group.  It goes where a chair is moved to the dining room during Christmas to get it out of the way.  They are also stored on top of the box for the main Christmas tree - in large plastic bags.

Then I took the small figures - mostly bears (oh, the angels above join them in storage) and stored them in their box in the basement.  Our Christmas stockings (embroidered and commercial) and some other “soft” decorations I have made store in the box with them.

Three fancy gift boxes I use for storage have been packed with the items stored in them each year and are upstairs for storage when the Teddy Village comes down (they go in the trunk the village is on).

While doing the laundry now, I brought up the last 2 boxes to store Christmas decorations in - except the bear village.  I will pack these two over the next couple of days.

So, we missed out on a day trip, but I have made good use of the day we were home instead - and kept working until it was done . 

To feel a bit like we had a trip we went out to dinner tonight to a fancier (more expensive) Asian buffet tonight.  The really nice one is much more than we felt like spending this year (technically this is our Christmas dinner out) so we went to one in between.  Very nice and much better than the ones we go to normally.  It made him happy and it that is worth it.

THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK -

1 - Even short day trips work better with a bit of planning.

2 - When one gets an unexpected day to get work done - get as much done as possible.

DOES TIME EXPAND TO FIT THE WORK TO BE DONE - OR IS IT THE OTHER WAY AROUND?

Well my client was not there when I telephoned her last week.  I will be going to her on Thursday.   Due to not going to her and a few other bills that popped up I started to go into a panic about paying our bills on time.  We pay every bill, every month in full - no payouts, with two much discussed before we did them, exceptions, in the almost 40 years we have been married and we each did so before.  This was a timing error - bills were due out and the money was coming in too late to pay them.  So we had to raid my tiny IRA for $1000 to carry us through.  We will need to make a regular scheduled  withdrawal from husband’s IRA next month to pay our quarterly real estate taxes and our semi-annual car insurance payment in February.

I packed up the rest of the ornaments from the main and studio trees over the weekend.  Monday night I took the lights off the tree - except the top section which the lights stay in place on.  My right elbow started hurting last week (maybe even the week before at this point) especially when lifting my arm or lifting something heavy with my arm and it has been hard to do all of this.  Our main tree is artificial (well, all of them are) and had to be disassembled and the sections are too heavy for me to lift with this arm, so last night husband took it apart and stacked the pieces in the dining room where I told him to put them.  This way he can warp his loom and start working on it again and the pieces of tree can “drift” downstairs as I can deal with them - he would get ill bending over to put them into the tree box.  The studio tree is not in the way and will also find its way downstairs and after the these trees are down I will be able to take apart the one in the dining room- currently blocked by the pieces from the main tree. Since we don’t really get Christmas gifts there is nothing of same to put away - just one empty box that I will ask husband about tossing.  I did move the “Christmas boxes” we use for storage out of the way - these are Christmas decorated gift or storage boxes that I store Christmas decorations in during the year and then put them - empty - under the tree so it looks pretty and like there are gifts under the tree.  So today we warped his loom - without the tree there is enough room to do so.  But he is still surrounded by Santas, angels, Christmas and Chanukah bears.

I finally had a chance to write a cover letter and get out the renewal reminders for our reenactment unit - I serve as the membership chair in addition to being the treasurer as it is easier than passing the info back and forth to someone else about renewals.  I had been delayed due to an error on our national group’s website.  Something interesting - when I went on their website with my computer and clicked on this year’s membership form I got instead a form for people to form and sign up a new unit.  When I contacted the person in charge she said that when she clicked on it she got the membership form.  Hmmm?  Turns out if one went on the site with a computer one got the unit form, but if one went on the site with a tablet or phone one got the correct the form.  It has been corrected thank to my asking about it - it also delayed sending out the renewals a week waiting for this.  We put together the mailing t - folded cover letter and forms, put in envelopes, put on stamps and address and return address labels.  Out in the mail today.  The renewal reminders and forms went out in today’s mail.

I have out a stack of books to write a talk that I am scheduled to give at my embroidery chapter on our meeting next month - 2 weeks from today - on the history of samplers.  I keep trying to get started writing it.  I know the basics of what I plan to say and the order, but I have to get it all together and have an outline to follow - I would hate to suddenly forget a word in the middle of the talk and I don’t want to start to wander off point!  Husband will print out photos for me that he has taken at exhibitions we have gone to - plus I may pull some off the Internet or out of the books I have.  Somehow I know it will be done as I want to do it.  I don’t feel that I can teach stitches or techniques at meetings as others have done, but I am real good at talking.  (Can you tell that from my posts?)  I sent out an email today to the chapter board asking if anyone had anything for me to include in the newsletter - which will go out next Wednesday (meeting is the week after).

I put my older software DVDs/CDs that I still need to keep in 2 new boxes as the old ones did not hold much and kept falling apart.  The old ones will be donated next month - along with a bag of unworn pantyhose - I wore one and it was awful, so I tossed that one and the rest of the huge bag (from an outlet) will be donated.  I have a glass bowl that did not make it in December when I went to Goodwill that will join them.  Looking around for what else can be donated.

And now tomorrow I will spend driving to Queens, taking the subway to Manhattan, working for about 3 hours, and then take the subway back to Queens and drive home.  I will spend between 4 and 5 hours in transit for the 3 hour visit.  Hopefully our mechanic found the problem last month and the drive home will be comfortable.  I have already put burgers in the refrigerator to defrost for dinner tomorrow night when I get home.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

We can get more done when we have to than we do when we don’t have to. 

It seems odd to me that I normally have trouble getting through what I need to in a week, but then those weeks come when I have to do a LOT more - Christmas decorating or decoration storage, writing a talk to give at a meeting, catching up on laundry when I fall behind, tax season, and other assorted extra or emergency jobs.  Somehow it all always seems to get done.

IT WOULD BE ENOUGH

I managed to get the dining room decorations finished over the weekend.  I also decluttered it a bit - and hid what has to stay a bit better.  The small Christmas tree I put up in there is up and decorated with the brass ornaments we get with our membership in Colonial Williamsburg.  A silverplated tea caddy ornament (we bought the full size caddy on sale one year and the ornament came with it) hangs at the top of the tree instead of an angel or star. 

Sounds simple right?  To get ready to set up the tree I had to store away husband’s DVDs which have accumulated since last Christmas.  The new ones sat on the chest he made to store his DVDs because - yes - it filled a few years ago.  We have a secretary (piece of furniture- drawers with fold down front for desk and shelves above it - green curtain inside hides the shelves and what is on them).  It was bought to be used as a bar and to hold table linens in the drawer.  The shelves held assorted bar and my good glasses.  I have been clearing it out as I can to make room for - yes - more DVDs.  Most of the bottom of the 3 shelves is DVD storage - I donated unneeded, unused glassware in the kitchen last year and moved most of my good glasses to where they had been to make the room for these DVDs.  I just donated a set of small wine glasses we never used earlier this month.  I want to get rid of most if not all of the bar ware as it was rarely used when we had people in and that will give him more room.  But, back to the chest now.  I ended up with DVDs that there was no room for and set them aside.  The chest when it was built by my husband was put on wheels just for this - I pushed it from the living room to the dining room.  Other than having to jump a molding between the living room and front hall, it is easy to push.  It goes against the far wall in the dining room.  The table is moved to the center of the room for this - it is normally pushed against the same far wall.  This gives room in the living room for the big tree (where the chest was) and a place to put the dining room tree.  I put the leftover, homeless DVDs behind the tree and then found a nice throw we received from CW some years ago, folded it in half lengthwise and wrapped the bottom of the tree - and the DVDs behind it - it looks like a nice tree skirt and the DVDs are hidden.

Sunday I also started bringing up the parts of the big tree and stuck them together - and the small tree that goes in our studio.  The studio tree gets ornaments we have made - but some also go on the big tree and all are stored together, so they get decorated together.  I figured - okay, we are close on time, but not too bad to get done before Christmas.  I had planned on Monday night to spread out the branches and make the big tree look nice and add the lights - along with our traditional first 3 items - the angel topper and two angels all stitched by me or my husband. 

Then we got an order on our Etsy account.  We don’t get a lot of orders and they are mostly of the smallest of the items we sell.  This was for a medium priced item and I had to do the paperwork before I started working on the tree - okay, I figured, half an hour.  Yeah, right.  Paypal changed their website and we got so confused trying to buy postage and print the label that we ended up doing it twice and had to cancel one of them.  So the entire evening was gone and no work on the tree.

Tuesday we went to the eye doctor.  He is in the next county so we go to together.  We can’t come home right away as neither of can see enough to drive that much so we go to stores near him.  (Good eye report, thank goodness.)  We ended up having dinner out at Ikea on the way home.  I did get the tree arranged and the lights and first three items on it at night.
Tonight I took the exam I had to take and now the exams are done with until the middle of next year.  But by the time I was done, and taking into consideration doing the laundry and writing to all of you - no time for the tree tonight.  Oh, well, at least gift shopping is over - we are done with his nieces and I will mail checks to my niece and nephew. 

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

One can only do what one can do.  For the Passover holiday in the spring there is a song which translates to “it would have been enough” - it talks about things that God did to help the Jews leave Egypt and after each item is mentioned the refrain is “it would have been enough”.

If the tree is finished at the last minute it will done then.  If it is not finished then however it is, it is finished (and I can always add on after the holiday).  My teddy village will be done when it is done.  It is often not worked on until Christmas Eve or Day or later (I guess that is why it stays up so long). 

My point being that whatever is done when the holiday come is enough.  If stuff is shoved into a bag and stuffed behind a bench - that is good enough if that is all there is time for.  A few years ago for two years we had one little tree with only a limited decorations - and that was enough.

I take the time now to wish all who celebrate, a Pleasant Christmas (merry sounds too demanding). 

TOO MUCH TO DO AT ONCE

Well Christmas is closer than I thought - and so is Chanukah (which is already here).  But only a small part of my efforts have gone towards the indoor decorating.

Last Friday we took a day trip to, yes, Lancaster, PA.  For once the trip went well.  Even though it was a day trip we went in our tiny RV.  Why?  Well, after my problems with our car last month (stalling when I stopped and having to be restarted and our service guys found nothing), the RV not getting enough driving due to our few trips this year, and the fact we wanted to buy some local foods from there for the winter - we decided to take the RV.  We left early (for us) and we were there by noon. 

Husband had wanted some additional attachments for his loom and the wool store he buys loom things at is there - he called ahead and the stuff was waiting.  The ladies there are very nice and chatty - as are we normally - but we made our apologies and explained that we were on a very tight schedule and paid for the items and left. 

We actually went backwards a bit and went to one of the large farmer’s markets there that we like to go to.  It was rather cold and we would have had a problem eating the submarine sandwiches we buy from a local place as the seating is outside - but we had the RV!  We went back, turned one front seat around, pulled the table out - took out the cold can of soda we had brought in the fridge and had lunch.  When finished, we turned the seat back to the front, put away the tables and took the garbage to toss in a bin.  Most of the day vendors - the ones who come and set up tents and tables by their vehicles - were not there due to the weather, but there are still buildings and buildings - and outdoor stands - of vendors.  We always enjoy just walking around and we have been going there together for over 40 years together so it feels like home - some vendors even know us by sight and they feel like friends - of course in all that time a lot of them have retired or passed away and we miss them when we pass by their spaces - of occupied by new vendors.  One vendor (not sure if I have mentioned this) is consolidating her stores from the 3 large markets in the area and the one she has at home - two of the stores are now closed.  She had been selling out her very discounted items at 50% and this year went down to 60% off.  I always think that I have bought everything she might have had that we would want - and find something different (I won’t say new as nothing is new - not used, just there a long time.)  I have added greatly to my Christmas bear village and my bear collection in general since she started consolidating. 

When we went to leave the market it was 4:30. We had hope to get to the local butcher whose ham and (lunch/dinner) sausages we love - and husband loves their chicken salad - but we thought it too late to get there while they were open.  I pulled out my cellphone and found out they were open until 7 pm - and we knew they were on the way to where we planned to eat dinner.  We bought a ham section, sausages, and chicken salad for him to have for dinner one night.  We would have bought another ham section - but a tiny RV has a tiny fridge and it would not fit with the rest.  

On to dinner at a local supermarket which has a buffet in an restaurant in the building (and nice looking other dishes on their menu also) and had dinner.  We even got a seat in our favorite area of the restaurant.  (Although to be fair, it was the waitress who was in this section that made it our favorite and she had a baby last year and is mostly not there when we go.)  After dinner we started home.

Now, on and off the report was that it was suppose to snow or rain when we would be coming home.  It then changed to snow the next day.  Just in case the first report was right, we brought a day’s worth of medications and a change of clothes - we could have stayed if needed, but the weather held.  As we left the restaurant husband turned to me with a smile and said “We got it all done.  How great!”

Tuesday I went to my accounting client to do her books.  Wednesday (today) is the 13th and she has a major fear of 13 and will not let me come on the 13th (I don’t even call on the 13th for an appointment) and Thursday we are suppose to have snow.  A bit of confusion while I was there - but in the end everything worked out - finally - thank goodness.  All the past problems are resolved.  Coming home - the darn car had the same problem as last month.  This time they were able to find some “codes” which were not right and they replacing solenoids which hopefully will fix it.  Having dealt with this last month, I did my best not to stop - just roll slowly when a stop was coming if I had room - and tried to pick roads that I would have the least problem with constant stops (during rush hour) for one of the last parts I took a local street as I knew that it was not heavily traveled - drivers were much nastier this time than last - much horn beeping at me - last month none. 

I think I have mentioned that I have to take 20 hours of classes to keep being able to prepare tax returns and represent clients at IRS each year.  I signed up (again) with an online company one course at a time (varying from 1 to 4 hours) I have completed all but the big 6 hour course which has a 3 hour, timed, exam.  Tonight was when I finished the last of the smaller courses.  I have next Wednesday night marked on my calendar to take the big exam.  I have until the end of the month to take it - and I get 3 chances, I am hoping to only need 1 chance to pass it.

I was so busy with everything that I almost forgot Chanukah (remember, despite the Christmas decorating I am Jewish).  Good thing I had a reminder in my cell phone and Tuesday night I pulled out my menorah (traditional candelabra) and stuck in a candle for the first night and a candle for the “worker candle” (one is suppose to light this candle and use it to light the other candles) for the first night.  Tonight I lit 2 candles plus the worker candle. 

I did more work on the few decorations in the dining room.  Tonight before sitting down to write (while taking the laundry downstairs to start the first load) I pulled out assorted soft items - mostly bears - that sit around in the living room - and “Rodney Reindeer” who sits in the hall on the top of our clock/door bell mechanism.  When I go down to switch loads, more will be done in to finish the dining room decorations.  Lots more decorating to do and I have to figure out when and how to get it done - somehow I always do, even if some go up on Christmas Day!

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Take time to breathe and rest as you are getting ready for the holidays.  Don’t go over budget on shopping.  Stop and enjoy what you are doing.  (I actually talk to the decorations and ornaments when I put them out welcoming them back as old friends - ok, I know that I am a bit looney.”  Maybe send a card with a quick note in it to an old friend you keep meaning to contact. 

Look at the decorations of others and take time to enjoy them.  (Thank goodness, when they finished putting out their Christmas decorations, my neighbors actually finished taking down their holiday decorations - no more witch looking at me - I really enjoy that.)  If there is a drive or walk through light event - especially if you have children - maybe go and see it (and around here I know, help out a good cause). 

Remember those less fortunate then you at this time of year.

Missing items and items forgotten about appear when decorating and decluttering

Last week I talked about putting out our outdoor Christmas decorations.  I also had the boldness to say that because I know where the Christmas items are stored it is easy to find them.  I apparently lied without knowing it.

We had not put our battery candles in the front windows when we put up the lights outside.  While technically inside the house as they are placed inside the windows, their purpose is to be seen from outside, so I consider them to be outside decorations.  When we remembered that we had forgotten to put them in place I immediately went to my candle drawer (holds all manner of candles) where I know I keep them.  They were not there - I took everything out of the drawer to check.  I looked in the drawer next to the candle drawer to see if I stuck them there - perhaps the candle drawer was too full?  These drawers are under our living room TV which is (old and analog and) in a cabinet we bought for it and the drawers are in the cabinet.  I then looked in all the “logical” places - the drawers in the end tables next to the sofa, the secretary  - shelves and drawers - no candles. 

Where could they be - maybe in with the inside the house decorations in 2 boxes in the basement?  I got the two boxes and opened and went through them - no candles.  I figured that sooner or later they would show up in my Christmas decorating and I was not going to go crazy over them.

I decided that since the boxes had been brought up and were sitting there and I had a hour or two until we went out for dinner, I would start putting out the decorations.  The decorations are artificial greens and swags and other small items to put out.  I started on the dining room decorations as husband still has his loom set up in the living room.  I put items here and there in the dining room and front hall (the items in the same box).  I came across two candle rings (small fake flowers in a ring intended to sit around the base of stubby candles) and I had an “aha” moment and knew where the window candles were. 

In addition to the plastic boxes in the basement I have 3 decorative boxes with Christmas items upstairs in a trunk at the top of the stairs, with some other Christmas decorations - two large angels and such.  The candles for the rings are in one of the decorative boxes - and I knew that the window candles must be in one also.  I went upstairs, moved the 3 families of bears who “live” on the trunk and opened it - there were the boxes and yes, the window candles were in there.  I took them out and put the boxes and bears back for now.  I put the candles on my desk as they have timers and have to be lit at the time I want them to go on.  A couple of days later I remembered at the right time and set them up with batteries and put them in the window - at last the outside lights are finished for this year!

I have been somewhat busy since then as I had my embroidery chapter meeting today and had to get paperwork together for it.  Also, I was not doing the project the group was doing at the meeting as I thought I would be away, so I had to pick something to bring to work on at the meeting. 

I also did a bit of decluttering.  We have 2 corner cabinets in our living room - they each have display shelves in the main part of them and then 2 shelves in a closed door cabinet at the bottom for storage.  One of them has items I somewhat often use for Thanksgiving, Christmas etc.  The other has items we either have never used or have not used in decades.  In addition to wanting to get rid of them in general, I figure with the tax law changes under discussion, this might be my last chance to donate them and get a tax advantage from same.  My husband is big on keeping things - “we might need it one day” or “maybe we could sell this, keep it”.  I would never get rid of anything of his, but I have to argue to get rid things that are mine also.  So while he was busy upstairs, I went through what was in the bottom of the cabinet.  I pulled out to donate glass serving bowls, glass platters, glass cake server which also can be a punch server, several candy dishes (in unopened boxes).  I brought them all to the kitchen, listed them on a piece of paper, and stored them in large shopping bags in our studio on my side of the room - he would just figure it was bags of my stuff (or his) if he saw them.  I also had some things to go on computers (not electronic stuff - paper holder that attaches to a monitor and the like) which had been waiting to go to storage or donation for at least 15 years.  Also a decorative jar that the lid just sits on -does not screw on for storage.  6 small wine glasses with a silver dipped edge - his mom’s, we got them after she died and we had previously discussed that they could be gotten rid of.  Lastly - when we replaced our mailbox earlier this year, we put the old one aside in the garage “in case the new one did not work out”.  This past weekend he had tripped on it in the garage while putting up the Christmas lights and swore at it - it was definitely time for it to go. 

Normally I would have put all this (5 bags worth plus the mailbox) in the car Tuesday nights - along with the soda bottles to be returned for deposit - but it was raining.  The soda bottles went out earlier in the evening, but not the donations.  So this morning I loaded them into the car.  After my meeting and various errands I drove to Goodwill and donated the stuff and then went to Walmart and returned the soda bottles.  Well, a small bit more room in the house.  I am trying to figure out what should now go in the bottom of that cabinet - there are some items I kept - mostly a hand crafted coffee set someone gave us as a wedding gift - I kept it as it is from someone he knew and won’t get rid of it without permission.  There are also display items in the cabinet for the items (a set of bear figurines which I rotate by month and need to raise some up so all can be seen) in the cabinet, which I left - I did find a box of the figurines I bought in the last couple of years as they have made a reappearance at flea markets and back stored stock of a store; I knew that there were more of them than I had found!  I have to organize all the new ones so they join the right month’s group of the ones I have.  (You know - lovers in February, flowers in May, graduates in June and so on.)

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Sometimes even when one thinks all is organized one is not - and items may happily appear as one unpacks items to be put out or when one goes through items to get rid of.     

I hope that none of you are in the area of the terrible fires in southern California.

MAJOR OOPS - MANAGED TO STAY ON SCHEDULE - AND A TIME TO CONTEMPLATE

I wrote this post for last week on Tuesday night and set it up to post itself on Wednesday night when I would normally post it, as Wednesday night was a major Jewish holiday - as you will see in the post itself.  Sorry.  It is now a week later and I am about to write this week's post a night late.  My apologies.

I was going to call this post “Treading Water” but in light of the continuation of hurricanes I decided that was in bad taste.  I cannot believe that there is another hurricane, Maria, hitting in the Caribbean again.  I hope that anyone you might know there is safe and well and stays so.  I feel so bad for those in that area. 

My thoughts and prayers also go to those in Mexico who have been hit by the earthquake.  Back in 1973 I was in Mexico with a college friend.  We had spent a few days in Mexico City and then took a 2 day tour bus ride down to Acapulco, with a stop in Taxco for the night.  We had two nights in Acapulco (one day).  The first morning there we woke to the telephone ringing.  My friend’s mom was calling from home - “Are you both okay?  Is there a lot of damage there?”  Apparently there had been an earthquake then also in Mexico City - and we did not know about it.  Others on our tour who flew down to Acapulco instead of the taking the bus arrived with stories of the outside wall of the hotel they were in (and we had been in) splitting between the beds in the room they were in!  It was terrifying to have been that close to an earthquake and I feel terribly for those who are there.
                               
I have to say - not as a joke, but a statement of fact - we think we have terrible organizing, decluttering and cleaning to do - but those who are losing their “stuff”, including their homes, possibly their jobs, and worst of all family, friends or even pets, have it much worse.  When my mom’s house was hit by Hurricane Sandy, her basement filled 4 feet with sea water and all in her basement had to be tossed out.  A crew came in and did it for her - it included her washer and dryer and furnace and water heater - in addition to my dad’s tools and our toys and a lot of books that were down there.  Instant forced getting rid of stuff.  5 years later I will still be somewhere at a flea market or such and see something and remember that I had it and it is gone.  Perhaps this can be a incentive to go through what you have and get rid of what is unneeded and less precious to you, so that you have room to safely store that which is precious to you.

The hurricane that was headed here, Jose, is no longer a hurricane and is still south of us, but is to pass to the east of where we live and has been affecting here all day today.  We had rain today on and off - much heavier to the east of us as they are closer to Jose, but not terrible.  Wind has not been bad.  But there is still tonight and Jose is suppose to circle around a bit out in the ocean - which apparently is good as it will keep Maria from hitting us.

We did get to the quilt show last Saturday - barely as we were not sure about the, yes, the weather.  He really is weather phobic.  While it is a quilt show there are many different fiber/textile vendors mixed in as there are no other similar sales venues.  The first booth in the show is a woman with a farm who sells wool yarns, fiber, etc.  We spent some time there on entering as husband does do weaving.  Her wool is lovely, but beyond our budget.  We were at the show for about 4 and a half hours.  I had a small tote bag with me as husband had brought a fabric tool he bought a few years ago which had broken and the vendor is usually at this show and he hoped they could tell him how to fix it.  (“That’s the old model - if you buy a new one we will give it to you for half price.”  Same being about twice what he paid originally - he will try again to fix it himself.)  So it was not obvious that we had bought - nothing as what we bought might have been in the tote bag.  The first vendor stopped us and asked what we had bought - she was shocked to hear “nothing”.  We saw many lovely things.  The shop my husband bought his loom from (we first saw them at this show a few years ago) was there - interesting add ons for his loom.  I got an idea for a Christmas ornament to make and sell - the thread at one booth caught my eye to make it - but they did not have the variegated color as it appeared on their sample and I was not going to spend $10 to get both colors separately.  Lovely quilts were entered in their competition and also were displayed in various exhibitions of quilts.  We had a wonderful day, bought nothing as we have so much of similar stuff at home that cries out to be used, and had a chance to see wonderful quilts (oh, and in one exhibition - clothing, accessories and house items - all handmade by people who had entered them into a competition).  Dinner in the Lancaster are and home. 

Despite the impending possible hurricane, we went this morning to the dentist.  I have new (and more) teeth.  Despite having worn an upper partial for decades, this one is much larger as it replaces more teeth which have “left me”.  I am having trouble adjusting - I keep needing to swallow to avoid gagging.  Oddly I am biting the inside of my mouth with one of my real teeth which is in the same place it has always been.  On the other side of my mouth I have two teeth hitting - but, again, the problem seems to be one of my teeth not the plate.  Next Monday we will start on making a spare - using part of my old one.  He wanted me to have my old one just in case.  I know I will adjust - when I got my first one it took a week before I could talk or eat.  Of course between an upper partial and a repair for him and ditto for me, the budget will not adjust for some time.

We came home and then went to the doctor.  All was well.  He is as nice as his dad was - husband gets upset easily and now feels much better about going to this doctor.  And we had a great health report for all of our various “conditions”.  (And all covered by our medical insurance - his and mine.) 

I am writing this a day early as tomorrow night - Wednesday - when I normally write and post is the start of one of the major Jewish holidays of the year and traditionally one does not and I choose to not do secular things - work or such on these holidays.  I set the holiday apart by watching no television other than religious services.  I pick out a book that is contemplative and read it - in the living room - in my chair - alone - with no other distractions.  Yes, I pray. 

I have our Friday afternoon banking and all the bills due this week ready to go tomorrow before the holiday starts.  I have tomorrow night’s laundry being washed and dried as I write.  So that none of these will need to be done during the holiday.

I use the time to contemplate the year that has passed, what I did that was good, what I did that was not so good and what I can do better in the year to come.
           
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK -

I am not looking to proselytize (Jews do not do so), but a few customs we have for our “New Year”, which is what this holiday is,  are good ideas.  As I said, this is our New Year and we take time to contemplate the year that has passed.  What have you done right?  Done wrong?  What could you do a bit better?  We take the period following this holiday (we have another one next week to end this period) to apologize to those we have injured - whether or not the person accepts our apology - it is as if they had and the weight of slights or wrongs against others are lifted from us - those who follow the religion more as it was originally will go to running water on a certain day and cast their “sins” into the water (with certain prayers).  Apologizing to others, and let negatice thoughts of the past and thoughts of slights against you go - clears one’s mind and lets one focus on what is good and what is to come instead of stewing about the past. Start a new year now cleared of the past and going forward with what you need and want to do. If now then pick any day to do this.  I have pointed out in the past that any day is actually the start of a new year.

MAKING CHANGES TO GET MYSELF GOING AGAIN

I admit it.  Just because something is written in my task list does not mean it gets done.  Sound familiar?  I have my house cleaning scheduled for Wednesday.  In the old days before husband was home all the time and my schedule went topsy turvy this worked.  On days without appointments I would wake up around 9:30 am normally or 10:00 am on a lazy day.  I would work in my home office most mornings until around 1:30 or 2:00 pm and then I would go out for the days errands.  Most days this would be a quick run to the post office - send out any mail and pick up mail at our post office box.  Then lunch at home (except Fridays - my day out alone) and then back to work in the office.  On Wednesdays however, I would do my housework.  When during the day I did it, depended on which Wednesday it was.  I also start the laundry Wednesday night - right now while I am writing to you the second wash load is in and the first dry load.

I have different chores to do on different Wednesdays.  On the first Wednesday of the month I have my embroidery chapter meeting in the morning, so I have a lot of normal stuff to catch up on during the day of daily things, so I keep it light.  I am suppose to dust upstairs and clean the floors.  We have only three rooms with carpeting - our office, the Teddy Bear’s room (aka the just about never used guest room), and our craft studio.  The rest of the house is easy cleaning - either 1950's hardwood floors or some sort of vinyl flooring.  I used to do this in the afternoon after I came home from my meeting and while husband was at work.  It includes dusting the computers and related in the home office.  Well, now when I get in there husband is working at his computer.  He does not find it funny when I try to clean around him.  So this is no longer such an easy thing to do.

On the second Wednesday of the month I am suppose to clean the floors and dust downstairs as well as clean the downstairs tiny bathroom.  I used to do this when I returned from the post office - long before he was home.  If he is working at his computer this is not too bad to deal with in terms of dealing with him about it as he is not near where I am working.  If he is weaving or otherwise working downstairs - I have to clean around him - and invariably he will need the bathroom immediately after I have cleaned it and it is still drying.  Downstairs are not the hardest  floors to clean - they are basically “swiffered” and the kitchen and bathroom floors washed.  BUT the dining room often has items in transit which makes it hard to clean around them and the living room has some of the furniture out of place (the coffee table is wedged between two chairs to clear the middle of the room for example) and has husband’s warp table and loom in the middle of the room which also makes it hard to get around and clean. 

On the third Wednesday of the month I am suppose to again dust and clean the floors upstairs, as well as cleaning the bathroom upstairs - only slightly larger than the downstairs tiny one.  This used to be a “do in the morning” job, but no longer.  Now, again, I have to work around husband in the office - and like downstairs - if I clean the bathroom, he will immediately show up and need to use it.

On the fourth Wednesday of the month I again do downstairs - dusting and floors and clean the kitchen - same problems as the second Wednesday.

If there is a fifth Wednesday I would find some special project that needed doing.

Well, now the days are later days then before.  In addition I have a new project on Wednesday nights when I should be getting the cleaning done - writing my post for all of you.  Now, I am suppose to do this on Tuesday night, but never get to it. 

SO, I have decided that as of September I will move my cleaning to Tuesday nights.  I will see how this goes in terms of actually cleaning.  It won’t help with husband, but it might work on Tuesday to get me up and doing it. 

Late this afternoon I found my desk clear of things to do and an hour before I had to go make dinner.  Too late to make a phone call to our local real estate tax assessor’s office - which I have been calling for a couple of weeks and actually get a message telling me that no one is available to take my call - call back another time.  One more try and I call my county legislator.  What to do? 

Ah, now that the Teddy Bear Christmas village was packed away and the boxes moved to the dining room (see what I mean about it being a holding area) to go to the basement, and what needed to be stored in the trunk the village sits on, I could put away the line of bears and Cabbage Patch Kids waiting to see Santa.  First I had to take the bears sitting on the bed in the Teddy Bear’s room and put them on the trunk in the hall - where they are suppose to be.  Then the crew that goes on the bed went there.  Wow, one could actually walk into the room again.  I then started poking around to see what else I could deal with.  I pulled out the empty boxes that were floating around in there and put them in the hall - husband is going to store assorted papers he has collected on movies in the boxes, which will free up the shelves they were on for books - which we need space for.  But that is his to do.  I then went through some bags and boxes in the Teddy’s room to see what I could get rid of - I found in the closet there when I cleaned it out for husband to use for storage an entire carton of Teddy Bear items packed away when the house was treated for bed bugs - in 2009 - which have never been put back in place.  Not enough time to go through it , but a quick look showed I did still want most of what was in it.  Perhaps I will get a matching box to use for my storage in that closet.    Well, now at least I can get in and out of the room and I can get to the bear figurines I put out in the living room by month again - right now March is still out!

Why am I suddenly trying to get things done and get back on schedule?  I think it is the dish drying rack.  Since the dishwasher broke, I would wash the dishes and put them in same to dry.  It was large.  It was out of sight.  I would then take out what I needed each time we were eating, add whatever else I needed that was not in the dishwasher and put that all in to dry.  So basically nothing was put away unless it became too overcrowded in the dishwasher or it was a holiday and I knew I would need extra space. Now after each meal the dishes (and of course etc. is included in dishes) are washed and piled in the rack.  When next we eat I take out what we need as I go along.  Then before I wash again - everything else is put away.  Not easy - some items had no place to go, such as spare pudding size cups which I use for storage of extra half can of soup, extra frozen tomato sauce, etc. - but I have found homes for them.  Generally the glass we each use for the day end up never being stored away as it is used meal to meal and sometimes between.   I am not sure that this putting away of the dishes has not gotten me motivated to clean, declutter, and organize more again.

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK -

Sometimes a small change can inspire you to do more.  Go with it.  I use anything I can to help me get the inspiration to make the house cleaner and more organized.