On Being Satisfied

I'm cleaning the house for the weekly morning coffee I'm hosting tomorrow morning. I have to do it in fits and spurts 'cos even with A/C on it's hot hot hot!!!  Next up:  the bloody dusting!  THAT's good for the sinuses!  Not to mention, I do suffer from the VOG (volcano fog from the big island) - it sends my allergies to Hades and back.  It has been told me that the weatherman said the VOG was present today.  Nice.  No wonder I have this annoying tickle, like a small pitchfork is playing polo in my throat.

So, I baked two Pilsbury Dough French Bread loaves together, to form a circle.  We're having a deli sandwich "ring" (refers to shape of the bread) for dinner.  I cooked the chicken breasts for tomorrows White Lightning Chicken Chili.  I'm worrying myself with all this good cooking.  But, so far, I'm quite satisfied with "one serving" and not gaining any weight.  I must "nod" to the Wii as well.  It helps.


Crickles got his hair cut today.   I'll share a picture later.  I hope SB will want his cut the same, but it's not looking like I'll get my way there.  SB's hair is thick and getting longer and I.want.it.cut!  I also got his referral straightened out.  I'll give them until Monday to call me or I'll be calling them.

I am making strides in finishing the "craft" area.  Remember that?  Yeah, well, it takes having people over for coffee to kick my butt into high gear.  Picture later.  I worked a bit on it already today . . . will finish tonight 'cos I'm actually energized about getting it done.  Today.

My prayer life is getting better.  I was in quite a dark place over the Christmas holiday . . . . I kept praying anyway.  That's key when you feel that way.  Feelings are fickle so I don't always trust them.  I think when there are dry times, it is actually the Lord calling you into deeper communion.  That, I trust.

I hope you do, too.

Photos' promised:

 

 Crickles hair really is an improvement.  No longer long in back.  BTW, see that hot mess behind him?  Look at it now:  MUCH BETTER.

 

These are (really fuzzy) pictures of my morning visitors.  They are Java Sparrows.  They are all males, the gels don't have the white on their faces.   They look like Puffin to me.

 

Guess What I'm Doing?

It's not what I'm doing, it's what I should be doing . . .

. . . is it my fault I don't think I was born to do manual labour? I really really really dislike cleaning bathrooms. I mean, I do them once a week, minimum. So, it's not like they get really bad, but . . . yuck!

. . . okay, off I go. I really need to get them done. All three.

Blech.

The Kindness of Friends

I'm sitting in a cool room off the kitchen in my friend, "B"'s house. B and her husband have gone off for the week to do something important for themselves and offered us to stay in their home. How's that for nice? I mean, this is truly the kindest of couples! We will have the run of their home for about a week, then we will move on to an hotel . . . they'll be back, my in-laws will come and . . . Squirrel Boy's Confirmation is the 29th . . . things are coming to a swift close.

Our house is almost packed out. It will be finished tomorrow. So far, they show up about half past ten in the morning and leave at or about three in the afternoon. I'm impressed, on one hand, how quickly the five of them manage to get things done. But, both my husband and I think this is how they should do it: pack the whole house first (as the one lady who came yesterday, just to pack out cabinets and breakables) in two days. Then, when everything is boxed up, load the truck. Maybe from our side that makes sense, but not from theirs. And, really, the point is to get it done and it will get done. I just wish I hadn't sat in my house from 7:45 to 10:30 waiting. I could have stayed here (at B's) and prayed my morning prayers with loads of coffee. Instead, I get a measly rushed breakfast and 3/4 cup of coffee . . . no prayers. It makes the day hard.

My husband is out buying another suitcase at the moment. Then he'll come get me so I can help him pack our clothes into the that one and the one waiting on us back at the old house. Bring it all here tonight. I already suggested we leave the house sit over the weekend and return Monday to clean her up. Get her ready for exit inspection (I think that will be Wednesday). This weekend, I want to relax and clean up the laundry pile that's waiting for me. There's a nice pile at the moment, but I'm not doing it until tomorrow night/afternoon. I'm dead on my feet at the moment.

So. We're almost done with one house. Thanks to B and B we have a place that keeps us feeling like we're not in limbo. I so appreciate it. And, a nice shout out to our other friends "J" and family for keeping Hols healthy and happy at their house while we are doing all of this.

Time to finish praying (catching up that is) and then figuring out what to do for dinner. Oh, yeah: left over pizza and chicken. Whatever. As long as I don't have to run out and buy any food tonight, that is good.

Wishing you all well and God's peace.

Dust

It's almost fun to dust after weeks of not dusting. Have you ever gone that long? First off, anyone who lives in Maryland complains about the amount of dust that collects on stuff inside the home. I dust one day and the next day looks like I didn't dust at all. Sometimes later in the day it looks like that. Several days equals the look of about a month of collecting. It balls up really easy if left about a month. I'm not kidding. I haven't touched a cloth to this PC desk that long. A month without dusting. Still, it's a bit yucky.

And, I'm starting a relationship with allergy medicines again.

I'll probably post again this weekend. The movers/packers will be here through Friday (unless they finish Thursday - let's hope - we haven't that much stuff; we've done really well getting rid of tons of junk, too). As they pack out the garage and the garage storage, we'll lose even more pounds.

It feels good. Well, emotionally. My sinuses are non-plused.

Blessings to you all.

Christ, You Know It Ain't Easy

You know how hard it can be . . . the way things are goin', they're gonna crucify me. (From the ballad of John and Yoko). This is humiliating work, cleaning terlits. I know exactly what I'll be doing in Purgatory, should I be so blessed. Oy vey!

I only write this stuff so I get this other stuff done. Accountability. I'm sure St. Peter won't ask me if I cleaned the terlits today, but wouldn't it be funny if he did? He could so totally pull my leg on that. And, when I laugh, all the angels will say, "Oy! Pete! You lettin' that cacklin' gel in here?" Heaven will be fun, I think!

For Kissteen . . .

I'm throwing some your cyber way, Kissteen!!

One loaf of banana bread is out of the oven and one more is now baking. The double batch of cookies are next. In between all this, I am managing the kids with their schooling and running loads of laundry. I have vacuumed the living room (under the sofas as well, folks) and I plan on dusting off the telly and the 1932 GM radio in the corner later. I've managed to clear off the island in the kitchen (this "counter" is actually a crap magnet and I would like to thank the dumdums who designed it to go exactly there - too far from the stove or sink to be much of any good for a baker). I kid you not, I could very well say there are five feet between my stove and that useless junk magnet. Okay, I like the storage under it, but other than that, it's just placed weird. At least in my unit there's enough linoleum to put two bar chairs there and not be half on carpet and half on the kitchen floor (like some units around here). I tell you what, some really dingdong people slapped these homes together. Not to mention how weird is it to walk into someones home and the first room be the entry/dining room????

Can you tell I'm ready for something completely different? Hawaii: here we come! I don't care if I have less square feet, as long as it is actually SQUARE feet, and, a normal layout. Geesh!

But, I am happy! I have a roof over my head - and I won't complain about that.

My hubs may take a day off this week so we can go to IKEA and buy our new furniture. I don't think the sofa, chair, and ottoman will be in a box, so we may use those if we get them before the movers come and take them away. However, if they come wrapped in a bunch of plastics etc., we may leave them that way so we get 100% of our cash back if the movers don't deliver.

See, that is a sad fact about military moves. I hate it. I think it's a mere inconvenience to have things stolen and broken; I feel bad about that. But, I hate it that someone who steals is stealing, because I feel bad for them that they stoop that low. They really are only hurting themselves. I can recover from such a horrible thing . . . my replacement may not be as good as what I had originally, but . . . and I know this is what some of these movers think (that we'll be reimbursed, because we will - but not like 100% folks - so it hurts our wallets, too) so they aren't really hurting us or anybody. I think they are hurting their souls first and foremost, but beyond that, they are hurting their reputation and that of the company they are working for. Let's not even go into how they are ripping off insurance carriers. It's bad business all around, but most particularly for their souls.

I will say that we have only had one move (from GA to here) where we had the government contract movers for us. Nothing was missing, nothing broken . . . and on both ends of the packing and unpacking, we had the nicest experience and the nicest folks. I pray for the same with this move.

Okay, back to laundry and cleaning. I pray you are all having productive days, too. I posted a lovely prayer on top of my sidebar (under the Catholic Company banner, I think) from Thomas Merton. I found it today and I just love it!!