Went in to the church and helped clean up and get ready for our church meal on Sunday. Went out to our local golf course for lunch.. Came home and now I am cleaning up the mess I left behind from Thanksgiving. We went south for 4 days and didn't have time to clean everything up. I hate when this happens. Hope to do a little sewing this evening...

Swept,swiffered and bona mopped the floors in the whole house,5 loads of laundry washed dried,hung/folded and put away,put beef tips in the crock pot for dinner and made homemade yeast rolls to go with it,and made cookies for dessert. Oatmeal raisin for him, chocolate chip for me. Now going to load the dishwasher. Super fun day :-/

Working-at research administration. I was looking forward to going to the movie this evening, but the boy is back at schoolwork. No time tonight. Phooey. Guess I'll go play with Ms. Maggie Moo, the calico kitty instead of the boy later. Shortly, even. I'm ready to go home!

Goodness! I'm tired just reading your notes!! There was a time when I was just a busy, but not any more. I'd enjoy having those beef tips and rolls!!

Amylou, you did a LOT in one day when you factor in the cooking, WOW. I can clean, do laundry and cook a meal, but can't bake on top of it all.

Today I did general cleaning up, vacumed, scrubbed kitchen and laundry room floors, cleaned tub, sink, toilets in 2 baths, some dusting in LR only and 2 full loads of sheets, but they take 2&1/2 hours each load in the washer. I took a lasagna tray out of the freezer, homemade from last month and will have a small garden salad with it. I have my grands to get ready to return to school tomorrow from the Holiday, school clothes, bookbags, coats all ready, and probably steel cut oats in the small crock pot for breakfast...and will do much more when they are in school. I have my son here to help but I'm a fuss bucket. LOL.

Did the morning routine (tea/internet, breakfast, shower and get dressed), cleaned up kitchen, put summer shoes away and got out winter shoes which are now in closet. Prepared a bag for the thrift store including three pairs of shoes (that was hard), brought in firewood for tonight, called a friend I haven't seen in a while to make arrangements to get together next week before we both get busy with the holidays and sorted through toiletry kits to donate to local agency that provides services for the homeless.

It's now almost 1:30 and I am headed downstairs to the studio - have several projects going on down there.

My everyday routine now. Get up drink my iced coffee, feed the dog, go into the house and start unboxing. Wash loads and loads of clothes, sheets, etc load loads of dishwasher stuff. Hand wash lots of kitchen stuff. Unboxing clothes and hanging them up or folding. Take a rest for lunch. Back at it. Sort through it all for donations and throw away. It seems never ending but there are fewer boxes every day. Take a shower. Then go fix dinner.

Housecleaning, grocery shopping, laundry. Right leg is numb now, so I'm resting my back painful back. No hopes at this point of decorating any further for the holidays. Oh well, I'll survive I suppose.

Vacuumed, polished furniture, set up bridge tables. Had bridge here today for 12. I've been cleaning for 2 days. Cleaned the kitchen cabinets, cleaned out the coat closet, straighten the pantry. Washed see woodwork....not all, washed Georgy's nose prints off some windows, etc. My back hurts and I can hardly walk. All will be well tomorrow.

I did housework yesterday. Except unlike amylou, I really should have mopped all the wood floors. I didn't do it this Spring or Summer. My bad.

Today drove all the way into the city for a particular breakfast sausage I like but they were out. On the way home stopped at another grocery, then came home and put the kettle on for tea. After my tea break I went out and painted the new siding around the bottom of the outhouse with two coats of primer.

well since I am still working for another month anyway, I got up at 5:20 and I was on the road by 5:50. It started raining here yesterday afternoon and rained until it turned to snow during the night sometime. I cleaned the snow off of my windows and it was really heavy. I have to drive 19 miles. Usually I have to drive 4 miles in the snow and then I meet the snowplow and follow him for the other 15 miles. Well this morning there wasn't a snowplow, so I had to make my own tracks going 40 miles an hour. After I had driven 13 miles the snowplow came from the west on another highway. There was a pickup following me for about 8 miles and he wouldn't pass me. I kept hoping he would so I could drive in his tracks. The last 6 miles were better because the snowplow had gone there. I could not figure out why he would do that other road first instead of Highway 83 which is the main road going through SD. They always did 83 first, but I found out today they have a new road boss. This is the state DOT. In our county 83 is cleaned by DOT out of Pierre. So 8 hours later I am coming home and I see the snowplow in front of me. So I had to follow him for about 7 miles driving 30 miles an hour. When we got across the county line and he pulled over to turn around, we could drive 50 for the last 4 miles, but there was enough snow on the road that I was dragging bottom.

When I got home I had to call Medica to get my supplement for Medicare. He told me I need part b first and I had to call Medicare. He gave me the number and after I waited to talk to someone I found out I had to talk to SS instead. I called them and I was on the phone with them for over an hour of which 45 minutes was on hold. I kept thinking this is only starting. What I really liked though was that Medica had called me twice and told me to call them at this number and ask for Marty. Well both times I called the number they told me they didn't have a Marty but finally the second one found him.

\Then we had leftovers for supper and now I am working on a rug.

I did a little house cleaning and then left to buy hay and take some clean clothes to my husband, who is working on his "new" (new to him) shrimp boat. He decided to come home with me. Stopped on the way home and picked up some food for the wildlife, cats and dogs. And hogs. We have 15 hogs....ranging from small to almost half the size of a Volkswagen bug! Stopped at Popeyes and got some chicken for me. My husband had already eaten. Got home, fed all the animals. Watching Antiques Roadshow now and getting ready to take some pictures of items I am donating to a group for their weekly auction, that fund raise for horses rescued from kill pens.

I was on the phone buying my Christmas present to myself. LOL I was ordering some StampinUp items that I wanted. Then I was crafting, making teeny tiny little cups that hold 2 Dove chocolates. I wasn't about to leave the house with this extreme wind. I'd have been blown over.

I gathered all the items that I had been collecting for the drop-in center for homeless teens and took them over. Then I planted or potted up some plants that I had picked up last Friday at the near-by mail-order nursery outlet and started to put in the tulips (I think I went overboard with the tulips, but I do love them!)

Then I realized that rain was coming and I should get the gutters cleaned out, so I did that. I have gutter toppers that are worthless -- 3 times a year I have to climb up and clean the leaves off the toppers so they aren't blocked. Slightly less work than cleaning the gutters themselves, but I am still so annoyed!

Still taking advantage of the warm weather I finished cleaning the windows inside and out (I had cleaned the exteriors of the two picture window a couple of weeks ago.) Cleaned the litter boxes and I was done with chores for the day!

Cooked spaghetti squash with mushrooms, spinach, zucchini, marinara and cheese for dinner.

Now it is getting late, I need to shower and get ready for work tomorrow.

I worked period, that's all, didn't even have to drive anywhere. I feel so lazy after reading about all of your busy days!

Late up (expected follow-up to late asleep) ... install the pressure socks, and the second ones outside to delay their wearing out.

Fast breakfast, as need 20 min. to get to church for the twice-monthly discussion of issues dealt with in our denominational magazine ... and, as I was to guide the discussion, needed to be on time. My mag was in brief case, which was left sitting in the garage ... so used an unmarked one in the church. And ... hope that the rats, coons, etc. didn't get into the brief case.

We had the usual lunch after ($2.00 fee), then did some shopping, visited a library in the city (2-hour time limit), then out here at the usual one in the county (available till closing at 8).

Some stew available from yesterday, and there's some tomato made by a friend, so may have soup, later.

ole (well-fed) joyfuelled

I took advantage of the 60degree temp today to go down to Mom's and empty her outdoor planters of annuals, placed some of the inexpensive plastic ones out by the street for the "mystery woman" who drives around collecting old pots and even the plants, swept the leaves off the back deck and away from the front entrance of the house, emptied the canister set in the kitchen and washed those inside and out, and before I left I chose a piece of ruby glass from the curio cabinet for my nephew's wife as a remembrance of Mom, and a Willow Angel for my niece.

I found an electric pencil sharpener! I acquired that for myself as my prized Panasonic battery operated KP-4A finally wore out. :( I must have a sharp point when doing crosswords.

Also remembered Mom's glasses on her kitchen table and her hearing aide at home, and decided to drive into the city to donate the glasses to the Eye Center and the hearing aide to the Ear/Nose/Eye Clinic where she bought it. Both places were very happy to receive them.

Came home, had a cup of tea, did a crossword and relaxed. I must have gotten chilled though outside today, probably because I worked up a sweat, because I'm sitting here this evening with a sweatshirt on, the thermostat up, and a throw over my lap. Tomorrow it's suppose to be sunny again.

It was rainy, so I made pot roast and some home made bread to go with it. I made 2 loaves, so took one loaf to a neighbor who is feeling dreadful from chemo treatments. Took a nap between rises.

I am back at noodle making again today. One batch completed and now waiting on the dough to be ready for the fourth batch to be rolled and cut and then set to dry. Doing house work here and there too.

Sue

Went to see Doctor Strange last night and had the theater to ourselves. Pretty good movie! Ate too much popcorn, drank too much soda (I never have any, so far more than usual) and I didn't feel well after. So I didn't sleep. I'm counting the moments until I go home is what I am doing today. Can't wait to lie down!

this morning I tried to go to work and after getting stuck trying to get out of the driveway, my DH pulled me out and I started out and I decided it was to bad and turned around and came home. I think I am getting scared of driving in that stuff in my old age.

Today I have been working on my rug that I have to have done by Friday. The next town over has their Christmas celebration. They have fireworks and a parade and a craft sale and other things. The Catholic church has a soup and sandwich luncheon with a bake sale, raffle, silent auction, and other things for sale. They said on Sunday that they still needed sandwiches and desserts. I baked a pan of halfway cookies. I remember my mother making them a long time ago. I also baked 3 loaves of banana bread with chocolate chips in them. They are for my clubs booth at the craft fair. Now I am doing dishes. We had left over soup for supper.

Drove to the hardware for light bulbs, stopped at a tiny gift shop in a building that used to be a jail like a 100yrs. ago. The town restored the tiny structure that was only big enough for two jail cells and now it is a shop that sells homemade gifts.

At the fore mentioned shop, there was a very clever Christmas garland on the ceiling made from an old tree branch onto which artificial pine sprays and pine cones had been added plus a string of glowing lights. It inspired me. So I came home and went searching for my own materials to make one similar to it to put on top of the music cabinet in the livingroom. I'll work on that another day after a visit to Pat Catans. Instead, I made a bit of Christmas for the garden gate and dressed the garden lantern for the holiday. Came in and had tea.

Boy we got a real soaker of a rain tonight that began around 7pm. I swear I thought I heard hail at one point. The wind was blowing like crazy. I wonder if my decoration on the garden gate is still there!

Baking all day today for a fundraising bake sale on Sunday, also sampling the goodies ;-(. One of the tastiest recipes is Skor Brownies:

1 cup butter

6 oz. unsweetened chocolate

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, beaten

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups flour

1 package Skor bits

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13" pan with parchment paper. Combine butter and unsweetened chocolate, heat until melted. Remove from heat and add sugar, eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour and mix until just combined. Pour into pan, bake 18 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle Skor pieces evenly over cake. Return to oven for 10 minutes (my oven required more time). Remove from oven, sprinkle with chocolate chips and spread evenly. NOTE: I had more than 1 pkg. Skor bits, so I sprinkled a few on each brownie piece and pressed gently to adhere.