Wearing Out the Cabinet doors

Years ago I encouraged my children to put their dirty dishes directly into the dishwasher. Someone, probably my son, said the would wear out the door to be opening it for each item. The door actually did wear out and DH had to repair it. This brings me to a current situation.

DH has been complaining that the dishes are stored in the cupboard that is on an outside wall, so are cold when food is placed on them. So a couple weeks ago he and I moved them to the opposite wall. Now it looks like I am doing a dance in the kitchen as I go to a cupboard, open the door, then close it and spin around to go to the other side of the kitchen for what I really wanted. Old habits die hard. But I am not worried, because DH is really talented at repairing things so if hinges wear out I am ok.

Soup and More Soup

On Friday evening we were invited to a Soup Supper at our friend's home. Six of us brought a pot of soup. But we did not know six would be bringing, so some of us made double and triple recipes. Needless to say, when our spouses come home from work this week and ask what is for dinner, we all will shout out "Soup". After eating as much soup as we could (with wine of course), we divided it up and each took home a variety of soups. This will be especially challenging for DH, because he really is more a meat and potato type of guy than a soup guy.

There was a nice variety: Taco, Beef barley, Leek with asparagus, Chicken with wild rice, Crab bisque, and Broccoli and cheese.

January thaw

Our one foot is snow is starting to melt a bit, especially off the roof tops. I am able to walk on the road and the temp is above freezing so it is relatively pleasant. My current goal is walk for 30 minutes "as if I am late for work". That is a description of the speed. I hate to admit it but I am out of shape. My legs feel it when I walk. But I plan to keep doing it.

DH and I recently opened Gmail accounts. So I am working on organizing the emails and have set up a couple calendars. It takes a lot of time to stay ahead of all the emails, especially when DH hasn't given out his email address so everything comes to mine.

Life after Jan 20

Yesterday I was pretty much glued to the TV. My friend, Mary, was shocked that I did not go to DC, especially since I could have stayed with dau and S-I-L. But I don't think I could have tolerated being outdoors for that many hours, even having grown up in MN where it can get really cold. I probably missed the emotion of the crowd, but got a good feeling just watching from my living room. What a day it was. I do feel hopeful along with the rest of most of the world. But the problems are great. It will be exciting to see what they do differently that the previous group.

Once a week I go to the office of FIA and work for a couple hours. I enter all donations into the computer and send out thank you letters. At some point they will find a volunteer who can do it, and I will go on to another job.

Motorcycle engine transplant

Today DH invited a friend and his two sons over to help transplant the engine of one motorcycle into another. The two boys were interested in learning how everything work and DH loves teaching. The green bike had no engine, the white did. Now the green has an engine and the white one does not. All went as planned, but they ran out of time and DH has to finish by himself.

My part was to provide lunch, which was homemade pizza. I had purchased another pizza stone and paddle. It was a bit of a challenge to use as the pizza dough was very soft and it was hard to slide off the paddle. For anyone who may not understand what is going on, you heat the stone in the oven, assemble the pizza on the wooden paddle, then slide it into the hot stone. If you put a lot of corn meal on the paddle it does work. But we had corn meal and cheese all over the oven, floor and counter tops. Guess it will improve with practice.

In the evening the wife of the friend came over for dinner with us. We had pork chops stuffed with rice, mushrooms and onions, green beans and the extra brown rice. We finished the meal with peach pie for dessert.

Grateful for: friends who will come help with a project, even when it is nasty cold outside

Excuses for not exercising

I've noticed several bloggers that I read have made mention of changes (not necessarily called resolutions) that they want to make. Many involve exercise. The health care plan that I belong to has offered $100 if you do a survey of your health, habits, and activities and choose an area you want to work on. So today I talked with them and said I would walk 30 minutes at a brisk rate three times a week. They asked if I had a support system to encourage me. They check back every three months to see how I am doing, so I will post the results then. Any reader can ask if they want in between and be my support.

I don't know if I am ready to start because I injured by back a week ago. It is stiff and tends to have spasms now and then. Wow, I am making excuses already. I really enjoy walking outdoors, but when it is 0 degrees and snow and ice on the road like today, I need to walk indoors. So I will join the local rec center, which I mentioned when I first moved "to the sticks." They have a walking track and the membership is $60 or so for a year. No excuses. Only I have to drive about 10 miles one way. I'm making another excuse. I hope it will help me to have then check in three months.

Taking Down the Tree

DH and I had our lovely granddaughter at our house from Friday evening till Sunday night. The picture shows her helping bag up the tree. Actually it is an artificial tree. The branches fold upward so I left the light on and we are going to try to store it like this. Next year the decorating should go faster.

I didn't take any pictures, but in the fine tradition of the family K did some baking with me. We made Rice Krispie bars with chocolate chips. Her part was to count the marshmallows. It took 40 and since she can only count to 20, we did two counts. She took some home to her Dad who loves them.

Speaking of decorating: note that the bear still claims his position on the dormer about the entry way. DH will not move it until I find a suitable replacement. I was going to put an easel there with an oil painting on it, but have misplaced the easel. Someone even suggested putting beret on the bear's head and a paint brush in is paw. Guess would make both me and DH happy. We'll see what happens. Tell me what you think of that crazy idea.

I feel great when I get all the decorations put away. It is like a new beginning.

Gratitude: A comfortable house in the cold winter. It will get near 0 degrees tonight.

Homemade lasagna -Yum

S with RM and her new husband (I think he is new because they were married again on December 30 in the UK . Actually it was just a blessing of the marriage the occurred in August) stopped here on their way home to pick up the Physics cat after being in the UK. They stayed an extra day so we made some killer lasagna since she still had her pasta maker here. I really need to get one of those machines!The meat one had chicken and spinach with bechamel sauce instead of tomato sauce. The vegetarian lasagna was made with a tomato sauce, again homemade. I am trying to learn from S with RM to make sauces from scratch instead of the canned version. But old ways are hard to change.

Two days, yesterday and today, are dedicated to taking down and packing away all the Christmas decorations. I am trying to do some purging of pieces I don't want so it is taking more time, but hopefully will be worth it.

Grateful: For a body that repairs itself. What an amazing thing.

Things we are to love from China

Is it just me, or at holiday times are we bombarded with useless things we are are expected to love to use or to decorate our space? This was made abundantly clear last night at our British car club Christmas party. For entertainment we each were asked to bring a gift that was something we really did not want. DH received a ceramic pot for making hot chocolate. Once all the ingredients are in the pot, it has a stirrer that is battery powered. I received two kits to make needle point on a plastic background. (For a moment I thought of saving if for K, my granddaughter, to do when she is 10. But judging from what she is doing at 3, she will much rather be riding a motorcycle.)

I plan to use this observation when I am editing all my Christmas decorations before putting them in storage again. I hope no reader has a pot like I mentioned above and is offended.

Today I am grateful for: The joy pets bring to my life, i.e. a Physics cat named Phi who is curled up on my lap as I type this.

A great week

Hey, I just posted yesterday, but am going to do better with frequency this year. DH has taken off the whole week. I think this is trial for what it will be like when he retires. I don't mean that to sound bad, but our schedule has gone to heck. Meals at all times of the day, going to bed at midnight and sleeping till 10 AM or later. After the time spent in preparation for the party (and clean up) we have been working in our basement: organizing with the hope of getting rid of some things. I would have taken before pictures, but was too embarrassed. So after ones won't mean much. I do have a car load to take to the thrift shop and even need a trailer for some furniture.

And this was not even a New Year's resolution.

Since several of you have started the "Gratefulness" list, I have been motivated to do it also.
These will not be in order of importance, just what I think of at the time.

1. I am grateful that I have access to the world through the internet.

Happy New Year 2009

Happy New Year! How did you bring in the new year? We had a party at our house. I cannot remember when we last had a NY eve party. I must say we have an interesting group of friends. I had sent out the invites a couple of weeks ago and received about 6 RSVP's out of 25. Then on the 31st we received many phone calls, both saying they were coming and regrets. Fortunately, we just had snacks and drinks so the final number did not matter too much. We had 14 guests, with four leaving early. G and I had thought of having us play games so had set up the house with three tables for game playing. As it turned out, everyone just wanted to talk. After the toast an midnight, people usually go home. No one left until 1:15 AM. You just never know what to expect.

If we want to play games, I think we are going to have to call it a game night. Today, G and I did some planning for events at our house in the coming year. It looks like we will have a pig roast again. This time, we hope to send out the invites real early, so a lot come and make it worth the effort. (I really do not want a lot of left over pork in the freezer).

Again the best to everyone in 2009!