Monday, January 31, 2011

Good Monday morning to you all. I hope that this weekend was a blessed one for you all.
Since my last post, I have taken the advice (great advice, I might add) of my bloggy buddies about being overwhelmed with clutter. To take one small bite at a time.
I purchased some plastic bins (on sale, too)!! Started with one little bit and I am pleased to tell you all that I have made some significant progress in getting everything up off the floors and into some semblance of order.
Although, purchasing a storage shed is out of the financial question right now, I did locate an unused space in my home and have stored ALL of my Christmas decorations there.
That little move freed up some space in my children's bathroom closet (see, I told you it was bad).
I am so grateful to have wonderful bloggy buddies who have great advice and much compassion for me.
Hoping that each of you has a blessed week. :-))

Monday, January 24, 2011

It's Monday.....is anyone else overwhelmed?

It is Monday morning. I am so overwhelmed, I am in tears.
I had such high hopes for myself this new year. I really, really want to get my house more organized and get myself on a routine of cleaning. But it is such a big job I just found myself sitting in the chair and crying. I am overwhelmed.
I wanted to get a portable storage shed this year and put all the decoration boxes and stuff that is seasonal in there. Well, we certainly can't afford that. I am trying to think of inventive ways to store those bazillion bins, but I just can't.
So I find that instead of accomplishing ANYthing, I am just so overwhelmed I am doing NOTHING.
Any tips, ladies? Help me, I'm drowning!!!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Tuesday Tidbits.....

Okay, I don't know about y'all, but my 2011 has not been going as I planned.
Tap, tap....is this thing on?
We have been trying this past year and half to get out of debt. Seriously!
Because of choices made when we were both younger, we had some serious debt issues. This past May, we finally paid off both of the vehicles we had.
For the first time in sixteen years, we did not have a car payment. Not one!!!
God had blessed us with selling one of the paid off vehicles to get rid of some credit card debt (i.e. - devil debt).
So, when we returned from our vacation around Christmas, I got into my paid off vehicle and cranked it up. My husband came flying out of the house and said, "How long has it been doing that?" It hadn't. It was the first time evah.
Anyway, long story short, we now have a car payment. WAAAAA!!!! We didn't buy a new car. We went to a very reputable car agency and bought a good used one. But we still have that extra payment again. It makes me so sad.
AND that's not all. Last Thursday, I dropped the older kids at school and came home to start the laundry. I got the load in and put in the detergent and walked out to let the barrel fill up so I could put clothes in it. When I came in from collecting dirty clothes, I stepped in .....you guessed it...water. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I called my husband in from the cows and he disconnected the water pipes and pulled it out from the wall ( I would show you a picture but I seriously cannot believe all the crap that was under that washer in just three short years). Anywho, I digress. Come to find out, the bottom of the wash barrel had rusted through. Can you say, new washing machine? I can.
Now, we have more consumer debt, cause we didn't have any savings left after our vacation.
Does anyone else live like this? Do you ever feel like you just can't get ahead?
Please let me hear from you, cause I feel like the Lone Ranger here.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Happy Saturday everyone.
I hope that you are getting some much needed R&R or doing whatever it is that makes you happy today.
So, I think I'm ready to begin writing about our Christmas break now.
On day one at 8:30 am, I climbed into the backseat of my MIL car and off we went. (My husband would be traveling in a seperate vehicle with our children when they got out of school that day.) You may not know this, but if you are prone to car sickness, the back seat is not the place to be. Guess what? I'm prone to car sickness. By the time we got about 150 miles from home, I was so sick I could barely hold my head up. Go figure!!! So the first day of my vacation, I was kind of wobbly. And we still had about 10 hours left to drive on the first day.
Once I got some Dramamine down my throat and got up front in the passenger seat, I was some better. We traveled all the way to Baltimore (from Florida) that first day. I saw many interesting things along the way. Wish I had been well enough, or had thought to bring a camera so I could have snapped some photos along the way. Hindsight is 20/20.
Day Two started at 7:30 am and was a lot more interstate driving. I may not be college educated, but it only took me once to figure out NOT to sit in the back seat. So, for most of the day, I rode in the passenger seat. We were somewhere in New York State when I finally felt well enough to give driving a try. It was much better, but I was too busy concentrating on the other cars to really enjoy much of the scenery.
When we got to Albany NY, we were within two hours of the house my MIL rented. And I could not have been more excited. I just have to say though, it is no wonder northerners have a higher rate of S.A.D.. It started getting dark at around 4:30 that afternoon.
So, we arrived in the beautiful little town of Danby VT about 45 minutes before it got totally dark. The house we stayed at was called Mettawee. Gorgeous!!! Since we were to be the first ones there, it was our mission to drive the 20 so miles to Rutland and buy groceries. Unh-uh!!! Not happening. It got dark so early, we didn't know the roads, so we decided to stay at the house and go back to the little store we had seen in Danby on the way to the house. It was in a house that had to be at least 100 years old and it was as fabulous as you can imagine. They even had a deli in the back to make up some "grinders" for supper.
Never heard of a grinder before then. Turns out, its a sub. Potatoe/potato??
Anyway, we took our subs back to the house and ate them. Then MIL and nephew spent the next hour or so putting up the Christmas tree and building a fire. I was soooooo missing my husband and kids. Who were supposed to be getting there the next day. I am trying to get how to post multiple pics figured out.
Tune in next time when I talk about NYC side trip.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011


Happy 2011 everyone!!! (Better late than never, right?).

I hope everyone had a great New Year's Day and ate plenty of black eyed peas and rice, and greens, and all those other things that are supposed to symbolize a great start to a new year.


I have been absent from blogging for a while. I know you will not believe this, but I was in Vermont. Yeah, me, the homebody. My MIL rented a house up there for ten days over the Christmas holiday and it was fabulous.

Not having been from anywhere there is snow, I was utterly fascinated by it. While we were there we had over two foot of snow. (See the above picture).
I enjoyed the trip (except for the ride up and back) . I am hoping to post some more about our trip and the side trip that we took to New York City. WOOHOO!!!
Be blessed.