Tuesday, February 28, 2012

From the Library

At least here, I am able to get on to the Blogger site. At home, Blogger says that my browser is not compatible with the Blogger format. Perhaps I will have to change web hosts to keep up the blog.

A quick reminder to all... The big Birthday party for my Dad, Robert W. Beard will be this Sunday at his home in East Texas. As I am headed that way before the mail runs on Saturday, I need your cards in the mail either Tuesday or Wednesday to assure their delivery to me by Friday!

We will have markers (streamers) at the turns... one on Hwy 155, another on Weeping Willow, and you will be going STRAIGHT AHEAD onto the dirt road when Weeping Willow makes a 45* right turn. You will continue past the brick house on the left, through the gate, and start down the hill. The driveway is nearly hidden on the left hand side. we will have a marker there as well. Just keep going up the driveway, you will see the house about the time you decide that you are lost forever.

I can hardly wait to see all the family there.

 Be blessed!


Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Homebody

Today, the boys and I made a batch of laundry detergent. I also tried home-made dishwasher detergent from a recipe I got from Pinterest. We have run one load of dishes, and I am really impressed. The recipe was certainly easy, and I haven't seen the inside of the dishwasher ever sparkle quite this much.
 I mixed together in a quart canning jar: 1 cup borax, 1 cup washing soda, and 1/2 cup coarse salt. Add 2 packets of unsweetened lemonade flavor KoolAide (It is full of citric acid.)
Shake this together. Add 1 tablespoon of this mixture to the dishwasher detergent dispenser, along with JUST 3 (three!) drops of  Dawn dish soap. Add 1/2 cup of white vinegar to the bottom of the dishwasher, and it is ready to run.
The boys did the math on our laundry detergent and on our dishwasher detergent. The total cost of both items was less than $7 to make. An equivalent amount of store bought detergents would be at least $51.

My unpacking has fallen behind. I am way off the goal of unpacking at least one box per day. Saturday's box did finally uncover the food processor! Hooray!
Mr. C was impressed the birthday gifts I came up with for my Dad. It is difficult to get gifts for a person who really doesn't NEED anything.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Howdy

I hope you are doing well today! I am still kicking. We had a relaxed long weekend, which seemed even longer because the internet was unavailable. The repairman arrived Monday and got us running again.

The boys and I are at the library, where they resumed their volunteering a few weeks ago. I am just sitting at the computer, surfing the Internet.
Preparations for Dad's 75th birthday seem to be going well. So far, I have counted somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 people attending, though several of those in the count are small children. I think it would be awesome to get a family portrait of Dad with as many Grands and great grands as we can muster for the event. To my knowledge, my Dad is already the longest lived male our family has ever had on his side.

If you haven't let me know that you plan to attend, please do so as soon as you can, so I can get a good count for how much I need to set up by way of refreshments. We aren't planning on providing soda pop, but should have plenty od coffee, tea, and lemonade. (If you need soda, feel free to bring your own!) We will have small sandwiches and cake.

Ok, that is all I can think of for now. have a blessed day and thanks for reading.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

To do, to DONE!

On my to do list:
Find out what Grand daughter Alana wants/ needs for her birthday.
Put together buying list(s) for Dad's party
Finish dad's gift(s)
Figure out what to do for Tommy's birthday
Figure out what to do for Bill's birthday
Continue unpacking stuff from the aborted move to Ohio
Order prints from Shutterfly
Find a dress for Ben and Paula's wedding
Lose weight


On my to DONE! list:
Mail Nickole's birthday gift
Get started on Ben and Paula's wedding gift
Get started on Dad's birthday gift(s)
Remind everyone (yet again) to please send me cards for dad's party
Decide what to make for supper tonite (beef fajitas)
Update blog

Have a blessed day. Feel free to add ideas in the comments on any of the things I need to do!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Another day!

I got my cheesy box of little kids valentines this week, and spent the morning sending them to my grandkids. Some years I send candy or Little Debbie treats... but this year, just the little cards.
Just a reminder to them that they are thought about even when they don't realize it. Some years I send them to all my kids, and my parents... but I didn't have enough stamps this year.

Really, we never make a big deal over any holiday other than Thanksgiving.

So Winter has finally decided to make a pit-stop here. It is supposed to be 18 degrees tonight... this is after rain today. The high for tomorrow is 32* BRRR. But it is the first bit of winter to come by since I got back from Ohio.
I haven't decided what to make for supper yet. Maybe this is a good day to do the roast that is in the freezer. Or thaw the chili we made a couple of weeks ago. I can't seem to make a SMALL batch of chili... and with just the four of us left here, we had so much leftover that part of it had to be frozen. But it seems no matter how large of a roast I cook, there is seldom enough left to even make soup on another day.

I missed unpacking a box yesterday. I have been trying to unpack at least one box a day until I have all the stuff unpacked from the last "packing to move to Ohio" drill. Things have been boxed up since July. Yeah. Tired of having to dig to find stuff. Still, I am eliminating more as I unpack. Maybe today will be the time to unpack the china and return it to the hutch. (No china will be eliminated!)

OK, I finally told Ben and Paula about the Shutterfly site I set up for them. Still waiting on more pictures of Paula... but please go visit the site, leave blessings for them in the comments area. There are tabs across the top of their page to get around on the site. http://www.BenandPaula.shutterfly.com . There is a link to their wish list... links to local accomodations... and pictures!

Have a blessed day, and thanks for reading!
 PS... reminder of my Dad's SURPRISE PARTY. Get me the cards and pictures ASAP!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

HOWDY

Good Morning! Here I am. Seems like I am on the blog so seldom these days.... Anyways .... Hi!

Last week I got a text from my daughter, Becky. She asked if I had been rehired by O'reilly's. (Remember my 99.9% chance of being rehired? Boy am I lucky! I hit that .1%, at least for now. The store I was working at is in a slump and cannot hire anyone until at least March. I remain unemployed.) The point is, since I am not working at the moment, as I fully expected to be, would I attend a Mother's Retreat with Becky? Becky even paid my way, since I had used all my available income on the trip to Texas in January.
I was very blessed. I got to meet so many sweet women. I got to encourage several younger women, both in home schooling and in home birth. (Both areas I already have experience, and these women were just starting out. It seems strange to say I have over 25 years experience in anything!)
Dakota Rose went along with us, as she is still a nursing baby. I got to hold her... a lot. For someone not even three months old, she really has her own opinions. She wants to be held... facing outward... with the person holding her standing up. She smiles a lot. And even began to laugh outright at times. I think I'm attached.
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My email account has my signature "built in", and invites people to read my blog. Right now, you may be reading this from the email I sent regarding my Dad's 75th birthday party.
So far, no one has jumped right in and sent pictures, except Bill Joe's MIL- who sent me some of my grand-daughter Nickole for this project. Thank you, Lynn!
I would like to encourage the rest of you to be choosing cards and pictures, even if you cannot come to the party. Get them sent to me as soon as possible, so they can arrive before I have to head to Dad's. As quickly as this month has gone, the USPS mail cut-off date will probably be the 28th, to allow time for delivery. That is less than 3 weeks!
If you were thinking of a gift for my Dad.... he loves to read. A gift card in any denomination to someplace like Barnes and Noble would be great. Just saying.
If you don't want to send photo prints, remember it is fairly simple to go to any photography kiosk and scan your photos to disk, then email them to me.... or mail me the disk! (Leave me a comment if you need my address. If you put your email address in the comments, I will be able to see them and respond to you and won't publish the comment, so no one else reading the blog will access your information.)
Hmmmm. At this moment, I can't think of anything else. Please have a blessed day. Thanks for reading!