Show and Tell Friday #2

It's Show and Tell Friday again, hosted by Kelli at There Is No Place Like Home. Go to Kelli's to join or check out all the participants.

I got todays idea from my friend SW. I have so many sets of dishes, she suggested I show all the different patterns for all my dishes. Great idea. Like everything else I have collected my dishes from various sources. I was talking about it recently because I acquired yet another set from Freecycle and really the last thing I needed was more dishes. Some sets come with serving dishes and platters, some don't. All are full sets. Here we go.

First up are the dishes I got from Freecycle. There are 8 place settings. They are Sango "Pavillion".



Next is the set I bought at a yard sale. I paid $30 which is more than I wanted to but I loved the pattern. There is 8 place settings and it came with a platter and a cookie jar. It is Corelle by Corning, "Ivy" pattern.



The next set was my mother's "good china". They are very old as she had them for as long as I can remember. They were passed down to me after her death. I treasure them and do use them on special occasions. There is place settings for 12 as well as several serving dishes and platters. They are Johnson Bros. "Old Chelsea" pattern.



Next is a set I collected piece by piece. It all started with a platter from an auction. I now have place settings for 4. It is Georgian China "Briar Rose" pattern.



Now we have our everyday dishes. I have place settings for 12. I bought these when I was hosting Thanksgiving dinner and didn't have any appropriate dishes for the occasion (I hadn't yet received my mothers dishes). They are Tienshan Stoneware with no pattern name. They're apples. We use them as our everyday dishes now.



And now my Christmas dishes. My husband bought these for me one year when we were hosting Christmas dinner at our house. I have place settings for 12. I don't particularly like the pattern, it's not what I would have chosen, but they were bought and given with love and have been well used. They are Royal Heritage Collection, no pattern name.



And lastly another set of Christmas dishes. I got these on sale after Christmas a couple of years ago for $8. I loved the pattern. I have place settings for 4. They are Everyday Gibson, no pattern name.

So you can see I have more dishes than I need. I also have other mix matched dishes. These are just my sets. We used to host a lot of dinners, not so much any more. I plan on dividing them up between my two daughters when they move out on their own and need dishes. They all get good use. And thank you for the great idea SW.

Hope you enjoyed my Show and Tell, thank you for checking it out. Have a great day.

Hot Monkey Sex

Little R gave us a scare yesterday. She didn't come home from school. So we jumped to the worst conclusion. She finally phoned Mr. Man around 5:30 to pick her up at a friends house. What a relief. It was just long enough with no call for us to get worked up into a panic.

We told her about the meeting on Friday with the Vice Principal. I got an email today that we need to reschedule the meeting for next Tuesday. Her only reaction was that she won't participate.

I'm feeling like quite the waste of life. I'm back in the mode of sleeping all day. Today I even slept through the dogs barking when SW came to my door. I'm sorry I missed her. I need to pull my shit together and snap out of this. I'm missing out on my life. Besides it makes it difficult to sleep at night.

Well I have noticed the sun is coming up earlier in the morning and staying up later. Spring is on the way! I'm jealous of all the bloggers I read who have flowers blooming and warm weather.

I was reading A Time To Kill by John Grisham when halfway through the book I came to a bunch of pages ripped out. It was too many missing pages to bother continuing to read it. That can happen when you buy used books. So now I'm reading The Rainmaker by John Grisham. I'm about a third of the way through and it's just starting to get interesting.

Today has been rather uneventful since I slept ALL DAY. Little R came straight home from school which was a nice change. My stats show me that the most searched for phrase that leads to my blog is "My New Dentures" lol. I've been needing an adjustment for weeks but haven't had any way of getting to the dentist. The days I had the car were the same days we had blizzards. So thus the title of this post, just to see if it brings any hits lol.

That's it. Have a nice day/evening.

What Is Freecycle?

I know I mention Freecycle a lot here. I realized this morning that maybe not everyone knows about Freecycle. What is Freecycle? Freecycle is an organization dedicated to recycling and keeping good junk out of our landfills. It is a group of message boards sorted by towns and cities. People post on these boards things they have or things they want. Things that will otherwise go in the garbage and fill up our dumps, but are still good.

I became involved with Freecycle when I became involved in decluttering my house. I had a lot of stuff around that I would never use. I still do. A lot of it is too good to just throw away. I'm all for recycling. My husband and I both have trouble passing up on a good deal, even if we don't need it. Therefore we end up with a lot of stuff we don't really need. We used to go to an auction regularly. We frequent thrift and antique stores. We can't drive past a yard sale without stopping. Plus we inherited a bunch of stuff we still haven't sorted through. Freecycle is a perfect solution to too much stuff.

Everything on Freecycle must be free. It is not for selling items. You go to the main website and look up your local town or city to find your local site. Because I live in a rural area between towns I belong to multiple Freecycle groups. I would encourage anyone to get involved. And it can be fun. www.freecycle.org

Wednesday's Not So Wise Words

It's strange waking up alone. For the longest time, like years, Mr. Man slept on the couch because I simply could not sleep beside him. With all his snoring and mumbling and tossing and turning, he was never quiet or still. Lately, like the last few months, he's come back to the marital bed. Hey I'm not going to turn away the body heat. And with my sleep aids I am able to sleep. I think I've been taking my sleep aids too late. I sleep right through the alarm clock. I wake up and Mr. Man is gone. I don't like that. Like I put up with him all night long and he can't even have the decency to be there when I wake up. I don't wake up when he gets up, it must be the sleep aids. I need to take them earlier in the evening. It's a nice sense of security having him beside me again. And the body heat is awesome. In spite of all his noise and carrying on I think I sleep better with him there. Then again it could just be the sleep aids. This morning was one of those days, he was already gone to work when I woke up. It's strange to start my day without him.

We've had no tv for days because the satellite has been down. Yesterday out of pure boredom I went to bed to read and get warm and inevitably fell asleep. I woke up at noon to Mr. Man coming home and waking me up. He had an appointment with a doctor for some testing to do with the lawsuit, but that wasn't until later. He wanted to go do our taxes. So I got up, he made me a coffee, and I had a quick shower. We went to do our taxes. It was so fast you wouldn't believe it. We were in and out in half an hour, and left with a cheque for our refund. Sweet. Afterwards we went across the street to the Thrift Store. We should have brought stuff to drop off but forgot it. So we just browsed around. I got 3 books and a jigsaw puzzle, all for $2. The puzzle is more manageable than that 3000 piece beast I've got sitting out waiting to be done, this one only has 500 pieces. I find the 1000 piece ones to be the best. After rolling up the rim on my Tim Hortons coffee, to find "play again", he dropped me off back at home and headed off to his appointment.

It was supposed to snow all day. It snowed but it was very light and mixed with rain at times. So it didn't accumulate. That's a very good sign that spring is on its way.

Mr. Man got another call from Little R's school. She hadn't skipped any classes this time, it was to set up a meeting with the Vice Principal. So we are going to see her Friday morning. I mistakenly thought the Vice Principal was a man, nope she's a woman. Little R doesn't know about this meeting, we're going to spring it on her at the last minute. Little R told me she was called down to see another counsellor yesterday, they discussed credit recovery. I guess she needs to recover the credit she didn't get in the first semester. Oh well, we'll find out what that's about on Friday.

I've been racking my brain trying to come up with this Fridays Show and Tell. I don't know what I'll use. I can't think of anything I'd like to show and tell. I had fun last week doing it and look forward to doing it again this week. I'm sure I'll come up with something. Before I actually joined this show and tell I had no problem finding things to take pictures of and talk about. Now suddenly I'm having a problem coming up with something. Sigh. It's kind of like with this blog. As long as I think there's really no one reading it, I can blather on about anything. But as soon as I know people are reading it I get stumped. After doing one show and tell, I'm stumped.

I really don't get out enough. Mr. Man is still using my car, the truck still isn't fixed. All we need is some decent weather on a weekend for Mr. Man to change the fan belt. I use the word really, a lot, don't I?

I think we have tv again. I may catch up on my soaps today. As well as look around for something to show and tell. That's my plans for today. I'm almost caught up on the laundry, so I might try to get that finished today as well. Last weekend a lady from Freecycle was supposed to pick up a bag of purses and whatnot. First she was coming Saturday, she didn't make it. She emailed me and said she would come Sunday after church. She didn't show up. To save her from having to trudge through the snow and ice up to the front door, Mr. Man tied the bag onto the back of the truck and I wrote Freecycle on it. It's still hanging there. That's one thing we could have taken to the Thrift Store yesterday. I don't know why it is some people say they want stuff and say they will pick it up then don't show up. It's frustrating. I've got quite a lot of stuff posted on Freecycle and no takers. That's frustrating. It's good stuff. Yet people will take the strangest things.

Well, I'm off to start my day. Have a lovely day.

Just Day Dreaming At 3 A.M

Here it is 3 a.m and I'm wide awake. I took a nap in the afternoon, waking just a minute before Mr. Man arrived home from work. Then I retired for the evening quite early. So it's no surprise I'm up now. Normally in the wee hours like this I feel lonely and distraught, but strangely this morning I feel mellow and content. I feel like writing a book. That would be wonderful if I had any ideas or training. I still think I should take a couple of computer courses and maybe throw in a creative writing course as well. I think I have a book about creative writing. I should read it. I also have books about starting a small business in Canada and making money online in Canada. I have yet to read them either. I tend to read for pleasure not to gain knowledge.

So Little R's math teacher phoned Mr. Man yesterday to report that she wasn't in class and hasn't been there for 6 days. When she came home, and I was just happy that she came home, I asked her about it and she said she had been called down to see a counsellor and that's why she wasn't in class. You would think the teacher would know that. Let's just hope that's the truth. I don't understand it, Little R always loved school. I don't know what has changed. I guess high school is a different world from her little elementary school. I just hope and pray that things smooth out. I don't know what I would do if she followed my footsteps and dropped out. That's just not an option. All I know is I have to handle things differently than my parents did.

I went out to get the mail yesterday and was surprised how mild it felt out there. It felt like spring is coming. I haven't checked the weather forecast lately. I wonder if March will come in like a lion or a lamb. March is usually a wild month. Anything can happen. I thought I was all prepared for this winter. I spent all summer collecting books at yard sales to keep me in reading material for the winter. I bought a couple of cross stitch kits. I've never done cross stitch before, I need someone to show me how to do it. I got a bunch of stuff through Freecycle to make a quilt, again I've never made a quilt before and found it's not something you can just jump into. I have a ton of craft projects to do. I've let the house get into such a state that it's impossible to relax here. I thought I was prepared, but clearly I'm not. So I'll spend this summer getting rid of the clutter and cleaning, so that next winter we actually have somewhere to store our firewood and I have somewhere to sit and do crafts. I'll get someone to show me how to do cross stitch. Next winter I'll be prepared. I know we have at least another month of winter to face. The time is passing quickly thankfully. This year I'm having my yard sale in May and in my own yard. I'll try to recruit neighbours to make it a street sale. I will not get sucked into the community sale at the town hall again. I don't quite understand why I hang onto the stuff I hang onto. Once it's gone I don't miss it. But I am one of these people who just keeps everything, because you never know when you may need it. Or because it was my aunts, or because my father gave it to me. Or because it was such a good deal. I hang onto books. Why? I'll never read them again. I hang onto toys, thinking I would have them for my grandchildren. Why? I can buy new toys for grandchildren, if I ever have any. I am really looking forward to it because I know I'll feel lighter after. I'll feel better. And it will be so much easier to clean this place.

So that's it, dreaming of spring and my yard sale. Hoping Little R gets her act together with school. Hoping things work out for my friend going through a divorce. Wishing I knew how to write a book or at least do some cross stitch.

I checked the weather forecast, they're calling for snow all day today, sigh.
Have a wonderful day.

It's Just Heartbreaking

This may not be appropriate, but it's my blog and I need to vent. A friend of mine is going through a really rough time. Her husband left her. Around the same time he left, my friends best friend also left her husband. Now, months later, the truth comes out. They are seeing each other! It seems they were having an affair before leaving. Obviously my friend is heartbroken. It breaks my heart to see her so hurt. I just talked to her and I'm bawling. I don't know what to say to her. I am here for her. I am here to listen when she needs to talk about it. But it really upsets me. I don't want her to read this and think she can't talk to me any more. I just want it to be known that it breaks my heart. What makes it even worse is there's kids involved. Two families were torn apart. And she thought they were friends. How can I help my friend? Is just listening enough? I feel her pain and I don't know what to do for her. I feel helpless.

We were friends with her husband too. We also know the other person involved but we weren't really friends with her. I must say I've lost respect. It is doubtful we will remain friends. We pretty much haven't seen him since he left. But we have discussed inviting him over, don't think that's going to happen now. So in this mess, we've also lost a friend.

I hope listening is enough because that's all I seem to have to offer. I hope I am strong enough. I would never turn my back on her, I just hope I don't break down and get all depressed. It is depressing. It's sad. It's heartbreaking. And I hope she is strong enough to pull through this and one day be able to move on. I'm sure she will, she's a tough cookie. But for now, she's heartbroken. I would welcome any advice on how I can help my friend. On what I should do as a friend. Prayers are welcome also.

Have a good day.

Glorious Sunshine

What a glorious, sunny day! And it wasn't too cold out either. It's about time. All I did was go to town with Mr. Man for dog food, put out the garbage, and hung around out back taking pictures. I soaked up as much rays as I could stand though. Man it felt good to have the sun beating down on me. I'm hoping to take the boys for a walk but I need Mr. Man to come with me and he's busy watching a western on tv right now. Hopefully we'll still have some sun whenever his movie is over.

Oh and our home-cooked meal last night? Frozen pizza, lol. What can I say.

So this is what I get to see when I look out my kitchen window. I've been wanting to get pictures of it all winter. Finally today I had the camera handy. I don't know what it's called, I keep thinking para-snow-surfing, but I'm sure that's not it. Anyways they have these kite/parachutes that pull them along on the snow on some sort of snowboards or something. They go really fast, they really whip. It looks like fun actually, too bad I'm so old and out of shape, I'd give it a try.
















So I just thought that was interesting. Looks like fun eh? We are also surrounded by groomed snowmobile trails. Too bad we sold our old snowmobile.

Just another boring day for me, except that I got out in the sunshine. And I won't have to race with the garbage man in the morning tomorrow, yay. Ok have yourselves a lovely evening.

The Talk

It's another damn cold day. I don't think it's as cold as it feels in this house though. This house is like sitting in a fridge. Looks like it's trying to snow again too, it's flurrying. Everything is covered in ice. Mr. Man couldn't even park the car in the driveway, he left it out on the street, because the driveway is just such an icy mess. I am so eager for spring. Each year seems to get a little harder to deal with the winter. The cost of propane is forcing us to try to be conservative, which means being cold all the time. I turned the furnace up today, to hell with it, I'm cold and aching from it. Why suffer when I don't have to? Mr. Man is having a nap right now, I'm sure he'll turn the heat down as soon as he gets up.

Well, talking with Little R didn't go so well yesterday. Since we were all up half the night she stayed home from school. We just didn't wake her up in the morning. She was miffed about that, how ironic. I think she was just upset about Mr. Man going to the school to discuss her skipping. I think that's what it was all about. I am hoping some of what I said sank in. I ended up getting frustrated and made the mistake of telling her to go ahead and leave. While I was busy poking the fire she snuck out. I thought I heard her getting ready to go out and when I went upstairs to stop her she was already gone. I panicked and called Mr. Man at work. He headed home right away. I just assumed she was going to make her way to town, meet up with her friends and pull the same stunt of not coming home. Within a half hour she came back, mail in hand, as if nothing had happened. I didn't think to call Mr. Man back because I knew he was on his way home. He told me I should have called him so he could slow down. Apparently he drove like a madman and was looking for her at the same time. By the time he got here, all was calm and it was as if nothing ever happened.

I understand that she is bored and lonely living here in the middle of nowhere. I remember being 14. I know her friends seem very important to her. But all she has to do is ask. We don't mind driving her to town to see her friends. She says we hate her friends. Really there's only one of them we don't like and with good reason. We don't even know her friends. It's all new people she's met at high school and they all live in town. Oh well, as I say, I hope some of what I said sank in. I hope we don't have to go through that again. When I was a kid you could be charged for truancy. I don't know if they still do that. I would hate to see it go that far for her. Let's be honest, when I was her age I did get charged for truancy. I hated school. I know first hand what path she is headed down. I so want to handle it differently than my parents did. I think I'm doing pretty good as far as that goes. I want a better outcome for her than what happened with me. I did drop out of school in grade 9. Obviously I now wish I hadn't. I don't want her to have the same regrets, I want her to learn from my mistakes. So we'll just keep on talking, hoping it makes sense to her and sinks in.

Mr. Man is up from his nap. I don't think he realizes yet that the heat is turned up. The flurries have turned to snow. It feels like it will never end. I'm off to make dinner. There's no better time to talk than around a good home-cooked meal. Have a lovely evening.

Show and Tell Friday

It's Show and Tell Friday. I've never done this before but it looks like fun so I am joining in. Kelli of There Is No Place Like Home is the host. Go on over to her site to check it out. You can participate or you can just check out all the other participants.

I figure I'll show my glass collection since I've been talking about it lately. I have collected this glass from auctions, yard sales, thrift stores, a few things from people who have passed away, and even some from dollar stores. Glass is everywhere in my house. I love coloured glass. I love the rainbow effect when the sun shines in the windows where a lot of it sits.

Please excuse the photos, they're not the best. I was kind of rushed. From doing this I have learned that quality over quantity is probably best.

The first picture is just a collection of coloured glass in my kitchen window. Not much detail.




Next is a better look at my red glass.



Next is purple and pink glass.



Pink glass.



Knobby glass and carnival glass.



More knobby glass.



Next is my green glass in the window in my familyroom. Yes it is buried in snow.



And my amber glass. Also in a familyroom window.



Miniature glass figurines.



Glass fruit and vegetables.

So there you have it. My house is full of glass. I couldn't show it all. This was my first time joining Kelli's Show and Tell. I was a little nervous. It was fun. I look forward to next Friday. I'll try to have better pictures next time too. Thanks for checking it out. Have a great day.

Safe And Sound At Home

Well we had quite a scare last night. You know how I told you that Mr. Man drove Little R to school yesterday? He didn't have an appointment and the Vice Principal was busy so he never got in to see him. I think they exchanged emails later in the day. Come 3:00 when Little R should be getting home, no Little R. Sometimes she will stay in town with her friends and then call Mr. Man to pick her up on his way home. So I wasn't too alarmed. But by the time he got home there was still no call. Then he gets the automated call from the school that she had skipped all day. Then he tells me that in the morning she had threatened to run away. Now I'm upset. Mr. Man drove back to town to look for her. He drove all over looking at all the places she might be hanging out with friends. He even walked through the mall. Plus SW was in town keeping an eye out for her. Nothing. By 11 p.m we were ready to call the police. We didn't know what else to do. We had called a couple of her friends and got nothing. So we drove into town to the police station. We told them what had happened with school and whatnot, gave them a list of a few of her friends names and a school picture of her along with her description. They basically sent us home to wait. By now I'm getting frantic. We were pretty sure she was just hiding out at a friends house, but there's still that small chance that something is wrong. I guess it was around 1 a.m when they finally called to say she was at the police station and she wants to come home. So off we went to pick her up. We were so relieved that she was ok. She was upset. And since we were all up til about 3 she is home from school today. She's not talking. We were right, she was at a friends house. They had convinced the parents that she had no way of getting home and had to stay.

So now she's home and she won't talk to me about it. I don't know what she's so upset about. I pulled the same kind of crap when I was 14 too. The cop we were dealing with had lots to say about how normal this is. I just wish she would talk to me. After all I am not the enemy here. She's going through 14 year old angst. When I asked her why she skipped school again she said she doesn't know. And I believe her. So that's how I'll be spending my day, trying to communicate with Little R. Trying to find out what her problem is. And letting her know just how much I love her.

Somewhat of a happy ending, in that she's home safe. Wish me luck. Have a great day.

Friends

This was given to me by none other than "Anonymous" Cathy. I don't remember the ocassion, if it was Christmas or what, but I do remember she gave it to me as a gift. I love it also. Both these plaques (this one, and the one I showed you yesterday) have a good home in the window over my computer.

Cathy and I have been talking again for the last couple of months. We talk, via the computer just about every day. We've been getting along swimmingly. We live an hour apart now. But we have discussed getting together for coffee. We seem to have both mellowed out and grown up. We don't antagonize each other like we used to. It's the way it should be. It's been relaxed, comfortable, mostly happy. I think we've both been transformed a bit. Just by life. Life is too short, too short for fighting, arguing and bickering.

I've always said "you get what you give" and "what goes around comes around". It wasn't that long ago that I discovered that's what Karma means. That's what Karma is. I may be slow but I do catch on eventually.

Cathy was showing me Christmas photos of her place, the tree, the decorating and what not. She kept pointing out stuff in the photos that I had given to her. I had forgotten these things. At the same time, I have a pile of stuff she has given to me and every time I look at them I think of her. It's mostly pieces of glass which has added to my collection. I treasure these things. I'm gonna put together some photos of all the things she gave me.

I wish I could be taking photos of spring flowers. All I want for Easter this year is one or two of those Hyacinths for my kitchen window. They smell gorgeous. SW gave me a white one in a pot a couple of years ago. I put it in my front garden and would like to have more of them. You can buy them in pots around Easter. Easter is going to be early this year, it's in March. Again I miss doing all the kid stuff. Last year Mr. Man showered me with gifts for Easter, don't know where that came from. Like I say, this year all I want is a couple of Hyacinths. Or is it Hiacynth? My spell checker isn't working. Gone are the days of hiding chocolate eggs all over the place. Gone are the days of all the fun kid stuff.

Well Aunt Flo came to visit me today and I am just experiencing the worst cramps. No amount of Advil is helping. Those 2 months without it could have been enjoyed if I wasn't so worried that something was wrong.

So I'm glad me and Cathy are getting along. It's nice to have someone the same age to talk to. And it's nice to not feel like you have an enemy. I'll post the pictures of my glass collection some other time. Have a great day.

Tidbits Of Nothingness

I want to be the kind of wife and mother who is up making pancakes and scrambled eggs and oatmeal every morning. I think I could be that person if my kitchen wasn't such a disaster zone.

Found out Little R skipped school again yesterday. No wonder she didn't have any homework.

So last night there was a lunar eclipse. I started watching it. I was even taking pictures. Then I came down and started yacking on messenger and forgot all about it. I saw the first half of it but missed the rest. I always miss the good stuff.

So Mr. Man is going to drive Little R to school today. I don't know what he hopes to accomplish. He's going to find out if there's still such a thing as truancy officers. And here I was thinking she had learned her lesson.

No response from the neighbour. But I didn't expect one anyway. At least not right away. It was such a spontaneous act. I didn't know what to expect really.

I haven't been able to get rid of a damn thing on Freecycle. I've got a pile of stuff posted but no takers. It's funny the stuff people will take, or not.

Well I'm going to continue reaching out to people today. I felt so social yesterday. I have to call my sister again today to let her know we won't be attending my brothers birthday lunch. I thought maybe we could make it and told her I'd call today to let her know one way or the other. We can't make it because Mr. Man will be missing a day of work that week for an appointment. Even at 6:45 a.m I'm still feeling social.

I actually got all those dishes put away. I squeezed them into one of my china cabinets. If we ever want to use them it will be a chore getting them out. But I definately have no more room for any more dishes. I have to buy new hangers to accomodate all the new clothes I got on the weekend. Stop the insanity!

Oh I think I figured out who my mystery reader from Orangeville is. I think it is SW when she's on her home computer, as opposed to being at school.

Thank you to all who commented. Thank you for your interaction. Now don't let it stop there. You just keep on commenting. And I'll keep on blogging. Have a great day.

Who Are You?

Who are you?


Visitor Detail: 20 February 2008
HostName :
belguecnas12-3467439807.dial.bell.ca
IP :
206.172.238.191
Last Visit :
1 Day(s)
ISP:
SYMPATICO
Country:
CANADA
Region/State:
ONTARIO
City:
ORANGEVILLE
Domain:
Canada
Language:
English
Browser:
MSIE [Win NT]
Screen Res:
Unknow 4 Billion colors (32 bit)
Javascript:
Enabled

I'm very curious to know who this is. They are on this site quite often. But no one comments. I also just found out today that my brother has in fact been reading also. Remember when I was at his place for Christmas dinner and I punched in the address for this blog on his computer? He has continued to read. I am thrilled about that. Now if I could only get him to leave comments, I'd be over the moon.

I've been feeling very social today. First with the card for my friend nextdoor. Then I called my sister. (Thats how I found out my brother's been reading this, they were discussing it!) And then I called Mr. Man at work, which I don't do very often. I've been posting stuff like crazy on Freecycle, hoping someone, somewhere, will take my junk. I even split some wood today! Do you know how long it's been since I've done that? Years. But I keep forgetting to ask Mr. Man to do it in the morning before he goes to work, so I took it upon myself today. I used to do it. Not sure why I stopped. It felt good, in more ways than one. It felt good to be independant. It felt good to do something I used to do but had stopped doing.

My blogging experience has been like talking to a void. Sure I get comments about it in person, because really the only people who read it regularly are people who really know me. I would think it would be so much easier to leave a comment and you can add anything further you feel neccesary when you talk to me. I leave the comment section open. It's always there. It's easy to use. You people must have something to say sometimes? Please, interact with me. Maybe I wouldn't feel quite as lonely. And I wouldn't feel so much like I'm just talking to a void. Please and thank you.

Friendship

Friendship

There's a miracle of Friendship
that dwells within the heart,
And you don't know
how it happens or where
it gets its start...
But the happiness
it brings you always gives
a special lift,
And you realize
that Friendship
is God's most
perfect gift.

That's written on a little, framed, glass plaque I have. I don't know who the author is. I just dug it, and another smaller one, out of the spare bedroom, and set them out on the windowsill by my computer. Looking in there for more stuff to Freecycle. No surprise I have some dishes to get rid off.

Anyways I have always loved that poem. I think I bought that at a Thrift store or a yard sale. I'm missing my friends today. Got friends and friendship on the brain today.

I can tell from my stats that I have a reader in Orangeville. I can really only think of one person it might be. I wish whoever it is would say something in the comments. Obviously it's someone who knows me, so pop in and say HI. Just let me know you're there. I think you know I do have a sense of humour. Go ahead, leave comments. It would really make this more fun for me if you do. Thanks in advance. SW, you can comment any time. I'm sure you can come up with something to say for just about every entry. I love to hear from you. Mr. Man, you read this all the time, you comment to me in person, why not try something new and comment on the blog? It would go a long way to cheering me up if people would leave comments :-)

Breaking The Ice

I once had a friend. We met by moving nextdoor to each other within a week of each other. It was sketchy at first. She was very leery. I was open to making new friends. Eventually she warmed up and we became close, genuine, friends. We had some really good times. We spent a lot of time together. We got involved in each others lives. A day didn't go by that we didn't see and speak to each other. I admired her for many things. We didn't agree on everything. But we had a lot in common.

Something stupid happened. Stupid words were exchanged. And basically we haven't spoken since. We've both been being stubborn. We were both hurt. This has gone on for almost 2 years now. Last year I bit the bullet and tried talking to her. We talked a bit. I thought we were on the road back to our wonderful friendship. But that doesn't seem to be the case.

Today I was sitting here thinking about her. Its her birthday this week. Last night I was reading a gardening website and that made me think of her. One of the things I admire about her is her gardening knowledge. So she's been on my mind lately. I miss her. So today I rooted through my vintage greeting cards and found the perfect "thinking of you" one. I wrote a little note in it. I made an envelope for it. I added cute stickers. And I trudged through the snow to deliver it to her house. I just left it on her porch where she will see it.

I'm glad I did it and I really hope it breaks the ice and she comes around. This grudge has got to end. But at the same time I feel like a total idiot for doing it. I feel like a stalker or something. I'm hoping it will bring a smile to her day and help her realize that I am really her friend. Maybe she will think of me and all the good times we had. Maybe she will want to talk. Or maybe she'll think I'm a loonybird. I just don't know.

I know I miss her friendship intensely. It's been a big factor in my depression. I didn't expect such a little thing to set us apart. I lost my best friend and fell into a deep depression. But like I said, we've both been stubborn. I've been trying to break the ice. I hope this helps. Wish me luck. You can even pray for me.

Something Else To Look Forward To

Going through old pictures again and I came across a couple of good ones. I was looking for the ones of Little R's grade 8 graduation, but I still haven't found them. I did however come across these from our last rides, last season. I was thinking riding season is probably still another 10 weeks away. It could be less, just depends on the weather.


So here's me relaxing in the shade at a Show & Shine...






I'm pretty sure this was our very last ride of the season. Here's SG sitting at a red light...

And last but not least, Mr. Man at a gas stop...

I look forward to riding season almost as much as I look forward to my spring flowers blooming. I look forward to both quite equally actually lol. Hopefully Mr. Man can figure out whatever problems he was having with it and Bertha will give us a good year.

Just something else to look forward to.

Almost A Clutter Tangent

Well the long weekend is over. It just went by too fast. And now it's back to the grind. Oh well at least it's a short week. We didn't do much of anything all weekend. We are a very lazy family. Never did cook the lasagna and cake yesterday, so I'll be doing that today. Even though it was supposed to be our Family Day dinner. I'm liking this Family Day holiday. It was a great idea. We needed a long weekend in February.

So yesterday, Monday, we went and picked up a pile of clothes from a freecycler. I got a bunch of skirts and dresses out of it. That GPS I gave Mr, Man for Christmas really comes in handy. You just type in the address and it tells you where to go. No more driving around, lost, looking for places. So I got a bunch of clothes that I can use. Mr. Man also carried in the box of dishes that were sitting in the trunk of the car. I found a lot of them are chipped. That's not cool. So I won't be able to use them for dinner parties. But I just love the colour and pattern on them so we can use them ourselves. I just need to find somehwere to put them. I think I know where I can put them. Hopefully there's enough room. It sure seems like for everything I get rid of I bring something else home. I just can't help myself. I still say by the end of this summer I will have this place decluttered and cleaned up. I can do it.

I'm just trying to get a fire going with precious little kindling. I forgot to ask Mr. Man to cut me some kindling this morning before he went off to work. It's dam chilly down in this familyroom without a fire going. But with a fire it is so cozy. This is where I spend the majority of my time. That's why the kitchen is a wreck, out of sight out of mind.

It feels so lonely here the day after the weekend. I think I spend far too much time alone. But being depressed I cut myself off from the world. I don't seek people out and they give up on me. I withdraw. Then I feel lonely. But after having the family home all weekend it's too quiet around here when they go back to work and school.

It's just me and the dogs. Eddie has become obsessed with the fire lately. He will pace on the hearth in front of the fire. He will sit and stare at it. And his latest thing is growling and barking at it. Once he starts barking Bear follows suit. No more peace and quiet. Bear just ignores the fire. If it pops he will get up and go upstairs to be away from it. He certainly doesn't go near it. Eddie sticks his face right in the firebox. I finally got the fire going. It should start to warm up in here shortly. This most recent batch of firewood is different yet again. It's not wet, but some of it is damp. There's no birch in it at all. And the pieces are huge. Most of them need to be split. With the cost of buying these little bags compared to buying a bush cord, it probably works out to be cheaper to buy a bush cord. I think for next year we will make a point of ordering a bush cord delivered and do it at the right time. We waited too late this year. The best time to order it is end of summer/early fall. But it just gets dumped out of a dump truck in your driveway and then you have to stack it somewhere to keep it dry. We don't even have room in our garage for firewood this year.

I feel a clutter tangent coming on. I'll just stop here. Have a great day.

My Show And Tell

Good morning. It's Monday, but it feels like Sunday. It's Family Day. Mr. Man's favourite pastime on weekends is napping. Because I am home all the time I can nap any time. I would prefer to spend my weekend time with him. Sadly he would prefer to sleep. I feel that we wasted last night by him going to bed earlier than me. It's like a second Saturday night when it's a long weekend. Oh well, here I am, I'm the only one up. Not sure what the weather is like, it looks cold out. I think the rain has stopped and I don't see any snow. That's a good thing.

There is a blog I've started reading where she does this Show and Tell thing every Friday. I'm too shy to join in, but I may some day. So I thought I would just do my own little Show and Tell. I'm going to show you some of my collection of snow art. Some of the pictures aren't the best, I took them in a hurry and with poor lighting. They are all hanging on the walls throughout my house. Some were bought at auctions and yard sales, some were gifts. Many of them were bought for me by Mr. Man.

This first painting hangs in my familyroom. We bought it at an auction. Mr. Man has been researching it thinking it is old and maybe worth money. He hasn't had much luck with his research. It is signed "Winslow".

This next one is titled "Snow Barrel" and is by a local artist, Jack Reid. It is a signed and numbered print. We got this one at an auction also. It needs a new frame, the glass is cracked and I don't like the matte. It also hangs in my familyroom. Pardon the glare from the camera flash.

I'm not sure where I got this next one, it was either an auction or a yard sale. It looks to be a hand made tray. It is a wood burning picture. It also hangs in my familyroom. Not sure if it's a snow picture, but it looks like it to me.

This next one Mr. Man and I saw it in a furniture store and I just had to have it. So we bought it. It hangs up in my diningroom. Pardon the blurry photo.

The next one is by Robert Bateman, titled "Kingfisher". Robert Bateman does all nature and animal paintings. There is actually a Kingfisher bird in this picture. It was given to me by my friend SP. It hangs in my livingroom.

Next is a signed and numbered print I'm not sure who the artist is and I'm too lazy to go upstairs to check. Mr. Man just surprised me with this one, brought it home for me out of the blue. I guess he saw it and knew I would love it, so he bought it. It also hangs in my livingroom.

Next is one I've had for years, don't remember where we got it, but I do remember that we bought it. I kind of think it was a little art store in a mall. Not sure of the artist, something Campbell I believe. It hangs in my livingroom.

And saving the best for last, I absolutely fell in love with this one when I saw it and had to have it. So Mr. Man gave it to me for Christmas a couple of years ago. I'm not sure if its a painting or a print or what, but I just love it. It hangs in my diningroom.

So there you have it, most of my collection of snow art. Some of the photos aren't the best because of poor lighting and weird angles and they were taken in a bit of a rush. But you get the idea. Blogger gave me a hell of a time uploading them too, it took twice as long as it should have because I had to keep redoing it.

While in the middle of creating this entry Mr. Man woke up and has been distracting me. I also looked outside to see that it has in fact started snowing. I had a feeling it would. As you can guess, I do love snow. But being buried in it and being cold all the time, I've had enough for this year. I'm ready for spring.

Have a great Family Day. Thank you for checking out my Show and Tell.

The Weekend So Far

So far the long weekend has been good. The weather has been terrible. That means the truck still isn't fixed and I will be without a car again next week. So Saturday, Mr. Man and I went to town just to do a little shopping and just to avoid being home. We ended up going to a pub where we had a couple of beers and he had wings and I had perogies. We picked up those dishes and they are still in a box in the trunk of the car. We went to Dollarama only to find they were in the middle of moving to a different location across the parking lot. The new location is much bigger. The one thing I was looking for had not been moved over to the new store yet, of course. We came home and played darts. I think I drank too many beers. I lost every game. Mr. Man soon got bored with the lack of competition. I started my drunken living in the past routine and got all upset. Then we just went to bed and slept it off.

Today, we had a couple of naps before we got up and got mobile. Again we went to town, actually got some groceries this time. And dropped off a bag of clothes to a drop box. We had Little R with us. We dropped her off to hang out with friends in town while we shopped. We then picked her up and we all went out for dinner together. It was a miserable day. Pouring rain all day. Then in the evening the temperature dropped and everything became icy. I think they're calling for snow tonight and tomorrow.

We came home and Little R and I played a few games of darts. I think I won one game. Mr. Man headed off to bed. I tried to get him to stay up and spend the evening with us to no avail. Now it's 1:30 in the morning and I'm still up. That's what happens when you sleep half the day away. I suppose I should go to bed soon too. I'm just so comfy in my new jammies with the fire going. I brought home a doggy bag from dinner and gave the boys some chicken.

Here's a picture I took yesterday during our travels. On the way to pick up the dishes, there was an amazingly pink sunset. The picture was taken in a moving car....



I plan on posting a lot of pictures in the near future. I used to just love snow. I collect pictures of snow. I took pictures of my collection. I also collect coloured glass and took pictures of that. It's a little ironic that I am now sick and tired of the snow. But I do still see beauty in it.

Well, I'm heading off to blog surf a bit before I turn in for the night. Tomorrow is Family Day. We plan on baking a cake and making home-made lasagna for dinner. Have a good night and have an awesome Family Day.

Family Day

The absolute last thing in the world I need is more dishes. I must have a fetish. I saw these dishes, 8 placings, on Freecycle and had to have them. I thought lots of people would want them so what are the chances I'll get them. But no, she picked me, so I get them. What am I going to do with them? I already have more dishes than I need. Crazy.

So this is a long weekend for us. Our government just came out with this new holiday. The third Monday in February is now Family Day. Hey, sounds good to me. We have no plans or anything, just the family hanging out together at home, relaxing.

Little R went to her dance last night. She came home with a bouquet of fake flowers. It was a Valentines dance, the day after. So some boy won the flowers for dancing and gave them to her, awww. She also handed over her report card to us last night. It wasn't very good, but it was much better than I expected. She got 3 out of 4 credits. I do believe she learned her lesson and will do much better in the second semester. The little bugger took white out to the area that showed how many classes she missed. Maybe it's even worse than we were aware of. At any rate I'm just happy she got 3 credits.

I took out that puzzle we got at a yard sale. It's not 2000 pieces, it's actually 3000 pieces! It was put away after being done by folding it into the box in chunks. So it's half done already, we have to break it all up to do it. It looks hard. The pieces are very small. It looks downright impossible. But with the 2 or 3 of us working on it we can do it.

There are weather warnings in effect again. We're expecting another winter storm. The weather has been crazy this winter. I think this is the most snow we've ever had since we lived here. If Monday wasn't a holiday it would surely be another snow day. The storm is supposed to hit us Sunday.

Well I'm out of coffee, I'm off to enjoy my Family Day weekend with my family. Have a great day.

Yippee, It's Friday!

Above is the picture they use on the website where I check my weather forecast. They're calling for more snow. It looks like it snowed all night again last night. It's snowing now. It's supposed to continue snowing. I can't deal with any more snow. I've had enough. I wish I had the means to travel to somwhere sunny and warm. A tropical vacation is what I need. I may have to settle for using my minutes at the tanning salon. I haven't gone yet this winter. I only went once last winter. Now that is just something else I could do if I had my car. Mr. Man has been using my car again all this week. Hopefully the weather will let up long enough at some point this weekend for him to fix the truck.

There is a dance at Little R's school tonight. That means we have to drive her there and then pick her up again. Hopefully the roads won't be too bad. This is her first high school dance. A nieghbour wanted her to babysit but she declined due to the dance. We should get report cards today. She has 4 completely new subjects for the second semester. So far so good. She's doing her homework and going to classes. I don't know where she got the notion that skipping classes would be a good idea. But it looks like she did indeed learn her lesson. Todays report cards will tell all.

I mentioned to Mr. Man that one of the blogs I read is someone in England and they have flowers blooming already. He said "seems to me you said the same thing at the same time last year". I didn't realize I've been reading it that long. And what a good memory Mr. Man has. There was one year I tried growing a bunch of flowers from seeds, starting them in styrofoam cups in the house. It didn't work out. Some of them did sprout but then proceeded to shrivel up and die. I just can't wait to get out in my gardens. Besides sitting at the computer and taking photographs, mucking around in my gardens is one of my favourite pastimes. I still want to rearrange things, I never did do that last year. I started digging a new garden to transplant things to but I never finished it and nothing got moved. We didn't plant anything in our little vegetable garden last year. This is the time of year that I start all my planning. And itching to get out there.

I think I'll start a jigsaw puzzle today. We bought a 2000 piece puzzle at a yard sale. I'm just going to assume all the pieces are there. I used to do puzzles a lot. I have quite a collection of puzzles. I find it to be a very relaxing winter pastime. But 1000 pieces is the biggest I've ever done so this should be a challenge. Wish me luck.

Well I'm going to eat some bonbons. Have a fabulous day. It's Friday! Yippee!

Valentine Surprise

So, I ended up making my version of Shepards Pie for dinner. What? It's a home-cooked meal. I never claimed to be a chef. Mr. Man liked it and that's all that matters. Didn't the bugger surprise me with roses and chocolates and a card with scratch tickets! He also got a single pink rose, chocolates and a card for Little R. What a guy. I really wasn't expecting much of anything this year, it really was a surprise. Funny when I went out to the bar last weekend he gave me a big $20 and told me he didn't have any money. I guess he was thinking ahead, or just lying. Now I owe SW I don't even know how much money because she ended up buying me drinks. So the chocolates he got me...ever had Quality Street cotton candy filled chocolates? OMG they're YUMMY. I'm just happy I'm able to eat them with the dentures and all. Most of them seem to be soft. The dentist told me "now there are some things you'll just never be able to eat again, like toffee". I thought Quality Street was all toffee, not so. I'm so happy. I feel so loved. And now for the pictures...













When I woke up from my afternoon nap, damned if it wasn't snowing again! I just can't take any more. It looks like we'll be spending a part of our weekend shoveling the driveway again. Oh well, for now I feel all warm and fuzzy. I love my man so much, he is so good to me.

Happy Valentines Day

I typed up an entry then I came back to add something and Blogger did away with the rest of the entry. Grrrrrrr. So here I am starting all over.

It's Valentines Day. So, Happy Valentines Day! It's no big deal around here. Mr. Man used to get me roses and chocolate and even jewelry. I don't think he has the money for that this year. I usually get him a card and some chocolate. Now he's diabetic and besides I haven't had the chance to go to town shopping. He did say "Happy Valentines Day" on his way out the door this morning, which surprised me because I hadn't even thought about it, wouldn't expect him to think about it.

As I say, he used to always bring me roses and whatnot. I'm not expecting much this year. Who knows, maybe he'll surprise me. I'm terrible with jewelry. I used to have quite the collection of necklaces, now I'm down to one that isn't broken. I break necklaces, I lose bracelets and I lose the diamonds out of rings. It's been a long time since he gave me any new jewelry, or flowers for that matter. A pointsetta at Christmas doesn't really count.

We used to buy a ton of candy and make up little bags and write out Valentine cards for Little R to take to school. I don't think they have Valentine parties in high school. I miss doing that. Last year I bought a red heart wreath for the front door. I can't find it this year, go figure.

I'm thinking the one thing I can do is cook a nice dinner for Mr. Man. It's been a while since I've done any real cooking. He'd appreciate a good home-cooked meal. We received a gift card for Christmas for a dinner out, but I don't think Mr. Man would be into that after working all day.

Looks like it will be just another day around here, except for getting a decent meal for a change. Oh well, thats ok, I'm ok with that. We know we love each other.

So what I wanted to add was...Mr. Man bought some fresh firewood yesterday. This stuff is much better, it's dry, and it's almost all birch. Birch is the best smelling wood. It has a scrumptious aroma when burning. I have a fire going and I noticed the room filling up with smoke. It didn't smell like birch, it smelled kind of awful. So I opened the window to let the smoke out. Have you ever heard of the Ove-Glove? My father bought me one when we first moved in here. It comes in handy for grabbing logs to rearrange in the fire. It's supposed to be fire proof. When I went to grab my Ove-Glove to move some logs around in the fire thinking that's where the smoke was coming from, I found that it was the Ove-Glove that was burning. No wonder it smelled so bad. I guess it's worn out. It was well used. I think when we go to get a new one, because I can't imagine not having one at this point, we'll get a pair of them. If you have a wood-burning fireplace I highly reccomend using an Ove-Glove. So anyways I ran upstairs holding this burning piece of Kevlar, whipped open the back door and buried it in the snow.

So what about you? Do you celebrate Valentines Day? Do you and your partner exchange gifts? How do you celebrate?

Snow, What Else Is There?

What you are looking at is about 4 feet of snow. The first picture is the deck on the front of the house and there is a table and chairs buried under there. The second picture is a drift in the backyard. Thankfylly the snow seems to have stopped falling and it's sunny out there today. It's cold, though it is above freezing according to my outdoor thermometer.

This morning the alarm clock went off 15 minutes early because that's what Mr. Man had it set at and forgot to change it back. I was not ready to get up. He asked me if I would get up and make him a coffee and give him another 15 minutes of sleep! I said of course as I dragged my weary butt out of bed. He had some assessment thing to go to today, so I didn't think he had to be up so early since he wasn't going to work, wrong again. A shitload of snow has been dropped on us lately. You know how when the plow goes by it leaves a big pile of snow at the end of your driveway? Mr.Man tried to blow through that with my car. He got stuck. Just as I was getting all nestled in front of the computer he came in and asked me to get dressed to come out and help him get the car out. Of course I said as I pulled on my arctic boots. It took us a while as it was really stuck, but we got it out eventually, and off he went.

Last night he had to go out and shovel a path to the propane tank in order to have propane delivered today. That was quite the task and it was miserable out to boot. But he did it and thankfully we got propane today. We were dangerously low. Apparently they have a new rule, if there isn't a clear path to your tank they charge an extra $100. We were shopping around for another propane company but they're all about the same, and this one owns our tank and our hot water heater, so, we'd have to buy them in order to have another company supply us with propane.

Thankfully there was school today. Last night I was having visions of yet another snow day. Sometimes even though the buses aren't running the school is still open. On those ocassions Little R is missing out and falling behind. We are determined that she is going to do better this semester than last semester. We don't know yet just how bad she did, but we know it's bad.

Well I know I should get out there and shovel the driveway so Mr. Man doesn't get stuck when he comes home, but I think I'll bribe Little R to do it. She's young, she'll bounce back. I on the other hand may freeze to death or have a heart attack or something. Mr. Man has started nagging me about cleaning up the house. He admitted he'll be mentioning it every day. It has gone too far. He's out of patience and understanding. He thought it was just a phase but now sees that I am just being lazy. So I must go and clean something now. I really don't like it when he's pissed off at me. Have a great day.

Snow Squalls and Hot Flashes

There was an amazingly pink sunrise this morning but alas I didn't take a picture of it. Yesterday was another snow day for the kids. The buses were cancelled because the roads were closed. Sunday was extremely windy. There was a lot of drifting snow. Our power went out for a few hours. Saturday it snowed all day long. Mr. Man never did fix the fan belt on the truck, because of the crazy weather. So here I am stuck without a car again. We're in an extreme cold snap too. The forecast says we'll be back in the above freezing temperatures by Friday.

The lady from Freecycle didn't show up to pick up the clothes until about 9 p.m. She was supposed to come in the morning. She said the roads were really bad. I didn't want to hear that because I was going out to the bar with SW. This was the first time I've been out to a bar without Mr. Man in many years. It felt strange at first. Thankfully SW is a good driver. The roads were nasty and the snow just wouldn't stop. So we went, we had a few drinks, well she stopped drinking after a couple because she was driving, so I had a few drinks. We danced, we played pool. There was a band but they only played 2 sets while we were there. They may have played one before we got there. And with the new no smoking laws we spent half the night standing outside in the snow smoking. We made it home safely and I proceeded to fall in the snow in my driveway and came in covered in snow. We had a good time, I needed a night out.

Sunday was so cold and snowy and windy it was unreal. I had a slight hangover. The power kept flickering and eventually went out all together. It was off all afternoon. That means no heat and no water. The last batch of firewood Mr. Man got was very wet and wouldn't burn well, which means it wasn't putting out any heat. We all just took a nap, to get cozy under the covers.

The wind and snow continued through Monday leaving the kids with no school again. They've had more days off than on in the last 2 weeks. Today there is school finally.

I think I had my first ever hot flash the other night. I was so hot I couldn't sleep. I was sweating. That never happens to me, I'm always cold. So eventually I got up to check the thermostat thinking it must have been turned up. It wasn't. But the whole house felt hot to me. The furnace was going. I thought there must be something wrong with the furnace. Maybe when the power went out it did something. So I woke up Mr. Man telling him I think there's something wrong with the furnace, it won't turn off and the house is too hot. He got up and checked and there was nothing wrong, the furnace stopped and he didn't find it hot at all. I continued to sweat until I finally fell asleep. And then apparently I snored really really loud. So this has never happened to me before. I'm always freezing. It was a nice change. Hope it happens again. Guess I'm hitting that age where these things happen.

I got used to having Little R home with me. It feels lonely being here alone again. I have a ton of housework and snow shovelling to keep me occupied. But I'm feeling utterly lazy and it's too nice being wrapped up in a blanket here at the computer. Maybe later. Have a great day.

Having Good Luck, It Could Have Been Worse

I wish I was creative. I wish I had a better imagination. I wish I was a good story-teller. Sadly, I'm more like brain-dead. I don't know if it's my medication or what. When I go to type up an entry my mind goes blank. As I imagine you're tired of reading about snow and my cluttered house, I'm tired of writing about snow and my cluttered house. The unfortunate truth is, that's all there is in my life lately, snow and my cluttered house. In fact, it's snowing again this morning. But on the bright side, I have a lady coming here sometime this morning from Freecycle to pick up 2 garbage bags of Little R's clothes, yay. Yesterday a lady came and picked up an old scanner. The thing had no cables with it or anything, just a scanner. I don't even know where it came from in the first place. I have another old scanner to get rid of too, but I actually bought this one and it has cables and CDs with it. It's a good one and I'd rather try to sell it than just give it away. If I can't sell it in the spring then I'll Freecycle it.

Our luck may be turning around. Mr. Man and I both got scratch tickets in our Christmas stockings and Mr. Man actually won $25 on one. Recently he got 5 out of 7 numbers on a Super 7 ticket and won $100. You would think for 5 numbers he would get more than that, but that is the nature of the beast. $100 is probably the most he's ever won. So feeling pretty lucky here.

Last night Mr. Man was late getting home from work. He walked in saying "I need a ride and some pantyhose. Oh and grab the scissors too. Come along wife." The fan belt on the truck broke and he broke down. He tried calling here, but because we're on dial-up he couldn't get through, so he ended up calling SW and she went to pick him up and brought him home. With our recent good luck it happened fairly close, only a couple of miles from home. So off we went to replace the fan belt with pantyhose. It worked briefly. Long enough to get him a mile closer to home. We ended up just parking the truck at the school down the road. He'll go fix it properly today. We may have to take shovels with us though, because the snow has been coming down pretty good all morning. He keeps telling me how happy he is with the performance of the truck. These things are bound to happen after it sat unused for a couple of years. All things considered, it's doing well.

I went to see my doctor last Wednesday because I needed a new prescription for my miracle pills. The original prescription was good for a year or so. Then I ran out of pills and when I went to get more I found out the scrip was finished. So we talked, and I told him how I've been so depressed for the longest time. He decided to up the dosage on the miracle pills. When I first started taking them a year ago I noticed the difference right away. I felt like a million bucks. But gradually the effects seemed to wear off. Now that I'm taking a higher dose I am feeling a little better. Amazing. I mean really, before the higher dose there is no way in hell I would have gone out and shovelled my car out of that mountain of snow. I've just been doing more the last few days after taking the higher dose, than I had done in months prior. That's not to say I feel like a million bucks, because I don't. But I do feel a little better.

Well, I'm off to do a little blog surfing, then I'm gonna look around to see what else I can scrounge up to post on Freecycle. Have a great day.