5 thing Friday - windows, thrifting, cross stitch, groceries, Firstborn

 Much as I love this kitchen bay window, I probably should put up some sort of window covering since the house next door has finally sold.  

Blinds are exorbitant for the type and size I want, and I need something that won't damage the wall.

I'm thinking I will use a heavy duty extension rod and gauzy fabric with curtain clips.  Even burlap would do.  I don't want to lose the light in here, just gain a little privacy.

It feels like I haven't been to a thrift store in forever.  I made a run to Goodwill to donate some stuff from that hall closet and picked up a cute summer top, a pullover dress to wear with leggings, 2 novels, and a basket for washcloths in my linen closet - $20 bucks.  Not really cheap - I need to exercise my thrift store shopping muscle a bit.

A friend of mine posted this pic on her Instagram and I was smitten.  I sketched out the heart with all of its symbols, sans the writing, and it is my current project.

I may make several of them for gifts, in different colors.

I am on track with my grocery budget.  Its actually not impossible, I just have to be creative and plan, plan, plan.  Not just what's for dinner, but lunch and breakfast, too.  And I have to say, I eat fairly well.

Firstborn has a birthday next Wednesday.  You would never know to look at him, but he was a small baby and always in the 50th percentile or less on the growth charts.  The pediatrician was always concerned about his small size, but to me he looked perfect and he was such a happy baby!  I'm glad I didn't worry about it too much - but for sure I will tell my own kids when they become parents someday:  trust yourself and your own instincts.  If your child is pooping, they are eating.  If they are playing and sleeping and laughing, they are likely healthy.  And if they kiss you and tell you, I love you, Mom, (especially when they are adult)  you did all the right things. 

Happy Friday the 13th!

Gina

Little project: hall closet

 Behind this door lurked a closet stuffed full of vintage camera equipment, slides and reels, cleaning items, coats, board games none of us had played in years, and the world's biggest dust bunnies!  So, there's no "befores" to show you, because in a fit of inspiration I gave it a clean sweep on NY day.

You're just gonna have to believe me that every time I opened this closet, I felt a little angry.  It seems like we got to live in this house for about a year, with space to grow, then my MIL passed and we inherited 50% of the things in her house.

Mark wouldn't part with any of it.

I finally decided I had enough.  His old coats went to live in Bubbie's closet.  I hauled the camera crap out to the garage where it now has a dedicated space.  Everything else went into the Goodwill pile. Then I made space for some other random items (Swiffer refills and haircut supplies), decided which games to keep (not very many), and called it good enough.

  And now this closet is about a third emptier, and I don't promise I won't get rid of more of it in the future.

What's under the shelves? Two carrying cases full of old LP's ca. 70's and 80's.

And look! a crap ton of them above, too.

On the other side hangs my coats, the leaves to the dining and kitchen tables, a carpet cleaning machine, and the vacuum.  Its always amazed me how small this closet is, considering this is a 4 bedroom house*.  On to the next project...

  

Gina

******

Should I save things for my peeps?  Here is what I have decided about that:  this house needs to work for me, as a home, not as a storage facility.  In fact, I have asked them several times to come over and look through the items I am purging, to see if they want any of it.  They decline.  So in my view, all of the things left here are my responsibility to keep or toss as I see fit.  I can either store them for a "someday" when there is no guarantee someone will want them, or I make space in here for me to live.

I choose space to live.

Monday Menus #2

I made my regular New Year's meal because I thought everyone was coming over to have lunch with me.  A couple of them even asked me if I were making ham balls...so I made a big batch.

Then no one showed.

So this tradition ended last year, I guess, and somehow I missed the memo.  But now I have a lot of delicious leftovers to freeze.  And in 2024, I will plan to do something completely different on New Year's Day!

Monday - Tilapia, kale, garlic mashed potatoes

Tuesday - Grilled Chicken Breast over buttery pasta, brussels sprouts

Wednesday - Patty Melt with onion and tomato, fries

Thursday - Coconut Shrimp, rest of the mashed potatoes, broccoli

Friday - Out {payday, on call until next Thursday}

Saturday - Cheesy Beef Enchiladas, corn

Sunday - Cranberry Gorgonzola Salmon Patty, rest of the brussels sprouts, rice

Gina

5 thing Friday - sparkling wine, flashbacks, sales, disaster, New Year's Day

Long story: Mark gave this bottle of champagne to my brother at our wedding and told him to "hold on to it".  Then he forgot all about it, as I guess so did my brother, until last year when he had my sister bring it to my mother's house .  It's been in her fridge for weeks. 

 

On a recent visit to her I opened it.  There was zero fizz and it had turned brown, but before I could stop her, my mother grabbed the bottle from me and took a swig of it!

She missed the wedding, so she finally got to toast me with my sparkling wedding wine, 37 years later.  And the rest of it got poured around her yard.

Ambulance lights bouncing off the house next door and lighting up my front windows gives me that flashback feeling of doom.  And in this case, it was my next door neighbor who has cognitive decline and was so weak from covid that her husband could not get her into the car. Oy.

Upside: I met another neighbor who is very nice and he expressed his condolences to me.

HEB apparently thought everyone in Austin, Texas was going to make a gingerbread house this year, so they had a bunch of different types of them on clearance and I bought one for The Girl for next year.  That and a roll of wired ribbon constituted the extent of my after Christmas sales shopping.

Another freeze, and this time the pipe broke below the cutoff valve so...

The top of my hill was a flooded mess.  The only thing I knew to do was call The Girl for advice, shut off the main water, and turn off all the breakers in the pumphouse.  {in hindsight, I could have skipped step one above}  There's no sense in me berating myself for not fixing the pipe once and for all, then wrapping it securely in insulation.  It didn't happen.  Now I have a new project out there.

To work off extra energy I gathered up a load of things to take home: all of the remaining firewood, the windchimes, the sink table from back here, the 5 gal bucket, most of the extension cords, and misc. crap.  I will continue carting off my old life at Highlands one pick-up load at a time, I guess.

{I emptied the bulletin board - clean slate}

On NY day I got up at my regular time and starting my yearly cleaning, organizing, and purging.

The Christmas tree went back to to the garage, and I decided to put the fiddle leaf fig in the front room and remove the side table that Mark wanted to use for his morning coffee cup.  Everything got dusted, vacuumed, or wiped down. 

I made the best skillet of sauteed cabbage I ever have, and enjoyed my Swedish ham balls, black eyed peas, and some wine as I sat out on my patio.  Then I read for a while and went to bed by 9:30.  An altogether pleasant start to the year.  And whether good things or bad things happen this year, I am going to do a better job of dealing with life.

My peeps are ready to move forward - and so am I.

Gina 

Monday Menus #1

 

Does anyone else love that the holidays are over?  It means I get to store Christmas decor, deep clean my house, organize my kitchen, get back on a budget, and plan for a new year.

I like it.

Monday - Chicken Alfredo Pasta (leftover rotisserie chicken and a Knorr pasta packet, so fancy!), broccoli {pay Bubbie's Spring tuition}

Tuesday - Lazy Daisy Meatballs, rice, kale

Wednesday - Leftovers from New Year's Day (freeze the rest)

Thursday - Pulled Pork (the last from day after Thanksgiving) over a baked potato with cheese and sour cream

Friday - Navy Bean Soup (freezer), garlic toast 

Saturday - I'm going to grill something, weather permitting!

Sunday - Dinner with The Girl?

******

I spent New Year's Day alone for the first time in 40 years and it felt strange, but not lonely.  A little blue, but hopeful, too - I'm not sad 2022 is over, though.  It was a hard year.  And I spent a part of my day reflecting and thinking about what Gina wants, and how to get there.

Wish me luck.

Gina

5 thing Friday - Christmas, friends, Gus, firepit, plants

This was the most unusual Christmas I have had as a mom by far.  For lots of reasons.

But it was important for me to continue the traditions of stockings, and waiting until Christmas Eve to place gifts under the tree.  And truthfully, it was a beautiful Christmas.

It wasn't fancy.  But it felt cozy and warm and safe.

It made me laugh at myself to realize I fixed THE EXACT SAME MEAL for us last year as I did this year.  It was delish.

But it felt special to me, and I hope it did for my peeps, too - Firstborn, The Girl, Scout, Dutch, and Bubbie.  The 5 most important people in my life.

Sometimes I run dry of f****, as I'm sure most people do...  And I have a work bestie who helps me laugh and is worth her weight in gold.  She likes irreverent humor as much as I do. I have a couple of friends like that - they keep it real and I am glad I have them around.

On a recent visit to my mother's house, I could not help but notice Gus's decline.  He is basically blind, very hard of hearing, and has arthritis issues with his hips.  I fear he is not long for this life and I know it will cause my mother pain, and I don't know quite how I will help her with it, but I will.  She has had Gus longer than she had Jim.

The Girl found me a bag of pinion pine which makes for a very cute and aromatic firepit whenever I am in the mood for a small fire, a glass of wine, and an hour or so in solitude on my patio.

Dutch made me this art which I promptly hung in The Lounge aka my office and I love it.  Homemade gifts are the bomb diggity!  I also got some handmade potholders from The Girl - I love those kinds of gifts.

I just about killed myself getting my plants into the garage and window seat last week, and now its 73 degrees again!  I need to find a better place to keep the ficus and the olive tree so that I'm not hauling them around the side of the house with my bum knee in the dark while the wind blows around me.

Zero out of 10, do not want to do that again.

******

Happy New Year!  I will be on my third dream by midnight on NYE...

Gina

Empty Nest menu #151*

 Happy day after Christmas!

stay warm out there...

Monday - Pizza! Romaine salad

Tuesday - Freezer meal {I work 1230-9 p.m.}  Might get a burger for lunch, we'll see

Wednesday - TBD, visiting my mother in Brenham

Thursday - Tilapia with salad, a veggie (maybe chick peas?) {pay Bubbie's tuition}

Friday - Steak, baked potato, salad

Saturday - TBD {time spent filling "my year in review" from this lady}

Sunday - Swedish Ham Balls, Cabbage, black eyed peas, rolls {this New Year's Day menu never changes!}

*I think I shall come up with a new name for menus!

Gina