My 10 daily essentials

 I read an interesting blog post that inspired me to make a list of my 10 daily essentials.  Nowhere on here will you find make-up or haircare, or even links to Amazon.  Its not that kind of list.  For me its what I need in my daily life to keep the wheels turning.  Please note, this list makes me sound like an old chick.

Which I am.

1.  What I wear at home - tee shirts and shorts with orthotic flip flops or my house shoes.  I have dresses and cute heels that don't get worn very much anymore, but occasionally I will "dress up" just to feel pretty.  Then I go grocery shopping, ha ha.  I sleep in men's boxers and tee shirts. No makeup, usually a pony tail, grubby clothes to work in the yard.  I say to myself "well, I'm not planning on entering a beauty contest any time soon".

2.  What I wear at work - scrubs.  The dress code in my hospital is that people in Imaging wear black scrubs, but we are allowed to wear print tops.  Instead of tennies, I opt for comfy shoes that keep my feet happy for 12 hour shifts.  I splurged on some Bombas socks and I love them!

3.  What I also wear - hearing aids, reading glasses, minimal make-up, sometimes more jewelry.  I hate not having earrings in - if I forget them it throws off my whole day.

4.  What I eat - I am doing my best to add more veggies in to every meal.  I hold myself accountable to my meal plans and I cook 4 nights out of 7.  But I could eat popcorn every day.

5.  What I drink - I have a large cup of coffee every morning that I add collagen powder and creamer to.  I drank black coffee for months, then decided life was too short to deny myself creamer.  I have a hard time remembering to drink water.

6.  What I listen to or watch - I usually tell the Google Lady to play Emancipator, Tycho, Stick Figure, or Jesse Cook, along with music from the 70s and 80s on Pandora. I have 6 smart speakers positioned all over the house. I have been listening to various Ted talks on my phone whenever I go for a walk.  I also got hooked on You Tube videos that feature cleaning and mowing.  Maybe they appeal to my need to get things in order...there's therapy in it.

7.  What occupies my time - Work, and home.  I work three 12 hour shifts at the hospital, Saturday through Monday.  On my off days, I am mostly occupied around my house with various projects.  I do also like to read and blog.  I haven't sewn or cross stitched much lately, so those hobbies are sort of on the back burner.  I'm trying not to introvert so hard, but home is my sanctuary.

8.  What inspires me - I'm not sure I have felt very inspired lately.  I am still fighting through the fog of grief most days.  I am focusing as much time as I can on feeling healthy and working on my home. That's really all I can ask of myself right now. 

9.  What would I grab in a fire - FIRST, my boys, who would likely sleep through the smoke alarm.  Then maybe my laptop and phone. Shoes would be good.  

10. What else do I need in my life - I can envision a day when I will want companionship, but I feel like I'm nowhere near ready for that right now.  I know that Mark would have wanted me to live the rest of my life to the fullest and not spend my days lonely.  But I'm taking this new life one day at a time, trying to figure it out as I go.  That being said, I do have some really good friends who have helped me through some dark days.

That's not a bad list, mostly complete.  I left off the obvious things like my toothbrush, medications, or my car, but I could never list every. single. thing. and you'd still get the picture.  And my family as the most essential part of my life is a given.

What are your essentials?

Gina

Monday menus #63

This vase thingy in my bathroom filled with potpourri or filler may look dated to someone else, but I love it.  I pulled out the Christmas-y elements in it and added in some greenery and this small cube that a friend gave to me when my mother died. Its pretty and will stay this way awhile.

I think its easy to fall into a "rules" trap when you decorate your own home, comparison being the thief of joy.  Not everything has to be magazine worthy.  And why should it?  Your home just needs to appeal to you.

Monday - Crockpot Asian Peanut Butter Pork, rice, broccoli

Tuesday - take-out {to Brenham for the day*}

Wednesday - Chopped Salad with shredded rotisserie chicken, Cheesy Garlic Crescent Rolls

Thursday - Beef Burrito Bowl with avocado cream sauce

Friday - Chopped Hoagies, tortilla chips {replace air filters}

Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed, and I work all weekend, but I will prep some items for all of us

Gina

*Tuesday has the potential for being a very emotional and stressful day and I'm sure I will have thoughts about it...send me some good vibes!

5 thing Friday - surprise visit, dinner, fudge, lunch at the park, cleaners

 My pictures loaded in reverse order so I'm just going to go with it.

At work last weekend I got a text with this photo asking me to come hug a long lost friend.  It was an amazing to see her in person for the first time in 6 years.  Then she returned the next day and surprised another friend and co-worker of mine.  What a nice surprise! It was happy, and a little sad, all at once.  She lives 8 hours away, but we text often.  She has managed to help me stay sane the last 30 months.

If you see my menu posts you know I cook dinner four nights out of seven. And usually I don't fix a big spread like this: cast iron chicken and peppers, green beans, baked potatoes, rolls. But the boys are still here with me, I have limited fridge and pantry space, so we are all vying for food storage space.  And its just nice to mother them by feeding them on those nights.

I don't consider myself a great cook at all.  But I can fix a meal that we can all enjoy.  And someday, I know I will be back to cooking just for myself.

When I cleaned out the freezer recently, I tossed three bags of fudge from Christmas - it tasted a bit freezer burnt.  I promised Scout a new batch to make up for it - Chocolate Reese's Pieces Cup Fudge with Almond Butter Swirl. I portioned some out for Bubbie, too, and I may have eaten a bit myself... 

A burger al fresco lunch tastes better when you aren't fighting a stiff breeze and little bugs.  I open the sun roof, play some music, and stare out at the trees.  I used to come walk the track at this park every day.  Now I mainly sit and eat here in my car, which is not nearly as sad as that reads...

When I dropped off the last load of stuff to the recycle center, I perused their cleaning shack and came away with some things.  Carpet shampoo, rust and lime remover, masonry cleaner, and lavender essential oil - all free.  After the oaks stop dropping leaves and pollen I will go back and get some free mulch for my landscaping, plus scope out the free re-blend paint to spiff up the inside of the garage.  One more weekend before Easter and this year is moving right along...

Gina

Monday menus #62

Its really hard for me to fathom that Easter is almost here.

Didn't we just have Christmas? 

faux flowers are ok by me...

I set the bunnies and etc. out a couple weeks ago, so I knew it was coming.  But seriously, its like we are zooming thru this month, this year.  I think that time speeds up when you least expect it to.

Monday - kitchen closed, but I have a pizza in the freezer

Tuesday - Spaghetti Bolognese, zucchini

Wednesday - Buffalo Chicken Salads with romaine, black beans, corn, avocado

Thursday - Gyros with tzatziki and curly fries

Friday - Eggplant Parmesan, salad with olives, bell pepper, croutons

Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed, but I will have a quiche for us to eat!

*this week I will continue working on the things on my To Do list that I did not get done last week!

Gina

Little project - spiff the living room furniture

One of my little projects was to thoroughly clean/repair/spiff the living room couch and chairs.  This mid-century modern furniture belonged to my late MIL and is very well made.  Its been reupholstered twice now.  At first I thought I could swap out the legs because  a couple of them were wobbly - easy fix, right?  

I even ordered new ones which I thought would add some pizzaz.  But after I turned the furniture upside down to investigate I found that the legs are solid wood, built to sit up against the frame, and reinforced with screws.  So. Plan B.  The liner fabric got vacuumed and wiped down and I prepped to use Restorz-It on those banged up legs. 

On the ends I knew I wanted to use nail on furniture sliders, and look!, there are predrilled holes.  If there hadn't been, I would have had to dig around in the garage to find the right size drill bit to drill small pilot holes so I didn't accidentally split the wood when installing them.

These are an improvement I should have done YEARS ago!

Of course the two center legs were super wobbly - in order to tighten them up I had to cut the liner fabric to get at the screw holes.  I also had to dig around for new screws in the garage, as the old ones were rusty.  (Due to years of Galveston humidity!)  Once I got the legs secure, I used my power stapler to secure the liner fabric.  There's always going to be a slit in the fabric, but no one will ever see it, and I will eventually forget it!

This couch is a BEAST.  I don't even know how I managed to get it propped like this on a dining chair - it weighs a ton. When I was ready to flip it back over, I got Scout to come help - I did not want to pivot the weight of it on those back legs I had just fixed.  And once we flipped it, it was like buttah to slide it on the floor. 

For all of the furniture, I cleaned the legs, buffed with steel wool, then wiped on the refinishing liquid.  I waited until it dried to tap the sliders into place, but that part went really quickly.  Everything got a thorough vacuum and wipe down.  I am washing the arm rest covers and will put those back on today.  I use these little tacks to keep them in place.

The lampshade was a minor casualty...I will be on the hunt for a new one.  In the meantime, I hot glued the frame back on to the top of the shade and carefully placed it back on the lamp.

All in all, it was a good use of an overcast day outside (which is also why it looks so dark in here).  The room looks clean without the puzzle spread across the table, and I did put all of the stacked camera equipment back out into the garage for another day - there just isn't enough time in the week to get alllll of the projects done.  I would love a nice big rug in here, a new lampshade, and possibly another lamp.  Also, I probably need to put sliders on the dining room chairs.

On to the next project!

Gina

Spring 2024 projects

In January, I made a plan to get some projects done at my house this year - big ones like repairs and such.  But in a burst of energy last week, maybe because it feels like spring!, I did some spiffing out in the garage.  Garage spiffing is a common theme on this blog, because it has taken me years to get it under some kind of control!

I was determined to:

*place those grocery sacks of recycles elsewhere (the recycle bin is FULL)

*add those boxes of donations to the stuff I already have in the truck  

*do some purging in the file cabinet and make space to store items I was keeping in the dresser (its a BIG filing cabinet)

*remove the broken IKEA dresser (which will go out on Big Trash Day)

I did all of that plus mopped the floor in this space and wiped down the wall.  I plan to: 

*add a bigger rug

*hang the Texas flag art The Girl made years ago

It was hanging at Highlands for years and I love it!

*pull down the vintage camera equipment on those shelves

*repaint the walls of the garage

*make a cover for the Christmas tree (with old sheets!) and maybe store it elsewhere

*store the stepstool next to the filing cabinet

*move the glass china cabinet doors to the other side of the cabinet and pad them up well

*store the leaf blower elsewhere

*repair the screen door

*set one of the folding chairs here for me to sit on as I change out my yard shoes, etc.

I have big plans for this filing cabinet nook.  Well, medium sized plans...

I feel like the garage is an extension of my living area inside.  I want to be able to find everything I need out here in a clean and organized space.  And eventually the garage door opener will be replaced and there will be plenty of room for me to park my car.  Can you imagine!? Ha.

There were "mini" projects sitting on top of the dresser, and its high time I make space to get those done and off my list.  They include:

*repotting a plant for Bubbie

*figuring out what to do about this empty fire extinguisher

*refinish the legs on the living room furniture

*refinish my car's headlamps

I've learned to take advantage of these bursts of energy as they contribute to my overall sense of well-being when it comes to my house.   Do you ever do this at your house?  I feel empowered to make this house my own, and getting the garage in a manageable state has been on my agenda for the past two years.

Gina

Monday menus #61

 At $5.65, my Monday dinner was about the price of a burger and fries at P. Terry's.  But it seemed more like a Big Girl dinner and maybe, just maybe, a little more healthy.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Twenty minutes in my toaster oven while I emptied my work tote, put on my pj's, and poured a beer.  I know I shouldn't eat dinner so late at night, but I had planned to stay up late and I was indeed hungry.

It wasn't bad, but I can make a better meatloaf...

Monday - Leftovers smorgasbord {I'm taking the day off, appt. with recycle center at 10:15, change all the clocks}

Tuesday - Skillet Lasagna, green beans {mow the yards?}

Wednesday - Pea Soup with Ham Hock, rolls {install tub gasket in boy's bathroom, go get fire extinguisher refilled}

Thursday - Chicken Thighs, baked potato, broccoli {pick-up some items at Home Depot for various home projects*}

Friday - Mexican Tilapia, salad with romaine, tomato, green onion, avocado, and queso fresco {Scout and I are doing more yardwork, mani/pedi, buy groceries}

Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed

Gina

*A/C coil cleaner, Weed and Feed, wood glue, screen door spline, lava rocks

5 thing Friday - cabinet clean-out, snakes, treats, cross, puzzle

I decided once and for all that I was tired of the function of this under the counter cabinet in the kitchen.  Its where I store extra dishes, including those dishes that I cleared out  of the china cabinet, plus my mixer,  the wax tarts, some holiday dishes, and miscellany.

Normally the trash can sits in front of it.

I pulled everything out and wiped it all down.

I had a tiny bit of shelf liner that I used for the top shelf.  (When I moved my plants outside, I ran all of the white plates through the dishwasher, which is why I only have two pictured here.)  I boxed up the china, found another place for the wax tarts box to live, and moved the mixer so I can get to the trash bags more easily.  The china went to the thrift store and I am not sad about that - we never did end up using them over the holidays.  Or ever, really.

Its hard to tell, but the small(!) yellow sign warns you about VENOMNOUS SNAKES in the area.  This is literally a few feet away from the employee entrance at my hospital.  I hope you can read, people.

Here's another one!  This one near a sidewalk that literally everyone, including the general public,  uses.  What snakes you might ask?  Oh, only copperheads, coral snakes and RATTLESNAKES*.  I mean, I guess its good that you would be right here at a hospital if you got bit.

The upside of having a son who works in a bakery is that he brings us treats like fresh French bread, muffins, and thick walnut chocolate chip cookies.  Its like he reads my mind.

Well actually, I did a save a couple of china pieces out from the donation pile.  And from my Buy Nothing Group, I got this pretty mosaic cross.  I don't know what possessed me to jump on it so quickly (after purging so much junk from my house), but the person lived within walking distance from my house and I got to meet a neighbor!  Meant to be mine, I guess. But after Easter, I think it will go.  

Will this puzzle ever get completed?  Will Gina ever clear off her dining table?  Will we actually ever use it to eat in the future?  The world will have to wait to know.

Gina

*rattlesnakes are something I won't miss about Highlands...

Monday menus #60

Out of sheer boredom, I made some more bookmarks a couple weeks ago.  I have a few books I am reading, but I was thinking I could take some to work - I know a couple of my co-workers like to read.

Making bookmarks is a good way to use up scraps of fabric and trim.  Not to mention, a harmless activity that helps me burn a little free time doing something creative.

Monday - kitchen closed {start gathering income tax info, work on bank statement}

Tuesday - (freezer) Christmas Ham, creamy poblano pasta, green beans {virtual work meeting 1-2 pm, dog-sitting for The Girl, get a quote for painting the house}

Wednesday - (freezer) Turkey with Rice Pilaf, peas and carrots, dinner rolls {more kitchen cabinet purging, go to library}

Thursday - (freezer) Oven BBQ Chicken Drums, potatoes and onions, corn {talk to the camera place about selling the vintage equipment}

Friday - Skillet Tilapia, broccoli, au gratin potatoes {payday, lunch out, change out kitchen water filter, sew more bookmarks}

Saturday and Sunday - kitchen closed

Dessert this week is Lime Cracker Pie!

This week I am also focused on cleaning out the freezer!

In our work breakroom we had just the spot for me to put a small sign with the bookmarks underneath a poster we have all been coloring on since the hospital opened last April.  I noticed someone added a book, so our lending library is officially open!

Gina

5 thing Friday - Mom's birthday, doorstops, painting, firewood harp, night guard, Spring

Today would have been my mother's 94th birthday.  She was a big fan of birthdays and could never get over how far she had made it.  "Can you believe I'm 93, Gina?  NINETY-THREE!"

Happy Birthday, Mom.  I miss you every day!

I finally paid the tile guy, put the disappointment of it out of my mind, and finished spiffing in the boys' bathroom.  Its not worth stressing over any more, and I want to tie up these loose ends.

It involved painting all of the trim and putting new door stops in, as the tile guy "lost" one of them.  That meant the other one wouldn't match (this is a small bathroom, after all), so I just replaced both.

I also gave the vanity cabinets a coat of paint while I was at it.  (here they are drying) I like to use a Rustoleum brand called Painter's Touch Ultra Cover latex, in a semi-gloss white.  Paints like a dream and cleans up easily.  I have used it on all of the trim and bathroom cabinets, as well as all of the closet walls.

After giving away all but two firepits' worth of wood (it was old and some of it borderline rotted), I decided to set the giant firewood harp out on the sidewalk, and lo and behold, it disappeared.  I might replace it with a smaller one next winter, we shall see.  I'm in no hurry to clutter up the back patio.

Fun times - my new night guard.  Its bulky and has taken some getting used to, but I love the look of my newly repaired bottom teeth - so I will give it my best effort.  I haven't worn anything resembling a retainer since I was 22.  It feels strange to be doing this at my age!

Wouldn't you know it, I changed out the flannel sheets for the new pretty ones, then immediately we had another cold snap!  Austin weather can never make it's mind up for more than a day at a time.  I am so ready for Spring!

To that end, I also set out all of the bunnies that were not broken from being improperly stored by somebody myself, and I added some pussy willow and moss balls to a tall vase in the bedroom.  Is it silly to decorate just for me?  Because literally no one else besides me is going to care about it, and I feel like that's OK.  I love the look and feel of my own home!

Gina