Spring Things

 

Hallie and Beans the chicken. I believe she's the one who lays light blue eggs. 

I'm barely off the plane from flying back from northern Idaho. A quick visit, but filled with lots of time with my girls and their families. It ends up that I injured my right bicep in a crazy flukey way, and had to delay the trip long enough to see an orthopedic surgeon who told me it was okay to go ahead. My arm still looks insane, and is still pretty sore, but I'm thankful I don't need surgery. Just time, ibuprofen and a lot of ice.

Not exactly the look I was going for, to attend spring luncheons and Easter services, but life is like that. Things happen and never when you expect them. 

One of my goals for year 2022 was a deep culling of both houses, clearing out all sorts of stuff, and especially concentrating on getting papers in order. I've made progress, but there's still much to accomplish. 

So when I visited with my oldest daughter she was in the middle of doing the same to her house, on a much bigger level than I am planning. She told me about someone called the Minimal Mom, with a Facebook group named "I Think We Could Be Friends". Who wouldn't want to check that out?! 

Last night, while I was trying to fly back home, Texas had insane weather. Right at the time my flight should have been landing we were under tornado alert. That's not real uncommon in Texas this time of year, but last night the sirens were going off in our little town, and one ended up touching down within a ten minute drive of our home. So Cub Sweetheart hunkered in the bathroom with Charlotte (my cat) and waited it out. The airlines delayed my flight by over two hours, so we finally climbed into bed at 2:45 am. Bodies are not meant to go to bed at 2:45 am. Especially when the first number of age is a six. 

Whatever I had on my calendar for today isn't going to happen. The total accomplishment of my day will be #1 unpack my suitcase which means dumping everything into the laundry hamper, #2 washing my hair, since it's been well over a week (That arm shown above isn't real up for the task of drying and flat ironing hair right now), #3 going to a ballgame and eating hotdogs for supper which makes CS very happy and I never care what we eat, and #4 culling just a teensy, tiny bit. 

Even with way too little sleep under my belt, and a long to do list, I was able to grab an extra instapot, an immersion blender I've owned for years and not used a single time, a duplicate bundt pan (everyone should have one, nobody needs two), and a little decanter to mix your own salad dressing, which I do not ever do like the majority of the human race, and put them in the always-present-in-my-home donation box. I keep a little notepad on top of the bin and jot down any item I toss in, to make tax deductions easier to keep up with. 

Tomorrow, after I've had a reasonable night's sleep, I'm going to a lovely semi-formal luncheon with CS, then picking the grands up from school. I haven't seen either of them for well over a week, so that'll be a treat. Then I'll come home and start more in earnest to buckle down with Minimal Mom's methods of not just spring cleaning, but clearing out what doesn't bless us and will bless someone else. Our little town has a thrift store where I take our donations, that provides 75% of the funds needed to keep our food pantry up and running. I love that! Stuff I don't need, shouldn't have bought to begin with, don't wear, etc, etc. can be donated and make a difference in someone else's life. So marvelous! 

A few photos to share:

Younger daughter and I had fun pranking our family about matching tattoos. We got a few of them! 

Older daughter's spice rack, my goal. Mine is way too complicated so I'm currently working on this. 

Nail painting with the two cabooses to our family

While I was in Idaho the stove in our house bit the dust. Only the bake element but since the stove is 18 years old, and the appliance guy told me 10 years was average life, we didn't invest in a repair, but rather replaced it. I am so tickled that the new one will have not only convection cooking but a built in air fryer and a griddle on the top. Here comes not only morning pancakes but grilled cheese, panini, etc. And all in one, without having to own several other appliances that would take up cupboard space or sit on a shelf in the garage and get dusty. 

Afterthought: we saw two movies while I was in Idaho. The Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum "The Lost City" was a lot of laughs. My girls and I saw that one and it was a lot of fun. Then I took the four oldest grands to see Uncharted, which was fun too. I'm just so thankful that movies are being made again, and shown in the theater, because anyone who really knows me knows I'm really only there for the popcorn. 

Back soon :-)