Questions and Answers and Comments, Oh My!

A new month, a new year and the halfway mark for this decade...Can you believe it?  Didn't 2014 go by fast?  I hope that 2015 isn't quite so quick to get away from me!

Deck the Halls:  So many of you liked the look of the snowflakes on my front door...So did I.  I had two problems with them.  The largest was just too heavy for the double stick mounting tape I used.  It fell several times even after I used multiple bits to hold it up.  In the end, it fell and shattered.  The medium and small ones did very well despite the warm sun heating the door up.  The next problem I encountered was removing them.  The mounting tape was sticky and left residue on my front door.  I used adhesive remover and took a bit of paint off the door too.  My fault for never getting around to the second/third and no doubt fourth coats the doors really needed.

Thank you all too for the compliments on the tree.  It seemed a little dull to me with the browns and burlap but my husband was super complimentary about it and all of the decorations this year.  I'd meant to doctor things up a bit more after the family party but never did get around to it.



Judy, I did make those pillows. I saw a set last Christmas that someone had made and this was my version, using fabrics and muslin I had on hand.

The first In My Home, Frugal post  Janell I did indeed attend school in your town from middle school years to graduation, then worked, married and had my first child there before moving southwest of the town.

The third post  I've learned over these past three years that Granny is never really far away...she's as near as my memories of her and for that I am grateful.

Manuela I ended up making only sugar cookies.  The one thing I did differently was to roll the dough balls in colored sugar.  The sugars I used  seemed extra vibrant and the cookies were gorgeous.

and the final post for the year  Rhonda I find the trick of using two cottage cheese (or sour cream) lids is a lot less messy, the burgers are thin but not too thin and I can really get more equally sized burgers.  I stack mine with squares of cereal bag papers  between them but used to cut the plastic from bacon into squares too.  I could wash and reuse those and it kept them from sticking.

Pam I am proud of you for menu planning and even more proud to hear that it's a help to you and has freed up your time.

I am using a study Bible...I put it aside a few years ago because it's divided into daily readings from Old Testament, Psalms and New Testament.  I decided to use it for this year because it's a different interpretation than the Women's Study Bible I've been using.  I also chose a Smith Wigglesworth Devotional.

Vickie,  I find the lists are like my goal sheets, they keep me on target.  Take a look at Sarah's comment below yours on that post.

Sarah, You are right, John does help about the house.  I am sure things will work out when he does retire.  After all we get along right well now spending as much time together as we do. 
More Granny wisdom which I think Tracy  will also appreciate was that you are only old if you spend all of your time around old people.  Granny believed that having the grandchildren and nephews and nieces about kept her perspective young.  She also believed in learning something new.

Linda, I thank you for that information on the cell phones.  I know John has mentioned Straight Talk as a possibility as well.  We don't have smart phones and we don't use data but even so our bill is in excess of what you mention yours running before switching over!

My grandmothers didn't run rinse water either.  They used a dishpan of hot water and they tossed the cooled water over the flowers in the yard.  Definitely something to consider as another savings!  They both cut off the power switch to their hot water heaters.  I can't do that as mine is tied into  my heat pump/air conditioner.

Glenda,  I was blessed with two great grandmothers, innumerable great aunts, two grandmothers and my mom in my childhood.  All had known some privation in the depression and post depression years and they each taught me many things.  I am deeply connected to each of them every single day that I work in my home.

Shelley, Thank you...

In My Home Christmas  Thank you all for stopping by to wish me Merry Christmas.

In My Home Planning post  Several of you seemed to be right on board with me about the planning.  I am really in the mode to make this year a productive one and apparently so are all of you.

Glenda Thank you for your sweet comment.

Pam, I want to start planning a month of meals.  I tried to do it by quarters but that was tough and I felt locked into things.  However, it occurred to me this week that when John does retire I may well find I have to shop once a month, which means planning meals for a month would  be the wisest way to go.  I'll give it a try starting this month.

Janell I buy my meats from M & T Meat Company in Hawkinsville.  The meats are the most excellent we've come across in a long while.  The ground chuck smells so good and fresh, the way I remember ground beef smelling when I was a child.  There is a cost to this.  The prices are slightly less than what you'd pay at Publix when meat isn't on sale, high quality.  They also have chicken, pork and seafood.  The pork is their own meat raised and processed on site, the beef is ordered but is Black Angus. It's a chunk of  money when we go but we do spread it out over a 3 - 4 month period.

Vickie, I read that hint to write down what went right, what went wrong and what to do differently for a holiday, party, etc online somewhere a few years ago and thought it rather brilliant.  I've been doing it ever since.  Last year, I noted that even though we're not children, Hanukkah was not the same without those little extras each evening to make it feel like a celebration so I had that information handy this year when I started planning.  I keep the list in my home keeping notebook and as I come across ideas I'd like to try from magazines I put those sheets in that section as well.  Great brain booster, lol.

First Coffee Chat of the  month  Dale, congratulations on reaching retirement...and I sooo understand how scary wonderful that seems.  I don't know how you feel about homemaking as a full-time career but I can tell you that I have plenty to do. I'm told that most new retirees are always shocked at how quickly their time is taken up with appointments and projects and visits and such.  I found it to be so when I stepped away from the workaday world and came home, but I made up my mind that I would be busy and I've never stopped being busy.  I decided that this was to be my life, not a vacation, and I think that is what helped most of all.

Julie Thank you for that verse.  I like that you feel that way.  And I'm glad that you and Dale both mention me sharing my emotions.  It's hard to be vulnerable to others but I've discovered in my lifetime that as individual as we may think we are, someone has had a similar experience, feels the same emotions over life passages, etc.  I share because I want you readers to know that you are not alone in feeling as you do, especially with this phase of life.  I'd rather be vulnerable than miss connecting with someone who needs to hear that someone else feels the same.

Coffee Chat post holiday  Louise, I didn't hear a thing from my family at all on New Year's.  Unusual.

Dorie, it is hard to have grandchildren so far away and the time/money quotients so hard to come by.  I do the best I can.  My best some days is choking back the tears and packing the grief down hard and other days it's okay.  I'm content to love and express that love from a distance.
And ha on you about me doing all the writing...if we lived near enough I might do all the talking too! lol

Sher, Thank you for stopping by to read.  I agree 100% about not saving things for some day and using them instead.  So what if the china does get broken...think of how many memories you made using it for special dinners with your family.
And yes, I have thought of taking up some needlework, embroidery namely and learning to crochet as well.  I've heard YouTube is just loaded with good videos for needlework.

Janell,  My limp is courtesy a drunk driver, too.  I cracked my heel, broke the talus bone of my foot, badly sprained both ankles and dislocated my knee cap.  I also broke my breast bone away from my collar bone and broke a bone in my hand...aside from general banging up and bruising and stitches it was the broken bones that  led me to be placed in a physical rehab center for 6 weeks after a 2 week hospital stay. I was out of work for another six weeks after that.  It was a tough row to hoe, as they say here in the rural South. Truth told while I was hurt plenty there were so many others who had suffered worse injuries and faced far far longer stays in the center than I did.  I was blessed.  Many people with a cracked heel suffer a spinal injury that results in paralysis.

While out on a Community Re-Entry exercise a woman approached me and asked if I'd broken my ankle (technically that includes a broken Talus which is the main weight bearing bone in the foot).  She told me it would be many years before I  healed completely.  I am sorry to say that her words were truth.  It's only been in the past year that I walk more often without a limp.  There are days like today when I get tired and my ankles just plain hurt (torn ligaments that healed wonky do that too) or my knee goes stiff and there I am gimping about all over again.

Glenda, I am afraid I got burnt out with volunteer work.  It was a high pressure thing for me and the demands upon my time and energy really took it's toll.  I enjoyed it and learned a great deal, but I was un-balanced in that era of work, home, school and raising a family plus running community programs.  I don't think I want to do that again.

Dale, Yes, I think many of the readers do feel the same about needing to set aside a little time to focus on taking care of themselves at this time.  I enjoy serving my family and husband and tending to my home but I need to stop being quite so dependent on the good feeling I get from that limited opportunity and find other things that allow me to feel good too.  I think I've hit upon what will work for me without feeling selfish or me me me -ish.

Susie I too found myself thinking long and deep over the month of December in a way that I haven't in many years.

Ronnie, that is the balance I am hoping to find this year.

Tracey I am indeed a blessed woman and I agree my desire to celebrate these special days is just another expression of the blessing I feel is on my life.  I truly believe it's important to say thank you and what better way to say thank you than to acknowledge the gifts of special days?

Kathy, I'm not quite to retirement yet myself...In fact, there's a rumor that homemakers never retire! {gasp} lol.  And I'm not sure when John will retire but I do know that the years are coming when it's time to at least think about it and there's plenty I can do to prepare us for that time whenever it arrives.

Pam,  I was once an independent woman, too much so and I sincerely appreciate that my husband and I get to spend so much time together.  However, I've mistakenly put him in the position of being my sole entertainment and company and partner in all things.  I need to flex a little muscle and do things on my own, just to remember that once upon a time I did and still can.

Patsy, Thank you for commenting.  I enjoyed reading about your enjoyment of your retirement years.  How blessed you are to have family so near.

Finally in the Freedom From Debt post Angela replied "When we were in debt I felt like I was suffocating. And you are right about having no choices when you are in debt- the money was already spoken for before it came. "  I can't help but think of that song that says  "I owe my soul to the company store"...

Margie, I did send you my email...did you get it?