Diary of a Homemaker's Week: Autumn Leaves

Saturday:  Caleb handled the evening well yesterday and I'm grateful.  I'd told John my plan on the way home: Go in and turn on the tv to his program, give him a few potato chips as a starter course, while I got food on the plates.  He had one fit of temper with Grampa that earned him a well-deserved smack on the bottom and then all was peace and calm.  I find that he is a great deal like his mama.  He knows well when he's deserved punishment. He took it with a single wail, and he was done.  Punish him unjustly and he will cry loud and long.

He spoke his second full sentence yesterday evening.  He tends to call me Mamama.  When John told him to stay in the living room, he told John "Mamama's in the kitchen."  

The evening was a fiasco in some ways due to things that had nothing to do with Caleb.  We didn't get home until after 11pm last night.    We literally walked in the house, put on our night clothes, and went right to bed.  I slept soundly until about 6am, when I started to cough and couldn't stop.  After a half hour it seemed just as well to get up, Saturday morning or not.  Hot coffee helped settle the cough...that or sitting up.  I choose to believe it was coffee, lol.

No plans for today other than to call and order fried chicken.  I'd thought I'd go pick it up, but I really don't want to drive the distance today when we're driving there tomorrow already.  

Today's pizza was a Southwest inspiration.  I used salsa as my sauce on the dough, then added taco meat, corn, black beans, tiny cubes of cream cheese, a bit of nacho cheese sauce and shredded cheddar.  John raved over this pizza.  I'll add it to my repertoire and put it in rotation.  In future I'll leave off the Nacho cheese sauce (yummy but it added too much moisture and it's not a typical pantry item but something I was trying to use up), and I'd drain the salsa just a bit.

Supper tonight: I pulled some bags from the freezer.  Fish fillets, Fries, Hush Puppies.  I made a Thousand Island type dressing to go with this.  It was easy and made a little room in the freezer, always a goal of mine.

Sunday:  Why oh why, when everything is beginning to go a little better, do we so often find ourselves sliding backwards?   I didn't feel grand yesterday, but I was sure last night I would be able to sleep.  And I might have done, but I coughed my fool head off. 

I say my 'fool' head because you see all this time I've had cough remedy and allergy meds in my medicine cabinet, but I was determined to avoid medication and ride this thing out.  Cue the midnight cough that shook me with its violence.  Just guess who got herself out of bed after an hour of it, dug out cough and allergy remedy and took tablets last night?  That would be me.  

Why have I avoided the allergy med?  Because it makes me sleepy.   Well obviously, not a problem at night, right?  Only apparently at nighttime it does not make me sleepy.  Or the cough remedy negates the sleepiness.  Whatever.  Saturday night insomnia came along.   Finally, I drifted off to sleep.  Just about the time John woke in acute pain with sciatica.  

Now John has been steadily improving all along this week, since his chiropractic visit.  In fact, since Friday he's been standing and walking upright, shunning the cane he'd started using to support himself, etc.   He went to bed practically joyful.  He got up this morning in tears.

I gritted my teeth and prayed hard and gave serious thought to just staying home from church.  Then determination kicked in.  I felt so defeated, and so did John.  There was no way we were going to give in and NOT go to church this morning.  I took a second dose of allergy and cough remedy.  John caved and took a higher performing pain medication.  We grimly walked (one of us limped horribly) out the door and prayed all the way to church.

No miraculous healings occurred but we both felt better at the end of the service.  Medicines had kicked in and eased symptoms.  I went into Publix alone afterwards to pick up Gramma's Fried Chicken and the list of items I had.

At the deli, I waited patiently after checking to see if the deli orders were at the front desk.  There were three people ahead of me.   I promise you the clerk behind the counter looked right at me twice but waited on two more who came in behind me.  I asked myself, "What?  I'm invisible?"  but I said nothing to her.  I just went down the counter where she was waiting on a third customer who'd come in behind me and stood directly in front of her.  She looked at me four or five times.  She did not call up another customer this time, however.  I think she understood that she'd pushed the limits on that bit of ignoring.  And then just as she asked if she could help me another employee came in from the back room and asked "Ma'am, can I help you?"  I turned to him and said "Yes, please..."  

I bought a few sales items but some things I had to have sale or not.  There were no 99c items by any means.  That's okay. I knew that the price I was paying for the sales and non-sale items alike was about average the price at other stores, too.  I know because every single week I compare prices.  

I bought meats today: Chuck Roast $4.99/pound.  Boneless Pork Chops, $4.99/pound.  Bone in Skin on Chicken Breasts $1.99/pound.  Whole Chicken $1.49/pound.  I would have bought whole chickens to cut up, but they never have more than 2 in the case.  I'll watch for a similar sale price at the discount grocery and cut those up.  At that store they typically have a full section of whole chickens.  The turkey bacon we like so very much was on sale for $3.99/10 ounces.  That's actually a very good sale on that particular turkey bacon and it's worth every penny.  I bought English muffins (I can make those but the texture of mine never comes out like a proper English muffin) that were buy one get one as was the Polaner all fruit jelly I picked up. That is strictly a splurge item for us but at $2 a jar, why not?

Items not on sale that I bought were eggs (are you KIDDING me 18ct. $6.69??  I bought 2 12-ct eggs for $2.59 each and counted that a darn good buy), lettuce (also higher than it was at the start of September), cat and dog food (argh. Pet food is high, too.) The smallest bags of pet food cost me as much as I paid for the pork chops and the chicken breasts.  It does make you stop and think.  Granted the dog and cat will eat most of the month off those bags of food and we'll just get 6 meals from those two packages of meat.  I've been out of all three of the first items for over a week, had just emptied pet foods and we've another 10 days before we get our check in for the month.  

We hurried home to make a simple lunch for Katie, Taylor and Caleb.  Taylor and I talked a little about the upcoming move.  When I explained that we wouldn't be having Sunday dinners after this month, she looked like she wanted to cry.  I reminded her that her place was with her mama and Katie pointed out that they could buy fried chicken in the new town as well. I made a big deal out of the chicken dinner being a tradition that Katie could carry on, and I told Taylor we would try to get up to see them now and then, but it wouldn't be every time she was visiting.   

What I didn't say was that I would like to talk to her Daddy and see if we could have her for a weekend or over a school holiday now and then.  I don't want to make a promise and then find I can't keep it.  Matt is a fairly social person and has a busy schedule.  He has family he visits with and he enjoys the weekends he has with Taylor, too.  I won't horn in on his plans on his weekends with Taylor.  It's all something that needs to be discussed first between adults and not getting Taylor's hopes up.  So, no promises.

That's something good I learned from my mother.  She refused to make promises of any sort because she understood that too often circumstances, illness, finances, etc. will prevent your keeping the most well-intentioned promise.   I felt that wisdom the first time I promised one of my children something and then couldn't follow through.  I realized how wise Mama had been in that matter and I followed her example from then on.

John and I stopped in town, and I picked up boiled peanuts from the truck farmer that's been in town the past three weeks.  He was coughing his head off at the moment I came up to his truck.  "I'll be glad when this part of the season passes!" he told me.  I could so identify.

After lunch today, I brought out the boiled peanuts.  Caleb was quite happy with Gramma peeling them out of the shell for him, but you know he had to try and chew one or two up, shell and all.   That reminded me of my middle brother who always ate his peanuts in the same way, even as a grown up.  He was weird like that, lol.  Caleb seemed to prefer the ones I shelled over the ones in the shell.

After they'd left this afternoon, I unpacked all the meat and divided it into portions.  I cut the chuck roast in half.  I put sixteen portions of meat in the freezer, not counting the bacon.  Each portion will serve 2-4 people.   So, I think I did well.

I looked out of the kitchen window as I was washing my hands.  The Sweet Gum is full of golden stars. One of the water oaks by the side of the yard is turning copper.  The ground under the trees is scattered with fallen leaves.  The sky above is the bluest it ever is this time of year and the sunlight on the leaves is more golden than at any other time of year.  The year is winding down.  The time with this portion of my family is, too.  It's all perfectly in season.  I'll comfort myself with that.

Just for fun this evening, I've been researching upright freezers.  If I go for a little less storage than I initially wanted, yet acquire a few feet more than I have now, I think I can afford one right now with what I have already saved.  I'm going to call the local appliance store and see what he has in comparison.  Who knows?  Maybe I'll have an upright freezer soon!  See more thoughts on this in the next day's post.

Monday:  It must be that hormonal thing again.  No sleep until very late last night.  And I was up before John this morning.  Blech.  BUT I was not awake due to a cough or sniffles.  Nope.  Just plain old fashioned lying awake.  So, there's the bonus.

Present me thanked Past me for the part I played yesterday evening when I felt like I was absolutely done with the day but went ahead and cleared up the kitchen anyway.  I unloaded the dishwasher and put everything away, wiped all the counters.  Blogger, Vlogger and Artist Shaye Elliott refers to it as Putting the Kitchen to Sleep.  I thought of her manifesto yesterday evening as I started to close up the dishwasher with all those clean dishes inside.  "Just think of how much you will appreciate this action in the morning..." I told myself as I grabbed dishes and began to put them away.  Wiping counters and removing things that didn't belong were just natural things to do once I'd finished the dishes.

It was lovely to walk into the kitchen that was clean and neat this morning.  I was able to sip my hot coffee and savor it, as I sat there playing a game on my phone.  I'm shaking up my routine, so no shame at playing a game at 7:30 a.m.  I didn't mind taking the time to make the apple pancakes I'd planned for this morning (one dozen went into the freezer for future mornings this month).  I didn't have to locate bowls and spoons and pancake turners and all those sorts of things.  They were where they all belonged and were easily retrieved.

While pancakes cooked on the griddle, I found I could easily make the bed and pick up our room as I waited for that first flip on each batch.  So, the bedroom was well on its way to being 'kept' this morning when we had breakfast.  

I had some catching up to do with the checkbook, entering in this weekend's purchase amounts, reallocating funds to cover an unexpected financial need, making sure I had the credit card bill funds in place (gifts, personal, household, grocery, pharmacy), going over the account to see which checks were in and which were still out, etc.  

After I'd worked with the checkbook, I set it all aside and started a "She Reads Truth" daily study on the book of Acts.  And yes, I did just finish my own study of the book of Acts. It still seemed fresh and ripe today when I began it anew with a different viewpoint from the author of this study.  This homed in type of focus on one book of the Bible is fairly new to me but I'm finding a great appreciation for slow study.

I went into the kitchen after my study time and organized the fridge.  I had taken meats out to thaw for the week ahead and put the frozen bits I didn't need right away into the fridge to thaw slowly over the next few days.  After sorting out the fridge, determining lunch for today (leftover pizza), I started supper for tonight.  

I made a Sweet and Sour dish for supper.  Years ago, Mama used to buy a La Choy meal kit for Sweet and Sour Pork that was so good.  I've never forgotten how good it was.  Of course, you can't buy one of those boxed dinner kits for love or money now.   Back then, you provided the pork chops and baked them with a seasoning packet that you mixed with water. It contained a dehydrated liquid smoke and heaven knows what else.  When the meat was nearly done, you opened the can of vegetables and sweet and sour sauce.  Pineapple, Green Pepper, Onion were all suspended in a really yummy sweet and sour sauce.  You spread that atop the chop, heated until it bubbled and then served the whole thing over rice.  

La Choy made several different kits but as a family we liked the Sweet and Sour pork and probably ate it once a month or so.  

That was my inspiration for tonight's supper.  I used diced cubed boneless pork loin chop, sliced onions and a variety of bell peppers.  I have been hoarding packets of stuff from take out for a while and decided to use some of those.  I browned and cooked the pork, then while the peppers and onions were cooking until just tender, I tossed the cooked meat with three packets of soy sauce and a dash of liquid smoke.  

When the vegetables were crisp tender, I tossed in chunks of pineapple, mixed 1 cup pineapple juice with 3 tablespoons catsup and a couple of tablespoons cornstarch.  I poured this over the meat, pineapple and vegetables and while that thickened, I opened several packets of sweet and sour sauce to add to the pan.  The mixture turned out really good. 

While I was lying awake last night, I contemplated the freezer purchase.   Did I want to settle for a smaller (although larger capacity than my current one) freezer or should I continue to save and buy the larger freezer I really want?  After I'd thought about it, I had made up my mind to wait.  I'll continue to save and buy the larger freezer.  I felt further certainty after Lana commented that she'd advise waiting and getting what I wanted.   I felt it confirmed my own decision, so thank you Lana for taking time to comment on that!  

While I really want to give Sam and Bess my current chest freezer before the end of the year, I'm going to wait.  They didn't need my freezer last year and probably won't need it right away this year.  I know once they have it, they will do as anyone else does and fill it up.  But at present, they've no immediate need of it.  So, I'll wait on the purchase of the freezer until a later date.

It's getting time to get ready to go get Caleb for the start of this week.  First, a cup of coffee...

Wednesday:  Yes, I missed yesterday.  I didn't intend to miss writing yesterday but several things happened.  First, I was busy all morning working about the house and then I sorted out the fridge again.  It's a mess, and I keep checking to make sure I'm not forgetting something I should be using so as to avoid waste.    Second, I got busy reading and writing my thoughts on several chapters of M.F.K. Fisher's book and that absorbed me until I got a text from Bess asking if we'd watch Isaac and Millie last night while they went to Josh's ball game.  

That made me hurry into the kitchen to make a casserole for supper. Isaac is perpetually 'hungy' as he says it and it occurs at least every thirty minutes or so.  It's always best to be prepared with food, be it meals or snacks when he's coming around.   I made Chicken Parmesan, using the last two pieces of fried chicken from Sunday dinner.  I removed bones of the breast and thigh and some of the skin but not all then diced it.  I layered that with spaghetti and sauce and cheese.  

Predictably the kids had had a snack at home, Isaac ate another one here, and then Millie generously shared half hers that she'd brought from home with him, then he groaned with hunger until supper came to the table and then had more snacks.  Millie didn't eat really.  She had a slice of bread and butter.  It was a big deal to them both to get to spread butter on their slice of bread.   Isaac ate some of the Chicken casserole.  And 2 apple muffins and a banana and was rubbing his belly telling me he was hungry all over again when Bess came in to get them.

In between eatings with Isaac, the children played all sorts of games, some on Kindles, some with toys, and they insisted on us playing right along with them.  At one point, Isaac had me playing a game on the Kindle and asked, "Why does he look sad?"  "Because I lost the game."  "You should try winning one instead."  Great advice there, Kid.  Great advice.

Josh's team won!  Yay!

Isaac was more than tired.  Millie was an energizer bunny.  She had on ankle boots and a denim jumper with a pink turtleneck underneath and she looked, as Grampa said, "As cute as a bug's ear!"   Millie has just enough self-assurance right now to know she looked nice, and she was enjoying it.  When Bess came in at 9pm she asked, "Did you even take those shoes off once?" and I answered her, "Only one and that was a complete accident.  We had a meltdown until we could get it back on..."  I wondered how long she stayed awake last night.  And if the boots ever came off or if she slept in them.

I had gone all day long without allergy meds and without issues but after supper, I had a coughing fit that wouldn't quit and ended up taking a pill around them.  John and I decided it had to be related to cat dander on the children, who had both climbed in my lap at the time.  Which gives me deja vu...Didn't something similar happen not long ago when they both were here sitting on my lap?  

Went to bed last night and fell right to sleep.  Temperatures slid into the upper 40's.  The heat kicked on for the first time this season this morning.  I watched a lovely sunrise, since I was wide awake before 6am.  As I sat there gazing out the window, I heard a helicopter flying and I wondered how much more of the sunrise he could see from his vantage point.  It was about then I heard the heat pump come on.  I was surprised it didn't smell dusty this year.  Though I have it set low, the warmth it produced was appreciated.  As was the heat of the oven.  When I'd made our toast this morning, I turned off the gas and left the door open to push the excess heat into the kitchen.  

Our plans today were made last week.  John was going out to lunch with his partner.  I'd determined I'd do some banking, go get my haircut, run into Kroger, perhaps go over to Walmart to pick up a few things I need, hurry home so I could get supper ready and then we'd go get Caleb this afternoon as we usually do.

No.

First, John's partner was ill and couldn't meet him.  John was showered and ready to go.   He seemed disappointed but I think it was as much because he knew I'd be gone.  He'd gotten it in his head he was going to 'do' something today.   I asked if he'd like to go with me.  He said he would.  I altered my plans right then.  I knew I could get the haircut, and he'd agree on one store but not two.  Then he said, "We'll just pick Caleb up early while we're out..."  Whoa.  I started figuring out what all I needed to pack, determine what I could pick up for a quick supper, etc.  I didn't even want to add in the bank as well.  

Now seriously.  All day, John insisted it was 'Whatever you want...Make a decision..." and I was.  But I was also constantly changing my plans to suit his wants because my choices didn't meet with approval.  I'm not fussing.  I just feel like if you have an idea already how you want things to go, don't ask me what my plans or choices are.  Tell me what we're going to do and if I can't possibly go along with it, I'll let you know.  Otherwise, I'm game.   I'm more amused than anything that every plan I made had to be altered.  All of them.

I got my haircut.  I had a lovely conversation with the stylist who is from my county, and a distant cousin, which made us both laugh, because once I'd said where I was from, and she said where she'd grown up, we were already pretty sure we might be related somehow.  That's the way it is when you live in a small rural area.  Not cousins marrying cousins but neighbors marrying neighbors eventually leads to everyone being related.  Like my oldest daughter Amie, this girl said she wouldn't date anyone all through high school because she was related to nearly everyone.  The haircut went quickly with us chatting away.  To be honest, I was so caught up in talking to her that I wasn't even aware of getting a haircut.  It looks good, so I guess she did all right, lol.

I walked out to the shady area where John had parked and was reading to say I was going to walk on to Kroger and would call him to come get me when I was done.  After checking that I wasn't going to try to do too much on my own, he agreed.  I was happy to go shopping on my own.

Here's the thing with Kroger.  Digital deals just now are very good.  Sales are fair.  They also clearance items and have several 'zones' where they drop items that are marked down for clearance, as well as leaving a few on the shelf in the aisles.  So, if I'm going in to take advantage of the digital deals (cheese, orange juice, half gallons of milk) then I also want to take time to wander aisles and look for those clearance deals, too.   That's how we stumbled on the Kroger baked beans and the diced tomatoes that we stocked up on a couple of months ago.  We were walking the aisles and came upon items marked as clearance.

Unlike Publix, Kroger often has clearance priced meat.  I looked hard at those today.  The average per pound for clearance meat today was over $5.50 per pound.  I looked at the regular packages and they averaged $8.00 per pound.  That's just the average.  Most were higher!  I didn't buy clearance priced meat today because it all cost far more than what I'd bought at Publix on Sunday.  If I didn't pay close attention to the weekly flyers, I might have let Kroger convince me that I was getting a bargain from the marked down packages!

I didn't spend much at Kroger today.  I got what I went in for.  Some fresh Tarragon that was marked down, croissants from the bakery's rack of markdowns and a package of chicken patties that were a digital deal but not on my list.  I took time to load the coupon. (And noted today that it didn't apply.  Wish I'd checked yesterday while I was still in the store!) I checked Ibotta to be sure I wasn't missing out on anything we would use that would be rebate full purchase price.

John bought us a hamburger, drinks and ice cream cones for lunch.  We had to eat the ice cream first.  Since we had no place to put the cones safely, they would only have melted and dripped all over us.  So, John said we'd eat dessert first, adding it was my introduction to living dangerously.  I confessed that never in my life have I ever eaten my dessert first.  Can't say that anymore.

We waited to pick up Caleb until I was sure his nap was over at nursery.  They were eating their snacks when we arrived.  Caleb was fine with leaving early.  He was fine all afternoon long, happy as could be and content to play with his toys at home.  He was very loving, too.  I cherish these days.  I do!  

I did mention that he was eating a snack when we arrived.  And he had another on the way home.  And another when he got home and when I refused his request for a fourth snack this afternoon, he asked for juice (about 2 tablespoons of apple juice mixed with 10 ounces of water).  When we ate supper tonight, he cleaned his plate.  He had three large cherry tomatoes, a chicken patty, a slice of bread, one and a half plums, and chips.  Frankly, I have no trouble at all knowing he's related to Isaac...do you?  He must have finally gotten full because he didn't ask for anything else to eat after that.  

Part of our routine is to get him ready for bed at about 7pm.  Once he has his pajamas on, he goes and gets his Mama's ankle boots, which have wooden heels and puts them on.  Then he clomps loudly up and down the hall in them, making the greatest racket you've ever heard.  That goes on for about half an hour.  At 7:30 when I tell him it's time for bed, he takes whatever toy is that night's favorite and goes to bed, still wearing Katie's boots with his pajamas.   On Monday night the favored toy was Taylor's light up wand.  Last night it was a set of teething keys he found in a toy bin, that was one of his infant toys.  Who knows what the favored toy will be on Friday.

Tomorrow we're 'off'.  And I am ready for a day off, let me tell you. I am feeling tired and worn down.  

Thursday:  I went off to bed a little earlier than John last night.  I was ready to stretch out and relax.  I watched Old World Cottage videos.  She's doing a Vlogtober series of 30 days, and I'd missed five videos, so I was anxious to catch up.  I didn't have any trouble falling asleep last night.  I woke twice, both times, wringing wet with sweat.  I would toss off all the covers, go back to sleep, wake up cold and cover back up.  I am not running fever that I'm aware of, but I'm definitely releasing something or other from my system.  It was plenty cool again last night, so it wasn't heat causing the sweating.

Anyway, I slept in this morning, and it felt nice to awaken naturally and easily.  It was one of those mornings where I might have stayed in bed even longer, but I wanted to get a few things done this morning.

Like sorting out the fridge.  Yes, really.   Yesterday after we'd picked up Caleb we came here, tossed all the cold things into the fridge and then gone on to his house.  And last night when we returned, I'd peeked in the freezer and realized I couldn't put a thing in until I'd straightened that out once more.  So, this morning, after I'd made Breakfast sandwiches for breakfast, I sorted out the big freezer and the fridge freezer, emptied the fridge and found spaces for every leftover and every new item that needed to go into the freezers was put away.  I kept out only two leftovers which we ate for lunch today.  Each was just one serving.  

I started a pot of chicken broth with a single chicken breast tossed in so I could make Chicken and Dumplings for supper tonight.  I baked cookies from the freezer for a snack item for us.  Then I settled to catch up the checkbook with yesterday's purchases and finally to catch up on my Bible study of the book of Acts.

One of the points made about today's reading really hit me hard.  It was Chapter 4 of Acts, where Peter and John were arrested and brought before Ananias and Caiphas and the council. If the last name sounds familiar it was Caiphas who presided over the Sanhedrin at the trial of Christ.  

Peter and John had just healed the man lame from the time of his birth and preached to the crowd that gathered around the man to see the miracle that had manifested.  It was there that they were arrested.  And they were sent before the Council with Ananias and Caiphas (the son of Ananias).    As the author of the lesson said, "They thought if they could arrest a few men, things would return to 'normal'.  

I think I've said "When things return to normal..."  "Once I can get back into routines..."  "When my schedule clears up and I can do the normal..." about 10,000 times over the past four years.  Normal hasn't returned yet.  Every season has brought with it some change that has created anxiety or stress.  I am not in control.  This author referred to Christ as 'the storm that upset things'.

And that's when I realized that as long as I was comfortable, God wasn't getting my attention.  But he's had my attention over these past four years in more ways than ever.  He is continually shaking up my life, my finances, my marriage, my relationships, my daily routines in order to keep my focus upon Him.

I believe in routines. I do.  I think children are especially needful of some routine in their lives when things have suddenly changed dramatically.  But as I was reading yesterday, routines can also become too restrictive.  A well-balanced child needs time for free play.  And I suppose adults need time free from routines and schedules and normal in order to stop and consider exactly what their purpose truly is, where they should focus.

In my case, it drives me to prayer which causes me to not just focus on my problems and upset but what God's purpose in it all might be.  It forces me to acknowledge that I am NOT in control, and I need to trust God, a focus that He has pushed me to acknowledge repeatedly over the past 14 years...Obviously I'm a slow learner, lol.

I've spoken to Steven today on the phone.  He said that they are getting him up to walk a little.  His release is scheduled for the end of October.  It is the hopes of his mom and Katie that he'll have a rehab bed at that time.  We'd appreciate prayers for that opening to occur at that time.  Thank you all for continuing to think of and pray for Katie and Steven and all the changes ahead yet.

Friday:  I decided last night that I wasn't going to go to bed with a load of things on my mind.  Instead, I took up pen and paper and wrote out a list of everything that wanted to niggle at my mind, all potential items for keeping me awake.  I am tired.  I need all the rest I can get at present, and I am going to do all I can to find ways to make that rest possible.  I ended the evening, after our usual prayer time, by reading a chapter of my current book.

I picked up this book weeks ago and read the first chapter and then put it down.  Isaac picked it up the other night and looking at the cover, asked "Is that a good book?"  I acknowledged that I thought it was a good book, "But I've only read one chapter..."  "Why?"  

Why indeed?   So, I took it up that night after they went home and read a couple more chapters.  It is another of my old Grace Livingston Hill books, The Girl of the Woods.  It is not as home/food oriented as some of her books but it's a good story and I am enjoying it.  It fits the bill nicely for my plans to "start reading again".

When I got up so very early Tuesday morning, I decided I would forgo my usual Instagram fest, and simply read.  I read 10 chapters before John got up.  I read a chapter last night and I read two this morning while I sipped coffee and awaited our breakfast to cook.

After breakfast I got busy with my housework. I put bread on to mix and rise, washed dishes, remade the bed which we'd stripped when we got up this morning.  I swept and mopped the kitchen floor, straightened the house and started tonight's supper which I'll carry with me to finish off over at Katie's house.  I stayed busy right until a bit past lunch time.   

When I sat down to do my Bible study, while lunch was heating up, Katie called.  She was on video call so that we could see the house and the yard in South Carolina.  It's a small 1970's tract home, and it's nice.  Smaller, much smaller, than the house in town but as I pointed out to her, she hasn't got a load of furniture so what she has will fit.   The biggest concern is that the road in front of the house is fairly busy, much like the one that Sam and Bess lived near in South Georgia.  The bonus to Katie's house is that there is a fully fenced yard and a gate across the driveway.  

She had loaded up her car with her first load for the house, then was headed to Target and Home Depot to pick up necessary items.   She'll be back this evening, but we will be picking up Caleb as we typically would, and I'll see that he is fed and readied for bed.

Next week, nursery is closed on Monday for the holiday.  Katie has to work at least a half day and perhaps a full day.  So that will be a long day for me.  But goodness gracious, time is slipping fast, isn't it?  There's only a little bit over two weeks more...

How was your week?

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