Diary of a Homemaker's Week: So Beautiful

 

Sunday:  We'll go all the way back to Friday evening.  John and I so appreciate the time change now as we're back to taking trash to the dump in the daylight hours.  It's become a small respite for us two or three times a week when we've been home for a few days.

Friday night we went out about 7:30 to the dump.   No, we're not using the new dumpsters that are just feet from our main driveway.  John says, and I agree, it's like dumping trash in our own yard.  We still drive through the country to the dumpsters that are isolated and well away from houses.  Caleb had already gone off to bed.  Katie didn't have any plans, so we slipped away.  I encouraged John to take a longer route home.  We turned onto the old state highway.  I saw the lovely tender green of the fields and trees. The sky was pastel hued with sunset, and I realized that we were out at the time we'd typically be having Shabat.

I started our Shabbat prayer, thanking God for the good day we'd had at home and for the beauty of the Spring evening.  My eyes filled with tears and made my throat tighten.  I sobbed out how I couldn't fathom the beauty of heaven if earth, this home of sin and corruption was so beautiful.  I was awestruck for a moment, realizing that God created this beautiful world for us, his people.  John's voice was also choked with tears when he said his prayer.  It was a fitting and lovely start to Shabat.

Saturday, we enjoyed the quiet house for a wee bit, then we got ready for our Saturday date. We had a long discussion debating where we'd go and what we'd do.  I'd asked to go to a local estate sale, but John declined.  I'd suggested we could eat lunch on the courthouse square, ramble along country roads, but he wanted to go to where we'd been in the past.    Just as I started to tie the laces on my shoes, a long loud rumble of thunder sounded.  

I looked up at John in dismay.  "Does this mean we're not going anywhere?"  He looked at the weather info online and said, "Well it's meant to rain but it's also meant to clear off this afternoon.  But I'm not wasting getting dressed to go out, so let's just go."    

About all the weather we saw was spits and starts of rain.  Katie told us later they'd gone through sheets of heavy rain on their way from picking up Taylor.  We saw none of that.  

We walked around an antique mall and bought NOTHING.  I had several things in mind I was looking to replace at home, but I saw nothing.  What I did see was pricey in my opinion.  We've been to this place plenty before and found great bargains, but not today.  My treasure-o-meter hadn't beeped the first time on our way over to that Antique Mall.   I couldn't help but wonder if I might have found lovely things at the local sale, but as I said, the treasure-o-meter wasn't pinging, so I don't suppose I would have.  Oh well.  Nothing lost, nothing gained.

If we'd been in the market for furniture, there was every sort of piece we could want.  Heavy solid wood buffets, china cabinets, curio cabinets, desks, chairs, pews, benches, side tables, etc.  We saw several pieces of furniture we really would have liked but in the end, it came down to the same question: where would we put it?  We have NO room in our home for new furniture of any kind unless we're getting rid of something major and at present, we have no plans to move replace anything.

One fun thing we saw was a woman pushing a big flat dolly with two golden labs riding on top.  She laughed at our faces and said, "They think they have to go for a ride every time I get it out to use."

We stopped for lunch after debating a few options.  All of John's offered options included "Getting food and eating on the way home."  I finally said, "No, really John I don't want to do that.  I always end up juggling your food and mine and eating way too fast.  It makes me feel hurried and harried.  I want to go in somewhere and sit down and eat even if it's fast food."  So, we did that.  We went in and ate a meal and then we headed home.  With sunshine beating down on us and nothing but blue skies above, I might add.

Katie and the kids were waiting on us when we got home.  Katie took a nap but wisely left the door to their room open.  The kids never once bothered her!  If she'd shut that door they'd have opened it three dozen times.  Both the children had their tablets and brought cushions over to the space between my chair and the wall and lounged there next to me.  John turned off the tv and went to his computer and we all had a lovely quiet afternoon together.

This morning we up for our usual early service at church.  I loathed that stupid alarm when it went off.  I got about two hours sleep.  The Saturday night insomnia struck hard last night, and I saw 4am.  The alarm was set for 6:15am.  I lay abed for about 15 minutes more while John went in to shower and such.  I slipped out of bed and came into the kitchen to make my coffee in the Yeti cup so it would stay nice and hot.  I set up John's coffee so he could easily make it when he was done showering.  I put our breakfast together and into the oven to cook on a lower temperature while I showered.  I could hear Caleb trying his best to waken Katie and Taylor the whole while.

That child has a built-in alarm.  It goes off at 6:30pm and he will literally drop his fork onto his plate, look at one of us and say, "Medicine.  Bed."  He doesn't want to wait one minute for any of us to finish our meal.  He just wants to go to bed.  NOW.  He's usually sound asleep shortly after 7pm.  And that same alarm goes off at 6:30am and he will badger Katie, "GIT UP!" until she crawls out of bed.  

Katie was exactly the same way at his age. No kidding.  She had that internal clock set and even time changes don't change the time.  Eventually he will grow out of this, but it amuses me and takes me back 27 years or so every time he does this.

After we returned this morning, I set up dinner to start heating and went off to change and make my bed.  Katie followed me in and sat and talked to me about her future plans which are sound and reasonable.  We'll see if things can be kept on track.  I keep telling her that planning and budgeting are just roadmaps that show us where we want to go but detours happen.  

John and I enjoyed the quiet time when they all left to return Taylor to her dad.  I folded the last of the Friday laundry that had been hanging to dry.  I swept the kitchen and then mopped it.  John took his cue and ran the vacuum over the floors.  I sorted out the fridge and have finally planned meals.  I got all of my excess things out of his music room and visually cleared up a lot of clutter that was distracting him.  I'll have to do a little bit of shifting to find homes for things, but that's the nature of adjusting your home to fit others. 

There will be more changes this week.  I'm trying to make the bedroom more living friendly for Katie and her children.  If I move some of my stuff out, she can shift things about to better fit.  And in moving the last of my things out, it's pushing me to let go of things that I'd been meaning to declutter anyway.  

And that has us caught up from the weekend.

Oh, just one thing.  I do try to reply via email to any of you who contact me in any form.  Debbie M., just in case you don't get the email, please know that I appreciate your kindness in thinking of me.  

Monday:  The de-clutter bug has bitten me!  I found myself this morning at a loss.  The house was pretty well straightened and cleaned yesterday except for our bedroom, so there was little to do once I'd loaded the dishwasher and started it working.  I sat around sipping coffee after an easier than planned breakfast.  Caleb set the pace on that meal this morning in his choice of what he wanted to eat and we just followed suit.  

I decided to sort out our bedroom and told John I'd be out in a bit.  I was about to hang up my clothes from church yesterday when I noted that the closet looked a right mess and so I decided to straighten that up and you know, you tend to one area and you think, "I might as well..." and you move on to the next and then another and another.  

By the time I'd tidied my clothing, I'd pulled down the box of Christmas gifts and sorted through that, then removed everything in the black trunk and made a discovery about my sheets.  I ordered at the beginning of the year two flat sheets and four pillowcases.  I then ordered two fitted sheets, not realizing that I'd used one of the flat sheets already.  So now I have two fitted sheets and one flat sheet in reserve.  I have a full set of sheets as well.  I have THREE Queen sized mattress pads, not including the one on the bed already.  WHY?  Anyway, that led to sorting out the cedar trunk...and then the washstand that is John's side table.   

I started a new donation pile and have to decide just what I need to do with a couple of items.  They aren't necessary just now, but they are items I think I'd like to keep 'just in case'...I have to decide if they are worth the storage space and if they are where they will be stored.  Right now, they are sitting on the floor of my bedroom.  That's a purposeful placement to make me think about the items.

The rest of the day has gone on.  We've had our triumphs and failures in the bathroom.  He's very reluctant to go especially if he's playing and in the middle of something and today, he's been totally absorbed and full of imagination.  Katie and I went out to the shed yesterday evening and brought in the resin rabbits, which I was happy to find are in better shape than I thought.  

I set them up on the little table in front of the window where he likes to play.  He discovered them about 9am this morning and 11:30 he was still playing with them.  He's just gotten up from his nap and he's at it again with them.  It is so worthwhile to put some items out only occasionally, including toys, and let a child have fun with them for a day or a week then put them away again.  Which reminds me I have a bag of toys in the shed that I ought to see if he'd want to play with.

Anyway, he was deep in play when I interrupted him this afternoon and he balked about going to the bathroom.  I shamelessly bribed him.   Told him if he'd just go try, I'd give him a 'pop' as he calls the little dumdum lollipops he loves so.  I told him he'd get candy even if he just sat there.  I've found that walking away is usually a sure thing for his going.  Once he's set up, I make an excuse and step out of the room for a moment or three and nine times out of ten he will call out that he's gone potty and sure enough I can see evidence that he has.  He continues to sit by his own insistence, but his aim goes awry just the same, lol.  I never fuss if there's a mess.  I just praise him for going and then I clean it up.  

He was listening to us at the table on Saturday evening.  Katie and I were saying that likely he and Millie will go to school at the same time, and we were wondering if they'd be placed in the same classroom or different ones, since they aren't siblings.   Caleb just sat and listened as he ate, but he said, "School...Millie...I go potty."  He's connecting that he needs to be potty trained with school.    

After his quiet time today, we discovered that his cup of juice had dripped all over the bed, so this led us to stripping that bed, washing the mattress cover, etc.  It inspired me to go ahead and order a waterproof cover for that bed.  This cover has a cotton top that has cooling properties.  I think it's the best solution for the bed Katie is sleeping in, but Caleb likes to be 'cozy' as he calls it, at naptime.  He pushes all the pillows and blankets into a giant nest and rests.   Caleb has a new bed, and we're waiting on his mattress to arrive.  Katie ordered him waterproof mattress covers, too.

It's rained and rained this morning.  I didn't know rain was in the forecast.  I won't be going outdoors to do anything today, unless it's looking clear when Caleb goes to bed tonight.  I've decided that if I were working a job I'd probably be going out after supper to work.  So I may be getting more done in the evenings rather than during the day when it comes to outdoor work.

later:  I took some things off the porches and put them in the shed and that's all the outdoor work I've done.  But I did something...and we'll leave it at that.

Tuesday:  The day saw me hit the floor running.  I got up early anyway, because I wanted to be sure I had time to shower this morning.  I was pulling my shirt over the head when John tapped on the door.  "Can you help me?  Caleb had a poopy pants and he absolutely will not let me clean him up..."   Of course, Caleb made no fuss at all about my cleaning him up.  Then he immediately asked for breakfast.

So, before coffee I was in the kitchen mixing up waffles (instead of pancakes) and that's why we had Hazlenut waffles...because before coffee I was mixing up the batter, reached in the fridge and grabbed the first carton that came to hand and poured it into the dry ingredients and stood gazing at it trying to figure out why the milk was a light tan color...Sigh.  

Of course, Caleb wanted to help which is a hindrance more than a help. I try not to discourage him, but he reached out to close the waffle iron and pushed on the steel part of the iron, burning his finger.

From that point on the morning stumbled along.  Caleb was emotional over little things.  Stubborn over everything.  He's still fussing about going to potty but every time he does go, he's managing to do something and he's keeping dry in between more often.  So, we are progressing.

I took advantage of his 'playing drums' for Grampa's practice session this morning and mixed up a batch of cupcakes for Easter dinner this weekend.  The smell drew him out of the music room...I took them from the oven and set them on a cooling rack to dry.  He went to the counter with his chair and began to play with the bowl of oranges, counting them, taking them out, putting them in.  I let my attention stray only a moment and I found him putting back a cupcake he'd just bitten the top out of.   Sigh.  I know better.  I do.  He doesn't, but I do.  I promised he could have that cupcake with his lunch today which he'd been pestering me for since 10:30.  

I'd fed him an orange about then and told him to wait and I'd get his lunch ready soon.  His hunger just knew no bounds.  I had him watch me put the meatloaf in the toaster oven to heat, so he knew for a fact that lunch was in the process of being made.

He's also learning to drink from a cup.  John gets very antsy about this.  I don't put more than 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup before the child.  I recall that John was just as fussed about Isaac having an open cup at the table and I'll admit Isaac had a bad habit of setting his cup at the very edge of the table.  Caleb doesn't.  I expect spills to happen, but John gets mighty upset over spills.  I reminded him today that it's just a process of learning like everything else and he has to be patient with it.  

I got a headache this afternoon.  I kept thinking it was because I'd gone outside to do some work but there's far less pollen about just now than we've had.  I took some Tylenol after a couple of hours hoping it would ease off.  It didn't.  It got more painful, and my tummy got that ick feeling.  I sat here after supper wondering if I was getting a virus or something.  Shortly thereafter thunder rumbled long and low...Immediately after it rained the headache and icky tummy disappeared.  Just a barometric migraine was all it was.

Wednesday:  Today is being declared a loss.  I had a horrible night last night.  It took me forever to go to sleep and when I did, I woke a mere two hours later.  After that it was doze off and awaken, doze off and awaken.   I knew at 7:30 that any further idea of sleep was pointless and got up.  At least this morning I had the leisure of almost getting to drink a full cup of coffee while it was hot.  

I finished the Emilie Loring book this morning and started Elizabeth von Arnim's Enchanted April.  I bought the movie on Amazon Prime last fall and have saved it all these months specifically to watch here in April.  That's one of my 'seasonal' pleasures.  To watch that movie, read this book.  Other ideas for this month are to eat strawberries often (they are now in season here in Georgia), and Asparagus often.  To sit on the porch and listen to birdsong as they go about their warm weather pursuits, as Misu allows.  To have my hands in dirt or work with plants in some way, whether I'm weeding, planting, transplanting, or deadheading.

Speaking of Misu here of late she's gotten downright odd.  Mind you all she's about fifteen or sixteen years old now and has every right to become odd.  She is not at all startled by loud noises any longer.  She's stopped grooming and appears to be suffering from some sort of skin ailment.  I'll wager a food allergy but she refuses to eat anything but soft foods these days, so likely her teeth are also bothering her.  She is stubbornly insistent that she will come indoors, or go into the shed, or climb into the car.  If we sit outdoors she climbs into our laps and proceeds to drool all over us.  For the others this isn't a problem.  For me it is.  She splattered drool on my arm the other day and it whelped up immediately, so naturally I try to avoid her even while trying to give her attention that she so desperately craves.  I brush her fur for her, to try and help her keep groomed.   

I assume we'll be losing her sooner rather than later.  She's been a great cat overall and aside from the random loving gifts deposited live at my feet (ew ick!) she's been a wonderful addition to our household.  I just hope that her passing is swift and gentle.

Thursday:  Potty training has gone along great guns this week.  Multiples of successes each day and even a request today to go in at Burger King where he proceeded to do exactly what he was meant to do.  I'm so proud of him and hope that the progress continues going gangbusters ahead.

Katie and John got Caleb's new little bed put together last night.  It's exactly like his old one which had broken.  I hope that seeing this one makes him feel he's something familiar and stable about him.   It's not in a good place for me personally, as the headboard is butted up against the pantry door.  Obviously, we'll have to consider moving things about in the room because that is simply not going to work for me.  I'd had to go into the closet three times this morning and now I have groceries to unload into it as soon as I get him up from quiet time.

We went grocery shopping, just he and I, and he behaved well enough.  He can't help but reach around into the cart and take something out.  Today it was cheese, which he kept laying against his cheek saying, "Cold".  There was another woman who came along, one he'd spoken to three or four times in the store on various aisles and she lay her packet of hotdogs against his cheek and said "Cold".  From then on it was cheese against his cheek.

This same woman came along later and asked him if he knew how a turkey sounded.  He just looked at her, but you should have seen his face when she gobbled.  She sounded just like she was a turkey!   She was picking up food for family coming in.  She commented that I should buy Caleb chocolate milk.  "My son is 28 and he still wants Kroger chocolate milk when he comes home."  She grabbed a jug as she told me this.  I explained that Caleb couldn't have regular chocolate milk, but I had chocolate syrup at home.  To this, a clerk who was passing said "Ma'am right in front of you is Carbmaster Chocolate milk and it's lactose free.  It's good, too!"  I saw it was indeed lactose free but then I saw there was one from Lactaid, too, that was a bit cheaper, and I knew I had a coupon for Lactaid milk, so I grabbed it.  We'll see how he likes it.  

We had a meltdown when I passed the Burger King in Perry with the castle where he wanted to play.  I tried explaining over and over that we were going to a different Burger King with an outdoor playground but ended up having to pull over at roadside and calm him down.   He hasn't reacted in that way in a long while.  I reassured him best I could, gave him a video on my phone to watch and told him we were going to meet with Grampa at another Burger King.   He doubted me and would whine or cry every now and then on the way over, but I told him repeatedly, "I promise you will play outside today." He was very happy when we arrived.

Grampa's appointment ran later than he'd thought, but there were groups of children on the playground already and they all played well together with Caleb.  The littlest boy was the sweetest thing, and he came to me right away and smiled and talked.  No clue what he said, but he had the sweetest most meltingly lovely eyes and smile.  He and Caleb had a toddler tussle, but it was pretty quick.  This little fellow has older brothers and sisters, and he knew just how to stop the tussle.  Caleb cried but he was mad more than having any real injury.  I certainly couldn't fault the other little boy; Caleb was trying to take something that was his.   

I was very admiring of the other mom.  She had five kids, had already taken them all to the doctor and now had them all playing at Burger King in the hopes they'd nap at home.  She had worked last night, so really, she was running more on nerve but she was incredibly patient with the children. When we left, she thanked me for letting Caleb play with them!  I was already thanking her for the same.

When we were about to leave Caleb wailed, "I have to potty..."  That's a first!  I ran with him to the bathroom.  He did, too, have to go potty.

I confess that by the time we got home, and I'd put away all the groceries, the last thing I wanted to think upon was what to make for supper.   I was just plain tired.  I debated this and that and ten other things.  I thought I might ask Katie to run in and pick up a rotisserie chicken on her way home, or pizza, but in the end, I went back to my menu plan and looked it over and decided that after all I had food I could easily prepare and not fuss too much over.

Caleb was tired about 5:30. This starts manifesting in a bit of hyperactive play and then he starts falling apart over little silly things.   Supper wasn't quite ready, but I made him a PBJ supper and a mandarin, which he calls baby oranges.  About that time, John determined he had lost something, and I was more than a bit peevish about it.  He has the worst organizational skills bar none.  Of course, his solution to most things is to put it in a pile in a very inconvenient place and then fuss if anyone moves it.  Well, this time I didn't move it, but he did, and he couldn't remember where he'd put it.  I offered to look in the places where it should be in my opinion.  I looked in the household booklets file where I shove all the how-to manuals that come with all things.  Then I looked in the bookkeeping files where all the important paperwork is kept that relates to insurance and such for good measure.

Katie came into our room and said, "Nobody greeted me..." and we told her we hadn't any of us heard her.  We explained that Caleb was already in his room and why.  The door was open, but he was too tired to get up and see Mama, I guess.  

John continued to fret over the missing manual, insisted that he'd left it in two different places in the kitchen and I told him I was quite certain he had not because neither would have been allowed!  We got a bit frustrated with each other and I suggested we have supper and then look for it.  "No, no, I'll wait until tomorrow..." and I, being testy already said, "Of course you'd rather do that!  And then you'll want me to stop whatever I'm in the middle of then and help you look when it's not in the least convenient for me!"

After supper we went through his music room where he does have a notebook that has some manuals in it mostly for outdoor equipment...but not the booklet for the new mower which is what he needed.  Back to our bedroom where, for good measure, I again pulled out the big file box and looked through it, looked through my desk drawers where it most assuredly shouldn't have been and wasn't and then demanded he look in his dresser drawers.  He assured me it wouldn't have been put there.  I know my husband. I insisted he look.  And when he got to the last drawer which is practically empty, there was his manual...Crisis averted. 

Just to give you an idea of his previous habit of finding suitable places where he might put things, I have found important papers stuck inside the back of framed photos, smaller pieces crammed into a small statute, scraps of paper shoved in books, not as bookmarks but just laid between the pages of a random book, in a box of keepsakes that had naught to do with the paperwork stored within.  That's why I took over keeping up with receipts, important papers and manuals.  So much easier than turning the whole house upside down.  He has phone numbers written on pages of various calendars and he keeps all the calendars so he can find the number.  It's just remembering what year he wrote it down is the problem! He has tucked plumbing parts into a dresser drawer.  He's very random in that manner.  I've no idea where he got his strange ideas about suitable places to put things.  I can only assume it's a right brain thing because it's totally foreign to my way of organizing and thinking.

I asked him very nicely, "And where do you think you will put that manual when you're done with it?"  He said, "I guess I'd better put it with the other manuals in my notebook..."  "Good answer!" 

Katie just told me she has the day off tomorrow.  That means I get the day off!  I'm looking forward to getting to sleep in for a little longer and just maybe getting a hot cup of coffee in me before starting my day.

So, I'm going to go ahead and end this post early.  Tell me...How was your week?  Do you have plans for the Easter weekend?  

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