June 1: Another Lovely Weekend

 

It's been a little cooler in the mornings, in the low 60's.  Rufus, who has stubbornly refused to be trimmed though he is horribly matted all over, has conceded that yes, he does after all need a bit of help.  He's good for about ten minutes and then he snaps at me and runs away.  But in that ten minutes I do my best to try to remove a whole segment of matted hair.  I'm not sure I'll be able to finish him and likely will end having to take him to a groomer, but I'll at least do the most he'll allow before I put us both through the trauma of a vet visit for a rabies shot and then a groomer.  I'm convinced I shall have to pay through my teeth for the grooming.  But in the meantime, I'll do what I can by myself with a trusty pair of scissors.

I was sitting on the back porch with him Saturday morning and the breeze was blowing, and the air was cool-ish.  I thought, "Boy...we should open the windows and enjoy this!" and I did just that when I came indoors. I guess it was about 12:30 when the air conditioner kicked on, so we had a good three hours or so of airing the house.  I swear the house not only felt fresher, but it seems to breathe better.  

If we had better air circulation and cross currents in the rooms, I'd have pushed leaving the windows open a bit longer, but I've learned from past experience that once it is 76F indoors and the AC kicks on, I am only courting an overly warm house and an AC that will not stop running.  If I take the prompt of the AC coming on, shut the windows then usually the house will stay at a pleasant 76 and will kick on and off as it ought to do.  

I read books, read blogs, looked at Pinterest, recorded some of my notes into the genealogy notebook I'm working on, looked up some fresh information on another two relatives, made easy meals.  We had freezer entrees for lunch.  I opted for Stouffers Meatloaf and mashed potatoes.  It's a splurge meal but not so very splurge-y.  It's under $4 for each of them.  I steamed broccoli and topped that with cheese.  It made a very good meal overall and I loved the ease.   For supper that night, I skipped the tortilla chips that were higher carb and lesser quantity and opted for frozen fries to make Nacho Fries.  Those were good.  

On Sunday, we got up early and I made potato salad for dinner today.  After church, we ran into the grocery to pick up Taylor's Cookie Cake and Fried Chicken.  Katie had ordered and paid for the cake; we offered the chicken as both a birthday treat for Taylor and our once-a-month Sunday meal.  I brought green beans from home.  

Taylor was happy to see us.  ALL of the children were happy to see us, though we didn't see Bella just at first because she was in the corner.  Let me tell you, at some point there was one of three children in that corner during our visit.  All of them 3, 4, and 5 years old, lol.  

It was Henry though that caught my attention.  John went over to pick him up and Henry was looking over Grampa's shoulder grinning wider than usual at me.  That little boy is in love with his Gramma just now.  But mind you when he woke from his nap and came to me, he heard his Grampa come back into the room and speak and he wiggled and squirmed until John came to get him.  

It was a fun family time together that we all enjoyed.  Taylor, who can be a bit picky ate like I haven't seen her eat since she was 2, lol.  She asked for seconds of everything.  I commented quietly to Katie that it had been a long time since I'd seen Taylor eat so well.  "She's in a growth spurt, too...They're ALL in a growth spurt."  

After we'd eaten and visited, we left in time to pick up mail for our missionary friends.  I ran into the grocery next door to get half and half, eggs, cheddar cheese, cream cheese, all things I was out of and knew I would want in the ten days until we get paid again.  I was mindful however that I am out of grocery budget and I kept to my list.    

I realized today that Katie may not be here on this property before the year is out as she'd hoped.  For one thing, the higher cost of living has hit them as it has everyone else.  For another, they have three children in one small bedroom.  Bella, especially in summer, tends to spend nearly all summer with her dad...  Taylor too visits more this time of year.  They are desperate to give the children a bit more space, so they'll be doing some reno work on their current home.  They'd initially planned to do it, then put it off when they determined they'd move out here but right now they have their current house and a current need.   There is a room already on the house but there's not an interior door that goes to it.  The room has a wall in common with an interior wall of their house so they can do this relatively inexpensively.  It won't be free but it's a solution to a right now issue.  That will give them the desperately needed fourth bedroom to see them through the remainder of their time in that home.  And maybe it will increase value just a bit, too.  

Anyway, I think we've all of us been looking hard at the nearer future thinking they'd be out here soon.  I'm a little sad that it won't happen as early as we'd hoped but it is what it is.  And maybe, just maybe, next year will be the time when they can finally get a home out here.  

 I'm going to sit back now and think about June, this whole new month and determine what my goals might be.  And try to plan meals for the week ahead.

I hope you've had a lovely weekend, too.

One more thing: I'm seriously considering looking into a meat delivery service.  Butcher Box, Good Chops, smaller independent company...Anyone out there have any experience with them?  What's your opinion?  Good value, waste of money, good product?  I would appreciate your input on this!

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