More spring cleaning

This time I have cleaned the "office/computer room".  Paper, more paper and why do we have so much paper stuff?  Get the glasses on, clear the floor, find a comfy chair and a good show on tv, because it is going to take hours and days to get through all this PAPER!  But after a few days it is done.  You know what the biggest temptation is?  Having another paper and rather then filing it in the proper place...I will just put it here "for now"  NOOOOO!   On another note of spring cleaning I like to move things around and it was time to put anything related to snow away, it is SPRING, regardless of weather.  I bought a little quirky thing for Hannah and Nathan, kind of a house gift and totally not practical.  The problem~I love it.  It makes me smile every time I see it.  I think it is mine and will have to get a replacement.  Pictured below, isn't it adorable!  Sorry Hannah and Nathan, think I just got myself the perfect dog.  (well really Sadie was my perfect dog, but you know what I mean)

My very own "snow day"

I had scheduled a cleaning job today, was kind of dreading it.  When I got there I found out they weren't expecting me until next week.  I did say the date, wrote it down and confirmed it, but they were still painting the place and it was a mess!  So I just did windows and will go back when the painting is done.  My very own "SNOW DAY".  Well I was pretty happy to have extra time on my hands.  Plus I would get to see my favorite daytime show, Marilyn Dennis which I never seem to get to watch since I work all mornings.  Wow...what to do?  Sew?  Shop?  Bake?  Hmm...how about clean?  Are you kidding me...but when the spring cleaning bug hits you just have to go with it.  Suddenly those snowmen have to go.  And hey...how about moving the furniture around while I am at it.  Well moving the furniture around sounds like a lot of work, but really I can only trade places with the sofa's, everything else pretty well has a permanent spot, but then I can vac under everything while I am at it.  NOTE TIP.  So when you move your furniture and  have the furniture legs dent your carpet, Just put an ice cube on the spot and let it melt.  Once melted you can rough up the carpet and the dent is gone, it works!  Then an idea... tired of the lamp and my bowl of off white vase filler stuff.  I am going to Target! A quick look and out the door in hand with a new lamp, lamp shade and green vase filler, all for $23.00, can't beat that!  I nearly skip to my van I am so happy.  So now I can enjoy a clean, organized living room with a new view of things, looking forward to spring. On to the next project!

A pretty book....

Well I have started a "pretty book", so no one detects what is on the inside...ugly thots.  It is something Laura has thought up.  I have always written when angry or upset, to get those words that swirl around in my head out.  Maybe once on paper, the darkness exposed to light and lines become answers and salve to wounds that seem deeper then they really are.  I know I am blessed.  But I have struggles too.   Empty nest is on the the way.  I have practiced it when Hannah was at school, but I knew she was coming back.  Easy to be gracious about something that doesn't really count.  So I am having a fuss about it on the inside, that somehow creeps outside of me.  I hate change.  I would love to have a regular routine of clean the house on Monday, laundry on Tuesday and baking on Wednesday, but who does.  Everyday there is change, some big and some small.  And life certainly isn't that way either.  And how boring would that be anyway.  I know that I will survive empty nest, all I have to do is look around to others that are already there.  I will pray that my fussing will give in to being gracious, I think God has his work cut out for him on this one.

Looking forward...

The good news just keeps rolling in.  Our next big news is we are going to be Grandparents in May!  Amanda and Ryan are expecting, and everyone is so excited.  It will be the first grandbaby on both sides of the family, which is so special to share the joy with the Klassen's.  The baby will have a big world of admirers to choose from.  Of course baby will be adorable, just look at how adorable the parents are.  We wonder if the baby will have dark hair, big eyebrows, hazel/ green or blue eyes.  What a fun time of life.  I really have to stop myself from going on a crazed buying spree and grabbing everything that is way too cute for words.  I have only bought one sweet sleeper, and starting to collect fabric for crib sheets and have a quilt on the go...that isn't too bad.
I must say I am nervous about being a grandma.  I am not exactly running to hold other peoples babies.  Not that I don't like babies, just from afar.  And usually when I am around babies it is at a baby shower with a gazillion people looking on, yikes!   But I have always been that way, even as a young mom.  Of course I love my own kids, thot they were and still are beautiful, and didn't worry about being spit up on and such.  I even liked a few other kids that I had at my house and felt fine with caring for them. Those kids are still among my favorites, and hold special memories of those times.
Gerry is a natural with kids, they automatically like him, perhaps it is not having a fear of looking silly that kids appreciate.  I think everyone has a different way of relating to kids and it all works out fine in the end.  So here we go, entering another new and exciting stage of life.

June 14th, here we come!

Such excitement at our house!   Hannah and Nathan are engaged!  It was so fun to be part of the planning of the location that Nathan proposed in.  We had known for a bit the date he was planning on.  Nathan was here for Thanksgiving and then coming back on the next Friday to surprise Hannah.
Laura and I hiked the day before and looked for the perfect spot on the Grey Canal, it is so beautiful up there, a long view of the valley, Swan lake and the wonder of Fall.  The girls had their plan, sister pictures.  So off they went, and pulled off the best surprise and captured it on camera.
Now we are into wedding plans.  Hannah is quite organized and has lots of ideas so it should be fun!  June 14th, here we come!

random midnight thots

It is 2:40 am, I am awake.  It was one very small random thot, not a happy one, but a complaining one that got out of hand, And now I am awake.  I am sure that in the light of day it will seem unimportant.  Or if I talk to Gerry about it, he will be able to talk me out of the complaining bin.  But here I sit, at the computer playing games of solitaire.  I am even having a midnight snack which is very rare for me,  insert commercial for some very good granola...Nature's Path~pumpkin flax, that sits on top of my yogurt and I am sipping camomille tea, hoping that the tea will soothe me back to sleep.  I fight with myself about things that bother me, things I really have no control over and things that in the big picture do not disrupt the whole world, just me and my sleep.
 I wish that Facebook had a different color on the chat thing that indicates that someone else was awake and wanting to chat until they too are tired and will crawl back in bed.  Or perhaps I could chat with someone as dense as I am about technology and when it says on Facebook that you are on the chat thing, you are and not that your phone is always on Facebook and really you are sleeping with your phone under your pillow.  Therefore no chatting with me after 11:00, I don't want to keep you from sleeping.  I don't even have a good book to read, which really sucks.  You can see how things work, from one random bothersome thot to a whole whack of other random thots that just take over.  There you go, a peek into the world of no sleep and not being very happy about it.  Back to the solitaire!

More then a $2.00 clean

As I walked into my kitchen with the light streaming in, I was horrified.  Every surface was grossly streaky.  The fridge, stove, glass cutting board (which I hate but have) the counter tops and the table.  Yes, I had given them a swipe, and you could tell. I clean for a living (or quilt money to be more honest)  Do I EVER clean that way for my clients...are you kidding me...NO!  I wipe, re-wipe, bend down to make sure I wiped, and then re-wipe and then go out of the room, one more look and yes will re-wipe again if necessary.  So why the $2.00 clean for the place I spend the most time in and appreciate when it is cleaned well.  I will have to put myself a little higher up on the importance scale because I love a clean house, whether if is for my clients or me.
While I was on the cleaning quest of the kitchen I did a bit more fall decorating.  How wonderful to have some great spots to put out all those pumpkins that I made and love.  Until next time!