Getting More Done:

We recently got rid of our DirecTV and signed on for Netflix instead, that was a tough decision to make since I enjoy the Cooking Shows and HGTV plus the TCM channels as well but we wanted to make some changes and find time somewhere in our crazy schedules to be able to do more. Plus the price of TV these days is absurd and we thought it best to put that money towards gas since we are on the road quite a bit.

Now that we've been without TV I find that I don't miss it. On Netflix I get to choose the movies and shows that I WANT to watch and I'm watching movies I've never even heard of.

I also am getting more reading done, I finally purchased the

Little House Books

I found it at a local antiques store, I am missing two books which I will have to find.

As a little girl I watched Little House on the Prairie and loved it so much, I often wished I lived during those times, life was hard for them but they enjoyed work, family, worship and used their time wisely.

Today so many of us waste time in front of the TV, computer or playing video games all day long. They used their hands then, made their own things, learned so many trades, I'm not complaining, we have amazing technology now and can get more accomplished in a more timely manner, but we also waste a lot of time too and we don't even realize it.

Anyway, I at times say I was born in the wrong era and yet I'm amazed how far man has come since then.

But, my point was, I am enjoying more reading and doing more projects around the house here and learning another language with my DH. We're having a good time, busy but a satisfying busy. 

I didn't realize how much time I was wasting until now.

Cute but MEAN!

So how does something that is this cute

be so destructive and mean?

For weeks now we have had SOME THING

come around our back porch and just destroy it.

I keep cat food out for our one outdoor cat

and we woke up one morning to find her feeder

tossed off the porch into the cornfield.

And not just right at the edge of the field,

DEEP INTO THE FIELD!

What the heck! What could have flung that feeder

so far in there?

So DH was not happy to go in there and retrieve it.

HMMM!

So I put it away during the night and we'd see paw prints

all over our back table.

Looks like raccoon prints.

We went away one weekend and our neighbor kept

an eye on things,

fed my outdoor cat and put the food away

then one morning she came back

there to find the waterer gone!

We looked, and looked in the  corn field and it has

DISAPPEARED!

How could a Raccoon have that

much strength?

At this point we thought maybe it was Bigfoot's child!

So, I was lazy one evening and decided to put the cat food

on top of our propane tank when I came out the

next morning, there were paw prints all over

that tank and my planter was laying against it with dirt

everywhere.

It used the planter as a ladder since you could see he

kept slipping down the tank.

Now I'm FRUSTRATED!

Our neighbor offered his shotgun but we didn't want

to do that, no need, so we got a trap yesterday

put in grapes, marshmallow's and honey.

Hoping to trap whatever this thing was

and move it to another location.

Sure enough!

Hubby said the thing scared him half

to death.

He snarled, growled, tried to get at him through

the cage.

He drove him to an area in a woodsy

"neighborhood"

and the poor, scared thing was so angry, but of course

probably more scared than anything

was not happy.

I asked my hubby when he let him out, did he try to get

at him?

He said

if it had we'd be talking in a hospital because he

would of been recovering from a

heart attack!



Rain, Baking, Relaxing....

So it's one of those days,

rainy, cold, and windy.

Yesterday it was

80 degrees

and gorgeous, so I took

advantage of

that

but I knew that today I would

feel miserable.

My FM has flared up, not a

surprise

Fall and Spring wreak havoc

on that.

I love those times of the year

but my body

does not

So today, I am attempting

to make a pie

out of Gluten Free products

which I will

post later today whenever

I get it

done.

Making a pie today is an all day

affair when you

feel like I do.

The sun tried to come out

after it poured all morning

but now its dark

and dreary again,

welcome to

SPRING!

But I got laundry almost

done today,

we had our Open House this

past Sunday

and it turned out well,

that was stressful.

I will tell you the one benefit

to selling your

home,

you are FORCED to keep your

house clean and organized.

You just don't know when you'll

get a phone call

telling you

someone wants to

see your home!

YIKES!

But, we have been

disciplining ourselves

to keeping up with our home

every single day.

Otherwise it's not fun having

strangers walking through

your home,

I feel like my privacy is being

violated but I know it's

part of the process,

but I don't have

to like it.
I also got to reorganize
my closet
and swap out my winter
clothes.
I enjoy doing that because
I forget what I had
for the Spring/Summer
season so it's like
shopping in
my own closet every
season.
I bought a skirt
at JC Penney and have been
trying to find the right
top for it, mainly
because the color is so hard
to find
and who would of known
that I had two tops
already
that go great with it.
You see, like
shopping!
And the other great thing is
that I get to sort through my
things and decide
what to pitch, donate
or take to a consignment
shop. I have two
bags to take.
I need to stop shopping.
That is a goal that I
am setting
for myself.
Buy only what I NEED,
not what I want,
plus my closet is not a walk in as
some of you women
are blessed with,
so I have to be careful with
the space that I
have to work with.
(Yes I did NEED that skirt that I bought at Penney's)

On another note, I saw

this on a site, wish I

could remember where,

 I just love it

Isn't it  beautiful?

I'm trying to figure out if it's

a dresser at the end

of the bed or

one solid bed frame?

This would be great in a small space.

Well, just wanted to stop

in and say

hello!

Is Spring coming soon......

Could it be?

Is it really?

Is it a ROBIN?!!!

Around here from what I

understand

if you see a Robin then

SPRING

is around the corner

and that my

dears

is a Robin in my

backyard!

I already have my tulips,

daffodils,

and Columbine's

peeking through!

It makes my heart

pit'r pat'r

I'm ready to run through

the hills

and

SING!

Well, not really, let's not

go to far,

but I am

EXCITED

about

winter slowly

coming to

a close

and seeing life

appear

and color

take

over!

But it is still darn cold out today!

BRRRRR!

Have a great Friday!

Sick and Tired

Since November I have been sick

FOUR times this year.

This last virus, which Doctors don't

seem to know what it is,

has kicked my butt big time!

It took me 15 days to get well,

but to end the virus I

got

PINK EYE!

I thought I was Six years old

all over again!

Today is a good day, it has taken

another week to

feel myself again.

But before I got so sick,

DH and I had another home project.

We went to IKEA,

LOVE LOVE LOVE that place

and we picked out storage.

(one up three more to go)

(you can see what we painted before on the walls, a bright yellow, ugh) 

(finally up now we need to screw into the wall and together)

(this outlet was behind the cabinets and DH did a good job of

exposing it)

(all we have to do now is add the doors, but wait, they were the

wrong size, so another week later we put on the right doors but had

to remove the drawers and redo them, frustrating. Nowhere in the

directions does it say to put on doors FIRST before adding

interior pieces, UGH!)

(while we waited to get the new doors I added all my stuff,

couldn't wait...:) I still have room)

(as you can see one door is missing, we have it but we didn't

realize that these doors needed four hinges, so we ran out, again

NOWHERE in the directions does it tell you how many

hinges you need for these doors....UGH!)

(so we moved our sideboard in front of the window, do you

see my sweet Latte there?)

(you don't realize how tall they are in the store

until you bring them home!)

So hopefully by next week we'll

have our door added

to the pantry.

Our home is lacking in closets.

Love the older homes

but wish they had better storage,

so we added our own.

Two coat closets, a broom closet

and a pantry.

We love it, it has certainly added

something to our home.

Love IKEA but they certainly don't

have the best directions

on their stuff.

But it won't discourage me from

shopping there!

Is it 2011 Already??!!

I don't know where 2010 went

but it's gone,

just like that!

It's behind us now and we're

looking at a new year,

already!

I can't believe how fast

this winter

is moving along and

I feel I have

accomplished

NOTHING!

I haven't had a cold

in two years

but whatever is going around

it GOT ME!!

I was loving Fall, I felt good

then November hit

and it went downhill!

Two months and 12 days

and I'm still feeling

like

a train ran over me.

Now it's my Sciatic Nerve!

I've done no sewing,

no crafting,

no scrap booking,

no projects!

What have I done?

Well, we're finishing up our

Hindi Language Class.

Feb. 5th is the

last day.

It'll be sad but at the same

time

I'll have my Saturdays back.

Four months of

Saturdays

learning a language

that has brought

tears to my eyes,

oh, not because

it's a beautiful

language,

even though

I think it

is,

it's because of

frustrations!

My Language Book

almost felt

the heat

of our

fireplace!

But it's OK,

we're hanging in there.

In the meantime,

I've made some yummy

Gluten Free

Chewy Peanut Butter Bars

They have peanut butter

(obviously)

Coconut, and chocolate chips!

Boy were they good.

So now, I have to lay on a tennis

ball, per my massage

therapist's instructions.

She said "it'll heard like heck

but you got to do it for

at least 3 minutes, then

roll on it"

WOW! Does it hurt!

Hope your winter is going well!

Organic Make-up Call!

Good morning out there in

blog land.

Today is a beautiful, crisp Fall 

day, 

which if you haven't figured

out already, 

I LOVE FALL!

Anyway, 

I've been having skin issues

lately,

on my face.

Now I know I am getting

older

because I've NEVER had

skin issues.

But I'm dealing with inflamed

redness around

my nose

and it goes from being

tender

to itchy.

Not pleasant!

So it may be time for me

to try

Organic

make-up.

Who would of thought?!

So are any of you

using any

organic products,

mainly make-up

you know,

concealer,

face powder,

blush 

things like these?

There are so many websites

its hard to know which

to trust.

Leave me a comment

and let me know.

Don't forget to 

sign up for 

the

100th POST GIVEAWAY

Leisure Fall Day

Enjoyed a beautiful Fall day yesterday with my Dear Husband

Then we drove to a local town and visited

an old Covered Bridge

It was a perfect Fall day!

Hope you're enjoying Fall wherever

you are at!

A Sweater Obsession.....

Have you seen the new

and

gorgeous Fall sweaters

out there?!

If not, where in the world

have you been?

My DF Valerie and I went

shopping last

week,

and the different,

gorgeous selections of Fall

clothes out there

is pretty

amazing.

I think more so because

they look

FEMININE!

I'd forgotten what it looks

like to see a

woman dress like a

WOMAN.

(Look at the old black and white movies)

I do my best because I

am a girly

girl, thanks to my mom,

and Great-grandma.

But, ladies, SERIOUSLY!

Do you need to look

like you crawled

out of bed.

Do you need to wear

your pajamas in

public,

I don't care how

comfortable they are,

there are clothes

out there that

are comfortable to wear

and at the same

time

flattering, or is it

that you just

DON'T CARE?

Well,

this year we're surrounded

by Feminine

beauty.

Isnt' she a beauty?

How can you resist?

I found these on

Anthropologie

(a little bit pricey for me)

They have an amazing

collection,

I drooled a little!

But for a little bit less

( I have this one in a Dusty Rose with

that adorable belt too.)

They are having a sale

now and I do

love their

selection.

(this one is so soft and girly, it's the

Corsage Sweater)

(This one too I LOVE)

I LOVE that Argyle is every

where!

These sweaters are BYGO

50% Off

right now at

New York & Co.

So ladies, go out there

and buy at

least one, maybe two, go

with a GF and split

the sales

prices, do what you have

to.

Let's see the Feminine

come back!

A New Diet??!!

Hello, all, are you feeling the cold?

It feels like Fall here.

Cold, wet, damp, YUCKY!

But a great day for

Lentil Stew which I love making

and eating,

but I found out today,

NO MORE LENTILS FOR ME!!

So disappointing!

But I'm desperate so I 'll listen.

I know I've posted this

before,

but I have digestive issues which

has led me to a

Gluten Free

Wheat Free

way of living, but there is still

some issues

I'm dealing with.

So after much research, and

frustrations,

I kept stumbling upon this

Blood Type Diet.

Have you heard of this before?

Well, it's very interesting.

I've read many

websites between last night

and today.

There are many restrictions

but nothing

that I can't handle.

At this point

I will do anything.

One of the

sites even had recipes

for all

blood types which is very

helpful.

So I will start one day

at a time.

I know many of you out there

also deal

with these issues and so many

of you have some

great blogs or sites which

I've found helpful.

So I will be posting my

journey of this new

diet that I'm going to try

and that I

hope is the answer to my

problems.

We shall see.

New Language Class

Hello, everyone, are you

ready for

FALL?

I am so ready!

Today its cool and cloudy.

The past

few days have been so hot

that I had

to break down and put on

the AC.

We're also being attacked

by STINK BUGS

here.

There isn't anywhere you

go that

you don't see them

climbing up

walls or coming at you

with that

buzzing sound.

I HATE BUGS

well,

annoying ones

anyways.

So yesterday was our

first

language class.

I posted about that some time

ago.

Some of you asked what

language

we were learning,

well,

we're learning

Hindi!

In our area we're having

so many

from India moving here

and the surrounding

towns,

which means

yummy restaurants

around

us.

Some of you know that my

husband

and I are Ministers as well.

We're out in the

ministry

pretty regularly

and we're coming across

many who

speak

either

Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi

just to name

a few.

So we,along with 24

others are

taking this language

class.

Yesterday it was over

Three hours

and by the second

hour my

head was

literally pounding.

It was pretty

overwhelming.

I couldn't sleep well last

night and neither

did hubby.

There's a lot to learn,

we're excited

but

overwhelmed.

We had a good time

with everyone,

laughs,

frustrations,

a moment of when

I wanted

to cry,

but

didn't.

We have 15 more weeks of

it.

It's every Saturday for

16 weeks.

So its a commitment,

but that's OK,

the people

we meet in our ministry

make it worth

it.

TORNADO-in Brooklyn NY??

(this is in Queens, NY, on the corner of
where my parents live)
It's around 6:45pm, my phone

rings,

"Arlene?"

Asks the concerned voice,

"Hi mom, you OK?"

"Well, we just had a tornado

hit here!"

"WHAT??!!"

I could tell in her voice,

she was scared

and confused!

She couldn't believe it,

the windows

rattled, she thought

for sure

they were going to shatter.

She hid in the corner

of the room.

I felt helpless, she said she's

fine!

"Where's Dad?" I asked,

"Well......"

"Mom is he OK, did you

hear from him?"

"Yes I just did, he scared me

half to death"

Evidently my father had called

my mom as he always

does when he arrives

to the car, after

he gets off

the train,

to let her know he's on his way,

when he did this,

at that moment

electrical lines fell onto his

car,

people were screaming at

him to

GET OUT NOW!

He's screaming

with my mother

on the

phone

all he kept saying was

Oh, my God!

So my poor mom felt

helpless!

He got out of the car

and he's fine.

Somehow he managed

to get back into it

and maneuver

through

the streets of Queens, NY.

He says it looks

like

a war torn city now.

As I talked to him

I can hear

in his voice the fear

and

the adrenaline

still kicking!

Why are they so far

away from

me?!

They're OK now,

but the City is not.

One person died

so far!

Click here to see pictures

Now they're just waiting

to see what happens.

But they're OK!
(I will be posting more pictures
from my dad)

We Had Visitors for Two Weeks!

 I would NEVER claim to

be a

Domestic Diva,

but

I will anyways.

I was one

from

Friday until Tuesday!

From

sun up to sun down

I cleaned,

organized,

threw out,

scrubbed,

polished,

froze corn or fruit,

until I collapsed

last night.

But what a wonderful

accomplishment.

I had a goal

to get all this

done

BEFORE

September 1st.

and I did.

Now I still do have somethings

left to do,

but they'll have to

wait til cooler

weather.

But if felt good.

My home

hasn't been

cleaned this way

in a year.

But sadly I threw

things out

that should never

of been

thrown

out.

FOOD!!!!!

What  a waste that was

and it

just ripped into

me.

GUILT!

That will not happen again.

From now on, buy

ONLY

what we need.

Even if its

on

SALE!

WALK AWAY!

That goes

with clothes as well.

I'm trying to be more

disciplined

less wasteful

more organized.

Now on a different

topic,

we  had visitors.

Would you like

to know

who?

Can you tell what

by looking

at this photo?

How about a closer look

then?

It's a visitor that no one

wants

to have in their home.

Well, for

two weeks we've been

killing these

in our house.

Majority in our home office

the rest

in our bedroom.

We've

killed between

15-20 per day

for the past

few days,

altogether,

over

70

Yes,

70!

The final straw was when

I was still sleeping

yesterday

morning and at

7AM

I felt something

crawling

on my arm

and it was

a Yellow Jacket!!

I am

HIGHLY

allergic to

bites and stings.

So after waking

up screaming

I could then

hear them

in our

wall.

THAT'S

IT
I"M CALLING
THE
EXTERMINATOR!!!!

As he geared up in

100 degree

weather,

I stood far away.

I felt

sorry for him, it

was horribly

hot

and when he

started

spraying

they were angry!

But it's

done,

they're

gone,

I HOPE!

So yes

some exciting times

in our home.

Evidently

there is an infestation

of bees in the

area.

It's this dry hot

weather here.

Who said there were a

shortage of

bees in this country?

Come to my

yard,

you can have some!