Not as much as I expected but I think it is the beginning of much more to come.


This week has been rather emotional for me. I still don't have my Christmas tree up....maybe tomorrow. I had lots of good intentions (don't we all?), and I was going to get the house cleaning and decorating done. What I have accomplished wasn't even on the radar for me this week, but I accomplished SO much. First of all I got a call from a good friend who told me I needed to pull on my "big girl pants" and get something done. Now that may seem harsh to some of you, but this is a good long-time friend who knows me very well and knew I needed someone to crack the whip. She spent a day with me in the Spring and between the two of us, got everything done on the list. That was because she did the driving and got me moving. Well this time of the year, she cannot afford the time to drive me around and make me do stuff. So basically, she just told me to get'er done. So what I had to get done, and I had been dragging my feet for quite some time, was to call in some Service people to take care of the water in the basement. Yes, that was still an issue. I was having to pump out the water every day. I am leaving on a Cruise mid-January, so I needed to address that problem, even if it meant paying out a lot of money. Well, it wasn't ground water, and it wasn't a leaky pipe, and it wasn't the hot water tank. It was a failed pump on my furnace which is supposed to pump the condensed water out through the drain. My furnace is only 3 years old, so who would have suspected that the 5-10 gallons of water a day, came from my furnace? My 200 year old house doesn't have a sump pump in it because we have never needed one. The cellar is always dry, dusty and cobwebby and just generally creepy. It didn't cost me anything because I pay a monthly fee on a protection plan, so yay for me. It still took 2 days to have it fixed but that remains a nightmarish story for another time.

I also made an appointment for and got my winter tires put on. That meant loading the tires into the van on my own and I ended up having to replace one of them. I did get a discount because there was still a lot of tread left on the tire, and they had been bought originally through them. I was still out of pocket over $200. I think in the Spring I will buy separate rims for my summer tires and have them store them for me over the summer. I bought them new this past Spring, so I need to protect my investment.

So the emotional bit about this week really happened in the last two days. I did some sweeping, dusting and washing as I put out the decorations. (I had to clear the cobwebs before I could hang the garland and lights. I had to dust the sideboard before I could lay down a Christmas runner and candles. You know what I mean?) Anyways, I got to this front room where my computer is and decided I really must take care of all Rick's tools and hardware that he kept inside this room. He has lots of stuff out in the shed, but some things need to be kept inside out of the elements. Some of those items I brought up from the cellar and didn't know what to do with, now needed to be dealt with. Some of it did go out to the shed to be dealt with later. I am sure his brother will decide to toss most of it, but I need to know what is available for MY use. I sorted roofing nails from deck screws and all sorts of containers. I gathered all the spray paint and drill bits and put them in drawers and shelves so that I would know where to find them. It has to make sense to me.

 There wasn't much storage in this house, so Rick and I "built in" these melamine cupboards between the studs in the walls. Now instead of containers filled with mismatched hardware shoved into a space big enough to hold it, the shelves now hold "like" items

 I haven't labelled these drawers yet, but now I know where to look for something I may need in the future.

There were some moments like when I found his cane and crutches in the closet, or when I found all the parking receipts from his trips to the Cancer Clinic that I became weepy, but I plugged on. Now everything has a place and so I can begin to do some real housecleaning in this room. It has taken a full two days. I quit at two o'clock to have my tea that I had warmed up twice this morning but allowed to get cold, and then I had the last of my beef soup I made last weekend from one of my steaks from the freezer. It is a snowy, blustery day, and I am ready for a lie-down which I haven't done in months. Tomorrow I will get back at it.