Yesterday Was My Birthday

I "celebrated" my  69th birthday yesterday. I did not have a special dinner, have people over, or eat cake; but I received lots and lots of wishes by phone, cards, email and face book messaging. I have been receiving gifts since the weekend and I have been spoiled. My sister suggested I give myself a spa day but there was no uninterrupted time for that. I worked on my latest embroidery project between birthday greetings. And I waited until today to have my spa treatments at home. I first washed my hair and put in some Argon oil to leave in after my conditioning treatment. I wore a facial mask for moisturizing before slipping into a hot bath with a strawberry bath bomb. I used a pumice stone on my feet after soaking a good long time, gave myself a pedicure before slathering foot cream all over my soles, and finally put on some new fuzzy socks that was part of a huge gift from a good friend. She gave me lots of gift cards that I will be able to use over the next few weeks. 

I have decided to leave for Smiths Falls around 11 AM tomorrow, so I can accompany my SIL to Ottawa. My niece works at one of the museums there and she would like to give me a tour before we all drive back home for the baby shower that will be happening on Saturday. This afternoon I shredded and cooked a second cabbage to take with me, since I will be staying there until Sunday. I will wrap the baby's gift in a little while and pack an overnight bag. I am very much looking forward to a weekend away.

Yesterday I received my insurance renewals with the recalculated schedules. I am saving $80.50 a month by talking with my representative last week. Yay! That is a big chunk of change.

I probably won't be posting now until Sunday, so have a great weekend everyone. Stay safe.

Family Day: Daybook, Monday, Feb. 18/19

Canadians are celebrating a holiday today. Whether it is called Louis Riel Day, Islander  Day, Heritage Day or Family Day, it is a statutory holiday.  It only affects me because most places of business are shut down. Yesterday I made sure I picked up my prescription renewals on my way back from the restaurant where we were celebrating the birthday of one of my friends.  Today I prepared cards to place in the mail tomorrow. I wrote out 3 encouragement cards, 2 birthday cards and one "Thinking of You". I also got a phone call from a long-time friend (55 years and counting) and we talked each other's ear off. You know the kind of friend that you may not speak with for 6 months at a time, but when you do catch up with her it is like you just spoke with her the night before? That is the kind of friend I talked with this morning.

Outside my window.....it is sunny, bright and cold.

I am thinking.....of the wonderful time we all had yesterday afternoon in Rockport, where we gathered to celebrate the birthday of a friend. The restaurant was a casual dining place with a great stone fireplace and a kind of roadhouse feel. The company is always lively and engaging.

I am thankful for.....my many wonderful friends.

From the kitchen.....I made another batch of yoghurt this morning.

I am wearing.....the same thing I wore to lunch yesterday...black jeans, a turquoise and black checked shirt and fuzzy black socks.

I am creating.....a lot of kids' cards to have ready to send to my grand kids.

I am going.....nowhere today. Everything is closed.

I am hoping.....I have sent out my birthday cards on time.

I am hearing.....just the hum of my desk top computer.

Around the house.....my floors need vacuuming still. *blush* I have little shreds of paper being tracked through the house from my paper shredder which I was using again last week.

One of my favourite things.....lately, is my yoghurt maker.

A few plans for the rest of the week.....include me being away for the weekend. I will drive to Smiths Falls on Friday afternoon to stay with my brother and SIL. On Saturday, she and I will attend a baby shower for her oldest daughter (my niece). I will stay over again on Saturday night and return this Sunday.

Goals for the Week

• Print out Week 8 of the 10-minute decluttering tasks and do as many as possible.
  

• mail out 3 "Thinking of You" cards this week

• work on my embroidery project for the satin pillow cases

• work on the scrap booking project

• dusting and vacuuming the downstairs floors and the staircase

• go through and purge the books from my computer room

In case you don't recognize them, these are the same ones from last week which I never got around to. Not only that, but I don't have a photo to share with you today. I am really slacking off.

Grocery Shopping on Saturday

I woke up early again this morning and just lay there in bed....unable to fall back to sleep. So after breakfast I left the house early to start my shopping. No-Frills is having another Dollar Deals sales event, so that is where I started. I ended up at Shopper's Drug Mart, where I knew my eggs would be on sale again for $1.88 a dozen today only.

Produce (fresh and frozen) cost $28.65  (four bags of winter veggies, 1 bag of oriental mix, 2 pkgs. of chopped spinach, 2 kg bag of strawberries, and 2 small heads of cabbage)

Meat cost me $12.57 (chicken legs with backs attached were $1/lb., 4 chubs of ground chicken were $1 a piece and smoked sausage was $1 a piece) I still have ham and pork chops in the freezer, so this will give me some variety.

Only the eggs were on sale, so I paid full price for milk and yoghurt but needed to buy them in order to make my own yoghurt. One tub of yoghurt is a starter for 3 batches of homemade. I bought one pkg. of no-name cream cheese. My dairy cost $14.59

Pantry items cost $5.52 (tinned tomatoes were $1 each and the no-name evaporated milk only cost me 88 cents a tin.) I also spent $3.99 on 12 rolls of Royale T.P. on sale for a total spend of $90.85  With money I saved this month, I bought a $25 gift card to send as a gift to someone, leaving me $21.75 in my household budget for the rest of the month. I still have $40 left from my gas allowance and 3/4 of a tank of gas.

Digging Myself Out

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. 

Tuesday I reported a snow storm was dumping snow over most of the province. The snow continued all through the night. Yesterday morning, the snow seemed to stop and I even made a comment to someone that I thought the advisory was over. I spoke too soon. It started up in our area again and continued well into the afternoon. I bundled up against the cold and wind and went out to tackle the bottom of the drive. It was the most and the heaviest of all snowfalls we have had yet this year. It was very difficult to move. I use my shovel to push the snow and I take lots of little breaks so as not to over extend myself too much. I stayed outside for about 2 hours, but only managed to clear the bottom of the drive.  (If I had to leave my house for any emergency, I would be able to drive out onto the highway). There was still the top of my driveway to clear, but I knew I wouldn't be able to do that until today. When I came into the house yesterday, I was very sore and physically exhausted. I did no housework, nor did I work on my scrap booking. I did make another card however. I just had to reheat leftovers from the night before. Mmmm......leftovers.  (I'm looking at you Bless)

I started today with finishing the driveway. There was still lots of snow, but the job  went more smoothly. My sister's birthday is this coming Tuesday, so when I realized this morning that it was Valentine's Day, it hit me that I should have mailed her card at the beginning of this week.  I can't believe this week is almost gone.  I walked to the post office to mail her card and picked up my mail. Among the envelopes was my insurance renewals for both my car and my house insurance. OMG! I thought last year's increase in the house insurance was bad news. This year was far worse. I wanted to cry.

I called to speak with a representative, but truly I didn't expect much sympathy. I called last year, but they did nothing for me. I guess it depends on the person you speak with, because this agent was absolutely wonderful. He worked with me for a good long time, asking questions and making recommendations. The final result of all the time spent on the phone, means that my premiums for BOTH my car and house insurance are less than what I paid last year. He is saving me a pile of money.  Yay!

Here is the sweet little encouragement card I made for one of my grand kids yesterday. I guess I should have drawn some little muscles on those skinny little stick arms, but I can't draw to save my soul. So it will have to do. She will think it's funny anyway.

Snow Storm

I didn't hear until this morning that a storm was moving in, so about 9AM I walked over to my convenience store to buy a dozen eggs before the weather got bad. The snow had already started. The last two days have been sunny and bright and that is when I should have driven over to Amerstview to get cheaper eggs, but I didn't. As a result, I paid almost $2 more. But now I am snug as a bug and I will have eggs for breakfast tomorrow.  I put a pork roast in my crock pot for dinner tonight.

I printed out the pillowslip border that I will put on my grand daughter's pillow slips that "Dee" had delivered from Amazon to my house. Then I transferred the design to the pair of  satin pillow slips. When the mood strikes me, I can start embroidering.  By this time it was lunch, so I reheated half the chicken stir fry and cauliflower rice that was left from last night's dinner.  Then I started back on my scrapbook project. I am not embellishing the pages nor am I journaling yet.  I am only matting the photos and arranging on the pages. It is a slow process for me so I have only accomplished 2 two-page layouts this afternoon. I will be lucky to accomplish one scrapbook this winter at this rate.

Daybook: Monday, Feb. 11/19

Outside my window.....it is sunny and mild. Snow is melting off my roof and dripping over my verandah. We had a little snow overnight, so the sunlight is looking particularly bright this morning.

I am thinking.....of my late husband. It is his birthday today.

I am thankful for.....all the phone calls and well wishes I received over the weekend from family members and friends.

From the kitchen.....this past weekend I made a pot of soup, sauteed shredded cabbage, another batch of yoghurt and I cooked all the chicken legs with backs attached to remove the meat from the bones.

I am wearing.....black denim jeans, gray and red striped socks and a gray sweater with a cowl neck.

I am creating.....enough kids' cards to last me a little bit, so I can get down to business and work on a scrapbook.

I am going.....??? I have no plans to leave today, but I do need to pick up eggs again.

I am hoping.....for positive outcomes this week.

I am hearing.....the clock ticking in this room. I have never noticed it before.

Around the house.....the furniture still needs dusting and the floors still need vacuuming.

One of my favourite things.....is my paper shredder. It makes short work of my paper clutter.

A few plans for the rest of the week.....include a birthday lunch at a restaurant on the Parkway this coming Sunday for one of my girlfriends. We are getting together late for her birthday which was last week. My celebration will likely get pushed ahead to March. I have no Doctor's appointments during this month.

Goals for the Week

• Print out Week 8 of the 10-minute decluttering tasks and do as many as possible.
  

• mail out 3 "Thinking of You" cards this week

• work on my embroidery project for the satin pillow cases

• work on the scrap booking project

• dusting and vacuuming the downstairs floors and the staircase

• go through and purge the books from my computer room

Here's the picture I am sharing.....

No Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval

I'm on strike, I guess. I'm not feeling the motivation for housework. Well, it's just me after all, so it isn't too bad (except for the top of the dining table). I wanted to vacuum, but I didn't. Whenever I think about it, I want to take a nap; so I make cards instead. I have made my ten cards for this past week, so I got at least one goal checked off. I have done up my laundry, made another batch of yoghurt,  shredded the second head of cabbage I bought last week and made a large pot of chicken vegetable soup for lunches this week.  Let's see what else I accomplished from my list.

 This Week's Goals

• make 10 cards this week      Done 

• mail out 3 "Thinking of You" cards     Not exactly...not in the way I intended when I decided to make this a goal. I did mail off more than 20 valentines and two more kids' cards
• exchange my seasonal winter dishes for my everyday     Done

• dust and vacuum the downstairs and the carpeted staircase     No

• Go through the book case in the computer room and purge       No, but I shredded more papers and printed out more return address labels.

• Check Michael's to see if they have blades for my paper slicer     Done

• Use my gift card for Home Depot to buy Spackle and a flapper for my toilet     Done. I have already replaced the flapper and chain inside the tank. Easy, peasy. 

Dinner This Past Week: (Friday to Friday)

Feb. 1  roasted chicken thighs with creamed cabbage
Feb. 2  ditto
Feb. 3  sliced ham with mashed turnip and green beans
Feb. 4  pork chops and cheesy broccoli and cauliflower
Feb. 5  chili con carne (without the beans), toasted keto bread with melted cheese
Feb. 6  sliced ham with creamed cabbage
Feb. 7  encore presentation

Now that I am a little ahead with cards to send out this month, I will probably concentrate on working on my scrapbook now that I have sharp cutting blades for my papers.