"Chores"

Hi Everyone,

Went to work today, it actually was a nice, quiet day, lots of work, but quiet.  The kids were very sweet. I think they were tired out.  Many people talk about how kids are disrespectful nowadays but 99% of the ones I deal with are very polite and fun to be with.  Maybe they realize I am getting old so they treat me more like a grandmother! Hey, I can play that role very easily! Just ask me how many times I have fallen this year!

My husband and I were set for that nice Italian dinner out tonight (that we missed this weekend) and when we got there, they said on Monday's they only serve bar food so we ended up at the local diner. Oh well, when we get the real thing, it will be delicious.

Then I went to the store I hate to shop in, the dreaded grocery store!  It was one of those "noglorybagyourownbutbringyourownbagsorwe'llchargeyouforthem" 

stores but was close to the restaurant. Haven't been there in awhile. I am not sure why I dislike that task so much but the older, I get the more I hate it! Probably because it means trying to plan out what we should eat while seeing what I really want to eat, and then determining what we really will end up eating. When I get home, it is usually dark and because we don't have a garage, we have to heft everything over the slippery side walk up the steps into the house in the kitchen all the while fending off two little dogs who are so very excited to see us. Next comes the fun job of putting it all away! When it is all over, I am tired and all I want to do is order a pizza delivered. You notice I said "I want" to order a pizza but we never have. I don't think they would ever find us. Anyways, that is why I can think of 101 excuses not to go grocery shopping!

You can tell the economy has really affected this particular store quite a bit! The produce didn't look that great and they had moved much of their stuff to the front of the shelves to make it look like they had more. It reminded me of one of those stores you see next to a campground, a little of this and that but not much of anything. I didn't spend very much. It is scary to think it is going to get worse before it gets better.  I am grateful for the way I was raised as I know how to live frugally and still hopefully, happily.

We then had to get a load of wood put in the basement in the dark tonight. We were almost out. We didn't do it this weekend as husband worked all weekend getting wood ready to make new stairs for the house. My brother had given him quite a bit of walnut so he went to his brother's shop to plane it and then brought it home and started biscuit joining it and sanding it for the treads. They will be beautiful when they are finished as he is a perfectionist. 

Getting back to the load of wood, because it was pitch dark by the time we got home, he found an old lantern so we could see what we were doing. We had been off from work for one and one half weeks and went through many loads but luckily, the furnace hardly kicked on because of it. We still have 2/3 of our wood supply left so that is good. We are holding our breath until we get the next propane bill. Last year in one month alone it was $600! The house is now partially insulated but the upstairs, dining room and kitchen are not. Plus we have those lovely old wavy glass windows that let the heat fly out as well. 

That is a sore point between us as he wants to keep the old glass and I don't. Yes, the glass adds to the vintage look of the house but I am the one who washes or tries to wash them and we lose heat. Because we live in the middle of ponds and streams, there is an unending supply of insects I constantly have to battle that get in between the wavy windows and the storm windows. The windows are so hard to deal with as I have to take off the moldings (yes, I said the moldings) in order to clean the inside of the storms and the outside of the glass windows.

We have learned to live with lower temperatures, more layers of clothing and more quilts on the bed. We even cover our dogs up much of the time because they are small, getting older and mind the cold.

Nighty-night, keep warm.  I am off to the cottage to work for awhile.

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