I had such a busy, productive weekend, I should just kick myself.
Up at 5:00 a.m. on Friday, I let Pongo out, fed the cats, Bob and I ate breakfast and I’m on the treadmill. Forty minutes later, Pongo has to go out again, so time to end my workout session.
My productive phenomenon sprang into action next by just cleaning out two junk drawers. Yes, I said two junk drawers. Normally, everyone has one junk drawer. Not me. I have so much junk, that I have two junk drawers. After cleaning out those two junk drawers, I now have . . . two junk drawers. Yep, I pitched out all the useless junk, but kept all the “gotta have” junk. But, believe me, it is now “organized junk.” Organized junk in two drawers. Well, actually it is now down to 1-1/2, if that makes it sound any better. But this is junk like, pens/pencils, crayons/chalk for when the little ones come to visit, batteries, etc. So, do you see what I mean when I say it is the “gotta have” junk? Unfortunately, there is still the “really don’t have to have, but I don’t want to get rid of it” junk. Everyone has to have a little bit of that. Maybe I just have a little more than everybody else.
After cleaning out the junk drawer(s), I then went on to my filing cabinet. I pitched out all the old folders that we didn’t need, filed some of the bills, etc., that needed to be filed, and resorted the “junk” file drawer. Yes, I also have a “junk” file drawer. It contains things that I put into folders – organized, mind you – of things that maybe I wanted to do, make, buy, review, etc. Some things were old, some things were never going to be and I had now come to terms with that and felt I could throw the contents of those folders out. It is cleansing myself of as much junk as I can subject myself to getting rid of. I went through some of the farm business folders and pulled out old bills that now have reached their 7-year cycle for tax purposes. I’m holding onto anything after that just in case of the A-word. I won’t say it, as I think it dooms a person/business once you do. So we will just call it the A-word – a nasty five letter word from a nasty three-letter agency that usually only has something bad to give you instead of something good. Nasty, nasty people! But they are nice, nice people as long as they stay far, far away. Oh, well, I am pretty sure that we are in good shape no matter what, but who wants to have to pull out tons of paperwork to hand over to someone just to have them mess it all up. Hmmmm. . .not me or anyone else I know. So, I cleaned and purged my file folders as best I could, or dared.
Next, the refrigerator. I have gotten so much better in the last few years about cleaning out the fridge on a pretty timely basis. Yes, this is a confession – years ago I hated cleaning out the refrigerator. It was always like a 10-ton chore sitting in the back of mind and hanging on my shoulder. But with age comes wisdom – you learn to tackle it before the little army of green guys march in and take over and now you can’t identify what was in that good container which now the whole thing needs to be pitched out because, heaven’s sakes, you wouldn’t want to open it and get a whiff of that!
I am good at keeping leftovers. This is leftover (pardon the pun) from my days of young, when growing up we kept all our leftovers - if there were any. My dad never minded eating leftovers. He would go to the fridge to pull out leftovers rather than eat any junk food or chips, etc. He was good to his body and didn’t clog it with the crap that a lot of us eat today. Unfortunately, he died too young. He was a Type I diabetic like me. Bob is supposed to be my “dad who eats the leftovers” person. He does, sometimes. I take leftovers every day to work for my lunch, so maybe I am more that person than he is. He will eat the leftovers; but not the next day after we have initially had them. He has to wait a day since he doesn’t want to eat something two days in a row. Me, on the other hand . . . I will eat something four days in a row and it doesn’t bother me – as long as the food stays good. It is food and if I made it and it is good, I’m going to eat it. For God’s sake, there are starving children all over the world . . . (okay how many times have we heard that growing up, cringed at it, ate what we didn’t want to eat, but still hated hearing it; then turn around now and use or used that same line on our kids; cycle of life, I guess. Or should I say . . . cycle of lines!).
See, it is therapeutic to get rid of stuff. Old stuff, good stuff, bad stuff, little green stuff – toss it and see how much better you feel. I know that I should follow the motto of others . . . set it in a pile and if you don’t need it within so many days, then toss it. Well, that might be good for some . . . not for me. I am always of that mind set that some day I might need it, so for now I’ll keep it. My someday might not be for a couple or three, four, seven years, but, by George, I’ll have it if I need it. I think maybe that nasty three-letter agency has the right idea of purging things after seven years. Maybe that is what I need to do – have an A-word of my “stuff” every seven years. If I haven’t used it in seven, then I guess it was not meant to be and it can go the way of the “stuff” in my junk drawers that I just pitched this past weekend.
Wow, it is now 8:30 on Friday morning and I have cleansed and purged myself of a lot of stuff. I’ve also gotten three loads of bedding done and hung out. Nothing like crawling into bed with freshly laundered sheets after they have been hung out to dry in the fresh air!
I have promised myself that I would devote a half hour to my cookbooks each day on the weekend, so that was next on my agenda. With the cookies and bars folders cleaned out, it is time to quit putting new recipes in my cookbook binders because I have just run out of glue sticks. Another item to add to my shopping list.
Another chore down and I next spied my niece, Sierra’s confirmation present sitting in the bag, recently purchased the night before. With her confirmation coming up on Sunday, time to get that wrapped and set aside, so I don’t have to deal with that at the last minute Sunday morning. Satisfied with my wrapping job, I still contemplate my choice of gift. Sierra is athletic and more on the, shall I say, tom-boyish side. I wanted to give her something, as with the others, to commemorate their confirmation. Maci, when she was confirmed, got a ring. I try hard to pick something that may be appropriate for the personality of each. My choice for Sierra had to have a little more thought put into it, because she is not much into jewelry, but I went with my first instinct and that was supplemented with something else I spied when I went into Things Remembered. I wanted to get Sierra an ID bracelet – not real feminine, and not masculine, but something in between, so that it fit with her active, athletic lifestyle now and in the future. What surprised me the most was sitting right there in front of me – a not too feminine/not too masculine ID bracelet and dog tag set. Gorgeous! Oops, not gorgeous – but excellent!! Spot on (at least in my mind; and I was hoping Sierra would like it just as much). I added a shiny keepsake box, had all three engraved and out the door I went. Reminiscing over the purchase, I hoped once again now that my choice was spot on. I guess the only thing that will tell for sure will be the look on her face when she opens it. Well, I’ll have to wait until Sunday to see. (Note: I won’t be posting this to my blog until after Sunday, because I don’t want to give away the surprise!)
Wishing now that I had a list for what I wanted or needed to accomplish this weekend, (I’m big on lists – I organize, organize, organize and write lists), I quickly wandered around the house to see what I should be getting done next. I know I am going to be limited on time, because as soon as we eat lunch, Bob already has my afternoon planned. We are heading to the freestall barn to replace some broken boards, reset the freestalls, put in new screws and fix whatever else needs to be done. I throw another load of laundry in and then decided to tackle some housecleaning. In between cleaning jobs, I take out the pan of chicken drumsticks I have marinating in the fridge. It is a morning of simple things – I just took a bottle of Italian/Balsamic Dressing & Marinade and poured it over the drummies. A couple hours later and I am ready to throw them on the grill over low/indirect heat. I grabbed a bag of mini-red potatoes, sliced them in half, added some seasonings (garlic & herb seasoning, salt, pepper, onion powder, parsley flakes), added some butter, tossed them and then put them in an aluminum pan with a little water added so they don’t burn; covered the pan with aluminum foil and then off to the grill everything goes. These will be okay to leave out on the grill for at least 30 minutes and then the drummies will need a quick check and possible turn. After 1-1/2 hours roasting on the grill, everything will be good to go. Back to cleaning.
After checking the drummies and realizing they are getting close to being done, I note that it looks like Bob is going to be heading in soon. So I quick throw together some sliced garlic bread, set that aside, and put a pan on the stove to heat up some frozen corn. Once I know Bob is on his way in, I put the garlic bread in the oven, check my blood sugar, take my insulin and 15 minutes later we are eating.
Once done eating, and while I clean off the table, put the dishes in the dishwasher, set that to start, Bob is out in the garage gathering his tools and putting them in the skidloader bucket. We head down to the freestall barn so that I can spend some quality time working side-by-side with my hubby and our ladies. We herd the girls out of one alleyway so that we can work on the freestalls there. Next it is carrying in the tools. Bob gets to use some of his new tools for the first time. A couple of his recent Xmas presents - a 28-volt Milwaukee rechargeable reciprocating saw and the same style orbiting saw – are going to be christened today. We (I) have been adding to his 28-volt Milwaukee collection ever since he went out and bought himself the 28-volt Milwaukee impact wrench. I have a feeling we are going to get our money’s worth out of this baby today. We have two rechargeable batteries for these three and let’s hope they hold out for the afternoon or we might be quitting earlier than we think. Armed with his two drills, a bucket for the tools, hammer, coffee cans and plastic containers (from my kitchen) full of lag screws and bolts and nuts, I think we are ready to start.
Four hours later, after running out of bolts and the batteries finally going dead on the impact wrench, we are 3/4 of the way through with what needed to get done. Satisfied with what we had accomplished, it is later than we think and Bob needs to start chores. I, on the other hand, have to get at my mowing. Two hours later, the yard is done, and I am satisfied with what I have accomplished so far. After taking the clothes off the line and folding them, our bed is made and the boys’ bedding will have to wait until tomorrow before I make those beds. No one is staying at our house tonight anyway, so no need to rush that process.
With daylight left, it gives Pongo and I just enough time to go for a little walk. He has been in and out all day, but while we were working on the freestall barn, he had to stick to the house. Back from our walk, I figure I still have some time to hunker down and try to concentrate on researching and writing the Sponem History book. Two hours later, really, two hours, seems like once you get started you sort of lose track of time – and I figure I better make some hot ham and cheese sandwiches on the griddle to feed the hungry milking man once he comes in. Plus, it has been a long day and my blood sugar is telling me I need a little something-something in my belly and veins, too, to get me by.
Tired, mentally and physically, plus full from eating so late, I’m off to bed for sweet dreams in my freshly-laundered-and-hung-outside-to-dry sheets.
Mmmmmmm . . . now this is what makes a good night’s sleep. The only thing that is missing is one of those little chocolate candies the maid is supposed to leave on my pillow. Dang that maid, anyway!
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