Thursday, Some financial Goals

 I finished the book club book last night.  Not my fave, actually found it irritating. Here one moment, but I slogged through. As you can imagine, I don't like to waste time on something I find annoying. The book was not for me.

But tonight, I have book club and will enjoy the company. I found a Swedish Almond cake made at Christmas in my freezer, so I will serve that with whipped cream, and strawberries.  I will need to go and get strawberries.  I also have some left-over chocolates that Sissie made and some leftover Christmas candy.  Use it up is the motto here.

I finished all but one of the Nunsense costumes last night, so that is the first thing on the agenda after this post.  Then I have to dust the house a little and vacuum that whole place.  I need to mop the floors, which won't take long. The house will be spic and span after that!!

I did get the dreaded spare room closet cleaned and I now have three bags to take to goodwill. It is amazing how closets just multiply things; I am sure we have nothing to do with it....

 It is another beautiful sunny day here and I will take it! As we often don't get sun, just dreary overcast.  The utility man from the county was out to mark the fence line, so that is done and the contractor can get started on the fence posts.

My joy today is a clean house, oh and also costumes, finished, oh and also friends coming over. Lots of joys today.

So, onto some financial stuff. I was told never to use stuff in my writing, but here goes:

1. save all my $5 bills (have no idea what goal this will fulfill I am just doing it, maybe travel) 

2. save a penny a day (I fail at this every year, but I am not a quitter)

3. Save all my change, (again not very lucrative when you are not spending money)

These are fun goals for me, I do need to come up with some other strategies for the year, I guess I am starting out slow!

Any joys you want to share?

God is good

Kim

Wednesday, plugging along with goals in mind

 I am still working hard to get my house back, and I must say I am making progress.

The sun is out today which is unusual, but I will take it as my joy today! 

Worked all day yesterday on the house and garage.  I almost done.  The only thing left is the spare room and spare closet.  I am going to set a one-hour timer after this post and get those done. Then I just have the freezers, food cupboards and the pantry. But those are for another week. This week it is about Christmas and bedrooms.

I already have a small bag for goodwill, which will get larger when I do the spare room closet.  Dan came over last night and helped me in the garage.  We got everything back on shelves, and it looks great. I have one more broken bin I need to transfer things from and then I can say the garage is clean!!!!  I had no idea that this would get done during the after Christmas saga, but the contractor needed 1/2 the floor space for cement and other things for the new fence, so it forced me to clean out an area and while I was doing that, I thought just clean and put things where they should go. Imagine just doing it right... something I rarely think of, ya know.

So, I have a sparkling garage along with an almost sparkling house. Have I approached the shop yet?  Well, no but I am thinking about it.

When I was driving home from Twin Falls, I set three important goals for myself.  This year I was going to get a debit card!  I know, I know, Kim joins the 21st century. As those of you know who have been reading me for a while, you know I am terrified of anything dealing with my money.  Too many years, of debt and not enough, have made me paranoid about my checking balance and making a mistake and then having to live with the consequences.  But I have grown up some (very little) and I think I can be trusted with a debit card.  So, I went to my bank on Monday, and I now have a debit card.  I also have my checking account on my phone and my major CC.  I can look at things immediately and stay on track. I am a big girl now.

My second goal was to update our will. I hope to get this done next week

My third is to join a gym. Now I have never done this because I get enough exercise just running the house and shop, plus I would not be inclined to spend the money.  However, my evenings are lonely.  There I said it lonely.  I would never admit that I get lonely.  I have always prided myself on my ability to fill my time with things I enjoy.  But it is dark here at 4:30 and then I find myself watching mindless TV.  I do read a lot, and I go to Sissies, but the night after night in the dark alone is getting to me and might have contributed to my blues in November and December.  There is a health club that charges $25.00 a month with no contract that was built in our abandoned mall. So, the fee it not that high.  I think there is a onetime $50.00 joining fee, and you can cut the contract at any time. I am doing this, so I am not alone in the evenings. Plus, my upper body strength is crap, and my specialist would like me to do some weight training to help with that.

So far, I am way too busy with the house to get to the gym, but I will put that on the burner for after I get the house done.

Those are just three simple goals to help make my life easier, and better run. I have financial plans also, but those are for a later date as in maybe next week.

How are you guys all doing with your Christmas aftermath?  Read my comments from yesterday and See that Hilogene is the winner of the least amount to put away after Christmas award. We should all learn from her example.

God is good

Kim

Tuesday, Getting things done

 Tis a rainy overcast January day here in this part of Idaho.  It is normal for our area. Usually this would put me off, as it can stay like this for up to three months in the winter.  But I am not letting that bother me this year.  I am going to find joy! 

There was a blog I read for years and really enjoyed, called 12 dollars a day. They just quit posting a few years ago and she is back!!!!  I was so excited.  I found my joy, like an old friend returning. 

Both Sissie and I worked way too hard yesterday.  She came up to do laundry, which was bad timing as I had all the Christmas, bedding and things ready to go.  The washer stayed busy all day. 

I just concentrated on taking down Christmas.  It is easier to take down than to put up, but still so much work... (I can hear Cheryl in my head right now😏) But I set a timer for one hour and I was shocked at how much I was able to get done. Sissie made scalloped potatoes for dinner last night and they were so good.  We used up all the potatoes I grew in the garden as they were getting sprouty. 

I got call from a very old, very good friend I did theater with, and she is directing a dinner theater version of Nunsense. Her used costumes came in, and they were very ratty and ill fitting. So, I ran out to the winery last night and lined up all the Nuns... and marked either too long too short, whose wimple is too tight, who needs a pocket under their apron and so on.  It is all simple hemming, should take me a few hours.  I will not work for the Civic theater here as they take advantage and are not at all grateful.  I don't need overwhelming thanks for anything I do, but I also don't need grief, and they are just not nice. My friend Beth would and has gone to the mat for me for over 40 years and I will do the same for her.

Anyway, I have all the Nativity costumes in bins and bins all over my house, all packed up and ready for the garage.  I need help with putting them away.  I have to climb a tall ladder.  So, I will wait for Dan, or one of the kids. All that is left is to take down the tree and its decorations. Not one room is really back to normal but that is my goal for the day.

I really need to get into the shop, but I just want my house back

Just realized book club is this Thursday, and I am hosting.  I downloaded the book last night and it was free! That was a blessing. So, I have been listening to the book as I do my work. Not as nice as getting cozy in a chair but needs must.

So, today's goals:

1. go to garage and get it ready to accept bins (as in sweep an declutter things)

2. take ornaments off Christmas tree

3. take Christmas quilt down in spare room and replace with Hawaiian quilt

4. carry all bins to garage

5. take a load of Christmas boxes to the dump (Sissie did this for me)

6. take down tree

I don't see getting the whole house back to normal as in cleaned and everything put back where it normally goes, but just getting the Christmas out to the garage is enough for the day. I did not sleep well last night as I think over working yesterday put me in overdrive. So, I am not going to do a repeat performance.  Might even squeeze in a nap later on. Kim is slowing down or at least trying to.

Sissie has developed an allergy to a skin cream she has used for years, and it affected her eyes.  She looked like she had been punched last night, and her eyes were so sore.  She is better today.  Poor darling. She is trying so hard to feel better after that nasty flu/cold she had over the holidays.

Well, I need to go set my timer. What are your plans today?  Your joys? Is your Christmas put away, or do you wait until later in January?

God is good

Kim

Monday, Joyful January!

 Well, Hello and I am happy to be back. Missed all of you, hope you had a great holiday.  I enjoyed my time with my girls and grandkids. Did a lot of work at Jethelyn's but spent a good part of the time just reading and goofing off.

Here are some updates: The new fence is under construction. 180 feet needs to be replaced, and I was shocked by the price. The neighbor and I will split the cost. Called insurance but after the deductible and the age of the fence it is no use in really making a claim, as it will pay out so little and just raise my rates.

My Nativity went off without a hitch, and the kids loved it. Received lots of compliments, not that I needed them as it really is about having those kids have a good time. The little boy who played the star was so cute as he climbed the ladder and turned around and then lit up his costume.  It was so precious. One of the wisemen thought he was Charlie Chaplin and twirled his crook the whole time.  So funny. Just a really good memory for those kids and the ones who watched them.

Spent time at my daughter's making relaxed Roman shades for her dining room.  She had one roman shade made for the formal front room and it cost her $740.00.  I about died!!!! We bought all the material and lined and hardware for three large windows for under $200.00. The shades look really professional. I was a little scared as I had never done this before, but I learned a lot for the next go around which will be the family room. There were several strips of material left, so I made 4 table runners, for her side boards and table, plus one extra.  I just can't waste.

Now I am home and facing the cleanup of Christmas. I wish I had not put anything out, but I just was sure all the decos would throw me out of my depression.  It didn't work and added to my stress.  Live and learn. It was a really hard Holiday season.  So, I have decided I will not get the January blues.  January is such a long, dark, overcast, dreary, cold month.  It is something to be slogged through.  Well, I am not going to go there. I am going to find something to be happy about and joyful about every day. No dwelling on the negative because there is always plenty of that as negative is easy to be found.

I received a Kindle for Christmas, and I have really been enjoying that. I have read 7 books already!  I am a super-fast reader always have been. I need to order a cover for it, will put that on the to do list.

But today it is all about getting the monthly bills paid, seeing where I stand with the Christmas bills, and cleaning up the house.  Every room is an almost disaster. I have been spraying as Sissie puts it.  Not really taking down things in an organized manner. But at least I am trying to do something.

So far, I have cleaned out the grandkids toy box, throwing away broken, mismatched things, and making a bag to take to good will.  Then the contractor who is putting up the fence needs a good portion of my garage to store the cement bags. So, I needed to go out and clean up.  I have crap all over the outside of the garage.  Things to go to the dump, a hanging rack to go to Sissies, A load of rakes and hand tools that need to go to the back yard shed. Then there are the Christmas boxes that are all over.  It is a mess of a mess. All I can do is set a timer and get to work!

It is really warm here, in the 50's and no snow although it rains off and on a little. This is good as it means the fence can go up.

SO here is my list:

1. call daughter

2. get bills paid on line

3. go to bank

4. go to bank

5. mail a few bills

6. set timer and get garage and outside of garage cleaned up

7. start taking Christmas down one room at a time (Please)

No time like the present to get started....

My Joy today is YOU! All of you! You lift me up and I hope I do the same for you.  Let's make January joyful.

What is bringing you joy today?

God is good

Kim