Good bye . . .

. . . formal living room Christmas tree.

















We finally have started the process of getting the trees down. I have done a lot of un-decorating through the rest of the house, just been avoiding the trees. Well, now, one done . . . two to go! And it's not even February!! :)

Check. YAY!

Ahhhhhhhh, Monday! To make it through is an accomplishment, but to get through and accomplish something. That is awesome!!!

After I got home from work we did banking, grocery shopping and scheduled Charity's 6th birthday party! Yay! That's a big task that's been haunting me for awhile. So now all the other preparations: theme, cake, etc. . .

We also have company coming in this weekend, so still lots of cleaning to be done. But it's time to get some sleep. So I'll save that for another day!

This Isn't Right?

I'm not too happy right now with "The General" a.k.a. PGAC, the company Dave works for. They so kindly scheduled their visit to my house the week following my 60 hour work week. Ahhhhh! Just what I want to do this weekend: clean the entire house top to bottom for guests to stroll through! FuN! But my goal tonight is the upstairs and tomorrow is the downstairs, in between church in the AM and having the work in the afternoon. Oh, I want a real weekend. Hopefully that will happen next week, because there's no rest for the weary today! My poor blog is starving and I know it's April. But it will be March here at The Cook Book until I can breath. And we've got so much planned this month it's not looking too good. Oh well, it will be May before we know it . . . and you know what that means? V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!!!! Finally a break! So, thank you Mr. General for making another weekend go by extra quickly!!

Neat Freak Debunked

I love my Mom!! I just got off the phone with her today and she thought I probably could use to be more relaxed in the "cleaning" department. So for the next few days I'm going spending my days relaxing . . . life away from cleaning, because my Mom said so!! :p

But obviously, since she lives a gazillion miles away, she wasn't at my house on this day last month:

Or this day . . .
Or today as I tried to finish packing the Christmas decorations, but in the meantime you couldn't find the kitchen floor . . .

But, don't tell her . . . because the house is always clean when she comes to visit!

My Little Helper

I've often thought I would have liked to live during the era of servants. How nice would it be to call for my butler to bring me my lunch or have my maid tidy my closet after a whirl-wind morning.

And then I remember, something I had put out of my mind . . .

I don't have to do this all myself. Growing up, I had to make my bed every morning. My mom never made my bed, like I do Charity's nearly daily. I grew so weary of this chore, I would often sleep on top of the blankets to make my morning task easier. So I shared this information with Charity, when I told her I wanted her to start making her bed each morning.

She asked me why I didn't make mine (oops . . . . hypocrite!) But I explained that I make hers and I had made mine fore many, many years.

I never thought much of our conversation and we quickly readied for school and headed downstairs to resume our morning's schedule.

But here's what I found later today upon entering Charity's room!!
I was so proud of her. She even folded her little jammies as I asked. No, it's not the neatest it could be, but it is her first morning of doing it. I even resisted the urge to straighten it up, it's perfect! She'll be a pro before too long and hopefully I continue to push her to do this each morning. Besides a little chore never hurt anyone . . . or did it? My bed's still not made today . . .

Destructive Dave

This isn't all he broke today. Also my beloved "Bellevue Care Group" coffee mug from my friend, Lynne, but that was already in the trash before I shot my picture.

By the way, Dave, this is not going to get you out of unloading the dishwasher! :P

For Charity from Mom

My friend, Allison, mentioned that she had written her children notes this week. We've both been working so hard at Christmas Village and it's no doubt our poor families feel the effects of all our labor. I could tell how she talked she wrote sweet, little love notes to J & S, reminding them that life would be back to normal soon. Such a good mom she is.

Well, I too had written Charity a little note this week, at the very beginning of the week. Me, being the neat freak mom I am, here's my note for Charity:

Now, this may seem a little mean. But there actually was a method to my madness . . .

I love Christmas decorations, but sometimes getting them all in from the garage and up is a bit overwhelming, even more so when the house is a disaster, as it usually is following Christmas Village. But last weekend we (mostly I) cleaned and cleaned, so the house would be a clean sanctuary I could come home to every night this week to relax for the chaotic mess of Wonderland Closet. (Yes, I know I have psychological issues with order and cleanliness!) Somehow, which I'll never understand, it can take just one day for an entire weekend of cleaning to become undone. . . . or does that only happen at this house? . . .

In order to promote Charity to keep home my orderly haven, I offered a little bonus, bribe you might call it. If she were to "help" keep the house clean this week (for her not creating gigantic messes that only Mommy can clean is helping) we would put up a tree this weekend, thus the note to remind her of this prize. Though at first she didn't know what it said, once I read it to her, I knew it would serve as a reminder. And you know what . . . it worked!!

Thank you Bro. Becton for cancelling the evening service this evening at First Church, so we Christmas Village workers can rest or better yet, spend much-needed time with our "neglected" children!!

And for my poor Charity, probably mentally destroyed by her mom's regnant notes, hopefully our little tree trimming party healed her wounds!!

25th Annual Holida Flea Market

. . . has finally arrived!! And Allison and I are still standing!!

We made it through our first day and have made more $ today than our first day last year . . . the All-for-a-Dollar sale is really working, and makes the transaction process so much easier. Yay!!

All the worked paid off . . .

And speaking of work, I am so not convinced Allison hasn't been fasting and praying about me not getting a job until after Christmas Village, because would you believe, after 5pm on Friday evening, as I had just walked in the door, a lady called me about a job!! I'm praying, it's sounds perfect, close to home, the amount of money will work, Charity would be able to stay at Christian school!! etc. . . She's going to call tomorrow to schedule an interview. She actually wanted me to interview tomorrow, of course, the day of Christmas Village! But God knows, doesn't He? Allison!!! Just kidding!!

Just when you think God's forgotten about you . . . I'll keep you posted.

Off to bed now, have to up again very early to pick up our balloons at Wally World, fun stuff!!

Home Improvements

The Dining Room Revolution:

2005 (when we bought our house)

2006

2007And finally 2008!! I'm so proud of Dave. He did all this picture frame molding himself with his little miter saw! He's becoming such a handy man! . . . Dad, doesn't it look pretty good for his first time? . . .

Usually we tackle these painting projects together, but because I had such a crazy week/weekend he did it all himself. (Well, I did a little, little bit of sanding!)

It's not complete, we haven't got anything on the walls. We have drapes, but we need to get fixtures to hang them. So not finished . . . but getting there!

But I guess those finishing touches will be my job. And for now, Dave has moved onto his next molding project . . . doing something with the boring pillars.

When he's done, they'll look more like these:

Dave, I love you! You're the best! Thank you for making my wishes your next assignment! :D

Just Call Me Martha Stewart

Wow! I can't believe how much I got accomplished today! Yay!! I sure wish I was this motivated everyday. Wish I could bottle some up and take a little out everyday, especially on those days when I don't feel like doing anything!

1st - Washed, ironed and re-hung my bedroom curtains. This hasn't been done in, well, I won't admit that, but it's been awhile.

While the curtains were washing I made Charity an orange bow and a set of matching orange bows, while looking for jobs online.
Vacuumed out our entire walk-in closet taking out everything and getting underneath all the clothes and shoes that never get moved. Dust is going DOWN!! :D

Washed, ironed and starched the duvet cover. I mean, I wash it all the time, but who irons and starches these things? Martha? P-leeeaaaase, don't take the wind out of my sail if you do this on a weekly basis . . . :p I sure don't.

I think that's about it. Doesn't look like a whole lot in writing, but it sure took awhile. And I'm proud!! Next week I'll attached those nasty sheers atop our bed. They get sooooo dusty. And it's so much work washing them and getting them back up. Uuuuugggg!! Well, that's next week project. Dave has tomorrow off, so we're planning on doing a whole lot of nothing, well relaxing and a few needed errands. So I have no excuse for not being full of energy and ready to get back to cleaning on Monday morning!!

Get 'er done!!

Why do one thing, when you can do three? Just call me the Multi-Tasking Queen!!! Or is that just unfocused?!? I was laughing at myself when Dave popped his head in my office today and asked me what I was doing. Had to stop and think to answer him.

Looking for jobs online, making bows for Charity, and mending the bedroom valance (something that needed to be done years ago!) In between these tasks I also was staying atop the laundry: washing, drying and folding.

I definitely shouldn't label this post "A Day In The Life of Me", because if you know me or follow my blog, you know this is nothing like my typical day!!

Wild Wednesday!

Okay, today's a day I'd rather not relive. I think my head's about to explode! Watch out!

I was up bright and early and headed to a 10 am interview in Green Hills. Very interesting. A staffing company looking for a position with the company or with a client of theirs. A lot to think about. Not too sure about either. But very mentally draining interview and parking and finding the building. This job hunting is highly overrated!!

And things just never let up on the brain squeeze! My neighbor called me on the way home and needed to borrow our lawnmower, and then decided she could just use some of our gas. Later today she needed some jumper cables, but I missed that call because I was onto another exciting part of my day . .

Charity's 5 year check up with 4 immunization shots and blood drawn. Oh, man! The whole thing was a nightmare. She didn't want to do the hearing test. Basically failed her eye examine, due to lack of cooperation. Her blood pressure was high. Again, as last year, they heard the Still's heart murmur, which thankfully is perfectly normal.

*Sidenote: I love this description I found of this condition on the web:
An accurate description of a Still’s murmur is to say that your child has a “musical heart”.*

Back to the trauma, they drew blood and the screaming began. Charity requested us to "sneak out". Thought that was kinda' cute! And that she wanted to be anemic, which is what she said in disagreement to the doctor when she explained the reason for taking a blood sample. Should that not be enough fun for one doctor's visit, a storm began and the power went out. There we sat in the dark for an addition 20 minutes while the medical personnel decided what to do and we *thankfully I took Gramma along or no one would have believed me about all this excitement!* tried to calm Charity's nerves. Finally they moved us in a room with some more natural light and just did the shots. That quick! Whoa! The nurse really did a good job. I had to hold Charity's down from the chest up and Gramma, well, she just sat in the corner and cried too! Oh, it was fun. I was holding back tears, but I guess I'm getting tough because I had to do this same maneuver a few months back at the dentist office. And in seconds it was over, though in the middle of it, it sure felt like an eternity.

Here's a picture I snapped of Charity on my phone. It really doesn't do the drama justice by any means. But you can definitely see how miserable she was. :(
Unbelievably, by the time we exited the building she was fine. Thank you, Lord! So off we headed for an ice cream treat. I'm so glad we've got 6 years before we have to do that again. However, we do have to go back to get her blood pressure re-checked, which I'm thinking is a little silly since she was so worked up, even though they took it before all the poking, I still think she was kind of stressed out about the whole visit.

After ice cream, we brought Gramma how (I bet she went right to bed!) and Charity and I headed out to buy some more uniform skirts.

I wish someone could have told me how unproductive my attempt would be and I could have saved myself a lot of hours! First Target, found only 1, very last one, size 4, will work . . . and that was it. None at Marshall's, all navy or too big. Same with Old Navy, Sears, Macy's price not right, and even Wal*Mart, though I would hate to buy them there. I would say maybe these establishments will be getting a shipment in before the tax-free weekend? Or I'll just be doing some more online shopping. We did pick up a few things we'll be needing for our company's visit, so I guess it wasn't all a waste. Needless to say, we didn't make it to Bible Study tonight. :( But just in time to pick Dave up, since he had walked over.

Got in about 9pmish, and with our company arriving tomorrow and still so much left to be done, it wasn't possible for me to just go to bed. So I did get the kitchen and most of the master bathroom cleaned. I am dead-tired, and just know if I don't push myself there'd be no way to get everything done tomorrow.

Finally it's about 1:30am and I'm crawling in bed. Dave's been sleeping, but just woke for a potty break when I get some very interesting news via email. I had to share with him. Not sure if it's public knowledge yet, so I won't post it on my www blog. So we're up, chatting, and my brain's still going 100 mph, but my body . . . uuuugggg, tomorrow's going to be rough!!

Cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning!

So I can imagine, I'll be doing a lot of back blogging next week since we have company (Bro. Jerry and Sis. T) arriving on Thursday for National Asian Evangelism Conference being held here in Nashville this year. I'm sure they won't be around a lot, since the conference schedule will keep us all busy. But we've still got lots of cleaning and shopping to do before they get here.

Of course . . . this is driving Ms. Charity absolutely crazy. She'd much rather be messing things up! And what's driving me absolutely crazy is that right after I finish something, either the little tornado *charity* blows through and messes it up or the big bull in a china shop *dave* makes a spill.

At some point I need to get out and get Charity a couple more khaki skirts for school next week. This weekend is the tax-free holiday and I'd rather not wait until then. I'm really not big on self-torture.

Must return to cleaning . . . now, where was I?

We're going on Va-K-Tion!!!

So I work today and then right at 2pm we leave to pick up Charity from school and head off to Kentucky. It's going to fun . . . mostly because we've never been there. It's an adventure!! And we can't wait to spend time together relaxing. FUN . . . FUN!!

Dave is off to take the Asian young people to the Tennessee State Museum this morning, since it's free and he started his vacation yesterday afternoon. I'm sure they'll be thoroughly thrilled with it, but it gets them out of the houses that they've been trapped in all summer.

Well, I've got lots to tidy up, finish packing and actually complete some XRT stuff all before 2pm . . . fun days!

No DSL!?!? :(

It's one thing after another at this place!!

Today at 12:30 pm we lost our Internet. Dave was on the phone for an hour with some AT&T lady (who was probably just trying to do her job) trying to convince her it wasn't the modem that is must be outside the house, since we have three separate lines and none of them would work. She argued that no one else had reported the problem!! Well . . . they're all at work! So off Dave headed for the office and I just cut my day short. They sent a dude out here, arrived around 4:00 pm, came to the door to confirm we were having trouble, went out and looked at the box across the street, came back to inform me that it was a "universal" problem effecting all those around and not just us!!! Duuuuhhh!!! So he would dispatch someone to fix the issue and we'd be back online by 6 tomorrow evening. Thank the Lord it didn't take that long!! Gotta' love those smarties at AT&T!!

On a good note, I hope, NCS called and Charity's pre-kindergarten testing is next Thursday. I just pray she passes . . . she's been working so hard on all the things she "behind" in. God knows if she doesn't. I guess He'll have to clue us in on Plan B.

I hate, hate, hate Chinese food . . . or whatever that stuff you get at the buffets is. But for some odd reason, maybe low sodium, I've had a hankering. Dave was shocked to say the least, but off we went. Had my fill, a plate and half (mostly veggies) and a scoop of butter pecan ice cream to wash it down. I'm good for another couple years. And now I'm on my third bottle of water, I guess it's not all bad!!

I regressed. Because Dave wanted to go out tonight, I'm a little behind in getting the house clean for Charity's play date with Tynan tomorrow afternoon. So I had to pull out the list. I have pre-made one for all the rooms in our house, so it's just a matter of checking off the 17 areas. It's when I start adding all this additional stuff that needs to be done that I get off track. I have to be sure I get as much done this evening as possible, so I don't run out of time tomorrow. Lists can't be that bad, especially when my brain is such mush as it is now.

Can the list and get to work!!

I am such a list freak. Do it every day . . . what to do, what to buy, what I eat, etc . . .

Not today. I have to clean the whooooole house because Charity has a play date here this week. Uuuuuuugggg!! But rather than sit down and write all that needs to be done down, I made myself just start cleaning. It killed me. I even have "House Cleaning Lists" already printed off that I custom made, so when I clean a room, I check it off. I wouldn't even let myself use one today. I get so hung up on that list. Keep stopping, going back to it, write more on it, yada, yada, yada. Not today; it's straight to business.

Don't know if I would have got as much done with the list, I truly think it slows me down.

Here's what I accomplished!!

* Cleaned Kitchen and all appliances ~ Stainless (love & hate all at the same time!!)

* Mopped & Shined Kitchen Floor ~ with Charity's help!! She always helps me mop the floor with her lil' mop. She floods the place and I sop it up!! Here it is all done. I love it when it's so shiny it looks wet!!




* Went though Charity's Crafts Box in the Pantry!! Whoooo this was a huge mess on the bottom shelf. Charity was such a big girl and actually help me pick out things to "toss!!" Hallelujah!! We can see the pantry floor!!


* Cleaned Family Room


* Cleaned Formal Living Room ~ Part of the "West Wing" we never use, but gets very dusty.


* Cleaned Dining Room ~ Part of the "West Wing" we never use, but gets very dusty.


* Cleaned Downstairs Powder Room ~ Tiny & Easy


* Purged Charity's basket of tub toys . . . again with her help!! What a helper!! She is such a little Mommy, I love to throw stuff away, though I don't do it often enough!!

* Cleaned Master Bathroom ~ Top to Bottom!! Let me pat myself on the back!! Even trimmed the plant on the garden tub . . . that was literally almost a complete garden, no tub since the plant was taking over!!

Whoo . . . where'd the plant go?!?!

I cant' remember the last time you could see through these doors!! Isn't that awful?!?!

Well . . . I think that's about it. I thought if I put it all down it would help me feel better about not writing that intitial "to-do list" this morning. I've still got some things left to do later this week, so maybe I'll write those down!!

At least the sign in the bathroom isn't false advertising anymore . . .

No, this one still is!!

This one:

You know it's bad when . . .

Today when Dave was referring to the condition of our master bathroom, he described it as "vile". I know it's been awhile since it's been cleaned and it is pretty bad. So I thought I would do a little research and see just how he feels about our most frequented rest stop.

Look what I found out:

–adjective, vil·er, vil·est.
1. wretchedly bad: a vile humor.
2. highly offensive, unpleasant, or objectionable: vile slander.
3. repulsive or disgusting, as to the senses or feelings: a vile odor.
4. morally debased, depraved, or despicable: vile deeds.
5. foul; filthy: vile language.
6. poor; wretched: vile workmanship.
7. of mean or low condition: a vile beggar.
8. menial; lowly: vile tasks.
9. degraded; ignominious: vile servitude.
10. of little value or account; paltry: a vile recompense.

—Synonyms 1. See mean2. 3. repellent. 4. vicious, evil, iniquitous. 5. vulgar, obscene. 9, 10. contemptible. 10. trivial, trifling.
—Antonyms 1. good. 4. elevated.

Yeah, so not so good. You know it's bad when Dave describes a room in our house as vile, though I must commend him, he does have a higher standard of cleanliness than most male counterparts. Many times when the housework starts to spin out of control, he'll step in and help. And not just to be a loving husband, but because he too enjoys a clean house. For this I am truly blessed. But I'm not sure what's happening in the bathroom. It's been slightly neglected. Sometimes when things get so bad, I have a hard time wanting to start, just knowing it's going to be many hours later before I'm finished. I don't know, I guess I'm going to have to figure it out this weekend. Just the thought of a vile room in my house, makes me want to go clean it!!

Blogability

So my dear friend, A (we'll call her to protect her innocence!) and I were chatting recently about our blog lives and we were discussing what to blog next. I believe she said she didn't have anything to blog about, but what I failed to mention was that's the fun of it all . . . not that I'm a blog expert by any means. What was so comical about the whole conversation was I had just finished making my bed and decided that would be blog subject of the day . . . I made my bed! Well, to you that may not be a big deal, but I don't make my bed very often. I know, it's like the second most important thing to do in a day, besides a daily vitamin. But I just don't get around to it. Partly because I work from it half the day and mostly because I'm just too lazy. So while I've got my blog subject for the day, I thought I'd help those who may have a more difficult time to come by one.

So I've determined a term one can use throughout the day when determining what to blog. Does it have blogability? You may not have heard this term before. Allow me to explain . . .

blogability [blŏg-uh-bil-i-tee] -noun the ability of a subject to be blogged.

To quite honest, I don't think there is anything that doesn't fall in this description. So, when all else fails blog life!!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I made my bed today!! I'm so happy! :) It doesn't happened often so I thought I'd share. Maybe by sharing I will feel bad about this awful habit, be succumbed by guilt and start making it each morning. I can hope, can't I? I was doing so good this morning, I even made Charity's!! And when I went in this afternoon, I felt so guilty for all the mornings I had left her bed unmade and hadn't neaten up her little room as I've done today, when I saw her in there peacefully enjoying her own little space and reading stories. I think it just looked so inviting to her, all bright and sunny and clean, as opposed to the days it's dark with the curtain's drawn and the bed a jumbled-up pile of purple blankets.

A nice neat room draws her in . . .
. . . encourages reading!!

Well . . . . I can't make any promises, but I will try. As for today my bed is made!!