Sunday, February 16, 2014

Life: It Goes On - February 16


Dobroe utro (доброе утро) - good morning in Russian because you know I'm spending a good part of every day living there vicariously right now!

I took off work on Friday, partly as a built in mental health day, which I'm sorely in need of about this time of year, and party to spend the day watching the Olympics. I had a two-hour lunch with an old friend, did my Valentine's shopping and spent over an hour getting ready to have dinner with friends. I never spend that much time primping myself! It was so relaxing to have a day where I really did only what I felt like doing. Do you ever take a day to yourself?

We had such a lovely Valentine's potluck dinner hosted by friends at their home. All five of the couple have been married at least 25 years - well past the point of needing a big fuss one day a year to prove our love. Instead we had a relaxing evening filled with great food and lots of laughs.

One of the couples knew another couple who lived in a Lustron home. Have you ever heard of these? Built after World War II as inexpensive starter homes for soldiers coming home from war, they are entirely built of prefabricated baked enamel steel inside and out. You could move the furniture out and just hose down your house to clean it but you have to hang everything on the walls with magnets because you can't use nails. Have you ever seen one of these? I can't imagine living in one but I'm fascinated by them.

Here's What I'm:

Listening To: Still Shirley but I'm happy to say that I'm enjoying it more now that things are finally starting to happen. I'm hoping to be done with it this week. I may well take a break from listening to books before I start a new one.

Watching: Lots and lots of curling. I'm really enjoying some of the additions to the Olympics line up.

Reading: I finished two books this week and I'm about half way through Me Before You for book club on Tuesday.

Making: The Big Guy was out of town most of the week and the kids weren't home for most meals so I didn't spend much time in the kitchen this week. Made a baked chicken dinner for a family battling cancer one night and caramelized carrots for our Valentine's dinner.

Planning: On enjoying the much warmer temperatures that are forecast for this week. Walking outside is definitely going to be an option which will be a nice break from the treadmill.

Grateful for: The time I've gotten to spend with Mini-me this past week. Since he lives on the other side of town and is busy with school and working, we don't always get to see a lot of him. Love when he needs some Mom and Dad time!

Feeling: Relaxed - amazing what a nice long weekend can do for a girl.

Thinking: I'm already wanting to put away the snowman collection for the year. It goes along with a feeling I'm having of a need to clean off surfaces and lighten things up. Every time I put the snowmen  away early, though, we get hit with a blizzard so they'll stay up until at least the end of this month.

Looking Forward To: Book club this week - you know how much I love my ladies!


10 comments:

  1. sounds like you have had a great week! I, too, am looking forward to warming temperatures this week. My FitBit must think I have died!

    Thanks for the info on the Lustron houses - I had not heard of them before this.

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  2. I have never heard of a baked enamel house. How strange but I am fascinated by alternative housing these days. Have you seen those modular mini houses that people are buying now so they can live debt free? I could SO do that if I was by myself but a family?? How does that work?

    Your Valentine's Day sounded like a lot of fun. I got a special surprise that I just posted about on the blog. Today, I just want to read. I have to read actually as I am way behind.

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  3. Glad you had some 'me' time, Lisa which included watching the Winter Olympics. Re. prefabricated homes or prefabs as we used to call them - some relatives were allocated them after WWII demob. They were really comfortable to live in except that it was very noisy when the rain fell on the corrugated tin roof. One aunt and uncle lived near the Manchester Ship Canal and it was quite an adventure going to stay during school holidays, I think prefabs are expensive to purchase these days because of the history and heritage aspect. Hope you have a good discussion at your bookgroup on Tuesday after reading Me before You.

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  4. My adult daughter and I take "us days" once in a while and get mani/dedi's. She always wants to get massages, but I don't know if I'd like a stranger touching me, so she does that by herself.

    I've never heard of a Lustron home before, but they sound neat!

    A pot luck with other couples for Valentine's Day sounds like a great! I'll pitch that idea to everyone for next year.

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  5. I haven't commented in a while, but still a regular reader. I was fascinated by your mention of the Lustron Homes and just spend a long while googling them. So interesting! I don't know what it is, but I just love reading about any kind of "Alternative home". There are so many ways to live! Anyways, thanks for sharing! I'm a fellow Olympic enthusiast as well. Cant wait for women's figure skating!

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  6. Sounds like a nice Valentine's celebration. And, no I've never seen or heard of one of those weird houses before. Cool photo though.

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  7. I think it's so important for people to take mental health days. I am so glad that I was able to take a week off before having Evie as I knew it would be a LONG time since I had another day to myself.

    Curling huh? I've really only watched ice skating but it's been fun watching!!

    Enjoy the warmth this week! I'll be doing the same. So glad to be able to get out of the house without freezing.

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  8. I want to put my snowmen away, too. I'm about snowed out. I grew up in a WWII starter home in NJ. It didn't look like the one in the picture, but it was a cape cod style with one room called a "wonder room." It had a table that folded out from the wall, and a bed that folded down from a closet. I guess that's why it was considered a wonder.

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  9. I've been watching a lot of curling, too. Love those rocks!

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  10. Sounds like a great week Lisa and your dinner with friends sounds wonderful. We are watching a lot of the Olympics here as well although I'm partial to the skiing, snowboarding, and skating. My dad would love being at your house though to watch all that curling. He's really the only one here crazy about it.

    Oh, that house is just plain cool. I've never even heard of a house like they before.

    Have a great week!

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