Sunday, February 14, 2016

Life: It Goes On - February 14

Happy Valentine's Day - a day to celebrate love of all kinds, I think, not just a day to celebrate having a significant other. After 36 years of being together, we don't do much to celebrate any more; we'll grab a bite to eat at one of our favorite Chinese places but it's not at all a fancy place and exchange more practical gifts than we did long ago. Will you be doing something special today?

As I was working on my calendar into March yesterday, I realized that we are just one month away from Daylight Savings Time. I know a lot of you don't like it but this girl lives for it. It's been so cloudy and grey here all winter in the mornings that we haven't even benefited from early light. I can't wait!

This Week I'm:

Listening To: Music-wise, a lot of Post Modern Jukebox; as for podcasts, I'm almost caught up with this season's Serial; and Thursday I started listening to Winifred Watson's Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day which I am thoroughly enjoying.

Watching: Well, the Super Bowl, of course. I was in a room full of Denver Broncos fans so there was a lot of cheering. I was happy for a good game and a room full of "my" kids. This weekend, The Big Guy and I have watched "The Martian" and "Bridge of Spies." We really enjoyed both of them a lot. Both Matt Damon (The Martian) and Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies) gave terrific performances.

Reading: I finished Janice Y. K. Lee's The Expatriates on Friday and am working to finish up the two Sherlock Holmes novellas we're reading for book club this week: A Study In Scarlet and The Hound of the Baskervilles. After that, I'll start My Name is Lucy Barton. I've got several Netgalley downloads that will publish in March so I'll probably be working on them for the next couple of weeks.

Making: BG made a couple of pizzas this week, including one using leftover Buffalo Chicken Dip; crab linguine, and some hot ham and cheese sandwiches. We've had sandwiches like these from a local restaurant and decided to try making them at home. If I had remembered to half the butter topping they wouldn't be overwhelmed by poppy seeds but otherwise they were a big hit with the whole family.


Planning: With the start of Lent also came the start of the annual 40 Bags In 40 Days event. I, of course, completely spaced starting on Wednesday. Sundays are supposed to be days off but I'll be using today to get caught up and put together a plan of attack for the rest of the time. With four of us in the house again this year, I don't think I'll have any problem getting rid of 40 bags of stuff. Which is a little horrifying considering I work year round to try to keep clutter down.

Grateful for: Being an old dog who is able to learn new tricks. We've been making some changes at work lately and there are a lot of my co-workers who are digging in their heels. I'm not a big fan of change but it is inevitable and the way you've been doing something for 20 years isn't necessarily the best way any more.

Enjoying: The antics of our cats. Had to really keep our eyes on our big guy last Sunday; he kept trying to grab food off the table. At one point I caught him trying to hide under the table cloth, ready to launch a sneak attack! Next party: 1) remember to move the chairs away from the table and 2) keep the meat and salty foods away from the edges. This crazy cat loves crackers and chips!

Horses out on the town - dashboard cam
Feeling: A little bit shook by quite a few violent events relatively close to what we've always considered a "safe" part of town. I know violence can strike any where but when rapid gunfire wakes you up at 1:30 in the morning, it's too close to home. Oddly, that same night, four horses got loose from a nearby acreage and went wandering through neighborhoods and down major streets...followed by cruisers. Talk about a slow speed chase!

Looking forward to: Book club this week. I'm putting together some things for this month's meeting to try to keep us on topic for a better part of the get-together. If you're part of our group reading this, get ready for a quiz about Sherlock Holmes!

Question of the week: Are you a saver or someone who would join the 40 Bags In 40 Days challenge?  I don't say "hoarder" because I don't necessarily think that people who like to save things are necessarily hoarders. I'd say you've crossed the line into hoarding when you've started having to create paths through your stuff or you've lost a cat in your house. I hope none of your fall into that category!

18 comments:

  1. Happy Valentine's Day, Lisa. The sun is shining so my husband and I hope to go for a drive this afternoon and make the most of the better weather. It's nice to get out, just the two of us, since usually we're so busy with family commitments. I try to be organised and sensible re. 'stuff', but teachers are known for having lots of books and other educational papers lying around and I haven't lost the habit as an ex tutor! I've kept study books for the grandchildren, but as they get older they're studies are specialist, the books are not so useful and the internet is used to research subjects. I won't get rid of the books just yet...ha ha! Sounds like the usual busyness in your house. I hope the changes for you at work are not too drastic for all concerned. Changes are inevitable because of policies made beyond our control which means one has to be adaptable. Enjoy your book group. I'm looking forward to your review of The Expatriates.

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    1. My dad has not been a teacher for twenty years and he still has teaching materials in a file cabinet! He has just recently finally agreed to give them to a young man who lives by them who is just starting his teaching career and is thrilled to be getting all of that material. I think my dad needed to know that all of his hard work and time putting all of that together over 40 years was not going to be just tossed. Somethings are just so hard to let go of!

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  2. My husband can't wait for Daylight Savings Time either. Each year, it's his favorite day. And it's coming!

    Good luck with your clearing out. I kind of do this all along and so I don't think I could come up with 40 bags.

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    1. I keep a box tucked away in my dining room & I'm forever tossing things in it to go to charity but this time of year I'm particularly inclined to get rid of things we're not using. I always swear my house feels lighter by Easter because of it!

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  3. Our special thing is to remember to say Happy Valentine's Day to each other! LOL I love the cover of that Miss Pettigrew book, btw. I don't think I could make 40 bags worth of bags of stuff to give away. But definitely a few!

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    1. If they were garbage bags I couldn't do it but the rules are pretty lenient and any size of bag counts. I'm even counting cleaning up my email as a "bag" of stuff I've gotten rid of!

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  4. We watched The Martian and Bridge of Spies recently too and liked them both too. It's rare that we get to see so many good movies in a row. We also recently watched Sicario, which was good.

    Leftover Buffalo Chicken dip pizza sounds divine.

    We're making some changes at our work too, maybe not 20 years, but probably at least five. It's going to take some adjusting, that's for sure.

    No big plans for me and the wife today. Just enjoying being inside where it's warm as it's in the negatives here this morning.

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    1. I was wondering about Sicario - we'll have to pick it up.

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  5. I'm not sure I could get rid of 40 bags of stuff, but there's definitely a lot of junk in our house that we don't need. Even though we move pretty regularly, it just seems to accumulate so quickly!

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    1. Most of my bags aren't big any more, maybe only a plastic grocery bag, and I also count things like cleaning up email as a "bag." I'm still working on scaling back from having five people in the house, with three of them in school to having four adults. It took me years to realize that we didn't need colored pencils, crayons and markers in multiple places so homework could be done any where!

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  6. Gunfire in your neighborhood?! That is scary!

    The sun just came out and I did a happy dance. I'm so tired of winter, but shouldn't complain since our temps are nearly as frigid as those to the east of us. Hooray for Daylights Savings Time, though!

    At this point, I don't think I could fill 40 bags to donate, since I've been doing pretty well tackling the clutter over the past year or two. I should go through my closets once again, as well as the basement shelves. We have our annual neighborhood garage sale in May and I need to get things gathered up so I don't scramble at the last minute.

    I'm anxious to see The Martian. We just finished watching all 6 episodes of Star Wars. Now we're ready to see the new one!

    Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Hope the sun comes out for you!

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    1. If I could only get my hubby on board with the forty bag thing he could fill twenty all by himself. The man hasn't worn a suit to work in decades now but he still has a dozen or more hanging in the closet.

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  7. Happy Valentine's Day; no big plans here with the husband recooperating and I have errands and the tween to take to a birthday party. I can easily throw out stuff; it just takes getting to it. Before we moved, we filled up the apartment living room with stuff we didn't want anymore. So we're one of the few neighbors with a clear garage that isn't used as a storage room. What cooked in your kitchen sounds yummy! My dad wanted the Broncos to win as everyone had bets on the Panthers. I like Manning; he handled the press well with them all up in his grill.

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    1. Isn't it astonishing how many people just use their garages for storage?! We live next door to two sisters who have a three-car garage and cannot get a car in it! Two people in a big four-bedroom house and they can't get a single car in the garage. The idea gives me the twitchies!

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  8. Valentine's Day is definitey more for my daughter. :-) We just got back from the movies and she's playing outside with her dad right now. He has to work tomorrow so it's a daughter and Mom day tomorrow for the holiday. I figured he deserved some time with her. :-) Cats are so funny--and can be infuriating at the same time.

    I think I fall in the middle of being a saver and someone who gives away stuff.

    I hope you have a great week, Lisa!

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    1. We did much more for Valentine's Day when the kids were younger - definitely more about them than us. They still get presents for it!

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  9. That picture of the cat hiding underneath the tablecloth is priceless! I can just imagine the tail twitching in anticipation of the lunge for goodies!

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    1. He is such a mooch - like having a dog in the house!

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