Good Day Wednesday !

Whoof. Today’s one of those days that didn’t go as planned, not at all, but it was a really good day regardless. Could not settle to sleep last night, so when Beloved Hubby awoke at 5am, I was already up to greet him, and offer to make breakfast.  I think the smell of sausage patties and cheese eggs woke up Dearest Son, so we shared a nice country breakfast, with good bread and discussions about several topics, from a video game the guys are playing together to my opinion of a trailer Beloved hopes to buy this month. All too soon, he had to leave for work, so while he loaded tools, I made his lunch, and advised him to take the unopened tin of holiday butter cookies in, to share with his co-workers. He liked that. 

Of course, after a big breakfast like that, I was tired as anything, and with Junior-kitty joining me, slept the sleep of the pure and justified for six straight hours. Grabbed a shower and scooted up to the grocery store for ‘just a few things’ that ended up being $35. As always ! At least I kept it down to a pound of out-of-season cherries, but those things are delicious ! 

Snagged a couple of the specials and some bits for new recipes, but forgot to get the marshmallows I like to use for cereal bars, to use up the stuff going stale. Funny, how pressing them into melted ‘mallows suddenly makes those old Fruit Circles and Rice Puffs irresistible. It’s pretty much this recipe, just adjusted for whatever cereal amounts I have to use up (nobody here really likes Cheerios), or anything else, like pretzels or leftover trail mix bits, I want to add. We also rarely cut the resulting mess into bars, more like, we pull off  chunks ‘til it’s gone. Again, always amazing at how fast that happens. 

We’re due for some possible snow this weekend, thank Everything Beloved’s planned to be home. I also have a box of brownie mix that needs to be used fast. If you’re gonna be home all weekend, might as well enjoy some treats ! 

Fell asleep in my chair, as Beloved pulled another long day, but made us a nice, warm spaghetti dinner. So none of the laundry or sewing got done, but I’m OK with that. It was a nice day. Hope yours was, too !

It's beginning to look a lot like 'don't care'. . .

After all the insults and half-truths online, FIL had the huevos to text Beloved Hubby today. We haven’t been in contact with him, is everything OK ? (shakes head) Then on to why he really wrote - seems his favorite fringed leather jacket may have been left behind, can we mail that to him ? Um, it’s not here. The jackets we found were all fabric, not leather, and I am well-acquainted with the jacket he’s missing. I thought it was sutured to his shoulders, he was rarely seen without it, June or January. And if I had a dime for every fake turquoise pony bead I’ve returned to him from it, we could easily afford to ship it. Notice who’s paying for mailing it is conveniently left out.

Wore one of the salvaged jackets to Dollar Tree today. It’s very nice, basically a leopard-fake-fur lined black hoodie, but the zipper is rather difficult to work. That’s probably why it was abandoned. If it’s not zipped up, the cold wind just whistles right through it, like a superhero’s cape. Luckily, I have some local apiary beeswax to help the zipper remember its job !

Didn’t buy a lot of non-snack food on today’s DTree run. I got a fancy ‘gourmet’ box of sea salt caramels – shoulda stuck to the cheaper bagged caramel Santas. Barton’s, the fancy maker, encloses five in a package, and it’s the chocolate flavored coating that’s salted, not the caramel. It’s not even flowing caramel, just the cheap stiff stuff you’d find in any inexpensive candy assortment. And salted wax-chocolate may sound like an intriguing idea, but to me, it suffers in execution. I ended up scraping the salt off halfway through the one piece I tried.

It’s kind of funny how many food makers try to dodge around what’s in the package. F’r instance, the Barton’s caramels list that a serving size is 2 pieces, and there’s ‘about’ 2.5 servings in the box. Yet the inner tray is set up for exactly five pieces. What’s wrong with just saying “There’s five pieces here. We count a serving as two pieces. Enjoy !” instead of making people do math in the aisles ? Sure, that was easy math, and you knew what you were getting with simple multiplication, but some foods darn near require degrees in engineering or knowledge of advanced quadratic equations just to figure out how much salt is in the can !

Seemed as though most of the shoppers while we were there were digging through gift bags, choosing the largest ones. Christmas decorations and dish towels were ignored, but the candy and candy cane aisles were fulla folks. One couple had evidently never been in DTree before – their mission was to fill up Care Packages. Their delight was visible and audible. If their intense need for a shopping cart was any indication, not all of their candy selections are getting shipped somewhere ! 

Otherwise, it was a day of discoveries. When I went to use the dishwasher, I quickly figured out why the ILs had suddenly stopped using it – somehow the door lock had hung up, making it impossible to start the machine. I jiggled with it for a half-hour (having already loaded it to capacity) and suddenly, it worked again. Yaaay.  Also discovered that, if my blood pressure is low, a quick half-hour of housework – like preparing a load of dishes for the ‘washer – gets it right on up there, but without leaving me winded or exhausted. Between DTree and dishes, and getting Beloved Hubby’s books back upstairs, I was tired enough to skip laundry. But tomorrow, I conquer the bags ! And maybe a coffee cup cozy, now that the cups are all clean !

'The pleasure of what we enjoy is lost by wanting more.' Lucky Numbers : 8, 53, 42, 2, 51, 34.

Sorry to vanish on ya this weekend, but it was pretty boring around Chez Insanity – while Beloved Hubby was home, we sat round watching movies and video games, but mostly sleeping. I think I nearly caught up on mine, I feel pretty calm and centered for the first time in weeks. Plus, I hinked my shoulder, something I only do when I’ve been in a bed too long. Got to watch our copy of A Christmas Story, proof that I’ve finally figured out the DVD/Blu-Ray function of the PS4. Sometimes, while I love new tech and goggle at the improvements they bring, I really wanna just push the darn tape into the player and watch it, without jumping through ten screens to get to the FastPlay ™ or five more selection windows. By the time ya get the movie started, your popcorn’s cold !

Cleaned out the garage a bit, filling one of our two trash pick-up cans with broken, odd trash the IL’s left behind. Beloved now has room for his tools, something he’s not had in months. I claimed a couple jackets and the Jo-Ann’s bag I repaired. At first, I thought maybe MIL had two, ‘cause I couldn’t find my own repair, but I looked twice, and there it was. Jackets have been washed already, and I used the last of our available coat hangers on today’s loads. Planning on a Dollar Tree run with Dearest Son tomorrow, I’ll pick up a set there, if they’re in stock. 

In between laundry loads, I finally removed most of the clutter generated from filling my small book-case back up, so now there’s more living room. There’s just three boxes in the hallway, waiting to be taken back upstairs – those are Beloved’s books. He was happy with my changes. 

Sprung for Chinese food tonight. Delicious ! My gums are still a bit on fire from the Hot and Sour soup I love, but even that felt great. Even the fortune cookies were crisp and tasty. And Dearest Son has decided his new go-to is Orange Chicken. I prefer the kind from the M-W deli, as the kind from our Chinese place is much spicier !

Feel free to join me in a chorus of 'Let It Go' - I'll be singing it for years at this rate. . .

Sometimes, it’s really hard to be ‘the bigger person’. Yeah, FIL took a big dump on FBook and spun around in it a while this morning, like some demented ballerina. I honestly don’t know what’s worse, the half-truths or the out-and-out lies. Straight out insults don’t bug me much, although it chafes because I always give better than I get in a straight-out verbal fight. Much as I’d love to take his post apart, phrase by phrase (darn near word by word, really), it’s not gonna do much good. Do I really care what Aunt B. thinks ? If FIL can say these things about us online, I don’t even wanna know what he’s said in person. And yes, today he used names. Of course. Just have to keep reminding m’self that he’s not my problem anymore, although he seems determined to make himself one. Maybe this is his desperate attempt to stay involved ? Or he’s trying to ingratiate himself with BIL’s soon-to-be ex-Wife and family ? The one he badmouthed for days ? Either way, it’s pretty sad.

Not much else going on – found some fabric in the bottom of the laundry basket and got it washed with today’s load. Next week, I unload and wash the clothes that’ve been bagged up since August. Found enough coat hangers to get nearly everything that needs it hung up, and it’s weird how much seeing my clothes in my closet thrills me. It’s also a bit exhausting, but I’m glad I got it done. 

Beloved Hubby and Dearest Son went on a Mal-Wart run and came home with much-needed socks and groceries. Frozen pizzas for dinner ! My guys played video games while I downloaded another dozen or so freebie embroidery designs. There’ve been so many since Thanksgiving, I can barely keep up with what I’ve already claimed ! Many are designs I’d have gladly paid for, and look forward to using. Just have to spend a good day in the Playroom, cleaning and sorting, so I’ll have space to create soon.

Freebies, freebies, freebies - and I'm too tired to sew !

Ten minutes in, you'll wish for the slasher flick of the same name, I am sooo not kidding.

Feeling much better today ! I was actually starting to worry about m’self a bit, but instead I read my multivitamin label and ate a huge bowl of cereal. I’ve been diagnosed with occasional anemia in the past, it’s minor enough that it’s under no treatment – let’s face it, with everything I am under treatment for, it’s bound to create some conflict somewhere. Anyway, my huge horse-pill multi has zero iron in it, probably to avoid introducing iron poisoning – it’s a thing – and I know it’s been a while since I ate many iron-rich foods. Even when we go out for burgers, it’s rare for me to eat more than half of it. Luckily I bought a box of Wheat Chex on sale last week – it’s loaded with the stuff.

Got some sleep, but ended up over-sleeping again, luckily I didn’t have big plans today. Plus Beloved Hubby took the small Ranger truck to work, instead of his big diesel, as she warms up quickly and stays warm much longer. It’s cold out there today ! Plus, I don’t really feel confident enough to drive today anyway. I know I can drive the Diesel, I used to operate our red and silver one, back in the day, but unless there’s something vastly more important than Dollar Tree, I think we’re home today. Besides, dishes have piled up again. If you have perpetually cold hands, doing the dishes is one of the most warm activities out there !

Meanwhile, I’ve printed out a coffee cup cozy pattern from House on Hill Road (direct PDF link here), hope to sew some up soon. Coffee goes cold fast in Chez Insanity, maybe these will help. I’ll probably use fleece scraps instead of batting – all I have is the loose stuff, and I’m not going out shopping for a bit. Our main coffee cups are sort of conical (actually, it’s this set, but I can tell ya we didn’t pay that much for ours !), so I printed out the pattern, see if it works. I’m also gonna do a straight, non-curved strip one, as we have plenty of plain Dollar Tree type mugs around here, too. 

So this entry won’t be a total waste (like pretty much all of ‘em this week !), here’s a link to a buncha free patterns for 18-inch dolls, like American Girl and clones. I use ‘em as jump-off points for my Disney Princess and Me designs, and with just a few nips and tucks, most fit my Timey Tell vintage dolls, too. That’s why I almost always download the Friday freebies from Pixie Faire, although it's odd when you have no dolls that size and composition. Anyway, there’s a ton more there than just doll clothes and toys, but here’s the link straight to Fleece Fun’s doll hoard. Scroll up and down when you’ve done downloading the doll stuff for lots more to see ! Their tagline is 'Velvet is pretentious. Fleece is fun.' and they definitely mean it !

All these free patterns, no wonder I don’t even miss Hancock Fabrics. . .