Just a Few Thoughts

Today I spent some time cleaning out under my kitchen buffet.  I know, it sounds weird.  But I tend to store things under there.  It fits four picnic baskets.  Now I'm down to two.  One for cookie cutters (yes, i do have a picnic basket FULL of cookie cutters, don't you? no, i have not made a cut-out cookie in years, but i could if i wanted to) and the other now holds the Valentine making stuff.  Even though I didn't actually get rid of anything, it does look much tidier under there.

There is this weird dream rolling around in my head to have open shelving in my kitchen, and a screen door on my pantry.  No one has ever accused me of being overly neat, so I'm not sure I could pull it off, but it always looks so charming to me.

I must become more tidy.

My new favorite product is coconut oil.  Since I have been taking it I have not had the bizarre joint pains.  For a week in December I didn't use it and they quickly came back.  THGGM adds it to the protein shakes he makes in the morning.  If I don't have one, I add it to something else, anything else.  It's also my new moisturizer and is keeping the winter eczema at bay.  Oh, and I rub it into my hair 30 minutes before I wash it.  It's also the best lip balm EVER.  Try it, you'll like it.

My plan was to give up artificial sweeteners for Lent.  It's not going well.  I'd rather give up diabetes, but, oh well.  Anyway, I have cut my caffeine consumption in half and am calling that good.

Tonight I did something that I haven't done in a very long time.  I went shopping on Ebay.  Of course I didn't buy anything, but I did add a few things to my "watch" list.  It's a fun way to shop, because when the emails arrive telling me that time is running out I sometimes cannot even remember the reason that I added the item to my list.

THGGM has a few more boxes of his things ready for drop-off at the thrift store.  I've fallen a bit behind, although I feel like tomorrow might be a good day to do some more sorting and purging.  It's difficult when I can see multiple uses for things in my hoard.  And Pinterest isn't helping.  I cannot begin to tell you how much I HATE seeing a great idea to make something out of an item I have just disposed of.

I've given up buying magazines, except for a few every now and then.  Truth be told, I cannot afford them.  And, I've not much need for them with Pinterest.  Did I tell you that I actually GOT RID OF boxes full of them?  Some which had made several moves.  Yes.  I got rid of old magazines that I had developed weird emotional attachments too.  Next up I will be thinning down my collection of every Christmas issue of any magazine I have ever bought in my lifetime.  My night stand is a dresser that is FULL of old Christmas magazines.  I don't mind keeping as many as will fit, but there is now a stack leaning against the dresser in an unsightly manner.  So, that will be my measure for how many I keep.  They have to fit in that dresser.  I'm weird.  I know it.  Slowly, I'm working on it.  I didn't live through the depression and I don't remember ever lacking for anything, but I do have the need to posses things to a strange degree.  Hmm.

Every evening I'm still reading the Little House books.  This time through I'm enjoying them more than ever.  It's been a good break from all the Civil War reading.

I'm boring.  And I know it.

Hmm.  I'm watching the news.  A reporter just described a shooting suspect on the loose as a "gentleman".  Seriously?  A gentleman?  What has happened to language?  That's "a whole nother" story.

In the past several weeks, every dream that I can remember has been similar.  The scene is a large windowless basement filled with tables.  One night the tables were full of food.  Another night they were full of thrift store type items.  Last night all the tables were piled high with books.  That dream caused a HUGE meltdown that THGGM had to sooth me from (in the dream).  A sign appeared that said paperback books had gone up from 50 cents to $2.00, and hard covers had gone from $2.00 to $4.00 dollars.  THGGM calmly reminded me that I was getting rid of books and was not going to buy any more.  I sobbed out that I knew all of that, but I thought that if I had gotten rid of books and then changed my mind I could have bought them back.  But now they would cost too much for me to do that.  In the dream he even asked me if there were any I wanted to buy back and there were not.  Still.  I was distraught.

It's bad enough to be awkward in real life, but to be strange in one's dreams is sometimes pretty hard to take.

Oh, and the picture above is of Kado, who was thrilled to play with the tiny Legos.  The Lego in his hand looks just like Oldest Son.  Kado sees it too, and had a wonderful afternoon playing Legos with his uncle.