Monday, September 15, 2014

A Super Simple September Monday!

I love Mondays! Even when I worked at State Farm for two years - I loved Mondays!
The whole week lies before me and all sorts of good things can happen.
Mondays are even better now that neither one of us work. I am not raising children or homeschooling or working outside the home. Louis Dean is retired but he did work at Home Depot for a couple of years after we married. I like it that our time now belongs to US!!! We have both paid our dues and done our duty - so to speak. While I loved those days when I was busy with children and family responsibilities  - I am especially enjoying THESE days!!


Life is pretty simple here at the Chapman's.
I could NOT get to sleep last night! It was 3 am before I finally drifted off! (We went to bed at 11:00!) No worries! I slept in til nearly 10! I LOVE waking up! Louis Dean is nearly always up first and he has the coffee started so the house smells all warm and cozy when I open our bedroom door.
One of the favorite moments of my day!
We took our coffee and Pumpkin Cranberry Scones (from a mix at Trader Joe's!) out to the gazebo where we did our Bible reading and a couple of chapters from Lord Foulgrin's Letters.
We parted to do our separate chores. LD worked on his music notebooks and I cleaned house.


We met up again for a LATE lunch!!!
So far this has been our only meal of the day!
BLT's on fresh French bread plus another sandwich of pork tenderloin for him and an old fashioned lunch meat and cheese for me. We watched an old episode of Boston Legal while we ate.

I love the fact that I can clean and work until I get very tired - and then go in the bedroom, switch on the A/C and take a nap under the covers!!! I will NEVER take this pleasure for granted!!


When I got up I asked Louis Dean if he would join me in working for a half hour cleaning up SOMETHING in the back yard.
We compromised with cleaning out the firewood box on the kitchen side of the house.
It is now ready to fill with fresh wood for the fall and winter.
Louis Dean and I have not paid for firewood since we got married!
We keep an eye out for neighbors who have trimmed their trees and put the wood to the curb.
FREE for the taking!!! We are now actively looking for more......


I strung up some purple 'Halloween' lights by the back pond.
Louis Dean loves colored lights while I prefer warm white ones.
We bought LOTS of colored and cool white ones on clearance last year so I guess I WILL be using them .......

I have a house cleaning plan and I write on my daily planner what I HOPE to accomplish each day!
Today was RE CLEAN the den! I cleaned it yesterday so all I had to do was vacuum. I did my yoga and cleaned the foyer and living room. THAT'S when I opened the foyer closet and pulled down a box of photos and albums!


I found this picture taken in September 2003.
I was at my oldest son's home to visit my grandson.
This was a difficult year for all of us - I had filed for divorce in August (after 41 years of marriage) and I am STILL impressed with all the happy photos and memories my children and I made that year!


Here was Amber in September of 2003 shortly after she and I returned from a trip to Hawaii to celebrate her 18th birthday! As beautiful today as she was then!


Samuel and I - LOOK at those blue eyes!!!
And my darling Summer - she simply NEVER ages!!!
I have an even BETTER one of her to share on Throw Back Thursday on Facebook!!!
She has been sick all day with a monster of a headache! One that was SO BAD she had to make a trip to the doctor!
Then I went on down my to do list and cleaned the kitchen.
The dining room and sewing room were next on the list and I must circle them on my planner......
will get to them tomorrow! I hope......

Louis Dean and I are planning our vacation to Colorado!


We leave on Saturday and we are SO excited!!!
This is Lake Estes and that's our most northern destination.
As I write this, Louis Dean is mapping out our route.
No reservations. Not even real sure where we will go!
Just winging it and following where we will! 
That just sounds PERFECT to me!
It's not high season so I'm confident we will NOT be sleeping in our car....
not that I haven't done that before!


Amber found this painting and has requested I paint a LARGE one for her!!!
I will be starting on this tomorrow evening.
I am so looking forward to Tuesday!
ART! GOODWILL!!! Usually a MOVIE!
The main ingredient in making Tuesday special is RUTH ANN!!!
We do love our adventures together!!
Then Sabrina joins us for art in the evening and I think we will have a couple of special guests!
Louise and Debbie used to be art regulars years ago.
They may be here tomorrow!
I am going to bake a special cake - a Sweet Potato Spice Cake - just to celebrate!!!

12 comments:

Ginny Hartzler said...

I can't wait to see your finished painting, I know it will be great! I agree that napping whenever we want is one of the best things about retirement! And I have collected quite a few throws for just such an occasion. I never missed an episode of Boston Legal, it was awesome!! Also we really like James Spader, do you watch his latest show "The Black List"? Oh my, WAY too much bad violence, I should stop watching like Phil has. But other than that, the show is so good!

Wanda said...

After 50 years in Church ministry, and me 20 years at Property Management, raising 4 children...Don and I both enjoy our retirement. I've often said we have paid our dues. Life now is like yours. Do what we want when we want with who we want...9 times out of 10 it's with family. But tomorrow Martha comes from NY and we are excited.

Penny said...

Another busy day for you Linda, sometimes I am tired just reading what you achieve in a single day! The cake you mentioned sounds delicious, will you post the recipe sometime soon? X

Sweet Tea said...

Your posts of daily activities reads like a book. Will check back tomorrow to see which treasures you find going through Goodwill!

Deb said...

I love the boots can't wait to see how yours turn out! You do both deserve to do as you please each day! Love hearing about your day Linda....

Estelle's said...

A day in the life of Miss Linda! You are such a doll for letting us tag along!

MadSnapper said...

we love sweet potato pie so I am sure we would love the cake to... i love a trip down memory lane with old photos. i wish i had all my photos on a flash drive. so much easier to look...

MadSnapper said...

forgot to say have fun next week... i have never done a trip like that and would love to do it. just go where ever when ever.

Lynne said...

I love your routine, Linda!
Mr D has taken a couple days off from work to finish staining the deck while the weather is warm and sunny. ( I usually make the morning coffee.) He brought me coffee this morning and yesterday. It's nice to wake up to the smell of fresh coffee.

Amber's request!
Those boots!
From your talented hands to a very special place in her lovely home. I hope you share the journey with us.
Good wishes for good finds at the Goodwill today!
~Lynne
w/L.

Jackie See said...

I can't wait to see the treasures you will find today! We are so blessed to be able to retire and have more time! I don't miss getting up at 5am and returning home at 6pm. At my age I just don't think I could keep up anymore! Thank the Lord above for our blessings of things as simple as sleeping, and the choices we are now allowed to make with our time. I can't wait to see your masterpiece!

Judy said...

Oh, you will have such fun in Colorado. We so enjoyed our travels there a few years ago! Here's the link to a post I did about our time in the Estes Park area...http://judys-front-porch.blogspot.ca/2010/08/colorado-north-country.html. And from there it was on to Denver, Garden of the Gods, Pike's Peak and so much more.

Enjoy your day!

Kathy said...

I love my naps that I take on my days off. Just another year or so and I will be joining you in retirement. Can't wait. Maybe then my house will look decent again. It's always so messed up because when I am gone for 10 hours or so who has time to clean?

Have fun next week on your trip. I hope to do a trip like that someday.