Thursday Out - Friday In

It seems like I'm on a baby schedule - morning and afternoon naps and an early bedtime.

Yesterday afternoon I decided to try my wings and go somewhere.

Not far since it was my first time to drive in about 3 weeks.

There's a Tuesday Morning up on Beltline Road- a mere 1.7 miles away. The newer nicer one on MacArthur was nearly 3 times as far.....so I went to the closer one.

I had curtains in mind and as it so often happens - I found just exactly what I was looking for.

The kitchen French doors face west and the sun can be brutal so I keep room darkening curtains up there. Easy to open and quick to close. The ones I chose are close to the ones I already had.

Back when the house flooded while we were away on our cruise and cross country trip back home, the curtains still show a stain about 6 inches up from the hem and I haven't been able to get it out.

Praise God the water that rolled in through the kitchen went down to the den and the sewing room instead of flooding the entire house!

 I will take the old curtains to the ranch with us and hang them between the front room and the bathroom. They will be much easier for me to open and close than what Louis Dean has hanging up there now.

Adter Tuesday Morning, I sat in the car for a few minutes and rested before driving a few blocks down the road to Aldi. I have made a few meals lately and it felt good to go in and get some fresh produce and pick up a few things.

I was only gone a couple of hours and that was enough.

It was an early bedtime for me on Thursday night.

Today (Friday) I finally managed to finish cleaning the kitchen.

I was up at 9:00 this morning and worked for an hour or so after my quiet time.

Then back to bed to sleep until 1:00 and the only reason I woke up then was because Louis Dean was singing! As it happened I was dreaming about him and he sang his way right into the dream.

It was a funny dream and there were TWO Louis Dean's and yet they were both mine.

I don't think the world is ready for two of him!

I took the last Christmas tablecloth off and reset the kitchen table.

I don't suppose I ever get it ALL clean but I managed to get most of it done.

Before I had surgery, Louis Dean bought a big box of Rubbermaid storage pieces.

They have sat in the box on the floor by the fridge ever since.

Finally, today I cleaned out the red cabinet where we store such things and organized it.

I'm taking a bunch of odds and ends to the ranch and will match tops to the bottoms and pitch all the rest!

I love my planner area.

Everything I need to remember or do or keep goes here as well as the current recipes I'm using.

You can see I don't have much written down lately!

You can see why Louis Dean has a hard time cooking in this cluttered kitchen.

He's a real good sport about it, though.

We both keep saying that we never meant to change each other .....but somehow it happened anyway.

I realized that for the last nearly 15 years I have been teaching him to keep house.

He truly did not know how.

He and Ellen were school teachers and they worked all the time and were not as domesticated as I have been all my life. I used to be Mrs. Clean and I have given up a lot of that.

I think we have done well in compromising.

Still, after I had the kitchen all clean this evening and was just enjoying looking at it, I shuddered when Louis Dean offered to cook steaks for dinner tonight!

Thank goodness I had already set things out for tuna noodle casserole and we had lots of leftover veggies in the fridge that we needed to eat!

I think nesting and cleaning and fluffing up makes me feel better.

I just do a little bit at a time and rest in between.

I think I am going to get my Country Diary down for 2008 and read about my right knee surgery and how I was doing back then nearly 3 weeks out.

I guess I forgot to talk about the Gorilla Glue on the counter beside the microwave.

Well, I am happy to say that I managed to chip most of it up. You can't SEE it but if you run your hand over the counter you can FEEL it! A little bit.

It's really no big deal because for THREE years I have listed replacing the counter tops as a goal for the year. And new carpet!

2020 is the year!!! As SOON as I feel better, we are going to go shopping for counters.

No granite or marble or hard surfaces for us. GOODNESS! I can't even imagine how many things would get broken! I'm thinking of darker high quality Butcher Block to go with my walnut cabinets.

When we get ready to do that, I'm going to use that good cleaner - I forget the name of it - to super clean the cabinet doors and then there's a wax - I forgot the name of that, too - to put on to freshen up the color. I have done it before and I hope I have some of the wax left somewhere so I can get the name of it.

Carpet will come this summer. That is overwhelming to even think about - moving all the stuff in the living room, dining room, hall, sewing room and guest room.

I really need to get well before we do that!!

It's after 8:00 so maybe I will be able to stay up a bit later tonight.

That would make Louis Dean happy.

He gets lonely when I'm not around and you know what?

That makes me really happy!!!