Busy

To tell the truth, I am getting real sick of 40+ degree temperatures, no sun and rain all day today.  Fog every morning.  I used to suffer from Seasonal Affected Disorder--February was by far the worst month of the year for me.  I don't anymore--I don't know how I got over it, but I still use that excuse to sit under my Ott floor lamp with the full spectrum light bulb and do my cross stitch.  HAH!  That lamp is the best thing I ever bought for myself.  I have had it 6 years and never replaced the bulb and use it everyday, several hours a day.  It is the best for close handwork and for reading.

I did not have that luxury today.  I had to set the alarm to get up at the crack-of-dawn (8:30), because today was my appointment at the Food Pantry.  Of course, I could not find a close-by parking space, so I had to walk in the chilly, 40 degree rain and of course, I didn't have on my winter coat, just my fleece jacket.

Oh my!  What a treat today.  They had all sorts of frozen meat. I got 2# ground SIRLOIN to make Chili and they had turkeys!!  Pammie couldn't afford didn't cook her usual Thanksgiving turkey, so I grabbed one for her--she will share the after product and stuffing with me :-)  We are only allowed 2 meats.  

Than I found more cans of diced tomatoes to replenish the ones I used for the boys spaghetti sauce, and got a couple of bundles of spaghetti, some cans of corn and green beans and kidney beans (for the Chili) and--even a bag of lettuce that wasn't too old and slimy and a large can of chicken to put in the not quite slimy lettuce--had that for supper.  

Then a jug of detergent and a 4-pack of extra thin bathroom tissue (that awful kind they use in public restrooms).  Also a jar of Peanut Butter and Grape Jelly--we are allowed one of each per month.  I do not eat much Peanut Butter and Jelly, but Pammie does.  The County Pammie lives in does not have a Food Pantry and so I share, sometimes, with her, and a dozen eggs which I will share half with Pam or Merle and Pearl.

Then I drove up and ran inside the Dollar Tree and got a string of 50 clear Christmas lights and a bag of pine scented potpourri.  It seems all the stores now want to sell only those LED Christmas lights and I don't like them--way too harsh for me.

I used to put a mirror on top of our spinet piano, run a string of lights kind of in a scalloped pattern down the center and some greenery and put my crystal ware on the mirror.  It was beautiful when it was lit at night.  Now I have no piano or mirror and no space, so I just put the lights and the potpourri in my big glass container, set it on my clear glass plate and added what I had for crystal. Tomorrow I will put a nice, white damask napkin under the glass, I think it will look better than the table top.

It lights up that area and the lights warm the pine potpourri to make the room smell nice.  Not too strong.

Had a small lunch and watched my Soap and then got busy the rest of the afternoon doing some computer work for my friend, Chris.  

I decided to make a batch of the Chex Mix snack.  I haven't made it in a couple of years.  One time, I made it in the microwave, but didn't like the way it turned out.  So back to the original way of making it in a low oven and stirring it every 15 minutes.  Boy--it is delish with the garlic and onion powder and seasoned salt.  

Got all my bills paid for the month and managed to get 3 ten dollar bills to put in with the little kids ornaments--I'll put a fiver in Evan's, he won't know the difference, just be thrilled with "WOW.. Money!"

Susan called, she and Chuck were down by Ann Arbor, stuck in traffic on the expressway and wanted to know if they could stop in.  

"YES!!"

They arrived about 45 minutes later--should have only taken them 20, but...............my first company to see my decorations and tree.  Susan noticed the Chex Mix and grabbed a handful.  Chuck just sat in the rocker and tried to stay awake.

The had driven 12 hours from Binghamton, New York where they had spent a week with his family and friends and Christmas festivities.  Normally the trip takes about 10 hours, but rain/fog and traffic weren't too good today.  On the way out, they encountered the snow storm that NY had last week and the trip took them 11 hours.  The Binghamton area had 7 inches of snow when they got there.

When they arrived here, I stepped out on the porch and said, "Welcome to the Tropics."

Glad they are home safe and now we can concentrate on Christmas Eve up at The Farm.

So, it was a busy day.  Not hectic busy, just nice and steady busy.