Name three things - 2015

[artiemom]

 
I thought for sure today was going to be a lazy Saturday, but I got thrown a curve ball.

'Power cleaned' the kitchen today - scoured drip pans on stove, wiped down all appliances and steamed the microwave, wiped down cabinets and counters, scrubbed the tray the cat dishes sit on, swept and mopped the floor. 

After that, I scrubbed and sanitized the litter box, mopped the bathroom floor and cleaned the sink, tub and toilet, wiped down the mirrors, towel racks and toilet paper holder (shook my head at the shower curtain and turned out the light, LOL  Gonna save that for another day). 

General cleaning throughout the house - vacuum, dust, picked up cat toys - took a break and played with the Boys (Once again, I found a treasure load of 'lost' toys under furniture). Now I am going to finish up a few things on the computer, then make a bagel and cream cheese and some hot tea for dinner, feed the Boys and try to find something interesting on TV.

mickNsnicks2mom - I absolutely LOVE Downton Abbey, but I lost track of it and have missed the last two seasons! I wish Santa would bring me the entire series for Christmas, but I don't think it's in his budget. I need to go back and watch it from the very beginning and catch up on it. It is such an amazing story! Why can't the movie and TV producers follow their lead and come up with more shows like this? No violence, foul language, nudity or vulgarity. But, it has all the 'drama', plot twists and turns, and humor to make it perfectly balanced. Not to mention the period costumes and scenery. If any of you have never watched it, you are missing out! 

Wow!! what a busy day you had.. I used to be able to do that; before I broke my arm with the associated shoulder issues.....

I am just like you as far as Downton Abby. I lost track of it. PBS has some amazing stories. I am following so many of them. 

Really great story lines....

 

[Winchester]

 

• Finish decorating the living room and kitchen.

• Did not get that done on Saturday, so hopefully today. We still need to hang the stockings (on the stair railing "with care"
  
   No chimney here) and there are a few Christmas-sy things that I'd like to do. For the most part, the shopping is finished and the cards have been addressed and stamped. Rick said he'll mail them out this morning on his way to church with his mom.
• I'd like to make some chocolate meringue cookies and some butter spritz cookies (both are done with a cookie press) this afternoon. I can do the meringue cookies, but Rick will have to make the spritz. I bought some teaberries and some cinnamon hearts for decorating the spritz cookies. If it's not too icky outside (not too humid), I still need to make the almond brittle. And the marshmallows.
• Working on some laundry this morning
• Must work on the grocery list, see where I am for Christmas brunch on Friday and then with our Christmas dinner on Saturday. We shall grab a few groceries on Monday night. We'll have to get a few cans of Fancy Feast and a few boxes of Sip to drop into the furkids' stockings.

 

[Winchester]

Managed to get the chocolate meringue cookies and the spritz cookies baked yesterday. I also did a batch of cut-out sugar cookies....it's not Christmas without some cut-outs on the cookie tray. The almond brittle is finished (just in time, too, because it's to start raining tonight and rain pretty much every day this week! Humidity is not good for candy-making!). I have a vacation day today, so....

• Bake a batch of maple cut-outs. I have some lovely maple sugar to sprinkle on top of the cookies. I think I'll just cut them with a scalloped cookie cutter, but we'll see how adventurous I feel later on this morning. And then a batch of peppermint cookies. The cookie doughs are in the fridge; it's just a matter of baking them. And then? I'm done with cookies!
• Rip through the house: a good vacuum, a good dusting, cleaning the bathroom, cleaning the kitchen, etc.
• Need to hit our local cheesemaker for two wheels of baby Swiss (one for us, one for my sister and BIL)
• Tonight is our grocery shopping and I've added Christmas ingredients to the list; it's basically the produce and the dairy stuff as well as cat food and bottled water. And while we're out, must stop at Target to pick up meds, Bed Bath and Beyond for a wine opener (I broke our old one the other night), GNC for a gift card for our son, and Lowes for a water filter for the refrigerator. Everything but Lowes is at the same place, so we can park our car and then walk around to the various shops.
• Going to wrap Dear Richard's gifts tonight. He's going to Christmas Eve service at church and usually while he's at church, I go through a wrapping frenzy to get his things wrapped. This year, I plan on relaxing on Christmas Eve.....if it's the last thing I do!

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
mickNsnicks2mom - I absolutely LOVE Downton Abbey, but I lost track of it and have missed the last two seasons! I wish Santa would bring me the entire series for Christmas, but I don't think it's in his budget. I need to go back and watch it from the very beginning and catch up on it. It is such an amazing story! Why can't the movie and TV producers follow their lead and come up with more shows like this? No violence, foul language, nudity or vulgarity. But, it has all the 'drama', plot twists and turns, and humor to make it perfectly balanced. Not to mention the period costumes and scenery. If any of you have never watched it, you are missing out! 

actually, i've never watched Downton Abbey! i was bored with the selection on the tv that day -- actually, on hulu. i'm really missing the great series on PBS. the two i was following finished their first season, and now there are no new series coming on until january. 

  so i decided to watch that preview of the final season and recap from the beginning of the series of Downton Abbey. i was surprised that that series was/is so interesting for me, though i really shouldn't be because i generally love the PBS series.

the best price for Downton Abbey seems to be had by buying the seasons 1-5 set from PBS -- $59.99 for dvd's. the dare tube dot com doesn't offer Downton Abbey, which is too bad because it would be free to stream via a computer or roku. you can even buy the upcoming season 6 already.

*********

today i've almost completed everything already --

dumped the ash pan, and added more wood to the stove

made jaspurr's and my breakfasts

scooped jaspurr's litter box, took the trash out, and put one of my tarps back up on top of one very small portion of my firewood stacks

checked the washing machine; will run it later this afternoon/evening

wrote up my 'to do' list for tomorrow's busy day

worked on my shopping list and checked what i have on hand of several things, will do more on this throughout the rest of the day

still to do --

call the wood stove place (having new and bigger wood stove put in soon), re ordering a hearth pad extension

after that, i'll watch some tv and later i might play some computer games

 

[Kat0121]

 
actually, i've never watched Downton Abbey! i was bored with the selection on the tv that day -- actually, on hulu. i'm really missing the great series on PBS. the two i was following finished their first season, and now there are no new series coming on until january. 

  so i decided to watch that preview of the final season and recap from the beginning of the series of Downton Abbey. i was surprised that that series was/is so interesting for me, though i really shouldn't be because i generally love the PBS series.

the best price for Downton Abbey seems to be had by buying the seasons 1-5 set from PBS -- $59.99 for dvd's. the dare tube dot com doesn't offer Downton Abbey, which is too bad because it would be free to stream via a computer or roku. you can even buy the upcoming season 6 already.

Amazon has seasons 1-5 for $49.99


ETA: You can watch it for free on Amazon with a Prime account. They have free 30 day trials if you've never done that before. Prime is worth every cent IMO.

 

[Winchester]

By last night, my head was throbbing. What had started out as a bit of a headache turned into one throbbing mess. Early to bed. Do not pass GO, do not collect groceries (or anything else). 

• Rick has an ortho appt for his arm this afternoon. He's been having trouble with it now for quite a while, but wouldn't see a doctor. Now it hurts to the point where he can barely use it; he's a stubborn man sometimes. Probably x-rays or an MRI today.
• During lunch, I need to hit the cheesemaker....didn't get there yesterday, so my GF from work and I are going together. She's never been there and asked me if she could come along with me.
• Groceries and all that other stuff I was supposed to do last night.

At this rate, it will be a last-minute wrapping frenzy on Christmas Eve to do Dear Richard's gifts.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

very thoughful of you, @Kat0121, to look into that! thank you!  

i have a prime account. i'll go ahead and see how far into the series i can go before amazon starts charging per episode/season. that's the way it was with watching the Orphan Black series through amazon -- after i'd watched seasons 1 and 2, i would have had to pay to continue watching through amazon. in that case, i found that the dare tube dot com offered the complete series -- no charge to watch with (free) account/membership.

the dare tube doesn't offer Downton Abbey. i think that for the cost of the remainder of the series, i would prefer to become a 'sustaining member' of PBS at $5/month. i like the idea of supporting PBS, and i would have the ability to watch (at the PBS website) older and on up to recent episodes of all of PBS's series as a sustaining member.

************

well, today is a 'bust' for me -- it's raining a steady, medium rain here so i'll reschedule my busy day to tomorrow. not realistic to try to move firewood in that rain. 

so for today --

make jaspurr's and my breakfasts

scoop jaspurr's litter box

i have one phone call to make

work on my shopping list, and budget

place a couple online orders

 

[donutte]

Tomorrow is spay day for Penelopy! So need to prepare a bit.

- Reset alarm clock to go off earlier tomorrow (done)

- Try to think of a creative way to keep the water away from her but not the other cats

- Make sure they all get fed before 8:30 tonight

 

[Kat0121]

 
very thoughful of you, @Kat0121, to look into that! thank you!  

i have a prime account. i'll go ahead and see how far into the series i can go before amazon starts charging per episode/season. that's the way it was with watching the Orphan Black series through amazon -- after i'd watched seasons 1 and 2, i would have had to pay to continue watching through amazon. in that case, i found that the dare tube dot com offered the complete series -- no charge to watch with (free) account/membership.

the dare tube doesn't offer Downton Abbey. i think that for the cost of the remainder of the series, i would prefer to become a 'sustaining member' of PBS at $5/month. i like the idea of supporting PBS, and i would have the ability to watch (at the PBS website) older and on up to recent episodes of all of PBS's series as a sustaining member.

************

well, today is a 'bust' for me -- it's raining a steady, medium rain here so i'll reschedule my busy day to tomorrow. not realistic to try to move firewood in that rain. 

so for today --

make jaspurr's and my breakfasts

scoop jaspurr's litter box

i have one phone call to make

work on my shopping list, and budget

place a couple online orders

. You can watch all of seasons 1-5 for free with Prime. 

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

 
. You can watch all of seasons 1-5 for free with Prime. 

  yay! i'm just getting ready to watch season 1, episode 1 this evening!

**********

well, i got my 'things of the day' done as well as a few other things. always nice to be a little ahead of things. i actually finished my shopping list, barring any late additions. the work on my budget got completed today too. 

 

[fyllis]

Well, it's just after 6:00 A.M. here and I think the first thing on my list to do today is go to bed! LOL

What was I thinking? At 1:30 this morning, I decided I would get dressed and go to Walmart for a 'few odds and ends'! It was really a great time to go - there were very few people in the store, believe it or not! Lots of stuff marked down too. And when I went to check out there was only one guy in line ahead of me and they actually opened another register for me! WOW!

My 'few odds and ends' ended up costing me a little over $117.00 though! I got a good deal on next years Christmas cards, so I grabbed 3 boxes. Yippieeeeeeeee!

So, when I wake up, I have to go get the rest of the stuff out of the trunk (I only carried in one load). Then I have to wrap everything... that's gonna be fun! LOL  I did some wrapping yesterday with a little help from the Boys. *sigh* I got a full work-out bending over to pick the tape off the floor 20 times, then the scissors, then a roll of wrapping paper, and I had to chase down a few bows. The last gift is still on the table because when I finally got ready to wrap it, 'someone' was in the box taking a nap! 

Other than that and a little gussying up around the house, once I get the Boys fed and the poop scooped, my day is pretty much freeeeeeee!  Maybe tomorrow will be a 'Pamper Me' day? A long soak in the tub, do my nails, read some of my book, catch a few Christmas movies on NetFlix, nibble a little here and there. *sigh* A day of peace and quiet! 

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

today's a busy day for me.

some of the things i'll do are:

rearrange a good portion of the living room

change the fence set up that surrounds the wood stove

move firewood to my living room log rack (must be done before it starts raining again, in the early afternoon)

wash the dishes, scoop the litter box, take out the trash, bring in the newspaper

go to the post office, get the mail

vacuum the house

fill our jaspurr's Christmas stocking

and other assorted 'to do's' around the house

 

[Winchester]

Last day of work today for both Rick and me. 

 The weekend is going to be busy, so I'm going to try to get as much done today and tonight as I can.

• Walk into town over my lunch break to our local chocolate store to grab a box of chocolate-covered pretzels for Rick's stocking. He always gets a little box in his stocking and he looks forward to his pretzels. On the way back, must stop at the store to grab a box of Little Debbie Nutty Bars, again for his stocking. That man has a serious fetish for Nutty Bars. I don't know why; I can't even begin to explain it, but he loves Nutty Bars. And then off to our Natural Food Store for a bag of roasted cashews, for the stocking again. I'm hoping I can get it all done over lunch; if not, I'll have to stop at the Natural Food store on my way home from work. I could get it all done, if I drove. But part of the fun is walking.....that gets my walk in!
• Muffin has a 5:45 vet appt for a general check-up, nothing major (we hope). 
• I have a couple loads of laundry to work on tonight, providing we get home early enough to get them done.

 

[jcat]

It's been a very busy day - the in-laws are coming for dinner tomorrow evening, and I've got to work, so today was spent

• cleaning the house
• doing three loads of laundry
• making the meat sauce for tomorrow's lasagne

I'm just glad I did the grocery shopping yesterday and not today - it was so crowded that it took me 90 minutes!

 

[donutte]

- Had a wrestling match (ie clipped my little monsters' talons - both of them!)

- Got all the stockings stuffed

- Relax, and hope for no tornadoes

 

[Winchester]

 

• Walk into town over my lunch break to our local chocolate store to grab a box of chocolate-covered pretzels for Rick's stocking. He always gets a little box in his stocking and he looks forward to his pretzels. On the way back, must stop at the store to grab a box of Little Debbie Nutty Bars, again for his stocking. That man has a serious fetish for Nutty Bars. I don't know why; I can't even begin to explain it, but he loves Nutty Bars. And then off to our Natural Food Store for a bag of roasted cashews, for the stocking again. I'm hoping I can get it all done over lunch; if not, I'll have to stop at the Natural Food store on my way home from work. I could get it all done, if I drove. But part of the fun is walking.....that gets my walk in!
• Muffin has a 5:45 vet appt for a general check-up, nothing major (we hope). 
• I have a couple loads of laundry to work on tonight, providing we get home early enough to get them done.

I had to drive into town as it was pouring rain during my lunch yesterday. Because I drove, I managed to get everything done that I needed to do. Muffin is fine; she lost .25 pound, which made her vet happy. She came in at 9 pounds on the dot. But they had had an emergency at the animal hospital last night, so they were running far behind and we didn't get back until late. No laundry last night. A quick supper and I went to bed.

• Working on the laundry as I type
• A quick vacuuming and dusting, nothing major as I really ripped through the house on Monday.
• Pick up the white coconut cake and the crown roast of pork for our Saturday Christmas dinner. I also have to hit the grocery for some things for brunch tomorrow. Banking, the liquor store, etc. I can imagine what the crowds are going to be like today. Oy I should have hit the liquor store yesterday while I was in town, but didn't think about it. Stop at the vet for Jackie's flea and tick stuff and ask (yet again) for Muffin's records to be sent to our vet....I think this is the third time now that we've asked for her records to be sent. Muffin's been here over 3 years now, though, so they may not even have them as she's been going to our vet since she came to live with us.
• If everything works out and we have some time this afternoon, Jackie is getting a bath. We need to do her flea and tick stuff, so she needs a bath before we do that. And while we're at it, we never clipped claws at the beginning of the month (I noticed that when Molli jumped on my shoulder last night), so Molli and Tabby need that done this afternoon, too. And then I'll have to clean the bathroom.
• My sister and BIL went down to spend Christmas with their son and new DIL and their kids. So I need to go over to my sister's house to feed their cats and scoop boxes twice today. 
• I will wrap Rick's gifts tonight while he and his mother are at church. The Mad Wrapping Frenzy begins!

 

[donutte]

And on today's list...

- Wrap prezzies for tonight's outing

- Go grocery shopping (small list)

- Pick up Sara's methimazole at the vet's office next door (have an appt on Tuesday but since she's taking an extra 1/2 pill a day, I didn't realize I'd be out before Tuesday - d'oh!)

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

well today started out busy! i was up at about 6:30am and our jaspurr and i were relaxing in the living room, before our breakfasts at 9am. so i see a truck go by, the kind that has a dump box on the back, and i just knew right then.........that's my firewood being delivered. sure enough, the truck came back (this always happens, that whoever is coming by drives past my house and then realizes that...oh, wait a minute...that was the house back there) and dumped 2 out of the 7+ face cords i'm scheduled to have delivered in my driveway. i checked the weather forecast real quick, and it's supposed to rain again saturday and sunday. i'm not going to stack firewood on Christmas Day, so that left today to get it done. 

so, this is what i've done today:

dumped the ash pan, and got the wood stove going

stacked 2 face cords of firewood

made jaspurr's and my breakfasts

scooped jaspurr's litter box

took a shower, after getting all hot and sweaty and gunky from stacking the firewood

and you know, that's all i'm planning on doing today.

 

[Winchester]

• Rick took Jackie out while I did breakfast for everybody this morning. Still need to scoop boxes.
• A quick vacuum about the house (or maybe not as I'm pretty tired of vacuuming and really, it doesn't make much of a difference once everybody gets here)
• Will start cooking around 8:00 this morning (the gravy is finished, the cheesecake is finished except for the decorating, the cornbread for the stuffing is baked and chopped, iced teas are in the fridge). At this point, it's just a matter of getting the crown roast in the electric roaster and getting the side dishes together. Putting the table together. While I did some cooking last night, Rick wrapped the rest of the presents for the kids and got it all in order for them.

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

it should be a nice quiet day here today for jaspurr and me.

made jaspurr's breakfast

dumped the ash pan, then got the wood stove going

sent an email, and called my mom -- our weekly chat, plus asking how her Christmas was (she prefers that i call either the day before or the day after Christmas, because she and my aunt usually move around between relatives homes on holidays)

will make jaspurr's snack shortly, then make my brunch

will scoop jaspurr's litter box, take out the trash, and bring in the newspaper

i think after that, i'll do some reading, then watch some tv. maybe the next episode of Downton Abbey.