A beeyootiful Monday morning

Up before anyone else. In a few minutes the house will begin to wake up a bit. Dogs have been let out and fed...Violet on my lap smelling of Skin-So-S*ft. She's too sensitive to the fancy flea medications (Fr*ntline, etc.), and those products make her jittery to the point of it being worrisome. I've read that the ingredients in those sorts of flea repellents contain something to attack the flea's nervous system....icky that it seems to attack Violet's. UGH. So we filled a spray bottle with water and some of Av*n's SSS and while it seems to repel the fleas, still, it's necessary to keep re-applying either that or diluted tea tree oil. Frustrating.

Colored my hair last night (Revl*n's Colorsilk #33), and thrilled with the result. Also, considering that it's one of the cheaper brands and was on sale at W*lgreen's for 2 bucks last week...too cool. My hair is SO shiny this morning. Very pleased. Very, very. Lately my hair's been growing faster, and maybe I can credit the warmer weather---explain that to me. Anyway, when the little girls make comments about mom's hair looking sparkly where my sideburns would be (if I was a guy and HAD sideburns!), then it's time to color!

Funny thing about womanly self-maintenance. My husband gets so tickled when I do girlie things. Like polish my fingernails and toenails, or do my hair, or buy new clothes, or any of the number of things that females do to make themselves look pretty. It especially gives me pause when I look at this guy who I married who'd look FINE sitting on a Harley telling me that he likes the pink nail polish I have on. He's such a totally masculine-looking guy, but he's interested in girlie stuff. Go figure.

Must go scratch my head (and no, it's not the fleas!). Life puzzles me and that ain't no lie. Beyond that, though, looking forward to the day. Planning on (hear me? Planning on....) getting the whole house dusted (hahaha) and especially our bedroom cleaned up. There are way too many homeless items in this house that need to be put away, besides I'm thinking my attitude should improve when the house looks spiffy.

Ought to take before/after photos for inspiration. Or maybe not! Must fly.

My lazy Sunday afternoon

So, I sit here and look at the clutter that coats my house, and admit to myself that something's GOT to be done. It's a pigsty. Literally. A whopping pigsty. There are way too many books, even more dust and the flat surfaces are beginning to bow.

Wondering if we can do a lengthy course in Domestic Science this week in order to contend with it?

Tomorrow morning is soon enough, though, to deal with it. Oldest daughter is the process of making tonight's dinner, which is a total mystery except that she got the recipe for the main dish in Trisha Yearwood's new cookbook. And Blueberry Buckle is for dessert which she found in another cookbook. That I *do* know. It's cooling on the top of the stove, looking all gooey and yummy.

Guess I'll just think about the cleaning that needs to be done. That's as much energy as I've got just now as it is. ;)

Saturday morning

This is one of those days when I need to hear less talking around here. My brain is full. Yesterday went fine with taking my mom to visit my aunt at the hospital/dropping off dinner to my uncle/going to the library. And coming home with piles of library books and having the kids nestle down for nap-time is always restful. Love that.

But afterward, I was drained. Even though my aunt is better (thanks for the prayers), and that my husband has more work coming in the shop, and that the weather this weekend couldn't be better---still, I'm pooped. My mind is scattered too much of the time. Too many details, and way too many folks bidding for my time. An abundance of *too's*. :)

Goodness.

Deep breaths.

Oldest daughter was digging into the cookbooks last night, trying to find a new recipe to make for Sunday night dinner. We were talking and I mentioned that I tend to tense up with the little girls come into the room, because they ALWAYS have a request. Always. Whether it's to have the rest of the water in the tea kettle, for someone to cut up an orange, or even more simple askings for someone to plug in the toaster---it's always something. It drains the mind.

Stop-start-stop-start.

More deep breaths.

Must work on coping skills. Not succeeding too well in that area, I guess. Really need not to make too much of things, but to look at life in little bites.

Or maybe I'll just bite the girls.

Winding down Thursday

Need grounding. Cutting and putting together some old nightgowns of mine to make the least one's dress. Imagine that. A bodice from one yellow sleeveless gown from April Cornell's outlet to be sewn onto a skirt from a blue/white Gilligan & O'Malley piece. Prettiness, and surprisingly simple. I'm taking it all in at the sides and will make an underslip to go with the skirt part. Might get a chance to pin and sew tomorrow after our outing.

Fourth son is about to make a couple of apple pies, and everyone else is doing quiet, night-time sort of things.

I've got a few library books to browse through, and that should put paid to the evening. Will see y'all on Friday. :)

(photo is cute spoon shelf husband has made...along with the spoons)

The homebody speaks

Feeling a tad zingy. My aunt (mother's only sister) went into the hospital with pneumonia on Monday morning. She's in her late eighties, so that's a concern. Tomorrow I'll take dinner to my uncle in order to spell my cousin who's been high-tailing it to the hospital (spending the night even) and then going to her parents' house to look after her dad (the uncle). Phew. Life gets complicated really easy.

Will drop my mom and third son at the hospital tomorrow morning and then deliver dinner and THEN take the kids to the library.

Phew again!

Will be anxious for a quiet afternoon at home tomorrow after all the running around. And prayers would be appreciated. I think my mom is in a form of denial, not wanting to really face how ill my aunt is. Besides, hospitals worry lots of folks. Me included.

Wonder if there's a good movie we could rent? Something to look forward to would be a blessing.

Nothin' much to say

My laptop had been getting slower and slower in performance, besides the fan running on high----so yesterday took the plunge and made copies of everything important (and will likely have forgotten something), and then wiped the hard drive. Reloaded the CDs and now it runs so fast. This is the third time I've done this with this computer, and every time I'm pleased. Time will tell if the fan continues to run hard. Might need to use something to clean out dust in the underside.

Oh, and found that Mozilla/Firefox (my browser of choice) has what they call, Personas, now....so there are a pair of birdies gracing the top of my toolbar now. Cuteness. When I downloaded Firefox again, I found that neat tweak.

Off to rest a bit more. To bed too late, dogs up too early. I need a nap!

And a word to to those east of us...the storm that hit here after dinner last night...it's a doozy. Lots of rain and noise, but not much else. The benefit? Quite a bit cooler afterward. Enjoy!

Girlie clothes

Told the girls about these dresses that I saw on Tumblr. Cuteness. Figured I could either use t-shirts to do the upper part, or cut into more of the muslin I have sitting around. And surely we have some fabric to do the bottom part without having to shop. Surely.

Aren't they sweet?

The least one's eighth birthday is in a couple of weeks and she's so needy for new things to wear---most times she dresses like an orphan from an old movie. Very Dickensian. Oliver Twist doesn't hold a candle to what this little girl puts on. ;)

(photo courtesy of tumblr)