Thankful, grateful, blessed...

Every morning (especially this time of year) I wake up and want to stay snuggled under the covers for just a few (or twenty) more minutes.  A comfortable bed, flannel sheets, and a down comforter on a chilly morning/night are luxuries that I try to always give thanks for.  As important as good sleep is to our emotional and physical health, imagine what a difference would be worked in this world if everyone had a comfortable and safe place to rest.  Sadly too few people do.  I wish I could gift that to each man, woman, and child on Earth.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Skara: The First Wave

The Neolithic village ruins of Skara Brae on Mainland, Orkney, Scotland were inhabited two to three milennia before the birth of Christ.  It is a great jumping off point for a story, but it needs better telling to keep me interested.  This is my second try at it, and I think I'm just going to give up. 

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Miss Boston and Miss Hargreaves by Rachel Malik

This book is totally unrelated to the previous Miss Hargreaves book I read in November by Frank Baker.  

This is about two women.  One abandons her husband and children during WWII to become a Land Girl, and she is assigned to the small farm of the other.  The gentle prose of the bucolic countryside, animals, gardens, and cottages are soothing and peaceful.

Thankful, grateful, blessed...

Yesterday my boss' wife came to the office and brought flowers.  These are some nice people I've landed among.

I am incredibly thankful to be in this job.  I applied without being 100% sure that I really wanted to go full time again.  I've definitely passed that point.  

My former full-time boss was such a genuinely good guy (caring for clients with integrity, empathy, and a kind heart) and was a pleasure to spend all day with.  I thought I would surely never come across another supervisor quite like him.  Well I have, and it feels like I've won the lottery twice.  

What I'm reading Wednesday...

The Chelsea Girls by Fiona Davis

I ask you...

...how do you lose a bucketful of Swiffer supplies?  A bucket...F-U-L-L.

I've been looking for it for weeks.  I looked in cabinets.  I looked in the bathrooms.  I looked in the office.  I looked in the guest rooms.  I looked in the closets.  Then a few days later I would look in all those places again.  

It has a home in the bottom of a shelf unit in the laundry room, but with the colder weather, I've been having to leave Rudy in the laundry room on chilly mornings.  (Don't worry, it warms up by noon, so I come home at lunch and let him out to play for the afternoon.)  Anyway, I moved the swiffer supplies to the laundry room counter top to keep it out of his reach.  I could just picture coming home to a blizzard of shredded swiffer refills.

I finally asked Carey if he had stashed it somewhere, which he denied.  (He is notorious for moving things that are in his way, and putting them somewhere that holds no logic for me.)  Then...surprise!...he found them.  So I ask you, don't you bet that he stashed it somewhere?  Yeah...me too!  :)

But what does it say about the condition of my house that the chaos of clutter is such that a huge item can get lost?  So this weekend is for working around the house.  Between the holidays and working, the house is suffering (not that it is ever company ready).

I always do better with a list to check off boxes as I complete a chore, and right now I need the extra incentive of keeping me accountable to you, so I will come back at intervals through the weekend to check off the completed items.  (And just so you know, I have more energy in the afternoons and evenings, so don't expect to see any progress in the morning!)

Here's my list:

     ☑  wash the master-bed linens 

     ☑  put linens back on master bed

     ☑  wash light-color clothes

     ☑  wash dark-color clothes

     ☑  clean bathroom

     □  wash bath mats

     ☑  take down the Christmas tree

     ☑  spend 15 minutes clearing clutter

     □  spend 15 more minutes clearing clutter

     □  spend 15 more minutes clearing clutter

     □  spend 15 more minutes clearing clutter

     □  dust

     ☑ swiffer

     ☑ vacuum

     □  steam mop bathroom

     □  steam mop kitchen

     □  clean Rudy's nose prints off the back glass door

     □  pay bills

     ☑  make 6 cards

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Avalon by Anya Seton

I finished this one today.  I tried really hard to finish it yesterday, so I could mark it as another completion for 2019.  :)  

Really enjoyed reading about Medieval England, Iceland, and Greenland: evil queen, court murders, Viking raiders.