New Year's

Many of my siblings went up to South Bend for New Year's. They sent me these pictures:

 Ronnie is alway cold. He wears flannel and jeans even in the heat of summer!

Janice was in St. Louis from Texas for a couple of weeks before. South Bend is about 6 hours from St. Louis. It wouldn't be bad, but you have to go through Chicago. There's never a good time for that.

 Jeanne and Joyce.

 Janice, Joyce, Ronnie and Jeanne. Jennifer, Matt and I are missing! Obviously, we didn't go.

 Jim and Scott. Looks like they really "yukked" it up!

Of course there would be lots of poker games. It was frigid---and they had lots of snow!

I'm glad they had such a good time. We don't get together often enough. And it's rare that we're all together at the same time! I love these "guys!"

Year End Reports

Getting my books from the Library
So in a previous post, I mentioned that I read 68 books this year. That is probably the most books I've read in a year since I was a kid. Part of the blame goes to the fact that I was new to the whole library "thing." It's way different than when I was a kid and you went to the bookmobile and checked out 6 or 8 books. Now, I do it all online. The problem is that there is a bit of a learning curve. You can have as many as 15 books "on hold" which basically means you are on the waiting list for them. What ended up happening---before I realized you could "suspend" a hold, is the books were coming in faster than I could read them. That caused me to read MORE! At times I was frantic! Now that I've got it figured out, I won't have that pressure. I can pretty much control the speed of the books coming in easily.

My biggest motivation for using the library this year was to save money. And save money I did! $568.18 worth of books! Plus, now that you buy books electronically, you can't share them (although some older books are shareable---one time). You can share books only with all the people that share your account. In hindsight, we should have set up one account for the whole family. We didn't. Butch and I are on the same account. He's able to read the books that I've purchased for about the last 6 or 8 years now. I'm getting all of mine from the library except the few I have to purchase for book club. I don't always have time to wait for a book club book to come in. I spent $51.37 on book club books. All in all, it was a great year in the savings department. Well, until I received the year end letter from my library asking me for a donation. I felt like I needed to do that since I'm relying on the library. So actually, I guess you need to cut my savings in half after my donation! Still worth it!

OsteoStrong
You might recall that after I broke my ankle I heard about OsteoStrong. They make some pretty lofty claims about improving bone density.  I decided that I was going to have a bone density test done and then another at the end of a year. The year end report is that my bone density did NOT improve---in fact it's a little worse---but still normal for a woman my age. So here I've "wasted" $105. a month or $1260 for the year. My balance has improved, so that's something. I can't really put a dollar amount to that so I won't.

Movie Pass
Okay, so it hasn't been a year yet, but I'm paid up through December of 2018. I've already seen 14 movies since October and have completely gotten my money's worth for the entire year. I'm already in the black by 3 movies or $30.00.

Vanguard inherited IRA
When my mom died in 2010, my siblings and I inherited her IRA. We could have cashed it out. I decided to keep it. We each have a mandatory distribution every year based on our own age---not my mom's. My brother, Ronnie mentioned that a good time to take the distribution would be on our birthdays---sort of a birthday present from mom. I just got the year end report. Even with taking that withdrawal, the investment has increased by an average of 9.9% per year. My mom was really smart about finances. This one investment is worth way more than what we inherited! I'm so glad I kept it! So that's another plus for the year!

All in all, I'm pretty happy with the amount of money I've managed to save this year. Of course it won't mean "jack" once we start the kitchen renovation!

I Might be a Little Judgmental!

I don't like to think I'm judgmental---but maybe I am---just a little!

It all started when I read a blog post called "The Best Books I Read in 2017." Any post about books always draws me in. Even though I already have 125 books on my "to be read" list and 15 books on my waitlist, I'm always looking for new books.

First let me say, that I love this girl and have been following her blog for several years. She has a beautiful family and keeps it real. But I just have to question this. She starts out with this statement:
"111.  I can't even tell you how much joy that number brings me. It was the best year of reading that I can ever remember. It brought me so much happiness and made me such a better person."

Here's what you need to know about that. This gal has 5 little girls under the age of 9 or 10! Yes! She's beautiful and so are her girls (and hubby for that matter). But---I cannot imagine how she can possibly read that much and keep up with her kids, running them around, grocery shopping, cooking, laundry and household maintenance. She defends herself (I guess from us judgmental people) by saying that she is a really fast reader, doesn't watch tv and carries a book everywhere she goes.

HMPH! There is is. My judgmental and high and mighty stance. Her house must be a mess. Her laundry must be piled to the ceiling. Her meals must be fast food, take-out or from cans. Her kids must be parked in front of the tv. And the statement about reading making her a better person---come on, really? Maybe a little smarter, but better? HRMPH! (That's sort of like an extra HMPH!)

Okay, let me come down off my high horse. I guess it's possible to read 111 books, be a good mother, keep a clean house and stay on top of your life. I just find it hard to believe. Where is the time for meeting with friends, taking in a movie with the hubs, going to church or spending time at school? Ooops, I guess I just climbed back on that horse!

I consider myself a voracious reader. I've only read 68 books this year. That's a book just about every 5 days. That's about my pace. I don't think I'm a particularly fast reader---although I would love to find a way to test that. I still have a life. A pretty busy life. No, I don't have small children, but the gang is here enough that I'm cooking and getting ready for them periodically. I have friends. My week looks like this: Movie Monday, Stitching Tuesday, Working Wednesday (run errands and work at home--usually meeting someone for lunch), Bridge Thursday and a movie or lunch with a friend/happy hour Friday. In the summer we have pool parties several days a week. Weekends I consider to be "free." I read a lot then. Add to that, stitching and scrapbooking, keeping up with my blog and reading blogs, handling beach business, paying bills and general home maintenance---well, you get the picture---my time just flies by. I read every afternoon for about a half hour to an hour. I read every evening before bed for about an hour. I use my Kindle app on my phone to read while I'm out and waiting for things.

Connie is the only person I know who reads more than I do. On the other hand, I stitch more than she does. Still, it's not a race---or a contest. I'm just sayin'. There's really only so much free time in a day! I'm not trying to be judgmental. I'm really not. I'm just from Missouri---the "show me" state. I find it hard to believe!

And this isn't even my post about the books I read this year! It's coming folks!

The Littles

While I was in St. Louis last week, I got a chance to see some of the "Littles." That makes me so happy. I get a kick out of the kids. Every time.

 These little boys are the cutest! Travis on the left and Nathan on the right. Nathan loves green, so I guess that's why he's wearing the ribbon!

They got hula hoops for Christmas.

Looks like everyone got hula hoops this year! Here's Evie.

Here's little Josie trying her hula hoop skills.

Butch and I went by my brother, Matt's house one night. I got to see Scarlet, but missed Jess, Mike, Max and Harper by one day.

I got to see Zachary and Allison. I met little Reese for the first time. She is 5 months old and smiles ALL the time!

Sara and Makenna stopped by while we were at Walt and Chris', but I forgot to snap a picture. I didn't see any of the other kids. Now that they live so close to Walt and Chris, I expect to see them more often.

And then we have MY "littles." Victoria, Mitchell and Elizabeth. They aren't so little anymore. I guess I'm going to have to call them the "bigs!"

The "bigs"---Jordan, Mitchell and Morgan---met in Atlanta at a music festival for New Year's Eve. I love that they make it a priority to spend time together---not always easy when you live in different states. I hope it stays that way.

They all grow up so darn fast. Just slow down!

January 3rd

You might be thinking, why is she doing a post about January 3rd. Well, it's an important date---for several reasons.

1. I've decided to stay in my pajamas all day!
    A. I have no where I need to be today. I thought about taking myself to a movie, but opted to stay home instead. Staying home all day is pretty rare for me. It seems I have something going on all the time. Not today. If Connie weren't working, I'd probably be out. But she is, so I'm not.
    B. Butch left for the beach today, so I don't have to feel like a slacker with him here and me still in my jammies.
    C. Jammies are just plain comfortable and I don't do it often enough!

2. All the scheduled work I had planned for now is done! Yeah, I know, I have tons more to do around the house, but for now, I feel accomplished with having cleaned out the laundry room and getting the Christmas stuff put away. Plus, the big job of emptying out all the cabinets and pantry for the remodel is looming just ahead. I might as well enjoy one workless day now.

3. I had a phone date with the Social Security office at 9:30 a.m. I already called in December to find out what I needed to do to start collecting my benefits. I answered a bazillion questions only to have them say, "Okay, the next appointment we have is January 3rd at 9:30." I asked what the appointment was for. She replied, "To get all the information we need for you to draw your benefits." I said, "I thought that's what I just did with you!" Uh, no. The government at work---what a waste. I received an official letter about my phone appointment along with all the OTHER information they would want (birth certificate, marriage license, and bank account). I gathered the information---including taking my marriage license (which is framed) off the wall. They didn't ask for anything except the banking information. Looks like I'll get to draw half of Butch's which is more than the allowance I've allowed myself for about the past 5 years! Yippeee! A raise! They run a month in arrears, so I won't get my first deposit until February. I'm so excited!

4. I haven't had a full stitching day since way before Thanksgiving. In fact, I haven't spent any time working on my 3D santa since then. Now I'm in the position of working on a holiday piece outside of the holiday. I don't like that. I really prefer to work on holiday stuff during the season. It's just more fun. "Barb," you ask, "why don't you just put it aside until next Christmas?" Uh, do you know me at all! I have to finish this before I can move to something else. I don't like to start something new when there is an unfinished project laying about. Although, I am working on something else that has a deadline. But for today, I'm going to stitch and watch several episodes of The Crown. Love that! And in front of the fireplace too.

5. Gosh, I don't have a 5, but it seems like I should. Otherwise 4 is just left hanging. So there it is, I've managed to make a 5.

So what did you do that makes your January 3rd memorable?

Happy New Year!

New Year's Day found us finally taking down the Christmas tree and putting away all the decorations. Many are sitting in the dining room. We use the top shelf of the pantry for Christmas stuff. Since we're getting ready to remodel the kitchen, it doesn't make sense to put everything away only to have to take it back down again in a week.

Now about making resolutions. I haven't made any in quite awhile. I've decide to really try this year to give all of those vases away with flowers from my garden. That sounds pretty doable. We'll see.

I know that dieting and working out are common resolutions for many. Personally, I've hit on a fool proof plan: take prednisone for 17 years. Gain too many pounds. Go off the prednisone and you don't have to do anything else! The weight comes off slow, really slow. But it does come off. Plus, I'm not as hungry as I used to be. Case in point---after eating anything and everything (spell that SWEETS) over the entire holiday season---I still lost 1.5 pounds! I'll take it.

For most who make dieting and working out as their resolution, it lasts for a week or so. But I have a feeling that this person is going to do it for REAL!! Look at her first day!

 Plus it included an hour and a half nap! My kind of kid!

And here is this little go-getter! 5 year old Evie got her tracker for Christmas. She did all these steps inside as it's been too bitter cold to go outside! I think we've hit on the key to staying in shape and losing weight---act like a 5 year old!! Move constantly, never sit still and barely stop to eat 3 bites! Oh, if we could just do that!

Ringing in the New Year!

New Year's Eve started with work! I started in the laundry room. My plan was to get all the cabinets cleaned out. I hadn't really done anything but stuff more things in over the last 22 years. I spent a total of 5 hours---1 hour the day before. This all included catching up on the laundry including 5 sets of sheets and a myriad of towels.

By the time I finished, I had 5 trash bags and a pile of rugs to get rid of. Butch has already loaded them into his car to take to Goodwill. I might not be moving, but I'm determined to get this house cleaned out! I've saved things for far too long!

 The laundry room hasn't been this cleaned out in ages!

 I keep the rugs here until I need them. But, all the hang up stuff has been put away.

 These counters were full of junk---plant pots, a basket full of socks and other odds and ends. I did not clean out the cabinets under the sink. They are full of vases. I've thought for years that I would give them away by filling them with flowers from my garden. I told myself that I'm really going to start doing that this year. Yeah, I am. Maybe I'll make it a New Year's resolution!

While the clean out was going on, I was also preparing a New Year's Even dinner.

 Setting the table is always my favorite thing to do.

I used these little sleds as napkin rings. I used the sleigh itself as a holder for the Ghiradelli chocolates I decided to use as table favors.

Don't be fooled. While the dining room might appear to be dressed with glitz and glamour, this was going on right outside the door!

 I decided to wash the blanket and mattress cover on Mindy's/the guest room bed. This pile of sheets and towels was in her room. I tossed them down the stairs. Just when I thought I was done with the wash!

I found this random sock in the laundry. I sent this picture to Stephanie, Jordan and Morgan to see who it belonged to. Now, we all know that Steph loves fun socks. Well, apparently so does Nicky!

Stephanie, Nicky, Mindy and their friends, Bonnie and Dave came for dinner and games. They all brought something to make it easier. Mindy brought the appetizer---pizza dip, Stephanie made the dessert---chocolate peanut butter ice cream pie and Dave brought a Caeser salad with delicious homemade croutons. I made a chicken dish with basil cream over pasta. I also had bought Provel cheese while in St. Louis last week along with a loaf of Italian bread. I made garlic cheese bread---the whole meal was so good!

I bought 3 bottles of champagne. Now here's the thing. I only have champagne twice a year---Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. I can never remember what type I like. This year, I was determined to keep track. Butch bought the champagne for Christmas. I didn't like it. I bought the champagne for New Years. I saw Korbel and decided to try it---not so cheap either. As soon as I opened it, I didn't really care for that either. Turns out, it was exactly what Butch bought for Christmas. Talk about memory problems! In all fairness, I wasn't the one doing the pouring last week!

Truth be told, the only reason I even drink champagne is so I can use one of these fancy glasses!

After dinner, we played several games. I had volunteered to take everyone home. We left around 11:15. It was bitter cold! When I got downtown to Mindy's place, we couldn't believe all the people outside walking around or waiting to get in some of the bars---girls in short dresses and high heels. They had to be freezing!

Mindy and Butch went to the Titans game earlier in the day and the temperature was only 17 degrees.

They said it was pretty cold, but they toughed it out until the beginning of the 4th quarter. Mindy said her nose and feet were freezing. Uh, do you notice that she is not wearing socks! Nor did she have on long underwear. Butch keeps trying to tell her it's not a fashion show. But you know girls---it's always a fashion show!

By the time I got home, it was 10 degrees---pretty unusual for Nashville! I just hope this freeze takes care of the bug problems! In the meantime, I'm enjoying lots of this:

 Hanging out in front of the fire place. I love fires. We burn real logs in the family room. The other fireplaces have gas logs. I don't care. I just love a fire---so warm and cozy.

Happy New Year!