it's not for them, it's for me!

 Have you ever watched the news when there was a horrible crime, and the victim's family members decided to forgive the horrible perpetrator?  They don't forgive because the person is worthy of forgiveness necessarily, but because it brings them peace.  

There is the Our Father prayer, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

(Yes, the house trashers have been horrid, and I do wish there was an easier way to hold them accountable, it is only basic righteousness that they should pay for their damages.  In New York state though, good luck.   Perhaps REAL landlords with tons of properties and lawyers and such, can go after deadbeat renters.)  

So my choice to not let anger and indignation eat me alive has nothing to do with how slobby they have been ha.  And I hope it doesn't seem like a screaming case of Virtue Signaling, because believe me, it's not like I just adjusted my halo.  I had some awful thoughts, for example it crossed my mind to go on Facebook and mention them by name and shame them and say DO NOT RENT TO THESE PIGGIES.  But, that is not very nice, and what about the kids?  No, my thoughts were not good, but that is just really unhealthy.  I am not going to let my mind be a playground for horrible thoughts and evil ideas.  

This whole journey of renos and renting has been interesting.  You can feel so defeated, but life isn't how much money you end up with, is it?  We cannot take a penny with us, and we know if we seek His kingdom first, all things will be added to us.  

So here's what I'm doing around the house, another Before and After is in the works!  I found a paint color I really like, just love it...then saw that Sherwin Williams is having 40% off, so I decided to buy one quart of it...it's called Rosemary...here's someone else's picture: 

I don't know why I like the color so much, but I want to paint my white end tables in the living room in this, but I want to sand the heck out of the tops, and get all the layers of paint off, so they're wood tops and this Rosemary on the bottom, with the same champagne bronze cabinet pulls as the coffee table, and the kitchen cabinets.  I already have some pulls, and the sander, just had to buy the little can of paint.  I'm going to paint my bathroom vanity first and see if I like it as much as I think I will.  I will try so hard to remember the "before" picture!

This is the Ikea cube thing under the tv.  Wasn't it black?!  Why yes, it was!  I switched it with the one that was in the toy area!  I kept the black cubes, now the toy area has the black one but with the colored cube things.  We are so fancy with our Ikea furniture!  Aaron gave us this one, and Emily bought the other one for me when she took a trip to the Pennsylvania Ikea years ago.  Maybe some day I'll find something different, but for now, they're fine.  I do like this one better over here though.  

Today:  pool, which was absolutely fantastic.  It feels so good to move in the water, I was so achy!  I dropped Camille off at her housecleaning job, then went to pick up my paint, then to Aldi for just a few things...I am having grandkids for dinner tomorrow and accidentally bought jalapeno pizza dough.  ugh.  Next stop was Marshalls to see if by some miracle there was a dress really cheap, a beautiful dress.  Nope.  Then a coffee, ahh, then the nice drive home.  You can't imagine how wonderful it is to drive on a nice clear road in 40 degree temperatures, with the sun almost peeking through the clouds onto the deep deep snow.  It's just really pretty, and so pleasant not to worry about white outs or slippery roads.  I picked up Camille...

Home....ahh, home.  Kathryn pulled in the driveway right after me.  She had to bring Achilles to an appointment, so we were watching Rhys and Jamie.  Rhys was crying upon arrival, good thing I had just bought dye-free lollipops in Marshalls!  She was fine in no time.  We gave check ups to the dolls, and she called me on her cash register phone (the little scanner part, it's not even a phone ha), and we talked across the room from each other.  Jamie put the plastic coins in the plastic pig, and threw the plastic Oreos and played with the singing, dancing Bluey.  I gave them blueberries, he got three and Rhys got five, and he was not fooled.  He said, "Want more, one two three."  Kathryn came back with Achilles, and we had a nice afternoon, wherein I also made a pot of chicken soup for dinner.  

Soup bubbling away in the Dutch oven, keto brownies in the oven (I ruined them with toasted walnuts, they just don't add anything...should have just left them with unsweetened shredded coconut and the Lily's dark chocolate chips, lots of baking cocoa...very good, just not the walnuts!)

Anyway.  It was a good day.  My empty week is filling up:  grandkids coming tomorrow, then Camille and I are helping with Activity Club.  Wednesday, pool then brekky with my pool friends, we've been trying to do this for absolute weeks and it hasn't worked out!  Margaret is coming over at noon, she has some important work calls so I'll keep the kids busy.  Thursday is blank still, Friday Margaret will come over again with the kids.  I imagine the weekend will be working on The House, the Dreaded House, ha.  (We set mouse traps and sprayed flying insect spray before we left the other day, and I set out the lavender infused paper towels, so hopefully it's not as bad now).  Then next week, I will be going to Norway...

Have a really good evening, and above all, be thankful!  Thankfulness is a powerful weapon, it's good and helpful and encouraging and it drives out so much misery.  :)

warning: yucky images!

 Well, we own a few houses that we rent out.  When you hear the word landlord, the image that comes to mind might be a money hungry person who overcharges poor people, getting ever richer.  You probably won't think of people like us, who bought some houses way back when, taking out a huge-0 loan, and fixing up those houses, and renting them out for fair prices.  There is a lot to the story, but we have only two houses now.  If we were to sell them tomorrow, it wouldn't pay the mortgage we owe on them.  So, we rent them out.  One has decent renters who respect the house and always pay the rent, this other one...we were not so lucky.  They stopped paying rent ages ago, got a few dogs that weren't on the lease, and...they trashed the place.  Totally lived rent-free for months...

You probably remember me writing about all the work we put into this house just a few years back.  New flooring, windows, restored a vintage door, painted the cabinets, cleaned and painted every wall and ceiling and door...then replaced the refrigerator with a brand new one a year ago.  

This family did not respect the house.  This is so far beyond normal wear and tear, it boggles the mind.  Holes punched in the walls, food everywhere, grubby walls and floors and cigarette butts everywhere, although the lease clearly stated No Smoking.  

Bathroom sink, or ashtray?  This begs the question, did they wash their hands at all?

The little girls' room...

Just one wall in the kitchen...

I don't even know...broken window, holes in the walls...

A few punches maybe?

Grub, grime, gross!  

Don't look at this one too closely...of course it was closed and turned off, so it smelled atrocious.  I was crying my eyes out walking through this place, then the gagging began...(

There is yuck in every nook and cranny...pieces of candy from Halloween bags, opened and sticky and loose Doritos amidst the cigarette butts, a plate of pizza on the bedroom floor, fast food bags with burger remnants and fries in them, spilled drinks...in one room, there was a large gas station drink cup tipped over and stuck fast to the floor, won't give you more details lest you be sick.  Shoes, socks, clothes, toys, crumbs, papers, chargers, wrappers, just everywhere.  The floors look like they were never ever mopped.

Paul and I started with giant garbage bags, just filling them up.  Everything smells horrible, you couldn't save it even if you wanted to.  I looked around the first room and told myself to just clean this one room, it was so daunting, but I got everything bagged up in that room...then the next, and the next, then upstairs, we got the bathroom and the two bedrooms bagged up...then I headed back down to attack the refrigerator.  Truth:  I was a bit mad at these people.  It rankled, because I don't want to be mad, or bitter.  I was working with this, then just decided to pray for them.  (I mean, the poor kids!).  Then I spotted some lavender essential oil on the windowsill....and that was actually a Godsend.  I put it on like eight paper towels and distributed them around the house.  My spirits lifted substantially when I decided to pray for them, and not be mad.  (I know it'll be a battle when I go back there again!), and once I got the refrigerator mostly done, I thought more clearly.

This is just a trial in life.  Those people...I don't understand them, they had a really nice place to live, and didn't care about it at all.  I don't have to understand them though.  (We are going to be so much more careful who we rent to after we get this fixed up!)

Anyway.  We finished up for the day, headed to Walmart for some bleach and things, then home...ahh home.  I made some wicked chicken fajitas:  I googled Gordon Ramsey's recipe for the chicken, and marinated it for a few hours.  

Cooked in the iron frying pan with some onions and peppers, mmm.

(It goes without saying that I went directly to the laundry room and put all my clothes in the washer when I got home, even my winter coat, and Paul's clothes too! because yuck!)

Anyways, that is my tale of woe for the day.  You know, I never considered my house to be spotless, and it hasn't been, but it was never ever anything like this.  Messy, maybe a little cluttered here and there, but not filthy rotten.  When I was growing up, my mother had some sayings:

Cleanliness is next to Godliness.

Soap and water are cheap, there's no excuse for being dirty.  

My parents were proud, they were poor when my older siblings were small, but they would never take any public assistance.  They worked hard and saved and bought savings bonds and were responsible with their money, and also they tried extra hard to make sure our house and yard were nice and neat.  These people probably didn't have parents like that?  I don't know.  

It takes all kinds of people to make the world go around, said Ma Ingalls.  

I did have the great idea to rent a commercial floor cleaning machine though.  We have a lot of hard work ahead of us....cleaning and repairing and drywalling and replacing windows and painting...but we'll get it done, and we will be take pride in it, and be so glad to see the finished work.  

Tomorrow is Monday, and I hope to make it to the pool because shh, these old bones...or rather the muscles?  I don't know, but there IS aching...too much leaning over, too much everything...:)

grandchildren...

 Last evening two of my grandsons came over to spend the night.  We had some dill pickle popcorn (Aldi, and it's so good!), Tenny had some other snacks too, Wulf was helping me sort through some change, I divided it up and gave them each a baggie.  He thinks it's cool to check the dates on the pennies, then I google to see if they're worth anything.  Mostly we talked about things (Pokemon!).  They went to bed like champs.    

This fine morning started with waffles.  I have two waffle makers, one makes bowl-shaped waffles, and one round heart shaped, if that makes sense, the waffle breaks into little heart shapes.  They like me to make both kinds.  They don't eat syrup, just whipped cream, so I made sure to buy some.  I pretended not t notice when they were squirting it into their mouths from the can.:).   

Kathryn came over with her three small children, and the fun really began.  The boys ran around shooting each other, Rhys ran around too, but Jamison mostly played with Bluey and pet the dogs.  

Adrian came and picked up the three older boys and took them to the farm show, so Kathryn and I headed out and about with just Rhys and Jamie.  We stopped to pick up my freshly roasted coffee beans, and honked and gave the thumbs up to the prison guards on strike for better working conditions.  We live near the only city in the whole United States of America with a maximum security prison within city limits, and the conditions there have worsened in recent years with laws passed that seem to protect the convicts more than the guards.  Of course our governor is no help, she said, "Do your jobs, get back to work."  

We went to the warehouse club store BJ's, mostly to get the big huge bags of Reeses Peanut Butter Eggs, which are pretty much all the kids like for Easter.  I also got the giant bag of Cadbury milk chocolate candy coated eggs, they really like those. It's so much cheaper than getting little bags, but now we have to hide them for Easter...shh, I got two bags of the Reeses so I can put some out when the grandkids visit.  Their parents love them too.  

Anyway.  I'm home again, and it's so cold in here.  The wall thermometer says 64, brr.  We got even more snow last night, it's snowing again now.  

This is our red car, and behind it is my camper.  

This is our redneck cooler, with some Diet Coke and seltzer...not the alcoholic kind, just the fizzy water.  You put the cooler out there in the 16 degree weather, then bring it in a few hours later, and your drinks are nice and cold. 

The snow keeps getting deeper.

Tenny with a toy gun...see our deck table out there, with the umbrella still on it?  oops.

So it's quiet in here now, Paul is working, Camille is in her room, Jon is in Germany, I am just sitting here decompressing...ha, being lazy.  I am thinking to make some taco salad for dinner, last night we had burgers....smash burgers made with the Waygu beef from Aldi, in the iron frying pan with lots of onions.  We also had salads, I like the packaged  Asian salads from Aldi, then I add a few craisins...I don't eat salad dressing, just like the shredded cabbages and lettuces with salt and pepper.  

I haven't eaten anything yet today, so I am very hungry, dinner will be good no matter what I end up making.  You all have a really good day, and a nice weekend, and stay warmer than I probably will....

wait, what day is it?

Remember summertimes when you were a kid, and you forgot what day it was?  That's the kind of bliss adults just dream of.  When I wake up in the morning, I ascertain where I am, it's obviously usually at home in my own bed, then what day it is.  Someone said recently if your feet hit the floor in the morning, you have a lot to be thankful for, but that's off on a tangent, although very true. 

 

These winter days are blissful in their own way.  This week I moved the furniture and cleaned behind and under the couches, washed the living room windows and windowsills, washed the windows and the wood blinds in my bedroom, deep cleaned the shelves in my bathroom, scrubbed and wiped down every inch of our kitchen chairs, bleached and scrubbed the tile over near the door, and washed everything that isn't nailed down.   

For years and years and years, I had those little newborns and toddlers and kids and teenagers, with meals to make and appointments to go to, and homework to help with and and and.  I loved those years, but.  Everything I cleaned was half-arsed and slapdash, I always had to hurry hurry hurry.  The baby was going to wake up, ect.  

It's not that I love to clean, although it kind of relaxes me, and who doesn't love the result?  The whole living room feels cleaner when the couches have been moved and cleaned under.  

I know, you who get up and go to work every day probably hate me, for all the free time I have.  

When I'm not snowed in, I do keep busier, with grandkids and such.  

Yesterday, I did make it the pool and it was fabulous.  Then, to pick up Suzanne, and to the mall with her, and Sonja and Camille. 

We had a long drive on the thruway, as there was an accident and the traffic was stop and go, adding an extra hour or so.  I looked for a dress at Macy's, but shh, that store is for richer people than me.  I need to be a dress designer, I guess.  Grown women don't want all those ruffles.  The girls got bubble tea, and we wandered around H&M, where I bought a few grandchildren clothes.  They went in a few stores I wasn't interested in, I was interested in sitting down frequently so my knees didn''t refuse to bend.  I am a people watcher too, I assured the girls to go wherever they wanted, I do not get bored.

We left the mall after getting an iced Americano for me (and three yummy looking cookies to share, a chocolate half moon, a chocolate chocolate peanut butter chip, and a nice big chocolate chip).  We went to Chipotle to eat, and broke out those cookies to share and taste.  The half moon was the best, the white fluffy frosting better than the chocolate.  

We brought Miss Suze home, and drove back down the thruway.  

This fine morning, I had to drive Camille to work, then I ventured to Aldi.  It was tentative, as I do not like driving in the snow.  It was 17 degrees out (-8.33c), but the wind wasn't too bad, the roads were actually mostly clear.  The little streets near the Aldi were a bit snowy, but nothing terrible.  I had two hours including driving time before I had to pick Cam up again (she was doing a house cleaning job).  So, after getting the blueberries and red onions and chicken and shh, the cute little Aldi store and truck building block sets, and whatever else made the total over a hundred dollars, I went to the thrift store across the road.  I found one pair of Sonic pajamas, and one pair of little boys black jeans.  

Home....ahh, home.  Cam is gone with Sonja to take Anya and cousin Linnea out on an adventure, Jonathan left to go to Germany for the weekend, and it's quiet here, but it won't be for too long.   I'm having my afternoon coffee, relaxing, but this evening, after dinner, two rambunctious little boys will be coming to spend the night, Mr. Wulf and Mr. Tennyson.  (That's why I bought the building blocks).  

I won't make it to the pool tomorrow, but that's okay.  I'm sure I'll get my exercise.  They like their waffles in the morning, and I'm thinking of making gingerbread playdough.  It'll be a good day to play outside too, and we have plenty of hot chocolate, and I bought whipped cream today.  

Ah well.  You have a nice afternoon, and stay warm!
 

wednesday.

 

We got out of the house yesterday, and there was a tiny bit of silliness...

A tiny bit of snow...

Now this morning, more than yesterday.

This is the view from my chair out the window...that car was driven yesterday.  I'm leaving in five minutes to go to the pool, so I will have to clean it off again.  I do not like driving in the snow, but I need to swim.  Snow is not showing up on the radar here because it is so low, but it's there.  A nice gentle snow band off the lake, winds have died down, so it isn't so bad...maybe we just get used to it.  

Off I go....have a good day!

I said STOP shaking the snowglobe, not shake it MORE!

Harrumph. 

Then the sun came out!  

The wind blows and gusts and it's a white out, then it's sunny again...it was snowing like crazy this morning.

(I know, we never put away the deck umbrella, oops...)

Ben's drive to work...

We're about north of the "e" in Conquest...

More snow is forecast for tonight, and it's so cold out, high tomorrow is 19, with wind chill not getting above zero.   We're pretty much snowed in.  Paul just left to go over to the neighboring town to clear Emily's driveway, he has the day off from work.  He tried to drive up to Oswego earlier, but had to turn around and come home because the wind is blowing so hard, creating white outs, he could not see where he was going.  

Camille and I are going to make the best chicken soup in the world, recipe by Ambitious Kitchen, look it up.  She uses tumeric and ginger and pearl couscous, and it is so good.  This reminds me of Covid times, being in the house and wondering what we'll have for dinner, ha.  There is also the entire pan of brownies on the counter that I made yesterday thinking the kids would come over, but of course with the snow storm, no one did.  I ate a small one last night after dinner, a corner one, the best kind, and too bad it was amazing, just like I knew it would be.  

Last night's dinner...corn tortillas with taco stuff...

Is this my bed or theirs?  

Ah well....nothing exciting going on here, just winter weather.  I hope you all have a nice day, and my Florida friends...can I come visit you?  :)

 

stop. shaking. the. snowglobe!!!!!

 Oh goodness, the snow!  But in other news, I got two dresses in the mail today: 

That's not me modeling the dress, as you may have guessed.  I love love love the colors of this one, but I ordered the dress in a size too big, so it's slightly baggy.  They're  sold out in the smaller size so I'm thinking to keep it, maybe take it in a little.

This one is actually prettier in person, and it fits fine.  I'm not sure if it's dressy enough for a mother-of-the-bride dress, but I'm not a super dressy person.  We will see.  I am not done looking yet, but don't want to send these back because I like them.

Some old pics, the first wedding in the family, Ben and Ashley got married when Ben came home on leave from the Army.  

Abigail was her maid of honor, now Abigail is getting married, in May!

Little Camille with Evelyn, who is also getting married in May!

Miss Charlotte Claire, Suzanne Eleanor (she was married last fall!), and Cam.

I made a cake...and frosted cut out heart cookies.

Is this a beautiful sight or what?  An espresso shot for my Americano.  mmm.

This fine day, it's cold.  It's snowing.  Everything is white and muffled.  When the trees and branches are all covered in white, it IS beautiful.  It really is.  But.  I texted Aaron this morning, he lives in Phoenix where it's 70 and sunny today.....

Do I have anything deep and thoughtful to say today?  Well, I'm glad for the way things are going in the government here in the U. S. of A. lately.  Cutting wasteful spending is a good thing, right?  Freeing the American teacher from the Russian prison, getting the hostages from the Hamas, perhaps defunding Planned Parenthood, more transparency in medical choices...

Lots of things go on here that aren't my story to tell.  Paul and I did some last minute babysitting last evening, which was quite fun.  We got home late, the roads weren't as bad on the way home as they were on the way there.  This fine morning, freezing rain, then later today snow and flash freezing with high winds and lots of lake effect snow.  We're home, our church canceled, not sure if anyone is going to brave the roads and come over.  I did make a pan of brownies just in case.  I have a package of chicken breast and all the good stuff to make fajitas, but I can freeze that chicken if necessary.  (I cut it up and season it, put it in baggies, easy to grab and use).  

If it looked pretty outside yesterday, today is a work of art.  The ice on all the branches is just glittering.  Shh, I know, when the winds pick up later, power outages will happen.  I plan to fill some water jugs, as when we lose power we lose water.  Our pool is frozen, so we can't even scoop a bucket to flush a toilet.  

I decided to grind up some coffee in case the power goes out...some for Paul, some for me.  We have a gas stove, so we can light a burner with a match and make pour-over coffee...

Yesterday Paul headed out back with the chainsaw...as good a time as any to cut up some of the fallen trees.

Grandpa with Jamie

Cleaning off the steps...

Snow on my camper roof!  Paul raked some of it off...

So here we are at home, all snug with one bad dog on the couch where she doesn't belong...

Then there's this old girl, who owns a huge piece of my heart.  Mariel says she has the cutest face on the planet.   Seeing her get old and rickety just makes my soul ache.  She is still the good-est girl.  She has the most patience with kids, and if she gets annoyed at them, she simply gets up and moves, lays her head on her big fat paws, and sighs.  She can't hear anymore, but she can use her sniffer, and she will still find unwatched snacks.  She's more stealthy than Sunny, she gets the middle of the night rumbly-in-the-tumbly, and can miraculously jump up to get counter snacks, if we ever stupidly leave them.  Loaf of bread not pushed back far enough, she'll eat the whole thing.  She can't help it, it smells good, and she is hungry!   Yes, she is a good girl, not a mean bone in her body.  She wags and wants to get pet, and she sleeps. :)

I made a pan of brownies, used fresh espresso instead of water, added mini chocolate chips, now no one is coming over.  So I'm stuck in the house with an entire pan of brownies.  Maybe I'll just cut a tiny corner to see if they're good.  Wait, have brownies ever been not good?  

Suri said to leave them on the edge of the counter, she promises she won't get them.   Have a good day!