...big doings...

 It's the calm before the storm, and I should be doing more to prepare.  I'm being dramatic, but tomorrow we're having a boatload of people here for Wulf's birthday.  The family gets bigger, the house doesn't, and it also doesn't clean itself.  The helpers are few and far between these days, too.  

It's too early to be up on a Saturday morning, Paul's alarm went off at six-something, and I thought he set it by mistake...then I remembered he was going to cook breakfast at church...but I wasn't, so I tried to go back to sleep.  I stretched out and tried to close my eyes, then I thought about getting up in the quiet, having some coffee, putting in a load of laundry, and then of all the things I have to do, so here I am:  officially old, can't sleep in on a Saturday.  Life gets shorter, as you get old, you need to use your time, right?  

Since Miss Suri took it upon herself to eat all of the cupcakes, I have to make them again.  Now, I pride myself on making things from scratch.  But, when you can buy a box of cake mix for a dollar, and they taste fine indeed, why go through all that trouble?  I make them from scratch if it's for a wedding or something, but the ones Suri ate were from a box.  So to replace them, no problem-0, except...I don't have another box of chocolate cake mix.  The chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter buttercream were specifically requested for this birthday, as the birthday guy loved them.   So I googled it, and found out you can just add a box of pudding mix and some baking cocoa, and an extra egg to yellow cake mix, I am going to try it!

Yesterday was a good day, shall we visit it?  My friend Karen came to pick me up, and off we went for coffee with Hege.  We settled into her comfy art studio, and she served us this amazing morning snack, dessert for brekky:

I don't usually eat breakfast, but I DO make exceptions!  Hege paints, crochets, draws, writes, and her studio is amazing.  She tried to teach me to crochet a granny square, because I only know how to crochet a chain, learned in third grade.  She was very patient with me, but I cried uncle, and said I'd learn from you-tube ha.  We had a lot of fun, and made a date for next week, to go on a small adventure...

I was home for five minutes when Emily let me know she was coming on over for our trip to Costco...we decided to go to BJ's instead, as it's closer.  We had to get food for four meals for sixty people for the church weekend, as many are coming to help build cabins there.  We also had to get some things for the Sunday lunch there, which Emily is making this week.  Sunday afternoon the family and some friends are coming here for Wulf's birthday, and we're having hot dogs and sausages on the grill (even though it will be snowing!), and homemade macaroni and cheese.  (I was going to make pasta salad, but it's just not warm enough for that!). 

While we were in BJ's, I thought to check out the pool chemicals...we never bought chlorine tabs last year because they were not to be found, but we had enough left in a huge pail that it got us through the summer...there are pitifully few left in that pail, so I sort of needed some...I about barfed right in the aisle when I saw the price on the 35 pound pail:  $169.99.  There were only three left in the big display.  Emily checked on Amazon, and they were selling for even more there...(She said:  Oh, they're only $99.99 on Amazon....wait, that's for ten pounds.). But a  hundred seventy dollars!  It's crazy.

The pool shock was pricey too, $55 for a 15 pound box...but I bought both, and well, we're probably covered for the year.  What are people going to do though?

I hope I don't sound too Doomsday to say this:  hard times are coming, I can feel it in my bones.  It's a good thing we have time to make good choices though, those who trust in the Lord will not be put to shame.  My own salvation, which I am working out with fear and trembling, as it is written (Phil. 2:12), has absolutely nothing with judging other people or making rules about anything, but being obedient to that still small voice in my heart, which brings rest, peace, joy.  

So time to get out of the comfy chair, mix up some cuppy-cakes, and do some cleaning around this place...